Happy Holidays!

It's been a while, but God is so good! We are still planning to move in the summer of 2009 to West Houston for Justin to work at BP. I have been looking for houses, schools for me to work, preschools for Claire, and of course a church home for all of us. The end of the semester was crazy for all of us--it was looking spotty there for a while. Justin's parents are still redoing their house from Hurricane Ike damage and they were both in the hospital during December. Justin had finals, a senior paper, a senior project, and the robot to work on. Claire is potty training, and I was honestly having the hardest time as a teacher I've faced yet. All that is finished though (except Claire) and once again I was reminded that God is paying attention to all the little details of life so carefully. We celebrated Christmas last week and had one of the best Christmases I remember. Claire led her class in singing Happy Birthday to Jesus while they ate Santa Claus cookies because she told her class that Christmas isn't about Santa but Jesus' birthday. At least she's got that right! She also was so surprised however when Santa brought her a Dora dollhouse on Christmas morning. Since then, she has been asking when Santa is coming again and if she'll get more presents....like 30 times a day. We are still potty training but she's doing much better this time, so I'm trying to be more patient. She has been in big girl underwear for 2 weeks now and has been dry after nap 3 days in a row...we're getting there folks. Slowly but surely. If only she'll actually tell me she needs to go potty I think I'd have a heart attack right there. We are staying up to watch the New Year come in and as she told Papa on the phone tonight, she's going to say, "BOO!" As far as New Year Resolutions, I'm going kind of low-key. I plan to read through the Bible this year and signed up for an email daily reminder at http://www.Bibleplan.org to help me keep on track. We also plan to be settled in a new house, church, and city by the end of 2009. That really doesn't happen though until the 2nd half. The 1st half will be focused on getting through the school year and getting our house ready to sell. Of course losing weight is always on the list, but hopefully it won't be just one of those resolutions that loses steam by February. We'll see. I do know that whatever 2009 brings, it all will be from God and He knows best and wants the best for us. Happy New Year! What are your resolutions???

Blessings!

Big changes are coming. Justin received an offer from BP last week. We have discussed it thoroughly and have prayed incessantly about it and all the ramifications of such a change in our family's lives. We both believe strongly that this is the place that the Lord is leading us to. It will mean us selling our home, uprooting all that Claire has ever known, changing jobs, churches, etc. Where are we going? West Houston. Where are we going? West Houston. Where are we going? West Houston. (Sorry, Dora the Explorer song slipped in there) The job is exciting for Justin as he will get to work for a huge international company and have lots of opportunities. It is exciting for me as I begin to look for a new home and job. Claire doesn't really understand our excitement but she does know we're excited because she keeps walking around the house saying, "You're happy Mama!" It sorta makes me wonder if I've been a grump for a while now. Not really, but it's neat to see that she picks up on that sorta thing. Sensitive sweetheart. It also means us finding a new church home (thanks, internet) and a new school/day-care for Claire. Since she'll be 3 we're looking at mostly preschools rather than daycare centers but we're excited for the change this will all bring. There are some drawbacks however as with any move. We've really made lasting friendships at our church here and right now we're 10 minutes away from Justin's parents which we truly enjoy having them so close...Claire does too! So there will be some sad moments through all this. But West Houston is only about 2 hours away so we will have frequent trips back to visit, I'm sure!
One of the strangest things about this move is where we're moving to. I grew up in a suburb of Detroit, Michigan. When I was 8, my parents uprooted everything my siblings and I had ever known to take a church pastorate in West Houston. We moved there and lived there for 3 years. After that, we moved back to Michigan. During those 3 years is when we found my mom's cancer that prolonged her life 7 years. I also was able to witness the beliefs of my parents and their trust in the Lord first hand as they moved us cross country, financial struggles, health struggles, church struggles, and probably more struggles than they let on to their youngest daughter. I truly believe those 3 years have impacted my life greater than several other years of my childhood. It also was another reason why Justin and I are together. When we first met, one of the things that truly attracted me to him was the fact that he was from Texas since I had lived there and had such a positive experience there. Even though he wasn't from the same place I had lived, it was somewhere I could relate to a little better and was interested in. And now? for Justin to receive this offer close to 20 years later after the first move to West Houston and it be 10 minutes from where all those memories, influential people, and life changing moments happened is simply unbelievable to me. I never would have dreamed in a million years that I'd end up back there through the Lord's guidance. I guess that is one of the biggest reasons why I believe so strongly that this is the Lord's will for us at this point in our lives. I cannot thank the Lord enough for all of His blessings. "My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord" Psalm 149:21a

Puggles!

Our church does a program called Puggles, which is for older 2 and younger 3 year olds to do before they go to Cubbies. It is part of the AWANA program which is excellent! Claire fits perfectly into this age group. Since her birthday is in October, she is 1 month shy of being able to be in Cubbies, but she is still old enough to sit still for a short, SHORT, lesson, and to color, do a craft, and play. It's designed to teach the little ones about God. A puggle is a baby platypus which to me is just the cutest name ever. Anyway, during the summer, when they were recruiting AWANA workers, I found out about this program at our church for Claire's age group. I was so excited. However, they told me it was only for children whose parents worked in AWANA. I haven't worked in AWANA before due to choir practice on Wednesday evenings and our crazy schedule throughout the week, I was hesitant to add one more thing on my plate. But I really wanted her to do Puggles! Justin and I were talking and he asked who taught the Puggles class? I answered that I didn't know. So I asked, and they said they didn't have a teacher. I volunteered. Not only does Claire get to do Puggles, but she gets to do it with me! I am so excited about it! She is even more excited about it too! She asks every time we go anywhere now if I'm going to be her teacher. It is only an hour long, and in that hour we do a 5 minute lesson, a craft, a snack, songs, and a coloring page. The rest of the time is just play time. She is really enjoying it.
The other reason why I am excited is that I remember my mom teaching in my Sunday school class when I was 2 or 3. I don't really have a lot of memories, but I do have a few that are vivid and now that she is gone to be with Jesus, they are precious to me. Especially since she was taking the time to teach me about Jesus when I was that little. So I guess that I hope that when Claire is older, that she might remember a few of these times we spend together at Puggles and that I think teaching her about Jesus is the most important, since that truly is the most important thing I can teach her--ever.

Prayer

Today we learned that Claire has been praying at school for her lunch. This certainly pleased us so at dinner Daddy asked her to please say a prayer for our dinner. This is what she prayed:

"God is great, God is good,
Now we fank him for our food,
Amen. No talking. No mess."

Apparently they're not allowed to talk or make a mess at school during lunch. We adapted the "prayer" for dinner to say some talking, no mess.

Claire's Birthday!

Claire turned 3 last Friday. She wanted "bubbles" for her party. So we did bubble invitations by using washable paints to make our own homemade bubble solution. Then we painted the bubbles (by blowing through a regular wand) onto the invitations. She had so much fun, it was easy, and they turned out great! Then we did a whole bubble theme with tons of wands, bubble solution, and bubbles! We even took our inflatable pool and filled it with bubble solution and then took a hula hoop to make a huge bubble wand. She had so much fun!











Grandma and Grandpa also came down from Michigan to spend a week with us to celebrate Claire's birthday. We didn't let them have a vacation however, I mean they're retired. They have a vacation all the time right? Ha! Anyway, we had our carpet installed while they were here. This meant that all the furniture had to be moved out of the rooms, including the baby grand piano. That booger is heavy! Good thing my dad was here though, he's the pro at moving that thing. He's moved it at least 20 times I bet. They enjoyed the work we put them to however, at least I think so. They never complained and boy were we grateful. We could have never gotten through the week without them! A huge thanks again! We also enjoyed having them here for Claire to get to know them better. It's hard with us being so far away from everyone, so hopefully their visit cemented their relationship to Claire a little bit more. She missed them today while we were on the way home from the airport.



We also went over to Houston where my cousins live. We got to visit and catch up with them on Sunday. It was so good to see them since we haven't seen them in a while. My first cousin Wendy has twins that are 10 days younger than Claire, so it was neat to see all three of them play together since they're so close in age. I thought I had forgotten my camera so I didn't get very many pictures until later once I'd found my camera in my purse.

Oh the things kids say!

On our way home, Claire had fallen asleep. When she woke up, she complained that her neck was hurting. Justin tried to explain to her that she just had a "crick" in her neck and that it would go away once we got out and walked around a little bit. Sure enough we made a quick stop for gas and potty breaks and when we got back in the truck, he asked her if her neck was feeling better. She replied,"Oh yeah, i'm feeling much better. The cricket is gone!" How precious!

There is Power!

So apparently we only thought it would be a smooth transition to fall and the new school year. Boy, were we wrong! We had a little thing called Hurricane Gustav come a few weeks ago and it looked pretty scary and a lot of people evacuated. We talked and talked and talked about it some more about where we would go, how long we would stay, etc. and the more we talked the less sure we both (Justin and I) felt about it so we would talk some more and eventually the storm had come and gone and all we had done was talked. Oh yeah, and put up the boards around the house. It didn't even rain at our house during the worst of Gustav. Well, we did get some days off of school and some more time together which was lots of fun. We do have fun as a family. Mainly it's Justin and Claire making me laugh, but I certainly don't mine. Then 2 weeks later (yes I know I should have posted before now) Ike came along. Again, we were watching the projected path of Ike in relationship to where we live and decided to NOT make a decision until Thursday morning (Sept. 11). By Wednesday night around 9 pm we both felt assuredly that the right decision for us was to get out of dodge. But again, where would we go? How long would we stay? We decided the best decision again for us was to go to Michigan. Now this may seem like a little out of the way, but for us it was the best decision. Our friend Elizabeth rode with us for half the trip until we dropped her off in her hometown. It was so nice to have her with us for this leg of the trip. She kept me up talking while I was driving, she played with Claire in the backseat and of course navigated us halfway home. We continued to drive and 26 long hours after we had begun our trip, we made it to my parents home in Michigan. I almost forgot, the longest trip Claire had been in her car seat prior to this was for 2 hours. But she did FANTASTIC! The first 30 minutes she just thought it was a normal day to day car ride and she exclaimed, "We're almost there!" All we could do was chuckle. Thankfully, she never repeated this expression. She slept all night and then watched some of her shows on a portable DVD player we got for Christmas a few years ago. She really did fabulous! We made it to Michigan Friday evening and watched the weather channel for a little bit before dropping dead asleep. Saturday we again watched news coverage of our area and caught up with my parents on all the latest happenings at "home". Saturday evening, Kevin, Kari, kids, and Jimmy came over and we all played games and ate dinner. Sunday we went to church and the Lord always speaks if we would just listen. Ike was not affecting too many people in Michigan at this point in fact it was never even mentioned in the service, but the opening song was "How Firm A Foundation." The storm had hit Saturday morning and here it was 24 hours later we're singing how when God is our foundation, nothing else matters. We had no idea what had happened to our home and most of our earthly belongings. Whether they had been swept away in His storm, or protected by His hand. However, we knew that whatever had already happened and what will happen in the future, our foundation is sure and He is in control. It was so comforting and tears just came streaming in His presence. Sunday afternoon, Matthew was able to make it to our street and relay word back to us that our house had been protected through the storm but our gate had not. We are so grateful for His protection in the big and small ways. Sunday afternoon, Steve, Marni, and the kids came over to see us and catch up. We had lots of fun playing games and talking. It's amazing how fast the kids seem to grow. I guess that means I'm getting old. (No comments please!) We then waited for word that our electricity was back on and we were going to use that to judge when to come back home. The next week was both refreshing and full of anxiousness. It was nice to not have our crazy routine for a while and spend family time together as well as with my parents and family, but at the same time we were wanting to come back home and see it for ourselves, get back to our routine, and our own home. Finally on Thursday, we decided that it was time to start to head back. Our good friends Walker and Stacy just moved to Chicago in July and that's one of our favorite cities and friends too! We wanted to spend some time with them before we headed back to Beaumont, but wasn't too sure how it would all work out. Justin spent Thursday afternoon calling close to 30 hotels before finding one that had just what we needed. So, Saturday morning we packed up and headed to Chicago. We spent Saturday evening in Chicago going to the Lincoln Park Zoo and Navy Pier. Justin and Claire got to ride the famous Navy Pier Ferris Wheel for nostalgia and then we went to Chicago's to eat genuine Chicago Deep Dish Pizza. Yum! We spent a long time talking and laughing with Stacy and Walker once Claire went to bed and I stayed up much later than I usually do. Thanks again Walker and Stacy for lodging us for a night! Sunday morning we headed back onto the road again. We ended up in Memphis where we checked into our hotel. Monday we took Claire to the FedEx World Headquarters, Nike Headquarters, and the Children's Museum of Memphis. She liked the last stop the best, I think. On Monday evening, I got word that I was supposed to be back to work on Thursday, Justin was supposed to start classes on Thursday, but we didn't have power yet. We just decided it was time to come home. I have to admit that I dreaded it just a little, okay more than a little. We had spent almost 2 weeks completely together, no work schedules, school schedules, or anything else to work around. It was all coming to an end--too soon for me. But I knew it was time. So we headed back on Tuesday morning. We got here to find out that the other side of the street had power, but our side? nothing! So we spent a night in Meemaw and Papa's motor home at their house. They had power, but no air conditioning, so it worked out for us in there with a/c! Wednesday, we worked on the house getting it ready for power to come back on. We cleaned, picked up the yard, worked hard all around. 4:15 pm was a bright spot. It was when power came back on! Now we can enjoy the air conditioning, electricity, internet, and refrigeration just in time to go back to our crazy routine. However, not for long! We see the end of the tunnel and Justin's school not too far off. If you made it this far in this boring blog, you should check out an exciting, more detailed view at Justin's blog. Here.

Summertime's over

That time of year is here. School buses start traveling, school supplies are on sale, and the parks and beaches begin to empty. Tomorrow is the first day of school for all of us. Claire starts preschool at her daycare, Justin begins his senior (HALLELUJAH!) year of college, and I have my students for the first day. I have been extremely busy with buying school supplies for all of us, getting my room at school ready, as well as getting last minute cleaning done here at the house. I know that I don't get the time to clean it as well during school, so I really try to make it look presentable during the summers. I am teaching at a new high school this year, so I am a little more nervous than usual, but I know that it will all work out. I am excited for Claire to learn all the things that she likes to already. She already knows most of her letters and can count to 15 most of the time. She knows numbers 15 through 20, but not in order. I suppose that's kind of important. Here are some pictures of the last days of summer for us. There is a park closeby that has sprinklers and she had a blast once she figured out that it was fun. For a while, she just stood on the side and watched. But once she got into it, she didn't want to leave! Her favorite thing in the whole wide world to play with is bubbles. I must get asked about 10 times per day to go play bubbles outside. We found a new bubble contraption where the wand stays in the bottle and you simply squeeze the bottle (gently) and the wand pops up with the bubble solution inside. Then you simply blow and release the squeeze to fill the wand with more solution. This is much better for her age where she can do this herself and not make a big mess. We took them to the park with us yesterday and she got to play for a while with them. How much fun we have as a family! Thank you Lord for my precious family and all the memories we share!

Something Fun

Type your name in my blog comments.
Once you do that, this is what I'll do for you...

1. I'll respond with something random about you.
2. I'll tell you which song or movie you remind me of.
3. I'll pick a flavor of jello to wrestle you in.
4. I'll say something that only makes sense to you and me.
(If possible. If not, I'll say something that only makes sense to me.)
5. I'll tell you my first memory of you.
6. I'll tell you what animal you remind me of.
7. I'll ask you something I've always wondered about you.
8. I'll tell you my favorite thing about you.
9. I'll tell you my least favorite thing about you.

If you play, you MUST post this on yours. You MUST.

Healthiness: Is It Really Worth It?

For my most loyal readers, you may remember a couple posts ago where I talked about starting to run. Well, perhaps that was not the smartest idea I've ever had. I ran for about 2 weeks when my knees began to hurt. I kept running for 2 days until I decided that going through the pain was probably not the best. I stopped running but continued on normal everyday activities. At night, my knees were killer. I don't usually respond well to pain since I think I have a pretty high pain tolerance (no epidural with Claire's delivery). After a week now, I decided it was probably time to go see someone who knows more about this stuff than I do. So I've been icing it, elevating it, resting it, etc. All the right things. I just got back from an orthopedist and he says that I have stress "reactions" in both tibias. The tibia is your shinbone. It's a pretty big bone and not that easy to break, at least I don't think. Anyway, he took X-rays and they didn't show a "macrofracture" but that doesn't mean they're not broken. He told me to stay off of my legs as much as possible for 6 weeks! He actually gave me a script for a wheelchair! WHAT!?!?!?! I have a 2 year old and I teach high school science where we do labs and I can't trust a group of high school chemistry students in lab with me in a wheelchair! Oh Lord, what am I supposed to do?? Trust in Him. I am thankful that they are not completely broken and he says that if I do really well the next couple weeks, that they may heal on their own and I may not have to stay in a wheelchair for the full 6 weeks. I am praying that they will heal quickly and trust me, I'm staying off of these babies as much as possible. After they heal, he did say I can go back to exercising, but he suggested something other than running. So I'll be looking into those options in a few weeks. So please remember me in your prayers so that I can get to work quickly and efficiently. I do think that healthiness is worth it, but I probably should have been a little smarter about becoming healthier. One day, just not today or for the next 6 weeks. =(

Going on a treasure hunt!

Our anniversary is on Sunday, but Justin will be working, so I decided to get an early jump and surprise him with a treasure hunt. We decided not to buy any gifts for each other, but that didn't mean that homemade gifts were out. I devised a 6 clue treasure hunt with 6 homemade gifts--one for each year we've been married. It started with him going to get Claire from daycare yesterday. While he was gone, I put the gifts and clues in place. When he got home, I met him outside with the first clue which was to take Claire to his parents for the evening. I had given his parents the 2nd clue along with his first gift. The first gift was that he got to pick the movie for us to watch for the evening here at home. He picked 21. The 2nd clue led him back to our house for a Hot Fudge Sundae Cake for us to enjoy during the movie. MMMmmm. It was the first time I'd made the cake but it was so good. It was gooey underneath and more "cakey" on top. Perfect for ice cream, whip cream, nuts, and cherries on top! That clue led him to Claire's room where I had a very early picture of us framed using an old picture frame I found. The next clue led him to his computer where he found a music cd that I'd put together of how I feel about him and our relationship. (He had made one for me before we got married and it is still in my cd player in the car I listen to it so much.) I used some of the same songs, but some newer ones too. The 5th clue led him to the dryer where he found an "encouragement book". Our pastor had suggested a few weeks ago that everyone needs one of these books where you put encouraging notes, cards, etc. so that when you get down or frustrated you have something to remind you of good things. I took this to heart and created one for him. I have saved every card that we have given each other over the years and put them all in chronological order in this book. I also left some room at the back for more to be added. The last clue led him to the living room where I had created a card from my scrapbook stuff and for our movie and ice cream sundaes! We then watched 21 and enjoyed it. We had both heard the story before and we both like blackjack so it was a perfect movie! He is usually the one that is "romantic" and I am usually the procrastinator, but hopefully I was able to catch him off guard. Happy Anniversary!

Boring Week So Far

This week so far has been pretty uneventful around our house. It's been kinda nice. Yesterday we went to the park and Claire got to go in the sprinklers. She had fun and wasn't ready to go even when it was raining! Hurricane Dolly hit the south Texas coast today and although it's pretty far away from us, we have gotten rain all day long.

I finally decided to do something about an exercise plan. So I took up running. I even am planning to run a 5K on October 18th. I have been faithful so far and it has been enjoyable as long as I have my ipod. Even the rain today was nice since it cooled me off. I'm just praying that I'll stick with it. I am not really changing my eating habits, just cutting back a little here and there. I want this to stick and I know if I change things drastically it won't stick. So if you're reading this, I'd appreciate any prayers for me and that I'll stay motivated. I even put a little ticker on the right side to keep me aware of the coming 5K run. I just wish that I would have learned to do this a long time ago.

Worth it All

This week was crazy busy with VBS. We had over 90 1st graders every day this week. This is split between 3 teachers and helpers. 3 of the helpers were teenagers and boy were they helpful. We could not have accomplished all that we did without them! What a blessing! Most of the kids were very well behaved, but of course, there's always that small percentage that is not used to a routine. It was pretty rough the first 3 days and I was really unsure whether I was going to make it to Friday. But on Wednesday, the Lord gave me just what I needed. The story that day was about Jesus dying on the cross for us and rising from the dead 3 days later. At the end of the story, I asked if anyone had heard the story for the first time just then. One little girl sheepishly raised her hand looking around and noticing she was the only one who raised her hand. I reassured her that was ok and that all of us hear it for the first time at some point. She seemed satisfied with the answer and went on for the rest of the day just fine. On Thursday, we were playing a game where everyone got a chance to tell one thing they knew or had learned about the Bible. When it was her turn, she answered that in the Bible we learn of Jesus dying on the cross. Of all the things she could have said, she mentioned the story from the previous day! It was such a blessing to me and it immediately made me so glad that I had stuck with it and it gave me the strength to make it through the rest of the week. I have already requested not to be in a classroom next year though. It was just a little too much for me. Instead, they have an idea for a science room where we'll do small-scale experiments and we'll tie them into the lesson for that day. Sounds exciting to me! I just hope I get enough notice ahead of time to plan properly and be organized! The Lord just always places those little reminders in our lives that His grace is sufficient for us!

Picture Catch Up

Even though the blog was empty for a little while, the camera was still rolling. So now I'm catching the pics up! Hope you enjoy!

Claire and Matty have been enjoying the sunshine and the trampoline this week in the afternoons after VBS. It's also a nice way to tire them out a little bit more!



They not only jump on it, but run around in circles on it chasing each other and laughing hysterically!




This is Justin while we were working on the wallpaper border in the kitchen. We have been doing some home improvements this summer!



Another home improvement is that we are getting new carpet for the entire house! To go along with the new carpet, we decided to paint the wood paneling in the living room and the hallway before the new carpet comes! Here is how our living room walls look now!




Claire has become quite the model lately. She says, "I want a picture mommy! Cheese!!!" until you oblige.



Here's one of the two of us!



Daddy and Claire!



So Silly!



These were from our trip to Michigan. Claire had so much fun with all her cousins! Here's a picture of Noah and Megan along with Claire. They had emptied Megan's room of all the blankets and pillows and created a big mountain in the living room. Then they all 3 decided to jump, climb, and play on this mountain. It tired them out, so they covered up and rested for a while!



One night while we were there, I was able to go out for an evening with some long-time friends. Here we are while eating Cold Stone Creamery ice cream!



Maggie and Claire at the playpark having a ball! Maggie had just finished taking a class for babysitting responsibly, so it was nice to have a certified babysitter on the job for an afternoon during a picnic!



Here are all the women that were there at the picnic! Girl power!




We had a family picnic at a local park and my Great Aunt from Mississippi came up. Also, my aunt Diane from Traverse City was able to make it too! This first one is of 4 generations of women in my family. My great aunt Edna, my aunt Diane, me, and Claire.



I took my scrapbook and we noticed there was not a picture of Claire and Aunt Marni, so we made sure to get one this time!



Cousin Reece and Claire had a grand time at the playpark and decided to walk back hand in hand.



Aunt Trish and Claire also enjoyed holding hands walking to the playpark.



What good is a picnic if there isn't any watermelon???



No matter what happens when she's awake, she's always an angel while asleep!



Daddy got tickets to a Sesame Street Live performance at Ford Park and so Meemaw, Matty, Claire, and I went to watch Elmo Grow Up! It was cute, but we left at intermission. Just not something that we were all that into! Fun was still had by all and we learned that Matty wants to be a doctor when he grows up. At least that day he did.



Uncle Matt, Matty, Claire, and I went to a Texas Wildcatters game at Ford Park which was their last season here in Beaumont. I love going to the hockey games and there just aren't that many here in the South. Especially now that the Wildcatters have moved on. We still got to give them one last hurrah and hopefully sow some seeds of hockey love in Claire!



These were from early in the spring when Matty was in his tee/base ball season. We got the opportunity to go to some of his games and Claire would cheer him on. She loved to watch them play ball so much we decided to get a tee for her in the backyard. This was her first swing. She was a natural and hit it all the way across the yard on the first shot! What a girl!




She also likes to fingerpaint although this is not done very often I must admit. It's messy and she really is not into details other than mixing all the colors in her hand immediately and smearing it all on the paper in a random fashion.



This set is from Easter 2008. Claire had the cutest hat, but she didn't want to keep it on for very long. We went to church and then went to Papa and Meemaw's house for Easter Dinner. Pawpaw and Meme were there (Justin's grandparents) and Uncle Matt and Matty. After dinner, we had the official Easter Egg Hunt complete with Easter Baskets. The most memorable Easter present Claire received besides all the candy was an official Star Wars Light Sabre complete with sound! The Force would not allow any official pictures of a jedi in training!