Saying Goodbye

Kaydee peeping through the rail saying goodbye to the Texas houseBoth saying GoodbyeThis picture is of CJ when we bought the house...this is pretty much the reason why we bought this particular house...he ran upstairs and peeped through yelling, "hi, Mama!" It was so cute! This was in 2005

This is CJ in 2008 saying Goodbye!

I'm Back!

I know it has been forever since I have written! Life has been more than crazy...My last post piqued every ones' interest and then I left you hanging! The big news that we had been praying about was a job that would move us back to TN...and it did...almost 7 1/2 months ago! Just when Chris and I were at our lowest of low, on our knees praying that God would bring us back home to TN, even if it meant moving into our first house that we still own in Lavergne, we were ready and willing. Well, the very next day, Chris got a phone call about an opportunity...where else...in TN! After many weeks of interviews, negotiations, worries and most of all prayers, we moved on November 3rd, 2008. My blog is so behind that I hope to go back and pick up highlights from before the move, but for now, I am going to hit the high points since the move.


This is a picture of Mimi with CJ and Kaydee, I mean Dorothy and Zorro, for Halloween...Mimi has moved over 20 times in her life and therefore is an expert. Despite the fact that she and Papa were sad to see us move, she willingly came down to help us ...thank you Mimi as we couldn't have done it without you. CJ and Kaydee begged her to dress up for Halloween...since that was our last night in SA, she happily obliged.
This is the moving truck and YES, we filled up the entire thing!

I Will Not Be Moved

OK, I know I have A LOT of catching up to do, but for now, I need to get something off of my chest. There is a song by Natalie Grant called, "I will not be moved" and I have loved this song from the first time that I heard it, but I feel particularly tied to it at the moment. Most of you reading this know that we have been praying about a great possibility lately. I feel moved to post this now as opposed to when we know the outcome because I think it means more now. While I want this possibility to work out with every bone in my body, my faith will not be moved, if it doesn't. It is clear to me that God has a plan for us and while I may not know what that plan is for us yet, I am waiting with anticipation to see what it is that He unfolds for us. We have so much to be thankful for...two beautiful, healthy children and God willing we will have more when the time is right, we have a roof over our heads. The very same roof that when we first bought, we loved, but quickly saw all of the flaws in...only this is the house where CJ has grown into a precocious, intelligent, energetic, wise beyond his years little boy. The only house that Kaydee has known to which we brought her in as a baby. She has grown into a beautiful, feisty yet compassionate, loving, little girl. The house in which Chris and I have had some of our worst fights ever, yet have grown closer than ever because we had to lean on one another...we no longer had a circle of friends or family nearby (at least not at first), we no longer had babysitters jumping to be asked to watch our children. This house with all of its "flaws" is the same one where I have cried out to God in my saddest of moments knowing He would hold my hand and get us through because I will not be moved. A house is just an address, geography really and somewhere along the way, this house with all of its "flaws", became our home more so than our house in TN ever was. We built that house and decorated every inch of it exactly to our taste and in the end lost money on it because our taste is not necessarily everyone else's. That was just material stuff. In this home that still has a lot to be done, we have learned that material stuff is just that...stuff. We have learned that a house is just your address, just geography. A home is what is inside past all of the decor etc...it is where families love one another, grow closer together, in which God is the center and where they lean on Him in good times and in bad...in which their faith will not be moved. So, it is with this, that I say, while I want this possibility badly, and it seems as though it just dropped in our laps from God, if by chance, it is not His will, we will go on. We will be fine. We will move forward knowing that we are a family, knowing that when God is ready to reveal His plan for us, we will listen and we will be ready.

First Week of School Continued

Kaydee decided to help herself to my dry-erase board and draw while CJ and I played a Math game

Here CJ is ready to roll the "dices" as he says for our Math game

We do a Bible lesson every day and we wrapped up our study of Creation by making books. Here they are gluing their clouds on the Day 2 page.
CJ counting to 100 on his abacus...Since Kaydee wanted to do this too, I brought her an "abacus" just for her!
Later that day, I found Kaydee in the chair with her "abacus". She had picked it up herself, somehow climbed into the chair with it, and was looking very contemplative.

All in all it has been a great couple of weeks and I look forward to teaching them all sorts of things!

First Week of School

OK, I am terribly behind on my blog as everyone may have noticed. We have had a ton of things happen in between CJ's birthday and now, but I want to go ahead and start current and I will try my very best to go back and cover all of the great things we have done this summer! In the meantime, we have a Kindergartner in the house and also a preschooler! We started our first official week of Kindergarten home school last week and it is going great! It is a good sign when CJ says at the end of the day that he had fun in school today. It made the fact that I had stayed up until 2 AM making a game that we played for our Spanish lesson all worth while! Kaydee thinks she is just as big as CJ and therefore wants to do "school" too! It is hilarious because she can tell you that leopard seals live in Antarctica and she can tell what sound "B" says too! She can almost sing all the way through the alphabet song and is close to counting to 20. That is pretty good for a 2 1/2 year old I would say. Oh, and she is learning Spanish right along with CJ. They have a toy globe by V-Tech that talks and does all sorts of things. Well, CJ will often bring me the real globe and show me where the different continents are or where Tennessee and Texas are but he still likes the toy one as well. Kaydee went and got it the other day and asked me, "Mama, where's Asia? Where's the Great Wall?" OK, how many two year olds ask these questions? I am thinking they are going to be outsmarting me very soon! Ha!

First day of school

This calendar is great! We start our days off by going over the days of the week, month, date, season, and weather.
Putting together the alphabet train floor puzzle...CJ knows his letters and what sounds they make and has for some time, but I am easing him into school with review before jumping right into blends.
Since our first day of school was the day after Labor Day, Chris and I anticipated that it would be a rough first day. Not only because we were going from relaxed schedules and TV and computer time to more structure, but also, because anytime we have had a long weekend with Chris, the kids always miss him more on the following workday. This was exacerbated by the fact that Chris had been working excessive amounts the previous week and they had not seen much of him. We decided that lunch with Daddy at the Indian restaurant (CJ's pick) would ease in the transition. (the first day went great though) Here Kaydee was actually sitting in CJ's lap and they were sharing fruit!

CJ's 5th birthday party

Since everyone was here just a few days before CJ's real birthday, the timing was perfect for a party! CJ wanted a Speed Racer theme. For the menu, he requested lasagna, caesar salad, and bread. He wanted a Speed Racer cake and chocolate covered strawberries for his dessert! He knows what he likes!

Kiersten and Kelby played Happy Birthday for him on their guitars!

Go Speed Racer Go!
He is also a HUGE Narnia fan and couldn't wait to try on his new costume!

This cracked me up! Here is Poppy trying to hear the noises CJ's helmet makes when you turn your head!



We let him race around in a circle and break the streamer...here he is showing off the ribbon he won!

Day 4

On day4, we went for a quick bite of lunch at Pei Wei and then on to the Japanese Tea Gardens in Breckenridge Park!

After Pearl Harbor, the name was actually changed to Chinese tea gardens which still remains on the sign, but in the 80's, the city officially renamed the gardens back to Japanese tea gardens.

There was a wedding going on under this pavilion while we were there

After the gardens, we rode the train through the park

Playtime

Poppy playing playstation with the boys

Dee and Kelby on the dance mat...Dee told me after that she actually stepped on her own toe!

Nana and Chris on the dance mat

We have the Dance Praise version of the mats and it is much harder than it looks! We had a tournament among all of us...needless to say, the kids were much better at it, than all of us adults!

Day 3-Enchanted Springs Ranch, Here we come!

On Day 3, everyone was rested and ready for some fun so we headed out to Boerne and went to Enchanted Springs Ranch .

All the cousins ready to go

Best Buds, CJ and Kelby

Poppy and his boys

Eatin' time!

CJ standing in a tee-pee

On our wagon ride across the property, we saw all sorts of animals

Turtles and catfish that would swim right up to the top to get food
Nana touching a Texas longhorn only because our tour guide, Pistol Packin' Paula, threatened to shoot her (with blanks of course) if she didn't

CJ and Kiersten trying out the saddles

Poppy loaded everyone into the wagon

Pistol Packin' Paula showing her moves

Kelby recognized her from TV...she is a National Rodeo Champion who is working at the ranch for the summer while she recovers from an accident. Just a few weeks before we met her, she was still in a wheelchair.

Everyone wishing Paula well

After we left cowboy town, we went back home where Chris and I made our famous fajitas for everyone...and yes, fajitas were one of our specialties before we moved to Texas!