NEW BLOG

I've changed my blog, so for all one or two of you who read this, it's now located at http://curiousgeorges.shutterfly.com I opened a share site there and it's way easier to download pictures and blogs there, so we're going to see! If it doesn't work, I guess I can always move back here, but for now I hope you can keep up with our crazy life at the other site. I've already blogged our back to school journal there!

Summer Review

How have I let myself let my blog get away from me for the whole stinking summer!?

Well, here's a little recap for all 2 of you who read this thing!

We are settled into our new house just outside of Lufkin and loving it! The church is fabulous, and I love the people here. They have been so welcoming and refreshing. I think God should let us stay here for a long time! Chris is loving being back in the ministry, and God is blessing the church greatly. It's been amazing to watch, and we're just thankful to be a part of it.

The kids are adjusting well. They've made new friends at church and love their new classes there. Caleb is about to start kindergarten and is super excited. I, on the other hand, am kind of sad that my baby is about to start school! Joshua turned 3 this summer and will start his own "school" next week. I don't think he's quite as excited as Caleb! They have both turned into superhero fanatics over the summer. It's kind of sad that Caleb's outgrown the animal thing, and Joshua, of course, has to like what his big brother does (though he's still really into Cars and Toy Story)! I now know lots of superheroes I never knew existed!

We didn't go a lot over the summer, but it seems like we were awfully busy. I guess that's just the moving/settling part of our life. We did have a mini vacation to Lake Palestine and a big vacation to Surfside Beach. Both were fun! The kiddos love the water. They both got to go tubing at the lake (with their daddy). They LOVED it! Then there was lots of fun times at the beach. "Sharky" was a hit; they had fun riding the waves on him! Sharky and the boogie boards got lots of use that week! My family was with us for both trips...so much more fun to hang out with family! Chris, the kids, and I stayed gone for a couple of days after the beach trip, and we went exploring in the hill country. We decided there were WAY too many people floating the rivers (looked like a bunch of ants out there!), but we loved Marble Falls. It was mostly relaxing, but we saw some pretty country!

Now the summer is over, and it's time to get back to work. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time off! It was my first summer vacation since college! I definitely have a fantastic job. I'll be starting my new job at Angelina College on Monday. I've been doing a little orienting since the first of the month, but faculty technically goes back on Mon. The people I've met so far are really nice. Many are strong Christians, so I'm really looking forward to that! God put me in just the right place!

I'll try to do better about updating this thing more often....

Catch up....

Can I just tell you how incredibly CRAZY the last month has been!? It is my sincere prayer that our life is about to sllloooowwwww down! We are in the new house (parsonage) next to the church and are almost completely settled in...just a few things to hang on the wall and some misc. stuff. The church is fantastic! I know we're in the honeymoon phase, but these folks have been so great to us. I can just feel the excitement here, like we're all just anticipating what great things God has in store for us. It's really great to be a part of that. I know God's up to something good here, and I'm so thankful that He's allowing me to be a part of it!

Chris finished up his job at Mother Frances today. Yipee for no more driving 5 days a week! Now I think he'll finally get to settle in here. It's just been so stinking busy with him finishing out his time there and pastoring here. So you can see why I think life is about to get better...he'll actually be home again!

Caleb is an official preK graduate! I still haven't downloaded pics and video from that, so I'll post some of those later, but let me just tell you how cute my sweet boy was! His teacher told the class that their time on the stage was not the time to be waving and making silly faces, so Caleb tried his best not to acknowledge us too much. But, he did have some funny faces when he was "trying" not to notice us! The class sang some songs, and he had a solo in one of them. AWWW!!! I could tell he was really nervous, but he did great! His teachers made each student (all 18) his/her own scrapbook for the year. It is awesome! Every picture they took of Caleb and group pics and some artwork are all in there. Talk about time consuming! It's definitely a keeper!

Joshua is getting used to being in a new place. For a while, he kept saying he wanted to go to his house, but he's finally getting used to this being his new home. He and Caleb had to get used to being together all the time again, so there were lots of fights at first! Now they're doing better (still fighting) and enjoying their new playroom. Joshua is really starting to express himself. He'll tell me (all seriously) "Momma, I need to talk to you" and then just rattle off something silly about his cars or something! It's still so cute when he can't quite pronounce words correctly. This week our front yard was "flocked" with pink flamingos for a fundraiser. Every morning Joshua wakes up and wants to look out the window at the "camingos". What a sweetie!

As for me, I'm in the job hunt. I have interviewed with Angelina College twice and will interview with SFA next week. Pray that God will give me the job He desires me to have. I just want to teach! Right now, I'm just loving being off with my boys for the summer. This teaching schedule is fantastic! I've registered Caleb for kindergarten and found Joshua his "school" too. Now we can just enjoy ourselves for the rest of the summer and worry about school later! Don't know all the stuff we'll do, but I'm looking forward to some fun times!

It's Official!

Before I get into the weekend's activities, I have to tell you about my sweet Joshua. We were laying down together yesterday, and I rolled away from him to scratch my back. He told me to roll back over, and I explained that I had an itch on my back and had to scratch it. He says, "OK, Momma, I pet your back!" He proceeds to scratch a tiny portion of my lower back and then rolls over on his belly and says, "OK, my turn. You pet my back!" He laid super still while I "petted" his back...already rotten like his momma there!

Anyway, we headed to Lufkin this weekend for the big vote. I was pretty sure this would all work out because Chris and I both felt that this was where God was leading us. So, Chris preached on Sunday morning, and a family invited us over for lunch. Good to know how they all fit together because I had no idea they were related! Sweet people, and the kids had a blast playing. Then that evening we had a Q&A session where the congregation could ask us questions. They sat us up on the stage, and the kids followed....So here we are, Chris answering a question, and Caleb has a tissue stuck up his nose trying to "get the boogers out" and Joshua just digging for gold or something in his nostril. IN FRONT OF EVERYONE!!! I finally got them out with a lady who we have spent a lot of time with over the last few weeks, so the kids were OK leaving with her. Oh my goodness! At least the church can overlook my kids' nasty behavior!! Then after the evening service, the church voted unanimously to call Chris as their pastor!

While they were voting, Chris and I were in the fellowship hall where several of the young kids were. There was even a bouncy house in there! While it was the girls' turn, Caleb and 3 of his new friends went into one of the Sunday school rooms and had a "Superhero meeting". When they came out, they ran one at a time up to the little stage and posed in their best superhero pose! So stinking cute! Caleb's super power was being able to freeze things with his eyes. Such an imagination!

So, we're headed to O'Quinn Baptist Church in Pollock, TX! We're actually moving our things over today. Chris has given notice to the hospital, and I've told all the folks at my job. Please pray that God will open doors for me to find a new job. I'm looking at SFA and Angelina College, so we'll see what happens. We're pumped to be back in the ministry...I think God's got great stuff in store for us at O'Quinn!

Sweetness from Joshua

I had to get this down before I forget! Last night, Joshua's twang was in full force. He's been exaggerating his words lately, and one syllable words are now becoming two syllable words, like help, ow!, and others. So, we were in the car last night, and we saw the moon. It was a beautiful, big full moon if you missed it! I pointed it out to Joshua and he said, "Waaa-ow! Look at dat moon. It looks like a cookie!" How cute!!! Then that stinking moon kept hiding behind the million foot high pine trees, so it was a treat whenever it would peek out, and I would get another "waaa-ow!" Love the things my kiddos say!

The latest craziness...

So the people who owned our house sold it. Our lease is up Fri. The new folks want it Sat. Therefore, we're moving AGAIN! Now, this is not recent; we've known about it for a month or so, even tried to get them to let us stay through mid-May so I could at least get out of school. But, no go. We're out on the streets! Not really...

I guess I should give you a bit of background info on our housing dilemma. Chris and I have been praying for God to open up a new ministry opportunity for us. Chris is missing pastoring (it is his passion!), so we began searching for the next church God would have us serve. Well, we're headed to O'Quinn Baptist Church in Pollack (just outside of Lufkin) next Sun. Chris is preaching in view of a call that day, so the church will vote that night. Next Sunday I will know if I have a house or not! I really feel like this is the place God desires for us to serve, and I think that's the vibe I'm getting from the people there, too. We've been there twice now, and we love it! Pray that God would continue to guide our journey to where we need to be.

Another beautiful thing about this church is that it has a parsonage! So no house hunting necessary! It's a nice, big, spacious home. The music minister's wife was one of the former preacher's kids, and she says we have free reign to do what we want with the house. Soooo nice since I've heard some horror stories about parsonages too! I'm looking forward to setting up house for a loooonnnngggg while! In the meantime, we're going to stay with parents until we know something for certain, and if this doesn't work out, we'll find something else! God knows where we need to be!

As for my kids, Joshua doesn't really care what's going on. He's just concerned that the toys are packed in boxes. Of course, those boxes are great to climb on and jump off. I caught them both climbing on one of the big ones the other day! Crazy kiddos! Caleb is excited to have another house. I think he likes moving. Ugh! We spent the afternoon in the parsonage Sun. between services, and he ran through it saying, "Is this our new house!???" I think he'll adjust just fine. They both love their Sunday school classes, too. Very much a load off with Caleb....he doesn't take change that well!

So, pray for us as we complete this latest move, and I'll keep you updated!!!!!

Pretty like Brittany....

Kids say some crazy things. My children are chipmunk fanatics right now, so we've watched the old cartoons and the new movies lately. Caleb thinks we all have to be a character in everything we watch, so in the chipmunks, I'm Brittany from the Chipettes. The other day he asked me why I was never Janette or Eleanor. (Usually there is no changing of minds allowed!) So I said, "Well, I could be Janette since I wear glasses, and I'm chubby like Eleanor." lol! Then Caleb says, "And you're pretty like Brittany!" Awww! He can be sweet sometimes!

Last night we drove over to Fairfield to see the folks and get some STRAWBERRIES!!! The berries are finally ready and super yummy! We went up to the patch to pick some, and Joshua only ate them while I filled his bucket. Caleb's thoughts were that the strawberries weren't nearly as good without chocolate on them! Joshua was too cute. His face was totally covered in red strawberry juice, and he kept on eating them well after we went back to Nana and Pop's house! We took a box to their teachers this morning, too. Caleb was happy to give his over, but Joshua didn't understand why I wouldn't let him open his box and eat them! Oh well, at least they're healthy....