Our first Sunday was a pounding...

Today was our first Sunday at Lane Prairie.  Since it was the day after Christmas they were having just a morning worship service without small groups or the evening service.  And, it was the first Sunday in a LONG time that we didn't leave the house by 7am...I don't even think we were up by 7am!  On normal Sundays we will probably head out around 8 am...so that's still an extra hour for us...woohoo!

At the conclusion of the service we went forward to be introduced (again) and that's when we got the pounding.  Well, a food pounding that is.  I often joke that my boys (hubby included) have the love language of food.  Give them food, invite them over to eat, out to eat...whatever...they feel special when they are given food.  So, we were feeling the love today as we gazed over the sacks and sacks of groceries.  Casey and I unloaded them onto our dining table...and they are all still there.  Not sure where it's all going to go...but I'll find a place eventually.  (Under the sink perhaps?)  All the cans and groceries take up 1/2 of our dining room table (and it has the leaf in it!).  It was a very sweet welcome from a very friendly church.  And, we were hugged...a lot!  Josiah, who is not my shy child, was even a little overwhelmed with all the attention and hid behind me as people went by hugging and shaking our hands.  It was a good day.

Merry Christmas!

I just wanted to say Merry Christmas to my handful of blog readers.  I realize that my blog is probably not very coherent at times...nor on any topic in particular.  I started writing as a way to share with everyone when we were getting ready to move to Texas.  Now, mostly I write for myself...just a way for me to express what is on my heart, so thanks for listening, and commenting.  Sometimes I write to communicate with our family too.  It is hard to be so far from family, especially during the holidays.  I like that I can share what we're doing (or not doing) as a way to keep in touch with our families and friends. 
Merry Christmas!  May we celebrate the greatest gift, Jesus Christ, not only during this season, but each and every day.

Top 10...

Top 10 Things I hate strongly dislike about living in Texas:

1. Bugs - you name it they're here...and of course bigger and nastier looking than they should be. 
2. It's flat - no mountains or (real) hiking trails around here.  I REALLY miss the mountains.
3. Trees - Okay, so there are trees here, but not TREES like in the NW forests.  I miss big trees too!
4. August - is really miserable.  Over 100 degrees plus humidity for weeks on end...my hair doesn't like it either.
5. Coffee...the lack of it!  You know you've been in the south too long when you say, "Maybe I'll stop by McDonalds and pick up a good latte."  Now, to their credit, I think McD's makes a pretty decent latte and coffee.  However, it's no Caffe Mela or Coffee Cabin or D&M or well, you get it.  How can you have a donut shop, liquor store and/or church on every corner, but not a coffee stand?!  Let's get our priorities straight people!
6. Seminary - it's a love/hate thing.
7. FREEWAYS - Okay, this is probably, in all honesty the number one dislike!  DFW is ranked #2 for road rage after NYC...seriously!  
8. Fake Cheese in a box, otherwise known as Velveeta.  Everyone uses Velveeta around here, even restaurants for their cheese sauces and queso stuff.  Eeewww!  My neighbor jokes (when she uses it) that she uses the "organic" kind.  I don't think organic velveeta is even possible! 
9. Allergies - wait, maybe this is the number one dislike.  It turns out that North Texas is one of the worst places to live if you have allergies...yay me!  They are bad almost year round except for the couple of weeks where it is actually cold.    
10. Trains - Ok, it could be just our current location...but really, do the trains need to lay on the horn in the middle of the night?  Seriously! 

Well, there's lots to love about where we live...but that will be in a coming post.  :>)

making a difference

Tomorrow is our last Sunday at North Fort Worth.  I'm both excited and sad.  Excited that we are moving on to something new.  Excited that we've heard from God and know this is the direction He wants us to go.  Excited to meet new people and form new relationships.  Excited to "start over" yet again. 

Sad that we will be saying "goodbye" to some.  Sad that we didn't connect better with others...hence the goodbye.  Sad that I don't really think we made a difference...well, let me say that I didn't make a difference in any one's life in the year we were there.  Maybe I did...I don't know.... I guess in my own retrospect thinking  I'm asking myself "where did I make a difference?"  I'm leaving NFW having met lots of nice people.  However, I'm (honestly) only leaving with one or two (maybe three) relationships that I think will last beyond our time there.  Of course, there is faceook now where all of our faux relationships can exist.....okay, maybe I'm feeling a little cynical tonight.   I guess the one thing that has surprised me the most is that more people from the traditional service have talked to us about our leaving than those in the contemporary (the service that Casey's led for the last 14 months.)  So, maybe it is just a reflection on our generation that we are very poor at relating to one another.  That's something to think about anyway....

I will take away some great things from our time there though, like Ethan's baptism and teaching the 1st graders in VBS and the friendships that were made. 

Homeschool "Breakthrough"

I've been lacking the necessary motivation for homeschool since our Thanksgiving break.  We've been doing a lesson here and there, but haven't really put in a "full" day of school since the break.  It's hard with winter break just around the corner to go fully back into "school" mode. 
Even though my motivation has been lacking, we did have a really good day today.  Last year we used curriculum that introduced cursive (intensive) for Ethan.  Poor kid, we had constant struggles with cursive and about 3/4 through the year I finally said, "Enough, we'll put this aside till next year."  I couldn't fit a full English unit into this short period of time between Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks, so I pulled out some other material that I bought but decided that I'd save for Josiah.  For something different I thought I'd pull out one of the English units and have Ethan work through it.  Today we came to cursive...and there were no tears.  AND, his handwriting was SO much improved AND he was proud of himself for doing such neat work.  Phew!  I was really dreading coming back to cursive.  Major breakthrough! 
The second thing was something Ethan said.  He was working on Roman Numerals (which, quite honestly confuse me and give me a headache)...adding Roman Numerals!  Yikes, I thought it might be a little too much for him (because it took him awhile to finish), but he loved it!  He asked me to make him MORE problems with Roman Numerals.  Seriously! 

Giving thanks to the "older" generation

This past week we attended the Deacon's Banquet for our church.  It was a nice event and I could tell it was something really special for the deacons and their wives, especially those of the older generation.  The speaker was a counselor who at one time was part of NFWBC.  I can't remember his name, but I remember a story he told.  A man he was counseling came to this part of his "life" story and broke down.  He was remembering the church he had grown up in and that as a teenager his father had just decided that they weren't going anymore...and that was it.  He remembered how the people at church had loved him and always had a cookie and juice for him (specifically some of the older people) and a hug.  He felt he belonged...and then it was gone.  The story made me think of some people in my own life, especially those of the "older" generation who have loved, hugged and given me that sense of belonging in the churches I've attended.  So, I thought I'd just mention them and thank God for them.  (Note:  older is relative, but I'm thinking mostly of those who are older than my parents or at least have children that are older than I am).

CSBC - (my church as an older child and youth through my college years) & Ronald Community

• Gene Wilson - Love this man!  He would always come up and give me the side shoulder hug and lots of smiles.  I knew he was ALWAYS glad to see me (because he told me so)...he even drove the bus that picked me up for a lot of my childhood years.
• Dr. Powell - there aren't enough words to describe this man...those who know him know why!
• Frank & Tommie Sue Johnson 
• Dwight & Janice Bolton

WVBC

• Byron & Iris Moore
• Katie Handley
• Treva Wilson
• Butch & Geneva Manry
• June Lamb - she rocked my firstborn baby in the nursery during his first year
• Dislcaimer:  the following I don't think are "older" enough but I will mention them anyway - Beverly Selland, Ann Lancaster, John & LauVonne Melton, Perry & Kay Peddicord
• I think there are others that I'm missing...but I'll add to it as I remember.

NFWBC

• Trinidad & Betty Ann - two of my boys favorite things each Sunday are going to the library (Betty Ann) and getting doughnut holes from the greeters (Trinidad). 
• Linda Renfro - has been so kind to our family.

Last 2 weeks - Fun in Fort Worth

Hello again.  It's been a crazy last two weeks at our house, but it was a good kind of crazy.  My memory doesn't keep up with our activity though, so I can't really tell you everything, but I will share what I remember.  Let's start with November 18th (Thursday) when Casey's parents arrived.  It seemed to take forever for them to get here...just ask Josiah.

This is how I found him.

I opened the blinds and he made himself comfortable.

On Friday evening was Casey's graduate recital.  And no, he hasn't graduated yet, but that's just what it's called (graduate level thing).  He did AMAZING!  We are SO proud of him and all his hard work.  His voice professor told him that he should be really proud of himself because he did so well.  From what Casey has said previously about his prof. (whom he really respects), he doesn't just hand out compliments like that.

Grandpa & Grandma w/ boys

reception

 

Me and my handsome man

 Saturday and Sunday were a little uneventful for me and the boys as they had come down with a cold.  So, we stayed home and Gma & Gpa went out and about with Casey.  Monday we visited the Botanical Gardens.  It was a perfect day, except that it was pretty breezy.  For lunch we went to Dickey's bbq and then drove around a little and fought our way through the grocery store to get everything for our Thanksgiving dinner.

Casey worked Tuesday, so the boys and I took the grandparents to the Museum of Science and History.  It's one of our favorite places to go.  The planetarium shows are great and there are so many fun things to explore and create.

Grandpa takes on T-Rex

Ancient Egypt exhibit

 Wednesday I spent at home getting ready for Thanksgiving.  I made a gluten free pumpkin pie that was really yummy and an apple crumble that was less than mediocre.  It wasn't awful, but definitely not great.  Thanksgiving was a nice day at home playing games and eating!  Lots of eating.
Friday afternoon we went to the zoo.  I love the zoo.  It's one of my favorite places to go. I've taken many, many pictures from our trips, but I'll just post this one cute little picture this time.   

The Meerkats are so cute! 

On Saturday the grandparents, Casey and boys left me at home with my heat pad (pinched nerve in back) and went to the movie theater.  They saw Megamind and I think they all enjoyed it.  That evening we all went Downtown (cue music).  We ate dinner at Uno's pizza.  They have a gluten free pizza...yay for me!  After dinner we walked around and browsed the coolest Barnes and Noble bookstore I've ever been in.  And, got a few books too!  Sorry, no more pics from me....
Sunday we went to church.  The youth pastor filled in for our pastor who was sick and brought a great Word.  For lunch we went to the Chef Pointe Cafe.  Now, this is no ordinary cafe.  It was featured on Guy Fieri's Food Network show called Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.  Chef Pointe is a gas station (still operable) with 5-star food inside.  YUMMY!  Well, at least my previous meals there have been fantastic.  However, now that I'm gluten intolerant it left me with a plate of greens and grilled chicken - BORING!!!  I did enjoy seeing everyone else eat their amazing food...I should have taken a picture!
And that was about the end of our crazy busy, but fun week!  We did a few things on Monday too, but by then I think we were all exhausted...I know I was anyway...and my kids too!  Phew.   It was so nice to have grandpa and grandma visit and spend some time with us.