We've Moved =)

After signing my life over no less than 5, 763 times, we finally have our home and have moved in. We will not have internet access at home until October, more blogging to come at that time!

New Adventures

A friend and I have started a new business - Molding Minds Preschool!

To make a long story short last week I quit my job. I was the Assistant Director for a preschool program and I absolutely LOVED my job. I poured myself into that program working long hours outside of my regular hours because I loved it. This year one thing after another happened and it was revealed that from as high as the pastor of the church down to the administrator of the MDO the program was attached to, that things were not right and the environment became very stressful and toxic to work in. I have grieved over this program as all of my children have attended this very preschool. I truly have felt a loss by leaving. However, God made it clear to me I that it was time to move on.

A friend and I have decided that since our gifts are working with children that we are going to open a 2 day a week PreK program out of our house (hers actually) and hopefully move it to a more sound church once it grows. Over the past few days things have moved into place and already we have seen a good amount of interest and are hoping to start enrolling on Monday. If that isn't God moving I don't know what is since we only started "advertising" on Wednesday!

I will save all of the advertising for you to look at in your own time, but if you have a child and would like to see them in a safe, nurturing, Christian, play-based PreK program and are in the Dallas Area please have a look and feel free to contact us. And of course, you can always send referrals our way even if you don't live in this area!

The Molding Minds tab is on the right and form there you can read the blog in order or you can click on the PreK tab on the top and click the links from there.

I Quit My Job

I'm having a rough time right now with the changes in my life. This is sad really. Definitely not a joyful time! I'm confident I made the right decision to leave the preschool program I have been the Assistant Director of for 7 years now. To be very frank, I didn't have any other choice. The Bible is very black and white to me; there is right and there is wrong. I absolutely could not work for a church that is allowing sin to fill it's rooms and ministries. I know we are called to do what is right, even if that decision is a hard one to make.

I had no intentions of leaving this year. As a matter of fact, I never saw a time when I would be okay without that preschool program in my life. But over the summer the stress of the program became a bit too much for me to handle. I dealt with the problems in a Christlike manner and expected the same from the leaders of the church. This was not to be and led me to make the drastic decision to leave my job I loved so dear.

I'm writing to ask you not to talk to me about the program and I am asking you to please keep me in your prayers. I really need time to heal from these changes and it is really a struggle for me right now. I am very bitter and I need to get past these feelings. I know there will be bad days at work; I predicted this weeks ago. That is the very reason why I stood up for my teachers and the very reason I lost my job. I know things are going to happen that will upset them. I know things are going to get very rough before they get better. And believe it or not, I continue to pray for the church, the program and it's leaders.

I love all my friends and co-workers dearly. I hope they know I pray for each of them every Wednesday and Friday morning as they head out to work. I thank those who have stood by me throughout this entire ordeal.

I have no idea what God has in store for me. I toss around various ideas and pray for His guidance. I haven't been at home without children in 12 years and I haven't been at home 5 dyas a week without some sort of income. But God provides. I can't wait to see what He has planned for me!

Worst Football Mom EVER

Cameron started football this week and let me tell you, this has caused me GREAT stress. I confess, I became a creeper this week. I stalked the football fields during practice. In my defense, it was very near where I was already driving and they were outside for practice. How could I not drive by? I worried that he would be hungry during practice because he couldn't eat breakfast before. I worried that he'd be famished by lunchtime if he didn't get something in his belly after practice. What if he was hot or thirsty? Or injured? What if he forgot part of his wardrobe for school and didn't realize it until after practice? Why must the boys shower in one community shower? And why on earth are practice uniforms called "grays"? Does my baby have to wear stinky grays all week? When do I wash them? And is it necessary to play when it is pouring down rain?

Before you think I've completely lost my mind and before you warn the school of the woman in the minivan driving by the practice field in a continuous circle, I managed to NOT sneak a peek on Friday. I cried tears like a baby this week in constant worry. I sometimes drove by twice in one day (don't judge!). But today, I am proud to announce I didn't drive by even once. I can neither say I didn't want to drive by nor can I say I tried to map a route to allow me time to pass by. Somehow though, I managed to stay away for the day.

And yes, my son knows I stalk him. He laughs at me and thanks me for not bringing a lawn chair and watching practice. Ha ha. True story... and you thought I was crazy?!

I am going to be the worst football Mom ever. I'm already planning on how I can miss the games. Jason tells me I have to go. I remind him I don't have to keep my eyes open. This sport stresses me out!

Happy 12th Birthday Cameron!

Where has the time gone? My baby turned 12! I love this kid. If you have ever tried to keep a group of boys entertained, you know that you just have to let them form their own game plan. They have their own agenda and it's guaranteed to include running and mischievous behavior. As I sat and watched the boys do this, I just knew one of them was going to land wrong on that bar. I warned them too! But alas, they all made it home safely without injury.

A couple of attempts at a group shot with 6 unwilling participants:

Back to School

I love my kiddos' back to school pictures, but truthfully, I'm lucky to get even ONE picture on this morning. My kids are good for one picture with smiles then they're over me. I messed this up big time! My first picture had everyone together but Courtnie was crying because she was being rushed (it's not my fault we don't operate on Courtnie-time). My second picture had everyone posed and smiling but it was blurry. This is my third picture - everyone there, not really posed and half smiles. It'll have to do!
We started the new school year at our new school by our new home. Lots of anxiety - more for me than the kids. Colton walked into his Kindergarten classroom like a champ! Not too fond of my camera in his classroom, but you can see his smile! Courtnie left me in the hall as she made her way into 4th grade. Cameron left me at the front door of middle school as an excited 7th grader and I promise I did not even think of taking pictures!

Do you understand what this means? for me? I have NO babies at home anymore. I have been at home with my children for 12 years now. Today, I'm sitting at home catching up on my blog and they are all at school. I'm sad they are all at school now, this is definitely the beginning of the newest stage of parenting. I'm sad that they are growing up so fast and so big. But I'm so happy they will spend their day with a teacher who adores them and wants to see them learn and grow. I'm happy they will make new friends, some of which will be in their lives for a lifetime. Some friends will break their hearts but they will use this time to grow as well and better themselves. They'll spend their days sharing laughter and conversations with classmates, time on the playground being a carefree child. Each day I pick them up and see their smiles on their faces and listen to the stories they share about their day. I love them and I love every phase in life they walk us through. These children have been such a blessing to us!

Chocolate Factory

Last week we took a tour to the Mary Puddin Hill Chocolate Factory in Greenville, TX. It was definitely worth the drive! You can see by our attempt at a group shot the various age groups (minus my oldest dodging the camera and a few toddlers who also refused to take part in the group pic). Each child enjoyed the tour in their own way.

Cameron reminds me of the neighbor on Home Improvement, Wilson, that never shows his face. I attempt a pic of me and my kiddos and Cameron is half-missing.
We had various items to choose to put in our chocolate bars.
Here is a pic of the chocolate being made. It smelled, and looked, sooo yummy!The bars were made and we poured our toppings on top.
Here is Colton waiting for his chocolate bar to cool off in the big machine.
Here they are!
Now to take our tour of the factory while they fancy up our chocolate bars in special packaging.
Who doesn't love "I Love Lucy"?!
And of course they would have a chocolate "Forrest Gump"!

If you are looking for a field trip for a school or your playgroup, I definitely recommend this place! I didn't get a picture of all our bars because they were eaten before I knew it! We also managed to walk out with chocolate covered peanut butter balls, chocolate covered cherries and chocolate covered Oreos. Now THAT'S a playgroup for Mommies!!

Treasure Hunt

Made possible by Courtnie Shea:






She definitely doesn't have my OCD tendancies for neatness and perfection, but this is a good quality as well. Isn't she very creative? I love her so!

Superest Super Heroes EVER

Introducing.....
Flash, Buzz Lightyear and Superman.... all-in-one!

Colton and his friend, Travis, played all day long with boy dress-up clothes. They had alot of fun!

Six Flags

The best way to afford Six Flags... free tickets from Read to Succeed! Because of this wonderful program, we were all able to get in free. We did how ever spend our entire life savings on food though. Price gauging on food should be illegal, but that could be an entire new blog. We did pick a incredible day to go. This was the last week of the high 90s, as the very next week it hit the 100s and the temps haven't improved since. The temps were decent, we had somewhat of a breeze, the crowd was low, all this combined made it a great day!

And because my children had an exceptional day, I will note that they were WONDERFUL! They did not ONCE bicker about who sat with who, we all took turns riding alone, no one complained about not riding a ride so another could ride a certain ride, we shared our one big water bottle, they didn't complain about walking or the heat, being hungry or tired, or not being able to ride a ride if they were the only person who wanted to ride it. They did fabulous!!






We started our morning out in the kiddie area. As you can see, it was alot of fun! Because we all enjoyed the kids area, we moved on over to a "small" roller coaster - Judge Roy Scream. I have no idea when this ride went from small, smooth and acceptable to terrifyingly rough and jerky. My bad. Probably not the BEST choice in Colton's first big roller coaster. As you can see, we went from happy and excited to terrified to pissed at Mom.


I had to have a chat with him promising not to make him get on a roller coaster that would be scary or hurt him (all the while rubbing my neck and back from the effects of the roller coaster). And yes, I do MAKE my kids get on roller coaster. There is absolutely no sense in going to Six Flags to walk around all day. If you go, you toughen up and ride the rides (within reason of course). Besides, the looks on their faces on some of the rides are priceless! It's just part of being a parent - you torture me with whining and bickering, I torture you making you ride the rides with me.

The rest of the day went smoothly, we all had a good time and are so thankful we were able to clear an entire day out of our schedule to all spend the day together.