Trick of Treat

Let me introduce you to the cutest Power Rangers of all time. I'm still catching up. 

We trick or treated with Ruby and John this Halloween, and managed to get plenty of candy (most of which I sent with John to fill the NATCA room at work. (for all you non air traffic controllers, that's the union room.)

But I digress. We walked around, we collected candy. Ya'll know the drill. 

 

 

 

Pow Wow

Jack celebrated Thanksgiving with his class on Friday. Each child had to pick a Native American name last week, and he settled on "Sliding Tiger." I grabbed a few pics of the day, before it was destroyed. 

Skating, Lesson One

The NHL lockout lingers on, much to the dismay of some of Memphis' biggest Nashville Predators fans. We're taking it in stride, though, with ice skating lessons. The boys call them hockey lessons. and there's plenty of hockey around. First, we have to learn how to skate, though. 

Ya'll just go ahead and pray for these boys -- that their mom can find helmets sooner than later and that she doesn't have a heart attack worrying about concussions.

Happy 70th Birthday, Grammy

We celebrated Grammy's 70th birthday in September (again, I'm still catching up here). It was a surprise party, though I almost ruined with in classic Nellann fashion. She thought the family was coming over for dinner. We were, along with another 15 people she didn't know about. Thankfully, she didn't catch my slip.

The boys had the best time helping her celebrate (can you tell it was a UT football Saturday night?) 

  

Fall Soccer

We just wrapped up fall soccer season. Jack moved up to the 6-7 year old league, and John took on coaching duties with his friend, Nate. We won our first (and last) game on Saturday, which we choose to look at as progress. Our goal is to keep as much of the team together as possible for the spring. 

 I caught most of these mid-season -- Jack on and off the field, John with his coaching duties and Ben ... well, I just chase him a lot.

 

Moved!

This was a lesson in patience and control. God needed to teach me both.

In late September, John and I moved into a new house after finally selling this one. I'm almost embarrassed to write about how hard this was for us. Because in almost every way you look at it, it wasn't a real problem. I wanted to sell my nice house and get another nice house.

I'm writing about it because I want to remember what I learned from it.

John and I decided to put our house on the market more than two years ago. It went off and on the market throughout that time -- and I had every sort of emotion you can imagine. Disapppointed and hopeful. Stressed and frustrated. Mad. Really mad.

"Learn this lesson, whatever it is," I told myself.

And then, I found this verse in Philippians.

"I’ve learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I’m just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I’ve found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty." Phil 4:14 (The Message)

Paul was writing to the Philipians -- from a jail cell. Definitely not from a safe warm house where all of his family lived. Still, it was the nudge I needed and  the beginning of understanding part of the lesson God was teaching me.

I planted the verse on my desk at work. Read it a dozen times a day. Memorized it. Thought on it. Prayed about it.

"Learn this lesson, whatever it is."

Staying put gave me time for things I didn't know I needed: first and foremost, time with John. Real, dedicated time where we weren't looking for houses, talking to inspectors or filling out loan applications. We weren't packing or registering Jack for new schools. We were sitting on our back porch and talking about nothing and everything.

"Learn this lesson, whatever it is," I told myself.

However cliche it sounds, I was reminded that "not yet" really is an answer. It's one I've got to be OK with, because I've never ever been let down with it. The plan He has is always far more wonderful than the one I have. I won't pretend that I was so Zen about it all in the midst of the waiting. But I know it's always true.

I do know this, though: after five weeks in our new house, I feel more at home than I ever have. Settled and thankful that I waited for what God had prepared for us.

We moved in late September, which is why I haven't blogged in weeks. My friend Amanda scolded me last week, wanting Halloween pics of my kiddos. I'm getting there. But thought I'd catch up first. (that, and I wrote this post weeks ago and just left it in my que).

Now, let's just hope this lesson sticks. On to my next. 

Lunch with my favorite kindergartner

I had lunch with my favorite 6-year-old last week. School lunch hasn't changed much since I was eating them. The cafeteria works pretty much the same too. 

Our deal for the past few weeks is this: get good behavior reports Monday-Thursday of each week, and you can eat in the cafeteria on Friday. So far, this deal is working out well for me: I can feel good about what he's eating most of the time (because I'm packing it) and I'm getting good behavior reports. On Friday, he eats whatever he wants in the cafeteria, and I take a day off from packing lunches. 

 Last Friday, his lunch consisted of pizza, applesauce and chocolate milk. They offered him lima beans, but he passed.

First Day of Preschool

We've got both our boys back in school now. That sigh you hear is the relief we feel from surviving another summer of "figuring it out." (thank goodness for mine and John's flexible/wacky work schedules and quality drop-in child care at Methodist Healthcare).

Ben started 3K at Lord of Life Preschool last week. While it was technically his first day, I feel like that place is sort of our second home. We went to church there for nearly 5 years, I've served on the school board for 5 years or so, Jack was in preschool for three years, and Ben is starting his second year.

So we managed to avoid all the angst we had with kindergarten. From me, I mean. Ben, he's scared of almost nothing. He was so excited to start, and proud he got his photo taken on his first day. Easy cheesy.

Week One

I wanted to post these before our first week got away from us. Jack is enjoying kindergarten and making friends. I think John and I are starting to get acclimated to it too -- just in time for Ben to start preschool next week.

Ben and John, waiting on Jack on the first day of school.

Jack, getting out on his second big day.

Kindergarten, Day One

Take a look at this kindergartner. Handsome boy, huh? Today was Jack's first day in a staggered week -- he'll meet his entire class on Monday. 

Our neighborhood is across the street from his school, so we're walkers. John and I both had a little panic today, though, when we realized there's no more walking him to his room after today. He and dozens of other kids met us at our neighborhood entrance today (with a teacher and crossing guard). Still, it was a big reminder that this isn't preschool anymore. 

I haven't heard much about today, yet, but I think he had fun. Here's my report: He had spaghetti, peas, applesauce and chocolate milk for lunch. He read a story about Chester the Raccoon (it was his first day at kindergarten too) and then he made a puppet that looked like Chester. Oh, and he played outside.

Ben and Jack, walking to school.

Next week, we go everyday. Let's hope mom survives it all.

Zoo Camp, Before I Forget

Summer is almost over around here. Kindergarten starts on Thursday, Ben's preschool is a few weeks away.   I wanted to post these pics before I lost them or forgot them. Both scenarios are pretty likely these days.

Jack went to Zoo Camp a couple of weeks ago. He told me it was his favorite camp of the summer. I experimented this summer with just a few camps. VBS and Soccer Camp at church, All Sports Camp at CBHS and Zoo Camp. We'll do all of those again next year and maybe add a few.

We spent a couple of afternoon roaming the zoo after camp. The boys got to feed giraffes, a new relatively new activity at the zoo.

Kindergartner, Registered

We registered Jack for kindergarten this week, in preparation for his first day of school. He goes one day next week, but I wanted to post these first. I've been feeling a little overwhelmed lately with a lot of transition in every part of my life, so ... I let John handle it. Let everyone who thinks I'm a control freak know this: I let John register this kindergartener on his own. 

And he did a great job. I think I'm most surprised by the amount of stuff a kindergartner needs these days. We bought the pre-packaged set of supplies, which included -- among other things -- 15 glue sticks, eight packs of crayons, lots of pencils, wipes and a headset.

I ordered his backpack from LL Bean, which promises me a lifetime warranty. I still have my college backpack, which I use on lots of trips.

Here we go! Next week, Day 1 of kindergarten.