Welcome Home Soldier!

My assistant at Trinity, Charla, told me about this wonderful idea! She and her family have been participating regularly to greet the U.S. soldiers as thy arrive home from overseas. Here is an excerpt from their website.HES THIS WORK?

There is a plane load of Soldiers, Sailors, Airman and Marines that lands at Dallas Fort Worth Airport every day. This is mostly servicemen and servicewomen who are on two week R&R leave from overseas, mostly from either Iraq, Afghanistan, or Kuwait. This is their first landing on US soil, and from here they board other flights or catch rides with family for the trips to their hometown. With the outstanding support of DFW Airport, a daily welcome party is held to give them a warm reception and let them know the folks here at home support them. As they get off of the plane and exit customs they encounter our party...a group of enthusiastic patriotic Americans of all ages with flags, balloons and posters applauding and shaking their hands.

The reception area is very accessible, thanks to DFW Airport, and anyone wanting to come welcome the troops can participate. You can park right across from the gate. Just go to Terminal B, Gate 39. Your parking is free as you are given parking passes. To find out the time of the flight arrival, just check the recorded message at 972-574-0392...just be sure to check it a couple of times on the morning you are coming because the times often change. You are welcome to bring your group to participate in this, as we often have boy and girl scouts, church groups, school groups, co-workers, etc. If you have a group that is interested, just pick a day and show up. We hope to see you there.

What a valuable thing to teach our children...that these men and women are risking their lives to serve our country and they deserve our recognition and thanks.

Are you interested? If so, here are the details:

www.welcometroops.com
972-574-0392

They usually arrive at 9:30
Terminal B, Gates 37 and 39

Please let me know if you participate in this. I'd love to hear about it. I plan to take the kids some time soon (maybe over the holidays)

Annual Fall Party

This will make the third year in a row to hold our Fall Party. What a fun experience for both the kids and parents. This year, because of the growth of several families :-) we decided to hold our fall party at night when the dads could come along for crowd control. We met out at a park in Garland where we were practically secluded from the crowds. We had a nice fire pit that we put to good use later int he night.

We had rotations to which each family moved through. First, was the apple bobbing!!!

Here's B and Jackson with their prizes!

Next, was cupcake decorating


Third, we had a craft station where they made a "thankful" tree.


Cait working hard on her craft.


Mom lending a hand


Our last rotation was a nature collection and then the kiddos had some games int he pen field. This allowed the moms to fix the hot dogs (thanks to Kris for grilling all of those of the rustic grill). Here's a pic of them running around crazy.




Laurie and Jackson enjoying their dog and chips.


Finally...the fire!


The boys fascinated by the fire.




S'MORES!!!!


Half the Hamm clan (the other half was sick!)


The Pates


The Sowells


The Gordans


The Perkinsons


The Clarys


Brad and Laura (Edward, why do I have no pictures of you??? Were you hiding?)


Singing by the campfire. The kids were like a mob. They thought it was grand!!


I think we've altered our tradition in a good way! I already can't wait until next year!!

Labor Day...okay, so a little late

Okay, so I'm a little behind on this report. My life has been a little crazy! The only reason I even thought to post these pictures, is because my sister just sent me her pictures from this particular weekend, just yesterday. So there! I'm not the only one behind!


Here's my girl on the little leisure pontoon ride we took.



B driving the boat with his Poppa



Me and mom...looking like we always do at the lake house.



Two of the prettiest things God ever made in on picture!




The cousins in our annual picture on the tube


The girls lounging around

Cait is getting some serious love from her cousin!!! How cute is she?

The kids are in Sugar Land right now with Chris celebrating Thanksgiving. He will drop them off at my parents' house tomorrow and they will have some grandparent time until I can get down there on Tuesday night. I am so ready for a little break from school and all the work that goes with it. I am looking forward to time with my family and all these sweet kiddos!

Spiritual Renewal

Today, I am so blessed to be taking my Fall Spiritual Renewal Day. TCA takes care of their teachers and staff in so many ways. This is one of those ways. We get one day in the fall and one in the spring to just breathe, spend time with God and in His word. I chose to spend my day with my baby girl. We are in much need of time together, and I figured that I would feel most renewed if I had some girl time, combined with time in the word.

Speaking of spiritual renewal...I let the wonderful weekend I spent with the ladies of my church slip right by without giving you an update. It was wonderful, as usual, to slow down, be with the godly women of my church and be encouraged in the Lord. Here are some pics from the weekend.


Allyson and Jenni with Jack in tow.


Julie with Daniel, and Jenni with Jack


Part of the group after a nice long hike.
Poor Rhonda! We nearly drove her crazy with all the questions we asked her about child-raising and keeping a home. I hope she comes back next year after getting the third degree!!!!


Amy with baby Will. They were my cabin buddies!!


Jenna came all the way from Las Vegas to be with us. We also finally got to meet Mr. Joshua! What a sweetie. So many babies were along this year!! I was feeling kind of footloose and fancy free!

The Lord is so good to give us what we need, when we need it, and not before. It's good to have reminders of that. Sure, I'd love to be in their shoes, growing my family and caring for little bitty ones again. But that's not where I am right now, and I can do nothing to change it.
All blessings are from Him though...even the blessing of having to wait and be content where I am.

We got Lucky!!!!!

The class pet, Lucky, finally got to come to our house. I have had to listen to Benjamin say again and again, each day after school, "Mom, I didn't get Lucky today." It always made me kind of chuckle inside. So, when Lucky DID get to come to our house, it had to be special. We took him to one of our family favorites, Chick-fil-a. Here is Benjamin sharing his waffle fries with Lucky. He thought they were pretty scrumptious!


Next, Cait and B took him out to the play area and let him get a little crazy.

Our next stop was at Central Market. We had to take Lucky's picture with the biggest pumpkin ever!


Next, B got to push Lucky around the store in the grocery cart. Mom got really nervous in the wine section, though.


Of course Cait had to bring along her precious kitty too. This is Alley. Alley pretty much goes everywhere with Cait. She's practically a family member.


Here's Lucky tucked away for the night in his very special bed, wearing his Superman pajamas.


Fun times with Lucky, the pup!

Documentation for me and fun for the grandparents

So, Benjamin is praying for his "prayer bear" tonight. Her name is Elle. She is a beautiful little girl in his class. Benjamin is praying for her and says this to God. "Dear God, thank you for Elle. Keep her well. Help her not get sick. And thank you, God, that you made her name so easy to spell...just 'L.' That's so easy. Amen."

Benjamin and Cait call restaurants, "rent-strants."

Cait calls Pull-ups, "Pulley's"

Cait knows every word to "Once Upon a Dream" from "Sleeping Beauty." She sings it in her best opera voice. With each new verse she climbs a few notes upward and starts in a new and higher key. This is all accompanied by her twirling and sudden meeting with the prince in the forest!

Benjamin was praying at school last week. It was the principal's birthday. B prayed, "Dear God, please help Mr. Morris to have a great birthday. And if we don't see him, would you wish him a happy birthday for us? And if we DO see him, would you give us the courage to go up to him and tell him? Amen." Mr. Morris thought that was pretty sweet!

Benjamin thinks he can count to a million. Once he gets to 109, then he jumps to 1,000 and once he gets to 1,009, he jumps to 1,000,000. I try to correct him and he argues until I give up.

FYI- everyone is doing much better now that we have moved and adjusted a little. Cait is loving being at the Cooks. Benjamin is adoring Kindergarten and it is hard for him to leave at the end of the day. I am out of boxes and quite settled now. I caught my breath this week and it felt really nice. We get an extra hour together at home each day. that is so nice. So, thanks for all the encouragement through the move and the adjustment! We so appreciate those prayers and love!

Our new art teacher at Trinity was introducing Da Vinci's work to her classes. She showed one of his most famous paintings, "The Last Supper." Knowing how common this painting is among the general population, she took a chance and asked if any of the students knew the name of the painting.

One little boy raised his hand with a guess. He said, "Is it, The Table of Contents?"

We're still alive

It has been forever since I posted. We have been so stinkin' busy!!

Report cards
Colonial Days at school - I taught 125 fourth graders how to weave on a loom
Parent/Teacher conferences-last one was yesterday (Praise God!)
Packed, Moved and unpacked (Sounds so simple when I write it like that)
Getting 2nd Quarter all set up

My body is telling me in many different ways that I am stressed out. I need a vacation. Oh wait!! Even better than a vacation - a retreat! This weekend the ladies of my church are going to Pine Cove for 48 hours of retreat and refreshment. I can't wait! I need it.

Just wanted to let you know we are still here. I'll catch-up soon!
Enjoy this Fall weather!! We all know it'll be gone in the blink of an eye!