Crazy Texas Spring Storm

Hello Spring! Today we had a storm that involved hail, high winds, lightning, and heavy rain. As I was sitting at home waiting on D, the storm roared outside. It was really a scary experience. I'm so thankful that after about ten tries, I was able to get through to D and tell him to pull over so he and his truck would be safe. Here are some pictures of the hail on our street and on our back porch. This accumulated in about 5-10 minutes.

My not-so-secret addiction...

I'd like a number 5 12-pack with a Sprite.

D's Visit

I forgot to include this in my post earlier- and had actually forgotten all about it until D was telling the story to some friends this evening- but on Monday while D had the day off, I convinced him to come visit my class. Now D, being the shy person that he is (totally tongue-in-cheek), is nervous about meeting my class. I continue to remind him that they're only 5 years old and only come up to his waist.

Anyway, he decides to pay my class a visit at the end of the day while we're out on the playground, enjoying our afternoon recess. My class is playing, and for the most part, is oblivious to the tall, blond visitor who is standing beside me... until a group of boys chasing the football end up right in front of us. The boys stop, look up at D, and one says to the others, "Let's tackle him."

What can I say? Kindergarteners are very protective of their teacher.

They are also very proud of meeting their teacher's husband as I found out that his visit made the dinner conversation in many homes that night. When one was asked her opinion of Mr. B, her response- "He's tall."

I'm back...

For the past several weeks, I just haven't been feeling the blog-itch. I've been keeping up with friends' blogs and strangers' blogs, but haven't felt like posting anything new on mine. I'm still not back, but maybe if I start by writing what all has been going on, I'll start feeling it again.

My last post was about the Esther study- it's still amazing. I love it. I got a bit behind the 2nd week when I was sick with a never-ending headache and fever, but I'm semi-caught up now. God is teaching me so much. And simple things. Things that I had forgotten. Things I had taken for granted. And it's so much fun to be doing with girls from work so we can share our thoughts.

Speaking of school, we're closing out the week with a craft and food from Australia (the country we've been studying this week). Next week is Japan... and then Spring Break! *tries to contain her excitement* I love my kids, I really do. There's just a time in the school year when we all need a break from each other... I think it's about the same time that Spring Fever hits. No one wants to be inside- we all want to be outside, enjoying the 80 degree weather that we're already experiencing in March.

My plans for Spring Break include spending time with my sister and her family while they're in town for a conference. I already have some things planned for us to do. There are some school things that I'm going to have to make myself sit down and finish while I have the time. And then there's shopping. For the cruise. I. can't. wait. Lastly, we really want to work on our landscaping in the front of the house, but we can't seem to find plants that we both like/agree on. Speaking of improving the curb appeal, take a look at our weekend project:






D's Dad graciously helped us build the gate... and when I say helped, I mean he built the gate by himself while we helped watched. We finished the side with the gate in only a couple of hours and became inspired to update the other side. So Sunday afternoon, we made our trek to Lowe's and purchased the remaining supplies. After solving a few problems that came up with the other side (thanks R & P for stopping by to help... and for the use of your AT&T level), D was able to use his Monday off (Texas Independence Day) to finish the project. Now we'll wait a few weeks for the pickets to dry before staining and sealing the fence to protect that new wood look. Our first semi-big home improvement project finished.

Esther

Last night was the first night of the Esther Bible study by Beth Moore. For most of my life, Esther was one of my favorite books of the Bible. When I found out it was the only book where God was not mentioned, I didn't know what to do. Should I still like this book? Why isn't His name in Esther? Does that make it less holy or less Biblical? That's silly- it's still in the Bible. I really struggled with this and eventually, it fell to the bottom of the list of arguments that go on inside my head.

When I found out that the new Beth Moore study was going to be about Esther, I was excited that she was focusing on this book, but since my first and only Beth Moore study hadn't proved to be completely life-changing like I expected it to (I know, I know, I should lower my expectations regarding fellow human-beings- besides, it's not like it's up to her to change me... that's pretty much a God-thing), I wasn't sure I was going to do the study until a week or two ago. After the first night, I am so glad I decided to. During the course of the introduction, Beth Moore asks for three reasons that make it tough to be a woman. We all had to write down three and then she shared some that she had collected through an online survey. The top three according to the survey were:

• Yielding (to God, in marriage, at work, etc.)
  
• Balance (balancing the roles we play)
  
• Hormones

While I did have one of those on my list, I'm curious. What would be on your list? What are the three toughest things about being a woman? What are three things you struggle with as a woman? Then I'll let you know my answer. :)

75 days left and a cruise!

Our traveler's insurance documents came in today for our cruise this summer that we're going on with some great friends of ours. This trip has been in the planning for over a year... we first talked about it last year, but neither of us could really afford to do it with us buying a home and P finishing up her master's. So when it was brought up, we would always say, "Maybe next year." Well now it's next year! After doing some research, we finally decided to book a cruise to the Caribbean. But even after putting down our deposit, it still didn't seem real until our insurance papers came in. With the celebration of the 100th day of school today, I know that looking forward to the cruise will help the rest of the year fly by. It's hard to believe there are only 75 days of school left. Which leads me to reason #414 of why I love my job: Pajama day which includes 100th day breakfast (sausage stick and two pancakes to make the number 100). I know, I know... you're filling out an application right now to become a teacher.



Here's a picture from our first cruise we went on with D's parents (they still weren't sure about the whole cruise thing until after the first day or so on the trip), D&M (family, but more importantly great friends), and lil' bro D. D and I had a blast and have been counting down the days until we could go again!

A New Psalm

My kindergarten class' Bible time has been focused recently on the life of David. Our Bible time usually starts out with me going over the lesson, telling the story, showing pictures (if available) and lastly, if the story is covered in the children's Bible that I have, I read the story again and the students get to see the pictures. Let me preface this with saying that I absolutely love this book- it's called "The Jesus Storybook Bible" and under the title is written, "Every story whispers his name." And it does. The stories are written beautifully. And they are all centered around the Rescue Plan that God has in store for his people- sending his son Jesus to die on the cross to save us from the punishment we deserve. Beautiful really doesn't cover it all. I really can't think of any other way to describe it, so I'll stop here. But really, you should check it out.

So as I was reading the story of David and Goliath (even though we talked about this last week), I noticed the next story was also about David and his writing of the Psalms. Since this week we are memorizing the first verse of Psalm 23, I thought I would go ahead and read this story to them as well. At the end of the story, Psalm 23 has been translated into 'kid-friendly' language, and since I'm a kid-at-heart, I thought I would share that part:

God is my Shepherd
And I am his little lamb.

He feeds me
He guides me
He looks after me.
I have everything I need.

Inside, my heart is very quiet.
As quiet as lying still in soft green grass
In a meadow
By a little stream.

Even when I walk through
the dark, scary, lonely places
I won't be afraid
Because my Shepherd knows where I am.

He is here with me
He keeps me safe
He rescues me

He makes me strong
And brave.
By: Sally Lloyd-Jones

I needed that. "I have everything I need." "My Shepherd knows where I am." "He rescues me." "He makes me strong." "I am his little lamb." I hope that encourages you as much as it did me.