MOVING DAY!!!

it's hard to believe that we have reached the actual date - after much deliberation, schedule shifting, tears and prayer it is here! this is, officially, my last night in this house. our very first house. how proud we were to have built it from the ground up. it was OURS, no one else's. the house where makenna first slept in her big girl bed (and only fell out a few times). the house in which i emerged from our master bathroom, fighting back tears and laughter, trying to decide the best way to tell david he was going to be a daddy again. the house we brought that same, aforementioned bundle of joy home to and made her first bedroom our walk-in closet (not because we didn't have enough room but because mommy didn't want to walk upstairs 10 times a night). lots of birthday parties, 6 christmases, a few tears, even more giggles, nights missing my husband, nights wishing he would go on a trip already, 2 knee surgeries, family gatherings, medical mysteries and missed diagnoses, lots of prayer and LOVE. sweet, sweet memories... all a distinct reminder that as beautiful as our past has been, it is nothing compared to what God has in store for us. i think of all the changes that have taken place over the past 6 1/2 years - some effortless, some painful, all life-altering. the changes in the girls, in me, in US. pretty amazing. to think that 6 years from now i will be 40, my girls 14 and 11 - it seems like an alternate universe :) but i am confident that God is going before us, paving the way, weaving each experience into the other... i am blessed and honored to have had the time here that we've been given - we truly have more than we deserve - thank you for being a part of it. i am excited and anxious to start our newest chapter and already looking forward to coming back to visit :) jeremiah 29:11-13 - my favorite passage from high school, growing even more relevant with each passing day... "'for I know the plans I have for you', declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. Then you will call upon me, and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.'" so often we remember the first part of the verses - focusing more on the outcome than the process - while He wants us to focus on the end result the only way to get there is by calling on Him and seeking Him with all our hearts. fervently, relentlessly, achingly. i pray God gives us that unquenchable thirst for Him, His word, His goodness... may we never be satisfied with mediocrity. never fall into complacency. God bless you my sweet mommy friends - you are a blessing to me!

Further Developments

hey friends, just a quick update :) david and i head up to chicago this weekend for our househunting trip - we have been scouring the real estate sites online and have found quite a few homes which look good. i have been battling mixed emotions the past few weeks - knowing that once we head up there and pick out a house this will all be REAL. right now it's just an idea, a topic of conversation amongst friends and family - but once we head up there, it's reality! i am excited - confident that this move coincides with God's will for our lives but that doesn't mean it's without sadness or sentimentalism... definitely looking forward but, with great nostalgia, reflecting on all the memories and growth that have taken place over the past 18 years i've been in texas... hard to believe - i still feel like that goofy 16 yr. old kid from time to time :) and yet, with a strength and confidence i never had in my early years, excited to step into the great unknown, assured that God has already blazed the trail ahead of us... how awesome is that?

so i will let you know how the hunt is going - pray for david and i to be united in our decision making process - neither of us are too high-maintenance so we're pretty much on the same page so far :) we're excited about the school district up there (brief side note - david will be working in downtown chicago but we will reside in NW indiana...) the elementary schools are fantastic so we are really excited about the girls experiencing schools which are not overcrowded and limited in their capabilities - they've known no different :(

thanks for your friendship and support - you are a blessing to me!!!

First day of first grade!

sheesh! i knew this day was coming but the reality of it happening so soon has me all emotional and stuff :) last week my little one, Delaney, took a test to promote to the 1st grade. we had gotten a call from her principal (a good friend of mine and awesome Godly woman) who said that they don't offer the testing a whole lot but wanted us to pray about it for delaney... so we called david's dad, who has his doctorate in education and has been both a principal and superintendent in the texas school system for 30 years, and he, knowing delaney and her ability and temperament, suggested that we have her tested. i also called and spoke with an assistant superintendent in the school district to which we will be transferring in indiana - they would honor the transfer and enroll her as a 1st grader. he also explained that currently they do not offer full-day kindergarten (you can sign up for it but due to funding issues and availability you must pay extra fees and it is not guaranteed that there would be a spot mid-year...) so we knew that we couldn't keep her in full day kinder and then, when we move, take her down to a half day - she would be bored out of her mind! so, after much prayer and petition, we agreed to have her tested, confident that were she to pass the test she would be able to thrive in 1st grade. i got the call from the school counselor yesterday and she said that laney would be promoted the next day! eek!

now i know that there are varying views on promotion and i appreciate that you must make the decision based on each individual student - what is right for one may not be right for the next. and, as a mom, i have been going back and forth over the pros and cons for the past 24 hours... but based on the wise counsel we received, the desire & ability to learn that delaney has exhibited over the past 5 years, and, ultimately, the test scores, we are confident we've made the right choice for her and for our family. just as there are different parenting views from day one (bottle or breast, back or tummy, schedule or not, spank or time out) this is the choice that we made and if you do not agree with it i'd rather not know :)

another "hurdle" was explaining this to big sister :) i do not ever want there to be a hint of competition, jealousy or comparison between them... we explained to both of them (we told them together) that God has gifted everyone differently! and that's how it is for the girls - we see makenna excelling athletically and socially, whereas delaney tends to be quieter and more academic. and that's not to say that we are labeling them and they will always be that way! makenna LOVES science and math - delaney has a passion for reading - but we will continue to expose them to everything and give them opportunities to pursue anything they want! sometimes i feel, throughout my childhood, i was "labeled" as "the singer" and told that was what i "had" to do - it was my "gift" - that was my future... but looking back, there were several things i could have done well (i was somewhat of an athlete - ok, stop giggling...) but it was stressed that music was my "thing". i want my girls to know that whatever and whoever they want to be is fine by me and their daddy - my goal for them is to grow into loving, generous, compassionate, faithful Godly women. career path is totally secondary.

so pray for my sweet little peanut - she looked so small today with her big backpack and bow :) pray for her teacher, ms. volkmer (who, i've been told, is an awesome Godly woman herself!) and that she will integrate and transition smoothly into her class...

and MY prayer is, for all of us moms, that we would never cease in praying for our precious children... that we would, even now, begin to "release" them to the will of God - their futures as well as the present. pray that we would continue to mold them into His image - the days are so short! today i feel i lost a whole year. little laney is one step closer to being out of my reach... i pray for each of us to be the Godly examples for our little ones, even in the midst of the drudgery of daily life, to love fully and wholeheartedly the little ones with whom God has ENTRUSTED us. we are so blessed!!

a personal mission

i have been so fired up over the past few days... i am on a personal mission to see to it that sarah palin becomes our next vice president!!! i have become more and more disgusted with the media in this country (news sources, magazines, websites, etc.) and their portrayal of her. and it's made me so defensive of her! i think it's because SHE is ME in so many ways... a loving mother despite her childrens imperfections & challenges, a faithful wife who loves her husband, so very passionate about the things that truly matter in this country... i am impressed and inspired by her - for the first time, someone in politics who reflects my beliefs and is not ashamed to admit it!

i also found a fabulous blog by another awesome mom who is just as excited (if not more!) :) please check it out! www.moms4sarahpalin.blogspot.com - she's got all kinds of info and links and great commentary on the election and the coverage of it all... the liberal establishment in this country would like to think that we, as Godly women, do not have a voice or are afraid to make it known. i believe that it is well within our rights to speak out against injustice and this treatment of sarah palin is an absolute travesty! i don't know if they hate her more because she is a republican or because she has been outspoken about her christian faith... for the sake of our nation, please join me in doing everything we can to help mccain/palin get to the white house!! we cannot have barack obama as our next commander in chief!

ok, i will try to muddle through this as quickly as possible because i have a limited number of appendages at the moment :) long story short... i just spent four days in the hospital battling a staph infection in my left hand - SO MUCH FUN! as many of you know i have had a digital ulcer (such a fun name) on my middle left hand since may (mother's day weekend to be exact) and have been waiting for it to heal - the prognosis was that it would take 3-6 mos. to heal so we were prepared for the long haul... well, just last week i had been remarking on how much better it was feeling, how much better it looked, etc. and sure enough, it took a turn for the worse. last thursday it was feeling crummy (painful, red, oozing, all those lovely visual adjectives...) so i made an app't to see my rheumatologist in portland, me on friday - he prescribed some antibiotics and said if it looks worse this weekend to call him. so saturday morning i wake up to a tremendous amount of pain in my left hand and told david i really think i should page the doctor. here's the kicker, david was scheduled to leave for china the next day!! a trip for which he had been preparing for months as the lead agent for the former president. well, he called his boss saturday morning and said "i told them i couldn't go" (that's the condensed version) and i freaked out! "NO!! you HAVE to go!! you HAVE to!!" but he was steadfast... so we went to see the dr. that day and he said "we're admitting you right now" awesome!! :) so we trucked the girls to the hospital and got me settled in to a painfully small twin bed with some rock hard pillows and there i sat, being skewered like a shish kabob by the nurses who apparently did not have enough i.v. training prior to our meeting :) i look like a frappin' heroin addict...such lovely colors on the forearms :) by the 3rd day we found out it was staph and were sooo thankful that david didn't listen to me (when was the last time i said that??) and that he was able to stay home to take care of the girls and me... he earned major brownie points for washing my hair for me in the hospital. love him!! we also had some friends of ours in our s.s. family come to the hospital, bearing gifts of magazines and flowers and taking the girls home for us so they didn't have to stay up at the hospital for too long. somebody asked me if they were scared and i'm sure they may have had their moments but for the most part they loved being up there, sitting on mommy's cool bed that moves, taking over the visitors lounge and the nurses kitchen with a stockpile of sprite :) so by tuesday the doctor said i had recovered enough to go home with oral antibiotics and a goodie bag full of gauze and tape :) i am feeling much better now, just praying that God heals my finger totally & completely once and for all... it has been a battle but we are encouraged by the progress i've made the past couple days. and that i've become pretty proficient at typing with 9 fingers :) our sweet friends up here have supplied us with more food than we could ever eat in a week and have taken care of the girls without a second thought... so awesome. oh yeah, and it was my birthday yesterday, the day after getting "tagged & released" :) they brought me a b-day cake, hot lasagna, bread & cheese plate, salad, on & on... i was so overwhelmed by the generosity... it made it a very memorable birthday to say the least!!

i have more info and updates on the chicago move but am running out of steam here :) we are getting set to leave houston mid-november now so david can start up there the beginning of december... start praying now for the transition, not so much for me, i'll be fine, but for my sweet girls - pray for the friends they will meet, the neighborhood we'll live in, the school they'll attend, that we'll find an active growing bible-preaching church up there and that we become closer as a family through the process... i know you girls are prayer warriors and i am excited just to know you will be interceding on our behalf!!

i'll try to post more pics soon... can't wait to read through your blogs and catch up - love you all.

jjc

Check out my Slide Show!

ridiculously behind...

seriously, how cute are my kids?? :)

okay, i have so much to catch up on it's not even funny... we took a trip to disneyworld in april - way fun but those pics are on my computer at home :( we left for maine the end of may and have been up here all summer - and i can't believe it's already july!! we just returned from a trip with poppy & shea shea (david's dad & stepmom) to new hampshire - we stayed in the white mountains and it was GORGEOUS!! i'll try to do a slide show of that (if i can remember how...) another fun fact for ya, david will be getting his T-number soon (fancy government-speak for transfer...) and he will be starting his new position in CHICAGO (as in home of the cubs, really good pizza & oprah) on dec. 8th!! so we will probably be taking off some time before thanksgiving - all dependent, of course, on the sale of the house, school schedules, movers, etc.... now everyone's 1st question is "will he be with obama?" and the answer is HEEEEEECK NO :) he will be in the chicago field office where he will be dealing primarily with counterfeiters and criminals again (what he really likes!) apparently protection (being on a specific detail) is pretty boring despite all the excitement portrayed in the movies :) (think more "guarding tess" than "in the line of fire") :) we are getting really excited for our new adventure - yay snow!!! david and i will head up for a house hunting trip in the fall so we'll have a better idea of where we will be exactly when we get back from that... of course, we will miss family and friends in houston and surrounding areas... but we'll get to that later... :(

take care, friends - love you guys...

jen