Memorial Day

To all our veterans: Thank You for your service and sacrifice for our freedom! Today we remember those who paid the sacrifice. Most importantly, we remember Jesus Christ, our Savior, who paid the ultimate sacrifice for ALL of us.

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13

Today we had a great time at the Ammerman's house. The kids went swimming in their pool. I was so proud of Faith and Jaxon, it's like they continued where they left off from swimming lessons last year. Faith started out with swimmies, but quickly pulled them off, jumped in, was swimming back and forth (with help from mommy), etc. Jaxon kept his swimmies on (totally fine with me--he's still younger), and he was swimming all over the place. He claimed the hot tub as his own, too!

We celebrated Landon's recovery--a miracle from God, and Emerson's first birthday.

I've been to the Ammerman's house several times, but since we're building a house of our own; it's exciting to pay close attention to the details of their house--especially when the house belongs to the top dog of DR Horton homes. I loved just checking out everything, although I could probably never afford most of it-that's okay, though! :)

A Visit from Grandama Sheryl

Grandma Sheryl had been in Little Rock, so she called us and decided to make a stop in McKinney. She got here early on Sunday morning and went to church with us. After church, we had a nice lunch at Jason's Deli. When we got home it was time to put our kiddos down for a nap, so Shawn took his mom to see our land for the first time. When the kids woke up, they had fun playing all sorts of games with their grandma. Later on that evening, we took the kids to a little splash park, had dinner, and then it was time to say goodbye to Grandma Sheryl. It was a nice, spontaneous visit!

Kung Fu Panda II

My little taekwondo babies thoroughly enjoyed our movie trip this afternoon.

House Building-Week 2

Excavation COMPLETION!! Check!

It's So Hard to Say Goodbye

How do you say goodbye to a special group of students that you've spent the last three years with? I'm not 100% sure, but I know this goodbye has been difficult for me. I remember with each week that passed by thinking, "One week has come and gone with my sweet babies." I'm totally guilty of attaching myself to this group, so much that I truly lost sleep over the thought of my last day with them. My eyes still fill up with tears thinking about our last goodbyes on Thursday. We share so many great memories, and I know they'll do a wonderful job in high school. I can't wait to see what the future holds for them.

Today we had our huge field day for the kids as a part of the Faubion Farewell. After graduation rehearsal, we all went home and came back up to the school for the graduation and 8th grade dance. I made it through the song--Praise the Lord...I tried so hard not to break while singing. We sang, Carrie Underwood's, Whenever you Remember. It's not one of her popular songs and I'm not sure why, but it's absolutely beautiful and a perfect way to say goodbye. The dance was so much fun...I loved dancing with the teachers and some of my female students.

Preschool Graduation

What a bittersweet moment to watch our sweet girl graduate from preschool this evening. The night opened up with the graduating class singing some precious songs to their parents, followed by cake and punch. It was such a sweet graduation and I'm so thankful for all of Faith's teachers that she's had for the past two years at MHS-Little Messages.

Kindergarten here we come, here we come.

Kindergarten here we come, here we come.

So long preschool, it's been fun...

Kindergarten here we come, here we come.

Lisa Waite's Retirement Party

I remember it like yesterday when I first ever walked through the doors of Faubion Middle School, anxiously awaiting my interview. It was that day when I met Lisa Waite, whom I call my comforter during the whole process, with each and every question she smiled and nodded; she had the softest, most sweetest voice. Last year, I had the pleasure of working along side of her and she's been the ELAR department chair for all three of my years at FMS. Her husband, Dr. Robert Waite, is our A/P.

About a month ago, she came to my room and let me know that she was officially retiring. She spent eight years in Memphis, seventeen years in Highland Park, and nine years in McKinney--THIRTY-FOUR years! It's definitely our loss, but when God tells you do to something; you obey. I am so thankful that God put Lisa in my life to be such a great, Christian role-model and master teacher example. And, Lisa is going to be a first-time grandmother, so she'll definitely enjoy staying home with her new grandbaby in November. Congratulations, Lisa Carol! Love you!

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Heard Museum and Hope's Birthday

Today was Teacher Appreciation at the Heard Museum here in McKinney. We haven't been to the museum since we first moved here just three years ago. It's crazy how time flies by. We started out our morning by touring the museum, checking out the animals, and going through the butterfly exhibit. Later on that morning, we went to the live reptile showing and the kids got to pet a snake and a huge iguana. Shawn even got to volunteer to help people visualize how long boa constrictors are--he was on the floor with two other tall guys. At the end, we won a fabulous door prize--granite rock! Too bad it wasn't the color scheme I would pick out for our countertops in the new house. Ha!

Later on that evening, I went to Chuy's in Plano to celebrate Hope's 25th birthday. And, Miss Hope recently got engaged, so it was fun to see her ring in person. Faith will be her flower girl in October, so we've been practicing.

Friday, May 20, 2011

House Building-Week 1

This week, things have progressed along quite nicely and it's been so productive. We were so excited to drive out to the land and see the escavation in progress, as well. We've basically hired the following:

-Foundation Engineer
-Surveyor
-Sanitation Company (dumpster and porta-potty)

We also, applied for our physical address, paid for and flagged our culvert, and paid our water deposit with the City of Farmersville.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

First Trip to the ER

Our sweet Jaxon Wesley was a first-timer to the ER this evening. At approximately 1:30, Shawn was called down to the classroom because Jaxon had fallen and bumped his head on the tile floor. Shawn checked him out and said it looked like a small knot on his forehead. I picked him up a couple of hours later the the "knot" was bigger than a golf ball--SCARY. So glad the bump was out and not in. We were on our way to watch Shawn get honored at the high school, and Shawn had the school nurse come over. She recommended that we go to the ER, so I left Faith with Shawn, decided to be proactive and head to the hospital. Jaxon was a champ! We were told what to look out for and what would constitute another visit to the ER. We woke him up in the middle of the night a few times and asked him some questions to see what kind of response we would get, and he definitely passed! Jaxon, you were so tough and we're so proud of you. Thank you, Lord, for protecting my sweet baby boy!