Move Looming
Well, we looked at a house about 3 weeks and fell in love with it. It is BIG (4,048 square feet) with 4 bedrooms, a game room, a his and hers master bathroom suite, a huge Florida/sun room off the back and a large kitchen (so much better than the walk-through/galley style kitchen I currently have). It is literally two minutes from the church and is in the same subdivision as many of our friends.
We heard yesterday that we got the house! So, we are moving on Saturday March 11th. That is the week of Spring Break and allows us to move the kids with a minimum of fuss. Unfortunately we will be moving not only schools but school districts, but that is something we examined closely before deciding to move. All the kids are in agreeement with the move. The only one who won't be moving is Warrick as he only has about 10 weeks of school left before he graduates. So until the end of the school year Terry will drop him off at school before going to work and then pick him up at the end of the day.
This picture doesn't really do the house justice because you can only see the front, but the house is lovely (8 years old) and best of all, big!
Labels: Turnstone Lane House
Teagan is 10
Last night at dinner (spaghetti, the birthday girl's choice) Terry and I reminisced about the day Teagan was born. She arrived at 12:10pm after a six hour (drug free) labour, weighing in at a tiny 7lbs. With a shock of black hair, and tiny features she was so different from her big brother, Warrick who was born with blond/reddish hair.
I remember as though it were yesterday, the nurse handing a neatly wrapped Teagan to her Daddy and watching the tears of joy and pride trickle down his cheeks. There is no better sight in the world than to watch a father connect with his child for the first time. It was love at first sight for him.
And so our lives with Teagan (an old Irish name that means Beautiful One) begun. She has brought great joy to our lives and as we watch her grow we are amazed at the wonderful gift she is to us and to our family.
We love you Teagan!
Labels: birth, Birthday, God, Teagan, Terry
Slumber party
Well we survived the slumber party! The girls finally went to sleep at about midnight and were up bright and early on Saturday morning. You can always gauge the success of a sleepover by how tired the kids are, and Teagan was still tired today! Thank goodness they can sleep in tomorrow morning.
Teagan had a great time, even though the weather was not terribly cooperative. Like the rest of the USA, we have been hit by a cold front and although we cannot measure up to (or is that down to?) the -20 or greater temperatures that the northern states have experienced, we hit 26 on Friday night. Driving to church this morning was an adventure - the temperature was 30 and it was raining. Plenty of accidents on the freeway as less experienced drivers (well less experienced in freezing temperatures) tried to maintain their normal speeds and then found themselves colliding with each other. And Texas uses sand/grit which really does not do much in helping with the freezing conditions. We should be warming up some though.
Next - our wedding anniversary coming up this weekend!
Labels: Christian Family Church, Teagan
Smelker's House is Busy!
Teagan's birthday is next Tuesday, the 21st of February, but tonight is her party - an 'Extreme Makeover' slumber party with at least 7 girls coming over. Can you say "Insane"? I don't know what I was thinking when I suggested a sleepover! Here's the deal - when it is a boy's sleepover, Terry is in charge, when it is a girls' night out, I am in charge. I am planning on doing hair and make up and the girls have dress up stuff they can use, and then we are going to hang watching age-appropriate chick-flicks.
Hayley continues to do well with her swiming and partcipated in 4 meets last weekend. At this point the object is not to win in terms of speed, but in terms of style and technique. Hayley has had no problem with the speed, but her technique has needed work. Last weekend she 'won' 3 of the 4 races, but I wondered how she stacked against the other swimmers in terms of style. She got a solid second across the board which is great news! The photo here is a rendering of the new aquatic facility which will be completed soon, it looks almost identical to the one we are in right now.
Labels: Hayley, Teagan
Daughter Dad Dance and Silliness Prevails
Last night (February 10th) Teagan and Hayley dressed up, I did their hair and their Daddy took them to a dance. Apparently there was a sign on the door, "No Mom Zone" and an evening of fun was had by all. Terry treated the girls as though this was a real date - he gave them each a rose, opened the door to the van for them, and basically showed them how a man is to treat a lady.
Last week the kids had a theme week at school and Friday was wearing sunglasses day - so of course our kids had to pose!
Labels: Carson, Garrick, Hayley, sunglasses, Teagan, Terry
When You Open Yourself
My oldest son graduates this year, almost two years early, so we are in the process of applying at Colleges, looking at grants and scholarships. One grant we are applying for is an African-American one. Whilst I was filling out the application I thought how open that term really is.
The colour of my son’s skin is white – so why on earth do I think I can apply for an African American grant? Easy – he is African and American, born in one continent to African parents and raised in another and is now a naturalized citizen because my American husband adopted him.
When he recently applied for a State ID, he put ‘African-American’ on his submission form but the clerk refused to take it stating, correctly too, that that is his nationality, not his race – his race is Caucasian or White. If that is the case, then African Americans should be putting Black in that box, not African American.
I think the African American movement has shot itself in the foot by moving away from the term Black American. They have opened the door to people like my son – a door I am sure most African Americans don’t want open. But my son, based on their criteria has a legitimate right to apply for an African American grant.
I have already heard the argument, “But he is not African!” Define African. Define American. Isn’t the definition one who is born in that country, or one who is naturalized and becomes a citizen of that country? It has nothing to do with the colour of one’s skin and everything to do with the country of one’s birth. If had to do with the colour of one’s skin then the only ones in America who could truly call themselves American are the Native Americans. The rest of us are interlopers who came here voluntarily or were forced onto slave ships.
And yet I am berated for wanting to apply for African American grants. Legally and logistically I surely can, and these days, seeing my son is one of the ‘disadvantaged’ because he is a white, heterosexual, Christian, conservative, middle-class, middle-income male; I will afford him as many opportunities as I can find.
He might be the only white African American on campus this fall, but the colour of his skin doesn’t diminish for one moment his heritage. He is African and proud of it!
Labels: America, South Africa, Warrick
Working and Meetings
Well, I started the Mother's Day Out two weeks ago and already our enrollment has more than doubled and we hired our first full time staff person (YAY!!) Interestingly enough we are getting a whole bunch of 2 year old kids who all come from the same neighbourhood, and who all know each other. Apparently their parents all attend the same Muslim Church. Has anyone heard of a Muslim Church before? I asked whether it was a Mosque and one of the moms said no, it was a church because their prayers are different. The moms also wanted to know whether we taught the Bible in our class and was very excited when we said yes. I wonder if these are perhaps Muslim Christians? Any one have any insight on this?
Meetings have been the centre of our lives lately, meetings for church activities being the number one culprit. We are revamping the Children's Ministries, from the buildings to the curriculum which obviously requires a lot of planning, and the meetings aren't going to end any time soon.
On the home front the kids celebrated 100 days of school yesterday, and we are halfway through the school year. The kids don't know it yet, but this summer we are moving (yet again!) As much as we love this house and this neighbourhood we simply live too far from the church, from my work at the church and really from all our friends. We live on the North-West side of town, the church is on the far North-East side. We spend about $80 to $100 a WEEK in gas! So, I am on the lookout for a house in a subdivision that is less than 5 minutes from church - it also happens to be where the Children's Pastor lives and about a half dozen church members! In fact there is a house available right now that is in our price range and is huge - 4,048 square feet! (Houses in San Antonio are really cheap!) I am sure when it is time to move it will no longer be available, but boy, it sure would be nice.
Labels: Christian Family Church, Turnstone Lane House
