Back To School
Spring Break is over and it ended with a BANG - literally. Last night San Antonio was placed under a tornado watch and we had severe thunderstorms, and boy, that thunder was loud! The kids mostly slept through it, although Teagan crept into Hayley's bed where we found them both this morning.
Today is the first day at Longs Creek Elementary for Teagan, Hayley, Garrick and Carson. Warrick stayed at Marshall because he will graduate from there in about 10 weeks so it was pointless moving him over to Madison. The 4 younger kids were excited, although apprehensive, about starting a new school. We had made the move as easy as possible though. Terry and I went in two weeks ago with all the paper work and the prinicipal assigned teachers ahead of time so the teachers were already prepared for the Smelker invasion! The elementary school is relatively new, built in 1997 and has over 900 students, one of the largest schools our kids have ever attended, but knowing our kids they will stand out even in a big school!
Another plus is because we moved to a sub-division close to the church, there are other families from the church whose kids attend the same school. In fact, while we waited in the halls this morning Teagan and Hayley recognised two or three kids from church and the neighborhood.
Labels: Carson, Garrick, Hayley, Longs Creek, Marshall, Teagan, Turnstone Lane House, Warrick
A couple of photos
I took some photos of the house (interior and exterior) this morning, but I am having trouble uploading them at the moment - I will try again later. But, I thought I would post a couple of the exterior in the meantime.
The kids are so funny - I told them this morning that I was going to have them vacuum the upstairs and Teagan said, "But didn't we just clean?" I guess they don't seem to understand that you have to clean every couple of days!
It is Spring Break here in San Antonio right now - and like the spring break last year, it is grey, overcast and only in the 70's. Last week when the kids were in school it was sunny and 90! At least we have plenty of room for the kids to play indoors. It might clear up later on today in which case the kids can play outside again. Yesterday they spent going up and down the hill past our house, and making new friends. There are lots of kids in this neighborhood.
Labels: Turnstone Lane House
New Home Sweet Home
I will add photos later (once we find the camera AND have everything set up!) but we are officially in our new house. We got the keys on Friday, picked up the 26-foot U-Haul on Saturday, and with many willing helpers began the arduous task of loading and then unloading. (Thanks to ALL who helped!) We couldn't fit all our stuff in one load so Terry had to go back for another load, and in fact we still have some things at the other house - all of our wall hangings are there, as well as some of our garage things, Teagan's pottery wheel and my garden equipment.
This new house is gi-normous! Seriously - I could fit the house we just moved from into the bottom floor, still have room to spare and we have a whole 'nother storey. All the bedrooms are built big, and we have a game room so the kids don't actually have to keep their toys in their bedrooms any longer - something I have always wanted to do.
My garden will need some TLC - it has been an awfully dry winter and the grass is still brown and there are bare patches. Also, for some reason there is a pile of rocks in the middle of the garden, just dumped there - I will certainly be exercising some muscles to get rid of them. Speaking of muscles, we are all sore...but happy.
Labels: Turnstone Lane House
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
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
