Friends

The boys have found a couple of great boys who've really helped them feel welcome. We didn't know they were brothers until after they'd come home from school a couple of days in a row & were talking their friends about Quentin & Sidney. They came here for a couple of hours after school last week.

Play Dough Bribes

Chloe

earned some play dough by learning how to correctly write her name. She was so determined, she spent over an hour yesterday working on worksheets to learn the "h" and the "e". Those must be tricky letters...Great job princess!

Cooper's Buses

Cooper

was cute this morning as he played and played with his buses. We found a new bus this morning downtown, he was so excited saying "ooee! (Chloe) Bus!" as he was showing it to Chloe.

Family Fun

We've been blessed with lots of family time since we moved. Brad being home more has really been nice. He is able to come home for lunch (though I don't cook nearly as well as Paulette...) and is home by 5 or 5:30 each night. Him being home more & living in smaller quarters both lend themselves to QT.

Back to School

The first day of school was a good one. They were all ready to go that morning & came home excited about their days. Kamrie is very tired after being in school all day; she even informed me she slept during rest time, but only for 5 minutes then they woke her up!

We had a 1st Grade meeting tonight with Parker's teacher, Mrs. Harsin. Parker is enjoying her class so far. He makes friends easily, being willing to play with anyone & not afraid to approach new friends.

Hunter has had a good start also. I met his teacher, Mrs. Thatcher today. She also seems really nice & said he is doing well. He has a good locker-mate, Quentin. They have become friends already, which is what I've been praying for. I almost cried today talking to his teacher because she said he's been doing really well with the other students & is making friends. He was the one I was worried about since he isn't as outgoing as our other kids.

God is good & is helping the kids transition into their new surroundings. Chloe & Cooper have been fun at home too. Chloe & I are doing "Mama Terri's Preschool" when Cooper naps. She's so cute because she loves her workbooks so much! She is a trooper when it comes to making her letters. We will go to a bible study in September with my friend Mandy in Kearney & Chloe will also get to do "Bible Club" during that time where they do lots of preschool activities.

2nd Visit to Minden's Doctors

Cooper is allergic to mosquito bites & ended up looking like this last week. He's finishing a round of antibiotics for cellulitis. He also had to get a shot of rocephin (I have no idea if I'm spelling that right). He was looking better by the next day. He always swells up from the bites, but this turned into something more. So, we got to visit Dr. Doug at the clinic. It's so nice to be friends with the doctor!

Back to School Soon

We were able to see the kids' schools this week. Hunter will be going to a middle school for 4th-8th graders. He wouldn't let me take any pictures of him there...

But here are the kids at the Elementary school for K-3rd Grades. They are excited about the new playground equipment there. We've met Parker & Kamrie's teachers & have seen a picture of Hunter's teacher. Pray for them as they start school on Wednesday. Pray for the transition will be easy & they will make some great friends quickly.

Lessons for Parents

Here's a story I'd forgotten to share (hmmm, should I really be sharing this story??) about our first night in Minden. The girls share a room that is rather small, so we put bunk beds in there instead of their normal queen bed. One of the reasons Kamrie really wanted this room is because it has a cool "Huskers" ceiling fan in it.

Anyway, we learned (& Kamrie learned) a lesson about ceiling fans & bunk beds the hard way...She stood up on the bed & WHACK!!!! Tears, many, many tears becuase she got hit right by the eye with the fan. So, we went through the whole conversation about not standing up on the bed because of the fan.

So, we get everyone laid down again & sure enough, WHACK!!!! Tears, many, many, MANY tears & Kamrie said, "I forgot!" She was looking pretty rough the first couple of days.

We were able to move the beds to the other wall & have avoided any more ceiling fan injuries thus far.

Cherished Friends

We were able to spend the day with an old friend (well, she's not old...) yesterday. Mandy & I have been friends since 6th grade. We hogged up about 5 hours of her day! The kids (her 4 & my 5) had a great time playing while Mandy & I visited. I'm so looking forward to being closer to her family since we live closer now.

Future Dermatologist

Here's Cooper, our future dermatologist in training. He has excema & knows our nightly routine so well that he was doing it himself last night. Pics are a bit blurry, but you get the idea. It was really cute. Sonja I thought you could appreciate this!

Breaking & Entering

Last week we laughed about this window above the stairs to the basement. It has no actual window, just a storm window. We were thinking about how cold it will be in the wintertime near that area.

Anyway, come Sunday evening we were very thankful for that window as we had to use it to get into the house. We only have 1 key for 1 door to our house & the wrong lock ended up getting locked. SO...we were locked out.

Here's Brad breaking & entering. Literally we broke the glass on accident trying to get the window out. Hunter & Parker were more than happy to climb through the window to unlock the door for us. Lucky boys!

Celebrating Parker's Birthday

We celebrated Parker's 7th birthday with Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle Chris, Aunt Nikki, RJ & Kennadie. We ate ice cream cake (thanks grandma & grandpa!) & went fishing across the road. It was a fun evening!

Life Journal

I've been using a Life Journal since April & am loving the truths brought out each day as I dig into the Word. www.enewhope.org/firststeps/journaling can show you about life journals & how to use them.

Yesterday I read

Zephaniah 3:17 "The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing."

Wow. God takes delight in us! Even though we mess up & make poor choices he will rejoice over us with singing.

Where do I start???

Wow!!! Moving has been quite challenging. We are moved, but not real settled. The house we are renting really has no storage, so it is hard to put things away. Plus we don't want to be in this house a long time, so I hate to even try to put much away. Hopefully we'll find something more permanent soon...

Here's a small (very small) rundown of our first few days in Minden:
1. lots of tears the first night here. tears for leaving imperial, leaving our friends, leaving our friends & when can we get a new house cuz this one smells funny
2. brad, can you fix the tub spout? it's broken
3. brad, can you fix the sink drain? i broke it trying to put the trash can under the sink
4. call the landlord, the garage door is broken, the shower leaks, the bathroom sink leaks, the AC leaks
5. make a trip to the library. disaster. kids fighting. only 2 movies at a time. 5 kids fighting over who gets to choose movies. cooper taking all his clothes off & crying when i'm trying to get him dressed again. librarians not overly friendly to this wild new family in town.
6. mommy crying on the way home from the library saying, "how are we going to make friends if you guys act like that???"

I visited the doctor's office this morning. Nice place. I told them they'd probably be getting to know us well with our large family. I have STREP throat!! Ouch is all I can say. It's been a long time since I had that. Pray no one else gets it. It's hard to not pass illnesses around in our family.

It's been nice being closer to my parents & my brothers' families. We've gotten to spend some time with them already. There is a pond right across the road from our house that the boys fish in nearly every day. They catch quite a bit, too.Right now the kids have the little pool out back with about 5 frogs in it & 2 turtles. Oh, make that 1 turtle. Cooper let one go this morning.

Speaking of reptiles. How is it that I can live in Imperial for 10 years & not see a SINGLE snake in the yard & I live here for 2 weeks & see 3 snakes in 1 day??? I know, I know, it's because of the pond across the road. I told Brad that should have been a pre-requisite of moving to another town that we check & see how many snakes are around. Just something to think about for the future. My blood pressure & heart rate are rising just thinking about them...As long as they stay OUTSIDE I'll be OK.

We had a great time in North Platte this last weekend with Brad's family. We celebrated his mom's birthday & Parker's birthday.

All in all, the move has gone well. We miss Imperial & our friends there for sure though. Thank you for your prayers & notes of encouragement.