Sweet Sisters

Not Me Monday!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

My kids are perfect you know! I mean, they are pastor's kids, so they have to be perfect right? They would never throw a tantrum in public or lift their skirts up at the children message. And they absolutely would never hit anyone who tried to pick them up--especially at church.

This week, Jenna's kindergarten teacher asked Jenna to tell her about a situation that happened between her and another student in class. In order to not get in trouble, Jenna absolutely did not tell her teacher that she didn't know what happened because the other kid was speaking Spanish (which he was not) and that she couldn't understand Spanish. My kid would never lie! Never! And I was not secretly proud of Jenna's quick and clever thinking when she thought up the ridiculous story about the other kid speaking Spanish! Never!

I did not totally flip out at my kids when Jenna put Abby up to peeing in the trash can yesterday. I did not put them in time out for a half hour, give them three X's right off the bat, and make them clean up the pee pee garbage can. I always keep my cool when my kids misbehave. Always.

I definitely am not happy that Abby's nose has started bleeding when she picks it. Last week, she had to miss out on her favorite activity, singing, in preschool because she picked her nose so hard and it bled. I was not happy when it happened at home, knowing that a bloody nose might be the only way she quits picking her nose:)

And I certainly do not have the strong desire to throw away every toy that has small pieces to it--like Polly Pockets. I know that my kids love playing with Polly Pockets, and I would never consider throwing their beloved toys away.

Not me!

Brain dump

There is so much going on in our lives right now with the upcoming move and the beginning of school that I have completely neglected my blog. Not only have I not even thought much about writing posts, but I haven't been reading other blogs either--which is something I usually enjoy doing on a daily basis. And I am just tired. I've even been in bed at 9 twice this week, which is crazy because I am usually up pretty late. I don't have much motivation to write posts that take some time to craft, so here are the things that I've been thinking about lately.

1. I love school uniforms. Love them. Jenna won't have to wear uniforms in Orchard Park and I will miss that.

2. I have let my hair grow out to be its natural color. I really, really want to highlight it and go lighter again. But that's a lot of work and money. I like the natural thing. I just wish the natural thing were still blonde.

3. The whole issue of Rep. Joe Wilson yelling out "You lie" during Pres. Obama's speech irritates me. Who does he think he is to think that is acceptable? And who are the people who are contributing to his website? Seriously, he's made a ton of money on this thing. Being outwardly rude to our president, whether you agree with Wilson or not, is not acceptable. And he shouldn't be rewarded for it.

4. I really want Ed and Jillian (from the Bachelorette) to make it. Shallow and silly, I know. But I hope they survive.

5. I really wish the toilets in my house would be flushed every single time they are used. There are a couple of redheads who do not understand this concept, or are too lazy to do it.

6. I love the fact that Obama called Kanye West a jackass. Obama was 100% correct.

7. I don't know where we are going to live when we get to Orchard Park. I don't know for sure yet if we are going to live in an apt. or a house. And the fact that I don't have an address to give to the moving company really irritates me. We're working on all of this though.

8. Leaving CA will be hard. But at the same time I am excited for the future. I sometimes feel guilty about that excitement, but I've learned that feeling the grief of leaving and the excitement of what's ahead is normal. It's not easy to feel both at the same time though.

9. There have been a few extremely supportive and loving people in our midst throughout this call process and I am very, very grateful for them.

10. I am so ready to be done with work. Especially after I had to lock my classroom doors in fear of one of my students being jumped by a rival gang one day. Awesome:)

There you have it:)

A Big Decision

I remember someone once telling me that life is full of decisions. Some will be easy, with little heartache while others will be hard and downright emotional. Deciding to accept the call (job offer in non-Lutheran language) to a new church in Orchard Park was neither easy or with little heartache. It was very.very. hard.

We've moved a lot. Four times in our almost ten year marriage now. Most of our moves weren't up to us . . . it was part of seminary and we knew what we were getting into. We looked forward to the moves . . . each one meant we were a little bit closer to stability. But when we came to California for Nate's first call, we didn't know how long we would be here. I knew it could be five, ten, or even twenty years . . . and we've established lives here. We have friends, a wonderful congregation to serve alongside, a house. Our kids are in school and dance and swimming. I love my hairdresser and this is home.

We've always known that leaving Mount Olive and California would require God to make it abundantly clear that we were to be somewhere else. And He has. We are confident that God has spoken clearly to both us and to Mount Olive. Not only is He calling us to another congregation, but He's also calling Mount Olive to something new. I don't know what that is yet, but I know it will be good.

This past Sunday, Nate announced his decision to our church and it was one of the hardest days we've ever had. ever. I cried through most of each of the three services and definitely couldn't keep it together when we had to stand up in front of the church and be prayed for by our student pastor, Chuck. It was so much more painful than I even imagined it would be because we truly have loved our time at Mount Olive, but we especially love the people.

Nate has been nothing but open and honest about our journey. If you want to hear a little bit about it, feel free to click on the link to his sermon on Sunday that explains how we came to the decision to accept the call to St. John's in Orchard Park, NY. (Click here to hear the sermon--that's for you, Mom!)

So now we are figuring out how to make the transition to NY. Where will we live, when will we leave, what school will Jenna go to, where will Abby go to preschool? We have to venture out of the world of comfort into the world of discomfort for a while. Will we make friends? Will we get used to snow? :) Where will I find a good pediatrician? Will I be able to find my way to Target without getting lost? How will the girls do with the transition? What do I tell Abby when she asks to invite Jordan and TJ to her birthday party? All of that makes me really nervous, but in the end, I know that God is carrying us through this transition and He will continue to direct our paths and lead us according to His will.

And we will continue to follow.

A Great First Week!

I was so utterly exhausted at the beginning of the week, that all you got from me was a bunch of pictures from the first day of school. I couldnt' think to write at that point, but at least you got pictures! We spent the weekend in NY, visiting the church and community that has issued Nate the call. Going three timezones away and then back with a jam packed schedule in between, with kids, was enough to make me crazy and seriously tired. I was proud of myself for getting two children off to their first day of school with clean clothes, clean bodies, and food for lunch.

The first day of school and all the others this week have gone really well. I am thankful to have kids that adjust easily to new schedules and they just kind of rolled with the punches this week.

Abby came home from the first day of school and announced that she had learned to read that day:) The next day, she told me that she read a whole book to her friends! Funny . . . I think she just wants to be like her big sister.

I don't know what any of her friends names are because she only refers to them as "the purple one" or "the blue one." I think that relates to the color of clothing they had on that day, but then it probably changes day to day. So I have to get on the ball and learn some of the kids' names!

Jenna loves her teacher and has some friends from church and preschool in her class, which helps in this new situation. She is a little worried about the amount of playtime they get each day. She doesn't like the fact that they don't get to play as much as they did in preschool. She says they have real schoolwork to do now! Her other concern is with all of the rules and procedures she has not know. The second day, she told me that her teacher just keeps telling her all these things that she has to remember and she just can't keep them all straight!

The other interesting piece of her first week of Kindergarten is that she apparently has a boyfriend. Kinda. Here's how the conversation went in the car yesterday.

Jenna: Guess what?
Me: What?
Jenna: I have a boyfriend. Well, not really, but kinda.
Nate: You have a boyfriend, do you? Who is this boy?
Jenna: Well, this boy Tyler calls me his girlfriend. And he's real little and shy and I don't want to hurt his feelings so I said okay.
Nate: You tell Tyler that he needs to talk to me before he can be your boyfriend.
Jenna: Maybe I'll tell him I can't be his girlfriend!

So there you have it. Lots happening the first week of school.

And I absolutely love everything about this Kindergarten thing. I love taking her to school, making her lunch, packing it in her cute little lunch box. I love writing love notes on her napkins. I love that she wears uniforms and looks like a little school girl. I love the "too big for my back" backpack that carries a measely folder to and from school. I just love being a mommy of a school aged kid. So far!