Time to update my loyal readers....

....all 5 of you, that is.  LOL!

Seriously though, we've been doing really well.  This weekend we went to the zoo.  The kids loved it.  We ended up buying a zoo membership & are looking forward to using it a lot!  The kids always enjoy zoo trips so it's cool that we can now go for free (well at least for the next year anyway).

On Friday night, we took the kids to see High School Musical.  The junior high theater department put the show on at the High School theater & we live right beside the HS, so we couldn't miss it!  We all had a good time.  The show was really cute & we were amazed at the talent of a bunch of 7th & 8th graders!  They did a great job.

The kids are anxiously making it through the last day of April today.  They're excited that, as of tomorrow, they're in the last month of school!  I'm excited, too!  We always have great summers here and I enjoy having all my babies home finally.  I'm not so excited as to pursue homeschooling (ha!) but do love having them home for the summer.  :)

Today is also the day that Savannah will get to begin choosing her electives for school next year.  This fall, she will be in 6th grade which is the age where you change classes 5-6x throughout the day & have a locker & get to choose some of your classes for the first time.  She's really excited about that.  I remember the excitement I felt when I was that age, so I know how happy she is!  Larry & I have a parent meeting to explain all the transitions tonight.  Then we get to sit down with her & start trying to figure out what electives she wants to do, which classes she wants to pursue as "honors" classes, etc.  WooHoo!  This will be fun.  (Yes...I know...the little things really get me excited!)

Tomorrow begins my final month w/ my class at school.  It's hard to believe that this (school) year is almost over!  I won't mention my students' names or share a pic (as I'm sure some of their parents wouldn't want their child's name/face broadcast on my blog), but I have a special spot in my heart for each of these kiddos....but I must admit, I'm ready for my summer break, too.  It's been a stressful year.

And as for an update on Andrew & Kourtney, because I know you're wondering how they are!  The last time I talked to them was the week that Sarah pulled her tooth (so I guess it's been almost 2 weeks now).  They seem to be ok.  Like I mentioned before, there are things that I wish I could do for Jerry & Betty, but at the same time, I know I have to let go & allow them to figure out A&K's lives from here on out.  So I am trusting God to take care of all the little details that I want to intervene & "fix" for them.  This is part of an email I sent to my mother in law last week:

"I still can't believe that the time we had with Andrew & Kourtney is over.  I feel like 1/2 of my heart went with them to Victoria.  Every time I talk to them, my heart breaks a little again.  They're doing fine, but I want to mama them.  I want to hold them & rock Kourtney & snuggle Andrew at bedtime.  I want to sit and talk with them & learn more about their dreams and their hopes and their memories.  I want to giggle with them & tickle them.  I want to kiss their foreheads while they sleep.  I want to take pictures of them being silly.  I want to paint Kourtney's toenails & fold paper airplanes w/ Andrew.  I never expected that they'd leave, so I guess the biggest hurt is knowing that I wasn't able to "fix" everything for them....I wasn't able to "cure" everything.  And I wanted to.  So badly!

Kourtney called me Mama.  I pray that Betty isn't just a loving aunt in her life, but that she can become "mama" for Kourtney, too.  She needs a mommy so bad.

 

Andrew needs so much nurturing & care. I pray that he's getting it.  I pray that Jerry isn't just an uncle who he's living with but a true father-figure for him.

 

God keeps reminding me that He can handle all the details.  He could make the earth & spin the planets in orbit.....He could fashion the stars & pin them to the sky.......He was able to breathe life into my children and He tells the Sun when to shine.  He puts the moon in the sky at night & makes it glow into my window.  He can pull the oceans into the shoreline & push them back in giant waves.  If He can handle all this, and still has time to hear my prayers and feed the birds and protect the billion Texas squirrels from speeding Mazdas ......He can surely handle the details of the lives of 2 children who need His care.  I have to trust that He doesn't need ME to figure out the details of their lives and He doesn't need ME to continue worrying over them.  If I could do a better job than Him, He wouldn't be much of a GOD would He?

 

But just the same, I was their mama for a time & part of me always will be.  I suspect He understands that, too."

 

Anyway....so there's my update.  I don't know a whole lot about their lives right now other than the fact that they're doing ok & still getting settled into a new home & life.  It won't be easy for them to get comfortable with a new place all over again, but it wasn't easy here, either.  They'll get there though.  And I have to trust God to get us there too.  It was hard stretching our lives to include two more...and it'll be a while before I don't worry about them all the time.......but we'll get there.  :)