Saying "No" to some guilt!

I have taken myself back to Rachel Anne's for the "Today's Small Thing". And Today's Small Thing was titled "Have a Nice (Guilt) Trip". You ought to check it out.

Well, today I have decided that I am going to make time for myself to GO TO THE GYM. I have been putting off going because I feel guilty.

Guilty for making my kids stay in yet another hour of child care. (However, when I pick up the girl, she begs to go to the gym!) And guilty that I am an hour later getting dinner started, and that I don't have the time with the kids after dinner that I could have if I just went straight home.

BUT instead of feeling guilty I should feel good about this decision. I am overweight a tad, out of shape and stressed all the time. By exercising I can help deminish some of these problems! I will be healthier, not so tired all the time (after I get into the groove of it all that is...) and they say that exercise helps your body deal with the stress.

SO there you have it....that's my way of dealing with this area of guilt. There are many other areas to deal with, but I think I'll take it one baby step at a time!

Praise God!

Well, Timothy is a very bright little man, so says his parents and now his Kindergarten teacher. He has been asking Carlton for several months how to ask Jesus in your heart. He told us that he wanted to go to heaven when he dies. He's a very perceptive little guy and picks up on a lot of things and ever since he heard a preacher say something along the lines that you have to have Jesus in your heart to go to heaven, he has been asking.

Carlton took this situation very serious, as we all should, and started months back explaining to him what it really means to become a Christian, and the seriousness of asking Christ into your heart. He wanted Timothy to understand well enough that he could say his own prayer and it not be scripted.

So, last night they sat at the table one more time talking. Then Carlton could tell he was ready. That he knew and would be able to say this sweet prayer on his own. SO when it came time to pray he called Timothy closer to him. He said he could see that Timothy's eyes were welling up so he looked at him and asked him why he was crying and Timothy told him, "I'm just not sure I know all the words to say." and Carlton told him to just let God guide him.

And so, he did. I wasn't in the room, I was putting Rachel to bed, but Carlton said that he said everything all on his own! He said that when he was finished Timothy looked at him and said, "I did it! Jesus is in my heart!"

Oh, how sweet! When I walked in the room. Timothy looked at me and said, "Momma I am going to heaven! I asked Jesus in my heart!" It was precious! He was SO excited!

Then when I put him to bed, and he was getting ready to pray, he looked at me with the most serious and almost sad face and said, "Momma, what about Rachel...Will she go to heaven?"

I told him that just like God showed him in his heart, He would show Rachel too! Then I told him that he could pray for God to show her, and so he did!

Its About Time

I must have been kidding myself WAAAYYY back when I posted that last entry. To think that I would have the time to "keep up" with posting on my blog was a thought during a moment of insanity!

I have been so busy at work, and when I get home, if hubby has brought his computer home, I just don't have time to get online....heavy sigh!!!

Well, a lot has gone on in the past week and half.

I got rear ended by a student at our school.....

We had Timothy's 6th BDay party. It was a Spurs Basketball theme and his Daddy was so proud. Hubby had designed the cake. He designed the print on the top of the cake anyway. It took him several hours in Publisher, but he got it done....and it was a hit!

The girl was there (the only girl) and had a blast, but fell ill with fever soon after. She ended up in the doctor's office first thing Wednesday with bronchitis and an ear infection. We had to do breathing treatments for 4 days. Timothy was quite bothered by them. She thought they were fun! LOL

Oh, I almost forgot a funny said by her. She called the breathing treatments "my smoke". So, one night after her bath she said, "Momma, can I watch TV while I smoke." HeeHee....I hope I never hear those words in any other context!!!

I'll have to catch you up on everything else later. We are still talking to an attourney about the house. They say we have a case, but we have to hire our own "professional structural engineer" to evaluate the house if we want to assure ourselves "a win". SO, that is going to cost us a hand full of dollars! Just pray the money comes from somewhere!

The Storm (Timothy's 2nd year of Soccer)

Ok, so FINALLY the time has come for me to get back to "regular posting" LOL Anyway, this weekend was the first game of our soccer season. We actually should have started 3 weeks ago, but due to some friends (Gustave and Ike) we were a little delayed!

Carlton has decided to take on coaching this year! He says, "I know nothing about soccer, but at this age you are just teaching them to hustle, how to kick, and to go in the right direction." So, he figured while it's still simple, he'd give it a try!

So here is a few pictures from Saturday. Our game was at 2:00, so it was HOT!

I am thinking..."why buy that package of pictures....this one would suffice for me!" (thanks dear hubby for the shot!)

Or maybe this one.....lol......I don't know what he is doing here! This seems to be his and Rachel's new "thing" when I grab the camera!

Rachel was hiding from the sun!

A little pre-game talk.

Timothy didn't make this goal, but he got very excited for his friend!

A little foot work going on here!

There was A LOT of this going on...

and A LOT of this!

I love this!

and this! The end!

The team's name is STORM....and obviously you can see our color is BLACK! So, needless to say, we were burning up @ 2:00!

This is RIDICULOUS!!!

Ok, I have SO gotten into a rut that I didn't realize it had been a week ago today since the last time I blogged. And I only noticed that because I saw it on the sidebar of one of my blog friends!

The days have been so crazy around here. I promise to get some pictures up and to share some funny stories with you all SOON. So please don't give up on me. I will return!!!!

I started another blog for my classroom called Pieces Of The Puzzle. Check it out. It's still evolving. I hope to be able to use it as a tool to keep in touch with the parents, and to introduce the students to other kids within the Autism spectrum that are successful members of society.

Another thing that is ridiculous these days is my weight! I know part of it is stress and all, but I put on a pair of pants this morning that had gotten way too big for me. Well now they are just a little big....what the heck!

SO, starting this evening.....I am either taking evening walks in the neighborhood or I am getting my behind to the gym. The frequent stops to Starbucks will be coming to a halt....well, at least slowing down. (can't stop all together...what in the world was I thinking!!!)

Well, I can at least say I posted something today...may not have been all that interesting to you all, but at least I did it!

Timothy has a soccer game tomorrow! The season was suppose to start 3 weeks ago, but because of the two evacuations we obviously didn't get started. Maybe I'll have pictures of that on Monday. Oh, and hubby is coaching this time! Very interesting!!!

New Look!

Well I found the best site for those of us who would like a new look, but can't afford the facelift! You can click on the little box at the top corner of my blog, or just go to The Cutest Blogs on the Block. There are tons of free, and yes I said free, blog backgrounds. You can also sign up for a facelift, but this costs and there is a waiting list. However, I am sure it is TOTALLY woth the wait!

By the way they also make photo cards too! There are many different blog design secrets and tools there too! Go check them out!

Update on House after IKE

Well, Carlton left us here in San Antonio while he headed home to check on the damages. As far as he can tell the only damage is what i mentioned earlier......lost siding and a gate down! He said a little water must have gotten in under the front door but he couldn't tell how much. He wasn't sure about the roof, however said that he didn't see any shingles anywhere so that is a good sign.

I thank God for taking such good care or our place. There is so much else going on with it that I don't know what we would've done had more damage occurred. I just want you all to remember all those around us that were devestated, and there were SO many! They expect to have power to the Mid County area in full by Sept. 23rd. At least that is what I read online at the Beaumont Enterprise. However, a little birdy did tell us that we (Nederland) should have 80% of our town up with power by this weekend! I pray now that our neighborhood is in that 80%!

Thank you all for your prayers! Continue to pray!

quick update

First of all......thanks Momma for letting people know in the comments that we are okay and that we did get out of there after all!

We are currently in San Antonio staying with one of hubby's longtime friends. The only thing we have heard about the house so far is that most of our siding is gone and that part of our gate is down. We still don't know about the inside and whether or not water penetrated. We didn't have flooding in our neighborhood, however, after Humberto last year we did have some water in Timothy's closet and in the MIDDLE of our living room floor. SO, we are curious to see if any came in this time, especially knowing that we already have some foundation problems!

Which brings me to another request....pray that the insurance company won't try to say something like......the water wouldn't have gotten in the house if the foundation wasn't cracked! (IF there is water in the house that is!) If they do I think I will scream!

I have already called them and am about to get in touch with Texas Windstorm.

Please pray for all the people in our area. What happened to us (our house) is NOTHING compared to MANY others!

Gotta go now, will update more later!

Hurricane Ike!

Well, we may not be making the best decision here, but as for now we are staying. No, we don't have a false sense of security, but we know things will be okay. Many people around us are staying as well. They called a mandatory evacuation, however, it was too late for me. The traffic from other areas coming into Houston was already too much for me to imagine driving through. We wouldn't actually go into Houston to leave, but that only meant that there was just as much through our little towns!

NOT GONNA DO IT!!!! Did it a couple weeks ago and I even had a little bit of a head start. It was terrible.

The main thing they are saying is that we will be hit with what would be similar to a cat 1 hurricane. I know it could get worse, but we are still staying! SO, pray for us. Pray for the kids.....I really don't want them to be too scared.

I AM BACK!!!!!!!!!!

OH MY....what a summer this has been....and the beginning of school has been a whirlwind!!!!



To catch you up on the house....well, it's still a mess! The insurance company sent out a plumbing specialist to check for leaks under the foundation. He found one, so then they sent out a structural engineer about 3 weeks later and yesterday, 6 weeks later the insurance company finally calls and tells us that they are not covering a thing and giving us some vague reasons as to why. PLEASE pray for us as we research the best thing to do next. We have talked to a lawyer and will be meeting more with him in the next couple of weeks.

I have been SO busy at work. Two days before school started back I was called into the office of the director of Special Ed. Shw offered me a position at one of the high schools starting a unit for Autistic students. As much as I hated to leave the people I was working with, I jumped on the opportunity pretty quick. This is one group in special ed. that I love working with and I had been wanting to move to the high school level. However, there have been some set backs and many frustrating days since then.

I was suppose to have a week to set up the room. But because there was so much to be done to the room, I didn't get into the room until FRIDAY of that week! THEN our dear friend Gustave showed up and we were made to evacuate. The students showed up last Thursday! The work I had done setting up the furniture and cleaning on Friday, was destroyed by the men from the Coast Guard that used our school. When we walked in on that Thursday morning, we had to reorganize everything all over!

I still only have one computer in the room and it is not the one that I will be allowed to keep, but at least it is one! The aides that were hired for the room are precious. They will help in any way asked. I think they might be a bit bored right now since there is NO curriculum as of this moment. We have watched a few movies and done some academics here and there, but not much.

I am just glad to be back online! Finally! I look forward to getting caught up with everyone. I will still post, but probably not near as much as before. At least for now anyway!

Please remember me in your prayers!

Angie