Yikes!!!

Has it really been so long since I have updated??? Hopefully I still have our 4 readers out there and haven't sent everyone off for good! Things have been busy around here and I am taking the time to update today. Those of you who know I work, are probably wondering if I have school off. The answer is no, but Caleb has a doctors appointment so I am taking advantage of the fact that I am home and the kids are watching Mickey Mouse Club House, which gives me 20 min to update! School is going well. I am so ready for the 2 week break coming up. This year has been very trying and I am seriously debating what to do for next year. I know I am not the only one struggling with keeping up with everything that needs to get done, and trying to teach at the same time. The first few weeks Matt kept asking me how much I taught this week and to be honest it wasn't much! One of the bad things about teaching special education is all the paperwork. The sad thing is that, to the Federal Government, the paperwork is more important than the student. Sad but true. I am struggling with trying to be a good wife and mother as well as teach. Keeping the balance is a struggle for me. I made a rule that no work comes home. If that means that I get behind at school, than so be it. Home is for my family and I don't want school work coming in and taking time away from the kids and Matt. So needless to say- I am SO excited that in 2 weeks I have 2 weeks off.

On the other hand, Caleb is loving school. He enjoys his teacher , Mrs. Koehn, and his reading teacher, Mrs. Meredith. One of the kids from his baseball team is in class with him and Caleb now calls Brandon his best friend. He comes home everyday with something fun to talk about. I love that he loves school. I am so happy that he loves to learn. Matt and I have been toying with the idea of maybe doing homeschooling next year, but I haven't fully decided yet. I know that Caleb loves school, and I want it to be his choice. So we will see once the end of the school year comes and decide from there. Ian and Riley are having fun at the pre-K at Lebanon. I know there are days that they wish they were at home, but they seem to enjoy all the rhymes and songs that they are singing at school. They are learning so much and I know it will be beneficial to them. Kindergarten in someways is a review for Caleb because of all the things he learned at the TLC.

We have still not found a church home. We did for a while, more out of sheer exhaustion, but soon realized no matter how we tried to make it work, the fellowship connections were not there for us. So we are on the hunt yet again. We have been visiting a church nearby, Donelson church of Christ, and so far we like it. For us, it is a little more conservative than what we might be looking for. But we would rather error on the side of more conservative than be all out there. So we will visit for a while and see where God leads us. God has been stretching us and helping us grow as individuals and as a couple since our move to TN. It has had it's trying moments, but there have been huge blessings as well. There are days I would give anything to be back in AR sitting with friends just relaxing, but I know that the choice we made was directed by God and I have comfort knowing that he has great plans for our future.

Since I know you all are wanting to see pictures, here are a few from the last month. We took the kids to see Disney on Ice (their first real show like that) and they LOVED it! They had so much fun. I think they were all tired towards the end. We went on a Friday night so they had been up since 5:45ish and when the show was over it was 9 and I don't think we got home till 10ish. But they had a blast and keep asking when we are going to go again. :) There are a few other pictures too of Caleb with his first homework assignment. He has one a week and so far they have been pages in a class book. The very first picture I absolutely love. Matt and Caleb are watching the game and they are striking the same pose. They both held about 3 of the same poses and it made my heart smile.

*Like Father, Like Son*
*Caleb's first homework assignment- All about ME!*
* He was really proud of his work*
*Daddy and his princess at Disney on Ice*
* 2 of my prince charmings*
*Donald, Mickey and Minnie*
*Cars*
*Little Mermaid- Under the sea*
*Lion King*
*Pixie Hollow- Tinkerbell's beginnings*

*Finale*