What have I been up to?

The first two weeks while the girls were at school I did not have any sub jobs and tutoring had not begun. I kept busy doing the normal necessary things - grocery shopping, preparing dinners, making school lunches, paying bills, cleaning the house, sorting through closets, doing laundry, running errands, and other exciting tasks.

I also got some projects done around the house that I had been saving for these weeks. I painted all the outside doors, part of the trim and all of the front porch ceiling. Thankfully, we had a cold front come in which helped make it more enjoyable. I'd like to call that a "God thing".

During those two weeks, I did research and made numerous calls in preparation to change our health insurance. The church doesn't provide health insurance so we have to get an individual plan which is super high (don't get me started). With all of Wes's medical bills dealing with cancer and all the required check-ups things have gotten progressively worse with our insurance plan. We plan to switch in January which should help a bit.

My friend and I are PTO Vice Presidents again which means we are in charge of 3 fundraisers throughout the year. It was easier this time around than last year, but it still takes lots of time.

We host our small group from church most Sunday nights, and we still have our weekly High School devo at our house. Keeping my house clean and in order for these keeps me plenty busy too.

Speaking of our small group, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! What a blessing it has been to Wes and I! Last semester our group studied Crazy Love together and now we are studying Coffeehouse Gospel. These are both AMAZING books, and I highly recommend them. Our group is going to go hear Francis Chan (author of Crazy Love) speak down in Dallas soon. I can't wait. Our studies and relationships have helped me grow spiritually. We have challenged each other, laughed with each other, served with each other, and shed tears together. Together, we are being reminded that this life is not all about us. We should care less about the latest gadgets, latest fashions, and bigger newer houses. We have a purpose on this earth. What matters is what we have done for God's kingdom. Are we being Jesus to those around us? Are we making the most of the opportunities around us to be a light for Him? Throughout these last several months we have tried to find ways we can serve others and be a light to others. A special highlight for me was getting to take a family from our community, whose daughter has battled brain cancer, school supply and clothes shopping before school started. Since then we have been able to minister to this family in other ways. I am praying for God to open even more doors so that we can share His love with them.

After those first two weeks the calls started coming for me to sub. So far I have about 25 jobs lined up through out the year. I only signed up to sub in the 7 elementary schools here and one middle school for now. I also started tutoring at Terrell Elementary where I tutored some last year. I am there Wednesday afternoons and most of the day Thursday and Friday. On occasion, I sub for the other tutors, too. On Wednesdays, I help 4th and 5th graders work on certain Math and Reading skills. On Thursday and Friday mornings I provide enrichment activities in Math to a group of about 22 second graders for an hour and about 23 third graders for a hour. There are a couple of other tutors in there to help out as well. They call this time, "Brain Lab" and it is for the higher level students. The rest of the morning I work with 1st graders building their fluency in Reading. In the afternoon I work with the 4th and 5th graders on Math and Reading skills. Terrell has a room for tutoring, full of supplies, resources, 15 computers, and tons of hands-on manipulatives. It is really a great set-up.

I have really enjoyed tutoring. I enjoy it more than subbing. It is nice to see the same students (even though it is many students across 5 grade levels), develop a relationship with them, and really feel like I am making a difference in their lives. I know what I am doing each day unlike when you sub and each class is different. I also get paid about twice as much as subbing, which is an added plus.

I may also be doing some tutoring at Hyde Park later on in the year and it will be neat to be on my old stomping grounds and at the same school with the girls.

I really like my schedule. I know I am really blessed! It is not stressful, my afternoons after school and evenings are free to devote time to our girls and have some quality family time. All my hours are not filled with tutoring and subbing, so I can get other things done while the girls are at school.

I often get asked if I will go back to full time teaching soon, and my response is, "not for a long time". I enjoy being able to spend a lot of time with the girls and being able to devoted time to youth group activities. Being a teacher is super stressful and takes a lot of time. (Can I get an "AMEN!" teachers?) I remember those days, and I have a lot of respect for teachers.

Soccer season has started - meaning two practices and two games a week around here. So far the Denison Lightning (Abby's team) and Denison Ponies (Avery's team) are undefeated! Woo hoo! Wes is Abby's coach again and Avery's assistant coach. They have both played well. Avery is playing on a larger field this year. It makes me tired just to watch them run all over it.

I want to end this post with a few funny quotes from the last several weeks.

When Avery hurt her lip she very sullenly asked, "If my lip gets infected will they have to cut it off." I am pretty sure she was thinking about one of the Little House on the Prairie shows where someone ended up losing their leg due to an infection. Poor girl!

When Abby came home from school the day Avery hurt her lip, Avery was quick to inform her, "Abby you can kiss me anywhere else, but not on my lips." I don't blame Avery for warning her. Abby is known to be pretty rough when it comes to "loving" on people.

A few days after school started I asked Abby is she felt like her school day was long. She replied, "Yeeeeessss, like as long as all the days I will be on earth!"

Several times lately, Abby has prayed this, "Thank you God for my BIG, BIG sister and thank you for my BIG, BIG, Daddy, and thank you for my little, little, Mommy, and thank you for my little, little, Lexi." It is pretty cute. (The first time, I have to admit, I was afraid she was going to say BIG, BIG, Mommy.)

And just tonight, during our devo which included a lesson on God being our Abba, one of the questions was, "Why is the name 'Abba' so special?" Abby chimed in, "Because it's so close to MY name!" Love it!