The Good KInd of Busy

The blog has really suffered this past month. I hope September is better. But we have been super busy in a good way. School is full swing. Football even started last week (with an awesome win!). I am trying not to lose my sanity with the alternating A/B block schedule. And going from having 75 kids a semester to 150 kids. That's a lot of names and papers and lesson plans to keep straight! I am also on the Morale Committee this year which I love! But it is busy and hard work cheering everyone up. But I love spreading encouragement. Especially since it is something I feel that God has me at this school to do.

Then there is Paper Happies, my very small paper goods business. I have had two Etsy orders this month. On top of two orders from FaceBook. So that is a blessing. And about double the sales I had all summer. Just a little play money or in this month's case, back to school money.

Adam and I are also teaching Kindergarten Worship Care on Sunday mornings this year. That is a whole other post. Wow. Teenagers I can wrangle. But six year olds run circles around me.

Then the fall starts fun things like Bible Study and other clubs/groups. One friend in my neighborhood started a monthly Ladies' Craft Night. I am so excited about crafting and putting all my Pintrest ideas into action. I am really trying not to be a social recluse this year by doing book club and other sociable things like the MomTime activities at church.

And Consignment season is about to start so I am pulling clothes, sorting clothes and just clothes, clothes, clothes. We are about to have a giant garage sale in October. We have collected stuff from my parent's house that they are about to remodel. We are no longer parking in the garage! We are hoping to do really well so that we can make some headway on our financial goals for the year.

And my goals for Fall. They include putting one Pintrest idea into action a week. (So that all the time I spend there is not a waste.) So far I have made large lemon ice cubes, sinful Oreo brownies, homemade ice cream in a freezer bag, hand print art and this week I am doing some freezer recipes. Another goal is having a freezer full of ready made meals. I am LOVING this. It makes after school time, time. Time with the kids playing or watching them play while I do not cook. I currently put two freezer meals into our weekly menu plan. But hopefully I can make that more and more. I would love to have freezer meals on weeknights and cook fun things on the weekends. I am also working on the fitness. Although I have stood Jillian Michaels up everyday this month. But tomorrow starts the Shred. I saw so much progress and have dramatically changed my eating habits. I am hoping to be back to my pre Noah self or better by the Spring!

And then there are my loves. Adam. Noah. Miller. Adam is busy covering his beat and kinda half of another for a coworker who just had an adorable little baby. But she covers councilil meetings. At dinner time. Just once every other week. But Adam is the kind of husband and Dad that his presence and helping hands are sorely missed whenever absent. Noah is in his new class at school and thriving. He loves all the crafts and weekly letter show and tells. He is also loving the weekly prize for good behavior. For the first week they learned about manners and I saw a direct rise in thank you's and mams. The best is when he said no one could eat until we were all served. Really?Apparently this was a new concept to him. Not a rule in our house or anything :) Miller is Miller. Not walking. Not talking. But smiling and charming everyone. And loving his people. He loves to play independently these days. I am trying not to freak that Noah had about ten words at this point in his toddlerhood. While Miller can moo like a cow. And say mamamamamamamama. And of course he says DaDa.

I am feeling super convicted about savoring every moment. So I am doing my best. Like the saying , "Don't feel sad. Just go be awesome." I saw it on Pinterest. It sounds like something Michael Scott would say. But I am just trying to spend all of me I can. Lay it all out there. Use everything He gave me. I am here for a reason. And all I can do is live and live fully. But I really could use a nap.

And because no post is complete without a photo... here is one my friend Susan tagged on Pintrest. When I saw it I cried. Worship. I just love it.

And now back to work on these lesson plans. Just wanted to post something during the month of August!

The Heavy Hearted Start

A smile and a warm hearty hello go a long way towards making someone's day better. Sometimes more than you know.

My school can be a pretty hard place to work at sometimes. We work with kids who carry a lot of baggage. And if you let it, it can be heartbreaking. We teach with out a lot of resources and sometimes we never see results. And if you let it, it can be disheartening. Over the last six years I have learned to look on the bright side of my job. To focus on the smiles and to be one of them. One of my favorite smiles came from Teddy Fulgham. He was the head of our security team. He walked the halls with a big booming voice and a big smile. He always spoke when he saw you whether he leisurely patrolling or quickly moving towards trouble. He was by my side when I faced some of my biggest disciplinary challenges. And he always encouraged me. When I taught two of his children He was always popping in to check on them. The kids loved him, respected him and had a healthy fear of him.

Teddy died Tuesday night before school started. And it left a big hole in my heart. I still find my self listening for his voice echoing through the halls. And I miss his warm greetings. I attended his funeral on Saturday. It was an emotional and celebratory send off for his entrance into heaven. I know this Godly man is one I will see on the other side. And I look forward to worshiping the Father with my friend.

His passing led to a heavy heated start to the school year. We also lost our band director in July to a heart defect. He was a young father of two little ones. As well as a figurative father to many of our fatherless kids. He will be missed.

We are also missing those who retired or moved on to other schools. This year we have 2 new vice principals, two new counselors, a new football coach, a new baseball coach, and close to 18 new teachers. But all of the new blood seems to be a good thing. There are many new faces, new procedures, and a new schedule. Lots of new committees to help make the school the best it can be. I think good things are happening here this year. And I am thankful for the blessing of being a part of it.

Pretty much everyday I have heard the song, Never Once by Matt Redman on the radio either on my way to school or on my way home. It has such a beautiful message. I hear You God! I know you never leave me alone! One of my favorite lines (or several lines) is growing very dear to my heart. And I hope that I grow in grace and be an amabassodor of grace at school, at home, and everywhere. I hope I can grow to exude praise even in the toughest of times.

"Scars and struggle on the way but our hearts can say..never once did we ever walk alone. Carried within your constant grace. Held within your perfect peace. Never once. No never once did we walk alone. Never did you leave us on our own. You are faithful. God you are faithful. Every step we are breathing in your grace. Evermore we will be breathing out your praise. "

The Weekends

We are back to school around here. School does many things to our routine and daily lives. One thing it does is make our weekends much more precious. We try to draw out the minutes and enjoy each other. But who wouldn't enjoy spending time with these two?

The Birthday Letter

My Dearest Miller,

Oh how I delight in you. You have added such a bright light to our little family. Your joy for life is contagious. One days when I am tired and stressed all I need is a quick smile from you and things look brighter and better. You are a bit spunky and already know how to charm. But your sweet streak outweighs any mischief. You love your brother so very much. I love to watch you adore him and I love watching him enjoy being adored by you. Being a big brother is new to Noah and your love for him has certainly won him over. I think your love for him is mutual. He loves you too. You are such a fun combination of so many family members. Many look at you and see different parents or grandparents in the shape of your face, in your smile in your eyes. I look at you and see God's blessing and gift He sent me through you. I have prayed for you most of my life. And last year I was excited to meet you (especially after such an easy delivery). Your birth story is fun to tell. And our connection and bond with you was immediate. I enjoyed every minute I spent at home with you for the first five months. I will never forget our mornings alone while Noah was at school. Sometimes we spent the whole time rocking in our green chair. You were a bit of a fussy baby unless you were settled into my arms. You grew out of that when you mobilized. Some of my favorite things about you are the way you light up a room with your sweet smile and cute laugh. I love your charm and even your sneaky streak. I may not be able to grant your every desire or spoil you the way I would like but you never need to doubt the depth of my love and delight for you. That is the truth I want to speak straight to your little heart. That my unconditional love for you runs so deep but barely scratches the surface of the love of your heavenly Father. Whose love is perfect. We can not earn it nor do we deserve it. But He lavishes it upon us. Even when we do not see it or feel it it is all around us. I dream so many things for you. But mostly I want your inner joy to multiply. I want it to be uncontainable. I want you to spread it everywhere you go. To school. To the grocery store. To your neighbors. To the world. I want you to live this life abundantly. And to never be limited by the stress or worry of this world. Miller your Daddy and I love you so much. We have loved watching you grow in this first year of your life and look forward to the many milestones yet to come! To quote good ole Sandra Boynton "Happy Day. Happy Year. Happy Always and Ever. "

The One Year Old

What an amazing year full of delight and love. We are all so very thankful for Miller and the addition of life he brings to our family. He is so many things to us. I love watching him and Noah grow as brothers. I love his sweet yet spunky personality. I look forward to watching him grow and grow. But not too fast .....

Tonight we were saying our prayers and we were thanking God for the things we love about Miller. Noah said.."Thank you God for playing with him in the bathroom. For squishing him. And for letting him play cars with me. I love him."

We all love him.

The First Birthday Party

Miller is turning one on Wednesday! That is so crazy to me. Wednesday is also the official first

day of school. We decided to celebrate Miller this weekend. I am going to save all the sweet emotional stuff for later in the week. Because I am having a hard time with it :) For now I will just post about his party! For months Miller has been pure sunshine. We call him that all the

time. He is either super happy and smiley or crying. So a sunshine themed birthday party was

perfect for him and August.Mimi and Papa brought a Snowcone machine and bubble machine for a little backyard party. We served just cake (in the form of cupcakes and cakeballs) and ice cream (pre scooped and frozen in mason jars, thank you Pinterest.) I made several white and

yellow banners and Nana and Puddin' brought lots and lots of yellow balloons. We were planning on playing in the sprinklers and Miller's new water table (Happy Birthday Baby!) but we had too much fun eating snowcones. I made Miller a sunshine shirt, hand appliqueing pieces I cut using the Cricut.

Nana made matching shorts for him. Soon I will learn to make shorts too so I quit asking others to make them for my shirts :) Miller did a great job with his cake. He enjoyed it but not too much. He enjoyed basking in the attention of all his people. Adam and I are so thankful for our family and friends who helped us celebrate this sweet little boy. We adore him and his brother. We feel blessed to be their parents and spend our lives trying to show them God's extravagant love and grace.

Aunt Emy and Xander

Aunt Jenny and Lillie!

The snow cones were a big hit!

These miniature side walk chalk tubs and bubble wands served as the party favors. The sunshine motif was on the invitations and all over the party.

This banner hung on the mantel of the fireplace where I put pictures of Miller. But just a few because I realized last minute I barely have pictures of him printed! I have never made a banner where I used fabric as the ties but I love it! I will be doing more in the future.

I love this picture. Miller looks like he is covering his face for a surprise just as a put the cake on his tray!

This frame was on the mantel and used the same idea as his shirt and invitations.

I have made canvases with this scrapbook like effect and for this I used a wood plaque and hung it from ribbon on the front door.

Almost all the Key cousins in the pool! Just missing Michael. So much fun watching them all play together!

Playing with his present from us, a water table. We had no idea what to get him since e have so many vehicles and other play things for Noah. But we made the right choice. HE LOVES IT!

Miller loves his grandmothers!

Lillie looking adorable!

Xander loves the bubbles!

Nana and Puddin sharing a snow cone with Miller.

Bring on the cake!

Ava sharing a snow cone with Noah. She is so sweet. Noah told me this morning Ava will be his wife and they will come visit my house every night and morning.

My neighbor Sara and her daughters Ava and Tessa. She just a sweet little boy named Ryder! Banner outside on the porch.

Cupcake tree, I didn't take pictures of the cake balls. Or mason jar ice cream. But it was cute ;)

Miller was very serious about his cake.

My sweet birthday boy!