KayLyn has a shiner!!!

She ran into one of the neighborhood boys. It looks better in the pictures than it did when she first came in bawling.

Add this to the pictures of Mimi, Granddad and Howie and you kinda have to wonder what it is that runs in this family.

It is DONE!!

Michelle has now finished all her work. She sent in the last project now.

She is done. Do we now have to bow and scrape and call her Master?

Almost Done!

Well it is amazing how time flies and life changes! In January 2007, I decided it was time to step up the pace and get my Master's Degree. At the time I was an Assistant Principal at Universal Academy Charter School and hated working under someone who was not educated and had no clue how to lead a school. I knew if I was ever going to be able to move up I needed to get my Masters. Well as of this week I am done! It has been so much fun and I have learned so much. I have also made some incredible friends who have walked with me through this journey. Thanks Tara, Ves, Jessica, and Serita! Texas Woman's University has been amazing and I am so glad to have chosen them for my degree, even though they are extremely liberal. My professors have been awesome! Thanks Dr. Barbour, Dr. Casey, Dr. McClellan, and Dr. Keller!
Through my journey I have change school districts, gone back to teaching, moved to Frisco, and become the leader I know I was intended to be. Hopefully this will be my last year of teaching. I will participate in Frisco's Growing Our Administrative Leaders (GOAL) program and begin interviewing for assistant principal jobs next spring. I have to thank Warren and the kids also as I end this blog! I could not have done it without them. They allowed me to be gone two nights a week, miss games and programs, and study many nights! They rarely complained and I hope if anything I have imparted the ethics of being a lifelong learner and the importance of an education to my children. Warren is just praying I do not decide to go and get a Doctorate for a while, but the time will come I am sure!

Snow daze...In TEXAS?!?!?

Again, a few months overdue, but rewind back to the first week in March. We had, not one, but two snowstorms in one week. We had over 3" of snow in each one. The first picture is the first storm the day after. This storm started after dark. It all melted the day after.

The second two are from the second storm. Remember all snow was gone from the first storm. This one started during school and was still going strong after school was out.

This was all gone after second day as well. It was fun to watch from my office as this snow fell. It got me ready for skiing. Which will be dicussed in the next blog.

Painted Faces

We went to the kids school for Spagetti night. Part of the evening included bounce houses and face painting.

Chip could not decide if he wanted a football or baseball, so he went half and half. KayLyn went with the kitty.

Krisi on the other hand when with honey and nuts.

Long Overdue Post

Michelle referenced that I had a new years gift. I think most of you know that I started a new job with CVSCaremark. I am a Manager in Information Systems.

Incredible Husband

Well I have to tell you how wonderful Warren is to me! For the past 2 weeks I have been trying to stay caught up on my work at school because I thought Krisi and I were going to Memphis for a relaxing girls weekend. When I arrived home on Friday I was told that it was all a rouse and Warren was taking me away for the weekend. My wonderful mom came down and watched the kids and we went off. He had set up for us to stay at the Embassy Suites and we did everything I wanted to do all weekend. It was great I slept everyday! We went to the movie, we ate at great restaunts and we did lots of shopping! Thank you Warren for being so wonderful to me!

Michelle

Christmas at our New Home!

Well, we got moved into our new house on December 8th and had 2 weeks to unpack, decorate, finish finals (for Michelle), start a new school, and Christmas shop! All this and I was sick with Acute Bronchitis and on some heafty medication! We did it though! What a blessing to have such a wonderful family! We were so blessed to have BJ, Wendy, Lilyanah, and Ethne here this year! It had been 5 long Christmases without them! Thank you for taking the time out of your schedule to join us and get some extra needed sleep in BJ's case!
It was very also wonderful to be able to visit with Dad and Ann! They have blessed our children so much this year and I know they enjoyed the visit as much as we did. Our house was such a blessing! We were able to have BJ, Wendy, Lilyanah, Ethne, Mom, Granddad, Eve, Steve, Kyra, Tim, Julia, and our special friend, Kristina (who is family in our hearts) here with us. We were also excited that Max got to join us for one night of the season! He is a great little boy! We had so much fun playing games and fellowshiping for 4 days! Can you image 16 people celebrating the birth of Christ and Santa Claus together?! I have to admit I was under the weather most of the season and so Warren picked up a lot of slack and was an incredible host! This year we have learned some very hard lessons about the value of family! We lost some incredible men to disease and miss them terribly. We tried really hard to embrace the joys of the season, but there was a tremendous void without Howie and Jacky. There is also always a void where Mimi should be. Our joy comes from knowing they were all with us in spirit and looking down on all of us. They were probably all laughing and saying,"they have lost their minds to all be staying together like that!" We also were very saddened that Jim was not with us this year. He is stationed in Iraq. We sure do miss him and pray that he is staying safe. We learn from him each year that the freedom we have is possible because of the the sevicemen that defend us throughout the year! We do not like that he is gone, but we are grateful for his and all the other servicemen's willingness to go. I want to also say how blessed we were this year to have our friend Kristina with us! She has had a really rough year and it warmed our hearts so much to be able to open our home to her! If there is ever a lesson that I learned from my wonderful grandparents it is to always open your home and share with others the blessings and love that we have in our family! It is our prayer that she will have a much better year in 2008 and she will continue to spend Christmas with us in the future. I will let Warren post about the exciting New Year's gift he has gotten. Let's just say, "I love him and am so honored to have an incredible husband that loves and supports me!"


Michelle

Thanksgiving in Ga

So 3 of the 4 of us went to Georgia for Thanksgiving. Michelle stayed home to be with Grandma and Granddad.

While is Ga, several things happened.

We got to see Nena and Pop.

KayLyn was spoiled by Aunt Jan.

KayLyn met her cousin Tiffany and they hit it off very well.

I was able to see my cousins Angela and Trey.

New House Chip's Room

Pictures of Chip's room and bathroom. That is not the latest lunar eclipse, but Michelle blocking the flash with her hand.

I don't think we have to paint Chip's room either. Although, Burnt Orange and white would be fine in that room too. Or maybe that is what we will paint the game room.

Go Missouri!!!!

New House - KayLyn's Room

So here we have pictures of KayLyn's room and attached bathroom. That door in her bathroom is for her closet. Good thing she likes pink.

New House - Upstairs

These first shots are of the game room upstairs. Chip's room, the media room and the guest room all come off the game room. KayLyn's room is to the right on the other side of the stairs.


Then there is the media room. No good way to photograph this room, but you can see the tangle of cords that I get the work through to make the room work.

Then from the gameroom you can see the backyard in all its natural glory. BTW, the trampoline and the fort are staying.

New House - Details

The last entry showed the exterior. Here are some of pictures of the interior.

First it the entry way with the formal living and dinining room on the right and the staircase on the left. Just before the staircase is the office and a small guest bath.

Next is the kitchen and kitchen table area. Notice the nice vew of the backyard and built in desk. Kitchen has 2 large pantries.

Finally for this post the den, seen from 2 angles. Floor level (with Michelle's hand blocking the flash) and 2 from above showing the full height of the room.

More to come.