Fun With Dick and Jane

"Fun With Dick and Jane" is one of our all time favorite movies. We seem to always be one step away from taking showers in other people sprinklers and robbing the coffee shop for that amazing muffin that is just out of our reach. Today we woke up super early on a Saturday morning so that we can be the first people into the library to check our e-mail. (I just got the "10 minutes left warning" on the computer.) If it weren't so funny it would be quite pathetic. :o) Steve got Visa gift cards for Christmas from his students and my parents so we are going to get internet for two full months!!! This should give me time to find a new job. Please be in prayer for that, as I might end up working for Cosco. 8 minutes left....
I am sorry I didn't get to say goodbye to most of you. I had a million things going on inside my head of what I needed to do and they just got sort of mixed up. We will be back though on New Years Eve to play two shows, one at the Junction and one for SOS Ministries. We'd post them on Myspace, but alas, the library has banned that site. We love you guys and miss you so very much. Mansfield is awesome and we hope that you guys can come and visit us someday. Have a merry Christmas.
Oh and if you e-mail me your addresses, I'll send you a Christmas card!!!

A MILLION THINGS TO SAY!!!!!

If I were to wake up tomorrow and realize that this has all been a dream, I wouldn't be surprised. This is has been the craziest week EVER and if I had all the time or words in the world, I wouldn't be able to truely capture it for you, but here is the shortened version. Take a deep breath.....
Monday- Got mostly approved for our rental house.
Tuesday- Sherry and Myrna took me out on a surprise shopping trip. It was the greatest, most thoughtful, most awesome thing anyone has ever done for me. Every time I put on my new clothes, I can't stop smiling because I know without a doubt that I am loved.
Wednesday- Got in my first fender-bender in 12 years!!!!! I was distracted by the U-Haul people (will most likely never rent a truck from them again) and merged into a college student's truck and lost my mirror. THEN I found out that it would take a week to get water and electricity in our new rental house.
Thursday- Mimi got lost in our crazy mad rush to pack the U-Haul. Kalea went to sleep about 11PM crying for Mimi. My eye started twitching and Steve and I were both running on severly high amounts of panic. We found Mimi close to midnight in the back of Kalea's tricycle.
Friday- Entire body twitching in our mad rush to pack and clean. I wish we could have cleaned more, but we ran out of time in the end. We signed the papers to close on the house and found out that our morgage company hadn't paid our taxes yet so we had to pay twice. Our Beta fish had to ride in a Sonic cup to Mansfield as we drove in the wind and the rain. The kids SCREAMED the entire time and Kalea cried for her best buddy A.L. all the way there. We got to our rental house and it still had electricity and water on and is the most perfect house for us. I LOVE it! Steve drove the U-Haul straight into the mud, got it stuck and had to block the entire street until he and my brother could unload it enough to make it light enough to move it out of the lawn and into the driveway. I am so thankful that no one got hurt during the loading and unloading process.
Saturday- We spent Friday night at the nicest people in the world's house. After a super good breakfast, we made a mad rush to finish unpacking the U-haul (in 30 degree weather with an artic wind blowing everything over) before 12 so that we could return it. We took our lease to the library and got our cards (YEA!!!). We unpacked, rearranged the boxes and started setting up our new house.
Sunday- We visited a new church with the people whose house we're staying at. It's pretty cool. They have three computers in their Preschool and Children's department. You type in your phone number and it prints out your labels for you (one for you and one for your child). Kalea's room had the special window so you could look in on the kids without being seen. She was very sad without her best pal, but her teacher was super good. She was a volunteer who had eleven 2 year olds all by herself and they were all seated on the floor reading a book when we came by to get Kalea. She was clean, dry and well taken care of.
We are not planning on getting internet until I get a job, so it may be a while. I miss you guys already and will check my e-mail as often as possible.

No news yet....

I thought I'd put that first, because I am sure that's exactly what you were wondering. :o)

I realized yesterday that I've wasted this week being 100% grumpy when I should have been 10,000% thankful. Ever have those weeks?

Warm Bed with a Side of Hotel Fire

So it's the night before Thanksgiving and I am busy being thankful (with my eyes closed) for the hotel that my in-laws paid for us to stay in so that we could spend a few days in Katy with them. It's a brand new hotel and the bed is so comfy and my kids are so tired that for the first time in a few months I find myself sleeping through the entire night. This is a moment of special lights and angels singing because sleep is a true gift and blessing for a tired mommy such as myself. At 5:30AM, however, all of the special lights turn into those flashing fire lights and the angels turn into orb like alarms screaching a melody that no mommy wants to hear, ever. Barely awake, Steve and I jump out of our warm bed and into action. We don't even think to turn on the lights so we are groping for coats and shoes in the dark. I grab Kalea and Steve throws Nathan's shoes on him and we take off down the hall and down the three flights of stairs with our new best pajama clad friends. At the second story, the smell of smoke hits us and in his panic, Nathan takes a tumble down the carpeted stairs. There are so many people that a pair of pajamaed legs breaks his fall and he is up and running in an instant. As we step out into the crip early morning air, the bite of the cold weather takes a delayed moment to hit us. I can feel Kalea trembling in my arms as we take the que from other families and run for the car. Fumbling in the cold morning air, it takes Steve a while to get it unlocked and started, but we were super grateful for the warm air that poured out of the vents. As we settled in, the horrific notion hit me that I left Kalea's beloved Mimi in the hotel to be cooked by the flames. As Kalea's shaking subsided, the fire trucks arrived, and Steve and Nathan giggled as the pajama clad Chief jumped out of the truck and into the hotel with his fully dressed companions. After almost an hour, we were able to head back into the hotel and back to bed. Kalea and I snuggled in and went back to sleep greatful that Mimi (and ok, I guess the hotel too) was ok while Steve and Nathan chatted excited about the morning's event. We never did find out exactly what had happened, but in the end we were all thankful that no one was injured or killed by the fire.

Nathan's funny sayings for the week:
At the Gem and Diamond exhibit at the Museum of Natural Science- "Mom, people can't wear these, they're just rocks."
On the way out of Walmart on a super cold day- "I don't need Germ X, the germs already froze off my hands."

Test

Here's a true test to see who actually reads these...... a very nice family has decided to buy our house and if things go well, then we should close on December 14th (the same day that my parents will be closing on their house to move to Virginia). We are both terrified and extremely excited about the next three weeks. We are fully aware that whatever happens from here on out is completely in the hands of God. Please pray for us through the inspection and through the other family's financial process.
Every young girl wants to marry a rawk star, but the trade in is that rawk stars are great with guitars but really bad with home repair work. I may be needing to trade my hubby's guitar skills for your hubby's home improvement skills if the inspection warrents. Thanks so much for your prayers through this crazy process.

Sitting instead of cleaning....

Get a Cash Advance

Blog-tas-tic

Just wanted to say that I am feeling better. A big thank you for those who prayed. We have a definite 'maybe' on the house and have had two people look at it this weekend. Go figure that the one weekend that I don't feel well and that Steve is gone, is the one weekend that people actually want to look at the house. I was at the bottom of the well on Saturday when the agent called about showing the house. I gathered every last bit of energy I had to clean muttering "I can do all things in Christ Jesus who gives me strenth" under my breath and while I cleaned, the 'un'children uncleaned. It took me a while to realize what was going on and when I finally realized what my beautiful children were doing, I had to take a 'come to Jesus' minute. If I had been feeling better, I might have killed them, but since it would have taken too much energy, I just made them sit on the couch with the 'No No Spoon' at eye level while I continued to slowly make my way through the house. While we waited for the house to be shown, we went to the mall where we did a driveby Santa visit. Peeking through the white gate, Nathan whispered "Mom, I think that one is the real Santa." (He has issues about taking pictures with 'fake' Santas.) When I asked him if he wanted to go say 'hi,' Nathan shook his head no. Nathan has never liked taking pictures with Santa. We gave up trying when he was 3. I don't think wives of Educators were meant to get Santa pictures of their children any way. It's funny how Educators help to develop great talent and academics in this world, and they get paid the least and have the worst insurance.

"Grubby"

When I was pregnant with Kalea, I temporarly worked fulltime at a day care so that we could afford her birth. Because I was in a church, my super cool, super large classroom shared space with a Sunday school class. On my first day of work I noticed a small fish bowl sitting solitarly in the corner of the room filled 2/3s full with green murkey water and a moldy looking fish I dubbed "Grubby" for obvious reasons. Sharing space with a Sunday school class, I assumed that Grubby was part of a Sunday school experiment gone terribly wrong. I am not a big fish person, so every day I hoped that Grubby would go to the big pond in the sky, but every day Grubby kept on swimming in his earthly disaster of a home. Months went by and the water grew greener and greener and much to my displeasure Grubby just kept on living. As I waited for my class to come, I spoke to Grubby every morning, encouraging him to go towards the light, but the moldy fish never did. By late November, a new teacher joined our ranks, taking half of my class with her as well as my pal Grubby. She only showed up every once in a while to clean Grubby's bowl and to yell at the kids, and after a miserble month or so, she was asked to leave. As much as I was hoping she'd take Grubby with her, she left the small, smelly thing behind. Christmas came and went and pretty soon it was time to have Kalea, so I gladly packed my bags and left my job leaving Grubby to the mercy of his Sunday school pals. Surprisingly enough though, not long after I left, I learned that my pal, Grubby, did not belong to the Sunday School class after all, but to the teacher before me. Poor Grubby had gone months without being fed or cared for and had somehow survived. He had adapted to living with nothing. After I left, a good pal had taken Grubby in. She cleaned his tank until it was sparkling, fed him, talked to him, and most likely given him a good name......needless to say, it wasn't long before Grubby went belly up. The poor girl killed him with love.
It's a good thing that people don't die from too much love, because then my children wouldn't have made it past their first few months of life. It's not just us who love them, but we have an entire church who loves them and cares for them. About two weeks ago, we received an envelope with enough money in it to pay for our car to be fixed. It was an enourmous debt that weighed very heavily on our hearts, and someone loved us enough to pay that debt for us. No one, especially us, deserves such a gift as that. As a general rule, we never deposit gifted money into our account until we write a thank you note, but our gift was without a face. I placed the envelope on our kitchen counter and every time I passed it I got so overwhelmed by the generosity and love and the unworthiness we have for it, that it brought me to tears several times. Since the car broke down, I had been begging to see the face of God, to at least feel His presence during this time away from Steve, and He was there all along. He was in the faces of everyone at church, of everyone who loves us and has been praying for us. I am so thankful for whoever gave us that gift and I pray for them every night before I go to bed, because they opened my eyes to remind me that God is not so far away.

Prayer requests- I have denied being sick every way possible, and somehow I thought that refusing to talk about it would make me feel better. I feel like the world's worst mommy because I am all my kids have and I am so sick that by the time night comes I absolutely cannot care for them. I think it's just the strain on my heart, but I am walking around with my hands completely numb and the entire world swimming around me willing myself not to pass out. My pal Jenny has been a HUGE blessing for me, but we're on our own this weekend, so if you could please, please, please pray for me, I would really appreciate it. I feel like we're jumping from one crisis to another and I am really sorry, I am really not that kind of person who has a different emergency every day of the year. Once we make it out of the desert, we should be fine. If you could just please pray for my heart and God's healing for it, and for the safety of my children that I don't pass out while caring for them, I would really appreciate it.

Mood Rings and Giant Squids

One of my favorite bands, Relient K, wrote a song about mood rings. The chorus goes a little like this-

"And i've contrived some sort of a plan to help my fellow man
Let's get emotional girls to all wear mood rings
So we'll be tipped off to when they're ticked off
Cause we'll know just what they're thinking, just what they're thinking"

As funny as that is, it occured to me this afternoon how much easier life would be if we all wore giant signs around our necks proclaiming to the world how we were feeling. Just think about how much heartache (or headaches) we would save ourselves from if people had signs that said things like "Does not play well with others" (inspired by my mother-in-law), "GOSSIP" or "Talks for hours about themselves." Our kids would stand in the pick up lines after school with signs that read things like, "Needs 15 minutes to unwind before initiating conversaion," "CAUTION- low blood sugar" or "HUG ME!" How much easier would life be if we didn't have to do the after-school-moody-kid-dance and were just able to provide our babies with exactly what they need?! Marriages would be a breeze if wives wore signs like "needs flowers," "break needed," or "if you love me, you will clean the house and watch the children." I was thinking about what my sign would say. Unsurprising, my sign changed quite frequently throughout the day. I came up with everything from "if you'd just stop crying and do your homework, we'd be done by now" to "NEEDS chocolate/candy corn/Sonic/coffeeeee" to "single mom, needs (MY) hubby," but my sign kept coming back to the same thing, "very tired, very, very discouraged super mom in great need of Starbucks and a chance to just sit in two minutes of childless quiet."

Update- Steve got his car back (PRAISE GOD!!!). Steve told the car people our story and they fixed our car and are allowing us to pay how ever much we can when we can. God was really in that entire situation.
Nathan is really struggling with his faith. He thinks that because God did not answer our prayers on our timing that He does not exist. I am really trying to work with him to help him understand that God's timing is perfect timing.
Kalea has been very grumpy. Her teachers are even starting to notice a change in her demeanor. If I can just get her to sleep a little more at night without fear of monsters, then I think she might feel a little better. Ironically, the monsters only come when Steve is gone.
As for me, I sought out a job in Arlington that as it turns out, was posted on the internet in DECEMBER 2004 and the page was never changed!!!! Boy, is my face red.

Secrets From a Work-a-holic

So now I am officially working for ALL of the ministries preschool has to offer with the exception of children's choir. MDO took me on last Wednesday to 'float' for two hours on Mondays and Wednesdays. I am quite sad to give up my only two hours of quiet a week, but even sadder when those two hours were filled with the frantic-scurry-no-money-dance. I am going to think of it as an extra opportunity to plant seeds of faith for a future relationship with God, because the thing is, no matter how cool, bouncy, funny or creative you are in the preschool department, in a few years when the kids are off doing big kid things, they aren't going to have any clue who you are, but they WILL remember the things you said and the seeds you have planted inside their hearts. Isn't that what it's all about?! It's super-cool to think that one day, one of my Cubbie lessons or Wiggle Worship crafts will be remembered by someone once small, and will be a part of what will eventually lead them to Christ.

K-Mad just ran into a wall. It's nice to see that she inherited all of her grace from me. :oP

Update- My adventurous husband went to Mansfield last night with no car and no place to stay. He ended up at the Minister of Music guy's house from the church he helps lead worship at. We're still working on the car-side of life, but once that is fixed, he will go back to his cousin's house in North Richland Hills and commute from there to school each day. I realized that the reason why we love the "Vacation" movies, and "Little Miss Sunshine" so much is because the randomness and unpredictability of it all is totally what would happen to my family. Can't you just see us driving around in a yellow van with a broken horn and a door that keeps falling off, with the entire family having to push it to get a running start with Kalea at the wheel?! Such is the Saenz family and that is the very reason why we rawk. :o)

The Drama Queen

Yesterday we were eating dinner when Kalea yells "OH NO!!" all eyes turn towards her....she jumps up in her chair and yells "I feel a song coming on!!!"

Here is a tribute to her...

All things are Popsicle

Nathan's song quote for the day!



Jamee lent me her truck so I thought I'd post a picture of it. :o) Just kidding....but seriously....On Sunday afternoon, Steve and I were scurring to get everything taken care of that we possibly could to prevent further bus riding. We did all of the grocery shopping, book returning and all of the extra stuff that usually gets done during the week. As we drove around, Steve said that we won't sell our house until we have completely hit rock bottom. The entire time my head was thinking, "YES! The kids are healthy, we both still have jobs, one of the cars works, we have some food to eat......" But my heart was the still small polar bear. In my heart, we not only fell into the bottom most depths of the well, but we were quickly sinking into the mud. I cried most of the day and sucked it in long enough to say goodbye to Steve and then cried some more. I wasn't planning on going to Cubbies, but D.H wasn't letting me out that easy, she drove way out to the ghetto to pick me up. It was at Cubbies that an angel in the form of Momma Brick offered me her husband's truck. I would have cried if I wasn't so happy. Steve sounded on the verge of tears when I told him over the phone. Her family's generosity was our saving grace for the week and we are so very thankful!!!!! So here are the reasons why we love the Bricks.
1. For lending us their truck for the week.
2. For always making us laugh. i.e. clothes pens on the pants.
3. For their funny spawn- the midde Brick told me that a good place to scream is in Mexico.
4. For their Momma Brick's blogs.
5. For kicking me off the link list for not writing. :o)
6. For Art Camp inspiration....
7. For introducing me to Angel Food
8. For splash pad parties.

I could go on, but Nathan has 24 spelling works to work on. 24!!!!!!...as if I don't have enough stress.....

Thanks so much for all of you who offered us a ride. You are all a blessing to our famly.

Car update- Steve's car needs a new fuel pump which will be $450. We don't have it and won't have it until we sell our house or get our tax return.....I wonder how much children are worth nowadays.... Anywho, if you could pray for us. I am so stressed that I popped a blood vessel in my hand.

A "Real" Blog :o)

My new favorite past time.

Normally my Fall is filled with making teacher gifts to sell at Steve's school and playing shows on the weekends, but this Fall, I am as upside down and backwards as Nathan's bat mobile. Yes, we are big Halloween folks. Not for it's normal connotation, but for the whole idea that for one night, you get to dress up as someone else, and everyone gives you free candy for it. How cool is that?!!! This year however, between the crazed rush trying to keep the house clean, and keeping my kids feeling loved and valued, I just don't have any time to do some things that I really love....thus the creature sandwiches. One of Kalea's teachers said that she really enjoyed lunch because it was so exciting for her to see what shape Kalea's sandwich would be that day.

As far as our family goes.....wow. We are so thankful that we are all healthy and that Steve has been safe driving to Mansfield and back each weekend. His new job is awesome and he is really having a great time at it. They are going on a really cool field trip in charter buses and each child has to pay $67 to come!!!! Nathan made a 100 on his first spelling test and a 110 on his second one. He refuses to study, but I think my annoying spell-chanting over breakfast and in the car makes it's way into his head somehow. Kalea was potty trained for a WHOLE WEEK, but then it seemed to leave her like the small puddle on the floor. Arg. the bad news? Steve's car kicked the bucket and went to car heaven on Wednesday night. We don't have the money to fix it, or even get it looked at....seriously. Steve is taking our family car to Mansfield for the week, so Kalea, Nathan and I will become official bus riders. I am going to tell the kids that it's our own new and exciting adventure. Nathan will take a school bus and Kalea and I will be off on the city bus. The bus will only take us as far as the Physician's Center, but hopefully we will find a car pooler with an extra car-seat to help us get the rest of the way. I get very panic-y on buses, so if I look green and disheveled at work, it's not my costume. :o) We are thiking about turning off our internet/cable so that we can use the much needed $60 per month on things like food and gas, but we'll see. Steve is pretty against it. Yep, so that's our update. I really wanted to wait and write about great and wonderful things, but that seems to be a much longer wait than anticipated. Someone is looking at our house tomorrow from Assist to Sell, so send out a big prayer for us!!!!!

Music of My Life

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxT5NwQUtVM

The soundtrack of my life....

Can you hear the anegels sing....

Last night Nathan began to cry soft, quiet tears. When I held him in my arms, I asked him to tell me why he was so sad. Very softly, between quietly suppressed sobs he told me, "Mommy, I am so sad because I can no longer hear the angels singing."

Guess who got a ticket for the first time in 10 years?

Blog Soup

For those of you who could and did make it to Nathan's party, I just wanted you to know that it means so very, very, very much to me that you came. I appreciate it a lot, a lot, a lot. We are working on Thank You Notes this week. Nathan is very wiggly, so it may take a while, but I wanted you all to know how much I appreciate you being there. All of your gifts were Nathan's favorites. We've spent hours/days playing with them.

Poll answer- Steve has only taught for 4 years, not six. You should ask him about speaking in the foreign country, it's quite a tale involving a lot of chocolates and a big tummy ache. His daddy won nationals in model rocketry. NASA allows him and all of his friends compete in their area and I think hosts the events themselves.

Friends, I have quite a tale to share involving Nathans fish, a pair of chopsticks, the garbage disposal, and most disgustingly, my hand. It's super late, but check around Friday night and I'll blog about it.

Praise, Praise, Praise

I was really worried about baking Nathan's b-day cakes today because it makes the house unbearably hot, but God must have known what I was up to because He kept it nice and cool outside the entire morning!!

I went to pick up Nathan's meds. this afternoon and our non-existant insurance covered two out of the three meds we needed. I think it was God. We are still working on trying to get the third, but we are so very, very, very thankful for the two we got!!!

What Makes the Grass Grow?

In some weird co-in-sa-dence we keep ending up at parks right as they start mowing the grass. It happened everyday last week. Nathan, being my allergy child, is allergic to grass. It's the oddest thing that a child of mine would be allergic to grass. It's like being allergic to air or water. Usually Nathan doesn't have any problems but when the grass is getting cut, it brings out a new wave of impulses to his brain that tells his allergy censors to strart freaking out.
Last Saturday morning, we were at a park super early in the morning and our new friends, The Mowers, were out as well. After being 'spider hunters' on the playground, we venured out to the lake to say 'hi' to the ducks and to play 'Sink or Float' with the sticks and leaves around the pond. As we were crossing the freshly cut grass, Nathan began to itch. "Mom," he started breaking the morning's silence, "I have those bugs in my hair." When I asked him to explain, he told me that they are kind of like fleas, but you have to wash them out. The itching continued down his arms and to the tops of his legs as I led him to the areas with no grass. This is when his nose kicked in. He started itching it and wiggling the small thing back and forth with his index finger. I asked him if he had tickles in his nose, and without a pause, he told me very matter of factly, "NO MOM, that's where the fleas live."

Prayer Request- We found out today that we currently have no health insurance!!!!! Nathan needs his meds filled NOW. I am going to go to HEB tomorrow and pick up what we can afford, but we're going to need some help from God to get the other two. Please pray that we will somehow be able to get the others.
The praise part of this situation is that Steve found out about BISD cutting off our health insurance today, so he called MISD and today was the very last day that he could sign up to start getting health insurance on September 1st. So we are all signed up and will be getting medical coverage in about two weeks. Thank God!

Heavenly Treasures

We got an offer on the house and on the exact same day, Steve found what he exclaimed to me over the phone, "the perfect house!!!!!" The problem? The offer was way low, and the 'perfect house' is $93,000. This may not seem like a lot to pretty much all of you, but with Steve being a teacher, we've never been approved for a loan over $75,000. Although nothing is impossible with God, we aren't sure that Steve's new raise will bear much more fruit on the home loan lending tree....and we're ok with that. We are great with that because we know that God will give us what we need when we need it. On the flip side, however, Nathan has seen pictures of the house and heard us talking about money, loans, and all of the things grownups talk about. He WANTS the house. He loves the house. He is our tiny polar bear in the backseat of the car, and yesterday, he finally said it....."Mom, I wish we were rich...."
I know longing. I longed for things for at least 20 years of my life before I realized that Jesus is all I need. Hearing Nathan long for money sent my mind spinning. What do we tell him? Do we say that God has chosen us to be poor? No, even that depresses me. Do I tell him that being poor has allowed us to see the true sufficiency of God's grace? No, because how do you explain that to a soon to be six year old? My mind raced as fast as the cars were passing us on Hwy 10, and then God gave it too me. The green eyed answer. The 'what's in it for me' answer. The Truth. Before my mind caught up with my mouth, I began explaining to Nathan about the riches that God has stored up for him in Heaven. I told him what Isaiah tells us about the priceless rubies, and what Revelations says about the mansions. Before I knew it, I had painted Nathan a detailed picture of what Heaven would be like, and he was not only satisfied with my answer, but I have no doubt that I planned a precious seed in his heart so that one day, he will accept Jesus as his own, and that made my heart glad. We many not get that perfect house, but there is an even better one for us in Heaven.

Prayer requests: Please, please, please pray that we will sell our house super fast. Steve will be for the most part moving out on Thursday. :o( Please pray that I can keep my head as a single mom. I don't do well alone at all, esp alone and trying to get our house sold. Please pray for our financial situation with the added expenses of Steve driving back and forth to Mansfield on the weekends and him having to eat out a lot. Please pray for our next Broker that we can get a good loan and find a good house. Please pray for our next church that it will at least be close to what we have now.

Another Polar Bear...

Woe is meeeee, for I am a Polar Bear who cannot swim...

Cute, Fluffy White Polar Bear from "Balto"

When I was 16, I fell suddenly ill with heart problems and spent some time at Cook Children's Hospital in Fort Worth having numerous, uncomfortable tests done on my heart. During the long tests, a doctor or nurse would turn on the TV where the movie "Balto" was most always playing.....ok not most always, ALWAYS playing. I had to have seen that movie at least 15 times. My favorite character was a small, fluffy polar bear who couldn't swim. He spent the entire movie saying in his cute, British accent, "woooeee is me, for I am a Polar Bear who cannot swim." When I met Steve some time later, I showed him the movie, and he quickly picked up the famously cute line. When one of us is down or feeling sorry for ourselves, we metamorphasize into that small, fluffy polar bear and focus on the bad. "Woe is me...." we begin to say. Being the funny guy that Steve is, he'll dramatically drape his arm across his forehead, whip out the 'I am a cute British Polar Bear accent' and say in a cute high pitched voice, "WOE is me, for I am a Polar Bear who cannot swim..." It makes me laugh every time and it reminds me that God has given us so much to be thankful for, that it probably hurts His heart when we turn into mornful baby polar bears who cannot swim.
We've had sort of a rocky week with this house selling business. First our garbage disposal died and then our air conditioning...to be honest I've probably spent about an hour or two in my polar bear outfit, feeling defeated/sad/frustrated about the entire situation, but then I remembered an important lesson that God has spent the last 28 years trying to teach me. God is in charge. He has a plan for all of this, and most importantly, He has a plan for me and my family. Without God, there is no hope. Nathan keeps asking me when God is going to sell our house (mostly because he is tired of cleaning his room and living at the mall playground), and I can look him in the eye and tell him that even though we don't know, God does, and God will take care of us. Even if we are polar bears who can't swim sometimes, at least we are polar bears and polar bears are pretty cute.

Lost Sharpie

....I lost my Sharpie while labeling boxes, and a few minutes later I found a blue baby... hummmmm......

On a less blue note, because our band tours and we have public exposure all over Texas, we do not feel safe putting pictures of our babies over the internet. This makes us sad because we really do want to share our lives and our family with those living far away. Due to our most recent adventure (our soon to be exodus into Mansfield), we decided to create a private myspace. Our new site will be www.myspace.com/saenzfamilyrawks . I know it will be some what confusing this site being thesaenzfamilyrawks and the other site lacking in the word 'the' but you can blame my hubby for that. I am going to Austin this weekend on a girls nite out event, but when I get back I will put all sorts of good photos on our new mypace!

One more thing, we had a 1 family look at our house so far, and I woke up that morning so positve that we would sell it that day.... anywho, we talked to the agent who showed the house and he said that the family loved the house but not the neighborhood. So close.....

And the Results are.....

The results from our survey.....the Saenz Family has never toured the White House. :o)
We got to swim with sharks at Disney World, we decorated the Dr Pepper Float for the Rose Bowl Parade and we saw a new born dophin at Sea World on a behind the scenes tour! Thanks for voting, stay tuned for next week's survey question.

A Lady in Waiting Day 1

We put out house on the market today, (YEA!) and as we were admiring our super huge sign, we noticed that the bushes needed a trim. Steve volunteered, but I had to deny his claim, because of his severe allergy to bees. It's almost comical though, me standing to one side with the Epi-pen and Steve, giant sheers in his hands, snipping a one foot portion, running from the bees, and then running back to the bush for another assalt. I explained to the inquiring kids why it was a bad idea for daddy to cut the bushes when Nathan told me matter of factly, 'if Daddy dies, we'll just get another one!' No problem....we'll just get another one.... :o) Needless to say, I'll be cutting those bushes tomorrow.

God is All

I just got back from the training at our church and I am so tired that all I want to do is cry. Now I know how babies feel. I never understood why they cried.....lol and now I know... As a personal Sarah Saenz policy I don't ever keep track of how many hours I work, but curosity got a strong hold on me and after refusing to let go, I just HAD to count. My little sister used to say, 'my arm made me do it.' I worked 35.5 hours this week at church and then come home to paint/clean/pack until about 11-12:00 every night and then wake up early and start all over again. Nobody made me work that much, but I am so driven.... I am tired, exhausted, and too wound up to sleep at night, so I sit. I think of the Israelites and their adventure to the Holy Lands. I am sure their feet hurt and they were just as exhausted and tired as I am. While I have my soft bed to toss and turn in, they had sand. After an eternity of wandering around, they crossed the Jordan with Joshua as their fearless leader. As they crossed the river, the high waters gathered at one side to allow God's people to cross safely. Reluctantly, they crossed, children most likely close to their parents sides, pondering on the "what if's" of their strange journey. Once safely across, one member of each tribe gathered a rock from the empty riverbed to place on dry land as a reminder of what God has done for them. We may not have rocks from the river bed, but our house has given us 12 reasons to be thankful.
1. We are thankful that we even got the house. Because Steve's income is so small we only qualified for a $50,000 loan. We tried everywhere, but no bank or institution was willing to give us much more. Finally, we went to God, and God gave us Angel who gave us the gift of a loan big enough to buy the house.
2. What, what? After our agent reassured us we were good, we were given 3 days to come up with $1,000. No dice for us! God gave us Steve's cousin who loaned us the money and was super patient with us as we paid him back.
3. We are thankful for our Sunday school class moved us out of the apartment and into our home, and helped us to clean the apartment.
4. After a few months living on cold cement, Sam and Angela Brown put carpet into our new home.....and we still can't thank them enough.
5. We are thankful for my pal Jenny who made our house a home by hanging up our pictures and decorating our house for us.
6. We are thankful for Kathy Suel who brought us meat and food from her garden when our cupboards were bare.
7. We are thankful for all of our old youth who came over weekly for a hot meal and warm hearts....and the Sarah Saenz laundry service.
8. We are thankful for the lessons we've been able to teach Nathan about God through all of the ways our house has blessed us.
9. We are thankful for being able to teach others about God by welcoming them into our home and giving them things they need.
10. We are thankful for Mr Burleson who fixed our air conditioning.
11. We are thankful for all of the great memories we've had in this house, for Kalea learning to walk here and for all of her teeth she cut on our windowsill. We are thankful for the nights Nathan has spent on our couch learning how to read and for the million games of hide-and-go seek we've played.
12. We are thankful that we will be able to pass this house on to another family who will be blessed with a big house for a small price. Perhaps they will be like us, unable to afford a different house, but so thankful and so very blessed by this brick house in the ghetto.

I'm sore.....heartdeep

This was actually the name of someone else's blog, but I thought I'd steal it. It's in no way a bad sore, it's more like a, "I've just been hiking on a beautiful mountain" sore. We are so blessed that Steve finally has a job, we are excited about the adventure that lies before us, and most of all, we are thrilled that God is giving us direction and reveling to us a small portion of His plan for our lives. The heartache comes with what we are giving up in order to follow through with that plan. I was sitting in church this morning after an awesome sermon (as always) and I felt called to share with Steve the desires of my heart, the very essence of what I've been praying, (1) that we would follow our calling for God, and not our own desires, (2) that if we HAD to move that we would sell our house super fast, and (3) that we would find a church home in our new location. Steve and I have been praying the first two together for what seems like forever, but number three is the prayer that got snagged upon my heart and dangled there precariously. When I shared it with him, it felt like my heart broke in two and I was left open and exposed. It's one thing to write it, but saying it out loud made it real. We would both rather give up anything and everything in BCS than lose our church family. You guys have become everything to us, our friends, our family, our neighbors, our world. We still laugh about our first day there because the fit was so perfect that everyone in the Sunday school class we were visiting assumed that we'd been there forever, and it seemed like we had. We got a million months worth of diapers for Kalea, food and friendly visitors after she was born, help when Steve was in the hospital, and the church ultimately became our life raft when my heart started acting up. We are so blessed by most everything about Central that when I am inside the walls and surrounded by such great a love and kindness, I am now prone to spontanious tears. Tears of joy from all of the love we have received (and given), tears of sadness of what I am leaving behind, and tears of hope in what God will provide for us in Mansfield. I just felt so called to tell you this, to share this with you, so that if you see me in tears, it's not a bad thing, God is good and He's blessed our family in so many ways through all of you. Thank you....

Whirl Wind or Weekend?

This has totally been one of those weekends that has been a complete whirlwind. We went through the house and made a 3 page list of everything that needs to be done by Monday, July 30th (the day we hope to have our house on the market) and got to work. We've painted and cleaned and had our first successful garage sale. My hotmail has been down for 4 days now, but we managed to get by on no friend to friend advertisment. It was almost comical, me half awake, still in my PJs, trying to bargin in spanish while our kids started their own 'Kid Nation' in the house. There were a lot of 'que?!s' and fun ackward hand motions while random screams would sporatically erupt from the baby monitor that only sometimes works....perhaps we should have sold that too.....:o)
My father-in-law randomly showed up this afternoon during the garage sale....awww the joy of surprises.....and stayed most of the day.....
The very best part about today though, was that some of our old youth (I used to be a Youth Minister in my past life) showed up after my father-in-law left and visited with us for a while. We had a show at the Venue so our youth came and played a small set before our band went on. I don't like playing in our hometown very much, but I have to say that we had the best crowd we've ever played for in Bryan. They sang, they danced and they had a great time. It was awesome.
Our poor babysitter fell through so our kids had to tag along and for the first time ever, Nathan was really able to see what we do. After we played, he came up to me and said breathlessly, "mom, your band really is good!!" He wrote it in chalk on the Venue's table to make it official.

Raining inside and out

Today the rain began to pour down dramatically outside. My class was busy looking for animals among our "African Safari" outside when the clouds and rain came rolling in. We were immersed in what the giant African spider would say to us when we bumped into him in the long, long grass when one of my more wiggly and involved kids shouted "Ms SaRaH, it's raining on me!!" The other kids quickly joined in the chorus yelling that they too were getting wet. Extracating myself from all of the tangled arms and legs of the children, I parted the waters to see literal (boy I wish I had spell check) water pouring down the large window and into my classroom. It was very exciting.
Exciting seems to be the very theme of this week. Thanks to all of your awesome prayers, we managed to finally find peace on Monday, get a good nights sleep, and then start all over again on the crazy bus, driving furiously foward and without headlights or a rest stop insight, except now we know the location, the final destination for our saga. Steve got the call on Tuesday. We are on the bus to Mansfield where Steve will be teaching 4th grade. It is super exciting and I am soooo thankful he has a job. I am also thankful for all of you who prayed for us and stuck by us as I crawled back and forth from under the bed to under the computer desk to finally blogging about it, to back under the bed. It is much akin to swimming though, where you take a breath, enjoy the view from your island of thankfulness, but then realizing that you have yet to swim the rest of the way. As excited as I am, I have some very specific things that we need some prayer on. I both know and trust in not only the power of God, but the strength of friendship and prayer in numbers. If you guys can hang in there with me and please, please, please pray for these things, I would appreciate it SO VERY MUCH......
1. We are putting our house on the market on not this Monday but the Monday after next. From that point we have 28 days to sell our house and get to Mansfield. Please, please, please pray that our house will sell super, super quickly. God can create the earth in 7 days, I have no doubt that He has the power to get our house sold.
2. Please pray for the entire process of painting, packing, moving and unpacking. Nathan and I don't do well with change.
Thanks so very much guys!!!!! I am so happy that Steve has a job and that we have you praying for us!!!

Saenz Family Secret....

Here is our Saenz family secret.....Kalea learned how to count to 10 through playing family games of hide-and-go-seek several times a week. Our favorite way to play is when the hider jumps out and scares the seeker. It is so much more fun because you have no clue where the hider is going come flying out from. We don't do this for Kalea for obvious reasons, but Nathan LOVES it.
Today we played and Steve wedged himself behind our file cabinet in the office. It would have been ok if it weren't for the shelf with all of the office stuff on it. Somehow it all came down on Steve and he got stuck. Nathan was laughing so hard that he fell over. Being the good, loving wife I am, I grabbed the camera and took a picture.

Barbinaska

Unless you have a child in the youth group, you probably have no idea what "barbinaska" is. If you get a chance, ask one (a youth that is) or me to explain barbinaska in all it's glory.
I just got back from Baylor (yea!). I packed my I-Pod and prepared for a weekend with my closest pals all packed up in that tiny box. I was ready for boring lectures and a night of people snoring. At Methodist children's conferences, it's a day with a bunch of ladies who are preaching last years lessons and internet ideas that have been recycled over and over and over again. There are the plain-jane, semi warm boxed lunches of ham sandwiches, old mayo, a stale cookie and dry pickle. This conference, however, was amazing. The future teachers and assistants I went with were amazing and fun (and a little lost at times :o) ) The speakers were amazing and for the first time ever, I really and truely feel fully equipt to teach music. I have so many new ideas and theories that I cannot wait to try out. I am just exploding with the joy of teaching, because this will be the first year that I will really and truely feel comfortable and prepared in what I will be doing in both Day School and AWANAs Cubbies.
This is also the first time ever that I have left Kalea overnight to do something that's not band related. It felt so great to crawl out of my tired mommy skin and just be a real person for two days. I love my babies so much and missed them terribly, but it sure was great to have a good long break. Steve couldn't handle having the kids for much longer, so he ended up meeting me at Bayor after the conferene. We used our zoo passes to go to the Cameron Park Zoo for a quick run through before it closed. Nathan was so sweet and allowed me to hold his hand the entire time. Kalea was acting like a two year old, but that was ok too, because she won't be two forever and someday I'll miss it...ok not so much the screaming and kicking and trying to be in control of EVERYTING, but the rest of it.
Steve got a promising e-mail after an interview he just had. Pray hard ladies, because he may have a job by next week. :o)

Top Ten

Top ten reasons why I am thankful:
10. Free lunch and breakfast at the school by my house keeps my kids bellies full and going there has become the highlight of their summer days. What kid wouldn't want to eat random food like donuts and cheese pizza for breakfast?!
9. All of my pals who keep all of me in forward momentem.
8. My job and the fact that it is so family friendly. It also allows me to serve God in such an awesome and fun way.
7. Our church/Pastor Chris' wisdom and all of the people who have become our extended family.
6. Our house. It may only look like a red brick building in the ghetto, but it reminds me everyday of how much God loves us and answers our prayers.
5. My band and the endless joy we get from playing shows and telling kids about God.
4. Nathan's medicine that keeps him breathing.
3. Our car that works and has air conditioning and a CD player.
2. My family and their joy, health, love, silliness, and values.
1. The Scripture.
What are you thankful for?

If at first you don't succeed, parachuting is not for you

Ok, so I haven't blogged in FOREVER, and the reason why is because I have been hiding under my bed....no really. When things get bad, that's where I go. I curl up in the safety of "let's pretend things are good" and sit quietly until things get better.
I just paid the bills and we are a few hundred dollars short, oddly enough I am thankful. I am thankful that we bought the kids medicine BEFORE I attempted to pay the car note, and I am thankful we had money to pay for what we did. As most all of you know, Steve has no job as of August. He has spent a million nights filling out applications, a million nights praying, and a million hours on the road interviewing and getting let down. We prayed that we could stay here, but as of July, all of the principals in Bryan stopped hiring and took off for their month long vacations only to return in August with their jobs still intact. While Nathan is busy making lists of things he wants for his August birthday, we are making mental lists of things we will give up to stay in our house after the money stops coming in. The feeling that lies in the bottom of my stomach is of so much hope in God accompanied by the constant ache and bother of the unknown. My body is on Code Orange, ready and alert; unwilling and unable to rest until something, anything happens. My heart hurts from the strain and yet I am unable to give up this burden and trust that God will take care of us and this situation. I am drowning in my own weakness; Bible in one hand, children and husband in the other. If only I can just hide under my bed until it's all over with.

From thumb sucking to nail biting

Wow, I have so much to write about. Nathan has graduated from Kindergarten, Kalea had her first trip to the beach (in a swimsuit), we've rotated bedrooms once again, and Steve is doing the wild mad turkey job scramble dance. The problem is that he is on the computer night and day searching for a new job (you wouldn't believe how many ISDs there are in Texas!!), and I will get into trouble if I am caught writing. I can't write well under the dim secret light of the office lamp with my ears listening sharply for the slightest sound of Steve padding down the hall on his velcro like feet. My knee pops when I walk so sneaking up to anyone is completely impossible, but Steve on the other hand, is quite the sneaky one when wearing socks.
So much to write!!! When Nathan started school, he sucked his thumb all of the time. It was a blessing when he taught Kalea when she was only a few months old, but when you're sending your child off to a public school, sending a thumb sucker is like pinning a "kick me" sign to the small child's back. We started making him aware of his addiction the summer before school, but at times of trouble, he would resort back to the comfort of his habit. As school went on, Nathan started a sort of social awareness. When asked to do something silly, Nathan would reply, "noooo, everyone will make fun of me." Even when everyone included just the members of his own family. Thumb sucking soon gave way into nail chewing. Arg, I hear the velcro coming down the hall.... I will try writing again later!!!

Please pray for Steve's job interview on Monday. It is in Waller ISD on the Prairie A&M campus.

7 YEARS!!

This Sunday will be mine and Steve's seven year anniversary. I already did my top ten reasons why I love him, so now I have no clue what to write. Yea, 7! Sooooo, here's a history of us in 7 minutes:

August 1997- We met. God told me that I was going to marry Steve and I told God that He would have to get us together, because Steve was TOTALLY not my type. A few days later, he threw pine cones at me and I was even more convinced that Steve was NOT the guy for me.

October 1997- We started hanging out. We convinced everyone that we were brother and sister, but on October 31st that backfired when we fell in love. Ooops!

January 1, 2000- Steve proposed at the count down to year 2000. Y2K. It was a formal ball in New Orleans and I bought a (fake) diamond crown to be random. Everyone thought that I was a real creoe princess and took many pictures of me, with me, and of me and their children. It was too funny to pass up the opportunity so I just played along. :o)

May 12, 2000- I graduated from Texas Wesleyan University. (yea!!)

May 20, 2000- Steve and I got married at my parents church in Mineral Wells, TX. To this day, parents come complaining that we set the standard too high. Every kid there wants a wedding as beautiful and perfect as ours was, and thus far, no one has been able to reach it. For the past 7 years we hear, "the wedding was beautiful, but not as beautiful as Sarah and Steves." :o)

August 18, 2001- Nathan was born at barely 37 weeks. 7 lbs 2oz, 18 inches.

October 2001- We bought our first house.

April 2004- Sold our first house, and lived with the inlaws.

August 2004- Moved to Bryan

January 14, 2005- Beautiful K-mad was born at barely 36 weeks. 6 lbs 2 oz, 19 inches.

June 14, 2005- bought our second home.

YEAH 7 years!!!

....and the good prevail

I just want to take a time out to brag about my husband. He has spent the entire school year under the watchful, critical eye of a very (unable to come up with a word.....bitter, perhaps?!) lead teacher. She has yelled at him, written dirty e-mails to him and about him on a weekly basis, and created an environment where he just couldn't win no matter how hard he tried. Through all of this he has kept his head down, his Bible open, and just silently took her daily attacks. While all of the other teachers have bad mouthed her, Steve has stayed Godly through this entire year. Steve just got his TAKS scores back and his class's scores were among the top scores in the 4th grade. They were the second best in writing by a mere two points and they far out shown the lead teacher's scores. It just goes to show that although the lead teacher tore Steve down outwardly piece by piece, he didn't change inwardly and thus proved that he is a great teacher. I am so thankful that Steve was able to focus, and teach through this year and that his kids did amazing well on their TAKS scores. God's hand was really in Steve's students achievement.

Job Search Update- We had a long talk a few nights ago and Steve has decided (against my judgement) to apply in Houston, CyFair, and Waller ISDs. I would much rather curl up under a rock, eat worms and die a very slow and painful death in hot pink spandex, than move back to Houston, but he has agreed that if he gets a job there that he will live with his parents and communte for the first year (or two). Because I am submissive, I will move back to the horrid, dreadful, evil, fat city when he feels well suited and comfortable in a new school. He has already scouted out houses!!! From our last experience living in Houston, he knows my distaste for the pre-saved Ninevah...uh, I mean Houston but he knows that I will support and follow wherever he is called to go. So please be in prayer for us!!!!!!!!

Clean up, clean up, everybody everywhere

Nathan's class participated in a school-wide clean up day today. He proudly showed me his sticker and excitedly told me all about it. He appraoched mid-paragraph (yes, he's a talker) and his little face dropped. "I have very sad news...." he pre-empted his story, "we were NOT allowed to pick up glass OR dead animals..."

Torn

This morning Nathan was banging two wooden blocks together trying his very hardest to keep the beat to a song. "Look mom!" he proudly exclaimed, "I am keeping beat!" The first thought that popped into my mind was 'awwww my baby is going to be a bass player!!' (It has become very evident to me that all bass players who are any good in their field cannot clap to the beat if their lives were dependent on it.)

I try to avoid reading blogs in which the writer types like they are thinking out loud, but since you guys are my friends and family, I thought I would share our delimma with you. For the last few months our band and family has been touring to every major Texas city every weekend to play shows. We stay with friends and family to cut the cost and we eat a lot of PB&J sandwiches and popcorn. We even go meatless one or two meals a week so that we can have gas money to tour. We LOVE our house, our church, and city. We love everything there is to love about where we are, except for the music scene. When we play in major cities and the kids sing along to our music, they mosh and have a great time. There is a single moment during every show that I hear at least one gasp and someone shouts one of my favorate things to hear in the entire universe, "oh my gosh, this is my favorate song!!!!" When we play in our city, however, not a single friend shows up. The crowd is new and different every time, but we can't draw them in. They don't dance, or sing. It's like a naked dream. You know what I am talking about... When everyone is staring at you and you realize that you somehow left all of your clothes at home.
All this to say that Steve does not have a job next year. He has no friends in our city, and other my love and passion for being here, has nothing to keep him here. We both love this city and all of the great (free) things to do here, but as our Dallas manager pointed out last Saturday, we're not even here to enjoy them. Do we stay here for the great family environment, or do we move on for the sake of the band (and better schools)? My plan is to stick it out at least for another two years until we are completely debt free and then move. Steve's plan would look really bad if I wrote it down, but it has a lot to do the things that frustrate me and it would mean moving soon. I know that everything is in God's hands and that we will submit to whatever God plans for us, but it sure is hard when Steve doesn't have a job for next year.

10 Reasons...

Top ten reasons why I love my hubby.....

10. He currently brings home the bacon.....

9. In his anger, he does not sin (unlike me)

8. He challenges me.

7. He makes me laugh.....ALL THE TIME!!!

6. He is SOOOO talented at all things musical!

5. He introduced me to the bass.

4. He IS the music in my house, my life, my heart and my soul.

3. He gave me two beautiful children, two not so bright cats, and a perfect, red brick house.

2. He loves me unconditionally for who I am.

1. He loves God.

Easter

After a long drive on Thursday night, Nathan wakes up to pools of sunlight streaming in from the 'wall of windows' in one of the living areas at my parents house. To say that I love that house would be an understatement. Nathan dances in the light thrilled to be there and I too smile at the day ahead. This will be the first time in about a year that all of my sibblings have been together. We all start to wake up, pancakes are being mixed, showers being taken, when the phone rings. It's my sister, she called to say that she got into a car accident. Thankfully, she was fine, but the car was totalled and she needed a ride back home. Yet, another reason to be thankful, I think inside my mind. We spend the day together, as a family, and seeing my brother and older sister home gave me the feeling you get when you're a kid and you get to take that first swim of the summer on a very hot day.

The next morning was anything but hot. Nathan woke us up early Saturday morning announcing that it was snowing outside!!!! Sleepy-eyed and not quite awake, we stumbled out of bed to be greated by giant, soft, white snowflakes pouring out of the sky. "God answered your prayers!" I exclaim excitedly to my faithful five year old who prayed for snow through the winter and into the spring. Nathan and Steve throw on their coats and run outside to play in the mini spring blizard that is pouring down and resting on their bare heads and in the folds of their clothing. They build Nathan's long awaited snowman, spin in circles and try to catch the delicate flakes on their tongues. It snows all day. Inside the warm house, we have an Easter feast, read the Easter story, hunt eggs, exchange gifts and get ready for our long drive home. By 3PM, it is time to go. On our way to the car, Nathan and my dad engage themselves in a full on snowball fight. Dodging balls to get Kalea into the car, Steve get's hit by a stray snowball and before I know it, he too is involved. "RETREAT INTO THE CAR!" Steve yells to his troops. Dodging still more balls, Nathan and Steve jump into the car and we pull out of the drive way with snowballs making a perfect arc over the drive way and plowing right onto the windshield and roof of our car.

The drive home was surreal with giant snowflakes still pouring out of the grey Texas sky. We pass snowcovered fields, trees with leaves frosted with fluffy white, and the white roofs of the houses scattered across the frozen landscape. The kids sat quietly in the backseat soaking in all of the sights. This Easter, I realized that God not only gave us the gift of salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ, but He also gave us the gift of family and most surprisingly, SNOW!

50 Hundred Million

Yesterday afternoon I found myself soaring "50-hundred-million" miles above the ground in an airplane slightly resembling a blue, pint sized bunk bed with Nathan, Kalea, Frankie the sky walking snake, twins named Franklin the Mummy Cat and Franklin the Mummy Dog, and an assortment of animals all named Frank with the exception of one named Can. Nathan was giving me the tour as we floated through the clouds. "Don't go on the left wing," Nathan advised in his most adult voice, "it is full of dust bunnies and will climb into your nose and make you sneeze a whole lot!" Living in the left wing was the assortment of animals all varying in their gifts and talents. My favorate was Franklin the Mummy Cat who laid eggs all day long. I asked if she smelled and Nathan explained that she smelled like cotton candy because she had spent her day at the Cotton Candy Factory before boarding the airplane. Franklin's claim to fame was that she had cat babies if she ate cat food and puppy babies if she ate dog food.

Saenz Updates:

Steve: Steve's interview at Jane Long went well. Steve said that one of the ladies interviewing him volunteered with him in the Jr High Department at church. He has another interview at SFA on Monday.

Kalea: Kalea went to the ENT Doctor yesterday and he said that he would hold off on surgery (at my request) and that we only need to come back as needed.

Nathan: Has track and field day tomorrow and is the most excited boy in the universe.

New Teeth, new teeth, rah, rah, rah, rah, rah, rah

Kalea got her new teeth today. Thanks to all of your prayers, everything went smoothly. We kept her up late eating and playing in hopes that she would sleep late and not think about her lack of breakfast. Unfortunately, our plan failed when Nathan woke her up at 6:30AM with the fresh tunes of Boys in the Sink. We ended up spending the morning with Kalea sitting on my lap watching TV and asking for juice between each show. I would tell her ok, and then distract her with other things. We got to the dental office at 8AM and after Kalea drank her special "kool-aide' we had to wait until 9:30 in the small waiting room. We sat by a stripper who talked 'shop talk' to her stripper friend on the phone. She said that Kalea and I were both beautiful while her husband and Kalea made silly faces back and forth. After an hour and a half, they took Kalea to the back. They worked on her for almost 2 hours and then gave us the report. They said that she did not cry at all and that she was a very good girl. Her teeth were worse than they thought so she ended up getting a root canal on her front two teeth, got the first four teeth capped, and her two back teeth sealed. They ended up charging us $244.00 more than we were prepared to pay so we are going to have to figure some things out. The good part is that she did very well and that she is beautiful with her new teeth. I am so thankful!!!!

Other good news?! Steve got a call today for an interview at Jane Long Jr High. It was his first choice in schools, so I am really excited. His interview will be on April 3rd at 9:45AM so please be in prayer about that. Also on April 3rd, Kalea will be going back on the ENT doctor to find out whether or not she will need to have surgery to combat her 3 month long sinus infection.

MIA

There a comic that has a picture of a dad with a brief case (obviously just coming home from work) and a little boy sitting in a chair in a corner. Above the boy, there is a caption of the boy saying, "Mom is in the kitchen reminding herself that I am a gift from God."

THIS IS ONE OF THOSE DAYS!!!! Today they seem more like a gift you would get from your mother-in-law than from God. It started with Kalea in the morning and is following up with Nathan. He was so mad that he gave himself an asthma attack on the way home from school. As I was praying myself through the afternoon it occured to me that perhaps I just grabbed the wrong children somewhere and that my real children are lost and alone on the street. I thought I'd take the time to describe them to see if any of you have seen them.

Nathan is the sweetest, most helpful big brother that I have ever seen. He is always taking care of his little sister and loving on her as if she were his own. He dislikes church, but he loves God and asks questions about Him on a daily basis. He witnesses to his teachers and friends and his childlike faith is a large part of who he is. Nathan is the greatest monster drawer who ever lived. He draws them in all shapes and sizes at the request of his mommy and teachers. Dispite his dislike for school, Nathan is a great reader and has mastered everything but cutting.

Kalea is my sweet, snuggly one. There is nothing she likes to do more than to sit on your lap and snuggle her head into your shoulder. She is passionate. She is our musical child who loves to sing, but will cry if you sing "Twinkle, Twinkle." Kalea LOVES animals and spends most of her time playing with her Fisher Price Noah's Ark animals. They ride on the bus, train, and play on the amusement park and castle....but not the ark. Kalea could live off of "cheesh" and can smell chocolate a mile away.

These are my sweet children. If you've seen them somewhere, let me know. I accidently took the wrong Kalea to MDO and her perfect reputation was ruined. If you'd like to claim the snarky children who are currently in my house, please let me know, I'll be happy to trade them for my perfect gifts from God.

Things Unseen

A few months ago when Kalea and I were praying together I noticed that she had to pray with her eyes open in order to thank "Jeesh-us" for the things around her. She was unable to thank Him for the things that she could not see at the time. Noticing this really made me think about faith and the ability to trust in things unseen.
The month of March is a really hard month for us as a family. March is the time of year where our loved ones usually pass away and if either of us is going to lose a job, March is the month to lose it. March is always ridden with illness and great amounts of sadness. I not only lost my brother-in-law in March (2003), but I lost a ministry that was very close to my heart (in the same year) because I was 'too Baptist in my faith' (thus the reason why I became Baptist and am truely blessed because of it). March is a month where I completely shut down (socially...thus no blogs) and focus on God's plan for my life and serving and honoring Him in whatever ministry I find myself in. It's the blind faith part that gets me through the month of March. Faith that God's hand is in whatever comes our way whether we see His hand or not. This year we've not only lost someone we love dearly, but my husband did not get his teaching contract renewed. It does not matter that his students made the highest grades out of all the 4th grade classes or that he is a Godly man dealing with fatherless boys bringing knives and most recently a gun to school. What does matter is how we deal with the challenge ahead. It's the blind faith that will allow Steve to pack up and leave his school in May without a hint of anger or bitterness. It is the blind faith that will carry us through the summer knowning that whether we live in our beautiful house in the ghetto or in a cardboard box in the Brick's backyard, that God is with us and loves us with the same love and passion that created the world and all of the things in it. We've lived a year without internet and will do it again if we have to. Because of the month of March, we are able to pray with our eyes shut knowing that whatever comes our way, God will be able to carry our little family though it. Our circumstances may change this summer, but our hearts will remain focused on our Lord and Savior and that is all that will matter.

Adventures to Petco

Kalea and I went to Petco today and she managed to become every pet's worst nightmare, but she was sooo cute about it. We pulled up to the store and she began yelling "puppies and kitties!!!!" She could barely contain herself as she ran into the store grabbing the first mini cart she could get her little chunky hands on. With her cart in hand she took off through the door. BAM!!!! She runs straight into the mouse cage sending the mice scurring to the corners and under their mouse bedding. "HEllllO moush!" she calls out to them her voice dipping down on the 'Ls' and going back up on the "o!" She spends a few minutes looking at them with her big greenish eyes most likely sending chills of horror into their little 'moush' bones. When she tires of the mice, Kalea rams her cart into the bunny hutch. The bunnies squeal and hop into their plastic igloo homes turning them over in panic. "HellllllOOO baw-eee" she calls into their hutch. She watches briefly as they tremble and try to hide behind their fallen homes. We move on to the 'mamsters,' 'nakes,' 'ishys,' and 'bogs' sending eat running in panic as the rams her cart, body, or hands right up against their cages sending mini earthquakes into their peaceful worlds. Trying my hardest to keep Kalea's cart in check, I am perpetuall running and squashing myself between her cart and the cages, but Kalea is determined to make her presence known to the animal world. We weren't in there too long before I noticed an audience of employees giggling at Kalea's joy and enthusiam as she greated each and every animal. We noted noses and tails, beaks and ears. We took stock of each animal's 'juich, juich' (juice) and eats. We said 'HellOOO' to each and every animal and when all was said and one, Kalea had one more memory of God's creation stored in her beautiful little head.

Valentine's Day

Nathan was sitting at the kitchen table opening up his Valentines from all of his friends. This is first real Valentine's day party so it was really special. With the sunlight pouring in on him from the kitchen window, Nathan looked up questionally and asked me why all of his Valentines had hearts on them. Not wanting to miss a teaching opportunity, I quickly dove in the explanation of Saint Valentine and paralleling that with the story of God's love for us. Nathan quickly dropping his Valentines as if they were poisonous snakes yelled, "LOOOOOVE?!! I hate love!" and just as soon as his small paper cards fell to the floor did Nathan realized that with Valentines day came candy. Grabbing a piece of chocolate, Nathan decided that perhaps love was an ok thing.

Mimi

"Mimi, whewe awe ewe?" my two year old, Kalea, whimpers. This is the second time Mimi has gone on an adventure of her own and it's not even 8am yet. As we search the house, Kalea frantically calls out for Mimi in such a desperate call that even I half expect Mimi to spring up from her hiding spot squeeking "here I am" in a small soft pink bunny voice. I don't know how one could even sound pink, but if anyone could, it would be Mimi. Mimi is Kalea's best pal. They've been together since birth. When Kalea was barely coordinated, she would throw Mimi over her face with her soft baby hands and hide beneth Mimi's smooth delicate folds. "Mimi, whewe awe ewe?" Kalea cries out again bringing me out of my large mental book of mommy memories. I follow a clothing trail in my search for Mimi. As I go, I pick up with the thought that if the house was clean, then Mimi would be easier to find. I pick up socks, little boy underwear, a pair of jeans with holes in the knees, and wonder how one gets naked without being noticed while making a beeline to the play room. The trail continues; some shoes, a jacket, a uniform some-what white polo. I wonder if when the school board made the rules for polos if the board was made of all men or were there mommies who knew that when they mandated white polos that by mid-year the white would turn into some-what white. Mother of Pearl, perhaps. "Mimi, qum bacc....." Kalea cries out. The trail of clothing ends and I decide to search another room, the kitchen perhaps. I dump the clothes off in the nearest dirty clothes basket and follow another clothing trail to our kitchen. This time it's baby girl pj's, socks and slippers. Picking up the pink and white pajama pants decorated with sporatcally placed pastel puppies I remember Christmas and how big she looked when she first put them on. There's nothing like warm winter pjs to make a baby girl look big. On my way to the kitchen I spot Kalea's pink backpack that her brother Nathan helped her into this morning. Could Nathan have had the thoughtfulness to put Kalea's Mimi in her backpack? A blurred before school conversation pops back into my head. I was packing Nathan's lunch and he was having a conversation with Kalea about school today. I didn't have the heart to tell him that he was the only one who would be going to school, so I allowed him to get Kalea ready. What did he put in her backpack? A frog....and what else? Then it hit me. Nathan did not want Kalea to forget Mimi so he packed it in her bag for her.
I reached down into the bag and pulled out a crumpled up Mimi. The rattle in Mimi's head sounded and hearing it as though it were as loud as an atomic bomb, Kalea came running out of the livingroom. As the two united in a giant, almost two sided hug, I couldn't help but be a little jealous of the bond that Kalea and Mimi have.

Damage Control

The reason that I haven't been able to blog at all since December, just turned two years of age and has kept me on my toes twice as much as any ballerina. Her name is Senoria Destructa, aka Kalea the terrible. It seems that I now spend my days doing nothing but damage control following in her hurricane-like wake that would make even (Hurricane) Katrina jealous. She is on the counter, in the cabinets, and pulling the DVD's out of their cubbie all at the same time. I tremble with fear at the thought of checking my e-mail or going to the bathroom. I zoned for two seconds and found that the tiny Picasso had scribbled not only in red, but blue, green and orange, all over the "kid's wing" of our house. All over it. She is all of the forces of nature mixed and smoothed into an angelic face with beautiful hazel eyes and a smile that could win anyone over....who would even guess that behind that facade could be such a force that would make any baby-sitter sake in their Converse. Even as I type, she is hiding away in the garage filling her diaper and eating finger paint while trying to reassure me that it is 'yum.'