Twas' the Week Before Christmas by Sarah Saenz

T'was the week before Christmas and all through the house
the appliances started breaking and we spotted a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care
in hopes that by morning dry socks would be there.
While Nate in 3 blankets and Kalea in just two
took their vitamin C to ward off the flu.
When out in the car there arose such a clatter
we popped up the hood to see what was the matter.
With the fridge being broken, the dryer not drying,
I held my cold breath to keep me from crying.
It's the drive belt they said, it may last some time yet,
(but in this cold weather it may break soon I bet).
With two days to go, our God we do know
will give us the greatest gift of all.
Three days in the car, it's not very far,
to the very best place, a cold front we will race,
to have a Merry Christmas with you!

It's been pretty funny in a not funny way the way everything has been breaking. After waking up to a broken refrigerator and freezer we've joked all day about how we will have extra storage. "Mom, have you seen my mittens?" ....."Yes, dear, did you look in the fridge?" or "Momm, where's my backpack?" "It's in the crisper where you put it!" Who needs a fridge, really? Colonists lived without one for hundreds of years. Kalea is extra excited because it means that she gets to eat "noonles" for her bedtime snack every night.....and I had a really good excuse for not having a dessert for the school luncheon today. I also thought about if the dryer is cold and the fridge is hot, then why can't we switch their functions. Wet clothes go in the freezer while we keep the milk in the dryer. Would milk in the dryer make a milkshake? Could we make homemade butter if we added some cream? How long does homemade butter last in a cold dryer? How long would it take the kids to notice that the food and clothes were switched?
I just read the Book of Esther and found it really interesting about how God used a bunch of tiny things to a huge event that changed history. Perhaps these small inconviences will amount to something great. Perhaps when we get the repair man over in January, we can share the gospel with him and have an even greater reward than just a cold fridge and hot dryer. Great things are happening...
Anywho, have a Merry Christmas!!!!

Zig-Zag

While I was helping Nathan with his homework yesterday, he told me that I made him feel "zig-zag." The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I made myself feel zig-zag too. Things have been upside down and crazy over here....but in a good way. Steve took his Officer Test for the Navy and passed with flying colors. He is well on his way to become a Navel Officer this April/May. I had my 45 minute observation from my Principal and had a great review. I was also observed by a woman who sees thousands of new teachers a year and she said that I was well beyond my years and displayed techniques that she had never seen and was highly impressed by them. Our band is playing at Deep Elm in Dallas, Texas, thus fulfilling a lifelong goal of mine. After struggling with our 'new' church for the past 9 months, we changed back to a Southern Baptist church and fit in better than we could ever imagined. Nathan has started bringing his Bible to church 'because it is the right thing to do, mom!' instead of bringing it for the prizes that were offered at our previous church in Grand Prairie. Kalea is said to be the brightest in her class after she was put into a class full of children who turned 4 in June (Kalea will be 4 in January). Although I live with the strong desire to be back in the church, I am finding a much greater mission field at my school. My first graders are struggling with far worse things than any child should ever face and we talk about God on a daily basis. He who never abandons is a comforting concept to those who have been taken away from their moms, abandoned, and not valued. I am able to give these kiddos a far greater gift than just a good education. We are busy saving to visit my parents in Virginia over Christmas and are getting pretty creative with our spending. As you can see, I am pretty zig-zagged and all over the place....

Marching on Like Turtles

Being a mom of a wiggly-don't-like-to-do-work boy, I've come to dread parent teacher conferences. I've decided that it is much the same as going to the dentist. You brush, floss, rinse and, if you're like me, you spend more time on your teeth than any other part of your body. You do everything you're supposed to do and go in hoping that all of your hard work paid off...you hope for good news....but dispite of all of your hard work, the dentist's report is never good. Nathan has decided that the teachers have conspired to give him 2nd grade work in 1st grade, and 3rd grade work in 2nd grade. I have no clue why he believes this, but he tearfully tells his teacher everyday that she is giving him the wrong work. The odd thing is, however, that although he refuses to do his work, he is reading at a close to 3rd grade level and is getting tested for GT next week because he knows all of the answers already.
We had both Nathan and Kalea's conferences almost back to back. After Nathan's showdown with his teacher, I was filled with a sense of dread as I walked up the paved path to Kalea's school. How much bad news can a momma take? We signed into Kalea's school and were led to a tiny closet equipt with faded artwork and a tiny table and chairs. We waited for what seemed like eternity as Kalea's 9 month pregnant teacher waddled into the room with her soon to be promoted co-teacher, Kalea's idol and shinning star. They showed us Kalea's mad phat cutting skills, her knowledge of numbers and letters, her ability to sign her name, and her 'first' picture of amobea like people (now she draws bodies, clothes and hair with massive detail.), and told us about Kalea's blosomming social skills. Because Kalea's shinning star of a co-teacher is getting promoted into the next room, I was really worried about how Kalea would take the news. We were saved great heartache, however, when they told us that Kalea's teacher didn't want to promote without Kalea, and starting Monday, Kalea will also be promoted into the big four year old room which is essentally Pre-K. They have been testing her out all week in the big kid room and she absolutely shines in there.
As far as Steve and I go, we are both having a great year teaching. I realized that teaching at a Title One school is more of a mission field than any other place I could possibly be right now. Most of my kids are broken and hurting and I have discovered that 90% of my job is feeding them emotionally and physically. I started bringing food for them during the mornings and I have never seen a child more greatful for a dry piece of bread. I give and receive more hugs in a day than I have gotten or given in a life time. I dry tears, counsel moms, and fight for the students rights on a daily basis.....and we even talk about God every day. Enough about me, are you ready for the big news or what?! In the mist of my falling in love with teaching, Steve has actually been called away from teaching. He got the calling in mid-August and we have been praying about it ever sense. After 11 years of wondering through the desert, Steve has actually found his true calling in life. I have prayed intently for the past year and a half for Steve to find his place and he finally did. He is going to be an Intel Officer in the Navy. Yeah, crazy. He started working out for the first time in his life. He has been losing a lot of weight and really watching his diet. He spends every second of his spare time doing Navy stuff and is set to leave as soon as school gets out for the summer. The bad part is that he will be gone for 9 months. I am not excited about that part, but I know that because this is God's calling for him, that we will be taken care of as well.

Defining Our Family

Steve is on this great big workout kick. He has lost 10 lbs already and is trucking along nicely. He works out almost every night at all hours and is, for the first time in our 11 years together, working out with me. The other day we were working on our abs and Steve started to giggle about just how puny my abs were. As I was slowly crunching along, I began to really think about this tummy of mine. My tummy has housed a thousand virus', had a trillion meals flow through it, gets poked, stepped on and tackled on a daily basis and has carried my two babies. Without my tummy, our family wouldn't be what it is. (For starters we would have two black babies, because if I were to ever adopt, we would get African orphanage babies.) My mind wandered to all of the things that define us as a family.
We are the type of family that is extended in a million different ways. On Friday, I had two sons because our school hosted a Donuts with Dad Day, and most of my students are fatherless, so we decided to adopt another son for a day. When I told the small boy that he would be a Saenz, he smiled all week long and was floating on cloud nine the morning of the event. All morning he looked admirably up at Steve every few seconds like he just couldn't believe that he was eating donuts with his 'adoptive' dad. When we travel, we eat at hole in the wall diners where we inevitably end up with another little hungry tummy at our table. When we watch movies in the park, I always notice two little extra feet tucked under our warm blankets, and we always bring an extra baggie of popcorn or two for our new little guests.
We are the type of family who shops at Half Price Day at Goodwill so that we can provide school supplies to our students in our classes. We provide tennis shoes to the kids who get into trouble every day at PE because they cannot afford good shoes to wear to school. We provide "Morning Bread" to the kids whose meager breakfasts just don't carry them through lunch.
We are the type of family who tries to do a Community Service project every Christmas Eve to make our kids thankful for the gifts that they receive.
What defines your family?

I can't write our updates until next weekend because we can't share our "BIG NEWS" until Steve tells his parents face to face......no, I am not pregnant. :o)

Saenz-speak

Questions I've been asked this week....
How do T-Rexs wipe the blood off of their mouths after they eat an animal?
How much does a duck weigh?
What would happen if we didn't have any spit? Would we die?
Why do babies in their mommy's tummy have to eat through their belly buttons? Why not their ears or their mouths?
What if we didn't have any DNA?

New vocabulary introduced this week:
SPLAT- Usage: Mommy, there's a spat on the floor!!! Definition: A spoonful of ice cream.
MCDONALDS, TEXAS- Usage: I came from McDonalds, Texas. Definition- Upon visiting family in Virginia, Kalea proudly told my sister that we live in Texas, McDonalds, Texas. Later on my dad asked Kalea where she came from and she explained that she came from McDonalds, Texas. Later on a story developed that Kalea was actually found in a Happy Meal a month and four days before Nathan's half birthday.
BURGINIA- Usage: My Grandma and Grandpa live in Burginia because it snows there every day and I have no clue how they get food or go to work. Definition- Nathan thought that Virginia was like the Arctic and that it was actually called Burginia because it was so cold there all of the time.

Summer Fun

10 fun, free things we did this week!!!

10. We fed and petted singrays.
















9. We dug for dinos!

8. We had the entire zoo to ourselves.

7. We walked, crawled, and jumped through a giant mouth.

6. We met the clowns from Barnum and Bailey Circus

5. Nathan transformed into a firefighter and he and his friend saved the museum.

4. We got to crawl through tunnels like ants.
3. We went to Cirque de Cabrilla














2. We made bubbles of all shapes and sizes. Some as big as Kalea and some as small as a mouse.
1. We watched hotair balloons light up the sky.

There's No Charge for Awesomeness....

View from our Retreat Center

I am not really in a bloggy sort of mood, but I feel like I should probably write something.....

Steve and I just came back from a Capturing Kids Hearts Conference. It's all about how kids don't care about what you know until they know that you care. It was pretty good, but what was even better was the fact that Steve and I got to spend three days straight together without our beautiful babies. It's been 4 years since the last Steve and Sarah Retreat, and just being together without the constant diversion of our kiddos was amazing. The thing that really bothered me though was the amount of people who told me in the stillness of secrecy that we were an inspiration to them, that their marriage was on the brink and that they were just about to give up. I got whispered complements, scribbled down notes in my bag telling me that out of everything taught at the conference, Steve and I were what inspired them most, and people cornering me in the bathroom to ask me marriage advice. It really made me think about our 8 years of marriage and the rapid growth and change that we've gone through within the last 5 and a half months. The change didn't happen over night, it took me changing everything about how I thought about love and marriage and most of all my commitment to Steve. It took me forgiving Steve and tossing away my mara/bitterness and recommiting to that promise I made to God a million years ago. I didn't try to change Steve, Steve changed in reaction to God working through me and the changes that he saw in my life. While we are not perfect, we are working on setting a good example for our children. Something that made the biggest difference was the journal that we now keep. Every night before I go to bed, I write Steve a love letter affirming who he is and why I love him. Every morning he wakes up, reads it, and writes to me with words of love and affirmation. The words he has said and the gift he has given me through them has carried me through the toughest times. I may be a girl without friends up here, but I am a girl who is loved by a man and that means so much to me.

Hippoblababob

My band at field day 2008 Austin, Texas

A super, super, super zippy quick update. As I am typing I am getting two kids ready for bed and reading them books.

Nathan: Just finished up his last day of school on June 4th. His teacher had an awards ceremony in his classroom and gave him his award last. She said "where's my boy?" and Nathan jumped up without a moments hesitation with a huge grin on his face. She proceeded to tell everyone about how funny Nathan is and even demonstrated how they did the pledge every morning (Nathan stands really close to her and she knocks him out with her hip, so he zips around to her other side where she knocks him out with her other hip. This continues throughout the pledge.) I think she spent the most time talking about Nathan. He went from a DRA score of 4 in December to a score of 20. His success and growth in 1st grade had been amazing and I think it's mostly because his teacher is amazing.

Kalea: Kalea started "Princess School" back in April and was placed in a 4 year old class (she was barely 3). I don't know if she already had it in her or if it was being held under 4 year old expectations, but her maturity and verbal development has expanded greatly. She wants to learn how to read. It's been the source of all fits lately because she only wants to learn at bedtime when she is way past tired. I started doing phonics boot camp with her so she should know all of the letters and their sounds by the end of this summer. She's been working really hard and has this insane drive to learn them.

Steve and I: We're doing good. We played a show last night and the booking agent liked us so much that we've been invited back to play with a lineup of bands that are all signed and on tour. The turn out for these bands has been up to 500-600 people per show. Apparently there have been about 60 bands who have requested to be in this lineup, and ours was chosen. Yea!

Thanks so much for reading my blog. I am sorry that I have not kept it up-to-date. I started teaching the 1st grade a while back and keeping up with my new class and trying to keep things together on the home front were exhausting. I'll be so happy when I get back into the ministry (no, I won't be there anytime soon, but I know that I was called to be there a long time ago, it's a long story, but I know that I will be back there after a stint in the educational world.).

Honest to Blog.....

Not snow......it's hail from our storm!!!!!

A BIG thanks to those of you who called to check up on us when you saw the big black dot over our heads on the weather radar. I think we realized that we might be in trouble when the sound of the rush of the wind drowned out all other noise and the lights went out. By the time the hail started flying at our windows at a million miles per hour, Steve had grabbed the kids and I and tucked us safely away under a mattress tent in the hallway. The hail sounded like BBs hitting the windows and it seemed very likely that they would break any minute showering the rooms with splinters of glass. I was reading my Bible when it all started, so I finished my daily reading out loud to the kids while Steve tried to keep up with the phone calls. It was out of Psalms about how God is our rock and our fortress. Finally Nathan asked if we could stop reading and just pray. Seeing how scared he was, I took him in my arms and realized that we were both shaking. I can't say if we were shaking out of fear or cold or both, but we began to pray together, and as we prayed the winds died down and the hail turned to rain and we became safe once again. In the mist of all the drama, we only had minor damage from hail. The trees around us were stripped bare and the leaves covered the sides of our cars and houses, but thankfully, it could have been a million times worse. God is good.

Prayer Request

I lost my social security card!!! EEEK! So if you have a chance, please send a prayer up to God for me. It would be 'sweeeettttt' (said in the way Crush would say it on Finding Nemo).

A VERY Thankful Thursday

I have had the great honor and privilege to stay home with Kalea since the last half of December. At first I was worried about not being able to find a job, but after a good quiet time, I realized that God would get me a job on His timing. So I've waited, prayed, and really enjoyed spending time with my beautiful daughter. April has come quickly and we are just about out of savings and wisdom has come knocking at my door telling me that the time has come to finish out the school year working. I tried to become a substitute, but alas it's too late. I tried to become a Teaching Assistant, but alas all the positions have been filled. I tried everything on my own, so when my options ran out, I tried God. (Another duh moment in the history of Sarah. :o) ) It was a Sunday morning and I asked God to reveal to me at church what I should be doing. God works very quickly, because before I realized it, I was being asked by my future principal to teach a small class of 4-5 children with another teacher. I tried to be excited because I knew that this was God's will for me, but the desires of being a mommy clouded the blessing. Kalea and I had looked at Preschools back in December and they all looked bad. How could any mom leave her child in the places I've seen? I spent Monday cleaning and praying and cleaning and praying, and I found an advertisement for a preschool that looked super fun. I showed Steve and his first reaction was, 'we can't afford that place. They offer computers, Spanish, a library, music, yoga, and hot meals." I didn't want to be discouraged, so I e-mailed the director and the school not only withheld the super crazy high standards that I have, but they fit into our budget. Kalea and I went in early the next day for a tour. Kalea was super excited. The school looked like I was leaving my child at the Houston Children's Museum and to my surprise, I even saw happy kids! Everything fell into place and I was ready to work.
This morning, I talked to the principal and found out about the pay periods and when we were done with our conversation it hit me that I would be paying for $900 worth of daycare before I even saw my first paycheck. I was shocked and slightly queasy. I packed Kalea in the car and we drove to my school to talk with the principal. I explained our situation and thanked her for the job offer. She said that we would try to work things out, but I could tell that even she was doubtful. I drove Kalea to the preschool to see if I could at least reserve a spot for Kalea in the fall, and to my shock they said that everything was taken care of for the supply fee and the first week. I was confused and pretty sure that they were talking to the wrong person, but I gratefully thanked them, turned in my paperwork and fled. Later that afternoon my principal called to tell me that everything was taken care of and not to worry about the daycare situation. I was so shocked that I cried. She said that she really wanted me to take this opportunity to get to know the campus before I got my own class next year and that she was really excited to have me on board. I am soooo very thankful that God, once again, has answered my prayers far beyond anything that I imagined. I am thankful for my new principal and that she has a child at the same preschool. I am thankful that Kalea will get to play with her new friends for 7 weeks before she gets three more months of mommy time and I am thankful that I get to share this with you guys. God is good.

....the Rest of the Story

The train ride that changed our lives...

PRE-JOB INTERVIEW-

LAST MONTH- After Steve told me that he wasn't going to teach ever again, I went into Bible Hibernation. I stopped watching my afternoon soaps/playing on the Internet/cleaning and started writing in a prayer journal and studying the Word every afternoon (in addition to my regularly scheduled nightly quiet time). I prayed every day that Steve would find his place where he could honor God and shine. I prayed for our hearts to match and that we wouldn't end up moving again with no real direction. I prayed for wisdom on how to be a Godly wife. One day I found myself in the library and got Steve several books by Billy Graham, Max Lucado and other Christian authors who focused on helping people find direction. To my surprise, Steve read every word of those books and his heart began to change.



SPRING BREAK- Steve began reading "Purpose Driven Youth Ministry" on his own. I became increasingly curious......

We went to Houston for Easter and I walked in on a very quiet, very serious conversation between Steve and his dad. On the way back home, Steve announces that we are moving back to BCS and at first I am thrilled, but then uneasiness sets back in and I knew that is not what God had in store for us.

When we got home, Steve went into our bedroom for some God time and came back out the most excited I've seen him in a very, very, very, very, very long time. He said that he's made some changes to his classroom and was super excited about going back to school. (This was beyond weird because Steve had been dreading school and had come home every day broken for the last few months.)

POST SPRING BREAK

THE LAST WEEK IN MARCH- I could see a renewed sense of joy in Steve. He came home every day from work happy, relaxed, and a totally different person. He was actually as excited as I am about teaching.

BUILDING RESERVATIONS- As I was working on my certification, I began to realize that the only way that I was going to get a job was through God. Everyone in our program said that if you were certified in EC-4 then you would not get hired. They said that they had people who went through the program last year who refused to get certified in other areas who were still looking for jobs. I tried to study for the Special Education and 4-8 exams, but knew deep inside that those were not the jobs for me....so I waited and prayed.....

THE MYSTERY DATE- Our new Sunday School class goes on Mystery Dates every few months. Steve earned some extra money while in Houston, so we decided that this would be a good thing for us to do. At 6PM on a Saturday night we boarded a train with 13 other couples and headed for a mystery destination. Because we had just joined the class, we knew no one and quickly found ourselves struggling to keep up with who was who and found ourselves on the outside of every one's conversations. We were not having fun..... At dinner we were assigned seats with other couples and ended up sitting with some very nice people. They were nothing like us, but how many couples do you know that play in a punk rawk band? After supper we boarded the train again and ended up with another set of couples who we didn't know. They ended up being the fun group. While we were laughing the train ride away, the other couples sat and talked quietly. Somewhere in conversation we ended up discussing careers and discovered that one of our funny new friends was actually a principal at a school that needed a First grade and a Fifth grade teacher. We jokingly said, "hey, hire us!" and she jokingly said back, "well... you passed the pre-interview." We ended up with her number and e-mail address and agreed to call her sometime that week.

THE FOLLOWING TUESDAY- I walked into Steve's classroom and he announced that we had an interview on Thursday. I was partially mortified that Steve had contacted her that fast (they had been writing since Monday) and partially thrilled at the idea that we could be at the same school next year. (I found out after the interview that the principal had actually contacted Steve first.)

TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY and THURSDAY- Steve and I worked like crazy gathering information for our portfolios. We are immensely competitive so we kept trying to outdo the other one. He ended up doing cover page at midnight on Wednesday night that put mine to shame..... I was so mad. :o)

THURSDAY- I am rarely nervous about interviews but this one made me all twittery. Steve ended up working late and we found ourselves racing to our interview. He didn't put the school's address into the computer when he googled it so we found ourselves at the dead end of a street that was SUPPOSED to lead us to the school. We nervously drove aimlessly around until we found ourselves at another elementary. Steve ran in to ask for directions. I've never seen him run so fast. It turned out that the school was right around the corner and we walked through the door right on time. By this time, I was a mess. I was sweating from the stress of potentially being late, nervous about the interview, and extremely hot from wearing my dress suit on a hot day. The principal greeted us and asked us which one of us would like to go first. Not knowing whether I would get more nervous or calm, I volunteered just to get it over with. The only way I could describe it would be for you to imagine being a squirrel walking into a room full of bunnies trying to explain that you have all the characteristics that would make you a good bunny. I couldn't even fake the answers to some of the questions they asked me and my brain was all fuzzy for the ones I did know. I kept a sense of humor about it all and we ended up laughing and joking through most of the interview. One of the teachers told me she loved me and practically tried to hire me half way through the interview! I was finished after the fastest and slowest 45 minutes of my life and then I had to wait for Steve to interview. It took forever. After both of our interviews, we were shown around the school and then offered the jobs. We are both thrilled because God not only answered all of my prayers but He blessed us beyond that. We are super excited about starting school next year and are even more excited that we have been given 4 months to plan. Steve's teacher friends have already started giving me supplies to start my new classroom with and Steve's mom offered to take me shopping for 'cutsie' things to hang up. I have three more classes and a Harry Wong seminar in July then I am done with certification school. YEA!!!!!

This past weekend.....

This past weekend we......
Saw Alvin and the Chipmunks Live in Concert
Ate a cowboy lunch on haystacks while 'real cowboys' sang to us. A kid Nathan's age sang to us and played the guitar. I looked at Nathan and said, "Wasn't that cool?!" Nathan said, "YEAH, his guns were HUGE!"
Rode horses!

ALL FOR FREE!!!!! We love free.

God really answered our prayers this week by giving us both jobs for next year at the same school. I'll write more about that later when it's not bedtime. :o)

Spring Break Madness

Kalea Bowling

Nathan's Golden Egg

View from the cliff

The Swing

Here are pictures of our Spring Break Highlights
I know that it seems like I've fallen off of the face of the earth, but I am still here. Things are very crazy in the Saenz household and I've spent the last few weeks trying to get me in order. I have so many things that I want to blog about that I've spent many a night just blogging in my head. If only I could hook a USB port to my head and podcast Sarah thoughts onto my blog.
We had an amazing Spring Break. It was filled with family breakfasts, a ton of bowling (we scored free passes from the school district), and a trip to Katy equipt with another midnight hotel fire drill. I can definitely say that we are now hotel fire experts. Families could pay us for the knowledge and skills we have acquired for getting our kids up and out the door when that hotel fire alarm starts ringing. I have so much to write about spring break, that I think I'll break it down by each child's highlight.
Kalea- Kalea's highlight was definitely bowling. She is a very free spirited bowler. It was beautiful. I think my sides were sore for days from laughing so hard. She was so excited when it was her turn to bowl. She would grab the ball with both hands, waddle and slide out onto the wooden floors in her clown shoes (they didn't carry shoes her size so they were at least an inch or two too big) and she would chunk the ball with all her might. Sometimes the ball went down our neighbor's lane, other times it would go BETWEEN the bumpers and the gutters, and still other times, it would just come back towards the couches. Steve would go running after the ball while Kalea would spin joyfully in the spotlight with one toe on the ground and the other foot lifted up pointing to the heavens. She would throw her head back and sweep her arms out and yell, "YEA!!!!" like she had just made a strike. Every turn was celebrated with spins and dances all across our lanes and our neighbors lanes. To Kalea, it didn't matter where the ball went, what mattered was that she threw it and for that, she was thrilled. All of our neighbors would stand back and laugh at Kalea's outward joy. We were blessed that no one really cared that Kalea's ball didn't always stay in our lane.
Nathan- Nathan's highlight was the golden Easter egg. We went egg hunting at the YMCA in Katy along with our 1,ooo best friends. The announcer spoke of a golden egg, and that was all that Nathan could think about. The buzzer went off and the kids torpedoed out to the field. The one golden egg that we had spotted was grabbed up immediately, so I found myself on the ground tossing eggs into Nathan's basket while he stood sulking that his golden egg was gone. I realized how ridiculous we looked so I stood up to give Nathan the pep talk about how the hunt was about having fun, and not about getting the golden egg. The field was cleared and the eggs and kids were gone before I could convince Nathan to at least pick up a few eggs, and that's when I spotted it. The golden egg was sparkling in the sun in a tall patch of grass right next to us. Nathan grabbed it up and inside was a whole dollar bill. Nathan was stoked. He carried it around the entire day showing everyone his prized possession.
Steve and Me- Our highlight actually started 10 years ago when we worked for the Boys and Girl's Club. Every summer we would take the kids to picnic at a park. When everyone was done eating and settled in on the playground, the staff would sneak off in groups of 2 or 3 (depending on how many of us there were that day) and we would go to this swing in the woods. We would stand on a cliff about 30 feet in the air, hold onto a rope swing, and would swing off the cliff. It was scary (and dangerous) and fun all at once. It was sort of an initiation for all of the staff members. Steve and I always joked that we would take our kids there when we were old and gray.....well, on Spring Break, we went hiking and found ourselves at that very swing. It was still there, only there were about three more ropes tied to the ends of where the original swing had broken off. We didn't allow our kids to swing off of the cliff, but we did have the opportunity to share some Sarah and Steve history with them and let them do mini swings on the ropes. It was just amazing and awesome that we had stood in that very spot 10 years ago, dreaming about what our future children would be like and then (bang) there we were with our perfect family on a perfect day talking about what the past was like.

A VERY Close Call

On the snow day that wasn't a Snow Day for the school kids, Nathan and Steve were driving very carefully to school. Steve was a bus driver so I am pretty confident in his driving (even on icy days). They were traveling very slowly on a very icy overpass when some high school kids tried to pass Steve and attempted to cut him off. On their way around Steve, however, they hit an icy patch and flew out of control spinning wildly in front of Steve's car as he frantically tried not to hit the twirling kids. The high school kids ended up facing Steve (and oncoming traffic) about a quarter of an inch away from rail, while Steve slid past them and onto dry road. God was watching out for both Steve and Nathan and the high school kids. As Steve drove down to safety, he watched the two, newly cautious kids, turn slowly around and off the bridge to school. I am sooooooo very thankful that no one got hurt. Afterwards, Steve witnessed about three wrecks on the half mile stretch of highway leading to his school. School should definitely been cancelled that day.

Snow Day

The weatherman said that it would snow at 5PM, so in joyful anticipation, we pulled open the blinds and waited for that first blessed snowflake to fall. The entire evening revolved around the exposed window. We did Nathan's homework facing it so we could sneak glances outside; we ate our dinner with our chairs carefully rotated just enough to see out the window; and when each of us thought that the other was not looking, we would open the door just enough to peer outside into the dark, cold night.....but alas no snow. Steve and I took turns racing back to the computer to check the newest update. 5PM passed, 6PM passed, and at 7PM, we put the kids to bed without a single snowflake. At 8PM, the weather station changed it's forcast to snow at 11PM, but Steve was not convinced. He was confident that the snow just was not going to come.

Kalea woke up crying at midnight. I normally would not answer her midnight call, but we took away her nighttime pullups for the week and I wanted to make sure she was still dry.....plus I wanted to check for snow. Both Kalea and the ground outside were still dry, so I went back to sleep in my warm bed thinking that maybe Steve was right. At 5AM, Kalea was up again, and this time, to my surprise, the ground was covered with a white blanket of snow! Steve and I sat in bed and waited for our ISD to be flashed on the TV screen with the other school closings.....but alas, our anticipation was broken and so were our hopes of a snow day. Steve and Nathan went off to school with their heads hung low. I felt bad, but not bad enough to waste a playdate with the snow. Kalea and I got dressed and went out to play. Kalea didn't know what to do at first, but after she warmed up to the idea, she made snow balls and watched them explode as she threw them on the ground. We played until the sun came out and began to melt all of our powdery fun. I put a snowball in the freezer for Nathan and cooked up a can of chicken noodle soup for Kalea and I.

UPDATES- Nathan got 'Lonestar of the Week' at school. He has caught up in reading and is expected to exceed expections by the end of the year. He really likes school now. (This is a first in the history of Nathan.) Now that he is completely settled and has friends, we found out that he can't go to that school again next year because Steve won't be teaching. Back to the ghetto school he goes. :o(

Kalea is now 100% potty trained both during the day and at night. She rode her first horse at Huntsville State Park on Saturday, her first roller coaster on Sunday and made her first snowball today. She proudly tells me that she is "strong and big."

Steve is looking into all sorts of interesting jobs.....no leads yet......

A Week N' Saenz

I heard a statistic that most Americans spend 2.5 hours a day on the computer, and less than 15 minutes a day in their Bibles. Did you know that it only takes about 15 minutes a day to read the Bible in a year? Me being the world's slowest reader can accomplish this. Anywho, here is the long awaited blog. I hope that it doesn't let anyone down. It's been a crazy month and this has been the first time that I've been free to do nothing. First of all, I passed my TeXes exam!!!! Secondly, I really, really, really enjoyed seeing a lot of you a million Sunday's ago when I came to visit. It made my heart sing to hear from you and to know that you read my blog. Soooo without further ado, here is what is up with the Saenz family:
Sunday- We started this week off in Galveston at a family reunion. There is no better way to wake up than with your family by the beach. It was a lot of fun. Kalea had to stop every couple of miles to go potty, making the trip home be the world's longest, but it was well worth it.
Monday- Steve had a meeting with his principal and learned that not only is his teaching contract not getting renewed, but that he will be unable to teach any where in the district. When he told me, my first thought was; "I JUST LEFT EVERYTHING FOR WHAT?!!!" I was mad but wanted to be a loving, supportive wife, so I said nothing. I said nothing to him for three days, because I just didn't know what to say that would be loving and supportive......and I have no friends here, so I had no one to talk it through with over Starbucks (which usually solves everything).
Tuesday- Kalea and I spring cleaned the house.
Wednesday- We have crazy schedules on Wednesdays, so I don't get to see Steve until 7 at church. He brought me Starbucks and after the service and our marriage Bible class (Marriage Matters is the world's best class for couples.) we finally had a chat about the future. He has decided that he's done with teaching and is going to change jobs altogether. As for what that is, he has no clue.
Thursday- I went in for a teaching interview for a private Christian school and they loved me. I will be called in for a second interview with the pastor sometime either next week or the week after. With the discount, Kalea's tuition will be about $250 a month cheaper than day care, and she will get to wear a super cute uniform.
Friday- We drove to the Woodland's area to play a show at the largest Christian club in Texas. It was super fun and the most entertaining part was that there was a professional photographer who took a million pictures of us and would superimpose fans into our pictures as a souvenir.
Saturday- We spent Friday night at the owner's house and spent the day at Huntsville State Park. We spent forever going on the trails because Kalea had to 'clean' all of the pine needles off with a stick. Steve said, "hey look kids, there is a turtle!" We all crowded around and at first glance, I knew that it was not a turtle, but three foot long green snake!!!!"

Thankful in the Cold

Steve's class went on a field trip today to Austin at 6:30AM, so I was back on single mom duty. As I drove Nathan to school in our nice warm car; passing all of the icy cars and ice covered roofs, I had to take a moment to be very thankful.
1.) I am thankful for our house, (yeah, yeah, yeah pictures will come). When I was small we lived in a house where it got so cold that our hamster froze to its water bottle. I am so thankful that our kids are blessed with so much more.
2.) I am thankful for our garage with an automatic garage door opener. We unpacked and got rid of enough stuff so that our garage is actually a garage and not a storage room. No more scraping ice off of our car windshield with a CD case......
3.) I am thankful that I get to bring Nathan to school for the first time since our move. I've missed our special time together.
4.) I am thankful that Nathan's teacher is back. Her son got into a car wreck last weekend and she has spent the week in the hospital with him.
5) I am thankful that Nathan's teachers love him and Kalea.

The Recycling Bin that Went to China

When my older sister and I were young we would spend hours in front of the TV watching the old movie, Calamity Jane. We watched it so much in fact that we not only knew all of the words, but each dance and movement by heart. If you were here with me right now, I would jump up on the bar and sing "Just got back from the windy city......" OK, maybe not a bar persay, but perhaps a table. It was SOOOOO windy yesterday that every time Kalea and I went out, she would yell, 'HOLD ON MOMMY!!!' After I explained to her that Mary Poppins blew away on a windy day, she started yelling "HOLD ON MARY POPPINS MOMMY!!!!" We went to Tom Thumb and Kalea blew away in the cart when I was trying to unlock the door. I could hear her laughing and out of the corner of my eye I saw her blowing away. Much to her delight, a bag boy saved her before she traveled too far. Then we went to Walmart where the wind was so fierce that it blew the powerlines down. Kalea and I shopped in the dark and were amazed that generations past are still programed to stop talking when the lights go out. The store was filled with silent shoppers united in the effort of a one stop shop. Kalea and I got half way through the store when I heard yelling and everyone heading for the front of the store. The employees in an effort to close down the store, had all gathered in the back and were slowing moving forward life guard style, herding us towards the front to 'check out and get out' as the gruff smoker of a lady told me. I got to the end of the isle and looked to my right at the mile long line of people checking out and then to my left at the much needed milk just sitting there staring back at me from the back of the store. The 'road' looked clear and I decided to make a run for the milk. I got half way towards it when about three Walmart employees jumped out from the isle and tackled me to the ground. My purse went flying and Kalea and the cart crashed into the chip display sending it crashing to the ground! Ok maybe not.....but the three Walmart employees did pop out of the isle and yelled at me. No milk for my babies....... :o( When we got home, we found that our garbage can full of trash had blown away as did our Recylcing Bin and all of it's contents. The can mysteriously made it back to our house, but our recycling bin is no where to be found. Perhaps the wind will change direction tomorrow and our bin will return from it's adventure.

The Princess is Down

Nathan in Steve's shorts about three years ago......

My mom bought Kalea a treasure chest full of princess costumes for her birthday. It arrived Tuesday night before bed time. It's arrival goes something like this:

Steve: Was that the door?

Me: I don't know, but don't answer it. (I am slightly paranoid)

Steve: It's some guy.

Me: Don't answer it if he has a gun.

Steve: .......But I am curious......OOoooOOo he left something!

Me: Is it a gun?

Steve: I dunno, but I am curious.....

He opens the door to find the arrival of costumes and toys. The kids don't have much time to play before they are shipped off to bed, so the next morning I awake to find a fevered princess on the couch decked out in full princess gear from crown to high heels (with PJs still on and peeking out from underneath her dresses). I could tell she didn't feel well, but HAD to put on her costume before she collapsed onto the couch. I spent most of the day holding and rocking her and trying to teach her how to blow her nose. I tried everything from a very mom-like demonstration, to telling her to pretend to blow her birthday candles out with her nose. I never saw a single drip. It all got sucked down into her tummy. She'd make a good vacuum.



Updates:

Nathan- is doing very well in school. He actually likes it. Steve can't go down the hallway without another teacher stopping him to tell him how hilarious Nathan is. Everyone wants to adopt him and take him home. We did find out that he is 4 levels behind in reading, so all of you who have kids in Bryan schools, beware. He was right on target in Bryan.



Kalea- is a princess down. She has been sick for two days, but by the time the boys come home, she has gained new life and is suddenly fine...... Nathan has been keeping her in a box as his pet mouse and feeding her snacks that he snuck out of the kitchen. She happily squeaks and pokes her head up occasionally to be petted.



Steve-had plans to start working out and we all know that when you have plans to work out, you get sick and that's exactly what happened. He went to school anyway to spread all of his joy.... I mean germs to the rest of the school. Other than being sick, he's doing well. His classroom drama is better than the show Passions so it's been fun to hear all of his stories after school.



Me- I got offered two jobs this week and turned them both down. One of the jobs seemed really great and the pay would have been abundant, but the hours would have made it so I wouldn't be able to see Nathan at all during the week. I can't give up the privilege to raise my own children. Since being unemployed doesn't pay much, I up'd my game as a wife and our marriage has been amazing. Steve even started making the bed and cleaning his side of the room on the weekends! Thanks to a generous donation from my parents, I am currently working on my teaching certification. I take my TExES test in Bryan on February 11th (there were very few testing sites here in the big city, and the available testing dates didn't fit in with my schedule), so I may come by and say 'hey' to everyone.

Happy Birthday Kalea!!!!

Yesterday was my sweet baby's 3rd birthday. I can't believe that she is three already!! We got busy potty training a week ago and yesterday was the very first day that she was 100% accident free. She helped me make her cake and the entire time she kept saying, "I am making my birthday cake!" It was almost like she couldn't believe what she was doing. She picked carrot cake, as my kids always do. As much as I try to pursuade them otherwise, they seem to be under the impression that all birthday cakes should be carrot. After the cake was finished, she took a two hour swim in our garden tub. (She even got out to go potty and then splashed back in when she was finished!) After her swim, I fixed her hair and we ate lunch together and then she went down for her nap. I had to wake her up to pick up Nathan from school where Kalea excitedly told all of the teachers that it was her birthday. After daddy got home, we went out to eat at "the Barn" (a themed resturant that is shapped like a barn and has both an indoor and an outdoor playground) where Kalea asked random mommies to take her picture because it was her birthday. It was embarassing but some of the moms actually had Kalea pose with their children in their pictures. I could just see them at home saying, "...and here's the one of the ramdom kid at the chicken place....." After supper we went home for cake and presents. We got Kalea a few things that she had been asking for all winter, but she lacked the 'wow' factor. It wasn't until she opened the package of princess panties did she crack a grin. Who would have thought the panties would be the highlight of her night?! We're going to have a 'real' party for her in two weeks.

The Stranger in My Kitchen

Why we don't have guns in our house.....

The other night I heard some strange noises over Kalea's baby monitor. It sounded as though someone were in our kitchen, but I passed it off as new house paranoia. Not long after the noises began, Kalea started to cry. She never cries at night, so I got up pretty quickly to check on her. On my way down the hall, I noticed a light on in the kitchen. I was about 100% sure that I was the last one to bed and that I turned off all the lights, so I stood frozen in the hallway, my mind racing and soon my worst fears were confirmed. A shaddow of a man crossed in front of the source of light and before I knew it my feet were taking me away from my crying daughter back down the hall to my husband. I threw open our door and whispered, "THERE'S A MAN IN OUR HOUSE! SOMEONE'S HERE!!" Much to my horror, our bed was empty and Steve was gone.
Now this is the point where most people would realized that the man in the kitchen was actually their spouse, but not me, it was go time. I was high on panic and running around the room looking for a weapon. Could I poke him with a ball point pen? Whack him with a coathanger? Perhaps I could knock him out with a guitar (not mine of course, I would use Steve's). I decided to size up the situation and check out whether or not the stranger was too tall for me to use a guitar on him. I tip toed back down the hallway and peaked into the kitchen. I saw the boxer-clad stranger clearly now. He was sitting on my couch drinking a huge cup of my baby girl's milk. I went to get the guitar...
Ok just kidding, that is when I realized that the stranger was actually Steve. He was having trouble sleeping and decided to watch TV so that he wouldn't wake up the entire house. Little did he realize that everyone was now wide awake with the exception of Nathan who could sleep through a rock concert. Kalea needs breakfast, but I'll do a family update later.

Readjusting K-Mad

The picture is of me 7 months pregnant with Kalea with my assistant teacher 'Mamana' and one of my students.

On a bright and cheery Saturday morning, Kalea and I were doing the dishes while the boys were running around the house playing Hide-and-go-seek with their newly unpacked walkie talkies. As Kalea rinsed the dishes and I loaded them into the dishwasher, it occured to me that Kalea and I could go the entire morning in contemplative slience while the boys could hardly stay silent long enough to hide in their game of hide-and-go-seek. In fact, we've spent most of the week nesting in silence....
We've been so busy exploring our new town that Kalea did not miss her school until the boys started up again this past Thursday. I could tell that she missed her friends so I put a Dr Jean CD into her CD player where she parked herself in front of for the entire morning. As I peaked in to check on her, she looked up long enough to shout, "MOMMY, MY FRIENDS ARE IN THERE!!!" and then went straight back to rocking back and forth on her knees dancing to the music.
We had our first dinner guests this past Saturday and Kalea was super excited about showing them her new room. Upon inspection, our guests noticed the picture collage of Kalea and her pal, A.L. They pointed to it and asked Kalea who her friend was. Kalea very happily jumped up and down and proudly shouted, "That's A.... (said real name), she's my sister!"
I think that it's easy to say that Kalea and I are both super excited to be blessed with a great new town, big new house in a quiet neighborhood, and are so happy to be with daddy, but we are also very homesick for our church and friends.