Trick or Treat Night!

I went back to work on Wednesday this week and it was SO good to get back with the kids! I expected to be tired the first couple of days back, but I seem to have more energy since I've had the surgery than before. The only problem is that I was so prepared prior to leaving, but after having a sub for a week, I'm now really busy bringing all my lesson plans up to date.

Yesterday, our good friend Dan Beasley officially retired from the military. Since I had just missed a week of school, I wasn't able to get off for his decommisioning ceremony. Larry did go and was really impressed not only with the tribute given in Dan's honor, but also with the character of Dan himself. They gave Dan many rewards, but he continually turned it around and praised the men and women who served under him. That's the character of Godliness showing and we're so glad God brought these special friends into our life. Then last night we all met for dinner at La Fonda, where we enjoyed spending the evening with all our friends from our Life Group.

Right now as I write this, trick or treaters are just winding down. We had a lot of kids this evening, and it was really fun! Most of them I know from school and they get really excited when they get to my house. After the first hour and a half, we took Larry's bike through the neighborhood just to see what else was going on. I couldn't believe how decorated our neighborhood was...there was even one court that was blocked off for a "Haunted House"...(not really scary, just fun stuff)!

Update...

The owners just picked up our little friend, and I was a bit sad to see him go. It turned out he belonged to a family I know from school, so I know it made the kids happy. Maybe it was God's way of preparing me for my own dog : < )

Giving Thanks!

It's been a long week, but I have a lot to be thankful for...first of all, I had my thyroid surgery last Wednesday and the doctor found the tumor to be benign, praise God! The recovery has been much easier than I had anticipated, in fact I was released from the hospital the day following my surgery and other than being more tired than usual, I'm feeling great!

Larry took some time off Thursday and Friday and spent the time working in the yard and planting fall flowers. This fall has been much cooler than usual and we've really been enjoying the backyard and using the new firepit in the evenings.


I feel so blessed by all of the thoughts and prayers on my behalf...this is a picture of the flowers I received from Oak Hills Children's Ministries. Today I also received flowers from everyone at school...I never realized how richly God has blessed us in the relationships we've built in the last year and a half!
One last surprise that just happened tonight...Larry came home from work with a dog he had found out in the street. We're pretty sure it's a family pet because it's recently been clipped, but is missing a collar. I fed him and gave him water and he's spending the night in our yard. I just made up some signs for Larry to post in our neighborhood and we're hoping the owners claim him soon!

Larry's Birthday Weekend...

Believe it or not, we've actually been enjoying some fall weather here in San Antonio due to an unusual cold front. We took advantage of it by taking the bike up to Gruene to Larry's favorite restaurant for lunch after church on Sunday. Then we even got to enjoy using his new firepit (a birthday gift) out on our porch after dinner. I know it's not like up north, but we're thankful for what we get!

Another fun thing we saw was right here in San Antonio. We were driving around some yard sales not far from our house and we saw this deer right in the yard of a house in the neighborhood!

Change in plans...

We had planned to go on a long bike ride with our good friends, Dan and Joan, but Dan was called in because one of the men in his troops had a child die. When Dan called us late Friday evening, police had the father in the police car under suspition for murder, however the next morning, Dan told us they determined it was SIDS. I feel so badly for the parents, who not only had to go through the loss of a child, but then had to deal with an arrest on top of it...please pray for this couple and also for our friend Dan as he assists the family.

On a happier note, today after church, Larry and I went out to lunch at the only Culver's in San Antonio. I had started missing Culver's last week when I had my third graders draw their favorite meal (we were working with "lines") and I had one of my little girls draw a picture of a Butterburger, fries, soup and milk...all with Culver's logos! Our lunch today was wonderful and even felt a little like home, in fact, when we told the owner how much we enjoyed it, she brought a new Culver's hat out for Larry...it made his day!

30th Anniversary

Larry and I finally got a chance to go out tonight for our anniversary which was Tuesday, and we went to a fabulous new restaurant! Actually, it's an "old" restaurant called "The Grey Moss Inn" built in 1929 located north of San Antonio in a little out of the way town. It was a nice drive up there and we saw beautiful country we hadn't seen before. I ordered lobster tails, which is my very favorite meal, and Larry had prime rib...it was delicious! Tomorrow we've got a bike trip planned with some friends from our Life Group and it'll be our longest trip yet...eight hours or so.

On another note, last spring I had a kidney stone and so the doctor ordered tests, ...and more tests! I finally got the results back and had to see a surgeon this week who informed me that my calcium levels are sky high. He ran more tests which showed I have a tumor in my parathyroid gland that is pulling calcium from my bones and apparantly has to be removed immediately. They scheduled it for October 22nd and I'm making arrangements to be gone from school for a while...not an easy thing to do! I'm not at all worried though as I know God is in control. In fact, my biggest concern is missing school and my teaching at church. Hopefully, with people praying, I can surprise everyone and have the fastest recovery in history!

High School Musical...Junior?

I just got back from a musical put on by our third graders at school...it was themed after the popular High School Musical that all the kids are so enamored with. It did turn out to be very cute, partly because I love the kids so much! Our new music teacher, who is another good friend, did a great job and seems to really enjoy her new position. (Previously, she was a first grade teacher.) The kids love to have me there to watch them and it's fun to see them with their families.

Yard Sales and Craft Fairs!

We had another busy weekend with the Encino Park Craft Fair and our neighborhood yard sales. Last year when I went, I was disappointed because I didn't think it was a very good craft fair, but after living here for a year, I realize it's one of the best in San Antonio. They just don't know how to do crafts like they do in the midwest! One thing that was kind of cute (but expensive), were the "Doggie High Chairs"...I can't imagine a dog actually eating in one, but it was worth a picture!

At our neighborhood yard sales, I found something I've always wanted...it's a victorian doll house, a very expensive one which I got for a bargain. It's decorated inside with all my colors but they never got any furniture, which is fine with me, because that's the fun part!

Texas Style Barbeque...

We finished off our weekend with a get together Sunday evening at a beautiful ranch north of San Antonio with some good friends from church. The first picture is of (Spurs player) Tim Duncan's home which overlooked the ranch we were visiting. In addition to a great barbeque, we were treated to a tour of the ranch where I enjoyed getting to know the goats!

Fall Is In the Air...Texas Style!

We finally gave up our responsibilities for a weekend and took some time to have fun, starting out Friday evening when we went to see Kirk Cameron's new movie, "Fireproof". It was an awesome movie with a great message that is definately worth seeing!

On Saturday, we got up and took off on the motorcycle for the hill country. We stopped for breakfast in a little town north of us and then headed for Fredricksburg. We enjoyed exploring new sights and found lots of places we can take family and friends when they visit.
The weather has been cooler than usual, so it made for a great day on the bike. We even found pumpkins and fall decor up north...it still doesn't begin to compare with fall in the midwest, but at least it helped with some of the "homesickness" I've been experiencing!

All Work and (Very Little) Play...

I'm sorry I haven't been keeping up on my blog, but compared to this summer, there really isn't much to write about. For one thing, it seems like all I do is work...I don't mind at all, in fact I enjoy what I do, it's just that it doesn't leave much time for anything else. I've been busy implementing our new Art curriculum and rewriting it to make it "mine"! As always, I love what I do because I enjoy the kids so much.

Teaching at Oak Hills also has been keeping me busy as our numbers keep going up and up...a good thing, but along with growth comes growing pains. Our main Bible Story presenter was the previous Children's Ministry director, but with the numbers being what they are, we had to split the group, so I took on a new role. I love it because it gives me a chance to use the gifts God has blessed me with, but it's just another added responsibility. I started this last weekend and it went really well.

We also had a dinner party at our house Sunday evening and invited the Richters, our new missionary family. It was a lot of work, but fun to get to know everyone a little better. Their youngest daughter, who is three, loved playing with all Lydia's toys that I still keep out (just in case...) Her eight year old sister is into American Girl dolls and I couldn't help think how much of a culture change it's going to be for them when they go to Africa in November!

Meeting the Authors...

Our church kicked off "The Story" last weekend and it was a great success! Each of the four services were packed, in fact Larry was working the parking lot and he said every spot was filled. We attended all the services because we had different responsibilities at each. In between each service, there were people dressed in Bible costumes throughout the church telling their stories...they were also autographing their own "page" in each childs copy of "The Story". I was amazed at how each character told their story as if it really happened to them, in fact the kids were encouraged to ask them questions. These were just a few of the characters...Solomon with the mother of the baby in his story about the two women fighting over the child, and Sarah when she was pregnant with Isaak (she's actually a friend of mine from the children's library...and please ignore my hair as we rode the bike to church and it gets all plastered down that way... :< )