Rest in Peace Memaw

Well, after many months of declining health (years really), Stuart's Memaw Louise passed away last night. She was a great lady and will be missed very much. It's hard to believe that this is Stuart's first grandparent to pass away. He still has the other 3 living. It doesn't make this any easier though.

I am going to miss her, but I am really feeling badly for Stu's Paw paw. They were married for 61 years! Amazing right? I'm sure he doesn't have any idea what to do without her.

We're leaving tomorrow to go to Houston for the funeral. Not looking forward to it at all. This is one time when getting all the family together will not be a treat. Please keep Stu and his family in your prayers for me.

My petition to God

Those of you who have read Eat, Pray, Love will undoubtedly recognize what I 'm trying to accomplish with this. If you haven't read it, well then, just humor me. All I ask is that you read it with an open minds and hearts and that you send your "signature" to my petition in your mind! I need all the positive thoughts I can get!

Dear God,

Please help me find a teaching job. I have had this dream and plan for the last three years and I could really use some help fulfilling my goals. This process is exhausting mentally and physically and is taking quite a toll on my family and I emotionally as well. I am doing everything I can think to do to increase my odds of finding a job.

I do realize that there are a lot more terrible things going on in the world than my job hunt, but it is not just a "job" I seek. It is an avenue to touch and change lives for the better! (Corny as it may sound).

I want to be the catalyst for change in children's lives. I want them to learn and enjoy it while they're doing it! I want to "make a difference". Truly.

This will also be a huge help financially to my family. It will help take away a lot of worry. The decision for me to stay home with them was easy. But it was also a sacrifice. A sacrifice I didn't mind making at all. But now it's time for me to move on to that next chapter and I seem to be stumbling along.

So I ask with an open heart and mind for you to help me find the right place for me to do all these things I've been praying about.

Sincerely,
Mindy

Six Flags Fiesta Texas

We decided to go to Fiesta Texas last week since the kids had earned free tickets last year at school in a program called ticket to read. Stuart's sister Becky gave us her ticket that she got as a teacher from that program as well, so we only wound up buying 1 ticket at the special online price of $29.99. We also had to pay for parking which is usually $15, but since we bought it online it was like $13.86.

The Smiths with Scrappy and Scooby Doo! It's nice that they have people stationed to take pictures of you with your own camera!!
The kids with Scrappy Doo!
I'm proud to say that $47 is the total amount of money we spent there!! Ha! For some reason it gives me immense pleasure to know that we got the best of a place that is totally out to get you! A bottle of water there is $4, a kid's meal, $7.99, a refillable soda is $12! Ridiculous! We brought an ice chest full of food and drinks and left it in the car. I also carried a couple of bottles of water and some Capri suns into the park in my backpack. They didn't say anything when they "searched" it upon entry.

We stopped and ate right before we went in, so we were nice and full to begin with. Then after a few hours we went out to the car and ate and drank. Then came back in for a couple more hours. We had a great time.

Logan is a roller coaster rider just like his Mama. Ellie, I'm not sure about yet. She didn't ride anything very big, but she's still little. Stuart, not so much. He'll ride a few things, but mostly was happy taking Ellie around to do her little rides while Logan and I rode the "big" rides.


We had heard some negative things about the park not being clean and having a bunch of punk kids running it, but our experience was very good. Everything was clean, it wasn't crowded at all and everyone was very nice. I'd recommend it to anyone. They have tons of rides for all ages, so even littler kids will have something to do.

We didn't go into the "water park"at all. It just seemed like a lot of trouble and the kids were happy doing all the other stuff. There were several rides that got you wet that weren't in the water park, so we were able to cool off when we got too hot.

They had this little splash area in the Wiggles World that the kids liked to get wet in too.

So my final review is to go to Fiesta Texas!! Especially if you have free tickets!

School supplies!!!

We're ready!! I bought most of these with the kids in tow. It wasn't a total disaster this year either. We were very orderly about it. I remember going to buy school supplies. It was so exciting. I couldn't wait for school to start!! Little did I know that my mom was probably more excited than I was!

I really like Ellie's messenger bag and lunch box. I just hope she doesn't get tired of carrying it. Logan's agreed to use last year's back pack. :-)

Come on August 24th!! (16 days, not that I'm counting)

What my kids do for fun!

This is how bored they've become! School cannot get here fast enough!!

Staying positive

Staying positive while trying to find a job- easier said than done! It's up and down from one day to the next. I can only imagine how people feel who have been looking for months or years. It's only really been a few weeks for me and it's hard not to feel defeated. I am so thankful for all the encouragement from everyone though! I really would be freaking out without it!

I'm still plugging away. I've been going to as many schools (23) as I possibly can with what little time I can get away. My mom's been a huge help and Stuart's watched the kids a few times while he's working so I can run by schools. I drove over 100 miles yesterday in this endeavor. And the heat is awful. Getting in and out of the car every few minutes. Uugghh!

I had a little breakdown yesterday after leaving my last school. It wasn't one of my best exchanges. Not smooth or clever as I would have liked to appear. This school was one of only 2 (out of 4 districts) that had actual jobs listed that I was qualified for. I was really tired (haven't been sleeping well). I just walked out to my car and bawled. What a loser.

Today I decided I should start applying for teaching assistant positions, just to be sure I had something since things were looking pretty bad. I told Erica my plan and she said not to put the cart before the horse. And reassured me that there is still time to get a teaching job and said I shouldn't panic quite yet.

So, I decided to listen to her and hope she was right.

Then, tonight at dinner I opened my fortune cookie and this is what it said:

Coincidence? I think not!

Gordan

Here's a recent pic of Gordan! I think he's pretty cute! He's eating crickets now, which means I'm basically a cricket mom too since I have to keep them alive to feed him. We even have a cricket habitat now. Awesome. The pet fun never stops around here.