Who is that masked mammal?!?!?!?

So rumor has it that our school attic houses a little family of raccoons. While I've never seen them personally there is strong evidence they exist. Coming back after summer vacation we noticed considerably less fish in the fish tank and a dead one on the floor with bite marks on it. A quick review of the security cameras showed a mama raccoon sneaking out at night - climbing on top of the fish tank - lifting the lid - scooping up fish and flinging them down to the floor for her babies to eat! All mama's have to feed their babies!!!

New Blog

I know I haven't been great about posting lately - and I promise I'll get better. I have so much to share!

But check this out! My new blog: http://mrsmarysclass.blogspot.com/

I designed it with my student's parents in mind. There is so much information out there and many of them are at the beginning of this journey in need of a little direction and support.

Anyway - I thought some of y'all might enjoy it too. :o)

If you come across anything that would be good to share - send it on!

Much Better

So I went and I'm fine. :o) Some things occurred that mean I will need to go back and testify on Friday. I will get served another subpoena. Just going today and seeing the place and the people made my nerves settle and I don't think I'll have any problem on Friday. The unknown always makes me nervous until I can at least visualize it in my head.

The Family Courts building has got to be one of the saddest places. If you ever need to feel grateful or blessed go there. I've never seen such excruciating pain and anguish written on people's faces. It was really humbling. Thanks for all the prayers and support! I really really appreciate it!

Headed to Court

I've been subpoenaed to testify in a court case in the morning in relation to a student of mine.

I have no problem with doing it - but without any frame of reference for something like this I'm a little nervous not knowing what to expect. I just keep praying I won't get flustered and that my mind will be clear. Sometimes the thoughts in my head get all jumbled under pressure - but hopefully as they come out of my mouth they will be just fine! :o) Should be interesting!

Time for a New Mary Moment . . .

Bob was reading the news and ran across a bizarre article that he decided to tell me about.

Here was our exchange:

Bob: "Oh my heavens! This says an Argentinian model died from a butt implant!"

Me (across the room): "What?!?!?!?! A model died in a Funyun plant?!?!?!?!?" "How in the world do you die in a Funyun plant? Did she fall in a vat of batter? How awful to die in a Funyun plant!!!!"

It may be time for a hearing/brain check! ;o) Heh heh heh!

Update

We LOVE our new home. It is beautiful and so quiet! The neighborhood is normal and small and gated. The town house is beautiful and easy to keep clean. It's big enough for all of us and it just feels so nice.

Yesterday the kids did their chores - the laundry was clean - and the house was all tidy. Bob and I looked at each other in amazement. There was nothing to fix - no house projects to work on - no never-ending list of broken things. LOVE IT!!!! We actually have time to do other things. We will save money too by not having to fix so much!

Anyway - we're happy! Everything just fell into place for us. It's nice to be free of the old house and all the heavy weight that came with it.

Yea! What an amazing answer to prayer! So many times we'd try to move and it just never ever fell into place. Finally we stopped trying to force it to happen. We knew when the Lord was ready and everything was right it would just happen and there would be no doubt it was time. And it did. It was one of those things that was so complicated and every single piece of the puzzle lined up all by itself that there was no way to deny that the Lord's hand was in every step. Sometimes our plan and our timing - for whatever reason - is not what is supposed to happen. Down the road maybe we'll be able to look back and see all the reasons why - but for now we are just so incredibly grateful to be where we are. It is such a comfort to Bob when he travels to know we are here and happy. It's truly one of those massive blessings we couldn't have even imagined 6 months ago.

It's Honey Doll!!!!

Look what I found! This is Honey Doll! I got her when I was 2. She knows all my deepest darkest secrets! ;o) hahaha! My sisters always tried to squeeze her head and torture her. I often found her bungee jumping from the ceiling fan, rappelling the kitchen cupboards, and ransom notes left in her place. She went to Germany and Jerusalem with me - just for a picture to prove she was there of course . . . !

Can you believe she's being sold for $185!?!?!?!? Not MY Honey Doll of course - she's a little more worn - a little more loved - and a whole lot more tired than this one. But it was really fun to see her like this. I always wondered why I named her Honey Doll . . . and now I know! :o)

We're moving

So yep! We are! With a massive amount of travel coming for Bob - it just made sense. We'll be at the new place for a year or so. The list of reasons why it is perfect was enormous. The list of reasons to leave the house was just as long. We're hoping to quickly sell the house as is - or find an investor/ugly house place to buy it. It just is in need of things bigger than we are able to manage right now. So it will put us in a different ward - but not too far. We'll still see everyone often I'm sure. It will be a relief to all of us to open this new chapter. Hooray!

Smart aleck = Smart aleck

We were cleaning up tonight and there were three pairs of Travis' shoes in the family room. I told him to go pick them up and put them away because the family room was NOT his closet.

His reply? "Ohhhh! That would explain the TV!"

(I don't know where he gets it!)

Mourn with those who mourn

My husband's cousin posted this on her blog and I had to share it.

We had the opportunity to do just this last night. Well-meaning words don't often ease the pain in moments of grief or despair. Sometimes it's hard to know what to say or do. But last night I knew. We just sat. The kids understood and I knew a precious life lesson was being embedded. We stayed and were just there. There were moments of quiet and stories and memories were told. After several hours everyone's eyes grew heavy and I knew we should go - but when we readied to leave it was obvious we were still needed and so we stayed until it was finally ok. Even then - it was difficult to leave. We sat outside in the car for a bit - all of us wanting to leave our hearts inside. I hope it's something my children always remember. Our hearts felt so full while we were there. I'm so grateful Crystal posted this video. I really appreciated its beautiful illustration.