Off to School

The first day of school arrived yesterday. The clothes have been picked out for the week, the back packs ready to go. The first time riding the bus. A new school. New teachers. New friends. Yesterday was a long day. Jack had a good first day. One small incident, he thought I was picking him up from school. He needed to take the bus home. He did the right thing and went to his teacher. She got him on the bus. I know Chase would not have left the school without Jack. Chase had a much different day. He is in a class of 29. The teacher is a yeller. Chase said she yelled and screamed all day long. The whole class recieved a punishment due to the behavior of a few. 10 minutes was taken off of the 20 minute recess. Poor kid, woke up this morning and the first thing he said was "I don't want to go to school." Broke my heart. Mark and I are in agreement on our action plan if the learning environment does not change. Plans are good.

I recieved great news on Tuesday afternoon. A spot opened up for Ben at the school we wanted. Here is a picture of it. If you look real closely you will see Ben. We are excited about this opportunity for Ben. It was, by far, the nicest school we toured. The curriculum seems to be right on track and they take alot of fun fieldtrips. He does not start until Sept 14. He will be in school 5 days a week, 9-12:15. Ben and I are both hoping to meet some nice people. Maybe we will make a friend or two.

I met Mrs. Michael Jackson today. Her name is Patty and seems lovely. She even thinks it is funny that her husband is Michael Jackson.

I will keep you posted on the teacher situation with Chase.

Lisa

Snorkeling

Have you ever gone snorkeling? In the ocean, lake or pool? It is a strange sensation. We typically breath through our noses (did you know that?). When you snorkel you HAVE to be able to breath through your mouth while staying relaxed and not feel like you are suffocating. Since the weather has been so hot, the boys and I have been spending alot of time in the pool. Today I was floating around the pool with the snorkel gear on. As I was swimming, I could not help but think of the corrolation between snorkeling and moving. Both are difficult to do at first. You have to change something that feels so normal to you in order to survive. You have to trust the process of learning. You have to relax and enjoy the beauty around you. Once you do those things, it becomes eaiser, almost natural and normal. I am hoping that Delaware becomes natural and normal for me. I will learn, relax and enjoy the beauty around me until it becomes my new normal.

This is ANOTHER snake we saw on the road on the other side of our house. I have never seen so many snakes in "nature" as I have seen since Saturday. Keep your fingers cross we do not find one in our yard or in our house!!

Love-

Lisa

Fevers and Snakes and Church...OH MY!!

Two weeks have ended and we all have survived being away from Wisconsin. Life is very quiet and sometimes a little boring, when you do not know a soul and have no activites. We all are looking forward to school starting next week Wednesday. The boys and I have enjoyed the pool during the week when Mark is at work. But it has been so very hot here, we can not be in the pool all day. Last week it top 98. That was HOT. We had a bout of some virus this past week. It started with Jack on Wednesday. Fever, sore throat, stomach ache. Typical signs of Strep throat in our family. We took him to a walk in clinic but the rapid strep was negative. Friday, Ben was not his normal self. By 11 o'clock he was begging to take a nap. If you know Ben at all, that is NOT like him. His fever was hovering around 102 and for 2 hours I tried to get him to take some kids Advil. Well he finally listened to me. That ended up being a mistake on my part. He was resting in my bedroom. The medicine upset his stomach. (Can you see where this is headed to?) His breakfast of blueberries could not stay down any longer. Up they came, in our room, on the brand new white-ish carpet. The sight was not pretty. I stayed calm and took care of my son first. For the first time in our marriage, Mark works less than 10 minutes from home. I called him and told him-not asked-told him, he needs to come home with a steam cleaner. Luckily with some oxyclean, the mess was cleaned up with no stains. Never a dull moment in my family!! Chase came down ill yesterday afternoon. High fever, headache and sore throat. Luckily Advil, Tylenol and rest cured his sickness. We will lay low today. I am hopeful it has passed. I am thankful that it was quick.

Church Shopping Update. We went to church #2 yesterday morning. It is St. Andrew's Lutheran Church. It is the same synod as Our Savior's in WI. The church service was nice for us. It had the same flow, we knew what to expect next. One HUGE deterrent for us was we were mosty likely the youngest people at the service. I am guessing 95% of the members are over 60. Not exactly what we are looking for. We will keep looking. I know the Lord has a perfect church for us.

Next to our house are open lots. Mark mowed on of them as a baseball field for the boys. The boys came running in to tell me "Dad ran over and killed a snake" I was thinking a small green snake-no big deal. I go out there and the snake was not little. This is gross, but part of the body was missing and it still was big. HOW GROSS. I was a little creeped out thinking that a snake that big was living so close to me and my family. How many more are lerking in the grass?

Ben is not yet enrolled in a school. We have toured three. I am hoping to tour one more. The class I think best suits Ben is full, but we are the first on the waiting list. I have been praying that we get a chance to have Ben in the school. I will keep you posted.

Have a great week.

Missing WI- Lisa

New Home Photos

Our new home in Delaware. I thought it would be nice for you to see where we are living.

Looking towards the family room from the front door. On the right is the dining room. On the left is the Master bedroom and computer room.

Dining Room

Computer Room

Master Bedroom









Family Room

Kitchen

Sun Room

Kitchen

Family Room

Guest Room: Ready for Visitors anytime!!!

Jack and Ben's Room

Chase's Room

Pool

Thanks for looking at the blog. Hope you enjoyed the pictures.

Lisa

Furniture and Church Shopping

We had a nice first weekend in DE without family here. It is hard to believe that one week ago we were still unpacking boxes. Now we have pictures hung on the walls!! Mark and I quickly realized that we were in need of a new kitchen table for us to have meals at. We spend Saturday afternoon furniture shopping at Jonny Janosik's in Laurel DE. It is a HUGE store. We spent 4+ hours there and the time went by so quickly. We had a successful shopping trip. Our new kitchen table and end tables for the living room will be delivered on Wednesday. Right now we are crowding around a card table. Having some room for a family meal will be so nice. Sunday we had our first "church shopping" experience. I was feeling not to thrilled at the idea on Saturday. Actually, dread would be the word. I have attended the same Church for 20 years. I was married there, the kids all were baptized there. I have real deep connections with friends there. So the thought of going to a new Church felt like I was "cheating on " Our Savior's in Hartland. So I prayed (what better thing to do in a situation like this) I prayed for openness and willingness to want to go find a new Church. We chose the Wyoming United Methodist Church. It is close to our house and the early service was the praise and worship service. Both a plus for our family. We were warmly greeted by the greeters and give a tour of the new building. The music was nice, the message was nice, the people were welcoming to our family. BUT it was missing something. You know, IT. That feeling in your gut that tells you " this is it, this is the place for me." I was happy that I was able to bring myself to step foot into another Church. I was happy that I was open to recieve the opportunity to worship. My prayer was answered. In a strange sort of way, I look forward to next Sunday. We will try another Church and see what the Holy Spirit has to bring to us.

The weather has been HOT-95 today. We have spent lots of time in the pool. I keep looking at it this way, at least I will have a great tan!!

Love to you-
Lisa

The First Week

One week. We have been in DE for one week. The time has gone quickly. We have had a busy week of unpacking, unpacking and more unpacking. I have made about a dozen trips to either SuperWalMart or Target, to get home and realize that I have forgotten something. These trips have helped to break up the day. At least it gets us out of the house. I am very thankful we decided to put in the pool versus finishing the basement. We have gotten good use of it thus far. The boys are enjoying swimming, jumping off the diving board and of course, races across the pool. We have met two of our three neighbors. The only one I have not met is Michael Jackson (yes that is his name, Mark says he likes to be called Jack). Chase said one day, "we need to meet Michael Jackson" and Ben states, "we can't, he's dead!" It was very cute. I guess he listens better than I thought. This weekend we are going to a big furniture store in souther Delaware. We are in need a kitchen table and some tables for the family room. I heard it is HUGE; ten football fields can fit inside the building. If we do not find something we like, we are WAY to picky. Sunday will be the first of our "church" shopping stops. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

Missing Wisconsin-

Lisa