Perserverance Builds Character!!!

I can't believe after MONTHS of trying, I FINALLY got back into my old blog! Elated might be the word that drifts into my mind, but after months of trying and failing, hope turned into frustration, frustration into anger, anger into morning, and morning into acceptance that all was lost. BUT what is lost doesn't always stay lost and as I was organizing the bill binder for 2010, I stumbled upon an old e-mail address that might, just might be the password to this blog. Shockingly it was. Yes, the Lord is continually teaching me about patience. It's a good thing that He's a career teacher, because I am going to need a lifetime to learn the eternal lesson of patience. So what's going on in the life of Saenz you may ask? Here's the scoop from youngest to oldest.

Kalea: Just turned 5 last Thursday. I just wrote about it last week in my 'poor man's Mary' of a blog. She will have her big Chuck E Cheese party this Saturday. I am hoping that 10 friends will show up, no more, no less... She's getting big. As I dropped her off at school yesterday, she ran to her normal group of BFFs. They were all clad in their winter boots, jeans, hot pink splatter paint shirts and headbands in their shoulder length hair. Cookie cutter clusters of girls all chatting and giggling; comparing boots and tacky shirts....a fashion that I will never understand. One would think that my once sweet baby is perching on the throws of teenage-hood with her persistence and longing to look just like her friends.

Nathan: Keeps growing and growing. I keep seeing him and wondering 'who IS that kid?' He is very analytical and will be stuck on a thought for hours. When we went to the Log Cabin Village, for example, he was quite distraught about the water fountains. We showed him the what the real water fountains looked like back then, but for some reason he was obsessed with the modern day ones forgetting that they were in themselves modern. He asked me if the water was so good after sitting there for hundreds of years. After I explained to him that that the water was indeed good, he spent the rest of the afternoon pondering where the water comes from. While I come up with wild theories such as the pipe from the water fountain leads down to an underground cave where wild rabbits perpetually squeeze cactus water into the pipe as punishment for stealing carrots; Nathan seeks more logical truths.

Me: My goal for this weekend is to put in my application for my Master's at Liberty U. God is teaching me about patience in every facet in my life. Our family is doing 365 Days of Target. It's been pretty fun making videos.

Steve: Is still in Seminary working on his Masters. He will be cleared for the military soon. He is getting pretty restless, so it will be interesting to hear about God's plan for him.....once again, I will soon be dying of impatience... He has found a group of pals at church who he frequently plays football and watches movies with.

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.