Don't give up on me....

It's been a crazy couple of weeks. I haven't had time to do a lot of things....after I clean my house I will try to blog again!

Stay tuned...

God is near to the brokenhearted...

God brought to mind these passages as I was praying this morning, especially for Ethan and his school stuff! Amen? Amen!

2 Corinthians 1:3-4

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. "


Psalm 34

The LORD, a Provider and Deliverer.

A Psalm of David when he feigned madness before Abimelech, who drove him away and he departed.

1 I will bless the LORD at all times;
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2 My soul will make its boast in the LORD;
The humble will hear it and rejoice.
3 O magnify the LORD with me,
And let us exalt His name together.
4 I sought the LORD, and He answered me,
And delivered me from all my fears.
5 They looked to Him and were radiant,
And their faces will never be ashamed.
6 This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him
And saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him,
And rescues them.
8 O taste and see that the LORD is good;
How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!
9 O fear the LORD, you His saints;
For to those who fear Him there is no want.
10 The young lions do lack and suffer hunger;
But they who seek the LORD shall not be in want of any good thing.
11 Come, you children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
12 Who is the man who desires life
And loves length of days that he may see good?
13 Keep your tongue from evil
And your lips from speaking deceit.
14 Depart from evil and do good;
Seek peace and pursue it.
15 The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous
And His ears are open to their cry.
16 The face of the LORD is against evildoers,
To cut off the memory of them from the earth.
17 The righteous cry, and the LORD hears
And delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 The LORD is near to the brokenhearted
And saves those who are crushed in spirit.
19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
But the LORD delivers him out of them all.
20 He keeps all his bones,Not one of them is broken.
21 Evil shall slay the wicked,
And those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
22 The LORD redeems the soul of His servants,
And none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned.

Ethan's Oral Report for School

He called it a "presentation!" This was his project for school this week. He had to interview mom or dad and then prepare an oral report. He was worried about choosing one of us and not the other, he's so sweet like that. Of course, I told him that Dad should go first, because he's the head of the family!

He picked the picture, he cut out the maps and we learned some geography! Also, mom taught him a few pointers about public speaking and he learned that I used to teach that to college kids! So he paid attention to my pointers. :0)

So here is his practice run! Mom patrol will take notice of the time. Children do inherit the "sins" of their mother! It's almost the eleventh hour and he's up finishing and practicing his report!! Add that to my "mother of the year" application! :0/

When I picked him up at school today, he said he did a great job. He was the loudest one in his class (that was one of the criteria). We are so proud!

Singing this since Sunday...

Amazing grace how sweet the sound!
Amazing love came flowing down
From hands and feet that were nailed to a tree.
His grace flows down and covers me!

This song has been on my mind all week. It's amazing how God knows exactly what you need to get you through a week, the day, even moments! I have really drawn on His grace this week! I confess, I haven't extended the grace that He's given me...thank you Lord for the reminder!

The First Day of School posted on the Last Day of the First Week...

I didn't want to wait this long, but with the first day, really week, of school comes a whole new schedule packed with so many Back to School time adjustments. The first is getting two U8's ready each day, including hair, teeth, tummy and backpack. Not to mention the newfound love each has for tying their own shoes, not once or twice but at least three times before we head for the door.

The first day was great! Kaylynn was so excited! (Ethan could take it or leave it really. He has my morning syndrome; doesn't come alive until after 9:00 a.m. and that's only with a solid 8-10 hours of sleep!) Dad was able to come, too! He surprised us all when he got in the car with us. He made arrangements with work to go in late!

Our school does a good job of previewing "Life in Kindergarten." About 2 weeks before, each student meets the teacher for the Kindergarten Assessment. Kaylynn did a fabulous job! I didn't have any doubts. So the first day she got right into the routine. Hang up backpack, name tag in cubby, to the floor...now it's straight to group time at her table. On the second day she came home with a "Love Ball" for helping a classmate. (Ethan's Kindergarten teacher called them "Warm Fuzzies!" So cute....Friday's big event is the Treasure Chest. Not sure what it all means, but I'll find out soon enough!

Ethan had a gloomy first day. He had pretty good smile, but you could tell he was feeling terrible. Some kind of throat infection...went to the nurses office ON THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL! He stayed the whole day, his teacher said he was in a daze the whole day, poor guy. So, Day 2 was spent in bed....already doing make-up homework. He learned that staying home sick meant in bed and no Wii. When I went to pick up his homework, the class was playing Dodge Ball, Ethan was so bummed he missed out. He went back the next day! (Even though he only felt marginally better). He certainly won't miss tomorrow. It's Corn Dogs on the hot lunch menu and Root Beer Floats in class to celebrate the end of the first week, two of his favorite things.

Bittersweet...

On the eve of sending my littlest to Kindergarten I am definitely feeling...oh what's the word? It's already been bittersweet, the end of a chapter and the beginning of a new one! I told Kaylynn that I don't want her to go...and she said, "Really Mom? Then maybe Ethan can stay home with you now!" She's ready!

I can't believe it's here already, though! I am wondering if the time I got to "stay at home" with her was enough? Did I do it right? How will or would I know? It's a little scary. I wonder how she will do in school, who her friends will be and will she be "good" for her teacher? If PreSchool is any prediction, she'll be just fine, and now she's off to the BIG TIME! She tried every outfit on today and on Saturday worked tirelessy to learn how to tie her shoes....SHE GOT IT and has been tying and untying them since! She worked on writing on her name all this last week (and her last name tonight) and wanted to watch Leap Frog's Letter Factory and Word Factory all last week. (I highly recommend them!) She's been pulling out books to "read" and is showing me how she reads....Yeah, she's going to be fine...no, she'll do great!

As a "public school mom," I realize that it's so important for us to be salt and light to those around us. We've been praying every night before bed that what we say and do will let others see Jesus in us! I will be memorizing Matthew 5:13-16:

"You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has become tasteless, in what way can it regain its saltness? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown away and trodden on by the passers by. You are the light of the world; a town cannot be hid if built on a hill-top. Nor is a lamp lighted to be put under a bushel, but on the lampstand; and then it gives light to all in the house. Just so let your light shine before all men, in order that they may see your holy lives and may give glory to your Father who is in Heaven."

Sing with me, "This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine!" Pray with us, that we will be a blessing to those around us as we interact with new friends and families at school. Also, that our lives will be an offering, pleasing to the LORD! and pray for me, that I will make the most of EVERY opportunity, with my children, with their teachers and friends and families that we meet! I will try to post photos tomorrow, but as I write, Larry' s trying to get our camera to work, oh no! Stay tuned....

Skip To My Lou!

We've almost reached the 1 week mark since Skip joined our family! We walk three times a day...Larry does the first before work and finishes the evening off like this...

...we are wearing out fast, but it's still a blessing....so far!

Night night you two!

Introducing.....

Our dog Skip!!! For those of you on Facebook, this was the BIG commitment decision in a short amount of time. I don't make decisions like this very quickly, but the circumstances of Skip's "adoption" went VERY quickly! Larry has been talking about a "fluffy white dog" for so long. I have resisted and teased him (and enlisted the help of extended family members, too!) trying to convince him that we just can't have a little "rat" dog around the house! I grew up with big dogs, Larry grew up with small dogs - and since Mia was part of the package when we got married, I knew this day would come, but not so soon!

I think it all started when the kids and I were walking through Target looking for birthday cards and Kaylynn brought me a card with a West Highland Terrier on the front and Happy Birthday on the inside. Perfect, right! We'll give him this card and say, "here's your fluffy white dog." We love to try and surprise each other big on our bdays, but this was HUGE-a commitment to a brand new member of our family. Then I made the "mistake" of looking in the paper, just to "see." There it was, just one ad, with a litter of purebred Westies, 8 weeks old and at a price I would never see again. God's will? So I called last Thursday morning and the owner said she was on her way to town to sell the last four to a person who wanted them all, but encouraged me to call back in the evening to see if they were indeed gone. Answer to prayer?

I called 10 minutes before we left for our softball game that night and she said the previous arrangement didn't work and she still had the four left; "I can meet you in 20 minutes in Riverpark!" An open door? Ahhh! Well, I couldn't arrange it with the game and all, so I told her I would call in the morning and make arrangements to come up to Coarsegold to "look at them!" When I called in the morning she said there were 3 people on their way to pick up a pup! One from Clovis, one from Parlier, and a couple from Bakersfield. A closed door?

Well, now it's decision time. I called Larry and spoiled the surprise, but he was so excited he said, "You should leave now and if there is one left, you should get it!" I raced to get the kids in the car, went to the bank and got on the road, trusting my GPS not to make any wrong moves! I was nervous and anxious for the first twenty minutes! God really helped me in this situation (maybe another blog post later to talk about my anxiety and difficulty trusting God's soverignty!) Well, I was the second to arrive and there were two pups left now, the runt and another male. (Having a fluffy white BOY dog is certainly better for a man than a girlie one, right?) So we left there with Larry's bday present....and a HUGE sigh as we walked down the driveway with our newest addition to the Munoz Family. We met Larry for lunch at PetsMart and celebrated with another $100 invested in a collar, leash, crate, dog treats, etc...and many more to come!

He is sooo cute and actually so far a real blessing in disguise! I have really needed some structure to my summer schedule, especially in preparation for school and both Larry and I needed a reason to get in bed earlier...so we can get up and walk Skip at 6 a.m. It's actually been a great start to our day!! (It's only three days in so far, but so far so good!)

It's the final countdown...

Only a few short hours before we leave to pick up our kids! Boy have we been busy this morning! It's amazing what you can get done when you only have a few hours to do it! PRESSURE!!!

What a great week - while not a lot of things were crossed off our household lists, we sure had a good time. Cleaning the kids rooms this morning, made me realize, though, how much I really miss the hustle and bustle when the kids are here. There's always time to clean, but never enough time to just enjoy family! That will be put on the top of our list!

While the kids are away....

Mom and Dad will play! Well, Larry and I had high hopes of working miracles in a week's time, but to no avail....we made a list a mile long on Larry's PDA and I think we tackled only a few items. It has been nice, though. We've worked out everyday, gone to lunch, the movies, shopping today, dinner with good friends and lots of Wii Sports Resort (all in the name of familiarizing ourselves before Ethan comes home!) Here are some of the household items we were able to do:

• Cleaned out hallway closets (the contents are still on the dryer)
• Played Wii
• Installed new light fixture and faucet in front bathroom (very chic!)
• Played some more Wii
• Decided we are going to install hardwood floors throughout the house (very expensive, but Larry's got the will and can do just about anything!) We're starting with our bedroom! GOODBYE CARPET!
• Maybe we'll play the Wii tonight!
• We took out the backseat of our Saturn and found all kinds of treasures! (Hot Tamales, Tic Tacs, a few raisins, crayons and a Hanna Montana sticker!)

We sure miss our kids, too! We have fun laughing and smiling about the cute things they say and do! It really is a good time to appreciate each other and our awesome kids! Thanks to my incredible brother and sister-in-law and their boys for letting us have this time every summer! It is soooo good for us!

give it a shot!

Well, I thought I might enter the 21st century with the rest of my family and friends. We'll see how we do! Check for updates from time to time. I think I can manage about 1 entry a week.