Thanksgiving 2009

Why?

Today was a great day at church! We have recently joined FBC Wylie and are constantly reminded of the plans that God has for us here. Isn't awesome when you can really feel like you are walking on the path God has planned for you. Our move was very difficult, leaving friends and family always is, but it was one that I felt so sure of I could not ignore it. Since Bill and I made the decision to leave Northlake and move to FBC God has really been present.
Today was one of those days when God showed up in this place. Kris our preacher was preaching about Trusting God and following His plan. He spoke of standing up for God, and isn't that what we want, to be like Elijah and be used by God to impact the world? Then WHY aren't we? What is standing in our way? Why do we let it? He made a great point we he walked us through 1 Kings 17; and that was in order to STAND Up for God we must SIT at His Feet. I loved that picture! We can not stand-up for our god unless we sit at His feet and let Him be the King of our life! WOW! I left that service a changed person!
So we leave "big church" and move into our bible study class. how can we top that...We did! Our class is completing a study on the Organic God, sounds cheesy I know, but it has been awesome. Highly recommend this 6 week study! In this session there were many great things, but at the end of the class Bruce, our teacher, asked us if we had any "Why" questions for God. Well, yeah...Duh! If you don't then what the heck have you been doing? He then proceeds to read from our study materials that if we have a question asking Why God? We should turn it around and ask Why not me? This does not mean Why not me in a selfish sense but in a Why am I here, what is my bigger purpose in all of this. I felt like I was hit by a bolt of lightening. My why questions are always about Dylan, my student that was killed in the 4th grade 3 years ago. I have struggled with Why God takes children ever since. Today I changed my Why question to Why did God not take one of my children? What great purpose does He have in store for them that I am here to prepare them for. Why did God not take me? Because He is not finished with me, my purpose on this earth is not yet fulfilled. What am I doing to fulfill it? That is the question I left with...Why not me? What a day! I am so blessed and I continue to be in awe of the amazing treasures we have here on earth. As I told Bill this morning, heaven is going to feel like this...and he said nope better! WOW! Better than this!!

Where has the time gone?

I can not believe how long it has been since I last wrote a blog. Life in "Lambert Land" has not changed all that much, notice I did not say it is uneventful, because it is anything but that. The boys are now in 4th and 2nd grade and doing great. Report cards come home this week and we are expecting both boys to make straight A's. They love competing with each other for the best grades. Of course things will get more challenging, but it is a good start! We are smack dab in the middle of football season. This means that three nights a week, if not more, and all day Saturday we are at Community Park. I would not trade it for anything! I have become "that Mom" try as I may I can not keep my big mouth shut when they are playing and I get pretty excited when watching them. They both play EVERY SINGLE SNAP of every game, offense and defense. Travis is also the deep snapper for any punts. We had no idea he could do this until the first day of practice. Travis is the only second grader playing on his team. Tyler plays for the WFL Desperadoes and Travis is on the LSU Tigers.
In early September Mom had her second knee replacement. After a few days she was sent home doing remarkably well. She is still recovering, it has been 4 weeks and she is well ahead of the game. Looks like we will have LeeLee back in no time.
Bill and I are currently thinking about summer vacation. We are going on the great Family RoadTrip this summer. The Lamberts are heading to Yellowstone and everywhere in between. I think the boys are more excited about going to Las Vegas at this point. HA! Hey Cody and Kristen, get ready we are heading that way this summer!
I will try to be better about updating my blog, I miss this outlet!

Travis is #94



#98 is Tyler "King Kong" Lambert

"Keep Christ in Schools"

Keep Christ in Schools is something that for some reason has always hit a nerve with me. This might sound a bit strange to you at first. Why this bothers me is not exactly why you might think. Anytime I hear someone plead for Christ in schools I want to say... HE is there where are you? You see Christ lives in the heart of the teachers and therefore, no matter how hard naysayers try they can not take HIM out.
This was brought to mind today as I was moving through my Inservice Day today. As I walked into Birmingham teachers were expressing praises for the prayers that were lifted up over the summer by their colleagues. This is such a common occurrence that it did not even really hit me until later. After Birmingham I moved over to Smith to continue our meetings. Scott Winn had prepared a PDAS training, just like all principals must do. However, he gave it HIS own touch, you see Scott tied a bible verse to each Domain that he covered. Proving that as we go on about our daily lives we are truly fulfilling our MISSION. I had a warm fuzzy feeling as I walked through the halls after that. Christ is in schools because he is in the heart of the staff. Finally, as I sat at our beginning of the year convocation once again God proved that HE is in school. We were led in prayer by a school board member, and not just a PC invocation, this was a Dear Heavenly Father, In Jesus Name Prayer. Over and over the speakers thanked God and spoke of their faith. God is in schools!
I am not naive, I know this is not the way life is in every district. Guess what... that is why I do not teach in any other district. I teach in Wylie ISD because that is where God is used with a capital G and without reservations. I am proud to say that my mission field is Wylie ISD!

The Smell

Isn't funny how a scent can bring back such wonderful memories? Ok, maybe not always wonderful, but memories nonetheless. I was looking through some stuff and found a shirt that was last seen at my grandmother's house in May. It was still in the suitcase to be honest! When I picked it up I smelled it to be sure it did not smell like an old suitcase, and to my surprise it took me back to my grandmother's house in an instant. I can not put into words the smell of her house, I just know it when I smell it. I don't think I even realize the smell when I am there. It is not a smell of moth balls or bengay like some other comparisons might be, this is a smell of home.

A smell of memories!

A smell of sitting on the back porch watching humming birds, or climbing in the tree house.

A smell of sitting in her kitchen watching her make individual breakfasts for who ever happens to be there at the time, then going back as soon as someone else comes in.

It is even a smell of sitting in the front seat of an old white car with my cousin on the arm rest singing "You Better Watch Out!"

A smell of apple fritters after school.

A smell of endless sleepovers.

A smell of old office furniture in the back room where I wrote lessons in "cursive" for my cousins.

A smell of cherry cobbler and strawberry cake.

A smell of Gamby!

Friday is Gamby's birthday and I wish I was there to "smell" it!

How long has it been?

After a few months of hiatus from the blogging world I am back. I suppose I have been using my status updates on facebook as one-line blogging. Today I realized that some people do not appreciate the long updates and it actually annoys them. So for these people I will return to blogging! (how I really feel can be found out privately!)

Summer officially started for me today. Yes, it is July 9th and I do still teach! Apparently, I have the inability to say NO! and got roped into many "extras" this summer. All of which have been a blast, just not really lending much to that carefree summer I have grown to love so much. The summer started off with VBS where Bill and I taught together for the first time since high school. It was fun spending time with him! He left the very next week to go to Youth Camp with our church in Corpus Christi. While he was gone I was the director of Camp Invention. This is a camp held in Wylie each year that focuses on Science and Creativity. I had been told that it would be real easy and to hope I could pull in 30 kids, with the "economy" like it is that was wishful thinking. OK, we had 70 kids come on our second day! This is almost twice the size of any camp Wylie has ever run. Which explains why I was exhausted by the time Friday rolled around! I will say it was by far one of the best experiences my boys have had with any kind of camp! Bill returned on Saturday only to empty the suitcase for me and kiss me goodbye~ Tyler and I were off to Preteen Camp for a week. That is a blog in itself! HA! We had fun and I would not trade the time we were able to spend together. Finally, yesterday I had my last committed day for a little while. I taught two classes of teachers yesterday, a total of 80 people in two sessions. Today we packed a lunch and stayed at the pool until we could not take it anymore. I love summer! Tomorrow I get to have lunch with my mom, just us no kids great times!!

Relay for Life

Last night Kelley and I walked for a CURE for Cancer. I will tell you that I was not prepared for the overwhelming emotions that I felt as the night went on. We began our journey at 7:00pm Friday night and we continued walking throughout the night until our last lap that took place at about 6:30 am. Yes, that is correct almost 12 hours! We walked a great deal of this time, not all of it, that would be crazy! There were two men that did walk all night and one clocked in 50 miles. WOW! We did sleep for about 30 minutes three different times, cat naps if you will. It was just long enough to fill our energy up to make it another mile or so. The speakers were so powerful! Some have asked why would I do such a thing...here is why

I walk for life.

I walk for hope for a cure.

I walk for Rick Blake that kicked cancer's butt!

I walk for Maria that just took her last Chemo treatment Wednesday and made it all night long.

I walk for the hope that my children will not have to wonder "when" not "if" cancer will touch their lives.

I walk for those that have lost their battle to help other to survive.

I walk for doctors that devote their lives to finding a cure.

I walk for friendship that will withstand the agony of hardship.

I walk for family that will be affected by cancer.

I walk for family that don't understand why I walk for a cure!

I walk for HOPE in a terrible situation.

I walk for the HOPE of saving ONE life.

I walk for the HOPE for tomorrow for just one person.

I walk to see the purple shirt with the word SURVIVOR on a 5 year old!

I walk for the Purple Sash on her little brother that says CARE GIVER!

I walk for those that have gone before, those that will come, and those that stand beside me!

Today I walked and I will never be the same!

Happy Birthday Travis!

Today Travis turns 7! He has become such a little man. He is so responsible and respectful. He loves his teachers, friends, and family so much. The boy could spend every moment outside and be happy as can be. He will tell you that his best friend is his Gungle, my dad. I love that! I think it is so special to have such a great relationship with your grandparents. Travis loves to play football and is quarterback for his flag team right now. I thank God everyday for giving me a family that is devoted to each other and loves each other more each day. The boys hardly fight at all and just really love being together, and as they say that is "PRICELESS!" Thanks for letting me brag!

An Amazing Vacation!

Words can not begin to describe the fun we had in Walt Disney World! As Travis said today it was the greatest birthday present he has ever and will ever get. I might just have to second that! Mom has put together a photo show that has almost 300 pictures in it. I have almost that many as well! What did we do before digital cameras? I am attaching the photo show, but please do not feel like I want anyone that reads this to sit through all 300 pictures. I just never want to forget what a great time we had. Click through at your leisure! HA!

Heaven's Skate Park

Did you know heaven had a skate park? Yep it sure does! We built it three years ago. Three years ago on the back lot at Cox Elementary. We drew a sketch with our chalk and our friends and we prepared the perfect place for our friend. A place where he would be safe. A place where he could play with the angels and never feel pain. A place where he could watch us grow and mature and move on, but never forget. Heaven's Skate Park is not just a dream, for God was with us that day when we all came together. That day we learned more than I before E we learned how to care for more than just me. We learned that day not about numbers and math but about life and how it can take an unexpected path. We never knew Friday was the day to say good bye. I never knew you would see your teacher cry! Three years ago we lost a Coyote and a friend a classmate, a student, a brother, and a son. Thanks to three years ago I will never be the same. Never see a class the way I once did. Never pass an alley without a pause a deep breath and a quick prayer. A prayer that somewhere in Heaven's Skate Park there is a little boy landing the tricks we all envision only in our minds!
Rest In Peace Dylan Meheut!
Your teacher will never forget you!!

Walt Disney World

Hold your breath; Count to Ten; Relax, Relax, Relax

No those are not the words we told the boys after they heard the news those are the words that have been going through my head daily as I think about the amazing gift we have been given. We are going to Disney World, and I am too excited to sleep! My parents have so graciously given us this trip for our birthdays. We leave on Thursday, April 9 and get to play until Tuesday evening. I must say it is all very overwhelming! This place is amazing!! We have a wonderful travel agent that has put together a travel itinerary that takes us everywhere we need to go. We will be waking up by seven and to the parks by 8:30am. As far as I can tell we barely have time to sleep, but really who cares! This is a once in a lifetime type of trip! We can sleep when we are old, for now we will play!!

If you have any suggestions let me know!! I will post pictures as we go on our trip.

Mickey or Bust!!

Happy Birthday, Tyler

Today is Friday, March 20, 2009! That means that nine years ago today I had an epidural and some serious pain meds pumping through my veins. I also had no idea how my life was going to be changed. So many people worry because kids will take away their independence and freedom. Well, yes that does happen but it is replaced with a love that can not be put into words. The moment I held Tyler in my arms I felt my heart fill with the most amazing feeling I had ever felt. I was meant to be a mom, meant to be everything to these two little boys and at that very moment I knew it. Today we celebrate Tyler's birthday! I love you little man. Who is not so little anymore!!

Shoe size: 8 mens

Height: 4ft 8in

Weight: 105 (he prides himself in that number, HA!)

Favorite things: Wii, Football, iCarly, and playing with Travis

What FUN are we doing today?

If your kids are anything like mine the first question they ask is "What are we doing fun today?" Travis has asked this question every day since he could talk he just got it a little mixed up and would say "What fun are we doing today?" Unfortunately we thought it was so funny it just sorta stuck. Well this week is Spring Break and I beat him to the punch. I decided that we would fill a bowl with fun things we want to do and then draw from it each day. This way the boys know for sure we are doing something they want to do each day. There is a catch though...I filled another cup with five chores we need to complete this week. After we complete our chore then we can do our fun activity. Hopefully, it will keep us all focused.

*Update- Day 1 took us to Main Event to Bowl, play video games, and Laser Tag. The Chore was to clean out Mommy's Closet. (I found myself all alone in my closet... go figure!)

Let the Fun Begin

It is here, the first break of the second semester! The best break of all SPRING BREAK!! This year we are staying home, which is very unusual for us since we love to go go go. I can honestly say I have NOTHING planned until Friday and that is the best gift of all. I am so looking forward to staying in bed until well after school would have even started, drinking a cup of coffee and then deciding what I need to do that day. Of course I have all kinds of things on my list of things I could do... The boys and I are just going to play and relax this week. Yea! I will share some pictures soon.

Travis's Dance

My little man has a girlfriend! Of course he will not talk to me about it, because I just tell him girls are icky! I had to learn about it from her mom. Well, I will stay in denial forever!! He is my baby and I am the only girl for him. HA! Becca is her name and she just happens to live across the street. So weird since they have known each other since they were born. Here are some pictures and video of their first dance.

DRAMA Momma!

I wondered know for sometime when the boy/girl drama starts in kids. I knew that 4th graders usually had minimal amounts of love life drama so I expected it to approach next year. Tyler has been very found of two girls all of his life, Grace and Chandler. Grace has always been referred to as the "summer time girl" and Channie was the "school year girl." This all changed last week! Tyler is in a class with all of the boys that will be considered jocks in about 10 years. None of which think having a "girl friend" is cool. Tyler luckily has not fallen into their trap just yet, or so I thought. A target a few weeks ago Travis decided that he was going to buy a special Valentine for the little girl across the street, Becca. So as to not be left out of the spirit of Valentine's Day Tyler also bought a gift for one of his girls. He told me that he would just have to think about who to give it to. So as the day got closer I happened to ask who he had decided to give it to, he said Channie. So cute!! The next day I talked to Chandler's mom whom I work with and I let it slip that Tyler was going to give her a valentine. BIG MISTAKE!!! Becky then went home and told Channie that Tyler was going to ask her to be his valentine. All smiles, right? NOT! Tyler announces that night that he has changed his mind and is now asking Grace. Crap! Well, I really did not think too much about it until I got a call the next day. Becky was working at the kids school and found them both in tears. Apparently Channie had asked Tyler about being Valentines right in front of the other boys....big mistake. Tyler quickly announced that he was not asking her he was asking a girl from church. I am sure with a smug look! This devastated Channie! Becky talked to her and got to the bottom of the tears. She then asked Tyler to be sweet to Channie and that told him that what he said hurt her feelings. Enter tears!! The worst thing in the world to Tyler is for him to think he has hurt your feelings. (Great for discipline, terrible in life!) Now both kids are crying! Apparently they got it together and finished the day. When I picked up Tyler I asked how his day was and he said, "Great, until you ruined it!" OUCH!! Lesson learned I am staying out of his business. At least until next time...

LOVE

This month our church is focusing on "Fire Proofing Your Marriage" and the first sermon was on LOVE no doubt. I love reading 1 Corinthians 13, it is one of my favorites. However, yesterday John brought up a point I have never thought of before. He focused on LOVE NEVER FAILS! When we look at the world we see love, really we do without looking to terribly hard. BUT do we see LOVE that NEVER fails? NOPE! We see Love that is good until the illusion of something better comes along and then poof the love is gone. How sad it is that this is acceptable! The only love that I could think of that the world would not at some point replace is possibly the love a mother has for her children, but even that is lost sometimes. I could not help but pray right then and there for our world, our country, our state, city and my family! Please Lord remind me daily that true LOVE never fails! Your love never fails, I am loved and that will never fail. That should be enough, That is enough! God's love is the green grass on the other side! If only America could see it!

Snow Day Texas Style = ICE

(As the ice started we were at the Stars game!)

The phone rang at 5:15 am to give me the news that we would be able to stay home today. This was not as exciting as you might think. It is much better to have a delayed start in school, because those days do not have to be made up! Today is a "bad weather" day and now we loose the long weekend in April. BUMMER!





The ice started about 9:00 last night. I know this because we were in downtown Dallas at the Stars game. The drive home was a bit frightening with the roads and bridges being covered in ice. I was thankful for my husband who thinks nothing about driving on the ice and can put up with my white knuckles!





So today I have stayed in my jammies most of the day in front of the fire. Only getting up long enough to move the laundry from the washer to the dryer. Enough laziness I must get moving, this has been a great break from reality!

Inauguration Day

Where were you? (Today is a day we will always remember)

I just had to blog about today because it was such a momentous day. Schools stopped today to watch history made rather than read about it in some lousy textbook. Today America rejoiced because some many dreams have come true. As I woke up this morning and continued on my normal "school day" routines it did not occur to me how reflective I was going to be today. At least not until the boys woke up. They were pumped and ready! Today was something new something they had never experienced and they are both old enough to understand the importance of this Inauguration Day. Tyler asked if he was going to get to watch the "Inaug- er- nation" (that's a hard word to get out!) When I told him yes he immediately wanted to know what it will be like. Knowing what he knows about politics he knew there would be some speech involved. Then he asked pointedly if they would then give him the "keys" ??? I pause to try to figure out which keys he could be referring to, then I say, "Like, keys to the USA?" Only to have him respond, "No, Mom! (I get that a lot these days) The Keys to the White House. The US has a button everyone knows that!" I almost spit out my orange juice. Instead I say I am not sure watch today and see how it goes. HA! Well, after school he reluctantly told me that there were no keys given and that there are not even keys to the White House. (well, there you go!)

Today I realized the DREAM...My Kids are living in a nation where they are not judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character! I pray that this dream continues to be fulfilled around the world! What dream is being dreamt tonight that we think is so outrageous, so far out of our reach some think it is not even reality, what dream is it? Who is dreaming it? My students, my kids, my neighbors, who? Maybe even me!

America Redefined

Tomorrow marks the day that America as we know it will be changed. Some feel that this will be the beginning of the end, to those I say wake up! America has hidden the fact that racism is alive and well in the hearts of so many. Tomorrow we confront the racism and vow as a country to not tolerate it any long. That piece of our history will be put behind us and we will rise up as ONE NATION, black, white, red, or blue. WE are one country!!! Like him or not we must respect our president! The joy of being American is the freedom to not have to agree with him. What we must accept is that we are changed, we are moving beyond seeing people for the color of their skin and we will, Mr. King, view people by the quality of their character. Today I am proud to be an American.

*The song being played is a compilation by U2, Seal, Faith Hill, Bruce Springsteen, Mary J. Bilge and others.

2 Posts in one Day

I have really missed blogging lately so I guess tonight I will make up for it. Really I just have a gripe that I need to share with the masses!
What is the time frame for Christmas Trees and Lights?
This was at one time not too hard of a question, at least the tree part. However, artificial trees have changed everything. No longer do you have pine needles filling your living room gently reminding you that you have a potential fire danger lurking in your living room. Oh-no! Now we can put our tree up the week of Thanksgiving and leave that thing up until Valentine's Day. That is unless you have me living near you and I can see it! My neighbors have their tree up and ON! Don't worry I give them a dirty look every time I pass by and say REALLY? REALLY? (kidding) I understand not taking the Christmas Lights off of the house, or maybe even not taking the tree down until you have free time, but do you really have to still turn them on. I know maybe their husband has gotten a new job, I know I will send Bill over there to help them, He will love that! (NOT!) There are more than a couple of houses in our neighborhood with their house lights ON now almost half way through January. I am sure they have a tree up inside as well. HMMPH!
What is the "rule" for these things?
Is it just me bothered by this?

Texas

How big is this state anyway? Well, I will tell you! In a six weeks period of time I have spanned the state from north to south, east to west, from panhandle to coast. This is one HUGE state!!! Why in the world am I traveling around the state you ask??? Because gas prices are down...we are celebrating...NOT! The answer pretty much sums up the last few weeks of 2008 and the first few of 2009.

As you have read and I am sure are as sick of it as I am we were a bit obsessed with football this fall. The Wylie Pirates, our home town high school, made it to the state finals. In the process of getting there we said our final farewells to Texas Stadium and took two road trips. The first road trip took us on another adventure to Waco. We are able to go down and back in a day, luckily! The boys know Waco now about as well as they know Garland. Travis feels comfortable telling Bill where to turn when we are driving to Floyd Casey Stadium.

(Sidebar for those Aggie fans...you will never find a Baylor grad naming their kids after the football stadium! AND it is not because our team stinks. Can you imagine naming your kid Floyd Casey???)

Ok, I am back...After winning in Waco the team moved to the state championship in Houston. Since we are always looking for an excuse to drive down and see Chad and Samantha (old high school friends) we loaded up the car and drove down I-45. I hate the drive to Houston it is just about as dull as they come. OK, scratch that comment...Our next road trip was about as dull as they come. On Christmas morning we drove to El Paso. That drive spans the length of the state and takes no less than 9 hours. 9 very very long hours!! I used to blame the miserableness of the trip on small kids, nope now it is just me whining. Are we there yet? Are we there yet? This trip ended our family travels for the time being. On Tuesday the girls I work with and I are heading to Corpus Christi, TX for a workshop. This will take me to the southern coast. Yipee!

You really do have to love a state that consists of forests in Houston, rolling hills to Waco, deserts in El Paso, and a beach in Corpus. Why would anyone want to live anywhere else?