What’s been going on?

We are currently driving through Tuscon, AZ, so I thought I would use the time in the car to catch up a bit. We are headed out to Anaheim, CA, for Spring Break. We are going to spend a day with Gary, Steve’s twin, and his family, go to Disneyland and Legoland. So I should have lots to post in the next couple of days. 

However, in thinking about what has happened in January and February, I can’t really think of anything news worthy. I guess that means that we have just been busy with life, work, church and family (not necessarily in that order).

At work, February was a record breaking month for me. We did about 150 videoconferences in the month of February. While this is really, really exciting. It was almost enough to make me pull my hair out. In addition that that I was re-writing some training that was going on weekly. So I was a bit stressed to say the least.

One cool thing is going on, or at least I think it is cool. I am now in a bible study group on Tuesday nights. While that in and of itself is not that amazing, the cool part is that I don’t have to leave my house to do it. I am meeting with five other ladies through an auido chat using Skype. The other ladies are located in Michigan, South Dakota, Indiana, and Waco. Our original connection is through work. I work with a couple of them with my videoconferencing. They did this in the fall and they asked me to join them this spring. It was actually a perfect fit for me. I have always wanted to do a bible study at chruch but they are usually on Sunday nights when we have band practice. It just never has worked out. So this really fills that need. So if you call me on Tuesday between 7-8:30, don’t be surprised if you don’t get me. 🙂

Year in Review

Happy New Year!

We spent the end of 2008/beginning of 2009 in one of my favorite places…the Colwill lake house. At the moment I am sitting on the front porch of the lake house, taking in the beautiful day. I think it must be about 60 degrees, which is just perfect.

Since most of you did not receive Christmas cards, (In fact, if any of you did it was Steve’s doing, not mine.) I thought I would take a moment to review 2008 this way.

When I first started thinking about this, it struck me…what exactly was different about 2008 than any other year. Our time is still pretty much consumed by work and church, and the occasional time to play. But in thinking about it further, there were a lot of things different about 2008.

First of all, Steve has completed his first full year self-employed. He is a photographer for newborns and is doing very well at it, I might add. He told me again last night, how much he is enjoying what he is doing. Check out some of his work at his website. We also still do the occasional wedding together.

Nathan had two firsts this year. He has completed two seasons of soccer and really seems to enjoy it. The latest season was spent on the team Monstars. His coach commented a couple of times that he always has a smile on his face when he is on the field. I’m really hoping that the team stays together for the spring season. The boys seemed to work pretty well together and get along.

Nathan also started Kindergarten this year. This has been quite an adjustment for everyone. He is doing great academically, but is struggling with how to get along in the public school classroom setting. Let’s just say he is trying really hard to do what he should. I am very proud of him, nonetheless.

Steve and I are still active in the praise band at church.Although it is a large commitment of time and energy, we both enjoy being able to serve in this ministry. We are now going on 5 years for our contemporary service and average about 75-80 per week. If you are ever around Garland on a Sunday morning at 11:15, we would love to have you visit. 🙂

As for me, I am still working for Dallas ISD. It has been a really hard year with all that has been going on in our district. I’m hopeful that the new year will bring some stability. I don’t know that it could get much worse.

Despite all that, I still enjoy my job (most days anyway) and the people that I work with. I am the videoconferencing coordinator for the district. I work with 52 schools in integrating videoconferencing into their curriculum. And I have to say, I have a lot of fun doing it. But it can be pretty stressful at times, especially when connections are not going right and I can’t do anything to fix it. Luckily that is not the norm.

In regards to play time, we try to make it a priority to spend some quality time together as a family at least on a semi-regular basis. This year’s trips have included Sea World, a trip to Corpus Christi (in conjunction with a wedding) and 3-4 trips to the lake house.

Well, that about wraps it up for 2008. My hopes for 2009 include a happy and healthy year for you and yours. May God bless you abundantly in the year to come.

Christmas time is here!

Ok, so if you noticed the date of this posting, you’ll see that Christmas is not only here, but it is the day after. I really don’t know what happened to November and December. They both seemed to just fly by. I had an idea for a Thanksgiving post, but the later it got, I just figured, why bother?

So here it is the day after Christmas and I’m trying to get something posted. This year we really had three different Christmas events, so I will tackle them one at a time.

Breakfast with Santa

This year we went to “Breakfast with St. NICUlas”. This was a charity event benefiting the NICU at Harris Methodist Hospital in Fort Worth. Steve was one of the photographers, so we got to tag along. It was held at the Fort Worth Club and was really nice.

Nathan was very excited about seeing Santa, so when we walked in the door and he hid behind me, I was a little surprised. But after eating a pancake and warming up a little, he was fine.

We waited in a line that thankfully wasn’t very long, due to the fact that it was a private party, and shared with Santa what he wanted to Christmas…Mario Kart for the Wii, Outdoor Challenge for the Wii, and Deca Sports, or course for the Wii.

At the party they also had limbo and cookie decorating. Check out the Christmas Image Gallery for more pictures.

Christmas at the Colwill’s

The Colwill Christmas tradition is to celebrate together as a family on Christmas Eve. This works out perfectly since we spend Christmas day with my side of the family.

At the Colwill’s, the kids play games, ride four-wheelers, jump on the trampoline, and take part in many other activities while waiting for it to get dark. Once it gets dark, the festivities begin.

A couple of years ago, we decided to start doing a Gift Exchange with the adults. Everybody buys for the kids, and the adults do the gift exchange. We have a good time.

Even though the gift exchange is technically for the adults, Steve and I have always let Nathan help us. This year seemed to be the year to steal from Jesse. Out of the first 5 presents, Jesse opened 4 of them. Everyone just seemed to like what he opened. So when it came to be my turn, I was #7, I told Nathan to go steal Jesse’s present. The look on Nathan’s face was priceless.

After the festivities, we said our good-byes, and made our way to Donna’s house so that we could be there bright and early for Christmas morning.

Christmas Day

For the last 16 years, possibly more, we have spent Christmas at my older sister’s house. She was the first one married with kids, so Christmas moved to her house. As mentioned above, Steve and I drive from his parent’s house to my sister’s house on Christmas Eve. Thankfully, this is only an hour drive. My dad and my brother only live about 10 minutes away, so they and their families both wake up early and come on over. Santa has always delivered everything for all the kiddos at Aunt Donna’s house. With 8 adults and 6 kids, ranging in ages from 2 – 16, it has become quite a scene.

Everyone shows/wakes up at about 7 – 7:30 ‘ish. First, we check out what Santa brought, then the stockings, then the presents. While it sounds like a lot, it is usually over very quickly. It’s just amazing.

The rest of the day is spent eating, playing, visiting and napping. It is kind of a controled chaos. This year seemed to be the year of the video game, so the kids spent a lot of time trying out the new games. It is nice to see the patience that the older ones have with the younger ones.

All in all, it’s a good time. Even though we see my family several times a year, we don’t often have time to just hang out. I wouldn’t change it for the world.

State Fair

Parking…$10

Admission….$24

Corny Dog and Funnel Cake…. $8

Seeing this smile…..priceless.

So, this post is a little late, but it has been a busy week and a half. 

We had a great time at the fair. As I posted before, it was a last minute decision to go the day we did. So we got there a little later than we normally would. But we still had time to do pretty much everything that we wanted to do.

We rode rides, looked at exhibits, and lots of new cars. Nathan exclaimed with each one, “Mom, you have to get this one.” But he did have one condition, whichever one I chose had to have a “pop-up” roof (sun roof). While we aren’t immediately looking to buy a new car, it’s fun to look.

Because we went later this year, we also stayed later. So for the first time, we saw the “parade of lights.” While it doesn’t compare to the one at Disney World. It was not half bad. Steve even said, “That was cool, and I don’t even like parades.” 🙂

Check out additional pictures on the State Fair page.

How old is…

Ok, so I love children’s concept of time and age. Nathan and I were having a discussion yesterday about his cousin LB and when he got his Wii. Nathan informed me that LB got his Wii whn he was 5 and just didn’t tell me about it. I asked Nathan how old he thought LB was now. He thought for a moment, then answered “50”. (LB is actually 16). After I stopped laughing, I went through the rest of the cousins.

Q: How old is Rachel?
A: 20

Q: How old is Shelby?
A: 15

Allison? 4
Tyler? 2
Adam? 2
Gracie? 6

It was really interesting to me that if they were younger or very close to his age, he actually knew their age. If they were more than a year or two older, he had no clue. It was a conversation that made me smile. 🙂

Then later that evening, we were at our friends house, the Halleen’s. Mattie informed me that she had a stuffy nose. When I inquired how long her nose had been stuffy, she replied, “Oh, about 10 minutes.” Once again, I had to laugh.:-)

Hope this makes you smile, like it did me.

On a lighter note!

We are spending the weekend at the Colwill Lake Lodge spending some quality family time together.  We are so fortunate to have this place to come to to relax and unwind. It is so nice to just to sit out on the porch, eat lunch, watch Nathan ride his bike, and just BE. And we couldn’t ask for better weather. It is so nice outside today!

So this week, Nathan got his first report card ever. In Kindergarten for the first six weeks, they focus more on the socialization versus academics. So Nathan’s first report card was just OK, not great, but not bad. We have had some issues adjusting to the structure of things. But recently he has been working very hard to improve his behavior in school and we are very proud of him.

Academically he is doing great. On the Kindergarten fall assessment he missed only 4 out of 80 items. On the TPRI (The Texas Pre-Readining Index) he missed only 1 item. AND he is already starting to sound out words, so reading is right around the corner!

One quick funny….Monday night we had a meeting at the church. On the way, we came to an intersection where there must have been a couple of hundred birds sitting on the wires. Seeing all the birds, Nathan commented, “Wow! the birds must be having a meeting, too!” 🙂

Well that’s it for now. The boy child is calling me to come play some game with him. So off I go….

Stressful times

So many of you have called the last week to ask about the status of my job at Dallas ISD. When I talked to you, I actually felt pretty confident that my job was OK. I wish I could say that I feel the same way now.

For those of you who don’t know, Dallas ISD had a $64 million budget deficit last year and is anticipating an $84 million budget deficit this year if changes aren’t made. Thursday evening the Board voted to start a reduction in force. This means that 1,100+ employees will lose their jobs. Over half of these positions will be teaching positions. 

As of last Monday, September 29, 63 central administration staff members (my category) were laid off. Another 100+ vacant positions were eliminated. For a couple of reasons, the cuts at the central admin level, and the fact that I still had my job, is what made me feel somewhat better about the situation.

First, let me back up and say that this situation is bad for all involved. I already know teachers that have been told that their position is being elimintated. They still may have a job, but the teaching assignment that they have had for the last 15+ years, no longer exsists. That’s tough to hear and you hurt for those that it effects. And the reason that this is happening, is what makes it the hardest. It boils down to people not doing their job correctly. For the most part, they hired people too many people and didn’t have the money to pay them. There are many people that approved those new positions, and I suspect that those people still have their jobs. But I digress.

The fact is that people are losing their jobs, and for reasons I don’t understand, they are not the same people that were last hired. But back why I am once again somewhat concerned about my job. With the Board’s action on Thursday, and the plan they had laid out for the reduction in force and other cost saving measures, there is still a $7-15 million dollar deficit. And the Board was quite insistant with questioning why there were not more cuts made at the Central Admin level. So even though our department has already lost 5 positions in the last two years and we have cut our budget by over 10%, we are likely going to have to look deeper. The one hope that I keep in mind is that very little of our departments budget (even less now) comes from the local general operating fund. Most of our department is paid for out of the Texas state technology allotment. But that doesn’t mean that they can’t take that money and redistribute another way.

So I pray every night that God takes away the worry and gives me peace for whatever happens. And that He will give me the ability to focus at work and take care of the daily tasks. But I could use your prayers as well, because these are stressful times and they are not likely to be resolved anytime soon.

A couple of quick funnies!

So I’m at home with strep throat, not feeling like doing much, so I thought I would post a couple of miscellaneous funny stories and pictures from the last week or so.

We were coming home one day and I was telling Nathan that his teacher said he had done really well on his Fall assessment. He scored 86 out of 90 items correct. I told him that Ms. Jenkins, his teacher, thought he was really smart. First he said, “I know”. Then he proceeded to tell me that they had one more test to take, “the PRM?” “The TPRI (Texas Pre-Reading Index)?” I asked. He relied, “That’s it. It’s kind of like Cash Cab, so I need to watch Cash Cab in case Ms. Jenkins asks me any of those questions.” I don’t think he bought my explanation (after I stopped laughing) that the TPRI wasn’t like Cash Cab so I didn’t think he needed to worry about it.

This past week Nathan, like his mom and dad, has been battling some allergy issues. Not bad, but enough that it bothers him at night. One particular night was a little worse than the others, so I asked him if he wanted some medicine for his nose (Zyrtec for Children.) He said he did, so I gave him some and he went to sleep. In the morning, he woke up lamenting, “Mom, the nose medicine didn’t work. It made my nose madder!”

Now for a couple of funny pictures. The mohawk happened when a friend of ours kept Nathan over night. Her teenage daughter had a good time giving Nathan a new look. Nathan, of course, thought it was the best ever! Click on a picture to view it larger.

Nathan…the next Einstein?

What happen’s when your child spends the night with a friend who has a teenage daughter.

Mohawk view 2

Welcome to our world!

Welcome to Colwill Corner! I thought this would be a fun way to keep family and friends updated on what we are doing. If you know us, you know how busy our lives are. And with Nathan starting Kindergarten in two weeks, there should be a lot to talk about. Besides that, I couldn’t let Adrienne out do me. 🙂

I will try my best to update things once or twice a month, so add this site to your favorites, and check back to see what the Colwill’s are up to.