Christmas tree

Well, I sit here looking at my forlorn Christmas tree, stripped of its beauty- all except for its twinkling lights. It still has lots of presents under it though. We havent done Christmas yet with my mom and the boys. We went to Arkansas for Christmas to be with the Sterzik clan. We left the boys there for 3 days and we go back to pick them up Saturday. When we return we will do a very belated Christmas at home. It doesnt really seem like Christmas now until we do it here at home. But in the interest of saving my sanity, I packed up all the decorations before the boys returned. Chris and I both have colds right now and are struggling to breathe through congested systems. We have gone out to eat and went to the movies to see 'I am legend' with Will Smith. Scary but excellent movie.
My house seems so quiet. Every morning I think I hear one of the boys as I walk into the kitchen. I miss their cheerful talk and even miss their bickering. No, I dont miss the bickering. I miss their sweet faces though. Cant wait to see them. So kind of my in-laws to watch them for a few days for us. I wonder if I could pay them a million dollars to drive them home so we wont have to spend 6 hours in the car on Sunday?

Lots and lots and lots of photos from many moons ago...

A trip to Frank Buck Zoo with all the wild animals

Jake's first day of preschool- check out the uniform baby!

First ever trip to Chuck E Cheese- the roller coaster ride of their lives!

The big birthday boy in his silly party hat! 2 yrs old

Super duper hot day in August at the Grapevine Botanical Gardens

Day at the Train Museum- cant figure out how to rotate this thing!

Nonna getting a chance to love on both boys at the same time.

Picking up the boys after a week spent at G-pa and G-ma's house in Arkansas.

Luke, prior to giving up the passeys for good. He looks pretty attached doesnt he?

Crazy life

Our life is crazy. Now I know that everyone's life feels crazy these days, but we have never experienced this level of craziness before in the Sterzik household. Chris is adjusting to the new job he took back early this summer. It is in a rather new area for him, and the learning curve has been high. We are leading a home group with our church, and finding the time to spend with everyone and giving these relationships the time they need has been stressful. We want to spend so much time with these folks we are 'doing life with' as we walk with Christ. Its frustrating having to go to work and clean the house when there are people to get to know!
I am also a Children's leader again this year with Bible Study Fellowship here in Denton. I have a fabulous co-leader, Sheree. We are teaching the 9/10th graders- whole new experience for me. These students are either as quiet as rocks, or we cant get them to stop talking. I am not sure which one of these is harder for me! The time required for the home group and BSF are exposing exactly how weak I am in myself. Somehow, every week God helps me get it all done, but I want so much more than just getting it done. I feel my inadequacy every day- it just keeps pushing me back to God for his aid.
Jacob was diagnosed a little over a month ago with ADHD. This was not a big shock to us, but since getting the diagnosis, all the waiting for intervention has turned into a flurry of activities. We are being reassessed through the school system, more thoroughly than this past spring. We have our ARD meeting next Tuesday to see if he qualifys for school based intervention. A speech pathologist will be observing him this week. His IQ testing showed a significant difference in his verbal versus non-verbal IQ. He struggles with any type of verbal instruction and has a very hard time understanding words in their contexts. Socially, this causes problems at school with his peers and his teachers. Thankfully, his teachers love him, which I pray for all the time. He loves school, loves learning and loves to be around other children. We are praying for him to get more help. He goes to a social skills class once a week to work on learning skills that 4 yr old boys need to have to carry on conversations and communicate effectively. It is all so overwhelming for our family. I am so blessed that God has placed another family going through similar circumstances with their 4 yr old son recently diagnosed with Autism. The mother Becky, has been such a source of encouragement and prayer. God is so good.
Luke is amazing. He is so charming and fun right now. He is also going through the 2 year old toots I like to call them. The tantrums and attitude have officially begun. He is such a little light in our house though. The boys are such great friends and love each other so much. Almost makes me want another one. Getting super sick a few weeks ago gave me a clue that I can barely keep up with life now, if I had another child, the floors would stay permanently sticky and crunchy here.
Well, I think that is enough rambling for now. I am going to add a bunch of photos for you to see, starting way back this summer. I love each one of you!

How long has it been anyway?

Well....good night! Its been forever since I posted. I couldnt even remember what my password was to login. So much has been happening that I can barely keep up. In a nutshell, we have been a part of a church start-up, leading a small home group that is growing bigger by the week, Jacob started preschool 5 days a week, Luke is in gymnastics, Chris is trying to play softball, I want to scrapbook but dont have time, family here occasionally, Andra is co-leading a Bible Study Fellowship class for 9th and 10th graders... did I forget anything? Most likely. Anyways, hopefully I can post again soon, and with photos, because we have got some good ones to share. Talk with you soon...

Wild weekend at the 'W' hotel in downtown Dallas

In February, my girlfriends from UNT had a girls weekend in honor of Kim Holt who was pregnant with her daughter Georgia. We stayed in this fabulous room at the posh 'W' hotel. We even went to the 'place to be' bar - no stars spotted though. In addition to our dinner out at Fireside Pies for pizza, we had an early morning wakeup alarm the next morning. An alarm was going off telling us that we needed to evacuate the building immediately because there was a fire in the hotel. Wewere still in our pj's as you can see above- and it was freezing. We had no idea how long we would be outside so we went out for breakfast at this uptown joint. We were quite the lovely group, especially me in my lime pants and Kim in her snowman bottoms.

Here is a snapshot of the street right outside our third floor room. There were about 5 or 6 firetrucks and multiple police and ambulances there. A friendly fireman told us it was only a fire in the trash container. We were downstairs for about 15 minutes before most of the people were escorted out of the building by hotel staff- guess they were not too concerned about the fire. A tv helicopter and crew were set up in the parking lot across the street.
Here we are! Tara, Amy, Kim and me right before our big night on the town. Smokin' right? Seriously, it was a weekend to remember with my sweet, sweet friends.

Last Bible Study Fellowship with Louraine

This past year I have co-led a 5th/6th grade bible study for BSF. It has been lifechanging for me. I have learned so much by teaching those students and I am amazed at what God has done for me. These women have been such an encouragement and source of wisdom for me. Our fearless leader, Louraine Wilburn has retired this year after 11 years of being teaching leader and 25 years of BSF leadership in all. She is the kind of woman I would like to become- wise, witty, warm and real. I cant wait for Fall!

I cant believe its been so long since I posted. It has been busy- we went to Chicago for Chris' brother's wedding and then had some family in town, and Chris' birthday somewhere in the middle.

This is a recent photo of the boys in Jake's room. Jacob is out of preschool for the summer and Luke started saying his name (baby Luke). They are going to go to gymnastics this summer which should be a blast for them both.

Luke is almost 22 months and Jacob is 4 years old. My babies are growing so fast!

A Day out with Thomas the Train-

We went to Grapevine to ride Thomas. It was a beautiful day to be outside. The boys were a bit overstimulated by all the people and sights to see. We had photos taken with Thomas and Sir Topham Hatt, played with train sets and explored the gift shop. Reeeeeeally explored the gift shop. On our train ride we sat in an old coach complete with a conductor in full regalia who punched our tickets. The photo was taken as we were leaving the train. The boys were pretty exhausted at the end of the day. They wore their Thomas shirts that day and since we returned they have both been playing with the train set quite a bit. Ah... boys and their machines.

Chris is back...Hey la... my husband's back!

Chris is home from Taiwan, but still feeling the jet lag almost 5 days later. Now he can focus on... his new job! He is very excited about the job transfer within TI to another group, but he has
4 weeks before he begins working in the new group. He is busy, busy trying to tie up loose ends on old projects. It is so exciting to see how God orchestrated the whole deal. Ask Chris for the full scoop, its pretty neat to see how it all fell together. After the last 9 months of painful work situations, it will be great to see how God works in the midst of all this change.

Jacob went and got assessed by a developmental pediatrician because we have been having some severe behavioral issues the last 6 months. It is even affecting his preschool activities too. Any way, the physician said that she felt he has a great need to be in control (tell me about it!) and he has a lot of anxiety when things start getting out of his control. I had actually been reading a little about this for a month or two and was starting to wonder if he was anxious. She recommended getting some tools from seeing a therapist to work on behaviors and self-soothing for Jacob. He has been in a really good phase the last month or so, so it has been much easier around our home. He is so sweet and charming and affectionate these days. A big change from 2 months ago, when I was pulling my hair out! Please be praying for us as we attempt to raise him in a manner that will help him succeed in life and relationships.

Well, its been a crazy week thus far. Chris is in Taiwan for the week and he comes back Saturday. When he left, the boys and I were still recovering from the dreaded stomach virus running rampant in our area. We are finally back to normal and no longer existing on toast and oatmeal for every meal. The boys and I have done pretty well, all things considered, this week. Well, except for the waking up for hours in the middle of the night and not wanting to be by themselves or sleep by themselves. Needless to say, I am taking a nap every day to make up for my fragmented sleeping.
We had pictures made last Friday for Jacob turning 4 and Luke's 19 month milestone. They turned out GREAT. I will try and add one to the blog so everyone can see how cute our children are- :). They are upstairs playing very nicely together as I am writing this. No bloodshed as of yet.
Gotta run, dinner is in the oven!

Here we are! Team Sterzik. Big Jake is 4 years old, Andra and Chris, and Luke the Moose is 19 months old. We are living life in the fast lane here in Texas, and we do our best to keep up with the blessings the Lord has chosen to share with us.

Chris just got a new job within Texas Instruments and is thrilled to be pursuing a dream career path. However, this week, He is slaving away in Taiwan on a 7 day business trip. Andra spends her days chasing two energetic boys around and drinking her mandatory Sonic vanilla coke with easy ice (you know its bad when you pull into Sonic and your 3 year old says 'Mommy, I want a coke, easy ice.') Jacob is in children's day out twice a week learning social skills and ripping the knees out of every pair of pants he owns. Luke keeps me company at home, following me around asking for food and to pick him 'bup.' A busy season of life for us and it seems to pass by in a blur. We are trying to keep our perspective and our wits about us here, and can't wait to see what else God has in store for us in 2007.

Our family of four- three amazing men plus one lucky woman. This was taken in November last year at Luke's dedication service at Denton Bible Church. Boy, he sure looks cute, but he was a handful on stage! He did not want to be held- he wanted down on the floor and he would not let me take the pacifier out of his mouth while they were doing the service. We were able to have this wonderful family photo taken afterwards.