Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Elementary Youth Day
Well Sara has already mentioned this and posted pictures on her blog about our Elementary Youth day for the 1st through 6th graders. This is the 4 or 5th one we have done and each time i really enjoy it. While our turnouts are never really large (40 to 60) it has always been about those that do show up. It is unfortunate that more congregations do not do more with this age group since they are the future of the church. It is a blessing to be able to work with them because they can be so much more fun than teenagers. These little guys soak up everything you can throw at them whereas teenagers seem to already know it all. I honestly believe that if we focused more on the younger we could strengthen the church for the future. If you have younger children make a stronger effort to get them more involved or start something where they can be more involved with other children at church. For pictures of our Elementary Youth day view Sara's blog (didn't think it was necessary to post them twice).
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Summer is HERE (HELP!)
Ok as a youth minister summer is the craziest time of the year. So even though summer has not offical started it has for me. By the time I finish the summer I will have taught VBS (Walking In Son Light) four times at four different locations. We are taking a few youth down to Indian Creek Youth Camp (hope to see some of you guys there). One VBS we are doing is in Portland, Oregon for Sara's dad and the church for which he preaches. We will also travel to Milledgeville, TN and host a VBS for them. In between all these big activities we have a Timothy Class for th 6th grade and under ever Tuesday (that we are here). Summer is so busy that I usually have take off a week in August to recover. Of course summer is really about the only time I do any actual work. I have to say that I really do love it, I am just not sure how long my body will let me do this. The older I get the hard it is to keep up with the young people. Either I am getting slower or they are getting faster. In all honesty I could not do a great deal of it if it were not for Sara she is such a big help.
By the way, keeping looking back because I will eventually put another blog on here.
By the way, keeping looking back because I will eventually put another blog on here.
Thank You Baby!
Ok as you can see my wife takes really great care of me (even in the blog world). I just wanted to let her know how much I appreciate her updating my blog so people know I'm still alive.
Glasses
Again, this is Sara. I am copying my posts and putting them on Jason's blog site so you will know what is going on. Since he has not blogged, literally, since he first opened the account, I cannot guarantee when he will blog again. If you want to know what is going on in our lives and with the kids you can check my blog at http://mullenixfamily.blogspot.com/
Well, Anne will be getting glasses. She is SO excited. Jason and I were talking, when we were growing up the kids with glasses were made fun of, now kids WANT them. Well, she picked out really cute ones. I convinced her not to get the big chunky plastic ones (like the ones I had when I was a kid) but instead to get, what they call, wire rimmed. She wanted pink. She she found some that are pink-ish. She really likes them and looks good in them.From what the optometrist said, she actually has normal eyesight but she has an astigmatism which is causing her not to be able to see properly, so we were given eye "exercises" to do that "could" help the astigmatism to correct itself as she gets older. I can already fore see the fights. The optometrist said if she does the exercises she may not have to wear glasses as she gets older. Well, that would mean she might have to give up her precious glasses. When I say excited I mean EXCITED. She found the glasses she wanted and was ready to just walk out the door with the display set on her head. She did not care they had words printed on the glass, she had her glasses. When she heard a week, you would have thought her whole world was coming to an end. "A WEEK!" Well, she will survive and lets look at the positive, at least until the new wears off, I will not have to fight her to wear them! Everything else is going well on the home front! Everyone doing well. Kids are GREAT! Jeffrey is learning how to do things on his own. We are not trying to be mean but he expects people to automatically help him because of his disability. So we are trying to teach him to tackle things on his own. Even if he fails, at least he tried and that is what is important. Anne has become VERY attached to us. She has been calling me Moma. I have told her Moma Sara is okay. She wants to call me Moma SO badly. We were in the car the other day and she asked if she never goes back to her Mom will she be adopted. I told her when did not know what was going to happen and we will not know until it happens. But then I thought I better ask her how she feels about things. So I asked her, How do you feel about staying with us, going back to mom or being adopted? She IMMEDIATELY said she wanted to be adopted so she could call us Mom and Dad. It breaks my heart. She wants REAL parents who love her and care for her and take care of her. She knows that we do all that, but are not her REAL parents. She said the cutest thing the other day. She said that she knows that her Moma loves her but does not know what is best for her and cannot give her the things she needs to be healthy. She said, she is older and you are younger and wiser. It was the first time I had heard "younger and wiser" in the same sentence. I laughed. She is so cute and SO very observant to things. I have heard a "rumor" that the day Mom's lawyer goes to court to be released from representing her, is the day that the state will start closing the case. Which will make things permanent. So please keep us in your prayers. Fingers Crossed. Love to you all.
Well, Anne will be getting glasses. She is SO excited. Jason and I were talking, when we were growing up the kids with glasses were made fun of, now kids WANT them. Well, she picked out really cute ones. I convinced her not to get the big chunky plastic ones (like the ones I had when I was a kid) but instead to get, what they call, wire rimmed. She wanted pink. She she found some that are pink-ish. She really likes them and looks good in them.From what the optometrist said, she actually has normal eyesight but she has an astigmatism which is causing her not to be able to see properly, so we were given eye "exercises" to do that "could" help the astigmatism to correct itself as she gets older. I can already fore see the fights. The optometrist said if she does the exercises she may not have to wear glasses as she gets older. Well, that would mean she might have to give up her precious glasses. When I say excited I mean EXCITED. She found the glasses she wanted and was ready to just walk out the door with the display set on her head. She did not care they had words printed on the glass, she had her glasses. When she heard a week, you would have thought her whole world was coming to an end. "A WEEK!" Well, she will survive and lets look at the positive, at least until the new wears off, I will not have to fight her to wear them! Everything else is going well on the home front! Everyone doing well. Kids are GREAT! Jeffrey is learning how to do things on his own. We are not trying to be mean but he expects people to automatically help him because of his disability. So we are trying to teach him to tackle things on his own. Even if he fails, at least he tried and that is what is important. Anne has become VERY attached to us. She has been calling me Moma. I have told her Moma Sara is okay. She wants to call me Moma SO badly. We were in the car the other day and she asked if she never goes back to her Mom will she be adopted. I told her when did not know what was going to happen and we will not know until it happens. But then I thought I better ask her how she feels about things. So I asked her, How do you feel about staying with us, going back to mom or being adopted? She IMMEDIATELY said she wanted to be adopted so she could call us Mom and Dad. It breaks my heart. She wants REAL parents who love her and care for her and take care of her. She knows that we do all that, but are not her REAL parents. She said the cutest thing the other day. She said that she knows that her Moma loves her but does not know what is best for her and cannot give her the things she needs to be healthy. She said, she is older and you are younger and wiser. It was the first time I had heard "younger and wiser" in the same sentence. I laughed. She is so cute and SO very observant to things. I have heard a "rumor" that the day Mom's lawyer goes to court to be released from representing her, is the day that the state will start closing the case. Which will make things permanent. So please keep us in your prayers. Fingers Crossed. Love to you all.
The Lawyer
Okay, as if things couldn't get any stranger..........Let me back track. Anne and Jeffrey's (the children in our custody) mother had this lawyer. She was aweful, for us - great for their mother. I personally do not know how people become defense lawyers to begin with. I do understand some are innocent but for the most part you cannot pick and choose and most are guilty. Well, this lawyer comes into court guns ablazing. Going to sue this person and that person to get these kids back. Dragging us through the mud, "The Mullenix's are trying to steal these kids, what kind of person would take strange kids into their house anyway". (Maybe I have blogged about this, I don't remember). But anyway, to make a long story short, this lawyer said everyone else is to blame, mom isn't doing what she needs to do to get her kids back BUT that is really not her fault. Like I said, bad for us GREAT for mom.Well, we get this letter from Memphis Area Lawyers (last time we got one of these it was a letter from mom sent through the lawyer). Well, this letter is THICK. We just look at it. What NOW!!! Hesitantly, we open it. It is another court petition. Hearing date June 18th. Well, now we are confused, we do not go back to court until August. But then we read it. A petition that mom's lawyer to RELEASED from having to represent her. WHAT!!!!! Upon reading it, the petition states that Clara (the mother) refuses to do anything "council advices and renders council usless". So mom has this GREAT lawyer, one that is willing to sue everyone for her client but STILL cannot do what is requested of her. So we make the call to our social worker, what does this mean? What happens now? The social worker calls the lawyer. The lawyer tells her to have mom take a mental evaluation because she thinks she will be deemed mentally unable to care for children. How amazing is this!!! The very lawyer who is threatening to sue, saying we are stealing children, is now HELPING us! If that is not the providence of God then I do not know what is.Then we have a surprise visit from the DCS social worker, gotta love those!! Fortuantly we were all clothed and the house was clean. This social worker, who is not the one we usually deal with basically tells me that she does not know how much longer mom is going to be in the picture. No explaination, just that statement. SO, read into it what you want. We really will not know until we go back to court. So please keep praying. Prayers are working. I recieved the initial paper work, the report of where the children were and how they we reacting we they were taking into protective custody, I cannot put that information on the web BUT let me say it brought tears to my eyes. It was worse than I thought. The social worker asked Anne where she wanted to live today. Anne said with us. With her new mom. My heart goes out to them!!! AND, to make things EVEN better, for those of you who do not know autistic children do not eat well. They select down their foods. So Jason and I have be FIGHTING (literally) Jeffrey to start eating foods (remember mom had him on a bottle). Well he likes cereal, so I had been packing him cereal for lunch and giving him milk money every day. We decided this summer we are going to work on him eating sandwiches so I can pack him a normal lunch next year. Well, we tried one today. I made sure it was chicken (he loves chicken). He looked at it and looked at me and said "a sandwich". I thought, "oh no, let the fight begin." I told him it was chicken and he likes chicken. He said. "okay" and scarfed it down. I sat there with my mouth gapping open. He said he liked it. I told him he is getting another one for lunch tomorrow. He said okay. HURRAY!!! I am so proud of him. He is such a trooper. Being autistic with all these changes and learning new foods. He is doing well. And little Annie is such a doll and wants to be such a good girl wants to call me mom and asks me to call her, her daughter. She is so sweet. They both are. Thanks again for all your prayers!!
Oral Surgery
Okay, hello all, this is Sara.......since Jason has not been updating his blog I thought I would put a couple things on here that will update you with what is going on with our children.......
After three months of mess, we have received our custody papers in the mail. Jeffrey and Anne are in our custody now. We received the papers Wednesday and made Oral Surgery Appointments on Thursday. FINALLY!! I cannot even express what a blessing this is. These poor kids are suffering every day because of their teeth. Their mother literally let their teeth rot. Jeffrey has 8 teeth (and spacers put in) that will be pulled due to the amount of rot, these teeth cannot be saved. Luckily they are baby teeth. He will also have 5 teeth capped. 8 fillings put in and three root canals done. Anne will have two teeth pulled (and spacers put in) and 8 teeth capped. You can physically see how much some foods hurt their teeth. We have been told they will be feeling great the next day and their teeth will feel like normal teeth. We have pre-op appointments on the 3rd and surgery on the 17th. They will go to the hospital and be put under anesthesia. I also found out that their mother knew that Anne has poor vision, she made her an eye appointment but never brought her. So Anne has an eye appointment on the 5th. Looking like she will need glasses. She will look so cute!!!Also Jeffrey has to have all his blood work and EEGs redone since their mother let his autism treatment lapse for 3 years. SO, FINALLY these kids will have everything medically taken care of them. I cannot wait. They deserve the very best and cannot wait until they do not have worry about eyes and teeth and can just be KIDS!!
After three months of mess, we have received our custody papers in the mail. Jeffrey and Anne are in our custody now. We received the papers Wednesday and made Oral Surgery Appointments on Thursday. FINALLY!! I cannot even express what a blessing this is. These poor kids are suffering every day because of their teeth. Their mother literally let their teeth rot. Jeffrey has 8 teeth (and spacers put in) that will be pulled due to the amount of rot, these teeth cannot be saved. Luckily they are baby teeth. He will also have 5 teeth capped. 8 fillings put in and three root canals done. Anne will have two teeth pulled (and spacers put in) and 8 teeth capped. You can physically see how much some foods hurt their teeth. We have been told they will be feeling great the next day and their teeth will feel like normal teeth. We have pre-op appointments on the 3rd and surgery on the 17th. They will go to the hospital and be put under anesthesia. I also found out that their mother knew that Anne has poor vision, she made her an eye appointment but never brought her. So Anne has an eye appointment on the 5th. Looking like she will need glasses. She will look so cute!!!Also Jeffrey has to have all his blood work and EEGs redone since their mother let his autism treatment lapse for 3 years. SO, FINALLY these kids will have everything medically taken care of them. I cannot wait. They deserve the very best and cannot wait until they do not have worry about eyes and teeth and can just be KIDS!!
Friday, May 16, 2008
10 years? Has it really been that long
Ok it does not seem like I have been married for 10 years. The time has just flown by and now I am just looking forward to the 50+ more years to come. I honestly have to be the happiest man in the world because I married the greatest woman there has ever been. I love Sara so very much and she is my all in all. I joke with her about being the first one to flirt when she came over to my dorm to watch a movie with some friends. I have to be honest and say that after all these years it was me who was doing the flirting. Even today I still flirt with my wife.
She has taught me that there is more to the world than my little bubble. She has taught me patience, understanding but most of all how to love unconditionally. My wife has always stood by my side through thick and thin. Sara has put up with a lot of stuff and still puts up with some of it (like my addiction to World of Warcraft). I enjoy nothing better than hanging out with my wife and spend time with her. Today is a special day because I am the luckest man in the world to have so a wonderful, caring, loving, and amazing wife like Sara. Happy Anniversary baby.
She has taught me that there is more to the world than my little bubble. She has taught me patience, understanding but most of all how to love unconditionally. My wife has always stood by my side through thick and thin. Sara has put up with a lot of stuff and still puts up with some of it (like my addiction to World of Warcraft). I enjoy nothing better than hanging out with my wife and spend time with her. Today is a special day because I am the luckest man in the world to have so a wonderful, caring, loving, and amazing wife like Sara. Happy Anniversary baby.
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