The first crazy days of school

Well, it was a wild shopping weekend with tax free weekend shopping.  Marek has decided he has done all the shopping he is going to do for the next 10 months.  When I asked him if he would Christmas shop, he said he would, but he would do it online....it takes less time and you don't have all the madness of all the people.  I told him he would have to go shopping with me the day after Thanksgiving.  He told me there was no chance he would be doing that.  It sure was different shopping with a teenage boy!!!

Sunday morning we went to church and it went well. The service was great as Jeff Wells preached on marriage and the 4 things you really need  to do to have a successful marriage.  That man can preach a great sermon.  I have never felt God move me the way he does at Woodsedge Community Church.

Kevin was nice enough to give me back the bronchitis I had given him and then he left town for two weeks.  I guess the best part of that is I can't give it back to him.  He is in Boston for some work training that will definately make him even more indispensible at work.  We really do miss him here though.

Marek shared his favorite singers music with me, which is Daniel Landa.  I have Marek pegged as an old soul like Mindy.  He is one of the ones that likes things older people would like with a head put on his shoulders.  He knows a lot about the politics going on in his country which is really impressive.  When I asked him why his hair wasn't long anymore, he told me it was because it is impractical. It takes to long to get it together in the morning.  With short hair you just get up, shower, brush, put in some gel and go.  There isn't a whole lot of work to it.  This kid is unreal.  I have finally taught him to help himself to anything in the kitchen that he wants.  Now I just need to teach him it is okay to interrupt the girls when everyone is talking excitedly about things like their first day of school. 

Everyone started their first day of school on Monday, August 23, 2010.  Marek came home telling me all about his classes.  How most were easy, how he thought German would be a little challenging because he was translating things from English to German and neither is his first language.  Algebra 2 was pretty easy for him so we may have to talk to his counselor about putting him into a tougher class.  We will see.  He teaches me a lot of new Czech words every day and is very patient with all my questions and my use of non-ordinary words like "dad gummit" and "onry".  I have gotten him used to giving me a hug goodnight like the rest of my kids and I pray that all my prayers for him will be for God's glory.

Mindy has an extremely hard schedule this semester, but she thinks she can handle it.  She is a much better student than I ever was.  She is enjoying school so far and is really glad to be able to hang out with all her friends on a daily basis.  JROTC pt practice doesn't start until next week, but since she led a voluntary pt practice 4 days a week for all but one week of summer, she and a lot of the kids will be ready to go through inspection this year.  She is number three in command and I have a lot of faith that she will make them all look great.  Of course she will be attending all of Conroe's football games, since she is the one who leads those who walk the flags onto the field for the pledge of allegiance and she is still on spirit flags too.  Marek joined JROTC this year too so he will have the opportunity to go to all the games as well.  This should be a great experience for him.  They will teach him a lot about our country that he might not learn otherwise and have the ability to go to all the games.  I did take a couple of pictures for the first day of school and I will get them posted in a day or two.

Tana has had a really great first week of school.  She went to band camp and volleyball camp the week before school started. She made several new friends and got reaquanted with old friends.  Volleyball tryouts started on Tuesday and work a little different than one may expect.  At the end of each day they put up callbacks for those individuals they want to come back again the next day.  They cut several girls each day.  Tana made it through cuts yesterday and today.  We will see if she makes the team.  She is really good and I have faith that if she puts her mind to being on the team, she can do it.  She plays flute in band, but she is also in choir.  The choir teacher has each student sing a simple song for her to let her know if they should be an alto or soprano.  When she sang "Twinkle, twinkle little star" for her teacher, the teacher asked her if she would be interested in moving to the chamber choir.  This is the choir that is for the best singers.  She said she would be interested, even if it meant her schedule was rearranged.  If you knew Tana, then you would know that to have her schedule rearranged is a HUGE deal for her so she must be excited about this opportunity.  Please pray with me that God will guide her down the best path for her future and that she will be willing to follow.

This year has been a pretty big year for all my children...Mindy is a senior and will be graduating near the top of her class; Marek is here in a different country and going to a school a 100 times bigger than the one he is used to; Tana started 7th grade in a new school and lots of new opportunities available to her and she grew up over the summer; and then there is little Kara....

Kara started 5th grade which in our district is in intermediate school.  I no longer have any elementary school kids  *tear*.  She comes home everyday not telling me all about her classes, but telling me all about the new friends she has made each day.  I do believe with her, things are going to be different.  Mindy and Tana are happy with a handful of really good friends.  Kara, however, makes friends with just about everyone she meets.  I do believe she is gonna keep my house filled with her friends.  She is pretty excited about getting to start orchestra this year.  She plans on playing the violin (like auntie, like niece....Kari played violin and Cindi played flute).  She hasn't decided if she is going to be in choir yet.  Honor choir took a lot out of her, but this year's choir teacher let her know that there is only one practice a week and she has agreed to go to practice the first couple of weeks.  I hope you will join me in praying that she will get the most she can out of all the new opportunities she has available to her now that she is in the 5th grade.

There are so many great and wonderful things happening to our family.  Please join with me in praying that we will rejoice in God's blessings, praise God even for the things that don't go our way, and in everything we do individually or as a family that we will glorify God and make him a proud Father!!

New to blogging

Our names are Kevin and Kristin Hancock and we have been married for 19 years.  We have three beautiful girls by the name of Melinda "Mindy" who is 17, Tana who is 12, and Kara who is 10.  We are also blessed to have an international student from the Czech Republic staying with us this school year.  His name is Marek Blaha and he is 17 years old.  It is a different experience having a boy with us.  We have prayed for God to allow us to be as much of a blessing to him as he is to our family.  My goal with this blog is to keep friends and family updated on all that is going on in our lives with so much happening this year.  Mindy is a senior in highschool this year.  Wow, we sure are blessed parents!!