Digital Citizenship: Discovering Who Your Child is Online

I recently had the opportunity to attend a lecture and open house sponsored by the Madison Consolidated Schools eLearning department (#MCS_INelearning). The guest speaker, Kevin Honeycutt, is a teacher in rural Kansas who has made it his mission to stay up to date with technological advances and to educate his students, his families, his community, and now the world on how to use the powers of the internet to enhance the goodness in yourself and in others. He has a YouTube channel called Your Digital Dad where he shares a lot of his wisdom and ideas.

As a mom who blogs, tweets, uses Facebook & Instagram, takes online classes, and shops online, I often feel like I'm doing a pretty decent job keeping up with the ever changing online world. As soon as our children began using the internet and social media we placed certain perimeters on their usage in an effort to monitor not just them, but the people who might be reaching out to them online. First of all, our desktop is located in our dining room/ office which is an open space connected to our kitchen and living room. Despite having this quote displayed in our home, and constantly using it as our family motto, the truth is that when nobody is looking, people (but specifically teenagers) will do stupid things.

Kevin reiterated this point during his lecture. When we first opened Facebook (FB) accounts for our teens, they were not given the password to their accounts. They were only able to login and check their FB if we logged them in. As they continued to show responsibility with the choices they were making online, they were eventually given their passwords. However, they were given strict instructions that they were not to change their passwords. I also linked their accounts to my e-mail address. EVERY SINGLE private message that comes through their FB is also sent to my e-mail. The reason for that is: if you are simply getting onto your kids FB account to check their messages, they can delete messages they don't want you to see. By having the messages linked to my e-mail, I don't miss out on any of the messages. Now, until writing this, that has been something that my kids were unaware of. And not only can you link their FB accounts to your e-mail but you can link their e-mail accounts to yours as well. Now I can already hear some of you saying, "But I trust my kids, and they deserve their privacy". Really? Do they? I have a healthy amount of trust in my children, and the level of trust is different with each of them. They have only as much trust as they have earned. So with 3 children, I can assure you that they each have earned different levels of trust. And privacy? Nope, that is not a luxury afforded to ANYONE who is online.

First, I want to share with you the good news about stalking your child's online & mobile interactions. There are going to be moments that your children make you VERY proud. They are going to do and say things, not knowing that you are watching, that are going to make you wonder what you ever did to deserve such an awesome kid. One such time was when I was reading through my then 12 year old's texts. His friend said, "Who do you want to do it with?" (referring to sex). My son replied by simply saying, "I think we're too young for that. Let's talk about something else". The person he was texting with didn't give him a hard time. They didn't mock him. They took his lead and moved on to a more age appropriate discussion topic. I have also seen my children use the internet to acquire new skills and to share their skills with others.

In fact during his lecture, Kevin, suggested that parents make a User-Lease Agreement with their children. The idea is that in order to have the privilege of interacting online or using their mobile device, your children in turn must show you one thing each week that they have either learned or found on the internet that will make you proud. How great is that? My kids have so many interests and the internet is full of so many cool tools that can help them develop into even more interesting and well rounded people. I've got one son who is interested in computer engineering, and one who plays the drums and wants to become an actor, and then there's my daughter who loves to paint and wants to be a cheerleader someday. And there are opportunities for all of them to expand these skills on the internet. For kids interested in engineering, there is an amazing site (which Kevin talked about) called Google Sketchup which allows them to build 3-D images. My daughter and I have painted canvases to hang in her room by watching video tutorials on YouTube. One of our favorites is the YouTube channel Schaefer Art where this guy Brandon will take you step by step through creating a beautiful painting. It's the 21st century's version of Bob Ross! Check out our paintings below. And then of course my budding actor and drummer is able to watch his favorite comedy sketches and drum solos and even upload his own short skits and songs for others to see.

Okay.. So now, let's talk about the ugly stuff. When you stalk your kids online, there is also a chance that you are going to face some big disappointments. There is a chance that you will see a side of them or their friends that makes you cringe.

After some irresponsible behavior both on and off line, my husband and I took away our oldest son's cell phone and closed down his FB account. However, my children's schools issue digital devices to every child in kindergarten through 12th grade. For our oldest, that meant that he had a laptop which he had been given to use for class and various assignments. Not only that, but virtually every friend he has is also connected to the internet via a phone or home computer. So, the idea of simply not allowing your children to be online unless they are in a public space in your home, is no longer realistic. One night, as I was new to Twitter, I decided to search for each of my kids and see if they had opened Twitter accounts. What I found shocked me. Our oldest, who had been banned by us from using social media, had an account. His tagline was, "Strict parents make sneaky kids". We were crushed. In the next few days, his online alter ego came crashing down. The discovery of the Twitter account lead us to a "secret" e-mail account and then also to a FB account that he was using under a fake name. He claimed to have forgotten the password to the FB account, but these strict parents also have some sneaky in them as well, and we were eventually able to hack into his FB account. We were in no way prepared for what we would see. Our son had messages with other kids where he was talking about drinking, sex, and stealing. While he was not actually doing any of these things (and trust me I'm not being naive here), he was able to be whoever he wanted to be online and had created this alter ego of sorts--where he was a "bad boy". He told one kid about how he had stolen his iPod from a Target, when in fact it was a gift from his grandparents. Our oldest had moved in with us when he was 14, and while his mom had provided him with a stable and loving home environment, he needed more structure. He has always rebelled in different ways, and we were fighting like hell to save him from himself. Despite all of our efforts, here were were 2 years later feeling like failures. And when his online world clashed with his real world and everything came crashing down, he was ready to run. And so he did. Thankfully, he ran to our youth minster's house. Our son then told us that he felt like his time here was up and that it would be better for him to go back to Texas and live with his mom. We told him that was not going to happen-- that we were not going to give up on him and that we would get through this. In the following week, there was a lot of yelling, and crying, and eventually we came together as he allowed himself to face the lies and the hurt he had caused and to really join us as a part of the family. He sat us down and confessed to us other ways that he had abused his online privileges, and he asked us for a new start. And we obliged.

I want you to know that I am sharing this with all of you not because I want to shame our son or expose our family's secret trials. I am sharing this with you so that you know that even the most vigilant parents can be caught off guard. I want you to know that your kids can get around parental controls that you've set in place if they have enough desire and know how. And I want you to know that the best safe guards that you can put in place are educating your children about the importance of digital citizenship. So what is digital citizenship? It is "advocating and practicing safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology". (iste.org/nets, 2013) It is about teaching our children not to be mean people online, and like with any lesson, this is best learned by kids when it is also modeled by their parents. So, how do we do that? Kevin had some suggestions in his lecture. Don't "like" mean things on FB. Don't get into online arguments. If someone is mean to you, let them be. You don't have to be mean back. If you wouldn't say it to someone's face, then don't say it online. And sometimes, things are better said face to face than online. EVERYTHING online is saved somewhere and can be recovered by someone. NOTHING is private. So, the secret you want to tell your best friend. Well, that's probably better said face to face, b/c next week when she gets mad at you, there's a chance she might screen shot what you told her and share it with the world.  Some of the questions that Kevin posed were, "Would I be proud to be famous for that?" or "Will this gain me or lose me a scholarship?". These are the things our kids need to be asking themselves before they post online. These are things that our kids should be asking themselves before they hit "send" on SnapChat.

As parents, we have to protect our children online. And what I've found is that doesn't just mean protecting them from online predators or from cyber bullying. Sometimes, we have to protect them from themselves and their own poor choices. Colleges and employers look at social media sites as part of their background checks. And what about the concept of a village? That should also apply to online. If you saw your friend's child doing something dangerous, would you tell them? What if you saw them drinking alcohol in a parking lot or driving recklessly? Would you call and tell them? Of course you would. Now, what would you do if you saw a "selfie" of your friends well endowed 13 year old in a bikini top posted to a high school boy's FB page? Would you say something then? What if you came across a website or Twitter profile that had been created to mock another student or a teacher? Would you say something then? I hope so.

I would love to hear from you all, about what has worked for your family or your students. What are you doing to teach your children to be good online citizens and how have you modeled good digital citizenship? My comments page is moderated (by me), which means I have to approve each comment. This is my attempt to block the comments of spammers. So when your comment doesn't appear right away, don't worry. It will get approved, even if you don't agree with all of my online monitoring tactics. ;) Oh, and let's end this on a happy note. Below are pics of my oldest and youngest children sharing their tech skills at #MCS_INelearning Parent Tech Workshop. You can see how happy it makes them to be able to share their computer skills for good, instead of evil. :)

My KIND of Birthday Update

Well, hello friends and strangers!! I am so glad that you have come to read the follow up to My 35th Birthday- A Day of Intentional Acts of Kindness. I am in complete disbelief that over the last week this blog received over 900 views. Thank you so much for taking time to read about my special day and for sharing it with others. This kindness thing is awfully contagious, and I'm so glad that so many of you have caught the bug. I had big intentions of photo journaling the entire day, but in general I was so caught up in the moment and the excitement that my camera was the last thing on my mind. So, here is a run down of how the day went, and the experiences we had.

We started off our morning with temperatures well below freezing. It's been quite a torturous winter for us Texas transplants. So our first stop was the State Highway Department. These angels disguised in coveralls and beards works some crazy hours in some awful conditions to clear the roads around my home. I cannot tell you how thankful I am for this group. I baked them some blubbery coffeecakes, which we delivered to their office. They were so incredibly kind and funny. One of them told the kids, "Be sure to do your best in school and make good grades, so that you don't ever have to drive a snowplow. Instead you can sit inside a warm office and watch the plow go by".

Next we headed off to our family doctor's office and then to Wes' pulmonologist's office.  We delivered ice-cream cakes and thank you cards to each of them for the amazing care they have given to our family. I was tearful writing these cards, because I am just so thankful for the way they care for us. Dr. Britt 's office has taken care of my family since we moved to Indiana. They have been there for us through 2 emergency surgeries for Hunter, various stitches and broken fingers amongst my boys, ADHD meds for the oldest, and most recently our cancer scare with Wes. They give us the same kind of care that they would want shown to their families, and we are so grateful for that. Then there is Dr. Alcorn and his staff. When Wes' CT scan in August revealed nodules in his lungs and enlarged lymph nodes, we were referred to Dr. Alcorn for treatment. I had worked with him a few times in the ER and always appreciated how nice he was to the nurse's and patients, but had not spent much time around him. I have nothing but praise for him and his staff. Dr. Alcorn made phone calls himself to get Wes in sooner for necessary scans, tests, and his biopsy. He spoke to us in "real talk" and assured us that if we were in fact facing cancer that he and Wes were up for the fight. Wes had a promising follow up in December, and we look forward to more good news following his scan in June. I was so happy to get to share my birthday with these awesome folks.

Our next stop was Redbox kiosks, and The Dollar Tree. We left movie night containers on top of 3 different Redbox locations for random customers to enjoy. Then we went and left $1 bills on various items inside of The Dollar Tree.

Next we headed to the hospital and dropped off another ice-cream cake for my coworkers in the emergency department as well as a card of thanks for putting up with me and for seriously being the best group of people I could ever hope to work with. Then we headed to various departments in the hospital so that I could leave them small baskets filled with candy, gum, and a thank you card. I could not do my job without the help of hundreds of other people. I think we dropped off 12 baskets in all, and I wish I had gotten more because there were some very important people who got left out. Everyone was very gracious for the small token of thanks. My favorite reaction was when one of them said, "This is a joke right?", and as we were walking away she said, "I'm still looking for the hidden cameras". Looks like I should probably be doing nice things more often so that people aren't so shocked when I do it next time.

While we were at the hospital we delivered approximately 100 handmade cards that my children had been working on over the past few weeks. Hunter used some of his newly acquired calligraphy skills, and I was touched by some of the sweet sentiments written by my kids. I hope that the cards made the recipients smile as well. We also delivered 10 helium balloons for the nurse's to pass out to patients, and hung up a flyer of free compliments in one of the elevators. Before leaving, we stopped and left money on the vending machines. I know that when I've been to the emergency room (whether as an employee or as the family of a patient), I'm usually in such a panic that grabbing some quarters for a snack or drink is the furthest thing from my mind.

After leaving the hospital, we headed over to Lala and Mama Karst's houses. These two ladies live across the street from each other and are so special not just to me, but to my children. They both have the home that every kid wants to hang out at. They host the best sleepovers and make the best meals (from what I've been told). I am so thankful to have them as part of our village. Raising kids is hard, but it's a whole lot easier when you've got some awesome people on your team that are willing to love on your kids and encourage them the way that you do. The kids delivered a thank you note from me as well as a small gift. The kids were so excited to see their other mamas for a minute.

Next we headed downtown to our local cancer treatment center. We left a basket filled with word find and crossword puzzle books, pencils,  Kleenex, and throat lozenges, as well as 40 more handmade cards from the kids. All these intentional acts of kindness were working up an appetite in my crew, so we stopped to refuel. When we were ready to go, we paid our bill, left a tip, and included a lottery ticket for our waitress. We also left some free compliments on the bathroom door. 

Not sure if you can see the awesome sweatshirt I'm wearing, but it says, "Be the change you hope to see in the world". It's super comfy, and I got it from an awesome company called Sevenly. Each week this company sponsors a different charity, and donates $7 from every purchase to that charity. Some items are available all of the time, but there are also new shirts and products each week that are specific to that weeks charity. 

After leaving the restaurant, we stopped by The Barbershop to hand out lottery tickets to our favorite barbers in town, and hang some free compliments on their door. When I walked into the shop, Jane and Aimee serenaded me with a wonderful version of "Happy Birthday To You". I'm so glad that I've had the opportunity to get to know these fun women over the last year. 

It was time now to head back to the hilltop,which is where the more commercial retail shops are located. Grace and I headed into some dressing rooms to leave some words of encouragement for shoppers. We also left a few lottery tickets laying on clothing displays. Then we headed over to Wal-Mart where we left money on their vending machines, and words of encouragement throughout the store. The kids also set out to give away the remaining lottery tickets. In general people were happy to take them from Grace, but were more leery of the boys. They were told no several times as they attempted to give away lottery tickets, and I suspect that people thought there was some sort of catch. In the end, they were able to give them all away, and they really seemed to enjoy doing it. 

The last intentional act of kindness had to wait a few days for classes to resume (after another snowpocalypse). My kids have an amazing group of teachers, and I've done a pretty decent job over the years of letting the elementary teachers and staff know just how much they mean to me. However, I have failed miserably at showing my appreciation to the secondary teachers and staff. So I sat down and wrote a thank you note to one of the middle school teachers and one of the high school teachers who have each made an impact in the lives of my kids. I also included a journal for each of them. So much of what I did on my birthday was handing out overdue thank you's to people who have touched the life of my family. And what was so crazy was how many thank you's I got in return for expressing my thanks to them. 

Now the VERY best part of my birthday was how many of you decided to join in on the celebration. I am SOOOO incredibly excited about how many of you decided to make a donation to Hope 4 Tiny Hearts and to the Kennedy Rucker Scholarship Fund (℅ Morgan Nay, 325 Demaree Drive, Madison, IN 47250 or via Payapl: cami_pitman@sbcglobal.net). Thank you so much for your generosity!! Raising money for these two awesome causes was the highlight of my birthday and if you haven't had a chance to donate yet, it's not too late. 

Life can be crazy, and people can be cranky (especially me), but I have to tell you that a little bit DOES go a long way. Kindness DOES matter. Take time to stop, to breathe, and be kind to one another. 

My 35th Birthday- A Day of Intentional Acts of Kindness

 I decided a few months ago that I wanted this birthday to be different. I love celebrating my birthday with friends and family and have always made a big deal about my special day, but this year I decided I wanted my birthday to be more than just about me. I wanted it to be BIGGER and BETTER. I wanted to let others feel the same love and joy that I feel today. I wanted to pass the gratitude that I feel for being given another trip around the sun on to others. There are so many amazing people in my life who inspire me on a daily basis, from the people I live with, to my friends near and far, and then there are those great stories you read about in your news feed. My original inspiration for my birthday came from my dear friend Beth and her daughter Vivien.  For Vivien's 8th birthday she gathered some of her close friends and embarked on an adventure to do 8 acts of kindness (one for every year she was alive). How cool is that?

Here's Vivien passing out $5 gift cards to random shoppers at Target and below is the special note that was attached.

So, I have decided to do at least 35 intentional acts of kindness today with the help of my family & friends. Yes! I am going to need y'alls help! The kids will not be attending school today (because it's a snow day, but even if it wasn't, they would still have the day off). They are learning so many great things at school, and have some amazing teachers. However, there are some lessons that are better taught outside of the classroom, and so they will be joining me today for a lesson called, "Be the change you hope to see in the world". Some of the things we do today will be random-- in the sense that random people will be the recipient of our gifts of kindness, and some acts of kindness will be bestowed on people we have specifically chosen to be recipients. But all of these acts of kindness are intentional and things that I have thought about and planned over the last few weeks. I will be sharing stories and photos later this week of my birthday adventure. I don't want to give it all away  just yet, but some of the "Kindness To-Do's" on my list include leaving $1 bills on items at The Dollar Tree, leaving words of encouragement on dressing room mirrors, delivering homemade blueberry coffeecake to the state road crews who've been busy clearing the snow, and leaving movie night buckets filled with popcorn, candy and drinks at some Redbox locations. 

So, let me tell you about my second inspiration. It comes from a boy who I never met. His name is Zach Sobiech. His story came across my news feed a few weeks ago as I was beginning to plan for this birthday. You can watch the inspiring video yourself. 

In his song, "Clouds" he says, "If only I had a little bit more time". And I thought, you know what? I do have a little bit more time. I at least have today. And so for today, why not go ahead and be the change I hope to see in the world. Why not leave a legacy of kindness? We all have plenty of stress in our day to day lives, but I was given this day, one more year to celebrate my life, and I'm ready for the celebration. Do yourself a favor and go download his song on iTunes. All of the proceeds go towards funding research for childhood cancer. Pretty awesome, huh?

Remember when I said I was going to need the help of my friends. Well, I've got another inspiring friend of mine to tell you all about. Her name is Michelle. She is funny and brave and sooo generous. She's the person who shows up to your pitch in party with more food than you've prepared for the guests. She's the girl that you say, "Oh, I like your bracelet", and she says, "Here. You can have it". I hope that all of you reading this are lucky enough to have your own Michelle in your life. 

So, here's where you all get to come and be a part of my birthday. I have decided to donate any birthday money I receive to 2 non-profits. The first non-profit was chosen by Vivien. Vivien was born with a congenital heart defect that required her to undergo open heart surgery when she was just a few days old. A few months later she underwent a second open heart surgery for a separate defect. She was a miracle baby. And maybe it's something that the doctor's did that has made her heart so full of love, but I think most of the credit should actually go to her parents, Beth and Jim. So Vivien has chosen the charity http://hope4tinyhearts.com/hope/, which helps to fund research and build awareness about CHD.

The second non profit I have chosen is the Kennedy Rucker Scholarship, "From The Heart". Michelle established this scholarship fund for local youth, in memory of her son. In her own words, this is what the scholarship fund is all about:

"Kennedy was an amazing boy who was full of love for life and everyone he met in his short 17 years. Kennedy died in a car accident on his way home from school his junior year of high school. He never judged others and all of his friends were very diverse. He accepted everyone for who they were and understood everyone has flaws. His smile and laugh were so very contagious. He was very intelligent and had a remarkable quick hilarious wit. He was very giving and had a heart of gold. After his accident I found out about countless acts of kindness he performed for others. Kennedy and I were best friends but he never boasted to me about these acts of kindness because he never helped others for the recognition. Kennedy would have graduated in 2013, so we gave out his first scholarship that year to all 3 area high schools, totaling $3,000 to be used towards a college education". 

So, this my friends is how you too can join in on my birthday celebration. Isn't this exciting?! I am asking that each of my friends donate to one of these amazing causes today. Skip your gourmet coffee or your lunch out with friends, and instead put that $5 towards something BIGGER and better. You can donate to Hope 4 Tiny Hearts through the link posted above. In order to contribute to the scholarship fund checks can be sent to Kennedy Rucker Scholarship ℅ Morgan Nay, 325 Demaree Drive, Madison, Indiana, 47250. You can also send donations for the scholarship fund to my paypal address (if you're like me and don't own any checks), and I will deliver the money. Heck! Maybe I'll even make one of those big fake checks to go with it. My paypal address is cami_pittman@sbcglobal.net. 

Remember to come back to the blog next week to see pics and read stories about my awesome birthday! Kindness Matters! 

Sarah's $500 Giveaway

One of my Mama acquaintances in Dallas has a really awesome blog! I have been following her blog for a while now, and this week she has an awesome giveaway for a $500 gift card to Bassett furniture. It is free to enter and open to any legal resident of the US. I was going to link you directly to the post about the giveaway, but I thought you all should read her most recent post first. It's about her son Charlie and the road to recovery he has been on during his first journey around the sun. After you read about Charlie and how you can help him, scroll down for information on entering her giveaway. It's as simple as leaving a comment. Thanks and good luck! Ooops! I almost forgot to give you the link to her blog. Here it is.

http://maisonboheme.blogspot.com/

Remember when...

Do you remember when I used to blog on a regular basis? That seems like a lifetime ago now. I see that there have still been folks coming to visit my blog, and I appreciate that. To say that our lives have been hectic is an understatement. I have completed and passed my first semester of Nursing school. Woohoo!!! Only 3 more crazy semesters to go until I'm an RN!! Having Mommy in school full time has been an adjustment for all of us, but Daddy has really stepped up to the plate and we've had some pretty awesome friends who have also stepped up and helped us out. There was Shauna who watched the kiddos during Fall Break, and Kathy who often fed my family on clinical nights when Mom was at the hospital until 10 pm, and Amy & Laura who watched Grace when she was sick, and Lesley who gave me rides to clinicals, and then Laura(again) who took my kids to play rehearsals for the X-Mas play, and the list goes on and on. I cannot thank you all enough for all that you have done and continue to do for our family. I am just in awe of the quality and caliber of friendships that we have developed in our short time here. The weekend before Christmas we moved (for a second time in 2 months) to a lovely home that we should be living in until we buy a house here. Thank you to the Strouse families for all of your help in this less than desirable moving weather. It's no fun carrying furniture through the snow, up the icy steps, into a house, and up a flight of stairs.

Hunter and Grace are both doing great in school. Grace's reading skills have really taken off this year, and Hunter is loving being top dog as a fifth grader. I can't believe this is his last year in elementary school. Football season has come and gone, and we couldn't be happier that this bummer of a season is over. Of course, we're looking forward to having an awesome season next year, and despite a pretty miserable regular season, Hunter had the opportunity to play on the all star team in the off season. He lead our league in interceptions this year with a total of 6 this season! Grace also had the opportunity to cheer doing football season and really enjoyed that (until it got too cold and then she was no longer interested-LOL!).

Hudson came to visit us over the Christmas break and we had an awesome time with him. In fact, we have a really big announcement to make! Hudson is moving up to Indiana this week to begin living with us! We are so excited, and hope you will keep us all in your prayers as we go through this time of transition in our family.

Of course a post of mine wouldn't be complete without some pictures. Here are some of the highlights from the past few months. Enjoy!

Hunter's baptism on 09-12-2010

The Pittman Clan following his baptism

MOOSE!
Wes' grade school friend Nathan came to visit- twice! :)

Date Night!! X-Mas party at Belterra Casino!

Letters to Santa

My favorite picture of 2010. Christmas can be magical!

The Pitt Kids on X-Mas Eve

Our first white Christmas!

Sibling Rivalry! Gig' Em & Hook Em' (Thanks for the cool Snuggies Granny & Papaw!)

Grace & Daddy getting a workout with the X-Box Kinect that Santa left.

Fun in the snow at our new home.

The view from our back porch.
Once the snow melts, the deer are out!

Nursing School Here I Come!!!

I will officially start nursing school this Fall along with 23 other students who were accepted into the program!!!! If everything goes as planned, I will graduate in December of 2011!!! So, now I need everyone's help. I've entered a YouTube Scholarship contest for my school. The video that recieves the most views will win the contest. So, watch this video (over and over, and over) and pass it on to all of your friends and family via Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Blogger, and e-mail. Thank you sooo much! Oh! And here's the link to pass it on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6s9qAMgKi2g




***UPDATE*** I won a $500 schoalrship to be applied towards me Spring tuition! Thank you all soo much! Every little bit helps! ****

A Year of Change

June 6th marked one year since we left the Lonestar State, the only home we'd ever known, and set out for our new life in the Midwest. Life in Indiana has been a lot different. For instance:

Grace looking at a creek on January 7, 2009

Grace with a creek behind her on January 07, 2010

February 11, 2009 in front of our house (notice the flip flops)
February 11, 2010 view from my living room window
Not only is the weather different, but our home and yard are a lot different too. For instance:

Here is a view of our backyard in Mesquite that shows our shed.

Here is our "shed" in Indiana. It's actually called a pole barn.

And then there was that cramped living room in Texas.
(Although, I do desperately miss our hardwood floors.)

Now, we not only have room for a game of Rock Band, but..

we could fit a marching band in this living room.

The kids really wish we had a skating rink in our town.

They always loved going to parties at the skating rink.

But they've found other things to do to keep them busy.

We still miss our friends in Dallas, but are also so grateful for the many friendships we have made here. I know that this past year wouldn't have been near as good without all of the amazing friends we have made. So thank you to the families in Madison who have welcomed us with open arms. Thank you for wheel horse rides and late nights on patios. Thank you for taking us sledding, and for plowing out our driveway. Thank you for spending the holidays with us, and for listening to me say, "Well in Texas, we...", without rolling your eyes. Thank you ALL for making the biggest adventure of our lives turn into something better than we could have ever imagined. We know we are living the life we were meant to live, and feel like we are home.