Competitions, Birthdays, Memories, and More!

 

We have five weeks left in the school year, and the days are flying by! Every year after spring break time seems to pick up speed as we wrap up the school year. Spring sports, awards banquet, spring music recitals, competitions, and warmer weather are all indicators that the end of the school year is right around the corner. 

We enjoyed a few days of warmer weather on spring break, but then the weather turned quite cool. However, we did get down to the beach one of the days on spring break to catch a few rays of sunshine. The boys enjoyed several rounds of golf during spring break, and golfing has become one of their favorite activities (it’s also fairly cheap if you’re a minor, so they need to golf while they’re young!). I didn’t get a whole lot done on my to-do list, but we did enjoy time together as a family and that’s important. 

Last weekend, (4/12) we had our friends the Everett’s down for a few days. Garett and Savannah attended the Junior/Senior banquet. I think they had a good time, but it was a lot of work, money and effort for an event that lasted less than two hours! That was also a crazy Friday as Garett was dismissed from school early due to the banquet, Travis had soccer practice for his rec team, and trying to get everyone where they needed to be on time- but it all came together. We also enjoyed strawberry picking while the Everett’s were here, and a round of golf, and lots of food! 

Last week (April 15-19) was a bit crazy. We had art classes as normal on Monday, but then found out that the art room would be used for the high school competition later in the week. I do not mind sharing the space at all, but we had 29 art projects in the room that were in the final stages of preparing to enter for the elementary students next week (April 22)! My art assistant, Kaycee, has been great this year, and she helps with whatever wild schemes I dream up. We arranged to move all the elementary art over to the science lab to set it up there for the next few days while we finished up the paperwork and helped a few students with their final details. We did art as normal last Tuesday, and then spent the afternoon cleaning, re-arranging, and moving things over to the other building. I spent a lot of time on Wednesday and Friday helping students complete their projects for the art competition. I had asked for the art projects to be brought back right after spring break, and while I got a lot of them back, some of them needed some “fine tuning”. I am amazed a how little parental support some of my students received, and it makes me a little sad. But I’m thankful for teachers who are willing to let me take their students to receive some direction  to help their art projects. All in all, the elementary art did come together, and it was all dropped off for competition on Monday morning! Praise the Lord! Now, we are just waiting to see how the students placed!

Our school hosted a high school competition last week (Wednesday-Friday), and Garett and Chandler were in a couple of events. The choir sang on Wednesday, but Chandler spent all of Tuesday night throwing up as in practically every couple of hours. On Wednesday morning, he had a low grade fever and was still throwing up. I texted his choir teacher and said that unless Chandler was desperately needed, he would be staying home! So Chandler stayed at home while the rest of us went to school. I’m not a huge fan of this competition because I feel like a lot of kids spend their time sitting around and not cheering on their classmates, but rather just wasting time (I hate wasting time!). Garett was in choir on Wednesday and the Ensemble. He didn’t need to be at school until around noon, but since I go into school at 7:30am, he had to come too. But Garett is a pretty good sport most of the time, so he helped with a few odd things here and there, and worked on some school work. The choir sang in the afternoon on Wednesday and the ensemble shortly afterwards. We actually got to come home a little earlier than normal so that was a pleasant treat! Chandler wasn’t feeling 100% on Thursday, but he was healthy enough to go. Wyatt had a migraine though so he stayed at home! Thankfully, Wyatt is too young to be in the competition, so he didn’t miss much! Garett sang in a mixed quartet on Thursday, and while he struggles to hold his part, I’m thankful that he is always willing to try. He will smile and give it his very best. After the quartet, Garett had to hustle out to the soccer field for the soccer kick shoot out. We did terrible in that event (usually how it goes when no practice is involved!). It was a warm afternoon, so we were all happy to go home with that event was over. 

Friday brought about the final day of competition for the high school events, and Wyatt still wasn’t feeling great. Travis offered to stay home to take care of Wyatt and the dog. Wyatt and Sam had been just fine the day before, but Travis was an eager beaver to volunteer to stay home. Roger and I think highly of education, but with the competition going on, the junior high classes had been having a lot of substitute teachers and irregular schedules, which Travis does not handle well. We decided to let him stay home and you’d have thought we had given him the moon! It’s hard on me to have him ask me every single day if I will sign him out of school, does he have to go, or will I pick him up early. For whatever reason, God has allowed Travis to have another challenging school year. I surely don’t know the reasons, and I tell Travis often that I don’t know what God is doing, but I know that He does care about each one of us. We pray hard and we pray often that God will provide Travis with one special friend. Having the chickens to take care of and Sam has helped some, but Travis still could use a friend at school. 

Anyways, back to the competition at school. On Thursday night, Chandler asked me if Eli could stay overnight at our house. Normally, we don’t have people over during the school week, but since this week has been a little different, I agreed.  I can’t remember the last time Chandler asked if someone could sleep over, but it was a fun afternoon.   The boys tromped around in the woods, went fishing, played basketball, watched a movie and ate a lot of supper! Roger didn’t get home from work til after 9:00pm due to a fire, and he didn’t even notice that we had an extra boy in the living room! I think the boys had a good time, and I was thankful that it worked out on the spur of the moment idea. 

Chandler competed in the mile run on Friday morning. I was able to watch him compete, so I was thankful for that. Chandler ran his mile about nine seconds faster than last year. Last year he placed first, and this year he placed fourth. The kid that won the mile won by a long shot! Chandler didn’t seem terribly disappointed as he was just happy that he had ran faster than the previous year. It meant that Chandler did not place in any of the events that he competed in, but he said that next year he’d like to participate in a few more events. As for all the teachers, we are glad that week is behind us! 

Wyatt’s 15th birthday was on Saturday (April 20th). I can’t believe my smack-dab-in-the-middle-child is 15!!! Time is flying by! He was feeling a little better on Saturday and asked if Roger would take him golfing for his birthday. We had lunch together at a Mexican restaurant early in the afternoon, and then Roger took all the boys golfing. I think they had a good time, but Wyatt was exhausted when he came home. He showered and laid right down on the couch. I don’t remember the last time he was this sick for this long with just a constant low grade fever and headache (sounds like Covid). He went right to bed on his birthday, so we will have to celebrate with ice cream cake another time. 

It’s always nice when someone makes a meal or invites us over for dinner, and Jen invited us all over to her house on Sunday afternoon. Our church was hosting a singing group from a college, so all the Sunday school classes were combined. We had just sat down, and the students were singing their first song, when Wyatt broke down. I asked him what was the matter, and he replied that his head was hurting so badly and the music was making it worse. So Wyatt and I slipped out, and I took him to Jen’s house. He crawled right into bed, and I went back to church for the worship service. After church, we all went to Jen’s for lunch, and Wyatt still was looking pale. He didn’t eat much (a true sign to every mama of teenagers that something is not right), and when we went home in the afternoon, he showered and laid back down on the couch. Our family had already made arrangements to go over to the Hardison’s house for supper and fellowship, so Wyatt stayed home. Wyatt started to make a change for the better on Sunday afternoon, but we decided to have him stay home anyways- no one else wants to be sick! We had a good time at the Harrison’s, even though it was raining. They also have a fairly young pup, so Sam had a great time getting all dirty out in the yard with Marley the pup! We enjoyed conversations, food and fellowship, and we are thankful for friendships. 

Monday morning was the morning of the big event for the elementary art competition. I get nervous that I’ll have accidentally missed a direction or did a step wrong. The last thing I want is for any of our art to be disqualified! All the art had to be dropped off at ten am, so I spent the morning checking and re-checking the directions, the paperwork, and having students sign the paperwork. I gave a huge sigh of relief when it was all safely delivered! 

On Tuesday, Kaycee and I had to re-arrange our normal art schedules. Since the competition this week is for 3rd-6th grade, we had art classes for kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grades. I would’ve loved to have had art with everyone, but there are not enough hours in the day! I decided that kindergarten, first and second grades needed the art specials more as they won’t be getting out of school for the competition. I don’t always do it perfectly, but I do work hard to try to make sure that the teachers get their specials for their classes. 30 minutes of planning can and will make a big difference to a teacher! Having taught in the classroom, I know how valuable those planning periods are, so I try to make it happen. Since the art room was being used, we had art classes in the back foyer of one of our buildings. It’s a fairly big space, but it’s also a walk-through area for students going out to recess, lunch, bathrooms, etc. It was a crazy Tuesday, but by the grace of God, we made it through! I am also very thankful that we don’t have to do it like that every week! 

Tomorrow will be a big day for our elementary students as they compete in many events. I’ve been working with our Bible Sword Drill teams, and I’m ready to have this behind us as well. I certainly don’t mind helping out with these students, and I’m thankful for the opportunity. But between art, Bible Sword drill and my own kids, I am thankful that this competition will be over this week! We have a 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th grade team for Bible Sword drill. My friend, Jennifer, and I have been working with the students for several weeks trying to prepare them for this competition. The younger grades get 10 seconds to find the Bible reference and the older grades get 7 seconds! That’s not much time when you’re trying to find a reference in 66 books of the Bible! However, they’ve worked hard, and we are praying that all that hard work will come to fruition tomorrow. 

It’s hard to believe, but in four weeks from Friday, school will be over for another year! The boys have been busy trying to get jobs lined up for the summer. Garett’s boss from last summer said that he might have some work for Garett, so please pray that will open up for Garett again. Chandler applied for an internship job through a local community college. He had to complete a hefty online interview and then this past week, he was called for a face-to-face interview. I took him to his interview on Tuesday, and they said that they would notified the students that would be hired by May 6th. This would be a fantastic opportunity for Chandler as it’s an internship with some class time as well as hands-on learning, and he would be paid. However, they’re only accepting 12 applicants, and there were about 45 that had face-to-face interviews. But we will pray and see what God does. 

In closing, I really should go back to writing on the blog once a week! So much happens in two weeks that it’s hard to keep up with all the details! Garett had a bit of a rough week last week, and we spent much time in prayer and talking with him. If he’s brought to your mind, please pray for him. I’m thankful that God loves our children so very, very much. Garett will also be running for Student Body President next week, so I know he’d appreciate your prayers for that. He is very excited about the opportunity, but also a little nervous. I’m excited to see him campaign. :) 

Chandler and Wyatt will compete in their final golf tournament on Monday, and I am trying to work out the details to go and watch them play. Garett’s baseball season is wrapping up next weekend (first weekend in May), and Travis will start his soccer games with a game on May 10th. He’s excited about playing, and we are hoping that perhaps God will also provide a friend on his team. 

God is good. We are waiting on God for some answers regarding schooling for our children next fall. It’s always hard to step out in faith, but God is always faithful. For whatever reason, God gave us several children that really do struggle with school. (I’m thankful that Jen helps out with tutoring Travis and Garett in some of their subjects!!) This doesn’t mean that these children are not smart, responsible, and respectful,  but it does mean that as their mama, I have to stay on top of things a little more than with some of our other children. It can be tiring, exhausting and overwhelming, but I’m so thankful for the precious gift of each of our children.  Christ’s  mercy is more than I can imagine, and when I am overwhelmed, His mercy is more…

New Life, New Memories and Moments!

 

(Started on 3/29)

Praise the Lord- spring break is finally here!!! It’s been a long time and coming, and I am looking forward to a bit of reprieve over the next few days. We are looking forward to celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ on Sunday. Our church is having a Good Friday service tomorrow night, a community outreach event on Saturday morning, and services on Sunday. We are looking forward to the opportunity to reflect on what Jesus has done as well as point others in our community to Jesus through our community event. Also on Saturday our oldest boys are coming home as well as my sister and my dad! Yay!!!! 

My parents arrived in North Carolina last Monday evening, and while my dad has been in the Dominican Republic, my mom has helped with getting the boys where they need to be, reading with Emma, and enjoying time with her family in the western side of the state. Last Tuesday afternoon my parent came to watch Garett play in his baseball game. However, Garett had said on Monday that his arm was hurting him a bit. By Tuesday afternoon, he was in quite a bit of pain, and he was unable to play in the game. That was disappointing to him and my parents, but clearly he had strained something in his arm. Hopefully he will have some time to rest his arm over spring break, and be ready to return to baseball after break. 

Last Wednesday my parents checked the younger three out of school a little early to take them to lunch. Whenever Papa is around, things happen! Jen and Travis have devised a plan to raise some chickens for eggs. Jen suggested to Travis that perhaps she would get some chickens after the missions trip. However, by the time Jen and I arrived home from school, the chicken coop was built and the chickens were in a tote with a heat lamp! The plan is for the chickens to live in Jen’s backyard, but currently, we are babysitting half a dozen chickens. Travis has done very well with taking care of them, watering them, cleaning out their pen, and even helping to find a different pen for them as they are growing quickly. The chicks cannot be outside yet, but thankfully, they’ve been moved to the shed at our house. Originally Travis had the chicks in the tote in our mudroom, but I told him the chickens were smelly. He replied, “It’s fine, Mom. They don’t smell that badly.” Um, son, the chicks are moving out! 

The boys stayed overnight at Jen’s house on Thursday night since they were leaving at 2:15am on Friday morning. Chandler did not want to miss his last golf practice, so I told him I would finish his packing as long as he didn’t care what he was wearing. He replied, “Oh, I already packed most of my clothes. Mr. Hardison (our athletic director) gave us some old jerseys and shorts. I’m just going to wear those and then leave the clothes there. Then I have less to pack!” However, in every picture I’ve seen of him on Facebook, he’s wearing the same orange shirt and gray shorts! I finally sent my sister a message and asked if he’s changed clothes this week. She said that outfit was his painting and concrete work outfit as he doesn’t want to wreck his other clothes. But he has showered and changed clothes this week- thank the Lord! They’ve been busy with moving lots of dirt, mixing and pouring cement, helping with Vacation Bible School, and a lot of other things. I’m sure they’ll come home exhausted, but we are so very thankful that Garett and Chandler have had this opportunity. We are praying for them to be a blessing and get a blessing. Missions trips can change your life. 

Emma has been praying about getting a dog for about a year now. She’s been praying specifically for a German Shepherd. Roger and I have been saying that God will provide a dog in His perfect timing. I couldn’t imagine adding a dog into our lives, but guess what? Here we are! A co-worker of Roger’s mentioned to him last week that she had a friend that was trying to get rid of some puppies. The puppies were pure-bred German shepherds, and they were selling them for $1,000 a piece! Um- no thank-you! However, the co-worker continued on to explain that this family had two (14 week) puppies that they just wanted to give away to good homes. I was pretty sure that I didn’t need a 14 week puppy in my life, but the pup would be free, and it was a German Shepherd- should we go look?! So on Friday, March 22, we went over to see the puppies or we tried! They had let the puppies out to run off some energy, and the puppies were no where to be found! The pups had run off with the two older 6 month dogs and there was one puppy left to see! The pup that was left at home had a hernia, and we knew we didn’t want to start off with vet visits. We decided that we would come back on Saturday to see the other puppies. Wyatt, Travis and Emma were thrilled with the thought of getting a dog, Roger thought it would be a good idea for our family, so I was the one holding out! We went back to see the pups on Saturday, and there was Sam. Sam was one of the 14 week old pups, and we could’ve chosen one of the six month old dogs, but at six month they’ve already learned a lot of bad habits. Sam was the one that we picked out, as he seemed calm and collected. Sam came home with us, and while the trip home was a bit rough as Sam got car sick, we made it home. Sam was very reserved the first few days, but he’s been a good change for our family. Roger has worked with Sam a lot, and Wyatt and Travis are very good with Sam. Emma loves Sam, and he puts up with her. God answered Emma’s prayer, and I hope that she never forgets that! 

My mom came back from visiting her family on the western side of the state on Tuesday, and we surprised her with showing her Sam! It was nice that my mom was around this week as she could take the boys and Emma right home after school to check on the pup, and the boys and Emma were excited to get out of school a little early twice this week! Also, since my mom has been in town this week, I asked her to come to read to my library classes. She was willing to read, and my assistant (Jen) and I were happy to have her read! It’s always nice to have a guest reader in the library, and I’m thankful that my mom was willing to read. 

(Continued 4/2) Friday was our first official day of Spring Break! It was a day of lots of activities as we prepared for guests in our home for Easter Dinner. The boys began their trip back to the U.S. on Friday, and arrived home on Saturday afternoon. Our church had sent out an email saying that there would be a baptismal service on Easter Sunday. Emma has been asking about baptism for a while, so we contacted Pastor. After the Good Friday service, Emma went to talk to Pastor Powell. Roger and I went with her, but she talked with Pastor Powell on her own. She cried a little as she talked about her salvation and how she knew that Jesus had died for her sins. After a short conversation, she asked about being baptized on Sunday. It was arranged that Emma would be one of the four to be baptized on Sunday. She was so excited (and nervous), but she wanted to surprise Papa, Nana and Aunt Jen. We tried to surprise her older brothers too, but Travis let the cat out of the bag on Sunday morning! 

Saturday morning found Emma and I back at church for a community event for Easter. I had been asked to face paint (something, I’ve never done before!). I was completely nervous for most of the time while painting faces, and I passed on anything harder than flowers and hearts to my friend, Kaycee. Yes, I teach elementary art, but it’s different when I’m following along to written directions, have practiced the art project, and it’s not on a person’s skin! Whew! We made it! I’m thankful for my friend, Kaycee, who was willing to help with the face painting. There were quite a few of us that were face painting, and there were a lot of kids that wanted their faces painted!! Emma enjoyed the morning playing with her friends on the inflatables, participating in the egg hunt, and enjoying the beautiful day. God blessed us with a beautiful day for the event, and there were a lot of people that came out for it. 

After the morning event, Emma and I went home to get Sam and Travis. Wyatt decided to stay home, but Sam needed to go to the walk-in clinic at Tractor Supply to get a rabies shot and a check-up. I wasn’t thrilled about the amount of time we spent waiting in line, and neither was Sam, but we made it! Sam now has the shots that he needed, and he probably won’t want to visit Tractor Supply again any time soon! On our way back from the clinic, we stopped at Jen’s to pick up Garett and Chandler. Yay! Both boys were completely surprised that we had gotten a pup while they were away, and it was a good surprise. Sam has been a good dog so far- he’s calm, gentle, and gets along with all the kids. I didn’t want a puppy, but Sam has fit in quite nicely. 

Sunday was a full, tiring, but great day! We were going to be having about 40 people over for lunch, which dropped to about 35, but still a full house! We had been praying that God would give us beautiful weather so that everyone could be outside, and He did! Our friends, the Everetts, came down on Saturday evening, and Laura and I were up early to prep and cook. We surprised ourselves with everyone being ready for church super early. Emma and I needed to be at church by 9:15am as she was singing with the kids choir. She was a little nervous about the baptism, but also excited. Emma and I headed to church, and the rest stopped for coffee before church. It was a full service with lots of singing (I love that part), the baptism, and preaching. It was a great service! 

Around 1:30pm, we had Easter dinner at our house. Our house was full, but so were our hearts. There was PLENTY of food, and it was all delicious! We had my parents, Jen, Everetts, Harrison’s, Tamela’s parents, Carrillos, and the Lee family over for lunch. The kids spent the entire afternoon outside with basetkball, golfing, and playing together. The adults fellowshipped together and kept track of little ones and puppies! The Everett’s had their dog, the Harrison’s had their pup, and we had Sam! The Hardison’s dog, Marley, and Sam wrestled and played together for hours and then would flop over for a nap. It was fun to watch them play, and the kids enjoyed holding the chicks, walking the dog and being outside. We are so thankful that God blessed us with a beautiful day, and I am thankful for Ressurrection Sunday. Food is good, fellowship is great, memories are wonderful, but the most precious and awesome part of it all is that Jesus Rose Again! What a day to celebrate! Death was defeated and Jesus conquered the grave! Praise the Lord! 

We are looking forward to a few days off of school! These first few days are supposed to be warm and beautiful, but then it’s supposed to turn chilly again. We will also be working on a few school projects that need to be finished up before we return- such as a science project, animal notebook, and fine arts project- never a dull moment!

In closing, God is good, so good. I’m starting a devotional book on the names of God, and the first one in the book is God- Elohim, meaning the Strong Creator. How much we have to be thankful for in this life! Looking at the choices of those in leadership in our country and what’s happening around the world, would cause me to be depressed in a hurry! But we can rejoice that our confidence is in God and not in mankind! 

Spring Sports, Missions trips, and “Christian Education”

 The month of February felt like a year long, but March is steaming full speed ahead! We’ve begun spring sports, had revival services at church, survived with about half of the school being sick, began spring yard work, and are enjoying some warmer temperatures this week! 

Wyatt and Chandler are both on the golf team, and they are enjoying that immensely. The boys had their first match yesterday and while it wasn’t their best game for either of them, their team placed fourth out of seven. So it wasn’t terrible! Both boys are relatively new to the game of golf, and I know about nil! I didn’t know what a “boogie” was or if it was a good or bad thing- I still don’t completely know! I’ve decided that I need to learn to play golf as all the boys seem to enjoy it, but I’m a fair weather golfer. It can’t be too hot, too cold, too buggy, too muggy, basically I guess I’ll learn when I feel like it! Haha! I’ll learn eventually! My friend, Laura, and her daughter, Ava, went to watch the boys play their golf game yesterday, so I’m glad that she was able to go and take some pictures. With both boys playing, I think I’d need a golf cart to get around the course. I gather that it’s a shot gun start with different players at different holes on the course. The teams are all split amongst each other and keep track of another players score. Since Wyatt and Chandler can’t keep track of each other’s score as their on the same team, they were at different holes on the course yesterday. I’m sure I’ll learn a lot about golf over the next six weeks! 

Garett is playing baseball this spring. He likes golf too, but he decided to play baseball this year. He likes baseball, but his mama doesn’t like the long practices! Wyatt and Chandler are generally done with golf practice around 5:00pm, and Garett isn’t done til about 6:30pm, so it makes getting everyone home a wee bit interesting! We are working on figuring it all out, and hopefully Garett will be getting his license in the next couple of weeks. Garett’s first game will be on Friday, and the weather looks like it will be beautiful, I also like watching baseball when it’s warm and sunny! I guess I’m a fair weather fan! :) 

Travis is anxiously waiting his turn to play spring sports, and that should start happening at the end of the month. He will be playing youth soccer, and he is very excited about that. Emma is happy to have warmer weather, and more time outside. Spring is a fun time of year!

We’ve survived a week of feeling like everyone was either getting sick or getting over being sick! Last week, I took Wyatt to the walk-in clinic as he was running a fever and his throat was hurting really badly. I’m not one to run off to the doctors, but there have been several cases of strep throat going around! He had the flu, but not strep. He missed a few days of school, and Emma was sick for a day or two, but so far the rest of us have remained relatively healthy! We praise the Lord for that! I’ve felt very tired, but daylight savings time also has that effect on me. 

Two weeks ago, we had grandparents day at school. This event is for the elementary students, and they sing or say a poem for the grandparents that attend. We host a book fair where the grandparents can buy a book for the library. They purchase the book in honor of their grandchild, and the library gets a few new books! My friend, Jennifer, and I host the book fair for the library. This year we set out 59 books to sell, and at the end of two hours we had five books left over! It creates a lot of work to get the new books barcoded and labeled into the library, but it also helps bring in new books for the library. We live in an era where kids are not reading nearly enough, so we try to incorporate ways for the students to enjoy reading. I enjoy reading, but I find it hard to engage a lot of students in books these days. If you have any suggestions about great books for young readers, we are always open to ideas! 

We are still waiting to hear back about the opportunity scholarship for our children. Originally we were supposed to receive word in March about whether or not we would get any scholarship help, but now that date has been moved into April. Please continue to pray with us about this scholarship. It would be a huge blessing to our family. God has always provided, and we are so very thankful for that!

Garett and Chandler have the unique opportunity to go on a missions trip to the Dominican Republic in just a little over a week! We are so excited about this opportunity for them. Garett has been to Haiti a few times on missions trip, but that is a very unsafe country currently. God opened the doors for the boys to go with my sister, Jen, as well as my Dad on this trip to the Dominican Republic. We are praying fervently that God will work in their hearts. The boys are praying that they’ll be able to host a little soccer clinic down in the D.R., and our athletic director from school gave the boys some old uniforms to take with them. It would be an exciting opportunity to incorporate sports and the Good News of the Gospel, so we are praying that God will make a way for this to happen. They will also be helping with work on various projects, helping with Vacation Bible school, and whatever else needs doing. If you feel led to help them financially, I am including a link in this post. This link is for Chandler, but the money will go towards both boys. We appreciate your prayers for our sons as they travel, serve, and bless others during this week in the D.R. The link below is the donation link for the boys trip. 

https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/0a8c5c8a-10ea-418a-8f8e-ed635f6b3e3a

We are also looking forward to spring break! We have about two and half weeks til break, and I am very much looking forward to having a break from school. I always have a lengthy list of things I think I’m going to accomplish over break, and I never complete the list! However, it’s good to dream big! 

In art classes, we are doing lots of spring art! Since tulips are one of my favorite flowers, we are doing a lot of “tulip” art. I have a great art assistant, Kaycee, who willingly helps me with whatever messes we are creating in art. I’ve been blessed to work with her this year, and God knew it would be good for both of us.  We are also trying to drive home to our students the importance of loving God with all our hearts, glorifying Him with our lives, and being intentional. It’s a big job to teach young hearts and minds, and I don’t take the opportunity lightly. 

Recently, I needed to write out my philosophy of “Christian Education” for something I’m working on. I reflected back on what I had written in college, and while I’ve taken some of that through the years, I was very young. :) I  believe that the importance of Christian Education is to glorify God. If we were created for His glory, shouldn’t that reflect in our teachings to our students? As a Christian educator, my calling is to point my students to Jesus as well as to educate them to the best of my ability in their academics. This should be done whether I’m teaching art, library or anything else. Because we live in this world, I also need to prepare my students to reach certain academic standards, but Christlikeness  should be seen in both my educational teaching and my interactions of with my students. Both should reflect a desire to glorify God as that is why I was created and so were my students! There are certainly a lot of educators doing “Christian education” in our public school systems, and we need that. We need teachers to pray for their students in those classrooms, point them to Jesus through their actions, and disciple them. I’m thankful that I can pray out loud with each of my classes, correct them with what the Bible says, point them to the Scriptures, and pour into their lives. I don’t know how long God has for me in Christian education, but if ever I lose that passion and desire, it’s time to be done. For now, I’ll do my best to teach intentionally and glorify God. Obviously, my Christian education philosophy is much longer than those few sentences mentioned, but the gist is there. I learned so much about “Christian Education” from being mentored by a fabulous older and wiser teacher. Garett and Chandler both had the privilege of being taught by Mrs. Becky Martz in their junior high years. She taught them academics, but she taught them so, so much more than that. Through her example, I learned so much about how I wanted to have my approach to my students when the opportunity presented itself. Oh, teaching kindergarten is different than junior high, but loving Jesus and pointing kids to Jesus is the same. I’m so thankful for her investment in the lives of all our children, but especially Chandler and Garett. 

As Resurrection Sunday approaches, I hope and pray that you take some time to reflect on what Jesus has done for you. God loved you so much that He sent his son, Jesus, to die on the cross for your sin and mine. But- praise the Lord- Jesus rose again! The invitation to accept Him into your heart is open for all of us, and I hope that you’ve taken the time to accept the free gift of salvation. We certainly cannot get into Heaven on our own, and our only hope is in Jesus. Praise the Lord for salvation! 

February Victories, Memories, and More!

 Another month is almost over, and I always think that February is the longest short month ever! February seems to stretch out for a very long time, but we are getting closer to wrapping up this month. 

Early in the month, Roger and I had the opportunity to attend a marriage retreat. It was good to get away for a few days, and we’ve had to do some serious soul searching lately regarding some decisions that will have to be made regarding our children, the future, finances, and so much more. 

This month also brought about the completion of JV Basketball, JV cheerleading, Varisty Basketball, and Varsity cheerleading.  Two weekends ago,  Wyatt participated in the JV tournament for basketball, and the JV cheerleaders also participated in the tournament. We had eight JV girls on the cheerleading squad, and it was a season to remember. Some of them were completely new to cheering, so they had a lot to learn as far as stunts, routines, cheers, and chants. They worked hard, and we are proud of them. Laura came down for the tournament on Friday, so that was a huge help to me. It’s always a relief when she’s at the games as she brings a depth of experience to coaching that I don’t have. The JV boys basketball team made it to the championship game, which was played on Saturday afternoon. 

It was an exciting JV game to watch as it was pushed into overtime twice! Wyatt made a few mistakes in the final quarter of the game, which resulted in his coach pulling him (as he should’ve!). Wyatt can tend to be defined by his mistakes, and we’ve been working on overcoming that tendency. His coach spoke with Wyatt, encouraged him to do better, and a few minutes later Wyatt went back in the game. He was able to overcome those earlier mistakes to shoot a three pointer that helped the team tie the game to go into overtime! Roger and I are thankful for Wyatt’s coaches who helped him, encouraged him, and put him back in the game. It was a close game, but after double overtime, the JV Boys basketball team pulled off a victory! That was an exciting way to wrap up the season, and this mama was glad to have another sport behind us! (Basketball and cheer are loooong seasons!) 

Many of you may already be aware, but the state of North Carolina recently changed the Opportunity Scholarship guidelines for private education. Previously, you could only apply if you were military, a child in k-2nd grade, or your children were coming from public schooling. There was also an income limit, but that was never our concern. Only one of our children has the opportunity scholarship and that’s Emma. Emma was able to get the scholarship because she was moved back to 2nd grade last year. This provided some financial relief for at least one child, and we’ve been so thankful for that! However, when the guidelines were updated to include all students regardless of grade entry, we knew that we wanted to apply. The application process opened on February 1st, and I was definitely all about applying on February 1st! I don’t mind working, and I like working, but this year has been A LOT! It would be hard to keep up this projectory rate and be as present as I need to be for our children. We have no idea how long the funds will last for the scholarship money, but anything would be helpful. However, when I went to apply for our other four kids, I was smacked in the face with something unexpected. Since I have worked so much this past year, we will not qualify for the first round of funding for schooling. We are 4K over the limit of how much can be made for our household size, so we will be in award tier 2 of funding. (It can be kinda confusing, but there are four different tiers for the school choice funding. We’ve always been in the first tier, so Emma has gotten 90% school tuition coverage.) I know this sounds crazy, but I cried. We’ve worked our tails off, and to realize that because I have worked so hard to help provide Christian education that resulted in being pushed out of the first round of funding, was hard to take.  We fall into the second tier of funding, which will be disbursed if there are any remaining funds by a lottery to those that have applied. God has ALWAYS, always, always provided for our children’s education, but I really wanted to try to be more present for our younger kids next year, and we can’t seem to find balance. I know that God has a plan in and through it all, and this is another opportunity to trust Him. God is molding and shaping us to be a vessel for His glory. So we continue to press on, move forward, and trust in Him. (And I continue to pray that perhaps, by some miracle, we will get some some funding assistance for the kids education.) 

Two  weekends ago, during the JV Basketball tournament, the Everett’s came down to spend the weekend due to the tournament and Justin had off of work due to President’s day. Roger and the boys went golfing with Justin, Brody and Ava, while I was able to do some house cleaning, make supper, and enjoy time with Laura. There’s been a lot of changes in both of our lives in the past six months and more seem to be coming. Sometimes we just need a friend to talk it through with and someone to cry and pray with. Raising teens is not for the faint-hearted! I’m thankful that God gives us new mercies, wisdom, and lots of grace! And so often we feel like salmon swimming upstream! I get that we are a bit “odd” in our parenting in that only one kid has a cell-phone, none of them have their own vehicles, none of them have social media accounts, etc. I know it’s all “weird” to some, but it not weird to us. We’ve never done parenting before, and it’s not something that we get a “re-do” on! We’re not doing it perfectly, and sometimes it feels like more failures than good, but we really do want to pour into our kids and point them to Jesus. I want them to be men and a woman of valor and character that love Jesus passionately and fervently!

This past week we wrapped up the Varsity Basketball and Cheerleading season! Praise Jesus! It’s been a long 16 weeks, and while we’ve had some really great and fun experiences, but regardless, it’s still very long. We left Thursday morning around 9:00am for the tournament. The boys team played at 11:30am, and the girls played a game at 2:00pm. Since we hadn’t been sure of whether or not the teams would win or lose, obviously, hotel rooms had been booked for Thursday night. Roger was originally planning on coming to Chandler’s game on Thursday, but with fire season starting up, it was impossible for him to get away. Laura and her girls ended up coming to the tournament, which was a huge blessing to me, and Laura and the girls stayed in my hotel room on Thursday night. A lot of the girls ended up driving home with their parents, so I was only responsible for about five girls at the hotel, which makes it all around easier! The tournament went through Saturday afternoon, so it was a long three days. The boys varsity team ended up in fourth place and the girls varsity team ended up with second place- so that was exciting! 

It’s hard to believe that it’s all over and done. There were moments in the cheerleading season that I was overwhelmed, exhausted, and over stimulated! However, by the grace of God, we made it through! Laura’s help was invaluable to me as she planned most of the stunt routines, and she continued to do that even after they moved to Virginia. I don’t have the experience that she can bring to the team, so I am so thankful that she stuck with it to the end even with the many hours of driving back and forth. We worked through a lot of new experiences together, and while not every experience was pleasant, I hope the girls know that we really did love them. We wanted to pour in and point them to Jesus. Roger also encouraged me numerous times throughout the season, and he made a lot of meals! My sister, Jen, took kids home with her so they didn’t have to hang out a school all evening. She helped with homework, meals, and even had the kids overnight several times during the season. I am so thankful for Roger, Jen and Laura! 

I’m excited about eating supper at a more reasonable hour every night, spending more time with our kids, and getting back into running as spring is coming! I have a lot to be thankful for as I reflect back over the season. And I feel tired enough to sleep for a week! 

Garett is planning on playing baseball this spring. Chandler and Wyatt are hoping to be on teh golf team. Travis didn’t want to play any spring sports, but he’s been asking to play soccer through the city recreation team. We decided to sign him up to play. He’s one of the youngest players on the school team, so hopefully this will provide a little more playing time for him this spring. We’ve been in dire need of a different vehicle. Garett is ready to get his license as is Chandler, but we just haven’t had a vehicle for them. Roger’s truck has been on its last leg for the past several months, and it has over 300,000 miles on it. We’ve been looking for a while, and last night we purchased a new vehicle! New to us, I meant to say! We found a Toyota corolla with 113, 000 miles on it. It’s a 2008, so it’s not fancy or updated, but we are praying that it will run for many, many, many miles!! We are thankful!

Some of you have been praying about the boy’s upcoming missions trip to the Dominican Republic. Guess what?! We got the passports for the boys this past week! Praise the Lord! The passports arrived 3 1/2 weeks after our appointment, and we are so very thankful for that huge answer to prayer! The tickets have been bought, and now we have the passports in hand. The boys have been given $250 each towards their missions trip, and we are grateful for every penny. They are still looking for some weekend jobs to earn a bit more money for their trip, so we’d appreciate your prayers that God will provide those opportunities. 

We are preparing for Grandparent’s Day this Friday, so Kaycee and I have been busy in the art room creating Patriotic art with the students. It’s been a hot mess at moments, but I’m happy to try to instill a sense of patriotic pride in these students. 

In closing, Roger and I are earnestly seeking God’s direction for some upcoming decisions for our children. I never knew how hard parenting teens would be, but here we are, and I wonder what I am doing! We need your prayers for patience, mercy and grace as we pour in and point them to Jesus. We aren’t always doing it well, that’s for sure! 

It’s been a long month, and I’ve struggled through some depression, feeling overwhelmed, and feeling like I’m failing. But, through it all, I’m thankful that God continues to love me, protect and provide for me. He’s not surprised when I feel all knotted up inside or distressed, and He patiently waits for me to rest in Him. I hope I never lose sight of all the Christ has done for me. He is worthy to praised! He’s already won! This song has brought me peace and compassion, even when Laura and I seriously thought we were going to drown trying to get through the cheer season! God is still good!

January- a long month!

 Update: January IS over, and I didn’t manage to write a post all month. (It’s been a few years since that happened!) 

(1-29-24) January is almost over, and I haven’t even posted once in this entire month! It’s not because I didn’t want to or that nothing exciting has been happening, but it has been a busy (and very, very long month)! This month I just want to praise the Lord for how He orchestrates things for our good. At the time, the situations may not seem good, but God is always, always good. 

We started off the new year by taking a family trip. It’s been a while since we’ve gone on a trip as a family, and about 336 days ago we booked a cruise! Roger and I have been on several cruises, and we’ve enjoyed each one. Some we’ve done on our own as a couple, and some we’ve done with friends. This was the first cruise for our children, and it was truly a wonderful experience. We went on a cruise to the Bahamas with our dear friends, the Everett’s. The kids went to school for three days after Christmas break, and then we headed down to Miami on Friday, January 5th. We boarded the cruise ship on Saturday, and we had an amazing time away for five nights. When we booked the cruise, 336 days prior to going on the cruise, we didn’t know that Laura and I would be coaching cheer. It literally seemed like the worse timing to go on a cruise as we’re knee-deep in cheer season, Homecoming was the week we returned as well as school spirit week and two pep rallies. However, as I look back over the course of the month, I think God had us book that cruise for that week so that we could re-group, relax, and prepare for one of the hardest weeks of the year upon our return. God was/is good. We choose that particular week because it was cheapest, but God directed us to that week because He knew it was best. 

On our cruise, we went to Falmouth, Jamaica and Nassau, Bahamas. The weather was beautiful the entire time we were away, and we didn’t know that back in North Carolina the weather had been quite rough with lots of rain and wind! We had no phone or internet service for almost a week, and it was glorious. The kids enjoyed the formal dinning experiences on the cruise and the opportunity to taste so many food options. Our kids and the Everett’s kids spent hours at the pool, eating ice cream, rock climbing, playing mini-golf, and all kinds of other fun events. For the most part, they got along fabulously, and everyone slept great at night as we were tuckered out from so much fun. We didn’t do any excursions through the cruise line, but instead just got off at the ports to see what we could find. In Jamaica we found a local guide who took us on a tour of the city, showed us the authentic spots for the locals, and entertained us for several hours as we walked around! We tromped right through the local school grounds, and he told us all about the school and the routines of the students. He led us to a local fisherman’s beach, and told us that it was a fine place to go swimming. Laura (my friend) pointed out that the sign said “no swimming- sharks”, to which he replied, “we just put that there so that kids wouldn’t go swimming here.” Hmm… well a few of the kids and Roger and Justin did get in the water for a bit, but it was colder than they thought it was going to be in the ocean. It was a quick swim, and then back on our tour of the town. The memories of Jamaica will bring back lots of smiles and laughter as we look back on the memories some day!

We also went to Nassau, Bahamas. At Nassau, we spent most of the day at the beach. The weather was gorgeous, and we took a lot of pictures that day. We created a pyramid with all twelve of us, which also created a lot of laughter and smiles. Travis and Emma got plenty of sun on the cruise, as did Garett! You’d have thought we would’ve remembered to bring sunscreen for our blond children, but we forgot! Thankfully, we did get some on the cruise ship, but Travis and Garett both did get a sunburn. However, they bounced back quickly, and back to more sunshine activities they went (with sunscreen this time!). 

We arrived back in the port of Miami on Thursday morning, and then we spent the day driving home. We arrived home around 10pm, and back to school we went on Friday or rather some of us did. Since Roger had off work on Friday, he stayed at home with a few of our kids while Wyatt, Chandler and I went to school. I needed to go back to school as there was a basketball game that night and the cheerleaders would be at that game. It made for a crazy day back, but we made it. We came back with full hearts, lots of memories, and the desire to save money so that we can go again someday! 

Laura and I had a crazy busy week the third week in Januray (15-19). The kids had off of school on Monday, January 15th, but it was a teacher workshop day. I spent the day preparing for art classes, library classes, spirit week, and Homecoming. Homecoming is an annual event in which the cheer team prepares a special routine for the audience. Also there are two representatives chosen from each class to represent their class and the school. Travis was chosen for the 7th grade class, and I’m thankful that he is a boy! The girls had to find formal dresses, worry about hair and makeup, while Travis just had to figure out a suit. The cheer team hosts the spirit day events, so that meant a lot of work for Laura and I (read -way too much),  but we made it through. The cheer team had decided that we would host a coin challenge for spirit week, which was based of the weight of coins brought in and not the amount of the coins. We gave each class a small bucket, and every day the cheerleaders would go to the classrooms to weigh the coins and collect the coins. The girls also were responsible for choosing the “best dressed” student in each classroom. We did an “American” day, “Anything but a backpack day”, “Any decade day”, and School color day. It was a wild week with the grand finale resulting in two pep rallies on Friday, the girls cheer routine, and the Homecoming event. We also had cheer leading practices from 6-8pm during the week to help us be ready for Friday. Honestly, I tell Roger often that it was the grace of God that brought us through that week! Garett was also supposed to bring a dessert for the junior class fundraiser, but I knew I couldn’t possibly do one more thing that week. Laura made his dessert for him, and another cheer mom also sent me a text offering to make a dessert on Garett’s behalf. I was so thankful for their acts of service to help us get everything done. It was almost midnight when we got home on Friday night, and we were all very thankful to fall into our beds. 

Last Saturday we went to Virginia. Virginia is where the Everett’s have been moved to via the Air Force.  We went up to help them unpack, spend some time unwinding from the busy week, and to prepare for our lives to change as they wouldn’t be so close anymore. Thankfully, Virginia is only about three hours away, and we’ve made the trip twice already. Last Sunday we visited a church with them, and this past Sunday we did the same. It’s always interesting visiting other churches, and now that all the kids are older, we have plenty of opinions! Last Sunday was an emotional afternoon as we said good by. Although they’ll be close enough to visit, it’s still not the same as seeing them everyday. Laura has still helped me with cheer routines, ideas, support, and all the other things that a great coach does to help the team, but we sure do miss their family! 

Chandler’s 16th birthday was on Friday, so the Everett’s came down for his birthday as well as for the basketball games that day. I can’t believe that boy is 16 years old! It seems like just yesterday he was born, and now he’s maturing and changing every day! Chandler is a sweet boy (most of the time). He’s an entrepreneur, and he’s good with young kids. He’s not particularly fond of school, but he’s mostly independent. He doesn’t yet know what God wants him to do with his life, but I have a few ideas and lots of prayer invested! Laura and her kids took Chandler out for his birthday lunch, and he enjoyed that. I’m thankful for friends, family and coaches that have invested in his life. We need people to be involved in our children’s lives and to point them to Jesus. We try to provide our children with opportunities for the Holy Spirit to work in their lives, so for that reason, we are looking to send Garett and Chandler on a missions trip!

Garett and Chandler have appointments at the passport agency this Wednesday! Please pray that this appointment will go smoothly, as there is a lot of paperwork invovled!  A few years ago, we tried to send Chandler to Haiti on the missions trip that Garett and I were going on, but due to Covid, it was near impossible to get him a passport. The situation in Haiti has grown increasingly more dangerous, and at this point in time, there’s not a missions trip planned for Haiti. However, Jen, (my sister) is taking some students from her former school in South Dakota to the Dominican Republic. Garett and Chandler have been interested in going on a missions trip, and God seems to be opening the doors for them. They’d both like to find some work to do to help pay for this trip, so please pray that God will provide them with some extra jobs in the next couple of months. Please pray that the passports will come quickly and the process will be smooth! We could’ve gotten Chandler’s passport earlier, but I wanted to wait until he was 16. Garett’s needs renewing and now both boys will have passports that will be good for ten years…whew! Lots of prayer is needed for this trip to the D.R. We are asking God to work in the hearts of our boys. We are praying for a great trip for them and that the Gospel will be presented with great boldness. We are praying for God’s protection and mercies, as well as His blessings to be evident in the lives of each member of the team. (UPDATE: we did get to the passport office, and $360 later the passports are in the processing stages!) I am thankful that we were able to get this step done, but please, please pray that God will provide work for both of these boys to help them offset the cost of their trip. God is so good! 

This is a brief overview of the month of January. There are so many more things that happened, but I can’t possibly touch on them all. We’ve had some really big trials and testing that happened this month, and some that are too personal to share. We’ve had some quality family time together, but there’s been an overshadowing of some hard experiences. I’ve had to lean into what I know to be true this past month, and really rely on Jesus for my strength. I certainly have not done it all perfectly, and I’ve sure cried an awful lot this past month, but God is my strength and my song. We will praise him through it all. 

Christmas Memories!

 Updated: This blog post has been in the writing for several days now, but I’m going to leave it as it is- Merry Christmas! 

Merry Christmas Eve! I was very much hoping that I would find the time to write an updated Christmasy letter, but at the rate I’m going, it looks like Easter is a much better possibility! We’ve managed to wrap up this part of the school year and slid into Christmas break. It’s been a few years since I’ve felt this tired and overwhelmed at the Christmas season, but there’s a lot happening in our lives right now. I feel like I’m struggling to find “balance” in it all with Holiday gatherings, friends, Church events, school events, basketball, cheer, children, spouse, food to prepare as well as finding moments to prepare my own heart for the reason for the season. (If it was completely honest, I feel like I’m struggling a bit with some depression, but I’m hoping that I’ll be able to find a few moments to re-group and re-focus over this Christmas break). We went to the Christmas Eve service this morning, and that is always one of my favorite church services as it’s typically full of more music and an opportunity to cherish a quiet moment of reflection.

The last few weeks have been busy as we’ve prepared for Christmas break. We were able to take in a singing event with our friends, the Harrison’s and the Everett’s. It was a truly wonderful experience to soak up the sounds of the season and listen to college kids sing about the reason we can celebrate- Jesus. It’s a tradition that I hope we will be able to continue with for years to come as it really was a great service and the kids all enjoyed it too. We’ve also hosted a cheerleading Christmas party, made 100s of treats to give out for Christmas gifts, gathered food and gifts for the kids school events, and even managed to get the art room free of Christmas ornaments! Whew! 

Those would be the highlights. The low lights would be helping our freinds, the Everett’s, clean their military base house as they prepare to move. I can’t even hardly type that without my eyes filling with tears. Laura has helped me coach cheerleading, loved our children, hosted us for more meals than I can count, and their family is very special to us. We will miss them more than we can express. Another lowlight would be last Sunday night. It was raining and Laura and I had taken Emma, Chandler and Ava out to get some items for our cheerleading party. On the way back home, some of the roads were becoming flooded. We turned on the road towards home, and about halfway through a very large puddle…we were stuck. I immediately hopped out of the car and the water was over my knees. We tried to push the vehicle out of the water, but that didn’t work either. We called our husbands, and they came to rescue us. I ended up taking Laura, Ava, Chandler and Emma back home in Roger’s truck with Garett, Roger and Justin tried to figure out the car situation. It involved calling a tow truck, a long night, and lots of water before the vehicle was finally out of the water. That adventure definitely put a damper on the night! I’m thankful that God protected all of us. We learned a lot, and God is still in control. I don’t understand why God thought we needed one more situation in our lives, but God is still good. It’s been a week!

Also this week the alternator on the van went out, so Roger spent the day after Christmas fixing that! Garett’s car bit the dust, and the repairs were going to be way too costly, so that vehicle went to the junk yard. Garett was pretty happy to get $400 for his car, and he’s beginning the process of looking for a different vehicle. He doesn’t have his license yet, which is partially on him, but mostly on us as parents. We aren’t quite ready for the hike in insurance prices, and currently he’s still going wherever one of us are going so it’s worked out. Yes, he’s missed out on a few things, but nothing that he’s seemed too bothered about. He’ll get his license…eventually! 

We took Jen to the airport on Thursday morning as she’s flying to Maine to see Hannah and Josh and their kids. Roger hasn’t felt well for the past few days, so he’s been home a bit more this week and I’ve appreciated that. Jen opened up her home to the Everett’s as their between homes right now without base housing or a house in the area that they are moving to yet. We celebrated Christmas with them on Saturday night with lots of yummy food, gingerbread creations, and a Christmas movie. The Everett’s are leaving to see family in Tennessee, and Roger’s parents are coming into town tonight. We are thankful for family. 

Continued (12/29/23) It’s now Friday morning. The presents are unwrapped and strewn all about. The cookies are eaten. Grandpa and Grandma have come and gone, and now we are trying to recover from too much sugar and junk food! We enjoyed our visit with Roger’s parents, and the weather was beautiful on Christmas Day. Roger, his dad and the kids went to the baseball park for a while, and I was able to get in a short walk. We visited on the phone with my parents for a bit too. We had a relatively quiet Christmas as far as gifts for our kids. Since we are going on a family vacation in January, we told the kids that they would just pick names for each other and they’d each get a gift that way. We all picked names for each other and the kids do the shopping for the name that they picked (with some help from mom and dad!). It’s interesting to me to see what they pick out for each other. As they’ve grown and matured, we progressed from picking things out at the Dollar Tree (nothing wrong with that!) to picking out shoes, a hockey stick, a doll, etc. I do enjoy spending time with the kids as we Christmas shop, and I hope that Roger and I have impressed on them the importance of the real reason for Christmas! Gifts, lights, cookies, treats, special events are all fun and exciting, but without Jesus we’d have no hope for eternity! I’m so thankful that Jesus came to be the “Light of the World”. 

It’s hard to believe that our Christmas break is wrapping up in just a few days. I wish I had had a bit more time to savor the moments, take longer walks, and do a few more things, but I’m thankful for the break from school. It was beginning to feel overwhelming and over stimulating those last few days of school, and I can recognize in myself when the tentacles of depression start to creep in. Roger and I have had some long conversations over break about the future and what that might look like for our children. With Garett approaching his last year in school soon, we are quickly recognizing that our time is running out to spend these amounts of time with him. I feel like there is so much more that I want to teach him or that I want him to be prepared for or informed about in life. But above all, I want each of our children to recognize their need for Jesus in their lives in a real and personal way. The burdens sometimes seem really heavy these days, but we can lean on Jesus. 

I do have plans to write an updated newsy letter for our family and send out a picture, but it’ll probably happen around Easter! I like to write the letter every year because I like to re-read them over the years. 

We hope you all had a wonderful Merry Christmas! 

A Hundred Thoughts and Memories

 Merry Christmas! (I feel like I don’t have enough hours in the day right now, so I better say Merry Christmas first!) It’s hard to believe that it is already December, and it’s been so warm around here! Today (Sunday, 12/3) it was about 76 degrees! This Northern girl has a hard time remembering that it’s December when it’s so warm outside!

The boys (and Roger) had a wonderful time hunting up in Wisconsin over Thanksgiving break. They are already making plans for next year, and they’d like to make it a yearly tradition! I don’t know about that, but I’m glad that they had a great time. Travis got two doe and Chandler also shot a doe. That was exciting for Travis as I figured he was the least likely to get a deer as sitting still isn’t his favorite! Roger said that he’s never seen two deer act so dumb as those two doe that Travis shot, but I think God was showing His love and grace to Travis. They arrived in Wisconsin on Sunday afternoon, ate lunch, and went hunting. Travis sat in the deer stand with Roger, and eventually the first doe came into sight. Travis got his gun all lined up for the shot, and then leaned over to Roger and whispered, “Is this gun gonna kick hard?” Roger said he had a hard time not chuckling, but Travis shot the doe right through the lung. Since there was still some daylight left, and the deer dropped right down, they waited a little longer. About twenty minutes later, another deer walked into sight. The doe stopped about ten feet from the first dropped deer, so Travis shot that one! We were excited for him, and the next morning Travis slept in while the other boys got up to go hunting. He was pretty excited to have something to smugly remind his brothers that not only had he shot the first deer, he shot two deer! The next morning, Monday, Travis sent me a text from my mom’s phone. He said, “I’m smiling and you’re crying. I’m not at school, but you are. Love, Travis” Ahh! That boy! It was really, really good for him to have a few days off of school and be away from the stresses that he’s been facing. It was a good week for all of the boys, and they had a great time with my parents. My mom said that she had forgotten how much the boys could eat on a regular basis, and I just laughed. Our grocery bill was much lower that week with it just being Emma and I! We are so thankful that the boys had this opportunity to spend time hunting and with my parents. Education is important, and I absolutely believe that. But I also believe that life experiences, family, and relationships are also important. God is so good to allow the boys to have this privilege to travel to Wisconsin, and they’ll forever treasure the memories. 

Emma and I also enjoyed Thanksgiving break. It was nice to have a little bit slower pace and to savor a few special moments with just one child. It was a weird week as our friends, the Everett’s were gone, the boys were gone, Roger was gone and Jen left on Wednesday for South Dakota. I wasn’t sure what we were going to do for Thanksgiving dinner, but I figured that even if we had just cereal, it was gonna be fine with me! However, my friend, Laura Guelfi, invited us over to her house for Thanksgiving dinner. That was a nice change for me as usually it’s my house that’s a bustling place on Thanksgiving day! It was nice to go over to their house, enjoy dinner and fellowship, and help clean up, and then go home. I’m thankful that they extended hospitality to Emma and I, and we are so very blessed to have friends to give thanks with and for. 

Emma and I did go do some Black Friday shopping! We went to Michael’s art/craft store as I needed some supplies for the 500+ ornaments that the kids are making for gifts for their parents. Such is the life of a teacher- buy it when it’s on sale! But Emma and I ran into some freinds during our lunch at Chick-fil-a and Emma was thrilled to have lunch with another little girl from school. That was the highlight of her day, and I’m glad that God orchestrated that detail for Emma. 

The boys got home on Sunday afternoon, and we whipped right into a busy and full week of school! We are on the countdown to Christmas break, but these are some long and full days with cheer practices, basketball practices for three of the boys, and the endless job of trying to keep up with all the school work and projects that are due. We’ve been very busy in the art room, and while my regular art assistant is filling in for another teacher, we’ve been busy! I am thankful for the TA’s that help on Monday and Tuesday with art as we’ve been in the middle of a million pieces of popsicle sticks, hot glue, pictures and ribbon! I’m thankful for help that is willing to pitch in and do whatever is necessary! 

It was a mentally exhausting week for me. It felt like a dogfight to get up and go to work towards the end of the week, and I don’t like that feeling. We’ve faced some pretty serious attacks from Satan head-on this past week, and I’m still waiting for God to work out the details of what His perfect plan looks like. To be completely honest, Friday was a terrible, horrible no-good very bad day. Laura and I were both in tears on the bus ride back to school, and an older, much wiser coach looked at us and said, “You gotta let it roll like water off a duck’s back. Just remember Jesus loves you and press on.” It’s not that easy for me, but after going home and talking through a lot of it with Roger, I was able to get back up on Saturday morning and head to the basketball tournament. Chandler was playing in the tournament this past weekend, and they had a 9:00am game, which meant an early morning departing from the school! Roger and Garett came along to the tournament, but Emma and Travis stayed with Aunt Jen. Wyatt was at Brody’s house. We got home around 2:00pm, and it was good to catch up on some household chores that badly needed attention! 

On Saturday evening, we had the opportunity to attend a “Night in Bethlehem” put on by a local church. We’ve been to something similar in Maine, but yet completely different! We met Jen and the Everett’s at the event at about 6:30pm. The church had set up  “Bethlehem” in a field complete with many shops that would’ve been in Bethlehem, camels, sheep, the Inn, the stable, etc. It was really a cool interactive experience for Emma especially but we all enjoyed it. The weather was beautiful, and it was a fun, free activity. The kids all enjoyed it, and it was a good reminder of why we celebrate the season. It’s not just about the Baby, but about the cross! I am so very thanfkul that Jesus was willing to come as a baby in a manger, but He didn’t stay a helpless baby. He is indeed the Risen King of Kings and Lord of my life. 

We had several families over for supper on Sunday night as well as to bake, cook, and create Christmas treats! Whew! It was the most chocolaty mess ever, but it was fun! The kids ran around outside, ate food, ran around some more, ate treats, and played hide-n-seek in the yard. About the time that the parents were ready to go, the kids had all disappeared! We spent some time looking for them, and then realized that they had walked down to the pond and around on the gravel road by our house. It was a flurry of activities with parents yelling for kids, car horns honking, and lots of excitement! Two of the neighbors checked in with us, but I was happy to tell them that the excitement was over. We had just temporarily lost 13 kids! Oh well! It was a fun memory and lots of baking, cooking, creating, and chocolate dipping! I am thankful for good friends to enjoy fellowship, laughter, and baking together. 

The Middle School Basketball team had a game on Tuesday evening, and with some scheduling arrangements with Laura and the cheer schedule, I did make it to his game. Roger was able to get off early enough to watch the game too, and it’s fun to watch that age play basketball. None of them are very good, but for the most part they work hard and have good attitudes. Travis has been able to have quite a bit of playing time the last two games, and he works hard at it. We are thankful for the coaches for his team, and that Travis has this opportunity to play. Chandler has had a few games also, but not quite a much playing time. He tends to get nervous in the game, but I think part of that is just lack of experience. He is learning a lot, and we are thankful for his coach also. 

This week Garett’s junior class is putting on a Christmas play, and wow- Garett has been stressed! He’s been in Christmas programs before and involved in lots of things on a stage, but this is a major responsibility for him, and he wants it to be well done. After many long conversations with him, helping him learn lines, and listening to him, we just told him that he is responsible for himself. He doesn’t like to be embarrassed and if he’s involved in something he wants it to be done well. So, he would appreciate your prayers for his class tomorrow night! 

We are coming down the homestretch to Christmas break, and this mama is looking forward to break. For the first time in many years, I don’t have a Christmas card to send out or a letter. That was hard for me to accept as I like to stay connected with people, and I like to get and receive mail. However, at the end of the day, it’s not a priority this year. But I do need to make cards at some point because we had our family pictures done! I think most of the 500+ art ornaments are done, and other than picking up two more pictures from Walmart, we are wrapping that project up too. Literally on Monday, we will be wrapping and packaging the ornaments during our art class time for the kids to take home. Most of the kids have been really excited about having a present to give to their parents, and it’s a way to help the students understand that Christmas is definitely not all about getting something! 

The cheer team is prepping for a pep rally on Friday, and whew! Laura and I have been working hard on a lot of details behind the scenes to help prepare for this, and we’d definitely appreciate your prayers! We want to glorify our Heavenly Father, encourage school spirit, have fun games, not have any injuries, and show a little Christmas spirit. (I think I’m tired already!) 

December is such an exciting month, but it can also be an exhausting month. I’m learning that I can’t do it all, and that sometimes, I just have to let things go. It’s okay that Emma’s clothes don’t always match - she picked them out herself. It’s okay that we won’t send out a Christmas card- listening to Garett’s concerns was more important. It’s okay that I didn’t get up all the Christmas decorations- we have a tree and the real reason for Christmas is Jesus anyways! I’m thankful that God is always faithful. I am thankful that regardless of my “feelings”, God never stops loving me. 

A favorite song of mine this Christmas season! Emmanuel, God with us!