The boys had their first soccer game/scrimmage on Monday. They had two practices last week, and then their first game this week. Chandler and Garett were so excited about playing on the team, and I’m glad that God brought them this opportunity. Not everything is roses, but there are many things that I can appreciate about this experience. Roger was able to sneak away from work for a little bit so he could watch the game, and I know the boys were thrilled to have their daddy there for the game. Our school team played another local school team, and although it was a rather informal game, the boys team did win! They were so excited, and we were happy for them too! It did make for a short evening as we had to go to the game directly after school, played the game, and then came home for supper, showers, Bible time, and bed! Whew! I’m thankful for crockpots and easy meals!
I also taught music class on Monday. It’s hard to believe but I’ve been teaching for a month now. The kids are progressing both on the music for the Christmas program and the handbells. I’ve been a bit challenged by the handbells groups, and I’m having to find some different ways to communicate what I’m looking for. I want them to learn to read notes, but for now we are working on following my lead, playing the bells together, watching for your specific color on the music, and did I mention...following my lead? We are making progress though as I can now recognize the song we are playing, or else I’m just really optimistic about it! We only have about nine weeks until the actual Christmas program, so I have a lot to pour into these young minds in a short amount of time. However, I’m pleased with their hard efforts and willingness to try what I ask them to do. It’s been a fun and tiring experience for me.
Tuesday was one of Roger's days off of work. It’s interesting to me that we are already in our
sixth-week of school, but Roger has yet to be off on a day when Emma is in school and we can have a REAL date. Surely, it will happen sometime this year, right? Not that I mind having Emma around as she is growing up so quickly. She learned a song about creation at school, and she has enjoyed singing it for us...a lot. The boys finally told her “We know that song! Did you learn anything else at school?” She replied, “No, I like this song.” (And perhaps she gets great delight out of annoying her brothers!)
Last Saturday I was able to spend the day with Hannah, my sister. She came down to our house for the day, and it was so good to see her and spend time with her. Time gets away from us as we are both busy, but I do treasure the memories that I have with her. Of course, I also forgot to take any pictures from the day! Oh well.
Last Sunday Roger had to work which makes the day a bit longer and harder for me. I also taught Childrens church on Sunday, and worked in the kids program on Sunday evening. It was a lot for one day; but I don’t teach Children’s church that often, so it was doable. I’ve been working with the preschool age group during our Sunday night kids program along with my friend, Allison. We have a good time with it, but it is definitely a lot of work. One thing I’ve learned over the years is that it is much better to be over prepared than underprepared!
Wednesday brought about a meeting with the parent group, grocery shopping for hot lunch, and another soccer game for the boys. It was a bit of a crazy day with a meeting in the morning, taking Roger lunch, picking up Emma, grocery shopping for hot lunch, picking up the boys, running home, browning ten pounds of meat for hot lunch, participating in the soccer game for the boys, and then our evening habits to prepare for the next day. It was a bit of insanity, but it was only in preparation for a very crazy day that was to happen on Friday! The boys did win their soccer game so that was fun, and I was thankful that I was able to get the meat browned for Friday’s hot lunch which was tacos.
On Thursday Roger had a day off...hooray! I took the boys to school and helped with a mailing that we are doing in preparation for our fall auction. Roger took Emma to get her hair cut. She enjoys this daddy/daughter date very much, and I love coming back to hear her talk about all he adventures with daddy. After finishing up the mailing, I headed home to get chili ready for Friday night. Our parent group has been planning a harvest dinner for Friday night. It’s an informal event, but an opportunity to mix and mingle as well as take up a love offering for the school board’s expenses. I knew that Friday would be a really crazy day with chapel, school pictures, ladies Bible study, hot lunch, decorating for the dinner, and helping the dinner to run smoothly. There would be no time for chili making on Friday! I had also planned to make an apple dessert for the harvest dinner, but Chandler said that he wanted to make one after school. So I agreed to help him with his recipe after school. After school we picked up the boys and went to visit an older couple from our church. It’s good for the kids to visit people, and I’m happy to have the opportunities to visit on the days that Roger has off of work. I’m glad we did it, but it did make for a bit of a longer afternoon. By the time we got home, I needed to finish putting the rest of the white chicken chili together, Chandler wanted to make his apple desert and it was about time for supper. I’m so thankful that Roger is willing to listen to reading, help with spelling words, and always thankful for simple meals like soup and sandwiches even if it’s twice in one week! Chandler worked hard on his apple recipe, and although it was a simple recipe, it was a new one, I rarely make recipes as they are written, so we did some tweaking to this recipe too. It looked and smelled delicious after it was done baking. Roger offered to take my huge nesco of chili over to the church since it wasn’t going to fit in the fridge. Since he was going to church already, I sent him with my crockpot full of taco meat, and a bunch of other stuff that we would need for Friday. He drove very smoothly because none of the chili spilled out of the nesco...thank the Lord!
And then there was Friday....I have been both looking forward and dreading this day all week! I told my friend, Allison, on Sunday night that it was going to be a crazy week and maybe we should skip this week all together. Of course, that’s not possible, and thankfully Allison and I managed to get through the whole week! Roger was working on Friday, which meant that the day would present more challenges than usual. I started off my day as I usually do with a cup of coffee, prayer and my Bible. The devil brought many disctractions along this morning, but I’m thankful for a moment to quiet my heart before the craziness.
After we arrived at school, I headed to the kitchen to plug in the crockpot with taco meat and figure out what needed to be done by lunch time. Did I mention how thankful I am for crockpots?! I headed up to the sanctuary to practice the piano for the chapel songs. Today was a day where I truly was grateful and thankful for the opportunity to play the piano. I always enjoy it, but sometimes the music seems to flow out from within me, and this morning was such an experience. It gave me another moment to meditate and think on the Scriptures, and to ask God to use me today. I did sneak out of chapel before it was over to head to school pictures. As the music teacher this year, I needed to have a picture for the year book. I arrived early to pictures so that I could be one for the first to be done with that. I then left school to pick up a few items I had forgotten for the event for tonight. Allison reminded me that the Patriots had won the football game the night before so it was “cheap coffee” day st Dunkin’ Donuts. Awesome! I really needed coffee today. I did the errands I needed to do, and made it back to school in time to catch some of the ladies Bible study. I was actually excited about going to the Bible study as I Knew the day would be busy, but I can also recognize that sometimes we can get a great blessing out of things we don’t want to do. And what a blessing it was to sit, read, and discuss The Word of God. I had to sneak out early so that we could be ready for hot lunch. The kids really seem to enjoy taco day, so I knew that most of the students and staff would be eating hot lunch. The mom that works with me for hot lunch is great at seeing things to do, pitching in wherever needed, and helping hot lunch run like a well oiled train. We also have a lady from church who comes faithfully every Friday to help with the lunch. Generally, I do a lot of the prep work at home, we heat it at school, serve it and clean up. Lunch is at 11:30 and we are usually cleaned up and ready to walk out the door by 12:20...it’s a very smooth production!
Lunch time was done and cleaned up by 12:20, and it was time to work in getting ready for the harvest dinner. The lady from church, Sharon, watched Emma while I took tacos to Roger for lunch. When I got back from that we finished setting up for the evening. The decorations were simple,but festive. It all came together very nicely, and I’m so thankful for all the moms that helped decorate, make food, prepare apple desserts, and work together.
Since the boys have piano lessons on Friday, I knew that it wouldn’t be worth our time to go home. They had piano lessons while I finished up some last minute projects for the harvest dinner. We went up seating for about 85 people, and God brought people to fill those seats. It was truly a blessing to see families, church members, and people from the community come together to visit, share a meal, and perhaps give a donation to the School. We had about twelve different apple desserts in our apple bake off contest. Each person was given the opportunity to sample three of four that looked appealing and then place their ticket in the basket for the one they liked the best. It actually worked out smoothly, but I did have a moment of panic as I wasn’t sure it was going to come together. However, every one really seemed to enjoy themselves, and Chandler won the dessert contest! That was one excited boy! He won a basket with an apple peeler, a gift card, a Taste of Home magazine, a pie dish, and some dish towels. I mentioned to him that the mother of one of his friends was looking for an apple peeler, and Chandler decided he would give the apple peeler that he had won to her. We already have one at home, and it was nice to see him be so generous with his gift. The funny thing is that the basket and the magazine had already come from our house, but as Chandler was examining his treasures at home, he remarked, “Mom, this is a really neat basket. I like this!” I didn’t tell him that it had come from our house to start with!
The event started at 5:30 pm, and we were on our way home by 7:30! People stayed to help clean up and many hands made light work. I was thrilled to be home so early, and I was actually quite tired! Roger made it to the harvest dinner a bit late, but he was able to come. We had plenty of food, but not an exorbitant amount of leftovers. The planning and preparation paid off, and I’m thankful for all those that worked to make this event happen. (I’m also glad it’s behind me!)
Travis’s Bible verse this week was the following: James 4:6 “But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but he giveth grace unto the humble.” It’s been a good reminder for me this week to as I interact with my children, try to point them to Jesus, and practice the verse with Travis. I’m thankful for God’s everlasting love, abundant mercy, and never failing grace. We are so blessed!
I apologize that the days are a little out of order, but I couldn’t figure out how to fix it quickly!
Love, Sarah
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