Spring!!

 

We may still have about six weeks of school left,  but we’ve made it through testing week!! So basically the school year is about over, in my opinion! Travis struggled through the testing last week, but he did finish it all. The problem that we are seeing is that Travis is a good test-taker. This is a problem as we have a meeting with the special education department from the school district next week. They like to look at mostly the testing scores and because Travis will test as an “average” first grader, we probably won’t receive much (if any) help in continuing his education. I struggle with this as it would appear that since Travis doesn’t misbehave, isn’t wild and out of control in the classroom, and is testing average, there is clearly nothing wrong with his learning skills! This is wrong for a myriad of reasons among them being that how Travis responds to testing is not what we see in the classroom and at home! He struggles with anything with education thus far, and he’s in first grade! So far I have not been too impressed with the special education team from the public school that is supposed to be coming alongside the Christian School, but maybe they will surprise me at the meeting next week, right? Please be in prayer for that meeting. We need grace and wisdom, clarity of thought, and I want to know how I can help Travis succeed a little better at education.

Just an example of testing last week: Testing started on Monday. Travis came home on Monday afternoon just plain exhausted. I could tell because he was weepy about everything, and generally he’s pretty tough. He also seemed to have forgotten his “common sense” skill as he proceeded to dump a whole bottle of cleaning solution on the living room floor! Why? Well, he was needing an ice skating rink so he could slide around in his socks! It wasn’t my finest hour in my response, and the more I asked him “why” the more emotional he became. We cleaned up the mess and he said, “I just don’t even have a brain!” My heart broke. His brother (G) replied, “Well, we think you have one. We just don’t think you used it!” Not helpful, Mr. G! Go away! I sat with my young son and apologized    for being upset with him. I began to realize how hard of this is for him. I explained with intent that God had indeed given him a brain. Just because someone is not educationally smart does not mean that they are not a smart person. God gave all of us different strengths and weaknesses. Some of us have to work harder at certain areas than others. I wish I had a good solution on how to encourage him, but honestly, all I can do right now is pray hard and love that little boy!

Roger had off work on Tuesday so my friend, Allison, and I took at trip to Augusta. We have a grandparents luncheon coming up in two weeks, so we needed to get supplies for the kitchen and table decorations. It was a whirlwind trip to get everything done and back to school in time for pick up, but we did it. The funnest part was just spending time together. It’s hard to have a lengthy    conversation with her as we are both busy with families, church and school. We went to Target, Sam’s Club and the Christmas Tree shop. The Christmas tree shop is actually a store that has a large variety of items. They have table decorations, household items, food, home decor, etc. Oh, and at Christmas time they do have decorations for Christmas. The name of the store threw me for a loop when we first moved out here as I assumed that the store was full of Christmas items year round, and probably full of expensive ornaments. It’s actually nothing like that! It was a fun day spent with a good friend!

The rest of the week was busy with helping Garett and Chandler’s class with a project, shopping for hot lunch, preparing for hot lunch and helping organize a bridal shower for a lady in our church. Hot lunch last week was make-your-own sub and picnic food. So it wasn’t exactly a “hot” lunch, but it  was a picnic. We sent up the tables outside, and the kids had a good time making their own subs. I certainly haven’t minded helping out with hot lunch, but I am glad to see the light at the end of the tunnel...only about six more!

On Friday after school, Allison and I set up the fellowship hall for the bridal shower. It is so much fun to see it all come together! Sometimes I get ideas in my head, but when I try to make them work     in real life they are a total flop! We spent some time trying out a few ideas for table arrangements, but by the time our kids were down with piano lessons the fellowship hall was ready to go.

Roger was working on Saturday, so I wasn’t sure exactly what I was going to do with our kids during   the shower. I called Terri (Roger’s bosses’ wife) and also a friend to see if she would be willing to watch the boys and Emma while I did the shower on Saturday. She was happy to do it for me, so I dropped the boys off at the airport on Saturday a little before noon. Terri took them to lunch at McDonald’s, then to the Transportation museum, and also for a walk on the beach! I am so thankful that she was willing to take the kids, and they were very excited to spend time with her. Terri said that the boys were very well behaved (Emma too), and she was happy to take them with her. It was certainly a blessing to me!

The shower was very enjoyable. Planning and coordinating these types of events are things that I enjoy doing. Sometimes I do certain service events because help is needed, not because it’s necessarily something that I enjoy. We had about 25 ladies attend the event, and Leslie seemed so happy with the shower. We played a few simple games, enjoyed food, had a good time of fellowship, and enjoyed watching Leslie open up her gifts. That girl ran away with the gift cards to T.J. Max! I don’t think she got a gift card to anywhere else and she probably was given about fifteen of them! Word had gotten out that she enjoyed shopping there, and she can now enjoy those gift cards for a while!! How fun!

I picked up the kids afte the shower, and I talked with Terri for a bit. The kids have invited Kevin and Terri to the grandparents brunch next Friday, and they are going to come. The boys are very excited to have them come! We got home around 4:00, and I was able to get in a short run. I also talked with one of my friends from Wisconsin, Beka. It was good to have a lengthy conversation with her, and it was a reminder to stay faithful with where I am. Sometimes in church and ministries it’s easy to ask the same people over and over again to do soemthing. I don’t think that is wrong in and of itself, but sometimes we miss giving someone else a blessing by asking them to help. Don’t get me wrong, I am guilty of the same thing! But as Beka and I talked we both realized that there are certain ministries or areas that we help out/serve in but are not necessarily what we’d love to do. But perhaps the things we see ourselves enjoying or being good at are ministries that someone else is already  in charge of and doesn’t seem inclined to include us. I’m not complaining (okay, maybe a little) but sometimes the things I do are because I feel like they are  ministries that perhaps someone else doesn’t want to do. I told Roger recently that there are areas that I’d be more than happy to hand off and take on one that I’d really want to do. But sometimes I feel like the only thing I can do is do a really good job at what  I’ve been handed or asked to do, and hope that perhaps someday I’ll have the opportunity to take part more in something that is my passion or real interest. Guess what Roger's response was? He gently reminded me that perhaps an area that I’m serving in because there is a need is something that someone hopes that someday they’ll be able to serve in. If you’ve managed to survive all that  mumble jumble, basically I was reminded of the need to look around me and to work to include others where possible. Perhaps there are some people that want to serve and they are just waiting to be asked!

Sunday was a full day,as always. Roger had to work on Sunday, but he was able to get away to help  me with the children’s Sunday school program. We are in our third week of having a Sunday morning     Opening with the children. We sing songs, teach them a Bible verse, give them a short missionary  lesson, and then send them to their classes. I feel like it is going very well, and Roger and I have enjoyed working together again in ministry. I did Childrens church also, and Allison assisted me. We have about thirteen kids in a rather small space, so I’ve been having to get creative about incorporating a review game that doesn’t take up a lot of space. We started our series on Sunday School Charlie, and I think the kids are going to enjoy that. It is a great story, and one that I have taught many times, from Wisconsin to Alaska and now in Maine. I was thankful for Allison’s help as we do have a few children that provide some interesting “dynamics” to the class. Following the church service, we had a church dinner and a business meeting. My kids asked to go outside during the meeting, so they stayed outside. I wasn’t able to stay for the whole meeting as I have to be careful on how I use my time. I have four classes of music to teach on Monday mornings,  so it’s important that I am prepared.

Roger was coming in the driveway about the time that we were headed to church for the Childrens program....three weeks to go! (Then the program is over for the summer) Chadler was the only one who wanted to go with me, and the other four kids stayed home with Roger. We normally don’t give our children an option about whether or not they are going to church. However, as we age as parents we realize that our time spent with them is also important. The kids have not seen much of Roger lately as the weather has been nice, so we felt it was fine for them to stay home with him. Chandler came with me, which also meant he had to go grocery shopping! It was supposed to be a short grocery trip after church as I have my list and coupons ready to go. However when we checked out  , the computer couldn’t handle all the coupons and the whole computer crashed! We had to wait for the computer to reload and then try it again. Thankfully, it did work so I guess it was worth it since we saved 57%.

On Monday while on the way to school, we were discussing how the previous  week had been testing week. Chandler commented that he didn’t mind the testing, and it was kinda fun. I asked Garett what his opinion was on the matter. He replied, “It’s really not my pot of coffee, Mom.” I stared at him until I realized that what he meant was “not my cup of tea!!!” I got a good chuckle out of it, and it brightened our day. The day before,  after church,  Emma was looking for her shoes. She kept telling me that her shoes were in the “poo”. I was completely confused until I realized that she was saying that her shoes were in “the pew”!

The boys had a job to do after school on Tuesday. They had asked an older gentleman at church if he had some work for them to do. He employed them to pick up sticks in his yard for an hour after school. It wasn’t very hard work, but the boys had taken the initiative to ask him if he had any work for them to do. They had done some yard work for him last year, so Chandler and Garett talked to him last Sunday. The boys made a few dollars and it was a good opportunity for them. I’m thankful for older folks who are willing to let our kids work for them.

On Wednesday, May 2, the weather was beautiful! You could practically see the grass grow and the buds develop on the trees. We’ve been getting to school by 7:30 this week as I am doing before school watch outside. The teacher who has that responsibility this week has not been feeling well. It’s been hard for her to go outside. Since our kids are generally up early, I offered to do it this week so  the kids could play outside in the mornings. It’s not been too much of a problem to get there by 7:30,  but of course, when you HAVE to be there by 7:30, it is a bit of a challenge!

Roger had the day off on Wednesday, and he took Chandler out of school for the day. Chandler has really been struggling with a kid in his classroom, so much that he asked me to homeschool him next year! While I agree this child can be a bit of a challenge, Chandler also needs to learn how to get along with difficult people. You see, difficult people show up in everyone’s life. They have a different face when they are in their teens, twenties, thirties, and so on, but difficult people don’t go away! It’s important to learn how Christ wants us to respond. Roger and I do not generally pull our kids out of school as that’s soemthing that has to be paid for, but there are exceptions. Chandler has been showing signs of stress and aggression at home, so Roger arranged to take him fishing. Oh wow! Chandler was so excited to spend the day with Roger and to do his favorite thing! He was up at 5:05am, waiting to go fishing. The other boys were disappointed that they had to go to school, but Roger is going to try to take each of them on a special day with him before the end of the school year. Garett has already said that he would like to spend his day flying;  Wyatt said that he wanted his day on a Saturday as he doesn’t want to miss school; Travis has a whole list of things he’d like to do including go-carts and golfing, but NO fishing! So many different personalities in our children! It’s important that Roger set these date days up now, because the busy season is coming! I would rather have the boys miss a day of school now than to use up Rogers days off during the summer as those are very valuable family days! I know that Roger would not probably choose to spend all day fishing, but he and Chandler did have some important discussions, and it was time well spent. Unfortunately, they did not catch any fish. The water is still really cold here, so the fish aren’t biting quite yet.

Roger and Chandler were still gone after school, so I took the kids for a walk in the breakwater. Allison brought her girls to and we had a nice walk out to the lighthouse. The day was beautiful and warm, but we didn’t realize how windy it was until we were walking on the breakwater. The waves were splashing over the breakwater resulting in a spray on us every once in a while. Allison, Emma, and I tried to avoid getting wet, but the rest of the six children worked to get as wet as possible and as quickly as possible! Thankfully, the sun was warm even if the water was cold! It was a fun time and we created another memory with friends in Maine.

The students st the school are doing bowling for gym class for the next several weeks. I wasn’t planning on going as gym class in on a Thursday, and Emma does not have school on Thursdays. However, when I was asked if I would come along and help tie shoes and keep score for the younger classes, we did. It was a fun morning to watch the kids bowl as some were fairly good at it and a few not so much. I’m thankful for these opportunities to interact with our kids even if it meant not as many things done at home. However, Emma and I had a productive morning the rest of the day as we worked around the house. Our church is hosting a give away sale in a few weeks. It’s like a rummage sale, except everything is free. It’s also a great opportunity for me to clean items out of our home that we don’t need or want! Hooray!

That wraps up another week. We appreciate your prayers and love. Love, Sarah