Another week in November is over! And it took me almost a week to write this post, so it’s already old news!
We’ve experienced more sickness, our first basketball game, a day off of school, fellowship at the pastor’s house, a fall sport finale, and a bike-a-thon! Last Monday, I wasn’t feeling great, but I managed to drag myself and five kiddos to school. It felt like a long day, but we made it through. The boys have been having basketball practice every night except Wednesdays, and it makes for some late evenings. We’ve started coordinating pick ups with another student who also plays basketball and that has helped a lot with trips to school. Roger and I also try to go together to pick up the boys so that we can spend some time together. Since one of us has to go to pick up kids, we might as well both go so that we can have some conversations with each other also.
On Monday evening (last week) I went to bed as soon as Roger and I brought the kids back from basketball practice. I wasn’t running a fever when I went to bed, but by 2:00am, I had a fever. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to go to school on Tuesday, so I sent a text to my administrator to tell them I wouldn’t make it in for school. I hate missing school because it puts us behind on our school bill, but I also knew that I was going to need some extra rest. By the time the kids were up and we were leaving for school, my fever was gone, but I was just really, really tired. I stopped to vote on the way to school so that I could have that done. I was voter #26 at 6:50am. I am always thankful for the privilege of voting, and while it often seems like lately the votes haven’t come out the way I’d choose, I know that God is still in control. Voting is also a reminder that I want to make sure that our children understand the importance of voting, taking part in campaigns, and doing our part to stand against the tide of evil. God is faithful, and He rises up and set down rulers. He is still at work in the lives of people, and I am confident that He will continue to do His plan. It’s easy to be discouraged and disheartened as it seems like evil runs rampant around us, but I can rest in the fact that God has a perfect plan for each one of our children and their future. He is not surprised.
After I dropped off the kids at school on Tuesday morning, I came home and took a four hour nap. It’s amazing what some extra rest can do! I felt like a new person, so I cleaned the house, did laundry and about 500 other things that needed doing around our house. It was a productive day. I went to get Wyatt, Travis and Emma at three pm, and the boys were invited to go to the basketball game with their friends, Gabe and Enzo. So Emma and I headed home to wait for Roger to get off work before going to the varsity basketball game. I wanted to be there to encourage them, but we didn’t make it until the varsity game. Unfortunately, the varsity boys lost their first game, but we have to start somewhere! Chandler and Garett both did get a chance to play in the game, so that was fun. We were not prepared for how late the night would be! It was about 11:30pm when we arrived home on Tuesday night! Needless to say, we will be rethinking our plan about away basketball games! We are thankful that they boys have have the opportunity to play, but we are definitely not late night people, so it’ll be interesting to see if the boys decided to try out for the team next year. But for now, we are committed to this year. We will see what God continues to do in and through the boys during this season.
Guess what? It was a short week last week due to Veteran’s day! We were certainly all ready for a day off of school, and it was nice to have minimal plans for Friday. We did some painting, house projects, took the boys to basketball practice, and spent a quiet day at home. We never get done what we think we are going to get done, but every time we do make progress. My parents are coming to visit next week, so we are trying to make some additional progress on our house. The painting is never done, and neither are the various projects, but we do make progress.
Chandler participated in a bike-a-thon on Saturday morning. He is trying to raise some funds for a Freshman trip that the youth group is going on. He would rather work for someone but we don’t know very many people to ask for funds or work. He did find a few to help him out with his trip, including my sister, and a new friend here in North Carolina. He did a lot of biking on Saturday, and he would’ve kept on biking but I told him that no one wanted to keep paying him for biking! He is closer to his goal for the trip though, and he would really like to not take money out of his bank account.
On Saturday afternoon, Roger worked with Garett on his car while I took three kids to a birthday party. The party was at a roller skating rink, and those places always feel like stepping back in time! Emma, Travis and Wyatt had a good time while I enjoyed the opportunity to sit and have adult conversation with Laura. I’m thankful that Gabe and Enzo and their family as well as extended family have become friends with our family. It’s nice to start to develop these important friendships in our lives here in North Carolina. Acquaintances are good, but we sure do savor the deeper friendships in our lives. I stay connected with a few friends from our travels across America- Alaska, Wisconsin and Maine, and I’m thankful for deep conversations and friendships.
Garett is getting much closer to being able to drive, and I know I’m not ready for this new stage of life! While it takes up a lot of time for us to run the kids to and from practice, I’m going to miss these moments of conversations in the car with our teens. I will never be able to understand why some parents seem to step back from their middle schoolers/teens rather than trying to spend more time with them! These moments are just so fleeting, and every day is a reminder that life is flying by. We are so blessed to be the parents to five great kids, but we are such a work in progress! Sometimes, the progress seems measurable and sometimes it feels like we are taking three steps backwards! Emma struggles to have good friendships, and Travis is just looking for a friend in his class! Garett is friends with everyone, but he doesn’t have a close friend. Chandler has a lot of friends, but he is selective in his deeper friendships. He’s kinda a loner in someways, but so far it’s probably kept him out of trouble. Garett is kinda looking forward to driving, and I’m confident that he will be a safe and cautious driver, but I’m just not ready for our kids to grow up so fast!
Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and we are looking forward to having a few days off of school. I love this time of year, but I don’t like how fast the time flies between Thanksgiving and Christmas! I want to do some baking, decorate our house, prepare some Christmas cards and do all the Holiday things! But for now, I’ll just keep making food for supper, painting, and living one day at a time. We have so much to be thankful for and I am so thankful for all that God has done for us. We are blessed.
These days are full with activities, memories, and life with teens and Emma! :) We are wanting to make the most of the moments and the memories. We do have a few prayer requests to share.
1) We are still praying for a good friend for Travis. A bad friend is worse than not having a friend, but a good friend can be such an encouragement to a weary heart. Emma could also use a good friend. Sometimes Emma gets a lot of attention from older girls, but it’s not always good attention. One of her brothers made the comment to Roger and I that he feels like the girls just want to be friends with Emma because the girls want to be friends with them (the boys). Pray for the protection of our son’s hearts as well as Emmas. We need healthy relationships in our lives, and so do our children.
2) Garett will be driving soon and this will be another transition for our family. I probably need the most prayer in this as I’ll be the one driving with Garett the most!
3) We need some parenting wisdom, which is nothing new, but parenting teens is a challenge. Actually so is parenting Emma! So we just need a lot of prayer!
4) Roger and I are facing some “stressors” in our life, and we need wisdom in how to adjust the sails and make changes or just keep on in the direction we are going.
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