Almost to Spring Break!!!

These are busy days with full hearts and minds, tired bodies, and a final push as we enter the last nine school days until Spring Break! We are looking forward to a break from school, a break from baseball practices, and a break from early morning hours of getting up. This mama is looking forward to sleeping in a little bit over spring break- like at least until 7:30am! 

This past week brought helping with a bridal shower last Sunday, preparing for choir as the choir will sing this Sunday, fellowship with some friends after Sunday night church, tutoring, achievement testing for the kids, LONG hours of baseball practice, two baseball games, Wednesday night church, two days of running/walking with some friends, and just the daily day-to-day moments. 

Last Sunday afternoon I helped out with a bridal shower for some friends of ours. Mostly I just helped with decorating, cleaning, serving food, and putting stuff away. It was a full afternoon as I didn’t leave the shower until 2:30pm, and then back to church at 5:00pm for choir practice. After Sunday night church, we had the Everett’s over for supper and fellowship. Our kids can spend hours shooting hoops in the driveway, playing games, talking, eating, playing some more and more eating! I have faint memories of my parents having friends over after church when I was young and the nights of popcorn and games and laughter. I feel like we are creating that for our own children, and it’s been good for them. The Everett’s and Roger and I just kinda rotate houses on Sunday nights or we’ll switch it up and go out for ice cream or something. The hours of fellowship are sweet and dear, and in our technology driven world, I feel like it is becoming increasingly important for our children to have real and tangible relationships with people. I know we’re weird, but none of our kids have any social media accounts, Garett has a phone that will only call and text people (and I can look up all the texts), and we are okay with living our lives like that! The nights of Sunday fellowship with no one needing a phone or technology are instrumental in showing our children that real relationships are important! Okay, hopping off my band wagon now! 

On Monday after school, I did a little bit of running/walking with my friend, Tamela. Since we have to be there most afternoons waiting for baseball practices to end, we might as well try to be productive about it! I enjoyed running cross-county in college, kinda got away from running with having four kids in four years, got back into it, life, and running/walking just kinda weaves it’s way in and out of my life. I like to exercise, and on Monday afternoon I needed to work off some pent-up stress. I had had a rough day with trying to figure out how to help a student, and I was weary. Walking/running with Tamela definitely helped me work through some of that brain fog- at least enough so I could figure out a supper plan! 

The school had achievement tests this week. Our favorite part about the week was that there was NO HOMEWORK! I am not a fan of homework, and I doubt I’ll every change my mind. We have a few kids that really struggle with school academically, and Travis has had his third rough school year in a row, not just academically. We continue to pray that God will show Himself strong and mighty to Travis. He could use a special dose of encouragement in his life, and I don’t always know how to help him with that. It’s hard to know how to help the kids that are quietly struggling, and don’t make a ruckus in class, but so often have to absorb the consequences of other students that don’t make the right choices. Please pray with us that Travis will understand the school work, but also that his young heart will be encouraged. So many things are hard for him, and being on the tail end of three older brothers also has it’s challenges. Please just pray for him. 

All the boys had a baseball game on Tuesday so it was a full afternoon. The younger boys play on the middle school team, and to be honest, they aren’t very good. However, this is the first year that the school has had a middle school team in a while, and with every game they get a little better. It’s discouraging to lose, but for the most part, they have good attitudes. They seem like they are enjoying it. The younger boys also had a game on Friday afternoon, and so did the older boys. However, the younger boys were playing at home and the older boys were playing about an hour away from the school! There was no way to be in both places at one time. I decided to go to the younger boys game since they have less games in their season, and I knew my friend, Laura, would take good care of my older boys at the other game. 

The older boys aren’t enjoying the baseball season as much as I would’ve hoped or liked, but that’s the way that life is sometimes. Sometimes you commit to something and then find it that it’s not all that you thought it would be. I think part of the struggle is that we actually like to be home. I’m a very, very firm believer in the fact that kids need to be kids. They need time to wallow in the dirt, go fishing, fix a dirt bike, fight with each other (insert eye roll here), mow grass, do chores, play,  and all other kids of activities. But if children don’t get enough time to actually be children, do you know what you end up with? You end up with fighting. Yes, just fighting. We savor these Saturdays at home to allow the kids to have some unscheduled time in their lives. It’s hard when you leave for school at 7:00 am, school is done at 3:00pm, baseball practice starts at 3;15, baseball practice ends at 6:30pm, home at 7:00pm, supper, homework, shower, Bible time and bed. Yup, I see pent-up energy and unnecessary stresses. But good news- spring break is coming! And then there’s only a few more weeks of school! Oh, praise Jesus! So we encourage, press-on, and perhaps plan a little differently for next time. 

This past Wednesday, Wyatt wasn’t feeling that great so we allowed him to stay home. Roger has been working every day (he did have off last Sunday due to rain), and I didn’t feel like I could miss school. Wyatt didn’t sleep well and then woke up with a headache. He stayed at home, and he did fine. I’m sure it was a very boring day, but it is what it is! Wednesday is also the day that report cards came out! So off we went to Krispy Kreme after school with the Everett kids. Krispy Kreme will give out a doughnut for every “A” on the report card. Some of my tribe didn’t have very many “A”s, but between all our kids (except Wyatt) the kids had 28 donuts! Laura and I both had one, and the kids brought home 5! So basically, they scarfed down a bunch of donuts!! Haha! Oh well! Laura took two of my kids home with her for the afternoon, and I took one of hers home with me. We’ve stopped figuring out who has who’s kids as long as the total number we need to have is right! Since we were coming back for Wednesday night church, we knew that we’d get all the kids back to their respective parents eventually. 

On Friday, one of Laura’s kids stayed with me for the home game, while she went to the game and brought home our two older boys. The middle school team lost 0-15, but the varsity team did win. Chandler didn’t get to play so that’s always disappointing and part of growing up. Garett did get to bat. He did strike out, but he did get to try. Wyatt did catch a great pop fly during the middle school game, and that was fun to watch. I do see improvements in their playing skills. I do feel for kids that spend a lot of time on the bench. It’s a hard to watch kids constantly sit the bench who also pour hours into practice not get into the games. We will see what happens as we continue to move forward.  

Roger has had to work most weekends unless it rains. He was able to come home a little early on Saturday  and the Everett’s came over for dinner and a fun game of softball. We took all our kids to the park to play softball. Since we have 12 people between our families, it was six versus six. The adults had a good time. Some of the kids didn’t enjoy losing and seem to think that the mistakes were all someone else’s fault. Ha! The truth of the matter is that we all made plenty of mistakes, but we had lots of laughter and fun along the way. Next time we will have to find a few more families to play with us as a few more players would help the game move along. We had a great time, it was a beautiful afternoon, and we have enjoyed making memories. 

Roger had to work on Sunday, but the rest of us were at church at 8:30 am, for choir practice. The older boys are doing quite well at adapting to singing in a choir. Garett hears the notes a little easier and Chandler does better when he stands next to someone who can sing the right notes in his ear. But they’ve not complained, and they come to choir practices with me every week. It did rain on Sunday afternoon, so Roger was able to make it home in time to come for Sunday night church. Our pastor was out of town, so there weren’t very many people there for Sunday night church, but we did get a blessing. We live in a land where we have the privilege to attend church freely, and I want to treasure that freedom. Sometimes we have dinner with someone in our home, extend hospitality to someone or go visit someone on Sunday nights. 

We’ve had some real and deep conversations with our older children in recent days. I’m constantly reminded of how depraved our world is becoming as people reject God and His Word. These are challenging times that we live in and sometimes I feel overwhelmed. But, as I read God’s Word, bathe our children in prayer, and cry out to Jesus, I am reminded that God created them for “such a time as this”. Our children are created in God’s image and He loves them. He desires for them to love and serve Him, but He will not force His way into their lives. We pray for God to work in the lives of our children that they will be softened to the Holy Spirit and yield to His control. 

Here’s another song that I really like: 

 

It’s been a chilly week to welcome the official start of baseball season! This past week we hosted a family and friends event at our house, began spring cleaning, choir practice, dinner with friends, baseball practice, a game, a visit from some of Roger’s family, more baseball practice, sick kids, more baseball practice, another game, impromptu dinner with friends, suit shopping, and life! 

Last weekend there were a bunch of teens from our church/school that traveled to the mountains for a ski/tubing retreat. We never really entertained the thought of letting the boys go because at over $200 per kid that adds up really quickly! None of our boys seemed too bothered by the thought of not going, but we decided that we would have a few other families with teens over to our house on Friday night. There were a few families that also hadn’t sent their kids, so we invited whomever we knew wasn’t going to the retreat to come to our house for tacos, games and fellowship on Friday night. I think there were about 16 kids and 10 adults at our house- surprisingly, there was also plenty of food! It was a bit of a cooler/rainy day, but the kids still tromped around outside for a good bit of time. We played that card game with spoons, a couple other games, but mostly we just visited and fellowshipped. It was a fun night for all, I think. The best part was that we didn’t have to get up and go anywhere on Saturday morning, so we got started on some spring cleaning projects! That was not the favorite part of the weekend for our kids, but it was very productive! 

Roger is on his fire schedule, so that means that he works on the weekends. However, it was rainy last Saturday, so he unexpectedly got the day off on Sunday! Yay! The younger kids were appreciative as that meant that they could come into church with Roger and not have to be there so early for choir. It did feel like an early morning with the whole “spring forward” thing! But we made it to choir practice even if it did feel dark, rainy and early! It actually did snow for a few brief moments on Sunday morning. It was interesting to see all the people at the windows peering out at the few flakes that were falling! We had a family over for dinner on Sunday afternoon. I had made two pans of lasagna, and we were happy to have some dear friends over to enjoy the afternoon with. 

Monday was another long day of school, baseball practice, and the drudgery of Mondays! But we made it through by the grace of God. I’ve been walking/running a few times a week after school with some other moms as we wait for practices to be over. It’s been a good opportunity to use our time wisely. I’ve also been tutoring a few students after school twice a week, so my days have been full per usual. I’ve resorted to fast and easy meals like grilled cheese sandwiches, things that can go in the air fryer, cereal, and eggs and toast. No one has starved, and I’m thankful that the kids are pretty easy going as long as we eat something! 

On Tuesday the boys had their first official baseball game on both the varsity and middle school teams. It was really cold (for North Carolina!)  Also, we had a surprise visit from Roger’s parents and his brother, Dale. The middle school baseball team played at 3:00pm, and the varsity team at 4:30pm. The middle school team lost 2-10 (I think), but the varsity team won 15-0. It was a cold afternoon to watch baseball! It was after 6:00pm when we left the field. Thankfully, Roger’s parents picked up pizza on the way home, so we could eat and visit a bit. The boys were excited to listen to Dale talk about some of his adventures in Japan over the past few years. It was good to catch up with family for a little bit, and these memories are special. I knew it would be a bit of a later night, so I asked my administrator if I could come into school a little bit later on Wednesday. She graciously agreed, and that was a big blessing. My in-laws and brother-in-law had to leave by 7:00am, but the kids didn’t even get up until around 8:30am, which is very late for them. We had a fairly easy and non-stressful  morning, and headed into school around 10:00am. It was nice to not have to rush out the door, and the kids appreciated it also! On Wednesday afternoon, I did tutoring and then we spent the afternoon at the Everett’s house. Garett and Wyatt had wanted to go to teen group, so I allowed them to go. I don’t always let the boys go because it makes for a long day and it’s not always as organized as I prefer, but we let them go. It was a good afternoon for all of us, and Roger got off work in time to meet us at church. 

Thursday was another full day with school, baseball practice and Garett getting sick. I felt like he was coming down with a cold on Wednesday night, but he went to school anyways on Thursday. Around 10:00am, he asked me if I could take him home. Well, I couldn’t take him home because I was doing library and then study hall. So I texted my friend, Laura, and said that I needed help! Immediately she asked how she could help. She came and picked up Garett and took him home. Garett was so glad to go home. His throat hurt, his nose was runny and he needed a nap. I’m so thankful for friends that will help me out with my kids! It was a blessing to have Laura be willing to take Garett home. After school, I spent some time walking with a few friends and waiting for baseball practice to be over. The middle school baseball team is usually done around 4:45/5:00ish, but the varsity team doesn’t get done until closer to 6:00pm. It makes for some very long days for all of us! Chandler isn’t sure that he will play next year as I think he misses the activity level compared to basketball and soccer. Garett seems to be enjoying it, and Wyatt and Travis are undecided yet also. The season is still young, and they have a lot that they would like to learn. 

Friday was another longish day with a middle school game and a varsity team game. I was so thankful that the sun was shining and we didn’t need to wear coats! The middle school game starts promptly at three, and I have a hard time making it out to the field for the start of the game. By the time I finish up with what I need to do at the school and get Emma, it’s usually about a quarter past three. However, we did make it out to watch part of the game. The weakest part of all of the boys seems to be the batting part and I think a lot of that is just lack of experience. When they play ball with Roger, they bat, but Roger doesn’t pitch like a pitching machine or as fast as the pitchers. However, we will just keep working at it. Wyatt and Travis both did get to start in the middle school game so that was fun for them. The Middle school team lost 4-8, but mostly Travis and Wyatt were just happy to have gotten to play. The varsity team won their game also (I don’t remember the score). Chandler has been starting in the left outfield position for the last few games, and he did catch a pop fly, so that was fun for him. 

After the game, Emma got to spend some time with her friend, Cynthia. The boys and I gathered up all our stuff to head home, but then we got an invite to have an impromptu dinner with some friends. I was going to say “no” because Roger still wasn’t home from work. But then Roger called and said that he had just gotten off of work, and he would meet us at our friends house. So we went to the Everett’s for dinner. We find ourselves doing things often with their family, and we’ve connected with them. Justin and Roger have had the opportunity to have a deeper friendship than most guy friendships, and Laura and I share the same passions about trying to raise kids for Jesus. Neither of us are doing life perfectly, but we are working imperfectly to point our kids to Jesus. Laura and I have had some hard and challenging conversations about parenting, teens, relationships, school years, and the struggles are real and deep in both of our lives. We frequently pray for each other’s children, and I have come to treasure our friendships with their family. God is good. He knew that Roger needed a friend that would encourage and challenge him. I’ve been praying for a good friend in North Carolina since before we moved to North Carolina. Making friends is not the challenging part for me, but finding deep connections is a bit more challenging. I need someone who will understand when I’m losing my mind, pray over my kids, tell me to fix something in my life, or just bring me coffee and give me a hug. Somehow in every state we’ve lived in, God has provided a close friend for me. I don’t always find them right away, and sometimes once we move, it might be months between texts or phone calls, but I do have several friendships that run deep. I know that God has blessed me abundantly. 

Today (Saturday) Garett and I had a date together. The kind of date that is not his favorite, but we succeeded! Garett needed a suit for a formal school event, and the event is two weeks is away. Suits are expensive, and our budget is limited. Our first stop was a consignment store where we found black dress shoes. Garett found a suit coat that I thought was a little small but Garett was already ready to be done shopping! I was like-“um, it’s going to take a bit!”. We ate lunch and then went to JCPenney. Garett found a great suit coat that fit him great and it was so much nicer than the first one he liked! We also found a dress shirt, and I found a coupon for the JCPenney purchases! Yay! Garett got the suit jacket for about $80.00. Then we went to our friends house (the Everett’s) to look at Justin’s suit coats. Because my plan was to return the one we just bought if one of Justin’s fit Garett. The suit coat didn’t fit as well as Garett would’ve liked, and I could tell that he liked the one we had bought at JCPenney. Justin did have a tie that would work great for Garett and a black belt. Whew! So we ended up heading back to the mall to look for dress pants, and we found some at Belk. The pants were more than we wanted to pay, but God is good and He provided a coupon via their website! So at the end of the day, Garett now has shoes, pants, shirt, suit coat, tie and belt for about $160.00. Garett was happy with how he spent his money, but he was probably happiest to just be done shopping! It was a bit longer than Garett would’ve liked to have spent looking, but since I’m a huge fan of saving money and coupons, it took a bit. It’s hard to believe that Garett is growing up so fast! Ahh…I’m not ready! 

We are done with the 3rd Quarter in school! Praise the Lord! Next week is Achievement tests for the students, so that always makes for an interesting week. Roger is keeping busy with fire season, and we are thankful for his job. It’s hard to believe that a year ago, Roger and I came down to view the job and check out the area. God has been faithful, constant, and He continues to provide for our needs. We are looking forward to spring break in a few weeks. Thank you for praying for us. Please continue to pray for our family. Also, please pray for the students in our school. Our country desperately needs Revival, and God can use our young people. I’m excited to see what God continues to do in our lives. We serve a big God, and I want to live my life with no regrets as we press forward to love God and love others. 

Here is another song that I really enjoy:  “Behold, Our God” 

Spring has Sprung! (At least for the moment!)

 

Spring is in the air! The students appear to have “spring fever”, and I think the staff and teachers are feeling it too! The problem is that we still have a whole quarter yet to go…plus two weeks! I am looking forward to spring break as much as our children are and perhaps even more! 

Last weekend (February 24-25), the older boys had their last varsity basketball tournament. The weather was beautiful! On Thursday it was about 80 degrees, and the trees had started to bud. The tournament was held on the beautiful college campus of Campbell University (it’s also a very expensive college to attend!). The tournament was held in their old historical gym, which means that it has no air conditioning! I would have never thought that we would need air conditioning in a gym in February, but it was very hot in that gym! The boys team had an 8:30pm game, so that was a late one for us! Unfortunately, they lost that game, which meant they played the following day on Friday. It was actually a mixed blessing because it meant that the boys played in a consolation game on Friday, but we didn’t have to come back to the tournament on Saturday. The boys basketball team also lost on Friday, and that wrapped up the season. Both boys are unsure about whether or not they’ll play next year. I hope that Chandler will continue to play through his high school years as he did improve so much this year. Garett? Well, he’s not sure that basketball is his thing. He stuck it out this year, but we will see what next year brings. 

After the basketball tournament was over for the boys on Friday afternoon, we hung around the college for a bit and watched the girls softball game. It was a fun time spent with our friends, the Everett family, and I’m thankful that I was able to take off of school on Friday to watch the boys play in the tournament. It was a busy and fun weekend, and it went by way too quickly!

This past week brought on a full week of  baseball practices!  I thought that basketball was a handful to manage, but baseball is a whole nother thing! With the four boys spread over two teams, it’s a challenge to figure out if we are coming or going! Thankfully, there’s another boy that lives out towards our home, so sometimes his family will bring the boys home. The baseball practices are longer than this mama would like, but no one asked my opinion. Thankfully, it does provide a lot of opportunities to walk and pray while the boys are at practice. I am very thankful for the warmer days and sunshine! 

On Wednesday, while I was in art class, i got a message saying that Emma wasn’t feeling well. That’s a bit unusual, so I went to check on her. I gave her some water and a snack, and she laid down in the library for a little bit. She seemed to be feeling a bit better, but she asked if I could take her home. I don’t usually leave school, but the art teacher said that she was happy to let me  take emma home. I think it might have been more for me than for Emma. Emma bounced back after a short nap and a snack, but I soaked up an afternoon nap, and it was great! I’ve been feeling a bit more tired than I like but I think a lot of it has to do with the change in Roger’s schedule to fire season. He now only has off on Tuesdays, so we have been adjusting to that. I’m not great at single parenting, and Roger has always been super helpful and involved with our children. He also helps pack lunches, supervise homework, and so much more. I certainly miss him when he’s gone a lot or has a really busy schedule. The advantage is that he can build up comp time that he can take off for the boys soccer games in the fall or other family days in the summer. So, it’s a mixed blessing time of year. 

Last Friday was Grandparent’s Day at the school. Jennifer (the other library person) and I decided to have a “Book Fair” to help build interest in the library and hopefully add some new books to the library. We worked at setting up our display on Thursday afternoon, and we were both happy with how it looked. On Friday, the school welcomed many, many grandparents! The students had been working on special selections to sing/recite for their grandparents, so it was a full morning. Following the program, then the grandparents could wander through the classrooms, take pictures with their grandchild, and browse the library display tables. Jennifer and I were kept busy working the library tables. It felt kinda like a yard sale…we’d have a whole bunch of people at once and then no one for a while. I was so thankful for all of Jennifer’s help as we helped grandparents select books, write donation tags for the books, and collect money. We made about $500.00 for the library, and we were both happy with that! We are going to be able to add some new books to our library, and that’s something to be excited about! 

The grandparent’s could sign out their grandchild if they wanted to on Friday, so by noon time, there were not very many students left in the elementary building. Grandparents day is for kindergarten thru 5th grade, and many grandparents did sign out their grandchild. It was a quiet afternoon in the elementary building, but I was thankful for that. It’s a long haul of many school days til spring break, so it was nice to have a “low-key” day. 

On Saturday morning, we could be found again on the school/church property. The varsity baseball team was having their first baseball games of the season. It wasn’t terribly warm, but the sun was shining! Roger had to work on Saturday, so it was a bit of a bummer that he wasn’t able to watch the boys play. Garett and Chandler both got to start the first game in the outfield. Chandler was hit with a baseball while up to bat, so he had quite a bruise on his back later that day. Chandler got to play in the second game, but Garett did not get in that game. He was a little disappointed, but he’s a good sport -most of the time. I’m thankful for his sweet spirit and gentle heart (as long as it doesn’t involve his brothers! Then he’s not quite as sweet as we’d like him to be!) Emma got to go to the Everett’s house to play for a while as the boys had another game later in the day. It was a full day of baseball! The boys team did win both their games, and they were playing against public school teams. It was a good way to start the season, even if it was a long day. The varsity team was supposed to have a game this week, but the team that they were supposed to play didn’t have enough players for a team. So, the next game is this coming Tuesday, which will find my younger boys playing at a different school while the older boys have a home game- oh, yes! This will be interesting! It’s the joys and challenges of having the four boys in four years! But I love these years- most of the time! Sometimes I find their attitudes challenging, their moods unpredictable, and appetites daunting, but I love the impulsive hugs, the smiles at school, the “thanks for the food”, the moments that I can soak up. These days are passing by altogether too quickly, and I don’t want to spend my days regretting how we spent them. 

We’ve enjoyed a lot of outside time during the last week as the weather has been beautiful! We’ve seen daffodils beside the road, I’ve had lots of walking time with some friends from school, and we are thankful for sunshine. It’s supposed to be much cooler the next few days, but other than the intense pollen in the air, we’ve had some beautiful spring weather. The kids have been selling candy bars for a school fundraiser, so that been a project too. On Sunday afternoon, we went over to our friends, the Everett’s to have lunch, play volleyball,  and we watched a movie together. I don’t know if you’ve every seen the moving “Running the Bases” but it was a great Christian movie about baseball and living for Christ even when it’s hard. I highly recommend the movie! 

Also, the older boys and I are singing in the church choir, so that means some early Sunday morning practices for us. Actually, it means we all have to be at church by 8:30am, as Roger is working these Sundays as of late. Garett is learning to find his part, and Chandler is doing it mostly because I asked him too. He struggles a bit more to hear his part, but some of that can be helped with more experience- I hope! 

We do have a prayer request. Many of you already know that two of our boys struggle quite a bit with school. One son has an IEP (individual education plan) from the state of Maine. We recently learned that we could perhaps get some scholarship money for that son’s education. However, the first deadline to apply is already past, and we need an IEP from the state of North Carolina. We’ve begun the process  (again) of working towards getting two of our sons tested for learning challenges. This is always a bit of a stressful process for me, as I really want what is best for them, and the testing can be quite intense. While the scholarship money would be awesome, I really am pursuing this for the boys sake. School should be challenging, but I don’t believe it should be miserable. We should be challenge to work hard, but not so overwhelmed that it seems impossible all the time. Would you pray for us that we would have wisdom, discernment and that God will make the path clear for us? 

We are thankful for your continued prayers. Raising teenagers is hard. Raising kids to love and serve Jesus in a world that is more depraved every day is a challenge. I’m reminded often that God created these children for “such a time as this”. He knows my heart, and He loves our children more than I ever could.  We serve an amazing God. I know that I want to live every day to glorify my Heavenly Father, and sometimes I fail miserably. I’m grouchy about the laundry on the couch that needs folding, the peeps that constantly want to eat, the cleaning that never ends, disrespectfulness or complaining, and not enough sleep. But even in my worst moments, I have a Heavenly Father who reminds me that He is good and faithful and kind. May my life reflect that in some capacity to those around me. 

I really like this song. Oh how I need Him!