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!
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