September Moments and Memories

 The first day of fall has officially come and gone, and today we are experiencing temps in the high 80s! I’m not sure we’re ready for flannels, boots and pumpkin spice, but all those things are out in full force! 

September has been a busy month for our family as the boys have played on the school soccer team, Emma has been playing a little volleyball on Saturdays, plus all the other activities of the school year and season of life.  

The boys have been working hard a school and playing soccer. Roger has sacrificed a lot to be able to coach the boys soccer team, and while I don’t think the boys recognize that to the full extent, it has been a mostly good experience. We are not happy when we lose, and with four boys and a soccer coach all in the same house, sometimes we have to walk away from each other after a lost match! We have one son that is fiercely competitive and wants everyone else to be equally competitive and play the game with the same tenacity that he does. We have one son that is also competitive, and he works hard to become a better player in whatever sport he’s competing in. We have one son that really enjoys the sport, and probably thinks he’s better than he actually is at it, but he enjoys the game. We have one son that is fairly decent at soccer (actually quite good for his age and size), and he shows up and works hard at games and practices, but is often run over by larger players. And we have one soccer coach that wants all his players to do their very best, encourage each other and play the game. Whew! Yup, it’s a lot! We’ve learned a lot this season, and I’m reminded at every game that this is Garett’s final season playing for the team. 

We had several games that have been canceled due to rain, and this past week we had two games back to back. We don’t typically play on Mondays due to the cross country players, but it was necessary this week. The team played terrible on Monday, and no one was happy. However, the team showed up to play the game on Tuesday, and it was a great game to watch. I feel like the soccer refs have been so inconsistent all season, and we never quite know what will or won’t be called. Roger tells his players all the time, “to play til the whistle blows”, and they did just that. There was a lot of whistle blowing at Tuesday’s game, and we ended up with a yellow card for the first time in a long time. A yellow card in soccer is just a warning, but it’s not something you want to get either. I think the ref gave out two yellow cards in the first half so that was a little unusual in itself. In the second half, Garett ended up with a yellow card! I think I was more surprised than he was as that is not Garett’s personality at all. He and another player had been going for the ball, and the ref said that Garett was too rough. Garett got a yellow card for “retaliation”. Now, if this was against his brothers- absolutely! But anyone who knows Garett knows that is not his personality at all. He’s like the gentlest teenager I know, except when riled up by his brothers! But oh well, he got one. Later in the evening, while the team was having supper, our Athletic Director came over to talk to Garett. All yellow or red cards have to be recorded, so he asked Garett about the yellow card. Stephen then told Garett that there was a $75.00 fee per yellow card, and Garett would need to bring the money to school on Monday. Garett looked so crestfallen, but he nodded his head and said, “Yes, sir. Okay.” Stephen pulled it off with a straight face and Garett swallowed it- hook, line and sinker! It was a funny moment, and I’m thankful for laughter and smiles! 

This month I’ve been working hard at preparing art for the regional agricultural fair. I’m teaching Middle School art this year, and whew- that’s a lot of prep, PowerPoints, and trial and error! I wanted the middle school to submit some art to the fair, but we found out that all the art for Middle School and High School had to be submitted two weeks prior to the fair! I was able to round up a few art projects for the fair so at least the school will be represented, but next year we will be better prepared. Our elementary students also submitted art for the fair, and all that had to be dropped off this past week. I breathed a huge sigh of relief to have it all dropped off at the fair! Kaycee (my art assistant) and I matted 24 pieces of art for the elementary art exhibit, and it’s hard to pick out four from each grade when there are 40 kids in some of the grades! But we are excited to see how the art places at the fair this week. 

Any other elementary/middle school art teachers on here? How do you get it all done?! I have a curriculum, but the PowerPoints for each lesson need to be created so that I can use them for future years. Then there’s the prep time for the lesson, the cleanup time, capitalizing on the lesson, while also teaching them about one of the names of God. Throw in preparing for library classes on top of that, and sometimes I think all I dream about it is school! Thankfully, I have a great assistant in both areas, but the amount of time to prepare and plan is sometimes overwhelming. My goal is to get to the place where each class does their own art projects each year and there is no crossing over of lessons from grade to grade, but we aren’t there yet! And I love curriculum and following a lesson, but it doesn’t take too long to figure out that not all the lessons will work for either the supplies on hand or the students. Life is an adventure and teaching can be a wild ride! I never, ever envisioned myself teaching art classes (and I’m sure my family didn’t either) but I’ve actually really enjoyed the challenge for the most part. I know that even my first graders can tell you the three names of God that we’ve learned about this year and that there are 7 elements of art! (We are a work in progress!) I love it when my kindergarten class can tell me that “Elohim” means “mighty Creator”, and my upper grades can give a Bible verse to go with that. I know that education is important and learning art it’s important, but the most important thing that I can teach them is about Jesus. I want each of my students to have a deeper relationship with Jesus when school ends in May than they do right now. And so while it’s a lot of hard work, I am thankful for the opportunity to invest in the lives of these students right here and right now. (But, I’d also appreciate your prayers for wisdom and direction.) 

Per usual, we’ve been busy! I worked a Saturday at the farmer’s market earlier this month, and Chandler worked at a pumpkin stand last Saturday. This week we have three days off of school due to fall break, and we are all working at various places the next couple of days. Wyatt, Chandler, myself and Travis are going to be working at an event and then the fair grounds. Garett will probably be able to get a few days working on gutters, and Emma is coming along with someone! Garett is a senior this year, and we are working hard to pay for a senior trip for our family over spring break. All the kids are pitching in a certain percentage of the cost, and we want to pay cash for this pretty big trip…so we work! It’s really been nice that work has been available for our children, and because they’ve worked hard this past summer, they’ve been able to “get their foot in the door” so to speak on jobs for the future. The jobs we are working this week are a direct result of working this past summer. We’ve already picked out Garett’s senior trip, and we’re looking forward to spring break! 

Lest anyone think that all we do is work, we don’t! Roger’s brother, Nate, came for a weekend with two of his kids earlier in the month. While Nate was here, all the boys and Roger and Nate played in a golf tournament for church. Each of our boys was on a different team, but they all seemed to have a really good time. Roger and Nate were on the same team, and it seems like a good time was had by all. Emma and Karis spent the day grocery shopping with me, playing with Sam, and making mud pies in the yard. 

Another weekend this past month, the kids and Roger went to Virginia to visit the Everett’s. I stayed home as I had already committed to work at the farmers market, but it was really nice to have a quiet evening at home. While I missed the opportunity to visit with the Everetts, I was very thankful for the time spent at home by myself. 

After fall break, we have the wrapping up of the soccer season in October, and then then next sport right around the corner! We are planning on going to Wisconsin for Thanksgiving, and all the boys are dreaming of deer hunting and time spent with Nana and Papa. 

We’ve had some very warm days in September, but it looks like cooler weather is coming soon. We had a lot of rain this fall, and that was a blessing for Roger. It’s easier for him to take off of work to coach the soccer team if fires are not blazing. And since we’ve had a wet fall, it’s been quiet at Roger’s work. 

We have three names of God that we’ve been working on learning in Art classes. Elohim, Jehovah, Adonai. 

“Elohim” - Mighty Creator. Genesis 1:1

“Jehovah” - I am Who I am (God’s personal name and a reminder that He is enough) 

“Adonai” - The Lord is my master (Even the mountains will melt like wax at the name of Adonai) Psalm 97:5 

Celebrating a Birthday, an Anniversary and an Adoption! God is Good!

 Good by August and hello September! Summer is fading and fall is coming. (We’ve had a few cooler days, which has given us a taste of fall days to come.) We’ve had four soccer games, and we’ve won one, tied two and lost one. The three oldest boys are at the annual High school retreat, so we are soaking up some time with just two at home. 

Garett turned 18 last Friday, and I’m still trying to wrap my mind the fact that he is 18 years old. We were supposed to have a soccer game on his birthday, but it ended up cancelled due to thunderstorms. It was a bit of a mixed blessing as then we were able to go out to dinner for Garett’s birthday, but it was a bummer that the game was cancelled. 

Last Thursday, Jen and the three youngest kids had planned to fly out to Maine for the adoption of Hannah and Josh’s kids. We ended up leaving right from Thursday’s game (before it had even ended), so Wyatt and Travis were hot and smelly, but they had a plane to catch. I took them to the airport, while Roger finished coaching the team (we ended that game in a tie). I dropped them off at the airport in plenty of time and headed home. The airport is just over an hour from our house, and I was almost home when Jen called me. The flight leaving Raleigh was delayed, and flights were grounded in Washington D.C., due to storms. Jen said that the flight delay might cause them to miss their connection in D.C., unless that plane was also delayed. She said that the gate agent said that they would make an update at 8:30pm. (The flight was originally supposed to leave at 8:03pm). I said that we would pray that the flight would take off, and I was going to continue home. At 8:30pm, Jen called me to tell me that the flights were still delayed, but it was unlikely that they would make the connection in D.C. She had asked the agent when the next flight to Maine would be, and the agent said that the next flight in would be on Saturday morning! Um- the adoption was Friday at 3:00pm! Jen asked the agent where the closest flight to Maine would be…Boston, Portland, ME, etc. The agent said, “we can get you to Philadelphia by about 5:00am on Friday morning.” That’s the closest?! Apparently due to the holiday weekend, and overbooked flights, there were not any options. The agent said that at 10:30pm, they would make one more update to see if the flight would leave that night. Jen called me around ten pm,  and told me that nothing was looking promising. She said that I should probably think about heading back to the airport to pick them up. Roger offered to go with me to the airport, so we told the oldest two to go to bed, and we headed back to the airport. We arrived to pick up four very disappointed people at about 11:30pm, but there was nothing that could be done. Maine is too far to drive on a whim, and it would be about impossible to get there by the adoption at 3:00pm. Jen said that she was not planning on going into school on Friday since she had already made sub plans for the day. Emma quickly asked if she could stay home with Aunt Jen! Wyatt and Travis asked if they could come into school later, early enough that they could still play in the soccer game, but late enough that they could sleep in. It was 1:30am by the time we had dropped Jen off at her house as well as the three youngest kids. It was a short night on sleep as Garett, Chandler and I were back out the door to school by 7:00am! I’m not sure why God didn’t allow them to get to Maine for the adoption, but I know there’s a Master plan in there somewhere. We were all disappointed as well as Hannah and Josh’s kids, but it is what it is. We had already planned to spend some of Christmas break in Maine, so we are all looking forward to that.  We are thankful that the adoption went off without a hitch, and that now we officially  have two nieces and a nephew! Praise the Lord! 

Chandler had the opportunity to attend a Duke football game on Saturday evening with a few other boys from school. Nicholas had invited Chandler to come with them to the game after the soccer game. Well, the game ended up being cancelled, so that worked out well for the football game. I’m thankful that Chandler has a few good friends in his class that he can spend time with at events like these. I’m thankful for Nicholas’s parents investing in Chandler’s life as well. The older I get, the more I appreciate those the mentor and invest in the lives of our children. 

On Saturday morning Roger and the two oldest boys went to play golf with the Everett’s. Travis, Wyatt and Emma stayed home (since they originally thought they would be in Maine). Emma and I went grocery shopping, and spent some time cleaning the house. We made plans to go to the beach on Sunday afternoon with the Hardison’s, so we gathered up all the beach stuff for that as well. 

Sunday afternoon found us looking for a parking spot on the beach! I had no idea that half of the state of North Carolina would also be at the beach on Sunday afternoon before Labor Day! Roger and Stephen ended up dropping us off by the beach, and then parking the vehicles a ways away. We found our spot and got all set up around three pm., and by 4:00pm, there was a shift as people started to leave the beach. We enjoyed the afternoon fellowshipping, relaxing, eating, and playing in the ocean. Another family also joined us at the beach, and there were nine boys…and Emma! We stayed until around 7:00pm when everyone was water logged and filled with sand. It was a beautiful day to be at the beach, and I’m thankful that we took the time to go. Since everyone was working so much this summer, we really didn’t get to the beach at all. Even though it was crowded when we arrived, a good time was had by all. 

Monday was our 19th wedding anniversary. Whew! And where did time go!? It was nice to have the day off of school for our anniversary since it was Labor Day. When we got married 19 years ago, I definitely wasn’t thinking about a school calendar to work around down the road! It was not the most exciting anniversary in the world, but ya know…it’s okay. We have plans to celebrate our anniversary by getting away for a few days in October (after soccer season is over), so it is okay to have a very low key day. Roger had to get some goalie glove glue for one of his soccer players, so we made a trip to get that. We brought along the “tribe”, but I’m recognizing more and more that these moments of all of us together are quickly fleeting! 

We had a soccer game on Tuesday night, and it was rough! Last week the team had three games and no practices. They went right into the game on Tuesday without a practice, and it was rough. Lots of miscommunication,  frustration, and aggravation amongst the team. We don’t like to lose in this household,  and with having four players and the coach in the same house…well! We had a lot of big emotions and feelings last night! Some hurtful things were said to each other, and apologies had to be made, and sometimes the best thing to do is to send everyone to bed!! The four boys share a room, so sometimes we have to say, “You can’t talk to each other until tomorrow.” Usually the boys will stay up for a while talking, but its typically about the day or an event, and I don’t mind as their usually in bed plenty of time to have a little conversation with each other. However, last night was not that night. Last night was the night where we say “just stop talking. Stop talking. Not another word. Brush your teeth and go to bed.” Just happens in our family or yours too?!  

I had a special moment on Sunday morning when another mom came up to me. She mentioned that she has a son in 7th grade, and Garett had gone out of his way to include him during teen evangelism. (Teen evangelism happens on Wednesday afternoons, and Garett hasn’t gone in a while. But the youth pastor asked him to go last week, so Garett went.) She told me that she was just so thankful that Garett had been kind to her son and included him and didn’t seem annoyed. It was just so kind for another mom to take the time to speak kindness to me. We are so, so far from “having it together”, and I’m on the struggle bus every single day. But it encourages me so much when someone else speaks words of kindness and encouragement to me about our children. It made me tear up, but it was a special way to start the day. It was also a reminder to me to speak kindness to other moms around me. We all need encouragement and uplifting from time to time, and I want to “speak love and light” to others. 

This week found us in full swing at school as middle school art started this week. I have 37 middle school students that are in Middle school art. This is a whole new ball game from teaching elementary art, and I want to do it well. I’m taking the same principles of introducing the names of God to these students as well, and we are working through elements and principles of art. Travis is in one of my middle school art classes, and he’s sure to keep me humble on the job I’m doing. :) I never have to worry about what Travis is thinking as his face will show it or he will just say it. But it’s good to have feedback, and I’m thankful for the opportunity to invest in my own child as well as in the lives of 200 plus other ones! 

Through it all, God is good. Life is full of uncertainties and disappointments, and we faced some of those this past week. But we also celebrated Garett’s 18th birthday and our 19th wedding anniversary. God is good. 

Names of God: Week #1