ACT for the Summer

The kids are part of the ACT Theatre Company's production of Willy Wonka this summer!  Annah will be playing the part of Mrs. Teavee (Mike Teavee's mom); Sylvia will be Mrs. Bucket (Charlie's mom), and Caeden will be an Oompa Loompa.  I will be vocal coaching for the show, as well as the company's production of Suessical.  It all makes for a very busy summer, but lots of fun work!  

Today we had our first practice/read-through of Wonka.  There are 59 children in the cast!  

Sylvia reading her Call It Courage book/gift from her teacher at violin lessons.

We were pleased to be able to attend a PoC prayer service tonight!  Pastor Todd and Kim had some great exercises to guide the kids through praying in different ways.  They loved it.

We are fervently praying for a sweet little one we know as Baby Matthew.  He was born 2 years ago with Down Syndrome.  Not long after he was born, he had heart surgery to correct a heart defect.  Then he was diagnosed with leukemia.  It did go in remission for a time, but returned a few months ago and has progressed beyond further intense treatment.  Last week his doctors gave him 4-6 weeks to live.

We are praying for Matthew and his very young parents, Jessica and Matt.  We are asking God to miraculously heal Baby Matthew, to give comfort and peace and joyful moments to the family, and to draw people into a relationship with Jesus because of this situation.  Point of Change is praying non-stop for a 72-hour prayer vigil, but we won't stop praying at the end of that either.

During our prayers of intercession time this evening, the kids made bright encouraging signs to be hung in Matthew's room.

In the car the other day, this song came on and we were all singing along like usual.  Sylvia suddenly said, "Mom, I think this song is for Baby Matthew." and it took on a whole new perspective.

Painting

Guess what we're doing?

Okay, so it's not hard to guess that we're painting the living room.  For about the past 9 months, the walls have been partially patched and waiting for us to finish and get it painted.  Jeremy finished patching the walls and ceiling while the rest of us were gone last week, and started priming as well.  I think this is going to take longer than we thought...

Traveling On

Gram and the girls finished the fleece blankets this week!  We pray that two hospitalized children will find comfort while wrapped up in them.  

We were up and out on our way by 8:00 a.m. our time (9:00 a.m. Indiana time) today.  We were back home by lunch time.  

Then, we made some schedule adjustments, and I decided I better take Annah to get her pinky looked at.  While the kids were playing on the slip 'n' slide the other day, she hurt it quite badly, and it has been swollen and bruised since.  I didn't want to rush her to the E.R. out of state, even though she was sobbing and wailing that she wanted "to go to heaven now" because she knew it wouldn't hurt there.  She was able to calm down, and we were pretty sure it wasn't broken.  Since the bruising was spreading still today, I took her to the clinic to have it looked at.  

We very much liked this quote hanging in the exam room:

The doctor ordered x-rays.  Thankfully, the doctors' offices building is literally connected to the hospital, and we walked across and got X-rays immediately.  The doctor had them by the time we returned to the clinic, and affirmed that her finger is not broken, just sprained.  Thank the Lord!  She is to buddy wrap it and elevate it for the next week.  

An extra day

We planned to head home to Illinois today.  We went swimming in the morning, had pizza, then got most of our things packed and ready to go to the car, and Jeremy called--already a couple hours ahead of us on the road.  He said that everyone else was heading home from their holiday weekend and the traffic was not so fun.  I also had a nasty headache I woke up with, and didn't really want to drive with that.  So, we decided to stay and relax for the rest of today and leave in the morning.

I was playing piano in the living room, and the kids came in and sat on the couch.  I grabbed my camera, and asked them to gather around Gram for a picture... Some of them decided to be silly!

We like to sit on laps, what can we say?

Gram was looking for something in the closet in what used to be my room, and found this dress Dad bought for me on a business trip to California when I was 12.  Annah put it on, and some memories flooded back when he saw her in it. 

This evening Gram and Sylvia made Molasses Crinkles from the recipe in the back of one of Sylv's Dear America books.

Then Annah and Gram made chocolate chip cookies.

It was a restful day, and the trip tomorrow will be much easier.  Thank you, Mom and Dad, for always welcoming us and making wonderful memories together!

Making Memories

We met Grandpa and Grandma L and Great Grandma D at DQ in CC this evening.  Many Blizzards and chicken strip baskets were enjoyed.  Mmm!

When Daddy was off chatting with Joan (Hi Joan!), Caeden put on his puppy dog eyes and asked Grandpa if we could all go to Paige's Crossing.  (I'm pretty sure Jeremy still doesn't know Caeden asked Grandpa out of the blue!)  Grandpa thought about it a while, and decided yes.  Since Great Grandma, who is 95 and 10/12ths, was with us and it was pretty hot outside, we decided to only visit the indoor games.

Jeremy is pretty good at the basketball game, and quickly earned the record high score.  (I was entertained by the kid watching from just behind Jeremy's shoulder, whose mouth was gaping in awe at my wrestler-husband's basketball ability! ;)

I think some kind of challenge was extended to play together, and then the machine to the left wouldn't take Jeremy's coin.  So Grandpa played a game on his own.

The manager noticed Great Grandma trying to get comfortable on the stool to the shoot-the-clown's-teeth-out game (my fav!!!), and brought out his desk chair for her.  So kind!

Annah won the game where you watch the light travel around in a circle of bulbs and trap it in a split second in one particular spot.  She got 169 tickets and a really loud alarm!

Annah looked very stylish in her ticket boa.  

 The kids were given a 5-minute limit to spend their tickets, and chose Jolly Ranchers, and other trinkets.

We enjoyed our evening together!!

Family

Travis brought Erin and the twins home from the hospital today!

Travis feeding Bryce

Erin feeding Grayson

Just after they came home, the kids and I walked over to their house so they could meet their new cousins.

Annah held both Bryce and Grayson

Sylvia and Caeden, both with Grayson

Uncle Jeremy arrived just then and got to meet the boys too.

I forgot to hand the camera off and have someone take a picture of me with either of the twins!  :(

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The Crabill family gathered at Great Grandma C's for a Memorial Day cookout this afternoon.  

The kids love to play in the basement.  This is what I found when I decided to check on them and found there were no adult supervisors.

They were done playing in the basement, and played outside the rest of the evening. ;)

Jeremy and the kids went swimming later in the evening, and the kids had fun coming up with jumps to do together...

Fishin', Slidin', and Wrestlin'

We went fishing with Krampa this morning.  It was a beautiful day for it!

When we pulled up at the pond, we saw two geese right next to a raccoon.  The raccoon was eating these turtle eggs, and jumped down to hide in the water.  It held its breath under water for quite a while as we got out of the truck and went down to the boat to check things out, then came running up out of the water and away into the woods.  The geese hung around on the pond the whole time we fished.

The fish were biting like crazy!  We could barely get our hooks in the water and a fish would bite!  The kids discovered if they just hung their line over the boat into the water, they could actually watch the fish bite the worm on the hook!  Caeden even caught a fish on an empty hook!!   

Annah caught a bass...

Sylvie was busy catching many bluegill...

Krampa, Caeden, and a nice bluegill he caught...

All the kids learned how to cast on their own today!  

Annah's perch...

I kept busy baiting hooks and taking fish off.  Krampa identified each fish as a keeper or one to throw back and let grow more.  We got a bit of sun on our noses, and we had fun.


Thanks, Krampa!

One morning last week, while the kids were eating breakfast, my phone rang.  It was Gram and Tessa, with a special request for Annah.  Tessa wanted Annah to bring her "slippy slide" when she came to Mamaw's and Pampaw's house.  (She looks at pictures on Mamaw's 'fridge, and for months has been seeing a picture of Annah grinning while playing on the slip 'n' slide.)  

So, we brought the slippy slide and played on it with Tessa today!

Tessa let us play in her sandbox with her too!

...until it was time to put all the toys away...

And funny little girl instigated a wrestling match with cousin Caeden at bedtime!

A Good Day

The kids found Play-Doh at Gram's this morning, but there was only one little container.  So, of course, Gram whipped up a homemade batch right away.  Sylvia helped.  They made lemon scented purple play dough!  Gram showed Sylvia how to knead it.

And all the kids played with play dough together!

For lunch, there was a fancy princess tea party in the gazebo!  (Caeden was the waiter/butler.)

Gram used her new Snow White tea set, which the kids absolutely loved!  And we used "fancy" crystal dishes for the fruit salad and sandwiches and cookies.  They sure felt special.

I was able to spend the afternoon at the hospital with Erin and the babies while Travis ran home and out for some errands.  Erin's girlfriends were visiting when I got to the hospital.  The boys are doing so very well, and are perfectly precious and beautiful!  I was able to help feed each one of them while there and enjoy their sweet newborn snuggles.  Several of the McEowen aunts and uncles visited in the evening, and then a large group of us enjoyed dinner together at Bob Evans.

Traditions, Firsts, and Memories Made

Ahh, summer!  Time to play with ride-on toys and bikes in Gram's and Krampa's driveway...

We like to hop on the hexagonal pavers and look for puzzle rocks and pretty stones.

We finally took some time to work on these fleece blankets--a project Gram gave us to do a long time ago.  The blankets will be given to hospitalized children.  

After supper tonight, I had the honor of joining Mom in taking Tessa to see her Mommy and Daddy at the "hossible" (We rode up and down in the "alligators" too!) and meet her baby brothers!  

Tessa's first peek at Grayson...

Meeting Bryce on Daddy's lap...

Checking out Grayson's teeny-tiny fingers with Mamaw...

Helping Daddy feed Bryce..."My do it!  My do it!  He's drinking it all gone!"  

Oh what precious moments to witness!!