Quiet start to February

Sylvia stuff

Our afternoon/evening schedule is still up in the air a bit since being back to school.  We are waiting on Dr. R. to see if she will be able to keep Sylvia as a cello student.  I figure her schedule is the least flexible of all, and if there is a chance she can keep Sylvia on, I will wait!  So, for now, Sylvia doesn't always have a lesson at the same time as Annah and Caeden.  Today, she played on her iPod and read during that time.

And then she picked up her cello the second we walked in the door.

Hats, help, hugs for a momma's heart

Since we told the kids about the Disney trip, they have been using everything Disney they have, creating art about Disney, and just generally finding every way possible they can think of to celebrate the thought of Disney.  Caeden has been wearing his Mickey ears hat around the house at all times.

Yesterday, I was having "one of those days" where I was just feeling really [the bad kind of] overwhelmed about all I needed to get done, how messy and dirty the house was, how I am not keeping up with life as well as I want to, and so on...  

I'd been at the school all afternoon, helping with the junior high choir and going to the assembly to see Sylvia awarded.  I took the kids right from school into town for their music lessons.  (I did have the presence of mind [Thank you, Jesus!] to take them to Wendy's for a quick Frosty for an after-school-snack, which was really fun.)  Then, I dropped them off at lessons and did some speed-shopping at Kroger, picked them up from lessons, drove home, unloaded all the groceries in the cold.  I was getting weepy by that point, and the kids were all wonderful and helped me unload and put groceries away.  

We ate fried chicken and potato chips I'd picked up at the store for supper. (Eek, how bad for us, I know!!)  The girls started in on homework and showers, and I had to, had to, had to sit down and practice music for a funeral that was today.  (That's another story, which includes my bad attitude and how God really wanted me to do something I didn't want to do.  Maybe I'll get to it later in the post...)  Anyway, as I was practicing, I decided to get up and make some hot tea.  When I walked into our filthy, messy kitchen, this is what I saw, and it brought me to tears...

Now, I was not in tears over the filthy, messy kitchen (You would think!), but over the fact that Caeden was standing there by himself, singing, rinsing dishes, and loading the dishwasher!  He is such a stubborn boy, and complains all day long every day about every chore he is asked to do.  So, when I saw him happily doing something I didn't even ask him to do, doing it joyfully, doing it by himself, and doing it because he knew it would help his mommy...I was completely overcome with emotion.  I cried, thanked him and told him how much it was helping me, how much it meant to me, and that he is a good boy.  (I think he probably half-thought I was a bit nuts, but he is getting used to my bursting into tears at any random time.)  He just said, "You're welcome, Mommy.  Sylvia helped too.  I'm just in a good mood, so I am happy to help."  Ahhhh, such a blessing from the Lord that was!!

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So, today I had the honor of being the pianist for the funeral of a pastor on our district.  I had never met this pastor, but was asked by our District Superintendent, through my pastor, if I would accompany the ministers choir.  (All of the pastors on our district are required to be part of the funeral service of a fellow pastor by singing in the ministers choir--how awesome!) 

Honestly, my first reaction was two-fold: 1) I don't want to do this.  2) How do I get out of this?

My reaction was two-fold for at least two reasons: 1) The kids had today off school, and I was looking forward to spending the day home with them.  I didn't want to shove them off on someone else, namely the only friend I could think of who would be able to watch them--who was supposed to be enjoying her own kids' day off school.  2) I had never driven to the town where the funeral was, and it was over an hour away, and that petrifies me--often to the point of a physical anxiety attack.

Lame excuses, I know. But, I figured there ought to be at least a few others who actually knew this pastor, who would love the opportunity to play piano for his funeral service...Right?  Well, it turned out others were asked, and either no one wanted to play, or honestly no one else was available.  That part doesn't really matter...What matters is that it became very clear that even though I didn't want to play, God seemed to really want me there.  So, I resolved to change my attitude and I was honored to be part of the beautiful service celebrating and remembering this pastor's life.  

The drive there was actually quite easy, and I thank God for reassuring me with my iphone GPS.  (Seriously, it is amazing how much that helps my driving anxiety, and how many prayers of thanks I have offered for that tool!)  

The service was wonderful.  It was very powerful to worship with the pastors of our district and see them mourn their friend and celebrate this man's passing into heaven!  How glorious!  It really was a blessing to be part of it.  I am always blessed when I choose to obey the Lord.

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This afternoon, I picked the kids up from Dawn.  They were having so much fun, it took us about 2 hours to leave.  We headed home and did some quick picking up.  Then we loaded in the car to head to town.  I dropped the girls off at Ashley's house for her birthday slumber party.  Then Caeden and I headed over to pick up Samuel to come sleep over at our house.  

Caeden has been wearing this hat for a couple weeks (minus the recent days when he's substituted the Mickey ears).  He even sleeps with it on at night sometimes.  I love that he likes it so much.  I figured he was wearing it mostly because it is super soft, but when I asked him what made it his favorite hat, he said, "My Great Grandma made it for me!"  I love that.

Rehearsal Nights

The String Project kids were invited to wear Halloween costumes to rehearsal tonight, as long as they didn't get in the way of playing their instruments.  We didn't buy any costumes this year, but I looked up some quick and easy and free ideas on the internet.  Sylvia liked this idea.  

Can you guess what she is?

She said her string ensemble took about 10 minutes trying to guess what her costume was, but no one could come up with it.  Then once she told them she was a "leaf blower," she said they totally cracked up!  She had a lot of fun with it.

Poor girl had a lot of homework tonight, and it's a busy schedule when we go to Monday night rehearsal.  The kids get home from school at 3:30.  We have supper almost right away so we can leave at 4:40 to get the girls there (parking is an absolute nightmare!!) in time to get their instruments and stuff ready to go.  Sylvia's ensemble is done at 6:30 and Annah's goes until 6:45.  We get back home about 7:30 and it's pretty much time for the kids to get to bed!  (If they have homework left, Jeremy helps them if needed because I'm teaching at 7:45-8:45 these days.)  It's a little nutty.  Sylvia had several subjects of homework tonight, but was diligent about doing it in the car--even when it was dark after she came out of rehearsal.  She is a dedicated little student.

Summer Sundays

Caeden had his second baseball game this afternoon.  When we signed him up for baseball, we didn't realize it would conflict with our having church on Sunday evenings this summer.  But all his games start at 3:30, which is the same time we have worship team rehearsal and start other preparations for our evening service.  We still felt Caeden should go ahead with baseball, so for the next few weeks Jeremy and I are alternating taking him. 

He really enjoys it!  Since it is his last year in the instructional league, he is one of the oldest on his team.

The very second the game ended, we jumped in the car and rushed to church.  We got there about 30 minutes into the service, and Caeden still got to be part of most of it--including one of his favorite parts: snack time!

They played All the Baby Animals Are Sleeping.

The lesson tonight was about Christian persecution and imprisonment, and they built an edible prison from rice crispy treats, pretzel rods, and chocolate squares.  Then they played a game outside where the kids could be captured and "imprisoned" and released by friends.  Here is Caeden being carried off to "prison..."

Our church is FUN, and we are so glad our kids are excited to learn about Jesus!!

Church is fun for our grownups too!  During our launch team meeting tonight, we had "Pastor Todd's Favorite Things"--you know, like Oprah.  ;)  We all received our new PoC t-shirts!

After church, Jeremy stopped by Lowe's to pick up another gallon of paint for the living room.  He's really fast with the roller, and finished that second coat in no time!

I just need to touch up a few spots on the ceiling and complete the trim line at the ceiling tomorrow!

Honors Assembly & Last Day of School

Today was the kids' last full day of school, and the 4th and 5th grade Honors Assembly was held first thing this morning.

Annah earned High Honors for the semester.  

She was one of 15 in her grade to receive high honors--a pretty big group!  (To attain high honors, students must receive at least 5 A's and nothing lower than a B.)  

Annah received all A's all the way through elementary school!

5th grade band students were also recognized, and each came forward to receive a certificate of music and a handshake from Mr. Marchese.

Almost the entire 5th grade was in the band this year!  Yay for music!!

(The 5th graders all wore their D.A.R.E. shirts today, and were responsible for helping run Field Day events for the younger grades.  Annah loved this opportunity, and said she had lots of fun!)

After leaving the school this morning, I took the car back to the shop.  (It had been in last week to have brakes and calipers and rotors replaced for $570-something, but was acting weird when braking and turning--like the ABS was activating.)  The rest of my morning was spent waiting while it was discovered that a sensor was broken, and a bearing/sensor had to be replaced for another $350.  Ouch.

I did get to have lunch with my sweetheart though!  Yay!  We met at Panda Express and had a very nice time chatting and spending time together.  That was an unexpected blessing today!  :)

I ran to the store quickly, and came home and decorated our dilapidated sidewalk to cheer the kids when they came home from school.

It is overcast and cool today (after last night's thunderstorms), but another gorgeous peony is blooming.  This one with no editing...

Happy kids got off the bus this afternoon!  We are excited for summer!!!!

After Daddy got home from his meeting for church, we celebrated the end-of-the-school year and beginning-of-summer with banana splits!!  Annah had mentioned last week that she'd never had one, and we discussed what was in a banana split...and enjoyed them tonight.  While finishing hers up, Annah asked, "How many do we get?"  ;)

a "typical" Sunday for us

 Sundays are fulfilling, tiring days for our family. Here's what one is typically like:

• 5:30 - 6:00 a.m. - My alarm goes off, and I finally get up and get myself ready
  
  
• 7:00 a.m. - I get my music together and practice a little, which usually wakes the kids up. One of us forces Jeremy out of bed so he can get ready.
  
  
• 7:30 - I start panicking that we will be late and nagging at Jeremy to hurry up.
  
  
• 7:40 - We throw ourselves into the car and speed off to church.
  
  
• 8:00 - I go to rehearsal for the first service. Jeremy and kids may run through McDonald's or Krispy Kreme drive-through and come back to church. J watches kids, feeds them their cereal and milk, maybe dresses one or more of them too--depending on how late they slept.
  
  
• 9:00 - First service starts. Caeden goes to the nursery. Sylvia goes to preschool class. Annah goes to the pre-K class. Jeremy usually has to leave the service after the worship set to get things set up for elementary kids' church program during second service. I don't think he's heard a sermon in months.
  
  
• 10:00-ish - First service ends. I usually have practice again for second service, so we scramble to figure out who can watch the kids. Sometimes the girls come with me and sit in the front row of the sanctuary to watch the practice. Most of the time, Jeremy wrangles with all the kids plus some extra ones. Once in a while, if I'm not playing/singing for second service, I am able to help w/ the kids.

10:45 - Second service starts. Caeden goes to the nursery. Sylvia goes to preschool class. Annah goes with Jeremy to kids' service. Jeremy is currently one of the leaders for the elementary kids' program. This summer they are doing a church camp theme. They run about 50+ kids and maybe 8 adult leaders. Usually I am playing piano/keyboard/organ or singing, but today I was in the nursery for a bit and the preschool class for a bit.

•  noon-ish - Second service wraps up, and we try to pick up our kids from their classes as quickly as we can. We usually make it to the car with all 5 of us between 12:30 and 1:00. Today it was 1:00.
  
  
• 1:00 - We either run through a drive-through and pick up food or head home. Today, we went to Wal-Mart to pick up milk, TP, and other stuff we were almost out of.
   
• 1:30 p.m. - We get home. Today it was 2:00. I started making lunch, and we ate at about 2:30.
   
• 3:00 p.m. - Naptime for everyone!!!
   
• 5:00 - Jeremy tries to rouse me from my half-coma state.
   
• 6:00 - We scrounge up something to eat. I rarely make dinner on Sunday nights. Usually we have popcorn and watch a movie. Tonight we had pancakes because we did popcorn and a movie last night.

• 7:30 or 8:00 - We start getting the kids ready for bed...brush teeth, go potty/change diaper, get "ni-night waters," march upstairs, put on jammies, read a book or story, say prayers (The girls like to do the "squeeze hand prayer" where we each say part and pass turns around by squeezing hands.), tuck in, hugs and kisses, lights out.

• 9:00 p.m. - One of us has to go upstairs to tell the girls to settle down and go to sleep...

That's how our Sunday's usually go...

Hop-A-Thon

Annah participated in her school's Hop-A-Thon this morning. The kids take pledges for their hopping to raise money for their school. Annah hopped 132 times in two minutes!