First HS Wrestling Meet

Tonight was the first wrestling meet of the season!  And it was a home meet for us!  AND, it was Caeden's first high school meet!

Coaches and captains meeting for the coin toss...

Caeden wrestled at 152# tonight, and had the first match of the evening. 

I thought it was a lot of pressure for a freshman to go first for his first ever HS match, and Caeden was really, really nervous.  He rallied in the third period and wrestled well, but not enough comeback to win. He admitted afterward that it was definitely a lot longer match than he's ever wrestled, and that he could've and should've beat his opponent.  We are proud of him, and looking forward to watching him progress over the season!

I spent the rest of the meet in the concession stand, so I didn't get to see any of the other matches.  It was a bit of a rough start to the season, from what I hear, but 2 of the guys won matches.  It's good to have the first meet under their belts, and now we are excited for the rest of the season!

Christmas for Grown-Ups

Happy siblings, together...

Sylvia and I were asked to lead worship with this song today as a new sermon series "Christmas for Grown-Ups: When Life Ain't Merry and Bright."  She sang it at the beginning of the service, then we were asked to do it again at the end while people were visiting. This is the second.

Pastor Todd baked 8 Too Much Chocolate cakes and made homemade red raspberry syrup yesterday, and during his sermon today he shared them with us while we met in groups of people we don't normally sit with in church and enjoyed some discussion questions about the stresses and joys of the holiday season.  He baked the cakes because it is something simple he can make and share with people--a simple gift that is always enjoyed.  He was showing us how much we can bless others by giving something little and simple.  We talked about how the Church is failing at offering true friendship, and how we can change that.  It was a wonderful time together with our church family, and such a gift from our wonderful pastor and friend.

Life is Messy and Painful

Life is so messy and so often painful.  

Yesterday, our community lost a bright light. Daelin, a precious 11-year-old girl, passed away last night after more than 2 years fighting a brain tumor.  Her journey and life were brutal and inspiring, and our community is grieving hard. Daelin had always found love (and hearts!) around her, and her grin will not soon be forgotten.  Though we didn't know her well, Caeden is close friends with her older sister Avry.  We don't have words to help or even the right thoughts to process the loss.

I do have perspective...As I learned the news this morning while I prepared to teach lessons, and I went into the living room to pick up before students arrive, I saw my kids' things flung everywhere.  Annah is home for more than a week for Thanksgiving, and all the kids' bags had been dropped in front of the fireplace.  I decided to leave them there.  Oh how grateful I am to have all 3 of my children home.  

On Sunday, Caeden volunteered (or was voluntold?) to participate in a Beanboozled Challenge during Pastor Todd's sermon.

Although he doesn't have a SnapChat of his own, Caeden regularly appears on other people's stories.  It has become a bit of a joke that he is tagged as @caedennosnap, and he plans to make that his actual  account name someday when he does get one.

We discovered that we could get a year of the new Disney+ streaming service for free since we have unlimited data through Verizon Wireless, so we got signed up!  Annah is using it at school too, and the first thing she watched was Fantasia.  Love that.

I woke up this morning with this song in my head.  I remember learning it in Sunday School when I was in early elementary school.  Good reminders in there...

ILMEA District 3 Music Festival

Sylvia auditioned into the ILMEA District 3 Music Festival Senior Orchestra on her cello, and spent the day in rehearsals.  Jeremy and Caeden and I went up for the concert this afternoon.  

Because one of the pieces was call and response, the cellos were seated in the middle of the orchestra, instead of stage left like usual.  So, the only photos I could get of Sylvia were photos of the giant live video screens when she happened to appear on it.

We purchased a professionally recorded dvd of the concert, because Olivet does such a fantastic job with them, so I only caught a few seconds of video during the concert.  The end of Pines of Rome was epic!  And it made us all want to play the bass drum!

We are so proud of our amazing cellist!!!

Ladies Night Out and Girls Night In

Sylvia and I met Joyce and Ashley in Lexington on Tuesday for Ladies Night Out!  They had closed off Main Street and opened all the little shops and brought in vendors.  I'd really been wanting to make it over there for over a year to check out cloth + pallet, and finally got to! 

We enjoyed the evening together and our dinner at Kelly's on 66. 

Sylvia had Isabella and Briley over after school today for a Girls Night In.  I made them popcorn and hot chocolate, and Isabella brought cookies.  When Jeremy got home, we decided to have them all stay a bit longer, and he ran to pick up Monical's while the girls played Candyland.  

The Lord has blessed us with so many wonderful friends, and we are so thankful for each one of them and the times we have together!

Cold and Heat

It's getting cold.  We had snow on Halloween!  I heard an "old wives' tale" that the date of the first snow is the number of snows predicted for the winter...I hope we don't have 31 snows!  I've never heard that particular tale before, so I think someone just made it up and started spreading it when we got our first snow on the 31st.  Haha.

Our furnace drowned along with the water heater in the flood last May. We had a new water heater installed mid-May.  In August, we had to replace the dishwasher. In October, we had the house re-plumbed so we could run the water appliances better.  Since it was spring when we had the flood, and getting warmer, we decided we needed to wait on replacing the furnace since we had all these other expenses to cover--not to mention the cost of sending a kid to college!  So, here it is snowing and getting really cold in October, and we not only don't have a furnace, but we now have no way to pay for it...

We did get a little space heater, but even cranked all the way to 86 degrees, it doesn't do a lot when it's really cold out.

25 degrees on November 1!

It was so cold it felt like Christmas, so Sylvia and I put up the tree and Christmas decorations on November 9!

I saw a cute new cowl pattern and whipped this up to keep warm too.

On November 11, Hermes arrived (along with more snow!) to install our new furnace.  However, the weather continued to worsen throughout the morning, and they weren't able to get the furnace delivered!  They took apart our old furnace and did as much preparation for installation as they could, but left early in the afternoon to allow time to travel slowly back to their shop.  

Sylvia and Caeden were asked to take a nice picture for me to send to Annah, and they went for the awkward family photo version...

It was very cold in our house the past couple weeks.  We are thankful for electric blankets!  Jeremy even got out his fleece pajama pants and robe!

It was 50 degrees in our house, because the windchills were below zero outside...

Our friends the Ramirez fam loaned us a couple more space heaters.  It was 54 inside when the Hermes guys arrived today to finish the job.  

We now have a nice Trane furnace installed sideways and suspended 4 feet above ground.  So, if/when we have another basement flood, it should be safe.  They finished around noon today, and walked me through the thermostat and controls.  

By 1:30 it was back up to 68 degrees in the house, and I could teach piano lessons.

We are all thankful for heat.  It has been a very difficult 6 months for our family, financially, and emotionally.  While we are in a yucky spot right now, and that causes a lot of stress and worry for us, we are thankful that we were able to have access to the credit needed to have the furnace installed.  It's not something we could go without any longer.  We thank God for his provision for our family, and continue to trust Him.  

Krampa and Gram came to see the play Saturday night, and they treated us to a fall birthdays (Caeden, Gram, Annah, Krampa, and me) lunch at Avanti's before they went home on Sunday!  It meant so much to have them there even for the little bit we were able to visit!

Caeden (aka Dooden) and Annah chilling at home before she went back to Greenville on Sunday evening...

On Tuesday, Caeden got rid of his bite plate and got top braces put on instead!

I've heard that "tin grins are in!"

Caeden's health project of the respiratory system...

I got to be an elementary music teacher for a day today!  It was fun and exhausting. This room is awesome!  

Just 4 random highlights: 

1) At least 4 kids gave me hugs.

2) One class asked if they could stay 5 more hours.

3) Kids who said they LOVE the song they’re singing for the Veterans on Monday

4) A 4th grade boy who told me multiple times that he loves Mark Wahlburg, aka Marky Mark & the Funky Bunch 

Hope I get to go back and sub there again!

Show nights!

Opening night! 

Getting in makeup in the choir room

Passing the ENERGY in the Energy Circle before heading backstage!

VIDEO:

This is the entire show Friday night.  

The performance was great.  We had a good audience, and they really enjoyed it.  I'm so proud of these kids!

Sylvia and her buddy Aiden, who helped run sound this week.  Honestly, his being part of the show made tech week so great for me this year!  I LOVE it when kids get involved in something totally new to them and have a good time!!!

Jeremy took Caeden to IHOP with much of the cast for a traditional after show meal. Sylvia opted to go home and sleep since she had to be at school by 6am today.

As we were getting everyone corralled for our Saturday show, I decided I wanted a photo of me and my kids.  I'm so glad I get to do this with them!

Everyone was dragging until the energy circle...

After the cast went on stage and doors opened, I checked in onstage and Sylvia was leading a prayer in song.  She invited everyone, and everyone joined in!

There was a lot of excitement backstage when I checked in during intermission.  These guys were having so much fun!!!

Our Saturday night audience was smaller (as is usually the case), but more engaged.  They laughed and clapped and interacted, and it was awesome!

Aiden's family hosted the cast party, and it was so nice!

Some of the guys watched a fight...

There was so much great food!

What a great crew of kids!  Fall play was such a wonderful season this year.  All the kids got along, worked hard, were willing to learn and go out of their comfort zones, and we had fun the whole time!

So blessed!!!