Thresholds

The girls started school today (Thursday). It's early this year due to scheduling needs at the school. The start of this year has seen a few changes. For one, Maia was very excited and couldn't wait to get to Kindergarten. She was ever so slightly reserved when she walked into the class, but didn't have any trouble. Avril, for the first time, was not ready to get back to school. She wanted to stay home to play her video game. However, I knew she'd be thrilled to see her friends and get back into the year. So needless to say I was surprised when I got to her class this morning and she was crying. This was the first time in her school career (all 4 years) that she has cried on the first day. So I held her for a bit. "I don't want to go in 2nd grade was all I could get out of her." But soon her teacher came out with a tissue and hugged her. I told her I would come by and say hi after I picked up Maia at 10:30. When I got there Avril was at recess with a huge smile on her face. All better. Maia also loved her first day and particularly pleased that she is bringing Magic Treehouse books with her to read on the bus and throughout the day--just like her big sister did in Kindergarten.

The true threshold that was crossed didn't come until today (Friday). Eowyn started school. She is deliriously happy to be finally starting school. "No fair! I have to wait longer." was her response when Avril and Maia started the day before her. I can't believe my baby is in school. Eowyn attends NCS three mornings/week. I did get permission for her to stay the whole day on Fridays and ride the bus home with Maia and Avril since I will be teaching that whole day. That is a major blessing. She was so excited this morning and it took my breath away to see her in her uniform. Adrian was a little thrown too. Eowyn did seem a little hesitant right as it was time to sit in the room. But a dear woman, Mrs. M, is the teacher's aide this year and got out the playdough that Mrs. Rose (the teacher) had made for the kids and gave Eowyn her special bag. That was all it took. Huge smiles from there on out. And to cap off a banner first day, Mrs. Rose had ginger bread cookies for snack time, HOWEVER, there were also cupcakes because one of the kids already celebrated a birthday. Let me just say, "Wow" That is impressive to get the birthday party in on the first day of class. So the highlight of Eowyn's day was to get the cookie and cupcake and giftbag from Mrs. Rose. (I think she's already hit the peak of school. Kindof a bummer to be on the first day of Pre-K, but what are you gonna do?)

I am so excited to see what this year brings. I have entered a new season of life with one quick drop-off at the classroom door. I guess I'm ready for it. Selfishly, I love the idea of several hours a week to work (or whatever) uninterrupted. But it is hard to know that my babies are gone and now I have girls. They need me that much less. But this is just the beginning to many new experiences and memories of life with "big" girls. For that I am profoundly grateful.

Reflections

Through the Precious Blood
By Mark Altrogge
As recorded on Come Weary Saints Lyrics

You have ordained every breath we take
In pleasure or pain, there is no mistake
Gladness and grief, both are in Your hand
And sufferings brief carry out Your plan
And our fleeting sorrows
Will yield an endless prize
When some bright tomorrow
We’ll see You with our eyes, and

Chorus
Grace upon grace flows down, flows down
Grace upon grace flows down, flows down
Through the precious blood of Christ

Father of lights, Giver of all grace
Your mercies crown our lives all our days
River of Life, quench our thirsty souls
For no true delight does Your love withhold
And in every season
We are satisfied
For just one reason
Christ was crucified, and

All good gifts, every good thing
Comes to us freely, so freely
All good gifts, every good thing
Comes to us freely, so freely
Through the precious blood
Through the precious blood

© 2008 Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI)

We have sung this song at church several weeks in a row now. I love it. But it's not usual (at least I've never noticed before now) for us to sing the same song week after week. So when this time rolled around I began to wonder what the Lord might be saying to us. As a church I think the message is clear. There have been many, MANY families to move lately, several prominent in the church. It's always so hard to say goodbye to people you love. But the biggest, most far-reaching was the announcement in late June that one of the pastors, Eric Hughes, would be leaving in August with his family to attend the Pastor's College and then begin a church plant somewhere in our mid-south region as early as next summer. Eric has the magnetic personality that draws people in. Everyone loves him and he and his family will be greatly missed.
But I have been going over the lyrics trying to glean what the Lord is saying specifically to me. Saying goodbye to my best friend on the same day as we closed on our house (July 11) was really more emotion than I can handle on a given day. Since then it has been a flurry of activity trying to get as much done in the house as possible before the school year begins. For me, the second half of each verse has filled me with such joy that I can hardly contain myself as we sing the song. "And our fleeting sorrows/Will yield an endless prize/When some bright tomorrow/ We’ll see You with our eyes," "And in every season/We are satisfied/For just one reason/ Christ was crucified" The truth and hope in here is exhilarating. This last line especially, "for just one reason/Christ was crucified," that is the pinnacle of our existence, is it not? He died for us that we can live for Him, in Him. In light of His sacrafice can there be anything we are unwilling to surrender? We love Him--I love Him--there is nothing that I will hold with a closed hand, even the most precious people in my life. Because we know that any separation now is temporary. Eternity lies ahead...

Sprinklers and Sunburn

It is always fun to have seven kids in the house for the day. Today all the Johns boys (Ryan, Trevor, Anderson and Cai) came to stay with us while their parents went to a wedding a few hours away. Our job was to have fun from 9 until 6:30-ish when we would take them back to their house for someone else to take over and put them to bed. What never ceases to amaze me is that even though there are 7 kids (all under 10) in the house it is typically silent. They are such good friends and play so well together. It's eerie. No stranger at our door would ever believe me if I told them all the kids were in the house. So it is a blessing to keep the boys for a day.

I was uncomfortable taking all 7 to the pool so I wasn't entirely sure what I was going to do. But Adrian suggested we take everyone over to the Botanical Gardens (on our membership = free activity) to the World of Wonders Children's Garden. This was a spectacular idea because eventhough it was 100 out today and high humidity, the WOW's main feature are tons of sprinklers to run through. (The only bummer was that my camera batteries died after just a couple of pictures.)

So we packed up sandwiches and all the fixings for a picnic lunch and headed over there. The kids had a blast. We stayed in for an hour or so and then went back to the van for lunch which we ate in the shade of some tall pines right next to the airport. It was really exciting to watch the planes take off. Ice-cold drinks are such a treat on hot days. After we ate we went back into the WOW and played for a short time longer. By the time we left it was after 2 and Cai was definitely getting tired. Actually he was asleep before we left the parking lot. The truth was--it was a really easy trip. Thank you, my precious Adrian for making that a reality.

So getting home to the blessed air conditioning allowed for naps for the two youngest and a movie for the rest.

Then we ate hot dogs and ice cream bars for dinner--thank you Mrs. Johns. Anderson and Cai got a quick bath and it was time to take them home. (I did get more pics after we got home.)

It's amazing how quickly a day can pass when you are really preoccupied. It was so fun. Days like today make me want to have 7 kids all our own. But then I just think about how much work that would actually be. So I think I'll stick with keeping to the occasional 7.

Pictures: #1-At the World of Wonders, Avril and Ryan; #2-Avril, Maia and Anderson; #3-Avril and Eowyn; #4-Cai; #5 & 6-Anderson; #7-Eowyn; #8-"After WOW"; #9-Adrian "after wow" :p; #10-Picnic dinner; #11-Yes, It's the Bunny Ears Years; #12-Hotdog Meditation; #13-Cai--before he got too messy; #14-more bunny ears; #15-carrot lip; #16-Gorgeous! (my favorite pic of the day.)

After ten years of marriage...

...I can no longer distinguish the line that separates me from you.

Last Friday (May 23) marked our 10th anniversary. In general, I can't believe so much time has passed. But when I stop to reflect on all that has occured, it does feel like many years.

Adrian told me early in May that he was planning something for our anniversary. However, I was not privy to any of that information until the week of. I at least knew we were going away because my mom and step dad kept the girls. That was it though. So Friday afternoon, we left around 4:30 and headed to Williamsburg. Adrian had reserved a room for us at a beautiful bed and breakfast. It was decorated with rose petals on the bed, flowers, chocolates, and wine all waiting for us. We went out for a very nice dinner. Our reservations were not especially early but we were the only ones there--a nice alternative to loud, crowded restaurants. When we returned from dinner I was finally allowed to know all that Adrian had planned. There were lots of gifts. Many of them we'd already planned to get, but hadn't yet, so he was able to present them. So now we have our membership to the Botanical Gardens (the surprise was that it's for 2 years) and he already renewed our season tickets to the Regent University plays. The one I wasn't expecting was Fun Passes to Busch Gardens! So for the summer we can go up and enjoy time together there. Our first time was that next day, Saturday. He also gave me a couple of new games for us to play together. (You know how we're game nerds.) Busch Gardens on Saturday could not have been more perfect. The weather was ideal. It was crowded as it was the opening weekend but the lines were resonable. The best part was that we had no agenda. There was no pressure so we moved as we pleased and enjoyed such a nice day. It was so fun to ride and laugh and scream together.

I think one of the aspects of marriage that I most cherish--now that we have spent a good spanse of time together--is just the comfort and normalcy of being together. I can see first hand and experience the reality of the mystery of marriage--that two people become one flesh. I do not think of myself apart from Adrian. I don't know how to live without him. It is encouraging and exciting when older friends who are now celebrating 20 or more years of marriage tell us how it continues to get better. What an amazing gift from God that we continually experience the notion of "the best is yet to come."

So Happy Anniversary, my love. Ten years down....a lifetime more to go.

P.S. In my hurry to leave that Friday I couldn't find my camera. Ahh! I've never missed an anniversary picture and wasn't about to miss our 10th! So we picked up a disposable camera Friday night, but haven't finished the film yet. Oh well, next year for sure.

Vacations

Summer has arrived! And we are so excited to say those words. Well, technically, Avril has three short days of school left, but they include a picnic, a field day and then her class party. So there isn't much left. Maia finished preschool this past Friday. Her teacher awarded her the "tenderheartedness" award. She also recieved a Bible storybook for being one of two students in her class to correctly recite all Bible memory verses for the whole year. Yay Maia! She is very excited to be moving on to kindergarten next year. I am really pleased that we held her back for this year. It was a good decision.
Spanish finished for me officially last Friday (23rd). The final exam was on the previous Tuesday and then we had an open house to close out the year on that Friday. I am so pleased to be on break. It is funny how quickly taking on something like this can change your perspective on time. Pretty much the day I finished I could feel the difference. Just knowing that I didn't have to choose between preparing lessons and everything else felt really good. I am working hard to get the house in order so that when Avril finishes on Wednesday we can enjoy our summer.
I am eagerly anticipating lots of fun time with Adrian and the girls. We hope to have many days at the pool and beach and other family outings. This will be our first summer where there are no babies or baby schedules to work around. Eowyn still naps but can easily skip them. So there are many possibilities for day long outings. But mostly I just look foward to the time. I want to be quick to put down the laundry (or whatever) and play the game or read the book and just cherish the summer we have.

Cookies!

It's been a while now, but I wanted to put this on anyway. We have a tradition with our good friends, the Johns, to make Christmas cookies every year. Now that our children our school age it is a bit tricky to find the time. Last year, in fact, we didn't decorate at all. My girls were very sad to miss out on Mrs. Johns's delicious sugar cookies. This year we realized that the Monday after Valentine's Day was a holiday so we set our calendars. The kids had a great time decorating Valentine's Day cookies. It's amazing how much they have grown over the years. The first year we decorated I think Avril and Trevor were only 2. Amanda was still finding sprinkles to sweep up in her kitchen months after Christmas was over. This year we swept up after the "decoration/free artistic license time" was complete and there was almost NOTHING on the floor. Amanda and I looked at the little pile of crumbs in disbelief for a moment, and then smiled because our kids were off playing and we could sit down for a quiet lunch. It's funny how little things like that make you realize that in spite of what seems like an endless age of temper-tantrums and messes that the kids are growing up. Our time for decorating cookies with them is very short. Then Amanda and I will sit together over lunch and yearn for those wild kids to come running past us one more time.













Pictures: 1) Avril, Anderson and Ryan getting started. 2) Trevor, Eowyn and Maia diligently creating a canvas. 3) 6 sweet kiddos 4-6) Avril, Maia and Eowyn after the first round of decorations 7) The finished product. We're thinking of opening a cookie kiosk at the mall called "Instant Sugar Coma."

Spring Break

This is my first spring break since I graduated from college many years ago. Teaching Spanish has been a legitimate challenge for me. I truly enjoy the classes, but preparing the lessons has been a lot. I am more thankful than ever that I didn't try to work full-time while trying to care for my family. It is hard and I don't enjoy having to compromise our time as a family to do school work. However, the first year is the worst and now we have come to spring break! Adrian and I had a list of things that we wanted to accomplish. I wondered prior to this week how much would actually get done. Now that the week is closing, I have my answer--not much. :)

As expected things often don't go according to plan. Easter Sunday was lovely. I LOVE Easter. It is such a joy to celebrate the victory of the Lamb. And to add a hilarious note to the day...Adrian made a scavenger hunt for the girls to find their baskets. So I as put the baskets together he made up the clues. We ultimately hid the baskets in their car seats in the van. However, when all was completed Saturday night I unintentionally--really--left some empty baskets downstairs in a laundry baskets full of clothes waiting to go upstairs. Sunday morning I told the girls not to play with any of the plastic Easter eggs that they saw. So a few minutes later I went downstairs and Avril came up to me with one of the empty baskets in her hand, "We didn't get ANYTHING for Easter?" Maia: "There's a plastic bag in my basket." Eowyn: "My basket is empty." They all had the saddest looks of disbelief on their faces. They weren't angry at all, just stunned that all their excitement that had been building for weeks now had come to naught. When I realized that accidentally leaving the extra baskets downstairs had created a foil I was in hysterics. It would never have worked out so well if I'd planned it. Avril just sat at the kitchen table completely dejected, "We didn't get anything for Easter." Finally, Adrian came down and told them to open the first egg--which they did to humor us but with no actual enthusiasm. It directed them to a table in the living room that held another egg with more instructions. By now they figured it out and were tearing up and down the steps finding each egg. The last one led them to the van to check their car seats. Easter baskets filled with candy!!!! They were very happy and I have laughed all week remembering it.

So Easter Sunday was wonderful. I wasn't feeling fabulous, but not sick. However by Monday I definitely had the flu. It's been years since I was that sick. I didn't do much but sleep for two days. We'd planned a family date to Jumpin' Monkey (a place with lots of blow-up toys for kids to jump on) and I really didn't want to miss it. So I went and sat there, but was really glad to sleep for the rest of the day after we got home. Jumpin' Monkey was a great success and the girls had a wonderful time.

The rest of my spring break has been spent recovering from the flu. Thursday was the first day I had my energy back. I got my haircut. Yay! Adrian did a lot with the baseball team. He was able to plant the flowers in the front yard. It looks wonderful and the girls had a lot of fun helping him. We went out to dinner at Red Robin for another family date on Wednesday. The girls again thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Now we come to Saturday night. My house is not clean, let alone cleaned well, and I've done no school work-also on my list. So I didn't get to cross any of that off, but in all I really enjoyed the week with my family. I look forward to summer. It will be my first summer break in many years too. And I'm very hopeful that the flu will not bother me at all.

Pics: 1-5) The girls at Jumpin' Monkey; 6-8) Planting the flowers with dad. Get a good look at Eowyn's hat. :) 7) My new haircut--you get the idea.