Blessings from our sons

I had a good day at school. I had Middle School Chorus for the first time. They sang "Here I Am to Worship" and sounded good already. That's my favorite age group, as you can probably tell!

This evening I went with a few other ladies from church to sing at a retirement home in Lancaster. Dick was here to do the bedtime routine with Destiny.

I have received some good news this week from some of our sons. Last evening Jeremy told me about a great opportunity he had yesterday to do a house call for a business person who will probably be redoing four rooms in his home. It will most likely end up being a huge project for him, which will probably result in recommendations of Jeremy to others. His boss at this new job is really impressed with Jeremy's work and is doing everything to help Jeremy become a success. That is in comparison to the boss he had at Lazy Boy who seemed jealous of Jeremy's talent and did everything he could to keep Jeremy from getting ahead. It's such a breath of fresh air for him to be encouraged.

This morning Ray called to tell me that he has finally gotten a second shift position at Kunzler. He has faithfully worked 3rd shift there, including many 19-night stretches, for a year now. This new position comes with a pay raise and the assurance of having overtime during the week, but WEEK-ENDS OFF! He is very happy about that. I am so proud of him for sticking with working nights all this time.

This evening we got an email from Sam that brought tears to my eyes. He works as an accounts manager for Pall, Inc. in Exton. Today was his annual review. He has been doing very well the two years that he has worked there, and he was really hoping for a big pay raise, a new position, etc. He did get an average raise, but he was told that the corporate office had decided not to create the new position he was hoping for. HOWEVER, the review itself just blesses my heart. He said his manager had nothing but good things to say - that he had surpassed everyone's expectations, he had set multiple company records, she had never given so many top scores to anyone, they acknowledged his flexibility and commended his work ethic. (This is the Sam that I practically had to drag out of bed every morning just to get him to graduate from high school!!)

What else he said in his email blessed me even more. And I quote. "I worked so hard this past year. I held myself to a higher standard than anyone else, and when I didn't feel like working, I thought about you both, and reminded myself that Dad and Mom don't feel like working all the time, I'm sure of it, but they do. So be proud of the fact that you set the standard for hard work that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. Thank you so much, Mom and Dad. You guys are the absolute best."

And we were also blessed the other evening by Anthony's immediate response to my email about Dick's biopsy results. "We'll be praying for him faithfully." The best thing is that we know he will be.

Now that's enough to keep me going for a while!!

Destiny's first day of kindergarten. 

I told the kids they would be on my blog. They thought that was cool! 

Disappointed, but not devastated

I was relieved to find my camera on my desk at school this morning. We had our first digital camera stolen out of our car, and I certainly hated to think that such a thing would happen to me twice.

Yesterday Dick was told that they did find lymphoma cells in the biopsy they did the other week on the lump on his head. Like I have told our children and our families via email, we are feeling disappointed, but not devastated. For the sake of my readers whom I have not known very long, I'll give a brief history of Dick's lymphoma.

A little over ten years ago Dick was diagnosed with lymphoma after enduring almost excrutiating pain in his hip for months. They discovered a tumor in his hip bone which was determined to be lymphoma. He went through eight chemo treatments over a period of 6 months and went on to have 7 years cancer-free. However, he had begun to develop lumps on his head every place he bumped it at work. Some of them became quite large. Eventually a biopsy was done, and they discovered lymphoma cells. By then there were enlarged lymph nodes in his abdominal area as well. That time he had only four chemo treatments in a few months time, and barely skipped a beat with work or playing basketball or anything else. Every CT scan since has been clear until the one this past May, when they noticed an enlarged lymph node near his heart. It was too close to his heart to do a biopsy, so they decided to keep a close watch of it. In July another CT showed that it had gotten slightly bigger, and in the mean time he had developed this lump on his head, which they decided to do a biopsy on.

He has another CT scan of the lymph node near his heart scheduled Sept. 13, followed by an appointment with his oncologist on the 20th. We're not sure if they will now want an earlier appointment than that. We shall see.

Thanks for your prayers. I read something really neat in My Utmost for His Highest this evening that I was going to share, and I also heard some awesome things this evening on Focus on the Family, but I'm too sleepy to write anything else.

Goodnight.

First day of school

We had a really good first day of school. I had eight classes today and still haven't met every class. Our school goes to grade eight, but we also have a pre-K class and two kindergarten classes. So there are three that I didn't have music class with yet. I'm feeling excited about Middle School Chorus. I think they're going to sound really good this year based on the individual voice auditions I did today in 7th and 8th grade classes.

I took a picture of Destiny on her first day of kindergarten, but I apparently left my camera at school, so I can't post it. (At least I hope I left it at school, and not in my car at the rec center after school. It's not in the car.) She had a good day, praise God.

The lodge at Mr. Olivet Blue Mountain Camp. 

A view of the lake from the huge front porch. 

It's raining!!

This morning at Grace Community Fellowship the Lord was MOVING. Wow, I love it. More and more people, even teenagers, are being willing to obey when He prods them to minister to others, and the result is so sweet. We realized after church was over that we had forgotten to take the offering!

This afternoon my sister Mary Ellen and I went to see a lodge at Mt. Olivet Blue Mountain Camp near Hamburg, PA. We're still looking for a suitable place for our big family to spend a weekend next summer. I think this place would be great. The lodge is huge and the setting is so lovely, right by a big lake.

This evening we started the early-to-bed routine for Destiny. She was sleeping by 8:20 - not too bad for the first night. Now I'm about to hit the sack.

We are having GLORIOUS RAIN!!! We need it so badly. It sounds so wonderful - just perfect for sleeping!

Sophie got her first very own chair today. She usually looks like George, but I think she looks a little more "Staufferish" on this picture! 

My classroom

I decided to take pictures of my classroom because it probably won't look like this for very long! After while there are piles of books and papers on my desk, the rows of chairs get out of line, the chalkboard gets chalky... but a lot gets accomplished and the Lord gets a lot of attention.

Today I got a few meals made for next week so I can go to the gym after school at least a few days. I would much rather walk in the morning, but that just won't be possible. We have a family membership at the Lititz Community Center. They have really good treadmills, but I just hate the smell of the gym. Destiny will enjoy being in the playroom again.

I was making granola at the same time I was making spaghetti sauce today. I stopped myself JUST in time from putting vanilla flavoring into the spaghetti sauce! Hmmm... wonder what that would have tasted like!

This is my desk at the back of my classroom. I don't spend much time there when I'm teaching, but it's my home base. 

In the foreground of this picture is my digital piano (closed), which is connected to my computer. I can do the most amazing things with those two "servants" of mine! 

The front of my classroom has plenty of chalkboard space and the door to the hallway. 

One wall is taken up by the risers where the kids stand to sing at the beginning of every music class, and of course during chorus period. 

The back of my classroom has two sets of windows, so it's a very bright, sunny room. 

Ready for school

After spending the day in my room at school, I am ready to go.

Dick was a good Grandpa today. He took Destiny to Chuck E. Cheese for lunch and to play for a few hours, then he took her to the Burger King where Enid (Destiny's mother) is a shift manager so they could get to see each other. Below are pictures he took with his camera phone the past few days. Destiny has had a "grandpa's hair job" the past two days, but that's alright. They've had fun and I've had long uninterrupted days to get everything done at school.

This evening we went to Lititz Springs Park to see the fountain show again. We got to sit higher on the bleachers this time, so it was even more beautiful. And the people behind us were really into it, singing along with the music (even the classical numbers), clapping, and stomping. So we had more fun this time too.

Petting the "kids" at the Elizabethtown Fair. 

Fun at Chuck E. Cheese. 

Beautiful Destiny with her beautiful mommy. 

Sophie loves the slide at the park. 

Fun with the other teachers

It was really fun to be back at school today with all the other teachers. We already got some good laughs in. We had a meeting all morning and then I worked in my room all afternoon putting things on the walls to liven it up a bit. There was a delicious lunch of wraps provided by the PTF.

Dick took Destiny to the Elizabethtown Fair today. This evening he is back to work at Advance Auto Parts for the first since his hernia repair last week.

Lisa has sent more pictures taken while Dick was there. I posted a few of them below. I wonder if she is missing her Pepaw.

What a great time we had this morning in the staff room being together again after summer vacation. We are a very LOUD group when we get to laughing and talking. 

We were greeted with a lucious platter of fresh fruit and a box of donuts to go with our coffee. 

Is this girl old enough to be a TEACHER??!! (Dick's niece Laura who will be Destiny's kindergarten teacher.) Yes, she is old enough and she has a college degree, but she surely looks more like one of the students compared to a lot of us other teachers! 

Dick said Sophie crawled up onto the couch by herself and lay down to watch her Baby Einstein video. So cute! 

A place to cool off at the zoo. 

Back home again. 

My last day of summer vacation

Dick got home about 9:00 this evening. He's feeling really, really well. If we didn't already have the plans in gear for him to stay home with Destiny these next two days while I have inservice at school, he would definitely be ready to go back to work tomorrow. But that cane worked magic for him again today! He didn't even use it, since he had absolutely no need to. But he did carry it. When he got into a long security line, an airport worker saw his cane and opened another lane for him to go through without waiting!!

I had my last day of summer vacation here at home today. I'm so eager to see all my co-workers at school tomorrow, but I dread the busy schedule. I am glad to let Dick have some time with Destiny. I think she and I both need a little space from each other after being together all day every day all summer, especially these last three days without him home.

Well, it's past my new bedtime already.

An evening at Lititz Springs Park

This evening Destiny and I went to Lititz Springs Park to see the show that Clair Brothers is putting on each evening this week to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Lititz. It was AWESOME! I want to go again after Dick is back home. 

The park had huge speakers set up throughout, and the music to go with the dancing fountains was spectacular - from classical to patriotic to contemporary. I LOVED the duet by Andrea Bocelli and Celine Dion. 

The dancing fountains reminded me of the shows they used to do at the original Sight and Sound auditorium. 

A grand ending to a song, possibly "Phantom of the Opera." I was hooting and cheering and yelling "awesome!" at the end of that song. Then I heard a lady behind me say, "I don't know what that was, but I didn't like it." 

There were also beautiful greens and blues, but I seemed to always catch shots when they were red.