Good times

And another week has gone by!  

I'm going to start by sharing the song my choir did last Sunday morning, just a simple medley of "We Will Glorify the King of Kings" and "We Exalt Thee."  But it was the addition of the flutes and the acapella ending that made it so very special.  I joked afterward that it was my Mennonite dream come true - my Methodist choir singing acapella, haha!!

After church Dick and I drove the 2 1/2 hour trip to Manheim, eating our packed lunch as we drove.  We went to Manheim Central to see their production of Hunchback of Notre Dame.  I have several friends who had been directing and/or working with the kids and sharing on Facebook how amazing it was going to be.  It WAS!!  It was beyond amazing.  I have been to a lot of high school musicals, but this was the best ever.  The set, the costumes, the acting, but especially the singing!!!  Honestly, I don't know how that many amazing, professional quality voices can all come from one high school!!!  

After the show was over we went to nearby Pleasant View Communities to visit Grandma Arlene.  I regret that I forgot to take a picture of her.  

Then we stopped in at Bjórn and Jess's house to see them.  Charlie had just woken from a nap, so he was  not too lively at first.  But the longer we were there the more he warmed up.  He's nine months old already!

He has the bluest eyes and the longest eye lashes!

Then we went to meet Alex to get Elizer from him.  He's such a good traveler.  

On Monday I went with Destiny to Elizer's doctor checkup, then we got some KFC, and then she hung out at our house till she had to start work at 2:30.  I made dinner for Anthony and Lori and took it over to their place after Elizer's nap.  He got to see Anthony and Austin.  That made him happy.

I took these pictures while he was having a snack.  

He likes when Grandpa gets down on the floor with him to play.

On Wednesday I made sweet and sour chicken and fried rice for Anthony and Lori.  I took it over to their place before I picked Elizer up from daycare.   

We always have a bread and soup meal before our Lenten service and Elizer loves going along because he knows that after he eats there will be time to play with the toys.  Destiny came there after she got off work at 6:00 and ate with us. 

Before we left for church I went to my closet to get an outfit to change into.  Elizer went into the closet and came out with his kangaroo outfit from halloween.  He was so thrilled!   Thankfully he got too hot in it and was glad to take it off, or I'm afraid we would have been taking a kangaroo to church!

And look what he got to do on a school field trip this week!  He LOVES seeing the Nittany Lion emblem on top of Beaver Stadium, which we pass every day.  But we had never yet taken him to sit on the actual statue on campus.   Daycare beat us to it!

And this is how they got there - probably a 15-minute walk across campus.  What a cute sight that must have been!!

This boy loves to be outside!  We're so lucky to have a little playground below our house.  We were there several days after school.  One day I took him and then when Dick got home from work he took him too!  

We didn't have any snow this week, and some of the afternoons may have reached into the high 50's.  So I do have a few daffodils.  The crocuses did not survive the extreme cold we had last weekend.

This was quite a week for Sophie.  Last weekend's times at her track meet put her first in the state and nation in the girls 100 meter dash!  

This weekend her school team was at the FSU Relays in Tallahassee.  Much tougher competition, because Montverde Academy was there.  Sophie had run against them during indoor season, but not since the outdoor meets started.  So in the four races she ran this weekend she came in second each time.  

There she goes!

It's Saturday night and I need to hit the sack now!  Happy Sunday!

 

Another happening week

 After I posted last Saturday Dick and I went on some errands.  As we drove we saw this beautiful sight as we were passing our church.

We went to Lowes to buy a new microwave.  Ours has been having some major issues, and at Thanksgiving Ray gave us money to get another one, and we finally did!  

Then we went to our favorite hoagie shop and used coupons we had gotten from our church's fundraiser a few weeks ago.  Each coupon got us a large (very large) hoagie, and we had four coupons.  From there we went to Anthony and Lori's place to eat hoagies and watch Sophie's track meet in NYC on their big screen TV.   Lori had just gotten back from a work trip, and we had some fun too!

Watching Sophie's 4x200 relay race was SO MUCH FUN!!  We had watched heat after heat till they got to hers.  Lori said she was sure she sees Lisa, so I texted Lisa to ask what she was wearing,  Sure enough it was pink, so every time the camera got to that side of the track we would look for her and Carlos, Sophie's boyfriend who was standing beside her.  When it was Sophie's heat we were screaming!!  The girls were SO GOOD, their running form, their speed, their handoffs.  Anthony said, "We gotta find out who their coach is!!"  Hahahaha!  They are Team B.L.U.E. and came in third.  Austin and Hunter loved watching her.  The next day Sophie told me that she had gotten text messages from each of the boys and it made her day!

Sunday morning came soon enough with that time change!  Here are pictures I took during the service.  Pastor Jim has a conversation with the kids the second Sunday of the month.  We all love it.  This time he used an egg to help them understand the Trinity.  

After church we went out to eat with some friends from church.  The restaurant had such nice decorations for St. Patricks Day.

Monday morning we woke up to snow - just enough to be pretty, but not on the roads.  

It was totally melted by the afternoon.  

Miki had sent me an audio file that morning.  She said it was a song from church the day before.  When I listened to it I realized it was the gospel choir she has joined at the church she attends.  The longer I listened I realized that not only was she the soloist in the song, she was the lead singer!  I can't go into details of why this is such a big deal, but it is.  She has been experiencing some real emotional healing since her visit to Pennsylvania last fall, and the fact that she is having the courage to join this choir and throw herself wholeheartedly into it is evidence of God's goodness.  I cannot share an audio file, so I made a video of it, just a picture of horses in a pasture with a fence around it. (The song is titled "Jesus, Be a Fence.")   She gave me her blessing to do this.  Enjoy!!  By the way, I'm really jealous of that piano player!!

I made Jamaican hamburgers (seasoned with curry powder, thyme, and allspice) for Anthony and Lori that day and took them over to their place.  In the evening we left right after Dick got off work to go meet Alex to get Elizer from him.  We hadn't seen him for a whole week!   Alex had gotten him a haircut that day!  

Destiny worked till 11:00 that night, so they stayed here overnight.  

Tuesday morning we woke up to snow again!  This time it had blown up across our porch, so we knew there must have been some wind.  WIND was the big deal that day.  It was SO cold and miserable.  And depressing.  I took Elizer to daycare, went for my hair appointment, went for some groceries, and each place I went I didn't want to even get out of my car.  

And then of all days the heat in my car decided to give out on me.  When I picked Elizer up from daycare I felt frozen by the time I got there.  Thankfully I had a blanket to tuck around him on the way home.  

So I had to use Dick's truck on Wednesday.  We have a car seat for Elizer in the back seat.  He thought it was really cool going in Grandpa's truck.  

An installation guy from Lowes came that morning to put our new microwave in.  I was glad he came early because I needed to use my stove.

I made Jamaican Rice and Beans and Curried Chicken for Anthony and Lori, then took that over to their place before I picked Elizer up.  We had our Lenten service and choir practice at church that evening, with a soup and bread meal before it started.  We took Elizer along and Destiny picked him up after she got off work - just before the service started.  

Thursday morning when I started my van it made a screeching noise and then a loud clunk.  As I backed up I realized I could not steer.  UGH!!  I called Dick and he said he had finished things up so quickly Wednesday before they closed that he had not noticed something he should have put on - or something like that.  He said a belt had come off - that was the loud clunk I heard.  

So I had to quickly call Destiny to tell her I could not take Elizer to daycare, that she would need to HURRY to take him before going to work.  (She did hurry!)  Then I called AAA, which took a LONG time.  Eventually a tow truck came to tow it to Bastian where Dick works.  I went along so I could once again get Dick's truck.  

Dick got my van completely fixed up that day.  We now have a new water pump, a new belt, and HEAT!!  

It was a beautiful, sunny day!!  After I got home with Elizer we went for a walk and then spent a lot of time at the little playground below the house.  It was just what my heart needed. Destiny came here after work and they hung out here for the evening.  

Here are some pictures his teachers posted this week. 

Today I went to Ollie's to get my coffee and I spent some time browsing.  I found a motto that made me laugh. I decided I needed to hang it somewhere in my kitchen just for laughs, even though it's not true! And I found the perfect place.   But I had to find a different place for the one that had been hanging there. 

I decided it would look nice under the candles that are above the water cooler.  

I also found this "welcome friends" banner at Ollie's for just $9.99.  I thought it was huge and would look good hanging on the living room beam.  So Dick hung it there while I was sitting here blogging this evening.  

When I went out to take a picture of it I realized it's not big at all, haha! I don't know if friends will even notice that they are welcome, lol!! 

Today Sophie had another track meet, this time in Bradenton.  Her 100 meter dash was about to happen this morning when I needed to go to church to practice with my flute players.  Thankfully I was watching on my phone and did not lose connection.  My flute players got to see her race, and they are my witnesses that she came in FIRST at 11.41 seconds, which makes her first in Florida in the 100 meter dash!

Then her 200 meter dash happened while I was in Ollie's.  So I hung out in the picture/motto section for a long while waiting for her heat - always the last one.  She came in first again with a personal record of  23.96!  Both races today were wind-aided, which makes her times not wind-legal.  I guess that's a big deal in the grand scheme of times.  

While I was sitting here writing we noticed that it was snowing and blowing again!  But fifteen minutes later there was a beautiful sunset.  March!!!  It takes so long for Spring to arrive in these parts. 

But because February was so unseasonably warm, we do have flowers that have somehow withstood all the sub-freezing temps we've had in March.  God bless those hardy little things!

And that's the scoop for this week!

My unusual week

 Good Saturday morning!  It's been a wintry week in these parts.  In fact, tonight we're to go down to 22 degrees!  I guess we'll cover our dear daffodils and crocuses.  We had some snow again yesterday, but it's the nice kind that doesn't stay on the roads, just the grass.  And my car, since I haven't driven all week.  More on that later. 

Now, about my unusual week.  

I don't really remember what I did on Monday, but I do remember that Jeremy called to tell me that they had had to get a new hot water heater.  When they took the old one out they discovered that it had been bought at Montgomery Ward in 1981!!!!  How's that for a throwback??  And a really good hot water heater!  Jeremy said, "It was just a year younger than me!"  

For some reason that made him think of green stamps.  He asked me about them.  He remembered pasting them into books and wondered why we did that.  I told him about taking the filled books to the green stamp store to redeem them for merchandise.  We decided that was like reward points before the digital age!!  Remember these?

On Tuesday we got some snow.  Just enough to be beautiful, but not a problem.  Of course, I was not allowed to drive anywhere, so it might as well have been a blizzard, hahaha!!  But no blizzard.  It had all melted by evening. 

Hunter's 7th birthday was Wednesday, but we celebrated on Tuesday evening.  I had taken this last picture of the family of three 7 years ago when I picked up Austin before they left for the hospital.

This was our welcome committee as we drove up Anthony's private road on Tuesday evening.   The deer stood and looked at us for a bit, which is what I was trying to take a picture of, but by the time I had my phone camera ready they were heading into the woods.  

Dick and I had stopped at Wegmans on our way there to pick up the cake Lori had ordered.  How cute is this????

And here's our Happy Birthday song once again in four-part harmony.  We're getting better, haha!

Hunter's friend Nkoyo and her mother Adidi joined us too.

Fun evening as always.  Hunter's birth is such a precious memory to us.  Anthony and Lori had resigned themselves to a one-child family because fertility measures had not worked and Lori's age was becoming a factor.  And then she was pregnant!!  How we had prayed and how we continued to pray all through that pregnancy!!  

I could cry buckets just looking at this precious picture!

This was my joyous blog post that day.

And a precious picture a few days later.  I could just kiss that soft little face right now.

I want to show you this "quilt" I got in the mail from Sweden!  Miki actually cut and patched together each little piece!  Even the envelope had some quilt patches on it!  I just love her work!

Also in the mail this week I got Beth Moore's memoir. What a perfect week to get it!  I couldn't drive, I didn't have Elizer.  So on Wednesday and Thursday I read the entire book.  It is SO good!!!!  I laughed and I cried.  The incredibly hard, heart-wrenching things she has experienced in her lifetime are hard to imagine, and yet she has such a profound teaching ministry.  I first remember seeing her years ago on James Robison's TV program and I loved her enthusiastic teaching.  Then a few years ago I did her Galatians Bible study with a group at Calvary.  It was by far the best Bible study I have ever done.  

On  the cover of her book are the five siblings in her family.  She is on the far right.  Her oldest brother Wayne was like her hero, and they have been very close friends as adults.  Last month, just before her book launched, Wayne died suddenly - I think a heart issue.  It's been a very hard month, such a mixture of good and bad.  

This was me as I read the book - taking advantage of Dick's recliner while he wasn't home, using the heated back massager, the fireplace on, no interruptions....  Such an unusual experience for me!

On Thursday morning Dick noticed a rainbow on the carpet.  Then we started seeing rainbows on the wall, the throw blanket, other places on the carpet.   

And then we discovered the "culprit."  This sweet little crystal bear Sammy had given me, sitting on the ledge of the archway between the kitchen and living room, was catching the sun and throwing rainbows around!!  Later I discovered that if I take the bear to a window where the sun is shining in and turn him around and around, we can have dancing rainbows on the walls, ceiling, and floor!!

Hunter was my boy that day.  The kids had no school this week due to Spring Break.  For the first time I introduced him to the game of LIFE.  He was all in!  

He needed to count his money between each turn, haha!

He also told me lots of jokes and riddles, did some coloring and activities in books I have here, and used his iPad while I got some church music work done on my computer.  Then we did a puzzle together.  He's so sweet and easy!!

Yesterday I got my cast off, woohooooo!!!  I was SO irritated with it always being in my way and hurting the palm of my hand.  And then we were having some snow again.  My frame of mind was, "I'm getting this cast off today come hell or high snow!!!!"  

Pastor Lynn took me and there was no problem.  No snow on the roads.  I will not show you the picture of my hand.  The incision looks really gross.  I'm allowed to get it wet when I shower and wash my hair (another woohoo!!), but I am not to soak it in water as in a bath.  No bandaids or creams on it.  Just clean and dry.  No lifting anything heavier than a coffee cup for a few weeks.   The stitches will work themselves out, which one of them already did.   I'm SO thankful to have this behind me!!

Yesterday afternoon I again got to watch a few episodes of "Call the Midwife" as I folded laundry.  And I took this picture of Mrs. Cardinal.  I had tried to get a picture of Mr. Cardinal earlier, but he flew away too quickly.  

Today and tomorrow we will be watching some really exciting track events.  Lisa has taken a group of her athletes to the Nike Indoor Nationals at the Armory Track & Field Complex in NYC!!!   Here's a cute pic of Sophie and one of her team mates from Relentless Sports Performance where Lisa coaches.

 

And now I've got stuff to do between the races!

Remember to turn your clocks ahead an hour tonight!  Of course our phones do it while we're sleeping.