There's a whole lot goin' on!

After several absolutely frigid, windy days, today seemed almost balmy.  I doubt that it got above freezing, but at least the wind wasn't blowing.  

I've been practicing with the choir from Fillmore United Methodist Church the past few months.  This evening was our last practice before our performance on Sunday afternoon.  What a relief to not be in charge of any part of it!  

The cantata is an early one by John W. Peterson entitled Born a King.  This evening our director Judy gave each family represented in the choir a beautiful wooden plaque.

Between now and Sunday we'll be making a quick trip to Lancaster County for my hair appointment, some time with Destiny, and a small family gathering with my Pennsylvania siblings.  Thankfully, it looks like there's no frozen precipitation in the forecast.

Actually, I wish we could be in Tampa this weekend.  Lisa has spearheaded the most amazing outpouring of generosity for a single mother/grandmother and her family.  Lisa's friends have been donating furniture, money, clothing, bikes, muscles, time, and this weekend they are doing a complete apartment makeover while the family gets to stay in a hotel and have fun at Busch Gardens.  On Sunday there will be a big "reveal", possibly with media coverage.  There's so much more to the story.  My heart is very, very blessed by what Lisa is doing. 

Happy times and sad times

Last evening Lori and I went to a Christmas party for the Bible study group we've been a part of this fall. It was fun. We played games, ate goodies, and sang Christmas carols. But the best part of the evening was...

...the Bible study teacher herself, Sherilyn Jameson. She shared her life story with so much honesty and humor and hope. She has been a tremendous inspiration to me this fall.

Have I said lately how much I love Austin and how much I enjoy getting to spend my days with him? I just can't get enough of him! He is constantly learning and challenging, but oh, so cuddly and sweet as well. Here's a picture I took this evening. Anthony uses this styrofoam roll to massage and stretch his back, and Austin is really getting the hang of it! This evening Lori called to tell me that she had Austin in the car with her earlier when a song came on the radio that began with an accoustical guitar intro. Austin immediately recognized the sound and began exclaiming about "ditar, ditar, ditar"!!

My heart is breaking for precious Sophie tonight. One of her beloved teachers was diagnosed with cancer just a month-and-a-half ago, and today she died! This evening Sophie told Lisa, " I feel like my heart is breaking into pieces." I can't stand it. I just want to sob and wail when I think of her needing to experience such a tragedy in her young life.

New Christmas decorations

For years I was blessed to receive a lovely floral arrangement every Christmas from a generous and appreciative mother of my students. She had two daughters a number of years apart in age, so there were a lot of years that I was the music teacher of her daughters. I found a picture of two of the arrangements in my Picasa files

So I was spoiled. I got used to having a beautiful arrangement on top of my entertainment center every Christmas. And I missed having one after her girls graduated from our school. Buying one for myself every year was out of the question.

I decided this year that I could possibly afford to buy a nice artificial arrangement that I could use year after year. So this evening I went to Michaels and discovered their arrangements were 50% off! I found one that I like. I just won't look too long at the pictures above or I might not like it after all.

I also decided I needed a nativity set for the counter in my breakfast nook. I found this cute little thing at Ross for $11.98!

Happy Birthday, George!

I'm late, I'm late! For a very important date! I almost forgot to do a post today honoring our son-in-law George on his 39th birthday. We love George! He's just an all-around wonderful guy. Here's a picture I like, taken when they were on his company trip to Costa Rica this past summer (when I was at their house caring for Sophie and chasing the snakes away and setting off the alarm, hahahahaha!!)

And here's another picture I like of George with Sophie. He's such a devoted husband and dad.

Lisa said that today Sophie was busy planning activities for George's birthday. Here are her exact words: "Party plans are underway. We have a craft area, a book area, a doll area, a yoga area, a workout area, a craft area, and outside races.... what every 39 year old man loves for a party, right??? :)" Tooo cute!!

And not to be outdone by her daughter, Lisa wrote a poem about and for him.

George is awesome,George is great, 

And he's no longer 38!
He's the best husband...And greatest dad,
And for that Sophie and I are very glad.
He's sweet, strong, handsome and funny.
And for 15.5 years, I've called him My honey!
Now that you've rounded the corner to 39!
I wanted to tell you, You get better with time.
Happy Birthday to my best friend and husband of 12.5 years.
I love you!!!

I told her I think she could sing that poem to him to the tune of "I've Been Workin' on the Railroad." Now wouldn't that be touching???

A home, a tree, lights, music, and a bell

I'm a happy camper this Christmas. We have a home, a real tree with lights, my favorite Christmas music,

and a perfect place to hang the old bell that was left in the attic of the very first house we bought in 1978! It still plays Silent Night when you pull the string!

We got a radio!

As hard as it may be to imagine, we have had no radio/CD player in this house until yesterday.  We used to have a lot of radios and systems, but gradually they bit the dust or grew out-dated or left with the kids.  Of course, I could play my Christmas CD's in the computer, but I really wanted to listen to them in my kitchen while I'm working.  I have also fallen in love with the K-LOVE radio station that was constantly tuned in at Anthony and Lori's house.  

The other day I noticed a GE Spacesaver radio/CD player on Craigslist for just $15, and yesterday Dick bought it and installed it.  I wish it were black, but it sounds great and it's right where I can listen while I'm cooking.  

Being excited about getting a radio reminded me of a similar experience many, many years ago - fourth grade, to be exact.  

But let me go back even further than that.  When I was a pre-schooler we had a green AM radio.  The main thing I can remember hearing on that radio was the Mickey and Jack Haines show.  They were very funny and very "dutchified".  (That is an adjective that describes an accent, in case you wondered.)  

When I was in first grade my dad became an ordained deacon in our Mennonite church.  At that time a requirement of ordination was to get rid of the radio.  I guess we didn't actually get rid of it, because I vividly remember that in the midst of a blizzard one winter we went up to the attic to listen to the weather news on that radio!  

When I was in fourth grade I had been at a sleepover at a friend's house and came to school with her the next morning.  When I was hanging up my coat in the coatroom, my eighth grade sister Mary Ellen came into the room and whispered to me, "Don't tell anybody.  We got a radio last evening."  I could not believe it, and could hardly stand not being allowed to tell anyone.  

When I got home, there was that little brown and beige AM/FM radio that we were now allowed to have.  I didn't understand what had changed at that point, but have since found out.  A new Christian FM radio station had started up in our area - WDAC.  Such a thing had never before existed in our area, and apparently it's arrival on the air caused the powers-that-be to determine that ordained deacons and preachers (which my dad was by that time) could now own a radio.  

Ahhh, enter Aunt Bertha, Sailor Sam, Ranger Bill, Request Time......   Those were the days!

The other side of the mountain

We have been having snow flurries for days, but it has always been light, fluffy stuff accompanied by wind, so it would just blow around. Last evening I looked outside and noticed that we actually had about an inch of snow on the cars.

Dick is taking a vacation day today. This morning we went to Anthony's bright and early to have him take a picture of us to send out (yes, I know everyone else has done that long ago, but when have I ever done Christmas stuff early, or even on time???) We enjoyed the beauty as we drove. Of course, I enjoyed it because I did not have to drive!

From there we went to a tree farm to buy our Christmas tree. After that was accomplished we still had over an hour until I would need to pick Austin up, so we went exploring. We decided to see what was on the other side of the mountain behind our house. I thought of the song we used to sing, "The bear went over the mountain to see what he could see. And all that he could see was the other side of the mountain." That's exactly what we found - the other side of the mountain, looking very much like our side, with more mountains beyond.

We discovered that lots of people actually live over there. We also saw Bald Eagle High School, which Dick remembered from our involvement with the Manheim Central wrestling team. It was fun - only because I was not driving on those snowy mountain roads!

And how about the house in that last photo? It was so far below the road, and there were no guard railings. If any vehicle would lose control and veer off the side, it would roll right onto their house. Yikes. Why would you build a house there???

Ovals, ovals everywhere!

This is my front door. Nice window, right? But really, do you notice the most important thing about that window? It's an OVAL!!

And what is so exciting about an oval? I really don't know. You'll have to ask Austin. He has just gone nuts lately about naming the colors and shapes of almost everything he looks at. But his absolute obssession is with ovals. He sees them everywhere and it just cracks us up. Not only has he pointed out that my front door has an oval, he also noticed the oval on the carpet that was made by the sun shining through that window!

I cannot remember when I learned what an oval was, but I have a feeling it was a lot closer to second grade than 22 months!

Good people, good times

As I said in my previous post, we stayed at Steve and Faye's this weekend.  I didn't take one picture of them all weekend, so I went back into my files and found this one taken on Thanksgiving Day 2009.  They haven't changed much since then - if anything they're even better looking and fit as a fiddle with all the biking they have done in the past year.

As you can easily tell, Steve is Dick's brother.  Next to Jeremy, he's my favorite guy to sing with.  And we didn't even sing together all weekend either.  Oh well, the four of us had some wonderful times of sharing around the kitchen table (not eating my Spanish Country Soup, however).  Our hearts are bonded in so many ways.  

On Saturday morning Faye went with me to a women's brunch at my sister Doris's church.  Doris did all the table decorations with a Christmas candy theme.  She got all the artistic genes in our family.  I saved all of mine for her when the Lord offered them to me.  

Here's a picture of our table.  Doris is the one in the black and gold blouse.  My brother's wife Nancy (in the black and red sweater top) was the speaker that morning.  

Her very appropriate topic was, "I Just Said 'No' and Don't Feel Guilty", filled with real-life stories of her own.  Very, very good.  I led in a time of Christmas worship.

In the afternoon Dick and I went to pick up Destiny from Frank and spent some time with him and Darla.  The girls were having fun with a new painting craft.  

That evening we went to Manheim Central High School for their fall play, The Man Who Came to Dinner.   It was very, very funny.  As Destiny and I love to do, we sat in the very, very front of the auditorium.  She always picks out her very favorite actor or actress and then spends her money on flowers or candy for them.  This year her favorite was the main character, Seth Achey, who played "the man who came to dinner" in the play.  We don't even know him in real life, but she bought him candy, wrapped in a note she had hand-written to him.  I so wish I had followed her and taken a picture of her with him, but she's getting so independent I can't keep up with her anymore.  I was too busy finding the people I knew in real life (my former students) that I was so very, very proud of  - Alyssa Nissley, the other main character....

...and Will Gray and Derrick Kreider.  I had all three of these kids from kindergarten through eighth grade, and it just blesses my heart so much to watch them use their gifts so successfully.

To say nothing of how small I felt beside Will, hahahaha!!

Sunday morning we were at our home church, which still feels very much like home.  I know God is moving us on, but He has been so kind in doing it gradually.  During a time of sharing, I noticed that Destiny had gotten my camera out of my purse.  This is what I found when I loaded my pictures last night!

I think she just got us some new profile pics!

We ate lunch with Steve and Faye, took our Sunday afternoon naps, then went to a family gathering, Dick's step mother's family.  When I got there my first thought was that I need to take a picture of her with her sisters because they all look so much alike.  But alas, my camera never left my purse.  

We also stopped in to see my step mother for a short time, then took Destiny home, and drove back home to State College.    We love spending time with loved ones, but we surely do love being home and in our own bed. 

Where's the soup??

I felt 100% better today than I did yesterday. It almost seemed like I miraculously started to feel better around 10:30 last evening. I began to wonder if some prayers had been lifted on my behalf after I published my post about feeling yucky.

I made two kettles of Spanish Country Soup today - one for our supper at Anthony and Lori's and one for our Sunday dinner with Dick's brother Steve and his wife Faye, with whom we are staying in Lancaster County this weekend. I put Sunday's soup into a Tupperware container and then into the chest freezer in Anthony's basement so it would quickly cool down enough to put into our cooler for the trip this evening. I said to Dick, "Now don't let me forget that soup when we leave. "

An hour or so later, as we sat in stop-and-go traffic several miles from State College (why don't they ever add more lanes to that ten mile two-lane stretch anyway??? Doesn't Penn State have enough people and enough clout do something about that?) I said to Dick, "Guess what we forgot?" Of course, we had forgotten that soup! So I'll be cooking again tomorrow!

We didn't go to Reading for Destiny this time, because Frank had picked her up for a birthday party for Darla's little guy. We'll get her tomorrow.

We're at Steve and Faye's house now. In the morning Faye and I will be going to a women's brunch at my sister Doris's church. I'll be leading a Christmas sing-a-long and worship. My brother's wife Nancy will be the speaker, so it's quite a family affair!

Tomorrow our son Ray will be celebrating his 28th birthday. He has now spent half his life as our son - he came to live with us a few days after his 14th birthday. We so enjoyed having him and Thyda at our home for Thanksgiving last weekend. He will be leaving for deployment on his ship in January, so it will be a long time till we see him again. We love you, Ray. We are proud to call you our son.

Feeling yucky

My day started out great, getting things done and crossed off my list. Then around 10 AM I was hit with a wave of nausea and I broke into a sweat.

I assumed I was experiencing side effects from a new pain med my doctor just prescribed. Dick had off work today, so he drove me to pick up Austin from daycare and became nanny for the afternoon. I fully expected my misery to go away soon, but that has not been the case. I have spent the entire afternoon and evening dozing, my head hurts, and I'm still nauseous. I just drank some tea and ate a few crackers, the first thing I've had all day (with the exception of a little bit of water.)

Thankfully I do not have diahrrea or vomiting. It is so extremely rare that I ever get sick. I can't even remember the last time I threw up - probably when I was pregnant thirty years ago!!

I just hope and pray I did not take germs to Anthony and Lori's house or make Austin sick by being around him today. I truly thought I was just having side effects and decided right away that I would not take any more of the new medication.

We have a big weekend planned, so I'm hoping and praying I feel much better in the morning.

To dip or not to dip

The picture above is of the nearby Fillmore United Methodist Church, the one we have been getting involved with since we moved to our new house in August.  

I would never have imagined that we would enjoy a church with such a traditional worship service, but we do.  These people are so alive that their traditional way of doing things does not seem dead or routine.  And of course it matters a lot to us that they sing with so much enthusiasm and that they sing well and in tune, especially the men.  They are so warm and friendly, making us feel like part of the family already.

They make a much bigger deal out of the Advent season than we do at Grace Community Fellowship, our church home in Lancaster County. So there are Wednesday evening Advent services this month, which is nice for Dick, since he doesn't get to stay for the whole service on Sunday mornings.  Our choir sang such a beautiful song this evening, Celtic Advent Carol. 

Last Wednesday evening there was a Thanksgiving service, including communion.  As the pastor and the lay leader prepared to serve communion, they stood up front, one holding a loaf of bread, the other a chalice of grape juice.  I thought to myself,  "You are kidding!  They all drink out of the same cup???"  Dick whispered, "With all the people I heard coughing this evening, I don't think I'm going front."  As the rows of people went forward, I told him, "If you don't go up, you'll be the only one."  So when it was our row's turn, we went front.  The guy in front of me was really tall, so I could not see exactly  how he was doing it.  Then it was my turn.  The lay leader said some words of blessing as I broke a piece of bread from the loaf and ate it.  I was planning to take the chalice from the pastor's hand to take a sip when the lay leader said, "Would you like to take another piece of bread to dip into the juice?"  Then I realized how they were doing it.  They were not drinking from that chalice!   They were dipping their bread into it!  I said,  "I am so sorry.  I never did it the Methodist way before."  And we all laughed.  

After we got back to our seats I got the giggles.  I thought of my former MCDS co-worker Frank, and whispered to Dick, "I think Frank Rittenhouse would have enjoyed watching that!"   He's the one that never let me forget about the time I was at staff devotions for the first time, and when they were supposedly praying for the requests that had been given, I felt so sorry that no one was praying for them, so I did.  I discovered later that the person in charge of devotions  would mention each request, and then give time for silent prayer for each one.  Oh me, oh my.  I do like to keep things interesting!

I found out from Frank Rittenhouse this week that the dipping of the bread into the juice is the ancient rite of intinction.  Never heard of it before, but now I've done it!

Dollhouse fascination - Austin style!

The doll house was brought out this weekend. Austin is quite fascinated with it, but not quite the same way Destiny used to be. He keeps trying to walk up these steps...

and sit on these chairs.

He keeps the dad on the toilet,

and he can't decide if he likes it better with the baby on the potty or in the tub!!!

Thanksgiving 2010, Days Three and Four

Our Thanksgiving celebration continued all day Saturday.  We started out (after a very late sleep-in for some) with a pancake and sausage brunch.  Anthony, Lori, and Austin joined us as well.

While every sensible person stayed indoors on such a cold, windy day, Sam and Ray went outside to throw football.  Even after dark they went out there again.  I have never seen two grown men (???) have as much fun playing together as these two.

Sometime in the afternoon Frank and J'von arrived along with Frank's friend Darla and her two kids.  There were no dull moments after that!  

Eventually the children were getting antsy, and just in time Lori called and told us they were taking Austin to a new kids' place called Fun Unleashed (I think).  So Darla and I packed up the kids and went to join them.  What an awesome place!  The most amazing jungle gym I have ever seen, and many other things to do as well.  Of course it cost a pretty penny, but it was worth it.  They had so much fun.

 

Then we all came back home and ate Thanksgiving leftovers and the apple crisp I had made earlier.  The noise level escalated as the evening progressed! I did manage to get them to pose for pictures.  Unfortunately, Anthony and Lori had already gone home, so I didn't get one of them.  

Ray and Thyda with Jade, their baby cat.

Sam and Jennifer.

Frank, J'von, and Destiny, Darla and her children, Mariah and Christian.

The girls wanted Dick and I to pose with "the boys".  I was on my last ounce of energy by that time and I looked like it too.

Ray and Thyda, as well as Frank and Darla and the three kids left around 11 PM for the long drive back to Lancaster County.  I was too tired to even worry about them when I went to bed!  

This morning Sam, Jenn, and Destiny slept in, Dick went to work, and I went to two church services. First to Fillmore UM to sing in the choir and participate in their Hanging of the Greens service, then to Houserville UM to play piano with their worship team.  

After Sam, Jenn, and Destiny left around 1:15 I made food for Dick to take along to the hunting cabin, then I babysat Austin here at our house for a few hours. (I could go on and on about the cute things he did today, but I'm too sleepy.)  Lori came for him about the same time Dick got home from work.  I sent him on his way and I was ALONE!  And when I'm done with this post I am hitting the sack.  

I have so many wonderful memories of this Thanksgiving holiday.  Thank you, thank you, thank you, Lord!!!