How did it get to be mid-August?

Wow.

Hi.

Remember me?

I know I'm in big trouble with some of you who have been checking in regularly (thank you for doing that by the way) and finding nothing. Nevertheless, here I am! Da ta da!

As always, the easiest way to catch up is in bullets.. and backwards, I guess. So here I go:

• Matt and Josh left for church camp on Sunday. I'm excited for the experience for both of them -- Josh especially. I've been holding down the fort with visitors and a delicate balance between busyness and laziness! I started back to part-time lessons last week, all the while working hard to fill my fall schedule.
• My parents also left to go home on Sunday. Mom was here for a whole week and Dad drove in just this past Friday. We really had a nice time. And the weather, oh, the WEATHER has been GORGEOUS! I don't ever remember August being so non-humid and nice :-)
• While my mom was here, we observed the third anniversary of Caleb's homegoing. It was a weird day, as it always is in some form. We kept the day pretty loose and mentally observed our own individual ways. We did go out to lunch and then on to the cemetery with flowers. Sorry I didn't do my usual reflective and lengthy blog. It certainly doesn't change the fact that it's still a difficult day and I still miss my boy...
  
• The day my mom flew in, Matt and I arrived home from two full days away to celebrate our anniversary -- 16 years. We usually only go out for dinner or at the very most, away for one night and home the next morning. But this year, we had the time in our schedule and the responsibility of our 14-year-old to hold down the fort and were really able to get away. We drove to Wildwood, New Jersey (on the Jersey shore) and stayed in a charming little bed and breakfast. We had a whole little cottage to ourselves. It was really a couple of days like no other. We had no schedule or obligations, went to restaurants, walked along to boardwalk, drove around Wildwood and Cape May and, the highlight for me, walked on the beach in the moonlight (Matt even made a sand angel!). I can't even begin to explain how wonderfully relaxing it was and how badly we needed it!
• About 10 days prior to our little getaway, we returned home from a concentrated month of Chain Reaction. We started in late June with our intern, Jess, arriving from Massachusetts. A few days later, Matt's mom and sister, Allayne, arrived for a week's visit as well. We were busy in our training and preparation for our first week: Baltimore. On a personal level, I was particularly excited about the Baltimore week. Not only was there a group coming from Howard county and another from a Mennonite church in Ohio, but there was a group coming from Trinity Baptist Church in Marion, OH; the church in which I grew up. Three of their leaders were people I had literally known since I was a child; two I grew up with in church and the other was my best friend in elementary school who lived down the street! Also serving as an adult leader was a woman whom I met and became friends with at a Women of Faith event last year. Not only was the week wonderful in hanging out with these old friends, but the true highlight was in the group itself. They came with such an amazing attitude to serve! They worked so hard and were truly open at the same time for God to do things IN them as well as THROUGH them. The rest of the teams were incredible too. Matt and I felt it was one of the best Chain Reaction weeks we've had to date. From there, we went to New York City to be a part of Abounding Grace Church's annual outreach -- Jesus Loves You New York. We got the opportunity to work with teams from Maryland, Minnesota and Florida. It was a hot, but good week. From there, we headed to our last leg: Haverhill, MA. We kidnapped one of the young adults from NYC, Frankie, and took him with us. This was the first year we went to the Boston area with no real service assignment, which was strange for us. We took a few days to be with the beloved Yeo family and to celebrate Micah's 9th birthday. We explored some parts of the area to which we had not yet been including a New Hampshire beach, Portsmouth and Kittery, Maine. We headed home from there sans our intern and via New York to return Frankie. We drove through a pretty nasty rain storm to come home, but were so glad to be back!

That's it in a very large nutshell. If you read the whole thing, I'll buy you a Starbucks or something!

School starts a week from this coming Monday. Hard to believe, yet true. I think the boys are ready to go back. Josh is both nervous and excited about starting high school. He's been working hard to get ready for football -- weight training since early June and starting two-a-days this coming Saturday.

OK. I'm going to finish watching tonight's installment of the Olympics and head off to bed. It's good to be back among the blogging. Big blessings to you as always...

I'd forgotten how much I like summer

The last few days have really been wonderful -- not because of any great event but more because of the lack of one. I'd forgotten how nice it is to have nothing on the schedule. Since the boys got off of school Wednesday, I've been letting them stay up late, sleep in, watch movies, run around like crazy people, etc. I woke up this morning to a quiet house and no place to be and it was... bliss! I know it's not going to last forever. In fact, I plan Monday on getting the boys on their summer schedule, bed times, chores and those wonderful workbooks I always make them do over the summer. But for now, Jacob is watching TV, Josh and Micah are still sleeping, Matt is running errands and I'm sitting here blogging, listening to a neighborhood lawnmower and smelling the brewing coffee in the kitchen and getting ready to make banana pancakes. See? Bliss.

Last night, we ate outside (as we do very often in the summer). After dinner, the boys ran around and chased lightening bugs and rode the wagon down the hill. Matt and I just sat there and talked. I said, "Wouldn't it be great if we could just freeze this night and save it? It's perfect."

His response, "Not really. The dog is drooling on my foot."

Can't blame me for trying!

I hope you're enjoying a few lazy days of summer yourself!

Quote of the day...

My allergy-ridden husband, upon getting in the car after being outside for awhile:

"The back of my throat feels like I've been sucking on a flower."

Nice, huh.

Multitasking = blogging and watching Celebrity Apprentice

Hi.

It's me.

Yeah, I know.

I'm back though, so get off my case :-)

Wow. Life has been crazy and full and... good. I'm not even sure where to start.

This has been the first year since Caleb died that I didn't blog on his birthday (2/21). He would have been 13 this year which is really hard to believe. The day itself was really hard; more so than I thought it would be. That's all I have to say about that for now.

Business has been booming. Not only have new students been coming out of the proverbial woodwork, but I've gotten another opportunity as well. The school where I used to teach, TCS, lost their music teacher and they offered the position to me. Fortunately, it fit into my schedule nicely so I took it. I've been doing it since the end of February and we just actually put on our Easter program last night. Considering how thrown together it felt, I think it went pretty well. Anyway between lessons and this class, I'm working about 30 hours in three days each week. It's busy and tiring but good. I love what I do so I can't complain.

This past Friday, Matt, Josh and I flew to New Orleans. My mom graciously came to Baltimore to stay with the monkeys (thanks again, Mom). We were a part of a weekend in which church leaders and pastors from the NOLA area came together to pray and get mobilized for their city. There were people there from Texas, Tennessee, other parts of Louisiana and even Massachusetts as well. It was really a great weekend. Sunday, we got to spend some time doing more "touristy" things - the highlight being eating beignets and drinking cafe au laits at Cafe DuMonde! I flew home Monday, but Matt and Joshy stayed to continue to work. I'll pick them up tomorrow.

What's next? Well, spring break officially began after school today. The boys and I are going to the MOPS easter egg hunt tomorrow, the airport and then our church's Good Friday experience. Sunday is Easter, of course. Wednesday, I leave for Chattanooga via Nashville to compete for the first time with our quartet. This one is evaluation only. Our "real" competition is two weeks later in Covington, KY.

So that's the skinny for now. I've really missed blogging and want to find a way to make time for it. If that doesn't work, I have a ghost writer standing by ready to go!

Have a blessed Easter.

Peace out.

My life in bullets...

Life is...

Full. Busy. Good.

If you're interested, here's a glimpse, in no particular order, of what's been going on:

• I just got back from Ohio. We went to Sweet Adeline's Region 4 Winter Warmup. Though it was a bit overwhelming to not know anyone beside our quartet (my mom, her best friend and my sister) and a few faces from my mom's chorus, I feel like I really learned a lot about barbershop singing and even picked up some new warm ups and techniques for my voice students.
  

• I got very little sleep over said weekend so I feel like a bit of a zombie today

• Debbie Connelly is awesome. If you knew who she was, you'd be impressed that I had dinner with her. OK... I'll tell you. Debbie is the lead of "the BUZZ", the 2005 Queens of Harmony for Sweet Adelines International. They are hands down the best women's barbershop quartet ever. I already knew she had an incredible voice, but dinner with her allowed me to get to know her. She's a nut (like me) but an incredibly sweet and sensitive person at the same time. My sister and I had a wonderful time having dinner with her. Our quartet got to coach with her, too.

• We had about three inches of snow last Thursday. The boys and I had a blast. More on that later...

• I made a scrapbook for my sister for Christmas, but I just gave it to her this weekend. She LOVED it which subsequently made me happy because I worked really hard on it and it was kind of awesome.

• We're dog sitting for my BFF while she's out of town. Her dog is small and cute and I call her Claire Huxtable, though that is not her name.

• My husband leaves for New Orleans tomorrow to do some preliminary work on an event that's coming up in March. I will miss him, but will keep plenty busy while he is gone.

• I had a girls night out/MOPS reunion at my friend Heidi's house a couple of weeks ago. I got to see a lot of friends I haven't seen in awhile and it was wonderful We had so much fun.

That's it for now. I have to get ready for lessons. More later... I promise.

Thursday Thirteen #12

I thought I would follow my dear friend, Ami's, lead (and by that I mean totally steal her idea) and make my T13 do double duty this week.

Thirteen Things I'd Like to Improve in 2008

1. Spend some time really focusing on God every day -- and it may look like something different each day. Something to keep my focus where it needs to be.

2. Exercise at least four times a week -- I started yoga on my OnDemand this week. It's only 10 minutes a day but a good place to start I figure (and I'm already feeling it!). Considering I lost over 30 pounds last year from just dieting, the exercise definitely can't hurt.

3. Lose those last 10-15 pounds -- I'll start with ten and then see how the jeans are fitting. I figure I'll want to go ahead and do the last five, but we'll see.

4. Get to bed earlier -- tough one. I'm such a night owl. I'm shooting for 11pm every night, though I've decided to let myself stay up later than that one random night each week (obviously, tonight's that night!).

5. Read to and with the boys more -- Micah has to do 25 minutes each night for school and Jacob is supposed to read 15 books each month. I love to do it, but it's so hard to make the time. If I can just remember they will only be this little for so long...

6. Stick to my housework list -- I have everything broken down into a miraculous plan - if only I can stick to it! In theory, the whole house gets cleaned each week. I open for tweaking if my plan doesn't work.

7. Read at least 12 books this year -- I'm going to shoot for more non-fiction this year.

8. Spend some time on craft projects (at a minimum) once a week -- my craft room is almost completely organized and set up. I miss sewing. And along those lines...

9. Finish 40 scrapbook pages -- If Scrappy Chicks continues to get together once a month like we've been doing, that's only 3-4 pages per month. This only counts for our family album. Special things like gifts don't count. I can't wait!

10. Master a few piano pieces that are currently out of my league -- how can I expect my students to advance if I don't push my self?

11. Play board games with my kids more; let's shoot for twice a month -- they're getting to an age where they really love board games (Mic and Jay) but aren't too cool for them yet (Josh).

12. Get together with my girlfriends more -- we have a MOPS reunion scheduled for next weekend. How timely!

13. Go on a date with my husband at least once a month -- 17 years of dating and still loving it!

Nothing earth shattering here, but I feel like these are attainable and will be good for the health of me AND my family.

What do you want to do this year?

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others' comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Thursday Thirteen #11

Sometimes I have lots of energy and creativity to put into my T13, sometimes I don't. SO in the spirit of the latter, I give you...

Thirteen reasons I'm tired tonight

1. Christmas was two days ago

2. I've eaten more in the last three days than I probably have in the last three months. Shame on me.

3. My parents are here and

4. My mom and I are avid, vigorous shoppers. So, therefore...

5. We've been to Walmart like three times in the past two days AND

6. Matt and I took them out for their 33rd wedding anniversary tonight.

7. Micah misplaced his DS and we spent WAAAY too much time and energy today looking for it.

8. I don't feel totally great. My nose is drippy.

9. The dog woke me up before the sun was up because he, apparently, had to pee or just had an overwhelming urge to chase squirrels

10. Matt and I drive to Shrewsbury, PA this morning to have breakfast with some friends we hadn't seen in awhile

11. Josh had a friend over today and it takes a lot of energy to be a cool mom (without looking like you're trying to be a cool mom)

12. Still a little salty about that darn DS being lost all day.

13. Is Christmas break over yet?

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others' comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Yesterday...

Fifteen years ago yesterday, I married the man who continues to be my best friend. He's smart, funny, resilient, sweet, thoughtful and cute!

I never realized that day how much we would be required to go through together as a couple, but God is true to His word; He would never give us more than we could handle without His help. Together, Matt and I have driven seven different cars, moved about six times, been through four labors and deliveries, bought two houses, had three pets (not counting numerous carnival goldfish) and kissed probably a million times (yea!).

We've been though highs like getting something for which we've prayed, moving to an area we love, releasing a CD and celebrating birthdays and other special days. We've been through lows ranging from disappointments and financial distress to burying our son.

When we started dating, we decided to take life one day at a time and, though we (especially I) get tempted to rush ahead in our minds sometimes, this thought still seems to work.

We're excited and thankful about the first 15 years together and look forward to what's ahead...

I never told you what happened to the van.

When we came home from spring break in Ohio about a month ago, we stopped at Westfield Dodge in Westfield, New York to trade in our van for one with a little less mileage and some other extra niceties. We LOVE our new van! It has the Stow and Go seats, automatic opening doors, power locks that work(!), ponies, confetti... OK. Maybe not the last two, but it's cool all the same. Micah named the van Sally.



About two weeks ago, Matt was driving home from a prayer meeting on route 70. The car beside him lost control of her vehicle and started to fishtail. She ended up with her front end in our passenger side. Fortunately, Matt was alone in the car and no one was hurt (he was a little shaken and stiff the next day, but is fine). The other driver totally admited fault and felt bad for what had happened.



On another fortunate note, the other driver also has great insurance coverage. Our van is in the shop until the beginning of June and we are driving a Chrysler Town and Country that is even a little nicer than our new van.

So, though this made a few days particularly stressful, I am also very thankful for God's grace and all of the "best case scenarios" here. Even though we only got to drive our new car for about three weeks, I still have a husband who is in one piece, I am driving a car even nicer than the one we bought and all is generally well with the world.

So be blessed little campers.

And be careful out there.

Happiness is...

...my husband catching the biggest fish he has ever caught on Tuesday! He got to go out in the bay on a fishing boat compliments of his friend, Richard.

Needless to say he was a happy camper... er fisherman.

And I might add that we had a delicious fish dinner that night!

Way to go, babe!

Who's Your Daddy Now?

Hello friends. I have some cool stuff to share.

Matt and I have a good friend by the name of Dr. Doug Stringer. Doug is the founder and dude-in-charge of a ministry based out of Houston, TX called Somebody Cares America. Doug is getting ready to release his new book, Who's Your Daddy Now. We are humbled to be included in this new publication. Please read the excerpt below:

Excerpt From Who’s Your Daddy Now?
By Doug Stringer
Chapter 5: Leading by Example

I gained some insight about a commonly used biblical phrase, “laying on of hands.” Even though hands were laid on people to impart healing and ordain them to ministry, one of the original roots of the practice was to pass on "the blessing" from one generation to another, like Jacob did with his sons.

Laying on of hands is not something you can do by phone, e-mail, or fax. You have to be there. One of the tragedies for many young people today is that they don't have parents who are truly there for them, in person and by example. They don’t have dads and moms present in person to impart to them the value or even the techniques of interaction. . .

Matt, an emerging generational leader, told me how he demonstrated the love of God in this way to his oldest son, Joshua, who was 12 at the time. Josh is strong and muscular and growing up very much in the image of his dad.

Matt and his wife, Katy, coordinate a youth initiative throughout the Northeast including Baltimore, New York City, and various locations in New England. One day, during an outreach in Lowell, Massachusetts, the teams of young people were in an intense time of prayer and worship. They had been out all day serving the community with work projects.

Just a year earlier, I had been the keynote speaker for their outreach in that same community. Several of the interns ministered to me during a time of prayer led by Matt and Katy’s 10-year-old son Caleb, who had been a pivotal part of the outreach with his energy, zeal, and enthusiasm. Just a few days after I left, Caleb went to be with Jesus as the result of a car accident.

Josh was also in the accident, but survived. A year later, he was still reeling from all that happened. During this time of prayer and worship, he went off by himself, feeling tired, fearful, and confused. As Matt tells the story:

Knowing Josh had suffered a loss no 12-year-old can easily endure, I walked up behind him and put my hand on his shoulder. He was slouched in his seat, and his face was covered so no one would see him crying. I leaned over to gently speak in his ear and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“I don't know.”
I knew that meant I should ask again.
“What’s the matter?”
He told me he felt scared, like God was far away from him.
The Holy Spirit quickened me to ask him: “Do you know how close God is?”
“No.”
I quickly replied, saying; “He is this close.”
I then scooped down and gripped him, putting my arms around him and hugging him as long and as hard as I could.
Josh didn’t need my theology or thoughts at that point. He needed a tangible understanding of how much God loves him and how close He really is.
Later that evening, he thanked me and asked, “What do kids do when they feel far from God and don’t have a dad to hold them?”
Even in his youth, Josh recognized the need for human touch, for the tangible touch of a father.

One Christmas, a team of five families from Warren, Pennsylvania came to Houston, giving up their own holiday to serve others during our Holiday of Hope ministry and other Christmas outreaches. As one of the dads on the team was helping a five-year-old girl and her mom pick out Christmas toys from our fellowship hall, the little girl looked up to him and said, “Could you give me a hug for my daddy? I don’t have a daddy.” He hugged her as he held back his tears.

God depends on us to be that father in the flesh to those who don’t have a dad to hold them. Let us not be afraid to impart this intimacy. Let us not be afraid to “be there,” in person and by example. It was no mistake He chose to pass on blessings through the laying on of hands.

Pretty cool, huh.

You can pre-order Doug's book by clicking here. We would be thrilled if you did.

Sad

I have honestly tried to make all of my blogs fairly happy and positive, but I now need to pull on the therapuetic advantages of a blog. I'm really down tonight. I didn't think Mother's Day coming would be that hard. I just planned to ignore it like I have with all of the other holidays since Caleb died. but this one is hitting me harder than I thought it would. There's no way when we celebrated last year that I had any idea I wouldn't have one of my sweet boys with me a year later.

I really do trust God that his way is best. I can't say that I agree or would chose to have things go the way they have, but I choose to trust his infinite wisdom.

I just miss him so darn much. I told Matt the other night that it's getting harder to remember specifics about him. There are things I will always have ingrained in my mind, but the day to day mannerisms and stuff like that are getting a little harder. Makes me wish I had just follwed him around with a video camera for a couple of days -- just reguar ordinary days. And it's hard to find the balance between thinking about things a lot to remember but not too much so that you can't function.

If you read this, thank you for caring and keeping up with my journey. My family and I could still use your prayers. Please also pray for my friend, Barb, and her daughter, Kate, who lost their mom/grandma today.

-sigh-

I sincerely hope you enjoy time with your mom/kids this Mother's Day. God is so good to give us each other...