Thursday

An excuse for not blogging:

Tomorrow's schedule so far is as follows:
Fred--baseball game
Ben-- track meet
soccer game
Sam-- guitar lesson
soccer game
chorus concert
Pete--soccer practice
Chris--softball game
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Not sure how all of this is going to work out. With rain in the forecast, things could be much easier. Now, to decide what we do and what we don't!

May Already!!!!

So May is here. My cherry tree went from a buzzing white cloud to vibrant green. Our cars were green, Chris's desk was green, there was a green haze on everything last week. Then the rain came and washed it all clean. It's been raining for days and will continue. Praise God for this gift, and for the golden finches in the grass this morning.
We have been running full tilt. Ben, Sam and Peter ran in the Great Train Race in Fredericksburg yesterday. It rained all night, but stopped by the time we had to be there at 7. Then it stayed dry until after Peter's heat at 9:30! They ran a mile through downtown Fredericksburg. My friend was telling me that it's the largest children's race in the nation. It was a lot of fun. Our days are filled with practices, lessons, homework, and more practices. Monday, for example, includes Ben's track, Fred's baseball, Sam, Peter and Ben's soccer. This week also includes 3 baseball games, a chorus concert and 2 track meets. I don't know how this will all happen, but it will. Before this all started, I realized that I couldn't continue to "do spring" the way I'd always done it. I get completely stressed out over all of the running, feel guilty over the lack of time spent on homework, and obsess over who will have to stay home alone all evening and who needs to go to which brothers' game. This year I knew I would end up burned out and either sick or in pain if I tried to keep up. As I prayed about this, I felt God nudge me. I needed to stop trying to fit other things in during the day. I needed to not volunteer for ANYTHING! I needed to determine to enjoy their games and their practices and the time in the van with them. And, I needed to trust God to work out the schedule. So far, I have only had one day where I spazzed out over the schedule, and since then I don't look ahead. Also, I've seen God open doors and make ways where there wasn't a way. For example, when Fred was to be inducted into the Honor Society, Peter had practice, which we could skip. Fred had practice, but it was after school and before the induction, but Ben had a game. Chris didn't want to leave Ben at the game alone, but neither of us wanted to miss the induction either. Chris was going to go to the game and try to get the coach to bring Ben to the high school after the game. As they were on their way, I got an e-mail saying all of the games at the park where he was playing were cancelled. They were working on the sidewalks and didn't want anyone there! Amazing! So we both got to go and I didn't have to worry. There have been things like that each week. I am bolstered in my faith and my trust. God will provide each day. So as we speed toward the summer, I know that whatever happens will be alright. This is a much better way to go through spring and life!

Funny?

We are in the process of getting rid of our satellite dish. We are going "old school," as Chris says, so we need to make sure that we can actually get regular channels. This has been quite a process, and Chris has done his research about antennas, receivers, etc. Today he put together our new antenna since the old one has been there since who-knows-when. He wondered at the very vague instructions and had to use pictures as well. You would think it was from India or Thailand with the instructions we received. The English wasn't so good. But no, it's from Missouri. I guess we need the pictures since it comes from the "Show Me" state. He was reading the warnings and outdoor installation instructions. The very last one on the sheet says, "Warning Do not attempt to install if drunk, pregnant or both. Do not throw antenna at spouse." It makes me laugh even now! He's been warned.

Baltimore

Mummy at the Walter's Gallery

They did have some armor out!

Fred and Sam pulling at the tug of war. I think Peter and Ben were on the other side. The rope was at different angles on each side. I actually beat Chris at this because of the advantage of the higher rope.

4 Cool dudes waiting for the 3D movie about the ocean. Nice glasses.

I feel as if I'm still a week behind. Having everyone home for spring break made last week very different. We finally made a trip to Baltimore, but we had to squeeze it in between baseball. Thankfully, the rain helped! When I was in college I took a field trip with an art class to the Walter's Gallery in Baltimore. Then, when I had 3 children, an older woman at our church offered another art class, which I gladly participated in, and then she took me to the same gallery. This was about 10 years ago, and I so desperately wanted to take the boys back there. The gallery had a mummy and it had a room filled with armor, swords and various weapons. I knew they would love it. Finally, last week, we made it to the gallery. Many of the suits of armor were in storage, but there were some. It wasn't the field trip I had hoped for, but hoepfully they absorbed SOMETHING as they whisked their way through the halls. We also went to the Maryland Science Center on the Inner Harbor. Now my kids aren't the best museum people in the world. I think Ben and Peter made it through the entire Walter's gallery in 20 minutes. But the Science Center was a different story. It is the best science museum I have been to. We stayed all day, and the guys were actually disappointed when it was time to leave. They hadnt' seen everything yet. If you get the chance to go, it's well worth the cost of admission!

Easter

See my eggs!

Abbey is focusing on getting that egg to the plate.

Ben has devoured the chocolate cross while Fred works on bunny ears.

Fred poses as a statue on the stump in the yard.

I love this picture of my mom and dad. They were laughing as we tried to get my dad to smile for the camera.

I love this picture of my niece Nichole, even though it's blurry. That's her dad in the background, whom she greatly resembles!

Kim made this AWESOME lemony, cheesecakey fresh dessert. I can't remember the name, but it is beautiful and tasted like spring!

Spring means rain, and rain it did. Since Fred's 100 inning game was postponed Saturday, and my plans were cancelled due to rain, we decided to surprise my parents for Easter. We left Saturday morning and Fred drove the entire way. It was nicer there, and we had such a nice visit.

NHS Induction

Happy Good Friday! This morning when I woke Peter up for school I said this to him. He responded, "It's good for us, but it wasn't good for Jesus. What happened wasn't good, but it is VERY good for us." Amen! Today our Bible study was on John 14 and 15. Jesus said in chapter 15 that we should rejoice because he is returning to the Father, who is greater than him. So many years I try to think solemn things, and indeed it was a solemn, unfathomable feat that our sins would be poured out on Christ on the cross, but oh the joy that I don't have to pay for them for all eternity!

Fred was inducted into the National Honor Society last night along with many other students. It was a beautiful ceremony, well done by the current members. I'm so proud of him! We had to take about 9 pictures with him because he seems to always blink when the camera clicks. In the ones where his eyes were actually open, I was focusing on his eyes being opened, so I wasn't smiling....He even had his eyes closed in the picture I took of him when I was half-way across the cafeteria and he was surrounded by friends. He says he has a "camera sense" and can tell when his picture is being taken. I credit that to all of the times we tried to take pictures of his brothers and he jumped in front of the camera too.

spring

Signs of spring abound. I planted bulbs in the fall, finally, and was rewarded with 4 different types of flowers outside my front door. That was time well spent. We are careening through spring and it's only 2 weeks old! I have a love/hate relationship with this time of year. I love that everything is new and renewed, that the sun warms me and the ground. I hate that we barely have time to glance at it from all of the business. Soccer Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and SAturday. Baseball everyday. Track starts Monday. It's crazy. I am working on having a good attitude this spring about sports. I'm also working on saying "no" to everything else. Hopefully we'll make it successfully to the other side of the season with mental health in tact. That remains to be seen, but we're off to a good start!