VBS

This week is Vacation Bible School at a local church. Our church is WAY too small to have one, so we have opted to go to the closest church (it’s Catie’s preschool as well). They are a wonderful church, extremely friendly and always welcoming. We visited there a few times, but I found the sermons to be a bit “fluffy.” We weren’t (and aren’t) looking for fluff, but to be challenged each week.

But they do a great job on VBS. This year they handed out a CD of the songs they are singing before and after. Oh my. Hearing “Jesus to the Rescue” and “Jump” and “God’s not Dead!” over and over ad infinitum has been shall we say, somewhat on the not fun side of the spectrum. However, they are having a blast and singing, so I’m not going to whine. Much. 😀

Oh, and WHAT IS THE DEAL with having VBS at NIGHT??? When I was growing up it was always during the day, and pretty much always in the morning. It gave the mothers a break. I can only guess that there are so many working moms these days that they wouldn’t have much attendance. Still, it makes me just a tad grumpy, but man, would I LOVE to have two hours to myself, all the while knowing that my kids were learning about God in our nation’s history.

My mom came over for an impromptu visit. While wonderful and terrific and awesome to actually SEE my mom in person, which I haven’t done since mid-June-ish, it meant I didn’t get a whole lot done. The living room is straightened, which will thrill my husband to no end. He doesn’t get a tidy living room all that often, poor guy.

The kids are picking up the playroom as I type. First they pick up six things. Then five. Then four, then three, then two and finally one. I couldn’t say pick up 21 things because that would be overwhelming, but small increments they understand and can do. And 63 things get picked up each session!

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The House is looking better!

My desk looks GREAT! And I even managed to go through half of the kids’ books that we have. I do this about once per year and donate them to….our pediatrician’s office! I know, at first it seems a little odd. But think of all the little hands that come in there every day! A lot of times they walk away with a book. And a lot of those little hands are from inner-city Coatesville or from the mushroom-growing population that don’t have a lot of books. So yes, we donate to our pediatrician office. They are always very grateful and I love giving to a place where I KNOW my gift will be used.

To catch up on our lives here, we’re a little in flux right now. Jim is more than a little frustrated at his job. He’s been frustrated before and has stayed there. Whether that will be the case this time I don’t know. Being an IT guy, there are jobs out there. Whether he qualifies for them, I don’t know at this point. It’s hard for me, because, as I have stated before, I HATE CHANGE. If I’m really prepared for it, I can deal with it. And him changing jobs would, indeed, qualify as a HUGE CHANGE–for me. Especially with the insurance aspect with our kids. We deal with them a lot.

Our church, Common Clay Christian Fellowship, asked Jim to be the Worship Leader. This is a huge responsibility. HUGE. Especially for us at this point in our lives. He accepted on a 6 month trial basis. This will mean me being more involved as well, because I sing on his team. I think he also would like me to play piano on his team, but he hasn’t pressured me about it. I practiced last night to see how it would be. Weird. I’ve never played on a team, only ever sang. Our old church had many, MANY talented musicians. I was just one of many. Common Clay is a small church, so it’s a much smaller congregation to pull from. They asked him a few years ago when the old leader stepped down, but he wasn’t in a position to say yes at that point.

Catie and Laura just joined me with the typical “she said, she said” conundrum. I’m taking a new approach to this–they are old enough now to work it out themselves. It saves me the aggravation and teaches them to compromise. In theory, at least. 😀

I’m off to work…today it’s the dishwasher, adult darks, boys’ laundry folded and away (hate that last part!) and hopefully going through the last of the books. Oh, and Ethan’s yearly paperwork from Overbrook, which is immense. That needs to go to the pediatrician early so I can pick it up from them at their yearly check up in late August.

Getting Back into the Swing of Things

I just took a picture of the desk I’m sitting at. It will serve, most awfully, as the “Before”. It’s really pretty bad. Could I have put more adverbs in that sentence??

I’m still getting settled back into the house. Most everything is unpacked and I even put the suitcases away! Oh, yeah, side story: I either broke a toe or really badly bruised it putting them away. I missed the bottom two steps to the basement and WHAM. OUCH! It’s on my right food, the little piggy who had none. It’s purple and blue and swollen and looks awful. Am I willing to spend $100 to find out at the ER whether it’s broken? No. Nor am I even willing to spend the $15 dr office copay to find out because let’s be honest, they can’t do anything about it anyway! They’ll tape it or leave it alone, tell me to take some Advil if it hurts and let me go my merry way. So I thought I would self-diagnose and do everything but the taping because I hate stuff on my toes. I’m weird that way.

So, I’m going to stop typing and take 15 minutes to start tackling my desk. Can’t wait to see the after pictures! 😀

Paring Down

Did you know that I managed to live at the Ronald McDonald House for FOUR WEEKS without most of my stuff?? Did you??

I was laying in bed one evening. Or, rather, sitting on it. That’s pretty much what I did in the evenings before turning out the light. There was no TV, so I read books almost every evening. But I digress….I was sitting there looking around at our simple “home”. Other than my laptop, with which I stayed somewhat connected to the world and watched movies on, a boombox for Ethan’s music, books from the local library and honestly what could be called necessities (i.e. clothes, medicine, personal care items, food), I did not have any thing else surrounding me. Nothing. Nada. No STUFF. No magazines, no yearbooks, no cd’s or closet full of home decorations or things I just can’t bear to part with. And I lived well. In fact, cleaning up our little room was incredibly easy. Doing laundry with seven outfits for him and three pants for me and five shirts was again, incredibly easy.

So, what does this tell me? (and you, of course!) I DON’T NEED ALL THE STUFF I HAVE!!

With the triplets’ birthday coming up next month, I will do my normal “go thru and really purge a lot of crap to make way for the new crap”. But what about MY stuff? How about I look around my desk, which (if I’m honest) has a little gully for my mouse and a piece of paper, and two mountains of paper and stuff on either side. Which after a month of absence I have no clue what might be lurking in those piles. It’s on my list of things to do this week.

Why are we so attached to stuff anyway? What makes me so unable to get rid of Thing 1 and Thing 2? I’m not, by nature, a sentimental person. Really. Just ask Jim. Because he is. And God FORBID I get rid of those sunglasses he had when he was in high school! But I have my “Memory Box” of things like my childhood blanket and one of those “Great Adventure took a picture of me and my friend and here we are in a thing you look thru” thingys. From 15 or 18 years ago. I mean, please, how does this enrich my life?

Our pastor gave a really good sermon today on how to become spiritually mature. No, none of it was new, but man, do I need to be reminded over and over again!
1. Salvation (this really is a no-brainer, but necessary nevertheless)
2. Reading the Bible. Yeah, I’m pretty lax about this. I have all the wonderful intentions in the world, and then forget, or “don’t have time”. Right. Liar.
3. Prayer. Actually talking to God. I do ok on this one.
4. Time. Maturity takes time. I’ve been a Christian since I was 17, so that shouldn’t be a problem, huh? But, hey, if I’m not following #2, how in the world can I expect #4 to work?

I think I’m going to add a small (a) to the bottom. It’s not important enough to get a number, but a letter would work.
(a) Get rid of stuff. So I have more Time to do 2 and 3!!

And here comes the rain. Boom! Boom! Flash! Hope we don’t lose power. The kids really hate that.

Family

My parents married young. But they “couldn’t have children”, adopted two, and then ended up having me in their mid-30’s. Their parents all died young. I had a grandfather for one month, who I obviously don’t remember, and a grandmother for 5 1/2 years that I remember only a little.

Jim’s parents married young and had him young (Jim’s dad was 19!). When I married into his family, I inherited two intact sets of grandparents, a FIL and two MIL’s (divorce and remarriage), both of whom I adore.

Back in December we lost Jim’s maternal grandfather. Two days ago, we lost Robin, his stepmom, to lung cancer. Jim called me up at Hershey to tell me. That was a rough night.

Robin was only 51. She and I got along very well. Although they lived in South Carolina and we rarely got to see them, we emailed and phoned. Robin loved the Lord. She was Catholic, fairly devout from what I could tell. When she was diagnosed in January with Stage 4 cancer, she didn’t question. She accepted. Her journey was one of grace and peace. She knew where she was going. Because of that fact, I have had a much easier time with this than I might have. I lost a friend here on earth, but I have every confidence that I will see her again in heaven.

And she’s gotten to meet Connor. THAT gets me every time I think about it.

I’ll miss you, Robin.

Hershey Park

Yes, a NON FEEDING post! The family came UP this weekend instead of Ethan and me going home. Yesterday we went to the Chocolate Factory (YUM!), a trolley ride around Hershey and then did a preview of the park, where we did all the kiddie rides. We didn’t get to bed until almost 11, which is incredibly late for the kids (and me, too!)

Today we slept in a bit, thank goodness, and went to the water park section of Hershey Park. We were there for about 3 1/2 hours. I’ve been totally wiped out all day from the rotten night of sleep (6 people in one room is not conducive to a good nights’ sleep!) and then being so active in the water, plus Ethan being difficult. He’s been so great these last three weeks that I sort of forgot how hard he can make outings.

We’re supposed to go to Dutch Wonderland in two weeks. Can I just tell you how much I DON’T want to go in the heat?? Oh my word, I Do.Not.Do.Well. in the heat! I can handle cold, but heat just literally shuts me down. It was somewhere between 92 and 96 today. Not sure what the “real feel” was when you factor in the humidity. Since Jim and the kids left I’ve just stayed inside.

There is a young Muslim boy here with his family. We were chatting earlier and I asked him about his “omi”, which is apparently what he calls his mother. I asked him what language it was and he said Arabic (gee, surprise!). I then proceeded to knock his socks off by saying the little bit of arabic that I still remember from when I went to Morocco in 1989. I can still say thank you, you’re welcome, maybe, praise the Lord, and the first two lines of the Our Father. I might even be able to write my name in arabic if I really tried. Impressed??? I specialize in knowing a tiny little bit of lots of languages.

Progress!

Ethan tried “real” food today–waffles, french toast, pancakes, hot dogs, french fries….and liked everything. Whew! With only 7 days left here (man, the time is FLYING), I’m thrilled that he’s moving forward with things that we actually eat in our house.

Less than two days until Jim and the kids come up for a visit to both the clinic and Hershey Park. I’m SO looking forward to having them here. And then it’s just a few more days and we’re home for good and I’ve got to figure out how to be a stay at home mom again! 😛

And post on this blog again regularly!