Washington DC -8th Grade Trip Day 1

I had the distinct privilege of chaperoning Julia and some of her 8th grade classmates for their trip to Washington DC.  While I think they are too young to fully grasp the sacrifices made for them and shared with them on this journey, hopefully their exposure to our heritage will trigger a desire to learn more in them as they mature.  I returned with my head swimming in information and with an even bigger desire to return with my family for a slower paced tour of such an amazing place.  I am sharing some of my favorite pictures from the trip here.

The kids had to give up their phones after breakfast every morning.  On the first day, they gave them up as soon as we were set up for travel.  This is Julia's friend C kissing her phone goodbye.

World War II Memorial

We did not have much time at the memorial, and I did not realize that this was also our only trip to the Washington Monument.

World War II Memorial

World War II Memorial

World War II Memorial

Jefferson Memorial -- not a clear picture because I took it with my phone from the window on the bus, but I like the artsy feel of it.

At the end of the day, phones were returned.  Happy girls!  This was actually my favorite picture from our first day.

Murphy's Law

Let me back it up a bit to share what went down in the days leading up to the trip.  

Wednesday - I had a dinner to attend, nothing fancy, just a ladies' gathering from my weekend group, but I am responsible for organizing these monthly dinners, so I needed to be there.  I am glad I went.  I really enjoyed it.  It was, however, an evening commitment after a day at work.

Thursday- Wyatt played in a percussion concert.  I thought it would be a short gig, but it lasted two hours-- long enough for Andy to leave for a meeting and then return to get Wyatt without missing Wyatt play.  Zach was there for a college assignment, and he and I had to pick up my van that was undergoing a repair after the concert.

Friday- Wyatt had a track meet, and we arrived home after 7:00p.m.  Andy was unable to take him.  

All this to say that I had to have Julia and myself packed and at her school by 6:00a.m. on Saturday.  We did not know which girls I was chaperoning until Friday afternoon, and I wanted to pick up snacks for them.  So when I arrived at home after 7:00p.m. on Friday night, my plan was a quick shopping trip, a little bit of laundry, a lot of packing and lights out by 10:00p.m.  I was exhausted already from all the activity of the previous three days.

The shopping trip was not so fast.  We needed rain gear and could not find what we wanted.  While I was shopping, I had a load of laundry running at home.  I returned to the house to find that the washer had stopped with an error message.  It proceeded to continue to do that every---three----minutes. In the meantime Zach was working on FAFSA and needed me to sign it, except signing it means pulling out old taxes and entering tax information.  UGH!!! Julia agreed to babysit the washing machine.  Andy was out playing the cajon at a worship service, so I texted him and asked him to pick up our needed rain gear.  When he wished the host farewell and said he was off to find us rain gear, this most gracious friend of ours offered the gear he and his daughter used for a recent trip. One problem solved.  

Julia gave up on the washer when it stopped and put a too wet load of laundry in the dryer, and we started the next load.  I don't know if it had error messages because at 11:00p.m. I was headed to bed. Andy was kind enough to stay up and finish our laundry for us.  Before going to bed, I realized that I was one pair of socks short for the trip.  How in the world does that happen?  I searched and searched to no avail and hoped the laundry had some of my socks in it.  Andy offered to go buy some, but I finally borrowed a pair from Julia that we had just purchased while out buying snacks.

You would think that once we got to school on Saturday, all that kept going wrong would stop. It was a smooth trip to DC.  However, when we arrived we did not have a hotel room.  Turns out we had a room just no keys.  I was handed keys and led my tired girls up to the 11th floor of the hotel where I opened our room door to find someone standing there, clearly getting ready for bed.  That was a new experience for me.  Long story short: The room was ours.  The tour guide had to come tell the occupants to leave (they were part of our group), and I stayed up half the night worried that the room occupants would be upset with us over the whole situation.  

And thus ended day one.

Happy Birthday to a World Changer!

Savannah says goodbye to her teens and hello to her twenties today.  She's ending her final semester of her second year at the university, studying and loving architecture.  Savannah has a unique opportunity this summer with a missions based internship.  

What's she been up to?

Check out the following links.  Her only birthday request was  for funds for her mission work.

Designed by Savannah!

So the link above is to a t-shirt sale.  Savannah did the artwork.  Note that if you are interested in the shirt, the deadline to order is April 17th.  It's a fast turnaround because she has to get the shirts before she leaves school for the semester (free shipping on shirts shipped to Savannah).  I do have some inside information that another t-shirt with another design may be in the works for a later sale ;)

I am sorry that both links are so hard to see on the background - not sure how to change that right now.

Savannah's fundraising page

Savannah will be working in the inner city with orphan care for eleven weeks this summer.  Both the t-shirt sales and the direct link to her fundraising page support this mission.

Spring Break recap

So here we are on Saturday at the end of another spring break.  This is how spring break looked this year in this household.

1.  For me it started a day early - sort of.  A statewide sickout happened on Friday after our state legislation passed a bill behind closed doors, late at night regarding state pensions.  It seemed questionable that this bill would be good for education, and educators across the state called in sick leaving districts with no choice but to close schools.  For me, it came as a surprise.  One of my colleagues actually called me from the parking lot to ask what was going on when she arrived at work to find nobody there.  I had already received the alert and returned to bed at that point.

My colleagues would probably not be happy to learn that I did actually spend an hour or so at work that day.  It is ordering season, and I was receiving POs in my email that I needed to print and file.  We are blocked from work email this entire week while they update it, and I was afraid those POs would disappear.  Blocking us from email also kept me from completing a training I needed to do this week, but maybe that was for the best as you will see if you read on.  I also needed to unplug the laminators - just not comfortable with leaving those machines plugged in and unattended for a week.

2. This was probably the laziest spring break ever!  I came into it just newly recovered from a mysterious illness that had plagued me for six weeks.  It dropped 10 pounds that I could definitely afford to lose off of my frame (went down a size in jeans), and lots of expensive testing left me without any answers.  I think that it was probably aggravated by stress even though I didn't feel particularly stressed about any one thing.  I certainly had several small stressors that were weighing on me.  Just to name a few - the reality of being the sole librarian responsible for every major decision in a library for one of the biggest schools in the state really started getting to me recently.  My pension and the future of education in my state is on the line and may involve big decisions for my future.  Being sick and facing hundreds of dollars in medical bills at a time when we are facing the reality of one serious surgery for a family member and likely a pricey surgery for another member of this family scared me.  Our expenses are going up significantly in the next few months, and I am not sure how to offset them.  Finally, we are closing in on the final chapter of settling my dad's estate, and there is lots of stress around that.

All this to say that I think I needed the lazy days more than I realized.  I regret that some household projects remain on hold, but I was really tired heading into this break.

So what did I do?
Lots of reading.  The first few days I read lots about the pension bill trying to see all sides and figure out what it means for me and what I need to do or not do because of it.  I get all sides on this issue.  I just am not sure that I am getting the truth from any side on it, and the bill itself is really difficult to read.  It's been a long battle to this point, and there are no easy answers.  Have I ever mentioned how much I hate politics?  All this to say I have some real problems with the bill as it is now.  As a side note, this is frustrating and scary, but what is happening in Oklahoma schools should truly embarrass that entire state.  Those teachers are grossly underpaid, and the resources available to those students do not reflect a state that wants students prepared to be productive citizens in the 21st century.  Believe me I am quick to say that you can't throw money at school problems and fix them, but hello, you have to have money to run schools.

I read for fun.  I am a youth librarian, so my fun reading was also for work, but here's what I read.

Inhuman by Kat Falls - This dystopian book is interesting.  Dystopian is not my favorite genre, but my book club girls chose this book.  To be honest - I am glad it is behind me.  However, I may want to see how the author handles the characters in the sequel if she ever releases it.

Hamilton and Peggy: A Revolutionary Friendship by L.M. Elliott - I am ramping up historical fiction at work because one of the teachers uses it heavily with her classes.  I liked the real letters used throughout the book and the fact that the author researched it so heavily.  I think it was a mostly fun read, but I don't think the kids will like it.

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart -I am just over halfway through this book.  I really like it, but the story is so very sad.  Savannah recommended this one.  It reminds both of us of our big family where the four oldest cousins have grown up with each other as this book has a similar family dynamic.

I also started Jennifer Rothschild's Hosea study.  Lifeway bookstore is offering the video sessions online for free. They just started them on Thursday, so there is still time to join the study.  I had forgotten how meaty Hosea is.  This will be a very good study over the next few weeks.

We used to take the kids for a day outing on spring break.  I just never got it together to plan anything this year.  I tossed around the idea of a cave outing or animal park outing, but the reality is that it's been a cold, wet week and there is snow on the ground this morning.  I had one plan to splurge this week and that was for a mani-pedi for me, but when looking at the forecast, I realized that it's still boots season, so I am going to give that one another week.  I will head out of town next weekend to celebrate Savannah's birthday with her, and we will do that together.

Workouts - I went to six classes this week and plan to hit another one within the hour.  With my illness working out was hit or miss - every workout depended on how I felt at the moment.  Therefore, I fell slightly behind and ended March with less than 45 classes.  I spent this week catching up.  I plan to hit my 50th class today.  My goal this year is four classes a week, but I realize that that is impossible many weeks, so I try to get to 15 classes a month.

One other thing from which I really needed this break was my second job.  I really love it, and it is only three hours a couple of Mondays a month and five hours one Saturday a month, but I've worked extra Mondays lately.  My Monday schedule is really hard on Andy as he has to leave work to pick Julia up from school, return to work for an hour and then leave again to get Wyatt.  We all just needed the break from that.

Finally we did try one new thing this spring break.  We tried Dragon Breath which is just cereal balls soaked in Liquid Nitrogen so that you can blow smoke out of your mouth when chomping on them.  It was a fun novelty, but I doubt we will return.  They don't taste very good, and the ice cream was just okay, but I have some fun pictures and videos of that adventure to end this post.

Wyatt and Julia each stayed overnight at a friend's house.  Julia and I enjoyed a couple of shopping trips.  We did not buy anything except for a dress that we both liked.  If we both like it, and the price is right, that's a no brainer.  We have to buy it :) Andy and I keep telling her that it would make a great swim banquet dress - really trying to get her to swim this year.

I plan to see a movie with Tiffany today.  Andy and I finally watched Brooklyn last night.  We had waited because the rental price on Amazon was too high.  It finally came down, and the movie was so good that we regretted not buying it as it paused to buffer a lot.  The story and cinematography was just beautiful.


And did I mention that I awoke to a dusting of snow today?  I know we should never complain about the weather, but come on already!  Where is spring?

This was taken when we took Julia out for some fudge.  It was a fun place where the employees sing about making fudge.  My mom and paternal grandma always made the Hershey can fudge, but their fudges were always completely different from each other.  Mom preferred more cocoa in her fudge than my Grandma Jewel  did.  I grew up thinking that there was really no other way to do fudge as the Hershey can was the best.  I have since learned that I really like fudge no matter how it is made.  Mom hated marshmallow creme, so she was never fond of fudge made with it.  I am grateful that both making and buying fudge is pricey, so it's a very rare treat.  I have to say that yesterday I really missed both of my parents.  I had dreamed the night before about getting Dad's house ready to sell, and I really wanted to tell them about the kids, what they're up to, what Andy and I are up to.  Julia spent some time this week dreaming about her future wedding, and it grieves me that my parents won't see this family expand through weddings.

Time to go.  I will dance off some stress then read some off in Hosea and finally relax with a movie alongside Julia and Tiffany.  Hopefully, I will be ready to greet my students with a relaxed smile on Monday.

Sharing a little bit of loveliness today

Julia wanted a photo shoot.  She stole borrowed one of Savannah's shirts.  We hit the park on a day where lighting was less than desirable - far less than desirable.  You can see some of her personality regardless.

daring

setting up the shot - she's really good at camera angles and editing photos

Some of Julia's artwork...these were done for Savannah - hence the architecture theme

and this one for this weekend - included in Savannah's Easter care package :)

What's so good about Good Friday?

Then Jesus uttered another loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. Mark 15:37-38

Just two small sentences mix despair, love and ultimate sacrifice. Hope lived in that torn curtain where God opened his sanctuary to ALL of his people, and it would be three days of grieving and anxiety before they would see hope fully realized.

I am always amazed by the torn curtain.  The symbolism.  The supernatural aspect of it.  That small detail mentioned after the agonizing reality that an innocent man carried the weight of the world's sins onto a cross.  Then the curtain which opened the access to the Holy of Holies.  The curtain that was the hint that Jesus would be the intercessor for his people who could now go directly to God without the help of a priest.  

God amazes me!

Sometimes you never know the last

As a mom you will likely mark many milestones, but you will also miss many as well.  Some milestones are big and in your face while others seem insignificant until later.

You likely won't remember the exact day that you took your child's hand for the last time to cross the street or the last time your child cuddled in your lap before they grew too tall.

We faced a couple of lasts unknowingly last summer.  We love the summer swim and dive team, and Julia refuses to return to it this summer.  We certainly did not expect that- not that she won't return next year or the following year.

Last summer when Savannah was home, she planned to return to dorm life, so we had no reason to believe that she would not be home this summer.  However, the game changed.  Somehow during a search for summer internships, Savannah found a ministry based internship right in our own hometown.  It's an eleven week commitment, and she will be serving the inner-city.  Unlike many other internships (aside from teaching), this one is not a paid internship.  In fact she has to raise the money to do it.  Savannah will live on site with the other interns and will be handling digital media.  This is designed to raise and train the future leadership of the church.  The good news is that she will be in our hometown and will have one day a week off that she can hang out with us.  The bad news is that her one day a week off is the day the pool is closed, and Savannah is traditionally my pool buddy.

When Savannah returns to school in the fall, she will be in an apartment, so I don't see her returning to our home unless it is necessary when she graduates.  Even then she will have to pursue a Master's degree in her field, and the only local state school probably does not have the program.  If it does it is irrelevant.  After three people in this family have had terrible experiences there, we have decided that they will not see another penny from us once Zach finishes his program - transferring to another school has not been ruled out.  It's that bad.

I am so proud of Savannah.  This decision was easy and tough.  The reality is that if we can afford a family vacation this summer (looks highly unlikely), Savannah cannot go with us.  That will be really tough.  Savannah's heart is in this. She's so excited!

Not quite retired!

When a gymnast leaves the sport, they call it retiring instead of quitting.  Julia left artistic gymnastics for a few reasons at the old age of seven.  It was painful for me to not allow her to continue because the coaches literally gushed over her natural athletic ability.  However, gymnastics is an expensive sport and with four kids to raise, we could not put all our eggs in one basket. It's a demanding sport - at the age of seven, they wanted her in the gym 12 hours a week.  Andy and I did not travel to China to bring home a daughter and then send her off to school for the majority of each weekday and then to the gym for hours in the evenings and most of day on Saturdays.  Julia is and always has been a socially active girl. We jokingly say that our second jobs are keeping her social calendar, so I believe she would have burned out on gymnastics within a few years anyway.  She used to ask if she could have been an Olympian.  To which I firmly tell her no - we were not in the financial position to pay for the coaching needed for that, and there's no way we would have sent her out of state to live with coaches as most Olympic gymnasts do.  In light of the Dr. Nasser scandal, Andy is thanking God that we got Julia out of gymnastics.  Of course we can never know if she would have had the talent, the drive, and would have remained injury free enough to pursue that anyway.

 Unfortunately, gymnastics from the level where Julia had already reached could not be just recreational, so it was all or nothing. 

A long break and then a pursuit of strictly tumbling ensued.  Julia's best events were the floor and the bars, and I will always miss seeing her advance on the bars.  She went on to excel at tumbling, and it became her first athletic love.

As of Tuesday when Julia's cheerleading team gathered for their banquet, Julia retired from cheering.  She has not been tumbling for months because swim and dive kept her from her class during the summer, and then her cheerleading team met for a stunting class.  We could not afford the extra cheer expenses this year and allow her to keep tumbling.  She was not crazy about the coaches at the gym chosen by the cheerleading team, and we could have gotten a discounted tumbling class there, but Julia was adamant that she loves Coach Travis at her regular gym and would not train under anyone else.  That long break ended yesterday when Julia excitedly returned to her first athletic love and to her beloved coach to tumble again.  She has much she still wants to learn!

Julia and her Cheer coach.

At the cheer banquet I tried to capture Coach T's words on video, but my camera battery had died.  Coach T taught Julia when she was a sixth grader, so the words she spoke of Julia included an acknowledgement that Julia would do round-off back handspring passes as many times as she was asked even when others would have been exhausted.  She talked about having Julia in the classroom and said that "hard worker" does not even begin to describe it when speaking of Julia.

I'm gonna miss this cheer team - great girls, great moms, and great dads too!  I've watched this girl cheer for 7 years.  It was her pre-school and early school years dream. At one time she wanted to pursue college cheering.  Unfortunately, she grew too tall for pairs cheering, and she did not like the gym that offers the best training for that- not to mention that said gym is about as pricey as artistic gymnastics.  Coach T still believes that Julia can cheer in college.  However, Julia does not want to cheer in high school, so....

She says her next adventure will be long jump, high jump, and pole vaulting.  Julia has even decided to give up swim and dive.  

You just never know sometimes when you are facing your "last" with a child.  -See my next post about another child and another last.