Goings On

March has arrived!  Winter no longer is much of a threat to us after the first week of March.  It can "act" up, but it doesn't have the same staying power that I dread.  When I get to this point, I feel as if I can breathe.

So far, March has been kind of a blur.  My oldest son turned 18 years old this past Saturday.  That is not possible, I keep telling myself.  I know that is what all mothers say.  It is just so true.  Where does the time go?

These days I spend my time driving my kids to and fro, working on the housework that never ends, making food for my family, and trying not to think of what life will be like when they leave me!   I know these days will pass all too quickly, as well.  Having my son turn 18 has left me a bit blue, I guess.  You want them to grow up, but then you don't want them to grow up.  Yet, I am so thankful for my children and how they are growing into mature people who love the Lord.  I could not ask for more!

Very February Indeed

Winter decided to show up, which is too bad as I was really enjoying the mild weather.  This week we have had snow, the wind, and cold to deal with.   As for our health, well, I am still fighting the sinus drainage cough.  Jeff has it now, too.  Grace got over it quickly.  The boys are well, thankfully.  But enough of the dreary part of winter.

I have slowed our pace way down to cope with our sniffles.  We are only doing the essentials. Thankfully this week was not essential heavy.  Next week, we have to be ready to go, go, go. I am praying that we are able.

We have been kept very busy with band contests, pep band engagements, keeping house, cooking, baking, creating, reading, watching BBC mini-series, and regular school projects.  Life is coming at us full speed.  I am thankful that I have learned to say no when needed.

Happy February!!

Another Grace- Filled Week

I am always thankful when another grace-filled week passes.  Nothing major transpired this week.  I recovered from my cold without a trip to the doctor, my prayers answered.  Jeff brought me roses, just because.  We had lunch with his mom, whom we will not see again until April, unfortunately.  The kids have been receiving excellent grades and are thriving in their schools.  Our oldest received two awards for outstanding musicianship at a college jazz festival.  The world is as it should be, at least for now, and I am content and giving praises to the One whom they are due.  This week has been another gift from Him.  Thank you, LORD.

What's Up?

Doldrums are here. And it has not even been a bad winter.  But they are here.  Mostly because of sickness, I would say.  First oldest son had the sniffles, now I have them.  It is nothing major, just enough to make me unhappy with winter.

Before the sniffles arrived, I got to go to another favorite antique mall with Jeff.  I love antique malls! I did not find a single thing that needed to come home with me, but I enjoyed every single moment of the hunt.  And, we did find a book for Grace that was on our list.  I think we looked at every book in the mall, too.  Oh, my eyes were almost crossed afterward!  I ended up coming home and ordering the book I was looking for.  Still a fun way to spend a cold afternoon.

For fun, we bought some Edison-style light bulbs on Amazon.  I think they look really pretty.  Sure, they were not totally necessary.  They add a subtle bit of finish to a hanging light.

The picture of Trevor was taken for his Rural King loving grandpa.  I found the orange sweatshirt on clearance when we went to get cat food last week and it was 10 degrees outside.  I could spend a lot of time and money at Rural King. Grace likes to visit the live rabbits.  I like to look at the chicken coops and dream about getting one for my cats.  :)

Grace is the subject of the next picture below Trevor's.  I loved how she brought her coloring book to a boys basketball game.  She only went to listen to her brother in the pep band and get a treat.  She is always keeping her hands busy, a good trait.

 Finally, a big beautiful Red Tail Hawk visited us, or rather our bird feeder.  He was so majestic!  I enjoyed his take-off from the fence.  He was so heavy that it appeared to be in slow-motion.

Tomorrow we will celebrate Jeff's 50th birthday.  Grace is in the kitchen baking his cake.  A big snow is predicted for tomorrow, too, just the worst present Jeff could want.  We will have to work hard to make his evening special.

Making Merry

Since I last checked in we have enjoyed some extra family time, as Jeff has had a week off.  With my foot, there was not a lot we could do so we were often home resting, getting ready for the upcoming busy season. It has been a joy to just hang out together.

Last week was pretty band heavy, so it was nice to have an extra driver.  Ryan had a jazz clinic, extra jazz rehearsal, pep band at the boys basketball game, all day Saturday jazz festival, and he played bass in a Sunday school band on Sunday.  Band is done until after Christmas.  Yay!  All his hard work paid off, as he was awarded one of only two Outstanding Musicianship awards.

Grace and Trevor got to spend two nights with their grandparents this past weekend.  They got to go to our church's Christmas musical.  Jeff and I had to be in another town with the jazz band.  I was sad to miss the musical, but it could not be helped with all the band going on.

Jeff and I had some fun times, too.  We enjoyed his firm's game night and of course all the jazz on Saturday. We got to hear some great bands.  We stopped for a steak dinner on the way home from the jazz festival.  It was a real treat.

Last evening, we finished up our online shopping for Christmas.  Today we will go to the mall, hopefully for the last time this season.  Jeff is back to work on Wednesday.  The two high school kids have finals to complete.  And there are plans for them to go swing dancing Friday.  The week will fly by! There is wrapping, baking and shopping to do.  Only 11 days until Christmas Eve!!!

Since Thanksgiving

It truly is beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here, as the old song goes.  The day after Thanksgiving begins our traditional season of decorating, baking cookies, shopping, going to parties and watching Christmas movies. So far this year has not disappointed on any count.

We have baked and decorated on two separate occasions.  We have watched Elf, Christmas in Connecticut and Christmas with the Cranks.  We have even put up two trees.  We have been out for our annual family Christmas brunch with extended family at their retirement home.  We have ordered our Christmas cards and bought most of our gifts.

This Christmas feels much more joyous in comparison to the last two Christmas' where I lost grandmothers right before.  I was so heartbroken going into those Christmas'.  I lost all my joy for celebrating.  I still really miss them and it is hard to think of future Christmas' without them, but I know they are no longer suffering and I will see them again one day because they both loved Jesus, the real reason to celebrate Christmas.

I'll leave you with some pictures from our home in the last two weeks.  Merry Christmas!!

Fall Continues to Charm Us

Mowing in November?  Riding bikes, too?  This cannot be!  We are truly enjoying this fall weather.  I do believe it has been a rather marvelous fall here in Indiana.  This past week, we have enjoyed a couple trips to get apples from a local orchard.  Pink Ladies are my new favorite, a crisp sweet and tart apple.  Also, we were privileged to have Ryan participate in an all-district honor jazz band last Sunday.  He is going to audition for the all-state honor band as well.  The younger two are doing amazingly well in their new school with A averages.  I am very happy with their efforts.  Now it is time to start preparing for the holidays!

September Arrives

September has come in like a lion, with a full on heatwave and drought.  Thankfully, we can cool off inside our nice air conditioned house, what a luxury!  I am praying for rain, however.  Our world is quickly turning brown.

This week has been full.  We had lessons to make up from being off last Friday.  We have had our share of quizzes, tests, papers, projects, band rehearsals, and meetings. Friday is the next home game.  Yay!  Our musician has been asked to audition for two honor bands, one state, the other district, by the way.  (Hapy, happy!)

I think I am enjoying school a lot more this, our 4th week.  We are having successes and struggles, but they feel like growth, not something negative.   I am still vital to my kids' education in this setup.  Oh my, do they need my guidance!  But, I am more like their director, than teacher.  I like that.  I love how Grace can have a one on one with her Algebra teacher whenever it is needed.  I love how Trevor is doing more than the bare minimum to get by because he loves getting good grades.  

And, it really does not seem possible that it could be almost Labor Day weekend.

A Fun Week

This is our last week of summer, and Ryan's first full week of school with all the marching band rehearsals on top.  So far, so good.  We are making the most of our last few days, and Ryan is really happy with his teachers and schedule.

We got to go on a really nice bike ride on Saturday.  We packed up our bikes and met my parents at the same trail system as last week, except this time we went a different route, 17 miles.  The trails are so beautifully done.  We are going on another ride this coming Saturday, but in a different town.

We went to a lovely 40th birthday pool party on Sunday.  It felt so good to get in a pool on such a warm day.  Plus, it was nice to be with friends.

Monday, we did a little tidy of the house, and in the evening, Ryan had band rehearsal.  We managed to grill out, though.  We don't do that much during the week.  It was nice to be outside.

Tuesday, Jeff had a band booster meeting, and I went to a parent-to-parent meeting for our new school. Divide and conquer! Ryan had band rehearsal.

We are having friends over for dinner tonight.  It gets harder to do such things during the school year.  I am roasting chickens, sweet potatoes, and cauliflower.  We have fresh peaches from an orchard for dessert.

Tomorrow Grace and I are going to visit a new baby in the neighborhood.  I am trying to reach out more to my neighbors.  It is hard when every one seems to stay inside to themselves.  Ryan also has an evening band rehearsal.

Friday we get to go the state fair, a last blast of summer.  The weather is supposed to be below 80, too.  It will be a great day to be out walking.  I will try to take lots of pictures.

Our fall schedule is different than I imagined.  We are not leading  AWANA this year.  We are not leading a small group.  We are in a period of waiting for our next assignment from God, I suppose.  A change will be welcome.

I hope you are having a great week, too.
~Jenn

Just Like That

Summer is over!  Ryan went back to the local high school yesterday.  He was eager to get back to band. The first 3 hours of his day are in band.  The rest of his day is AP Literature, Honors Pre Calculus, US History, and Anatomy/Physiology.  He will be very busy with 3 evening band rehearsals, football games, and band competitions.  Here we go!

Grace, Trevor and I still have until August 10th before we launch our new adventure of online school.  I have been attending online training for the computer system that I must learn.  I feel well supported and ready.  We are working on getting our desks ready.  I purged a bunch of things.  Yay!

We have also continued to ride our bikes at least 25 miles a week.  The humidity has made riding a challenge, but we are not allowing it to stop us.  Last Saturday we rode over 12 miles on a trail in a town half an hour away with my parents.  I hope we can go back soon.

The garden is growing.  We cannot eat all the cherry tomatoes, so Jeff took some in to the office today.  I like that kind of problem.  I am hoping the big tomatoes will ripen soon, but not all at once.  The cucumbers have slowed way down.  I enjoyed making refrigerator pickles.

We went with Mom on an adventure to find our great grandparent's graves.  It had been awhile since we had been there, most likely when Grandpa died in the late 80's!  It is kind of far away, and we just don't get out there.  They are  in Heaven, anyway.  But it is nice to see that the graves are looked after.

Hope your summer is going well!

End of June Ramblings

Be forewarned, this post is a jumble of my thoughts as I contemplate the fact that the last quiet week of summer is here.  Starting next week we will be really busy.  So this week has been dedicated to reading, taking care of a few errands, riding bikes, and getting the house in order.  Hey, at least next week I should have something more interesting to blog about.  :)

As for this past week, we rode our bikes more than 30 miles. That brings us over 100 miles for June.

Grace and I visited a farm market in another town just south of us.  I am going to make it a regular thing.  I miss going.

Jeff and Trevor attended a "Passing the Torch" class at church.

We have had a ton of rain! It is probably going to be a wet July, too, if the pattern continues.  Better now than in January!

We visited a nearby church where good friends attend.  We are praying about where that might lead us.  It sure was nice to drive 15 minutes to church.  The kids attended youth group with their kids, also similar in ages to our kids. This is a huge deal, as we have been at our beloved church since 1995.

So many changes!

~Jenn

The Pace of Life

Life is moving a long at full speed. Despite our school year winding down, we are pretty busy.  Last week, we finished AWANA.  We have agreed to be Trek directors again next year.  A big part of our decision came down to a major change for us. Jeff accepted a new position at a CPA firm 9 miles from home!!  Jeff won't have to drive 60 miles a day now.  He will be saving so much in gas and time.  As I am someone who craves stability and security, a new job brings anxiety, and a chance to trust the Lord!  He starts in June.

Ryan has started marching band!  He will be playing saxophone.  Last Saturday was kick off.  Do you know how much work goes into band?  That boy has made quite the commitment, and we are so proud of him. He will be learning saxophone on the fly.  He says it is not hard.  He is one happy kid!

Grace and I finally got our raised garden beds put together and filled.  Hers has marigolds, zinnias, and sun flowers.  Mine has tomatoes, cucumbers, basil, parsley, and catnip. A bunny ate two of the tomatoes and cucumbers.  I need a fence! It was such a joy to be able to have boxes again.  I am so thankful and grateful for my husband who helped make our dream come true!

We finish school Thursday.  These last days are the hardest.  We can smell freedom!!