Marching Band

Tonight is the night!  The band has been working so hard for this moment, the first football game of the season.  They have brand new uniforms and a brand new football field.  My darling husband is going to be working the concession stand.  I am going to be taking photos, using a better camera, I promise.  (These are horrible, I know.)

As I was watching them at rehearsal last night, my emotions welled up within me.  Here was my boy, on a field with 199 other kids, working like slaves for their beloved director.  How impressive they are!  It overwhelms me to think how blessed we are to have this opportunity.  He is living out his purpose, and is where he is supposed to be.  I feel it in my bones!  Thanks be to God.

Time for School

Trevor's art project. 

Soooooooooo.  School, the beast, is back in town.  It is all consuming, challenging, and demanding, but oh so good for us to be stretched.  I won't even talk about marching band.  That is another beast for another post.

Indiana State Fair Time

Grandpa took us to the fair.  Sadly, Jeff and Ryan had work and school.  It was a glorious day.

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!

Sweet Sixteen

This past Sunday and Tuesday we celebrated our Grace's sixteenth birthday.  Sunday was her family party. Tuesday was her actual birthday.  We seem to have gotten away from the friends party, probably because her friends live an hour north.  We did try to arrange a friends outing up north, but it did not work out. We are still working on making new friends here.  :)

Sunday's party was grand!  Her grandmother made her this beautiful angel food cake from scratch.  It was amazingly well decorated.  We had such a feast, too, and lots of presents.

Tuesday, we met Daddy for lunch at Chick fil A near his office.  We also made a library stop, and she spent a big gift card at a craft store.  She picked out marinated lemon pepper chicken, watermelon, salad, and cupcakes for her birthday dinner.  We rented Monster's University, and took a 5 mile bike ride, such a lovely day!

I am so proud of the young lady she is becoming. The Lord has big plans for this sweet girl.  

A Lovely Vacation

That old saying is true.  Ten days off really fly by when you are having fun.

Our vacation this year was part stay-cation, a camping cabin at Lake Michigan for a couple nights, all book-ended by two 10 mile bike rides with my parents, and a professional soccer game. I think we made the most of our time off!

The cabin was tiny, but very cozy, and kept us dry, because it rained a bit each day.

Here we are with coats on the beach.  It was so windy.  I felt like I was being sand-blasted.

It was easier to walk behind the dunes, and so pretty.

No kidding.  So glad no one was trying to swim in those waves.

This week is dedicated to serving at VBS for my younger two while spending the week at grandparents, and a first week of band camp for the oldest.  Me, well, I am catching up on things around the place, getting ready for school to start in a few weeks.  Jeff is back to his work.  

This life is lived mostly in the middles, between the highs of vacation.  It's the ordinary days that count most.  And, we have been blessed.