Mother's Day 2013



My Babies!



I love that Mother's Day always falls on a Sunday, what greater blessing than worshipping the Lord with your babies!  I love that almost any Mother's Day lesson includes the story of Timothy who was taught by his Grandmother Lois and Mother Eunice, because my Mother's Grandmother was named Lois and my father's mother was named Eunice, both we amazing Godly women.

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Following worship this morning the girls prepared most of lunch with all my favorites and Caleb grilled steaks!  Later in the day we called my mom and step-mom along with Jon's mom to wish them a happy mother's day and to ensure that our gifts had arrived.  

Truly I am your servant, Lord;
    I serve you just as my mother did

Psalm 116:16 

Happiness is a State of Mind

Peaches!

Plums!

Lap pool flanked  by fruit trees!

Figs!

I've mentioned before that our 'oversized lot' is code for a postage stamp compared to the yards Jon and I both grew up with.  Jon still gets frustrated from time to time that we gave up such a spacious yard in Oklahoma for our less than spacious corner lot.   But I think it is all in how you frame it. 

Even when the kids were younger and we would enjoy lunch on the back porch I would refer to it as lunch on the veranda.  When I go outside to check our peach, plum and fig tree I ask the kids, 'who wants to visit the orchard with me?'  When I head to visit our three eight foot raised beds I let the kids know I'm headed to vegetable gardens.   We have an above ground pool, I like to ask the kids, 'who wants to swim laps with me?'

My silliness usually brings a smile to the kids face and they will begin to respond that after lap swimming we could wander the orchard and enjoy fruit on the veranda. Happiness!   

To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom,

knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he

gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth

to hand it over to the one who pleases God.

This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

Ecclesiastes 2:26

Softball Catchers Clinic

Today Abigail participated in a Softball Performance Workshop at Extra Innings.  The Workshop was facilitated by the three Schroeder sister who all played softball in the Pac-10. Jennifer, a 2008 graduate of UCLA and a catcher; Michelle, a 2010 grad and an outfielder at Standford; and Katie, an All American outfielder and lead-off batter at UCLA as well as a former member of Team USA.  

She absolutely loved the clinic; she came home exhausted and sore but loved it.  Jon was able to snap a few photos with his Blackberry during the training.  At the end of the session Abigail got the girls to autograph her t-shirt. 

 

Commit to the Lord whatever you do,
    and he will establish your plans.

The Lord works out everything to its proper end—

Proverbs 16:3-4

OZ! The Musical

I could write paragraphs about how awesome the kids performance turned out.  I could gush on about seeing my twelve year old carry off 250+ lines and two solos.  I could tearfully describe the pride I felt for Caleb's leadership as the director, but instead here are some of the wonderful photos from tonight's performance!

Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks,
and send some to those who have nothing prepared.
This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve,
for the joy of the Lord is your strength. 
Nehemiah 8:10

Granny's Visit

 

Granny texting Donnie!

Granny's here!!! One of the best times of the year would be whenever Granny is able to visit us.  She picked the weekend of the kids musical to visit.  Originally Abigail was to have a softball game and Jon's mom usually tries to take in one game a season.  But with all the recent rain tonight's game was cancelled. 

I got tickled that when we were headed out to dinned most everyone had on plaid!  Abigail has her hair in her Dorothy-doo, she's worn it this way all week.  At the dress rehearsal she was a little pre-occupied with twirling them. 

So happy Granny is here, it is so wonderful that she was willing to come down for tomorrow's big event, it means a lot to the kids! Jon's mom always gets on to me for putting her picture on the blog, but it makes our family so happy to see her here! 

Honor your father and your mother,

so that you may live long in the land
the Lord your God is giving you.

Exodus 20:12

OZ! Technical Rehearsal

Flying Monkeys in the Witch's Castle

Dorothy and Oz

Dorothy and Toto

 

 

 

PEACH's musical OZ is just a week away so today was their technical rehearsal!  This is full costume, sound effects, props, full show run thru.  It is the final look at the production and the last opportunity to tweak any scenes.  It was so exciting to see everyone's costumes with stage make-up. 

 

You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion,
and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.   This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs
of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing
in many expressions of thanks to God. 

2 Corinthians 9:11-12

Puppy Love

Springtime has brought showers our way, rain is a welcome sight to my would be garden.  However, with a 120lb indoor English Mastiff, Padme' wet soggy ground is not always welcomed.  Padme' is Frankie's dog and at even given moment of the day Frankie can tell you where the dog is and what Padme' is doing.  Most of the time Frankie can even tell you what Padme' is thinking! 

 

Frankie knows when Padme' wants more food, needs to go outside, wants to go for a walk, etc.   When the ground is wet and Padme' comes inside with muddy paws it is always and amusing sight.  Long before she lets the dog back inside Frankie will have a towel laid out and ready to gently clean the mud from between Padme's paws.  Today Frankie could not get Padme's paws clean enough to suit her so she then took Padme outside and hosed off her feet. 

 

Padme' has been trained to act as Frankie's companion and is incredible gentle and equally patient as Frankie mothers her.  Such a good little Momma!

 

Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.

Philippians 4:5 

Safe at Second

See the green blur at 2nd base?  That would be Abigail, and although I'm sure she was running quickly, I am equally confident that this picture is blurry because I am unable to scream, cheer and take a focused photo! The girl loves the game, Dad enjoys being on the field with her, but the whole process makes mom a nervous wreck!  She runs when I'm sure it is not a good idea; swings at pitches I'm sure she can't hit; and steals bases when I know she'll never make it.  And yes, her instincts are much better than mine.  She is usually right, and I scream wildly in amazement. 

Yet these people slander whatever they do not understand,
and the very things they do understand by instinct
—as irrational animals do

Jude 1:10

On Tour with the Dallas Sympony

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today our homeschool group went “on tour” with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra as they introduced youth to music from all the countries the DSO has visited on their exciting journey through Europe.  There were great masterpieces of the orchestral repertoire from England, the Netherlands, Germany, and Austria.

 

Why didn’t you tell me, so I could send you away with joy
and singing to the music of timbrels and harps?

Genesis 31:27

Why Blog?

When I first began our blog it was after Jon's job had relocated us from rural Oklahoma where both our parents and extended family live to Texas.  The kids were young and the blog was a means for the grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins etc. to keep up with our daily adventures.  It was great tool for family to keep up with the kids and then when weekly phone calls were made, relatives could respond and engage the kids about their week.   My mom would even print out my posts for their great-grandmother.

Now the children are older and can certainly convey the events of their week without being prompted in phone conversations with grandparents. In fact some family members are no longer around whom we used to blog our adventures for.  It was even great for Jon who funded our adventures but often was unable to join us.  So why keep up the blog?  The answer has surprised me.

One benefit to the blog that was unexpected is it has served as a digital scrapbook for our lives.  At the end of the school year I have printed off the blog and had them bound as a hard copy for our year.  It is a great reminder of where we have visited, what we've seen, books we've read etc.  The children have really enjoyed looking at their lives thru Mom's eyes.  If no one ever read one of my posts, I would be completely fine.  But I love that my children look with great anticipation to the ramblings of their mom about their childhood.

 

A more recent inclusion to the blog posts is the scripture reference at the bottom of the post.  That is my personal message to my kiddos, that one more opportunity to re-enforce what I hope they gleaned from our day.  Some of the scriptures are a huge stretch, some are humorous, some are the spiritual message I really hope they took away from our day. 

 

Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home
and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and

when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands
and bind them on your foreheads.

Deuteronomy 6:7-8