Jessica's winter recital

Jessica's piano teacher was sick for most of the month of December, but her students had worked so hard on their Christmas songs that they decided to play them as a "winter" recital anyway! Here are Jessica's two songs:


We know all of the kids who played (I was nervous for all of them) so refreshment time was fun, too!

The pianists and their teacher

Silly faces!

This is actually during the first piece. I just thought they looked cute. :)

Let Birthday season begin!

Instead of skipping my birthday this year, as I contemplated, I celebrated for about a week!
First Angie and I went to my Mom’s house for a girls’ weekend. We talked all the way there…actually we talked pretty much all the time! We slept in Saturday morning, had a little visit from my brother and his wife, then got my haircut and went shopping. (Jackie, you’ll be proud to hear I was professionally measured for a bra. And I’ve been buying the right size!)
That night we had supper at Marketplace so I could get a chocolate mess (and those sweet potato fries weren’t bad either!) Mom and Angie patiently endured the 45 minute wait just for me. They spoil me. When we got home we were all sitting around the family room talking, and Mom said, “We could play cards…” Angie asked, “Would I have to get out of this recliner?” Yeah, it was that kind of weekend. Aaaaah. So relaxing.
I had fun seeing everyone at church the next morning, and Angie got to see a few people she knew already and to meet some she had met in blogworld. It was a stormy day, so Mom’s homemade soup hit the spot before our drive home. We got to see Angie’s son Coleson at OBU for a few minutes on the way, We both made it home at last, and as usual I came home with more than I left with. 3 shirts, 3 purses, cross/fish earrings, a travel cup and journal from Ang (I think she wants me to start writing one again!) and a few pounds. Totally worth it.
Monday still wasn’t my birthday, but that night Mike cooked my favorite supper, chicken and dumplin’s, and Jessica had made me a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, and I got to open my presents!


See my pretty new study Bible!

2 of my sweet girls. They were extra-good the next day, my actual birthday, and that night we went to BCM, so I didn’t have to cook or clean and got lots of birthday wishes from the students! Unfortunately I felt icky, so we didn’t stay long. But all in all it has been a great birthday. Next up: Jessica.

MLK thoughts

Did you see that cool picture on facebook Monday of all the "flesh" colored crayons...ranging from beige to dark chocolate brown? It was a cool picture--reminded me of this sweet book we read in February.
I saw comments on that picture that said things like, "God doesn't see color."
I know what they mean, so I didn't say anything then, but oh, I think they are so wrong. Of course God sees color; He created color! He sees more color than we do. We see black, white, brown, and the separation these colors seem to bring. He sees thousands of shades, each one perfectly beautiful. Is it a compliment to say that you don't see color in flowers? Or in leaves in fall? So why shouldn't we see color in God's most-beloved creation, people?
When I taught at Como Elementary in Fort Worth, the school was 99% black. At some point in each year, I would gather all my kiddos together in a huddle in the middle of the room with our arms touching each other so we could compare all the colors. The range was amazing. Sometimes my "tan" arms were darker than some of their "black" arms. It really made us think, and wonder about the labels we use.

What's happening!

Random picture from imdb.com

• We jumped into school with both feet this week, and the girls worked really hard! I was proud of them. Jessica and I are still not enjoying Algebra 1. At. All. But we'll get through it, hopefully she'll learn something, and we're trying this curriculum next year.
• Rebecca started sewing lessons this week! She's making a skirt--can you believe it?
• We had game night to welcome the students back to the BCM. I got a kick out of watching Mike explain "Bunco." They must have enjoyed it, 'cause they played 2 rounds! As well as 4-on-the-couch and a bunch of board games.
• Our music minister is on a month-long sabbatical, so no Wednesday night choir rehearsals. It feels weird, but kinda nice to stay home for a change!
• We had so many overdue books on Thursday (even though I TOLD the girls to go online and renew) that it cost us $20 to go to the library. Scratch that--it cost them. I took it out of their allowances.
• I had a date Friday night! Mike and I ate at a small Italian restaurant in Texarkana, then bought ceiling fans for all the bedrooms (Thank you, Arkansas Baptists!) and new black boots for my birthday. :)
• Saturday we all worked together and cleaned the whole house! Mike and the girls finished up while I did the week's grocery shopping. Which better last for 2 weeks, since it took all the money.
• I exercised every day but one this week! It's hard for me to make the time, but I feel so good when I do.
• We watched this moving video in Sunday School this morning. ("Contains some graphic images," such as you might see in the reproduction chapter in a science book. Kids, ask your parents before you watch it.)

¹³ You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
¹⁵ You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
¹⁶ You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed.

Dear "Harry"...

Dear Daniel Radcliffe,
Although I must confess I haven't seen any of your movies, I found your interview in Parade magazine quite interesting this morning. You seem like a very charismatic and talented young man.
Your answer to the question on religion made my heart break for you. You were so right...and so wrong. You're right about religion not being the answer, and that no person or religion has all the answers, and that we people are incredibly complex and change our minds all the time. Absolutely.
But there is Someone who does have all the answers! There is Someone who is even more complex and yet never changes. There is Someone who is the answer.
Did anyone have all the answers in the Harry Potter series? Of course someone did...the author. Harry and his cohorts may have thought they had things under control or knew what was going on at times, but only J.K. Rowling knew everything that would happen from beginning to end, and since she created each character, she even knew each one better than they knew themselves. In the same way, our Creator knows everything that will happen from beginning to end, and knows each one of us better than we know ourselves. The marvelous, amazing, life-changing difference is that our Creator not only created our lives and this world we live in, He also stepped into it. Harry and the others will never know J.K. Rowling exists, but our Creator reached out to us time and time again, through men of faith and words of wisdom, and when we ignored those...He became one of us. God made flesh. God with us. Creator living with His creation, as His creation...to bring His creation to Himself. In our self-important complexity and ever-changing minds, we can never approach His perfection on our own. We deserve to be left on our own to suffer the consequences, but in His love and mercy, He suffered the consequences for us. He allowed Himself to be beaten and mocked and killed in this world He made, so we could one day live with Him in His real world. All we have to do is follow Him there.
I pray He will open your eyes to this truth, and you will join me in this journey. Then someday I will meet you "in Real Life!"

Upward!

Rebecca had her first Upward game today, and it was so much fun! She didn't know anyone on her team at first, but they're all sweet girls. Two of her friends were on the opposing team today, and they all 3 did so well! Rebecca scored the first basket for her team (followed by at least 3 more) and her friend Claudia scored the first for her team. :) Here's some video and picture evidence (keep your eye on number 14):

Did I mention Mike is her coach?

And here's a picture of us playing Quelf at my mom's house:

We have bulls-eyes on our shirts that if we catch anyone looking at, they have to move back a square.
Quite flattering of everyone, don't you think? :/

First week of a new year

Our family traditions for New Year's include staying up 'til midnight playing games, then banging on pots and pans yelling "Happy New Year!" then eating finger foods in front of football on the TV all day. But this year, New Year's Day fell on a Sunday, so things were a little mixed up. Eventually we got it all in, though!
Friday night (Dec. 30) we went to the Lechners' and had finger foods and played "Would You Rather?" and Quelf--laughed a lot, and thought about staying up 'til midnight and pretending it was New Year's Eve, but Mike wasn't feeling good, so we didn't. (He was fine the next day. Thanks for asking.)
Then on the actual New Year's Eve, I wasn't planning on staying up, but Mikayla's big blue eyes talked me into it. So we started playing Life on the wii, which took 'til (past) midnight! We took a Life break a few minutes before so we could set off a loooong firework and bang on pots and pans and yell, then went in and finally finished the game.
We home schooled Sunday School the next day (just kidding...we were sleeping) but made it to "big church," although Mike was preaching somewhere else. When he made it home we had ham and black-eyed peas and cornbread--mmm, mmm! But no football or snackies (we're not into NFL, just NCAA), so it still didn't feel like New Year's until...
Monday, at lunch time, when I decided to make mini-corn dogs, tater tots, fried cheese, sausage balls, and carrots/brocolli with ranch (that made it a healthy meal), and Mike started watching football. The girls, who don't even watch, brought their food into the family room, too, and Mikayla said, "NOW it feels like New Year's." :) I had to agree.
We probably should have started school the next day, since we'd been out since December 16, but you know what? I didn't feel like it. So we didn't. Jessica had a job (!) babysitting all week, which I thought was too good an opportunity to pass up, and Mikayla and Rebecca had sleepovers and play dates--taking care of that socialization people are always worried about. :D
And now I'm getting more football, watching my Hogs in the Cotton Bowl (which may be why this is so poorly written), and at halftime I'm going to warm up some spiced nuts. And Jessica is leaving for a sleepover, too.
A good start for 2012!