Mother's Day

Guess what two things are my Mother's Day presents?

Give up?

If you guessed the microwave and the nesting tea cups
from Star Bucks - you are right!!!

My kids went in together and bought me a brand spankin' new microwave.
It is black and chrome and it looks awesome in the kitchen
next to my new black stove.

Now if I only had a black refrigerator . . .
. . . just a not so subtle hint to Brian. Ha, Ha!

Brian was bidding on a Jadite batter bowl for me
but lost the bid in the last hour.
Oh well, it is the thought that counts.

BUT he did get me the super cute nesting tea cups from StarBucks!
In fact, I am drinking coffee out of one right now!

Megan made one of her famous homemade cards.
I absolutely love it.
I think she is an amazing artist and should pursue
publishing her line of people.
She captured herself and boys perfectly!

I have had a wonderful Mother's Day
because I have a wonderful family!

Happy 16th Birthday Joel!

My baby turns 16 today! I think he is shocked too!
Happy Birthday, Joel! Love Mom

To see a little of what Joel has been up to the last several weeks,
check out his dad's blog here.

Days 3, 4, and 5 Week 2

Day 3 - No time to exercise before work - busy day at work then church. But being the good girl that I am, I came home and exercised before bed!

Day 4 - Up at 4:30 am to travel with Joel and the rest of the Bible Quiz Team 4 hours away to their Fine Arts Competition. Great day! The drive was nice, the company and conversation was great, and the competition went better than expected. Although our quiz team did not place, they made it farther than we had expected!

I was the designated chaperon for the group. Six kids, including Joel, were left with me at the hotel that afternoon. Thankfully, they are all great kids and I could trust them to be good while I retired to my room.

Again, being the good girl that I am, I brought my portable DVD player and Slim in Six DVD. It wasn't pretty, but Day 4 got done.

Brian, Megan, and Levi drove up to the hotel and got there around 10:00 pm - just in time to turn in for the night.

Day 5 - I did not manage to fit exercising in on Friday. But surely the amount of walking I did in chunky heels counts as exercise!

It was a great day of competition! I am so proud of Joel - he was involved in a lot and performed very well!

I am especially proud of him for competing in the string solo. He played Canon in D on the guitar. And while he was maybe a little under prepared and a little over nervous, he did a fine job. This will be one competition under his belt and it definitely prepared him for next year.

In addition to the string solo, Joel competed in a small vocal ensemble, large vocal ensemble, choir, choral group, and large instrumental ensemble. He also took two art projects - print making and color photography.

All performances went well, and our large instrumental ensemble gets to make the trip to National Competition at Bob Jones University! I wish I could say they get to go because they placed first, but they placed second to a school that chooses not to go to Nationals.

But now our instrumental ensemble has three weeks to work hard and become first place worthy!

Day 2 Week 2

It is getting easier!

Day 1 Week 2

I am off and running on my second week of exercising. I was supposed to exercise last week for six days straight (and lose 10 pounds). But day six fell on Sunday and being the literalist that I am, Sunday is a day of rest.

So by starting exercising this week on Monday, my six days will be done on Saturday. Maybe I will lose ten pounds this week!

Levi is car shopping this week. It is a little sad to see him be so practical. For years all he has talked about was either a big four-wheel drive truck or a Jeep with a 3-inch lift. But practicality has won out and he is looking for a fuel efficient car.

Parenting newly emerging adult children - maybe that will be a future post.

Day 5

Did it. That is all I have to say. . .

. . . about exercising that is.

We went to a wedding last night. I had never been to a Friday night wedding but I decided that Friday night weddings are great.

It was a beautiful Baptist wedding - simple and quick. Cover all the bases and then get out of Dodge!

Seriously, the wedding started at 7:30 pm and at 9:50 pm we were throwing rose petals at the bride and groom as they left for their honeymoon! Neat and tidy.

We went to Wendys after the reception and Brian mentioned to Megan to keep in mind when picking out a wedding dress how little time she will actually spend in it. Continuing on to say if you break the cost of the gown down per hour - that is one ridiculously overpriced expense.

To which Megan responded by fluttering her long eyelashes and saying, "Oh, Daddy."

I think Brian could feel the money drain from his wallet.

Just a little bragging . . . .

Sarah, Andrew, Kathryn
Mary, Lauren

I have to brag on my sister's kids a little. They went to their fine arts competition in Kentucky last night and cleaned house!

My 10 year old violin prodigy of a niece, Kathryn, won elementary string solo and was picked "best of show" and performed in the closing program - which was streamed live on the internet! Joel and I huddled around the computer at home, Megan watched on Adam's lap top at Adam's apartment, and Grandma and Grandpa watched from their house. How cool is that!

She had nerves of steel as she played her VERY impressive piece while her older sister, Lauren, accompanied her on the piano. I was busting with pride! Not that I have anything to do with their talent. LOL

Kathryn - Elementary string solo - 1st, Elementary Large Vocal Ensemble - 1st
Sarah - Jr. High pencil drawing - 1st, Jr. High sacred piano duet - 1st, Sr. High large vocal ensemble - 1st
Lauren - Sr. High small instrumental ensemble - 1st, Sr. High sacred piano solo - 3rd, Sr. High Large vocal ensemble (she was the accompanist) 1st

Way to go girls!