Saturday, May 9, 2009

May 9, 2009

What a couple of busy months we have had at our house! It's been crazy busy here since I last posted, but it's all been wonderful things that God has allowed us the opportunity to live. We have been working very hard to stay on top of school. We are in the last 3-4 weeks of school, depending on which child of mine you are talking about. Jonathan is a very diligent student and never procrastinates doing his school work each day. He wants to get it done early every day, which means he gets it done on time, or early at the end of the year. I'm so pleased at how he is doing in school. Each year, God encourages me with his progress and I'm so thankful for that progress that has been made these last four years. We are coming upon the hardest years of all, but I know that 'We can do all things through Christ who gives us strength." Elizabeth and Sarah are also doing well, they are just working overtime here at the end of the year in order to get it all done by the end of May. They have been babysitting twin boys for a dear friend of mine for the last few months. They babysit every Tues. and Thurs. which has allowed them to make extra money for their trips this summer. They love their boys and the family that they are helping, and they have adjusted pretty well in their schoolwork with this new schedule this semester. During these last couple of months, they also spent many hours working their biggest fund raiser for tour, which is the World's Largest Garage Sale.

In the midst of all of that, Elizabeth had the opportunity to experience prom for the very first time...not once but twice! It was such an exciting time for all of us as this was a new experience for all of us. She took her good friend Harrison Ward and they attended the Home School Prom at the end of March, and then they attended Harrison's prom at Grace Prep at the beginning of April...two proms in less than a week! It was crazy but a lot of fun. Elizabeth was absolutely beautiful. It's hard to believe that she is already old enough to go to prom and will be graduating from high school one year from now. God has truly blessed us with the most wonderful children and we are in awe of His great blessing of being able to enjoy this special event with her. I have included a couple of pictures of her, but you can also see the album with all the pictures we took from the Home School Prom at the link that I have posted. It was a pretty amazing event.



Home School Prom

Grace Prep Prom

In the midst of all the excitement of proms, there was tons of music activities going on as well. At the end of March, Jonathan participated in his first Dessert Theater with the Clarion Choir. This is a fund raiser that the Clarion Choir (jr. high choir) does to help raise money for their trip. The kids sell tickets and then serve desserts to those who come before the present them with music that they have worked on. This year's theme was Rags to Riches. The choir did selections from Sister Act, Annie and Aladdin. Jonathan took his job of selling tickets very seriously. His goal was to sell 100 tickets (they only asked them to sell 10 each) and I believe he sold 80-90 tickets. I was super impressed with him! The kids did a great job and it was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, I was too busy helping to get to take any pictures. Lamar and I also participated in the Easter music, Bow the Knee, that the Sanctuary Choir and Orchestra did, so March and April were full of music for our family...something we all enjoy very much.

Just an extra little piece of information...Sarah was photographed for a billboard advertisement for our church that was up in Dallas at Northwest Hwy. and Greenville for several weeks. Here is a picture we took of it...kind of cool seeing yourself on a billboard! It's not something that happens to just everyone, so we were pretty excited about that.


After several busy weeks, we were able to get away for a few days and go camping, something we haven't had the chance to do in several months. We went to Lake Mineral Wells State Park. It was a great weekend with no rain, and we had a fabulous time together as a family, catching up with each other and catching up on our rest. Here are a couple of pictures, or you can see the album at the link I posted.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2021861&id=1422914998&l=6f6988c418





On Thursday of this week, we got to spend the day with some of our family and friends at Home School Day at Six Flags. We look forward to this day every year and we always have such a great time. It's the best day of the whole year to go to Six Flags! This year, we had no rain and pretty short lines to stand in. It was a little warm, but not miserable. It was great fun as it always is. Last night, Uncle Timmy and our good friend Gabi took the kids to see Denver and the Mile High Orchestra play in concert in Dallas. Jonathan got to meet the drummer and had him sign his drum sticks. They also got a picture with the lead singer and he also signed Jonathan's drum sticks. They had a great time there and Lamar and I enjoyed an evening together by ourselves.

Lastly, Jonathan had his endocrine appointment at the first of May. We have been struggling with high blood sugars for the last month or so. We increased his insulin and the week before we saw the doctor was the best week of blood sugars he had all month. His A1C was high and his weight increased again. His doctor is wonderful and just really encouraged him in his eating and exercising. Jonathan got a step counter for Easter and has really taken to using it every day and keeping track of his steps. This has helped tremendously in motivating him to be active. We are walking in the evenings and he and I try to walk some time during the day as well. We are really watching what we are eating and I'm trying to help teach him how to do that himself. He is trying...it's just a difficult process.

Thank you for continuing to check on us and pray for us. Please continue to pray for Jonathan as he works on losing weight and eating healthy. Pray that we can keep his blood sugars under control with both of those things. Pray that he will continue to grow taller. Lamar was a slow bloomer so I'm not worried about Jonathan, but he keeps waiting to get taller and he regularly checks to see how much he has grown. You can begin now to pray for his upcoming trips. June 7-12, the kids and I will be helping again at Jr. Camp. Jonathan will be a helper this year instead of a camper. Pray that he handles that well. We will get home Fri. afternoon, be home for 2 days and then leave early Monday morning, June 15 for Clarion Choir Tour to Birmingham, AL and return on Saturday June 20. This will be a long week, full of VBS, mission projects, concerts and recreation. Please pray that Jonathan will be able to handle this week well. I will be there with him, so pray for my emotional state as well. Helping him handle some of these things proves to be emotionally draining for me. Specifically, you can pray for strength for his feet and ankles, and stamina and energy for the week. I will update as soon as we return to let you know how everything went. I will be counting on your prayers and want to thank you ahead of time for faithfully praying for us. You are also welcome to join us on Sunday, June 21 at 6 pm for the home concert.

God is so good and remains so very faithful to our family. We are blessed beyond measure. Thank you for your faithful love and friendship. I pray that each of you Moms will have a wonderful, blessed Mother's Day. We love you all.
Deut. 7:9 - “Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments."