catching up & some things I love

I was gone almost all weekend and by Sunday afternoon, I was officially over this weekend.  On Friday and Saturday, we had a choir camp of sorts.  It was from five thirty to eight thirty on Friday night, and dinner was provided for us.  We had a guest speaker come in and speak for a few minutes for three sessions, then we would move on the choir practice part.  I LOVE being a choir girl, and I love practicing, but when you sing really loudly for a long period of time, it drains me.

I am so thankful for our music pastor, Travis, and that the Lord brought him to our church in January.  One characteristic about him that I appreciate is the fact that he honors our time and when he says that we will be done by eight thirty, he really means it and sticks to that time.  He has a genuine heart for the Lord and for worship, and those are also traits that I really admire and look up to in a person.

We were back by eight thirty on Saturday, with breakfast provided, and this time we had section practices, meaning that we learned a TON in a short amount of time.  We finished on this day by around noon.

While I was at the church, Todd and Drew were running around town looking for dress pants and shoes.  Drew is NOT the easiest young man to shop for and with.  His sizing is always difficult and he really has issues with shoes and them needing to be something he can tolerate because of his flat feet.  I so appreciated the fact that while I was gone, Todd did all these tasks with Drew.  Graham was at a soccer game and Jonah and Noah were at home with a friend of theirs who'd spent the night.

And that night was homecoming!  Graham didn't go this year, and spent that night with some friends from our old church, and ended up spending the night with the one who lives right around the corner.  He met us at church the next morning.

Here's a few pictures.

Last year, Drew was putting the corsage on Emma, and awkwardly touched his finger to her wrist, and somehow we caught that on camera.  So of course, this year, we had them reenact that scene.  This is my favorite picture ever, because one thing they always do is laugh.

These sweet girlies are inseparable.  Morgan is fairly new in town and is one of the juniors in the class that I'm with on Sunday mornings.  Andrew was her date.

These lovelies went with each other, and they were GORGEOUS.  I love them so much.

And because of the extreme heat and a bunch of people taking pictures, I did not get any other pictures.  They went with a large group, and I didn't get any with them all in it either.  I was concentrating on not melting.

They had fun, and when I asked Drew how it was, he answered, "The food was amazing."

Oh, Drewby.  He hates dances and never once participated, but just kinda stood there talking and holding phones.  My friend Scottie had them all to her house for Milano's, and they all paid like ten dollars each for a crazy amount of food.  They had a really good time at her house, and I'm so thankful she thought of that.

While it was just Jonah, Noah and us, we decided to go out for dinner.  My request was sushi.

Holy California rolls, these were delicious.  I've been wanting sushi for FOREVER.  And Noah?  Well, let's just say that he put away a fair amount and pretty much cleared an entire plate by himself.  We also ordered a couple of big plates of fried rice to share.  We rolled out of there very happy.

We were at church very early on Sunday morning (7:30!) and afterward came home and ate lunch and then I crashed for half an hour.  Drew woke me up by scaring me half to death, asking if I was awake and could we talk, he had something to tell me.  I was thinking to myself, "No, no, no!"  It turns out that he spilled chocolate syrup all over himself and was wanting to make sure I could get it all out.  His to-go box leaked and it went everywhere.

Crazy kid.

We were supposed to have had a church picnic on this night, but it was cancelled, due to rain.  I was kinda glad.  I made a huge dinner and was in my pajamas the whole afternoon and night.  I also went to bed pretty early.  Well, I went TO my bed, but then I laid there and watched Gilmore Girls.  I finished Parenthood on Saturday and am re-watching my other favorite one, because the reunion show is coming out in a few weeks!

We cleaned yesterday, in between the boys doing school work.  I LOVE a clean house.  Well, it's mostly clean, I never got around to dusting in the living room, so I'll do that today.  Last night I made a big dinner again, but I went to my friend's house for dinner.  At our church, for the youth, we have a big sis/little sis program and last night was the Big Sis Initiation.  We all kinda chipped in and made the dinner and ate together and then afterward Abbey talked to them about this year-long commitment.

We ended the night with a blessing of sorts.  There were a few of us adult leaders there, and each of us prayed with and for a couple of the girls on this commitment.  They have to sign a contract, promising to be a good example and to act in a way that is always honoring to God.  It's a big deal, and I am so proud of these that stepped up to do this.  There were some girls who are participating that couldn't be there on this night, so they're not pictured.  And some girls couldn't make the time commitment that this is, and I really respect them for that wise decision.  I am so proud of the youth girls (and guys), and I REALLY want there to be something like this for the guys in our youth.  I think the guys need this even more than the girls, because the guys are the future leaders of their homes.  Said the mom to all boys.

Maybe I'll ask about that.  Our youth pastor is always open to suggestion.

And just because I saw this on Patsy Clairmont's Instagram yesterday, I loved it and wanted to share it with you.

This is so true!  One thing I always pray for is humility, because the Bible tells us that pride goes before a fall.  I think this is one thing that all of us can tend to struggle with, this issue of pride.  And I love the next part: when we are right, make us easy to live with.

Oh my goodness, is that not also true?!  I can be hard to live with, I am sure, and really try to not be that way.  So I pray and always God for humility.  It's one of the virtues that we are to put on from Colossians three.

Well, I need to start moving, and get started on this day.  Thanks for reading my blog!  Love to all.