The big 5-0

This is Jeremy’s year.  I mean, it is really just another year, but it is a milestone.  Since my sister-in-law did a big shindig for my brother, I felt like I couldn’t be a slacker.  Nate’s was a surprise party, but I didn’t have it in me to pull that off.  So, Jeremy and I talked about whether he would like an open house or just a special family outing.  He said open house might be fun here at our house.  So, I tried to curate a guest list where I invited people closer to him, but didn’t invite the whole church – that is very hard!  I also wanted to invite some friends of his from college, but I figured many wouldn’t be able to come because they lived at a distance.  I started with coney dogs as the main dish, and at the last minute, switched it up to meatball subs – and I am so glad I did… no one wanted leftover hot dogs! 

The girls were so helpful in helping me get everything ready.  Friday night we knocked out slicing vegetables in less than 30 minutes.

And then had a dance party to finish out the night.  Angele was trying to teach the girls the steps to Beat it by Michael Jackson. 

The next day, we did cleaning, moved tables and chairs so they could go outside, and then rerouted them inside when it looked like rain, put up cross net for people.  Jeremy did an excellent job weeding, mowing, and putting up the volleyball net.  I prepped all the other food and showered at the very last minute.   They also went through pictures to put up as a walk down memory lane, and they put up all the decorations. 

Meatball subs, veggies and dip, potato chips and Smith’s French onion dip,

and pies… apple, cherry, and pumpkin made by Steph R, and chocolate pudding and peanut butter made by my mom.  Also, grab and go chocolate chip cookies and rice Krispie treats made by me. 

I have few pictures of the actual people who attended the party.  Greg and Maggie and their kids (Elena and Nora) came from Columbus and someone took their picture with Madison and Ellie.  That was so nice of them to make the trip. 

Mike and Anja and two of their kids also came from Columbus.  Mike was Jeremy’s roommate after college and they are good friends.  I am so glad he took the time to come; it is a long drive. 

Sometime during the party, it was discovered we had a bat in the compost trash can.  Jeremy put his skills to use and rescued it and was entertainment for the kids.

    

We had about 50 people total, so there was a lot of in and out and some just settled in and enjoyed the night.  The kids braved the outdoors between the rain showers. 

All in all it went really well and makes me want to do this kind of thing more often.  It is so nice to just get people together.  In this case, it was to celebrate a really cool guy!

On Sunday, we went to The Barn restaurant in Smithville to celebrate a little more.  While there, we drove past Jeremy’s parents’ old house and it was as if they knew it was his birthday!  It was kind of a neat coincidence. 

 

Here’s to another half century with this fun, history loving, trivia master who does so many things to keep our family going.  I am the stingy drill sergeant who keeps all the things in order while he challenges me to have fun, to be flexible, to spend a little of our hard earned money, to enjoy things a little more.  It helps our kids know balance, and I appreciate it.  Thanks for the gift you are to me as a husband, to our kids as a dad, and to those around you that you give and care for unselfishly.

All the Little Things

The past weeks since school started have had a lot of transitions – transition to school responsibilities, transition to a volleyball schedule with games, transition with another kid in the house, and more.  But we are making it, and things have actually gone really well.

The girls have worked to get to know each other – looking at yearbooks, playing volleyball with neighbors and each other, going out for drinks, riding to and from school together, and more.

Pepper has adjusted with the times – sitting nicely with Madison! and eyeing where Angele went… he has his eye on her a lot… in a good way!

    

Angele is not playing a sport this season although she did play volleyball in France!  So, she has done a nice job blending in at home – she takes Pepper out for short walks after school, helps with the chores, and has time to cook a meal during the week.  (The girls will take this on in the winter in their off season!)  She made a pasta dish for us with noodles, parmesan, oil, bacon, and a raw egg on top.  It had a very good flavor – and looked pretty!  She made us crepes two nights ago.  A very French thing I am sure, but it is just a different name for what we eat called flap jacks.  Call them what you will – they are good!

    

We have tried to introduce her to some things here as well.  She had eaten marshmallows before, but never as a s’more.  I think she enjoyed it.  Corn on the cob was a new treat.  We all loved the corn Chuck and Patty gave us – so good!  The Dariette  for ice cream and some photos in the new big chair.  We also made her waffles with white sauce, but it was not our best effort because I used the wrong type of flour for the white sauce (white whole wheat vs all purpose).  She wasn’t necessarily a fan of the white sauce, but it makes sense because she doesn’t like pudding, and it is the same texture.

         

And we had our first HOME football game.  Ellie had some girls over to get ready.  Angele joined in on the fun – USA was the theme and they went all out – body paint, hair stuff, and more!  There was a lot happening, but they managed to take pictures and eat tacos before heading out.

    

These are things that just happen – eating, hanging out, making food, being together.  And while I don’t think everything needs a picture, these remind me that even in the mundane, life happens, relationships grow, and we have opportunity to find joy. 

SYF Freshmen Welcome

It is always so fun to welcome a new class of kids to youth group.  This year, all the youth – 3 girls – were all siblings of youth already in youth group.  So, it is a fun dynamic.  Last year, Jeremy planned an Amazing Race activity at Lake Harmony; there was a lot of running involved.  This year, he planned with something a little less cardio involved – a Double Dare type activity. 

This involved trivia questions, dares, a little messy fun….

         

When they realized that the shaving cream and whipped cream was up for grabs, they ran after each other!  Ellie and Angele were chasing each other.  Then, as Ellie was getting a drink Angele popped the bottom of the water bottle and soaked her!  Oh my!

At the end, many of them ventured into the lake to cool off and clean off.  The girls started laughing when Angele felt something on her foot – Gloria’s foot – but she thought it was some lake creature and jumped into Gloria’s arms! 

Here’s to a good year ahead.

First Day of School

On Monday, the girls worked to make supper together in the crockpot.  I think it was a good get to know you activity.  They also worked to make sure that Pepper and Angele would hit it off – and surprisingly, Pepper warmed up so fast!  It was actually an answer to prayer because we were really worried about it. 

We went to open house at the high school on Monday night.  It was Ellie’s first venture as a student into the high school.  She seemed to fit right in and did a nice job talking with her new teachers. 

It was also Angele’s first time entering her new school for the year.  She took it like a pro – talking with teachers, smiling, meeting some of Madison and Ellie’s friends. 

Madison … she was a veteran and floated around with friends and by herself to check in with teachers.  That’s what juniors do!

We tried to get to sleep early, but with all the excitement, it was a little hard.

The next day was the first day of ….

Freshmen year:

Sophomore year:

Junior year:

Year #20:

Here’s to a great year ahead!  From two kids to three kids!!!

    

Welcome, Angele!

Well, we made a decision!  We decided to open our home to a foreign exchange student.  We had received a letter from High School in the USA who had found our name in the Mennonite Your Way directory in early summer.  We set it to the side since we had a lot of things going on. But we came back to it in mid-July and thought, “Why not?”  We looked at very brief descriptions of various students still waiting for a host family.  One stood out among the others – Angele.  She has similar interests as the Madison and Ellie.  The girls also said they would like the person that comes to not be in the same grade as them; it would give them all the space they needed.  Angele is a sophomore from France. 

We started the process, and it moved along quickly.  We got paperwork together, took pictures of our home and us to share, went to a online host orientation meeting, talked to the school about enrolling her, prepped the room downstairs, and waited.  Once we were approved, we were given access to her file and saw her picture for the first time!  We were even more excited – she looked fun, bubbly, and ready to take on a challenge.  Her additional bio also was encouraging. 

We got news that all paperwork was ready to roll, and on a Friday, we got a message that she would be arriving into Cleveland on Sunday night!  We chatted with her on Saturday over What’s App video call.  It was so good to see her “in person.”  We introduced ourselves and talked about what she may need to be sure to pack. 

On Sunday, we headed to Cleveland to pick her up at 5:30pm.  Then, learned her plane was still on the runway at Newark, New Jersey.  We sat in the cell phone lot and monitored her flight on the app…. forever…. She was very delayed.  I think her plane was held on the runway for 2 hours!  Finally, we saw she had taken off and would arrive at 7:30pm. 

Madison had worked on a welcome sign.  Ellie was excited to carry it! 

We waited in baggage claim.  Finally, we saw her coming down the escalator!  She hugged us hello.  We grabbed her suitcases – 2 medium size ones is all!  Then, we went to Cane’s to pick her up some chicken because who wouldn’t be starving after all that!

We also learned how to correctly pronounce her name… like Angel, but with a French accent! 

When we got home, we showed her her room and basically headed to bed.  Thankfully, the next day was not a school day! 

The girls slept in on Monday, I went to school for professional development, and Jeremy went to work.  I left the girls a crockpot meal to put together for supper – a fun, get to know each other activity.  The other job they had was introducing Pepper to Angele.  Surprisingly, Pepper and her hit it off much quicker than we anticipated!  That was a gift for sure!

Meet the Team

Let the craziness begin!  The girls are both participating in high school volleyball this year.  Practices started the end of July and will continue keeping us hopping through mid-October.  It is fun knowing they are practicing together and experiencing life together.  Not all siblings get that chance.  This is just a few pictures from Meet the Team this year.

*On an unrelated note, school starts in two days from when I am posting this.  That changes the rhythm of life here – and I could hardly keep up with it during the summer!  I am going to try to build it in so it doesn’t get overwhelming, but just know we are just living life even if I haven’t posted!

Bake Sale

It has been a tradition almost every year since we moved here (2011) that the girls have had a bake sale with Ellie and Annabelle (the neighbors).  For a couple years they collected money for the humane society in a paper cup.  Last year, they donated half of their profits to Jeremy’s VelaSano ride (cancer research).  They decided to continue that tradition this year.  Jeremy even got a steal of a deal on t-shirts for them to wear!

Ellie baked about 2 weeks ahead of time with my mom to make 72 cinnamon rolls. 

Then, the rest of them put in a lot of time baking on Wednesday – chocolate chip cookies, raspberry cream cheese cookies, brownies, funfetti cupcakes, double chocolate muffins, gluten free cinnamon muffins, gluten free brownies, double chocolate chip cookies and sno cones (not baked, but part of the sale).  It was a spread!  Then, Jeremy’s aunt, Marianne, contributed granola bars, more muffins, and a puff pastry treat, since David, Jeremy’s uncle will also be riding with him. 

We found that day 1 (Thursday) of the Buy-Way sales is the best day.  The tent and the signs went up on Wednesday night.  The girls set up shop on Thursday morning.  I had to go to my first day as a teacher, so I missed this year’s sale.  We had no idea if they would manage to sell it all.  But the flow was steady despite the clouds.

They raised over $400 for Jeremy and they each made some spending cash as well.  It is so fun to see how they continue to do this and take on more responsibilities every year for it to happen.  So proud of this team!

Special things

Madison, Ellie, and I all had specific things that were exciting and specifically pertained to us.  (Jeremy’s is coming up.) 

Ellie was invited for Bailey’s birthday to go to an Otter experience along with their friend, Maylynn.  They were in a room where Asian otters would climb around on them and they could pet them.  It looked like the girls really enjoyed this unique experience!

              

Madison wanted to get her second piercing on her ear.  We paid for the first hole for both girls, but said the rest was on them.  She used some money she earned from dog/house sitting this summer to get her second hole.  They look nice and I am sure she will enjoy changing them out when she can. (I know, not a very exciting picture.  Her studs are small, cubic zirconia set in gold.)

I made arrangements to go to visit my college roommate, Rachel, in Goshen.  It had been a long time (over 6 years because that is when they moved and I hadn’t see there new house!) since I had been to her place.  She and her family were just getting back from a 15-day trek out West, but she made time to get away/take a break to hang out with me.  I stopped to see Molly, one of my housemates after college, in her new place in Bluffton.  It was nice to stop and catch up with her for about 2 hours.  I got in around 5:30 to enjoy fish tacos with Rach and her husband; her boys were off doing sporty things with friends.  Then, we stayed at her friend’s mom’s getaway house just down the street.  It gave Rach a chance to leave behind responsibilities and also her family to not tiptoe around us as we sat and talked. 

    

We toured around Goshen on Wednesday and enjoyed live music during dinner and then grabbed ice cream at The Chief afterwards.  I left around 9am on Thursday morning.  We pledged to see each other more often, but we both know how that goes.  It was so good.