Advent: Week 1 and 2

And I finally made it to the blog I was going to post tonight.  That’s what happens when you are at least a month behind on blogging – one blog, turns into 5 or 6.  But I am persevering and finishing this tonight.  So, buckle up as I walk you through the start of our Advent calendar fun! 

Day 1 – Decorate the house.  We had mostly done this on Saturday, but the girls did help Jeremy put up outdoor lights.  We went and watched Wicked instead of putting off decoration.

Day 2 – Unwrap a gift.  No, they didn’t get register blowers.  They were boxes that held comfy PJ pants.

Day 3 – Attend a band concert (Ellie’s).

Day 4 – Shopping spree for canned food drives.  They each had $30 to spend for cans for their school.  They have fun trying to get as close to $30 as possible.  Ellie was at $29 and some change, and Madison was over by a few cents.  Pretty good!

Day 5 – Write a letter.  Ellie chose to write to Ashel, our Compassion friend; she also wrote notes for me to include in our annual Christmas letter (still needs to be written…).  Madison chose to write her cousins, Theo, Miles, and Zadie. 

Day 6 – Attend a festival.  The plan was to go to the downtown open houses in Dalton.  However, Jennifer had bid on and won tickets to the Steven Curtis Chapman Christmas concert, and she wanted to take us.  So, we went there instead.  It was a fun night of music.  Madison got herself hot chocolate beforehand.  And this image reminds me that she is growing up!

    

Day 7 – Make an aromatic toy – gingerbread play dough.  We didn’t get this done today, but we did do it on Sunday.  It does smell really good, and it has really good texture. 

Day 8 – Snowman Pancakes.  One of the girls most anticipated days.  It has been even better the past two years since inviting others to join us!  Bess, Miles, Luke, Amelia, and Briggs came, and so did Ben, Steph, Cale, and Landen.  We moved couches, linked the tables up, had the grill going, and two griddles.  Most people knew what to expect and contributed toppings and fun.  The kids made good use of the basement for awhile before supper.  And then we got out the play dough to calm down a bit (intentionally made the play dough for this purpose!).  The pictures are many because everyone has to be photographed with their snowman (but somehow, we missed Bess’s snowman!).  So, enjoy!

                                            

Day 9 – Holiday books from the library.  Madison was looking for chapter books that were holiday themed.  I think that is only the chick lit/romance ones.  But we did check out some fun picture books that you can’t help but read when they are laying out. 

Day 10 – Attend a choir/band concert (Madison’s)

Day 11 – Dip ritz bits crackers with Grandma and Grandpa

    

About halfway through with some exciting things to come.  It is fun to hear the girls try and predict what the next day might be.  They have some dates in mind where they know, some activities that they are anticipating to show up, and some they have no idea about.  I try to keep a good mix of things happening.  And as we have gotten older, I have learned to be flexible with the days – sometimes I am swapping things around at the last minute to make it work with other things that pop up.  They still have fun doing it.  And it helps me be intentional with spending time with them.  Otherwise, this season is so crazy, I probably wouldn’t spend as much time creating memories with them if I didn’t have this.  So, we’ll keep going! 

It’s Music Time!

Tis the season for band and choir concerts. Suffice it to say, they both did a great job at the level they are at.  I enjoy hearing how the music gets more complex at each level, and how the kids rise to the challenge of it.  And, they both seem to enjoy participating.  Here they are in a few pictures. 

Ellie’s choir concert. (Pictured with friends: Bailey and Kya)

Madison got to help set the stage for Ellie’s band concert – a new role for her.

Ellie’s band concert. (Pictured with fellow woodwinds: Maylynn, Bailey, and Ava.  Also pictured with friends: Ava D., Ava N, and Mary.)

         

Madison’s marching band in the Dalton Holiday’s Festival parade – her FIRST ever parade in the band!  Fun!

Madison’s band concert  You can barely see her in the second row…

Madison’s choir concert

My final note is that during Madison’s choir concert, Mrs. Carr had the choir stand in the aisle with candles to sing “Silent Night.”  And it was beautiful.  I closed my eyes and just wrapped myself in the story of the season and the promise of what is to come.  And I am so thankful that they can sing songs of love and Christ at Dalton.

Thanksgiving Break

Thanksgiving break started on Tuesday after school.  Jen (Jeremy’s sister) had arrived in town that weekend, and we were able to spend time with her.  She noticed there was a concert at Central Christian on Tuesday night, so we went to check it out.  It was the Walking Roots band, a fairly laid-back bluegrass/folk band.  While it wasn’t what I would have chosen to do (mostly because I was just wore out!), it was relaxing and enjoyable.  Sometimes it is good to push outside of what you think you can handle. 

Wednesday was a lot of preparation time – groceries, mashed potatoes prep, a quick trip to MCC Connections (for no reason), and setting up the kids’ craft section for the sale the next day.  Ellie was a big help and enjoyed organizing it.  (Madison was a youth group and couldn’t help.)  Jason (Jeremy’s brother) also got into town late Wednesday night. 

Then, on Thursday, we headed to church for the worship service.  I love this service – people sharing things they are grateful for, ways they have seen God work, and singing songs of praise.  It is a meaningful time to center yourself for the day.  The auction was a lot of fun as usual.  I had the joy of bidding on an item for someone else in the congregation.  It was fun to spend someone else’s money, but also know you had a target amount you could spend.  Often when I bid, I just keep going until I get uncomfortable and then I stop.  So, it was fun to just know the stopping point. It was a record-breaking sale – over $18,000!  Sandy and Ellie’s annual photo together.  Jeremy and Hank holding up the quilt Steph M had made; it was beautiful.  And Jeremy taking care of the doll up for auction from his mom’s collection.

    

Afterwards, we went to my parents for thanksgiving feasting.  Jennifer and Jason were able to join the family this year.  Things seemed to be going well – food, conversation, fun.  And then they weren’t.  Jeremy got up to go to the kitchen.  We thought he was getting a second helping; later, he explained he had been feeling light-headed and went out for fresh air.  At any rate, he passed out on the kitchen floor.  His pulse was low (like upper-50s) and he was pretty gray.  After laying for awhile, we tried to have him sit up, but he kinda turned gray again.  Since he didn’t seem to be able to stay upright, we decided to call for an ambulance to transport him to the hospital to check things out. 

By the time he got there, he had regained his color and was feeling much better.  Nonetheless, they did all the tests – chest X-ray, EKG (I think), swabs for COVID and RSV, bloodwork, and an ultrasound of his liver, kidney, gall bladder, and pancreas.  Everything seemed to be checking out fine, so they released him (and me, who was sitting with him), to go home with a heart monitor in place for 3 days. 

The girls were in good hands with family.  Luke brought them to the hospital to just see Jeremy and know that he was doing okay. 

The evening wrapped up quickly after that.  I think the afternoon was a good time for everyone, but I don’t know if I ever really even asked…

We are thinking it was a result of a cold he had been fighting, paired with the cold medicine he had just taken, the little breakfast he had, and the lack of liquids he had drank that morning.  Hoping we find rest over the holidays.

We spent our Sunday afternoon at the movie theater watching Wicked, Part 1.  It is a musical precursor to The Wizard of Oz.  It had had a lot of advertising and build up.  The girls really wanted to see it, and so did Jennifer and Jeremy.  So, we reserved our seats early and then enjoyed the comfort of our reclining chairs.  The movie was worth all the hype and the 2 hours, 40 minutes of seat time.  We cannot wait until NEXT November when part 2 comes out! 

Banquets

I already did the full blog on 4H for this year.  However, Ellie was invited to attend the 4-H banquet to receive a county award medal for her work on her project.  We have been invited to attend the last few years and enjoyed it.  Well, I am not sure we enjoy the river of people that awarded one by one, but we do enjoy the food.  And this year, we were able to sit with friends, and that made it more fun as well.  So, congratulations, Ellie!

    

Also, did an entire blog on Madison’s volleyball season.  However, in high school, they have a fall sports awards ceremony.  So, we attended that.  Back when I was in school, it was a whole potluck meal, table settings, in the gym, get dressed up thing.  This was much more low-key – in the auditorium, in team shirts, and just announced on stage.  But it was nice.  So, Madison and her team were acknowledged once again for their stellar season. 

Happy Birthday, Gloria!

In honor of Gloria’s birthday at the beginning of November, we we out to enjoy breakfast at a new place to us.  Gloria loved eating out.  She had special groups of friends she would meet with at different times throughout the week or even just monthly.  She loved treating us to great restaurants, too.  So, we checked out Gigi’s Diner in Marshalville the morning of her birthday.  The really cool thing is there were two of her friends from the condos/MCC that were also trying it out.  It was like they came to party with us! 

Madison had a delicious pancake, Ellie got a breakfast burrito, and I don’t remember what Jeremy and I got.  But we had fun sitting at the counter eating a birthday breakfast.  We love you, Gloria!

    

Marching Band

Madison had a hard decision when choosing classes for her freshman year of high school.  As she wrote down the required courses and the lunch period and the flex period (required) and the study hall she wanted, she realized she had very little left for electives – Spanish, art, choir, band, financial literacy (required, but not freshman year). 

Jeremy and I initially told her she had to do band.  We had both been in marching band; Jeremy even played in college.  While neither us were serious band geeks, we did both enjoy our time in band.  Marching band for me was a social time – I had great friends that were in it with me, and I got to go to all the football games.  I wasn’t really good at what I did, and I probably defiled the uniform with my cheerleading antics on the sidelines and lack of seriousness, but I did actually try my best and don’t regret my participation.  Jeremy would probably say many of the same things – he enjoyed his friends in the band, going to games, and memories created.  Triway percussion even created a cadence that was dedicated to him, a trombone player, that they still use today!  He was better at playing and marching than I was (I mean, we didn’t actually have a conversation about this, but I know my skills). 

All that to say, we thought she should do it, too. 

But then she had all these other great options.  (And to be fair, I didn’t do band AND choir, so it wasn’t a fair comparison.)

So, we told her it was up to her. 

She mulled over it for awhile.  We said, it wasn’t a decision that would make or break high school for her.  There was no right or wrong choice.  Just decide whether to try it or not.  She chose to try it. 

And I think there were things she did really enjoy – meeting new friends, hanging out with some of her friends that did do band, the experience itself (just being able to have it), learning to march on a field. 

   

A unique experience performing at the Jackson Band Show.  Some really fun performances by other schools, too.  Bandorama, the Wayne County version, was canceled this year due to rain.  This show had beautiful weather!

And I think there were things she didn’t really enjoy – the busy-ness that band created when paired with volleyball at the high school level, the Friday night requirement of going to games when she would have rather just had a night off, the cold temperatures, wearing the orange band shirt.

I think she is leaning towards not participating in marching band next year.  Not because it was awful, but because she would like to continue with choir and add in some art classes.  I am glad she tried it and had the experience.  I am also fine with her doing something different than I did.

So proud of you, Madison, for your willingness to try new things and make decisions.