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. 

Halloween and other things

Ellie and her friend, Bailey, wanted to go trick-or-treating together in coordinated costumes.  They thought they could both be Minions.  So, at the last minute (of course), we stopped at Hobby Lobby to see what we could find.  We found yellow truckers hats and yellow shirts.  Heather (Bailey’s mom and the crafty one) rounded the outfit out by making googles stickers to add to the hats and cutting navy ribbon to make suspenders for them.  And I think they looked great!

Josie and Janie also joined them for the neighborhood walk which was fun for all.  They were Joy and Sadness from Inside Out.

Jeremy, Madison (who kinda wanted to dress up, but didn’t want to walk around, but also felt too old to really dress up…), my mom, and I heanded out candy at the house. 

It was a beautiful day!  Pepper dressed up and made it for a brief moment outside.  Landen stopped by and Grandma didn’t recognize him at first.  He had to come back for his kiss :)

    

Afterwards, Bailey and Ellie swung by Living Water’s Trunk-or-Treat to see the their friends who had a trunk set up. 

    

Other fun pictures…

Ellie getting ready to sing the national anthem before a volleyball game with her choir.

Madison singing at her first high school choir concert

Packing school kits for the MCC Resource Center on a Wednesday night.  We packed over 800 school kits!!  Ellie, Landen, and Miriam worked on the pencils.

Going through some things at Grandma Yoh’s house – a treasure trove a such a variety of items!

A career exploration day for Madison

Erin Travels a bit

I took a personal day a bit earlier than normal this year.  We (Steph R and I) gifted mom with a girls’ trip to see Daniel at Sight and Sound Theater in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  It’s kinda a trek to get out there – 5 hours or more.  But we decided to just do it.  We left Friday morning around 9, stopped for lunch, checked into our hotel, and then had a delicious meal at Agape Café right next to the theater. 

We had great seats.  They weren’t in the lower section, but they were near the bottom of the next level and off toward the side.  We like them because you could see all the things happening on all sides of the theater.  There is a lot going on – animals, singing, lights, set changes, and more.  It was enjoyable. 

We headed back to the hotel afterwards and pretty much collapsed into bed. 

On the way home, we stopped at an outlet mall to see what there was – lots of shops, lots of still pretty pricey clothes, and a lot of nothing that we took home.  We did have the experience of witnessing the spotted lanternfly (locorma) invade everything!  It is an invasive species related to the grasshopper from Asia.  They fly/hop, and they are disgusting.  You are literally supposed to step on as many as you can to try to just kill them off.  You are also supposed to check your car so you don’t transport them from state to state. 

    

It was a good getaway, even though it was a lot of driving.

Then, for my 8th year in a row, I headed to Gettysburg/Washington D.C., with the 8th graders from school.  I am not sure when I will get tired of going.  It is a get away with very little responsibility – kinda.  I don’t have to plan the trip, navigate on the trip, entertain people on the trip, worry about food, restaurants or lodging.  I just get to go, count heads, take cell phones at night, encourage kids to look at things and think about things.  I do get tired; we walked over 7 miles on Thursday and stayed up later than I normally do.  But I enjoy it. 

I always like to see who we get from the National Park System to be our tour guide at Gettysburg.  This year, we had a man who had taught 8th grade history for 27 years (and some additional years at the high school level).  He got them.  He did a great job keeping it focused, giving out enough, but not too much, information, and trying to help them learn about what went on during the war.

This year, we went to a new White House Experience that was really cool.  It was maybe a little small for our group, but I thought it was so neat – the media and technology, the visual representations of the white house, the bounty of facts and tidbits you could learn. 

    

We also walked up Capitol hill to get to the backside of the Capitol building I don’t know if that was worth it, but it was new and something the kids see on TV, but got to see in real life. 

We hit the usual spots – World War II Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial, Korean War Memorial, FDR (one of my favorites), MLK Jr., Arlington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and the American History Museum (Smithsonian).