Updates on the crazy clan!

School Year 2013-2014... It really does fly.  There are days that my children even say how fast it's gone.  Well, I usually start with the oldest when I tell events, but I think I'll change it up a bit.

This year, as we sent one off to college, we decided to bring a new student in.  I am officially the only female in this house - not sure about the frogs, but we'll just assume they are male, too.  So now I have 5 man-children, 1 man, and a male dog to contend with.  Our exchange student joined us in August, slept a ton as he traveled half way around the world, and started school one week later.   He's right in the middle of our boys, coming in at 12 and a 7th grader.

Since we had to be out commuting with our student each morning (Nick usually does the carpool duty), we decided to take advantage of GA Pre-K and put Joseph in at a local daycare.  The only cost to us is the lunches.  It has been great for him.  He's becoming much more independent, taking on chores, and doing fabulous with his numbers.  I'll be pulling out the reader this week so we can begin our lessons over the break.  Not sure what we'll do next year.  If I pursue a Masters degree, we may just transition him into Kindergarten.

Anthony joined his brother in tackle football.  The season just ended a couple weeks back, and we are so glad for the break.  Having two middle schoolers in football really kept us running.  Since they were two grades apart, games were always the same day (thankfully) but hours apart.  I actually wish for slow Saturdays, but with a large family, there is no hope of that soon!  I think that is why my quiet mornings at home are becoming a prize possession!

Nicholas did his 2nd year in football as an 8th grader.  He has been dedicated to the team, and so far, wants to continue in high school.  He joined the yearbook club this year and just this morning, he  presented a holiday excerpt in front of the entire school.  Only one boy and one girl in the 8th grade were asked to present, so this was a huge honor (especially considering there are over 500 students in his grade). Needless to say,  I'm one proud momma.  He was reviewing last night and I know he did great.  He's a good student and the teachers (even one's that are not his), tell me frequently what a gentleman he is!

Daniel winning his first match.  (in the blue)

Daniel has found a new passion, and if you follow him on instagram or facebook, you'll immediately guess what it is- Body Building.  He joined the wrestling team at school this year, and has added a few really neat guys to his circle of friends.  He's about 50/50 on his wins/loses, but for a first year wrestler, this is pretty amazing.  I got the chance to watch him make his first pin and it was incredible!  He's decided to drop JROTC, and we're still secretly hoping he'll pick music back up.  But, he's not ready to commit to any one discipline yet.

 

Joanna (just like her mother) got to college and never wants to come home!  She's had a tough semester with sickness, a heavy writing load, and the challenges of managing her own time and money.  She's one day away from being done with her first term and I think she is super ready to sleep for a month or so.  She's headed to Savannah for Christmas break, so it will be our first holiday apart.  Makes me think back to the early holidays I didn't come home.  My mom must have been devastated.  But I think to the strong women in our family, and it makes sense.  I'm already missing her like crazy but she's gonna have a blast.  I'm so excited to see what God's got in store for her.  Oglethorpe, watch out!

Nick and I have been waiting and praying for direction for our next chapter in life.  I say "next chapter" not because we have an empty nest (cause we don't!), but because a new career is in order for at least one of us!  Since Nick's retirement, he's continued to battle with constant pain.  Either kidney pain, or nerve pain, or muscle pain.  When we asked the doctor if there was anything else he would consider, he said, "there's nothing we can do to fix the pain from damaged kidneys, we can't go in and massage them back to health, we can only pray for healing."  Amen.  This we pray.

This past weekend, some of the boy's asked Nick to take them to an ALS Christmas party.  So he did.  Turns out (unlike previous years), the only attendees were older and alone.  My three boys that went were the only children there.  But they loved on those older people like angels.  They were in various stages of ALS, but my boys came home with stories to tell, and Nicholas' said, "I'm glad we went."  For Anthony, I think it hit home a bit as we discussed Dad's story with ALS.  His eyes grew wide as I sat with him that night and told of God's kindness to his daddy, and that each day is a gift.

For now, Nick's been building furniture.  He's been working on custom pieces through a friend's creative business called "Them Two Birds."  But here you see a piece he made for me!  Another larger locker is in the works out of re-purposed wood.  Ready to have some foyer organization for all those backpacks and shoes. 

Shouldn't you be writing?

My son asked me the other day, “why haven’t you been writing?”  Really, I can’t give a good reason.  Maybe it has something to do with my season of life.  I should be writing, but I’ve found it difficult.  It’s been my dream to write, but I find within myself a barrier to pursuing my own dreams.  Maybe it’s some lie I’ve believed.   That I don’t have what it takes, or I should be placing my energy into something more practical.  Yet, why do I write?  Alan Ziegler says that some people write because there are stories we must tell, or because we must tell stories.  We write to remember; we write to forget.  We write to create something new, or to re-create something.  We write for sheer pleasure- or for healing.  We write to move the reader, or to change the reader, or to change ourselves.  I think for me, and most, it's a little bit of all those reasons.

The truth is, I love creating.  Whether it is a hand crafted ornament, or a faux finished wall, or a combination of well-ordered words, creating is a reward in itself.  But chewing my thoughts out on paper is the best time I’ve spent.  For me, writing is thinking- thinking right.  Typing or scribbling words helps me to measure my thoughts.  It’s taking pieces of a scattered, fragmented reality and putting it together to make sense.  It’s a search of the soul that brings about truth.  It’s revelation that leads to gratification. 

Through writing, I question faith, and then find it again.  I seek for divine intervention and find remedy.   It’s not that truth is subjective, or can be found by musing alone, it’s that I have sown truth, hidden it in my heart over time, trusted the God of the Bible to make it efficacious, and when I begin to pour out words in pen, reflections of the truth find their way out, all over the page. Writing is self discovery and God imparting.   Maybe it’s just for me, but I think those little nuggets of encouragement from a child shouldn't be missed.

Summer. Let it begin.

As my daughter so aptly says, "Summer, let it begin."  Joanna just graduated two weeks ago.  She auditions for a music scholarship today, and registers for classes tomorrow at Oglethorpe.  We leave for a family trip tomorrow and we are busy pulling all of our loose ends together.  Daniel is taking Latin on line this summer, so even though the work comes with, we plan to do a ton of hiking and biking, lots of picture taking and sun soaking.

In Georgia, the summers are short.  I don't mean that we have short bursts of heat, we have plenty of that.  I mean we have very little time off from classes.  School begins in the beginning of August so June and July are our only months to build memories and spend unconstrained time with one another.

Once July hits?  Football, JROTC, and wrestling.  August?  Packing and sending a daughter off to college.  And the madness continues.  But then again, "a little insanity never hurt anyone."

Anthony's First Team Sport

I don't know what it is about me, but by the time my fourth child was old enough to begin his own sporting ventures, we were so deep in theater, football, and basketball, that Anthony was the child who tagged along.  For the first time this year, we began letting him stay after class for "running club."  I am so very thankful, though, for his cousins love for soccer.  Because of this, Anthony begged me to play, and when his Uncle decided to coach, it became a no brainer.  Uncle Greg arranged for the cousins to be on the same team under his care.  So I don't even have to drive!  Thank you, Uncle Greg.  Here's pictures of the day of his first game!  Go England!

Nutty and Fun

 Enjoying the goofiness of siblings.  The last thing in the world my 15 year old son wanted to do was take his sister to the Military Ball as a "date."  That was just too awkward.  No matter how we framed it for him, he would just say, "no way!"  I get it, but all I kept thinking was how cool his older sister was...and how many of his friends knew her.  So what does she do?  Convinces me to let her come anyway (I was the candid Photographer), "help" the volunteers and (in reality) crash the party!  Well, it turns out she was a pretty cool friend to have along after all.  No, you will not see one of those formal "date" pictures.  This is as good as it gets!  But I love it!

New Beginnings...do you see the bag?

Yes...she'll be leaving soon.
It's so weird to think that my oldest will be graduating in just a couple months.  There are actually three students graduating in the house- Joanna, Alex, and Isabella.  They each have plans in the works.  Alex is actively pursuing entrance into the US Navy, Isabella is looking into BBC (Baptist Bible College), and Joanna just accepted admission to Oglethorpe University.  WOW.  This is scary stuff.

Joanna was thrilled as she filled out her housing application but at the same time afraid that it might not work out.  She's got a good bit of money to figure out, but there are a lot of scholarships available to Oglethorpe students, thanks to many of its alumni.  We told her to act in faith and put it in God's hands.

As I sat with her guidance counselor this morning, I was encouraged by the respect her peers and teachers have for her.  Joanna has been invited to fill in gaps in ensemble competitions, join shows, run tech for events, tutor other students and the list goes on.  Her counselor at school fully expects to see her in film.  It's awesome to see Joanna grab onto the gifts God has given with both hands.  We'd love to see the finances for OU come together, but I also know that God wants all of us to trust Him, so here we go!