Snowy Fun

The last week has been snowy but fairly warm. Nice enough to even get me motivated to get the kids up and outside. It also helped that Grandma Marilyn got Xander new snowpants and boots on Monday and brought them up Monday night. Maia & I went out and found a pair of "Cinderella" colored boots for her Monday afternoon, so they're pretty well set.

Maia & I went out on Tuesday and she played with a sand shovel in the backyard while I scooped a little snow off the driveway and sidewalk. That kept her entertained for a long time.
On Friday after school, we went and picked up Xander and then headed out to church because they not only have sleds we can use, but a nice hill to use them on. Maia fell asleep on the way there, so Xander played by himself on the hill for a while until she got up about an hour later.

I was sitting in the car warming up and keeping a sleeping Maia company while I watched Xander play. He laid down in the snow- probably to rest- quite a few times. Once after a particularly nice wipe out, he flopped down in the snow and made a snow angel. At least, that's what he was trying to make. What do you think?

I'm thinking it's more of a snow octopus?

After Maia woke up, I bundled her up and we took the other sled down the hill together a few times. Xander wanted to see if it would work to get all three of us on one sled, which we then did until little Maia was just shivering and it was time to pack it up.

I didn't get any pictures of Maia on the sled because I was always with her. I got the honor of carrying her back up the hill every time too! Got a good cardio workout, huh?

Here we are back in the "warming house" (AKA church) after all the fun.
Today, the wind changed, and we have a high of 15, which we reached by 9 am, then it's just supposed to get colder for the rest of the weekend. All of next week looks pretty cold too, so I'm glad we got out when we did.

Highlights

This week was better. I'm glad. I was so bummed for a while there.

Highlights from this week include a big one, Matt got a promotion at work. If you read my blog, then you probably read his, but the story is there.

He was so happy when he came home from work last night. He told me he didn't know how much he really wanted it until he thought they were going to offer it to someone else (he had himself pretty well convinced by the time they called him up to the office to talk to him). I thought it was a lot like a pregnancy test, but he didn't get the connection.

Xander only had 3 days of school this week, thanks to Martin Luther King on Monday (NOT replaced by a Native American holiday in SD this time), and teacher inservice on Tuesday. One of his friends called and invited him to the indoor ice skating rink on Monday and Tuesday. We couldn't make it on Monday, but we went on Tuesday and had a lot of fun. Xander's never been ice skating before, so I figured it would be a day of a lot of falling down and frustration and anger for him. I tried to warn him ahead of time, but then they had these cool "walkers" there, which are just what they sound like: an iron construction with a wide base that slides along on the ice in front of the skater, helping them get comfortable (and stay upright) on the ice. I had rented skates for myself in an effort to help Xander learn the ropes, but he hardly needed me at all. I probably went around the rink 3 or 4 times total, and once or twice to help him up when he collided with his friend (who is a very aggressive skater who plays hockey and takes no notice of the fact that he's only half Xander's height). He had a great time, and I even remembered to take my camera, but alas! The batteries were dead. So, no pictures.

On a less interesting front, got the paperwork rolling to get our house in Marion refinanced. It is currently on a 15-year loan, so the payments are ridiculously high for such an inexpensive house, but we're working on getting it stretched out to a 30-year loan so that we can save about $150 a month. Oh, and of course, be saddled with the house for 30 years in the event that it never sells.

We got our Aztek back this week after about a week's worth of repairs at the body shop. It looks and runs as good as new, though the "Change Engine Oil" light is on about 2 1/2 months prematurely. Have to check into that and hope it's nothing more than an oil change.

I started 2 new students in my home studio in the last couple of weeks. They're both going to be fun to work with. I'm up to 12 students at home, and either 10 or 11 at USF (classes start in 2 weeks- they had a January-term) so I'm pleased about those numbers. And enjoying teaching. I really only dread one or two lessons a week. That's way better than dreading all of them!

My new job at Good Shepherd (see previous post) started last weekend. I was warmly welcomed by all 23 people there, and they were very appreciative of someone up front singing the hymns into the microphone. I was told that my speaking needs to slow down. SURPRISE! This week I get to play piano and lead, so I've been practicing my hymn playing and attempting to sing all the right verses at the right times. I woke up this morning with "Oh For A Thousand Tongues To Sing" stuck in my head. Can't say that's happened to me very often! I've spent a little time organizing my thoughts and getting things figured out, then we'll start visioning for direction with Pastor Shel and making modifications in the service to make it better. It's an interesting challenge, because I know how to do the "contemporary" worship service thing, but the traditional service is a little different, and I want to do it justice.

This is not interesting, but our toilet broke this week, and it was fixed within 48 hours. I like that part of not being a homeowner. Actually, I like a lot of parts about not being a homeowner so far. Especially things like not having to scoop snow or mow the lawn or pay for repairs. Nice.

We're just going to have a lazy Saturday here with the kids. Probably try to get out of the house at some point, but the 3 of us are still in pj's at 9:30, while Matt took the Aztek in for the final part to get replaced (it was a slightly wrong color). We had praise team practice Thursday night, which meant 4 late nights in a row for the kids. We need a lazy day.

Oh! Today is my Grandma Leigh Anne's 90th birthday! She's not having the party until August because she figures that's a better time to travel in SD. I'd worry about her optimism if she wasn't so spunky! Happy birthday, Grandma Leigh Anne!

Another New Job

Am I getting in over my head here?

Yesterday I was offered and accepted another job (this makes five paid jobs if you're counting- a lot for a stay-at-home mom).

I am now going to be the music pastor for Good Shepherd Community Church. This is not as conflicting as you might think.

Good Shepherd is the church that owns the building where Mercy Church meets. They have a small, older congregation, who prefer a traditional worship style. GS lost their pastor last month, so our pastor, Shel Boese, is currently serving as their pastor. He's interested in revitalization, not just doing life support, so the goal is to get this little church brought back to life, while maintaining a fairly traditional service style.

When the musicians from Good Shepherd were asked what they thought needed improvement, one of the first things that came to light was that they need a song leader for Sunday mornings. The other thing that seemed obvious is that these 3 pianists/ organists do not want to choose the music, just to be told what to do.

So my job is to pick the hymns each week and lead them on Sunday morning. SO FAR...

If I understand right, some members of the congregation have approached Shel about the service being more "blended" in style. We'll see what comes of that. The thought being of course, attracting young people. But if our buidling is going to attract "young people" with more modern music, they're going to come to Mercy. My thought is that we should do traditional well. There are a lot of people who are attracted to that. Even some young ones! :)

So, we'll see what comes of all this. It really doesn't mean much more time commitment for me- just have to get to church an hour earlier on Sundays (and frankly, getting the family out the door by 10:00 every Sunday feels so LAZY after so many years of 7:30 am!) and work with a few more people. And get to know ANOTHER new congregation. But I think it'll be OK. AND it's a little extra pay. Can't complain about that. We'll see how I feel about it in a few months.

Mystery Solved

OK, so a couple of months ago, we found out that our Marion house had been broken into. The back door had a pane of glass broken out of it, then "they" reached through and unlocked it and walked right in.

We sent a friend over to investigate and see if he could see anything that had been damaged, he said everything looked fine. We sent someone else over to board up the window and sweep up the glass, and that's where we stood until today.

Well, today another friend went over to winterize the pipes (which should have been done last year) so that we wouldn't have to keep the furnace running and pay ridiculous gas prices so that the pipes wouldn't freeze. He went to do that, and realized that someone had stolen all our copper pipes.

WHAT?!?

Who does that? Apparently, these thieves have figured out that these older abandoned homes are a gold mine - rather a copper mine- because copper is selling for -I don't know, a lot per pound.

So, it may not be as easy to move someone in as we thought. This same friend, a real live plumber- will be happy to do the repairs for us, and replace the pipes with a kind that won't get stolen. The nice part is, they ruined the water heater when they did this because they emptied it without shutting it off, thus destroying the elements inside. Nice. And it's a rented water heater.

I'm really sick of this house.

OK, So the House

There's the latest on the Marion house:

I quit making payments. I have now missed two. This means that the bank will surely foreclose on me before long, right? I don't like the idea of foreclosure, it seems irresponsible, plus it will really mess up our credit for a while, but I am starting to run out of options.

So the other day, I get an email from our friends Adam & Ronda. They are faced with a horrible situation there in Marion. They have intentionally chosen to live in a very rough part of town in order to minister to the people there. They do a fantastic job at it, and the fruit of their labors, while sometimes hard to see, is so worthwhile.

A few years back, a community organization built a home for Adam and Ronda that was such a blessing to them! They got to live in a brand-new house- even if it is a bit on the small side- and I don't know all the financial details but I know they got a really good deal on the place.

Unfortunately, that really good deal is going really bad. The walls in their house are cracking and it looks like their foundation was poured incorrectly and the house will soon be unlivable.

And here's the stinker: the community organization that built this home for them no longer exists. It dissolved a few years ago, so there is no one to hold to their workmanship.

Marion is rallying around Adam & Ronda, and several people have approached them about applying for an Extreme Home Makeover, but some wonderful friends came up with the idea that if they were able to get one thousand people to give $50 each, they could give Adam & Ronda a pretty nice house to live in. You know, kind of do our own Extreme Home Makeover. (By the way, if you're reading this and want to contribute, send checks to Hanfield United Methodist Church with "Community Housing" in the memo line. In this link, Ronda is the singer in the top left corner!)

So in the meanwhile (this was in November), I said to myself, "Hey, we've got a house in Marion that no one is living in. Why not at least offer it?" I wrote to them an offered our place as a refuge for them while they're waiting for a new house to be built. The biggest problem with our house is that it's not in their neighborhood, so they lose out on the ministry they do.

Well, Ronda emailed me Monday night and said things are starting to get out of hand at their house, and wondered about taking us up on our offer. I told her where to get a key and they went and looked at the place this week. She said it's not in too bad of shape for being empty for a year and a half. (She MUST be desperate!)

They are going to try to get things straightened out at their place- they feel like they can't leave until enough money is raised to demolish the current house and begin work on the new one, so that they don't have to lose out on more ministry time than is necessary. But they could be moving in as early as this month, and at the most in the next couple of months.

I told her I totally understand the "living in a state of limbo" thing, and whenever they can get in, the place will be ready for them.

So, now I have to catch up on two months of house payments that I've missed. Plus pay the deductible on the car (see previous post) AND January is the month that USF is on J-term, so I don't teach there this month, which means no paycheck from there this month, which will be a significant dent in the ol' income.

The good news is: and I mentioned this in the previous post as well, we got a couple of nice gifts that were unexpected this week, and that will help pay for the car at least. I've got the utilities all up-to-date and have a request in to the bank to help us get our monthly payments reduced by refinancing the house out to a 30-year loan instead of the 15-year one that it's currently on.

BUT everyone is healthy, and God is good. Things could be a lot worse! :)

What a Week!

Happy New Year!

On New Year's Day, 2007 (Monday), I hit a deer with my new car. I've been told that now I'm a member of the "deer-killers club" I think that distinction should stay with those who intentionally kill deer, like my brother (by the way, what happened to the little kid who used to faint at the sight of blood and threw up in the theatre when Luke Skywalker's hand got cut off? Now he's skinning deer? Eeech.)

Back to my topic

I had gone down to my mom's for the day in Yankton because, frankly, the kids were driving me nuts, and I needed to go to a place where they are loved, otherwise I would go insane. We didn't decide to go visit until about lunchtime, and it takes an hour and a half to get there. The kids played, watched TV that they can't watch at our house, and entertained Gramma Marilyn and "Gramma Jim" with their... energy. After supper, we were packed up to come home, and only 3 miles away from their house, a stinkin' deer suddenly appears in front of me. APPARENTLY it's mating season, which makes them do stupid things (I could go on a tangent here...notice my restraint).

So, I pulled over and checked, and the right front headlight is all smashed and hanging by wires, the grill cover broken to bits and there's a dent in the hood and front quarter-panel. THANKFULLY, no window damage, the airbag didn't deploy and the engine is not damaged at all.

After a scare like that, I didn't feel like I was in any condition to drive the rest of the way home, so I called Mom & told her I'd be coming back to spend the night. Incidentally, I saw 4 more deer cross the road before I made it back to their house. I was tempted to hit them just for spite at that point, but opted not to. I'm not a nature lover right now.

Spending the night without packing for it was fine for everyone except Maia. Mom ran out an got a package of diapers at a gas station, but the poor baby didn't have her blanket (codename: "geep." I don't know why. That's what she started calling it a long time ago and it stuck). The thing that's important about Maia's blanket is that it's fleece with a satin binding all around it. She sucks on the satin as a comfort measure while she sleeps.

We tried giving her a fleece blanket and a satin coverlet, but all of them were wrong because they weren't pink. Finally, Mom found a 2'x2' leftover scrap of fleece from one of Maia's little blankets, which Maia reluctantly accepted as an alternative to the real thing. Well, she was sleeping in just a shirt and a diaper, because I hadn't packed pajamas, so I was trying to cover her up with another blanket along with the little pink one.

That stinker! She insisted on "my bwanket pink!" repeatedly. I thought I had things under control when I shut off the lights and we started to say our prayers and I subtly covered her with the green fleece blanket. I forgot, however, that for some reason, Maia associates Baby Jesus with the lightbulb in the ceiling. So when I said the part of her prayers, "I love You, Jesus," she says, "Where's Baby Jesus?" I go over and turn on the light, when she immediately notices that she's not covered with only "Bwanket pink" and goes into another round.... and these are not quiet protests this child makes. If you've ever been around her for long, you'll know that about her.

She even woke up once in the night to complain about "bwanket pink" which I tucked back around her before she went back to sleep.

I didn't get much rest that night. I was really tired, and fell asleep OK, then woke up and decided to start worrying about my insurance rates going up, and the classic: our Marion house. If ever I don't want to sleep well, start worrying about the Marion house, which has been empty for a year and a half now. (this issue is a whole 'nother post) I tried my best to cast my burdens on Jesus- heck I hurled them at him! Take them!!!

Anyway, the engine of the car was not damaged at all, so Jim cut the wire holding the headlight in and sent us on our merry way. When I got to Sioux Falls, I called Progressive, and I have to say, I've had a pretty good experience with them so far (haven't seen a rate change yet. I'll be sure to mention it when I do). They were quick to say that their first priority is to get me back on my feet (or wheels, I guess) again as soon as possible. They have a network of auto shops that work with them, so I picked one and a representative met me there the next morning. They did the estimate at the same time as the body shop- saves a lot of time- and have been in contact with me about how long this will take.

The damage estimate is $3800. My deductible is $500, so I guess I should count myself lucky. I was not sure where this magical $500 was going to come from, but here's the GOD PART:

God has provided an additional $380 this week. Gifts from His people. I guess if you complain loud enough, people will try to help.

Thank you, God's people, for helping us!

You, know, one thing that I've tried to stay consistent on during this last year and a half of limbo and turmoil, is tithing. I remember very clearly the maxim, "If you think you can't afford to tithe, you can't afford NOT to tithe." (~Pastor Tim)

God is faithful. We haven't seen direct monetary provision like this from him every time, but sometimes.

OH, and this is too amazing to pass up. Matt got rear-ended in the Neon on his way home from work on Tuesday night. Luckily, it's no big deal, just bent the license plate up a little, but we found it interesting.

Hold loosely to the things of this world. That's our lesson for the week. There's more to this story, but this is already too long of a post, especially with no pictures. I'll write about the house more later.

Christmas 2006

We've had a pretty long but fun weekend, celebrating Christmas with the rest of our family. Friday night, the kids and I picked up Matt after work (7:00) and headed to my mom's in Yankton. We spent the night there, and Casey & Heidi and their kids showed up Saturday morning for our gift exchange. They brought Grandma Leigh Anne along too. We had a wonderful meal with ham and turkey, etc. and had fun afterward pairing up and hanging out, playing with our new toys. Here's some pictures.

Xander and Rylie adorning themselves with bows:

Xander & Grandma Leigh Anne building Bionicles
(very brave, Grandma!)

The boys went downstairs to play with
Casey's new cut capo for his guitar


It wasn't long before Chase went down to join them,
playing the drums on whatever he could find to hit.


Our two little princessess playing with their
Barbie dancing princessess

Soon Chase was trying to teach Maia how to play
drums. We sent them out on the deck because it was
so nice out. They still had to bundle up a little.
It wasn't long before Maia bullied Chase off and
took over the drums for herself.

Heidi and Rylie playing Polly Pocket


Grandma Leigh Anne helping out in the kitchen
"Gramma Jim" carving the turkey

Grandma Marilyn's failure to use the "Ga-boing Ga-boing" properly
Careful, Grandma! You'll break a hip!
Maia looking like a queen watching "Barbie Rapunzel"
in Grandma's bed

My personal haul for the first segment of the weekend
means our family will be eating in style this year! (The apples are just for show. No one gave me apples for Christmas)

After all the fun at Mom's we went home for church at Mercy Sunday morning. Things went really well for the 25 people or so that showed up. Once again, a reminder that our audience is not the people in the pews. Sunday evening, we had a very traditional Christmas Eve service, Matt wore a tie (!) and played his trumpet on some of the hymns. I played piano for most of the songs, and sang "O Holy Night" in my best classical voice. It was a nice service.

All dressed up and almost ready to go to church. The curlers did absolutely no good, but doesn't she look cute?

Afterward, we hopped in the car and headed for Bruce & George's to spend the night. The strange catch in that arrangement was that Bruce & George weren't even there. They went ahead to Fort Dodge, to George's mom & dad's where we joined them the next day. But what that meant was that we got to have a quiet Christmas Eve and Christmas morning together as a family. We hung the stockings by the fireplace with care, and sure enough, Santa was faithful to show up.

Christmas morning, we opened our stockings with the help of Mud the farm cat

We got dolled up and headed to Fort Dodge to celebrate Christmas day with Grandma Katie, Papa Svale, Uncle Dave, Cousin Eddie, Rena, Troy, Cassie, Lexi, Bruce, George, and Grandma Katie's cousin Blair from Georgia.

That was an adventure! Everyone opened all the gifts at once, so I have no idea what most people got, or how much they liked what we gave them! I helped Maia and she was decked out like a queen in no time:
We had another delectable meal featuring Cornish Game Hens- how fancy! Maia ate pickles and black olives. It wasn't long before people were pairing up again. Several of us took turns napping by the warmth of the fire in front of the TV showing 24-hours of "A Christmas Story." Xander and Lexi predictably took off and played as long as they could before the girls had to go. Nobody really knows what these two do when they play together, but they seem to have fun.

Here's Matt and his Uncle Dave jawing about something in the kitchen.

We returned home Tuesday morning, Xander has been playing his new Star Wars Lego Gameboy game for something like 18 hours straight. We were surprised to see that Santa stopped at our house and left a couple more gifts for us to open when we got home. Xander and Matt got a pair of baseball gloves and a ball for tossing around. I got a funky music sculpture, and Maia got a new toddler bed. She thinks it's OK.
Now comes the fun task of finding homes for all the new stuff, and coming down from the holiday rush. We have almost two full weeks to recover before school starts again. I have a feeling we'll be ready!

Eitemiller Christmas

We had the first of our family Christmas celebrations on Saturday, in Mitchell with Grandpa & Grandma Eitemiller.

We had a nice time hanging out with Casey & Heidi and crew, the kids got good and sugared up eating mostly m&m's and cookies, played with some presents, but mostly the toys that are always at Grandpa & Grandma's, and of course, the ever-energetic Grandpa Dave and Uncle Casey.

Here's some nice pictures from the afternoon:
Casey & Heidi

Maia & Rylie pigging out:

Matt & Xander playing X's new Bionicle Quest board game

I love this picture! Grandpa's telling stories again. At one point, Rylie says to Grandpa, "I'm not even listening to you!" -Right in the middle of a very long explanation of ... well, something.

Chase caught in the act with the m&m's, using the serving spoon as a personal shovel.




Here Chase was cracking us up because he was hiding a ball in his shirt. He was trying to keep it away from Maia, who was using the same tactic earlier. Rylie hollered, "You look like you're preg-a-net!" Chase later moved the ball up to his chest which gave him a different look entirely.


After the kids got all sugared up on cookies and m&m's, somehow they got into a tickle fight with Uncle Casey. He's good for that kind of thing.



Proof that Xander & Rylie can actually get along. This might be a first. They usually butt heads like two billy goats!


Here, Maia is upset because Grandpa is interrupting a perfectly good fit. So she plugged her ears so that she couldn't hear his wailing over hers.One of Chase's favorite toys of the afternoon: The Lincoln Logs cannister, which made a nice drum. I put a throw pillow inside it so that the rest of us could still function while he relentlessly beat that "drum" to bits! When we got there, the 6-year-old cannister looked brand new. Not anymore!

A good time was had by all. Thanks to Grandpa and Grandma for a good kickoff to Christmas!

Waxing Sentimental

Some nice pictures from the last year.
Story time




Cowhand in a Spiderman Cap

From when we tried Matt's goatee on everyone in the family

First dance with Daddy



Aw, aren't they sweet?

I have an announcement: I have all my Christmas shopping done. Ahhhh! What a nice feeling. OK, a nagging little voice tells me I have one more gift to buy- for my brother. They were out of what I wanted to get him when I went this week, and now I have to wait for another paycheck. AND I have to get some stocking stuffers. I am so going to take it easy with those this year! I went a little overboard last year, so I'm limiting it to $25 each. I buy my own stocking stuffers, that way I get what I want. That's not really the point, is it? Oh well.

We have an interesting Christmas eve/ day planned this year, we are going to do our Christmas eve service at Mercy- surprisingly traditional because we're doing a joint service with the Mennonite congregation that owns the building we're meeting in. After that, we're heading over to Bruce & George's (Matt's folks) to spend the night. The interesing thing is that they won't be there. They're going to Fort Dodge to stay at Papa Svale & Gramma Katie's, where we'll go the next day. Apparently, Rena & Troy & kids (Matt's sister's family) are going to do the same thing! So we'll have Christmas morning with cousins and Aunts and Uncles, then head over to see grandparents later. I guess we'll have to take our stockings with to Grandma Georgie's and see if Santa can find us there!

I'm still trying to figure out what to do with Maia's big Christmas present. She's getting a SpongeBob toddler bed. I'm not taking that with us to Fort Dodge! I was thinking how cool it would be to have it out in the living room under the tree (well, not all the way under) on Christmas morning, so the kids could wonder how Santa got it down the chimney. But we're not going to be here. I don't really want to give it to her before we leave, because she'll want to sleep in it, and that would be mean. So I think we'll set it up under the tree for when we get back with a note from Santa.

Christmastime is Near

This season really zooms past, doesn't it? I have been enjoying Christmas card updates from friends young and old, and am trying to be in the process of getting ours written. I stalled out when I realized that we had to put a family picture in. Of course, we don't HAVE to, but we are going to, and I don't have one that will fit the bill. As a matter of fact, I had to go buy Xander new clothes yesterday because he has nothing to wear for the upcoming Christmas programs he's in, so I chose things that would coordinate well with the rest of us, so we can all look nice together.

Today, December 9 (Happy Birthday, Micah Hoeksema!) was kind of a fun day. It's a Saturday, so as usual, we started our day with a praise team practice at the church which took longer than it should. *sigh* We've got to whip these kids into shape! Check back in a year and see if that's happened yet. I'm betting not.

After worship team rehearsal, by dear friend, Amy Lu (from Sheldon) came over for lunch with her daughter, Gracia. They were having a girls' day out Christmas shopping day in Sioux Falls, and we invited them over for lunch. Gracia is a year younger than Maia, so sharing didn't go so well between the two of them, but we had a nice visit, though too brief. I think the two of us could just talk for days without stopping. We should have a slumber party like we did when we were kids. I doubt we'd get all the way caught up even then!

At 2:30 this afternoon, the kids and I walked downtown to witness 156 tubas celebrate Christmas in the 17th annual "Tuba Christmas." The weather was beautiful, over 50 degrees, and the company was great too, got to spend some time with our parents and friends- Jim, Marilyn, Bruce, George, Pete, Paula, John, his son, Terry, Lynn & Julie. They had come to town to hang out together, get some shopping done, eat at Minerva's downtown and see the Tuba Christmas.

There's nothing too fancy or sophisticated about the Tuba Christmas. From what I can understand (I couldn't hear the announcer, somehow I wound up sitting behind all the tubas, so his back was to me when he was making announcements), they send an invitation to any tuba or baritone/euphonium player in the tri-state area, regardless of experience or skill level, and
give them all a book of Christmas songs. The songs are not hard, just your standard Christmas carols, and they must not emphasize rehearsal or watching the conductor. A few phasing problems, and they sounded pretty bumbly a lot of the time, but hey, they're tubas. Many of the tubas were dressed up for the occasion, with tinsel, ribbon, garland and flashing lights. Several of the players wore stocking hats in various colors with TUBA CHRISTMAS knitted into them. There were sousaphones, concert tubas, baritones and euphoniums all piled together outside the Phillips Ave. Diner. Quite a crowd, too. Apparently a lot of people thought this would be a fun way to celebrate the Christmas season.

I think I should contact Lori Thomas, my bassoon teacher from USD and suggest that we do a bassoon Christmas. I still have my little bassoon stocking cap and scarf from when we played Christmas quartets and sextets at the USD holiday concerts. Good times.... 'course, I haven't played my bassoon in a long time. I think I still remember how. I'm not serious about this. The weather can't be this nice every time they do this concert. I don't like playing in the cold. We'd definitely have to play inside. And probably in Vermillion, since that's where most of Lori's students are!

My Christmas shopping is almost complete. I think I only have 2 or 3 people left to buy for. That's weird. This is usally when I start my shopping. I didn't do this on purpose this year, I just somehow accidentally planned ahead. Can that even happen? I guess I started noticing things that would make good presents early in the year this year (and by "early" I mean like October and November). Usually I wait until after my birthday (Nov. 23 in case you missed it. I'm still accepting gifts) to even start shopping. This is not a good idea, because the December paycheck is no bigger than any other paycheck, so it's foolish to think I could get something nice for everyone that way. What usually happens is that I cheap out and try to make gifts as thriftily as possible. That really makes people feel special. And I run my credit card way up. That's not a good option either.

Anyway, I'm feeling a little more on top of it this year, so that's a big relief. I just have Matt & Xander to buy for yet. And my Dad. Why am I procrastinating buying for the men in my life? Oh yeah, I don't have a gift for my brother either. So the truth of the matter is, girls are more fun to shop for. Good thing I have so many nieces!

Tomorrow, we are going to Mitchell to attend my brother's kids' Christmas program. AND we're going to Grandma Leigh Anne's to have homemade waffles beforehand. Promises to be a fun night. We got a lot of good pictures last year after the program, so this branch of the family is dressing in coordinating black and khaki and by golly, we're going to get a picture for the Christmas letter!

We're going back to Mitchell next weekend for Christmas with Dad & Marie. They always outdo themselves in the toy department. They love buying gifts for the kids. I've been trying to clean out the toy boxes in preparation for the onslaught of new stuff. Just what they need. More stuff.

OK, that's all I know for now. No new pictures. I haven't taken any pictures since before Halloween. What's the matter with me?

Cobwebs

It's been a long time. This website should have cobwebs on it. I have missed Halloween, my son's birthday party, and am finally getting around to writing the day after our first day on the job at Mercy.

Brief update: Halloween was good. Xander dressed as a Bionicle (no surprise to anyone who's tried to have a conversation with him in the last year), and Maia was a cute little fuzzy bunny. I forgot to take pictures. I'm a bad mom. Well, here's one from before Halloween. How cute is she? Here she was helping Daddy practice his "trump-trump."

We went scavenging (I mean trick-or-treating) in the neighborhood and, as I suspected, that was a way better deal candy-wise than going to the indoor comfort of the mall like we did last year. Plus we got to meet some of our neighbors (of course, the kids were wearing masks and going door to door begging for candy, so it's not like we started any deep relationships or anything. Did get the chance to thank our next door neighbor for tossing our lost t-balls back over the fence.

Xander had a great birthday party. We invited all the boys in his class, and 10 of them showed up (there are 17, so I counted myself lucky!) plus one girl from church, whom Xander referred to as his 'girlfriend' more than once (already? *sigh* well, her dad's a cop, so good girlfriend to have). My mom helped me out with games and it was nice enough to play outside. Family showed up at cake and presents time- 4 cousins, 4 aunts and uncles, 6 grandparents, and of course a sister, a mom & a dad. After presents the kids went home, and the family stuck around and we had pizza and talked for a while. We were able to have it at New Hope's cafe, which was a nice location for us. Fun.

We are officially back on the job as worship leaders as of yesterday. Actually, we started on Wednesday, but there wasn't much to do, just go enjoy dinner at the new church and join a small group Bible study. Saturday was rehearsal. Scheduled at 10, started at 11. That's gonna have to change.

We chose music according to what Shel was preaching on (Living as a Christian and Dealing with Illness). So a lot of "praise You even when things are awful" kinds of songs and "finding healing in Your presence" types of songs. A lot of what they've done before is Vineyard stuff that Matt & I don't know, so we were trying to be adaptable and do stuff that the congregation might know, even if we didn't. Turns out we introduced 3 new songs. Oops. This is not good. If you're going to worship, it's nice to be at least somewhat familiar with most of the music. Not to the point of doing by rote, but just knowing the song makes a heap of difference. Major faux-pas.

Sunday afternoon after church, we were headed out of town, but had time to eat out, which is rare for us. We chose a newer restaurant called Ci Ci's Pizza and were quite surprised to run into Hal & Martha there (Hal's the worship leader at New Hope), so we got to have a surprise lunch with them!

Then we went to Vermillion for choir practice. That's right, choir practice. Larry Torkelson, the retired choir director from USD, has decided to start a choir and do really hard music. He chose about 30 singers from around the region- most of which are alumni, and we get together and practice music for 2 1/2 hours once a month. This week, we worked on Samuel Barber's "Agnus Dei," Leonard Bernstein's "Best of All Possible Worlds" from Candide, Mozart's "Laudate Pueri" from The Vespers Solennes di Confessori and a Brahms motet in German all about how youth is fleeting and you never get a second chance. Cheery little number. Great for an alumni choir.

We saw a few familiar faces. I still sing really loud. Nice to be back in the familiar halls at USD and do something familiar. I was back there 2 weeks ago for a music teacher's conference, and it was so weird because I didn't know anyone. There were only a handful of my professors who haven't retired. Made me feel old. Yesterday was better. Good times.

Looking ahead to this week... excited for only 2 days of school. I don't have to teach at USF this week, so my longest day is cancelled. I do have to play for one student on departmental recital this afternoon, then lessons all evening, and some more tomorrow after school.

We are heading to Bruce & George's (Matt's folks) for Thanksgiving Wednesday through Friday morning. We'll also celebrate my BIRTHDAY on turkey day (fitting), as well as Matt's Mom's and Sister's who had birthdays Saturday and Sunday. My mom's BD was last Tuesday. We like to clump them together. Excited to see Matt's Uncle Bob and Aunt Kris whom our kids have never met, as well as Uncle Dave, Grandma Katie and Pa Pa Svale, friend Julie, Matt's sister Rena & family, and who knows who else.... Glad I'm not hosting! Matt's mom is really good at that kind of stuff.

We'll go to my mom's place for Thanksgiving on Friday and Saturday. I get to help Mom start to decorate her huge house for Christmas. We won't get done, but we'll get it all out, and get started. She'll putter the rest of it up after we leave. Jim was in the emergency room last weekend with what turned out to be a vacuum-related injury, and thus is not allowed to vacuum anymore. You know what that means... the carpets are going to get pretty dirty.

I am stunned that Maia is sleeping past 9am. Which is why I've been able to get so much written. Mondays are my day off, kind of. Until about 3:00. So I have a lot of housekeeping to catch up on. Too bad I don't have a vacuum-related injury.