What an eventful week we have had!  On Thursday night, the girls and I went to see my niece, Cassidy, graduate from 8th Grade.  She looked beautiful and so grown up.  Jeff did not get to go with us because his choir was singing at their school's graduation the same night. 

 

Then on Saturday, we had a birthday extravaganza at our house!  Ella is 4!  We began with a gourmet pancake feast for all the family at our house at noon.  Jeff cooked up strawberry, M&M, cinnamon nutmeg, and plain pancakes and waffles, plus we had regular, peanut butter, and chocolate syrups and cinnamon/sugar, whip cream, and strawberry toppings.  And if that wasn't enough, we served scrambled eggs, donuts, and a big assortment of juices.  Ella loved it!  Pancakes are one of her all-time favorite foods and her daddy does them better than anybody.

 

After lunch we did some rearranging and from 2-4 we hosted a Strawberry Shortcake birthday party for all the family, as well as four of Ella's friends.  They played outisde (the weather was absolutely perfect!), played two Strawberry Shortcake games for candy prizes, had cake and ice cream, opened presents, and then played with the presents!  Ella got many nice gifts, but the two "big-ticket" gifts (from each of her grandparents) were her new car and new house!  (I wouldn't mind a new car and a new house for my birthday, either!)  Ella and Lucy have already had many fun times playing in the house with our neighbors, and over the past two days, Ella has gotten good at driving Lucy up and down the street in her car.  I have really enjoyed watching Ella play with all her new gifts this year.  We ended the day Saturday with dinner at the Black Buggy restaurant (Ella's choice!) with just the family again. 

 

After a long, but enjoyable, day Saturday, we all got up early on Sunday and drove to church at my parents' church for a celebration of my grandmother's 90th birthday!  This is my dad's mom.  She has six children and they were all able to be there!  It was a surprise to her, and she was so happy.  She has 14 grandchildren and over 30 great-grandchildren and nearly everyone was there!  It was a very special day of reunion with so many family members we rarely get to see. 

 

Ella's actual birthday was on Tuesday.  This was also Jeff's last day of school for the year (and a shortened day), so we thought it would be fun to let Ella go to school with him.  She woke up on her own at about 6:15 saying "Don't leave without me, Daddy!"  She knows he's usually gone before she wakes up.  We packed her "busy bag" and a lunch and off she went!  It really made me think about what it will be like in a year when she's going for real!  When they came home, we let her open her gift from us - all the books and materials for her to start piano lessons!  It is a special curriculum for 4- to 6-year-olds called "Music for Little Mozarts."  It has been highly recommended to me by more than one person.  I'm going to start teaching her next week when Jeff starts his summer job.  She can't wait, and I'm looking forward to it, too!  We had more pancakes for her birthday dinner that night and she got to blow out another candle.  She is so proud to be 4.  We keep hearing sentences that start with "Now that I'm 4..." and "Because I'm 4 now..."  What a blessing to see her grow.  Hopefully, we will have professional pictures to post next week!

On Saturday, Jeff and I, along with one parent chaperone, took 18 of his 21 concert choir members to a band and choir competition at a nearby amusement park.  It wasn't the best performance environment for a concert choir, but they did a nice job, receiving the highest rating (a gold), and ranking 3rd place overall.  They got souvenir T-shirts and a big trophy to show for it.  The majority of the day was spent enjoying the rides, games, shops, etc.  Jeff and I enjoyed having some "alone" time, as the girls stayed with my parents.  It was very strange to just walk around the park with no stroller, no diaper bag, no mad dashes to the potty, no bibs and wipes and stress over meals, and no pressure to do anything or go anywhere we didn't want to!  That part was nice.  Then we rode a few rides, one being a very fast, jerky roller coaster, and I came to a sad conclusion.  I think I am too old for roller coasters.  I can't believe this day is here already...I'm only 32!...but I'm done.  I got so shaken up on that thing.  I felt like my brain had been shaken and tossed around and my stomach flipped completely over.  As the afternoon and evening went on, I just got sicker and sicker.  Then, when it was starting to get really bad...I had an hour-long ride on a school bus - through curves, hills, and bumps.  I was absolutely miserable.  So, yep, that's all she wrote.  My kids will have to grow up riding roller coasters with their dad, like I did.  That is, as long as he can hold out!  I have a feeling he might not be far behind me!

 

House Update:  We had the house inspection yesterday.  It was SO much less stressful this time.  Only minor repairs and issues.  Nothing like last time.  There are definitely a few things we will ask the sellers to take care of, but there was nothing that made us fearful of going through with the purchase.  We have really had no fear or remorse this time.  God has given us a total peace about this move and we are SO thankful for that.  It is such a good feeling to know we are walking down the path God wants us to be on, and He has confirmed that in several ways.  Out of respect for the owners who are still living in the house, I won't post inside pictures, but I've included two outside pictures.  I will post more once we have possession.

 

 

The GOOD news is:

1.  Our housing issues have worked out!!  We were released from our contract with the first house and received all our earnest money back!  All we lost was the cost of the inspection, which was worth it to find out what we did, and which God provided back for us in one weekend through a piano job for Jeff!  In the meantime, we came across another house which turned out to be much more suited to our needs.  Plus, it is only six years old, so we shouldn't have all the issues we had with the other house.  The final counter-offer was just accepted yesterday, and closing is to be June 9th with possession 2 weeks after that.  We will have 4 weeks with possession of both houses (but no double payments!).  We'll have an inspection on this house soon and then once things are settled, I will get pictures and more details posted.

 

2.  I had a very nice Mother's Day, thanks to my wonderful family.  I am so incredibly blessed and I don't take it for granted.  I thank God every day for the family He has given me and I pray that I will be the wife, mother, daughter, sister, etc. that He wants me to be!

 

3.  Jeff's three choirs at school put on their Spring Concert last night and did an excellent job!  The Concert Choir, especially, has come so far under Jeff's leadership and Jeff seemed genuinely happy in his job.  That is such a blessing!

 

The BAD news is:

I won't name any names, but someone accidentally erased ALL the pictures off of my camera last night, so I don't have any pics of the events mentioned above from this week to post.  The hardest loss was some really sweet Mother's Day pictures that can never be recaptured.  There will be holes in my girls' baby books for Mother's Day 2008.  That makes me sad.  I realize that in the grand scheme of things, though, it is not a tragedy.  I am thankful to at least have the memories!

Last Wednesday evening, Ella and Lucy finished up their year of AWANA with an awards night.  Lucy's club is called Puggles.  They earned a participation award - a Puggles sippy cup.  Lucy loves it and begs for it every day now.  Ella finished her 1st of year of Cubbies, earning every award for her age group.  It is truly amazing how many verses she learned!  Next year, as a four-year-old, it will get a little more difficult as she will have to memorize the scripture reference as well.

 

An update on the house situation:  We have requested to be released from our original contract due to insufficient funds (not getting our tax return in time).  What we first saw as a set-back turned out to be a blessing.  (Isn't that just like God?!)  We had so many concerns and doubts after the inspection anyway, and God provided a way for us to get out.  The lease on our rental house isn't up until late July, so we still have some time.  Now we are praying God will work out all the details and paperwork for us to get our earnest money back, and for wisdom on what step to take next.  

 

"Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails." (Proverbs 19:21)