My New Year’s Resolution is to FINALLY update my blog about the last few months of 2014!! If I could use one word to describe our life from about July through December it would be whirlwind. And not necessarily a whirlwind of our own making. Actually it really started around the beginning of May, I guess, with the news that Ryan would no longer coach baseball at ECS. For a while, we were stunned! Looking back on that month, I am so thankful for our trust in a sovereign God who orchestrates all events for our good and His glory. We know that ultimately God’s will was done, even though surprising and painful at the time.
So what has been going on since July? WOW!! Let me back up to the end of June first. Will got to go to the College World Series in Omaha with Ryan and Harry, and he enjoyed getting to see LOTS of baseball! On the way back to Memphis they stopped in St. Louis for a Cardinals game as well. Once they got back, we headed to Mississippi to help Papa pick some of his Tasti-Lee tomatoes, AND to meet our new niece/cousin Catherine Eloise Halbert. That was a very special trip!
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| Our sweet friends the Sheppards -- Emily, Sarah Cathryn (above) and Ellen (below) came to Tchula to help with the tomatoes one morning. |
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| The morning was cool and drizzly which equals MUD! |
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| Ford wondering who was playing with his toys. |
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| Aunt Rachel with baby Catherine |
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| So tiny and cuddly |
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| New cousins : ) |
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| And the sun came out! |
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| Tomato-picking hands |
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| Maggie actually made friends with Madaca, Jan Jan's parrot |
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| College World Series |
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| St. Louis Cardinals |
At the beginning of July, we went to the beach with Ryan’s family. We had a great time down there relaxing, riding waves and visiting. At that point in the summer, Ryan had accepted a position as an assistant coach for Center Hill High School in Desoto County, Ms, so we knew we would not be moving. That came as a huge relief for all of us as we thought of all the things that would need to be done -- quickly! -- to put our house on the market. God was gracious in giving him a position that has allowed us to stay in Cordova for this year!!
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| 4th of July tomato stand -- actually a pleasantly cool day! |
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| Heading to church in Destin |
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| Cousin time with Cate and Reese |
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| Our book worm |
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| Meredith LOVED riding the waves this summer! |
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| Will's self-sculpture -- complete with big guns and a 6pack! |
Once we got back into town, Meredith was busy setting up a lemonade and cookie stand. I was very disappointed at the number of people who passed by!! It took a while, but we had a few people stop, and she was able to make $14. We also had visitors one weekend -- Aaron, Rachel, Ford and Catherine, and we were able to babysit two different nights which was so fun! Next on the agenda was celebrating Will’s 11th birthday by going to see “How to Train Your Dragon 2” with some of his friends who then went swimming and spent the night. Ryan’s mom surprised Will with a visit on his birthday, and she was able to see first hand what a house full of boys was like. Definitely different from a house full of girls, but Will had a great time finally having a surplus of testosterone in our house!
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| Meredith's lemonade and cookie stand. Made me vow to stop at all kids' lemonade stands in the future!! She was so excited, and when people passed by without stopping for the first 30 minutes, it was really disheartening! |
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| This little guy was very entertained! |
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| Will gets his turn with Baby Catherine |
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| Our 11 year old! |
At the end of July, I had planned a surprise trip to Michigan to visit some close friends at their lake house in Pentwater. With Ryan’s new job, the only way for me to pull this off was to make the trip alone. The week before I was to leave, I received a surprise call from the middle school principal at ECS asking if I would be interested in taking Ryan’s former etymology position. Ryan and I had joked that it would be great if I was offered the position, and sure enough, I was. I went in for an informal interview, I think on Wednesday, after praying and desperately seeking out child care for Will and Meredith for the school year as they home schooled. The Lord seemed to open all the doors with the child care, then by Thursday, I had met with the Board, and on Friday I signed a contract! Monday, the kids and I hit the road for Michigan!! The whirlwind had arrived full force!
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| Our favorite stopping place off the interstate just inside Missouri |
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| Walking over to Lake Michigan |
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| Inlet to the Lake |
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| The Lake was foggy like this each day we were there. |
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| The boat capsized |
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| Some were not quite so affected by the cold! |
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| Peddling go-carts |
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| Big balloon bounce |
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| Blueberry Pickin' |
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| I think Meredith ate more than she picked |
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| Blueberry farm with wind turbine in background |
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| Trying to catch frogs at White Pine Village! |
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| Old schoolhouse -- Kessler was giving Meredith math problems or spelling words |
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| Swans in the background |
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| Eating the Super Pig! |
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| Laura Beth's favorite store |
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| Last bonfire |
Michigan was so fun!! We split the trip up going up there, stopping outside of Chicago to stay with some friends from Tchula days. We made it to Pentwater by lunchtime on Tuesday, and after quickly unpacking, we walked over to Lake Michigan for our first view of the Great Lake. It was pretty cold, and the water felt like ice water -- so cold it took your breath away to stick your foot in. Other highlights in Michigan were going blueberry picking, catching frogs at White Pine Village, roasting marshmallows for s’mores and sitting out by the bonfire, walking around Pentwater, watching the kids swim around Lake Michigan, working on a 1000 piece cupcake puzzle, and relaxing with our friends. We packed up to leave on Saturday, and because Meredith was stomach sick, I drove the whole 12 hours back to Memphis that day, making it home by 8:00 after a stop at Chick-fil-A.
Monday, I started my first in-service in 14 years, and the rest of this semester has been full of balancing etymology, homeschooling, and housework. Ryan has been kept super busy having to get adjusted to a commute and 3 90-minute blocks of teaching per day with no planning period. He’s looking forward to at least only having 2 90-minute teaching blocks then a planning period for the spring semester. We celebrated Maggie's 13th birthday on October 13 this year, so we officially have a teenager! Meredith turned 8 at the end of October. Maggie and I leave next week for the 7th grade Chicago trip for which we have been fundraising over the last few months. Looking at the weather, Monday is supposed to be a HIGH of 9 degrees!! So we’ve also been getting layers of clothes together.
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| In August we celebrated Papa's 70th birthday by throwing him a party. Rachel, Samuel and I cooked all the food except for the cake. |
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| Samuel at the grill |
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| Papa's cake -- very appropriate! |
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| The kids had great fun swimming and staying cool! |
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| The man of honor! |
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| Mosquitoes chased us inside for the cake |
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| Back to homeschooling -- In 14 Hundred 92 Columbus sailed the ocean BLUE |
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| The lone ECS girl golfer -- literally! Maggie was the only girl 6-12th grades to play golf for the Eagles! |
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| Homemade cannons for our study of Cortes and Pizarro |
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| Sleepover for Maggie's 13th! |
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| Weekend in the Delta |
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| Riding the combine with Papa |
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| Fishing with Grandpa |
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| Special time with Gigi who was very happy during our visit |
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| October 13, 2001 |
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| The next birthday girl helping Mama make birthday biscuits |
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| Since I didn't have an "8" candle, we improvised. Happy 8th, Meredith!! |
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| Meredith's Art Party |
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| Painted coffee filters |
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| Suncatchers |
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| Meredith was the only one to make a "leaf house" this year |
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| Mommie and Me Ballet 2014 |
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| And our 2014 gingerbread house |
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| Merry Christmas 2014! |
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| And this is Baby Catherine at 6 months old! We got to stay with the Halberts Christmas Eve night. |
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| Sweet Ford cuddles! |
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| Ford loves his buddy Will! |
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| Christmas Breakfast candy cane |
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| Christmas Day at an awesome park in Madison, MS |
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| Look at those curls and those CHEEKS! |
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| Ford's smile for the camera |
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| All the cousins -- all 9 of them! |
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| Do you know how hard it is to get 9 children to all look at the camera and smile and not stand in front of anyone or do bunny ears? |
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| Pretty difficult! |
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| Finally!! |
In the midst of all the busyness of our crazy changes over the last few months, I have tried to pare down the schedule of extracurricular events so that we are not always running around! Maggie played golf in the fall and did very well, placing 4th in the final tournament. She and Meredith have started taking piano again, and Meredith also does ballet. Will probably has taken the biggest break of all, only participating in a homeschool choir with Meredith and keeping up with his school work. His favorite pastime these days is playing the game Ticket to Ride USA which he got from my parents, Nana and Papa, for his birthday. He has played it almost daily since getting it in October, and then for Christmas he received Ticket to Ride Europe which again has been played several times over the first few days. This week, sadly, he took a hiatus from all games after coming down with a very bad case of stomach flu on Sunday. Today was the first normal day, and he is playing Ticket to Ride as I type.
So, in a nutshell, that is the whirlwind of our latter half of 2014!! And our kids are still growing!
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| Maggie is now off the charts -- our growth charts, that is. |
