Excuses Excuses...

The last time I posted was nearly six months ago. Half of a year. I feel like a failure of a blogger. But in all seriousness, the last six months have been nutso! Here's a little breakdown month by month, of why I had absolutely zero time to devote to blogging. We'll start with March, since I last posted in February, when Aaron got back from India. 

March

My plan was to secure a venue for our Conservatory Spring Fanfare (our school refuses to call and end of year performance the dreaded "r" word- for non-dance people, that would be a recital) as early in the new year as possible. And I had thought that our administrator had made contact with the manager of the Arend Arts Center in Bentonville for said event, and that we were on the books. However, sometime end of Feb or early Mar, I was told that he finally confirmed that he couldn't confirm our desired dates. We wanted to have the show the last week of school. AAC couldn't give us the stage for even one evening, any evening, until around June 6th or something ridiculous like that. And I hate having recitals in June. Ugh.

So, there I was, needing to get parent information packets out regarding Fanfare, and yet having no venue. Crud. This means that I spent my entire Spring Break contacting different venue options, and going to visit them. I went and looked at an auditorium at NWACC, asked around at the Benton County School of the Arts, and even went and looked at the fairgrounds stage. Nothing panned out. Either they weren't available, weren't big enough, or were meant for a livestock show. Crud. Oh yeah, and did I mention I was trying to do this on a really tiny budget?

Luckily, I finally came to the realization that I could have the Fanfare outside of Bentonville. I took a look at the Rogers High School auditorium (let me just take a moment to say that all of the schools around here are just amazing- everything is new, everything is really nice, and every high school around here has an amazing performing arts center; my high school had a piddly little platform for a stage; our community college had the nicest stage in town, when we still lived in Victoria; the high school pacs around here put that to shame!)

Anyway, by the grace of God, it was big enough, had enough dressing rooms, was in our budget, and was available for when we needed it. So, beginning of April, I'm finally getting the stupid parent packet out re: fanfare. This brings me to April

April

Let me start with the most important part of April- my kids birthday. They turned 5! We celebrated in Enid with my family, and did several little fun things here at home. Their big gifts were bikes. I know that those of you reading this care way more about the pictures I need to post from the 5th birthday, than all of this other mess that I'm typing right now. And you will get your pictures. I'm just catching you up first. You know me. Thats' my MO.

But I'm pretty sure I had the first pre-Kindergarten mini-meltdown around their birthday. I mean, 5 years old is just so BIG. How on earth did they get so BIG?! And how are they about to go to school? I vow to make this summer the best, most wonderful season of fun, exciting, creative activities and pure quality time that will help me feel like I can send them off to school in the fall feeling like I've wasted no precious moments with them. More on this later.

Back to my work insanity...

I'm so late getting the parent packet out, that I spend most of the month of April and the first half of May confirming which students are going to perform, and waiting for the fees. Let me just note now that after these shenanigans last Spring, I'm already looking to book the venue for Fanfare. 

I'm going to mention now, how difficult it is the first year of doing anything. Putting the documents together, etc. is so very time consuming. After the first year, you just pull up last year's doc and revise the dates. 

I also spend April convincing the administration that a recital (yes, I said it) doesn't have to have a theme to be good. It can just be classes demonstrating what they've learned. It can just be choreography, or just be abstract. It can just be cute little people in pink and white tutus, and parents will be happy. It can just be an opportunity for kids to get on a stage and perform. And it's too late for a theme anyway. Teachers have already been working on choreography since after Spring Break.

May

All month I prep for Fanfare. Cues. Music. Costume pieces. Closing out the school year. And then I'm planning for summer. Way to late, I might add. It sounds like I am really not with it. But realize that I am only contracted to do the non-teaching part of my job for 5 hours a week. I don't think I've only put in 5 hours a week since April...and maybe not even then. I planned 6 Fairy Tale Summer Dance Camps for ages 3-10 and an entire summer of regular technique classes for ages 11 and up. The Conservatory didn't want to take a break, even thought I was concerned we wouldn't sustain enough enrollment through the summer. 

We decided to offer three sessions (10 weeks total) of scheduled classes at the Int and Adv levels. Scheduling. Faculty placement.

My kids also graduated from preschool. They wore caps and processed in to "Pomp and Circumstance." I started to tear up, but kept it together. It was the cutest presentation. They sang "If I Were a Butterfly" and "Put Your Armor On." It was so sweet. Their favorite part was the cookies afterward. :-)

Fanfare happened. Dress rehearsal was a big honking mess. I was told by the Rogers School District Admin, who I had to go through to secure the rental, that the facility had a headset (for me to communicate cues to the sound booth/light guy 200 yards away). But alas, no headset. So, I had to use a regular microphone to call cues that night. Awesome. And to really top everything off, the RAD presentation, which was to give the audience a better understanding of how RAD classes are run, and how the exam process works, ended up being 30 minutes long. I requested that it be kept at 15 minutes tops. It ended up making our running time waaaaaay too long. We want to educate people, but not put them to sleep.

I got on my knees and begged God to somehow perform a miracle and cause the performance to run smoothly and be a success. He really came through for me. I've never been so nervous about a performance. But it ended up going extremely well. I got a walkie talkie to communicate with the booth. The RAD section got pared down a bit. All of the quick-changes happened just as they needed to. No glitches. It was lovely. I couldn't believe it. Total miracle. 

Whew.

June

Taught Fairy Tale Camp with my children in class. Can you say challenge? I think that most children do much better when their parent is NOT  the teacher. But after a few days, things got better. 

Decided I was done looking at real estate online. I'd been stalking zillow for at least four months, because we kept thinking it would be a great time to try to move into something a little bigger, and rent our house, but it was gonna have to happen before the new school year. I was tired of looking. 

But then, I looked one more time. And two houses that we were really considering, less than a mile away, in the next neighborhood down, in the same school district, got bumped down $10K in price. Crud. Now we should probably go look at them. 

House 1. Pros: big, big garage, big utility room, very motivated seller Cons: not big in all the more important places, don't like the kitchen, NO PANTRY! everything has to be painted

House 2. Pros: The interior is much nicer. The size is right in the right places. The trim is better.  The kitchen is beautiful. The view from the back yard/deck is priceless. We look out over a huge field and lines of trees. Sunset heaven every night. Deer families frolicking across the field. :-) Cons: The garage is not quite as big as we'd like. The floor has been trampled by the owners' indoor labrador. Needs gutters. 

We ultimately decided to put an offer on #2. We negotiated what I feel like was a really good deal. And then after the inspection...an even better deal. This is very exciting, but it also means the rest of our summer is basically gone!

July

We go to Texas to see family for vacation. We have pictures. I will post them. Hopefully, before another 6 months pass. haha! Had a great time. I worked on vacation though. On our loan. On our inspection. On our insurance. Our contracted 10 days to secure all that mess just so happened to be while we were on vacation. 

And I worked on work. Fall schedule confirmations. Faculty confirmations. Nutcracker considerations. Geez, I'm just now mentioning Nutcracker. We started that process back in May. I actually feel like Nutcracker will be a walk in the park compared to this summer. We shall see.

Back from Texas. Aaron has an accident in our Old Faithful Honda Accord. She was a 2001 with almost 300K miles. We gave our car a funeral. She was a good car- a graduation/wedding gift from my parents. She had a good run. 

Back to Texas for a wedding. 

Back to Arkansas to hire a property manager, finish buying a house, buy a car, and tie up all the loose ends from the accident. 

July 22- closing day. We literally closed on our house and then went to a dealership and bought a used car in a massive rainstorm. The rainstorm was a blessing, because the sales guy really didn't think he could sell a car that day. I told him if I could name my price, it would be a done deal. What a day. Exciting, but also somewhat painful for two people who have a hard time spending money. 

July 22-Aug 4th Moving Day. Yeah, you read that right. That's what happens when you don't really have to be out of your house for the new tenants until Aug 5th. You take your time getting all of your stuff out because, hey, you're just down the street. Oy! It was the longest move ever. Oh, we had a real moving day with a big truck, a trailer and some friends...complete with a redneck trampoline transport (the whole trampoline sans net upside down on the flat bed). Yeah, the driver took out the 3 mailboxes that are on our curb. When the Davises come to the neighborhood, they do it big! But we didn't get to all of the garage/attic stuff until my parents came the later weekend. Oh, and I didn't find a new washer/dryer for the new house until after that, so I was still doing some laundry in the rental. 

August

Last two weeks of summer classes and camps. Registration for fall. New school year now to commence. I cried over my kids going to school. I cried over not giving them the perfect summer that I'd envisioned as our last Hoorah before school. But you know what? They got a really nice new house. They got to go to work with mom all summer, and we still made memories and had quality time together. They learned how to be a little more patient waiting on me. We still did some really fun things on vacation and elsewhere. I'm almost over it.

School started on Aug. 19th. On August 18th, I choked back tears all day. But on Aug. 19th, they confidently walked into class, happy little people, ready to learn. If they're happy, I'm happy. We can walk to school from our house. 15 minutes of picking dandelions, talking about what we see, talking about expectations for the day, and being silly. 15 minutes of sunshine with my kids every morning. And I'm okay with them being in school. I get that 15 minutes of beautiful quality time, even though they're big kids now. 

So, that brings us to September. I've been working like mad on registrations, class roll sheets, and prepping for Nutcracker. I have 4 minutes of Waltz of the Flowers done with the Trainees. Football season is underway, and now it's time for the mad dash from Labor Day to Christmas. Conservatory classes started today. We have a lot of new students, and classes are full. Looks like its going to be a successful year. 

Even though I'm busy, and will probably stay busy or get busier, I am optimistic. I feel so blessed, and so grateful that the things that stress me out are good things. I promise to post some pictures from the last 6 months as soon as I am able. If you are reading this, I am grateful for your patience!

INDIA Pictures!

 I packed a little surprise stowaway in Aaron's luggage. Oucan the Toucan was a gift to our children from Liz Jones. She was a worship leader at our church, and had a great heart for missions. She passed away two years ago after succumbing to cancer. I thought Oucan should go with Aaron since we couldn't. 

 Oucan looking out from the hotel window in Mumbai.

 Mosquito nets set up in their room in Coimbatore.

 The hotel at Mumbai

 Church dedication on Monday 2/18.

 Stopping for a snack at a street market.

 Gifts, toys and equipment for the kids at the orphanages.

 Fruit and veggie truck.

 One of the malls in Coimbatore. 5 stories!

 Girls' orphanage. They were singing a song when Aaron's group arrived.

 Some of the younger girls.

 Passing out treats to the girls.

 Water well

 Girls orphanage. This is the room where most of them sleep.

 Getting ready to board the train to another church dedication several hours away.

 Oucan sitting on the train with Pastor Jim and Mike.

 Kitchen at the girls' home in Coimbatore.

 Second church dedication

 Lunch at the church after the dedication.

 On the train ride back, they got bunks to rest on.

 One of the boys cracking coconuts.

Kitchen tour at the main campus. They operate a bakery here.

This is a pastor and family of a third church they visited. The baby girl was rescued last year.

 The boys enjoying all of their new sports equipment.

Welcoming Daddy home!

Back to the Grind

Well, I realize that I haven't posted in a week and a half. We made it through the rest of last week and Aaron made it home. YAY! And here we are back in the full swing of life, and I haven't updated about his trip, or posted pictures, or anything. Yes, I realize this is disappointing. I would love to have him write a post with some of the highlights of his trip. Maybe we can do this over the weekend. And of course, we'll add some pictures.

Just thought I'd hop on real quick and let you all know I'm not going to leave you hanging forever. :-)

Starting to Get to Me

So, last night I started really missing Aaron. It's one thing to have your husband take a trip somewhere for business or whatever. He's in the country. He's safe. You can call each other frequently. But in this situation, while I feel he's going to relatively safe places, it's so hard not to get to talk to him. Pastor bought an India plan. We did not. I think we were thinking that a few more of the places would have internet access so we could Skype. You know us...super cheap! We got to talk last night for like 90 seconds (it was probably longer...but it felt so short!) Basically it was to say that things are going great. They are doing really well, and wanted to let us know that they are fine, and he misses and loves us. I had put him on speaker to talk to the kids and Emma was a total toot butt. I had just gotten home from teaching and they had stayed with a friend of mine. I had just given them permission to play a game on the ipad, when Daddy called. So, of course I grabbed the ipad and turned it off to let them talk to Dad. But instead of being excited to talk to Dad, Emma was super peeved that I took her game away and spent the whole call not being engaged with her father. Alec was a little more cooperative. Like I said, the call was short.

Then, I hung up and turned into Psycho Mom. I totally wailed at the kids about how their dad is on the other side of the world and we haven't talked to him in 5 days and all they care about it the dang ipad. I was so angry. And angry that I only got to talk to him for like 2 seconds. And angry that his feelings might be hurt because the kids acted like they didn't care. Dang it! Why can't they act like they're 10 instead of 4?! And then I got real emotional and we all melted down together. Fantastic.

I'm hoping that was the peak of insanity. We were riding a wave of all being really well. Heck, we had ice cream for dinner on Sunday. Today things have been a lot more mellow. We talked it out at bedtime and decided the plan for today would be to go to Walmart and get stuff to make a big "Welcome Home Daddy!" poster. The kids had dance class this afternoon, and tonight I think we're going to do another popcorn and movie night.

What I know about what Aaron has been doing is this: Sunday they had several church services, Monday they dedicated the new church that our church funded, today they visited a girls orphanage, and right now (tomorrow there) they are boarding a train to another village to dedicate another church.

See the pics below:

 

I'll let you guess who Pastor Jim is! :-) Stole these pics from P. Jim's facebook. Here's what he says:

"Very touching afternoon at a girls orphanage. We brought them: barrettes/hair bands, school supplies, tooth brushes/tooth paste, sporting equipment, toys, and too much candy!! A Most Wonderful Day. "

 

Pretty sure Aaron is taking the picture. That's why he's not in it.

 

 

I just got a picture mail from Aaron. For some reason I can't access the mass storage on my dumb phone, or I would add the pictures he's sent me. There was one of him eating food the village prepared at the first church dedication. The next two are him on the train and a picture of the train bathroom. They're both germophobes, so lets just hope they don't have to use it. :-)

 

He looks happy in both pics. So that makes my heart happy. I gave him a journal at Christmas for this trip. I hope he's had time to write some of his daily experiences down. I can't wait to hear about EVERYTHING!!!

On the home front, it looks like we may get some yuck-o winter weather tomorrow into Thursday. They're calling for snow tomorrow, turning into ice over Wednesday night. They're saying it could possibly knock out power. Hmm. I'm not really worrying, since they've been TOTALLY wrong about every snow forecast thus far this winter. But just incase, we have plenty of bread for pb&j's, and we have a gas fireplace and water heater. We can totally survive. Ice better be gone by Friday at 4:20 though....because this girl is GOING to the airport! 

While Daddy is Away...

If you haven't read my last post, Aaron is in India. It's about 10:30pm here on Saturday night, so that means it's about 11am Sunday in Coimbatore where he is. He and Pastor arrived at the orphanage where I believe they are being housed at about 1am their time. Their flight was delayed, and it must have taken a while to meet up with their host/contact there. I saw on the prayer chain that Pastor had texted his wife that they had finally made it to the orphanage and were headed to bed. Pastor's luggage is still in limbo.

They are most likely attending church right now. I think the itinerary said there would be a 6:30am, 8:30am and 10:30am service.

I've had a lot of people ask me "What are you going to do while he's gone?" So, I figured I'd write some of it down here. The fact that he's gone 9 days sounds like a long time, but since the original itinerary was for about 15 days, I've entered into this week with a very positive attitude. 15 days would have been really hard on both of us. The way the itinerary is now, I only really have one full week to have to worry about childcare while I'm teaching. There are only three days that I've had to figure out something for them to do while I teach...and I had so many people offer to help that it was pretty easy to find sitters, playdates, etc. for them for the few hours that I've needed it.

We've tried to do some fun things while Daddy is gone. I had promised the kids a while back that the first night Daddy was gone, we would have a Slumber Party! I told them that we could all sleep in Mommy and Daddy's bed that night. We cuddled up with popcorn and watched Despicable Me. We played games. Right before we fell asleep, Alec asked me a few questions about Jesus dying on the cross. "Mommy, was there blood?" "Yes, Alec, there was a lot of blood when Jesus died on the cross." "Why did he have to die on the cross?" "Well, he did it so we could be forgiven of our sins, so that we could be healed, so that we could go to heaven and be with Him one day." "Mom, I'm gonna go punch the bad guys that made him die on the cross!" I just love the concern and the gusto of my little boy.

Friday, I worked on the house and laundry. I had rehearsal with trainees at the Conservatory in the afternoon. The kids had a play date with a fellow teacher's kiddos while I ran rehearsal. Afterward, I asked the kids what they wanted to do for dinner. They said the wanted to go to Old McDonald's. So, off we went. They were especially stoked that we actually went into the building to eat...and that they got to play in the kids' area. It wasn't super busy for a Friday night...but oh my gracious I swear there is always a screamer or two at McDonald's and Chick-fil-A. There were two girls who kept piercing the air with their screams, and it was kind of getting to all of us. (Alec and Emma are very loud children, but they freak out when kids scream in those enclosed areas.) Luckily, the screamers left not too long after we got there.

On our way home, Emma asked if we could watch the Grinch (the old, 30 minute long animated one is still on our DVR from Christmas.) When I said "sure," she declared, "Mom! You are the bestest!" Can you tell I have taken the path of least resistance so far this weekend? Already, they've slept in my bed, eaten junk at McDonald's and stayed up to watch a Christmas movie in February. Hey, sometimes it's just nice to say yes. :-) I did, however, make them go back to their own beds last night. For one, I don't want that to become a habit, and for two, I didn't sleep too well between those two little kicking, flailing bedhogs.

Today, we bummed around the house all day. We woke up to a teeny little dusting of snow. It stayed really cold out today, so we didn't venture out. I finished up the laundry, we made banana bread and did some new puzzles Aunt Chrissy sent us for Valentine's Day. I made a meal that I need to take to a mom who just had twins tomorrow. We had another movie and popcorn night. This time we watched Up. We said extra prayers for Daddy tonight and for the people and children that he's visiting with. I've explained to the kids that Daddy is visiting orphans, and what that means. I asked them what we should pray for the boys and girls there, and Alec said "that Jesus gives them a Mommy and Daddy...and toys, and a bed, and a tv, and a dog..." and then Emma continued "and a trampoline and a playground" and then Alec finished "and a garden." (I think the garden thing is funny because I do garden, but I am not very good at it. Many a plant has met its demise due to my black thumbs. But I'm glad the kids appreciate flowers, trees, etc!)

If there is one thing that I can drill into the character of my children, I hope that it is gratitude. It is just so important to recognize the blessings in our lives and to be thankful. And we are so fortunate to have what we have. I hate that in our culture we are stricken with such a sense of entitlement. The urge to accumulate bigger, better and more runs rampant. And I'm not against having a nice home or car or a big tv or whatever...but I am against letting the acquisition of such items become the primary focus of our strivings.

So, although I know that at 4 1/2 they can't really wrap their heads around what it means to go without, I'm glad that they've had opportunities to see us being involved in ministries that help those who do. Helping me with Angel Tree has been great for them the past two years. Observing Dad going to India is great for them.

Well, now I'm spent. We have church in the morning, and I'm hoping that we'll get another update from Aaron and Pastor soon.

INDIA!

Right now, Aaron is in Mumbai. I can't remember how many months ago, our pastor said to Aaron "Hey, you want to go to India with me?" We thought he was joking, but as you can tell...he was not.

India. Wow.

So, about a year ago, Pastor Jim went to India to check out some of the missionary work that a good friend of his was doing there. He stayed for several weeks, and when he came back, he came back with a heart for India. So much so that he began selling hunting gear to raise money to send. He was so overcome with concern for their need for Christ, for clean water, for church buildings, for orphanages and care for the many parentless children...that he started a big campaign within our church to help fund some of those things.

Thus far, Hope Church has helped dig a fresh water well and built a church building outside Coimbatore. Eventually an orphanage will be added on to the top of the church building.

So, Pastor was planning to return for the dedication of the new church. The original plan was for this to happen right after Christmas. So, it was probably at least 6 months ago, that he first popped the big question to Aaron.

India. Wow. First, eldership. Second, co-preaching a sermon for Pastor Appreciation Sunday. Now, India. Can you tell that my husband is getting stretched?

But stretching is good. It didn't take us as long to pray about India as it did for us to pray about eldership. Aaron is a great candidate for a trip there. He has had so much interaction with people from India in his experiences working for Walmart. He has come to learn quite a bit about the culture, has picked up a few phrases in Hindi, and even likes the food. Aside from working with many Indian people, he's also taught guitar lessons to several Indian boys. His coworkers from India think it's really awesome that he is making the trip there.

So, at first we thought they'd be going end of December, but airfare doubled due to Christmas, so they postponed the trip until now. I'll go ahead and mention that a trip like this isn't cheap. Anyone who has gone on any type of mission trip knows that there are quite a few costs involved. But can you believe that the entire trip was covered by several anonymous donors in the church? What an amazing gift! We are so blessed by the generous hearts that we get to serve alongside in our congregation.

Aaron and Pastor Jim flew out of Northwest Arkansas on Valentine's Day. We joked about how they could cuddle and eat airport food by candlelight. :-) They left yesterday around noon. They were supposed to fly to Minneapolis, but got rerouted through Atlanta. From Atlanta they took a 9 hour flight to Amsterdam. From Amsterdam, another 9 hour flight to Mumbai. They arrived in Mumbai around noon our time today. 20 hours in the air so far. Dang! They had a rather long layover today, so they got a hotel room to sleep, hopefully. India is 11 1/2 hours ahead of us, so they arrived around midnight. Their next flight to Coimbatore will depart around 4am our time and is a 2 hour flight.

The itinerary in Coimbatore and surrounding areas is to go to church with the missionary group that is hosting them, to visit two orphanages, and attend/lead two building dedications. They are taking toys (soccer balls, Frisbees, jump ropes, etc) and candy for the children and a new laptop and theology software for the church. They are only in Coimbatore for 4 full days, really. The travel to and from takes the better part of two days each way!

I was able to Skype with Aaron this afternoon. They were resting at the hotel, which looked very nice. He said there were LOTS of mosquitoes. He has a mosquito net and something with deet in it for repellant...but those things are in his checked bag. Wouldn't you know all of their checked bags got lost?

Well, how is this for an instant update: He just Skype'd again and he has his luggage! Yay! But Pastor's is still floating around in Amsterdam somewhere. Boo! They hope to have his in hand by Sunday.

He is in great spirits right now. He said he got some good sleep at the hotel, and ate a good meal. They even ventured out and took a walk. He said traffic is crazy! He was offered a ride on a rickshaw, but declined. I told him he needs to have at least one token rickshaw adventure while he's there. :-)

They're going to head to the airport in a few hours to get on the plane to Coimbatore. I don't know what communication will be like once he gets there. I'm hoping there will be a few places with wifi where he can Skype again...or drop me a message. Pastor purchased a limited amount of texts and minutes to use while there in case of emergency. Today, at the hotel, they had it great. It's a very nice establishment. In all likelihood, things won't be like that where he's going. Please keep him and Pastor Jim in your prayers for continued safety and health, that P. Jim gets his bags, and that they are able to advance the kingdom in all of their interactions with our brothers and sisters and the children there!

I will do my best to update frequently. I'll post tomorrow too, about some of the fun things the mice are doing here at home while the cat is away! :-) Until then, nighty night.

Pictures I Promised

Here are the pics I promised. Blogger is making my life difficult with this upload. They are in a wierd order, but I don't have the patience to change it. Captions will help!

 

 At War Eagle Mill

 

 Lights of the Ozarks

 

 Fall at our house

 

 La Bahia with Uncle Alex

 

 Thanksgiving in Goliad with cousin Cira

 

 War Eagle Mill with MoMo

 

 War Eagle Mill

 

 Most of the kids at Thanksgiving. 3 sets of twins were present, but only 2 sets in this picture.

 

 Helping Aunt Lucy and Aunt Eva pick pecans.

 

 With GiGi at Thanksgiving

 

 Cousins

 

 Playing in the park with MoMo while she was in AR.

 

 Gingerbread cookies

 

 Mommy and Emma getting ready to go see the Nutcracker.

 

 Seeing the WAB dancers do Thriller on the street in Ft. Smith.

 

 Lights of the Ozarks

 

 Jumping with MoMo! Impressive!

 

 Happy Birthday, MoMo!

 

 The kids decided she was turning 10. :-)

 

 Hunt Park

 

 Thanksgiving family picture

 

 More lights