He is risen!

Well, today is Easter and we are home after a very early sunrise service and breakfast. We grumble about having to be at church so early, but at our church we have the sunrise service (inside, no less, which I have yet to figure out because we can't actually see the sunrise but when the weather is still chilly, I am grateful we are inside)...okay, I actually started this on Sunday, but was interrupted by Adriana wanting me to read to her the resurrection account from her new pink Bible she received in her Easter basket. What was I supposed to do, but put the computer down and read? Good for the both of us to hear again.

As I was saying, we grumble about having to get up and get the children up, also. If we had more than one service on Sunday, I would send Bruce to do his thing and then we would join him later. Thinking about that now, I sure am glad Jesus didn't grumble too much when he went to the cross and I think he had a lot more to grumble about than having to get up early in the morning, don't you?

On to other ponderings, my test went fine. All is clear, so to speak. And Bruce semi-stepped up to the plate on Sunday. He clarified that I was having a colonoscopy and not anything having to do with my reproductive abilities. And, he left it at that, for which I am glad.

We had a pretty good weekend overall. The children enjoyed an egg hunt at Bruce's mom's and then we went to a community one before we left town. While we were at the community one, we lost Jonah for probably less than a minute, but that minute seemed like forever. Yes, I had my eye on him. Yes, I turned my head for a second. Yes, that boy is fast! Bruce found him, probably less than five feet from us, but far enough away that we lost sight of him.

At church, the children behaved pretty well and I was pleased because we have several visitors on Easter. They all did well until the end when Jonah took his pants off and stood in the doorway of the church laughing and saying, "I'm in my underwear." At least most everyone had left at that point.

Easter evening we received some sad news that the wife of the minister/seminary professor who performed our wedding ceremony passed away suddenly Easter morning. She was only 54 and suffered what they think was a massive stroke. The minister and Bruce became close friends while Bruce was working at the seminary.

As much as the news is sad for her family and those she left behind, I couldn't help but think what a great homecoming as a Christian, to go home on the very day that we celebrate the resurrection, the very reason we have hope of life after death. Even so, she still leaves behind a hurting family, so please be in prayer for them.

Perils of a pastor's wife

So, one of the perks (?) of being a pastor's wife/family member is that you never know when something you have done or said might end up in a sermon for all the world, or at least a few people, to hear.

Here's another if your husband does not explain himself fully, imaginations might run wild about you.

Here's a classic example-I am having a colonoscopy on Friday. There, I said it. Yes, a colonoscopy. Start cleaning my gut out tomorrow. A natural function of life. Nothing to be ashamed of because we all have to, well, you know. I have to have one at my age because of family history (thanks, mom!) and actually had one a little over five years ago.

I don't mind telling anyone that I am having one, because I hope education about colon cancer can help prevent needless suffering and deaths from a treatable/preventable disease. And, I would rather go through a colonoscopy than what my mother went through 10 years ago when she had colon cancer. She's doing fine now, by the way.

Anyway, so Bruce tells the congregation during prayer requests on Sunday that I was having a "procedure" done on Friday, but evidently he did not specify what kind of procedure. He was so proud of himself that he didn't reveal too much and said he thinks everyone understood as soon as he said "procedure".

Um, no. I quickly informed him that when you say a woman my age with small children is having a "procedure" done, then most people assume she is getting her tubes tied.

I had two people, one who came up and just asked what I was having done (she is a nurse). I told her and we talked about it. Then, her mother-in-law came up and said, I hope everything is going to be fine. And, you are done having children, right?

Case in point. I quickly informed her, well, yes, but that was taken care of when we had Bruce neutered.

Bruce did get an earful about not being more specific when he mentions our prayer requests to the entire congregation. He said he didn't having any problems standing up next Sunday and saying that I was not having a tubal ligation because he stepped up to the plate a couple of years ago. Yeah, right.

Calm during the storm

Saturday we had our Easter egg hunt at church. We also had high winds and threat of a thunderstorm, so we decided to have it inside. We also had it inside last year because the day was very cold.

So, the children enjoyed going all around and looking for eggs. Our children dominated with Jonah getting the prize egg and most eggs in his age group. (He had help.) Cara was also in that age group and she collected the next highest number of eggs. Jonah did not get two prizes for his finds because if a child gets both, then the next child in line with the highest gets a prize, so Cara was able to choose a prize for the highest.

Jonah cracked me up because I was trying to take his picture with his prize basket and he was all into posing. Cara tried to look at the items in his basket, but he told her very quickly, "No, that's my basket." I think he can hold his own around here.

The egg hunt was fun and we had some great fellowship with church members, but the biggest lesson of that day came at the end of the hunt. One of our youth came into the fellowship hall as we were cleaning up and said a tornado warning had been issued for our town (we live 20 minutes from our church).

At that point, Adriana started panicking because she is now at the age where she really understands about tornadoes, storms and such. Plus, she has been through several tornado drills at school.

I suggested to Bruce to call his assistant from work to see what the weather was actually like in our town and to find out if indeed it was a warning and not a watch. After he spoke to her he told me that a watch or warning had been issued for our town until 5 p.m. (It was about 4:15 at that time) and a warning or watch had been issued until 7 p.m.

We were in the parking lot at that moment and the chairman of the deacons was out there, also, and he and I both looked at Bruce and said, well, is it a watch or a warning because there is a big difference between the two. Bruce said he didn't know because he can never remember which is which. So, he called his assistant back and she told him a warning had been issued.

At this point, Adriana ran to me and I picked her up. She was crying and shaking, saying she was so scared. We were going to visit a church member in the hospital in the city about 30 minutes away, but at that point we decided to stay put.

Bruce's assistant said she would keep us up to date on what was happening and would let us know when we could head back home.

To keep Adriana's mind off the storm, we went into a Sunday School room to color and watch VeggieTales videos. She was in a big panic at this point. When we first went into the room, she told me that she wanted us to pray. Hmmm, now why didn't I think of that? She said the prayer herself and it was so sweet. She asked that God would keep us safe and that only rain would come down. For the next few minutes after prayed, she would start crying and say, "Please, Lord, let it be my wills. I want to live." (She might have her terminology a little mixed up, but sounds like Bruce might have a future sermon there.)

Finally, Bruce's assistant called and said our area was clear. The area around the church seemed clear, so we headed home. I sat in the back with Adriana because I had promised her I would. We actually followed a power company's bucket truck part of the way home. Good thing, too, because we needed some trees cleared out of our way.

On the way home, I said a quick prayer out loud thanking the Lord for using a little girl's fear to keep us safe because the storm/tornado conditions had followed the path we would have been going had we headed home right after the egg hunt. Had Adriana not been so panicky, we probably would have headed home and would have been right in the middle of it. So, He does use little children.

As we used to say in seminary, "That'll preach."

Great family time

Two great family moments happened last week (well, I am sure we had more, but these are two that stick out in my mind that I want to record in the blog before my 40 plus brain forgets it).

The first great family moment was between Adriana and me. I took her a roller skating party with her Girl Scout service unit. Only the two of us from our family went. This is the first time I have not had more than one child to watch at the skating rink.

Now, those who have known me all my life, or nearly all my life, know that for a period in my life when I was in junior high, I was a roller skating freak. When Saturdays rolled around (pun intended), I was at the skating rink from 2-5 every week. Had my own skates with colored shoe laces and several poms poms on the toes. I think my skates are still at my mom's somewhere. I just don't have the heart to get rid of them.

Anyway, the temptation got the better of me even though I haven't been on skates in almost 20 years. I wanted to see how well I could do. Plus, I wanted to buy me some mommy cool factor time. So, I paid my money and strapped on the skates. I told the Girl Scout leaders that I was going to help the girls earn their first aid badge.

I took a few spins around and even managed to get Adriana to let me take her around once. I surprised myself that I actually stayed up, but I didn't try anything like I used to do. I did start to fall at one point, but I corrected myself.

After a few spins, I decided the risk of having me taken out of commission was not worth it, so I took the skates off and left the turns and spins to another set of junior high/middle school show offs.

The other great family time happened one night at the girls' school. The school sponsored a "Prokids Show" for families. At first, Adriana said she did not want to go to the show (long story), because the show has been at the school before and she is familiar with it. After seeing a short show at school during the day, Cara said she did want to go, so Adriana said she would go.

A side note, I asked Cara when I picked her up from school if they had had an assembly that day because I know when Scott comes to the school, he does a show for the children during the day to promote the night show. She said, no, they didn't have an assembly, they had a Prokids Show. (Ha, ha.)

The show is a one-man show with magic tricks, comedy and sketches. The man who does the show is Scott Humstead (I think that is his last name), and we found out after the show that his father was a bivocational minister also.

In fact, Scott had just finished a crusade in another part of our state before coming to our school. He gave Bruce a brochure about that crusade. He actually gives information about the paranormal, occult and other things in that area during the crusades that he does. I remember the other time the children and I went to his show, he said something like the magic he did was just tricks of the eye, and nothing supernatural took place. He said only one person could perform the supernatural and that was God. (Yes, in a public school, no less, but it was after school hours. Take that ACLU.)

Anyway, the children loved the show and we had a good turnout of families. I haven't seen Bruce laugh that hard in a long time. He was reluctant about going because of it being a school night and he was afraid Jonah would be running around. Jonah did fine, and the girls laughed from the minute Scott walked out.

Scott does present a great positive show, and his humor is very quick-witted. He emphasized responsibility, obedience and respect in his show. So, basically he goes over the character traits the children are learning in school.

So, if your school or church needs a good "show", I highly recommend Scott and his Prokids Show. Just go to www.PlanetProKids.com and get the information.

The streak is over

Well, it was bound to happen. After several weeks and many days, Cara's good behavior streak at school is over.

Thursday I picked her up at school and could tell immediately that she had to spend time in the Watching Chair. When that happens, she is very slow at coming to the van and will not look in my direction. So, she was walking very slowly to the van with her head hung down. I said to her and Mrs. Reba, the assistant, well, I can tell things didn't go well today. Mrs. Reba shook her head and told me that she had been whiny all morning and refused to do her work. I think the Watching Chair offense was that she put her feet on the table while refusing to do her work.

Cara didn't want to get into the van, but she finally did. While I was strapping her into her carseat, her little eyes were filling with tears. She asked me if I was mad at her. I told her I wasn't mad at her, but I wasn't pleased with her actions. (Cue full out crying.) She then asked me if I was going to punish her. I told her no, she received her punishment at school, but she would not get a sticker on her reward chart and she would not get her fruit gushers that she wanted for a snack. She then asked me if I was going to take away her Dora video she received for her staying out of the Watching Chair all last month. I reassured her no, I was not going to take that away because that was her gift and we don't take gifts away once they are given.

She finally calmed down. She had a good rest of the week and stayed out of the Watching Chair.

Still getting back into the groove of things

I think I am fully recovered from whatever bug I had last week. Adriana came down with some sort of minor stomach bug last week. The school nurse called on Wednesday and this is how the conversation went.

Phone rings. "Hello." (me)

(School nurse) "Mrs. C., this is Nurse C. Adriana is in my room complaining that her stomach is hurting."

(me) "Okay."

(SN) "She doesn't have a fever."

(me) "Well, if she doesn't have a fever then this is our policy. I have told her that unless she has a fever or has fluids running out of either end, she is to stay at school. What do you think?"

(SN) "Yes, I agree, because this needs to be stopped before it becomes a problem. She was in here before lunch and I told her to go try to eat something and see if that would make it better. I will tell her to go back to class."

(me) "Thank you for calling."

Now, before anyone thinks we are heartless, a while back Adriana kept complaining of a stomach ache and I did pick her up that day. I took her to the doctor who checked her over and did not find anything wrong. In fact, the doctor seemed puzzled that I brought her in at all. So, before I get accussed of having whatever condition that is where mothers live for attention through their children's fake medical conditions and I can't remember the name, I decided to adopt the aforementioned policy. So, Wednesday she stayed at school.

Then, Wednesday night came and she had an upset stomach three times during the night. She seemed better by the time the morning came, but we think she was afraid of having an accident in front of everyone and we didn't want to expose anyone else any more than they had already been, so she stayed home.

I picked up her classwork and homework up from school. She actually did it all even though her teacher placed a note on her classwork that she may not feel like doing it all. (I conveniently did not tell Adriana that part.)

Bruce said her class clapped for her when he passed by her room. They were clapping when she returned the next day with all her work done.

Hopefully, the positive peer pressure will work.

Back among the land of the living

I am officially back in action. For the past two weeks I have battled some kind of upper respiratory/cold/yucky. I actually ended up with a fever of around 103 degrees last Saturday. All that topped with Cara's cold and Jonah's double ear infection, and life has just been a lot of fun around here. Now, thanks to modern medicine we are all better.

Yesterday, Adriana and I sold cookies at a Girl Scout cookie booth. We had fun doing that, and she did really well for having to be there for five hours.

When we came home, the children played outside for a couple of hours. While I was watching them play, I decided to get a crazy hair and rake the leaves in our back yard. (Yes, you read that right, physical activity/work.) After we bagged them up, we had six bags of leaves, and the yard is not finished.

The house has also received a pretty good deep cleaning because Bruce's mother/Nanny is coming today. I feel like we have given it the best cleaning it has had in a long time. Don't worry, the children will make sure it is back to the normal condition.

So, that is it for now. Here are some pictures of the recent "Jump Rope for Heart" event the girls participated in at school. They did well. I was amazed at how well Adriana is doing now. Three years ago when she participated for the first time, she became frustrated and upset because she couldn't jump the rope correctly. Now, she doesn't have a problem.

I have also included a picture of when we made Martine, our Compassion child, a cake for her birthday.