Florida Report-Day #2 Epcot and Dancing at the Haven

Yesterday the Singers were at Epcot Center.  They spent a few hours in there in the morning before getting on the bus to Lutheran Haven to perform a show.  My mom had promoted this concert for several weeks even personally, with cute invitations in everyone's mailbox. . The turnout was great, maybe the best ever, and my mom said the kids were just awesome, very professional, ending with a standing ovation from the audience!  Jeff's parents made the trip from Leesburg to see them sing and dance. All the singers got a goody bag and pink lemonade after the show and my mom was made an honorary Village Green Singer and presented with a group t-shirt! I am glad it was a great success.  I guess they had  time to explore the World Showcase before their Workshop "in Italy". Mary said it was really good.  Unfortunately it went a little long and the kids who planned to eat later missed their chance to eat, as they had to stay with the whole group and get to their spot for the fireworks.  So, Mary bought some frozen pizza at the hotel shop later that night and had something to eat.  Hope the others were able to find something too. Needless to say.it was another busy busy day. Today they were at Animal Kingdom after breakfast at the Rainforest Cafe.  As I look at their schedule, they should almost done with their shopping time and getting ready to board the bus for the show tonight.   They perform at 8:30pm at Downtown Disney's  Waterside Stage in the Marketplace. My mom will be going with my brother Dave and sister Leslie.   I am excited for them. It is fun to watch the Village Green Singers!

My day started early with CPR at 0800.  I wasn't looking forward to it, but I must say it was one of the best CPR classed I have attended in a long time.  I introduced myself to the Maxim office in Grand Rapids, letting them know that I am available in the future. They were happy to meet me!  Guess I better stick with home care for now, at least they are happy to have me. Stopped at Staples to get printer ink while I was in the city. Since I have been home, I have been looking for good airfares for my mother, making sure they are on the right days and times.  I should have done more, but became sleepy and took a nap.  Silly me!

Sarah had her last day of classes today!  Hurray!!  She is enjoying the nice warm weather today, wearing a tank top and shorts around campus. One of her classes was spent in the pool to learn about exercise in the water.  Sounds fun!  Eventhough classes are over, the has 3 finals next week and some more pateint reports to write.  Hang in there Sarah!! You can do it. I will pick her up on Friday morning before 11am or after 4 pm. Why??  Tulip Time begins tomorrow in Holland.  Some roads are closed during certain events.  Next Saturday is the big parade.. We need to get out before then!!  Anyway, word from Hope College is to move out early in the morning or late afternoon. Tonight she is looking forward to going to the College's Spring Fling in the Pine Grove. You can read more about it on Hope's web page I'm sure.  Link to the right!

Better vacuum and fold the last load of laundry...Have a great evening...Goodbye April and Hello to May!  Whew!  Just can't believe it!

Florida Report- Day # 1-Magic Kingdom

Mary and Matthew had a nice time with their groups at Disney's Magic Kingdom.  Wait time for rides were as little as 10 minutes, with Peter Pan being the longest ride with a wait of 40 minutes. Matthew played a little game with me. He would send a picture of part of ride and tell me...Guess what ride this is?? It was fun. Glad to know he was thinking of his mom. Both mentioned that got to do so much in just one day at the park.  All the kids were tired after a long exciting day. Pizza dinner was at 9 at night and then time to relax.  Mary slept on the bus and the plane, but she said she was still exhausted.  Today they have breakfast and Epcot in the morning, performance at Lutheran Haven and more Epcot in the afternoon, a workshop with Disney Cast members and Illuminations in the evening.  My guess, they will be tired again!

I got a lot of housework done yesterday. I planned for music and softball, including making line ups and position charts.  Finally spoke with the orthopedic surgeons office and scheduled the muscle procedure for 5/21 for my left leg. Otherwise it wouldn't be until mid June. I thought about waiting until after graduation, but as my wise husband said, you'll limp with the boot or without the boot.  Let's start the healing sooner than later. Just pray there won't be any complications. The procedure is simple and I will  be expected to walk the same day!

Jeff and I finally had the chance to look through all of our cards and notes from our surprise party. We are so grateful to everyone for their love support and gifts.!  We plan on having another wonderful 25 years together!

Better get off to the the bank and quilting.  Will be thinking of my kids and parents at 1:30 pm when the performance takes place at the Haven. Wish I could be there.

Gracie

PS~Castle picture taken by Matthew and messaged to me yesterday.

Look Out Mickey, Here They Come!

All the fundraising is over and the trip itinerary is finalized. So at 1:55am I took the kids over to the High School to get on the bus.  There was a 20 minute delay in leaving, but were on the road to Detroit International Airport just before 3 am. They are supposed to fly to Orlando at 7:35am and arrive in the Sunshine State just after 10 am.  I hope that the kids get some sleep, since they will go straight to the Magic Kingdom for a day of fun.  They have quite the itinerary.  I am sure they will feel the time flying, while I am here waiting for them to get home.  Don't get me wrong, I want them to have a good time, as it is a once in a lifetime experience.  Some highlights of the week are singing at Lutheran Haven on Thursday, attending a workshop with Disney Cast Members, Visiting each of the Disney Parks, Eating at Planet Hollywood and Dancing at Downtown Disney. !!SHOWTIME HAS CHANGED!!  They will be performing  Friday on the Waterside Stage  at 8:30 PM in the Downtown Disney Marketplace. How great is that?? Prime time appearance on a Friday night.  Wish I could be there and take some video.  I am so excited for them! I will try to keep you updated as I get information, although some family members will get to see them before I do!  Enjoy!

The past few days have been very busy.  Sunday we were surprised with a 25th Wedding Anniversary party from our congregation. Mary made a slide show, poem written just for us, there was lunch for all and cake too!  How nice.  We went to Holland Sunday night to take Sarah to dinner and attend the evening service, The Gathering. The mexican food was good, and the service very nice.  The preacher was a little long winded, but kept my attention.

Monday I worked 7 hours and then headed to Matthew's baseball game, where he got a his bat on the ball and pitched a great last inning..three up three down!  Woohoo!  Had the last kids choir and chime rehearsal and then went to dinner.  It turned out to be a late night.

Today was lunch day with the golf gals, shopping for the trip and cooking chicken crescents.  Brandon came over, so we had a nice meal together.  It was an enjoyable night. He found out today that he passed his Spanish Proficiency test that he took on Saturday.  It was a four hour test.  I baked a cake and Mary and Brandon frosted and decorated it.  All of us enjoyed eating it.  I sent the rest home with him to share with his family.  Jeff and I don't need to eat half a cake, plus we have a cake given to us on Sunday.

I tried to call the doctor about getting the procedure for my poor feet. It was his day off, so I should hear back from them tomorrow.  Still need to decide what to do about my job too. I am so burned out with all their paperwork and the redoing of everything, even CPR.  I have had enough. Hate to see it all end this way. I will have plenty to do while the kids are gone, just hope to accomplish most of them. I have developed quite a cough over that last few days.  For now I had better get some sleep!

Gracie

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Off They Go...

Mary and Brandon left for her senior prom just over a half an hour ago.  They both look so nice, all dressed up in their formal attire.  Luckily the rain subsided so that we were able to get a few outdoor pictures before they left for dinner.   I know they will have a good time and have safe travels to Grand Rapids for dinner, Lowell for the dance and back to Greenville for the post-prom activities. I have posted a few pictures here, and more on the photo album.

I had a little mishap this afternoon. Matthew and I were playing catch and having a good time. I wanted to practice my slow pitching and when Matthew threw it back I missed the ball, well the ball hit the tip of my glove then hit my forehead.  Boy did it hurt!  It was no one's fault and I iced it immediately.  We will see what develops as time goes by!

That is all for now..

Grace

Raining on Prom Night ..Again!

The flowers are ordered~white roses, reservations are made for dinner~PapaVinos, nails are done~looks nice, a hair appointment at noon~with Brandon's sister and the dress is done! But it looks like rain for prom again this year. It is 8 am and it seems like almost night time. Too bad, it rained last year too. Rain or no rain, I am sure they will have a fun time anyway. As a weather family,you realize it can always be worse. I hope to have pictures up by 8 pm.

In other news...

• McDonald's hasn't put Mary on the schedule for the past two schedules.  It works out fine since we have had some other things come up, but we wonder what is going on too.  She continues to work on Tuesday and Friday nights at Jimmy's Pub and Grub. 
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• Mary visited the doctor again on Wednesday for her ongoing cough.  X-ray negative for Pneumonia. Taking prednisone for five days.  I got her some "zyrtec" for allergies, that I think have been bothering her for a while and may have contributed to this evil cough.  
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• I got a lot done on my list this week. Laundry..Bills...Groceries..Music.
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• Matthew's baseball team won on Thursday, 15-1!  Matthew played 2nd base and really likes it more than 3rd.  Matthew had a really nice hit down the 3rd baseline too!  Woohoo!
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• Went to the orthopedic surgeon for his opinion on my feet.  He corroborated that the reason for my plantar fasciitis, is a tight gastrocnemius or calf muscle. (The podiatrist wanted to freeze the nerves in my foot. This would "kick start" healing in near attachment of the fascia, and I wouldn't feel the pain since it was frozen.  I didn't like the sound of that especially since it is only 60% effective. He also said he could lengthen the achillies tendon. It would be more invasive and long recovery.) So the doctor's said the best thing would be to lengthen the muscle, not the achillies tendon.  Muscle surgery less invasive and I would could walk the same day with a boot for 2 weeks, not six or more. Wait a month and do the other leg. He did tell me this...Don't let anyone remove the heel spurs or cut the plantar fascia..infact, don't let anyone touch your feet! You will be miserable.  Research shows that  shoe inserts are proven to relieve the pain.  It helps me a little, but I haven't been pain free for over a year! I was thinking of waiting until after softball season, but I am not much help to them when I can't run to catch the ball or rarely make it to first base.  I just love hitting the ball though!  Love to feel the ball hit the bat.  Crazy?? Maybe.. I can still coach the team.
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• Had to attend another meeting for my job.  They had to review everyone again so they can write it on a different piece of paper. Took a little quiz and sent my proof of CPR to the office, only to find out later that my CPR is "Not Approved" by Maxim.  No one ever told us that they require only American Heart or Red Cross CPR.  Just another hoop that they are forcing on me.  I am exhausted from the constant paperwork that comes in the mail, most of which tells us what we are doing wrong and what paper to fill out to make it right.  I am feeling more like a puppet that controls every  move I make as a nurse. I have been pushed to the point of calling it quits.  I do have brains, been a nurse for 26 years!  Thinking of retiring from nursing entirely, since I have only one interview in the past 18 months after applying for more than a dozen jobs. The question is, what would I want to do??? Perhaps this is a good time to stop get my pain fixed, have time off for graduation and to spend time with family.
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• Last night we went to a Jazz Concert put on by the high school jazz band and the Flat River Big Band.  It was very nice.  They sound so professional.  Mr Ayres, Matt's first band teacher, is an awesome trumpeter and I just love to hear him play...he can make the trumpet scream!

That turned out to be longer than I intended.  Guess I had lots of news!  We are the time of anticipation..How should Mary do her hair?? Brandon leaves Ann Arbor around 3, and reservations for dinner are at 7! whew! For now I have cinnamon rolls baking in the oven. Matthew is going to work at the church rummage sale to earn money for the Youth Gathering this summer. He still needs to raise some more funds. We are selling pizza kits and will be having an egg roll lunch fundraiser coming up.

More later!

Gracie

The Dress is Done!

Mary finished her prom dress this afternoon.  It looks so nice on her.  There are a few places that could use a bit of an alteration, but all in all it is beautiful and she did a great job.   Guess she needs to iron a bit.  We tried the dress with the ties, tied in the back, then the front with a broach. As noted, she tried hair up and hair down.  What do you think?  We tried all sorts of jewelry, but the pearls prevailed.  Very classy!

Yesterday was quite a long day for me.  Up at 0430 for a 12 hour day at work then to Matt's ballgame for a few innings.  Kids choir and Chimes were next with great rehearsals!  Think I am finished?? Nope.  Attended GHS Theatre Boosters meeting and got home after nine, only to remember that we had no milk.  Matthew drove me to Meijer and we got some groceries.  Needless to say, I was exhausted.

Today I got a lot of paperwork done, had lunch with my golf buddies and then spent time helping Mary with the dress, mainly keeping her company.  I cooked dinner, that is an accomplishment lately, and even cleaned up the kitchen right away!  Matthew and Mary had a gig with the Village Green tonight and Jeff had a meeting at church.  

Sarah has a busy and difficult week ahead.  Three exams yet and she needs to write care plan notes about different joints and muscles of the lower and upper body.  It is time consuming, I wrote them for my patients in nursing school.  Her time in the clinic has been shortened since she is outside with the men's baseball team.  I know she'd probably like a few more hours in a day right now.  She comes home in two weeks, half done with college!  WoW~

Tomorrow I have been asked by employer to attend an impromtu meeting for all of Hailey's nurses at Haileys house. Evidently when the did yearly reviews, they did so on an old form. Now everyone has to redo it! I'm tired of all their silly paperwork.


Last bit of news tonight~Mary received a scholarship from Burger King!  She has applied for many scholarships on the internet, and now is the time that she will be getting results.   Congratulations to Mary!

One Season Over...New One Begins

What a great Sunday!  Church went very well today.  Kids sang well and the orchestra played well too.  After church we had our church softball meeting.  If everyone plays that I think will play, we will have almost 20 on the roster. That sounds crazy, but not everyone plays every game. Some go on vacation, work or sickness etc.. It is good to have plenty of players.  Now I have to decide on positions and line ups, I like that!  Jeff ran a 5K  in the Greenville Schools Yellow Jacket Challenge. His time was less than 30 minutes.  He is seen in the picture with one of our church members who ran his first 5K today and Greenville's Yellow Jacket.  Cute picture.  Today was our first softball practice at 3 pm.  We had a nice turn out and a good practice.  We have 2 or 3 more before our first game.  The team had a lot of fun together and that is important. Had a few minutes to breathe, eat Chinese dinner and then off to our last night of bowling.   We ended up in next to last place, but we had fun too! Got a few dollars in prize money.  I bowled over average for my first and third game, of course our scores didn't count tonight.. We signed up for league in the fall.    So we lay down the bowling balls and pick up the softballs and hopefully hit them out of the park or at least into the outfield. I had better get to bed.  I work at 0500 and that means up at 0430!  Yikes.

Gracie

Mystery Solved

Well the mystery of the occasional puddles of water in the basement near the washer has been solved! I realized and showed Jeff that the wash tub wasn't wet on the outside and there was no water under the washer or near the wall, but I did notice that there was a little water under the dehumidifier.  When I tried to remove the water container, it was jammed..Could the water be leaking from there?  It shares the drain with the washtub.  Jeff was able to get the water receptacle out and there was lots of water in it.  Apparently the water was backing up into the dehumidifier and collected in the bin, then every few loads of laundry the bin would overflow.. We cleaned up the puddle and Jeff rigged up a new tubing system.  Great, all fixed..let's do more laundry!  Wrong!  Matthew wanted to eat Chinese food tonight so we were looking up places to go.  Wanted to try a new place.  Matthew got bored and went to pitch a few tennis balls against the wall downstairs when he came and told us there was a flood downstairs, lots of water!  All of us hurried downstairs and found standing water around the washer, the piles of dirty laundry were soaked, and there was water even standing along the wall with the freezer! So much for the Chinese food.  Instead we got the wet/dry vac out and spent an hour sucking up water, lint and paint chips from the floor.  It sure does work good. More cleaning.  The tubing system didn't fix the problem and the overfill container he had was too small.  Things are looking much better now, did a couple loads of laundry and no puddles or floods! 

If you are wondering about dinner, we ate at Taco Bell.  It was pretty good tonight.  We are watching movies and checking the computer.  We can now watch movies instantly through Netflix on our Wii system.  The disc they send for you to access the movies is free!  We are going to take advantage of it!  Matthew fell asleep, but Jeff and I are watching our second movie of the night.


Going to get some folding done..

Gracie

PS: Report from Mary~Frankie Valli was AWESOME!

Reality Check

Look what Mary picked up at school today!  The reality is that Mary has only about a month of high school left and will graduate on my birthday!  She can't wait to be done with high school and move on to the University of Michigan.  Each time we go into Wal-Mart she wants me to get something for her dorm room. So far I got her towels, hamper, bowls and cups and hangers.   She continues to show me her favorite microwave oven!  Yes they can have a microwave in their rooms.  It is a cute little oven, I must say.

I am home today working on laundry and practicing for church on Sunday.  I am playing, the orchestra is playing and the kids choir is singing!  Lots of excitement. I have a mystery on my hands, a puddle appears near our washer, but the wash tub's outside is dry and I watched the whole cycle this afternoon and saw no leaking or water flow anywhere!  Guess I should start a log and look for a common denominator.

Mary is going to Ann Arbor again this weekend for a series of concerts.  Tonight is Frankie Valli, tomorrow is U of M Women's Glee Club and then Jerry Seinfeld!  She is very excited, and is lucky to have my Prius again, which leaves me with the van.  I want her to have a reliable car and it will save her money too!  So it's fine. I work tomorrow for a six hour shift in the afternoon, then will have to get ready for sunday school class and more practicing music! I will be holding a softball meeting after church on Sunday, wonder how many players I will have this year?? Should really set up some type of practice.  Think I need to practice pitching again, it might be a good place for me. I was pretty good when I played that position years ago.  Plus my feet hurt a lot, so I can't run very far very fast.  Thought about just coaching this year, but we might be short on our three girls in the field rule if I don't play. I need to be ready!

That is all..better have some lunch and keep that laundry rolling!

Gracief

A Bloody Reject

It took me over a decade to be brave enough to donate blood.  I am not sure what is so scary about it to me, not the needles.  Anyway our church had a blood drive and I signed up with Mary and we were going to give together.  I have decided that I really need to give blood since I received so much as a baby.  Mary has been sick for over a week and went to the doctor yesterday.  He put her on Zithromycin and cough pills. She couldn't give blood, but did go to work at Jimmy's.   I showed up on time and signed in.  However when I went through the interview process, they wouldn't let my donate, hence I am a bloody reject!  Because I have bone spurs on my heels and I have pain, I need my blood to try and heal the injured/hurt area.  Oh well I tried. Jeff passed with flying colors and bled one pint.  I wonder how many pints he has donated over the years?After he donated blood, we went to the Winter Inn for our anniversary dinner. I had steak and Jeff had fajitas, both of which were delicious.  We split a piece of peanut butter/chocolate pie.  Mmmm. Our 25th anniversary was a lovely one! Thanks for everyone's good wishes!

Gracie

PS~So the Chicago Cubs won the Favorite Baseball Team Poll....I say go Tigers!

Life With a Silver Lining!

Today is our 25th wedding anniversary!  Our day was a rainy one causing some major flooding, but the sun shone through the church windows just as we were saying our vows.  The reception was a lot of fun with good food, champagne, music and dancing. Twenty five years later, we still enjoy traveling together, serving the Lord together and raising our beautiful children.  We look forward to many more years together and thank God for blessing our lives each day!

Sarah was on the road with the baseball team today.  The men's baseball team has been doing really well, winning  most of the time.  I guess they won and lost one game today. Tigers lost today.  Matthew's team played today and lost too.  But he played 3rd base one inning, got his bat on the ball, and then pitched the last inning.  He did a great job, striking out 2 batters!  The velocity on his pitching is much faster this year. We hope that the coach will continue to allow him to pitch throughout the season. It was pretty cold at the game today, but no rain!

Mary completed her first day at McDonald's. So far so good! When she got home we still needed to eat dinner, so of course we went to McDonalds. Not really, we went to Big Boy.  Tomorrow she works at Jimmy's.  She is going to be a busy lady.

Chime team and kids choir went very well.  Thanks to Annette who ran choir until I arrived after Matt's game. Kids sing on Sunday and Chimes the following two weeks. Church softball league meeting was tonight too. Jeff attended in my place until I could arrive.  We have 16 teams this year, so there will be to divisions.  I guess they agreed to some new rules that I can certainly live with.  Games begin on May 10th.  Will we have enough time to practice?? Guess we better!

Guess that is all the news...

Grace

It's a Small World

We had a really great family get away! The world got a little smaller by end of the weekend.  Here is synopsis of our weekend activities~

• FRIDAY- We left a little later than we wanted too, but luckily the laundry got done and Jeff finished the taxes. Yay! Packed up our Prius, picked up the dog sitter and headed off for Ann Arbor. The Holiday Inn Express was nice and we were looking forward to using the pool. First we  had dinner at the Mexican restaurant next door and went to a concert at Concordia University.  It was a nice start to the weekend. Ice Cream at McDonald's and swimming finished out the first night. We got pretty silly in the pool, played sharks and minnows and marco polo at night! 
• SATURDAY- 8 am came early, but I had to be in Flint for my state bowling tournament.  First we had  breakfast and dropped Mary off at Brandon's so she could spend the day with him and attend the alumni concert at 3 pm. The bowling tournament was a very new experience.  The house was pretty crowded and smoke-filled. I got a nice pin and bought a light blue shirt. My bowling wasn't what I hope for, I had high expectations!  My first game was less than 100 but my second and third games were around my average of 120.  It was fun participating. Matthew spent a lot of time trying to win some money out of an arcade game.  Had lunch with Randy and Norma at a Fuddcucker's!  I didin't know there were still any of those left.  The burgers are still delicious! We got back to Ann Arbor by 5:30 pm and ate dinner with Mary at a pizza place a few blocks from the Hill Auditorium.   Mary reported that the alumni concert was very good.  Now it was time for the the 150th Annversary of the University of Michigan Men's Glee Club Spring Concert, I couldn't wait to hear it! It was awesome!!  The songs were from around the world!  Songs sung in Chinese, Russian, German, Polynesian, Ethiopian and some American pieces.   Of course the concert always begins with the "Laudes", and ends with the singing of "The Yellow and  Blue".  I was happy that the audience was invited to sing along for the last verse.  It was phenonmenal.  Brandon  received a scholarship from the Glee Club Scholarship board last night along with some other clubbers.  What a nice surprise! It  was pretty late when we got back to the hotel. Just some time for searching for church times for the morning.
• SUNDAY- Woke up around 9 am, got showered and packed up to check out. We decided to attend services at University Lutheran Chapel just a short distance from central campus.  The pastor there was a classmate of Jeff's while at the seminary, and his sister and her family were members at Mount Calvary in Greenville!  What makes it more exciting is that the pastor's new baby was being baptized, so we got see the whole family at church. What a coinicidence! What a small world!  Sure was nice to see them again.  Met some other folks that have ties to Lutheran Haven in Oviedo!  The service was very nice!  We went to the contemporary service with a great musical team, piano, violin and guitar. The sermon was very good and it was just nice to be able to worship together in the same pew! The chapel has a coffee house downstairs named the Common Cup, Ongoing bible studies, breakfast and lunch on Sundays between and after services, and even a their own  Chamber Group!  After service and some fellowship, we took Mary and Brandon out for lunch at Zingerman's Delicatessen.  The food was very good and everyone found something that they liked. Time just flew by, and we dropped off Brandon at his dorm, and headed back to Greenville. Jeff had an elder's meeting and tonight was position night at bowling.   We won three points tonight and I ended up the season with a 145! Jeff had a good night of bowling too. We didn't move up any tonight, but we didn't go down either! Next week is fun night with bowling and food.

Spring break for the kid's is officially over, and they are back in school in the morning.  Matthew has a double header baseball game at the home field in the afternoon. Mary starts her job at McDonald's tomorrow after play practice.  She hasn't been feeling very well lately.  Her cold has moved down to her chest, hope we can prevent any pneumonia! NO fever, just lots of coughing. Jeff has had some sinus trouble too.  Matthew had a cold, but is better.  I am staying pretty healthy for now, not including my painful feet. I have choir tomorrow and  really need to do some planning for the theatre boosters. I work Wed, Thur and Sat this week for a total of 18 hours.  Not bad at all.   For now, I had better hit the sack, it is getting late!

Gracie

Be sure to check out our photo album for new pictures.

Time....

Sometimes we wish there was more time in a day.  So many things to do...things we need to do and want to do.  Seems like we got the best of both yesterday.

• Sleep in until your eyes open.  As an adult, my eyes open much earlier than I want them too. 
• Watch TV with your kids..because soon they will have left the nest and you'll be watching alone.
• Baseball practice for Matthew followed by Subway lunch and shopping at Wal-Mart.
• Taking the Prius in for repair and having it ready to pick up before the end of the day!
• Cooking Chicken Crescents with your daughter,  it's fun and they are so delicious!
• Deciding at dinner to go see Alice in Wonderland together at 9:40pm.  We all liked it!
• Getting the zipper in your prom dress.
• Doing laundry, paying bills and meeting deadlines for financial aid applications.

Today I wasted a couple of hours.  My doctor's appointment for a second opinion on my aching feet was at  1030.  I was on the road to Grand Rapids by 9:45am and got there on schedule, only to find a waiting room packed with people and a line to check in.  When I got to the desk, the lady said my doctor was running 1 hour and 20 minutes behind schedule!  I decided to reschedule. Waiting till almost noon to get in, then however long the visit, I just wasn't willing to be packed in there with all those other people.  I had nothing to do either, read or paperwork. So I made a new appointment in another 2 weeks and drove 45 minutes back home.  I made a good decision, kids will be in school in two weeks and I won't miss time with them.

Mary's dress is almost complete.  The zipper went in easily and now she is putting the final touches on...hook and eyes, and hemming. I am so proud of Mary, she did a really nice job on the dress, and will be beautiful in it. We took it to quilting and tried it on.  They all liked it very much too.  What a great feeling to know your prom dress is ready in plenty of time!

Time can be punching a clock.  Mary got her hours for McDonald's today. Her first day is Monday 5-9 pm, then Wednesday and Thursday at the same time. Tuesday she will put in hours at Jimmy's $$$. Guess her bank account should start growing!  She owes me some money. I allow payments so she can have spending and saving money too. Aren't I nice???

After holiday specials means time for great buys.  All the Easter candy was 50% off at Wal Mart, so after consulting with Sarah, I went and bought her a GIANT EASTER BUNNY!  Officially he is a Big Binks, cute and delicious!  I will be glad to help her eat him up! 

Showtimes!  Matthew really wanted to see Clash of the Titans in 3D.  The last "cheap" showtime was 4:55pm.  Jeff and I have orchesta tonight, so Mary and Matthew are having brother and sister time.  I hope they have fun.  I know that I don't need to be in the midst of a war between gods and titans!

Time for me to get to work....

• More laundry to do, oh well~
• Practice the piano for rehearsal tonight.
• Get our dog sitter a key, we are going on a mini family getaway!

Two concerts over the next few nights and bowling in a state tournament on Saturday!  Wish me luck!

Grace...taking the time to do something for me! 

Where Do I Begin?

I guess we will start on Easter morning.  He is Risen, He is Risen Indeed, Alleluia! I wonder how many times I said that Easter morning?? It never really gets old though does it?  I am so glad that Jesus died and rose again so that we can live forever with Him!  I played for early service, led Sunday School opening, taught my class, then directed the choirs in the late service.  Everything went really well.  Attendance was good.   I have to say that I got the most out of the early service and was happy with my playing.

Everyone was pretty tired when we got home from church, and we all had some sort of nap.  Afterall, we had to watch March Madness and color easter eggs the night before.  Luckily we were able to pick up Sarah earlier than expected from Hope since the men's baseball games were cancelled due to rain. Matthew drove down in the van so that we could bring her bike home for the summer, it needs some repair. Sarah drove home, there still tends to be a discussion who will drive!  Stopped at wal-mart to get Matthew some new shoes. Mary spent the day with Brandon, watching movies and enjoying a delicious meal at his house. Their family (plus Mary) went to see Alice in Wonderland at the theater.  Brandon and Mary stopped at our house for a few hours. It was nice to see him again.

Back to Easter, I made an acceptable ham dinner with delicious brownies for dessert.  I must say I enjoy baking more than cooking.  Everyone got their baskets and chocolate bunnies!  Mmm, Chocolate! Why oh why does it have to taste so good!

Mary started sewing her dress. Matthew watched a movie on the computer and Sarah, Jeff and I watched TV surfing the channels during commericials.  Time passed and we needed to get Sarah back to college, so the whole family packed in the Prius and off we went, stopping at Burger King for supper together.  We didn't get home till after 11.   I needed to be at work in 6 hours, so I headed right up to bed.

Work came earlier than I hoped..but I got up and made it through the 12.5 hours without any trouble. It was just me and my little princess.  We had a nice day together.  The weather was so nice we spent an hour outside in the afternoon.  Still I had no time for rest.   I had kids choir and chime team rehearsal, which I look forward too even if I am tired.  The kids sing with such joy and the chime team work hard at learning and doing their best.  March Madness came to an end last night with Duke winning the championship game!  It was a spectacular game to watch. Fast paced and a close score the whole way right to the last second when Butler made a long half court shot that hit the rim but didn't fall in. Great year for both teams!  Finally it was time for bed.

Until the storms came through.  Sammy the dog doesn't like storms, so he likes to come up by my bed.  I told him it's ok and to lay down.   A few moments later, I heard him get up again, nervous.  He likes to scratch on the carpet.  I found him in my closet relieving himself! He has never done that before!  I couldn't believe it.  I suppose the good thing is that I knew about it immediately and cleaned it up, instead of finding it later this morning.

Mary was sick all day yesterday with some kind of flu. She feels better today and is back to sewing her dress. The bodice and skirt are sewn, now she needs to connect the two.   I have pictures to post.  Matthew has baseball practice until 2:30 pm.  I hope they are inside, as it is a rainy and stormy day. I opened the drapes on my bedroom windows and just noticed how green things are now.  Hurray for spring!  Each season has it's good qualities.

I need to catch up on housework, banking and I think I am going to get a plan of action written down for my project for the theatre boosters. Guess I should hang up and put away my clean clothes too!

Jeff surprised my with roses yesterday..a little early for our 25th anniversary.  Aren't they pretty?

Gracie

A Good Friday

While I write this on April 3rd just after midnight,  I want to report a Very Good Friday here in Greenville. A lot was accomplished throughout the day.  Laundry is almost done, banking is done, Cleaning is off to a great start!  Mary, Matthew and I went shopping around lunch time.  Mary got a new Timex watch.  Matthew was going to get a white polo shirt, but when we got to Penney's he changed his mind and wanted a shirt/tie, vest and dress pants. I was happy to get them for him, as he hasn't been interested in getting new things for a long time and he really needed them.  I will be sure to take pictures.

Good Friday service was very nice.   Jeff's reading was just so good tonight and I played the clavinova without too many mistakes.  I practiced a little on the organ, but knew it was too risky to play it for church.  Mary had to work tonight, so she missed her favorite service of the year.  Oh the joys of being employed!  A video was shown that was very nice..I have included the link so you can see it too.  "He Was Crucified"  

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=QBMQBgEMGIw&safe_search=on.

We watched a cute movie together tonight- "My Life in Ruins".  It is about a Greek Tour Guide and her passengers. We liked it enough for 4 stars!  

Mary's friend, Brandon, is home for the weekend, and Mary will be going to Craig's Cruisers with his family tomorrow. I will be going to Hope College tomorrow to watch Baseball Game and then bring Sarah home for Easter.  It will be a short visit, but well worth having the whole family home.  

I will be playing for Easter sunrise service, teach Sunday School and direct the choir in the late service. Seems like a lot, but I really like doing all of those things. I will be tired for sure. Dinner will be Ham, potatoes, salad, corn and brownies for dessert.  There is no bowling, so we won't have to rush to get Sarah back to Hope before 6 pm. 

Spring Break for Mary and Matthew is next week.  I work on Monday and then have the rest of the week off.  Mary will be working and sewing her prom dress.  Matthew has a baseball game in Grand Rapids.  All of us will be going to Ann Arbor on Friday for the weekend.  We have tickets to the Glee Club Spring concert on the 10th.  I will also be bowling in a state tournament at 12 noon on the same day.  I will keep you updated and hope to get some nice pictures of all the events.

Time for bed...Happy Easter! He is Risen!

Grace

April 2nd was my Grandpa Heumann's birthday.  He was a wonderful man and I have such nice memories of all my grandparents!  Thank you God for a wonderful family!