June is Wrapping Up

Monday morning power went out for the neighborhood for about 40 minutes.  We got to talk about important lessons, like which things didn’t work because of this and why we shouldn’t open the refrigerator door.  

I tutored a child at the library.  I paid Champ a couple of bucks to watch his sister on the other side of the library.  Then we went to visit Princess’s twin friends (Julie and Emily).  The mom invited Princess to stay longer, and Princess was thrilled.  Champ and I were super speedy at Aldi without her.  Champ went to Jonah’s house later while Princess and I ran a few errands.  Then I took both of them to swim lessons.

Champ wanted to make a cake for my parents since I’ve taught him that a loving gesture is to make someone food after the death of a loved one.  Champ made his cake using a box mix.  Princess decided she wanted to make them a cake too.  I told her no since Memaw and Papaw were only two people, and she had a sobbing fit.  I had her make muffins instead.  It was touch and go with the happiness.

Yesterday Champ had a church event at Rascal’s Fun Zone.  He enjoyed bumper cars, miniature golf, bowling, pizza, and more.  Princess and I went to Bekah’s pool instead.  Then they both went to swim lessons.  I can’t believe how much progress both of them have made.  Princess had tumbling class, and I see that she is making progress in that too.  She loves to do cartwheels whenever now.  Some of my coworkers brought me dinner yesterday that was to be shared with my parents.  Therefore, we took to my parents’ house that meal and what the kids had made.  We stayed and enjoyed the delicious meal together.

Today was BORING!  It was appointment day.  I took Champ to the orthodontist.  Then I took both kids for their wellness appointments.  We also did some shopping for Champ for clothes for the funeral.  I also bought a tankini for Princess to replace the swimsuit that broke.

Princess has personality galore.  Tonight she insisted on wearing goggles on her forehead when I was reading her books.  Then she had the goggles on when she was going to bed.

The Passing of a Loved One

Our week was filled with the busyness of life.  Some highlights included U Indy basketball camp and swim lessons.  I determined that Princess wouldn’t be able to sit and watch Champ’s swim lessons, so I would pay extra for her to join his group swim lessons.  I was also glad to help interview applicants to fill my colleague’s place.

One thing I look forward to every other weekend now is running with my friend Vanessa.  Not long after getting out of my car at her house (our starting location for our run), I got the call that we all knew was coming.  Dad let me know that Grandma didn’t have much time left before she passed away.  Vanessa and I walked a little before I headed to the nursing home.  I was thankful for a day when I could drop everything to be by my mom’s side.

Before Grandma passed away around 10:30, my sister, my mom, and I got a chance to tell Grandma one last time that we loved her and that she had been a wonderful grandma.  The three of us sat around sharing memories.  

My mom is amazing for so many reasons.  She has been faithfully attending to grandma daily.  As mom visits the nursing home, she encourages those around her.  Two nurses came today to verify that Grandma had passed away.  Even though mom just learned that her own mother had passed away, mom was taking the time to thank the nurses who had cared for grandma.  

A large majority of the remainder of the day was spent with different groups of family.  Although that wouldn’t have been our preference for a reason to get together, we were thankful to enjoy each other’s company and remember the legacy grandma was leaving.

The following are my thoughts to share at Grandma’s funeral service:

I have been blessed to have my grandma in my life.  Over the months since her October stroke, I have found myself sharing with grandma the things that my family is doing now as a result of the values I have watched her hold.  She leaves five key values as part of her legacy.

                First, she was a woman of great faith.  My grandma was always in church.  She always prayed before meals.  She once told me that she read a chapter a day from both Psalms and Proverbs.  As we went through her house in recent months, I noticed that almost all of her books were copies of the Bible and individual books on different books of the Bible.

                Second, family was of utmost importance to her.  I was so thankful to have my grandma at almost all holiday gathering.  She came to all my sporting events, award ceremonies, etc.  She loved when we visited her, and she loved to ask questions in order to better know us.

                Third, she had a passion for healthy living.  She was constantly active and walked a lot.  In addition, she ate very healthy.  Potato soup was a favorite dish of mine that she made for us.  Despite the fact that she ate so much healthy food, you couldn’t go hungry at grandma’s house.  There were always cookies and ice cream or frozen yogurt in the freezer that she offered, as well as constantly asking if we wanted more to eat.

                Fourth, she had a servant’s heart.  After my grandpa passed away, she started volunteering at the hospital.  She volunteered in the church nursery for decades.  She was a cook in the kitchen for our church camps and gave us a peace of mind that family was nearby if we were homesick.  Also, she volunteered at her church’s rummage sales.  She would even pull things aside if she thought they would benefit my family.  After every family meal, grandma could be found in the kitchen doing dishes.

                Last but not least, grandma was a simple woman.  She stretched her money and lived frugally.  She didn’t have a flashing or showy life, but in her prayers she would say “our cup overflows” in reference to the abundance of blessings in her life.

                Grandma will be greatly missed.  She leaves a great legacy of wonderful values that I hope to instill in my own family.   May generations to come benefit from the values she has passed along.

 

We are the Champions!

Yesterday was my first day ever of tutoring.  I want to live out the life principle that I have taught my kids:  If you need money and someone offers you a chance to make money, take the job and do it well so that you are asked to do it again.

Champ began basketball camp.

Champ and Princess had swim lessons at separate times of the day.  Although Champ can swim, I want the teacher to work on improving his technique with him.

Princess hosted a family with 3 kids yesterday for a play date.  I loved the action around the house.

Last night the storms were bad. I had Champ read books to Princess in order to distract them both.

This is how happy you look when you realize you've earned a prize in the summer reading program.

This was how messed up the mulch got in the storm.

Today Champ was back at basketball camp.

Princess had swim lessons, but I postponed Champ’s swim lessons due to tonight’s championship game for baseball.  

Champ played left field in 3 out of 6 innings.  He was walked to base both times he was up to bat.  I don’t think any of the pitches thrown to him were even ones to try to swing.  He also made a great stop in the outfield.  Although we lost to the team earlier in the year, we beat them today 11-2.  This means that his team won the championship game.  Since this team was the top in the league for the season, they got a trophy for that accomplishment and another trophy for winning the championship game.  He was thrilled.  Princess was so excited for him too.   

These were Champs main coaches this year.

Father's Day

Today I helped in Champ’s new Sunday School class.  I loved it!  This was a twisted version of Go Fish that involved actually fishing for Sweedish Fish with your toes if you had to “go fish.”  Great worship songs and age appropriate service that followed.

We saw the movie Finding Dory at the theater before eating at McAlister’s for lunch.

We made stops at Meijer and Aldi.  Then we cleaned the house.

The highlight of the day was celebrating Father’s Day with my parents.  Great food and fellowship.

I mowed the lawn when we got home.

New Experiences

We began our Saturday with picking up one of Champ’s teammates and heading to baseball practice.  I dropped off the boys at practice, and Princess and I headed to the gym.  I exercised, while she watched the Youtube videos she loves on my phone.  We returned to practice in plenty of time for me to watch some of it.  Princess sat on play equipment in the shade because she was hot.

Champ played camp songs on the computer today.  I loved his passion for the new worship songs he learned at camp.  Today he was talking about wanting to be a worship leader if the MLB dream doesn’t work out.

This afternoon we went to Roncalli High School to see the play Into the Woods.  It was put on by a performing arts group called Agape.  A former student’s mom invited me to see her daughter in the play.  Although the play’s plot was more challenging to follow, I welcomed the opportunity to expose the kids to potential opportunities for them in the community.  I can see Champ choosing a career in which he is in front of others.  He loves to make people laugh, and I think that there could be opportunities for him to perform in some capacity.

After the play, we used a Groupon at Ichiban.  I loved how warm towels were placed on the table. 

 The kids had never used chopsticks before, and I again relished the opportunity to broaden their horizons.  

The kids ate steak off the kids menu, while I ate salmon.  Champ wanted my miso soup.  When he asked what the green thing was in the soup, I was hesitant to tell him the truth...seaweed.  He pondered that revelation, and then he went ahead and devoured the whole soup.  I shared my salmon with him too.  Plus, he ate Princess’s rice after he poured too much soy sauce on his own rice.  Princess gave him her orange too.

I was surprised that Champ loved my cooked onions.  He ate almost all of them.  As we were leaving, we realized that there was a place where you could watch them put together the sushi dishes.  We watched for a few minutes, and we spoke to one of the gentleman assembling the sushi.  We also got a close up look at the ingredients they would use, including octopus.  We are learning so much!

Tonight we finished watching Turtle Tale 2 as we snuggled in my bed.  We got in our 30 minutes of book time for the summer reading program.

Church Camp Ends

Princess had an early morning make up swim lesson.  Princess loves the diving board.  Grace encouraged Princess to combine her cheer move with jumping off the diving board.  Tons of fun!  Princess is really improving in her swimming.

Then we stopped briefly at home so that she could change.  We also joined with my mom and headed for church camp.

We picked up Champ’s luggage at his cabin.

Then we struggled to find him before the all camp rally.  I love that Champ saved me his tooth that fell out earlier in the week.  Champ got a certificate for exhibiting the following quality: determination.  

2 counselors separately told us the same story about Champ.  The counselors had asked the campers to put their name on a paper.  The paper would be passed around to the other campers in their group.  Their fellow campers would write one thing down that they appreciated about the camper whose name was on the top of the paper.  Both counselors separately stated that once the directions were shared, Champ insisted that all campers do the same thing for each of the counselors too.    

We enjoyed watching him be a part of the all camp rally.

We snapped a couple of pictures of him with important people.

Sarah and I were friends in elementary school.  After she moved in elementary school, we lost touch.  We have reconnected again at church.  Champ was a part of her family group.

Austin was the high school student that was his counselor.  Jim was also one of Champ’s counselors.  

We took the scenic route back to the cabin in hopes of finding one more bag for Champ...a crucial bag that has my camera and his Bible in it.  The kids posed on bridges and by the pool.  

This was Champ's lodge.

This girl is ready for camp...if only she was old enough.

We also toured the chapel, the arc, and the office while looking for the bag he lost.

We stopped by Chick Fil A for lunch on the way home.

I opened Champ’s suitcase in the garage.  I love the doritos at the top of the suitcase.  He kept telling us that he ran out of time to eat them.  Then he mentioned that he ran out of time to eat them on Monday!  Today was Friday.  They had been in his suitcase the whole time.  I also noticed the large number of clean socks that were still paired together in the suitcase.  Champ said he just kept wearing one pair of socks again and again.  Gross!  Smelly!

We joined our neighbors at a local splash pad this afternoon.  Champ was sad that all the neighbors were girls.  He read his magazine some, but he was also super cute in the combo swing with our little neighbor.  He engaged in some of the splashing too.

The kids enjoyed some tech time while I danced to Refit dance workouts on Youtube.  I’ve done that twice this week and liked it.  It is fun to try the dances even though I’m not great at them.  Time flies when you are concentrating really hard on the dance moves.

After dinner, I went out and threw some baseballs to Champ for him to catch.  On her own, Princess came up with the idea of collecting the balls.

I managed to get Princess to shower with less arguments than normal.  We all snuggled in my bed to watch Turtle Tale 2.  We had started watching the movie at the Fort Myers airport.  However, it had been hard to hear with the constant announcements at the airport, so we restarted the movie tonight.  We got part way through today.

We have a goal of reading 30 minutes a day during the summer to earn our prizes in the summer reading program at the library.  So, Princess and I read together in my bed.  When I went to talk to Champ, he was lying in bed and didn’t respond...already asleep.  Camp must have worn him out.

My prayer for Champ was for safety and a life changing experience.  Today he played me a song (Sound of the Saints) that touched his heart.  I can’t wait to hear about more life changing experiences in the weeks to come.

Funniest question of the day: Princess asked my mom and I if J.J. (Champ's nickname) started with a F.  She asked me the same question later in the day too.  Oh how she cracks me up!