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We are in the middle of celebrating Bailey’s birthday today. She turned 10 yesterday and to are having a “Girls Spa Night” sleepover. We’ve made perfumes, lip balms, bath fizzies, had facial masks, massages, and manicures. Then, we had chocolate fondue with pretzels, marshmallows, and strawberries. One of the girls told me that this was the best party she had ever been to! The three girls, Morgan, Lexi, and Haley, are very good friends of Bailey and have been since we moved here three years ago.
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Julia is at a sleepover herself tonight at church. The students are participating in the 30 Hour Famine today and tomorrow to raise money and awareness for children dying of hunger. They started the famine this morning at 9 am and will finish tomorrow at 3 pm. We have to carry food to share when we pick her up tomorrow. They are allowed water and juice. They will be doing some community service projects while they are there.
Hopefully, we’ll get them to bed at a decent hour! Morgan has to be picked up at 8 am so I’ll have to set my alarm clock. We had a hard time keeping Avery away from the girls. I finally got her interested in a bubble bath while we did facials and nails. She’s already in bed. She gets to go back to Coco Darlings for the second time this week tomorrow for a friend’s party tomorrow morning also.
Last night, we had our first Gateway Family Ministries Skate Night. It was awesome! We had a fantastic turnout and everyone had a blast. Its been a while since I skated, so I was a little wobbly at first, but I guess its like a bike: you never loose the skill. Avery did so good! I’ll be posting pictures later…I think the camera got left at church today. Madi was able to ride her scooter and had a fun time too. We’re all a little sore today.
At the skating center, we were able to announce that Gateway is the new, official owner of a building in Pikeville, NC as of 5 pm last night. We are so excited about the possibilities that the new location offers! But, its ovewhelming to think of all the work and money it will take to turn a traditional church building decorated in the ’70s into something that is “Gateway.” But, Lord willing, it will be done quickly and will be amazing!
Yesterday and today we had Pancakes in Pajamas at preschool. Everyone wears their pjs and we have pancakes together. Since I teach all the students and Avery is in both classes, we had to wear them both days. I had errands to run after school yesterday, so I carried my jeans to change into but forgot my shoes! Its o.k., I think wearing fuzzy slippers into Wal-Mart is becoming fashionable! I did better today, but didn’t carry anything for Avery. I don’t think she cared, but she did get a few stares at Wendy’s for lunch in her purple, angel jammies!
Bailey turns 10 on Thursday. I can’t wait for her to open her gift. We got her something she has been wanting for a while, but have her totally convinced that it is something else in that box! I have to have the camera ready! She has already requested cupcakes to share with her class on Thursday and I’m making the cake for her “spa sleepover” with her three best friends Friday night. Then, we’ll start getting ready for Avery’s birthday next Tuesday. I am in serious denial that she is turning 4…she can’t even eat free anywhere anymore!
This was a big week at the Stamper house. We gave Julia a ring that we bought her right after Christmas for her to wear and remember her commitment to sexual purity. I really can’t even believe I’m old enough to have a daughter old enough for this to happen, but it was time. We had talked to her a long time ago about sex, but the new series for students at church is about Love and Dating, so I felt like we needed to have the second talk. The funny thing about that series is that Wes was sick last week, so Thayer had to speak for him to introduce the topic. Nothing like having your dad speak to you and all your friends at church about sex! Anyway, before she went to Cotillion last night, was gave her the ring and talked to her about remembering who she is. The ring is silver and says, “To Thine Own Self Be True.” Its not biblical…its Shakespeare…but we thought it would work well. She liked it, but is still very immature in our talks about the subject. But, that will change all too soon I’m afraid.
While Julia was gone, we finally watched a movie the girls were given for Christmas, “Uncle Buck.” We remembered seeing it ourselves years ago and knew the girls would like it. Unfortunately, we had forgotten all the bad language in the movie. We had to apologize to Bailey and Madi and remind them that even though the movie had bad word choices, we don’t use them ourselves. Bailey said, “Oh, so that’s what the “S” word is!” Nice parenting there, huh?!
This morning, after breakfast, Thayer and I went out on our 3.5 mile run. We were gone only 36 minutes but I had asked Julia to move the laundry from the washing machine to the dryer when it finished washing. She had done the same thing for me last Saturday. After we got home, I went to start the next load of laundry when I discovered a washing machine full of water and water seeping out of the dryer door…as it was running! Yes, she had taken the dripping laundry out of the washing machine and started the dryer. Its a wonder the house didn’t burn down. We thought we had fixed the washing machine problem last weekend, but there was still something stuck in the drain. Anyway, we took all the laundry out of the dryer, fixed the machine and re-spun them. There was almost two inches of water standing in the bottom of the dryer. When I soaked it up, the entire towel was dripping. It was a learning experience for us all. Wow, old enough to have to talk about sex, but young enough to not be left in charge of laundry! That’s just wrong!
As for the birthday party situation, we received another invitation after the last blog and Madi is at a party right now. She went with a friend whose mom was going to stay and watch them the whole time since neither of us knew the family of the little girl. The mom just called me to say that Madi had been jumping in the bouncey castle and had just gotten off the horse. Wow, a horse and a bouncey castle at the same party! We’re about to leave to get her. The party was supposed to be 4 hours which I thought seemed like too long for a birthday party, but…now I know why!
Monday is a big day in the life of GCC! Hopefully, I’ll have some wonderful news to post Monday night after the Family Ministries Skate Night!
With four children, we are never short on birthday party invitations. Back in October, between the 4 girls, we received 9 party invitations. I think we actually attended about 3. Yesterday, we got 2 in the mail and Madi brought one home from school. Bailey had already been invited to one last weekend but didn’t go because of the wedding we went to and all 4 girls went to a party the weekend before that. All of these birthdays are in addition to the two we are about to celebrate at our own house! Bailey’s turning 10 next week and Avery will be 4 the following week. Julia isn’t getting as many invitations anymore (the girls have sleepovers or go out to eat for their birthdays as they get older) but Avery took over the ones Julia used to bring home! Its funny how it seems to go in cycles…we had lots in the fall and lots in the spring. I guess we need to make a new line item in our monthly budget for birthday gifts. I have already made the rule that we only go to parties that we know the family so that helps eliminate some parties…I think its not so much the money as the time it takes to get the gift, go to the party, etc.
On Saturday, I sang at a wedding for Matt and Sabrina Harrison. Its been a few years since I sang at a wedding, and I had never sang one of the songs except for in the car. The wedding was at small Methodist church in Pikeville, NC. The building was small but had really pretty stained glass windows and I enjoyed hearing the organ! The rehearsal went well Friday. Since the church has a contemporary service, they did have microphones and a CD system, but the organist had to leave the organ and get in the wing behind the stage to start the CD player. On Saturday, everything was going so smoothly. Sabrina was so pretty and I loved sitting beside the organ, because I had a view of Matt and Sabrina that only the pastor had. I could also see Matt’s parents, Jeff and Sue, and their expressions during the wedding. The first two songs were fine: I sang “Surely the Presence of the Lord” and “I Will Be Here”. At the end of the service, right before the pastor pronounced them man and wife, I was supposed to sing “The Lord’s Prayer.” The pastor prayed and said “Amen” and I could hear the CD player trying to work. The organist tried 3 times, but for some reason, it would not recognize the CD. So, I had to sing with no music. If you have ever heard the song before, you know it ends pretty high. I said a quick prayer that I wouldn’t start too high or I knew I’d be screeching by the end. Thank God, it all turned out o.k. It certainly was a first for me…and hopefully the last time, but at least I know I can do it now.
We all enjoyed the reception and stayed until the girls blew bubbles as Matt and Sabrina ran out. This was the first wedding they have been to in a year and they really began to ask why you do certain things at weddings, like throwing the garter and bouquet, etc. Since it was Valentine’s Day, I decided we would watch our wedding video after supper so they could see their own mom and dad’s wedding. Thayer was hesitant at first…we hadn’t seen the video in over 12 years, and I remember that I made him watch it so much right after our wedding that he was burned out over it. But, we all LOVED it. I cried through some parts…it was so wonderful seeing those who have passed on. The very first person you see when it comes on is my Nanny and my great-aunt Nettie fanned herself throughout the entire ceremony! There were things we had forgotten and some things I wish we had forgotten! The girls didn’t even recognize my brother. He was 19 and a good bit thinner….actually all of us were!
It was a wonderful day! The pastor at the Harrisons’ wedding prayed that all married couples there would remember their own commitments to each other and after watching my own wedding video, I was reminded how blessed I have been to have met my husband. He is so much more than I deserve and I love and admire him so much. Its so great falling more and more in love with him each year!
I’ve been involved with the 3 Cs today. We ordered the power cord for our computer (thank goodness we got a better deal from Dell), I was lucky enough to have a special suprise from a dear friend that I had for lunch: Godiva chocolate cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory (I love you, Billie Jean!), and we have been cleaning Bailey and Madi’s room today. I was sad because it involved moving some things from Bailey and Madi’s room into Avery’s because they no longer use them. We moved the dress-up clothes and baby doll clothes into Avery’s room along with the My Little Pony and Strawberry Shortcake stuff. I also cleaned out about 50 books from Avery’s bookshelf. Yes, mom, I have saved a few for my grandchildren! Its hard to believe that the girls are growing so fast and no longer enjoy playing with the little girl things. Bailey will be turning 10 in as many days and Avery will be 4 on March 3.
We’re having computer issues at home so I’m not able to post when I want to right now. The power cord to our computer has a short in it and won’t charge the computer so my computer time is limited to when I’m at church for now. I checked at Radio Shack for a replacement cord and found out that they are $99! Needless to say, we won’t be buying that!
On Monday, we had the annual Protestant Preschool and Kindergarten dinner/auction. We only have one fundraiser a year and it usually generates over $15,000. We have been able to keep our tuition at one of the lowest in our area because of it and we aren’t constantly bugging parents to sell wrapping paper or candy. Each year, the teachers dress in silly costumes to keep the children entertained. This year, we had t-shirts that said “I love Protestant Preschool and Kindergarten” and we were told to “fancy” it up. Here’s how I looked:
I can’t believe how quickly this day has gone by. I got up this morning and immediately made a list of everything we really needed to accomplish today. The coming week is packed with stuff: I am carrying snack for the volunteers at church tomorrow, we have a church-wide fellowship tomorrow night, the huge fundraiser for my school is Monday night and I have to make myself a purple satin skirt and “fancy up” my shirt (more info. about that on Monday!), Julia volunteered me to make 55 cupcakes by Tuesday, we have supper for the students on Wednesday, dance, piano, Praise Team practice, I’m singing in a wedding so there is the rehearsal Friday and wedding Saturday, we haven’t made the Valentine’s gifts for the 8 teachers yet nor have the girls done their Valentine’s for their classes. But, of my page long list, only about 1/2 of it is marked off…and a few more things are in various stages of completion. Our Sundays are so busy that it will be Monday before you know it.
Even in my busy-ness today, God has a way of showing what is important. I was knee deep in trying to clean bathrooms and realizing our 13 year old washing machine was not draining or spinning when a friend called and needed me to meet her for an hour or so. She is going through some really tough times and I was glad she felt she could depend on me. I didn’t think I had time, but knew I had to make time. I love/hate to talk to her. She’s hurting so bad and I wish there was more I could do. I always feel so sad when I leave her, but so thankful for my life being as easy as it is compared to some. So, thanks God for bringing me back to reality. I never should have believed I could do all that stuff on my list anyway…there’s always tomorrow…and a few more hours tonight!
Oh, by the way, Thayer was able to fix the washing machine, thank God, but that added one more thing to his list!
We are up to 3 miles now in our training for the 8K. I hate the first half of the running, but by the middle, I’ve caught my second wind and its fairly enjoyable. Now we only have to add 2 more miles over 7 weeks. Lots of people have joined us: Vernon, Rob and Sharmen from church, Heather and Jason from Life Group, and Sharon and Kevin (Sharon is Avery’s teacher at preschool). All of us are in our mid-late 30s and none of us are wanting to be anywhere near the front of the pack…we just want to finish.
We also got to go see the building we are hoping to purchase for Gateway’s new home. Awesome, awesome possibilities, but much, much work to make it truly “Gateway.” It seems like every year I am involved in massive projects that involve paint. The first year we moved here, I painted every room in my house. The next year, we painted the entire 6000 square foot church. Last year, we painted Studio G for or elementary grades. So, I guess its time for more painting. Oh well, its good for arm muscles…not so good for brain cells.
We heard on the news last night that there was going to be another snow and that it might stick. So I wasn’t surprised to get the 5am automated phone call that school was on a 2 hour delay. A 2 hour delay means we do not have preschool at all! So, I turned off the alarm clock and was just about asleep when my preschool director called telling me that I needed to call the next staff member on the phone chain to make sure everyone got the word. I don’t have my calling list at home, so I had to get up and come downstairs to find Heather’s phone number. After calling her (she had obviously already gone back to sleep too!), I got back in the bed and was wide awake! Arggghh! I eventually fell back asleep and got another automated call at 7 am that school would be cancelled totally. Now we have two school days to make up and the snow was almost completely gone by 10…oh well, I’m just glad I’m not the one making the decisions on whether to open or close schools. I think people would complain no matter what decision is made.
On the bright side, I really didn’t want all the mess that goes with the girls going out to play in the “snow”…especially since there was so little of it and it was the really wet kind. So, I did what every mom in my position would do: I bribed them! We made homemade cookies instead. We might go to a movie later, but right now they are playing together and I haven’t heard any screaming in a while, so I’ll just let that go as long as possible…I know I will hate to see what they’ve pulled out in their rooms. Another note of good news: Thayer was finally convinced to go back to the doctor. He was still coughing…sometimes so bad that he turned blue and his eyes watered. It took me another 5 days to convince him to go again, but we finally have another round of antibiotics and a steroid this time. So, hopefully in a day or so, he’ll be back to normal. Men are so terrible about not going to the doctor. He rarely gets sick and it took me forever to get him to go the first time over three weeks ago. Maybe I’ll be getting some real sleep soon!
