What a Weekend

Yesterday Kimmie and Britt had Solo and Ensemble in Clarksville with the MTSBOA. Both of the girls were absolutely nervous. It's to be expected somewhat. I would have thought Kimmie would be used to it by now. It's her third year.

This is the first year that Kimmie did an ensemble. Her and a friend played a Clarinet duo. ("Spring of the Four Seasons") They did really good, for playing at 9am after riding an hour to get there. They did really good anyway, though. The judge was very helpful.

Britt was the next with her Saxophone solo. All the 6th graders play Sawmill Creek for the solos. She got a bit unnerved because we were early to the room and the judge was still waiting for her. She had a little trouble at first but he let her start over. He gave her a couple tips but said she had good sound.

Kimmie's solo was at 9:40a. She had the same judge that did the duet so she was a little more relaxed. The only thing the judge could find to be improved was for her to draw the melody out longer.

So... after the duet and the solos were done, we got to wait. For 3 hours. But at the end of the three hours we got the news. Kimmie and her fellow clarinet player got a #1 for their duet. Britt was ecstatic to find that she received a #1 for her solo. Then, Kimmie had a repeat #1 for her solo plus the judge was like 'I wished I had a clarinet player like you in my band.'

On the way home I got turned around and ultimately lost. I probably would have been able to find my way but it was raining and the temperatures were dropping. I got all anxious so called Jeff to get me home by using google maps. At that moment I was wishing I still had the VZNavigator still on my enV.

We made it home though, safely and before snow and ice was an issue.

After we got home, Jeff decided I needed to get away from the kiddos so we left our mature and responsible teenager in charge and went into town. While we were there we stopped at the Verizon store to start looking into getting me a new phone. (I have the oldest phone and have been needing a way to sync calendar and all with the computer. Can't carry a laptop everywhere you know. LOL)

So... I got the Blackberry Curve. (with a good discount) It was so odd. While we were talking with the salesman my enV crashed. Completely locked up. Even after we disconnected the battery and reconnected it it was locked up. (This of course was a freak out moment since I had 937 pictures on it that were not on the computer) So... we knew getting a phone was a have to with Benji being with me and all. It's a good phone, just gotta get used to it.

Then we went home.

It was a good day overall... The best thing is that I was reminded that when we get stressed the best thing to do is give it over to God. We should actually give to Him prior to the stress... :o)

I Surrender!

Goodness! The last few weeks have been crazy!

We celebrated my birthday and Papa's birthday on the 6th, It was fun, we enjoyed a delicious cake that Nana made and it was great having family around. It's hard to believe that I am 34. Most days I feel like I am still in my 20s. On bad days I feel ancient.

The 7th we went over to Nana and Papa's and chopped firewood along with my brother's family. The girls and my brother's boys helped while the little boys played in the play yard. They got alot of wood cut up and it should be enough for at least the rest of the winter.

While the guys were doing the wood, I checked out an old wooden file cabinet that is in the old barn and we have decided we are going to clean it up and fix it. It's missing a side but it's just 1/4 inch board, so pretty easy to replace. It will need to be sanded and the veneer fixed. Then a coat of paint and it will be PERFECT! I love reusing old furniture that is built well.

When I got back up to the house and about the time the guys were finishing up I found a swingset on Craigslist for FREE. It had never fully been put together and it is huge! (2 swings, star cruiser, glider, sit and spin, and a slide.) The boys love it! God has provided once again!

Saturday night Micah seemed to not be feeling well and we thought he had wind burn on his face until we took his temp. It was 102.7 but he wasn't complaining of anything else. Sunday he was pookey, and was developing a red polka dot rash. Monday I took him in to the doctor along with Benji. Micah had full blown strep with scarlatina. Thankfully Benji just had a sinus/ear infection. It took till Thursday for Micah to be able to go back to school. He was so upset he missed the 100th day of school.

Benji had his Valentine's party at school on the 12th. Which meant while Micah was home sick I got to make cookies and valentines.

Micah and Josh had their parties on the 13th. Josh's teacher had sent a note to not send anything but Valentine's and the classroom mom for Micah's class asked me to make cookies.

I was very thankful that Jeff helped with the cookies. I will have to share the recipe later. He is so wonderful!

Britt made the softball team. Tryouts were the 5th and 6th. She's on Junior Varsity, but it's good since only 4 6th graders made it. (plus she's the youngest on the team being only 11) Her practices are keeping me busy. 3-5 M-F. It's worth it though. And it looks like she's playing catcher this year.

Everything else is just busy. Trying to get adjustments to schedules down.

Dental visits went well. No cavities in any of the 6. 1 kiddo needs to brush their teeth more and we need to think about braces with her. 1 kiddo is looking at having to have an appliance put in because he won't stop sucking his thumb and it's curving the jaw bone.

So much for a quick update huh? LOL

~ Faith

Strawberry Delight

Ingredients:

1 angel food cake
8oz cream cheese
1 box powdered sugar
3 packages of frozen strawberries (works best with sliced or halved strawberries)
1/3 cup almond milk
3 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Combine softened cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla. The mixture will be VERY thick. Slowly add almond milk until mixture is a paste similar to cool whip.

Break up the angel food cake. Put a layer of the pieces in the bottom of glass bowl. Layer strawberries over the cake. Drizzle a layer of mixture over strawberries. Repeat.