Recital Weekend

I think we have finally recovered from last week! We finished up our last week of school, Sarah had her ballet recital Saturday night, Scott finished up Spring football, and we did a 5K on Saturday morning! Whew!

Sarah's ballet class had practice for the recital three times last week. It might not sound like much, but we are used to one hour per week, and this was several hours each evening. In addition, Scott was still in Spring football, so the boys got to watch dress rehearsal a few times! Will did not mind it at all, and Josh was not too put out... I let him play his Leapster or Game Boy in the lobby... time which is usually pretty strictly rationed!

I will post more pictures from the recital night when they become available from the photographer, but here are a few from rehearsals!
Thursday night was Scott's Spring football game in Vaardaman (home of the sweet potatoes!) We were really afraid it would get rained out, but they played anyway. This was GREAT, because the rainout date was Saturday evening... during Sarah's recital! I am so proud of Coach Duley and his defense... They kicked tail! Not one first down! Way to go, Dawgs!

Friday was our last day of Excelsior. We had a pretty easy day with a lot of review games and such. I completely intended to take a bunch of pictures, but somehow I only ended up with one of the boys' class! Here they are playing a history review game.
Friday night was the "official" dress rehearsal. We stayed until about 10:30 working on the dances, and then Saturday morning I took Sarah and Catherine (Hannah was in Memphis with my mom) to Tupelo for the Tie-Dye 5K.

This was a really fun race! First of all, it was a cross country course. I realize that in some opinions this was a drawback, but I still love cross counry races! Also, the name was "Tie-Dye," and we all got brightly colored tie-dye shirts! (If you know me well, you know that my favorite color is rainbow!) They had music playing the whole time, and the atmosphere was great! The only thing that could have made it better would have been some Grateful Dead to go along with our tie-dye... Just kidding, Ginny! Finally, the awards were great! Some of the older runners got bottles of fish oil with trophy things glued to the lids! Julie Johnson, one of our Spartans, was crowned the female tie-dye champion... complete with broccoli sceptor and bucket of fruits and veggies!

It was my first time to run 3 miles since coming out of my boot, and I think my leg is going to be fine! I took it very easy, and felt good while running. Later, I could feel some twinges, but I think more from the muscle atrophy that had occurred than anything. Here are some of our Spartans before the race...
We rushed home and started getting ready for Saturday night! Scott's mom, Kay, came up for the weekend, and my mother and father came up Saturday afternoon. Scott's dad and stepmom and brother came into town also! We had a nice afternoon visiting, having snacks, and enjoying coffee. Here is Sarah with two of her grandmothers!
Sarah had to wear a lot of makeup because of the stage lights, so here she is posing before we left the house!

Hannah Baggett, a girl we go to church with, also takes ballet. She is with the older girls and actually served as a substitute when Mrs. Justine had her baby (two weeks before the recital!!!) Hannah is a sweet girl who made Sarah feel very comfortable backstage and got her excited about dance in general. In one dance, the girls were supposed to look serious... Will leaned over and said something like, "Hannah doesn't do a very good job not smiling, does she?" :) In the above picture, Hannah and Sarah are in their modern costumes. Below, Sarah is in her classical costume, and Hannah is in her fairy costume.

Sarah and her teacher, Mrs. Justine
The boys were patient while I was backstage helping Sarah get ready.

Multi-tasking

It is 1:15AM... why am I still not in bed? I suppose it was the coffee I had during Sarah's dress rehearsal #1 for her ballet recital! I live a life of multi-tasking... every mom does... it is necessity.

Just take, for example, this evening. I was at Sarah's ballet rehearsal. I was enjoying a cup of coffee, visiting with a friend, watching the rehearsal, and filling out paperwork for being a foster parent when the lights would "un-dim."

Sometimes multi-tasking can be bad.

I spilled coffee on the papers while I was helping Will do something, and then I started crying because I was simultaneously reading about the process of parental rights being terminated (and thinking about all of the children who are in foster care... and why) and watching my nine year old beautiful daughter smiling and gracefully twirling on the stage with her class. My heart was breaking and full of inexpressible joy and thankfulness at the same time...

We got home (late), and I got kids in bed and went upstairs to make out my Latin test for in the morning.... You know, the one that I still have not started on! Instead, I began watching the John Adams movie, continuing to fill out foster parent information, and posting on my blog! (It takes a long time to upload pictures, so I try to have something else going on, and I have a very difficult time just watching a movie...)

Now, it is 1:26AM, and I STILL have not gotten my Latin test done. I suppose since I just dropped the bomb about being foster parents, I can put the Latin off for a few more minutes and explain!

We have several friends with adopted children, and we have always said we would consider adoption. It has never seemed to be the right time or financially feasible. However, after watching the movie Hotel for Dogs, (I know, I know... some people are moved by stimulating treatises and works of historical significance... and then there's the rest of us!) I began to think about being a foster parent.

I have never really considered it, because you always hear horror stories about families who get attached to foster children and then have to watch the kids go back to horrible circumstances. After watching that movie, the selfishness of my way of thinking began to dawn on me. If these children are going to need a temporary home, it seems of the utmost importance that it be a home where they can be loved and shown Christ. We should not out of fear or inconvenience abandon them to "parents" who are trying to make some extra money or who knows what.

As I thought about it, I mentioned the idea to Scott. A few days later, he told me to get some more information. I filled out a form, which led to more forms... apparently, you have to fill out lots and lots of forms before you get to sit down with someone and get information!

That's where we are now... getting information. We have not said that we are definitely going or not going to be foster parents, but it is something we are seriously considering.

Well, it is now 2:04, and I really need to get to this Latin test!

Brian's Graduation

Last Saturday, Scott's little brother graduated from high school. To celebrate his graduation, his parents threw him a crawfish boil... like any good Louisiana folks would do! It was the first time our kids had seen anything like it, and they were surprisingly brave when it came to eating them! I think everyone tried at least one, although Josh and Will spent more time hanging around the dessert table!

Sharon's brother David and his family came up from Texas for the event!
Nuria, Hannah, and Brian enjoying some crawfish!

We were also going to have Jambalaya, but the rice didn't get done in time. We ended up getting to take home several tubs of it, and we have been enjoying it all week. We also got to take home a full cooler of crawfish... we got them all shelled (or whatever you say), and I made a batch of crawfish grits casserole. You can't get any more Southern than that!
Scott, Will, and Sarah
Scott servin' up some crawdads!
Scott and Brian in their Memphis shirts. Brian is going to Tiger High... Uh, I mean Memphis State... oops, I mean University of Memphis this fall! :)

End of year party

We have just wrapped up our school year with Excelsior Classical Co-Op. Last Friday afternoon, we had our end of the year presentations and party. Each class did presentations of things they had learned. We are going to miss seeing our friends and teachers next year!

Kelley Crampton, Hannah, Carlyle Smith, Catherine Snyder, and Sarah posing after their presentations. The girls recited limericks they had written about historical figures.
Will recited the Pater Noster (Lord's Prayer) with his Latin class. Josh and Will identified famous pieces of art and artists of the Renaissance with their art appreciation class. It is so exciting to hear my five year old say "Albrect Durer... Praying Hands!"
My history class did not do a presentation, but we had our timelines on display for the parents to check out.
Sandy Morris played several fun relay games with the kids. Brayden, Tripp, Qiao, Phoebe, and Abbey were enjoying an airhead while waiting for the next game.
Josh and John have developed the sweetest friendship. These two are peas in a pod... we're talking trouble in a few years! They spent most of the afternoon off on the playground!
Jonathan Crampton, Andrew Snyder, Will, and Brayden Stephenson waiting on pizza.