Leading up to THE Recital!

Monday night my sweet college roommate and her husband and their son stopped in for a short visit. It was PRECIOUS getting to have that time with them! I cannot believe that our children are playing with one another! Who ever thought we’d be old enough to have kids??? C and I have an interesting history. In short, we’d exchanged few words when we agreed to room together. You certainly get to know someone well when you live with them. I was pretty uptight to say the least…and we came from pretty different backgrounds…and there were some hard times, but God knit our hearts together as dear friends. He used C to work in major ways in my heart, teaching me that people are more important than my need to be in control, among other things. She was dear to bear with me through those life lessons and I treasure her friendship! I dare say we both learned a lot and I am forever grateful for her.

Tuesday brought school and a recital dress rehearsal. MW practiced her dance at the ballet studio along with all the other little ones who were in the recital.

Wednesday morning found T and I at our dear neighbor’s funeral. T was given the honor of being one of the Pall Bearers. It was a sad morning, but we rejoice in the fact that R trusted in Christ for his salvation. He didn’t look to his own good deeds to earn God’s approval; he rested on the righteousness and blood of Christ alone. That knowledge brought immense peace and allows us to more than “hope he’s in a better place,” but to KNOW he is. We’re sad and many things won’t ever be the same, but we rejoice, knowing that we will see him again. Those aren’t just “nice” words you say when someone dies, they’re truth, that brings great comfort and peace.

Wednesday afternoon I picked up my Bible study girls and we went shopping for “Sparkle Night.” (TNR – if you are reading this, this night was inspired by your idea for Sparkle Night, which I never attended, but you did share your idea with me to dress up with sparkles and go to dinner…which is sort of what we’re doing. More on that later. See…you’re still impacting my life!) We hit the thrift stores in search of dresses with major BLING! We hung out until Wednesday night church.


Thursday brought MW’s “Splash Party” where all the kids in her class came in their swimsuits and spent the morning in the pool. Unfortunately it was a bit cool and MW didn’t want to get wet. She spent the entire time bundled in her towel with her water balloons, um scratch that. She insists they’re her “babies.” She still has one of them. How long can a water balloon make it? I’m expecting a wet mess any time…she emphatically points to the air bubble she can see in the balloon and insists it’s a baby…a “shadow baby.” Interestingly, she also calls all the “babies” in the beginning of “Nemo” “shadow babies.” She also told me the baby is in a sack of water…which originated with her overhearing me talking with a friend about T3’s birth. MW happened to hear me say “they broke my water” and she wanted to know why there was water in my tummy. Mom had sent me a funny email where this little girl told the story of her mother’s home birth, only it was through the child’s eyes, so all was askew…she mentioned the “sack of water” in her mommy’s tummy that was there in case the baby got thirsty…which is the explanation, at the time, that I gave MW…so now her shadow baby is in a sack of water in case he gets thirsty…oh my, she’s going to have a lot of questions one day! Hee, hee!

Thursday afternoon found us in full costume for MW’s ballet dress rehearsal. We arrived at the designated time and after a few dances, it’s MW’s turn…here’s where I’m kicking myself that we don’t have a digital video camera, I so wish I could upload this for you to see! She’s doing great for the first half of the dance. Granted, all the other little girls are looking off stage, following the teacher, while MW is in her own world, looking ahead, but totally doing her own thing…hee, hee! So half-way through the dance comes “presto chango” which means the back row comes to the front. Well…MW was doing a turn when the change occurred. As she finished her turn, she realized someone was in her spot. She looked around, confused, and then called for her teacher. That little one has guts. She walked all the way to the edge of the stage calling, loud enough to be heard above the music, for her teacher. Her teacher walked on stage with MW and showed her where to go. MW finished the dance, again, in her own little world, doing her own little dance. After the song ended, her teacher came out to make sure MW knew where to go when they changed rows…and they did the dance again! That time MW got it. I must mention, they were the only class to run through their dance twice at the rehearsal! Hee, hee! She’s so cute. And amazingly, her confidence wasn’t rocked one little bit. She was fine with everything!

Friday was “get ready for company day.” We made it to the gym, where I decided to can my normal check list of machines and just have fun trying out new things…so I did the “weight assisted” pull up machine…so I am crazy and thought the weight amount you selected was added to your own weight as you do your pull ups. It was set to 70lb. I wasn’t sure I could lift myself, let alone another 70lb…so I set it to 30lb (like I could do that!) I climbed up on it and positioned my knees on the knee pads, grabbed the bar with both hands and let my body sink until my arms were fully extended…and then I just hung there. I tried to lift myself, but I couldn’t do a darn thing! I dangled…and then I realized the 30lb setting I’d chosen didn’t add 30lb to my weight, it assisted me by decreasing my body weight by 30lb…and still, arms fully extended, I dangled. And then I started giggling. People don’t giggle at the gym. People are there to get their work out and go home, except for the 40 year old in spandex “Pink” wear, with the enhancement revealing tank top….I don’t think she was there for a work out…and my giggles had obviously drawn attention to myself…so I’m still dangling, giggling, trying to ignore Pink lady’s stares…I put the setting back on 70lb, did 10, not my goal of 12 pull ups, and nearly collapsed as I climbed down. A few minutes later I tried to pick up and hold T3, but my arms were like noodles and I feared I might drop him. I finally balanced him on one hip with my arm around him and used my free hand to grab my T3 bearing arm in a death grip…


Home we went and picked up and played all afternoon until company arrived. It was a nice little break from the constant “go” of the week. You may notive T3 pushing his lawn mower with a princess crown atop his head. That's the doing of the one and only, MW! She thought she was pretty clever.

All the fam was here by about 8pm. We had a pizza dinner and spent a long time sitting around the table in the dining room laughing and talking…only one thing was missing, our neighbor R. I think Friday night was the first time we had the family in town and R didn’t join us for a meal. Grandma remarked that it just wasn’t the same.

Friday night brought a few other surprises, as well…like a Snoopy Snow Cone maker, for me! I always wanted one when I was a little girl. Shortly after T and I started dating I’d spotted an old one in the top of their pantry and commented how much I’d wanted one and how cool I’d thought they were. Well…his sweet Mama had remembered and she bought me a brand new one! Hooray! Snow cone summer here we come!

For all you bloggers out there, T’s grandmother did the coolest, sweetest thing for me. It’s something I will always treasure! And it’s the coolest idea! She gave me a huge three ring binder with our blog header on the cover…and she has printed out every entry I’ve ever posted, complete with pictures and has bound them, in order, in this binder. First, how wonderful to have my entire blog right there! Second, I NEVER realized how much I’ve written! It’s a volume! (for me!) And third, should something ever happen to blogspot, I’ll have everything right there! And what a gift for my kids! Maybe when I’m old and gray I can talk someone into coming to my nursing home room to read to me from our adventures so I can relive them, without my teeth, I’m sure, and in my wheel chair…thank you so much Grandma! What a treasure! And it’s a gift that keeps on giving, as she told me every time I post a new entry, she’ll be printing it to give me a copy for the binder! Yea! What a treasure! Thank you!