Our Last Night in Hilton Head....

Sorry the pictures are a little dark.  I took them with my phone.  During spring break we went to Hilton Head, South Carolina.  It was so much fun and I have a bazillion pictures to share, but this brings back fun memories of our last night there.  I promised the kids we would get seafood.  We drove around forever trying to find a place that wasn't 45 minute wait.  We should have just waited at the first place, but we didn't!

My niece, Catherine, came with us.  This is how we waited for our food....

The food was great and everyone got to eat seafood, except Catherine.  She hates it.  I love hanging out with my kids.  We had a great time and it made me love them even more!

I just need to brag.....

This boy, my first born, is growing up so fast......

Sometimes I ache to hold him in my arms and have him look up as take his binky out of his mouth and say, "Pooh!" just one more time. And have him spout off the names of all the dinosaurs and sea creatures and hold his chubby little hands.

But, he now towers over me by several inches.

I couldn't ask for a better first born. Even as a teenager, he is loving and kind and responsible and a great big brother. He tells me he loves me as he leaves for school and most mornings I still get a kiss and hug. He has really grown up and I am so proud of the man he is becoming.

When we decided to switch from the private school to the public school, it was a hard decision. We had Xander choose what he wanted to do. He wrote down all the pros and cons, he fasted and prayed about it and in the end, told us he was going to Rachel Carson Middle School, the public school.

It turned out to be the best decision of his life. It has not been easy. We were told that the private school was equivalent to the honors classes at the public schools, so we signed him up. We were very surprised to find out that the honors classes were much harder than anything he had ever taken at the private school! He really struggled that first quarter. Both academically and also missing his friends. There were tears and there was a lot of frustration.

But, he rose to the occasion. He buckled down, he studied, he figured it all out and worked hard to make friends, do well and he succeeded! He came home last quarter with a 3.75 GPA and on the honor roll! He also is first chair flute in the top band. He plays volleyball for his sport. He has been working really hard on his merit badges for his eagle. He has attended two years of junior cotillion and wants to be a student assistant next year. He babysits for us and the neighbors. He mows the lawn and does the dishes every night. He loves his little sisters and they love him too! He likes to boss his brother around, but he loves him and he helps him with his homework. They play Legos for hours together. I can always count on him to help me out when I am tired and dad is not around. I really am proud of my Xander bug! He is an amazing young man!

I am so proud of Xander. He has really shown us that he knows what he wants and is capable of being something great. I am so blessed to be his mom. I hear about all these kids his age that are sassy and self-serving and I count my blessings! I wish I could describe in words how much I love him and how much he means to me. But this little bragging session will have to do! I love you, Xander! Way to go! You ROCK!

Losing a tooth

Eleanor has lost almost all her teeth. She has been losing about one every other week for the last few months! She has had a hard time eating apples and other crunchy veggies!

This tooth, for whatever reason was HANGING by it's last little root and she would not let me touch it. So, one afternoon while I was gone, Grandpa Johnnie tied a string around the tooth. They were going to tie it to a doorknob and slam the door. (all pictures taken, by the way, are taken by Grandpa Johnnie!)
As she was walking by her dad, he grabbed the string. I'm not sure if he knew "The Plan" for the tooth, but the tooth popped out as he grabbed the string, making it impossible to tie it to the doorknob and be slammed. Ironically enough, she kept walking and didn't even know until she tasted the blood. (I'm thinking I am glad I was not there for that part)

Anyway, Grandpa Johnnie took a picture of the tooth for posterity.......
And here she is, all smiles, though almost toothless at this point!
The note to the tooth fairy reads: Dear Tooth Fairy, I lost my tooth today!!!! My dad to it out. It hurt very very much. Love, Eleanor

Of course, just in case the tooth fairy cannot find the tooth, there is a BIG YELLOW SIGN letter her know where it is! I love that she drew the tooth fairy also. She is really good a drawing and draws pictures all the time for me. I also love that there are two "very's " in the note. I love this little girl! She really adds to my life!

A Unique Opportunity to Reconnect

Jason's college professor, Marcia Ferritto, was a huge inspiration to him. He has kept in contact with her throughout the years. She is an amazing violist and plays professionally around the Cleveland, Ohio area and also around the world. Recently, Jason made arrangements for her to come and do some master classes with his private studio and the orchestra students he teaches at school. In return, she wanted to play a concert with him.....

So, I decided to make violin/viola cookies....

A lot of them......

Can you tell which one is the viola?

The music she chose was very challenging. Jason practiced for weeks, every night for several hours. He told me it was good to "get his chops back up" and be able to play again.

Of course, the kids were there as his biggest fans.....

I put together a reception for after the concert so everyone could meet Marcia...

The violin cookies were a huge hit and were pretty much gone....

The concert, of course, was amazing. They did a phenomenal job.

Marcia had chosen some unique folk songs from Romania and other countries and told how they came about.

They received a huge response! I love this picture of them...Marcia gave Jason one of the highest compliments in the end. She said it was nice to be able to have taught him, but it was even nicer to be able to play with him as a colleague.

The evening was a huge success and it was so fun to see Marcia and enjoy her company and especially to enjoy the music!

Pay it Forward

When Jason and I were first married, we had some amazing friends who took us under their wings and took care of us. We were poor ( a full-time student and a social worker) and they fed us and gave us furniture and loved us. We would always ask if we could pay them back and they refused every time. They always told us that someday we wouldn't be this poor and we would be able to help someone else.

So, we decided to Pay it Forward. Pay it Forward is where you help someone else, rather than paying back the person who helped you. It has been a motto for our whole marriage. Even when we move away from Ohio and and hardly ever saw the amazing Berryhill family again, we always have remembered their kindness to us.

Sometimes Paying it Forward has been very small. Other times, we have been able to help out in a much bigger way.

The thing I like about it, is that you feel so good about doing it. Just like service. Because it is a lot like service! In fact, it really is service with a "fancy" name! But it is that added component of gratitude that I like. Remembering that someone else did something for you and you are grateful to them and you are showing your gratitude by helping someone else.

I hate to waste perfectly good things. If I can find someone to use them, then I try and pass it on. I find it hard in the area I live in to pass things on because people have so much! So, I send stuff to my family. I know they appreciate it and will use it and will pass it on if they cannot use themselves.

For years we have passed on boy clothes and girl clothes to my sister, Eliza. She is very grateful and has asked many times how much they owe us. I always tell her to Pay it Forward.

The other day she called me and told me she had done just that. I cried as I listened to her tell me the situation of this sweet young couple and how she had been able to help them. My heart was bursting with gratitude for the things I have been blessed with. I was so touched as my sister reminded me that she was Paying it Forward from all the things we had done for her over the years.

That is what it is all about. Big or small, helping someone in remembrance of being helped is the greatest way to serve another person. Thank you, Eliza, for making my day! That is the BEST payback you could ever give me! I love you!

A Miracle

Several weeks ago, I was asked to help with an activity at the church that involved girls ages 8-12 years. I was assigned to help the girls decorate notebooks for children in Africa.

A woman in our congregation, Chris Troger, started a foundation in honor of her mother who lived in Africa for over thirty years and helped build schools and bring in much needed supplies to people for many years.

After Chris would share her presentation and show the girls pictures of the children they would send their notebooks to, I would pass out the notebooks and then encourage them to decorate them in various ways so both boys and girls could enjoy them.

Having served my mission in Ecuador, I knew how much these notebooks would mean to these children. The poverty of third world countries is so prevalent. I let the girls know that these notebooks would be treasured forever. For some, this would be the first time they would have paper to write on. We encouraged them to write a note and possibly, they might get back a note someday from one of these children.

There were four classes. During the last class, I was preparing to pass out the notebooks and realized that I was one notebook short. Only one. I ran into the gym where the leaders were and told them that I needed one more notebook. They didn't have any more. I went to the library, hoping to find a discarded notebook of some kind, but came up with nothing.

I said a silent prayer to Heavenly Father asking him to help me know what to do. I went back to the leaders and told them I would have to ask two girls to share a notebook. They agreed that that was the best we could do. I knew I only had about 45 more seconds until the power point presentation was over. I went back into the room to figure out which girls could share. There, sitting on one of the tables, was a notebook. I looked around, but everyone was watching the presentation. I ran back into the gym and thanked the leaders for finding me a notebook. They did not know what I was talking about.

As I walked back into the room, I had an overwhelming feeling that this was a miracle....that Heavenly Father wanted each one of those girls to make a notebook. I also received a witness that there was a child in Africa that was supposed to receive that particular notebook. It is hard to describe what actually took place in my heart, but I was overwhelmed with the renewed knowledge that our Heavenly Father knows each on of those girls and he knows each one of those children that would get those notebooks.

My heart was bursting as I felt the love that Heavenly Father has for each of us. That he knows us. Each and every one of us is important. I told the girls the story and let them know that each one of them would be making a notebook and that every child that was supposed to receive a notebook would. I told the girls that the pictures they saw were not just faces, but actual human beings, like themselves, that had feelings and desires and dreams, just like them.

Everyone I talked to had nothing to do with putting that notebook on the table. It just appeared. It was just a notebook, but it was a miracle. The feelings I had were so strong. The spirit bore witness to me of the individual worth of each person. I cannot deny those feelings.

I am grateful for miracles like this one that remind me of how amazing my the Lord is and how he uses small and simple ways to remind us of the great lessons in life.