Pixiemom

For those who read this on my actual blog and not on Facebook, I need to bring a few of my posts back in that got lost and redo my theme, so please hang in there.

I gave my resignation to my boss at church. I am stepping down from my jobs there at the end of this month. I don’t think they will have a hard time finding an Assistant Director for the adult choir or someone to lead Praise and Worship, but I’m not sure about the Children’s Choir Director position. I took it two years ago as a temporary position until they could find someone else to take over, but no one else came forward. Because of that and the fact that the children’s choir has only 7 members, 5 of which are my own children and the other 2 only come about half of the time… I get no real break from my kids except during Sunday School, a half hour on Sunday morning. I need that hour long break on Wednesday night when I can either work with a different group or go to an adult Bible study time. Anyway, there are other reasons why I am stepping down from my positions, but those I do not think are public blog material.

For those of you who have prayed for us when I asked for prayer about the decisions we needed to make about church, I thank you. I still need them as we go through the next few weeks.

Two years ago, I took Amie to see “The Nutcracker”. I was planning on doing something with James last year, but we weren’t able to. So, this year, I had my special big date with him. In his musical theater dance class, his teacher gives out papers telling auditions that are happening and when plays and musicals are showing. He came home last month with a paper telling about the musical “Willy Wonka”. This weekend was the closing shows and so the two of us made a date for Saturday matinee. He has been looking forward to this for two weeks. They don’t have online ticket purchasing for this small town theatre, so I didn’t secure the tickets beforehand. We left about two and a half hours before the show started and headed down there. Being extremely delayed by Christmas shopping traffic, we finally got to the theatre that was about 30 miles away about an hour before the show started… if you do the math, that was an hour and a half drive. Unfortunately, by that time, that show was sold out. I was able to buy tickets for the evening show that night. We then had about 5 hours to wait. We headed to the nearest town with a mall and walked around checking out different things, James was thinking about his birthday next month while I was thinking Christmas presents. After doing foot traveling through the building, we stopped at the Borders bookstore there and got something to drink while we talked. Since he really wants to do plays and musicals, we discussed what he will need for the auditions, pictures for his portfolio, a song from a musical along with sheet music, and a fresh haircut beforehand. When we left, we realized we still had an hour to kill. We stopped at a Walmart and walked around there. That’s where James found what he wants for his birthday. Nerf, anyone?? So, we finally headed back to the theatre. It’s in a converted old church, very nice place. We got there early to make sure to take care of bathroom stuff. They opened up the theater and we took our seats… in the front row. The stage was only about two feet high, so they were still good seats and the actors had some small interaction with the kids in the front row a bit, making eye contact, pointing, and waving. They had a small cast production. Some of the actors and actresses had to take double roles, but they did a great job and I don’t think the kids realized it. My favorite character in the whole show was Grandma Georgina. The actor who played her was so expressive and she stole the show. The people playing the children were adults, 18 years or older, and it was so fun watching them pretend to be kids. The boy playing Charlie Bucket did an awesome job and his voice was very good. Willy Wonka was played by a man with a strong singing voice. He had a lisp, but it added to his character. James has a bit of a lisp when he talks and during intermission, we discussed how inspiring it was for him to see someone with a speech impediment like him in a main role. It gave him more hope. After the show was over, I saw James speechless. We had the opportunity to meet the actors and actresses and he had nothing to say. I have never, ever seen him unable to talk before. I got a hug from Grandma Georgina and took a picture of James with the actor who played Willy Wonka. Those of you who know me now, know that I am NOT shy and I enjoyed talking to some of the different actors and actresses.

And that is my date with my son… and somehow this blog also turned into a review of the musical “Willy Wonka” done by the Chicago Street Theatre in Valparaiso, IN.

One thing this made me realize… I miss the stage a lot. Maybe one of these days, I might be able to audition for something, but not right now… we don’t have the ability to do it.

Houses are being decorated. I love seeing the nice tastefully decorated ones. They are lovely to see, but more and more often, I am finding so many houses that are decorated tacky or look like they put up whatever lights they found wherever they could find room. It looks horrible. I don’t like driving up our street at night right now. One of the houses up the street has that slapped on the lights look to it. They have 3 strands layered on their roof and each strand is a different color with no pattern and they flash with no distinct rhythm between them which drives me absolutely nuts. It looks sloppy. They have a star plastered on the top of the fireplace too that flashes with short times of being lit and very long times of being dark. I almost couldn’t tell what it was. I told Jeremy that I am thankful that I don’t live near that house (it is about 4 blocks away) because it would drive me totally insane. Don’t get me wrong. I love lights on a house and I usually don’t mind them flashing. I do have this thing about stuff being in rhythm together so some bother me, but none as much as this one house. I can put up with most of them. The other thing that bugs me are those huge blow-up yard decorations. Here in Chicagoland, we have small yards. One of them is good. Two is starting to look a bit crowded. Any more than that and it looks like you are trying to make sure ALL the grass in your front yard is hidden. Don’t get me started on too many of the other yard decorations. Reindeer and Santa in his sleigh plus a full manger scene plus little red and green elves stuck running willy-nilly through out the yard makes me shudder. When we lived out where there were big yards and people would made specific spots on their yards for each Christmas scene showed me how creative those people were. These small yards have no room for that. Having Santa and his sleigh and reindeer usually takes up most of the yard. The same goes for a full manger scene.

What happened to making sure your house looked pretty for Christmas? This is a time to celebrate and enjoy the season. Remember Christ who came down to earth as a little baby so later on in His life He could teach us what true love was. Not a time to show everyone how much money you can spend on decorations and showing off how many lights you can shove onto your house or decorations you can crowd onto your yard. It’s a time to get creative with your house and yard, but not overly so.

I know, this is a silly rant, but I had to say it. I know the true meaning of Christmas and this is nothing compared to that. In the meantime, I have a birthday to prepare for. Anyone know where I can find candy apples at this time of year? The birthday girl has requested those.

Some of these will be superficial and some will be a bit deeper, but I want to think about all the things I am thankful for. I’ll start with the obvious.

Family: My husband is my rock. He is kind and gentle. He’s the one I rely on during so many times. (Yes, I rely on God first and foremost, but I believe I was given Jeremy to help me through a lot of life and so I am able to rely on my husband second only to God.) My kids are a source of laughter and strength. They can stress me out some days, but I wouldn’t ever want to live without them. They know when I need rest and most of the time will let me have it. They are forever challenging me, strengthening me, and making me take deep breaths and learn patience and for that, I am thankful. Our extended family is always there for support.

Friends: I have many friends. Some I am close to and some I am more of an acquaintance and some are inbetween, but I love them all. I can talk and goof off and be my completely crazy self with my close friends and they laugh and are crazy with me. We don’t care about the stares we get as long as the people in the bowling lane next to us don’t touch us. These are the people that no matter how long we are apart or haven’t talked, we can get together and it’s as if no time has passed by. I have only a few of these, but I’m sure you all know who you are. I have those that are inbetween. This makes up the majority of my friends. Some of them I have never actually met and some I have. I have made many friends online whom I place in this category. Some I met through my blog, some through chat, and a few through facebook. When I am feeling vulnerable, they have uplifted me. When I am upset or mad, they’ve settled me down. When I am bouncing off the walls crazy, they have laughed at me. I have enjoyed getting to know each one of them and letting myself be shown to them.

Music: This is something I enjoy doing, each and every day. If I am unable to sing, it makes that day a little bit harder. Making music, through my voice, on my keyboard, through my flute, or any of my other instruments is a talent that God has given me and I want to enjoy it and use it to it’s fullest. I am still praying that God will show me a way to go farther with it than I have so far. I still want to live out my dream.

Worship: The worship of God is something that always strengthens me. It sometimes has to break me down to do that strengthening, but God is always helping me grow in one way or another through the process of worship. I enjoy it so much that even though I am stressed with my job of worship leader, I forget about it during our service and just focus on God. Without that focus, worship is nothing.

Cell phones: Being able to talk to my mom and sister often is such a blessing and with us all having cell phones, it makes it much easier. I still keep in touch with some of the youth girls I worked with before moving up to Chicago through text and pix messaging. (Hint, hint: I want some new pics of babies!!) Friends can call me up or text me if they need to and vice versa. Now, I need to remember to charge it when it gets low on battery… like it is at this moment.

Dr Pepper and Chocolate: These are two things that I used to have a lot and I have really, really cut down on. I still enjoy having them, maybe even more now that it is less often, and will continue to be thankful that they were made.

Hulu: I don’t have TV and don’t watch a lot of shows, but for the few that I do enjoy, I am glad that I can watch most of them on Hulu. Now, if only Numb3rs could be on there, I’d be a happy girl. Also, it has some of the old cartoons that I don’t mind the kids watching.

My Camera: Taking pictures isn’t just a hobby for me. It is a way of relaxing. I enjoy finding things to photograph. My favorite things to take pictures of are my kids and flowers… as if that wasn’t obvious to those who have seen my pictures. I would love to do more landscapes, but not city ones. I miss the country and the mountains. I want to head down to my parents’ house in NC sometime and do some photography with the camera I bought this summer. I want to go out west and take pictures of the Rocky Mountains. I want to go to the Atlantic, the Gulf, the Pacific. I want to go to Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Glacier National Parks. Maybe even the Grand Canyon, though I would be extremely scared with my fear of heights. I want to go to Austin, TX and hike with Phisch and her family and get some pictures there (as well as some of her adorable sons.) I want to go to Arizona. I want to go all over these United States and then… head outside of them. Yes, another big dream of mine and one of which I’m not sure will come true, but if I can at least get to some of these places, I will be happy.

My Computers: I am able to do so much through my little laptop and on our desktop. I can write on my blog. I can chat with friends. I can play games. I can edit and share my photographs. I can keep in touch with friends through Facebook and Twitter. I can e-mail family. I can do shopping. I love living in the age of computers… and having my own computer engineer in my house. (I love my computer geek!)

and last, but definitely, NOT least… GOD: He is my everything. He has given me all that I am thankful for. I have eternal life promised me because of sending His Son, Jesus, to die for me and for all of you and I have said YES to having Him in my life.

and though I have so much more to be thankful for… these are the ones I can think of at the moment.

If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you already know this. It’s really annoying though. I was planning on making some pumpkin pies using soy milk that James could eat, but now I can’t because I have no way to keep it cool after I bake it. We had already planned on making cookies, so we are going to make those and some brownies, I guess. Those need no refrigeration. The freezer part of our refrigerator is working. It is only the fridge part that is not cooling. This did give us an opportunity to really clean it out. The fan isn’t blowing the cool air into that part. Jeremy worked on it most of one day, but couldn’t get it to work. He had it unplugged, so I HAD to eat the leftover ice cream from his birthday. *smile*

As for other news around here, we are heading down to Jeremy’s parents’ house for Thanksgiving. My friend, Sarah, will be joining us. Yay! We’ll be driving down there Thursday morning and coming back up on Friday evening. My aunt and cousins from Alabama are up here at my other aunt’s house and since we don’t get to see them often and my youngest cousin is Amie’s age, we are going to go spend Saturday visiting them.

The kids have been having some creative moments lately. They had two days they were obsessed with watercolors and did a lot of painting. The last few days have been legos. I like it when they do these imagination stimulating play. They were grounded from the computer for 2 weeks and had a bunch of fun doing other things. They had a blanket tent down in the family room one day. They were out roller blading yesterday. Computer time is limited for them on regular days, but having none at all seemed to make them think of what else they could do instead of bugging me if it was their turn on the computer yet.

Yesterday and most of today, I’ve taken a hiatus from chatting with my friends. I am thinking I’ll be back for a little bit tonight. I spent a lot of time cleaning yesterday, getting laundry and dishes done, straightening up the laundry room, cleaning the downstairs bathroom, and making sure the kids got the family room cleaned up. I have also found a lot of summer clothes while going through the clothes that we didn’t get out of the kids drawers, so we got them pulled out and put away.

Anyway, my life isn’t all that glorious, so those of you who read… thanks. I appreciate your interest.

Speaking of thanks… I’ll do a thankful post here soon. Until then… I bid you adieu.

Rocky and Bullwinkle came to tea. It was quite delightful. We talked of the stress of being a super hero squirrel and Bullwinkle chuckled at all that was said. Then a bear walked by, picking flowers and singing. She asked if she could join us. I amiably agreed. We talked and we joked and ate brownies and ice cream. That’s when I realized I had gone crazy in my head.

My Dad had a bike accident while out on a trail on his mountain bike. His new helmet protected his head, but he has a broken collar bone. He was out there alone and had to get his bike back to the car, on the back of it, and drive home so Mom could take him to the emergency room. My Dad’s a tough guy. I’m glad he’s okay.

Remember praying for Emily. She’s still doing well, but her mom, Crystal, has found a lump on her thyroid. She’s having a lot of tests to see what is going on. Please, keep Crystal and her family in your prayers as they go through all this. It is really frightening after going through the thyroid cancer with Emily. Also, Crystal’s goddaughter, Ava, is in the hospital. She’s really sick. At the moment, I can’t remember what is going on. She is only 4 months old. Pray for her mom and dad and brother as well as they deal with this.

Lastly, I ask for prayers as Jeremy and I have made a decision about church. This is going to be very difficult and I hope people understand why we need to do what we are doing. It took a lot of prayer, but our decision has been made.

Schmap e-mailed me about one of the photos in my Flickr Chicago set. They wanted to put it with others being considered for their new guide for Chicago. I agreed. I was just informed that my photo was picked for inclusion in the guide. It is one of the American Girl Place photos. Go See, if you wish.

We’ve been caught up in so much lately.

No more long distance trips, but birthdays, dance classes, emergency oral surgery, a field trip, school, and cleaning.

Christine had her 9th birthday at the end of September and Amie had her 12th birthday in the middle of October. They chose the option to have $20 allowance to buy what they wanted for their birthday instead of having a surprise present. Christine picked out two small stuffed animals… a cat and a dog. Amie picked out a Blue Tree CD and a fantasy book about dragons.

Amie quit her ballet class. She wasn’t enjoying it as much as she used to. She wants to focus on learning to use her voice, so I’m calling around to see if I can find out how much voice teachers cost. I don’t know if we can afford it though. This really hurts to not be able to do this for her. In the meantime, I’m doing what I can to help her.

We are working on learning piano here at the house. I got a beginner book with Christian songs for Amie and James to work with. James is doing well with it. Amie is not as diligent in her practice, so she’s not picking it up as quickly as James is, but that’s ok. I’m not pushing her. I also got myself a piano book for my birthday. It is some Praise and Worship songs. I am working on one of them at a time.

In October, Martin came up to visit the weekend after Amie’s birthday. He came up on Saturday and stayed until Sunday afternoon. The girls hug tackled him. I have a picture on my Flickr. It was a bit of a break in our normal routine and the kids enjoyed having him around to draw pictures for and to talk to and to climb on (well, Noelle did that.)

A few days after he left, we went to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago while it had free days. We didn’t even have time to see all the exhibits, there were so many of them. The kids really enjoyed it. We are already planning on going again during next year’s free days. I have a lot of pictures of that trip on my Facebook and Flickr. It was really fun.

Noelle still prefers the tumbling part over the dancing part in her class, but she is starting to pay more attention and do better with the dancing. She picked up on the tumbling part fairly quickly and is getting a lot of “very good, Noelle!” during that part of her class. She’s made a friend and enjoys talking about her friend, but I have noticed that they don’t goof off during class for which I am grateful.

James’ jazz and musical theater dance classes are going well. He is learning and doing better and better. A few weeks ago, the teacher let us come in and watch them. They were doing a routine to part of “Marian the Librarian” from “The Music Man”. It was so fun watching them and seeing how much he was enjoying his class.

I am taking tap classes. I’ve only had one class so far, but I had a lot of fun. I had to borrow shoes from the studio for that class and they were split sole and a little big, so the heals kept slipping down and hitting the floor when they shouldn’t have. I got my tap shoes this last Saturday. It was hard to find them in my size (I have children’s size feet.) and be the type that my teacher wanted, but we found some. It is much easier doing the tapping with them.

About two weeks ago, I suddenly had one of my wisdom teeth give me extreme pain, so I had an emergency dental appointment. He gave me some vicoden for the pain and referred me to an oral surgeon. I had to wait about 5 days before I could get my appointment and the vicoden wasn’t always able to mask the pain though it did a good job of making me dizzy and sick to my stomach. It got pretty bad. I was very happy to get that tooth out. They also removed the wisdom tooth on the opposite side of my mouth as it probably would have been just as bad soon. I lived on vicoden for another 2 days and then only used it at night for about 3 days after that. I am just now gotten to where I’m able to eat normal food.

This last weekend was nice and it is still nice today. I got the front yard raked and I’m working on the back yard. It’s a lot of leaves and I have to take breaks to let my shoulders rest, but I am enjoying being outside.

Speaking of which… I need to get back to doing that raking. Talk to you all later. Hopefully much sooner than I did this time.