My Life's A Blur

I meant to get these pictures of Marcus' track meet posted on Saturday, and now it's Tuesday and I'm just getting around to it.  The weekend went by in a bit of a blur, I must say.  A fun and interesting blur, but a blur nonetheless.

So, without further ado....


Marcus took 4th place in the 100m and the 200m and 2nd place in discus. Not too bad for his first meet.

Run Like The Wind!

As you can imagine, with eight kids we've tried our share of sports. My faithful blog readers know that we have had football players, soccer players, dancers, t-ball players, baseball players and a wrestler.  I thought we had the gamut pretty much covered, but alas, we are adding one more sport to our list this year: track.

Both Zoe and Marcus are running track this year.  We kind of "forced" them into it because they show a bit of natural talent in the area.  Actually, we only had to force them to go to the first practice, since then they have enjoyed it quite a bit. 

Zoe had her first meet tonight and came home with a handful of ribbons, which she will gladly show you if you would ask her :)

Her team took second in the relay

And she took fourth in the 100m dash (although she had a hard time remembering to stay in her own lane!)

Tomorrow Marcus will have his first meet, so stay tuned for more pictures!

The Newest Family Member

We added to our family yesterday...

The new member is shiny and new (to us) and decidedly not living. Nina and Molly have declared her "ugly" but I think they will warm up to her.

She doesn't have a name yet, but I will let you meet her nonetheless.

With two girls who will soon have their driver's license and two more kids who can take driver's ed in the fall, we thought an additional vehicle might come in handy.

Although, the girls don't have a favorable impression yet, I think the moon roof and heated seats will cause them to rethink their opinion in the near future!

Happy Birthday, Shakespeare!

Today, as you probably already know is William Shakespeare's 450th birthday!  So to wish happy birthday to the Bard I thought I'd play you a little Mumford & Sons....but first a few little Shakespeare quotes to prep your brain for the song...

From Much Ado About Nothing:

BENEDICK
Serve God, love me and mend. There will I leave
you too, for here comes one in haste.
or
BALTHASAR :
Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more,
Men were deceivers ever,
One foot in sea and one on shore,
To one thing constant never:
Then sigh not so, but let them go,
or
BENEDICK:
 In brief, since I do
purpose to marry, I will think nothing to any
purpose that the world can say against it; and
therefore never flout at me for what I have said
against it; for man is a giddy thing, and this is my
conclusion.

NOW, you are ready to listen to the song....



Happy birthday, Will! Thanks for enriching our lives in SO many ways!

That's Good, That's Bad

Green things are coming up out of the ground outside!! I've waited many, many months for this to happen!  This is good!!



But wait!

School is still going on....kids still need three meals a day....laundry still has to be done...

Now that the green growing things are beckoning me, how will I get all those things done AND play in the dirt?

The struggle is real, folks!

She's Leaving Again

Once again, Molly will be heading to Northern Ireland this summer on a short-term missions trip, and this time she will be taking Nina with her.  Both Nina & Molly got accepted onto the Northern Ireland team.  The trip is scheduled for the end of the July.  We are so excited to send them on their way!



They will be partnering with a couple churches in N. Ireland and doing community outreach.  Bethlehem has been sending short-term teams there for many, many years, and that continuity has touched the hearts of the people they are working with.

They would both covet your prayers for their time there.  Not only will this be Nina's first mission trip, it is also her first time leaving the country.  She is excited...and a little apprehensive. Molly, on the other hand, is very anxious to go back and continue the work and the relationships she started last year. 

If you are so inclined to help them out financially, you can click on this link and give on-line.  Otherwise, many of you will be receiving a letter via snail mail, outlining their needs, in the near future. If you have questions about Bethlehem's short-term missions projects, you can find out more about them here.


Happy Easter!

I took my shoes off during church this morning and barely put them back on the rest of the day! We went from having a lovely time worshiping our risen Lord to a fun-filled day with family at my parents' house.

Easter is one of my favorite days out of the year! It is the day that makes all my other days so wonderful.  If Jesus hadn't risen from the dead, my life would be quite meaningless. If He hadn't called me to be his own, my life would be in total shambles. I wasn't doing a very good job with running my own life! Today, as I often do, I stand amazed that my God would look at me and call me his beloved child, his chosen child. I am so happy to be his!

And now, for some pictures of the festivities...




Spa Night

One of the many advantages to being a mentor to high school girls is that I get to do high school girl stuff....like Spa Night!

Last night we had the girls over to enjoy a night of food, facials, and fun! 

Emily looks great even with white stuff spread all over her face!

They were lining up for their facials.

I've never seen young ladies so happy to put paraffin on their hands! 

More fun with paraffin!

Not all cucumbers were for eating apparently.

Did we mention the pedicures?  Our foot bath was small, but in demand!
These ladies were beautiful before their spa treatment, but their skin and nails were radiant after being pampered for the evening.

Have I told you already that I love these ladies?  Well, I do!

Memories Were Made, Feet Were Frozen

Sorry for the delay in getting you the detailed description of our concert adventure! Lack of sleep, post-concert depression, and adult responsibilities all prevented a post concert post.  They did not prevent me from uploading my concert pictures to Facebook, however! If you care to, you can view those photos here.

For those that care for a somewhat detailed account of our adventure, here you go...

We got to the venue around 3:00, and discovered that there were about 40 to 50 people in line already, despite the 25 degree weather.  This was only temporarily disheartening, as we were aware of something that the people in line were not, that being that the venue opens doors on two sides of the entrance and the doors are fed from two different line.  Sooooooo, we promptly and without great fanfare, started line #2 on the adjacent side of First Avenue, thus placing us at the very front of the line.

The lesson in that story is: know your venue, folks!

It was cold!!  We had a few "band member sightings" while waiting in line.  We high-fived Kyle as he walked by, and I got a wave out of Dan when he discovered we spotted him across the street. I also spoke about five words to Kyle when he was locked out of the venue and came to our door to try to get in...poor guy! My dear, sweet hubby brought us coffee, and by us, I mean, half of the people in the line.  We made lots of friends :-) Did I mention it was cold?

When doors finally opened at 6:00 we made a dash for the barrier and secured prime spots there.  Can I just say once again, it was cold out?  We were so happy to be inside a heated building, oh, and being at the barrier was pretty sweet as well.

Opening act was To Kill A King, and they were great.  They put on a great show.  Bastille came next and they did an amazing show!  If you go to my FB pictures you can see the set list, which was tossed to us after the show.

While the concert was over quite early, we stuck around for a looooong time, hoping to get pictures with the band.  Unfortunately, they never came out.  We discovered the next day that they were next door in The Depot, and if we had gone in there we could have chatted with them.  Live and learn, I guess.

It was a great time! Just to prove it, I will leave you with a video someone made of the song Poet.  I was SO happy that they sang it, as it is one of my favorites!  To get your bearings, I was directly in front of the two drums to Dan's left.

Why?

Way back in January when I bought tickets for the April 1 Bastille concert, I imagined April first being sunny and around 60.  Perfect weather for waiting in line to get the front row at a concert.  It could have been....

Now that it's April 1, I see the reality of April in Minnesota.  Like some cruel April Fool's joke, it is snowing and in the 20's with a nasty wind to boot!

Will we still wait in line to be at the front? Yup!

So, you might ask, why do I do such a crazy thing?  Why would a 48 year old mom freeze her fanny off to see a band with her kids...and other people's kids? Why did I drive 11 hours in September and stand in line in 102 degree weather to be at the barrier for Mumford & Sons? Why do I do all the crazy things I do?

Maybe I read too much G.K. Chesterton.

Say what?

Well, I was reading a book of his a few years ago, and the premise of it was to live while you're alive.

We're each given about 80 or 90 years here on this earth.  They go by fast, I hear.  The problem is that many people stop living long before the lid closes on the casket.  Everyday life sucks the life right out of living.  We're all breathing and our physical heart is beating, but is our heart still beating?

I want to taste and experience life, not just pass through it on the way to the grave.  I want to make memories for myself, for my friends, for my family.  To quote Ben Howard,  "I've come to know that memories Were the best things you ever had."

So, to experience life today, I'll freeze on a cold sidewalk. I'll stand at the barrier to see Bastille. I'll sing loudly. I'll jump up and down. I'll stay up way too late.  And I will make memories.

Friday Fotos

 It was a good week.