A Quiet Time

Yes, it has actually been a very quiet month in our home....in everyday life, if not in volume. I have been home~not out of town~since Dec. 20th. That is the longest stretch for me since April of last year! We have spent this month, just being. : ) And, actually, I gave my body a rest at one point, and did not leave my house for 15 days!!! Can you believe it? It was terrific!

In our home school, we are plugging along quite well. Daniella is whizzing through math, and loves it. She is still struggling with reading. The phonics thing is just not clicking, at least yet. I am not worried, but she gets frustrated because she wants to read so much. Most of the words that she can read at this point are words that she has just memorized their spelling. She can sound out words, but it is extremely laborious, and it never gets much better. Marissa could never read by phonics, so we may be taking that path with Daniella. We have finally reached a change, that I hope is permanent, in Marissa's attitude toward math. She struggles with it, therefore, she hates it. That part has not changed, but her willingness to sit down and just get the work done has changed for the better....much better. We are also enjoying a lapbook on the human body, especially Marissa. She finds it fascinating.

They both started piano lessons~ Daniella in Sept. and Marissa in Dec. We were quite surprised Marissa wanted to take, but so far she is persevering. We are also seeing the connection between being good at math and being good in music that we have always heard about.

James is in the midst of repainting a great deal of the inside of our house. Yay!! Nothing exciting. Just freshening it up, and getting rid of a wallpaper border in my living/dining area that was ancient. We are going to choose a new color, perhaps a smoky gray/blue for the foyer. We are also going to paint Briana's old bedroom, as we get rid of the little girl, and turn it into a guest room. sigh! : ) This past week, we went to Big Lots and bought a solid wood bed for that room for $150! The one in there is a rickety, old, worn out brass bed that she has had since she was three. We are all glad to see it go. : ) She bought her bed for her apt. at Big Lots, and has been thrilled with it. The quality is very good, and it is a beautiful sleigh bed, so we think we will like this new one. Ashley and I packed up a lot of the things Briana had left here and cleaned out her closet last week, too. AND! while we were at Big Lots, we used Christmas money from James' mother and bought a couch and love seat by Ashley Furniture for our den. I am so thankful to be rid of that 14 year old, green sectional! Well, almost rid of it. We have to get someone to help James haul it off, so right now both of them are in the den. Between that mess and the mess of all the moved furniture in the living/dining room because of painting, my house is quite the disaster area. I'm ready for furniture to start crawling back into it's place.

Ashley found out last week that a magazine article that she submitted to TOS is being published in the Spring issue! Very exciting for her....well, all of us! I was as excited as she was. She is absolutely loving her job at camp, and is so excited about the spring events and summer camps. It will be new to her, being in the roll of staff, and she's a little nervous, but it is going to be great. She loves her bosses, and they love her.

Briana will be opening in Annie next Friday night. We will be traveling over on Wed. so that James can take dress rehearsal pics on Wed. and Thurs., then we'll come home on Sun. afternoon. Can't wait to see it. Also, this week, she was ASKED to audition for a small cast show opening in March. This is a big deal to be asked to audition. This play is mostly professional actors. There will only be one or 2 in the cast of 9, who will not be professionals. She could be one of them! : ) The audition was today. There were 6 girls/women today auditioning for one role, and she was among the 3 who got called in for a 2nd reading!! Later, they texted her, and told her to come back Tues. for a call back. Whether she makes it or not (which would be so thrilling!), it was a super great experience for her today going through this different type of audition and doing cold readings of the part with these professionals. Plus, great that she was asked to audition and called back.

As for me, I started a Beth Moore Bible study a couple of weeks ago on Esther, and I have picked back up on my scrapbooking. I am working on a scrapbook of Briana's shows. I got Shenandoah finished, and am now tackling Hairspray. Talking about picture overload. Too many to choose from! It's fun, though.

Thank you to those who checked on me. Life has been full of God's presence, God's teachings, God's training, my stumbling, my learning, my leaning. We are still going through some spiritual trials with a loved one (not in my immediate family), and it keeps me on my knees...and on my face ....before the Lord. He has made us great and precious promises, and He is teaching me, in even a deeper way, to hang onto those and not take my eyes off of them or Him.

Letitia

December Blessings

Just like Nov......and Oct....and Sept......you get the picture!......December has been crazier than I planned. Prov. 16:9, "The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps." Most definitely true! : D I went on Dec. 3rd, spent one night with Briana, saw her in It's a Wonderful Life, then brought her back home for 2 nights so that she could help us decorate for Christmas. James took her back on Friday, and my plan was to spend the rest of the month until the 18th working on Christmas lapbooks with Marissa and Daniella, bake with them, finish up my shopping, etc.

However...the Sunday and Monday after James took her back, Briana went out of town. When she got back at about 11:00 Monday night, she found someone had broken into her apartment while she was gone. She called me, and was standing at the bottom of the stairs still in the building with her dog. Her apt is upstairs. I had her get back in her car, lock the doors, and call 911. I called Troy and my parents, and they all went over to be with her. They got her computer (which mostly upset her because of all of the pictures on it, along with a story she had been writing on for about 2 years.), an old video camera (which naturally had a tape of her Oct. Utah trip in it), a $150 bracelet that was a graduation gift from her aunt, some misc. cheap jewelry, get this....a large pack of toilet paper!, vacuum cleaner, a couple of dvds, some art pencils. about $250 cash, and a bag of chocolates out of her refrigerator. They completely trashed her bedroom~dumped everything out of the chest of drawers, papers strewn all over the room, dumped everything out of the laundry hamper, jewelry thrown across the room, dumped everything out of her dance bag. Some random things from the bedroom were in the living room, 2 pieces of chocolate laying in the hall. We honestly believe from the looks of things~ the way things were randomly scattered, and things like the art pencils missing, but 2 dvds were taken out of their cases and stuffed into the bag that the art supplies were in~that a child was with them.

Whoever it was also knew she was out of town and had plenty of time. It turns out that the apt downstairs was broken into also, but their front door wasn't busted down like Briana's. They went in through a maintenance door in the back and cut a hole into their bathroom wall. Those people were also out of town, and the only person who knew both of them were gone is the girl (and her boyfriend) that lives across the hall from Briana. It also had to be someone who knew the layout of the apts to get into the one downstairs. If it wasn't them, the detectives believe it was some of their friends.

Briana spent the next 2 nights with my parents until the detective gave her the okay to go back. I went over on Wed. and helped her clean up, wash all of the clothes they had been through, and just to keep her company for a couple of nights. James came over for the day on Thurs. and installed metal reinforcements around the door frame, making it virtually impossible to kick the door in again. After those 2 nights AND the metal reinforcements, she was okay, and ready to stay alone again. I was not so confident and ready!!!

I came home, spent the next day in bed, then had less than a week before it was time to go back over to see Troy in the closing of Sanders Family Christmas, both of them in the closing of It's a Wonderful Life, and to have dinner with them, Troy's parents, and his sister visiting from Texas. Troy and his sister came back with us that night after the last show, and spent 3 nights, leaving on the 23rd.

Why is this post called December Blessings? Because there were many!
~Briana got to come home to help us decorate, which she didn't get to do last year
~She was not home when her apt was broken into
~She had left her amethyst purity ring there, because it needs resizing, and she didn't want to lose it. They missed it somehow. A picture frame on her dresser fell over on top of it and hid it from view....I think that was God's doing!
~They could have taken a lot more than they did or damaged all of her brand new furniture.
~Her dog was at my parents' house. They could have taken or hurt her.
~They didn't take her extra car key, like we had been afraid they had.
~What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger! LOL
~Someone invented metal reinforcements to go around doors, and her apt managers didn't care if we installed them.
~I got to see Briana twice in It's a Wonderful Life, and saw Troy in Sanders on a date with my husband.
~I managed to get a batch of sugar cookies cut and decorated with Marissa and Daniella before I left that day to go back over after the break-in
~Ashley helped them make and decorate gingerbread cookies.
~Ashley is loving her job in camp ministry, and she and I got to spend time together.
~Briana and Troy both auditioned, and made it into Annie.
~Briana got to come home with us on the 20th, and was here until yesterday. She will be back tomorrow for 4 more nights. The 4 sisters have had the BEST time this past week.
~Troy came and spent time with us last week.
~There was snow up in the mountains still, so we all went up and had a snowball fight while he and his sister were here.
~Somehow, some way, all of the shopping got done by Christmas (with MUCH help from my husband, who did all of the grocery shopping on Christmas Eve!)
~I had a FABULOUS Christmas with my husband and 4 girls!
~I got to go out to dinner with 2 of my friends this week.
~And, LORD WILLING, I will be home (not out of town) for 36 days straight! That will be the longest stretch since April.

~a left over Nov. blessing.....after having to have her kitty put to sleep in Oct., and after much searching on the internet, Briana adopted a dog from the animal shelter here over Thanksgiving break. She is so sweet and adorable. AND, even though the apt has a 20lb dog weight limit, they let her have her 53 lb blessing!! She named her Maddie.

I'm sure there are many more December blessings I've skipped over, and December isn't quite over yet!

I pray all of you have a terrific and blessed New Year!!!

Briana and Maddie~

November Already????!!!!!!

This has to have been the fastest, slowest year of my life!!!! I cannot BELIEVE it is already the middle of November, and I feel a little like I've missed most of this year. At the same time, when I think back to March, May, even July, it seems like an eternity ago! Is that my stress level or old age?! LOL. I am SO not ready for the holidays to be here. I love them, but I'm not ready. On 2nd thought, in a way, I can't wait. ( I told you I was mixed up this year!) Briana will get to come home for 4 nights at Thanksgiving, two or three nights the first week of Dec., and, hopefully, at least a week at Christmas!!

Last entry I posted about Briana's cat, Snickers, having FIP, which was causing brain swelling, and seizures. The steroids got it under control, and we did not have to have him put to sleep like we expected. Less than 2 weeks later (last Thurs.), I did have to go with her to the vet for her to have him put to sleep. We knew the disease would progress at some point, but even the dr. expected it to be over years. In one week, it progressed to shutting down other systems, and though, she could have done things to stall for more time, they both would have been miserable, and it would have been just a short time anyway. I've had pets die several times before, but this is the first time we've ever had to have one put to sleep. It was a heartbreaking day. We were over in the town she lives in camping, so we left one of our dogs with her to keep her company for a while. She wants a dog of her own~this is the 3rd cat she's lost at early ages since her early teen years, and she refuses to get another one.

Homeschooling is plugging away here, although, not exactly where I want it. Right now, we're getting the basics and some occasional other things done. I'd like to get back to our lapbooking. But, both girls are progressing nicely in math, and Daniella's reading has crossed a stumbling block finally, and it's starting to click.

Our annual fall camping trip was fun....weird, but fun. The last 2 years, we've camped at a state park right in the middle of the town where Briana is living, so that she could come with us. We kept having to postpone this year's trip because of really cold weather, and by the time we were able to come, she had started rehearsals for It's a Wonderful Life. And, of course, we also had to put Snickers to sleep during the week. We still enjoyed some good family time, playing games, taking some walks, riding bikes. No pictures, because I am at Briana's now, and don't have my computer.

It's a Wonderful Life opens tonight! I LOVE opening nights~ getting to see a new show for the first time. She has some lines in this one, and gets to talk in an exaggerated NY accent. : ) Coming from a southern girl that should be fun! However, James and Ashley were at dress rehearsal last night taking pictures, and the executive producer at the Playhouse LAUGHED (appropriately) at Briana's lines! He recognized Ashley, and told her that Briana was really funny in that scene. Yay! Empress the executive director girl! : ) She also has a few dances in the show and lots of group songs. Her boyfriend, Troy, is also in this show, though they never have any scenes together. He is Mr. Potter.

Please pray for Ashley's shoulder. I think I mentioned in the post about her Africa trip that her group was chased by a Cape Buffalo on safari (!), and she stumbled and fell. She hurt her shoulder badly, but it improved a great deal over the next few weeks. Well, the last 2 or 3 weeks, she has been back in a lot of pain. The chiropractor is not helping it. Several people have laid hands on her to pray, and we have been praying constantly for it for this whole time. We have to make a decision where to take her next~ an orthopedic dr. for therapy (not surgery!) or to a regular physician to try a steroid injection. I cringe at the thought of steroids, but if it is imflamation, that would probably be what helped it best. The therapy will be long and painful, and not sure if that is what she needs. We were set to make an appt with the ortho dr., but I ran into someone in the store the other night who told me about her injured shoulder and the shots. We're praying for wisdom.

And, finally (I think), the Lord brought Ashley a great opportunity in Oct. He has been clarifying in her life this year that camp ministry is where she wants to work. She has been taking online courses for a couple of years, and has been absolutely miserable every single second. She has prayed and persevered, and has never been at peace or felt like she was where she was supposed to be. A couple of weeks after coming home from Africa, she decided she was not going to continue courses, at least for now. It was a difficult decision for her for a couple of different reasons, but she knew she could always start again, if she discovered she had made a mistake. Within just a couple of weeks of making her decision to stop school, she was offered a part time job apprenticing at the Christian camp that she is a summer counselor for every year! She LOVES it. In just a month and a half of working 2 or 3 days a week, she has led activities at 3 day camps, helped cook a meal for a zillion kids, scrubbed the lodge, helped with the planning of a mid-winter retreat, done computer work, helped design their new brochure, taken photos of the different areas of camp for the brochure, been to a meeting of the board of directors, made changes to their website.......... They want to give her the opportunity to experience every area of running a camp. They are asking her input on changes they are making. She works directly for the camp director and his assistant (his wife). The wife is the main person she works with on a "daily" basis. She is loving it, and it was so neat to see God open up the door for her and fulfill a longing she has had for a while. She has spent countless hours on the computer this year looking for such an opportunity. They were all going to have to wait until at least next summer, and were all in other states. This one is 45 min. away. AND, the Lord blessed her with a wonderful, nice like-new Kia Sportage at the same time she was finding out about this job. She bought the car herself, but the Lord had blessed her with the money, and led her to a gently used, wonderful condition, less than 30,000 miles vehicle., at a GREAT price. Her old car was.......OLD and falling apart. It would have never made it up and down that mountain 2 or 3 times a week for very long.

The Lord is working MAJORLY in a couple of other areas of our lives, as well, and it has been an amazing experience this year. Not easy, not comfortable a lot of the time, but definitely GOOD. I've sat here this morning and typed myself into excitement for what God is working on in our lives! : ) He IS GOOD!

A New Table

I am soooo excited!!  I finally found a dining table like I have been searching for.  I have looked all over this town and the next.  I wanted one large enough to seat at least 8 comfortably when we added leaves in.  But, my problem was finding the style.  Everything that big is either formal or country.  I am somewhere in between.  Today I went back to the very first store I went to, and THERE IT WAS!  They had just gotten this new one in.  And, it was on SALE! 

In order to completely understand my excitement, you would have to visualize the current.......yuck.  We bought this one about 13 or 14 year ago, very cheaply.  We also bought a trend that I LOVED at the time.  If anything ever possesses you to consider buying a table with tiles, please recall this post.  Don't do it!  First, when you buy a table with burgundy tiles, because burgundy is THE color, consider that burgundy won't be THE color for long.  But, most of all, imagine---white grout lines, toddlers, small children, spilled juice, glue, glitter of all colors, more spilled juice, etc.  It all makes for a lovely gookey combination in those grout lines.  They are constantly gooey black, and we are constantly trying to clean them.  Add to that that the 2 person bench that it came with fell in years ago, and now I have 2 lovely blue folding chairs in it's place, and you can imagine why I am so thrilled that today God answered my prayers.  He really did. 

He cares about our wants, too.  I wanted so much to have a dining area that I wasn't so embarrassed by when I had people over.  I have asked him to help me be patient with it, to wait on His timing, and to lead me to the perfect one that we could afford if it was okay with Him that I get a new one.  That's just what He did. 

Now, time for more patience.  They said it may take until mid May to be delivered.  So, you girls coming to my house next week will have to endure my lovely tile table still.  I promise to clean the grout lines.

Tisha

The Stalker

My husband has a lady stalker!  Lest you think I jest---I Do Not!  Fortunately, she doesn't want HIM.  She wants our money!  This is serious.  She's older than us, I'd guess 50's, and her husband used to paint houses for James.  He developed cancer, and we helped them out some financially.  After helping them several times, we began to get the feeling that we were being taken advantage of, and later pretty convinced we were.  Long story short (maybe), even after months later, and he was much better, he would only work for an hour or 2 a day, they still had cable t.v., 2 cell phones, including one for their 12 year old grandson, whom she homeschools, and many other obvious wastes of money.  Because he refused to work, James had to replace him.  The whole time she was continuing to call, manipulate, and even threaten us for us to give them money.  We didn't hear from them for a while, but she is back.  She is threatening James again, saying she is going to ruin his reputation all over the county, she's emailing our pastor, who has pronounced her "crazy", and saying we've ruined their lives.  Mind you, he refuses to get any kind of job, even though he is no longer sick or weak.  She called one day this week ranting and raving, then called a few days later, sweet as pie, asking if her husband could come paint James' next house.  This is starting to get very spooky!  She obviously needs prayers.  I will pray for her, as well as for the safety of my family.