It's a beautiful life....oh woah oh oh...It's a beautiful life...

Like that blast from the past?? Gotta love that 80s and early 90s pop!

I'm going to have a stressful couple of weeks coming up... and it all starts with "Just another manic Monday...whoa oh oh....." I have rehearsals starting this week for a concert that at one time I was REALLY excited about. But excitement has waned and become dread. Ugh....

First of all, I have to work with several teachers whom I just don't know how to read yet. My first year in the building is making me nuts (trying to figure out who I can trust and who I can't). I always feel like I'm "Walkin' on, walkin' on broken glass" around them. I want them to like me on one hand, and on another, they don't seem so nice and I'm not sure I want to be associated with them. Does that make sense?

And trying to get 5th grade boys to do choreography is like trying to get Chad to an opera. So since about half of what they do involves that, I'm going to be a total nut case next week. I'm part entertainer, part drill sargeant, part mother, part kid when I'm in front of them. That's a lot of hats to wear. Anyone who has ever had to motivate children or worked with them for any amount of time probably gets that...

*Sigh* At least there's a light at the end of my tunnel. In ten days this will all be behind me and I can focus on summer and the joys it brings. And then it will be "School's out for summer!" :)

Have a fabulous day!

Judge Not

Life is crazy. But I'm okay. I have had something every night this week...and that is exhausting. Maybe when school is out, I'll be better off....or at least when my concerts at school are over. One performance down tonight. AND BOY AM I GLAD IT'S DONE! Those kids in that group have just about ruined my enthusiasm for a 5th grade choir, let me tell you. I don't think I will do one next year. That's how bad it is. Kids aren't committed. They don't show up, and when they do, their parents don't pick them up for like an hour after rehearsals are over. They show up to performances with completely wrong outfits. They don't show up at all. I'm just so not in to it. One parent came up to me fuming about the way some of them looked tonight, and I just calmly looked at her and said, "I wasn't with them when they walked out the door. Were you?" Then she proceeded to tell me how I should have said and done this or that. I quickly ended that conversation. I have better things to do than to get involved in a conversation like that.

I was just enjoying the art work (we sang at the art show). The kids' work was amazing! The art teacher had them mount and display their work and then they all filled out a slip of paper that had their usual things like name, grade/teacher, art supplies they used, etc. Then she asked one thing that they had learned from the project. Most kids wrote things like "I learned how to draw a penguin" or "that I am a good artist." But one struck me. A girl with low self esteem and a severe weight problem said, "I learned that there is no judgment in art." Kudos to our art teacher for allowing her to feel good and accepted in that classroom. I hope I do that for the kids that don't fit in. It's my goal.

Well, I'm off. Have some stuff to do for church and then I'm going to go to sleep....hopefully REALLY early. But I doubt it cause it's already almost 10! *sigh* Oh well, the weekend's right around the corner.



Um...real quick before I go. I was looking up Scripture for a church service, and it just so happened that some of my favorites are fitting an upcoming worship service:

Isaiah 26:3-4 "You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal."

John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."

Phillippians 4:7 "And the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Pride Comes Before the Fall

There is one vice of which no man in this world is free, which everyone in the world loathes when he sees it in someone else, and which hardly any people except Christians ever imagine they are guilty of themslves. The only people who do not see it that way are Christians. There is no fault that makes a man more unpopular, no fault which we are more conscious of in ourselves. And the more we have it in ourselves, the more we dislike it in others. According to the Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is pride. Unfaithfulness, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that are mere flea bites in comparison. It was through pride that the devil became the devil. Pride leads to every other vice. It is a completely anti-God state of mind.
~C.S. Lewis

The world of EBAY!!!!

HELP!!!

The Ebay Universe has completely sucked me in! I haven't exactly bet the house or anything, but I am obsessed with finding deals. I'm convinced that somewhere there will be something I need that will be like 99 cents and I'll win it because no one else is paying attention..Yeah, like I'm the only one with the obsession. I'm a little nervous. I did bid a whopping 99cents on a pair of pants for Luke! HA!

I think part of my problem is that I brought up all the clothes from the basement to take inventory on the stuff we had for summer. Needless to say, Drew, Evan and Gabriel are set (ESPECIALLY Gabriel!)....but Luke? Not so much. Then I think, it's probably okay...there is absolutely no storage room here. The four boys have one set of drawers because of our tight quarters...

Anyway, I'm obsessed. It's like a whole new world out there. Amazon and Ebay definitely saw me coming! Don't worry, I won't lose my head.....but I have definitely lost many hours on it already!

Have a fantastic day!
~Michelle

I can't wait!

Chad's band played tonight. It was fun. I love going to his shows. When they get the CD done, I think it will be awesome! Some of these songs are amazing. I think they could sell them. Maybe I can figure out a way to get them on a website for you to hear....hmmmm....well, that's it tonight.

HAVE A GREAT SUNDAY!

Meet the fam part 2

EASTER 2006 PICTURES
Evan - red, Luke - green, Drew - orange, Gabriel - blue

Meet the family!

This is one of my favorite pictures of our ornery Drew! He's so sweet!






















This is Evan last summer at a park. (He's the younger twin by one minute....)






















This is Luke on the playground...after 2 broken arms last summer, I'm a little nervous when he gets on these things..but this is proof that he can survive it!



































This is my beloved Gabriel for all of you who haven't seen me for a while...we were blessed with our 4th surprise almost a year and a half ago. Chad and I were pretty shocked to say the least, to find out we were having another baby...and then to find out it was a 4th boy!!! He's been a complete joy, though. He is developing a great personality and a very cute giggle!! :)






















And this is Drew, Luke, and then Evan....a fiasco at times, but always lovable! Drew and Evan are 3 and a half and our oldest, Luke is now 5 and 1/2. He goes to Kindergarten in August. Drew and Evan begin Preschool this fall as well. It's hard to believe they are that old already! (That date is wrong, by the way. This picture was probably taken at the end of Feb. or beginning of March of this year.)

Jude 1:24-25

24 Now to Him being able to keep you without stumbling, and to set you before His glory without blemish, with unspeakable joy;
25 to the only wise God, our Savior, be glory and majesty and might and authority, even now and forever. Amen.