InstaFriday

I intended to do my InstaFriday post yesterday, but it was a busy day full of school work and laundry, followed by a church fellowship. So... here I am today!

I feel like I should say something about the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy, but I don't know what to say. I stay pretty out of touch most days (don't watch the news or even check Facebook much), so I didn't know anything had happened until we were driving to our Sunday School party Friday night. I asked David why all the flags were at half mast. He didn't want to tell me at first, because he knows things like that really upset me (which is why I avoid the news). All I can say is that it is horrible. I'm praying for the families involved, and I hope they trust in the Lord and will be able to lean on Him for comfort and peace in the days, weeks, months, and years to come.

----

Last weekend, my mom came to visit for her birthday. She also came to see Braden's musical theater performance, and we took in a few other shows, too -- "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" on Friday, our church Christmas cantata Sunday morning, and Braden's children's choir concert at church Sunday evening.


1. Grandma brought a box set of the first four Boxcar Children books for Braden's birthday.


2. Mom wanted to go to Crystal Bridges while she was here. We got the best (as in closest) parking spot! This was the view from my car window. Seriously! It pays to go on a weekday afternoon.
3. We first went to the temporary exhibit, "Light."


4. I love the lines in this hallway. I took a picture of David in there when we went on my birthday earlier this year.
5. Even the bathroom has nice lines. :)


6. Happy birthday, Grandma!
7. Mom requested to play games on her birthday night, so we started with Trivial Pursuit (Genus III). It was slow going (those questions are so difficult!), so we did the cheat method where you get a pie piece every time you answer a question correctly. After that we played Tri-Bond, and David is definitely the reigning champ of that game!


8. Braden sang a solo with his choir at church. So proud of him!
9. Monday night, we were back at church for a banquet. Before dinner, the boys raced around while David rehearsed with a quartet.


10. The quartet sounded great, and I liked that they included the "Amen" at the end of their first hymn. Growing up, we always sang "Amen" at the end of every hymn. At our church now, we rarely sing out of the hymnal, and almost never include an "Amen" at the end. It was nice.


11. I went out and did the rest of my Christmas shopping one night this week, and saw this endcap at Walmart. Apparently, Crayola has caught on to the crayon melting art craze, and is now packaging color combos designed specifically for melting.
12. I picked up a Where's My Water soap dispenser. Cam was very excited to find it in the bathroom the next morning. He couldn't wait to show me and also go potty so he could wash his hands and "suse the Swampy soap."


13. Thursday morning was Cameron's last fitness class for this session, and the moms got to come in and play. Cameron loved the bead chaser his teacher brought out.
14. He found some awesome hiding places when we played hide & seek. :)


15. Cam and I went to Sam's Club after his class. Is it weird that I think this workbench would make a really cool entertainment console?
16. Surely something in my house could benefit from rainbow organization.


17. Thursday, after school, Braden went with the musical theater group to perform all the songs from "A Rockin' Royal Christmas" at a nearby nursing home.
18. After the nursing home concert, I took the boys to get haircuts, and we met Daddy for dinner at a Mexican restaurant. After dinner, we went to hear our friend, Matt, give a little Christmas concert at Chick-fil-A. It was great. The boys played in the play area while David and I enjoyed the music. It was almost like being on a date (except for the multiple times when we heard screaming, and I had to go check on them). It was great to see Matt again (we were in marching band together with him and his wife in college), and we love to hear him sing and play guitar.

That wraps up our week.

I encourage you to go read Jeannett's post for today over at Life Rearranged.  It will lift your spirits, I promise. She's been raising money to fund the adoption of a little girl named Yana (the fund will go to help whatever family decides to adopt her).  You can donate (even ONE dollar is helpful) by clicking here.



Jeannett is doing an awesome give-away as part of the publicity for the fundraiser, and part of the benefit of me posting these links is an entry in that give-away. You can spread the word and enter to win some awesome stuff, too.  But, really... wouldn't it be amazing if the family who chooses Yana gets the surprise news that thousands of dollars have already been donated to fund her adoption? I think so.