Millennial Choir

 

Our week started off to a great start! My school photo event started this week and will run through next week. I was able to photograph 61 children this week, next week I will add about 15 more. Monday was by far the busiest day, I was hanging out in my garage for about 5 hours. Monday is typically my grocery shopping day, I had to push that towards late afternoon. I was delighted the wait in line was zero, the past couple months the wait is over 30 minutes. We had an easy charcuterie style dinner, a new favorite. I also tried a new recipe similar to a 7 layer dip except Mediterranean style with hummus, greek yogurt, cucumbers, tomatoes, olives, parsley, etc as the toppings. Monday was the Lance Family zoom meeting. We got to see Joe and Kat show off juggling and painting as their talents. Each family was able to showcase some talents. The Suapaia family sang along to a gospel song the girls love. Everett showed off a card trick, Phillip some Legos he built, Evelyn and Mia sang, and Josie sang the ABCs. She was disgruntled so later showed off her counting skills, when asked what 2 pencils plus 2 pencils she promptly responded, "ONE, DUH!" We heard about James' adventure in Hawaii. Lia sang with her new ukulele. The rest of the Lances had a fun kazoo and nose flute song. Jeremy's family sang Popcorn Popping, and then Jeremy played a guitar song. Jared and Jeffrey were unavailable. Dad shared a song that reminds him of his parents. Mom crocheted baby hats for donation. 

Shortly after the zoom meeting mom emailed us all. Her most recent mammogram revealed a 3/4 inch cancerous mass in her breast. After much research and deliberation she decided to have the mass removed (that was a no-brainer) and do 4-6 weeks of targeted radiation. She is more worried about the radiation especially after all the damage done when she had cancer as a child. We've all begged Dad to come home, this was the final straw. He put in his notice and is coming home to take care of mom and grandma Jean. Mom will be out of commission for a couple months as she goes through treatment. In her research there is a promising treatment using artemesinin (wormwood) which is commonly used to treat malaria. Of course the medication is not widely available in the US, it doesn't make the big pharma companies enough money because it is naturally derived. Mom will add in the artemesinin and diet changes according to the research she found. We are gathering on Sunday for a family fast in Mom's behalf and keeping her in our prayers. I was torn in between crying and making off-colored boob jokes. It's hard to realize your mom is not actually immortal. 

Justin is urging me to use my time wisely, to recuperate and gather my strength for my year of sabbatical. I am too talented at staying busy. I pulled out my flute this week because I might request a new one for Christmas. It's hard to tell if my flute is terrible or if I am! LOL. Maybe I should borrow one first before I invest in a newer one. I also enjoy listening to Charlie Kirk, Meridian Magazine, and other podcasts. My brain is waking up which is strange, my thinking patterns are improving. I am reading the "The Indifferent Stars Above" by Daniel James Brown. All I can say is: gruesome. Insert skeletal hand reaching above the hardships of 14 years of kids....I'm ALIVE! Ha ha. 

Amelia spent a couple afternoons helping her dance class teacher decorate a float for homecoming. She and Clair painted 6 surfboards after school on Wednesday. The little girls were thrilled with the bottles of paint, they painted a few cardboard boxes and the garage floor. I made a comment about the floor mess, Amelia felt obligated to clean it. Justin found her crying the garage scrubbing the floor with no results. We assured her it was not a big deal, paint is cheap and the garage floor is supposed to be messy. She enjoyed riding on the float Friday afternoon during the school's homecoming parade. They even drove to the closest elementary school, she loved throwing candy for the cute little kiddos. 

Evelyn and Phillip stayed home from school on Wednesday. Phillip had an upset stomach episode before bed on Tuesday. Evelyn woke up with a tummy ache that did not go away eating or using the bathroom. I sent her to school with a note to contact me after an hour if she was still in pain. Evelyn and I had an intake appointment with a cognitive behavioral therapist at 2 so I was going to take her out of class early regardless. Phillip and Evelyn were quite disappointed with my decree of no TV or movies. They were bored! Ha ha. Phillip was allowed to read books and catch up on his math homework using Prodigy. He was ready for school the next day. Phillip's voice is really starting to change lately. He sounds like he's inflicted with a bad sore throat. Evelyn and I did not have a good experience at our first visit with Liz. Liz has a very heavy Indian accent, it was difficult for Evelyn to listen and respond. I just did not feel good about our meeting. Justin suggest we use a pediatric-based business. He contacted a local branch in Nampa, it is not listed on our insurance so will need to pay out-of-pocket. They also have a wait-list but not 8 months (I hope?). She was a beast on Thursday morning. I woke her up with morning sniffs and tickles. She turned into Jekyll once her foot hit the last step to the main level. At one point she grabbed a stick and tried to chase Everett, Josie, and I with it intending to hit one of us. Nope! Nope little one, not going to let that slide. I got several dirty looks as she was dropped off at school sobbing, little stinker. I am happy she turned her attitude around and came home happy. 

Thursday was our first afternoon practice with Millennial Choir. I felt a little stressed printing, organizing, and assembling 4 choir binders. Another stressor was figuring out how to work the afternoon because each age group is staggered and Josie and I are not supposed to hang out at the building. I made a pasta salad the older kids could take and eat before choir. It worked out this week for Justin to pick up the Phillip and Amelia after their practices. Josie was a little interested in singing, I wanted to sign her up but that means forking out more money. I enjoyed observing the first practice. Brett Stewart, the founder and dean, flew up to Boise and conducted the first rehearsals! That was fun to meet him. He had the children, youth, and concert choirs singing in parts within the first 20 minutes of introducing Beautiful Savior. Everett and Evelyn practice from 4:35-5:35; Phillip practices from 5:05-6:40; and Amelia practices from 5:15-7:30 each Thursday. I headed home after the children's choir practice. Phillip sat in the lobby until Justin showed up, he kept busy reading Lightening Thief. I feel quite relieved not to stay until 7:30 and/or drive back and forth a couple times. I am quite excited for the kids to experience this year of music.  

Justin took a motorcycle trip on Saturday. He drove a couple hundred mile loop suggested on a local motorcycling page. I spent a couple hours at Lakeshore laminating singing time props...and shopping. I found a cute dress and cardigan plus two cute pairs of jeans for Mia. Sara printed out a hundred pages of props on her color printer. We split the job of cutting out all the pieces. Now I am working to cut the laminated items out of the large laminated roll. The kids had hours of TV time by the time I got back home. We headed to the rec center for an hour or so of swimming. Phillip, Mia, and Evelyn all stayed right by my side complaining...why?! Why do we have to swim? Mom! You're ruining my life.