Year 2, Day 305: First Snow!

Yes! It's November 1st, and there was snow on the ground!  It quickly melted, but hey, we got snow before PEI!  It's supposed to be in the 60's on Sunday though.  At least Abishai knew what it was, too, although he didn't want to go out in it.  I had to make a mad dash of taking pictures and videos because Grandma was taking Abishai with her while I took Keturah and Justin to gymnastics and grocery shopping.  Abishai asked to have a nap at Grandma's house, so he did, which enable the kids and I to work hard on their math and bust a move at home before going back out again for Bible Bowl.  Jared took Abishai and Keturah out on a date to Chick-Fil-A and I stayed at church to relax and work on other things, like taking in Abishai's pants so they won't fall off his bum.  It probably stretches out the elastic more, but if I don't do it, then he will outgrow the length of the pants before he outgrows the waist.  Then a mad dash home to put everything away and clear out the kitchen counters and dining room so that repairmen can fix the leak near the canned lights tomorrow.

Also tomorrow, the kids and I have another field trip and Jared and Benaiah, with Gary, have the ReChurch conference at church.  And boy did it ever look professional in there tonight!  I have never gone to ReChurch or even seen the exhibit hall and such, so it's pretty sweet that our church can do an event like this.  And the worship band was rockin' it tonight while they practiced.  I've never joined the band because they play so well and it's so intimidating.  Not necessarily being on stage, but the mega ultra talent up there.  But it's cool.  Benaiah is helping with tech for ReChurch so he gets out of a day of school tomorrow plus a field trip to the symphony on Friday.  Depending on the day it is, one of our homeschool groups will be doing a trip to symphony so maybe I can take him to that.  I'm so grateful that the school is flexible enough to allow their good student to do something like this.

And somewhere in this chaos I have to still feed all these people, homeschool, and sleep.  Never mind projects for the home or business.  Ah!  I guess there's always caffeine to rely on, eh?  Not really.  Bad, bad idea.  Although, I did have a gas station regular coffee today with non dairy creamer, splenda and chocolate caramel sauce and I didn't have much of a reaction, AND I used a giftcard.  Woot! Woot!  Keturah and Justin also had a treat.  Justin asked to buy some treats for his friends at Bible Bowl practice tonight, too, so I let him.  He has a very compassionate and kind heart.  And then there's feisty Keturah who protests every single day about math.  Granted it's multiple digit multiplication, so it is a bit hard, but she has to master this to some degree before we can move on to division.  Perhaps at the end of this book, I will just have her practice her times tables because that's what takes the most time.  She's getting there, but the process could go a bit faster if she memorized her facts.  I know it took Justin a long time, too.  What was funny was that Justin was doing multiple digit multiplication, but with decimals.  And both of them are using the longer versions of the solutions and not the shortcuts.  Math U See, their curriculum, teaches the why behind the math, and therefore, does every single step of the process and then shows them the shortcuts.  I love math, so it doesn't bother me to teach it, if they are willing to try.

I didn't see Abishai that much today and he's staying with Grandma as well tomorrow and Saturday.  He's Grandma love jar is going to be filled to the brim!  He didn't blink an eye this morning when she got him and barely gave me a "bye Mom" and little wave.  Same thing tonight when I picked him up and took him to church and then Jared took him out.  "Bye mom, see you later! I got with Daddy."  Ok, kid.  I guess I'm not needed.  At least until bedtime when he did give me some big hugs.  I'm sure we'll catch up tomorrow when we get back

Ok, pictures of snow, coming right up!

Time to fix the ceiling!

This little snowflake stayed in my hair all day!  I don't have the right size in the snowflake for my regular style, but I wanted to show off that we love snow, so I wore this little flexi, plus my snowman shirt, penguin socks, and Canada sweatshirt.

Already melting!

Just like my mom, sewing while one of my children is in a class.  Yup, my mom knit many a baby sweater during swimming practice, or gymanstics, or town sports, or maybe even some horsemanship events!

It looks so cool!  All set up like a real conference.  It IS a real conference and the church gets to host it.  I love conferences and I know it's going to bless the attendees.  ReChurch is for staff and leaders in the church.  Gary and many others will speak to help equip ministry leaders to more effectively lead their ministries.  So, this is one for all leaders, not just elders.  Anyway, so cool!

e2's book table, all ready to go and right near their office, too!

e2 hung new pictures on the wall and Abishai said, "Ice Cream! (there) Ice cream! (here) Ice cream! (everywhere!)"  Lol.

The view outside the e2 office doors.

Lots of familiar names around the "exhibit hall."

Oh wow, I didn't know this was a thing!

More friendly names.  Especially Mrs. Laura Dingman, who is one of worship ministers.  She's got some amazing materials and a new book coming out next year that I am privileged to be on the book launch team for.  I can't wait to read it!

Cutest 2 yr old in a winter coat!  Great coat from Land's End, too.  The hood fits so well that it won't slide off like the hoods on the sweatshirt hoodies or other jackets he wears.

Not sure why they block out the windows, but how cool!

The worship band was practicing and played many of the songs we just sang on Sunday.  But all of a sudden, I hear an old school song.  Come to find out, it's an Audio Adrenaline song from 1996 called "Free Ride" from their "Bloom" record.  It was like a favorite song in my youth group!  And these guys tonight totally nailed it!  I'm so jealous that I can't hear them play it tomorrow.  Jared was a junior or senior in high school and I was a freshman or sophmore and the same age as Benaiah.  Pretty neat!

Yup, the Audio A. song must be the theme song for the conference because here's the graphic with theme for this year, "Drive."  Ah, so cool!

Snow!  Before PEI! On November 1st!

See, it's going to warm up again, as always.  Sigh.

This also came up on Instagram today.  25 years ago, "Free At Last" by DCTalk came out.  That was the same album tour as Michael W. Smith's "Change Your World" tour where, I actually didn't like DCTalk's "rapping."  Little did I know how popular it was and how I love TobyMac's hip hop stuff and Michael Tait's talent with the Newsboys.  Kickin' it old school.  You have to understand, that like all teenagers, music was my thing.  Especially Contemproary Christian Music.  I read the magazines, I collected the posters, and I went to the concerts.  I got autographs and t-shirts, and necklaces.  Much simpler times.  And I can't wait until February when I get to take the boys to one of those music festivals with some of these awesome old and new school artists.   Now, I have no idea what Benaiah actually listens to, but I do now keep track of the newer Christian artists and old bands like Newsboys, through Instagram.  I wish I had time to actually sit down and listen to music, but it's just another noise in the chaos of a noisy house and I can't handle all the noise as it is.  Sigh.  Someday I'll get back to it, someday.

Here's a little sneak peak (Oh, how I love it!):

Audio Adrenaline Cover by Indian Creek worship band