Last Day of School

I know people always say this and I'm just as guilty, but wow, this school year went really fast! June 11th marked the last day of school and the start of summer. However, this is the first time I know of that the weather was cool and sprinkling on the last day of school. None the less, it was time for all the school projects from the entire year to come home, class parties and wild children running around. As we've done since Kiley finished kindergarten in 2004, we took our annual "last day of school picture" with the Coombs boys and any other children that we invite in each year. This is the 6th year we've taken this picture and it's always fun to look back and compare the picture to years past.

We are starting our summer off with a camping trip with the O'Malleys in Carpinteria and the girls will bring summer to a close the second week of August at Forest Home's Adventure Mountain summer camp. I'm sure there will be many beach trips and fun activities in between and so we welcome the start of summer with open arms.

And the award goes to...

I don't know how the last 18 years went by so fast, but somehow we have arrived at the magical event of our nephew, Ryely's high school graduation from Claremont High. Ryely was born during the first year that John and I were dating and was our ring bearer when he wasn't quite 4 years old. This past Christmas marked his 18th birthday. We couldn't be more proud of him. He has grown into such a kind, intelligent, athletic, polite and helpful young man. He is a talented swimmer and diver and an even better water polo player (taking after his father). He even made the varsity water polo team as a freshman. A couple of days before graduation, Ryely received the "Scholar Athlete of the Year" award at the senior awards ceremony. That was quite an honor and we have no doubt it was well deserved. Ryely will be going off to college soon and there is no doubt we will miss him dearly. He is headed to Indiana to go to Rose-Hulman, a top engineering school in the US. Way to go Ryely!

Recorder Recital

We knew it was coming, it's a 3rd grade tradition and there's no getting around it. The "it" I'm referring to is the Recorder Concert (also known as the flutophone). I will actually confess, it wasn't quite as bad as I remember when Kiley had to do it. Makenna even had a speaking part. There was a mix of singing songs and students playing songs on the recorder in small groups and sometimes the entire group. A highlight for us all was when Makenna played "Amazing Grace" with only 2 other children. She did a great job and we are all so proud of her and also proud to have it done and over with.

Floating Through Pennsylvania

The long anticipated State Float Parade had finally arrived. This float was the final stage of the earlier posted State Poster project. Each student had to make a small float of their selected state that represents everything about that state. As you may remember, (if you read my blog regularly) Kiley's state was Pennsylvania. Kiley and I did a lot of planning on what we thought should be included on the float, the materials we would need and how to make everything "stick" together. The school instruction sheet suggested using old laundry soap boxes, but Kiley wanted to use a lot of "3-D" objects on her float, which would require using many toothpicks. We decided foam would be best and we wrapped it in paper to prevent it from "shedding" everywhere. We had to be very creative, as the instructions were clear that everything on the float had to be homemade. We weren't permitted to use any plastic figurines or little toy figures. We used toothpicks, tinfoil, tons of paper, glitter glue, tissue paper, string and much more, and finally the float was complete. The project was due on a Tuesday, with judging taking place that evening by a selected group of teachers. The students would find out if they earned any ribbons the next day before the parade. Ribbons were given out for 1st-3rd place in several categories, including "best state advertisement," "best use of color," "most creative" and "best overall." For the "Parade of Floats," all the 5th graders, about 100 of them, lined the walkway of the school and students and parents got to walk down the line of floats to view them all and see which floats earned ribbons. Kiley was very hopeful that she would receive a ribbon. I had made my way about 3/4 the way down the float path when I finally arrived at Kiley's float and her beaming smile. From behind her back, her hand popped up into the air sporting her 3rd place finish for "best advertisement." She had such a look of pride on her face that I'll never forget. After a difficult year of lots of homework, tons of tests, much harder work and changes in friends, Kiley finally reached her proudest moment of the entire school year! Way to go Kiley!

Melting Zebra!

As Makenna's year in 3rd grade is coming to an end, we knew from Kiley's 3rd grade year that Makenna would soon be assigned an animal report. After a lot of thought and many "change-of-minds," Makenna finally settled on the zebra. She did an incredible job of searching for information on the internet both at home and at the computer lab at school. She wrote an excellent report that required very little editing on my part (another writer in the family perhaps?). Next came the optional, although mandatory in Makenna's mind, art project. Kiley did her 3rd grade animal report on macaws and our friend, Jaye, made a clay model of a macaw, which we cooked for the clay to harden and Kiley painted. This time around, Makenna also called on Jaye for a clay model of a zebra. With the project due a couple of days after Memorial Day and Jaye's presence at our holiday bbq, we handed Jaye all the clay we had in the house, (I believe he had to use 3-4 different colors of clay to have enough to make the zebra) Jaye began working away and handed over a perfectly formed zebra in what seemed like minutes! Makenna was thrilled and couldn't wait for us to bake it the next day so she could paint it. The next day was busy, so we didn't get around to baking it until the end of the day when Makenna was going to bed. Although she needed to take it to school the next morning, she had already determined she wanted to leave the zebra multi colored so that it would be an "abstract" zebra, so all she had to do in the morning was paint the eyes, nose, mouth and lines for the hooves. I was busy folding laundry when John entered the room with shock on his face and the words, "it melted." It melted??? How did it melt? Apparantly, only one of the colorful clays we used was cookable. The picture below shows the results. Fear set in for both of us as we thought about how heartbroken Makenna would be in the morning when we broke the news to her. We both gathered up the remainer of all the clay we had and both went to work on trying to form a zebra. I think we were both hoping God would temporarily grant us both some amazing artistic ability, but it was useless, neither us have any talent when it comes to clay! I can paint you a mural, but all I know how to do with clay is roll a ball or flatten it into a pancake. I think John's only artistic ability involves stick figures. Our only hope was some sort of downloadable paper folding project. With each of us on our laptops, and the time nearing midnight, we searched away until we found the perfect project. It involved cutting out a few random shapes and a toilet paper roll. With cardstock placed in the printer, we hit the print button and prayed for the best in the morning. Fortunately, the surprise project in the morning instantly relieved Makenna's disappointment over the clay incident. The result is pictured below. The funniest part of this all was that at open house a couple of nights later, her zebra project was an absolute hit! Several people even asked us where we found such a great project. God is good!

Moving the Rices

Today was the day we've known was coming for nearly a year now, it's the day Derek, Christiana and Naomi move to San Diego. They are transitioning into the new phase of their lives as fulltime missionaries. There is no doubt in my mind that this new adventure for them is not only God’s great plan for their family, but also that God has equipped them with all they need to serve in this capacity.

My husband, John, and I first met the Rices nearly 5 years ago at our former church. We knew who they were long before they knew who we were. Derek was the worship leader and Christiana served alongside of him. It was evident to us right away that God gifted them to lead His people in worship through music. Both are gifted vocally and Derek is an amazing song writer and musician. One thing that was so evident from the start was that they didn’t want worship time to focus on them at all, instead they wanted all the praise to go to God. I often wondered if either of them even realized how gifted they are as they must be the most humble people I’ve ever met. With all that talent, it would be easy for them to take the credit, but they always gave all the credit to God for their talent. We first got to know them at a church potluck and a friendship began. In January of 2007, I joined the staff at our former church and had the privilege of working with Derek and sharing a wide open office space with him, as well as Janelle and Courtney. It didn’t take long for me to realize that I had met my match when it came to pranks. As one of his biggest musical fans, I LOVED listening to him practice for Sundays and write music for his first CD while I worked at my desk about 20 feet away from him. This sometimes was a curse as he could go from serious singing to obnoxious make-up-as-he-goes song lyrics in a split second. The worst was if anyone showed the slightest bit of irritation, he would get louder and more obnoxious. I always got nervous if I saw him coming towards my desk, as I never knew what he was going to do (blow a horn in my ear, throw a ball at my head, drop a mouse on my desk, spray a burst of air in my face, etc.). He sure made working at the church an adventure!

When Derek and Christiana first came to us nearly a year ago to tell us they were leaving to become missionaries, I couldn’t be more excited for them, but I couldn’t help but be sad for us. They then asked me if I’d be willing to “manage” them through this transition through helping them get organized, map out a plan to raise support, fold and address an endless pile of envelopes, hosting desserts and so much more. I often wondered if they ever knew what an honor it was for me to do this for them and how much it empowered me to serve God through serving them in this capacity. After all, I felt I had gained so much from them through their spiritual gifting and now I could help them through my spiritual gifting.

I could go on forever, but I will stop babbling on and share some of the many lessons I learned from Derek and Christiana, both serious and comical.

* They taught me how to block all the distractions around me and just freely stand in the presence of the Holy Spirit and worship God. I learned that the most amazing worship occurs when I make everything about God and lose myself in worship, allowing myself to respond only to the Holy Spirit and not out of wonder of what those around me are thinking.

* They taught me that my heart for missions doesn’t mean I have to move halfway around the world (although I’d give away everything and become a missionary in a heartbeat), I can serve in missions right in my own neighborhood.

* I learned what a true heart for serving and a little time will make the world of difference to the less fortunate in this world.

* My spiritual gifting is just as important as their spiritual gifting, not all gifts have to be “high profile.”

* Most of all, they helped me see that God ALWAYS redeems the most difficult of situations.

*On the lighter side, I learned never to mess with Derek’s guitar for the sake of a prank. His payback will be severe and swift!

* I realized something was up if he looked me in the eyes and cracked a sly smile from the front of the church. Who knew what he had done with my personal possessions.

* I learned he would do ANYTHING to save a marshmallow.

* If Derek has a camera, leave immediately or he will take the most hideous picture of me and paste it everywhere he can for months!

* Finally, I learned that no matter how hard he tried, I was always capable of outwitting him.

So, Derek and Christiana, this is not goodbye. John and I know God has plans for us to serve alongside you as much as possible as we teach others about the love of God by serving the forgotten community of people that live on the streets and/or extreme poverty in downtown San Diego. We love you!

Volcanic Eruption

Life sure has been busy lately. As we come to the end of another school year, a common phrase I hear is, "we're winding down to the last day of school." Really? We're "winding down?" I would say it's more like a "volcanic eruption" of mass chaos as the school year comes to an end. Kiley has a "State Float" due, a huge project that seems like a bit much for each 5th grader and Makenna has a report due. STAR testing has finally ended, so running to the store for healthy snacks for the entire class is done. However, there is still much to be done, "Intent to Return" forms have to be turned in to the school, then if the answer is "yes," you have to fill out a long form on the type of learning environment is best for your child so they are placed in the right class the following year (can't they just look at all the previous forms I've filled out?), there are supplies to buy for end-of-the-year parties and the list goes on and on. We continue on this crazy path until we finally hit the wall of the last day of school. So, forgive me if I don't feel like I'm "winding down" from the school year. I'll officially wind down once a year's worth of school work has been sifted through and filed in either the "memory box" or the trash, the backpacks and lunch boxes are washed and put away and I go to bed without setting the alarm for another crazy morning of getting the girls out the door for school. Until then, I'll go with the flow of the volcanic eruption.