The 4th grade band played in the chapel program at school this morning so Richard and I ran out to hear our favorite trumpeter. They are making progress. Josh is on the back row and is the 2nd boy to the left of the blond boy. Here is a video of them playing. It is of the portion of song they played called, "Childhood hymns."
Matthew 23:10b For one if your Master, even Christ.
Josh and Jaden both participated in Master Clubs at our church this school year. It was Jaden's first year as they start with the 3-year-olds. He did GREAT and learned a lot of verses. I have to tell a cute story on Jaden. Last week when he was with me, I was having to get on to him for not obeying me. I guess I had a stern look on my face as well as a stern tone to my voice. He so sweetly looked up at me and said, "Grandma, the Bible says, "Be ye kind one to another. Ephesians 4:32." I replied, "Yes, Jaden, and the Bible also says in Ephesians 6:1: Children, obey your parents (grandparents, too) in the Lord: for this is right." We are thrilled that Jaden has committed a lot of God's Holy Scripture to memorization this school year.
Josh has been in the Club since age 3 and had a great year in 3rd grade Masters Club. He too has committed a lot of Scripture to memory. What a help through life it will be as he recalls verses that will help him in various situations.
Grandpa and I attended last night's Awards Ceremony and were blessed to see all of the children who participated ~~ some 200 kids in our church from 3-year-olds through 6th grade. Grandpa Richard made a video of each of our boys on stage with their groups. Again, we were so far back that we didn't get great video, but it is better than nothing!
A few days ago, I wrote an article about Jaden loving to do his dot-2-dot pages. His interest in doing them hasn't died down, and he did nearly a whole book's worth when I kept him yesterday. (Yes, we got in an hour of outdoor play as well.) He was working at my desk on his d-2-d so I grabbed my camera and made a video... primarily to share with his mom and dad, but I don't mind if you take a peek, too!
I took a dear friend to the doctor yesterday. We drove her car (her insistence!), she treated me to lunch (her insistence!), and then she presented me with a tray of cookies she had made and had waiting on me when we returned to her house after the doctor appointment. Now WHO do YOU think blessed Whom yesterday? (I have no idea if I used the who and whom correctly!) I went to be a blessing to her, and she blessed me beyond measure.
My GRANDkids loved the cookies so I had them make a "thank-you" video to send to Joyce. Since my eldest grandson doesn't like to be in pics nor videos and is rarely seen; BUT he consented to be in this one last night, I thought I would post it to let everyone know that Jarrett is alive.
Psalm 150:4 ... praise him with stringed instruments and organs.
We were so very blessed to attend Isabella's Recital on Tuesday Evening. Here is a "Smilebox" presentation of the video of her performance and about 10 pictures of the evening. Play the video and then click on each picture for it to appear in the larger frame. There are 4 pages of pics in total so look for the arrow button to move to the next page in the bottom right-hand corner of the page. I hope you enjoy!
 |
 |
| Make a scrapbook - it's easy! |
We went to Josh's first band concert on last Friday night but didn't get a good view of him playing and failed to make a picture of Josh all dressed up for the concert that evening. At lunch on Sunday, I asked Josh if he would mind coming to my house so that I could "interview" him about the concert. He came and I made a video of Josh and his trumpet. I guess this will be our "last toot" for this school year. Josh seems to have some natural talent so I hope he will practice this summer and keep up what he has learned this semester in his trumpet lessons. And now, here's Josh.....
What a joy to watch our GRANDchildren grow up. Josh turned nine last week and is completing the 3rd grade. He has a big heart and is a great kid. We are so very proud of our middle grandson for many reasons, and last night we were proud of Josh, the band member!
In January, Josh began taking trumpet lessons at school and then about a month ago, all of the different beginning 3rd grade band members came together as a group. Last night they played two songs in the Grades 3-8 Awards Concert. Amy was the emcee for the concert. We heard the Cadet Band (grades 6-8 and they were as good as any high school band I have ever heard), Tonettes (4th grade singers), Harps (grades 3-7), Beginning Orchestra (grades 5-7), Jaffe Orchestra (grades 4-8), Third Grade Band (Josh's group!), Elementary Band (grades 4-5), Patriot Singers (grades 5-6), and the Intermediate Orchestra (grades 4-7).
Of course, I tried to make some video of Josh playing and of Amy emceeing. It turned out horrible. We were too far back, Josh wasn't high on the risers, and it just wasn't a good situation for filming. But, I got a video (IT IS CURRENTLY UPLOADING ON YOUTUBE) and you can at least hear the band. When the video is posted here, Josh is on the front row far right~~ and is the first dark-haired boy. Amy was the emcee of the program and did a super job.
After hearing all of the excellent bands, orchestras, harps, choirs, and the giving out of awards, all of the musicians (327 of them representing grades 3-8 at the Academy) came together for the grade finale to play/sing a wonderful patriotic medley. I got the last word of it ("forever" in Stars and Stripes) and you can see Josh kind of in the middle of all the white shirts ~~ in front of the boy wih the prominent bowtie. It was a GREAT evening, and we look forward to watching Josh progress with his trumpeteering!!
Grandpa Richard and I heard voices and laughter out in the front yard and looking out the window, we saw that the GRANDkids were home from school and doing flips. A friend of the family had arrived to have dinner with them; and Jarrett, being a typical almost-15-year-old guy, was eager to "show off." Amy's friend had fun showing the kids her gymnastic abilities so they all had fun and then were good and ready for dinner when Amy called them in ~~ but not before I stepped out on our front porch to make a quick video of the fun! Otobeyoungagain!!!
P.S. I cautioned Josh not to be flipping around in his dress pants (he had dress rehearsal this afternoon for his band concert tomorrow night and was still in his concert clothes) but wasn't paying attention that Belle had on her school clothes (a skirt.) OOPS!!!!!!!!!
Uhhhhhh, I made a few videos of Isabella, Josh, and Jaden dyeing Easter Eggs this afternoon. I put them all on Godtube so that Amy can always go back and see the videos of her kids. I am posting all of the URLS here mainly for Amy's benefit. Feel free to take a look.
This post is for Morgan, Jaden, and their Grandma Carol. Last Friday, when Jaden spent the morning with Grandma and Cousin Morgan, I made a movie of the kids in the red Mustang car that Jim and Carol won at a car show last year. The kids love to drive and ride together. Like a typical teenager, Jaden was fiddling with the "radio" knobs while driving! I made 3 little video snippets and want to share them here for Morgan and Jaden to enjoy. Everyone else will just have to endure the cute kids!
Amy married into a wonderful family. We enjoy a sweet friendship with Brian's parents (Jim and Carol)and his Grandma (Goldie). Goldie will celebrate her 92nd birthday on Saturday, March 15. Nine-two years. Unbelievable. I can't help but think of my own dear dad when I am with Goldie for he was born the same year as her (1916) but died as a young 70-year-old. Goldie has been a faithful Christian for many years. She enjoys telling stories of growing up, marrying her dear Norman, and raising her two children (one of which is my son-in-law's mother!). One of these days, Goldie will "fly away" to her heavenly home, but for now she is abiding and continues to love the Lord, pray for her family and friends, and encourage the rest of us to keep on keeping on.
Today, I was privileged to have a day-early birthday lunch with Goldie. I captured her telling a bit about her self. Happy Birthday, Goldie!!
I had Jaden on Wednesday for the first time in a week. It was a beautiful day. I was feeling much better after feeling so puny for so long, Jaden was feeling good, it was a gorgeous day weather-wise. We were "good to go!"
We did our "piddling" around until about 9:00. Grandma on her computer; Jaden playing with his toys here beside me. When it warmed up enough to go outside, we had a blast. Jaden loves to get the stones out of their palm-tree flower bed and throw them. He is a typical rock-throwing kind of kid. I don't mind him picking them up and tossing them back into the flower bed. He likes to try to hit the tree and has a good aim. We had fun outside.
We both needed haircuts, so I had asked Amy's permission to get his shaped up while I got my hair cut. She said that would be great. So, we headed off to the barber shop (yep, I get my cut by a real nice lady in our neighborhood barber shop!) and got our haircuts. From there, we went to our neighborhood McDonald's for lunch. We enjoyed our eats, the warm sunshine, and Jaden got lots and lots of exercise. There was a cute little girl out there. Her mom said her name was Isabella and she was about 2 years old. For some ODD reason, Jaden didn't want to have anything to do with her. He whispered to me that he didn't like her. I asked him to just be nice. He was. In a little bit, that lady and her child left. Jaden finished his playtime and we came home.
Bathtime. Jaden loves to take a bath. He got in the tub and I stepped out into the hall to get a towel. I heard him laughing like an idiot. I peeked around the corner and he was using his bathtub cup to THROW water into his face and then would laugh like crazy. I grabbed my camera and got a bit of video of him doing that:
After his "crazy" bath, he was ready to read his bed-time books and snuggle down for his nice afternoon nap. What a fun day with Jaden. I thank God for the innocence of little children.
Luke 2:52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature...
Is it neat to think of Jesus as a boy who grew from a tiny newborn baby into a child. I think of how much our grandson Josh has grown since his adoption from Ukraine when he was 26 months old. The years have flown by, and Josh will celebrate his 9th birthday next month. He is truly an All-American kid who is thriving, growing, and learning.
It was a joy to attend Josh's 3rd Grade spring program last night. It was three of the several 3rd grade classes at the Academy who participated in this program. Of course, WE thought our GRANDson was the biggest and brightest star of them all. :) They did a lot of things as an entire group. Here is a picture of Josh in the group. I wasn't close enough to get a good picture so have circled Josh for better identification (you can double-click on the pic to enlarge it):
Josh said his trumpet teacher conducted a contest in today's class. He wanted to see who could blow the "C" note for the longest time. Josh won and got a candy bar for his effort. He did it for us at dinner at Amy's and Brian's this evening. Josh has a real good embouchure and looks like a natural. I asked him to run over to my house so that I could make a movie of him blowing his "C" note, and here it is....
As a 7th grader, granddaughter Isabella is on the track and field team this spring. She is working hard to participate and earn a spot to go to a track meet ~~ hopefully before the semester is over. Jarrett, our 8th grade grandson, is on the team this spring as well. They practice from 3-5 ever afternoon after school. Needless to say, Jarrett and Isabella are in great shape with all of the good athletic training and exercise they are getting. I made a video of Isabella running and will make one of Jarrett next time. Belle will be the pretty "shortie" in pink shorts.
I think everyone around here had a case of pre-spring fever today. It was a gorgeous day with blue sky, bright sunshine, and 72 degrees ~~ just about perfect!! Richard and I needed to make our weekly run to Wal-Mart so went to Denny's for breakfast and then on to Wal-Mart. It seems that we enjoy our conversations so much when we are out like that. I guess we truly key in on each other and enjoy sharing, dreaming, and solving lots of life's problems.
When we got back home, we were in and out of the house. Our grandkids next door were in and out enjoying the pretty day as well. I grabbed my camera and made a couple of videos. For sure the GRANDS are my favorite subjects.
Video #1) Jaden coming out to help Grandpa wash the car. Jaden then takes off across the yard to go over to his driveway to work on their cars. #2) Josh had spied a bird nest in a winter-bare Bradford Pear tree in our backyard. Belle got it down for him. Yep, it was a fun day of enjoying God's perfect weather on a pre-Spring day.
We had a wonderful three days with the grandkids. Saturday was nice and laid-back with Grandpa Richard home instead of at work. By noontime, the sun had returned after a several-day hiatus and the temp got up into the high 60's. We went out in the backyard with the kids and enjoyed playing and watching them play. Jarrett and Isabella are both on the track and field team at school and this Tuesday is their first meet. Jarrett is to participate in hurdles so he got a nice big long stick for Isabella and me to hold so that he could practice. It's amazing how high that boy can leap. Jaden played with a water gun (oh boy!) and Josh and Belle ran around. It felt so good out in the sunshine. Richard and I came in with Jaden while Jarrett, Belle, and Josh stayed outside to play. I got Jaden bathed and down for his nap by 2:00. Brian and Amy called to say they were on their way back home and that they would arrive at around 4:00. At about 3:00, Isabella came in and said, "Please Grandma, Please. Don't say no. Please, please, please." She and the boys wanted to jump into the pool. Richard was hearing all of this and together agreed that it would be okay.
So, the three of them jumped in. Belle got right back out ~~ she was done. Jarrett and Josh swam for some 20 minutes before I told them to get out. I knew everyone needed showers and to get dressed for the game at their school. So, while much of the country is cold and has snow on the ground, our crew was enjoying a swim.... a COLD swim... but a swim nonetheless.
Here are some videos I made that can be copied and pasted into your browser for your viewing pleasure. BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.
Since it's been nearly a month of Josh taking a weekly lesson on the trumpet and I hadn't heard him, I asked him to play and show me what he is learning. I was quite impressed with his progress, and here is a video I made of Josh playing his trumpet:
Okay, we had to get out of the house so went to a McDonald's in town that has a huge screened-in play-yard. We were the only ones there so all four of the kids played and played. There was a lot of hide-and-seek going on. It is so warm and muggy here (74 degrees) and since that is a screen-in room, they were all as hot as fire crackers, but they had a good time.
Jaden is down for his nap. Jarrett is watching at DVD, and Belle and Josh are playing with Play-Dough of all things. Here is a video of the kids playing at McDonald's. (We were the only ones in there so Jarrett and Belle played, too.)
.JPG)
