I have finally gotten around to posting pictures of our last New York trip (April 15 through May 12). They are on my own flickr account, which Jay has been trying to get me to use instead of our gallery website. Hope you enjoy!
I took the kids to the zoo Tuesday, and we were joined by all of my sisters (Adrienne, Lydia, and Alayne). Gerald is away at Scout Camp this week, or he would have been there too. We had a good time feeding the lorikeets at their new exhibit, and watching the baby gorilla, Mosi, play around with his mom and dad. He is around 7 months old now, and he loved burying himself in the straw and going from one parent to the other, trying to get them to play. It was so cute! We saw lots of other animals, including the elephants and giraffes, and many monkeys, to Eliza's delight. I took my camera, and we all took turns taking pictures, even James!
We are leaving this weekend for what is most likely our last trip to New York. This one will be a little different than the others: Jay is moving (as I write this) to a new apartment, in a different part of Manhattan; we are staying for 4 weeks instead of 3; and Jay's mom will be coming up for a few days for a quick tour of New York (and to visit with us, too!). I'm not sure what to think about being in a different place, as I had pretty much gotten comfortable in the old one! I did tell James about it to try to prepare him—you know how he hates change! We will be closer to a playground, but further from Jay's work, so we may not get to eat lunch with him as much as we did before. I have a lot to do to get ready for our flight on Saturday! Perhaps I should go to bed!
James had a few funny moments the other day, and both of them involved Alex, a friend of Lydia and Alayne's. Alex plays on our softball team, and she came to my mom's house the other day for a ride to the game. We were there, too, getting ready to leave, so James went over and started talking to Alex. I asked him if he remembered her name, but he was being silly and wouldn't give an answer. I kept pressing him for an answer, so finally he said something like, "Alepalofagus!" At least he got the first sound right!
After the ball game, we gathered around to say a prayer like we always do. James and Eliza were both sitting in my lap, and I didn't pay much attention when James got up in the middle of the prayer; I just thought he saw someone to play with or something. After the prayer, though, I heard Alex telling Lydia, "James came up to me and stood right in front of me, looking up at my face, and whispered, 'You're not praying!'" She was apparently looking at the ground instead of closing her eyes. This is certainly not the first time James has been the "prayer police." I can remember one of the first times was at the church for a Thanksgiving meal. The pastor was praying up at the front of the room, but all I could hear was little bitty James: "Gerald, close you eyes! Pappy, close you eyes!"
Our theme for vacation bible school this year was "Avalanche Ranch," so we dressed like cowboys and said "Wah-hoo!" a lot. I was a crew leader in charge of five 5th grade boys, taking them to each of the different stations, such as crafts, snacks, bible story, games, etc. They behaved pretty well, although the mixture of personalities in the group made things interesting at times. I was describing the situation to Jay, and he concluded that I had a regular sit-com! The group had most of the elements, anyway: slightly awkward, hot-tempered braniac; good-looking, loveable sweetheart; overweight, kinda goofy guy (he actually has some special needs issues, as well); concerned problem-solver; even a class clown thrown in for good measure! It was never boring, that's for sure! Once the problem-solver was discussing healthy lifestyle choices with the overweight guy, and my sweetheart was often led astray by the class clown. The braniac enjoyed reciting facts to me or blowing up over something somebody said or did, and they were all rather surprised to learn I was married with 2 kids. Hopefully they left with a little bit better understanding of the God they each profess to know, and I was reminded of some things myself. It was a good week, although a tiring one.
James and Eliza enjoyed their own bible school classes while I was off leading my group. They have both been singing the songs they learned all week. Eliza took me by surprise the other day when we were sitting at lunch, and all of a sudden she shouts, "God-is-real!" That was one of the "bible points" we learned each day, after which we would all yell, "Wah-hoo!" After I figured out what she was saying, James and I both yelled, "Wah-hoo!", which she loved, and so she proceeded to repeat it over and over, each time waiting for our response. They had a great time, but they are also pretty exhausted from the long week.
On Thursday night I had a softball game, so we all went to that. The kids (especially James) were entertaining the fans with VBS songs and dances. They also cheered for us, and we won our game with a score of 15 to 3. This is only our third win, and we were all impressed by how well we played. We have fun no matter what, but it does feel good to win sometimes!
Eliza is still talking about "Baby Hannah," even though it's been over a month since we saw her. She very frequently asks to see a picture of her, and it always goes like this: "Mama! I wanna tell you something. I wanna see picture of baby Hannah!" We have a few extra prints that I made that I keep lying around just for her. They are getting pretty ragged-looking, but she loves looking at them!
Mimi's 88th birthday was last Tuesday, so we decided to have a little party for her on Saturday. Jay picked her up from the nursing home and brought her to our house for lunch and cake and ice cream. We had a good time visiting with Mimi, as well as Jay's Aunt Fran, who lives here in Little Rock, and Uncle Thomas, Aunt Debbie, and their kids Marcus and Neeka, who were visiting from Texas. Mimi seemed to enjoy being surrounded by her family, though she also seemed a little weary. Jay enjoyed seeing his relatives that he hasn't seen in a few years!
Uncle Thomas and his family were staying at Aunt Fran's all last week, so Thursday I took the kids over there to visit with them. Fran's granddaughters, 4-year-old Zoe and 2-year-old Lily, were also there, so the kids had a lot of fun playing together. I did manage to take a few photos.
This was a busy week for us because I had softball games Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday; choir on Wednesday; and preparations to make for the party Saturday. I took the kids to my mom's to spend Friday night with her, so I could get stuff done for Mimi's party and so that Jay and I could have a little time alone (although Jay didn't get in until after midnight, but at least he made it!). We are all pretty much exhausted. And Vacation Bible School starts in the morning! I am a crew leader, meaning I get to take a group of kids (probably 4th or 5th graders) around to the different stations set up all over the church. It should be fun, but it will make for another exhausting week, I'm afraid. After this week we will have one more week at home, then it's off to New York, this time for 4 weeks. It will most likely be our last trip. This seems to be one of the busiest times our family has ever faced, and it is hard not having Jay at home. But God has been so good to us, and it seems we have grown even closer, despite being away from each other so much. I guess the old saying is true: "Absence makes the heart grow fonder." :)
We can't seem to stay home recently! We left for Memphis Friday night, so that we could travel Saturday to Hurricane, MS for a family reunion. Jay was supposed to join us in Memphis Friday night, but storms in Chicago caused his flight to be canceled and so he decided to stay in New York. We missed him, but we stayed pretty busy over the weekend. The reunion was for my mom's dad's family (the Sneeds), and it was neat to see how the family has grown. Much of my immediate family wasn't there, though: Adrienne and Jon had just finished moving to Arkansas, Lydia and Alayne were getting ready to leave Sunday morning for a youth mission trip to New Orleans, and Joseph and Nicole didn't make it, either. We'll have to have our own family reunion soon! The kids played outside in the sweltering Mississippi heat, while most of the adults enjoyed the air conditioning of the community center where the reunion was held. I put Mississippi State clothes on me and the kids, even though I knew we would be in Ole Miss territory. We didn't get harassed too much, but my mom's uncle did jokingly ask her where my good shirt was. We left with full bellies (there was lots of food!) and a touch of sunburn.
Sunday was the 50th anniversary of Leaclair Baptist Church, where both my parents grew up going to church, and where my Granny still attends. She was there when the church opened its doors as a mission church, and when it was commissioned as a church in 1957. They had invited all former members to come back and celebrate, and they had a special service and lunch for everyone. It was fun showing off my kids to people that knew my family. It was also neat to be able to learn some of the history of the church and to see how it's changed over the years. The kids enjoyed jumping on the moon bounce that they had set up for them. They were so worn out, though, that they both took a 3 hour nap later that afternoon. We got home late last night, and we all slept in this morning. It was a good weekend!
The weekend was just a part of the craziness that went on this past week for my family. Monday morning was my brother Gerald's 5th grade graduation, so I took the kids to that, and we spent most of the rest of the day at Maumelle Park, where they had a party for the graduates. My sister Lydia graduated from high school Tuesday night, so we had lots of family in town for that. We had a little party afterward for her, eating lasagna and cake, and just spending time with family. We had softball games Monday and Thursday nights, and then Jon and Adrienne arrived Friday from Florida with all their belongings in a U-Haul trailer. Maybe things will settle down just a little now that we're through all that!