Joy Dare::April

 13,246. Homemade sourdough whole wheat bread
13,247. A really fun Easter party
13,248. Watching the Artemis II launch
13,249. Spending the afternoon with Melinda
13,250. Taking advantage of the really close Chick Fil A
13,251. Seeing Mom for a few minutes
13,252. Good Friday Scripture and songs
13,253. Being a big sister
13,254. Brian knows when to call me
13,255. Jeremy has the brush pile burned
13,256. An afternoon of Easter cooking and baking
13,257. A morning to work in the yard
13,258. Walking into church on Easter morning
13,259. Isaiah walked me to the car with an umbrella
13,260. Inside Easter egg hunt
13,261. Thoroughly clean kitchen
13,262. Easter dinner leftovers
13,263. Planning with Aliza
13,264. Coffee in a greenhouse
13,265. Anna made it through dance
13,266. Just doing what I can
13,267. Concentrating on school this morning
13,268. Getting some extra things done this morning
13,269. Aliza was successful on a huge test
13,270. Sean excited to be at "Aunt Carla's" house
13,271. Reconnecting with an acquaintance
13,272. Proverbs 3:5-6
13,273. Shopping for a bridal shower gift
13,274. Finding pictures of Josiah
13,275. Watching Artemis II land
13,276. Sitting at a fun table for the bridal shower
13,277. Mowed grass
13,278. Jeremy determined to fix the car A/C
13,279. Morning with Anna
13,280. Bible study discussion
13,281. Holding Aliza
13,282. Anna spending the evening with Janell  

13,283. Sisters praying together

13,284. Tech week driving
13,285. Testing finished
13,286. Isaiah happily helped me clean the porch
13,287. Anna's last dance class for the year
13,288. Early morning pulling weeds
13,289. Meeting one of my customer friends
13,290. Christie called at just the right time
13,291. Allie here for the day
13,292. Isaiah was ok with missing PE today
13,293. Stopping in at Mom's house
13,294. House is clean for company
13,295. Seeing Anna's dances for the first time
13,296. Hearing about Aliza's first show
13,297. Jeremy got to recital after changing the flat tire
13,298. Anna's dance recital
13,299. Perfect evening to be outside
13,300. Watching Ronan play
13,301. Experiencing The Lion King
13,302. Anna had a happy evening
13,303. Tired and we did all the things
13,304. Home this evening
13,305. Ice cream with Aliza
13,306. Car time with Josiah
13,307. Full table for supper
13,308. An evening at home
13,309. Jeremy handles stress with grace
13,310. Isaiah and Anna excited about new shoes
13,311. So many flowers on the counter
13,312. Grace for inconvenience
13,313. Teaching English
13,314. Flowerbeds spring cleaned
13,315. A little bit of rain
13,316. Coffee/Talk therapy
13,317. "Faith is the path peace."
13,318. Spending time with Bea and Andy
13,319. Family gathering
13,320. "The Blessing"
13,321. Watching The Lion King one more time
13,322. Pictures
13,323. Isaiah finished another subject!
13,324. Aliza home for lunch and supper
13,325. Hearing lots of laughter
13,326. Inviting people in
13,327. Isaiah is a great helper.
13,328. Waking up to birds chirping
13,329. Anna accepted an invitation on her own.
13,330. Making Isaiah my morning buddy
13,331. Trying to be a good friend
13,332. Finishing the ESL year
 

Theater Weekend

 I found that I was much more relaxed watching Aliza dance in Lion King than I was when she had a leading role in Little Mermaid last year! This year Aliza's main role was assisting the director as a student intern. Aliza did all of the communication with parents, planned the Christmas party, was part of every rehearsal, attended most of the costume, set and tech meetings, and had many brainstorming phone calls with the director. AND Aliza also got to dance as a lioness. 

Aliza got to dance with her cousins again. 

Grandma and Grandpa and Joel, Amanda and Ronan were able to come for the show. Ronan was not a fan of Aliza being a lioness. 

Anna and I were in attendance three times. I love watching Aliza in the world that is all her own. 

I cried after the last show. Aliza had the privilege of seeing a few glimpses of how she had impacted some of the younger girls in the cast. I knew how hard Aliza worked, how much she cared about the cast and how much she loves dancing. After the last bow, I saw Aliza point up to God and knew that she was acknowledging that this was her last performance and all glory goes to God. 

 

Dance Weekend

 Dance recital weekend is always fun and full of family time! 

Dress rehearsal night means I get to see her dances for the first time. I get very excited to see them after hearing all about each dance for the months leading up to recital. 

Jaxx was her favorite dance. This year it was to "Thunderstruck" and ended the recital program. 

Tap was to a country song call "Arkansas". They bought cowboy boots and put taps on them. As soon as Anna got home she took the taps off and now she has cowboy boots!

9 years of watching Anna dance. I now know how fast it goes. I'll savor each of these high school years. 

The boys stayed home with Ronan so that he didn't have to sit still during recital. 

It was a perfect evening to spend outside. Ronan wanted to play cornhole. Later we all sat in the living room and watching him play. That made me nostalgic. We spent so many evening watching, especially Aliza of our children, play like that. 

 

 

Easter Things

 It's turning out that, at this point in my life, I'm pretty good at taking someone's idea and making it happen. This time it was an Easter party for the children at church. Last year at this time we had 5 children on Sunday mornings. This year we have 17 children! 

The moms all pitched in and we had chicken tacos for supper. The children made resurrection gardens...

...and were reminded of the meaning of Easter in a short Bible time. 

And then...FINALLY...it was time for the Easter egg hunt! The children were SO excited. There were 680 eggs. Anna, Cheryl and I hid those eggs all over the building. The children were dumping their buckets and going back for more eggs. I'm so glad we did this. Cheryl is already working on eggs for next year! I told her she should probably plan on 30 children next year!!

At home we had a (much smaller) egg hunt for our big kids. 

Nothing fancy. Just candy. 

And fun...

And trading candy. 

Before our egg hunt, I had spent the afternoon in the kitchen. I made shoo fly cake, Pioneer woman mashed potatoes, pineapple casserole, cinnamon streusel muffins and blueberry muffins. 

Easter morning we had breakfast at church. Our friend, Caleb, is a fan of molasses and approved of the dominant molasses flavor of the shoo fly cake. Church was after breakfast and was a great service. 

By afternoon the sun gave way to a thunderstorm deluge of rain! The Sheats cousins had an inside Easter egg hunt. There were ALOT of big kids looking for eggs in Grandma and Grandad's living room! 

Before the rain, the girls decided to take some pictures together. Their friendship is so special. 

There is room in their friendship for the girlfriends that are regularly joining our family gatherings. So thankful!

 

Joy Dare::March

 13,155. Church
13,156. Nap
13,157. Hearing about everyone's evening
13,158. Anna's motivation
13,159. Isaiah proud that he finished a piano book
13,160. Long to-do list crossed off
13,161. Celebrating Aliza
13,162. A special family dinner
13,163. Our children being so grateful
13,164. Windows open
13,165. School on the porch
13,166. New family at church this morning
13,167. Friend time during PE
13,168. ESL class was better than I was expecting
13,169. Watching some really old family videos
13,170. Celebrating music accomplishments for Isaiah
13,171. Aliza making cookies for Grandpa
13,172. Supper conversations
13,173. Josiah and Isaiah were the best workers
13,174. So much yard cleanup progress
13,175. Aliza in the middle of a Mom and Dad hug
13,176. Baptisms, testimonies, and potluck
13,177. Jeremy able to be with his brothers
13,178. Calling my mom when I want to be distracted
13,179. Daffodil blooms

13,180. Supper on the porch
13,181. Celebrating Jeremy
13,182. The hope of seasons changing
13,183. Grace for myself
13,184. Taking my afternoon work outside
13,185. The feeling of "extra time"
13,186. Staying home with Isaiah
13,187. Happy that Aliza had an afternoon with friends
13,188. Weather aventure 70 degrees in the morning, snow on the ground by supper
13,189, Car talk with Anna
13,190. Sitting in the intermediate ESL class
13,191. Sending Josiah off on an adventure
13,192. Talking to Amanda
13,193. A hotel evening by myself
13,194. A few interesting conversations
13,195. Home for supper
13,196. Hearing about Josiah's day
13,197. Figuring out something new
13,198. Catching up with Mom
13,199. Isaiah growing up
13,200. Homemade pizza
13,201. Candle burning on a stormy day
13,202. Watching Pride and Prejudice with Aliza
13,203. When all I have to offer is prayer and it doesn't seem like enough
13,204. Making a supper everyone likes
13,205. Visiting Maria
13,206. Bright stars tonight
13,207. Having a conversation in English with Diego
13,208. Watching Josiah serve in a capacity I hadn't seen
13,209. Audrey and Henry day
13,210. ESL class went really well
13,211. Clean kitchen when I got home
13,212. Heart melted
 

13,213. Dance pictures
13,214. Isaiah reading out loud tonight since I have a cold
13,215. A beautiful Saturday to clean up flowerbeds
13,216, Finding all the sprouting plants
13,217. Everyone home for supper on a Saturday
13,218. So many children at church
13,219. Bible study on the porch
13,220. Outside evening
13,221. Trying to give myself grace on a day when I don't feel great
13,222. Jeremy home in time to eat with us
13,223. Being still and quiet
13,224. Power washed house
13,225. Aliza took Anna to dance
13,226. Grandma sent a big box of chips
13,227. Earl Gray tea
13,228. Visiting with Mom
13,229. Planning an Easter party
13,230. Anna looking out for me
13,231. Reading on the porch
13,232. Conversation night in our ESL class
13,233. Fun bowling outing

13,234. Listening to Aliza think
13,235. Everyone appreciated supper
13,236. Sabbathing
13,237. Our very random daffodils
13,238. Bonding Sunday School time
13,239. Isaiah really enjoying his part in the church service
13,240. Aliza graciously helping me
13,241. Nice walking mornings
13,242. Van and Karen feeling a little better
13,243. Josiah was able to take a nap
13,244. Aliza was feeling better when she got home
13,245. Elizabeth 

Joy Dare::February

 13,069. Adult conversations with out children
13,070. Bible study
13,071. Talking to Christie
13,072. Isaiah had a really good piano lesson
13,073. Jeremy is feeling better
13,074. This season of family life
13,075. Temperatures above freezing...
13,076. ...which means Josiah played disc golf
13,077. Car time with Anna
13,078. Being very consistent with math
13,079. Nerf night fun
13,080. Prayer
13,081. Friend time during homeschool gym
13,082. Anna had a really good day
13,083. Unexpected confirmations
13,084. Having the teacher side of school caught up
13,085. A much better option offered
13,086. Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony with Aliza
13,087. Planning a party
13,088. Staying home on a cold and windy day
13,089. Picking up groceries
13,090. Anna excited about Olympics
13,091. Superbowl evening
13,092. My multi tasking plan worked
13,093. Coming to my own conclusions
13,094. Hearing Laura's voice
13,095. Blue sky
13,096. Meeting Baby Will 

13,097. Playing with Maggie
13,098. Plane tickets purchased!
13,099. Waffles
13,100. Lovely 
13,101. Good math days
13,102. Morning sun
13,103. Good ESL class
13,104. Staying up to connect with Aliza
13,105. Overheard Isaiah to Josiah and Anna: "I just love spending time with ya'll."
13,106. Jeremy and the boys spent the evening together
13,107. Aliza hosted the sweetest Galentines party
13,108. Some time with Janell and Mom
13,109. Valentine's = ramen and movie with the family
13,110. Finishing the puzzle with Aliza
13,111. Gramma's banana split dishes for ice cream
13,112. Hanging out with children during church
13,113. Sunday afternoon quiet
13,114. Leftover Valentine desserts
13,115. Got Isaiah through the morning
13,116. A favorite for supper
13,117. Aliza came home happy
13,118. Speed talking with Maria
13,119. Clean sheets
13,120. Lunch with a new friend
13,121. Poke bowls are yummy!
13,122. Allie with us for the day
13,123. Catch up conversation
13,124. Going out without a coat
13,125. A really small ESL class was fun
13,126. Talking to Laura
13,127. Just being there while Aliza studied
13,128. Olympics over lunch
13,129. Sun breaking through the clouds
13,130. Mom stopped by
13,131. A moment that the sun felt warm
13,132. One more quiet Saturday
13,133. Making Anna happy with some online shopping
13,134. Huge snowflakes
13,135. Josiah and Anna could go to youth group
13,136. Electric staying on until very early morning
13,137. Water pressure lasted longer than I expected
13,138. We have lots of blankets

13,139. A hot drink while the house warms up again
13,140. Aliza home for another day
13,141. More snow play
13,142. Hanging out with John, Laura and Sean
13,143. Friends that don't mind just living life with you
13,144. Will was able to rescue Aliza's car
13,145. Watching David movie with church family
13,146. Bluebird on the birdhouse when I opened the curtain
13,147. Eating Chick Fil A free on opening night
13,148. Anna hanging out with us a PE
13,149. An incredible gift of our yard being cleaned up
13,150. Going to a special little girl's dance show

1

 13,151. Staying up really late just talking
13,152. Pokemon playing on a beautiful day
13,153. Celebrating Josiah 
13,154. Listening to grown boys playing games