2 Milestones in 1 Week

 

 Aliza's first day of college! Jeremy and I stood on the porch together and watched our first child drive off for her first day of school away from home. (I know that's wierd, but that's the story we've written for our family!) 

I think Aliza and I were both relieved that the first day had finally arrived. We had anticipated it for long enough! 

I do not want to admit how happy it made me to get a picture of Aliza (with a huge smile) and her Uncle Jeff. It was definitely the mom feeling of relief that her child looked happy doing a new thing. Jeff was at the college with some of his students and was very surprised to pass Aliza in the hallway. The moment made both of their days.

During the just few hours that Aliza was at school that day, I got an unexpected phone call that kept me distracted for the morning. It was a strange feeling to have to wait to tell Aliza and to have to drop some concerning news on her as soon as she got home from her first day of school. 

I was double relieved when Aliza walked in the door smiling and ready to tell us all about her morning. I continue to be spoiled this year. Aliza eats lunch with us almost every day...it's just the way her schedule worked out this semester. 

It does make me happy (and relieves my homeschool Mom heart) that Aliza is thriving, enjoying classes, working hard on homework, staying late at a friends house, and generally just embracing the college lifestyle.

Josiah has his driver's license! It was no easier watching the second child take his driver's test. Getting the thumbs up and smile that he passed when he got out of the car was the best. Josiah was excited and he smiled BIG for his license picture. 

Josiah and Isaiah have had an agreement for quite a while that when Josiah gets his license he will take Isaiah to get McDonald's. And so Saturday lunch was the agreed upon time. Isaiah wakes up early and when it got to be 11:00 and Josiah wasn't awake yet, Isaiah was getting a little worried about his lunch. Josiah appeared about 11:20, got ready and off they headed to McDonald's.  My heart just keeps multiplying as each child drives out of the driveway!

I never thought I would have to insist that one of children carry a cell phone, but with Josiah, I did. He has had zero interest in having a phone (having a phone means he would actually have to return a text! *gasp*), but he has conceded to taking one with him when he drives because my one ask is that they text me when they are on their way home or if their plans change. And Josiah said, "OK Mom, I'll send you a car emoji and a house emoji." I'll take it!

 

Joy Dare::August

 11,469. Entertaining lunch conversations
11,470. Indian restaurant for supper

11,471. Long conversation with a friend
11,472. Sending off 2 very excited girls
11,473. Taylor.
11,474. A good book for the weekend
11,475. A quiet, lazy Saturday morning
11,476. Clean car, tidy yard
11,477. Josiah's favorite supper
11,478. Our Sunday School class
11,479. Reading most of a book in a weekend
11,480. Aliza and Anna had so much fun
11,481. Watching Isaiah boogie board
11,482. Mothering
11,483. Soaking up the summer schedule pace
11,484. Afternoon walk with a friend
11,485. The way Jeremy and Aliza work together
11,486. Isaiah faithfully passes out "I love yous"
11,487. Bible study night I didn't know I needed
11,488. Humility
11,489. Getting to lift a burden for someone else
11,490. Aliza receiving incredible kindness
11,491. Meghan.
11,492. Anna being my shopping buddy
11,493. Receiving forgiveness
11,494. A good, much needed talk with Anna
11,495. Preparing for a party
11,496. Celebrating Mom and Dad
11,497. The whole Sheats family together
11,498. Driving the girl van
11,499. The concert was so fun
11,500. Isaiah singing loud
11,501. Sleeping in
11,502. A huge "win" for Aliza
11,503. Enjoying the memories from the weekend
11,504. Laughing with Josiah and Anna
11,505. Anna started school--8th grade
11,506. A cooler morning inspired me to do a whole bunch of yardwork
11,507. Aliza did something new
11,508. Pear crisp
11,509. The boys caught a lot of fish
11,510. Girls lunch
11,511. Nights that remind me that Isaiah is still a little boy
11,512. Getting to hug Chrissy
11,513. Road trip with Mom
11,514. Quieting myself
11,515. Seeing Linda in her home
11,516. Playing with the little guy
11,517. My aunts
11,518. Karlene's homemade cinnamon rolls
11,519. A day of visiting and listening
11,520. Sunday dinner with my aunts and uncles
11,521. Aliza telling me all the things
11,522. A day of safe travel
11,523. Home
11,524. Grocery delivery
11.525. Windows open
11,526. Hearing about Aliza's first day of work
11,527. Willing helpers
11,528. Cucumbers and peppers from Dad's garden
11,529. Getting my school prep started
11,530. Working with Josiah on his room
11,531. Perfect afternoon for a walk
11,532. Anna doing things (projects) that make her happy
11,533. Deck lights and a fire
11,534. Boys to help me with projects
11,535. Laughter
11,536. Aliza so excited to see her theater and choir people
11,537. An evening on the porch with a friend
11,538. The sounds of friends having fun together
11,539. Finding pictures on my phone

 11,540. Another good Sunday School class
11,541. Sometimes a full heart means my eyes overflow
11.542. Spending the evening close to Aliza
11,543. An involved Daddy ready to hold his little girl
11,544. Watching The Little Mermaid
11,545. School shopping with Aliza
11,546. Talking to my moms
11,547. Patience for a night that Isaiah needed me
11,548. Getting to serve for the afternoon beside Anna
11,549. Jeremy took care of supper
11,550. Aliza had another evening of positive new experiences
11,551. Melinda.
11,552. Feeling all the feelings of change
11,553. Afternoon at Mom's house
11,554. New recipe for supper
11,555. Long talks about life
11,556. Pokemon family time
11,557. Pulling together a meal
11,558. Rested

Kindness

 It seems like every day brings an exciting new experience in Aliza's life right now. I try very hard not to tell stories about my children that are not mine to tell; however, recently, Aliza has been the recipient of two acts of kindness that I have asked her permission to share. Kindess in these ways is unexpected and uncommon so I want to remember these stories. I also want to remember how, when it seemed like several doors were closing, an even better opportunity came along. 

Aliza interviewed and was hired for a job that required CPR certification and Certified Medicine Tech (CMT) class. It turned out to be a complex process (that required a lot of adulting!) to register for these classes because multiple agencies and people and schedules were involved, not to mention that the employer was really anxious for her new help to start work. 

CPR--After her contact did not respond to her text, email and online inquiry through the website, Aliza finally spoke to him on the phone. He told her that a CPR class was being held on Thursday that week. She was given the address and time and she said the day/time back to him on the phone and he confirmed. Aliza showed up for class that Thursday only to find that she was the only one in the parking lot and the building was dark. She called the instructor. He told her that the class had actually been held on Wednesday--the night before. He apologized for his mistake and Aliza headed home. She decided that a Chick Fil A milkshake was in order and while she was still in the area, the instructor called her back. His meeting had ended early and he felt so bad about giving Aliza the wrong day that he asked to meet her at Starbucks to do the CPR training that evening one-on-one. He sent her some training videos to start watching while she waited for him to make the drive and she got CPR certified in Starbucks. She was glad the Starbucks was empty late in the evening when it came time to do compressions on the dummy for the assessment. 

CMT--Aliza was given dates for this class that were in mid September, during the day. There was no way she could take the class then because it was during college classes. Even with this being a really good job opportunity, we knew she couldn't miss that many classes to take the CMT class and we were really thinking that the job just might not work out. Aliza's friend, Alena, has also been hired for this job and so she was the one who called to see if there were any other times or locations to take the CMT class. The instructor was not initially kind or helpful to Alena on the phone until Alena told her why they needed the training and then the instructor decided she would see what she could do. Aliza made her own phone call to the instructor and there were several texts and, rather quickly, the instructor offered to do the CMT class for Aliza and Alena at her home. the following week, after her regular work hours. Who does that??! 

I smiled big when I got this picture! With the way that all the pieces came together, I have no doubt that Aliza is right where she is supposed to be!
 

Road Trip

 I took a road trip with my Mom! We had 4 days of driving, sitting, visiting with family and listening. It was lovely and it was a completely different pace than I am used to!

Our first stop was visiting my sister, Linda and her husband the little guy they are taking care of for an afternoon. It was really nice to see where they live and fun to play with a baby. When we went to the park, I may have introduced him to Pokemon. He listened but wasn't very interested. lol

After supper, Mom and I drove the hour and a half to my aunt and uncle's house in Sturgis, Michigan. It was still light when we arrived and I enjoyed walking around the yard looking at all of her flowers. That is her painting on the barn, and I loved it.

On Sunday all 7 of my Mom's siblings were together for the afternoon and evening.

These two brothers have farmed together for 50 years.

There was homemade ice cream and peach cobbler made in a dutch over over a fire. The ice cream was made with the engine their grandfather made homemade ice cream with. I approve of driving to Michigan for ice cream and peach cobbler!

Being the only one of my generation around the table with all of my aunts and uncles is a memory that I will hold dear to my heart. 

On Monday we drove the whole way home--12 hours for me, 12.5 for mom. Even with children who are so grown, I still feel the pull to be home for them.


 

Summer Worship Nights

Our favorite concert came within driving distance again this year so we had to make the trip happen. This year we put the youth pastor up to making it a youth group event with the caveat being that Jeremy and I be the chaperones and drivers. He made it happen and we took 9 teenagers and Isaiah with us. 

Summer Worship Nights is the combined effort of Phil Wickham and Brandon Lake. We were at the Capital One area in Washington DC. There were 12,000 in attendance and we were at the top of the arena. Sometimes I think how fun it would be to have the children experience a concert with much closer seats, but I'm afraid they would be forever ruined and never be willing to sit at the top of the arena!

We all ate packed lunch at the church and then drove to DC. I was a little afraid we would get stuck in beach traffic (beach goers returning to the western shore), but there was no traffic backups. We arrived in DC in plenty of time to make a stop at the merch truck that was parked a few miles from the arena, eat supper and get to the arena in plenty of time. 

 

Let's talk about the merch truck stop though. The merch truck was called "Poppy" (I have no idea why) and was parked on a seemingly random street corner. I did not see the church that that was referenced with the address. I thought that it was pretty clear that, since Jeremy and I were there along with our kids, we were going to have to buy. The only thing was there were no prices on the merch. So I said Yes and knew that it was going to be big, but it was also memorable. The cashiers didn't even say the total, just took my card, but I saw the total on the ipad and it was bigger than I thought big was going to be. lol. 

In the parking garage, we parked 3 levels below ground and it felt like we were sitting 5 stories above group. That made my brain spin for the minute.

This may be the one nanosecond that Aliza and Anna were not moving! They had so much fun. We were at the opposite end of the group from them and we could still hear them at times.

Isaiah knew a lot of the songs too. It was fun to watch him participate and sing. He asked me every 20-30 minutes what time it was, but he stayed engaged almost to the end. Isaiah also really enjoyed getting to ride with the boys in Taylor's car. I drove the girls in our van.

When we walked in to the arena, there were buckets of wristbands with a QR code on them. At first I thought it was a marketing gimmick, but when the concert started the wristbands lit up in coordination with the stage lights. Sometimes all the wristbanks would light up at the same time and other times they were randomized so that it looked like twinkling lights. The blue lights in the picture below are wristbands. Being at the top of the area, we could see the full effect of those lights. It was really fun.

I knew I had to drive home and so maybe I saved a little energy for that. We got home at 1:45am. I'd do it again!!
 

Celebrating Mom & Dad's 50th Anniversary

 It was a special privilege to celebrate Mom and Dad's 50th anniversary. Their commitment to their wedding vows is something I am grateful for and don't take for granted.

We {Still} Do

After Janell and I thought maybe they wouldn't leave their house so we could get ready, we thought maybe they weren't coming back! They did arrive and the grandchildren greeted them with cheers. Quite possibly that was the sweetest moment of the whole evening and it was a completely spontaneous idea.

The original 5 children

Now there are 22 of us!

Making a watermelon "cake" was my idea and Janell executed it. (This happens with at least one thing for every party I plan!) Janell is awesome and it turned out really well.

We passed food for the meal for the first time with the whole family. It was a bit crazy and the grandchildren end of the table was even more crazy.

Janell's big idea was to give Mom and Dad a digital photo book with a layout for each of the 50 years of their marriage. She and I worked really hard on that project! It was worth it though! I think it turned out well and Mom and Dad were pleased.

 

Joy Dare::July

 11,383. Hearing that everyone is having fun at camp
11,384. A date night with Jeremy
11,385. Doing some work with Isaiah
11,386. Isaiah comes home with some *statement* Crocs
11,387. Reading in the hammock
11,388. Crossing off to-do tasks
11,389. A bleach clean shower
11,390. Talking to my mom
11,391. My brother
11,392. Church community
11,393. A 4th of July feast with friends
11,394. Fireworks
11,395. Welcoming home our campers--and hugging them
11,396. Hours of camp stories and pictures
11,397. All of the adults that speak into my teenagers' lives
11,398. A quiet camp recovery day
11,399. Birthday texts
11,400. A book that was good for my soul
11,401. Sunset waves and wild ponies
11,402. "I'm still happy from camp." -Josiah
11,403. Dolphins jumping

11,404. An afternoon with my sisters and mom
11,405. Sisters (Aliza and Anna) that stay up too late talking
11,406. Long supper conversations
11,407. Laughing
11,408. New-to-us clothes
11,409. 2 year old chatter
11,410. Anna.
11,411. The rain held off
11,412. Raylyn's grin while Aliza made her into a sand mermaid
11,413. Isaiah still comes to our bed during storms
11,414. Aliza talks to me
11,415. So many pictures
11,416. The Chosen with Aliza's head on my shoulder
11,417. Quiet
11,418. Working on a project
11,419. Taking a family evening
11,420. Big kids having fun with little ones
11,421. Anna playing guitar in church
11,422. 23 years married
11,423. Showing up
11,424. Celebrating Alena's graduation
11,425. Jeremy's dad recovered quickly
11,426. Early morning grass mowing to beat the heat
11,427. Confession
11,428. Porch time with a friend
11,429. A slow day
11,430. Having the hard conversation to start making a big change
11,431. Anna being silly
11,432. A day at home
11,433. Having Allie with us for the day
11,434. Bright yellow goldfinches
11,435. Taking my work out on the porch
11,436. Traveling at night
11,437. Stories from silent disco night
11,438. The car fix went really smoothly
11,439. Watching Ronan play with bubbles
11,440. Spending time with Grandma and Grandpa
11,441. Safe trip home
11,442. A big project completed
11,443. Crepe myrtles blooming
11,444. Encouraging and meeting homeschool moms
11,445. Taking care of my family
11,446. Busy birdfeeders
11,447. Walking with a friend
11,448. Summer afternoon tea
11,449. Everyone feeling better
11,450. Loving the best I know how
11,451. Handling disappointment in stride
11,452. An evening with cool temperatures
11,453. Chick Fil A for supper and Olympic opening ceremony
11,454. Daughters convincing their Dad to take them to a concert
11,455. Thinking things through
11,456. A day to just be
11,457. Family evening on the beach
11,458. Olympic watching

11,459. Moms ahead of me to talk to
11,460. Prayer
11,461. Josiah feeling energetic again
11,462.Getting a treat for Anna
11,463. A beautiful summer morning
11,464. Celebrating Mom
11,465. Aliza waking up with energy
11,466. Spontaneous lunchtime company
11,467. Picking Anna up from youth group
11,468. Staying up late watching Olympics