Megan at Bat

Sammy's First Steps

Friday, March 28, 2008

Wow, I can't believe March is almost over, especially when I think about how long this week has seemed ...

I'm excited that our friends Dan and Raye are coming to stay with us this weekend. They live in Omaha and are coming up for a conference for Raye's work. They're a fun couple who love to play Euchre, so Charlie and I are pumped to play cards with them. I think we're also going out to dinner - to a sit down place - so that's pretty rare for us. :-) Anybody want to come over tonight to help me do some last minute cleaning before their arrival?!

Saturday morning Megan has a retreat for her first communion. I sent invitations out today for the big event on April 19. The retreat should be fun.

I am getting ready to starting doing a monthly prayer training for my women's Bible study group. We're doing a wonderful Beth Moore study on the fruits of the Spirit at our weekly meetings, and we have a prayer time at the end of the evening. But there are several ladies who are uncomfortable with praying in the group.

I suspect this is because many of them have not been trained in prayer. It may seem like a silly thing to be trained in, but like any of the spiritual disciplines, it takes training and practice. I'm hoping that by working on our prayer together, we will have more rich prayer time with each other, on our own, and with our friends, family, coworkers, etc.

If you have any resources or testimonials, I'd love to hear them!

We had a very nice time in Rock Rapids for Easter. It was wonderful seeing much of my family after not seeing them since Christmas. And we'll all be together again in early April for a visit with my sister Erin who's coming from Alaska with her family. Yippee!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!
Hugs,
Tracy

Bon Jovi and Daughtry

The concert last night was AWESOME! We had so much fun. Jon Bon Jovi is such a nice looking man, and he has more energy than any performer I’ve ever seen. They played for 2.5 hours, and I don’t think the man hardly stood still.

The crowd was great. You could tell that they have a very strong fan base who adore them. It was so loud in the Xcel Energy Center that I couldn’t hear out of one ear for a while after the concert.

Daughtry was good. Chris Daughtry has an AMAZING voice. I thought he did an okay show, but I think he tried too hard to get the crowd going. He wanted us to sing along, and I didn’t know many of the words to his songs. He wanted us to clap along, and he doesn’t really have “clapping” songs. They’re more “head banging” songs.

But again, very, very strong singer. And he’s not bad to look at either. ;-)

Charlie and I had such a nice time together. It was fun dancing and trying to sing along at the tops of our lungs. Bon Jovi did all of the songs we wanted to hear. We went to dinner before with our friend Kathy and her sister.

Our friends the Atkinsons watched the little ones, and we watched American Idol when we got home. We went to bed at 2 AM; I’m too old to stay up that late and then get up for work the next morning.

Oh, one complaint about the concert. I really wanted to get a T-shirt, but I refused to pay $40+ for one. Bummer!

Thursday, March 20

My sweet little niece Ella (Erin and Andy’s daughter) is getting tubes in her ears this morning. I am praying that all goes well and that the tubes will ease her continuous ear infections.

I’ve got a bad case of the Fridays. We’re off tomorrow for Good Friday, and we’ll be driving down to Rock Rapids to see my family. I’m super excited because I haven’t seen them since Christmas, and it feels like FOREVER!

Melissa and Jaylen will be home too, and we’ll be going to see my mom’s side of the family (Grandma and Grandpa Muecke and the gang) on Saturday. I’m going to pick up some more supplies tonight for the Easter bunny, and I’m going to get some stuff for Melissa and I to do First Communion invites for Jaylen and Megan.

Megan’s first communion is Saturday, April 19 in Mahtomedi. Jaylen’s is Sunday, April 27 in Omaha. I can’t believe they are already in second grade!!! It’s just not possible.

I’m excited for Megan because she is going to a water park today with a little friend from school and her family. Shea is terribly jealous, but I’m excited that Megan has a friend who wants to hang out with her while they’re on Spring Break.

Happy First Day of Spring, BTW! We’re supposed to get 2–4 inches of snow tonight, but at least it’s 40°F and it should melt quickly. I’m hoping the roads will be good for our road trip tomorrow.

I just printed out the spring and summer community ed program calendar. Shea should be old enough for T-ball this year, and Megan is excited to play softball. So we’ve got to get signed up. I am soooo excited to get outside and do things. I can’t wait to start gardening and walking and going to the park.

I wonder what Sam will think of grass. I remember Megan hating it and Shea just plowed through it. I guess we’ll have to wait and see. ;-)

Braggin' on Shea

I don’t brag on my boy Shea as often as I should, but he really is quite the awesome little boy.

• The other day, Charlie picked up the boys from daycare, and Laurie asked him how we taught Shea to write his name. Charlie said, “err, we didn’t.” But low and behold, he can write his name! Megan said she showed him once, but I certainly don’t know of anyone sitting down and really working with him on it. Bad parenting probably – but a great kid.
• So last night he wrote his name on each of his Valentines for the kids at daycare. Plus he counted out the pieces of candy and put the candy and card in bags for each child. He was so cute doing such big kid stuff.
• Yesterday morning he was talking about what he wants to be when grows up. He’s thinking that fireman, policeman, or race-car man would be good. He was weighing the pros and cons of each and asking me which one I thought he should be. I think he’s leaning toward race-car man at the moment.
• Another thing that is so sweet about him is that he always asks before taking something – a drink of my water, a piece of my candy, etc. And he waits for me to respond before taking what he wants. Megan doesn’t do that. :-p

He has his frustrating 4-year-old moments, but he’s a sweetheart. Thanks for letting me share!

Spiritual Maturity

It’s not about what you know; it’s about what you do.

- Jason Anderson, Speaking Pastor, Eagle Brook Church (listen/view online Sept 22&23 at www.eaglebrookchurch.com)