today we were in church and it was time for communion. ed was playing drums, so the boys and i sat waiting for our turn to go forward. i went first, followed by the 4 boys. nothing out of the ordinary about that. i get back to my seat and immediately the boys are questioning me with concern... "did we do something wrong?" and "should i not have held my hands like this?". apparently, bill henry (our associate pastor) started laughing when the abbott boys came forward for communion and no one knew why. at the end of the service, bill came to find me because he wanted to tell me a funny story. i asked if it had to do with communion (not having any idea what might have made him laugh). he started laughing all over again. he said that he was passing out the wafers (bread) and noah abbott is standing behind me, looking very serious and wearing a name tag that read "joe mama" right in the middle of his chest. bill said he just started laughing and then throughout communion, he couldn't get the picture of noah out of his head (even as he handed out communion to sweet, little old ladies).
nametags for everyone are a new project of a new guy on our staff. i refuse to wear one because 1) i hate having my name visible like that and 2) my name is so uncommon that if people see it, they know that i am the buffy who works there... and suddenly, i'm working on a sunday. anyway, my not wearing a name tag causes some trouble between my co-worker and myself but maybe when he sees the nametags our kids are wearing every week, he'll back off. either that or i'm going to have to come up with a name to use... :)
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Friday, March 16, 2007
march madness
to give a clue about what's going on in our home, let me just say that the boys were kept up past bedtime on wednesday night because there was a very important deadline on thursday... ncaa picks had to be determined before the tournament started!! yesterday afternoon was the start of our "family basketball season". all six of us have our brackets filled out and we've got some tough competition between us! (fyi, as i write this on friday, taylor and i are in the lead... and he's about to go down today!!) i shouldn't admit this on a blog that my family can read, but last night's vcu victory over duke was a good thing for me only... all of the abbott guys went with duke! (it might be my feelings toward my parents' dog - named duke, of course - that i decided not to go with them this year...)
anyway, its a good thing i like basketball because otherwise, i think i would be a "basketball widow" during march madness. the brackets make the games interesting enough for the boys too, because it stirs up all sorts of competition between brothers!!
ed has his first practice for soccer tonight. he's joined an "over 40" league with a bunch of guys from our town, so this should be fun (i hope!).
the middle school has a dance tonight, but drew doesn't want to go. he says it isn't fun to just stand around in a dark room with music playing... hmmm, i remember liking jr high dances quite a bit but as i remember those times, i'm secretly relieved that he's not interested! of course, maybe he doesn't like them because they don't usually play heavy metal music? (since that's all he listens to!) he's headed to a friend's house tonight and then gets to babysit his brothers tomorrow night while we go out for st. patty's day. track is going well, so far, but i'm taking him to a doctor on monday to check on his knee (football injury from the fall). better safe than sorry, so i want to be sure there's nothing really wrong before he gets too far into the season.
taylor was very excited about the dance, but then announced last night that he wasn't going. that will likely change back and forth several times before tonight, so we'll see. since drew joined the school track team, taylor's interest in the sport has grown considerably. i hope it lasts because we think taylor would love track (and be good at it!), but you can't be on the team until 7th grade, so he's got to wait until next spring. in the meantime, he's getting lots of compliments on his babysitting skills (kids just love him) and still working hard to keep on top of school assignments. taylor's latest interest is woodworking. as often as he can (or rather, when he can't play runescape on the internet), he's down in the basement working diligently. i have no idea what he's making, but he's gathering every spare piece of wood and hammering away!
noah called me as soon as i got to work today to ask for a new shirt. apparently his shirt got caught in his locker and ripped. apparently, the hulk look doesn't work at school. i don't know what it is about that kid and clothing, but he's a "work hard, play hard" kind of guy and his clothes often pay for it!! noah's doing great work at school and seems to be getting better and better at the bass clarinet (new instrument he picked up this year... a few months after we bought his clarinet! oh well!). he loves playing music and is really excited about the progress he's making. now, noah is just itching for spring to come. noah loves being in shorts and t-shirts and playing outside. at least he got a few days on the trampoline before this cold front hit us!
as for evan, things are pretty much the same. he's doing well at school and just takes pleasure in all sorts of "little things". last night, he had an "aunt lucy" moment when he got to rip his sock up (it had a big hole). between that and the basketball bracket competition, he was having a blast. you know how babies will get all excited about a box rather than some fancy, expensive toy? that's ev. kitchen tools continue to be a favorite, but he'll take just about anything and find a way to play with it. ev is still playing soccer (and getting better!) and is getting ready for baseball this spring. and like noah, he's anxiously waiting for nice weather to play outside in! ev's teacher is a big sports fan and so he was really excited to take in his brackets today to show mr. may!
okay, that's it for now. i'll try to get the boys to write updates over the weekend! maybe...
anyway, its a good thing i like basketball because otherwise, i think i would be a "basketball widow" during march madness. the brackets make the games interesting enough for the boys too, because it stirs up all sorts of competition between brothers!!
ed has his first practice for soccer tonight. he's joined an "over 40" league with a bunch of guys from our town, so this should be fun (i hope!).
the middle school has a dance tonight, but drew doesn't want to go. he says it isn't fun to just stand around in a dark room with music playing... hmmm, i remember liking jr high dances quite a bit but as i remember those times, i'm secretly relieved that he's not interested! of course, maybe he doesn't like them because they don't usually play heavy metal music? (since that's all he listens to!) he's headed to a friend's house tonight and then gets to babysit his brothers tomorrow night while we go out for st. patty's day. track is going well, so far, but i'm taking him to a doctor on monday to check on his knee (football injury from the fall). better safe than sorry, so i want to be sure there's nothing really wrong before he gets too far into the season.
taylor was very excited about the dance, but then announced last night that he wasn't going. that will likely change back and forth several times before tonight, so we'll see. since drew joined the school track team, taylor's interest in the sport has grown considerably. i hope it lasts because we think taylor would love track (and be good at it!), but you can't be on the team until 7th grade, so he's got to wait until next spring. in the meantime, he's getting lots of compliments on his babysitting skills (kids just love him) and still working hard to keep on top of school assignments. taylor's latest interest is woodworking. as often as he can (or rather, when he can't play runescape on the internet), he's down in the basement working diligently. i have no idea what he's making, but he's gathering every spare piece of wood and hammering away!
noah called me as soon as i got to work today to ask for a new shirt. apparently his shirt got caught in his locker and ripped. apparently, the hulk look doesn't work at school. i don't know what it is about that kid and clothing, but he's a "work hard, play hard" kind of guy and his clothes often pay for it!! noah's doing great work at school and seems to be getting better and better at the bass clarinet (new instrument he picked up this year... a few months after we bought his clarinet! oh well!). he loves playing music and is really excited about the progress he's making. now, noah is just itching for spring to come. noah loves being in shorts and t-shirts and playing outside. at least he got a few days on the trampoline before this cold front hit us!
as for evan, things are pretty much the same. he's doing well at school and just takes pleasure in all sorts of "little things". last night, he had an "aunt lucy" moment when he got to rip his sock up (it had a big hole). between that and the basketball bracket competition, he was having a blast. you know how babies will get all excited about a box rather than some fancy, expensive toy? that's ev. kitchen tools continue to be a favorite, but he'll take just about anything and find a way to play with it. ev is still playing soccer (and getting better!) and is getting ready for baseball this spring. and like noah, he's anxiously waiting for nice weather to play outside in! ev's teacher is a big sports fan and so he was really excited to take in his brackets today to show mr. may!
okay, that's it for now. i'll try to get the boys to write updates over the weekend! maybe...
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
snow days
well, today is another snow day for the boys. originally they had a 2 hour delay and when i was sliding down the hill at 7 AM this morning to come to work, i figured that was a good call. to have the whole day off is a little ridiculous in my opinion, but oh well. they will spend the day at home, but wednesday is a "no electronics" day (nothing with screens) so it will likely be a very long day for them! then, we're back to the church for the pot-luck dinner lenten series. the little boys have kids activities while the big boys babysit and ed & i listen to really good teachings on grace.
actually, we're getting "grace" teachings and conversations every time i turn around! wonder if God is trying to tell me something?! some other day i'll write more about these thoughts but for now, i'll just mention that "grace" is such a hard thing for me! i'm way too much of a "right/wrong" mentality.
no real news on the boys other than drew starting track this week. we're into a whole new sport, but i think this one will be a good one for him!
actually, we're getting "grace" teachings and conversations every time i turn around! wonder if God is trying to tell me something?! some other day i'll write more about these thoughts but for now, i'll just mention that "grace" is such a hard thing for me! i'm way too much of a "right/wrong" mentality.
no real news on the boys other than drew starting track this week. we're into a whole new sport, but i think this one will be a good one for him!
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
lent with the abbotts
well, since i last wrote on ash wednesday, i figure i'll update you on our lenten experience thus far. the boys did well in the service last wednesday (although they were sitting in church doing homework... we have to get creative with busy schedules and heavy workloads!) and they were fascinated and freaked out a little about getting ashes on their foreheads. truthfully, i know they don't really get what the service was about, but it was a good introduction for them.
we've all chosen to give something up for lent (new for the boys): ed has given up chocolate & ice cream, drew - sweets and soda, taylor - legos and "doodling" in school, noah - sweets and evan- chocolate. for my part, i'm working on giving up my kneejerk reactions and giving grace... real grace, as in, when it isn't deserved and i don't want to give it! this is even harder for me than giving up chocolate in years before!! i'm sorry to say that we've each slipped up but we're pushing on and giong to try to make it to easter. i just know things are going to get ugly in a few weeks!! :)
this season (lent - easter) is usually pretty wacky for me at work as we have lots of events/services going on at church. i'm doing my best to delegate work in order to not have to carry the burden so much myself. i'm also trying to work ahead as much as possible. i've been doing pretty well with keeping my hours (not working later than i'm supposed to) but this season will be the test for me. so far, so good... we're only into the first week!
non-lent-related: we finally finished with the dentist yesterday (ev went 4 times in 8 days!)... now we get a break until august. phew! everything is good. they need to get started on braces (should have already, we're told) but their mom's new father-in-law is an orthodontist, so they will go to him and save everyone a lot of money! yeah!!
speaking of money, we're focusing on teaching the boys about managing money and because they don't quite have means to make money, we're going to go back to giving *meager* allowances (they tell us all the time how much more $$ their friends get... our offer is "take it or leave it") to the boys. every week they'll figure out savings, tithe and spending money and they will have to start using their own spending money. the older boys will be able to add babysitting money to their income, so its a really good time to start teaching them to manage money responsibly.
this allowance thing stresses me out. i didn't grow up with it (neither did ed) and i really don't want the boys to make an inaccurate connection between chores and allowance. we're specifially emphasizing that the boys are NOT being paid to do chores (taylor asked me today if he could not do chores and not get allowance...) we've told them that the two are not related and chores have to be done regardless of receiving money. however, ed has promised me that we're not shelling out allowances if chores aren't done. anyway, the allowance starts next month... so far, it looks like we won't have to pay much because if things continue as is, the "no chores, no allowance" punishment will save us money!
that's it for now. i'm off to tackle some filing... good times.
we've all chosen to give something up for lent (new for the boys): ed has given up chocolate & ice cream, drew - sweets and soda, taylor - legos and "doodling" in school, noah - sweets and evan- chocolate. for my part, i'm working on giving up my kneejerk reactions and giving grace... real grace, as in, when it isn't deserved and i don't want to give it! this is even harder for me than giving up chocolate in years before!! i'm sorry to say that we've each slipped up but we're pushing on and giong to try to make it to easter. i just know things are going to get ugly in a few weeks!! :)
this season (lent - easter) is usually pretty wacky for me at work as we have lots of events/services going on at church. i'm doing my best to delegate work in order to not have to carry the burden so much myself. i'm also trying to work ahead as much as possible. i've been doing pretty well with keeping my hours (not working later than i'm supposed to) but this season will be the test for me. so far, so good... we're only into the first week!
non-lent-related: we finally finished with the dentist yesterday (ev went 4 times in 8 days!)... now we get a break until august. phew! everything is good. they need to get started on braces (should have already, we're told) but their mom's new father-in-law is an orthodontist, so they will go to him and save everyone a lot of money! yeah!!
speaking of money, we're focusing on teaching the boys about managing money and because they don't quite have means to make money, we're going to go back to giving *meager* allowances (they tell us all the time how much more $$ their friends get... our offer is "take it or leave it") to the boys. every week they'll figure out savings, tithe and spending money and they will have to start using their own spending money. the older boys will be able to add babysitting money to their income, so its a really good time to start teaching them to manage money responsibly.
this allowance thing stresses me out. i didn't grow up with it (neither did ed) and i really don't want the boys to make an inaccurate connection between chores and allowance. we're specifially emphasizing that the boys are NOT being paid to do chores (taylor asked me today if he could not do chores and not get allowance...) we've told them that the two are not related and chores have to be done regardless of receiving money. however, ed has promised me that we're not shelling out allowances if chores aren't done. anyway, the allowance starts next month... so far, it looks like we won't have to pay much because if things continue as is, the "no chores, no allowance" punishment will save us money!
that's it for now. i'm off to tackle some filing... good times.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
my mundane life...
our small group (bible study) has decided to shift to wednesday nights during lent in order to attend a special teaching/potluck dinners at the church together instead. it should be a nice break to have a few thursdays open and not have to worry about the condition of the house. of course, that might be dangerous for me too...
anyway, there is no dinner at church tonight (ash wed) but we're all meeting at our house for dinner first and then going to the service. that's 14 for dinner and i haven't cleaned my kitchen or prepared my lasagna yet! augh! this is one of those frustrating things about work... i have to be here because its my job but i could be so much more productive if i were home right now!! (to make matters worse, i'm waiting on others' information & write-ups in order for me to meet a deadline and there isn't really much i can do while i wait. so, i'm reorganizing & cleaning out files i've found from the past two decades!!!) oh well.
the boys and i have spent quite a bit of time at the dentist this week - cleanings for all four on monday, then drew & taylor went back yesterday for sealants while ev was there yesterday getting cavities filled (baby teeth, thankfully!). ev & noah both return friday for more work. (fyi, ev's repeated visits are not necessary because of bad dental hygiene (although he's 9 and care for his teeth isn't at the top of his priorities...) but it turns out he's got a tooth that has no enamel on it. this was probably caused when he was in the womb and will someday be "corrected" with a crown. but, until he stops growing, we have to make repeated visits to try and cover/protect his "special tooth" as best we can.) that's it for now. (fascinating, wasn't it?!)
anyway, there is no dinner at church tonight (ash wed) but we're all meeting at our house for dinner first and then going to the service. that's 14 for dinner and i haven't cleaned my kitchen or prepared my lasagna yet! augh! this is one of those frustrating things about work... i have to be here because its my job but i could be so much more productive if i were home right now!! (to make matters worse, i'm waiting on others' information & write-ups in order for me to meet a deadline and there isn't really much i can do while i wait. so, i'm reorganizing & cleaning out files i've found from the past two decades!!!) oh well.
the boys and i have spent quite a bit of time at the dentist this week - cleanings for all four on monday, then drew & taylor went back yesterday for sealants while ev was there yesterday getting cavities filled (baby teeth, thankfully!). ev & noah both return friday for more work. (fyi, ev's repeated visits are not necessary because of bad dental hygiene (although he's 9 and care for his teeth isn't at the top of his priorities...) but it turns out he's got a tooth that has no enamel on it. this was probably caused when he was in the womb and will someday be "corrected" with a crown. but, until he stops growing, we have to make repeated visits to try and cover/protect his "special tooth" as best we can.) that's it for now. (fascinating, wasn't it?!)
Friday, February 16, 2007
weekend update... the long version!
well, its been a regular whirl-wind around our home lately. first, we've made some alterations to the living room paint and now it looks fabulous!! ed has done such a great job and has really worked hard and it has paid off!!! we love the room and are anxious to get the dining room painted now that the living room looks so good. you know, fixing up a really old house was on my "list of things to do before i die" so i'm trying to remind myself of that when i get frustrated with the never-ending projects. of course, i should mention that i don't actually do much of the fixing up anyway. ed does most of the labor while i watch. truthfully, its probably better that way.
in the past several weeks, the boys have had A LOT of time off from school. first they had every other monday off in january, then they got 3 or 4 snow days + a few delays because of weather. this is crazy! i distinctly remember gateway NEVER having days off for weather!! sure, it happens now with my kids... so i have to get creative with my work schedule or strategically arranging play time at friends' homes! oh well. the boys are loving it (and getting so used to it that when they had to go to school at the normal time last friday, they were totally out of whack.) surprise. surprise. they have tomorrow off too... wouldn't want to spend president's day learning about the presidents or anything! sadly for them, mondays are "no electronics" days at our home so they will have a long day of homework, games & puzzles & playing outside and no tv, computer or video games. oh, and the day will be broken up by a visit to the dentist for all 4. good times. :)
this weekend was crazy busy (when aren't we crazy busy?!) with sleepovers for ed and noah (that's right - ed. he had an overnight with a new bible study group of guys), so i took the other three to a movie. drew & i stayed up late watching a movie at home and around 12:40 am, the phone started ringing. having been a teenage girl myself once, i was certain the calls were for drew. (anyone remember the call to 3ws "for mike & mike from buffy & jenny"?!?!) sure enough, by the 15th hang up i answered the phone and heard "um, is drew there?" i was so frustrated by the constant phone calls (hang ups after giggles) but i didn't want to do anything to embarrass drew. so, i said "if i let you talk to him, will you please stop calling?" she replied yes & he took the phone. i listened as he replied with a monotonous "no" to a number of questions and then he hung up. turns out he was being questioned about his opinion of each girls' "hotness". ahhh, to be 13. (by the way, this is a good time to publicly thank my parents for their "no calling boys" rule. i think fear of getting caught "chasing a boy" probably spared me much humiliation!!)
after the late night calls, taylor had me up by 8:30... on a saturday morning. ugh! so, i made cinnamon & orange rolls and we did breakfast in bed - again with a movie. :) ev joined us and we had a lovely morning. finally, everyone arrived home & drew woke up and we tackled a cleaning day (1/2 hour of cleaning followed by 1/2 hour of breaks for the boys to play until the house was clean - not a bad arrangement!) before our big fondue night. our "fondue friday" had to move back a day because of the overnights. we did our regular chicken & steak fondue with cheese fondue with break & broccoli. this is a definite favorite meal in our home!!
today was just as full - drew babysat at church last night and taylor took his turn this morning (both in the preschool room), we got to witness the baptism of our good friends' baby (mark & crystal's baby, ava) then rushed noah to a birthday party before stopping in at ava's baptism party. we ducked out of that party to head over to the hodils' home for the annual daytona 500 party. the abbotts are not really nascar fans, but bryan hodil makes the race fun with contests for "the big prize" (won by noah two years ago!), so we get into the race because of the contest. it was totally fun, as usual!! unfortunately, the abbotts didn't win this year but the winner (dave, the "fun, big kid" according to the boys) graciously shared his winnings with some very excited boys. finally, we left that party and headed back to church for the worship concert being put on by our friends on the music team (ed wasn't drumming for this one). the boys were not quite as into this part of the day, but ed & i loved it. it was an incredible concert and we were glad to experience it. now, we're home and relieved about the no school day tomorrow (although i'm a little anxious to get to the office in the morning... i could use a break!).
in the past several weeks, the boys have had A LOT of time off from school. first they had every other monday off in january, then they got 3 or 4 snow days + a few delays because of weather. this is crazy! i distinctly remember gateway NEVER having days off for weather!! sure, it happens now with my kids... so i have to get creative with my work schedule or strategically arranging play time at friends' homes! oh well. the boys are loving it (and getting so used to it that when they had to go to school at the normal time last friday, they were totally out of whack.) surprise. surprise. they have tomorrow off too... wouldn't want to spend president's day learning about the presidents or anything! sadly for them, mondays are "no electronics" days at our home so they will have a long day of homework, games & puzzles & playing outside and no tv, computer or video games. oh, and the day will be broken up by a visit to the dentist for all 4. good times. :)
this weekend was crazy busy (when aren't we crazy busy?!) with sleepovers for ed and noah (that's right - ed. he had an overnight with a new bible study group of guys), so i took the other three to a movie. drew & i stayed up late watching a movie at home and around 12:40 am, the phone started ringing. having been a teenage girl myself once, i was certain the calls were for drew. (anyone remember the call to 3ws "for mike & mike from buffy & jenny"?!?!) sure enough, by the 15th hang up i answered the phone and heard "um, is drew there?" i was so frustrated by the constant phone calls (hang ups after giggles) but i didn't want to do anything to embarrass drew. so, i said "if i let you talk to him, will you please stop calling?" she replied yes & he took the phone. i listened as he replied with a monotonous "no" to a number of questions and then he hung up. turns out he was being questioned about his opinion of each girls' "hotness". ahhh, to be 13. (by the way, this is a good time to publicly thank my parents for their "no calling boys" rule. i think fear of getting caught "chasing a boy" probably spared me much humiliation!!)
after the late night calls, taylor had me up by 8:30... on a saturday morning. ugh! so, i made cinnamon & orange rolls and we did breakfast in bed - again with a movie. :) ev joined us and we had a lovely morning. finally, everyone arrived home & drew woke up and we tackled a cleaning day (1/2 hour of cleaning followed by 1/2 hour of breaks for the boys to play until the house was clean - not a bad arrangement!) before our big fondue night. our "fondue friday" had to move back a day because of the overnights. we did our regular chicken & steak fondue with cheese fondue with break & broccoli. this is a definite favorite meal in our home!!
today was just as full - drew babysat at church last night and taylor took his turn this morning (both in the preschool room), we got to witness the baptism of our good friends' baby (mark & crystal's baby, ava) then rushed noah to a birthday party before stopping in at ava's baptism party. we ducked out of that party to head over to the hodils' home for the annual daytona 500 party. the abbotts are not really nascar fans, but bryan hodil makes the race fun with contests for "the big prize" (won by noah two years ago!), so we get into the race because of the contest. it was totally fun, as usual!! unfortunately, the abbotts didn't win this year but the winner (dave, the "fun, big kid" according to the boys) graciously shared his winnings with some very excited boys. finally, we left that party and headed back to church for the worship concert being put on by our friends on the music team (ed wasn't drumming for this one). the boys were not quite as into this part of the day, but ed & i loved it. it was an incredible concert and we were glad to experience it. now, we're home and relieved about the no school day tomorrow (although i'm a little anxious to get to the office in the morning... i could use a break!).
Friday, February 2, 2007
making progress
you know, we often feel like we take a step forward and then 2 steps back... however, as of last evening (about a half hour before our small group arrived!) we have a newly painted living room!! yeah!!!!! before i went to work in the morning, ed & i agreed to a sand color for the walls and a deep, burnt red for the fireplace and our "someday" entertainment center... then i got a call from ed saying that he came home with a green color for the walls! anyway, my major fear was that our living room would be "christmas colored" and i wasn't crazy about that. but the shades of both colors are not at all holiday like and they really look nice together. (at least, that's what we think so far!) so, the room is painted and looks so different - it's wonderful! and if we do determine it looks "christmas-y", then we don't have to do as much to decorate in december!! :)
i think our next goal is to complete the dining room. that will be fabulous when we're done with it! now, if we can just keep up our momentum!
other than that, we're just carrying on. we've got a long weekend because the boys don't have school monday, so i'm taking some comp time to be home with them. i like that idea - not working from home, but taking the day off. (sometimes it pays to have to work some weekends!)
i think our next goal is to complete the dining room. that will be fabulous when we're done with it! now, if we can just keep up our momentum!
other than that, we're just carrying on. we've got a long weekend because the boys don't have school monday, so i'm taking some comp time to be home with them. i like that idea - not working from home, but taking the day off. (sometimes it pays to have to work some weekends!)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
