Vincent's Last Day of Kindergarten

Vincent’s last day of school was basically just an assembly and handing back some last minute projects.  Cecilia and I attended the chapel service and I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it was like an awards assembly with a short message and prayer.  It was fun to go watch and see all the things the kids are involved in and doing.

After school was out we met up with some of Vincent’s classmates and their families at a park for a big playdate.  The kids had a blast and loved it!  I had fun talking to several of the moms as well.  Vincent was thrilled because it ended up with a playdate at his good friend Sam’s house!  He was thrilled.  When they came back to drop Vincent off, Sam ended up coming in the house and we literally had to peel the two kids apart from each other so that Sam and his mom could head back home.  We assured them that there would be more playdates!

Field Day at Cross

I volunteered to help with the Field Day at Cross, Vincent’s school.  I ran the penny toss game.  The kids went around in their chapel groups which are groups of kids ranging in age from kindergartner to 8^th grade.  It was fun seeing all the different kids and a lot of my niblings and a few cousins.  I loved watching the teams different techniques to encourage each other and work as teams.  There was definitely a varying level of competitiveness between the teams and teachers.  Vincent thought it was great that I was at his school helping.

A Friend's Wedding

  In May Brad and I got to have a night without the kids.  We had a wedding to go to so my mom, Dave and my sisters watched the kids at their house.  The wedding was very interesting.  It was an outside ceremony and the bride rode up on her horse and then her parents walked the horse up the aisle and helped her off when they reached the groom.  Three of her dogs were also in the wedding.  It was very neat to see them all included.  Then the reception was in a tent and the decorations and food were amazing.  We were at a table with some of Brad’s cousins and it was a great night out and away from the kids.  We left early because I was freezing cold.  Our plan was to go home and watch a movie, but we both fell asleep on the couch before that happened!  We are old

Vincent's Expert Talk

In Vincent’s Kindergarten class they finished the school year by having expert projects.  They had to pick a topic, fill out a contract saying how they were going to learn more about the topic and how they were going to do their presentation.  After much debate Vincent decided he wanted to be an expert of the Water Cycle.  I think Brad was hoping for something that was a little more farming related, but Vincent already had his mind made up.

After spending time finding websites for kids on the water cycle and reading them to Vincent and watching science videos on youtube about the water cycle we came up with a plan for his presentation.  He wanted to do a poster board, but not any poster board.  He wanted to have one that was trifold and stood up by itself.  When Brad and Vincent went to the store to buy it they came home with a poster that was as tall as Vincent.

We made a plan on paper for what Vincent was going to talk about and what kind of pictures he wanted to use.  So back to the internet and clip art we went to find the pictures he wanted to use.  He even typed up some of the words and phrases he needed for the poster.  Somehow on my laptop he kept accidentally deleting entire sentences, so I finally took over and typed what he told me to.  After cutting everything out, he glued it all down and had his poster ready to go.  We had him practice several times.  He did a great job and I think Joel, Cecilia and I had to listen to it a few times.  Not only that but he made us pretend to be his classmates and ask questions as well.  It was really cute.

By all reports he did a great job!

Alyes's Bridal Shower

On of the first weekends in May was Alyse’s first bridal shower.  Brandon’s family hosted it and it was in Dixon.  So Cecilia and I headed out there and the boys stayed home together.  It was fun to see Alyse so excited, see some of her friends, and meet Brandon’s family.  Cecilia and I couldn’t stay too long because Brad had headed to Farmer City not long after church and we needed to get Joel from Aunt Sarah and Vincent from a birthday party.  It was a whirlwind trip and weekend!

Feed My Starving Children

Our church had plans for months to go to Feed My Starving Children in April.  It ended up being a couple days after Patrick’s funeral.  It was decided that Patrick would still want us to attend, so we continued on with our plans to go.  I had my dad and Azra lined up to babysit the two younger kids so that Brad, Vincent and I could all attend and package food for FMSC.  We had also invited one of Vincent’s friends from school and his family to join us.

But our little baby had some plans for that day too.  I spent the night before and the morning of the FMSC packing trip in a lot of pain.  Enough so that the doctor thought I should come to the hospital and get checked out.  It wasn’t ideal timing because Brad was left with the kids, no one was really around to help him, and we had places to be that night.  So I drove myself to the hospital.  It turned out that everything was fine and it was some sort of ligament pain.  I am not sure how Brad managed because he was in the middle of fixing the horse fence, but I heard Uncle Bob may have helped with the kids and my Dad and Azra arrived a little early, so it all worked out.

Packing at FMSC was a lot of fun and we kicked butt packing meals.  Patrick would have been proud! It was amazing.  Afterwards Brad, Vincent and I joined a few people for dinner.  Vincent was so well behaved and did a great job hanging out with the adults afterwards.  It was an enjoyable night!

Random April Pictures

*coming soon*

A Big Loss

The Thursday after Easter I got a phone call I never wanted.  It was late in the evening and the kids were in bed and my friend called me.  I knew it couldn’t be good because we usually text each other and rarely call each other unless there is an emergency.  So when I saw her number on my phone I thought there was going to be something wrong with one of her dogs.  That would have been easier.  She was calling to tell me that our beloved Pastor, Patrick, passed away earlier that evening.  I knew he had been having health issues, I didn’t realize how serious they were and he actually stopped by our house the night before to pick up papers for a meeting.  He told me he wasn’t feeling well, but that we was looking forward to a doctor appointment at Mayo in a couple weeks. 

Brad is an elder at church so she wanted me to pass the info on to him so that we could start letting the congregation know.  I called Brad who was in Farmer City and told him what I knew.  He asked if I was sure and I told him I was pretty sure.  I was in shock and sent my friend a text just to confirm what she had told me before I called more people.  I only had to call family and some close friends from church to pass on the info and it was not fun to do that.

The passing of Patrick left us all shocked and left our church grieving.  We lost a friend and a leader.  The grieving process was different because I personally was grieving for a lost friend, but also for our church as a whole.  He did so much for our church, a lot of which few people knew about until he wasn’t there to take care of things.

I am happy to say that our church has pulled together and after a beautiful funeral service we have been able to slowly move forward.  Things that were in progress before Patrick passed away are still being worked on and a few new things as well.  It hasn’t been easy, but we have been blessed as a congregation to have a retired reverend in our mist that has done her best to fill holes and help us all heal.  It turns out it is a 2 year process to find a new pastor and I don’t think anyone is looking forward to that.  I know many of us know that we will never be able to replace Patrick, but the next pastor to come to our church has big shoes to fill.