over a month

*note - i typed out this entire post earlier this week only to have it disappear when i went to post.  it's taken me a few days to get over that and redo.  :-)

how does one update more than a month in one blog post?  where to even begin?  

why, with pictures of course!!

in the past month i have:

read lots of stories

lived a very "full cubby" life

wishing i could get this kind of attention from my kids instead of it being the tv

took part in the ancient tradition of ash wednesday at the episcopalian church next door

made friends with a baby

and a lovely little girl

spending many hours in my classroom - with many joys and many sorrows

took advantage of cute photo opportunities

(my parents visited in the midst of this - mom has all those pics so I will have to wait to share them)

i finally got to see wicked with 5 of my friends!!

we had great seats in the mezzanine level

last week the "stouts" visited me and hung out with coat kids. they totally revamped the kids room, cleaning and organizing!

and i got to spend playtime with kaleena's baby mckynzye!!

can you read our buttons? they say "i won the wicked lottery!" that's right, a week after i saw the show i went back to try out the lottery. basically you can come 2.5 hours early and put your name in for $25 tickets in the first 5 rows. (wicked tickets are around $100). my friend jen and i tried at the mid-day show with no luck. then that evening - they drew my name!!! i was eligiable for 2 tickets...

and these were our seats!!!

in summary - this was the hardest coat kids i have ever had.  one of my kids was removed from the group for the last week or so because of some angry and aggressive behavior.  it wasn't my choice but i think it was the right one.  thankfully now i am hearing good reports from his family of big developments that are happening since the day of our "breakdown."  luckily mom and dad were in town to listen to me cry the day of and had many reassurances from being former high school teachers  i'm thankful that good is coming out of it - and at the same time - it was really hard being in the battlefield with him each day.  so often i want the glory. and there was no glory in this for me!  only for God.  He is the one who is changing hearts.  i was a very stubborn "sacrificial lamb" for my kids this time around.  i need to stop fighting when it's really hard and trust God to make something good out of it.  not me.  

my second summary is this - my God is so gracious to me in that He knows me so well!  what could be a better balm to my weary soul than theatre?  really really good theatre at that.  i had tears in my eyes on the way home after seeing wicked a second time - i was just so thankful that i had been given that blessing of an opportunity.  to see the beautiful costumes and the actors facial expressions.  i felt so connected to both the story and actors.  what a way to experience the creativity of God!!  

coming up:  i'm going to southeast asia for a month - woohoo!!