May Madness

School is only one week from being out! How on earth did that happen so fast? I will have a first, third, fifth and seventh grader next year. The years just keep sailing by. I've had an increasingly difficult time keeping up with all 4 of the kiddos this year. Now that they're all in school and all have many end of school activities, it's just a full time job keeping up with all of them. Mark and I have tried to split up to cover it all and it's sad for us not to both be able to be at everything together but as the kids get older there are more and more things that tend to overlap. So Ella's class took a trip to the Houston zoo, which I went on, Mark Thomas's class went to the movie theatre, Ben's class went to the Natural History Museum also in Houston, which Mark went on and Max's trip unfortunately was canceled due to the swine flu but he's had other rewards for being such a great student at Marshall that not all kids were able to participate in so he's ok. Seems to have out grown that whole field trip thing.

I drove to Houston with a girl friend so we could get home earlier to head to Dallas for Memorial Day weekend. Our attempt to leave early was totally foiled by the road crew working on the highway so we sat in traffic for over an hour. I had been in NYC for work that same week for two days and was so tired from traveling but my sisters conned me into coming up to the Big D. So at 6:00 p.m. after Ella and I finally got home from Houston I took all 4 of the kids up to Dallas and we had a great time hanging out with my parents, sisters and their crews.



And with all the end of school parties we've also thrown in a few birthday and slumber parties. Ben had two of his buddies spend the night last night. Ella went to a birthday party at the Queen B this morning and MT is at a birthday party right now from 2-9. When Matthew's mom called to invite MT and told me the time, and then asked if MT could come, I felt like shouting a resounding YES. Such quietness having one gone for that length of time. Is that bad? Probably, but hey, I'm just keeping it real. Ella had a fabulous time. Flash backs to the Bippety Boppety Boutique at Disney World. She's got enough glitter on her to shine in the dark. When one of the boys that stayed with Ben had his mom come to pick him up she saw Ella and said, "I'll never get to do that. I'll just have to take myself someday." She has three boys!

Memorial Day Weekend Message

Hope you enjoy this Memorial Day Weekend sermon, based on the "Macedonian Cry" that Paul heard, as recorded in Acts 16:1-12.
The sermon, of course, is dedicated to the glory of God, in loving memory of Robbie D. "Pop" Langston.

Mr. Q and Miss U

Ella had a big event at school this last week. Mr. Q asked Miss U to marry him and the class had a big wedding to celebrate. Never in all three years of kindergarten with the boys did we have something so fun to attend. Mark did the honors today because I'll be going with Ella to the zoo next week. Ella was asked to wear church clothes the day of the wedding and that morning she told me, "Morgan said she doesn't have any church clothes. How come she doesn't have church clothes?" And I said, "well some people don't go to church every Sunday like we do." She looked at me like I was totally nuts.

Mark said Mrs. Jones did a great job officiating and wrote into the vows that Miss Q make "Quaker oatmeal every day" and that Mr. Q "hunt quail reguarly". There was a bridal procession and Ella was asked to be Miss U's attendant. They had a wedding cake tiered with little Debbie's zebra cakes and even danced afterwards.

Ella also brought me breakfast in bed this morning for Mother's Day. It's heavenly having the kids be older. They each get up and make their own breakfast on Saturdays and even close my door on their way down the hallway. I was sound asleep at 7:30 and Ella walked in and said, "Happy Mother's day, Momma. I brought you cereal, your favorite with cranberries." I really didn't want to wake up yet but the gesture was precious so I climbed out of bed, put pajama bottoms on and walked into the kitchen to have cereal with my daughter. I'll post more later about the things the other kids did.

After church today though, I was on the computer in the laundry room and Ella came in to color a picture. She laid her head down and was talking to me and within a few minutes she was totally quiet. I looked down and she had totally fallen asleep on the laundry room floor! I often feel like sleeping in the laundry room because it's a job that never ends but this was just too much. Adorable!

Max and Mowing

You have to love having boys that like to mow! Max has enjoyed mowing the lawn since we lived in NY and would actually get upset when he got off the bus if he could tell that we had mowed while he was at school. Our yard was much larger there so our yard here is easier for him to accomplish solo. Ben has actually started mowing too with assistance from Mark so this weekend the competition was on. Max heard Ben say that he wanted to mow so he quickly went out to the shed and got the lawn mower, started it up and mowed the front lawn all by himself. He's got a lead on Ben because as of yet the initial prep work is something Ben cannot do alone. The sibling rivalry never ends around here.

Bragging Mom

Since we've moved to Texas there is a wonderful church camp not far from where we live and last summer the three boys were able to attend because of scholarship money the camp has been graciously endowed. The boys have to ask someone for a reference and this year Ben and MT asked their teachers. I have to brag a minute and post what their teachers wrote because these forms are obviously mailed to the camp and I wanted to keep a record of what was written about each of them. The references totally made me cry. So here we go...

"Benjamin Keffer is a a fourth grade student in my classroom and he exhibits tremendous leadership qualities. I can attest that he is a young man with a promising future who would be an asset to your program. Ben stands out among his peers as he seeks opportunities to help others and regularly offers encouragement to a visually impaired classmate. He is a kind and caring person who reflects Christian values in the classroom and on the playground. He is also active in Boy Scouts and frequently responds to situations in honorable ways. I heartily urge without reservation that you offer him any financial support available, as he is deserving of any help. Your program will be rewarded for assisting this young man."

"Mark Thomas Keffer is a second grade student in my class. He has shown outstanding leadership traits and good citizenship. He is kind and considerate to others. Mark Thomas is always ready to assist others when needed. He displays a great attitude and is a positive influence on his classmates. Mark Thomas is an asset to our classroom. He is extremely bright and inquisitive and excels in all areas."

Asking for assistance can be humbling at times but this has been a wonderful exercise for our family and frankly the children would not be able to attend such a wonderful camp without the assistance. So we are so thankful for those individuals that support the camp with their donations.

Max will not be attending church camp this summer because he's going to a swim camp at the University of Texas for a week. It will be run by the US Olympic head coach and there will be 8 Olympians there as well. We are so excited for this experience! Each of the boys have skill in the pool but Max is more developed now in his techniques are they're excellent so we're anxious to see him have a wonderful swim season this year.