7th Grade Honors night

Last night was 7Th grade Honors night..

Yes! Aaron made the Honor roll, he was somewhere between an 3.0 and 3.69, so considered the A-B honor roll. Not bad for a new school, being the new kid on the block, playing football and basketball and being in the band as well! We were proud!








The ceremony was held at the Romeo Highs school auditorium, because they have air conditioning! (it was a hot, humid 88 degrees yesterday! so we were thankful for the air. )
Here he is posing with on the left Mr Bennett, the Assistant Principal and on the right Mr Argiri the Principal . AAron wanted them to be serious, but they could not help but smile for the camera, all except Aaron of course!















This one was in the cafeteria, they had a nice little art exhibit of some of the 7Th grade students work with cookies a cookie and punch reception for the students.


All in all there were about 115 7Th grade students with either A, B honor roll, A Honor roll or high honors, a 4.0 Average for the whole year, there were 10 high honors students. The annoucemement was made that 7Th grade was the brightest class in the middle school this year, that 63% of the 7Th graders were on the honor roll this year! That is something to be proud of!

Band Banquet

Tuesday night Romeo Middle school held the annual band Banquet. This fountain is outside the main entrance to Addison Oaks. Nice shot of Aaron, he looks so grown up.

Aaron decided he would rather sit with his friend than with his parents, (we went through this with Zach in the fall at his soccer banquet) BUT if you notice the table, his friends seem to be mostly girls?????? what is up with that?

His band director is Mr O'Connor, who was just a blast! They had a good time laughing over the fact that Aaron is taller than him now......he is taller than most of the okay all of the kids in the 7Th grade band as well:)



The boys have been very musical over the years.

From the time they were 4 and 5 yeas old they
played the piano. Their first teacher was Mrs Becky
Reynolds, our former pastors wife (she lived right across the parking lot from us. When she moved they began taking lessons from Mrs April Spring......Micah and Noah still take lessons from her.

The house rule has always been, if you want to play a sport you must also play and instrument. By the 5Th grade Zach had chosen the saxophone, then moved onto the bass guitar and still plays that. Aaron opted for the drums in the 5Th grade( and can still occasionally be found at the piano playing his brother recital music and if you listen carefully you may even hear him strumming away on his electric guitar in his bedroom) and last night celebrated a great year of Middle school band by having a band banquet at the Addison Oaks banquet center ..

Lower el Field day

Get ready, get set, GO .....















He won 1 first place ribbon and 3 second place ribbons
















Friends!
















We may have a hurdler.......

















Touchdown!


































The class (most of them anyway)
enjoying their bomb pops!

Update

My God is in control of all situations and circumstances. He will do only good. He is my strength and stay. He has promised to never leave me or forsake me.

In the words of an old poem by Annie Johnson Flint

He giveth more grace as our burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength as our labours increase;
to added affliction He addeth His mercy,
To multiplied trials He multiplies peace.
His love has not limits, His Grace has no measure,
His power no boundaries known unto men,
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus
He giveth and giveth and giveth again.

I am now onto the melanoma clinic at the U of M.
(about an hour away)
My scheduled appointment is June 6 unless something
opens up between now and then.


It looks like I will have surgery to Biopsy the area around where they have already taken the mole off to make sure there is no more cancer.(it will leave a 2-3 inch scar) How they will do it remains to be seen; there are two options. They also want to get the Pathology report to U of M and have another pathologist read it to get a second opinion. On June 6 I am scheduled from 1- 5 in the afternoon, that day will be all consultations and meeting the doctors and the surgery team. The surgery will be scheduled within 14 days after the initial consultations . Yesterday they also did a full body scan and identified two other moles that look suspicious and will be taken off at the time of surgery at U of M.

I think that is all for now, not a anything that we did not know going into yesterdays appointment, now we just wait. Pray for an appointment to open up prior to June 6. I would love to have this done before the boys get out of school, beginning June 6 they have half days until the 8th then they are done for the summer, I hate the idea of them coming home to an empty house on the 6th and spending the whole afternoon by themselves.

Strong in the broken places

To become strong in the broken places in our lives demands that we do two things, seeming opposites; hang in there, and let go. To somehow dig up the courage to keep going is the very courage that allows us to scoop up the broken pieces of our lives and lay them all at the feet of ONE who would do more in Us than just get us through the storm. As James Means said, he would take the fire that blackens our horizons and warm our souls with it. HE would sharpen our vision in the darkness that oppresses us. he would use the despair of standing at a grave to deepen our trust. This we cannot do our selves.

Perhaps our brokenness brings us to the end of ourselves, it is here, he indeed makes us strong in our broken places.


This is what the mole used to look like......

then I had it removed.

For you ladies that shave you will
understand, it was on a part of my leg,
front, right, just below my knee, where I shave.
So for the purpose of not nicking it
anymore and causing it to bleed,

I simply had it taken off, by my doctor
of course.

Then, my Doctor called..... the mole was indeed,
malignant for melanoma. That is all we know right now.
Tomorrow, Monday we call a cancer specialist and make an appointment and
go from there. We will definitely keep you posted, but in the mean time
WE know God is still in the miracle working business. If you could pray
with us and for us that the doctor got all the cancer the first time around
and that no further treatment would be deemed necessary, that would be our desire.

If God has other plans we will understand and graciously accept whatever comes our way,
All Gods children go through deep waters and trails by fire. There's no if- only when. But with the when comes the Who. God never allows His children to swim alone. His buddy system is sink and fire proof. More sure than the when is the who. IT is God who assures His children, " I will be with you" -when!

joelle

5th grade Field Trip

Greenfield Village










































Henry Ford Museum

Upper El Field Day

It is a beautiful day here in Romeo,
Close to 90 degrees.
A perfect day for Field Day at
Amanda Moore Elementary,
the upper grades.
That means Noah's class.
















Since it was 87 degrees and we were outside
the entire time, the Parent Teacher Organization
supplied the water, and it definitely was needed.

Noah seemed to put his creative skills to use
and found a new way to drink his water.







The activities varied from the morning
to the afternoon.
In the morning they did activities like,
bean bag toss, hoola hoops and jump rope contests.

The afternoon was more like a track meet,
with the 50 yard dash, 75 yard dash and
the javelin throw.

Noah came away with 2 second place ribbons
for his events and 1 third place.

Not bad for a days work!

My life as a zookeeper?

First there was Jabez


Then there was Rose

Now there is this.....he or she does not have a name yet,
Yes! It is a turtle, daddy found it on the side of the road
and thought Micah and Noah just had to have it.
I am beginning to think we live in a Zoo!

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's day!















Me and the boys















Me and Matt

Noah mad me this little hanging, I hope you can read it.
It is a pom he wrote to me by himself.
I was touched, first it is mother's day anyway and
since I love being a mother it is always a special day regardless,
second, he wrote it for me from his heart.
(click right on the photo and you may be able to enlarge it to read it,
you will be touched too)

Consider the rainy season

I have quite the collection of hats, some of you may not know that because we are so far apart, others may not remember because truthfully I have not worn them this past year and a half or so. I also have a quite a collection of shower caps......silly goose, from the hotels we have stayed in obviously.....have you ever worn those silly things? They are far from a fashion statement!

Actually when you consider life- it makes sense to have a few shower caps.

On my most recent trip to Panama I could have used a few shower caps- it was rainy season, that means it rained a little, just about every day. On the days it did not rain and on the days it did we spend a large portion of our time on the water. Either the Caribbean sea or the Atlantic ocean. One day I was even on the Panama canal. One night while I slept or tried to sleep the storms were just pounding our little thatched roof hut and if I had opened my eyes I am sure there would have been lightening as well, so I kept my eyes close and tried to sleep, I could not. The water splashed against our little barrier around the "hotel" but since we were surround by water on all sides the winds and the rains continued to sound violent. The rain continued to come down.

Lately that is like life. I have relocated in my life approximately ten times, moving is stormy weather for me; more so since I have had my boys. The dismantling of belongings is an emotional thunderstorm. Add to dismantling belongings the process of finding new jobs, new schools, new doctors,new friends.......all thunderous situations for me. I am not sure why this is , some doctor would tell me it is childhood related, that is possible, but for whatever reason it is hard for me, and I am a slow learner( 4 years of college for a 2 year degree okay:))BUT through all of life's weather patterns, God is Good. That truth tucked up under my shower cap will help me to bear up under wrenching winds and pelting rains. As I continue to grow in Him and lean less on myself and my feelings I will eventually completely surrender to My God! When I know I can trust His redeeming hand, then even the category 5 storms don't mentally blow me away.
Oh they try, the winds blow and they howl and the rain pelts me even in the nights with my eyes closed , But I am anchored, with 3 anchors just to be sure. Life is treacherous and life is tremendous , but here is the clincher - The stabilizing truth that acts as the cohesive to hold US together is knowing that God liberates us from despair and comforts us with hope then I settle down into His goodness and hopefully into a less frayed existence and soon I will be charging through the blue waters again.

joelle

Character Counts!

Aaron has had a GREAT year! We were all a bit

apprehensive this year having to change schools, move,

make new friends......but our boys have been amazing!

Aaron started out the year playing 7th grade football.

First game of the season, he scored the first goal!

See the posts on football from September.

After football we moved onto basketball. Again he

had a fabulous season scoring the most points in the last game

of the season, he was high scorer for that game which was also the

Romeo Middle school vs Powell middle school Friendship game.

More like rival game so it was fun!

Now the important part, more than what he has done on the field or

on the court, last week he received the Character Counts award.

It somewhat speaks for itself. He had no lates, no tardies, no detentions,

no visits to the principals office, no gum chewing, or being disrespectful to

an adult in school, no pink slips, yellow slips or anything else deemed

inappropriate during the school year. Seems odd to celebrate that but apparently

the middle school those things become an issue. With over 300 students in the

7th grade at romeo middle school, over 100 hundred of them received this award

this year! Aaron was one of them! Way to go Aaron!

Cranbrook Science center

The all day birthday.....

Zach's day started out so early because Romeo schools start much earlier than when we were in Utica. The school bus comes at 6:35. So today on his actual birthday, he got up at 6am as usual but only had time for a happy birthday and opening his card. Then this after noon when he got home from school he had a little package on the table to open which contained a set of spiderman cards and two new spiderman t-shirts. For dinner we had a family celebration with his favorite grilled burgers with all the fixings and for dessert; Brownies (with trick candles, and at 15 years old it is still funny. He tried and tried, and eventually they all stayed out......)with ice cream. (he has never been a big cake eater)

His day continues with an evening viewing of the new spiderman 3 movie with a few of his favorite people, Pastor Ed an Peter and Pastor Jason.

All in all I think it has been a good day for him.

Happy Birthday Zach!

Happy 15th Birthday!

Where does the time go?

Zach has had a great year.....after moving to Romeo this year

he still managed a spot on the (9th grade soccer team for the High

school, played intramural basketball also on a 9th grade team, continued

to go to the youth group at Community Wesleyan, helped in the launch

of The Bridge and Crosswalk (the youth ministry of The Bridge) made new friends

in the school and the neighborhood and is a great mentor to the next door

neighbor boys as well as others in the community. He

helped allot around the house and the Bridge when Matt had knee surgery,

continues to do well in school and has chosen a pretty tough schedule for next year already including Spanish 3 due to his desire to go to Nicaragua in the fall; he had raised money to go on a mission trip to Panama this past April, where this photo was taken. He generally loves his family including his brothers.......most of the time, (yet there are days where he likes Jason more,)He loves God and he is a pretty well rounded kid, of course I am a little bias, but I really am proud to watch the boy turn into a young man.....wow! 15 already, I am equally amazed at the sheer joy that he brings to the rest of us! I know sometime this year he will be asking to do that whole drivers training thing and I will do so knowing there is no going back, my first born is growing up. What a brilliant gift he was to us! This fun, loving, ridiculously smart, little kid full of dark hair captured my heart the moment I saw him and I could not be prouder to be his mom.......Thank you God for letting me be his mom and for showing me how to do so, with all the ups and downs I would not trade it for the world! I am blessed.

Evel Knievel

Evel Knievel becomes a Christan, you remember him, jumping over building to building, canyons.....crazy stunts but when I was a kid I was mesmerized......

I believe it is true..... click here and read it for yourself.


http://www.hourofpower.org/interviews/interviews_detail.cfm?ArticleID=5306

3rd times a charm

They say the 3rd times a charm, we will have to wait and see.

Micah had tubes or I should say one tube put back in his right ear.

Some time this past summer the tube in his right ear fell out prematurely.

We waited a while to see if the fluid that was accumulating would drain on its own.

It did not! So back to the office we went and about three months after the official,

Yep, you lost a tube, he had it replaced. This time it was a breeze, no tears for mom,

an no kiddie cocktail for Micah, he walked right into his operating room and hopped on the table.

The rest is history. We now have to put up with putting the plugs in when he bathes or swims and remembering to use the headband to keep the plugs in place......poor kid, three summers in a row he has had to endure this.

Will you pray along with us that the tubes stay in for the duration ; the left ear only has about 6 months to go, the right ear???? it would be good for it to stay in at least a year, to a year an a half, and that after they do come out there will be no more recurrences of fluid in his ears and he will not begin to lose his hearing, that is usually the first sign e needs tubes, his hearing begins to go, at first I thought he was being selective but after several weeks of getting frustrated I usually come to the conclusion it is time to see the specialist. Micah also seems to have a high tolerance for pain so ear infections or ear aches are never a problem. The surgery was last week and so far so good.....

anyway we will keep you posted......