The girls had a chance to go to homeschool roller skating last week. I didn’t get photos bc I was working so hard to keep them from sprawling on the floor.
Katriel had an invitation to a birthday party today at – the roller rink! This time I snapped a picture.
I also grabbed one outside because I still swoon over the mountains!
The unexpected text came by 8AM.
Would Johanna and Katriel be up for some early morning “gingerbread” house creating. A super quick yes and off they were to Hannah’s house!
Grateful for moms who think live like I do – last minute smiles and new memories!
The best part of no school is FRIENDS!
Katriel was given a kazoo at Sunday School.
Not sure what we did to deserve that.
(She called it a bazooka. It’s almost the same thing.)
John and Tab headed to NY for the weekend to visit Ba and Poppy and to get her braces visit in.
I’m tired. I haven’t been sleeping well this week. There has just been a lot to do, nothing bad. But today, my tired self knew the Enemy was messing with me a little bit more than I felt strong enough for.
The kitchen was a huge mess and I had to run Nigel to work before heading to Anderson, SC for a gathering I’d been invited to.
I just felt the condemnation in my head. I don’t deserve to go. My house is a mess. Christmas is coming. There is so much to do. I remembered John and Marie both encouraging me the other day when they heard about the invitation. “But I want to go,” I told myself. So I went.
I uncharacteristically left the messy kitchen behind (gasp), left the little girls with lots of Christmas puzzles and let myself be blessed.
I got to meet many of Shannon’s friends and neighbors, and we shared words of encouragement and reminded each other of why we were here and how God had made a way.
Before I left Shannon’s, I looked at my phone and saw an invitation for the little girls to join a neighbor to decorate cookies this afternoon!! I joyfully joyfully accepted and called Johanna and Katriel and encouraged them to get lunch and make sure they didn’t look homeless (their normal Saturday couture). They were so happy.
We went down to Anna and Rebecca’s at 2PM. My house was still a nightmare. The pulled pork in the crock pot was spilling out juice onto the counter, but I just turned it off and left.
They had a blast being offered unrestrained access to their decorating whims. I was encouraged to hear the other mom could only make circles because she couldn’t find her cookie cutters – that was my plight yesterday, myself.
And then, I dropped Marie off at a birthday party. A fun thing for her, too.
At 5PM, I finally got around to pulling the pork, and faced the hard truth – I had NO rolls and NOTHING to serve with it. “Here’s some meat, kids.” So I went to Food Lion and bought wee packages of store-bought salads (eww? yum? you decide) and some mystery rolls. We finally ate. No one complained.
Honestly, moving has been SO HARD. 100% healthy. But truly hard.
Shannon and Anna both have done it and it was so great to hear them each share how God had provided for them.
God provided BIG TIME for me today.
I love that God cares for tired old me.
The first photo is a daytime photo of our church. The decorations are so lovely.
Katriel had to be at church by 4 for rehearsals. The children’s choir she joined on a whim turned out to be an amazing opportunity for her to offer her gifts and talents to our Christmas celebrations.
Many a Butler child has offered musical gifts, but this year, it is Katriel alone who graced the stage.
My heart was full. She kept herself smiling all the time.
As we arrived home we got to see the beautiful candles that lined the whole track. Marie and Stewart went to get ours this afternoon. It is an HOA thing. People walked the neighborhood to visit and have treats together. We missed it because of the concert, but we were very blessed by the concert. You sometimes just can’t do everything!
I LOVE BEING THIS KIND OF BUSY!
I need to write posts like this because even three weeks later I just grin from ear to ear at how much GOD has provided us. PTL!
Friday started EARLY as I drove Nigel to the airport at 6AM for a 7:30AM flight. He headed back to Rochester to get in some holiday visits. He bought his ticket himself and planned all his rides and visits himself.
As soon as I got home, Marie and I headed to Greenville to visit Bob Jones University campus for a tour. Thankfully God nudged me earlier in the week to switch days from Thursday – (we ended up needing that time to spend that time with Jasper).
As soon as she and I got back (she liked BJU a lot) I grabbed Johanna and Katriel who were ready in their AHG uniforms so we could go to the host church to work on Christmas cards for a local nursing home.
The girls and their leaders made sure there were enough for every single resident to get one.
Then we crossed the street (passing Nan who had just dropped off Marie and Tab for their event…. I’ll do another post for that) and went to The Springs in Simpsonville. The girls were invited inside to sing and the residents who wanted to come to were given their cards in person. Many cards were read aloud and the girl who made it got to personally greet the resident. There were even a few residents who came over to hug the girls.
(Meanwhile – this very day NY entered lockdown number 3,492…)
We went home for a bit and I called John and asked if we could go out to eat before the movie the girls didn’t know we were going to. The WISE MAN (I love the guy) agreed that was the best idea. I got the girls ready and as soon as Daddy got home we ate at Cracker Barrel. We did have to rush it a bit in order to be to the show on time. We ran into people from church (I just love how we run into people we know – I love that God helps us in this way!!).
And we made it into Encanto in time for a few previews.
I love this kind of fun.
The Fountain Inn parade was on my calendar, but with our schedule being sooooo busy I was only taking things one day at a time. Since AWANA is done for the season, that wasn’t going to be missed, and Tab planned to sit with her youth group (Johanna was tired after so many busy days in a row).
Katriel’s friend, Paisley, and her mom have a tradition for the FI parade, and we were honored they asked us to sit with them. Thankfully, Mrs. G. had a lot less crazy going on in her world, so she was actually saving a spot while I was still driving people to work!
We got there before the parade started and it was super fun to just have chatting time with Melissa and Paisley.
Near the end of the parade, a company handed Paisley a stuffed frog. Without a beat missed, Paisley handed it over to Katriel. Frogs are Katriel’s favorite animal.
She decided to name the frog Pak. It stands for Paisley and Katriel.
It’s been so hard missing our friend Madeline and Asher. It’s so special to meet an energetic and imaginative friend here.
The weather – is stinking unbelievable.
My new friend Mary and I met up at the zoo with her two little guys and Johanna and Katriel.
They have a pretty cool playground on the outside of the park.
Katriel made conversation with S. as we perused the park.
Johanna dearly enjoyed Mrs. J letting her push the stroller.
The reptiles deserved two walks through.
I can seriously get used the this in December!!!
It isn’t quite as lovely as Seneca Park Zoo, but it was nice. We upgraded our tickets to an annual pass, and I hope we can meet up with Mary and her boys again soon.
Dayspring Disciples 