We have the most precious daughter. Since she entered this world, she has brought us and many others nothing but joy. She started a new school this year....they sell school supplies on Fridays. I am not sure exactly what these sales benefit, but I am sure the money goes to the school somehow. She took $2 out of her piggy bank and came home with a pink highlighter and two bookmarks. Those of you who know Jordan best know that she is never without some kind of writing utensil. I absolutely love that about her. I hope it never changes.

One of the bookmarks she bought for her brother. It's a lion. Could it be any more perfect or any more cute in his dinosaur book?


The other bookmark was for me. She said, "because I know you like to read."


It chokes me up just thinking about the fact that she spent half of the money she took from her piggy bank on OTHER people. And no one told her to do it. She thought of it and wanted to do it all on her own, because she loves us. She said next week she is going to buy something for Daddy :)

On Friday afternoon she also had her first Girl Scouts meeting of the year. She noticed that one of her friends was not there. The leaders explained that her father had been battling cancer for quite and while and wasn't doing well. She was very concerned about it when she got home that day. I had to tell her this morning that he passed away....just in case she heard other people talking about it at school. I asked her if she would make something special for Dora if she had time. Those of you who know her best also know that she really likes to read. Alot. She has been known to read entire chapter books in just a few hours. She gave up her DEAR time (Drop Everything And Read) after lunch to make Dora a letter.

It was obvious that she put alot of thought into it. She thanked Dora for being such a good friend and invited her over to play.

I am so proud of her. Chris is proud of her. Even Jaron is proud of her :) She is thoughtful and caring, and I am so glad to see these characteristics displayed in her life. She has been the hands and feet of Christ this week, whether she realizes it or not.

We love you, Jordan Avery.

Scout's Honor

Jaron started Boy Scouts last week. He is a Wolf Cub, Pack 48. We went the day before his meeting and bought his uniform. After we got home and I started to work on attaching patches, he practiced putting on the neckerchief with the slide. He was soooo very excited to be a Boy Scout. When the meeting was over the next day, he said, "Is that it?". Such a cute boy! He is working on earning his Bobcat patch :) More to come on that!!!

I forgot about these pictures from the Liberty Science Center. I took the kids the first weekend of the month because I got free admission with my Bank of America card. I guess BofA is good for something! LSC is in Liberty State Park.....on the Jersey side of the Hudson River. It's also where we got on the ferry with Granny and the McNutts to go to the Statue of Liberty. A huge science museum, a view of the State of Liberty and NYC made for a fun, cheap afternoon!!

They wanted to do an experiment making an estuary....like the Hudson River....where fresh water and salt water meet. I learned something too!!!

It was a self-guided experiment. They did it all themselves!

First Day of School!!!

2nd grade!!! Jaron has Miss Estremera....she was Jordan's teacher in the first grade. We are so excited that Jaron gets to enjoy her this year too!

Jordan moves up to a new school this year. She is going to the 4th and 5th grade school, Village. I am so nervous, she is so excited, it will all be great!! Isn't she beautiful?

Friends!!!!!!! Ameera and Jordan have been BFFs since kindergarten and have never been in the same class! Janae is our sweet little neighbor :)

It always makes me so emotional when I watch them get on the bus the first day of a new year. I have to learn to let them go all over again. I tend to be like the mother hen....gathering her chicks under her wings for protection. I have to really remind myself of 2 things. #1 It is good for them to go and have experiences of their own and #2 Even though I can't gather them under my wings all the time, God can and does because He loves them even more than I do which is absolutely unfathomable how anyone can possibly feel for them the love I do, but He does. He knew them before they were born, He has numbered their days and counted all the hairs on their heads. Thank goodness that even though I have to send them out into this world alone sometimes, God never, ever does. He is with them every step of the way. My prayer for them this school year is similar to many people's, I'm sure. I want them to have fun, learn alot and be successful. But I also want them to experience personally the hand of God in their lives, the love of Jesus that we carry with us always. I want them to learn how to lean on Him in frustrating times and rejoice with Him in good times.

Irene Addendum

Oh, I forgot the best one.........

The morning after, Jordan walking in "Rocky" style, arms above her head exclaiming, "We're ALIVE!"

That pretty much sums it up.

Irene is Not my Friend

Yesterday we ventured out for the first time after Irene ripped through on Saturday/Sunday. We weren't really sure what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised that we maintained power throughout the entire storm, and that our parking lot was not a lake. So, we were actually able to make it into Princeton, but the Delaware/Raritan Canal was considerably higher and there was evidence it had been all the way up to the road. Also, most of the street signals were out around our little community. The big ones were working, though.
After Princeton and a celebratory dinner at Banzai Hibachi Restaurant, we went to see what the lake looked like at Mercer County Park. Well, we were pretty surprised. This gazebo is usually full of tables and chairs. It is totally flooded. The water was all the way up to the walk/bike path.
See that line of trees? And the teeny, tiny gazebo at the end? There is a long sidewalk connecting those AND it connects the big gazebo in the pictures above. All under water. Crazy.

That 1.5 mile marker is on the walk/bike path.

A deserted parking lot at the train station. That just doesn't happen on a Monday. Ever. There are always lots of cars at the train station all week long. The train lines were down all day yesterday. Chris might have to drive to work today :/
Alexander Road blocked off for flooding.

I have to say, I am so thankful we made it through this! I am an eternal pessimist.... I was a nervous wreck getting ready for this crazy hurricane this week. It didn't help that we had an earthquake scare either. I had NO idea what to do to prepare other than what they were saying on the news....water, non-perishable food, flashlights, batteries. I was preparing for the worst. I just couldn't view it any other way. For a girl who has grown up in the deserts of West Texas, rain was a luxury, not a source of destruction. So by Friday, I felt like I had done what I could, and I just tried to pray that everything would be ok. The night of the hurricane was scary....what I didn't expect was all the tornado warnings that were popping up everywhere like popcorn. There were tornadoes sighted on the ground just a few miles from here. If there is one thing I know, it's tornadoes. I had just gotten the kids calmed down and on their way to dream land when Chris came in for the first time and said we needed to take cover. Jordan was terrified, I was terrified, we prayed and it ended up ok. We had to take cover again around 1 am and by that time I was just completely frazzled. Chris stayed up all night watching the news for us while I got the kids settled AGAIN and dozed a little. We woke up the next morning to clear skies, but still some really heavy winds. Yesterday and today have been absolutely gorgeous....sun, sun, sun. We are so, so thankful for God's protection this weekend!

So in an effort to work through the emotions that surged all week long, here are some funny things that were said during the course of this:

~as I am making a place on the floor for the kids to sleep in our room on Saturday night Chris says, "They are kids, not puppies."
~as I was considering moving a piece of furniture in front of a window Chris says, "Don't wreck our apartment before the hurricane does!"
~as the kids were sitting in our bathtub, with bike helmets on for safety, half asleep Jaron says, "I wish Jordan would stop crying on my face!!"

Someone's Birthday Slumber Party :)

Jordan has had her birthday party planned for months. We didn't do it in June because her 3 best friends went out of town as soon as school was out. One went to India, one to Toronto and one to Tennessee. Now they are all back, and last week we had a great time with them!!!

We went with the American Girl theme.



And what's a party without crafts?!!? They really enjoyed those stuffed animals. Each one came with markers so they could color them! They were on sale at Michael's for $1.50!!!!!!!!!!

Dinner time!!!! Jordan's menu was green chili spaghetti, salad and garlic toast. Her friends from left to right are Ameera (BFF since kindergarten), Claire (BFF since 2nd grade) and Khushi (BFF in the 3rd grade). Khushi and her family are vegan so we had to be really careful about what we ate!

Silly pic!!!!!!!!

After dinner, they had several rousing sessions of pin the tail on the donkey AND pin the purse on the lady.

Cake time!!! Again, it had to be vegan for Khushi. I had to go to the Whole Foods Market to get it. My wallet did not approve! They did make a vegan red velvet cake. It was lovely, BUT I am really glad we are not vegan. I hate to admit it, but that cake tasted funky!!!! Fortunately none of the girls cared :)

Sweet, sweet birthday girl.

Each girl brought their American Girl doll. Jordan's is the one in the striped pajamas :) Her name is Molly :) I forget the names of the other dolls!

And before they settled down for an AG movie, they gave their dolls make-overs and got them ready for bed.

They were so adorable!!!!!!!!

I was a little nervous because I have never had that many kids spend the night in our teeny-tiny apartment, but they are all so well-behaved, it was a great success!! I hope they had as much fun as Jordan did. Her friends totally made her birthday the best ever!


ADDENDUM:

Jaron brought home this tiny pumpkin sprout from school several months ago. He planted it in the ground one day and I thought for sure it would die. Oh no! It did just the opposite!!! It grew and grew and grew and is still growing!



We stayed one weekend in the city at a friend's apartment...the weekend of Chris's last Phantom rehearsal. When we got back on Sunday night, we were thrilled to discover several little pumpkins!!!!

The End of an Era

Saturday was the end of a landmark event that drastically changed our lives. One month shy of 4 years ago, Chris began his trek with the beloved Phantom of the Opera, and our lives on the East Coast began. Chris booked Sister Act about month ago, so for that period of time he has been working 2 Broadway jobs....rehearsing Sister Act during the day and doing his last performances for Phantom in the evenings. This has been a good, exciting month, but we have definitely missed having Chris around during the day. And he pretty much worked his tail off!!! We went into the city on Saturday to watch Chris's last matinee performance. The above is the last walk to the stage door with Daddy.

One more picture in front of the covered chandelier.


The marvelous elephant that Chris got to know so well.....he climbed it numerous times as Piangi and pushed it out onto stage every night as a stage hand.

Saying goodbye..........

to a dear friend..............

And going for a "ride" on the Phantom's boat, the one that takes he and Christine down to the depths below the Paris Opera house.

After our goodbyes on stage, we went backstage to enjoy some time with some very talented people. Here are the kids and Chris with his good friend, Sara. (Pssst....she plays Christine Daae!!)

Chris with his friend Carly.....one of the ballerinas, who Jordan and I just LOVE. We have not-so-secret fantasies of being ballerinas!!!!

Jordan and Jaron found a quick home in the Phantom's dressing room.....

Hugh wanted them to take a picture with his doll that someone special knit for him.


And they made fast friends with Soot, Hugh's labradoodle. He was the sweetest dog in the world :)

One of the highlights of our time at the theater was watching Hugh get his Phantom make-up on. He chatted and visited with us the whole time, we had several good laughs too!




Hugh was adamant about doing his own eyebrow!!! He didn't want Thelma doing it for him!!!!!

How cool is this?!


And this?!?!?!


This was about the time they called places. We had to scoot on down to our seats, but Hugh wanted the kids to come back after the show and say goodbye....he was a marvelous host and we were TOTALLY star-struck!

I snapped this picture of a picture going down to our seats, this wall on the landing is covered with pictures of people in the cast and their families. Here is my sweet family :)

We sat fourth row, center. It was the perfect place. When the chandelier fell at the end of the first act, we thought it was going to fall on our heads!! We have never sat that close!

I snapped one more picture of the angel statue and the chandelier up in it's place.

I had plans to have a party during bows, I wanted to scream my head off....I was not expecting the wave of emotion that hit me. Phantom was one of the first Broadway shows I fell in love with, that and Les Miserables. As a teenager, I remember knowing all of the music and having dreams of seeing it one day on Broadway. I never would have dreamed that one day my husband would be a part of the cast. As Hugh sang his final line of the show "it's over now, the music of the night"....I completely lost it. After seeing Chris in the show 8 times (5 for the kids), I was so sad to see it over. As people kept coming out for bows, people that the kids and I had gotten to know a little bit and Chris had gotten to know ALOT a bit, the tears kept coming, but as Chris took his final bow for us and shot us the "I love you" sign, I just couldn't control myself. The pride and admiration for he and his talent and accomplishment just rose up in me. He is a rock star in our books.....a Broadway performer, but still just a normal, silly Daddy. He loves us and leads us in the ways of the Lord. He is the best thing we have in our lives.