Owen told me the other day that his molar was wiggly. I didn't believe him because I thought he had already lost all of his molars, apparently, I was wrong. While at the Formal with Ben, Owen sent me a message saying that his tooth came out. I had Gabbi send me a picture and sure enough, it was his molar. I guess that means he's one step closer to losing all of his baby teeth and the adventure of braces will begin again.
I have been really excited at the fact that Ben's graduation formals have been on Tuesdays lately. I love to go and when they are on Wednesday night's, it makes it more challenging to be able to go. Tonight's was on a Tuesday, and I couldn't wait to go. I got ready (early I was so excited) and waited for Ben to get home to get ready himself. Once we were both ready, we got in the truck and headed to the NIM.
When we got inside, we were greeted by their class presidency and given the rundown of events for the evening and told us where we would be seated. Then it was time to mingle. We didn't do a ton of mingling, but this time we did get a drink and tried some of the hors d'oeuvres. The were very yummy. Some of the best ones I've had since venturing to all of these dressy events. We stood at one of the tables eating our hors d'oeuvres and was joined by Gilmer and his wife. It was weird when he came up to say hi, he gave me a hug. I was not expecting that, and Ben just smiled.
After visiting for a few minutes, they called the night to order and started the procession line. Ben said this was something he hadn't seen before. They had everyone line up and as we walked through the museum's war timeline, we first greeted the main Cadre members and made our way through the museum down to the dining area. We pushed through and passed a lot of the soldiers that were looking at some of the exhibits. We had been there a few times with the kids and were fine going to our seats.
Once at the table we were joined by the OC and the NCO along with their wives. I was happy to see that I actually knew one of the wives. We had met at the prayer luncheon last year. She remembered that and brought that to my attention. We chatted for a few minutes while we waited for everyone to take their seats. When they did, the called it to order and began with the ceremony and dinner.
When the ceremony/proceedings were done, they started to bring out dinner. It smelt absolutely delicious and looked even better. I couldn't wait to try it. We were polite though and waited for everyone at the table to receive their meal. Once everyone had a plate, we all started to eat. It was heaven. I've had some great thing while in Georgia, but this one truly is at the top of my favorites list and the rolls was like the cherry on top. The whole thing and presentation was 100% better than last time.
After dinner was done, they made some introductions, and the guest speaker came to the pulpit to give his speech. He was funny and really seemed to connect with not only the soldiers, but their family members as well. I really liked his speech and hoped that it would help others understand their roles as not only soldiers in today's world, but with their families as well.
When the speaker was done, they finished off the ceremony by retiring the flag, gave a few more instructions and then opened it to dancing and fun. That was Ben's cue to make the rounds to say goodbye. I wish we would have stayed for one dance, but seeing how the music they were playing wasn't really slow type dancing, I didn't even bother to ask. When Ben was done saying goodbye we went outside and got in the truck to go home.
Deann and Nelson had ordered some blankets for the kids for Christmas. The only one that was actually delivered to Dean on time for Christmas was William's. So she gave it to him and promised the other two that when they were delivered she would send them our way. Well, today was that day. The kids love them, the fact that they have their names on them makes them a little bit more special. Deann apologized again for the size, she thought they were much bigger than they actually were. I told her not to worry about it because the kids will still use them. They can use them as lap blankets and already William has used his for a cape.
Owen has been on the Math team since they started back in September. The team has had 2 tournaments already and today was their 3rd. The tournament was hosted at St. Luke's High School. It was weird to drop Owen off and leave. Parents could only watch the ciphering section of the tournament. So I told Owen that we'd be back, wished him luck, and went home. When it was time we got in the truck and headed back to the school.
When we got there the kids weren't done with the test portion of the competition. When they were they slowly started to file into the room. When we saw Owen we waved to him and he walked over to us. I asked him how he did and he said terrible. There were math questions on the test that he hadn't the foggiest idea how to solve. They were concepts that he hadn't learned before. I guess that's the pitfall of competing with teams made up of 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. He then left us and joined his group with his coach.
When it was time they explained the next portion of the competition, the ciphering. Each team could have 4 at their table and then they'd administer 8 math questions, one at a time. They had 2 minutes for each question and points were awarded on how well your team answered the questions. Faith had 3 different teams competing in each round. Owen was in the second round of ciphering with 3 other 6th graders at his table. It was fun to watch them cheer when they read aloud the answer and they got it right. When they were wrong they just shrugged their shoulders.
I was surprised to see Owen messing around with paper clips during some of the questions. I mouthed the question "what are you doing?" He mouthed back, I didn't know how to do the problem. So again they had math questions that some of these kids had no idea how to answer. I asked Ben how that was fair and all he could answer was "that's what happens when you compete with more than just your grade." It didn't seem far, but I guess every team that had a mixture of grade were facing the same issue.
When that was done they gave the kids a break and a treat while they tallied up the scores. When they were done counting up the scores they asked everyone to sit down so they could have the awards ceremony. They first announced the top student from each school, then the top 10 scores overall, then 3rd, 2nd, and 1st, and the last award was the most improved award. Faith Middle school received 2 awards and they were both personal awards, the top for the school and the top 10 overall. When all was said and done we were released to go home.
Owen wasn't upset that they didn't place, he was upset how others on his team were so made that they didn't place. A few of them asked what the point of competing was if they weren't going to win. We told Owen we were happy that he had the right mindset and that he shouldn't let others' comments bring him down. To celebrate all his hard work we gave him the option to choose where we went to lunch. He chose to go to a Southern BBQ buffet.
On the way there I got an email from his coach. She had posted the overall scores for the tournament. It turned out that their school came in 4th place. They were only 4 points away from 3rd. Owen had a smile on his face when he heard that. He said he couldn't wait until the next competition especially the 6th grade one where they are only competing against fellow 6th graders.
Owen came home today with his Certificate for the Honor Roll. When he brought home his grades over 2 weeks ago I knew he'd be on the Honor Roll, just not sure when they'd do the presentation. The next thing I knew he came home with it. I guess the school doesn't include parents in their presentation for the Honor Roll recipients like Stowers did. I knew they didn't last year because we never went to one for Gabbi, but I thought that was because COVID restrictions were still in place. Oh well, I'm just so proud of all his hard work. Better than last Quarter.
Tonight we had a combined Young Men's Young Women's activity. The younger girls planned a night of games that could be played in the church. We originally were going to play games with just the girls, but the older boys asked if we wanted to play soccer, so we decided to adjust our activity and invite all the boys for the entirety of the activity.
We started off with the trash can game. We did that because there weren't a lot of kids there yet. Those that were jumped up and got in a circle around the garbage can. Then all at once, they started moving around the garbage can to try and make someone touch it. If they touched it or let go of their neighbors' hands, they were out. The last one standing won. It was pretty fun to watch as they got down to smaller numbers. I was impressed that 2 of the 3 rounds were won by one of the girls.
Now that we had more kids showing up, we started to play capture the flag. We divided the kids into 2 groups and explained the rules of capture the flag. I messed up on a few of the instructions, but everyone helped out to fill in the blanks. The first game went well, but we tweaked a few things for the next round. It had been so long since I have played, but it was fun to watch them run around and have fun. They got pretty competitive too.
The next game was a soccer game. The girls talked about regular indoor soccer, chair soccer, and crab soccer. Since we wouldn't have time to play them all, we took a toll as to which one they wanted to play. They picked chair soccer and ran off to get a chair. Once everyone was in their spots ready to protect their chairs, the game started. They played twice and with each game, we implemented additional rules to make it more fun. I think this is one of their favorites. I'm grateful for the Brenchley's teaching it to us.
Last but not least, the Carrol boys taught us a new game. We had 10 minutes left which wasn't enough time to play any of the other games the girls talked about, so the Carrol boys offered up a game that can be played quickly. I have no idea what it was called, but it required tables to make a court to play in. They grabbed 5 tables and put them in the shape of a pentagon. They wanted more, but we didn't have time to pull more out. Then everyone who wanted to play got inside the tables. Then with the volleyball, it was dropped in the center, and as it bounced people got out. I didn't understand what was going on, then I had it better explained to me.
In the circle you hit the ball around trying to get out the other players. You get out if you hit the ball out of the circle of tables and if you get hit on the legs below the knees. It was a pretty fast-paced game. Within 10 minutes they had played the game 4 times. It looked complicated, but to them, it wasn't. You just had to stay on your toys and pay attention to the ball.
We have been working really hard to give Chip his space and let him come to us. He will come in while we're in the bathroom and occasionally jump on the edge of the bed while we're getting ready for bed. All of it, whatever it is, is on his time frame only.
This afternoon was a big jump in the right direction. After church, we watched a movie on our bed and halfway through both of the cats jumped up on the bed. Not only did they jump on the bed but laid down and stayed for a bit. I was sad when it was time to get up and go cook dinner, I didn't want them to jump down. I lingered a little bit to pet Chip and then headed to the kitchen and as predicted they both jumped down as soon as I got off the bed.
Dale loves to drink out of the bathroom sink, but I can honestly say that I have never seen Chip do it. He'll jump on the counter, but the second you turn on the water, he runs. Today I turned on the water for Dale and then walked away. When I came back I was surprised to see that Chip had joined him on the counter. I watched them for a little bit to see what they would do.
Dale was drinking away while Chip just sat and watched him. He obviously got jealous that Dale was drinking all the water and the next thing I know...he tapped Dale on the top of the head. Dale was taken by surprise and moved his head and within seconds Chip went and got a drink. All I could do was laugh. At hearing me, Chip looked up and Dale went back to drinking. I laughed again as Chip stared at him, with what I assumed was an angry look. He didn't stay that way long and got Dale to move again. It was hilarious to watch.
The girls wanted to do a scavenger hunt for one of our activities this month. That would require some work, I just hoped that I could and that the girls would like it. I searched a few different sites to get ideas and then went with the items that the girls had mentioned and ran with it.
We met at the church building at 7 and when everyone was there we split the girls up into teams. We had 4 teams a few of which were made out of 2 and the other made out of 3. They were given a few pieces of instruction and then handed their first clue. I walked around the building making sure I could answer any questions the girls may have had and one big one came up. I had the wrong scripture reference for one of the clues. I had to change it last minute because the picture was in the seminary room and it was being used. After leading the girls in the right direction, I went back to wait with the other leaders.
After 45 minutes we had our winning team bring us all their clues. They literally came in second before the second team. I was surprised that the first group didn't actually collect the clues in the right order, but they still managed to get all the clues. It made me laugh considering all the envelopes were numbered and that was part of the instructions we gave them. Oh well. They were still able to find all the clues and it seemed like they all had fun.
As a part of the Scavenger hunt the girls were supposed to take selfies with some of the items. It was pretty funny to see what and how they actually took the selfie. One group didn't send one in, but I wasn't surprised, they didn't like any of the selfies they took.
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While being here we have made special friends with the Burgess family. Sadly right now, their daughter, McKenzie, is having health issues. She's been sick off and on for a few months now and it got bad enough that she was yellow and somewhat jaundiced. At that point, they took her in to see her doctor who sent them to the children's hospital in Atlanta. They ran a ton of tests and after 5 days in the hospital, they found out she has some kind of disorder that causes a low bone marrow and blood count.
During that stay, they gave her 4 different blood transfusions in hopes to get her numbers up. She had all sorts of reactions which they did their best to deal with but seemed hopeful. Her numbers were up enough that they finally released her. She had to go back frequently for different tests and more transfusions until they knew the best plan of attack. After the holidays were over, they decided the best way to help her heal and it would be an 18-month to 2-year process.
When it got closer to the start of her treatments, Sylvia wanted to show McKenzie some extra support. She started messing around with some designs for t-shirts that she could wear during their hospital stay. The designs looked pretty cool, so much so that Gabbi and I wanted to show our support as well. We both got a shirt that we could have made into a "McK Strong" shirt.
Today I got to help make those shirts. Gabbi and I both wanted the red blood cells in the shape of a heart, which made it a lot easier to make. Now the font, on the other hand, took a while to narrow down which one to use on both of our shirts. I think overall, they turned out great and now we had something we could wear the day we go up and visit her at her next hospital stay.
Some days when I don't have any place to go and don't feel like doing much, I just stay in bed and veg. Every once in a while I am joined by Dale. Chip wants nothing to do with it, but when Dale wants attention he comes and doesn't leave until he gets it. Today was an added treat when he laid down next to me and fell asleep. He stayed that way for over an hour. It was nice and fun just to have a lazy moment with him.
I haven't been able to attend every graduation formal with Ben since they are normally on Wednesday nights, but since the holidays have landed on graduation weeks, a few of them have been moved to Tuesday nights. I noticed it in the calendar and asked Ben if he wanted a plus one. He of course said always and then sent out the necessary e-mails to make sure they knew he'd be bringing a plus one.
I was worried about going tonight. He hadn't heard back from the class president as to whether or not he got Ben's e-mail. He told me not to worry about it because there are always a few empty chairs he said. He also said he knew for a fact that 4 chairs would be empty and if a few people had to move around it wouldn't be a big deal. I trusted that and got ready. When it was time to go, we had Gabbi take a picture for us and we headed to the NIM.
When we got to the NIM I was surprised that there weren't very many cars in the parking lot. Normally social hour (when I have gone) is very busy. We walked up to the building, grabbed one more picture, and then went inside. The parking lot was deceiving. The lobby was full. I always forget that the majority of these soldiers don't have personal cars while they are here, no wonder the parking lot wasn't very full.
We walked in and were greeted by the staff and then a gentleman with a lot of awards on his dress coat came up to Ben. He introduced himself as the Battalion Commander's right-hand man and said he was glad to finally meet the Chaplain's better half. It put a smile on my face to hear that. He then proceeded to talk about how much they loved the work that Ben was doing and that I should be very proud of him. I assured him that I was and then he walked off to talk with someone else.
We then went down to look at the tables and ran into the class president. He told Ben that he was having some students do the prayers tonight and asked if he wanted to speak with them. Ben of course said yes, wrote their names down, and we went in search of those two soldiers. After finding the one Ben talked to him a little about praying for a group and being inclusive. Trying to give him as many pointers as he could in a small amount of time. He then took us to the other soldier and Ben did the same. After talking with both of them, they announced that it was time to take our seats.
Once at 1 of the 2 head tables, we were joined by the Battalion commander, his right-hand man, and the 2 captains in charge of C Company. I was surprised that the first thing out of anyone's mouth was how bad things were going so far. I was not expecting that, but I wasn't surprised either. It went downhill from there. They started the evening's program and everyone sat when we were supposed to stand, things were said when they were supposed to be quiet, etc. Every time something was wrong, the table laughed or shook their heads. When they finally announced that the buffet table was now open to get dinner, we heard the biggest comment about how horrible things were going.
At that point, the Captain of C Company went and corrected the class president about the biggest issue so far...the head tables should have gone to the buffet table first. There was no order and just pure chaos. To top it off the dinner wasn't very good, they ran out of a few items, especially the dessert. It looked like they only had enough dessert for 40 people tops. There was at least twice that here. The comments at the table now were things along the lines of...this needs to be addressed, this is what rehearsals are for, etc. I felt bad, but at the same time, I completely agreed. This one was definitely different than the others I have attended.
When dinner was done, they had the keynote speaker come and give his address. Sadly this was as chaotic as the dinner. I understand why he shared what he did, but it wasn't like any type of address that I have heard at one of these. It almost felt like this was a lecture in a class that should have already happened by now. I guess it meant something to the students, but no one else. After he was done, they did a few announcements, the retiring of the flag and then everyone was released for the night and we high-tailed it out of there. I was bummed and okay to be going home already.
I always thought it was weird when watching my sister's cats while they were on vacation, that one of her cats loved the bathroom sink. She would lay in it, sit in it, and occasionally while sitting in it she would drink from the faucet (getting herself all wet). I never understood why she would do that, but if you hadn't seen her in a while, they could guarantee that's where she was at.
Well, I can't say it's weird now. We caught Chip sitting in the sink a little while ago. Not all the time like my sister's cat, but every once in a while that's where he'll sit. He's so funny. Really he just loves the bathroom. He'll sit at the base of the counter just under the sink, he'll sit in the shower, and now in the sink. He doesn't have many places to hide from the kids, I guess he finally decided that the bathroom was going to be his last resort.
For Christmas, we received a gift card to go to The Cheesecake Factory. At first, I was worried that we wouldn't get to use it for a long time because I had no idea if there was one in Columbus. Well...there wasn't one in Columbus, but there was one in Atlanta. We decided that the next time we went to Atlanta we would go ahead and use the gift card and eat out. Luckily for us, we didn't have to wait long at all.
Today was a temple trip for the kids, so we decided that we would go out to eat when we were done. So after everyone was done and went their separate ways, we headed to the Cheesecake Factory. We even invited McKenzie and Sylvia to join us. They happily excepted our offer and we met there and waited for a table.
We got in rather quickly for the size of group we had, which was nice, but the service wasn't as fast. I guess you could say that it made up for the little wait to get a table. It took forever for our server to come, even just to get our drink order. When it was time to order our food, the wait wasn't too bad, however, waiting for it to come out was excruciating. William was going crazy waiting for his meal. Then everyone had their food except for Ben. The manager came over and apologized to Ben because his order was never sent in or they had sent in the wrong meal. I couldn't understand what she was saying, just that it would be out soon.
When everyone had their meal, we all started eating. The food was at least better than their service. Everyone really seemed to be enjoying their meal. Pretty much everyone had finished their entire meal. It also helped that they were lunch portions so they weren't as big as the dinner plates. I was grateful for that because that meant we didn't have to smell them all the way home. We even had room for dessert. We choose two different flavors (Cherry chocolate and Snickers) and shared them between the 5 of us.
While we were eating we talked about what our plans were after eating. Ben and William weren't able to see Avatar 2 with the rest of us because William was sick. We had already purchased the tickets, so Gabbi, Owen, and I went ahead and saw it knowing that we would see it with them another time. Since we were already going to be out, Ben and I had already planned to see the movie while we were out. So we told them about our plans and invited them to join us if they wanted to. We got a thumbs up and smiles, and searched where to go.
We decided to get on the freeway and head towards home because it was still a 2 hour drive home. While we were driving I checked the times of the movie at different theaters and we decided to go to a theater in Newnan. We would have plenty of time to get there and whether or not we went to a theater in Columbus, we would have been home at the same time either way. So I went ahead and purchased the tickets and we headed toward Newnan.
When we got to Newnan, we still had 45 minutes to kill so we decided to go to Starbucks. Sylvia had promised the kids a hot chocolate when we went to Zoo Lights and since that didn't work out, she told them they could get one now. They were really excited. Sadly once inside, none of us (our family) had any idea what to get. The boys were worried that it was all coffee, but McKenzie started to tell them about all of the different things they could get. After hearing her describe some of their drinks, we placed our order and went and sat down.
When our order was ready, the girls went up and grabbed them. Back at the table, we started to drink our drinks. The boys were loving theirs and couldn't believe that it wasn't coffee considering we were at a coffee house. When we were done with our drinks we loaded back up in the cars and headed towards the theater.
Once inside we were stuffed and had no intention of getting any popcorn, so we went inside and found our seats while Gabbi waited for them to get their goodies. When they had come in, I showed them where the girls were sitting and where the rest of us were sitting. I wasn't able to get the seats altogether, but it all worked out. McKenzie and Gabbi got to sit together and then both of the boys got to sit next to Sylvia. Once everyone was situated we waited for the show to start.
The movie was great, and William was loving every minute of it. He had wide eyes to take it all in. It was worth seeing it again to see the expressions on his face while watching. Sadly before the movie ended McKenzie wasn't feeling very good and they left to go home. When they left Gabbi came up and took Sylvia's seat and we finished the movie as a family. When the movie was over we walked to the car and the kids couldn't stop talking about the movie. They loved it and wanted to see it again. Now all we had left to do was the hour remaining drive home. I told the kids to close their eyes because it was late and church was in the morning. They needed to get some sleep if it wasn't as much as they normally get on a Saturday night. Luckily church starts later this year and they could sleep in.
Today we had a youth temple trip. I'm grateful that I am not in charge of arranging rides because this time around it was chaos. I was glad that we were driving ourselves and didn't have to worry about that. All we had to worry about was getting to the temple on time. That was not a problem at all, we were actually early. So early that we got to walk around and stretch our legs.
When everyone else arrived, we gathered at the entrance of the baptismal font. Before going inside we snapped a quick picture and then went inside to check in. After everyone had their temple recommends scanned, they told us that it would be a few minutes before we could go into the instruction room. While we waited, we put the kids in groups according to the baptiser and then we waited. I was very surprised at how long it was taking. We probably waited for 20 or so minutes.
When we were finally able, we all walked into the instruction room and waited for the worker. She came in and talked to the kids about the blessings of coming to the temple and even thanked them for being there. I know they've heard it all before, but it's always a good reminder. Then one row at a time, they let the kids go and get their jumpsuits and get changed. Slowly each group took their turn to perform the proxy baptisms. When those were done, they changed back into their church clothes and had the proxy confirmations done as well. When all was said and done, we then went outside.
This was the longest trip we had ever had at the temple and it was crazy. We didn't even have as many people as we have had in the past. We learned that there is a reason we go so early. The later in the day you go, the crazier and busier it is and we saw that today. It was still a good experience for all those that were there.
January the younger girls are in charge of the activities. Being out of town and only one of them being at church on Sunday I had no idea what to do. I was okay to just skip it, but talking to some of the older girls, they still wanted to get together. Since it was still Christmas break, we decided to make it a relaxing night and just go games in jammies. It was simple and would require a lot of effort which worked for me.
We met at the church in the primary room. We asked each of the girls to bring a treat to share and a game to play. They each brought a treat but only 2 of them brought games (besides myself). With the games that were brought, the girls seemed to like their choices and choose to play Just One first. Just one is a game where you work as a team to help the person whose turn it was to guess a word. You did this by writing down one word and with the combination of everyone else's words, you crossed your fingers that it was enough for them to guess the word. The girls really seemed to have a blast playing.
