#H54F: High Five For Friday

This Friday our family is super happy because...

#1 It's the beginning of SPRING BREAK! Yay! The boys are so excited to have a week free of homework, school work, and busy schedules.

#2 Kris left Sunday night on a trip and returned Wednesday night. That makes for a busy week for him. We are glad to be together as a family for the coming week.

#3 I actually received a copy of Side By Side! I am so happy to get to hold in my hands the product of a lot of work. A dream come true :)

#4 Parent/Teacher conferences this week. I'm happy to report that all the boys are on high honor roll. High Five for the Kelley Boys.

#5 My computer is well again...I think. That's a relief and definitely worth a high five.

What was your week like?

#H54F Christmas 'Round The Corner!

Wow, Christmas is only a few days away! A crazy week ends in a calm weekend. Yay for calm weekends!

#1 S went for Xrays and Dr. check up. His arm is looking great and healing well. Yay! We still make him wear a sling when he's out and about and he still has to be EXTRA careful so he doesn't fall on it.

#2 A went to orthodontist with the dreaded message "My dog ate my retainer." Thankfully the orthodontist likes dogs and more than that, she said it wasn't too damaged, he can still wear it. We all breathed a sigh of relief as A knew how much that thing cost!

#3 I got a new phone! A real phone! It happened like this: on Thursday my son J tried to call me from school. I tried to answer his call but my cell phone wouldn't let me pick up. It just kept ringing. Finally it registered that I was receiving two calls from the same phone and I had put one of them on hold. Then it started playing random music that I'd never heard before...loudly. I finally had to take the battery out to make it stop. That was the final straw. No more of this says Kris. We spent the afternoon shopping for my Christmas gift: a smartphone! Woohoo! My phone even knows BOTH of our names (see T9 You're Killin' Me to see why this matters.) I never wanted a smartphone, but now that I have it, I like it :) Thanks Kris!

#4 A aced all his exams. Woohoo!

#5 We watched The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies today. It was great! Loved it! So thankful for a family that likes to hang out and do stuff like that together.

Now on to the weekend and 3 1/2 weeks of Christmas Break for the boys.

What was your week like?

#H54F All.Most.There.

Whew, made it through a busy week that I was a little concerned about. It's Friday night and Kris and I are just relaxing in-between being taxi for the three boys who had various things going on this afternoon and evening. Here are highlights from our week:

1. Last Saturday Kris, A and I helped with a kid's program and I got to meet some of the moms. We even played frisbee together!

2. J had his first band and choir concert. He played the trombone in 6th grade band and sang in the middle school choir. Unfortunately, S couldn't play clarinet in the advance band because of his broken arm. He was a good sport about it. Here is J dressed and ready for the concert.

3. I enjoyed co-hosting a Christmas Tea for some ladies. I took pictures of all the food and then we enjoyed chatting so much that I forgot to take pictures of the ladies! Here is cream cheese with chili jelly on top. I learned that from my sister last year and wanted to make it because it reminds me of her. Love you April!












4. S finished PT for his broken arm this week. Doctor said the X-ray looks great and he can just do some exercises at home. And, the doctor says, whatever you do S, don't fall down. Praising the Lord for quick-healing bones!

5. As Christmas quickly approaches I enjoy hearing Christmas music. I hear it in the grocery store and all through the mall! Here is A's take on a favorite Christmas song. I think he did a great job. Click below to listen!

Krook - Carol of the Bells






Well, that's my week in high fives. What about yours?

#H54F: #Thankful!

It's Thanksgiving Week! Our kiddos had two days off from school this week and are super pumped about that. I am glad because that's two days that our broken-armed son won't be rushing  the halls of middle school with a held-together-by-screws-and-metal-plates-but-no-cast-or-outer-protection-whatsoever arm. Here are highlights from my week:

#1 Our son went back to school, metal plates and all! (see what I'm talking about here) He's a tough kid and we are SO THANKFUL for the amazing way the Lord has made our bodies to overcome trauma.

#2 The Lord has also made the body of believers to help each other overcome trauma! We are SO THANKFUL for so many friends who surrounded us with help and encouragement during our son's injury. We are SO THANKFUL for family who, while they could not be with us, prayed for us.

#3 Two of our kids participated in a service day this week. How great is that? SO THANKFUL for a school that guides our kids to think beyond themselves. S visited a home for the "infirmed and elderly". He was not able to play clarinet as was planned, but he was still able talk to some of the people and to pass out cookies. J helped clean at a soup kitchen for homeless people.

#4 This week I enjoyed meeting for prayer with an Indonesian friend. It blessed my heart to join with a fellow-believer and to come before the Lord in two languages. THANKFUL that we can approach the throne in any language and THANKFUL that, because of Jesus, we are sisters!

#5 Thanksgiving of course! We are SO THANKFUL to be able to celebrate Thanksgiving with some of our overseas family. We had all sorts of yummy food and great conversation. It was fun to see the kids all enjoying the food and fellowship as well.

What was YOUR Thanksgiving Week like?

#H54F: High Fives on Monday

You know how you have those days that don't play out the way you imagined they would? That's what happened to us last Friday. Who knew we'd be spending the weekend in the hospital? Well, the Lord did, and that's a good thing! So here's my Friday Highlights...on Monday:

#1 Our oldest son hosted Bible Study at our house last week and it is such a joy to see teenagers gathering on their own to study the Word. I made a lot of ice tea, a lot of popcorn, and a lot of meatball sandwiches. It was a lot of fun.

#2 I'm stopping my Neighborhood Narrative story. Sorry. I hate to stop things unfinished. But, you may have guessed, it is a true story and it just got crazier than it already was. I will still write it and perhaps one day I'll get to post it. For now, you can pray for the characters. The names are different but the people are real.

#3 Thanks to friends, I figured out how to buy pork! (shhhhhhh #nothalal) It is no longer chunks of meat hanging on hooks to me. I now know which chunk can be used as a pot roast and which chunk can be cut into pork chops. Watch out Pinterest...I'll be searching for pork recipes pretty soon.

#4 I am super excited to have received final confirmation from the publisher on book title and cover for my debut novel. Woohoo! Post coming soon about that.

#5 And the biggest news from last week happened on Friday, although I am not sure it is in the "highlight" category! Our middle son broke his arm pretty badly while running a race at Field Day. He broke the ulna and radius and had to have surgery to put plates and screws in each bone. The Lord was so faithful in providing excellent medical care and a great community around us. Surgery was on Friday and our son was free to go home from the hospital by Sunday afternoon! And get this, he's back at school today. What a tough guy!

I am hoping that #5 for this week will be super boring.

Have a great #Thanksgiving Week!

#H54F: High 5 for Friday

I got this idea from my fellow blogger and friend who will laugh with me, Tracey. We had a great afternoon together LAST week and I've been visiting her blog lately because she's got great stuff on there :)

So it's Friday! For those of us in Asia anyway. You folks in that other hemisphere will have to wait a few more hours unless you wake up REALLY early. Here are the highlights from my week:

>> 1 Kris traveled AGAIN. But not to worry, we are all 5 at home for the following few weeks. Woohoo! So here's to the end of a busy travel season.

>> 2 I went to Georgetown with a couple of friends to check out a business we heard was run by believers. We got to encourage them and also eat some yummy food in the process. More reasons to love Georgetown.

>> 3 Rain in the afternoons. I love it. The cool breeze, the dark clouds, the fresh smell, the pitter patter. After so many years in the desert, I just don't know if I'll ever get tired of rain.

>> 4 I was disappointed not to make a visit I'd been looking forward to this week. My visiting buddy had something else she needed to do. But I quickly saw God's hand in it as I was able to make connections with some other moms in town and that was good.

>> 5 My car battery died today. Like: it D-I-E-D. Today. In front of a coffee shop (the latte was yummy and would be #6 if this was High 6 For Friday, which it's not). But thanks to some HELPFUL friends, we got a new battery and I was on my way in about an hour. High five for friends who dropped everything to come rescue me.

What was your week like?