A Little of This and That...

OK, I am NEVER going to be good at regular, timely blog posts. Never. Oh well, here's a bit of what's happened since the last post.

I really didn't want to pour over *all* of the Disney photos again to pick out a bunch to post here. Here was just one highlight- Parker's birthday gift. Both girls got pirate makeovers! Princess makeovers are SO out-dated in this family and they are on to bigger, "badder" things. :) The girls got new "Elizabeth Swann" (Pirates of the Caribbean) costumes and they got their hair, makeup, and nails done. Then they had to recite the pirate oath, pledging their allegiance to Captain Jack Sparrow, and finally were able to enter the SECRET pirate room where we were NOT allowed to photograph what we saw!!! A *super* fun morning for the girls and for us while the boys went off to find characters to hang out with. :)

A little later in the day, the girls were in the pirate parade and then Morgan was chosen for training by Captain Jack himself!!!! After her training, Parker was also brought onstage to be part of the crew.
The vacation was an absolute dream-come-true. We've been to Disney somewhere around a dozen times, but this birthday trip was just SO special! We met up with a couple of sets of friends while we were there and that made it just that much more fun!

In super-sad news, we returned home from Disney to discover that Jalen's beloved kitty, Sushi, died from ingesting plastic bags (a bad habit that already got him one enema.) Coincidentally, friends had some kittens that were just precious and eased our pain a bit. We are loving our new babies, Kuzco (Jalen's) and Leslie (Morgan's).

Hmmmm, what else is new? A friend that we have known by internet for several years came up from Illinois to spend a few days with us and go to the Time reunion concert. She was THRILLED when we took her after the concert to meet the band. Jerome's kiss is up there as a high point of her year, I think! Two of my favorite men...
Also in the "fan club" department, we saw Parker Welling in concert for the first time last week. This is THE Parker that inspired us to name OUR Parker, only at that time she was just a young teen and we had no idea she would grow up to be such an awesome singer! It was lots of fun to have the girls get to see her again after several years and they have already memorized all of the lyrics on her first cd! Get one for yourself- she rocks!

Parker and Parker...
Two of Parker's biggest fans- they came home, grabbed some microphones and the cd, and held their own concert. It's great to have a great Christian girl for our girls to look up to. :)
On one other note, I never updated on our 40 bags in 40 days challenge. We made it, but just a little late. In the spirit of Holy Week and the chaos of prepping for Easter and Parker's first communion, it just wasn't worth my time to write about it or even to push to complete the challenge on time, but we were thrilled to dump MORE than 40 bags in the end.

We hope you have a wonderful Independence Day and we hope to post soon about our newest houseguest. Immo is flying in this evening from Switzerland to spend most of July here! He was one of the exchange students that hung out with our students a year ago.... we are so happy and honored to have him stay with us and to get to share some fun Michigan summer activities!

Disney!

For my 40th birthday, we are in Walt Disney World having an absolutely MAGICAL vacation. I wanted to write about a few highlights before we forget them. Funny/cute/special things happen so often that I think I'll forget many before we get home.

Friday, May 7. The drive: We left at 9:40 at night on Friday, May 7, from the Explorers' Extravaganza. John drove through the night and I took over for a couple of hours when we reached Georgia around 7am and again in FL for another 2 hours or so. It was a pretty easy drive, other than some rain. I was very surprised that John could go without sleep all night and I know he had some FUN conversations with Luke as his co-pilot to keep him awake and with Morgan chattering away with them. :)

Saturday, May 8. Arrival and check-in: We made it to Calypso Cay by 6pm. Our villa is so pretty, all in Carribean pastels, with lots of space for everyone to spread out. We are about 3 miles from the entrance to Disney so we unloaded our luggage and by 8pm, we were already in the Magic Kingdom for my birthday celebration. It's amazing how much you can accomplish in just 4 hours at the MK once a lot of the young families have left! Space Mountain, Small World, the tea cups, Buzz Lightyear, Pirates, Stitch, Haunted Mansion, fireworks while in line for Big Thunder Mountain, pin trading... WOW! Of course, Parker and I started the evening by getting our birthday buttons so the cast members could celebrate with us. :)

Sunday, May 9, Mother's Day...

EPCOT- you think it means "Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow." I recently learned it REALLY means "Every Person Comes Out Tired." So true, but SO worth it! Eating "around the world", learning a little about other countries, riding some of our favorite rides and trying out some that we had never tried before, drinking Beverly at Club Cool, etc.

Getting on a family favorite, Test Track... Luke looks a bit freaked out as this was his first time! He loves it now. :) One of the great parts of the whole trip has been how many more rides the kids will all go on- they are so much FUN and we have to separate far less than we did on the last trip 2 years ago.
Monday, May 10, we stayed at the villa to visit with some of our favorite people, the Schneiders. We were thrilled to have them skip school for the day to come up from Ave Maria and spend some time with us at the pool.

All of the Schneider and Sparrow kiddos together for a fun day...

That evening as they drove home, we headed back to the MK for an evening very similar to Saturday- a frenzy of packing in as much fun as we could in just a few hours. In a very short but magical time, Luke won an MP3 player, Mo was treated to several free games of Guitar Hero with a cast member, and John was "That Guy" on the Laugh Floor!! Three days later in Animal Kingdom, someone saw John and said, "Hey, you're That Guy!" Wow... we happened to see someone in a different park three days later and he recognized him from the show. I think that's pretty amazing among thousands of guests!!!
Since tomorrow (Friday) is our last day in the parks, I think I will quit now and get some sleep. I'll post on the rest of the trip soon!

Reduce, Reuse, RECITAL

A little "40 Bags in 40 Days" update: Purple Heart picked up another 10 bags! Between those bags and the ones in the garage sale pile and in the trash, we are up to 22 bags out the door! I can walk all the way into my walk-in closet.... sweet success!



I haven't been able to get the violin videos to upload on youtube so I put off blogging... I give up. Here are a few photos anyway of the girls' first violin recital two weeks ago.

Parker played the Monkey Song :)
Here's Morgan with friends, Annie and Francesca. What I love about this sweet photo is that these young violinists are scrappers on the basketball court with the CTK Jaguars! Such different personalities on the stage than what we see on the court!

The final performance of the afternoon was the girls' violin instructor, Sarah. She is also Parker's worship dance teacher- she's quite a talented teen! She *wowed* us with her performance!! We took her out with our family after the reception for a Coldstone treat to celebrate.

Have a blessed week!
Kelli

Our Lenten Challenge

Oh the time I waste shuffling clutter back and forth, to the garage or basement and back again, etc. One basement flood a year and a half ago consumed several weeks in time and lots of money because the clutter took over down there and wasn't put away as it should have been. Then a minor plumbing accident several months later dumped water on my scrapbooking room and table... another round of clean up and loss.

While purging the house is probably not, in itself, a very spiritual Lenten activity, I've spent a long time thinking about simplifying in many ways to make more "room" for the Lord in our home. Then just before Lent, I read a blog that had the "40 Bags in 40 Days" challenge. It was just what I needed! So we got started this week...

Christmas supplies, keepsake boxes, luggage, etc. are all waiting to see if they make the "cut." :)
(Want to buy a rocking chair? It *won't* survive the cut!)

Books, movies, games, school bins for each kid, and.... JUNK.

After an hour or two of work this afternoon, I already have boxes and boxes of books and curriculum to sell or give away (this is less than half of what I came up with)...


... and this looks to me like it should count as about 4 bags of trash, plus two more of donations we already removed. Ooh, it feels SO good! Just 34 bags to go.

Here's what we are aiming for- more peaceful areas like our prayer area. (Currently, it is purple for Lent- Parker is usually the one in charge of changing the cover to match the liturgical calendar. She does it so lovingly!)

Our kneeler, handmade for me by John's dad. <3I'll post more progress later on during these 40 days. I am excited to see the end result and to enjoy the process of emotionally and physically parting with the "stuff" that clutters my space and steals my time and peace.

God bless,
Kelli

A new year- new paint, new friends and a "new" heart!

Aaaaaahhh, finally! After many years of kid-fingerprinted, dingy white walls, we finally painted the house! We are absolutely thrilled with how much this feels like a HOME now! The kitchen, while pretty, is not really blog-worthy with its new beige tone, but here's part of the living room...

...and the kids' loft. This orange is my favorite <3.

We were so blessed to receive a visit last week from Won Kun and his family!! It was a wonderful evening, but I wish I paid more attention in French class 25 years ago! Won Kun's whole family speaks French as well as Korean. Me, I'm stuck with English only. Bo Yun did lots of translating for her mom though, so it was a really neat visit. We shared Korean soju, Michigan beer, and lots of stories about our shared "son". The visit went so well on Thursday that we got up early Saturday morning for one last hug and to see them off from their hotel. We certainly hope to see them all again in the future!

We found these Korean Michigan shirts in Ann Arbor for Kyung He and Youn Duk!

All of the Park and Sparrow kids together...

Friday night, I took Luke, Mo, and Parker to an ice skating exhibition and brought Morgan's friend, Colette, along for the fun. It was a really neat show... and free! (Dave Ramsey would approve!)

And the best news is that Parker made her first confession! She wrote a little bit about her thoughts on it when it was over: "...I was nervous but Jesus helped me get through it... my heart felt soooo white and clean!..."

Now, we have started a really crazy time and I am trying to enjoy (almost) every minute of it. Jalen started driver's ed, Morgan and Parker both started violin and basketball, Jalen and Luke have much going on with school, play practices, parties, and Life Teen and tonight the boys are attending a pro-life rally for teens- what a great way for them to spend the evening!!

John and I are thankful (even if a little tired from all the driving) for the ways they are each growing in their friendships, faith, education, and as a family. My greatest joy of the week happened last night when I had a raging headache. I was nursing my head downstairs, while listening to all of the kids and their dad in the loft. They were playing board games together and it was such a joy to hear ALL of them enjoying their time together, even if the screaming did hurt my head even a little more!

I have internet friends who were recently discussing their "word" for the year... some I remember are "simplicity", "choosing joy", and "faith". I can't pick one. I'm stealing all three of those to work on and the first two weeks of 2010 have been a pretty great start. :)

God bless,

Kelli

Praise God from whom all blessings flow

Too much was happening before Christmas to spend any time blogging! Now that the frenzy is over, here are a few highlights...

Parker (peeking at me instead of paying attention to Mrs. Fifelski!) and Morgan both sang for Jesus at the Christmas Eve mass. We were thankful to have John's mom join us in the celebration.

Twenty-three Christmases together and so much to be thankful for...

... including these four young blessings, who all cleaned up pretty well! :) (if we could just get them to all smile nicely at the SAME time now!)

After mass, my mom and her hubby, JOHN, and my sister and her boyfriend, JOHN, joined me and JOHN and the kids for a wonderful evening. Seriously, Cait, did ya have to pick a JOHN?????

Christmas morning came way too early after only 4 hours of sleep. Parker's joy over these requested "dangly" earrings was so sweet and Morgan surprised her daddy by hugging several pieces of clothing and even a hair dryer! Daddy just didn't think Mo would really like the gifts I wanted to buy because they seemed too *practical* to him. He didn't realize that doing all of her shopping at Justice (the girly store) was *exactly* what she wanted!

We spent the afternoon at John's sister's home. I had so much fun playing with the kiddos and the camera, just enjoying goofing off with them. Natalie's son, Noah, is in the process of biting Jalen's leg in this photo, making me laugh (mean mom) while he yelps, "Hey!"

More silliness with the kids :-)

Morgan loving on her sis at my aunt's house <3

... the hands-down absolute highlight of Christmas day was a phone call from Brazil! We each got a turn to talk to Lena and to share some laughs and some love... and for me as usual, a few tears. She was accepted to several colleges and will start in February, pursuing her dream of being a lawyer. We are so proud of her!

Over Christmas Eve and Day, Immo and Dae Sick each called and I chatted with Won Kun via facebook (he will visit with his family in 2 weeks- is that enough time to learn Korean?!). I can't get over how much joy these students brought to us last year, and how much they continue to do so with their messages, phone calls, and visits. Why do they have to live on three different continents?????

Now for a fun week of home projects before the start of a new decade and oodles of schoolwork!

Merry CHRISTmas!!

Kelli

Explorers and the 2009 Christmas Extravaganza

Miss Polk's "Intro to Worship Dance" class- Parker wowed us with her performance after years of being afraid to get on stage. Yay, Parker!! Here is a video of her awesome dance... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-_893s_Sww


This is Morgan's 2nd year in worship dance. It is always a joy to watch her and her friends! This particular dance was a little more upbeat and fun and drew lots of applause :-) Check it out!....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cURfE2b2ly4&feature=channel



Year three of theatrical combat training (a useful life skill, right?!)... Luke added some humor to his performance, fighting with Rachel over a candy cane. :-) (video link is below after Jalen's photo)

Also in his third year with Maestro Barbeau, Jalen has gotten very quick! I don't fight him anymore... I have video of him injuring me last summer and he is way too strong and too fast for me now! Here are both boys (in the 2nd and 3rd fights)...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDRdcwpQFws&feature=channel

Just this morning, I was asked where my kids went to school and upon hearing they are homeschooled the lady worried aloud that they may be too shy when they grow up.... Wait, I can't stop laughing!

It always seems to make it all better when people hear the kids are in a co-op (to get their apparently much-needed "socialization"). Explorers only meets 24 days per YEAR :-). The videos above represent the work done in just 12 one-hour classes. OK, except the advance stage combat... they met for two extra sessions since you better get it *right* when wielding swords!!

While the bulk of our schooling and "socialization" still happen in the home and out in real life, Explorers does serve several wonderful purposes for us... classes I can't or don't desire to teach, quality friendships for our kids and our family, and a day out once in a while so we don't stay in our jammies all day for school. :-) Just for fun, here's what the kiddos are signed up for next semester...

Jalen, grade 11:

Graphic Novel Academy (comic book story creation and illustration)

World Literature (just for FUN... he doesn't need more lit. credits but loves the class!)

Chemistry and Chem. lab

Drama- the Sound of Music, performing at U of M's Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre in May

Advanced Theatrical Combat

Luke, grade 8:

Graphic Novel Academy

Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens

Photography

Drama- Sound of Music

Advanced Theatrical Combat

Yearbook (his mom's class!)

Morgan, grade 5:

Fiber Arts

Mapping the World by Heart

Physics for Fun

Cool Crafts

Parker, grade 2:

Intro to Worship Dance

Around the World (geography)

Wonderfully Made (human body)

Gym

Fun and Games

Cooking

Explorers has been a part of our lives for over 13 years and what a blessing it has been. For the first time, I am co-teaching middle and high schoolers in a yearbook class- teens are such a joy to work with! With Parker in 2nd grade now, I am looking forward to another 10 years or so of Explorers fun!