Fall

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Our Summer So Far...

Just like many of you, June has been extremely busy for us so far! In fact, I am beginning to feel like it's December due to our hectic schedule. But, all of the activities have been good ones and there are blessings all over the place, so we are thankful. Here's a little recap of what we've been up to...

Clara is enjoying her 2nd season of tee ball this year and is doing a great job. Her coach is the girls' high school softball coach and works really well with the kids. The past 2 games, Andy has been a "field" coach (i.e. telling them all when & where to run)! Here she is pictured with two of her friends, Libby and Mia. I've been excited to see her swing develop and her running up to the plate and to each base get faster and more focused.
I have done harp demostrations at 5 libraries in north Mississippi and have been interested to see other small towns and meet many kids. I think I've played for at least 100 kids so far and almost all of them had never seen a harp before. The summer reading theme for these libraries is "Be Creative at the Library"--so, they thought a music demo would be fun.
Andy has been busy getting our new intern (for the summer) settled in. Jake is here for 2 months to lead the youth and help Andy in other ways around the church. We are delighted that he brought his wife and son along with him!
Right now we are in the middle of VBS. I am teaching 5th and 6th grade, Andy was a skit character this morning and will lead the ending celebration and Clara and Benji have been participants. The lessons are about the life of Jesus and the theme is "Upward Bound" since we are on an upward bound journey (to heaven) as we follow Christ during our life on earth.

And, we have a new addition to the family! A sweet kitten named Rosebush (can you guess who came up with that one?!). She is the daughter (or maybe the son!) of our outside cat, Silly. Rosebush is inside only at this time and we love watching her play. Unfortunately she is still pretty scared of us and only just this week will be in the same room with us--not in our arms yet! So, I don't have a good picture of her to show you.

We're so excited about our Farner Family Reunion next week! Stay tuned for pictures and stories sometime around the end of next week.

6 comments:

Keith said...

Always glad to hear Clara isn't carrying the CSX. I told Jon's mom about that line last weekend, and she could hardly stop laughing.

Laura Bridges said...

I love the library visits you're doing and we can't wait to see what Rosebush looks like! Way to go Clara, taking after Mommy :-)

Kristi said...

Wow, what a great idea to get connected with the libraries. I am sure the kids love seeing and hearing your harp. Very cool. I was the only girl on my baseball team in 1st grade, I'm glad she is getting a head start I'm sure she would totally carry the team if I was on it.

Polk said...

I read this to Pops and he had lots of questions:Does Gracie get paid for the library demos? Is Gracie coaching tee ball? What grade VBS is Gracie teaching? 5? or 6?
I think Rosebush is a great name. I spent all day today trying to help my friend Dale catch 6 wild little kittens that are in her garage. No luck.What about next week? Does rosebush have a cat sitter?
See you next week.

Erin said...

I would love to get more info about your library demonstrations. I have been wondering if I should try to do something with the library. They have great weekly activities during the summer but they are always jam packed wall to wall with kids and parents and I don't know if I could entertain that large a group for very long! Good for you. I wish I could hear you.

Grace Halsey said...

Okay, some answers to the questions!

I do get paid to play at the libraries. I decided not to be a tee ball coach this year (so I could hang out with Benji, get to know the other parents & cheer from the sidelines), but I may do it another year. She gets coaching from me at home! :) For VBS, I taught a combined group of 5th and 6th graders--there were usually 8 in attendance. Yes, Rosebush does have a cat sitter next week--a middle school girl who lives across the street (and was also in my VBS class).