Back in the swing of things... sort of!

Well, we have 10 days of school down and 170 to go! Do you hear the groans from my kids? We're getting a new school year underway and this one's unique because I'm right smack dab in the middle of it.

Now that Becca is a 6th grader, she's singing in the Youth Praise Band at church. The group traveled to Beckley the week school started to participate in a Back to School event. The kids sang along with others and there was a speaker. It was really cool and interesting to see the kids sing together.

It started out a little stressful because the church had just gotten a new sound system installed... that day... and the sanctuary wasn't air conditioned. But it ended up being a really nice evening.

I'd like to tell you that the first day of school was blissful and nostalgic, but that would be a big old lie. Louie had to go out of town for a meeting the night before and wasn't home that morning. Everyone was a bit on edge (including me, I'll admit) as we got ready and got out the door... earlier than we had to last year because I'm working. But they obediently stopped in front of the building and let me snap the necessary 1st day of school photo. I can't even think that next year Garrett will be in college somewhere and not in the picture. (sigh) The good news is, day 2 was better and by day 3, we were in much better spirits!

I've working at Covenant School for 10 days now with students and all I can say is, I'M TIRED. I'm simply not used to getting up before 6am and spending the morning in non-stop high-energy mode, then heading outside to teach PE for 1st and 2nd grade. By mid afternoon, I need a nap! I'll just have to build up some endurance. But I absolutely L-O-V-E my Kindergarten students. They are all so different and so precious- even the challenging ones. It really is a huge responsibility and a huge privilege intermingled to work with them every day. And I like PE even more then I thought I would. I get to play outside and get paid for it- how cool is that? And getting to wear a whistle is a bonus- it makes me feel powerful!

Rebecca seems to be liking 6th grade. She says... "well, it's better than 5th grade". She likes the book she's reading in class, is practicing with the middle school volleyball team and has taken up playing the trumpet! They are also starting a club for girls at Covenant called American Heritage Girls that Becca wants to participate in. It's very much like Girl Scouts... does that mean I'm going camping in the near future?

Hannah is doing pretty good so far in 11th grade. She's got a very tough course load and is trying not to stress out early about Calculus. She's practicing with the high school volleyball team. Also, she's been asked to attend homecoming at a local school with her boyfriend, Connor. Dress shopping will soon commence.

Garrett, as usual, is the busiest! Along with Hannah, he has a really tough work load at school. He recently accepted a role in a community dinner theater production of Little Shop of Horrors which will open the last week of October at the Pullman Plaza Hotel in Huntington. He is playing the role of the flesh-eating PLANT! Isn't that hilarious?

He is also filling out college applications and writing essays to go with them. We'll make another college visit next month to Wheaton College in Chicago. Hannah is coming, too. Speaking of college... Garrett got official notification this week of his status as National Merit Semi-Finalist. (I think there were 2 semi-finalists in my graduating class of 300...there are 3 in Garrett's graduating class of 8!) He's frantically filling out paperwork this week to apply for a Finalist position.

Another cool thing this week was that he spent Thursday afternoon at Cabell Huntington Hospital's Oncology Unit. Because he wants to go into medicine, he enrolled in the Medical Explorers program. They allow high school students once per month to explore a different field of medicine. He got to spend time with an oncologist and hear what he does and why he chose that field. Garrett seemed to really think it was cool.

Louie is doing ok. He's pretty close to his goal weight. He and I both know that if he'd exercise regularly, he'd be there... but he's not a fan. He got to be my Show and Tell item on Friday in my class. "L" was our letter of the week and the kids could bring an item to school starting with that letter. Louie stopped by at just the right moment. :)

Garrett and his band, Torn in Two, had a great experience yesterday. They performed in Ashland, KY, at the riverfront in a Christian Battle of the Bands. The winner would receive a 2 day recording studio time in Nashville. Those boys did AWESOME! They had fun and played better than I've ever seen. There were 5 judges... out of a possible 60 points, one gave them a perfect 60 and one gave them a 59. They actually came in 2nd place out of 11 bands. They were the only teenagers there. The perfect score was from the gentleman from Nashville. Another gentleman spoke to them about playing (on a side stage) at ICHTHUS music festival next summer in KY.

Well, summer is over but one summer icon is still roaming the neighborhood... the Ice Cream Truck! Hannah was gone the other day and when the familiar music was heard, Becca grabbed her money from her wallet and went running.

Then, lo and behold, my nearly grown son shoved a few dollars in his pocket and took a few long strides across the street, trying not to look in a hurry.

I love it. A little more summer. A little more childhood.

New Experiences All Around

Life is full of drama when you have teenagers.

When Hannah's cell phone (aka main mode of communication) fell into the toilet last week, it began. We tried every trick in the book and it only partially came back to life. Meanwhile, Hannah had the new experience of spending four days in Charleston with her grandparents attending Capitol Driving School. This was the "booooring" part, the classroom part of driver's ed. She did get some driving time in with her grandparents to and from class.

When she got home, we had to resolve the "Cell Phone Dilemma". Louie and I spent way too much time discussing the options and costs involved. In the end, we chose a cost effective option that the lovely people at Ntelos worked out for us. It involved Hannah getting a shiny new phone (with a rebate!) that she paid most of. In addition, Rebecca had a new experience...getting her very first (inexpensive) cell phone... since she IS a sixth grader now and is away from us more often. (Which means in the near future we will be canceling our home phone- I'll give a shout out when we pull the plug)

Last Sunday, Garrett and his friends from his band Torn in Two had a cool new experience. They were invited to be a part of a local Christian radio show on WEMM, called The Turn. His friend Luke got to be cohost. Garrett sang live on the radio which of course you can hear LIVE on the Internet. I can't even describe how weird and awesome it was to hear my baby singing and speaking on the radio. I have to say, I thought he was very well spoken. Louie offered a bit of coaching before they went on air. They had fun and will probably be asked back on the show again. If so, I'll put it on the blog in case you want to tune in!

Tonight, the band was asked to sing for an event at New Baptist Church in Huntington. The church was having a back to school community block party. The boys performed from the bed of a flat bed trailer during the evening and there was a picnic. Garrett's 80 year old Latin teacher rushed the stage to take pictures and cheer for him. Later, the boys even autographed a picture for their smallest fan.

This morning, Hannah and Rebecca had a brand new experience. They played guitar in church and sang. Early in the summer, our choir director asked me if someone from our family would sing during a Sunday in August and I agreed. I wrote it on the calendar but we've been so busy I put it out of my mind until this week. With our church secretary out of town, I created the bulletin this week, simply writing "The Gaunch Family" as our special music. I broke the news to Garrett and then Louie, figuring one of them would step up and sing. Then Louie suggested all the kids sing with him. Garrett has been playing guitar for years. Hannah took a lesson while at senior high camp 3 weeks ago and has been practicing since then. And Louie borrowed a small bass guitar and taught Becca a few notes in the last 3 days! They chose an upbeat easy song. So are you wondering what my part was? Louie offered me a tambourine.... uh, no. My talents lie elsewhere. Instead, I just introduced the song and took pictures. I was proud. They were brave trying something new. (Lou had planned to play a drum while he was singing but can't seem to do 2 things at once any more- so we 'adopted' the pastor's son and asked him to help us out)

One more new experience I'm happy to tell you about- I have a new job. I accepted a job this week as a Grammar School aide at Covenant School where the kids go to school. It's a part time position. I'm assigned to work in the Kindergarten room from 8-12:30. Things are still a bit up in the air until later this week, but most likely, I will also teach 1st and 2nd grade PE. I was a substitute aide last year in Cabell County and I have been wanting something more permanent. I inquired with Cabell County and the answer was a firm no, there was nothing available, especially in the area of hearing impaired where I especially wanted to work. Less than 48 hours later, Covenant School called and asked me if I would be interested in coming for an interview.

Keep in mind the irony- Next week, I will send Garrett off to his last "First Dayof School", into the 12th grade as I go off to my second "First Day of Kindergarten". I'll spend Garrett's entire senior year right down the hall from him. Isn't life interesting? I'm not sure how the kids feel about having me "on their turf". I absolutely love Covenant School and what they are doing. I'm actually pretty humbled to get to be a faculty member and a part of their mission. I think my degree in speech and language development will come in handy as I'm helping with reading and certainly 17+ years of mommying will come in handy when it comes to loving and organizing a group of 18 or more 5 years olds! Oh, the stories this blog may tell by the end of the school year! I read one of my favorite children's books this afternoon for inspiration!

The next week will be a whirlwind- double checking those school supply lists, making sure we have the appropriate school uniform pieces, and deciding what we'll be packing in lunches (no cafeteria at Covenant means packed lunches every day). Also Garrett has an independent study period on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the end of the day so we're trying to work out an opportunity for him to volunteer at St. Mary's hospital. Since he thinks he wants to go to medical school, I think he needs to get a closer look in the real world. Hannah has the independent study as well and she's going to be working under a teacher's supervision taking Rosetta Stone Spanish. Since we went on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic last year, it's something she's wanted to learn better.

School Year 2010-2011, here we come!

More than a Passing Glance

About every two weeks, I happily sit down at my laptop and tell what great things are going on with the Gaunch family. It's usually not much more than a listing of activities and events. And while it's important for me to communicate to you as friends and family what we're doing, this morning, I thought I'd take a minute to share something else that's important to me- scripture.

In the past I've said that I believe God's Word and its very important to me... but I didn't actually read it. Not daily, anyway. But since our church read through the New Testament together a year ago, I've been hooked. Before, I would read one verse on a flip page calendar and figure that was my 'Word' for the day. Now I realize I was cheating myself. It would be like a friend calling me on the phone and after they had said one sentence to me, I would say, 'Well, thanks for calling' and hang up. Who does that? I did every time I settled for just a quick verse before I dashed off to other activities. (Back then, I would feel convicted occasionally but I would rationalize it away that God understood that I had a busy family to care for- after all, He gave them to me! But... I didn't realize that my day was reflecting what I was devoted to- and it wasn't my relationship with the Lord.)

All you have to do is scroll back through these postings to see how busy we are. I certainly don't get it right every day. But I'm finally, after nearly 40 years, realizing that I need to take more that a casual glance at God's Word every morning. Psalm 119:130 says, 'The unfolding of your word gives light'. Every day it seems, I'm unsure about something and need a little 'light' shed on the situation. Don't you? Let me "urge you brothers(and sisters)" in Paul's words, to give God's Word more than a passing glance every day. Start somewhere. Find a good tool to use to read- I'm using the Life Journal to read the Bible through. (www.lifejournal.cc)

So today, ok the last few weeks, I've been stressing over some things that are primarily out of my hands. It requires that I wait. Not my favorite task. Then I read my scripture reading this morning and I was compelled to share it with you...

"I wait patiently before God, for my victory comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will never be shaken." Psalm 62:1-2.

"Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in Him." vs.5.

I read a few months ago that the word for Hope doesn't mean 'wish' like we would use it in modern English. In it's original context it actually meant 'confident expectation'. So if that's true, verse five could actually be worded... "Let all that I am wait quietly before God because I can confidently expect Him to be faithful." This was one of those mornings that I'm glad I let God speak to me. Now, I don't think I've ever been taught how to 'wait quietly before God' but I'm assuming that means to quiet my heart and mind to the best of my ability- refusing to give in to the temptation to worry or be consumed with negativity.

I've rambled on far beyond what I planned. This is a little diversion from my regular postings. Be inspired see how God wants to speak to you today.