Weekend Wows!

Oh, what a weekend.  Full of so many gifts.  Things like last minute decisions to add three awesome kids to our family for half the weekend.



 

And then getting to take seven kids to experience the county fair for the very first time.

 

And my generous parents made it all happen financially.



I felt like a girl in high school again, giggling on the tilt-a-whirl with this amazing guy.  And Olivia, our chaperone.



And funnel cake.  Because if you go to the fair, you must have funnel cake.



Saturday morning began with a trip to the farmers' market.  I'm always delighted by the people and the produce I find. 



Somehow, I have never bought fresh pinto beans.  Now I have!



We're looking forward to taste testing the difference between fresh and dried beans.



I felt like I was pulling off one bow after the other as the weekend continued and I opened more gifts.



Sarah finished my dining-room curtains.  I'm so excited!  I love the embroidered birds that remind me of one of my favorite books, "The Singing Tree" by Kate Seredy.



Then I got to watch my husband remind my son how to tie a tie as we got dressed up to attend the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra's season opener.  After we reluctantly returned the extra kiddos to their parents, we drove to meet my parents and a sweet couple (who have served in overseas missions and now pastor a church) for supper before we enjoyed the concert.

 



 

Honestly, concerts are still bitter-sweet for me.  Although I wasn't an exceptional musician, I really enjoyed everything about that world.  It's hard to sit in the audience when my fingers are itching to bounce that bow or make that shift.  The concert was fabulous, and we even got to go down and visit with our old cello teacher.  Early every Saturday morning, I used to show up at his house for a lesson.  When Aaron and I could drive ourselves to the lessons, we would be on the road by 6:45 a.m. and I would sleep in the car during Aaron's lesson.  I picked out a handful of musicians that we still knew in the orchestra.  People who have been faithfully performing for thirty years or more.  People who have faithfully poured their lives not just into the music, but into students and young teachers like me.  May I, too, be faithful with the gifts God gives me.