Plays, Presents and Parties
Whew! We are done with the Christmas madness! All that is left for us to do is pack away the Christmas decorations, which we will do on January 2nd.
We had a wonderful Christmas though - no boredom allowed in the Smelker household this season. Terry, Warrick and the girls had parts in the children's Christmas play for church (Terry had the lead). We had three performances, and all of them went off very well, with only minor technical glitches. (Pictures to follow later). It was a bit of a sacrifice on the kids part to be in the play because we had two performances on Christmas Day, so the kids had to wait until the afternoon to open their gifts. I don't know what was worse - the girls at church with me waiting to come home and open their gifts, or the little boys at home looking at the unopened gifts and knowing they had to wait for us before opening them!
All of us received the 'perfect' gift, Warrick FINALLY got his cell phone, Teagan received her potters wheel (and is already offering lessons on it), Hayley received a princess castle, Garrick some Star Wars toys and Carson a wooden train track for his Thomas the tank engine and friends. I got, among other things a compilation series of "The Chronicles of Narnia" (CS Lewis is my favourite author) and Terry got some games for his PSP. We are blessed!
I will add some photos as soon as Terry downloads them from the camera.
Labels: Christian Family Church, Christmas, play, Teagan, Terry, Warrick
Smelker Kids At The Party
One of the NewTek employees is also a professional photographer and always takes his camera everywhere with him (we have asked him to take Warrick's senior pictures for us). He took some snaps of the kids as Tim Jenison, the founder of NewTek played Santa and handed gifts to the kids.
Carson decided to get up 'close and personal' with his new trains!
Getting into the Christmas spirit means wearing Santa hats.
Labels: Christmas, NewTek
Christmas Parties
This weekend Newtek, the company Terry works for had their Christmas parties. They decided to do two separate parties this year. The kids had theirs on Saturday afternoon and Santa made sure he dropped off presents for each employee's child. All five of our kids received
exactly what they wanted (amazing how Santa can do that!)
In the evening we dropped the kids off and drove to the Riverwalk to the historic Menger Hotel for a more formal company function. The atmosphere, the company and the food were exceptional. Towards the end of the evening the CEO, Jim Plant stepped forward and thanked the employees for such a great year, and said he had a special treat for them. Now, keep in mind, this is a company of 'geeks' - they are the ones who create the software program that allows animators to animate their characters and the software is used in anything from Spiderman 2 to Babylon 5. These are some serious techno-geeks! Jim pulled out a PSP (Playstation to those who are not game oriented) from behind his back and said they had one for each employee!
Terry was thrilled because this one comes with all the bells and whistles. He was even more thrilled because he has been wanting to get one, and even asked one of Warrick's friends if he would consider selling his (and the one he had doesn't even have all the gadets) but hadn't heard back from the lad. You should have heard the buzz of excitement that the PSP's generated among the roomful of employees, and Jim, the CEO, and Tim, the founder received a very large hand clap from everyone.
This week brings more rehearsals, and more meets, both for swimming and for wrestling. Teagan's pottery lesson continue too. How much longer can I hold the younger boys off from doing activities? Perhaps I can persuade them to do wrestling like their big brother too, and have all the kids activities on the same night! Well, a girl can dream can't she?
Labels: Christmas, NewTek, Terry
Ice?? In San Antonio??
Can you believe that balmy San Antonio got some ice on Wednesday night? Admittedly it was not much and our side of town got hit harder than other parts (some places got no icy rain at all). On Thursday morning I looked at the cars parked outside and wondered how people would get the ice off their windscreens, most people here don't own an ice scraper. Why buy something that you might use once a decade if that? But it has warmed back up and tomorrow our high will be 64 which is pretty normal for this time of year.
Tomorrow promises to be a busy day, starting with a meet for Hayley, a meeting at church for Terry and I, a pottery lesson for Teagan, a meet for Warrick, a company Christmas party for the kids, a play rehearsal for the church play, setting up and teaching in the special needs room, followed by an adults-only company Christmas party in the evening!
As the year draws to the close Terry and I stand in amazement at what one year has brought into our lives. We have grown so much spiritually, have become even more rooted in our church, have moved into greater leadership and responsibilities and are really finding our niche in ministry. I am excited to see what the new year will bring for our family!
First Meets of the Season
Warrick and Hayley both have meets or practices on Saturdays (logistical nightmare sometimes). Two weekends ago Hayley participated in a meet with 37 other kids her age, and she took 2nd overall - way to go Hayley! We are especially happy as this is her first year of competitive swimming and she is swimming, in some cases, against kids who have been competing for several years (the scary thing is she is only 8!) Here is Hayley at the pool at one of her practices.
Warrick had his first meet this weekend, and it is always interesting because he gets to size up the competition for the rest of the season - he will wrestle pretty much the same kids for the next 4 months. Normally he walks out of these meets with a first place medal, but Saturday he took 3rd. I told him not to be disappointed because now he knows who to beat and his coaches know what he needs to work on. In his defense, he was pinned by one kid, who he was initially beating technically. Then one of the coaches (not one who works with Warrick at practice) told Warrick to try something different. Even as the coach said it Warrick thought, "That won't work, this kid is stronger than me, and if I try that move he will pin me." But he was obedient to the coach and 30 seconds later he was pinned. He told me later that he should have gone with his gut instinct, ignored the coach and carried on doing what he was doing, because he would have beaten the kid on technical points. However, he has 4 months to work on beating the two kids who beat him, and knowing Warrick and how driven he is, I don't doubt for one moment there will come a time when he will stand on the first place podium.
Labels: Hayley, Warrick
Christmas in full swing
I am not sure how much I will be able to blog in the next couple of weeks as we gear up for one of the busiest Christmas seasons ever. Terry and I are helping with the children's Christmas play (which will run December 24th and 25th), Terry is also playing one of the parts in the play. We have rehearsals several times a week. Warrick's wrestling season started in full swing this month, Hayley has swim meets and Teagan still has her pottery lessons. Between Christmas parties, meets, school functions and church functions, our lives have become insanely busy! I am lucky to get near my computer just to check email right now, let alone anything else, and don't even ask about the house! I NEED a housekeeper!
But, I love this time of year - I love the lights, the trees and their trimmings and the excitement of the kids (and their parents!) and would not swap the busyness for anything. I am most of all thankful that we, as mere people, have the chance to celebrate our Saviour's birth, that the God of the universe thought enough of us to come to earth to redeem you and me. I know December 25th is not the 'actual' date of his birth - but I celebrate it nonetheless.
Labels: Christian Family Church, Christmas, play
Who Sat Where?
Last night our church was privileged to have Lisa Bevere come and speak to our ladies (Women of Worth) as a guest speaker. Once a month, Pastor Beverly hosts this event and she sets it up as a television interview. Lisa spoke about two of her books, "The True Measure of a Woman", and "You Are Not What Weigh".
I had never heard Lisa speak before, and she was awesome! Funny, quick-witted and above all beautiful! Bold too. I was lucky enough to sit in the front row (I was an official helper) and at one point she got up to demonstrate a point. Next thing I know she is strolling towards me, and then sat on my lap! She was talking about her youngest son and his freedom to sit on her lap every morning, and I was her guinea pig.
The one thing I appreciated more than anything was her uncompromising attitude when it comes to the Word of God. She spoke the Word, and can recite scripture so naturally, you know that the Word is lodged in her heart, and not just her head - she is living the Word, not just speaking it.
If you have never heard her speak, or read one of her books, I would highly recommend you get to listen or read. She is filled with wisdom and is entertaining besides!
Labels: Christian Family Church, God, Jesus, Lisa Bevere
