Sarah's birthday, part 2

I had to share this picture taken by our friend Kelly Thayer. It captures the most memorable part of Sarah's birthday, as eight of us attempted to spell S-A-R-A-H with our bodies (unfortunately, I drew the short straw and attempted to form an S with less than moderate success). Sarah wooed the crowd by slipping into the splits at the last second. She can do it all!

Sarah's birthday party

Yesterday we celebrated Sarah's 24th birthday party in style--on her deck! It was her first true birthday party in her life. A bunch of people came out, and we enjoyed delicious food with a beautiful view of the evening Philadelphia skyline. Here's a picture of some of the gang who made it last night. If you haven't wished Sarah a happy birthday, it's never too late!

Seth's birthday

Kallie, John, and I surprised Seth in his room at 7:30 this morning for his birthday. Come with us as we serenade him with a Camp Geneva version of Happy Birthday...

Surprise birthday party!

We had a surprise birthday party for our vice-principal Ms. Hawkins yesterday at St. Ignatius. The entire school was in the gym and surprised her a day early with balloons, an everyone-signed banner, cake, and cupcakes for everybody! She was so surprised that she started crying. (Something I had never seen from her before! She's an intense woman!) It was awesome to see the kids and teachers come together and surprise her like that. Here's a quick tribute I put up for my kids:

Birthday pictures

Here is the dousing of balloons that fell on me:


And my room was toliet paper heaven! I fell asleep last night feeling like I was in a homemade fort! Quite fun.


I'll try to post ones from Franklin Fountain and bowling later.

Overwhelmed

My birthday has been such a blessing today! Here are a few highlights:

-Dad calling me with each of his seven classes today...each class singing a different version of "happy birthday"
-Toliet paper all over my room
-Birthday streamers throughout my living room
-A cascade of balloons as I walked upstairs to take a shower, and seven people surprising me
-Multiple Facebook birthday wishes--many from old friends
-Church homegroup surprising me at Franklin Fountain
-Anticipation of flying to Michigan WITH SARAH tomorrow (that's right: I'm not flying away from her...I'm flying WITH her)
-A massive birthday hug from 4th graders
-My grandparents singing a lovely duet of "happy birthday" on my voicemail
-Going bowling at Northern Lanes (yet to happen)
-Feeling loved and appreciated by friends

Thank you, God.


why me?

Go farther!

Go Farther is the slogan of the Students Run Philly Style program. At today 7:30AM practice, I ran farther than I have before: 5 miles. One of my 8th graders, Jaron, did 5 too. He and I ran together during the last lap, and it was cool how we both were able to push each other. When I jogged up to him, he said that he needed me for motivation to get the last one in. Well, we did! There's something so special about connecting with students outside of the classroom that goes beyond academics and makes the relationship personal.

Last night Seth, John Neely, Nate, Kamil, a guy named Al B, and I went to the movie 300. I gave it 3.5 stars out of 5. As far as war movies go, it was beautifully rendered. The computer graphics were smooth and allowed an artistic element to display a world that seemed like a mix between Lord of the Rings, Braveheart, and Gladiator. Personally, I'd prefer the real world scenic effects of Braveheart or LOTR. The story of the battle is incredible, and it makes me hold my view of Michigan State Spartan fans just a little higher. It's a good movie to watch with guys, which is exactly what we did!

Yesterday Seth, Nate, and I went to the dog park in Northern Liberties. What great fun for dogs! There were about 15-20 of them running around without leashes in a large, contained environment. You could see the dog social life playing itself out with greeting each other, chasing balls, and, of course, the endless sniffing. Murphy was really calm as usual, and he made me feel important by visiting me from time to time to wag his tail and acknowledge my presence! Even when there were cool dogs, he took the time to notice me. =)


Thursday was Will's birthday (big Cubs fan friend from Jefferson). We celebrated by going to Dave and Busters, which I can best describe as Chuckie E. Cheese for adults. Delicious food, interactive games, and fun company. I'd like to go back sometime; you get tickets for every game you play--including trivia, DDR, basketball, racing, skeeball, and others. Sarah and I combined our winning tickets at the end and bought a travel coffee mug and a deck of cards. Sarah bought me the biggest gumball I've ever chewed. (pictures yet to come)

I drove Sarah to the airport early Friday morning. She made a stop in Pittsburgh to enjoy a day with her mom, then drove her sister's car to Michigan for a weekend date with Lydia. Lydia and Walter just snagged an apartment in Washington DC, and they're exactly two weeks away from their wedding! Sarah was looking forward to one last fling with Lydia and helping her get ready for the big day. Unfortunately, talking with her on the phone has reminded me too much of our communication last year. Dating tip: relationships are way better in person! Still, I think the distance can be very beneficial and help the relationship to grow in ways it couldn't if the couple lived in the same town. I know God used it to bless us...but do we need to be reminded what it was like again? grrr...

In the meantime, I have a few days before I fly out to West Palm Beach to meet up with my family. I'm teaching children's church tomorrow, and I need to get organized around here. Productivity, here I come!