A quick update

My mom arrived yesterday! It's great to see her. We have not seen her in over a year - the longest I've ever gone without seeing her. We are glad to have her here. She is only able to stay until Monday morning, so we are just enjoying our time while we can. She makes great salsa, so I took her to a highly recommended Mexican grocery store today to buy veggies and such. I could not believe this store. They had produce and meats and all sorts of stuff that I have never dreamed of. Did you know that some people somewhere (apparently in Bakersfield) like to buy cows lips. Seriously, in the meat department there were cow's lips, and a lot of them. I have to think it is not because they are old and not selling but because there is a demand of some sort for them. I could not stay near the meat department for very long. Some of the things that I saw turned my stomach. The produce section, on the other hand, was amazing. There were so many different types of fruits and vegetables. My mom, who lives in Michigan, was so excited about all the different types of peppers one could buy there! They had several different types of bananas. Forgive me if I have been missing something all of my life, but I never knew there was more than one type of banana. I guess I was wrong. They had these tiny little bananas that were probably no longer than three inches. It was a fun little shopping excursion, and my mom enjoyed it. Saturday we will take her up into the mountains to see the giant trees! Tomorrow will just be a quiet day, I think.
The kids are all doing well. Mom was able to attend James gymnastics practice tonight, and she was able to go to David's swimming lesson. Both are doing well in their activities. James moved quickly through Level 1, but Level 2 is definitely a challenge. He is great in the area of strength, but his flexibility is lacking. Most kids start when they are so young and flexible, and that is more of a challenge when you are older. He is giving it his all, though. I imagine David will move up to the next level in swimming after this term. He has improved greatly. He is all about the competition (and this is not competitive swimming), so when I told him there was a higher level class, but he had to follow all his teacher's instructions and learn to freestyle swim (only I had to describe that to him - he doesn't know that word), he went to his class that day and swam freestyle, taking breaths like he was supposed to. He wouldn't even try before the little pep talk. I just assumed he couldn't figure out how to do it. It seems he just didn't understand the reason for doing it!!! That's David!
Sarah got a new swim instructor, and she is having adjustment difficulties. She loved her previous teacher, a young college-aged guy named Tim. He was so good with her and she just laughed and smiled the whole lesson. Last week, she started working with Misty, and she cried the whole time. I watched, and Misty was very good with her, so I decided something must have happened that I just didn't see, like she swallowed a lot of water or something. So, we went back yesterday. She was excited and wanted to go. When we checked in at the desk, the gal said, she'll be with Misty, and Sarah immediately started crying. I really like Misty, but that just made me wonder. Sarah is not usually like that, so I watched real closely yesterday, and Misty was great with her - encouraged her, hugged her when she was too upset, etc. - but Sarah just cried. We will see how things go next week. It's a little strange, and Misty knows that she never cried with Tim. She mentioned it yesterday. I am hoping it will get better! She still swims and does what Misty asks, so I guess that is good! Jason's on a break from activities right at the moment, but can I brag on him a little? He has had such a hard time learning to read. It has been a struggle as long as he has been in school. So when school started this year, I got him into tutoring. God is so good, He provided someone in our launch team who is a fourth grade teacher and does tutoring for extra income. Jason has moved up a whole grade level in his reading abilities in only eight weeks. He actually goes and gets books out of the library and finishes reading them now, and he is so proud of himself. He is still not quite at grade level, so he continues in tutoring, but we are proud and excited for him!!!
Brent and I are just busy, busy, busy. As I have said so many times - there is just so much to get done and so little time, but we're moving along! We are excited for our upcoming preview service on December 2nd. That is the biggest deal with the church plant right now. I am trying to develop more and more relationships, and have gotten involved with a mom's group, which has been fun, and I have met some really neat people. My quick update is not so quick - I should be done, so I will be. Good night everyone!