Life Change For Busy AM~Erica

So anyway...

What a busy weekend we have had at our house!

Friday was an "in-service day" @ work to get the classrooms ready for the summer switch over. This meant we had to clean & scrub EVERYTHING from the celings to the floors, plus any rearranging & updating of files, so we can be ready for a great new start for Tuesday AM.

Friday afternoon, we had to finish cleaning the house, get groceries & supplies for a birthday slumber party for my now 12-year-old daughter (on Wed) & 3 of her friends. Insanity.

Saturday AM, we had to get the girls out of the house (invites said 10:30 AM) so that we could get ready for a b-day surprise for Lizzie. My folks said they would be getting her b-day gifts to her by the weekend. Liz has been checking the mail & hoping for either UPS or FedEx to be showing up with SOMETHING! Just after 1:00 PM, my mom & dad showed up on the doorstep with b-day gifts for Lizzie. She was SO surprised!! So, this also meant my folks were staying Sat. PM.

Sunday, we all got up & went to church, then out to lunch before mom & dad headed back for KC. As we were eating, my hubby got a phone call that had him leaving the table @ the restaraunt...

Chelsea called from Vegas & was having a very hard time...her mom & boyfriend told her she was not to live with them & needed to come live with her dad, and that they had no respect for her. Normally she we would told from our side to let things cool down & see what happens, but...this isn't the first time she's been told that. So sad.

So...June 10th, we are getting a 16-year-old in our household, along with our 12, 10½ & 3-year-old children. WHEW!

This is another child in school here, updated chore lists, possibly another vehicle, higher grocery bills & less eating out. I'm sure there is a whole lot more that I am leaving out, but no matter how you look at it, it is going to be a BIG change for us...again.

Pray for Chelsea & her heart; she is hurting right now. Pray for us as we prepare for continued madness. Although, I know it is God's will that she needs this change in her life.

Stay tuned...

God Bless, AM~Erica

P.S. ~ My voice is mostly back. YEA!

AM~Erica is Inspired (and reminded)

So anyway...

As a dancer & choreographer, it is amazing what inspires me...

I did my signing of scripture yesterday, and people asked me how long I've been signing. This is too funny since I learned the 14 verses in an hour on Wednesday. But, I had a fabulous teacher! People would be amazed at the way it flowed; I have been amazed watching Debbie (my ASL "teacher") doing her signing, and how easy she makes it look. I got thinking how beautiful it would be to incorporate it into some interpretive dance. My mind is racing!

Then, my son, Ethan, has been talking about this freaky "Elvis cat" that sings in this freaked-out play. He was referring to the Rum Tum Tugger from "CATS". Ah, CATS...the dancer's musical; the one that every dancer wanted to be a part of when I was taking classes growing up - the pinnacle of plays, the benchmark of what we all wanted to be as dancers & performers. Ethan had me watch the Rum Tum Tugger song on youtube this evening...then I had to start watching several scenes...amazed by how each "cat" moved so beautifully & gracefully. My son was so sweet to tell me I should be in that play - however, if I did & moved the way they moved at this point in my life & fitness level...I would need a paramedic @ every show.

It did stir all kinds of thoughts in my head...the grace & energy of "CATS", the beautiful flow of sign language...

I think God is letting me know I need to get going on my dance ministry...

Oh...on a side note: I have a little more voice. Maybe a couple of sheep have returned from the flock. I'm still searching for the rest...

Stay tuned...

God Bless, AM~Erica

AM~Erica Has No Voice

So anyway...

I have been asked to help with the Pentacost celebration service this week at church. I am supposed to get up in front of the 10:30 contemporary worship for my part. So, while I am preparing for it, I have lost my voice. It has run away somewhere, and I cannot find it. I feel like Little Bo-Peep & her stinkin' sheep!

If anyone wants to try to call me, consider me unavailable. You wouldn't be able to hear anything I was trying to say anyway. There isn't even a gilmmer of raspy or squeaky anything. When I say "gone", I mean G-O-N-E - GONE!

I guess I should feel a little better knowing that my part during the Pentacost worship service is sign language. I have learned sign language for John 1:1-14; there will be English, ASL, German & Mandrin versions done simultaneously. So cool!

However, none of this helps my voice besides not using it.

So, stay tuned...

God Bless, AM~Erica

AM~Erica is Frustrated!

So anyway...

GRRRRR!

This potty training thing has me in a tizzy. I've been through this twice already, but I don't remember EVER having this much trouble.


My 3yo little guy is doing great peeing in the stool - no prob! It's the other that is not going so well. I feel like we've tried almost everything:


* stickers/candy
* big boy pants (no more pull ups)
* silly songs
* a book was made for him with his name in it about pooping on the potty - he won't go anywhere w/o it


Anyone out there who can help out? He knows when he needs to go, he just won't tell anyone until he's already done it. And he refuses to do it on the toilet! He has done it in the last year & a half, but I can count those times on 1 hand.


Any ideas? Anyone...Anyone...? HELP!!


Stay tuned...


God Bless, AM~Erica

StL Weather 'n Stuff 'n AM~Erica

So anyway...

Since we have moved to St. Louis, we have experienced some interesting/strange things. I have noticed that when the wind blows, SOMETHING is blowing in (i.e. snow, rain). There was one day when the day got up to 60º & sunny, got cloudy, started raining, started snowing, then started sleeting, and ended up around 30º...all in about a 2-hour timespan. INSANE!!

Then, if you look at my last post, there is the fact that it snowed on Easter. CRAZY!

We have, also, had so much rain, it has closed down highways due to flooding. Streets have been turned into waterways. We have gotten some water in our basement, but nothing that would require flippers & a snorkle.

Then, we were awakened just after 4:30 AM on yesterday morning to the house shaking. We didn't know what to make of it; since there is usually a lot of wind, we thought that's what it might be...but it kept going. We silently pondered the thought of an earthquake, but passed off that thought as a silly idea. Well...it was an earthquake. It happened on part of the New Madrid fault about 130 miles away from StL. It sounds so weird to say that we had an earthquake. I can still feel my insides vibrating when I think about it. It sounds more like something out of a movie.

I remember in junior high & high school, talking about the New Madrid fault everytime California had yet another large earthquake, and talking about the possibility of one happening in Missouri...but never thinking I would ever actually experience it. So, here we are, about 20-years later, and, BINGO! I have been through my first earthquake.

It's so weird & scary to think about. What if it had been bigger...or closer. We would have been woefully unprepared! This can actually happen, folks.

Now, I guess we just wait to see what next great weather/natural adventure St. Louis has in store for us...

And on another note, today is my 12-year wedding anniversary with my wonderful hubby. Happy Anniversary, Honey!

Stay tuned...

God Bless, AM~Erica

Back to AM~Erica

So anyway...

Holy cow! Is there anyone still out there?

I have been so caught up in about a BILLION things, I haven't had time to get back to this.

So much has happened...where do I even begin?

We saw family at Christmas time (about a week later). It was our first Christmas by ourselves...no one to go see...no one coming to see us. This also meant having to plan our own dinner menu & occupying ourselves. So we got a Wii from Santa. Wasn't that nice? And Ethan got Guitar Hero I & II for the PS2. And dinner came out great!

My youngest turned 3 during this time. (Boo hoo hoo)

I was involved in a musical with Ethan's church choir soon after that & we just got thru the performance of "Heart to Change the World". It's a mission-driven musical that was so cute & so touching. Ethan even played the inventor of the "Globe-a-Scope" with a ginormous line! He was awesome...of course. Oh, and I overcame a fear that had me traumatized since high school...I sang a solo in front of about 500 people. My folks were there & they were shocked. I didn't tell them I was actually singing.

We also got a puppy. A cute yellow lab we named Casey. We got him at 9-weeks old & he is now 13½-weeks, and has more than doubled in size...and still growing...

It snowed on Easter here...yes...snowed. I took a couple of videos with my new camera I got. You can find the videos at YouTube (Easter AM: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9rOBtH4loE & Easter PM: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thaZX1wsc8o). It is also on my vlog: ericavid.blogspot.com.

During Holy Week, I got to dance an interpretive dance to "Via Dolarosa". I danced while a friend sang.

And still working on potty training...ARGH!! We've come up with a plan...it's only kind of working.

Oh! And my hubby has joined our blogging community! Check him out at http://revoutloud.blogspot.com.

Stay tuned for more...please...

God Bless, AM~Erica