"Never Were There Such Devoted

Sisters!"
(Trina, Me, and Sarah)

Today was a fun family day. Joel had a concert with his orchestra camp, and so Jenny, Isaac, Trina, Sarah, and I joined Mom, Dad, Michelle, and Mrs. Kellogg (cello teacher for Joel and I) at Franklin Intermediate School. They played four pieces, and I am really proud; it was a great performance. Joel is making leaps and bounds with his music--as are many of my younger siblings. Sarah seems to be walking right in Melinda's footsteps on piano...even playing Fur Elise every five minutes or so like Goose used to. We have such a great family!

(The cellists)

Trina has been a great helper today. I think part of that might have to do with the fact that she's dying to play WR1. If you want, you can get the free download here. Just don't tell Trina. Right now she thinks that my laptop is the only computer that has the famed game, and she pretty much bought the deal that I made with her; if she were a good helper and worked on cleaning up her toys and clothes, then I would let her play if Dad said it was okay. She has been the paragon of a sun-shiny helper. This comment shows a little bit of just how cheerful she was today: we were making Chocolate Elvises for dessert (thank you, Carrie!) and Trina offered to help. She said, "I want to help, because I am in a really pretty dress. I mean, because I want to be helpful."
Take a look at her pretty dress below:
These girls are so fun. Sarah is great at helping out with Isaac and asking me when we are going to do fun activities. She also showed me a bunch of her sketches today; I think she's following after our artist sister-in-law, Katy. Promising future there. Michelle is a hard worker, and it is fun to be around her again. She has a great attitude and is a great part of our family, really contributing to fun and helping out. Michelle and Dad saved up to three lives each today by giving blood. Way to go, Cummings!

Melinda and Heather are in Palmyra this week with Youth Conference, so I am excited for their return. That was a great year that I remember in the youth program. Dan is down at Buena Vista (SVU) being a counselor at EFY , but I don't know if I will be able to catch up with him. Tomorrow we'll join Aaron and Katy as we help them move to their new home in Arlington, Va. Marie and Adam (plus kids) come back from Rochester, NY on the 20th. I'm excited to see them.

Trina said two very amazing things today.
Thing 1:
When we came out of Joel's concert, Trina squinted in the sun and said, "Man. This sun sure makes my eyebrows hurt. Does that ever happen to you, Celeste?" I looked at her. "Eyebrows?" Trina paused. "Well, I guess I mean the skin right below my eyebrows. It hurts all the time."

Thing 2:
Trina was singing a made-up song in the car to baby Isaac, and here were some of her words: "...And then you won't cry again, because I am singing this song; and it makes you feel good inside...and when you don't cry, you aren't self-defeating anymore...." Jenny and I paused our conversation up front at this part of the song. Jenny asked, "Trina, do you really know what self-defeating means?" Trina replied, "Of course. It is when you do something that defeats yourself." We were amazed.

Favorite moment of the day for me? Baby Isaac fell asleep in my arms on our porch swing. I am trying to think of something that tops that.

I'm not gonna lie; It's nice to be home.