Ballet Costume Fitting

When we arrived at ballet class on Wednesday afternoon Miss Candice had a big smile on her face and she said she had a surprise for us all. The girls ballet costumes had arrived and they were going to try them on to make sure they fit properly. Not only that, but she let us sit in on their rehearsal and they got to practice their recital dance in their outfits! Olivia was pretty excited. They slipped them on over their pink leotards, but you can still see how cute it is going to be. We can't wait! May 17th is the big day. Last year it was such a special experience.

A Quick Extended Rogowski Family Gathering

Stan's sister and brother-in-law, Karen and Nick Holland, and their two kids, Nicholas and Caroline came through Kingsland yesterday on their way home from Disney World back to Memphis, Tennessee. We were all able to gather together at Stan and Mary's for some fun last night. The kids had such a good time, and boy were they dirty and exhausted when we got home! Mary fixed a fabulous potroast dinner and Stan sr. made a cozy bonfire for us to enjoy. It was nice to have almost everybody under one roof for a brief time. We were just missing Jason, Theresa's husband. He's out to sea presently, but Theresa and her two boys, Logan and Ethan were able to be there. It was a really nice time catching up and enjoying each other's fellowship. We just wish that the sand gnats had not been so vicious. If you've never experienced sand gnats, thank your Heavenly Father. They're these tiny dreadful little gnats that bite. They swarm and all of a sudden there's tons of them on you and they love to get in your hair and bite your skin. There is no true protection from them, but the good thing is that the bites don't irritate you much more than a day and then they disappear, but when you're swatting them left and right, it's not so much fun. The kids were amazing. They kept swatting and playing. We're grateful for this sweet, quick visit. Here's some pictures from last night.

A Change Will Do You Good

Just feelin' the need for a change. So here's our new blog's template. Same high quality content (wink, wink), just in a different wrappin'! :)

Festival!

Every year Stan takes his 7th and 8th grade bands to Waycross, GA where they perform three selections for three judges. They're given scores based on how they did, and his hope is always that the kids will give their best performance on the stage and that the judges will provide helpful feedback and that it will be a positive experience for the kids. It is his big culminating event for the year, and although we all wish it didn't have to cause so much stress, there is a certain amount of unavoidable stress that goes along with these performances. It's a significant build up that precedes the concerts, and we all breathe a big sigh of relief when they're over. We want to be quick to give our Heavenly Father great praise and thanks for carrying us through this last week. It was tough, and we know he was lifting us up and holding us through it all. On Thursday Stan's 7th grade group performed and I thought they did very, very well. Stan knew and I knew that their intonation had room for improvement, but technically and musically, we thought they did very well. They received an Excellent rating, or a II (I is the highest you can receive). The judges gave them straight B's on every single area being critiqued. Again, Stan didn't necessarily expect a Superior or a I rating with them, but it was surprising to not receive one single A throughout any of the judging pages. Seemed wrong to me. Then on Friday he took his 8th grade band, and they played really well, but when they came off the stage Stan said to me, "Well, that wasn't their best performance." I thought they did really well, but I could hear a spot or two that was not exactly perfect, and after his experience the day before, I was really concerned about the judges' response. After they sightread, and all the kids were loaded onto the buses, I waited while he went to get the judges envelopes with the results, and as he walked to the car where we were waiting, I could tell as he got closer that tears were welling up in his eyes, and I just started praying, "Oh please Lord, let this be good news, and not bad!" He didn't say anything but just simply pulled out sheet after sheet after sheet that had almost all A's and I's at the top of every page! I just screamed and hugged and kissed him and said, "Praise God!" As a wife, there is such joy that comes from seeing your husband's extremely hard work acknowledged and rewarded. So, we do give great thanks and praise to Jesus for being with us this week. We know that many of you were praying for Stan, and we can't thank you enough. Here are some pictures from Friday. Sorry there aren't more of the band.

"My God is So Big..."

Olivia is a singer! She loves to sing, and we're so grateful that her Sunday School teachers have her sing each Sunday in class. She told me Miss Melody taught this song to her, and she usually does it with a little more gusto than this, but she often pulls back a little bit when I turn on the video camera. She is a good singer, and it brings us such joy to hear her singing praise to God!
It appears that in order for you to play this video, you have to click on the little picasa symbol down at the bottom of the picture, and then click on the words "My God is so Big". Then you'll be able to play it. Frustrating that I can't seem to make it any simpler. sorry!

"A Night to Remember" at SMUMC

Our church has a neat annual tradition of holding a special social event called "A Night to Remember". Women are invited to host a table and decorate it in their own unique ways and invite folks to purchase tickets to join them for the evening. We have entertainment each year, and this year it was a bluegrass group called "Lost Dogs Found". They were really great! I left the church wishing I could sing like Loretta Lynn and that I could play the "fiddle". :) I think Stan and I just wished that folks had not been so talkative throughout the whole of their performance. It's always hard when you see performers giving their best to a hall of people who sound like they're at a sporting event. They did settle down a time or so, and we still had a very fun time. The meal was very good and we helped raise some money for the youth group's mission trip for this summer. All-in-all, a special evening. Here are some pictures of the tables.