Summer Movies

Just thought I would post this. 10 movies for $5 this summer! Yes, they're all movies our kids have probably already seen, but it is still fun!!

Payton's First Song

My sister emailed this to me the other day. I had completely forgotten about it! But now that I see it, I remember it like it was yesterday!! Payton was 4 years old when he wrote his first song:

(singing) There once was a cowboy who shot a buffalo

(talking) You know who it was? It was me.

(singing) There was a bucking bull chasing the cowboy.

(talking) You know what happened to him? I shot him.

(singing) There was a giraffe who was running along.

(talking) You know what happened to him? I shot him.

(singing) There was an alligator chasing after me.

(talking) You know what happened to him? I shot him because he was trying to bite me.

(singing) One more animal. There was a llama chasing after me.

(talking) You know what happened to him? I shot him because llamas spit.

He sang it kind of like a blues song. He would play his guitar during the first line and then he would stop his guitar and speak the second line. Tonight, we had a good laugh about it. The key phrase of the night was "I shot him" in this deep voice. Even when Payton was little, he had such a low voice!!

He's growing up so fast!!

Jaxon Goes Potty

Tonight, Jaxon went potty for the first time! I just want to write the story down so that I don't forget it!

He got out of the bathtub and he was naked in the living room. He looked at me and said, "I'm sorry mommy. Some of my poopy leaked out." I told him to stand up and there were 2 drops of pee on the rug. I told him that we should go sit on the potty and he said, "NO!" I told him that Payton goes potty & Evan goes potty & mommy goes potty & daddy goes potty. Everyone in our house goes potty except for Jaxon. He just laughed.

Payton walked in the living room and Jaxon said, "Payton, do you go potty?" Payton said yes. Evan walked in and Jaxon said, "Evan, do you go potty?" Evan said yes.

Then, Jaxon said, "Mommy, I go potty!" So, we ran to the bathroom and he wouldn't sit down. He started talking for a few minutes and then started peeing in the floor. He quickly stopped and I told him to sit down on his potty. He sat there, but was really nervous (I think it's because his potty plays music and it scared him the first time it happened.)

Then, I pointed to the little "boy guard" and said, "Hey! Why don't you try to shoot that?" He looked down and said, "Hey! Shoot that!" Then, he started peeing and almost filled up the whole potty!! He was so proud of himself and we threw him a small party! ;)

Katianne came over and he told her to come and see. So, he took her in the bathroom and pointed to the little "boy guard" thing and said, "Katianne! I shot that!" It was hilarious!! Now if he'll just keep on doing that!! ;)

Myla Jade

I am uploading some pictures from our Mexico trip and realized that I never shared pictures of my niece, Myla Jade!! She was born on November 4th. . . yes, I realize she's a couple of months old now. But really -- I am one proud aunt!

Here's her story in a nutshell:
My sister had been trying for almost 3 years to get pregnant. She had just finished fertility testing and they came back that her husband had "issues" and one of her tubes was completely blocked and one of her ovaries was "dead" (I don't remember the correct term). Pretty much, they told her in January of 2009 that it was pretty much impossible for her to get pregnant. They were trying to decide if they were going to do fertility treatments, but that would mean that she would have to drive to Lubbock and possibly stay there for an extended amount of time. She finally decided that she didn't want to do that and that they would just wait and see what happened.

Then, our church did a 30 days of 24 hour prayer. Someone was at the prayer house 24 hours a day for 30 days. There was a journal there where you could write prayer requests down for the people to pray over. I decided to put her name in there and some of her story.

At the beginning of March, she called and told me that she was pregnant!! I was overwhelmed and overjoyed! I let her know that we had prayed for her those 30 days and there was no doubt that this little one was straight from God.

Then, on November 3rd, I get a text that says Sally's water had broke. She wasn't due for 4 more weeks. But, everything went just fine and as I was holding this little girl, I know that I heard God say that she has quite a call on her life. God just wanted to reassure me that she was what doctors would say was impossible, but God said otherwise.

Just a few hours old

What a little miracle I'm holding here

This is such a funny picture. I bought this beautiful dress for her to come home in and they were trying to figure out how to get it over her head. She did not like being naked and she did not like them trying to dress her. My sister was all but saying cuss words to me for buying something that had to go over her head.

But, I think it was worth it. Isn't it such a cute outfit?!?! There were some really cute black shoes to go with it, but they were tired of hearing her cry, so they decided not to put those on her.

She is one serious girl!

This is a rare shot of her smiling! We had to work really hard to get her to laugh!

Neither one of them look very interested in having their picture made

Now, she's had enough of this picture thing!

(Insert picture of Jaxon holding her)

Jaxon didn't want anything to do with her, so it didn't happen

Sally took her to get her pictures professionally done and I have some of those on my phone. I'll see if I can transfer them. But for now, here she is! I think she's pretty special.

I hate seeing kids sad!!

Today started out as an amazing day!! Backpacks got some money that was a large amount and it will allow us to expand to feed more kids -- good thing!!

Then, I got a phone call. They were asking if I could come to the elementary school to do some grief counseling. A second grade teacher passed away this morning and they were going to tell the class at 1:30. My heart just sank. I've been with friends when they find out that their loved one has passed away. I've experienced it myself, getting the notice. But, I don't think I've ever been there when a child receives the news.

I had to cancel a lunch that I was really looking forward to. To be honest, my flesh wanted to say that those kids would be ok without me. . . that the school had enough help. . . that I could still go to my lunch and have fun. . . but, I knew what I needed to do. It really is quite an honor for the school to call me and ask me to be there.

So, I went to the school and walked in the library. You could feel the atmosphere of the school was really sad. I walked into the library and they had already started telling her class. Some kids were crying. Others were just sitting there. Some were just more concerned about getting outside to play.

I watched as some of these kids went outside and it was like it hit them. They came back in crying and decided to color pictures, most of them for their teachers. I felt bad for the teachers because they had to be strong for their students as they were sad themselves.

It was also like some kind of door had been opened up for the kids to talk about their own experiences. One little boy, on his way out the door, started telling the counselor, "My dad (something about buying alcohol, drugs, & cigarettes) and I don't even know if he's still alive." This little boy was almost stone cold to the fact that he didn't even know if his dad was alive or dead. Can you imagine?!?!

The counselor was talking to me afterwards and she just said, "This isn't the job I signed up for." She went on to tell me that on Wednesday, she was ready to quit. She said, "If I have to hear one more story about something like 'my mom tried to poison me when I was a baby' . . . " She then went on to tell me that it really happened -- she had to listen to it and do something about it. I just told her that I don't know how she does it.

Please pray for these teachers and the students. Please pray for Mrs. Verden (the counselor). Tomorrow at backpacks, we're going to spend a little more time with the 2nd graders just to check up on them.

Gettin' Some Ink

So, forever, I've wanted a tatoo. I'm not sure what and I don't know where. I'm not talking something big, but just something small & maybe on my foot. Aaron is absolutely against it. . . no ifs, ands, or buts. He doesn't want me to get one. So, I had this dream the other night:

I was at my parents' house and my brother was there. I was working on solving this murder mystery case of a woman named Mary. I had kind of talked about it with my brother and my mom. I was about to have a huge break in the case.

My brother had a tatoo machine right there in my parents' house, so I decided to go for it. He asked me what I wanted and I told him that I didn't know, but I wanted something small. I told him to be creative. So, I sat down in the chair and in like 5 minutes, he was finished. I didn't feel anything!! When he said he was finished, I looked down at my forearm & there on my arm. . . well, taking up about 3/4 of the inside of my whole arm, was a picture of Mary. Underneath her picture, it said, "In Loving Memory of Mary ____". I kind of FREAKED OUT! I thought I told him "something small"!!

Then, I look down on my left leg and on my shin, he tatooed a GIANT sun. . . like, takes up my whole shin!!

So, my mom is going to cut my hair, so I go and wash my hair and cover my arm with a towel. While she's cutting my hair, I realize that forever, I will have to wear a long sleeved shirt. I will also have to wear long pants! He actually did a really good job -- the picture looked just like Mary and the sun was really neat -- but it wasn't what I asked for. Plus, Aaron would be FURIOUS!!!

I remember my mom seeing my arm and asking what was wrong with my arm. I showed her and I remember being mortified!! I had this dead lady's picture tatooed on my arm when I didn't even know who she was! I was just working on the case to find her killer!! Plus, on the entire bottom part of my leg was this gigantic sun!!

Then, I woke up.

I think I could . . .

The other day, I was outside swinging Jaxon in his swing that is attached to the old, run-down, piece of "tree house" that we got from the front of the Prayer House when they were remodeling. You know, that piece of wood thing that was falling apart before we got it & it held a swing and all of our kids got splinters on? Yep, that thing.

So, I'm swinging Jaxon back and forth, back and forth and the rickety wood is also going back and forth, back and forth. Then, I had this idea. I wish I could build my kids a tree house -- and I don't mean hire someone else to do it. I mean, build it with my sweat and tears. I mean, me with the tape measure & the saw. I mean, hammer in hand swinging away. I'm talking trap doors & stairs & a look-out & a place where you can run around the outside of the whole tree house, kind of like a balcony. It would have swings below and a slider pole for quick escapes. I mean, the coolest tree house that ever was built!

Oh how I wish I had the skills. . . or the time. . . or the tools . . . or the money. . . or whatever I would need to do all of that.

What's Up?

I feel like it's been forever since I posted anything. . . well, it has been since I posted anything significant. So, here's what I have been up to:

Children's Church:
The kids have been working for over a year to fill up this jar for Backpacks. They've been emptying their piggy banks and stealing dad's change stash to see that this jar gets full. Well, this last week, it happened. So, this Sunday, they are getting a GIGANTIC Super Bowl Party. We'll have pizza & ice cream & then they get to tar and feather me. . . with chocolate syrup. I'm actually really looking forward to it. Crazy, I know.

The hallway murals are finished in the classrooms! Emilie did an AMAZING job!! Now, we're waiting on the flooring. I'll have to post pictures on here at some point of the transformation. It's just crazy what a great job she did painting on cinder block.

Backpacks:
I'm now feeding kids in the Elementary school & the Intermediate school. This Friday, we will be feeding 91 kids in Clyde. That makes me happy. I'm sure most people know, but I'll take time on my blog to say it again: OUR BACKPACK PROGRAM IS FEATURED ON RACHAEL RAY'S WEBSITE!!! It's no longer on the front page of her website, but we got to be there for the month of January!! It's still in the archives, though. You can check it out here: http://www.yum-o.org/how_cool.php?id=66

Backpacks is getting donations almost daily from people around the community. It's amazing how people will give to a need, but they will pour out for a vision. I've had opportunities to talk to a few clubs in town and the Baptist Church. Right now, the Baptist Church is coming to pack backpacks on Thursday evenings with me.

I forgot that I didn't update on the Backpack Christmas Project. In 2008, we did Christmas presents for 92 children in Clyde. In 2009, we did Christmas presents for over 200 children in Clyde, Abilene, & Baird. How cool is that? I never could get my slide show to upload anywhere, so if you missed it, you missed it. Or maybe I could burn you a CD so you could watch it. I'm not sure if you would have to have PowerPoint on your computer or not. But, I worked on that slide show for 4 weeks & it still made me cry the Sunday that we showed it at church. I was blown away by how amazing God was to take care of all of those kids. We would think we were finished & we would have leftovers to pass on to someone else. Again, we thought we were finished & we had more leftovers. It was crazy, but I was honored to be a part of it.

Home:
I'm trying again to learn how to balance everything. Yesterday, I realized that I work a lot. I mean, a lot. Yes, I love what I do, but I have times where I just want to relax and do nothing, but there's work to be done & a house that needs cleaned & laundry that needs to be folded & bathtubs that need to be scrubbed & ___________ & ___________ & ___________. So is the life of a working mom, I guess. So, I'm going to work on some scrapbook stuff for a while. I'm going to take some time to just do stuff for me or things that I like to do. I realize that I get in task mode and unless I run into someone, I won't have any kind of relationship. . . not good. So, I'm working on being a better friend. . . how about that? ;)

So, there's my blog post to kind of catch everyone up. . . or at least the few that are left in Blogville. Maybe I can get better about updating here. :)

Backpack Christmas 2009

I thought this would post my slide show. . . guess technology got me again! I'll try to figure that one out.

Kisses from Heaven

Ever just know that something is a direct kiss from God? Here's what has been happening to me in the last few weeks:

Trish invited me to a school meeting to talk about backpacks. I went and spoke (or rambled) to a room of about 12 people who had blank faces as I spoke. I sat down wondering why in the heck I was at that meeting. As soon as it was over, I was descended upon by women who wanted to help. One is the PTO president (Heather) at the intermediate school and is a member of the Baptist Church. A couple of other women from the Baptist Church sat down and started asking how they could help. It was almost overwhelming. We started talking about the need for backpacks in the Intermediate School and we got a plan. Our plan is that we will be handing out backpacks in the Intermediate School in January.

This past Thursday, I needed to go buy sacks to pack the backpacks in. It was after school and I had all 3 kids with me at the new Wal-Mart. I was in WM when I realized that I had forgotten to go to Sams earlier. I checked to see if WM sold the sacks like they do at Sams -- no such luck. I decided to ask my cashier and she said she couldn't give any to me. As I was walking out to the car, I was dreading telling my kids that we were going to have to go back to Sams just for sacks. I put all of my groceries in the car and went to put my cart up. Right there on the ground right next to the cart stall was a WM sack stuffed full of empty sacks! I was talking on the phone and picked them up and put them in my car. I didn't even realize how big of a deal that was until I was driving on my way home. It hit me that those sacks could have blown away or someone could have thrown them away, but they were just what I needed right when I needed them!! Praise God!!

So, last night, a life group from the Baptist Church showed up to help pack the backpacks. There were probably 20 people that showed up!! They had 2 weeks worth of backpacks packed within 20 minutes -- YES, 2 WEEKS WORTH IN 20 MINUTES and that included the time it took to switch the food out!! It was crazy!! They were such a HUGE blessing to me! I would have been there for hours packing away, but I didn't have to do it by myself. They asked me if I had any prayer requests. I told them that obviously, I am needing finances, but I'm also believing God for a bigger building and I'm wanting to feed more kids. Once I get more shelving in there and start feeding more kids, I'm going to need more room!! They prayed for me and I'm telling you, I don't know them personally, but I know that there were KEY people in that group.

So today, I go do backpacks and I was talking to Heather. She talked to Pastor Toby & he is totally on board with supporting backpacks. In 2 weeks, she is going to do a presentation at the Baptist Church and ask people to sponsor a child until the end of the year. She is a mover and a shaker for sure! I'm so excited!!

We've also started working on our Project Christmas where we buy presents for kids who might not have a Christmas. That is the FUNNEST project I think I've ever been involved with. It's amazing to see all of the presents lined up knowing they are going to be such a HUGE blessing to those kids!!!

A few weeks ago, I felt like the fuse had been lit on the backpack bomb. . . looks like it's getting closer to exploding!!!

Seasons

Last week, I was asked what season of life I'm in right now. Hmmm. . . pretty open ended question. My answer is that I'm in a season of my life of having to get organized. Sounds funny coming from me because I do mostly pride myself on being over-the-top organized. But, I'm getting Backpacks organized and children's church organized and ready to move into our new classrooms. . . . but I feel like this is a bigger season than just getting organized.

I'm learning how to trust people -- sometimes more than I trust myself.
I'm learning how to delegate.
I'm learning how to work as the leader of a team and be a member of the team.
I'm learning how to be honest.
I'm learning how to be relational.
I'm learning how to speak the truth in love.
I'm learning what are good things vs. God things in my life.
I'm learning that things aren't always as easy as they seem.
I'm learning how to say, "No."
I'm learning how to trust God.
I'm learning how to be me . . . what the heck does that look like again?
I'm learning how to serve, but not strive.
I'm learning how to put performance and position and title behind me.
I'm learning that people do care for me more than I realize.

Yes, it is an interesting season. . . not of just getting organized. . . and I'm not sure I'm liking it just yet.

Office Transformation

A few weeks ago, I decided to makeover my office. Here's the transformation from BORING to AMAZING!!!

I had already started painting. I also needed to see how many coats of the green it would take to cover up that maroon. Oh how I hated my office before!!

Because of this, I felt like I was in a storage closet, although we joke about how my office is more like an apartment. It is huge for an office.Oh my gosh! I hate that color!! No creativity or excitement there!!

The first AFTER
My curtains from IKEA. Oh how I LOVE that place!!

No more boring wall. These picture frames have pictures of Cambodia & pictures of my kids. I really love it!! Love is the message!

Here is my original Emilie Porter painting. It goes so well with my office!!

The AFTER. I love being in my office!! I've been so productive there!!!

Baby shower ideas

My sister's baby shower is next weekend. She is pregnant with her first & it's a girl. They finally decided on a name yesterday & it's going to be (drumroll please) . . . Myla Jade.

I love the name! Anyway, I was going to make her a diaper cake until yesterday my aunt texted me & showed me the centerpiece! Diaper cake & sock arrangement. It's fine, but I want to do something unique & over the top for her.

Any suggestions?

Invisible Children

Brandon called the other day and said he dropped off a DVD at my house (I wasn't home) and told me to watch it and call him when I was finished. It was about children in Uganda. I didn't want to watch it in front of my kids because I wasn't sure what was on it. I got a chance to watch it this morning. . . . . . .

While I sit here in my comfortable house with my amazing son and watch a few extra kids today, Barney is singing "You Are Special" in the background. Lunch is in the oven & my pantry has enough food for the rest of the week. My car is in the driveway and the kids can go outside and get some fresh air if they wanted to. My other 2 boys are in school learning what they should be. Right now, they're enjoying lunch in the lunchroom with their friends around them talking about who is going to win the football game tonight. In a few minutes, they'll be heading outside to play their own football games to see who picks the best team today.

While all of this is going on here, there are children in Uganda who are running and hiding. Parents are sending their children into the city to hide in a hospital or in an abandoned bus station so they can be safe. Others are looking for new recruits -- ages 5 through 12 are ideal. Others are being desensitized to war and the killing of others. Because tomorrow, their job is to go out and kill at least 20 people. . . that is, if they survive the night in their own army's camp. Tonight, their job is to go find recruits for the Lord's Resistance Army or the LRA by raiding camps and villages and forcing children to come and join them. Then, they train these kids to kill. The worst atrocity? It's 5 year olds with small weapons. Children are the recruit of choice because they are easily replaced by raiding schools. Plus, who would shoot at a child? If an adult soldier was fighting the LRA and came upon a child solider, they would probably second guess killing that child. That split second decision could cost them their own life.

It's children who are being forced to fight or be killed. It's other children running from these kids who were "normal" yesterday! It's kids who have been a part of the army and escaped to now have a bounty out on their head. It's kids who are not allowed to cry for their siblings who have been victims of this army. It's kids who have not been allowed to be kids. It's kids who only have the clothes on their backs. They don't have food and are lucky if they get to eat once a day. They don't even have a blanket to sleep on or cover up with at night.

But then there's the pictures of the kids praising God because they survived another day.

The saddest thing? It's been going on for 22 years.

So, I went to www.invisiblechildren.com to check out their website. I feel like I should do something. I saw this shirt. At first, I was wondering why the heck they had this t-shirt!

But if you read it, it says, "90% of the LRA are abducted children". Their website says, "We care for every child soldier and are committed to their freedom". . .

So, where does that leave me today? A lot of processing. Not a lot is getting done around my house. . . But I must be productive today. . . What am I going to do about this? Not sure . . . Meanwhile, our backpack kids are being fed every weekend. . . that's some good news for today!!

Just some fun stuff

Well, this isn't so fun, but I thought I should update that the girl had an abortion. Yes, my heart is very saddened by the news, but the girl I was talking to (that's on my children's church team) was one of the first people she called & really opened up to. Please continue to pray for that girl. Her name is Bethany.

Here's some funny stuff that's been going on at our house:

The other day, I told Jaxon it was time to take a nap. Here's what went down:
Me: Jaxon, it's time to take a nap.
Jaxon: (with his bottom against the refrigerator) Nope
Me: No, Jaxon you can either go get in your bed and take a nap or you can get a spanking on your bottom.
Jaxon: (Making sure his bottom was against the refrigerator) Nope.
Me: (Now with the stick in my hand) Jaxon, your choice is to go get in your bed and take a nap or you are going to get a pop on the bottom with the stick.
Jaxon: (Running to his room) NAP! NAP! NAP!!

Tonight, Evan came up to me and he was very sad. I asked him what was wrong and he said, "I didn't get to go get you anything for your birthday." I told him that it was ok. He said, "Well, I was thinking. . . about that hard wood floors you have been wanting. I think I'll get those for you. But, I was thinking we need them in the whole house. That's what I'll get you."

The other day I was changing Jaxon's diaper. Here's how that went down:
Me: Jaxon, let's change your diaper.
Jaxon: Nope. Daddy change stinky.
Me: Oh, daddy changed your stinky diaper?
Jaxon: Nope. Daddy stink.
Me: Daddy stink?
Jaxon: Yep. Daddy stink. P U!

God is good!

A couple of weeks ago, I was having lunch with a college girl that is on my children's church team. Somehow the topic of adoption and abortion came up. I shared my story with this girl. She told me that if she found out tomorrow that she was pregnant, she would ask the guy to pay $150 & she would pay $150 and take care of it. For a split second, I didn't understand what she was saying. Then it hit me. . . this girl who serves on my children's church team where kids are the most important people on the planet just told me that she would have an abortion if she found out there was one inside of her.

I could have argued with her that day. I could have tried to persuade her to see my point of view. But, I specifically heard God say to be quiet. When I got home, I was telling Aaron about it and I was really upset! How could this girl say that?

On Sunday afternoon, Bethany & I were on our way to IKEA in Dallas and we were talking about adoption and abortion. I shared my story with Bethany and I told her about this lunch with this girl. Neither one of us understood where this girl was coming from and we talked about adoption, etc almost all the way there.

That night at 10:45, I received a phone call from that girl. She had just gotten a call from her best friend from back home (whose name is Bethany) just found out she is pregnant. This girl is 19 and the baby's dad is "just a nobody" (her words). She did a 3-way call with her friends to tell them the news, but to also tell them that she was going to the doctor this week and hopefully they could schedule her for an abortion by the end of the week so she could just "get this taken care of".

The college girl that is on my team broke into tears. She said, "I know that I told you a couple of weeks ago that I would have an abortion if I found myself in that situation, but tonight when I was on the phone, I couldn't tell my friend to do that. I told my friend about your story and how now you are happily married with 3 boys and she can make this work. But, I couldn't tell her to go get an abortion."

It still gives me chills just thinking about it. We prayed for this girl and prayed for the baby. There was a peace that both of us felt. I told her that I didn't know whether the girl was going to have an abortion or not, but the end question was going to be this: Will you still love her even if she does? I also shared with this girl that even though an abortion seems like it would be a quick fix, that eventually the emotional part would catch up to her friend. Either way she goes (adoption or abortion) you have to deal with the emotional side of things, but I have a much greater peace knowing that my baby is alive and well.

Anyway, continue to pray for these girls. I'm really at the point that I'll do anything to save this baby. My heart really wants to even adopt the baby if she'll just have it. But, I just want this girl to know that God still loves her.

First day of school

Here are pictures from the first day of school. For some reason, I didn't get a picture of Payton in his desk . . . not sure he would have let me do that anyway! ;)







We are back in the swing of things, but gosh, it sure is quiet around here!! I think Jaxon is actually loving being all by himself all day long. He tells them bye in the mornings and he hasn't seemed to miss them! He does love it when they get home, though. The boys are loving it, too. It's nice to be back in the routine of things for sure!!

Breakthrough has come

These last few weeks have been nothing but breakthrough for me in so many ways. We've been having vision/mission staff meetings and I was totally overwhelmed at thinking about such "big" things. A million and one questions surfaced. One of the main ones -- Am I even doing what I really want to be doing? If I could do anything, what would I do? Would it be children's ministry or would it be something else?

I've decided that at the current moment in time, I am doing what I really love doing. I'm letting kids know they are important. My vision is to transform the way the world looks at kids -- to see their potetial, to see how important they are, & to see how valuable they are. . . yep, that's what I'm doing. Children's ministry is just in my hands right now. Will I always be in children's ministry, like with a local church? Who knows. But today, children's ministry is in my hands & I'll go with that.

When it came time for me to share my vision & mission at staff meeting, I was prepared. I let my heart speak. Daniel gave me a new "title" -- Advocate for the Social Justice of Children. Sounds important, huh? I like it. The staff prayed over me and prophesied over me. I can't put into words what happened to me in that moment. I can tell you that nobody else got that special treatment when they gave theirs! ;) Brandon gave me a painting that Emilie had done. It has been hanging on his wall for quite some time. The first time I saw it, I knew it was mine. I think I actually told him that once -- he thought I was joking! ;) So, on Monday it will hang in my office. Funny thing is that I'm having Emilie paint another picture for me that will hang right beside it. The two kind of go together.

God has also brought breakthrough in my marriage. We haven't had a bad marriage by any means, but God knew what we needed. Aaron took the boys to Schlitterbahn & the Dallas Cowboys training camp. I was upset that I had to stay behind, but on the way home, God spoke to Aaron and told him things that I had been feeling for the last 11 years, but I just couldn't put it into words. There was an amazing amount of healing that took place when he got back that I didn't even know needed to happen!! Yay God!!

School starts on Monday. . . I don't know how I feel about that just yet. I'll let you know then. Speaking of the boys, they're outside playing air hockey with a golf ball & some golf clubs. I hear them banging the concrete. I better go make sure everyone still has all of their limbs!! ;)

So what's up?

It's still summer. . . things are still crazy. I'll try to fill you in.

Earlier in the week, it was my freezer/ice maker. My wonderful husband fixed it!! Last night, my washer started smelling like something was burning... not good when today is laundry day! ;) Call the repairman and he can't come until August 11th!! So, my piles of laundry are sitting in the bathrooms -- that's why I have time to blog! ;)

Cherith & I went to the American Idol concert last week. It was a BLAST!! Here are a few pics from it. . . out of the 87 pictures that I took (I'll spare you all of the bad ones):

Adam

Adam & Allison singing "Slow Ride" -- this was my favorite part of the night

Kris Allen

Adam & Kris during the finale

Top 10 during the finale
L to R: Scott, Lil, Michael, Danny, Adam, Kris, Allison, Anoop, Megan, & Matt

Anoop

Michael Sarver

Lil Rounds & Megan

Allison singing "Cry Baby"

Danny singing "My Wish" -- the most powerful performance of the night

I'm in one of the weirdest and hardest seasons of my life. Right now I'm listening to Kris Vallotton's message "Love Suffers Long" and it seems to be right where I am. These last few weeks have been so lonely, frustrating, hard, emotional, etc. I just want to scream sometimes -- yes, that's how I feel. Kris said his season lasted 5 months. . . just hoping mine is shorter! ;)

Still doing P90X. I really like it! Everyone else has dropped out of the group, but I'm still going and I'm determined to finish. 6 am is early, but it's so nice to get it out of the way for my day and then when I get home, I still have about 1 1/2 hours to myself before the boys wake up and I'm really liking that! But, I'm on week 7 out of 12, so I'm on the down-side!!

Here's some AMAZING news!! Emilie has been working so hard on my classrooms and the hallway. Here's some before & after pictures of the barn, which will be for the 2 year olds:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

This isn't even completely finished, but isn't it amazing?!?! It's finished now, but I just don't have pictures of it. She's been working so hard and has so much done! When she finishes the hallway, we'll only have cutting in to do inside the classrooms & flooring. . . then we can move in!! I want Emilie to paint the inside of the classrooms, so I'm believing God for the money to pay her what she is worth. God owns everything, right? So, my amount isn't very big. ;)

OK . . gotta run and get something done. Pray for me. I'm asking God what His vision is for children's church. I know it's big and I know it's bigger than me. . . I just need to know what God says about it.

My Latest Project

Goodbye John Wayne . . . Hello Cars!!

BEFORE:

AFTER:
The boys putting up the stickers

The bed with the most ridiculous stickers!

This excited little boy makes it worth it all. . . and no, I never got the permanent marker all covered up. . . guess it's ok.