My Tattoo

I've wanted a tattoo forever! Aaron has always been against them, though. Plus, I've never had any idea on what I would want. I had this idea a few months ago and found a picture online. I love it!

We'll see . . . . .

P.S. Aaron says it's ugly. . . again, we'll see. . . . .

Jaxon's Funny Sayings

Jaxon talks . . . and talks. . . and talks. . . and talks. I mean, he talks probably 80-90% of the day. He talks about all kinds of random things!

Yesterday he was playing his "DS" and the batteries went dead and the machine started acting funny. I told him that I would take it and charge the batteries. He said, "Oh good. It was really freaking me out."

Today we went to Abilene and ran some errands. Everywhere we went, he would tell people:

"When my dad was a kid, he got runned over by a car cause he wasn't paying tension." The cashier at Wal-Mart, the guy on the bench at Wal-Mart, the lady in line behind us at Academy, a random lady in Ross. . . everyone heard the story!! Then, when we would leave the store, he would stop as we're crossing the parking lot and say, "We can go mommy. But we want to pay tension so we don't get smashed by a car."

He's also stuck on this game that Payton & Evan play at school. Jaxon says your name and if you say "What?" that means you're it. You have to get someone else to say "What?". The game has been going on at our house since before Christmas. The older boys have gone on to other things, but not Jaxon. He loves it when people say "What?"

So, I'm constantly hearing,

Jaxon: Hey mom

Me: Yes?

Jaxon: Oh mom, you're supposed to say W-H-T.

(a few minutes later . . . or maybe even seconds later)

Jaxon: Hey mom.

Me: What?

Jaxon: You're it!

Most of the time I say What? just to see if he'll stop doing it!! Then, I get him:

Me: Hey Jaxon:

Jaxon: Wha. . .

Me: Oh . . .

Jaxon: Hey mom. I didn't say W-H-T.

Me: I know.

(a few seconds later)

Me: Hey Jaxon

Jaxon: What?

Me: You're it!

Jaxon: UGH!!! I said W-H-T!!

Last week, Evan was looking at the school calendar and he noticed that Pre-K is getting to go to the Grace Museum this month. Evan said, "Oh man! They're lucky!" and pointed to the calendar. Now, Jaxon walks up to the calendar and points and says, "Oh man, they're going to lucky!"

Backpack Roof

I mainly want to blog about this so that I don't forget about how it all happened. Someday when Encompass Kids is really big and things are going all around me, I want to remember how God put the roof on the building.

In August 2010, I started a remodel on the CCRC building (306 North 1st). It started out as remodeling 1/2 of the building.

The front room

The Backpack Room & Clothes Closet. This area will have a washer & dryer so that we can wash the clothes that come into the clothes closet before they are hung up on the racks.

The wooden wall in the backpack part. I love this wall!!

Standing in the clothes closet and looking into the backpack part.

Standing in the backpack part and looking back into the clothes closet.

The process was going well until September 24th -- the big rain! We got so much rain in such a little time!! I knew the roof had leaked before, but Cole had worked on it. I needed to go make sure it was holding. This is what I drove up on:

And a lot of water inside the building. The parapet wall (roofing term) leaked all the way down the side of my building! The back doors were leaking! Water was everywhere!! (I also want to say that Cole did a great job repairing the roof. We knew it was a patch job and it just rained so much so soon that the rain got in. Just wanted to clarify that I thought he did a great job!)

I was trying to figure out where I was going to get enough money to re-do the entire roof?!? I was thinking that it could cost up to $20,000! I had this idea of asking about our insurance on the building. We researched it out and found that we had an insurance policy with State Farm with a $5000 deductible, plus once we filed a claim that big, our premium would go up. I also didn't have $5000 for the deductible!

To make a long story short . . . wait! I don't want to do that. . . on to the details. . .

One afternoon, a man called and asked if he could come by because he had something for me. I of course, said yes and he brought me a check for $1000! I thought it was a great start to my $5000.

I had a meeting with a bank in town about partnering with me. It was a pretty awesome meeting and so I stopped by the church to let everyone know how awesome it went! Kelly came in and said, "Want to know some more good news? We have 2 insurance policies on that building. One we didn't know about, but have been paying on and it only has $1000 deductible!"

I was so excited, but with $1000 deductible, it couldn't be very good insurance. But, I gave them a call and scheduled an adjuster to come out.

When he came out and looked at the building, he said he could replace my ceiling tiles that had been ruined and he would pay to have the light cleaned, but the rest of the problem was due to the building next to me, so he couldn't cover that. And, I didn't have $1000 worth of ceiling tiles to be replaced!

While he was there, I had him look at the CCRC side of the building where the water had come through the roof. Pretty much, it is 2 pieces of sheetrock and probably a little insulation.

It didn't look like he was going to do much. He said he would go back to the office and see how long we've had the policy, etc. Then, he asked me what I did. I told him that we are feeding kids in our community that are not guaranteed a meal on the weekends. I didn't know that statement would change the whole thing.

The next week, I gave Mike a call to see what the verdict was. He said, "Well, I looked at your policy and everything looks good, so I'll be sending you a check today for $13,000 blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.. . . . "

That's all I heard! $13,000?!?! When I got the papers, I saw that in total, I will receive almost $19,000 to fix the roof and fix those 2 pieces of sheetrock. And, I'm talking this adjuster went above and beyond! He gave me $150 to clean the floor where the water had stained the floor. Where the ceiling sheetrock is located, there is some shelving underneath. He gave me $650 to have the shelving removed and put back on the walls!!

Crazy?!? I think YES!

The roofing company got started and found that about 15 feet of my bricks had places where the mortar had blown away just because of time. They had to have that fixed in order to repair the roof. I asked the roofing company who to call. Bryce took care of all of it for me! He called the insurance company to make sure they would pay for it. He called someone to come and fix it. He even paid the masonry and put it into my bill with him so I didn't have to pay it until all the insurance money had come in. Barr Roofing is amazing!

So, now the roof is fixed and we are ready to move forward with the remodel. Here are some pictures of some stuff that we got done before the roof leaked.

The walls are going up for dressing rooms in the clothes closet.

Ira is painting in the clothes closet area.

The front room getting a new coat of some awesome purple paint (& Jaxon making sure that we had all the right tools.

The front room after it got it's first coat of paint. We will replace those plywood doors with french doors that will lead to the other side. And, we have to paint the trim.

Because of the Christmas Project, I hadn't had time to go over and look inside the building since they finished the roof. I went over on Thursday and took a look around. Little dusty, but not bad. . . that is, until I opened the door to the clothes closet! This is what I found:

Good news is that at least it can be swept up. There are a few puddles of tar . . . and I mean puddles with a string of tar going from floor to ceiling. But today I went down there and I think it can be cleaned up pretty easily.

New Year

My new year's resolution? Blog more.

Sometimes I hate Facebook. I type little one or two line sentences about what I'm doing and go on. I don't get to always tell the story behind it and most of the time, I forget the whole story after a while.

So, I was thinking about that awesome book that Pam got Brandi for her birthday a few years ago (great idea, by the way)! I thought it was a great way to keep up with all the stories of our life.

So, here's to a new year and more blog posts! :)

Update on My Bucket List . . . and another list

So, I didn't accomplish everything on my summer bucket list. I think I got overwhelmed buying school supplies and clothes for what felt like was half of Clyde.

But, now I have another list. The new backpack building. I am in love with the building and it will be amazing -- when it's finished. Sometimes I walk in and see that there isn't much left to do. Then, on days like today when the roof leaks and I have puddles in all 3 rooms, I think the building will never be finished. So, I'm making the list public. If you would like to help, I would gladly let you!

OUTSIDE:

* Paint the exterior

* Paint the front door

* Repair the roof

FRONT ROOM:

* Move shelving out

* Paint the floor (or tile the floor)

* Enclose double door

* Install double doors

* Paint trim

* Fix ceiling tiles

* Install curtains

* Switch out A/C

* Assemble furniture

* Install light covers & outlet covers

* Move conference table -- Aaron

CLOTHES CLOSET:

* Move shelving out

* Move table

* Tape & mud dressing rooms

* Paint dressing rooms

* Install lighting

* Paint floor

* Install baseboards

* Touch up painting

* Assemble furniture

* Install door to backpack part

* Fix Curtains & hang

* Install mirrors

* Buy & Install 3 curtain rods

BACKPACK ROOM:

* Remove standing water :)

* Move shelving out

* Remove chandelier from ceiling

* Paint floor

* Repair wooden wall

* Paint wooden wall

* Repair back door / order new doors

* Paint poles

* Paint shelving (?) / clean shelving

* Baseboards (?)

BATHROOM:

* Tape & mud wall

* Baseboards

* Paint walls

* Paint vanity

* Buy & hang new mirror

* CLEAN!!

OK. . . so I'm encouraged again. . . it's not a lot, right?

My Summer Bucket List

While we were on vacation, Aaron and I started talking about our bucket lists. So, I decided to make a summer bucket list -- things I want to get done before school starts back. So, I've decided to list it here and mark things off as I get them done. I just love having a list and being able to mark things off!!

Here we go (in no particular order):

CLEAN (& I mean deep clean and organize):

Evan's Room -- DONE

Evan's Closet -- DONE

Payton's Room

Payton's Closet

Boys' Bathroom

Our Bathroom

Our Room

Living Room

ORGANIZE:

Black cabinet

Office area -- DONE

Set up school folders -- DONE

Order checks for ASB -- Found 3 boxes of checks while cleaning office area

PROJECTS:

2 baby shower gifts -- DONE (& they look amazing, even if I do say so myself!)

Boys' bathroom (I want to paint it) -- ordered the shower curtain today. Have to wait on that to come in before I can decide on paint. -- DONE

APPOINTMENTS:

Payton Eye Doctor -- Going to wait until after school starts

Evan Shots -- DONE! Even happened without any crying!

Payton Dentist -- Going to wait until after school starts

OTHER:

School Supplies -- DONE!

School Clothes -- DONE! That was easy!

School Supplies & Clothes for Backpack Kids -- DONE!!! WHEW!!!

Grocery & Menus Made Easy

So, I've been in a cooking rut. . . same ol' things, same ol' recipes, same ol' responses, & on & on & on. So, Aaron found this website: www.emealz.com. I think this is going to be amazing for me!!

Every week, this lady takes the sales circulars and makes a menu based on things that are on sale. She gives you the recipe and the shopping list!! And, there are a lot of different lists that you can get -- vegetarian, Weight Watchers, Low Fat, Low Carb. You can get grocery lists (and prices) from Wal-Mart, Kroger, Any Store, etc.

If your family doesn't like something on the menu, you just replace it. Everything in the shopping list is corresponding, so if your family doesn't like meal 4, you just go down the shopping list and mark everything that has a 4 by it.

So, there's a link on the side over there if you're interested in checking it out. It does cost $15 for a 3 month subscription ($5 per month), but I'm thinking I will save that in the groceries that I WON'T be buying, plus all the time and frustration it is for me to make a menu!

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?