Friday, May 27, 2011

A Summer Job (week 1) & A Cool File tote

I was in Walmart earlier buying some much need organizational items when I came across a file folder totebag. Cha-ching! Love.

Not as cute as the one above though. I didn't purchase it 1. because it was pricey, 2. because with the amount of bags I haul around with 3 kids in the mix it's bound to get dropped and then all my organization would be lost (it didn't have a top)

At graduation one week ago we were given this quote by John Wesley.....

“Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.”




I have been giving it a try....

& I am exhausted....

I am starting a new series here for the summer, involving this new bag I find myself into this summer- Children's minister...

I love kids, I love Jesus and I am trying to connect the two together

And that is the mission statement for the summer. 

Week 1
 as children's minister for the summer at my church-

how I got this job is unclear, but I am here for the next 10 weeks
I have an intern too!


Sarah McGough

 She's a blessing. Delightful, charming, hard worker & loves kids. How she came to help is nothing short of God's provision for Velma Baptist and His sovereignty. A story I'll let her share if she wishes to. 

So what did we learn this week? 

Children's work is hard work.
I should've been planning sooner, (like last September).
Your relationship with the Creator is top priority. I have to stay in the word, listening, praying for what we need, memorizing scripture. I can not do this on my own strength, it gets overwhelming fast. 

Keep the goal in mind- Kids finding Christ- Is what we are doing helping us achieve the goal?  Create opportunities for them to know who he is, how he loves us & what he's done for us.

Practically this week I learned I need to....

try out all your equipment a day before your time with the kids, nothing like stuff that doesn't work with 28 kids in the room, 
 your helpers need more than 10 min. to prepare for the next hour with kids if any connection with Christ is going to happen, save full emersion water slide/pool games till later in the summer when it's hotter, they were freezing! 




Wednesday, May 18, 2011

The boy

I guess one day he will become a man. But he'll always be "the boy" , our one and only boy.












He loves cereal. 





He's well on his way, following in Mr. Incredible's footsteps.

First he likes wood.
Second he's got skills. 


His carving.


& He likes to shoot...

In preparing for his air soft gun war 11th birthday party he invited me to "the trails". To his hang out. 




I had never felt so honored. 





The trail to the fort....




The fort...



the toilet



Then we got ambushed and I was sent home



There's a camo kid in there I promise, right in the middle. 

He and Charis can not agree on music in the car anymore. 

He wears a cup. 

He rides himself to church nearly every week. 

He builds his own lego sets now...

And one day he'll become a man

but he'll always be "the boy"


The Birds are gone...



This actually happened many days ago but it's still sad to me.

My nest will be empty too one day.

There will no longer be mouths to feed and base ball uniforms to wash and dance recitals to buy flowers for or dora dvrd on our dish network.

Sounds boring doesn't it?

Thank you God for activity. Help us find the balance around here for your glory, amen!

Mr. INcredible, The Boy, The Boys & The Men

Mr. Incredible was gone last week but he brought me back something!!! Which requires another post...but it was a totebag!

The Boy turned 11 this week.



























I have been sappy and sentimental. I love being a momma.

The Boys, as we've come to call them, are a bunch of high school boys who really want to know God's word and come to be discipled once a week. This isn't "what's been going on this week" stuff - it's a desire for truth like I've never seen. It started nearly a year ago and have been the highlight of our year.



Several are graduating. We've watched them all year long. Tomorrow is a beginning. A better one that many before them have had. We are proud. We are humbled to serve such an amazing God.




These three feel called to ministry. Three. We asked for one. 3! Eph. 3:20 my friends, Eph. 3:20!

The men are another group. They meet on Sunday nights at our home. They recently went through Radical the book and several are sponsoring Nepal orphans. When my running buddy Kerri needed a gazillion carpet staples pulled out of her soon to be adopted daughter's room floor they quickly got r dun!

I love boys





I I i I Ilove seeing them grow and become....



I Ilove how they have fun...



I love my man.



 Respect them, Let them lead, let them be who they are- let them fight the enemy, let them rescue the beauty, let them find adventure. Be glad for their authority. 
Be glad for what God's doing in their lives. 


Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Laundry Room Remodel finished (I guess)

First of April we moved, let me rephrase, I moved our room into our old family room

Silas and I moved the beds (a kind and queen) 

I was so proud of my firstborn

Then several weeks later in desparation I moved the tv up to the top of the safe...



Many things are possible when you are determined.... :)

The direct tv guy hooked us up yesterday and we watched repo games last night....that show is hilarious!

We merely changed rooms, not decor 

Here's the recharge station Cody is thankful for...



and my re-fuel station- my favorite part of the whole move....



please ignore strange dora umbrellas on the floor

thank you

In the great debate Cody won in getting the safe moved into the room but we compromised really, I wanted a little storage area for instruments and workout equipment



Compromise is the essential in a marriage, just sayin....

The bed isn't made so we'll skip that, 


He's the dance floor, 

oh sorry I mean workout room/floor- 

with Chris Tomlin and songs like shackles and worship jams work outs sometimes turn into dance sessions...Cody understands


and the new closet/laundry room, you've seen the floor and I have my 50 mm lens on, it's hard to get far off



we opted to keep the wood natural, it better matched the cabinets

I'm a little anti white, easily stains, and the gel stain my pop in law suggested wasn't as wonderful as we thought


this is my side 


Cody's side


it's not quite finished, my camera hides that well...

one thing need - more shelving, the baskets help with socks and underware but we need more shelving plain and simple


He did well on the detail and structure, he's good at woodworking

So here's to a walk in closet!

My Camera

I realized I've never told about this amazing gift I got last year for mother's day...I just want rain boots this year and a broom....that silly puppy destroyed mine

A dear friend asked about what I did so here's what I told her....


  • Cody (aka mr. incredible )got me a canon rebel xsi, last year- lowest slr camera you can get it came with a standard lens, 18-55mm I used it all year then for christmas I got an awesome little lens (50mm)  and a telephoto 75-300mm lens. 
  • I read some tutorials....I don't edit a whole lot mostly straight out of the camera- If I do edit it's in picasa (no access to photoshop)  

    i think the most important thing is to know your camera, know what it'l do before my point and shoot died I had gotten to getting some good pictures with it, 

    the other lens 50 mm I love is one a friend suggested, it's smaller than the original lens I got so I keep it attached all the time, it allows lots of light in (that's a high apperature) so I get good pictures and it's really close up, but it's only one setting you don't move it....

    another idea for just getting good shots is get close to the subject, I also look at a lot of online photos for ideas of what to do/creative things...just take lots of pictures, it's so easy to delete....I never use preset options,( sports, outside, night) I manually set it up and never never ever use flash, you don't have to...most of mine is trial and error


coupons, coupons, coupons

Since December I've counseled several on using coupons and taught 2 classes on it. 

Who knew couponing could make you famous? - these people I guess

So if you want help click on the couponing tricks above, there are many links to online help- I will show you only the content from my totebag, but there's so much more out there


Monday, May 2, 2011

How to pack a Baseball totebag...

We are into ball season....

I entered in ill prepared this year, I have a sunburn to prove it....

But I thought I'd impart to you my baseball totebag and it's contents

because you live and learn.... 


























So here's some suggestions, feel free to comment and add more ideas, I need all the help I can get...

I like a stand alone bag, not too nice, it's dirty on the ball field


blanket (not too bulky)- OK is notorious for temp changes, mulitpurposes- bleacher warmer, we have a quilt that charis used as a baby to play on (from one of my first posts 3 years ago)



















Lens wipes- ok is also notorious for wind! can't see the game with dirty glasses
Wipes, don't want to miss a play to rub off nacho cheese
Sunblock, never know when the 30 min game will turn into 3 hours and first sun of the summer always burns (which is no fun when it is 50 degrees the next day)
hand soap (I just add a small travel size bottle, but have often thought about bringing a whole large bottle, you don't know how many places I've been with no soap)
your own paper towels, for everything from drying your own hands to wiping up rain on the bleachers
hand sanitizer is good too

food wise- (man do they eat at the ballgames)
I like to add fresh fruit and nuts, but packaged stuff is good for keeping all the time in the bag
water bottles, I'm not a cooler puller- besides some places don't allow them
we stock up on concession candy after holidays for cheap
gum if you are trying to not eat a lot
I throw in like 2$ a game for popcorn, keeps me from spending too much
but keeping some quarters around is good too
the green container used to contain nuts but we use it for dry cereal now
the red container I bought for 1$ at Micheals


























I keep several in the car for splitting snacks up. 

other things- 
sunglasses, a visor for when you don't have sunscreen or glasses, lol
pen and paper, for game notes or sibling entertainment
stain release stick or something like it, it's dirty at the ball park
first aid stuff
plastic bags for trash
umbrella for rain
small toys they've never seen before

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Spring



My beautiful herbs....


well they once were

I moved them to get some rain and Deacon found them, 
knock them off and this is my attempt to re pot them.

I am so sad I could cry!

I have a garden too, the dog hasn't found it and I may take procedures to lock him up!

AND....

we have baby birds again....



in the stroller again, this time they actually lived....

well they were born, and hopefully momma bird won't abandon them due to 3 little people that live here and think birds need help feeding their young

I'll keep you posted....