Extreme Makeover - Youth Room Edition

What a fun and busy week this has been! We have been giving our youth area at church a makeover. We got all these used road signs from a company that donated them to the church. Micah was a BIG help in getting them all cleaned up and ready. We found Bible verses to go with each sign. The kids really were excited Sunday morning.

Birthday Blenders

I truly have the sweetest and most thoughtful friends in the world! Last Sunday we started First Place at our church. I was attempting to make everyone a fruit smoothie so they could sample this yummy, nutritious snack, but ended up fighting with my blender in order to get the job done. Several of my sweet friends took notice and would you believe I ended up with TWO new blenders for my birthday?! I am truly blessed with the best friends AND the best blenders ~ what more could a girl want?

Book Shower

We threw Savanna's new teacher a surprise book shower today. All of the children brought in a few chapter books so the classroom would be filled with exciting new books. Since Mrs. P. was moved from a Kindergarten class to 5th grade she didn't have any books or classroom decorations that would be age appropriate. The children also chipped in money and we got her a gift card to the teacher supply store to help her feel welcome. I think the children got as big a blessing as Mrs. P. did!

rockin' birthday

My sweet inlaws took us to our favorite catfish restaurant tonight for my birthday. I'm not sure if the children actually like the catfish as much as they like the GIANT rocking chair on the porch. Seriously, have you ever seen something so huge?

Jesus' Girlfriend?

Spending my days working as a Children's Minister, Elementary School Teacher, and Mommy, sometimes feels like my life is an ongoing episode of "Kids Say the Darndest Things". However, a recent story is by far one of my favoites and I just had to share it. Brian and I were dropping our children off at school and saw a three year old little boy from our church named Brodie. We excitedly greeted him but he hid behind his mother as if he were afraid to speak to us. We went on about our business realizing that this is often typical behavior for a child his age. Later we got a phone call from his grandma explaining that as we walked away from Brodie and his mom, he exclaimed "Mommy, there go Jesus and His girlfriend!" TOO FUNNY! No wonder he couldn't speak! I think I would be without words too if I thought I saw Jesus and His "girlfriend"!

school days

These are pictures from the first day of school and orientation with the children's second and fifth teachers. We feel truly blessed with the teachers we have been given. Savanna's teacher Mrs. D. was actually Brian's 5th grade teacher 26 years ago!!! He has always told me she was his favorite teacher of all time. We NEVER in a million years would have guessed that our children would have the opportunity to have her as a teacher ~ especially since Brian went to a different elementary school than our children go to now.

We are now about a month into school and have found out some very sad news this week. Due to student/teacher ratio numbers, our beloved Mrs. D. is being "bumped" from her 5th grade teaching position at our school and another teacher has been assigned in her place. Fortunately, we already know and love the new teacher that is coming in, but our hearts are still so sad to lose Mrs. D. Savanna has shed many tears. This has been a difficult transition to say the least. I lost several hours of sleep the other night after putting Savanna to bed. She was in tears and filled with anxiety over what the next day would bring with a new teacher. I spent the awake hours that night between midnight and 3am in a deep and sweet conversation with the Lord. I prayed for Savanna, the other children, the old teacher, the new teacher, etc... the list goes on and on. The Lord gave me a sweet peace and comforted my "mommy's heart" that all would be well.

But something occurred to me the next morning on our way to school. I kept looking at Savanna and measuring every expression on her face to make sure she was "okay". It was then that I realized that there is really nothing I can do to make this better. I didn't see it coming, had no choice in the matter, and there is nothing I could do to change it. Although this is upsetting to our little happy home, in the BIG spectrum of traumatic childhood experiences, I do realize this is barely a blip on the radar in comparison to things such as divorce. Which brings me back to my great revelation. We have 2 separate friends who are in the process of leaving their spouses right now because they are simply "not happy" anymore. Now we are talking about Christian families that have children involved, and they are making the CHOICE to allow this terrible hurt into their children's lives?! I don't understand how a parent could intentionally make such a SELFISH choice and give themselves permission to act on those feelings. I would have done anything I could to have taken this minor hurt away from Savanna.

Please pray for those families that are hurting right now, and especially for the precious children whose entire world is being rocked right now by divorce. Show your children how much you love your spouse - it is one of the sweetest gifts you can give them. Thank you dear friends!

tooth fairy working overtime

Both of my boys have lost teeth this week. Micah worked for about 5 hours on Thursday wiggling that tooth all the way through Sam's, Walmart, Michaels, Lowe's, and Target! He got it to where it was just barely dangling there before he went to bed. I was so afraid he would swallow it during his sleep! YIKES! However, he woke up and it just about fell out all by itself. Brian, on the other hand, was certainly NOT TRYING to loose a tooth. While eating a pear ~ yes, a pear~ he accidentally cracked a molar. The dentist informed him "a million dollars couldn't save this tooth." Apparently there was a terrible abscess under the tooth that had not given him any pain but had been eating away at the bone for some time. As you may be aware, it's not quite as exciting to lose a tooth when you are 36 years old as it is when you are 7. You also need to know that Brian has GREAT teeth! He has only ever had 1 cavity and that was when he was a little boy. The plan of action is an extraction, bone graph, implant, and crown. Brian says his bank book hurts a lot worse than that tooth. Micah thinks Daddy's tooth looks like a dinosaur tooth. I love my snaggle tooth boys!

universal studios

Here are some pictures from our recent trip to universal studios. We had an awesome time and some really fun photo ops!

peer pressure

Apparently, there is no age at which one finds themselves exempt from peer pressure. My precious friend Mary has been after me for a year now to begin recording our family adventures and day to day happenings on blogger. I have finally taken the plunge and am excited (and a bit nervous) about becoming a "blogger". Since I only learned YESTERDAY how to transfer pictures from my camera to the computer, I might have a rough go of this, but I will give it my best shot. Mary was the friend who introduced me to scrapbooking ten years ago. I will forever be grateful for that - although it has become an expensive hobby to say the least. I am hopeful that I will find this as rewarding in the long run as well.