A Tour

Wanna see our new place?

Some of my family might not be able to visit before we move out of this rent house. 

I thought they might like to see where we're living.

This is the front.

I think it's really cute on the outside.

You walk right into the living room.  How 'bout those colors?  It reminds me of McDonalds.

To the left of the living room is the dining room.  Obviously this little table doesn't cut it for 11 of us.  This is the one area we feel cramped.  So we eat at this table, on the floor, coffee table, and on the porch.  The book case in the corner, as well as that white cabinet serve as the pantries.  Not pretty, but they work well.  Did you notice the lazy beast under the window?  That's his spot. 

Hey where'd my picture of the kitchen go?  It was right here! 

I guess it'll have to go into the next picture tour.  My phone will only allow me to upload a few pix at a time.

I have consolidated all of our school stuff into this plastic drawer thing that the landlord left in the garage.  It's in the hall closet so it's all closed up and out of the way.  We scrubbed this with soap and water on the drive way and let it dry.  It's looks clean (enough) but it smells like sweat.  Disgusting!  This closet door stays closed at all times!  I'm trying to think of a better solution without having to install something permanently.    I started out with everyone's totes but they didn't stack well in the space.  Any thouhts?

All The Way From COLORADO

Just to see us! 

Aren't they wonderful?

Pam and Jen flew in Friday night and we hung out at the church.

Then when she was least expecting it... he sneaks up behind...

SURPRISE!!!  Rommel all the way from Virginia!

It was a fun weekend full of ....

ping pong

air hockey

music

snow cones

church

and graduating

We talked Jen and Rommel into singing at church Sunday.

Beautiful.

I sat listening and wishing I could hear them every week.

But then I remembered that I will spend eternity listening to them so it's ok.

Thank you Pam and Jen and Rommel!  We were so blessed.

Happy Graduation!

Isn't she pretty?

Diploma presentation.

Every graduate makes a slide show with music and pictures of their life.

Then the parents present their diploma, say a few words, and turn the tassel.

And this year I didn't even mess it up.

Last time I took the tassel right off and had to hand it to Meg.

I'm convinced the do-hicky on our cap is defective.

Her daddy told our favorite Lane story of when she licked the ice cream off the floor at Braums.

I can't believe she's still alive.

Her table!

Every graduate decorates a card table with special things.

Lane's had pix, her puppet, a favorite movie, candy, ect.

The Believers class of 2012

Our friends and family have been super generous in supporting Lane and loving her.

Here are our super sweet Colorado peeps. 

(More pix to come)

The grandparents all dudded up.

And some grandmas all the way from Texas.

Congratulations Lane!

We love you so much!!

Always Deployed

"There are undeployables in the spiritual domain, spiritually decrepit people who refuse to do anything unless they are supernaturally inspired."  -Oswald Chambers 

Whoa. 

Undeployable, spiritually decrepit?   Basically useless.  Oh Lord let that NOT be me!

His Scripture reading today was 2 Tim 4:2
"preach the Word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching." 

I've always loved this verse but looking at it in light of Mr. Chamber's words almost makes me tremble.  How many times I've been lazy!  Brushing someone off when I didn't feel like getting involved or engaging.  Excusing myself for a million different things when there was no good excuse.  Wasting my life by spending it on myself instead of putting in the time and energy to invest in someone else.  Ohhhh........

But how can I be ready all the time? 
2 Timothy 3:16-17 "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work." 

I love how God not only directs us in His ways, but equips us by his own breath.   His Word.  And do you know how many Bibles I own?  Plenty. 

I have no excuse. 

Back At It!

Our internet is working again!  We had some trouble with it this week so I was away from my computer for awhile.  Glad to be reconnected.  And to get to catch up!

I have so many pictures I want to post.  I think they are still in the editing stage so they are on hold for now.  My man is one busy guy. 

But in the meantime I'll blab about the goings on this week....

~I'm taking a friend to school for awhile until her family gets their car working again.  It blows me away to hear about her day on the way home.  So one day all the 7th grade teachers were gone and there were subs for the entire 7th grade....all classes.  She didn't have to do any work all day and just got to talk!  My question....why did she even have to go?  And did you know that they watch movies in public school (at least her jr high school)?  Alvin And The Chipmunks and The Incredible Hulk!!  Seriously. 

~Speaking of school, we had our first full week of school since the move.  We don't have a place for everyone to work together so I have 3 kids at the table.  2 at the coffee table. 1 in her room.  And one on the couch.  Meg's at UAFS and Lane is FINISHED!!

~YES!!  She is done!  12 loooong years of math completed!  Everything else too.  But math was the biggie.  So happy for her.   And what a privilege for me to get to teach her and love on her and be with her for so much of her life for 18 years.   I love being her mom. 

~Graduation plans are coming together.  This week I ordered a cake for 300 people and bought the paper goods and most of the punch supplies.  Tassel is here, diploma is done, cap and gown is ready.  Just a few more details for the upcoming week.  Somehow I think those few details will end up consuming the entire week!  But that's ok.  I'm so happy for her...my sweet girl.   We have friends coming from CO (aren't they so sweet?) and family from TX.  Can't wait!

~My neighbor kids are coming to Awana with us and I think they are enjoying it.  They seem to be sweet kids and are fitting in well in their classes from what I can gather.  And you know what?  Wednesday I got to pray with one of our youth to receive Christ!!  YES! 

And you know what is interesting?   With most of the kids that I've prayed with, I've just happened to be the person in the right place at the right time.  I'm like the guy that just goes around picking the fruit that everybody else has grown.  In most cases, I haven't been the one to invest in them, to teach them about Christ, or help them grow.  Someone else has planted, watered, fertilized, and loved.   And I kinda feel strange about that....like I'm taking someone else's joy.  But for whatever reason I've gotten to be the one to pray with them.  I'm thankful.

~I talked to my friend in Haiti this week.  I have a neat story to share....
He was driving to his mission from Port-Au-Prince, which is about 3 hours.  His friend that is with him asks him if they can stop to stretch their legs.  Jeff pulls over in some random place in front of someone's house.  All of a sudden the lady runs out of the house yelling, "Pastor Pastor I have to talk to you!  I need Jesus and I need you to pray for me b/c I'm addicted to cigarettes!  And I want you to start a church right here in my front yard!" 

Talk about surprised!  Jeff had never seen this lady before and still can't figure out how she even knew he was a pastor.  He talked to her and learned more.  She handed over her cigarettes.  And she prayed to receive Christ!!  Jeff called his associate and they have started a church in her yard that now has 24 members!  Is that cool or what? 

Also they have started an orphanage.  At this point they have 2 kids that were orphaned in the earth quake.  They were expecting 18 more this weekend.  They are sleeping in tents with no permanent structure but hoping to get something built soon.  So many things happened since we last talked!  I am cheering on the progress. 

He has a dentist coming in May and a group of 20 coming in July.  It was great to get an update.  I hope I get to go soon. 

~Lane is going on a mission trip in May.  Without me.  I know!! 
OKC working with an inner city mission.  It sounds right up her alley.  

~The land hunt continues.  The 2 places that everyone liked are sold.  One just closed yesterday.  Oh well.....today we found another one and I think it's better than both the ones we liked before.  Closer to town too.  That's a plus. 

~I'm guessing if you're still here you're at least ready for me to wrap this up.  My computer is too.  She's locked up on me twice now. (Honey, what's going on??)

But here's a couple of pictures of lately to end it all...

Mally with a friend.  Aren't they cute? 

Fishing buddies

A boy and his dog.

My sweeties.

A Great Day For Kindle Freebies

Here's what I got for Lucille today....

I think Farmer Boy will especially enjoy these first two..
The Everything Grow Your Own Vegetables
Weekend Homesteader: September

A math game for my sweets..
Math Blender

This looks good...
Practically Green: Your Guide To Eco-Friendly Decision Making

365 Days Of Thanking God
The Fitting Room: Putting On The Character of Christ

No Kindle?  No Problem.  Go Here to download a free app to read from your PC.

It's Finished!!

We closed on our house this morning!

No more moving.
No more packing.
No more repairs.
No more house showings.
No more going crazy cleaning before house showings. 
No more contracts.
No more offers.
No more inspections. 

Oh happy day!  Now it's time to just snuggle into this cozy rent house for a few months.  Ahhhh......

So many things happened during the move that I don't feel like we were able to give proper attention to.

5 kids celebrated birthdays
5 kids were baptized.
All kids were sick.

We did the best we could but I still wish we could've done more.  My sweet kids are understanding though.
And I think all are glad that

IT'S FINISHED!

Moving Part 2

I've only had one moving meltdown so far. 

Almost 2. 

Honey asked me if I were sad to leave.  No.  But I am sad to pack up the doll house and kitchen set into storage b/c by the time they come out, Mally and LittleMan might have outgrown them.  At that point, he saw the impending danger of a torrential flood of tears and suggested we make them a play area in the garage.  Meltdown averted.

We are close to being finished!  Honey has the day off and is making trips back and forth with the trailer. 

My father-in-law is here fixing some valve thing that the washer hooked up to that leaked all over the place. 

And we're having a garage sale on Friday and Saturday.  Do you need a swimming pool?  How bout a bunch of canning jars?  A shelf painted green?

There Goes The Neighborhood

And so it begins...

I got to meet a neighbor today.  He came over not to introduce himself, but to see what the emergency was and how he could help.

Me:  What?
Him:  I heard yelling and screaming in the back yard!  Is everyone ok?

Apparently he lives behind us and heard the boys playing on the swing from inside his house.

Well yes.  That would be us. 

I started explaining that all was well and we have a lot of sons.  It was happy boy noise.  There's a new swing set.  And I'm sorry.

I'm not sure he believed me.  He asked about the previous (quiet) neighbor.  I think he was lamenting his misfortune to learn that he had moved and rented the house to us. 

My eldest son figured it out. 
"His house must not be well insulated." 

Yeah.  That must be it.

Our older kids thought the whole thing was hilarious.  The little boys couldn't imagine what he was talking about.  They didn't think anything was unusual in the back yard....

except the super fun swing set!

Moving Part 1 ....Because there's probably going to be lots of parts.

Read:  Mess.

We have mess scattered at this house, at the other house, at the storage unit.  The front yard is full of junk and I'm figuring my neighbors are considering calling Hoarders. 

We still have a full two weeks to be completely out of here so I think we're doing well time wise.  We are pretty much moved in at the rent house and now cleaning up and trying to figure out where to put everything else. 

This morning I walked my new neighborhood.  It's ok.  There are no good hills though and since it's a younger neighborhood with young families there were a lot of people going to work this morning.   Its a good street with plenty of space and nice to walk so I can't complain. 

Someone asked me if I'm sad to leave my house.  NOT at all.  It's just a house.  A nice house.  But still just a house.  I will miss some of my elderly neighbors though so I'll be coming back to check on them. 

Remember how when we first moved in here everyone was so crabby to us?  I laugh at that now.  They are sweet folks.   Most of them.  I'm thinking our next door neighbors will throw a party when we're outa here.  It looks like they may have been instrumental in our selling our house since they know our buyer.  Hilarious. 

So today we're cleaning.  And packing.  And moving more junk.
I'm hoping to take some pictures soon.

Meet Lucille

WOWZA!!

BIG surprise in the mail! 

 My grandmother sent me her Kindle!!!  Because she got an iPad.  Grandmothers getting iPads...is she cool or what?

And I love it.  Like really LOVE it.  I named it Lucille.  After her. 

It has a beautiful zipper case..because my grandmother has excellent taste. 

My first book:  There Is No Me Without You. 

It is an Ethiopian book.  (Be still my heart.)  And so far it's great.  Guess how much it cost? 

A whole $3.  I know!

And the fact that I didn't waste gas, paper, or packaging appeals to the greener girl in me. 

I seriously love it.

So I'm still trying to figure it out.  I don't know how to highlight or make notes yet or loan books to others.  But it's great fun to play with. 

Watching

"I don't know how it's going to happen."   Seems to be my favorite sentence of late. 

Those are the words I find myself either saying out loud or thinking in my head all day. 
Two things:  RA and our move. 

Both have me baffled.  Both have me doubting.  And while I would tell you that I'm not disputing God, I typed those very words in an early morning e-mail today. 

Is it any surprise what I read this morning? 
"I don't see how You are going to do it.' It is a sure sign that you are not worshipping."  Oswald Chambers (surprise)

Whoa.  I'm not worshipping?  What does one have to do with the other? 

Worship is to acknowledge worth.  God is holy.  A worker of the impossible.  So much higher than me that I can not comprehend. 

Why do I think I need to see it or understand how it will happen?  I don't even understand my own self, how can I presume to understand God? 

In my pride I exalt common sense over faith.  I expose my lack of trust.  I worry, complain, and survey the situation with a raised eyebrow. 

If you were to ask if I trusted God I would laugh, spout off some pitiful spiritual verbiage and be offended that you suggested such a thing. 

But oh how God uses Oswald Chambers to lay it bare before me and show me what I am. 

"I have not believed in Thine almighty power apart from my finite understanding of it." - OC 

All the Verses I've been thinking on lately have been pointing to this very thing and I didn't even see it until this morning! 

Our youth verse...
"Is anything too hard for the Lord?"  Genesis 18:14

"Oh Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch." 

I'm watching.....

Of Birds And Things

It's that time of year.  New life everywhere.  The trees are budding, my grass is greening up, and the azaleas look like they are going through puberty.   Spring has sprung and the birds are singing!

But some of them are singing a bit too close to my house.  Like in it.  The kids have "rescued" 3 baby birds this week!  And yes, they are cute (kinda) ....But.

We went through this when my older kids were little and one spring was especially bad.  Our neighborhood was full of cats and was a dangerous place for a new family of birds.  Ours was the worst.  Blacky was a fierce hunter and loved bringing home his "gifts".

I would be right in the middle of diaper changing/snot wiping/dish washing when a heartbroken little bitty would run in hysterically crying for me to save a baby bird.  And I would run out armed with the broom to swat away Blacky and hope it wasn't too late.   Tears and heartache it was.  But what could I do?

Today I drew the line.  No bringing home any more birds.  Please! 

Ok.  Speaking of birds.   Becky and I were walking this afternoon and there was a puddle of water on the side of the street.  A little robin was going to town giving himself a bath in that little bit of water.  He was flapping and splashing water all over the place.  It was cute. 

I'm done with the bird talk now.  I promise.  Oh wait, one more thing.  Did you know if you have a humming bird feeder that you're not supposed to color the water red?  So don't buy that over-priced bottle of stuff at the store.  Just make your own sugar water and call it a day.  Ok, now I'm really done. 

On to other stuff.

We start moving in the rent house tomorrow.  Tomorrow!  I keep telling myself this is going to be easy.   

My Awana classes were awesome tonight.  And I hear youth was too.  How come I can't be in 2 places at once??  I miss being with youth but I do so love my Awana peeps.   And while I was helping my guys and girls learn God's Word, Honey had the awesome privilege of teaching our youth what Easter was all about. 

That was NOT his planned lesson.  But when he realized that most of them did not know what it was about, everything stopped until that matter was cleared up.  Lots of questions asked.  It sounds like I missed something great.  I'm so glad he was sensitive to the Spirit's leading.

We also had a new guy come that I've been praying for this week.  I hope he comes back.  Honey said he smiled a little and I think that's a good step for him.  We'll see.  Pray for Nathaniel if you will. 

Now it's the morning after.  Honey goes to bed wondering if he made any progress with them.  If they understood, or was he just a bunch of noise?  And he wakes up thinking about what he should've said differently.  Uh huh, welcome to my world Love.  It's a good life. 

I wanted to do Resurrection Eggs with my classes tonight.  But they are PACKED!  Seriously?  Does anyone have a set they can loan me for next week?  I'll try not to put them in a box and tape it up this time. 

One of Josh's geckos died this week.  I never thought I would enjoy a lizard, but I hafta say that these were pretty neat.  The boys (especially Josh) loves them and takes excellent care of them.  Sometimes they build them lego houses and let the lizards walk around in them laughing hysterically when they look out the window. 

But now he just has one.  Yesterday I was telling him how blessed the gecko was to have such love in his life and to be cared for so well.  He decided he would pour all the extra love into the one that remains.  Good plan. 

This passing has brought on lots of death questions from Jess.
What's a funeral?  What do you do there?  Where's the guy (body)?  Do they just use a shovel and dig a hole?  Are you going to do that to me if I die?  How's the rapture going to happen?  Will everyone stand in line waiting their turn for a flaming chariot?  If I'm in heaven, I'll miss you. 

Wow.  You never know what will spur on the thinking.  I've loved talking this through with him.  I love being his momma. 

Today I'm cooking.  I'm so behind.  And tomorrow we're looking at more houses/properties with the realtor.  I'm glad I'm not her.  This poor woman has taken us all over the place, tromped through woods, and used up tanks of gas driving us everywhere.  And for what?  Not much.  Even when we do find something I can't imagine she'll break even with all the time and gas she's invested in us.  Maybe I should make her some cookies.

A Beautiful Day For The Park

And the creek.

A Rent House!

Who knew it'd be so hard to find a rent house?  Obviously we're in the wrong business. 

It didn't really bother me though.  There were a couple of options that we could live with if all else failed.
Besides it's all an adventure right. 

But throw in a bad RA day and my tune changes.  

I'm tired of packing. 
I'm super tired of the mess.
I'm tired of people saying "no dogs" or "too many kids"
And I'm especially tired of looking at houses that we can afford to buy debt free. 
Yikes.

I cried before I even got dressed. 

I didn't  read to my kids today.   Hello guilt.
And I wonder if we're doing the right thing.  Plans change.  I try to switch gears. 
I wish we were all home together tonight.  Just us.

But then the phone rang.  It was Mr. A from church asking if we'd found a place to rent yet b/c he'd been thinking about us.  He has a friend that has a place that might work out and he asked if I wanted to come see it. 

Why not. 

I pack up my littles and follow the directions. 

The first thing I noticed is that it was close to home.  In a part of town that's familiar and not scary.   I drive into the neighborhood and see that it's spacious.  Not busy.  Possibly even ripstickable. 

I find the numbers on the house and see right away that it's just right!  Mr. A shows me around and Oh Yes!
Hope returns.  They know how many kids we have.  They know we have dogs (and didn't even ask for a pet deposit).  There is a big back yard with even a garden spot started!  He's leaving us his trampoline and swing set.  

So for 6 months we will share this 1500sf house with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.  And we'll see what God wants to do next. 

I was happy to find a house, but even more important was the visit afterwards.   Mr A gave me some wise words about not rushing.  Picking a good location.   Not feeling pressured b/c we think we have no choice. 
Being wise and practical about how we want to spend not only our money but also our time.   And shared some strong precautions and reservations about the area we were considering.

It was a conversation I needed to hear and helped to settle some things in my head. 

I loaded up my littles, threw away the directions to the crummy house on N 13th that I was going to drive by, and went home with a smile. 

Tomorrow we load boxes and furniture into our rented storage units. But tonight...no packing.
 Instead we popped pop corn and watched some Toy Story 3. 

The Fall

Our little ZBoy is quite the rough and tumble boy.  But when it comes to getting hurt, he's way over the top. 

Super drama. 
Big show. 

Lane and Buzz, Mally, ZBoy, and I walked the neighborhood yesterday.  LittleMan busted on the street and was fine until he saw the first hint of red.  Then...

SCREAM!!

Howl! Bawl! WAAAAAAA!!!!!!!  
My KNEE!!!

I didn't stop.  And neither did Lane.  We kept walking and laughing at what a actor he is. 

But Mally paniced.  She stopped.  And when she saw the scratch-that-could-hardly-be-called-a-scrape, she was crying too.  And called "Momma, he's hurt!!" 

"No Honey, he's ok.  Come on."
"Let's go Z.  Get up.  You're just fine." 

Nothing changed.  His mouth was a big black cave with a lot of noise coming out. 
"I need a band-aid!!" 
"I need to go to bed!"
"I'm never going on a walk again!"

Finally he decided we weren't stopping and that he should catch up.  He walked hunched over holding his knee and screaming all the way to the end of the street. 

When we reached the top of the hill, he got the big momma speech.  Maybe you can tell I'm not one of those moms that babies my kids over every scratch.  I'm more the shake-it-off type.  You'd think he'd know that by now. 

Lane and I were both trying to keep a straight face but the show was pretty hilarious. 
Lane said, "Do I need to carry you and rush you to the hospital?"

Z answers "NO!" angrily, then looks at me and says, "But will youuuuu???" 
Then he pulls "I'm the littlest of the whole family!" 

I almost said yes.

This Girl Loves Her Kindle

This Week

Talk about a week of ups and downs! Seriously.

First of all, this time change is kicking my butt. No matter what time I go to bed. Anyone else? The alarm goes off and either I don't hear it at all or I'm mad that someone set it wrong. HOW could it be time to get up already?

I was really looking forward to this week. Lots of fun things lined up. Plus I even had a menu. Bonus.

But it started out terrible. Some friends of ours lost their unborn baby at 8 months. I can not fathom it. I know how devastating it was to lose our babies early. To think of losing a baby and giving birth to one that you have sweet ultrasound pictures of and of whom you've felt wiggle and kick and roll around.... I think I would just die. I'm so sad for them.

At the same time they were mourning lost life we were getting ready to celebrate life at our house. That was a weird feeling for me. As thrilled as I was to start this birthday round, my mind kept going back to how incredibly blessed we are to even have one perfectly healthy child, much less nine! If just one little thing went wrong in the womb or one careless act 18 years later or one bad lab report or or or ....... oh thank you Jesus for my babies!

Our sweet Lane turned 18 on Wed! Her b-day was celebrated over 3 days due to some unforeseen events. We celebrated some on Tuesday at home b/c Wed is church. So Wed we spent the day at Tracy's and had a load of fun. I'm so glad I invited us over. But Lane got a pretty extensive rope burn on her hand when she missed the knot on the rope swing. Yeeeeoowwwww! I would still be crying if it were me.

Her b-day ended with her staying home from church and not sleeping a wink changing out ice packs all night. The funny thing is that she calls it a very luxurious b-day with everyone waiting on her so.

How I love that girl.

Today was the first day that she could dress herself and we finally got to take her out for her b-day lunch. Afterward she wanted to get her drivers license renewed. We took a number. 78. They were on 19.
Since we'd probably celebrate another b-day before it was our turn we decided to come back another time.

Instead we poked around Solid Rock, bought some Awana treats, and played with the puppets.

The ice maker hates us. This is the 2nd time in 6 months that we had to unplug the whole fridge, clean out both sides, and start over. I'm glad it stays with the house.

Packing is a mess. But we are doing pretty well I think. Today we actually had enough living room floor to vacuum. Problem is that we still can't figure out where we're going. We need a rental until we can build. At first our dogs were the issue. But even when I found a spacious 3 bedroom that would allow dogs, they would not allow 9 kids. Apparently it violates some social service law or something. So the lady suggested we have 2 kids move out to UAFS dorms and then our numbers would be better.

As if! I know she was trying to be helpful but she doesn't understand that our numbers are just perfect with nine thankyouverymuch. We'll keep looking.

We got some great news about my grandmother! M D Anderson in Houston is going to treat her and with the right treatment it is possible that she will beat this. Keep praying!!

Awana Wednesday and Caleb asked me right off how my grandmother was doing. I tell ya he is a sweet boy. And when we did "highs and lows" he said his high was the good news about her. I can't wait to tell her how an 8yo boy she'll never meet on this side of heaven has been praying for her.

Getting ready to celebrate 11 years of our Josh and preparing to go camping. But we waited too long and both Devils Den and Lake FSM were full. Oh yeah, its spring break. So the kiddos are camping outside tonight, built a fire in the cast iron pot, and are giggling around flash lights and card games.

Tomorrow we'll load up food and presents and day camp somewhere and hope to find an open spot to roast hot dogs and marshmallows. What could be better?

Whew!  That was a lot to say in just one blog post.  If you're still here, thank you!  And can I talk you into staying just a teeny bit longer and hopping over to Honey's blog to see my cutsie ZBoy Wii dancing at a friend's house? Now this game looks like fun!

First Time In A Long Time

I can't remember the last time I had a full 7day menu including snacks. 
But this week I do.  Thanks to Pinterest I've been inspired...though you may not tell by the simplicity.

Monday..
Breakfast - oatmeal
Lunch - Peanut butter and honey on rice cakes, carrot sticks w/ranch, grapes
Dinner- baked potato bar with almond sauce, sauted onions and mushrooms, various toppings w/salad and green beans

Tuesday ..
Birthday!
Breakfast - cinnamon toast cake and boiled eggs
Lunch - out with the b-day girl
Dinner - lasagna, salad, bread

Other Breakfasts..
cereal
cream of wheat
I usually rotate these with oatmeal in the colder months. 
orange rolls for Saturday's b-day

Other Dinners...
sloppy joes and potato salad w/green beans (we have a lot of green beans in the freezer)
a new Rachel Ray soup

Friday dinner... always pizza
Saturday is another birthday.  We are day camping and doing camp foods all day.
Sunday ...snack supper before church with popcorn, leftovers, fruits, cheese

Snacks...
smoothies
popcorn
pb crackers
bananas tossed with coconut
snack mix: cashews, raisins, banana chips, pumpkin seeds

Super Easy Vegan Ranch
1 1//2 c. veganaise
2 large garlic cloves squeezed
the juice of one lemon
1 tsp salt
1T each onion powder and parsley
a big pinch of pepper

Mix all together and use it for everything! 

Girl Day

We are having a baby shower at church today!  2pm with pot luck finger foods. 

Yesterday was busy and I didn't get a chance to run to the store so I had to come up with something that we could do with what we already had on hand. 

I found a loaf of white bread in the freezer left over from when my in-laws were here.  Perfect!

An extra cake mix in the pantry from the dessert fest of last week's church lunch.  Jack pot!

Isn't my sous chef beautiful?  Notice the rollers.  Gotta look fabulous for baby showers ya know.

We made turkey sandwiches, cut off the crusts, and cut into triangles. 

Oh the exclamations over white bread!  If only we could have it all the time.  (rolling my eyes)

crust = lunch

Super simple cookies.  1 box of cake mix, 1/2 C oil, 1/4 C water, and 2 eggs.  Bake at 350 for 8 minutes.

I'm sure there will be some sort of cake.  But oh well.  It's what we had. 

It's a girl day over here.  Since we had the shower, Honey took the boys to Devils Den to hike, play, eat, and whack each other with sticks all day. 

So we are packing, collecting garage sale fodder, cooking, and baby showering. 

Love my girls!

Churchy Things

This was an exciting week at church. 

Let's start with Wednesday.  Andrew is a boy in my 3rd grade class.  Super cute personality, smart, and sweet.  He missed the excitement of last week with 3 of his friends praying to receive Christ. 

This week I wanted to touch on baptism a little.  We were scheduled to have 2 baptisms on Sunday morning and I wanted to explain what was going on and encourage them to come.   So I did a brief recap on how Caleb, Cole, and Joey had made such important decisions when Andrew's hand shot up. 

I could tell this wasn't a raise-your-hand-and-talk-about-something-that-has-nothing-to-do-with-anything.  It carried a bit more weight.  He wanted to know how they got to do it.  Where were they?  What did they say?  Who was there?  "Because I've been wanting to do that too."  

There was a determination in his eye and an excitement that he finally knew how to make this happen.  We talked.  He was sure...positive...and seemed to just be waiting for his chance. 

And again heaven rejoices!! 

I have to say that of all the kids I've prayed with I'm most excited about Andrew.  You should have seen his face afterward.  His eyes sparkled, huge smile.  Radiant!  He acted like this had been on his mind and he just didn't know how to go about making it happen.  Then all of a sudden it was clear and he knew exactly what he wanted.   

I love Wednesdays. 

Fast forward to Sunday morning.  I didn't even have to make breakfast b/c we had an Annie Armstrong missions breakfast with a cute little program put on by the WMU.  I love those ladies. 

Our most handsome youth pastor led our youth in a couple of songs.  I was so proud of them.  They took it very seriously and did a terrific job. 

Then.....baptisms!!

I love this picture of Hope and her daddy.

And then our oldest son!  He had been baptized before by his daddy, but our church needed a more official church baptism for membership. 

I love this under the water shot with Hope on the side clapping. 

Lunch followed.  And I'm thinking about how to talk my church into feeding us supper too. 

My little kids are still trying to figure out this whole going to church a bunch of times in the week thing.  They look at me incredulously when I say it's time to go to church.  Again?  How?  What day is it?  Which church?  

Youth.  I love. 

There were 15 I think with 4 brand new kiddos.  And wow were we in for some surprises!  The newbies were a little more ...lets say...excitable.  It was a louder night with big questions and lots of laughs. 
We left with the realization that we are so inadequate for this gigantic task.  Thankfully nobody has noticed that yet and we still have a job.  (If you run into my church family don't tell them, ok?)

Teaching the youth has taken us to the Word in a new way.  A story that is so familiar I could've recited it backwards in my sleep proves to be new and fresh as God takes it to a whole new level.  Studying and practicing on our own kids has forced us to put answers to hard question into words that can be understood. 

Even though its only been a couple of weeks, I've loved working with these kids who can ask some deeper harder questions that deserve attention and answers delivered with grace. 

Absolutely awesome. 

What I'm Reading

Now and then my ears fill up with noise and they simply won't hold another decibel.  Like tonight.  So the swishing and clanging of kitchen work, the stacking cups clapping, the girly that has too much to say, Star Wars, the goal that Dempsey just made, and Ravi Zacharias is carrying on without me.  I'm camped out on my bed surrounded by books and laptop and so far nobody's noticed I'm missing.

I got a new book. 

 Wanna see it? 

This is the first school book that I've paid full price for in years.

Add that to the fact that I had never seen it in person and you can see that it was a gutsy move. 
I've liked David Dye's free newsletters for a long time and decided to take the plunge.
I've read a good ways through it and can't wait to start on Monday.  

Ok.  Maybe not.  I'm never eager to start anything on Mondays.  Especially school.   But maybe it'll help that I have something new to try. 

Other things I'm reading....

7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess by Jen Hatmaker

Oh I love this book!  It's easy to pick up when I don't want to think too hard.  Yet has some substance to it.

I've never read any of her books before but I'm looking forward to reading more.

Confession:  I paid full price for this one too.

Actually Honey did and gave it to me for Valentines Day.  Still.

Just finished reading this aloud to my little peeps. 

The younger set hadn't heard it before and our own farmer boy was particularly enthralled.  

You know its a good book when you're disappointed that it's over.  

Confession:  This book is headed for the trash.  The yellow pages are falling out all over the place.  My cheap frugal nature says to just hold it carefully and use the loose pages as a bookmark.  But since the library has multiple copies I'm guessing they'll have to spare one the next time we want to read it.   

I had a mom moment in the last chapter. 

Let me set the stage:  I'm driving in the car to who knows where on any given day with whatever kid comes along.    About 1/2 way to wherever we're going I realize that I've hardly said a word to my passenger and s/he hasn't been so chatty with me.  Momma guilt overwhelms me and I start blabbing about anything I can think of so that I can be a good mom and build some memorable one-on-one time.  Anybody else do this?

 Feel free to roll your eyes. 

In the last chapter Almonzo is offered a promising apprenticeship with a respectable wheelwright.  It's a serious offer.  A good opportunity.  And guess what?   All the way home Father and Almonzo were silent! 

They were both thinking.  And nobody said anything.  Get this:  Almonzo did NOT think that Father was ignoring him and he did NOT feel unloved.  AND Father didn't even feel guilty!  Huh. 

This is a fantastic book if you're headed for local or foreign missions.  And you are, aren't you?  In one way or another?  I was loving this book when we were headed to Haiti.  Since my trip has been cancelled, I've slowed down reading it.  Partly because I HATE that I'm not going to Haiti yet.  Read the "yet".  And partly b/c it requires a lot of thinking.  Evidently I'm not into thinking too much these days. 

And that's it.  I'm also reading through parts of Genesis for Sunday school and working my way through Isaiah.  Isaiah happens to be on my list of faves. 

Book talk question:  Do you have a Kindle?  Do you like it?  Which one do you have?  Would I like it too?

Done And Done!

We sold our house!!  Happy day. 

Now what?

I Don't Have To Get It

It was a perfectly good day.  On the outside. 

But then...don't stand too close.

A hugely disappointing e-mail. 
A seemingly generous invitation that makes me question motives.
The realization that we made an non-repairable mistake with our kids.
Another low offer.
A cancelled trip to Haiti.

How could such a storm be brewing when the skies looked so clear?  

So I did what I always like to do when things don't go my way.  Cry and pout. Fold my arms across my chest and scream "INJUSTICE!"  I don't want to talk and I don't want to listen.  I'd much rather wallow in self-pity. 

God doesn't  allow this for long.  And for some reason that I will never understand, He speaks in the storm and stills the fury raging inside me. 

"Great is the Lord and mighty in power.  His understanding has no limits."  Ps 147:5

I never learn.  Why am I so hard headed?  I serve a God who has infinite wisdom and power, yet I am crippled because as Oswald Chambers says....I do not believe in His power apart from my own finite understanding.   So I throw a fit and demand answers.  Now.

When instead, I should just be still.
And quiet. 
And thankful. 

If I can just get my eyes off myself I can see that it's not about me.  I step back and realize that I believe lies that are birthed in the pit of hell.  And the fact is....I have been blessed with every spiritual and material blessing imaginable.   I have a God who is so patient with me that I don't even get blasted when I deserve it. 

It doesn't make sense.

Heaven Rejoices!

It all started around VBS time.  Joey was asking questions and was interested but the time wasn't right.  He wasn't quite ready. 

It wasn't over though.  The Holy Spirit was working. 

Fast forward to last week.  I walk into my Awana class and find 5 eager boys.  We talked about their day, prayed, and settled in to memorize some Scripture.  Immediately Joey comes to me and says, "Ms Sandy, I want to pray and ask Jesus into my life. " 

Really?  We weren't even talking about that!  It was apparent that it was something he'd been thinking about. 

I remembered some of his issues from the summer so I asked him some questions to make sure he understood what he asking.   It was clear that he did and we prayed. 

Before the excitement even had a chance to sink in, I had 2 other boys asking the same thing! 

Whoa!  Red light. 

These boys have been with me long enough to have the right answers.  They knew what to say when the questions were asked.  Unfortunately I did not.   I really didn't know what to think.  On the one hand I've been surprised that they haven't made this decision before now.  On the other, I didn't want them jumping the gun just following their friend.   Are they sincere?  Do they know the truth in their hearts?  Or just the head knowledge? 

This is where it gets a little crazy.  In walks Misty.  Perfect timing!  She helps me talk to them and asks George to talk to Cole.  Cole leaves and the door opens again.  My oldest son pops his head in to say that things are not going so well with little LJ.  So now Cole and Caleb each have someone talking to them and I slip out to see if I can help with LJ. 

I never should've left. 

Not only was I unable to help LJ, but by the time I got back I had MISSED my opportunity to pray with Caleb!  Epic failure.  Awwwwww .   Of all my boys I would've loved to pray with Caleb or MJ.     And I hate that I missed out on something so important with him. 

But....  I am super excited for these guys and look forward to helping them grow in their relationships with God.  

Heaven rejoices!  And so does a 3rd grade Awana teacher.

On A Thursday

~Guess why my house is so clean again? 

Yep, another showing.  2 this week.   I'm thinking I need to start calling up folks and begging them to come look at my house just so I can bask in the dustlessness more often. 

This is the 3rd time she's looked at it.  She noticed the smiley faces.  She looked at everything and even stuck her head up the fireplace!  Now she's talking about coming back with her brother.  I do wish she'd bring all her ppl at the same time.  On the other hand, I totally understand.  It's not like buying a pair of shoes. 

~Remember the old episodes of Brady Bunch when at the end of every show the mom and dad would be in bed reading a book?  (Was that Brady Bunch?)  Well tonight that's us.  Only we have laptops instead.  Honey's looking up songs for youth and I'm doing this.  Think I should text him?  Or message him on Facebook? 

~After having 6 kids with coughing fits, ear troubles, and 1 kid throwing up it's nice to have them on the mend.  They even made it to TKD tonight.  I was pretty sure that LittleMan would hafta see Maggie over it but it turns out he's doing great. 

~OH!  AND I woke up this morning making 2 complete fists.  First thing in the morning.  That hasn't happened in over a year. 

~Awana last night and I had a new girl.  Cutie pie.  I hope she comes back.  But I hear my little Greenlye is moving!  Misty is this true?  I wish I would've known!  WHY do these kids move so much??

~Today I have a whole day with NO other commitments.  Just school, loving on my babies, feeding my man some lunch, and being home.  Ahhhh......

The weather is supposed to be perfect and it's shaping up to be a great day!

It's A Stair Climbing Day!!

But it wasn't yesterday.  Or the day before. 

I've had this huge flare in my foot for 2 days now.  I did ok on Sunday, but it went downhill after that. 
I tried to be patient with it.  But I find that I'm not as patient with that kinda thing as I used to be.   I know how far it can go. 

Tuesday is my Maggie day.  Have I told you about Maggie?  She's my think-outside-the-box, in-your-face, not-what-you-would-expect, gift-from-God doctor.  So I texted her and asked if she had any tricks up her sleeve for a flaring foot.  She said maybe. 

Amazing.  She could tell by how I walked where the flare was before I even took off my shoe.  When I told her I was even considering a shot she threatened to kick my butt.  And believe me, she could do it. 

She had something different in mind.  3 shots.  What??  THREE?!  3 non-corticosteroid shots with something that started with a D that will repair nerve endings.  Doctor talk. 

There was an immediate difference.  Not huge.  By bedtime it was only 1/2 as bad as it was.  I woke up at 3am and did my usual routine of manipulating certain joints to see what the day would bring.  And BEHOLD!  I could move my foot! 

Of course there was no sleeping after that.   I wanted to wake up Honey and tell him.  I wanted to text Maggie and wake her up too.  I wanted to go climb up and down the pool ladder to prove that I could.  But I decided this was the next best thing. 

Just in time.  Today is egg pick up day.  That means I get to climb a flight of stairs balancing 10 dozen eggs. 

BRING. IT. ON!

Youth Day One

Yesterday was our first Sunday to have the IBC youth all to ourselves.  What an amazing bunch of kids!  Sunday morning we had four. 

We decided to start at the beginning.  Genesis 1.  Creation.  And as Honey is telling the story all eyes are up and looking on him.  They were attentive and interactive.  They caught on to the memory verse super quick and after a couple of creation type memory games our time was already up. 

During the service Honey addressed the congregation and discussed our vision and hopes for the youth.  One of the things we did was to have each young person write their name on a 3x5 card with a prayer request.  He then asked the congregation for volunteers to take a card to pray for them.  The volunteer then had to write his own name and prayer request on a card to give to the youth and they become prayer partners for a time.  We had more volunteers than cards! 

Sunday night was even better.  In addition to the original four, we had 3 more.  We reviewed the lesson from the morning and dove a little deeper, including some of Genesis 2.   Even the 3 new ones caught on to the memory verse as if they were there in the morning. 

We also had some time to talk about some things we'd like to do in the future including some music for the congregation, service projects and outreach, and some video productions. 

We are thankful and excited to see what God has in store!

Pease Pray For My Grandmother

Isn't she beautiful?  And every time I see her she looks better than the time before.  Amazing. 

This sweet lady has a type of lung cancer that is caused by asbestos poisoning.   We will know more on the prognosis Wednesday. 

The kids and I made a trip to TX and got to spend a couple of days with her.  I can't believe this is the only picture I took!  What is wrong with me!?

My grandmother is such a special part of my life and I hate the thought of her being so sick. 

Will you please pray for her with me??

Some Of The Fun Of Yesterday

Valentines Day!! 

Love it. 

Homemade valentines.  Paper plates.  Lots of love!
Every year I buy each kid a new coffee cup for hot chocolate.  It's fun collecting them throughout the year. 

Tacos for dinner with the same Valentine dessert that we've made for years.

The table.

Once dinner is ready we open a napkin over everyone's plates then all the kids come in and slip their valentines under the napkins.  What do you think about the paper sack covering the big valentine? 
Yep, we do it up fancy around here. 

I love all the sweet valentines.  And all so unique!  This year Josh drew comics for everyone for their valentine.  I think LittleMan made me about 12 valentines and Mally especially enjoyed her own stickers this year.

Meg bought Mally and LB a little mailbox with a flag months ago that she had been saving.   This was BIG for Mally and she was sure to let me know where she was going to keep it in case I needed to give her mail.  I also got a lesson on the proper use of the flag. 

The rest of the night was full of bionicles.  Our kids have been sick and the bionicles have gotten a lot of play time.  Not to mention the brand new one that CT and Lane bought for the boys to share. 

There are so many now that I can't keep them straight.  Plus there are new upgrades everytime you turn around.  Lego's smart.  My favorite is one that didn't have an official Lego Bionicle name so the boys named him Kevin. 

Then some playing around with the camera...

Happy Valentines Day!

Blessed Morning

Don't you love waking up to the special blessing of rain?
Water on the earth.
Life giving rain. 
Gentle thunder coupled with bird song.
(Have you noticed the birds are coming back?)

I read this this morning...
"You visit the earth and water it;  You greatly enrich it."  Psalm 65:9

Oh yes.  We are greatly enriched. 

"Shout for joy to God, all the earth.
Sing the glory of His name. 
Give to Him glorious praise!"  Ps 66:1

Close But Not Quite

We scheduled our first house showing!

Sunday at 2pm. 

We worked on it Saturday.  We worked on it Sunday morning.  And after church Sunday afternoon.
OOOOOhhhhhh, did my house look good ya'll. 

Honey and the kids and dogs headed to the park about 1:45 and left me with our eldest son to show the house. 

2pm gets close.  And I remember that I had my phone on vibrate during church and I better check it in case she cancelled. 

Sure enough.  Cancelled.  But there was another missed call.  And when I called back it was another lady wanting to look at it.  Yippee!  I called and asked if she could please come now because my house will never be this clean again.

While we were waiting I got another call!  WHA??  Double showing!! 

Both sets of ppl looked over everything more than once and stayed quite a while. 

About an hour later one of the ladies called back and wanted to come again.  Really?? 
So we cleaned up the mess we had already managed to make and the family and dogs left again. 

She brought a friend and asked if she could come back later in the week with a contractor to talk about a bathroom remodel.   Oh yes!  

Confession:  by this time I was reminded of how much I really really like my house.  Especially when it's all clean.  And I half way considered pointing out the smiley faces our son bleached into the carpet.  ......uh, maybe not. 

Later I got a call saying she was placing an offer in our mailbox.  WOW!!  How bizarre would that be to sell our house to the first person who looked?  Technically we had 2 first people I guess. 

But unfortunately it was a low offer.  We have it priced so that we don't have a lot of negotiating room.  And neither did she. 

Too bad. 

At least we got a super clean house out of the deal! 

Snow Day!

It's been such a warm winter we were resigned to the fact that it probably wouldn't happen this year.  But someone said it was coming and we hoped they were right.

So we snuggled in a blanket and watched The Grinch to add to the winter mood. 

And sure enough it came!

SNOW!! 

Beautiful wonderful no-school-today SNOW! 
Thank you Jesus. 

I was so excited.  I was up long before the kiddos.  Except for the one who stole into our room in the wee hours b/c he wasn't feeling well. 

So I got busy in the kitchen and started simmering all those yummy snow day type of foods.  Minus any sugar b/c my kids have been sick. 

Finally they started waking up and SURPRISE!!!  Happy day.  Love those happy faces when they first see the snow out the window.   LittleMan came stumbling out all sleepy and asked, "Did it snow Momma?" 

Cream of wheat with berries and hot cranberry tea.
Buddled up snow babies...

And ever so much of this...

Taking the neighbor's snow.

I know my Colorado peeps will scoff at this.  But hey, we gotta take what we can get when it comes to snow! 

Then back inside for chicken soup and cranberry tea.

Thankful to Him who gives all good things....

Thinking Out Loud

I don't feel like I'm using my time in the best ways.  I'm always busy but don't seem to accomplish much.  Always moving but not going anywhere.  Spinning my wheels. 

I've been asking the Lord how He would want me to spend my days.  In Isaiah God says the people laid many plans but they were not God's plans.  I don't want that to happen to me.  Yet, that's probably what has been going on lately. 

As I've been praying a few things come to mind....

~Be more intentional in my Bible time with the kids.  I don't want it to seem like just something else to check off the list.  Sadly...that's where it's been.  My favorite children's Bible is Egermeier's Story Bible.  My copy is completely worn out and I don't think my younger kids have ever heard it.  It's on my library list this week. 

~Dictation with our memory verse.  This is a terrific way for my kids to learn and they seem to like it.  Also a good way to teach spelling and vocabulary.   Another thing I haven't been doing. 

~Write to my grandmothers. 

~Show appreciation for the ppl that are investing in our lives every week.  Our TKD teacher, piano teacher, math tutor, the Rileys, Maggie.  A note, a plate of cookies, a loaf of bread....how hard is that? 

~Do the worst first.  That would be writing and listening to my readers.  I tend to gravitate toward those school subjects that I enjoy.  Writing is NOT one of them.  It gets pushed aside and I have this nagging guilty feeling that they'll never be able to write a sensible paragraph and it'll be all my fault. 

~Work with COW in the kitchen.  What happened that I think I need to do all the cooking all of a sudden? 

~Re-visit my Flylady zones and routines.  I have such freedom when I stick with this, why do I stray?  I certainly need a better morning routine and to train my kids in a few cleaning talents. 

~Exercise even when it's cold outside or I don't feel great.  Just something, anything, is better than nothing.

~Work on my baby's scrapbook.  He's 4 1/2 for crying out loud.  It's time. 
I also have a music project for Honey that is important to me.  (I might enlist the kids for this too.)

So there it is.  And I feel better even having some ideas in place!

You Gotta Try This!

Candy Apple Dip (adaptation from Whole New Mom)

I used to whip up a dip with peanut butter and whipped cream.  We think this is just as good but a lot healthier.  I made a double batch and it was all we could do to save some for Honey when he got home. 

1 Cup nut butter. 

1 Cup coconut milk (or any other milk)

1 tsp stevia

1 T. sucanat (or other sweetner)

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Whirl it all around in your blender til it's mixed and thick.  Super Simple.  Easy clean up.  Dip apples or carrots or just your fingers. Heck, just grab a spoon and go to town!

*A word about stevia - I've never liked it.  But I've used it to sweeten oatmeal and it was passable.  In trying to stick to a candida diet, I wanted to give it another try.  This is the 2nd thing I've tried and we loved both of them.  So if you don't like stevia, you might want to try it in this recipe and see what you think.  Next time I want to try leaving out the sucanat and increasing the stevia. 

My Goals Today

* Look people in the eye and smile when they are talking to me. 
I often don't take time to listen to my kids as I should.

*Put aside my distractions and give my full attention. 
My phone, computer, book, or whatever I happen to have in my hand needs to be set aside so I can pay attention. 

*Pray for all my family by name.

*Cast my cares upon Jesus. (1 Peter 5:7)

*Thank God for something that I don't usually think to thank Him for. 

~Awana night!  Tonight I get 4 new students.  My own!  I'm looking forward to my Awana friends getting to meet my kiddos. 

~Piano day!  Lane is driving Jes and having some algebra tutoring at the same time. 
That means I don't have to go anywhere until Awana this evening.  LOVE that.

So maybe I can get some school organizing done, house cleaning, and a music project for Honey underway. 

Today's meals...
Breakfast - oatmeal
Lunch and Dinner - venison chili (thanks to our neighbor)
*bread baking and maybe I'll even get to play with the dehydrator I'm borrowing. 

"Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think, according to the power at work in us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever.  Amen. "  Eph 3:20-21

On A Monday

I woke up this morning with NO plan for this week.  none.  No menu, no thoughts of school, not even sure if I had anywhere to be today.  How did this happen?   It's like I was surprised it was Monday. 

And I kinda am.  Because I'm pretty sure I'll wake up and it'll be Friday already. 

Life is speeding by and I'm holding on for dear life!   Anybody else feeling this way or do I just sound like an old lady? 

Yesterday was a day full of emotions.  Our last Sunday at our church and first Sunday in our new building since the fire of last summer.  OH my.  It was even prettier than I imagined.   I savored every minute of watching my guy and our girls on the stage and listening to Chris and Mark's excellent message.   Our sweet friends said goodbye and were very encouraging. 

And nowwwwww.....onto the new adventure!  Honey has been hired as Immanuel's youth pastor.  Meaning we have a new church family, new ministry, new opportunities, and more time to get to know those precious Awana babes I like to talk so much about.   And last night was our first night. 

We have no idea what we are doing.  We are full of ideas but moving carefully.  Scared and confused.  Praying and planning.  Talking and dreaming.  Humbled and excited!

Eager to get to know our new friends and thankful for the way God is moving in our lives. 

Awana Night Tonight!

Did you know it is fund raising week in the public schools?  Yup.  Cookie dough sales.  And I'm $42 poorer since several of my kiddos go to the same school.  Summit campers will have lots of cookies this summer! 

I had a new guy in 3rd grade tonight.  He came in just as we were getting ready to pray so I asked him if he had anything he'd like us to pray about.  He said he wanted to pray that his cousin's dad would come back. 
So I did.  And I asked God to help him to make a good decision to go back home to his family. 

When I was done, Corry said "No, he DIED." 

Oh. So what exactly was I supposed to pray about again?  I still haven't figured it out.

I had a guy that was causing a little trouble.  Nothing big.  Just picking at the other boys and making the night a bit harder.  So we had a talk about being a peace maker vs a trouble maker.  Joey immediately spoke up to talk about something called Moses The Peace Maker and something he learned about that.  Next Caleb raised his hand to add something about Moses The Peace Maker. 

So I said, "Wait.  What's Moses The Peace Maker?"  I figured it was some movie they saw. 

But no.  It was the Bible club lesson that a couple of the IBC folks go and teach to the kids at the apt where they live.  Joey went on to say how much fun they had and they even got to eat cupcakes. 

These guys are learning and I'm so thankful for the folks who invest in them. 

Caleb had a lot of work tonight in his book.  Some fill-in-the-blank work and looking up Scripture.  We looked up 2 Timothy 3:16 and talked about 4 reasons the Bible is profitable with the rest of the class. 
I looked over the work he had completed earlier and saw that one of the questions was "Who was the person that told you about Jesus?" And guess what?   It was ME!!

Joy unspeakable.  I'm so thankful to be there.

My Favorite Guy In The Whole World