SAWG

These women have been such a blessing in my life our monthly gatherings fuel my sluggishness. So appreciate that God brought us together. 

The beginning of the end here

Today marked the beginning of the end of our time here in Ohio. We are finishing up some last minute details with the house and plan to leave on Thursday. As stated in an earlier post it is bittersweet. While I am thankful that we got to extend our time here, I am also longing to be with my hubby. The kids too miss him. There really are a lot of distractions (good ones) during the day, it hits us at night around dinner time and bed time because that is when he usually is around. The next few days here are painting days. Another thing to be thankful for is that it is not me. I don't like to paint therefore I don't do it well. I make loads of mistakes and a whole lot of mess on me. I often wear more paint than the wall does. Not kidding. I should have kept my old shirts that I ruined because I got so much paint on them. (Notice the them - it is because in my mind I think I can do this with noooo problem. Not so much.)
The lunch hour was a delight as I had the opportunity to be with two wonderful sisters in Christ. Who know me well and love me in spite of my craziness. Love you back, Natalie and Jaye. It was a blessing to see you both. Thanks again for meeting with me! We met at Panera where I had the Fuji Apple Chicken Salad. My all-time favorite salad there. So happy to see they brought it back!!!
With schools being on break this week, Heather and Suzanne have decided we need to partake of some fun beverages during the afternoon these next few days. I did not say no to that. So today at around 5 pm I hosted some munchies and wine. (I really do miss it here - and it aint the wine it really is the fun and fellowship I get. I do hope I can absorb a lot so that I can wring it out back in NJ!)
Heather needed to go home to be with her family so Suzanne and I hung out for a bit and then she decided we should go out to eat and leave kids home. I made sure Stephen was okay with that scenario - he was - so off to dinner. We headed over to Baja Fresh as Suzanne has never eaten there. I happen to love their salads and tacos. She enjoyed the food and will be going back soon. Afterwards we went to Kohl's as Abigail is in need of new earrings. 1 1/2 years ago she got her ears pierced and has had problems on and off. She is currently have some crusty, bloody issues. They were having a sale buy one pair get second for only 1 dollar. It is not easy finding earrings for an 8 year old. Most are way to big and bulky. Definitely would not look good. After about 20 minutes finally decided on a pair, well two and off we went.
Once again Suzanne came to the rescue and helped me doctor her ear, as we have very little to no medical stuff left in house. I know crazy idea with children. (aside - I need to get first aid kit in car!) Also Abigail was invited to sleep over again. This is a good thing as there will be someone coming to paint her room early early early.

Zoo and GPS

Thanks to Dana - one of the homeschool Moms in Ohio - we had the opportunity to go to the zoo today and view it a little differently.  (Once again Carla made sure we could tag along on this field trip too!  She is so good to think of us!)  The time was spent as us being "detectives" walking around Asia Quest with a GPS and following clues to a mystery. Well not really a mystery but we had to help the zookeepers keep a criminal in jail, who had been caught the night before after hours in the zoo, with all the different clues we found. It was a fun idea. Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE the zoo, however, it is always nice to do and experience it in different settings. That occurred today as we were more interested in following our little GPS's then even looking at the animals. (I did happen to take a few photos of some of the animals - but most are of our group during the adventure.)

Let me just start by saying if anyone knows me you know that I like to run a tight ship. With that being said, at one point I kinda went overboard and had to raise my voice (shocking I know (and this is why Carla will stop inviting me) - lol) to remind the group I was with to wait for everyone.  Now I need to back up and explain something. You will see from the pictures that we had about 30 children present but each "team" was about a group of 6-8 children. The group I was in had the 8. So after the first couple of points we went to, which was very chaotic, I lost it and made sure they understood that we ALL needed to work together and not going running ahead. You see for every 2 kids there was a GPS and each set had a different role and each point we went to spoke specifically to certain roles (I hope this is making sense.) Once they realized they could not get the information if they were not the correct "people" for that point, it went better. 

Carla was the secretary and took down the notes from the clues.  (Also notice the boys taunting the goose - that decided to take flight and not attack.  Crazy boys!)

Two of my favorite 6th grades girls. (not in my group) Reilly and Tana.
Doesn't it look chaotic?! There were still two other teams not in photo!  Note the children looking down at screen.
Reilly, Olivia, and my Abs! The happy face is that Kelly was running the show.  (A zoo worker that Abigail has known since she was 4.)
This table has the group I was with!  It consisted of Ryan, Stephen, Casey, Brendan, Patrick, Kyle, Thomas, and my Josh!  Yes, all boys!
Overall loads of fun!  And it is all about the kids - so as long as they had a good time so should I right?   You would think... so at 4:45p my friend invited me over for some appetizers and a glass of wine.  Do you think I said yes?!?!?!   Thank you, Suzanne!  ;}