Sleep Over

Friday night Joshua had is first ever sleep over that was not family.   Granted Abigail was there too but he did it!!!!  We are very excited about this.  He said he had soooooo much fun and that is what helped him.  He and Abigail were gone for about 23 hours.  Stephen had his youth group missions meeting so Bill and I had the evening to ourselves.  Which one would think would be good but we were able to just sit and talk because before we knew it it was about time to get Stephen.

Watched some olympics later on.  I love the olympics.   It really reminds me of my youth.  We would get so pumped to sit in front of the TV and watch.   I remember in the summer time we would create olympic type games in the pool.  Relay races and individual races.  What a great time!!!   Even had the opportunity to attend the 96 games in Atlanta!!!

Have been an olympic junkie these last couple of days.  Love getting excited for the Americans!!!  Go Team USA!!!

Belize in 2010

Stephen will be 13 in mere weeks. I am shocked and stunned that I will have a teenager. But I digress. The youth group he belongs to has been planning on going to Belize. One of the couples from our church have been going there for over 6 years and helping out some churches, orphanages, and getting the local youth involved in activities. This past January a small group went with them to see what type of missionary work we as a church could be doing for the people there. One of our pastors went and felt we needed to be more involved. The idea then surfaced that our youth group should go down. The churches that we have affiliated with have an abundance of children. There are waaaay more kids than adults. So, who better to send than our youth.

Last night was the parent meeting for the trip. They wanted to let us know the dates - end June into July - and the types of involvement our kids would be having while down there. As mentioned above they would get the opportunity to help in an orphanage, assist in a VBS, and go out into the village to speak to the kids their ages and younger.

What makes this a fabulous place to go is that Belize is an English speaking country. While located in Central America, it was owned by the Brits, so they speak English. There of course will be some type of communication barrier but for the most part it is not a new language to have to learn or even know!!! While I am still torn about sending him soooo far away from us, I am also confident with the leaders that are going and know that I can trust Barb to be his "momma hen" while I am not there. And trust Gregg to be "pappa".

Stephen is excited and nervous (I think) about going. He did ask if I was going too! He is looking forward to going. Over the next few months they will be raising money to make the cost more manageable. Let the fund-raising begin. Stephen will also be "working" towards earning money that the church will put into an account so the kids don't spend it.

My baby is growing up!!!!

Recital and such

Today was Abs' piano recital.  That girl was so nervous and excited all rolled into a cute adorable package.  My Mom was able to come and watch her perform.  That really made her day.   It takes about an hour and we got to hear 29 different students.  Some played two pieces.   Those that played two pieces created  their own compositions for a contest held earlier in the year.   It was a great time.  The boys were getting antsy at the end mostly due to hunger.  

Since it was all for Miss Abigail we went to eat at her favorite place - Ruby Tuesday's.  She was introduced to this restaurant last year via The Ball family.  Let me just say that she was giddy with excitement when we got there.  She loves loves loves the salad bar and boy did her plate show that.  It was stacked up like a volcano.   Not only does she get the salad bar but also the pasta marinara.  I think she smiled the entire time.  Her only disappointment came when Daddy said no to dessert.  Only to find out that he had other plans.  (DQ).

Then off to DQ for some yummy dessert.  I think both Abigail and I wore about as much as we ate.  For some strange reason my ice cream melted quicker than I was able to eat it.  Such a rarity.  We are ice cream consumers in this household, so it is shocking when there is a meltdown.  All except Abigail.  I believe I stated it before  - she is never able to sneak any food as she always ends up wearing it!!  Her pretty dress was dripped upon.  Thankfully it was after the recital.  

Stephen had another youth group outing this evening.  He was off to a scavenger hunt at Peddler's Village in Lahaska, PA.  (I know I mentioned this place before, I think it was on the other blog so I will digress again.  This town has a special place in my heart as Bill and I were engaged there on a cold snowy December night 14 years ago.  I also had my bridal shower at one of the restaurants there.  It really is a great place to walk around and eat and such.)    I tell you he has more of a social life than I do.   (I am very happy about this!)   He is usually the youngest boy that shows up for these functions but I am ever so grateful that he has made some good connections and has had these many opportunities with various outings.  I honestly don't believe he would have had the same experience if we stayed in Ohio.  

Speaking of Ohio we will be leaving here Sunday and having a quick visit until Friday!  We are excited about getting back even if it is only for a few short days!

On a separate note - you haven't seen any pictures because my pocket-size camera's battery died and I have not been able to locate my charger.  I am thinking I may have left it in Ohio from our last trip back.  So hopefully I can locate it.  Otherwise it is off to Best Buy for me to purchase another charger.  I am truly lost without it.  I do have another camera but it is big and bulky and not very convenient.   Prayerfully by Monday all will be well again!

Happy times through hazy days!

Well it was a good day today.  I spent most of the morning doing the normal "teacher" duties and let me just say the children (well 2 of them) were really focused on completing and not giving me many difficulties.  The eldest, of all people, was in a funk.  The reason was two-fold.  1.  He was woken up early - by little brother making too much noise.  2.  He did not want to do his poetry lesson.  Once all that was figured out we were able to address each problem and continue on with work.  I think once he realized how fun writing a limerick is, he was able and eager to write one.  He had lots of good ideas started and once he wrote them down all went easy-peasy.  Here is his finished product: (going on memory)

There was a sad man from Spain.

Who had some pain.

On his back

There was a tack.

So he traveled to Maine.

Next week he gets to write a free-verse poem.  Oh joy!!   The other excitement for him was beginning his blog.  I will not bore you again as I previously posted about that.  And finally tonight he goes off to Youth Group!!!  While he is there we will be heading over to Home Fellowship.  We have been off for a month now due to all the different things that were happening during the month of April.   It will be good to see all and dig back into Romans.

Son Joshua was and usually is very eager to comply and do his work.  He just finished his second science book for the year.  He is already doing 2nd grade math along with finishing his 1st grade curriculum.  History is almost complete for him.  There are just a short few pages but it is more about places to visit than actual learning.  (Which is okay.)

Miss Abs was an eager beaver today and really did her work fast and good.  I was a little lax with her as I was helping Stephen get started with his blog and poem stuff but that is okay because by Friday she is usually fried.  

Ordered

Bill had to wake early again today, before 7:00 am, as he was on the schedule for worship.  Poor guy this whole week he will be awake very very early.   Not so much fun for him as he is not a morning person.  The kids and I met with him at church for second service.  Abigail's class received recognition for hard work.  The curriculum has "homework" that you get each week and when they brought back 200 they were given a sundae party.  Very very cool.  Joshua's group is now eager and excited to hand in 200.  

After church we hung around as they were having a parents meeting for those of us who have children from ages 10-18.   There are some changes that will be occurring by the summer and they wanted to inform us of said changes and wanted us to be a big part of all they are excited about.  They have spent over a year praying and meeting together about how to handle those ages and what they wanted to accomplish for the youth at CCMC.  The overall vision is that of each child feel that this church is theirs as much as ours.  Often time children go to church and do so because Mum and Dad are bringing them.  Each leader wants the children to grow in their faith and knowledge of who Jesus is to them individually.   It is very exciting to see the enthusiasm and commitment of the leaders. 

After church and meeting, Bill and I dropped of kids and back out to sofa shop.   One more store for comparisons and then decision time.  It was easy.   We breezed through the last store.  I loved their bedroom sets, not their sofas and chairs.  So we drove North again to order the sofa and chair we saw last night after Friday's.   The best news was delivery will be this Thursday!  Second best news - deferred payment.  Yeah, baby!!!