Softball Studs!

On Veteran's Day the fam went to the park and we practiced softball. Here are my studs:

Teaching Them To Give Back

One of the lessons I hope to instill in my girls is to give back to others. We are blessed with so much and often we just need to open our eyes or put ourselves in a position to see other's needs. If we always stay in our suburban neighbrohoods and never go down in the city to see the needs of those hurting, we think that a tight budget is a big deal. On the other hand, when we go down where some are struggling to keep something on the table for dinner tonight, our focus changes. There is an awesome song by Brandon Heath called "Give Me Your Eyes", this song has really reminded me that we need to ask God to show us how to serve others by seeing life as God does.

Yesterday, I went with Sweetie's class to the Phoenix Rescue Mission to do a simple service project. The students packed treat bags with candy that will be handed out on Thanksgiving Day to the many homeless that come for a hot meal. What an awesome experience for these kids to partake in a project of giving back. The kids brought in candy bags and then wrote notes to pack into these bags. While we were there, many families lined up in need of food boxes. The kids saw all of these families and their hearts were filled with compassion for these hungry people. Kudos to the teacher who is helping plan these field trips to teach my Sweetie a great lesson, to give back to others.

Tis the season, think of some way for your family to give back!

Halloween 2008

Happy Halloween! We had a great time celebrating with our neighbors in front of our house at our annual Halloween Party! Here are my gals, Hannah Montana and Minnie Mouse.

NCS Homecoming

This week was homecoming at NCS, the 2nd-8th graders were invited to open the Friday night football game with a cheer. Sweetie was thrilled to be apart. Here she is cheering!

Andy, also a NCS alumni, was put to work as the bouncer to the bounce house. He was organizing the chaos and doing a great job! Good thing he didn't have to sing this weekend because he was yelling at kids all night.

Black Marker

To every mom, a permanent black marker means trouble! And it ALWAYS is!!

We had a unique opportunity, as a church, to write on the floors of the new children's building. It was exciting and a bit emotional to think how many lives will be changed and impacted from this new facility. For those non-CCVers, the kids are bursting from the current buildings or should I say tents. I started serving in the 2 year olds last year and have since graduated with Cutie to the 3s. Needless to say, the partitions that separate each classroom in the "Big Tent " are NOT sound proof so the noise level is somewhat distracting. As a teacher, I have given into the sound issue and have the kids recite our memory verse first whispering it and lastly SCREAMING it! The kids love it and other classrooms also participate in the scripture SCREAMING wars which I will miss! Obviously we need more classrooms and room to play. So as a family we went into each of our girl's classrooms and wrote the following scriptures on the floors:

In Cuties's class: "Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are His children." Ephesians 5:1 My prayer is that the children that come to CCV will be strong imitators of God and impact this community and world.

In Sweetie's class: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and will all your soul and with all your strength." Deuteronomy 6:5 I pray that these children love God with all that is in them. I am glad that we have a church that Sweetie loves to go to and always wants to bring friends.

So each of us had a permanent black marker and BIG surprise, Andy and I got distracted talking to friends out in the entrance of the building. My attention is grabbed when I hear Sweetie correcting her sister so I look down to find Cutie using her PERMANENT marker on the cement sidewalk! She didn't see the difference of writing on the building's floor, which would be eventually covered with carpet, and the outside sidewalk! Who's kid is that? What kind of parent isn't watching them and why didn't they take the marker away earlier? All of the questions lead to...ME!!!!!!

We got BOOed!

I love fall because it is the beginning of fun festivities. We arrived home tonight and noticed something on the front porch bench. So the girls ran to see what it was, Belle was suspicious and wondered if we had gotten booed. To their delight there was a beautiful basket filled with tons of fun treats and goodies with a sign that read "You've been booooed! The girls poured over the basket, even though it was very late! It felt like Christmas to them! So we opened everything and both girls went to bed with Halloween flashlights and glow bracelets. So much fun!!! As I was praying with Cutie, she wanted to pray that we would get more baskets! She also said, "I think that basket came from a neighbor, someone who really cares for us!" It's good to feel loved, thank you for whoever blessed us with a basket brimming over! Now we get to go out and pay it forward! The funny part was that we had just gotten home from going to Party City to buy Halloween supplies for our Halloween party on the 31st. I know, I'm a little early, Andy was picking on me about that tonight. He was joking around and said, "My wife, the planner, you probably already have my birthday present bought (his birthday is in January) for 2010!" The reason I went tonight was because I went to the foot Dr. today for a pre-surgery appointment to have my bunions removed from my feet. The Dr. will call me Monday to let me know the surgery date, either October 8th or 15th. I will have my left foot operated on first and will be off my feet for 1 week and healing for another 5 weeks! Then I will have the other foot done. So in my defense, I will have to really plan ahead for the holidays. Since I am already confessing my planning compulsion, I will admit I already have my stockings done for Christmas! I know, no comments on that! :)

It's Friday!

It's the 3rd week of school and we are all adjusted to the strict schedule, which actually give Andy and I our alone time at night which is wonderful! Both girls are loving their classes and doing very well. It is hard to fit all of life in at times but we are juggling quite well. Sweetie loves her teacher and is excited about school, YEAH! She is reading every night and I can't believe how well she is doing. I don't remember doing half the things she does in 2nd grade, life is so much more advanced! Cutie now asks if she can go to school each day, she loves taking her snack and playing with her little friends. She is practicing using scissors and I just figured out that I need to get her Lefty scissors, poor thing has been struggling to use Right Man scissors!

We started having a small group in our home on Thursday nights. We have really enjoyed meeting awesome people in our neighborhood. I love having people in my home, I also love keeping the house clean. Now I have an excuse to be neurotically clean! Now I am cleaning for a purpose and not just cleaning to clean!

Today I took Cutie to the Oasis gym for a play date with some other friends. We had a blast! For some reason, I thought that I was a kid and had as much fun as the little ones! Cutie was very timid and wanted me to do everything with her, so I did! The best was jumping off the raised mats into the pit filled with foam squares. I forgot my physics from high school and when Cutie and I jumped off together, my rate of falling was at a much faster rate than hers! As a result, she had her arm yanked down and fell wrong, jamming her earring into her head. OOPS! Sorry! Two rules still stand: "Big kids hurt little kids!" and "Good friends are always there to pull you out of the pit!"