All Dressed Up WITH Somewhere To Go

A precious friend offered hubby and I free tickets to a must-see dinner theater. It is all the rage in our church. :) The Cajun Dinner Theater. The dilemma - babysitter. We have none. Our giver of tickets just happened to suggest a possible fit to this dilemma. We asked the suggested teen and we were on our way! GULP! My babies were with a stranger!! I've met the girl's mother twice before and they are in our Home School community so.... I dove into the next level of parenting. I took a deep breath and walked out of my house like a big girl while a teenager watched my darlings. OK, now I must admit.. her mother stayed with her! THANKS BE TO GOD! The young lady has taken babysitting classes and she is trained in CPR - way more qualified than I EVER was in my teen years. Since our darlings were so young, her mother thought it best to help her lead the way! Once again... THANKS BE TO GOD!!

It is so hard to leave your kids with a teenager!! YIKES! But we had fun - laughed a ton!! I realized I hadn't laughed so much in quite some time! The dinner was great!! Entertainment - fabulous! Company - better than great! I am glad I took my big girl step into the world of babysitters - finally!! I think I can do it again! Whew! It is worth the break! Thanks again precious friend for the tickets - I don't think I would have ever been interested in going had it not been for your generous offer!

PS - are any of you bloggers having trouble with spell check?? Mine isn't working and I wondered if I was alone in this error!

Valentine's Day 2008

Our Valentine's Day began in a sort of ordinary way. I even had the nerve to put the kids down for their naps at 10:30 am!! BEFORE lunch! The horror! But our afternoon was jam packed and I knew we needed naps or else there was no reason to even show up for our fun event! This was the first Valentine's Day party my kids attended ever ever ever!!! If I weren't so busy chatting with fellow Home Schooling Moms I would have thought to photograph the long line of 50 bags waiting for their Valentine cards and treats. I would have taken a picture of the yummy desserts (not 50). But I was busy watching my kids and visiting so here are the pictures I did take:

HC and JB made a bee line for the sand pile. JOY JOY JOY!! JB met a friend and they played for a long while! JB did not leave the sand pile until I dragged him away!
HC exploring the rest of the park with some of the older girls.

JB did take a break - I forgot! Here is the proof.
Oh yeah, towards the end I caught him with HC playing with a few peers.
And they were unaware of what Valentine's Day entailed... 50 treat bags means 50 Valentine's giving gifts and cards! Gifts?? Well candy does count as a gift!! Their loot!
Daddy didn't fail! He brought some candy of his own!! LOVE you DADDY!!!!
HC was on a mission - no time to smile and pose! There is chocolate at stake people!!
This is the kids new favorite place to hang out! They love trying to remember the days of the week AND they use it to remember our schedule for the week. For example - Church Day, School Day, Friend Day, Park Day, etc.
Well, as we left the park the kids were wanting a 2nd mini cupcake and I told them I would give them one when we arrived home. They explored their valentine's on the ride and found that people actually give candy for this event. They were THRILLED and had to partake. I allowed 2 indulgences and they could still have the 2nd cupcake. We indulged and then Daddy came home with his treat. HC didn't hesitate to taste and see that the chocolate was good. So I told Steve about ALL the sugar the kids had today and he said they could have no more. I had told them earlier one last piece after dinner. So HC says (this is a DIRECT quote) "Well Dad, I was really looking forward to eating the sticky thing." So grown up, no tone and of course too cute to say no - sooo..... here is the sticky thing. A pixie stick! A lot of firsts today!!

A super fun day!! Happy Valentine's Day HC! Happy Valentine's Day JB!! And most of all Happy Valentine's Day Hubby!! All three of you make life more fun!!

Please Pray

My heart is heavy! This morning I visited a blog of a friend (from our hometown) to find out that a Pastor in Baton Rouge lost his wife yesterday. They are a young couple and they were Pastors at Bethany World Prayer Center North!! I am shocked and ask that you lift up Joel Stockstill and his family as they go through the process of laying his precious wife, Amy, to rest. Here is a photo with a description of what is going on below. I found the picture on our former Pastor's blog, Pastor Dino Rizzo. How powerful to see the youth reaching out in mass!

"This is a picture that Jason Laird sent me earlier of nearly 1,500 kids outside of the Baton Rouge General Hospital, praying for Amy Stockstill. She is the precious wife of Joel Stockstill, who pastors the North Campus and the youth of Bethany World Prayer Center. This past Friday, the doctors gave her 48 hours to live, but the body of Christ is standing in prayer and faith for the Stockstill family. Let’s continue to press in."

As I continue to piece more info together I found that she died of a progressive form of cancer. From what I gather, her husband Joel is also struggling with kidney issues. This family needs a miracle still! Keep them in your prayers!

Surprise for ME!!!!

I hear "MoOOoM THE DOOR BELL WENT DiIIIng!" I had just walked into my room and I can NEVER hear the door bell from my room. I go unlock the door to find a box on our doorstep. Here is my box and it's contents.

HC was thrilled!! My girl LOVES flowers!! She immediately began saying "Oh MOM! Don't you just love my flowers?? I need to call Daddy now!!" We called Daddy and she said her thanks but we cannot bear to tell her the flowers were for me - Mommy and not for HC!! Thank you Husband for the flowers!! We both loved them!!There is no occasion either! These were sent just because!!! Even better!

A prayer of blessing

I received this prayer via an email forward and thought it worthy to share with anyone who visits my blog today!

The prayer:

Father, I ask You to bless my friends, relatives and those that I care deeply for, who are reading this right now. Show them a new revelation of your love and power. Holy Spirit, I ask You to minister to their spirit at this very moment. Where there is pain, give them your peace and mercy. Where there is self-doubt, release a renewed confidence through your grace. Where there is need, I ask you to fulfill their needs. Bless their homes, families, finances, their goings and their comings. In Jesus' precious name. Amen.

Consequences

A few days ago HC was watching one of the tv shows she likes and the character had a consequence. HC said "MOM, they have a consequence too! JUST.like.ME!" I guess it comforted her to know she wasn't alone in the crazy world of consequences! :)

I stopped comparing, for today.

It is easy to dismiss the good you ARE doing when you are busy comparing your journey to others. I thought we were not getting enough Bible in our lessons, once I looked at what we were doing I found we were fine all along.

We were:
1. Listening to Bible story CD's (with music too) in the van

2. I read Bible verses repeatedly until HC began saying "Shh, shh Mom. I want to say it by myself." (Like the Lord's Prayer)

3. We have learned 3 Bible scriptures (not counting the passages mentioned in #2)

4. We read Bible Stories - we have a collection of Veggie Tale books that discuss character issues like Sharing , etc.

5. We read prayer poems

6. We start our school day with worship

7. We pray. HC is even telling me "I trust God Mom. I told God I trust Him to help me with x-thing." This has become a common statement lately. Which tells me SHE is praying on her own too!

Anyway, just wanted to say that when we are busy comparing our journey to another person's journey - we often miss what we ARE doing right. Not to mention the constant supervision of me, Mom, has taught my kids conflict resolution. They are friends (9 times out of 10). Not in theory. They really ARE friends. They take care of each other, they help each other, they encourage each other, they LIKE each other, they are genuinely kind to one another!! That doesn't just happen!! It isn't my doing, it is a God thing. Obviously God knows how to reach my kids hearts and He is busy doing just that! What an awesome thing to recognize!

So I will stop comparing my journey to yours for today. Then tomorrow, I will choose to stop again! Such an easy thing to say but so difficult to do. I think we all tend to look to our fellow Moms, and their kids, as a barometer for our kids. It is easy to forget that our kids are different. They have different gifts, talents and abilities as well as different emotional needs and different methods of learning. God is the only one with the plan that will work. He knows how to lead us so we can lead them! I hate to say that I tend to check in with my Mom friends on how they handle x-issue before I pray sometimes. I hope to seek Him first in this area. I will do that today!

Super Tuesday 2008

We did our part! We voted on Super Tuesday 2008!! This was the first time I was able to vote on Super Tuesday. What fun!I was so disappointed! I must admit that I prefer Louisiana's voting method over our new state's way!

In Louisiana they have the machines where you flip a latch to vote. You go into a booth and flip a switch. The switch causes the curtain to close behind you. You pull levers for the candidates, you turn the exit lever and this counts your vote and opens the curtain so you can exit. All the fun and mystery was sucked out of our experience here.

This was my first vote in a different state. They gave me a piece of paper, I filled in the circle, put the paper in a computerized machine that read my vote. All out in the open. No fun! No thrill! I felt like I just finished an exam at LSU. It felt so sterile and cold. Oh well, my vote counts either way. I just think the whole event would have been more memorable for my two future voters if we had the cool effects. They did leave with a patriotic "I voted" sticker!
They had fun either way! And JB's shirt reads "I do all my own stunts". He cannot read, of course, but this has become a quick favorite. I think he senses the intent! :)

Birthday Party Part 1

I thought any "Good" Mother would tell her son "Happy Birthday" on the morning of his birthday. How could I not?? Boy was that a big mistake! ALL DAY long I heard "When is my party Mommy? When will de kids come to my party?? Where's my party?" Oh my!! His party isn't for 2 weeks! We are having it outdoors and tried to push it back in hopes of good weather. My son was on the verge of tears anytime he thought about his lack of party. (sigh)

We could not celebrate without Daddy and we did intend on having a family party for JB. It was just going to be after Dad was home from work. Daddy just happened to work late on Friday, double whammy!!

We had a play date scheduled that afternoon. I thought our fun plans would clear JB's mind of all things party. BOY was I wrong. As we left the play date, I had to carry JB out while he cried "Where's my party? Where's my party?" Do you think this is a tantrum? NO WAY! He just understands the whole birthday thing this year! That's all! Bad time to plan a late party! My fault! So here is JB's mini party. The friend party comes later.

Look at the thrilled expression. You would think he won the lottery or something. But no, it was only...
A football BALLOON!!! Go Daddy! Great job! Dad came home with this in tow!
Of course in our home, it isn't healthy to come home with one balloon. We HAVE learned this lesson.
JB blowing out his candles.

Gobbling up that cake!
Enjoying every bite!
This is why we are having JB's party in a few weeks. We are having an SEC football birthday party. Everyone is wearing their teams gear!! My JB loves sports! No better party indeed, if he can only wait for it!! Geaux Tigers!!!!

JB ready to run! This is a familiar pose in our home. This is the beginning of his run! I love it!! Looks like Tigger or something! haha
The helmet!
The total package! Uncle Kiva and Aunt Candice gave JB the cool football for Christmas!
Happy Birthday JB! The kids will join in the fun in a few weeks! :) I know it will be fun!

(By the way Blogging Friends, we are praying for a sunny day and highs in the 60's on the 16th! Join us in prayer!!)