YUMMY IN MY TUMMY

Last week, our church had a Leadership Appreciation Dinner. I always look forward to these because 1., I know there is going to be delicious food, and 2., I can count on laughs and great fellowship throughout the night. They also have games (which I never win), but it's always fun to play!

Yummy salad with blue cheese dressing!

Appetizers! YUM!

Main course! Chicken breast topped with mushrooms, garlic mashed potatoes, garlic bread, and steamed veggies.

My FAVORITE dessert. Cheesecake!

I think my husband is happy!

And they had a contest of who could answer the most questions correctly! FYI, I didn't win!

DAY CAMP SUCCESS!

I tell ya, I was pooped out by Friday and I didn't really do anything. It was the kids who were busy for those six hours everyday, and I pretty much just took pictures and helped out here and there! They did so many awesome projects, and on Friday, they put on an art show for the parents! Instead of me showing you tons of pictures of my kids working on the art work, I will share pictures of the actual "art show." I think you will be impressed with these kids!

I also want to mention that we're so blessed by our Children's Ministry Leaders. All this was handled by three women, who took care of every detail. There is soooooo much work that goes on behind the scenes, and for the most part, it goes unnoticed.

My children's favorite project was definitely these paper mache masks! I love how they have them displayed on this cardboard tree! On the table are sandcastles, but the mixture was sand and glue so this way it would be permanent! That was probably the messiest project of them all!

This was really cool too! They blew up black & white photos of the kids faces, cut them in half, and the kids got to draw the other side of their face. A semi-self portrait! The 3rd-5th graders did this project.

Now, this is a project the 4-7 year olds did. They had the same black & white photos, but they had them just cut their face and eyes out and glue it on a piece of paper. They partially glued the eyes down, but if you flip it open, they drew their eyes on the paper too. They also decorated around the face by drawing hair, etc.

If you are familiar with my blog, then you will notice that these lighthouse paintings look very familiar! Well, that's because one of the teachers is Eli's art teacher on Mondays!

Some of you may recognize that picture in the middle. It is called "Starry Night" by Vincent van Gogh. I think the kids did an amazing job with their interpretation of it!

More Starry Night paintings!

Aren't these gorgeous?

If you look at the first picture with the banner, you will see two vases with flowers. Both of the age groups had to paint them.

More vase paintings!

The "wall flowers." Can you believe these were paintings done by the 4-7 year olds! They are all so awesome!


And there ya go!

Next week...cooking and drama!!

MOTHER DAUGHTER SLEEPOVER

Our church had their 3rd Mother Daughter sleepover this past Friday, and boy..it was fun, fun, fun! I learned from going the last two times that we really don't need to bring a luggage full of stuff from home! So, other than a toothbrush, sleeping bag, and pillow, the clothes I wore there were also my pj's, and when I got up, those were the clothes I left in! LOL!

The girls had a full night planned, starting with a couple of ice breaker games. This was perfect for mom's who didn't really know anyone. One of the prayers that night was for relationships to be formed! So, I know that was a blessing for many! It was a good turnout...roughly 60 people!

After the games, nail polish, new hair styles, a game in the dark, and a movie, everyone got to bed around 2am'ish! We woke up to music blaring around 7:30, but also to the sweet aroma of hot cocoa, bagels, and muffins!! Mmm...mmm!

For privacy reasons, I didn't want to share pictures of any girls I didn't really know. I'm not sure how the mom's would feel with their daughters pictures on the internet.

This is just a portion of what was there! Junk food galore! And excuse the lighting, my camera sucks in dim rooms!

My daughter (in the middle) and her friends! THAT FACE!!! Her "gangsta" look! Ugh!

Oh..lol! Have you heard of the game, "Sardine?" Two people hide and the rest of us have to find them. Once you do, you stay there till the last person finds everyone! The last person to find them has to hide the next time. The fun part of this game is that it's played in the dark! LOL, I had fun taking pictures when we were "hiding." LOL, this picture is of them partially under the pew!!!

Hiding under the stairs!

Of course, I have to add in my baby girl! That's glitter all over her face! LOL

THEN SINGS MY SOUL SATURDAY-You Are Mighty

I know I have a long story, but I wanted to give a little background first so you could have an understanding of what was going on in the video.

When my eldest son was around 8 1/2 years old, he took an interest in playing the guitar. We just thought it was a phase, so we didn't put too much thought into it. After asking us over and over if we would buy him a guitar, we finally said, "Yes!" We still didn't know what we were going to do (as far as him taking lessons), but his birthday was coming up so it would be like an early birthday gift. It so happened that a couple of weeks after he got his guitar (and him just playing around with it), one of the Associate Pastors decided to give free guitar lessons before the Sunday morning service! We were like, "Yah..perfect timing!" Unfortunately the class ended a couple of months later, but my son did learn some of the basic chords. So, at this point, that's all he could do, but he would still practice what he did know. Eventually, there were alot of older boys (and adults) who would bring their guitars to church and would jam in the cafe after the morning and evening services. My son would sit with them and just follow what they were doing. They even taught him a few things. By this time, he could already play a few songs by memory. A few months later, the Children's Church coordinator called me and said that they wanted to put a Children's Worship team together and if Isaiah wanted to be the lead. After much practice and commitments, the worship team was formed. There were four boys that played instruments and at the time were ages 9-11 (Isaiah being the youngest) and they had the the choir who's ages ranged from 6-10 years old. The team would lead worship for the elementary school on Sunday mornings, and would also play at something called Worship One. We had this night of Praise & Worship in the cafe at our church every Friday. Anyone could sing or play an instrument. So, the video I uploaded is them in 2006. This is one of my favorite songs, ever! Isaiah is the one playing guitar, but I couldn't fit all the boys on my camera. We no longer have a Children's Worship team, but we do have many gifted, young musicians at our church in the Jr. High & High School ministry. But, it's totally the Lord that blessed Isaiah with his ability to play the guitar, and I pray that he continues to use it for His glory alone.



To view more TSMSS, click here. You will be blessed!

FUN FILLED SUNDAY!

I knew I should have brought my camera today! Last week, our friends from church decided to put a bbq together today, after service. There is a building across the street that our church owns, and there is a volleyball court on the grassy area. It's literally like being at a park because it's practically all grass and tons of shade! There was tons of food, and lots of us there! I'm so glad I didn't have to drive home after church and then come back for the evening service. We all just had to go right back across the street! I took only one picture with my cell phone (which is of Veronica & two other girls drying off in the sun). The kids had water balloons and got soaking wet. We kept telling them to stand in the sun..lol. It was so fun watching everyone play volleyball, too!! I'm glad we still have 80+ degree temperature in October! It was a great day of fellowship, fun, food, and more food!!

Randomness

What a great, somewhat relaxing weekend we've had! There were no soccer games yesterday, so it was a very nice break! The only thing we had to do was take the kids to have their team and individual pictures done. It's super organized, so all the teams are in and out! When we got home, we just vegged..literally! It was one of those "movie" days! After we had dinner, we put on National Treasure and called it a night!

Church, was again a blessing today. We just LOVE our church family! Tonight there is a concert at our church. The Barlowgirls'! I didn't go though. I stayed home with my two youngest to get organized for school tomorrow. However, my hubby and my two older kids are there. Eli was invited to his friends church for Awana. Tonight's theme was "Bring A Friend." The friend who invited him is on his soccer team, and he & Eli are so alike, it's awesome! My sweetie pie is friends with someone just as sweet and sensitive like him!

We've been so busy with school, it's crazy! But, a good, organized crazy! I'm really getting the hang of everything, and just loving the structure!! I love being able to see their lessons planned out for them in advance! It takes so much of the pressure off of me! Total Godsend! There is still more curriculum coming, and I can't wait! I will post pictures of my new homeschool room once everything is set up!!