Worth it All

This week was crazy busy with VBS. We had over 90 1st graders every day this week. This is split between 3 teachers and helpers. 3 of the helpers were teenagers and boy were they helpful. We could not have accomplished all that we did without them! What a blessing! Most of the kids were very well behaved, but of course, there's always that small percentage that is not used to a routine. It was pretty rough the first 3 days and I was really unsure whether I was going to make it to Friday. But on Wednesday, the Lord gave me just what I needed. The story that day was about Jesus dying on the cross for us and rising from the dead 3 days later. At the end of the story, I asked if anyone had heard the story for the first time just then. One little girl sheepishly raised her hand looking around and noticing she was the only one who raised her hand. I reassured her that was ok and that all of us hear it for the first time at some point. She seemed satisfied with the answer and went on for the rest of the day just fine. On Thursday, we were playing a game where everyone got a chance to tell one thing they knew or had learned about the Bible. When it was her turn, she answered that in the Bible we learn of Jesus dying on the cross. Of all the things she could have said, she mentioned the story from the previous day! It was such a blessing to me and it immediately made me so glad that I had stuck with it and it gave me the strength to make it through the rest of the week. I have already requested not to be in a classroom next year though. It was just a little too much for me. Instead, they have an idea for a science room where we'll do small-scale experiments and we'll tie them into the lesson for that day. Sounds exciting to me! I just hope I get enough notice ahead of time to plan properly and be organized! The Lord just always places those little reminders in our lives that His grace is sufficient for us!

Picture Catch Up

Even though the blog was empty for a little while, the camera was still rolling. So now I'm catching the pics up! Hope you enjoy!

Claire and Matty have been enjoying the sunshine and the trampoline this week in the afternoons after VBS. It's also a nice way to tire them out a little bit more!



They not only jump on it, but run around in circles on it chasing each other and laughing hysterically!




This is Justin while we were working on the wallpaper border in the kitchen. We have been doing some home improvements this summer!



Another home improvement is that we are getting new carpet for the entire house! To go along with the new carpet, we decided to paint the wood paneling in the living room and the hallway before the new carpet comes! Here is how our living room walls look now!




Claire has become quite the model lately. She says, "I want a picture mommy! Cheese!!!" until you oblige.



Here's one of the two of us!



Daddy and Claire!



So Silly!



These were from our trip to Michigan. Claire had so much fun with all her cousins! Here's a picture of Noah and Megan along with Claire. They had emptied Megan's room of all the blankets and pillows and created a big mountain in the living room. Then they all 3 decided to jump, climb, and play on this mountain. It tired them out, so they covered up and rested for a while!



One night while we were there, I was able to go out for an evening with some long-time friends. Here we are while eating Cold Stone Creamery ice cream!



Maggie and Claire at the playpark having a ball! Maggie had just finished taking a class for babysitting responsibly, so it was nice to have a certified babysitter on the job for an afternoon during a picnic!



Here are all the women that were there at the picnic! Girl power!




We had a family picnic at a local park and my Great Aunt from Mississippi came up. Also, my aunt Diane from Traverse City was able to make it too! This first one is of 4 generations of women in my family. My great aunt Edna, my aunt Diane, me, and Claire.



I took my scrapbook and we noticed there was not a picture of Claire and Aunt Marni, so we made sure to get one this time!



Cousin Reece and Claire had a grand time at the playpark and decided to walk back hand in hand.



Aunt Trish and Claire also enjoyed holding hands walking to the playpark.



What good is a picnic if there isn't any watermelon???



No matter what happens when she's awake, she's always an angel while asleep!



Daddy got tickets to a Sesame Street Live performance at Ford Park and so Meemaw, Matty, Claire, and I went to watch Elmo Grow Up! It was cute, but we left at intermission. Just not something that we were all that into! Fun was still had by all and we learned that Matty wants to be a doctor when he grows up. At least that day he did.



Uncle Matt, Matty, Claire, and I went to a Texas Wildcatters game at Ford Park which was their last season here in Beaumont. I love going to the hockey games and there just aren't that many here in the South. Especially now that the Wildcatters have moved on. We still got to give them one last hurrah and hopefully sow some seeds of hockey love in Claire!



These were from early in the spring when Matty was in his tee/base ball season. We got the opportunity to go to some of his games and Claire would cheer him on. She loved to watch them play ball so much we decided to get a tee for her in the backyard. This was her first swing. She was a natural and hit it all the way across the yard on the first shot! What a girl!




She also likes to fingerpaint although this is not done very often I must admit. It's messy and she really is not into details other than mixing all the colors in her hand immediately and smearing it all on the paper in a random fashion.



This set is from Easter 2008. Claire had the cutest hat, but she didn't want to keep it on for very long. We went to church and then went to Papa and Meemaw's house for Easter Dinner. Pawpaw and Meme were there (Justin's grandparents) and Uncle Matt and Matty. After dinner, we had the official Easter Egg Hunt complete with Easter Baskets. The most memorable Easter present Claire received besides all the candy was an official Star Wars Light Sabre complete with sound! The Force would not allow any official pictures of a jedi in training!

VBS and Band-aids

I just finished reading Heaven's Wager by Ted Dekker. It was an excellent book and I am excited to find the other books in the series at the library.

Today was the first day of Vacation Bible School at Calvary. I am teaching 1st graders and within 2 hours realized that I teach high school for a reason. Kudos to all elementary teachers! The kids really were great, and I enjoyed them immensely. I just know I wouldn't make it through a full week at school with them all day and so I am glad that VBS is only 3 hours for a week! This is also the first time that Claire is going to VBS and is able to understand what is going on a little more. Her teacher was surprised when I picked her up and asked her what she learned and her response was Joshua! That's all I got out of her, but just that much is a starting point for 2 years old! We pray that the Lord continues to allow her to be open to His word and His truths and that we'll be faithful to show her them through us. Matty has also gone to VBS with us and he came home with us this afternoon to spend some time. Claire and Matty have so much fun together and it's so fun to see them play together. They jumped on the trampoline and enjoyed popsicles. Matty also got to play Super Mario Kart on the Wii and Claire just cheered him on. She kept saying, "Keep going, Matty!" and "You can do it!" She's our little "Barnabus".

One short conversation we had tonight was priceless:

Claire: "You're a monster!"

Mommy: "No, I'm not a monster, I'm your mommy!"

Claire: (grinning from ear to ear) "No, you're a monster!"

Mommy: "Please don't say that, it hurts my feelings!"

Claire: "Told on, Told on" (hold on) "I'll be right back!"

Mommy: "Where are you going?"

Claire: "To get a band-en for you" (band-aid)

Mommy: "Where are you going to put the band-aid?"

Claire: "On your feetings!"

I hope this brought a smile to your face, for it certainly brought laughter to us.