Bible Teachers Workshop 2013

Last October, I was contacted by the Central Texas Bible Teacher's Workshop committee to present again this summer.  They wanted me to present Hide the Word, which is our congregation's memory work program that I helped to develop.  Since Daesha was a key creator too, I asked her to join me in the madness, I mean, FUN!!!

We started preparing in November, but the two weeks before we were working like crazy to get it all done.  By early-May we had made it to 3rd grade and we discovered there was not much already created, so we created 3rd grade.  Then the same story for 4th grade and 5th grade.  We asked Debra E. to help us with 4th and 5th grades since we don't know much about teaching that age of kids.  By early July those 3 grade levels were done and we could finally focus on the presentation aspect.

The big day finally arrived and we had everything all set up!  These are the samples we showed for age 2-second grade.  

 These are the samples we showed for grades 3-5.

 And here's the whole room!

 At one point, Daesha and I actually said we were tired of talking!!! Jason never thought he would hear me say those words!  That week before was gruelling... but we still had fun!

Our classes were extremely well received.  We even had several ladies in tears of conviction about the renewed importance of memory work.  We've also been asked by about 3 dozen ladies for more samples and CDs.  It was an very encouraging experience and humbing to share this with others. We have a group of very dedicated and smart teachers were dreamed it all up.  It is my prayer that dozens of kids will grow closer to God through his Word!

Happy 2nd Birthday Austin!

We were in DFW for Austin's 2nd birthday!  His party was dinosaur and the kids got to swim.  It was lots of fun for all!!  This is the best cousin photo of the day...

 And here's the birthday boy with his family!

We love you Austin and are glad we got to celebrate with you!!

Rangers Game!!

On July 5th, we got to go to our first Rangers game at the Ballpark at Arlington.  It was a beautiful park!!!

 All three of my boys were BEYOND excited!!!

 It was special to share this fun experience with Mark and Martha!

Jacob could not find his Rangers hat before we left home, so he was "forced" to get a new one!  Sooo, Rylan "needed" something new too.  He picked a Nolan Ryan jersey t-shirt.  And of course, Jason "needed" a new shirt too, so he got a Nolan Ryan shirt too.  Then about the 6th inning as Rylan and Jason were wearing their new Ryan shirts, Jacob looked up at me with those blue eyes and adorable dimples and said, "Momma, I sure wouldn't mind a Ryan shirt too..."  So, $25 later, we had our third Ryan shirt! :)

 This was our view from our seats.  They were GREAT seats!!! Good view, cool breeze, in the shade... it was a great night for baseball!

 The boys are SOOO serious during games... especially while the Rangers were batting.

 We all went crazy when Nelson Cruz hit a Grand Slam!!! (And we got a coupon from Denney's for a free Grand Slam!)

 Jacob also got a team set of trading cards... which he promptly opened and looked at over and over and over again!

 Rylan's treat was cotton candy!  That kids has a sweet tooth!

 After the Rangers beat the Astro's 10-5, the Friday night firework show began.  It was a GREAT show!!!

On the way home, the kids crashed and we all slept until 10:15 the next morning!!! That is what I call a perfect night at the Ballpark!

Happy 4th of July!

This year we went up to DFW for the weekend of the 4th of July.  On the 4th, we went to Hawaiian Falls water park.  It is very close to Jason's parents house and we had been wanting to go.  And I guess everyone else thought that the park would be crowded and they stayed home, because it was practically empty!!!  It was so nice to get wet, have fun and not wait in lines!!

 When we first arrived, we "rode" the lazy river a few times.  Then Jason, the boys and I hit the tube rides.  This was the boys first time to ride the tubes rides and they LOVED them!!! The orange and blue one blacked out 2 times and that was super awesome!  We rode a 4 person tube (that you had to get on a scale IN FRONT OF EVERYONE so they could weigh your party to make sure you were not too light or not too heavy).  It was SOOOOO fun!  I was the person going backwards and truly screamed my head off, which all 3 boys thought was hilarious!  We went super high and it was awesome!  Another of my favorite things was watching all the pre-teens and making up romance stories!  (Yes, I'm a dork!)

 We brought sandwiches for lunch and ate a snack too!  It was a great day full of water-y fun!!!

Once we got back to the house, Justin and Evan were there for a cook-out for dinner.  Jason grilled steaks and corn.  We also had salad and fruit and apple crisp for dessert.  It was a yummy meal!

 As Martha and I cleaned up, the kids played football in the backyard.  Those three sure do have LOUD fun together!!!

 Then we went over to Grapevine to watch the fireworks... only our spot STUNK!  You could barely see the tips of the firework blooms over the tall trees.  Grrrrrrr - talk about disappointed kids!

VBS 2013 - The Armor of God

As you can tell from my lack of blogging, this has been a BUSY spring!  With me trying to balance working, being a room mom for 2 classes, teaching kids at church, speaking at Ladies Day at church and plan VBS, I was slightly CRazY!!!  All that is done now and hopefully some day I will blog about some of our spring, but for now, I"m jumping in with last week... VBS!!!

Pat, Deena and I started in January and it was a LOT of work, but it turned out OH SO GREAT!!!  These are just the highlights... this is the boys class!  Notice the castle backdrop with the Bible verse... that took about 2 night of Cricut cutting and 2 days of gluing to complete... but isn't it great?!??!?!  Mrs. Beverly and Mrs. Lucy were there Guides and they love both of them to pieces!!!

 At the Thursday night Open House, we had a photo booth.  The teen actors were there most of the night, but near the end the local Flamingo's HAD to get in on the frame fun!  Holly was in charge of VBS photography, Robyn was a teacher, Heather was in charge of toddlers and I was one of the ring leaders.  It was SUCH a blessing to have the greatest friends helping on this week!

 Speaking of help... GPop and Granna!!!  Jason has been out of town a LOT with all the tornados, explosions and fires.  The week before VBS and the week of VBS, GPop and Granna had the boys FAR longer than I did!  I could not have made it without them loving on my sweet boys!

 The ring leaders... we make a really great team, if I do say so myself!!!

 Jason made it home Wednesday afternoon, so he got to be in our the last day of fun and the cleaning up!  But this photo Holly took is one of my all-time faves of my 3 fave boys!

 Here's Jacob walking between classes and obviously LOVING it!!!

 Our teen actors!  Our youth minister has a gift for writing skits.  He created the BEST skits ever and our teens did a FANTASTIC job!!! The kids were not only mesmerized, they learned deep Biblical truths too!

 Each day, the kids made a piece or two of the armor of God.  On Thursday before they left for the day, the teachers "dressed" them in the full armor of God.  Aren't they ADORABLE?!?!?!?

 Here's the whole family on the stage on THursday afternoon.  That castle was even more breathtaking in real life!  I love these people!!!

 One of the skits... the kids all thought Scammer was hilarious!

 In Robyn's class on the Sword of the Spirit day, she had this cool pop the balloon game with a sword pen.  On the balloon was a lie and the truth was on the inside.  It was SOOOOO fun (you you got to keep your pen!!)

 Rylan in his helmet of salvation!

 This year we added a PE rotation - HUGE hit!!! Here is my speed demon Rylan!

 Another skit...

 The puppet show in Robyn's room...

 The last skit...

 Most of the kids - this was taken at the Open House.  About 90 of our 125 kids came back.  It was wonderful to see them sing their songs for the parents.

VBS was a well worth labor of love... now to start thinking about 2014...