Exhaustion

Today was a lot of fun. Exhausting but fun. Here's a recap.
Woke up.
Read.
Watched "The Price Is Right"... loving Drew Carey, he's a lot nicer to the contestants.
Read some more.
Hayden came over.
Talked to Amanda.
Amanda and Leigh Ann came over.
Went to lunch with them and baby Jackson.
Headed to pick up Ansley with Amanda at her school.
Took Ansley back to my house to play with Hayden for the day.
Decided to take Ansley and Hayden to Chuck E. Cheese.
Spent hours at Chuck E. Cheese.
Mastered "Skee Ball."
Went next door to Petland.
Played with a cute puppy that loved to bite. The kids got scared.
Went through McDonald's drive through for ice cream sundaes.
Drove home.
Layed kids down at 4:30 attempting a nap.
Ansley went home.
Watched Spongebob with Hayden. I love Spongebob.
Gave Hayden a bath.
Hayden went home.
Cleaned downstairs.
Now here I am with my love D-Lo and the computer.
I love kids but they wear me out! It was fun being the cool aunt today. It was also great spending some time with good friends. Today was wonderfully tiring!

Teach In

I spent some time today in Ms. Fryfogle's fourth grade class at Vista Lakes Elementary. I had a lot of fun with the kids! Ms. Fryfogle happens to be my sister Cassie. Today was teach in day. Basically it was a day for adults to come in and talk about their job. We called it Career Day back in the 80's. I took Leigh Ann Ward with me. She was my model as I did makeup for the class. We started with natural makeup and then moved on to the really funky stuff. I kept it decent enough for lunch out later. I could have really gone dramatic but I held back a little. It was the first time she ever wore fake eyelashes. The kids told us we were pretty and had a lot of interesting questions. I like anyone who says I'm pretty. They became my new BFF's! One little boy showed me his notebook of artwork. He is very talented. I told him to keep it up. I love it when adults nurture the artistic side in children. Who knows what we are suppressing when we don't encourage our children's creativity? They are the next generation of innovators. I think our educational system is a bit too textbook and not enough hands on or creative. Kids are all expected to learn in the same way. I struggled with that when I was young. I've always felt somewhat intelligent but I was always discouraged in the manner in which I was expected to learn. That's a whole tangent I won't go into further though. I called Ms. Fryfogle Cassie a couple of times. Not very appropriate or respectful. Oh well, we grew up together... all appropriate behavior flies out the window. I loved it and always enjoy hanging out with children. They are SO crazy and fun! My sister is great with children and I know she is an amazing teacher. I hope I can go back and visit all of my new friends soon!

Don't Walk By

Please join me in prayer for Uganda.
For the children. For peace. Love demands that we make ourselves aware - let us really SEE their suffering, and then not just see and do nothing. We can pray now, and act when the opportunity arises...and it will arise.

Pray.
Educate yourself. (To learn more click HERE).
Prepare to do what you can.

Love demands it.

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." ~ Jim Elliot, Christian Martyr

Peace.

So You Think You Can Dance?

I love any show that involves dancing. Dance is such a show of emotion. I love hip hop and swing the most. It's just so fun and exciting. Tonight was the finale of "So You Think You Can Dance?" and I was so thrilled that a girl won! It's about time! The last two seasons guys have taken home the money so it was great to see the chicas representing. I really wanted Lacey to win but I loved Sabra as well... it was much deserved. I love to dance! Speaking of which, I'm so excited to be back in Powerhouse this Sunday after taking the summer off! I can't wait to sing and dance with all the kids again. I better start practicing!

"Super Verna" & the C3 Crew

Since we are all about children at C3 Church, we are thrilled that Verna Gange is now the director of our children's ministries. Verna has worked in the corporate world as well as in several schools. She is an administrative "dynamo" with a let's get it done attitude. She has a great love for children and education, so we know she will be a great asset as we pursue excellence in our ministries to children.

Along with Pastor Travis, she and her crew - Don Jacobson, Marlene Pagan, Monica Hunt and a number of hard-working volunteers - are committed to taking "Powerhouse" and "First Look" to a whole new level of excellence and fun!

The fall is going to ROCK at C3!

Thanks to Verna and her "crew" for loving God by loving kids! You are awesome and...

YOU ARE SO C3!

Bounce House Fun

We went to IPEZ today with some good friends. This place was AWESOME! It had at least 7 bounce houses. We were there for 2 hours...Emma and Ansley had a blast! This is my kind of summer fun...in the A/C!

I love watching the girls play and interact with other kids. On the way there, Ansley (3 yrs. old) asked me if there were going to be kids there that she didn't know. I told here that there probably would be lots of kids she didn't know. She said, "Yeah! I can make a new friend." About an hour into her bouncing adventures, I glanced over and saw that she had a little boy (probably 4 or 5 years old) in a headlock...not exactly my idea of "making a new friend". By the time I walked over to her, she had released her victim. I asked her to walk over to me (I had Jackson in his snugli, so I couldn't go inside the bounce house). I asked her why she was trying to hurt the little boy and she replied, "He is sceh-wing the little gulls and I didn't want him to." (Interpretation: "He is scaring the little girls...) I proceeded to explain to her why it's not okay to hurt kids just because you don't like what they're doing.

Sometimes in life, I want to put others in a proverbial headlock. God has to remind me that, just like I told Ansley, it's not okay to hurt others just because I don't like what they're doing. Matthew 5:44..."love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you..." That's a lot easier to say than do.

I have to admit that I thought what Ansley said was pretty funny. And I was proud of my little girl for standing up for herself and for her fellow female bouncers. (My friend Heather said that at least she knows that Ansley can protect Kelsea if the need ever presents itself!) Hopefully next time she finds herself in this situation, she can "turn the other cheek", but then again she's only 3. I'm 31 and haven't mastered it yet...

Quotable Quotes

So, Andrea got me noticing funny things that people say, and since I'm missing my boys (see "What Day Is It?"), I thought I would quote them:

Ethan: "Mom, we tried that "healthy nutritious" thing (meaning: lifestyle) before, and it didn't work out so well for us!"

Me: "Exactly what do you mean by 'it didn't work out...'?"

Nate: "He means it didn't taste good!"

Children definitely keep us humble (and exhausted - i.e. Leigh Ann's post today!).
Oh well, "live,love,laugh..." I always say (unless I'm grumpy like today, then I still say it only in a grumpy voice!) Peace.