Spring Cleaning

I just copied all my old posts at my old blog place. I've preserved them in a word document so I don't loose them. (Don't un-used blogs get deleted eventually?) I've been meaning to do that for months! It feels good to get that done.

And yes, I am now ready to tackle the house spring cleaning! (No new projects at church for me for a long while.) I started on the outside gardens earlier this week; we've had some beautiful weather. But it is currently raining, so that's done for now. Scout and Emma are settled with a book. PinkOne has a girlfriend here that spent the night. They are deciding which movie that want to watch while they knit. I've been battling laryngitis and it has really wiped me out. Think I'll go take a nap!

Dance Competition--3/28

With makeup on and everything loaded into the car, PinkOne and I headed about an hour away on Sunday morning, early. (According to PinkOne WAY. TOO. EARLY. That's how much this one loves to dance!) We were there right on schedule--8am. She had 3 dances this time around and each of them did well. Not as well as she would have liked, but I can see such growth in PinkOne. The next competition is the first of May. Lots of time for improvement.

We were home by 5:30pm--just in time for my birthday dinner. Happy Birthday, to Me.

Easter Wrap Up

The Family Easter Experience was a blast! The kids sang beautifully and then all the families really participated in the Walk through Jesus' Life. Most of them even did the activities in order! That is amazing to me. The families were really into it; so cool to see.

I was so blessed by two awesome friends that came by and spent the day helping set up the scenes and activities. The teens were amazing. They all really got int their roles and interacted with the families. We heard more compliments for them and their behavior. That was great. But I admit that the best part for me was hearing them all laughing together and playing along. They all knew their parts and were able to discuss it. They had a good time while serving--PRICELESS.

The Carpenter's Shop was a big hit. So was the opportunity to try and carry the crossbar like Jesus.

Jesus and his disciples at the Last Supper and the Empty Tomb:

The kids all enjoyed the crafts and games and we ran out of food just on time. All in all a great time. The Youth Minister bribed/rewarded the teens with pizza and many of them stayed to help tear everything down and put stuff away. We were home by 4pm--amazing! And much appreciated since PinkOne had Dance Competition the next day.

Countdown Begins

Four days and counting until the Family Easter Event.

Today we started setting up the stage for the short children's program. PinkOne was my helper while Scout stayed home with Emma. Scout also got a 2 hour nap; which was good since he is fighting a nasty cold.

All eggs are stuffed and half the goodie bags are done. I've been digging around the storage closets at church to find stuff to use as props, costumes, etc. for the different settings. I was so excited yesterday when I found a crown of thorns! (Crossed that off the ToDo list.) And today I scored on a kiddie pool--for the fishers of men room--and goodies for setting up the Last Supper.

The list is still pretty long, but it is all coming together. Praise the Lord!

Coming into the final stretch of the church project. I'm just taking a quick break. I've decided to do a "Journey through the life of Jesus". The families will collect 12 eggs from different stations/activities. Each egg will have a memory jogger inside to go along with the story. (I have that written and am waiting for approval for printing.) I started with a baby in egg 1 for when Jesus was born, and the last egg is empty--because he wasn't in the tomb, but alive! Once again we have no idea how many will come to this event--it's never been done before. The Fall Fest numbers scare me! But God is good and everything will come together. I'm planning for 200 families. Off to stuff nails in egg 11!

Happy Birthday, PinkOne

We took PinkOne for an ultrasound of her heart last week--she is experiencing shortness of breath when exercising--and we heard her heartbeat on the monitor. It was just like when I was pregnant with her--that awesome sound of your baby's heartbeat. Only now my baby is turning 12.

We still aren't sure what's going on with her breathing. They did a battery of tests and prescribed an inhaler. Most of her test results have been normal and first-glance at her ultrasound pictures seemed fine too. The true test of the inhaler will come this Saturday when PinkOne has Hip-Hop practice. This is her extra competition group and they work really hard. I'm praying that the inhaler does the job, although I'd love for the symptoms to just go away and make the inhaler unnecessary.

But tomorrow we celebrate the blessing of PinkOne with lunch out as a family, cake with Trader Joe's "ice cream" and presents. I'm sure there will be some dancing too. This child can't move without dancing, especially when she's happy.

Man, I can't believe I haven't updated since 2009. LOL Things have been busy around here--of course.

Emma is growing like a weed. Yesterday she weighed in at 13.8 pounds when we took her to be spayed. We are supposed to keep her quiet for 7-10 days. I looked at the tech and said, "she's part border collie!" and the tech just laughed. RIGHT! I stayed up with Emma last night and it was a rough one. She is feeling much better today though and I see that our "stay quiet" is already turning into a challenge. Scout was on puppy duty most of the day and especially while I caught a nap.

Scout has taken up snowboarding--and loves it. He attended the Youth Retreat last weekend and had a blast. Some of our homeschool friends from church go skiing/snowboarding locally every other Tuesday. He loves that time with friends too.

Easter is fast approaching, and I've taken on the job of a "Family Easter Experience" at church. Yep, I am certifiable! We are creating an Easter Walk of Jesus' life and adding in the "egg hunt" through our own version of Resurrection Eggs. I need to come up with a name for the dozen eggs; each family will get an empty carton when they arrive and fill the eggs in as they do the different activities. Then each kid will get a goodie bag filled with candy and -- goodies.

So between the upcoming events and the schooling, scouting, 4-H & dance we are doing, life is pretty busy--but I wouldn't change a thing!