Last week: VBS! (Busy! cont'd)

Continued from previous post...

Last week: VBS.  Enough said, right?

Okay, I'll tell you about it...  This was another 5 days of being out of the house early all week.  I had four other kids that I took this year, two of whom I had to stop and collect, so I really needed to be on time each day (plus I had a job to do!).

I did not teach a Special Friends class this year.  We did it all as inclusion (which had its strengths and weaknesses) so I just coordinated the thirteen children who needed shadows.  Inclusion takes a lot of manpower!  At the last minute we had eight practicum students from a local college join us, so we had more than enough help.  They were great help (though not very experienced), plus there are now eight people who belong to eight different churches who have now seen the need for and blessing of disability ministry in the church!  I do have to say though, it ended up a bit of a bummer for me as I had to administrate instead of be a shadow myself.  I just like being hands on with these kids.  It is life-giving to me.  The last day I thought I was going to get to be a buddy and I had just told my good friend how glad I was that we had just the right number.  Well, I got to enjoy it for twenty minutes. One more helper arrived.  Bummer!!


Aside from the great helpers, we saw other areas in which we've grown this year: the children all over VBS were very accepting of our unique crowd!  We made lots of noise, had spit and slobber, spewing food tubes, stinky diapers on third graders, and spilled drinks.  But the kids just took us right in stride!  The best part?  So did the adults!  We were blessed to be included with a great teacher who did not only tolerate us, but loved us and included us.  God is doing big things...

Back to the schedule:
I know it sounds silly to remark up on being out of the house early, but this is not our strength!  I was so thankful the Lord blessed us with TEN days of being up, ready and out ON TIME!  The best part?  We were cheerful every day!!!  Not once did we have to rush out the door while nagging or arguing and rushing.  I have also really enjoyed being up early and while it will take a lot of work and discipline, I'd like to keep it this way.  I have worked really hard at maintaining bedtime for the summer, and so far we're doing great.  (We totally lost ground last year and it took us until October to recover our bedtime schedule. I am bound and determined to stick with a routine this year!)  Today we were up and done with breakfast by 8:45, whereas we usually start around 9:00.  I know we will reap benefits if we can keep it up.

So that's been our last three weeks!  Good times...

Busy! Three and two weeks ago...

Oh my goodness!  Life has been busy around here lately!

Three weeks ago: We've been trying to catch up on playdates, so there were three or four in that week, plus a surprise visit from my aunt, Marcy, et al on their way to the Wild West!.  At the end of that week I went on a retreat with our Women's Council.  I had such a great time!  We had planning meetings, shopped, did makeovers, laughed our heads off, got treated to The Melting Pot (a de-licious fondue restaurant), laughed some more, shopped some more and had sweet fellowship while building deeper relationships with some sisters in Christ.  Did I mention I had a great time?

Two weeks ago: Last week Jacob had Upward basketball camp at church, which had us out the door by 8:10 every morning.  Mattie and I stayed near church and ran errands, had meetings (while she had playdates), and helped prepare for VBS.

Jacob seemed to really make some improvement during camp!  We had a misunderstanding, so he didn't really mean to say he wanted to go to basketball camp, rather he wanted to play basketball during the season.  But by the time I realized it, he already had a spot.  And honestly, I felt like he needed the experience, and not because I think he's going to be a star basketball player.  Settings like basketball camp are hard for Jacob for several reasons: anxiety about what to expect, lots of visual and auditory stimulation (especially in a gym!), significant fear of failure in front of peers, being told what to do by a lot of authority figures other than myself, Robert, or other familiar people, and having a different snack than everyone else five days in a row.  Unfortunately in his protected little world of home schooling, he has few opportunities to grow in a lot of these areas, except of course, the food one.  Not to mention the fact that he was pretty overwhelmed with the fast paced basketball games this winter, so he really needs the focused skill building time if he wants to play again!

I was really proud of him!  He hung in there against his desire.  By the third day he had something positive to report (to say he's a glass half empty kind of kid would be the understatement of the year) and by the end of the week he was pleased with his performance.  The coach said skill-wise, Jacob did well and definitely made progress!  Success!

And last week was VBS... I'll do that in another post as this is getting really long!

We love you, Daddy!

Happy Father's Day to Robert!

The kids were really excited to celebrate Father's Day this year, and I was proud of myself for actually completing two creative projects!  Robert is a great father and worthy of celebration.  :)

Superheroes are a part of every day life here right now, so I used this idea for a Superhero Survival Kit.  The kids were so excited about this one and loved helping with it.  I was pretty impressed both of them kept a secret!

Here are some pics we took dressed up in all things Daddy.  I've wanted to do this in years past, and knew that Jacob's almost old enough that it wouldn't be cute anymore.  I made a framed collage for him to put on his dresser, and the kids had photo frames they made at Lowe's to fill.

Silliness in Robert's big white undershirts.

White button ups.

Robert's hobby gear.

Trying really hard not to smile in the hats he wears every day.

We love you, Daddy!  You're the best!

Eleven years ago today...

Eleven years ago today, I married my best friend.  

 Our first nine years were relatively uneventful regarding disagreements, but the last two years have brought a good dose of challenges.  Moving, extended family situations, depression and other health issues in addition to our every day life have taxed us and stretched our relationship a bit more than I would have liked!  But those waves that have been made create a bond that was stronger than before we had to hold tight together.  It was a good day to celebrate what we have after all is said and done.  

I was so excited when we got married.  I can still remember how fun it was to have "boy things" in my closet as we settled in together... his camo coat, dirty socks, guns and huge boots!  I am endeared to the play in the dirt kind of boys, and Robert was definitely that!  I said then that getting married was the beginning of a lifelong slumber party with my best friend.  And while the last two years brought a set of challenges that weren't so slumber party-ish, we're back to the fun slumber party again.  And I'm enjoying the laughter and rest!

We are so much more comfortable in our own skin now after eleven years, the "skin" that we've found together.  We're brave enough to make waves, and we're learning to help each other swim.  We're trusting enough to try and look for each other's heart on issues.  We're in deep enough to be real and appreciate it from one another.  And thankfully, we can handle knowing that we've blown it and are usually willing to get through to the other side, though sometimes that takes a while!  (We still have a long way to go!)

God is good to hang in there with us.  This gift of marriage still blows me away when I think about it, really.  A relationship like we have with no. one. else. on the planet!  How cool is that?

And if it was my choice all over again?  I'd choose the same man to have as my other half.  I can't wait to see how much better it gets.

Two New Bibles

Jacob and I have both gotten new Bibles recently, and we love them!

For Jacob's birthday I got him The Picture Bible, Deluxe Edition. 

It is the story of the Bible written as a graphic novel, or a comic book.  Yes, it is different than actual Bible verses, but I believe there is a time and a place for giving a child a Bible he enjoys reading!  (He also has the NIrV for direct scripture learning.)  He sits in church and reads through pages and pages of this one, where his other one was visually overwhelming for his maturity level.  And I've found him in his room reading through it because he likes it.  That's good enough for me!

And I recently got the Holman Illustrated Study Bible.

I've been reading out of my New American Standard study Bible for 15 years and just needed a change.  Because I'm a very visual person, I needed it to look different when I read it so it would jump out at me.  I was sold when I saw the relevant photographs, charts, maps and time lines they have throughout the books (not all in one place in the back).  And because Beth Moore uses this one in her Bible studies, and I've liked how it reads I went for it.  I'm so happy I went with it!  I have enjoyed reading it again and it's new to me in ways I needed it to be.  That sounds totally seeker sensitive to describe it that way, but that's the truth!  When I'm reading familiar passages now they catch my eye and focus because they look new and are worded differently, as opposed to my eyes overlooking them because I've looked at the same underlining and notes for fifteen years.  The best part... I got exactly what I wanted for less than ten dollars at a discount store.  :)