Friday, August 28, 2009

Where did this week go??

Wow, with this new schedule the days are just flying by! I'm still trying to get used to getting up an ho ur earlier than I had been. It's been good, I've been getting alot more done, but I have been so tired at the end of the day! Monday I ate supper and the next thing I knew I was waking up at nine to go up to bed and I had no problem getting back to sleep and slept through the night!
The schedule is changing again as there were more let go from K's job and one of my daycare Dads was let go (Little C, Slo-Mo, and Miss A's Dad). Another friend of ours was let go as well. I will be done by about 4 at the latest now. Otherwise it will be noon on Tuesdays and Thursdays, one on Fridays, and three on Mondays and Wednesdays if I don't have L, Mr. T, and Tater. I don't know what will happen with the other three, their Dad was on the phone with "headhunters" all day yesterday and there has been talk about a move too. I have a few projects going on right now that I am not complaining about the extra time, but it is a hit to the pocketbook and sad to think about them moving. My daycare families are like family to us.
I am excited today...last night we recorded two radio messages and tonight we have music practice tonight!! We haven't had music practice in a LONG TIME!!! I also got some powerpoint to do after a month of not having any! And there was an extra worksheet to type!
We have a birthday party for Tater on Saturday and an Awana meeting on Sunday. It should be a fun filled weekend!
I hope you all have a great weekend too!

Friday, August 21, 2009

Too cute not to share!

I go around the table and give each of the kids a chance to pray before we eat lunch. Today Tater prayed "Thank you for my food, The End!"

Rainy day

Yesterday afternoon was alot of fun! C had ALOT of corn! I husked and she cut it off the cobs and mixed it with half and half (I think) and butter and baked it for an hour and then put it into bags to keep in the freezer. We had some good talks while we were working on that! PM and C are such an encouragement to me, such great friends, I am so thankful for them!
It's a rainy day today and I have three boys to keep busy! We've watched a little tv and now they are coloring. We will probably bring out the playdough at some point, and the big floor puzzles, maybe even a board game or two.
I'm still adjusting to the new schedule and getting up an hour earlier for R, the next door neighbor's little guy. We'll see how long I have to keep up this schedule, his Mom has a meeting about her financial aid to go back to school this afternoon. If it doesn't work out I don't think she will be able to keep going.
Tonight is meet the team night at school. I don't know how much "fun" that's going to be if it keeps raining. Hopefully they have a plan B!

Thursday, August 20, 2009

First day of school!

Today is the first day of school! The daycare kids have a variety of feelings about this. L is quite happy and excited, T doesn't seem to care either way, and right now it really doesn't mean much to Tater. Miss C is the oldest sister in the other family and she has been panicked, she goes to Jr High this year and it is a whole new situation with no desk to leave her books in and going to a different room for each class. It will also be much bigger for her, she has gone to one of the outlying schools and their class sizes are much smaller, but they all come in to the school in town for Jr High and High School. Mr. C seems to be quite excited about it, I-man, I'm not sure about, and Miss A can't wait for her preschool to start. Things may slow down a bit work wise for me, we are still trying to work out a schedule or two. I have also picked up one more daycare kiddo for now....R from next door. His Mom is going back to school if she can get the financial aid. The problem is that her school starts today and she won't find out about her financial aid for sure until tomorrow after school.
I have R until about noon and Miss A is coming for an hour while Mom takes I-man to his school to meet the teacher for about an hour. After they leave I am going to go and hang out with C for a while this afternoon. They had another friend drop off some sweet corn and she asked if I would help her out taking care of it. I had yesterday off and sat around the house and did my Sunday School lesson, billing, laundry, made up some birthday and anniversary cards, and counted down the time until prayer meeting, so I was very happy to have the invitation to leave the house and spend time with one of my best friends!
Well enough babbeling for now, hope you all have a great day!
Hugs!

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Elmo Live!


















The kids had a great time! The boys Mom and I enjoyed last year's story a little better lol, but the kids were really into it and that's all that matters! And as a bonus they all slept on the hour drive home!!











Family Camp Weekend pictures!

The kids swam in the lake Saturday afternoon.



Fire at the campground Saturday evening
Watching everyone get ready and heading over to the lake for the baptism.

Four people were baptised!



Time to eat!
Setting up the bounce house for the kids
Enjoying one another's company







This is C. He is the "Grandpa" of the church. We all love him and look out for him.

Big kids having fun in the bounce house! I have to say I took my turn too! I think there may be a picture of me floating around out there too lol!
































Friday, August 14, 2009

Catching up

I have started to blog at least four times in the last couple of days and something has always happened and I never get the post finished!
I have had the boys, who always keep me busy! Tonight Tater, his Mom, some friends, and I are going to see Elmo for Tater's birthday. We went last year for his brother's birthday and he liked it, except for when the characters started coming off the stage and into the crowd, then he tried to hide in his Mom's shoulder!
I edited a bunch of the Family Camp weekend pictures and went and got some copies made. 145 pictures cost me about $40! But, I made a bunch of copies for people who didn't have their cameras and wanted pictures. K found a trifold display board at Wal Mart and I put a bunch of pictures on there and put it up at church so those that couldn't be there can see some of what went on.
The other night K and I went out and watched some of the meteor shower. We saw quite a few! It was alot of fun, I've never seen anything like that and we had alot of fun just sitting there and talking!
Well, I need to get back to working on a welcome home banner for PM and C's son who is coming home soon from basic training, but later this afternoon or tomorrow I will be back to share some more pictures!
Hugs!

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

A bit of catch up

I am still working on editing pictures from our camp weekend. I took 235 pictures!! I am working on making a poster of different scenes from the weekend because there were quite a few who were not able to make it. K also took some video we are going to make some copies of...one of the couples that were baptised on Sunday were discipled by the wife of a missionary couple from our church who have since gone back to Brazil. No one thought that the husband would set foot in our church, let accept Christ, and go on to be baptised. Now that they both have, we can't wait to share the pictures and video with our missionary couple!
As soon as I get the pictures edited and order the ones I need I will share some here with you. I also have a couple of new projects to keep me going on my days off and another friend wants to get together one of these days too. I am excited because I haven't seen her in months because of her job!
Friday I have a date with Tater! His birthday is coming up. A big 3 year old! His Mom bought tickets for her, Tater, me, and one of his brothers to see Elmo! His brother is now wanting to back out, so we are trying to find someone closer to Tater's age for him to go with. I don't think he cares so much about that though...he keeps telling me Elmo birthday!!
Well, I was able to go and get another Zone Therapy treatment and it has relaxed me quite a bit and I hear my pillow calling.
Big hugs!

Saturday, August 08, 2009

A short blog and the recipes I promised

Summer weather has arrived! It is 85 and humid today! We may hit 90 for the second time this summer!
We slept in this morning, and around 10:30 we got a call from PM and C asking if we had breakfast yet, and if not we should come over to their place. We headed over after K took the dogs out and I got some of the strawberry rhubarb bars on a plate to take over. We worked on a couple of projects while we were there and we came back home around one to finish up some things around the house before we go out to the campground. I'm going to take my camera along tonight, and tomorrow, so hopefully I will have some pictures to share with you next week.

Here are the recipes that I promised;

Coke Jello

2-3oz packages strawberry jello
dissolve in 1 and a half cups hot water
add 1 can Coke

Stir in 1 can cherry pie filling
chill til set
top with Cool Whip



Chocolate Eclaire Dessert
1lb whole graham crackers
2 pkg French vanilla instant pudding
Cool Whip

Topping: 1 oz unsweetened chocolate
2T. cornstarch
3T. milk
3T melted butter or margarine
1-1 and a half C powdered sugar
1 T. vanilla


Layer whole graham crackers in the bottom of a 9x13 dish. Mix Cool Whip into the prepared pudding; spread half of this mixture on top of graham crackers. Place another layer of graham crackers on top of pudding. Cover with remaining pudding mixture and another layer of graham crackers. Refrigerate at least 2 hours. Spread topping over graham crackers. Refrigerate overnight.



Strawberry Rhubarb bars

2 cups thinly sliced ruhubarb
1 and a half cups sugar
2TBL cornstarch
1/4 cup water
1tsp. vanillla
3 TBL dry strawberry gelatin
1 and a half cups sliced strawberries

In saucepan combine rhubarb, sugar, cornstarch, and water. Cook over medium heat until mixture is thickened. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla, gelatin, and strawberries. Let cool, meanwhile combine:

1 and a half cups oatmeal
1 cup brown sugar
1 and a half cups flour
1 tsp soda
1 cup softened butter

Mix all above ingredients until well blended and forms a crumb texture. Press 3/4 of mixture into a 9 x 13 pan. Spoon rhubarb mixture over crust and spread evenly. Sprinkle remaining crumbs over filling and bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Friday, August 07, 2009

Day two

Day two of the four day weekend started out with rain. It rained for most of the morning and has sprinkled and misted off and on this afternoon. I slept in a bit and cleaned the house. I also did my baking and made Coke Jello for the potlucks Saturday and Sunday.
I don't think that we are going to go out to the campground tonight. I may make another batch of the strawberry rhubarb bars for us to keep at home and it sounds like I have some more typing coming too.
We didn't go out to the campground at all, we ended up making an impromptu trip to Wal Mart. We didn't need much, it was just fun to go out together.
Well, I'm headed off to bed, tomorrow I will try to remember to share the recipes that I used!

Thursday, August 06, 2009

And the four day weekend begins!!!

Today is day one of my four day weekend! I almost ended up working today, but the boys Grandma has them instead. I didn't know if they were coming for sure or not, so I got up at the normal time and did my normal routine of shower and chores and things and it's a good thing I did. I got a call from PM and I went in to the church and made some copies and did some other preparations for the outdoor service on Sunday and made some copies for PM for his premarital councelling. That took care of most of the morning! I was glad to do it...I was wondering what I was going to do with myself with no Sunday School and no PowerPoint this week and a four day weekend!
I've been doing more laundry since I got home and I'm getting ready to work on the Hymn Book indexes that I have been slowly but surely plugging away at. I found out that I have another picture project to work on too! PM and C's son is graduating this year and his aunt is going to do a scrapbook for him and C told me that almost all of the pictures she has of J over the last three years are ones that I have taken. So, I'm going to go through my pictures and get copies made of the good ones and send them to the aunt so she can make the scrapbook. Again, a much needed project because I only work two days next week! And no PowerPoint again that week either!
I'm sure I will have lots of pictures to share after this weekend. I have heard that some are camping tonight for the family camp weekend, so we might head out to the campground (it's only a couple miles from my house) and see what everyone is up to tonight. We'll probably go and spend some time out there Friday and Saturday too. I don't know if we will camp or not yet, K may have to work on Saturday and camping and getting up at 4:30 in the morning just don't work well together for him!

Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Blog Hop~Encouragement

This week's blog hop is Encouragement. This picture represents encouragement to me in many different ways. This is a picture of the front of my church, so of course the first aspect is Spiritual encouragement. I can be down and discouraged and the teaching I get from our Pastor here always lifts me up and encourages me to be a better person in Christ. The second aspect of encouragement from here is family. My family is really not close, even though we live in the same town as my parents we don't see them that often..., and K's family is about ten hours away and there is a bit of trouble in relationships there as well, but there are a few in this church who have risen to the occasion, I guess you would say and become family to us. Their family is also far away and we have become a very close knit family of our own. When there are troubles and problems we go to them before our own blood related family....there are things that my "adopted" family knows about me that my blood relations do not. My "adopted" family just "gets me". I don't feel like the black sheep around them, I feel like I really do fit in and I have a place in the world! I feel that I am loved and I am told that I am loved! And of course following family there is the encouragement of friendship. I honestly have not had alot of friends, but in this church I have many. In our recent big storm I had people who called to make sure we were ok, I have people who stop and give me hugs and handshakes and smiles when I walk through the doors. I am so thankful for this church and all who are in it. This is one of my greatest sources of encouragement!

MckLinky Blog Hop

Monday, August 03, 2009

Another day off...

Not much going on around here today. Today is another day off. So far I'm working on laundry again and I've almost got that done. I've also painted my nails and caught up on some emails and things. This week I work Tuesday and Wednesday and then not until Monday and Friday of next week. This weekend is the church's family camp out weekend so it should be a good weekend to have a long weekend, but hopefully I can find a few more things to do!!
Oh well if nothing else I'll catch up on movie watching and I can always use the stitching/knitting time!

Sunday, August 02, 2009

Wonderful weekend!

What a beautiful Sunday! A nice sunny day, about 80 degrees with just a little breeze!
We enjoyed a nice Sunday service, Pastor D was preaching and he spoke a little about the Tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant to give a bit of context to the passage that he was preaching from in I Samuel 4 and it was especially exciting to me because that is what I am reading about in Exodus right now. He helped me to understand a couple of things that I was having a bit of difficulty with and I learned some new facts and he didn't even know it! I emailed him a little thank you earlier this afternoon and explained to him why I appreciated his message even more.

After church I went with B to the Art Show in the park just off the highway and held and turned pages of music for her as she played the piano for a little atmosphere music for a half an hour. They paid her ten dollars and she split it with me. That was kind, I just enjoyed doing it and listening to her play!

Otherwise I have spent a nice quiet afternoon at home doing some more Bible reading. I made it up through chapter 26 in Exodus and needed a bit of a break so I went back to my reading in Matthew 19. I am really enjoying my new study Bible and all the notes it has! The only problem is that it's taking me a lot longer to read as I am reading the notes and jotting notes of interest to me, and words that I need to look up in my notebook! I am getting a better understanding of some verses though, so it is worth it!

Now, I'll leave you with a few pictures from our weekend from my cell phone:
Walking home from the park on Friday! Miss A and Mr. T holding hands....she calls Mr. T and his brothers "her boys"!
Tonic Sol-Fa an acapella group that we went to see Saturday night in a neighboring town. Some friends had extra tickets and I had everything caught up so we went and we really enjoyed it! They have been seen on the Today show and are up for some Emmys! Their harmonies were great and we were especially impressed with the bass, he could get so low! It really sounded almost like they had some background music, but you could tell it was their voices...they did some really cool things. They were alot of fun too, they picked on one guy in the front in a Hawaiian shirt for quite a bit of the show and the guy really fed into it too. He even bought the guys bottles of water while they were on stage! It was a great family show! We bought one cd and the guys were kind enough to autograph it afterwards!




Saturday, August 01, 2009

Quiet weekend?!

My unplanned day off on Thursday was very productive. I finally caught up with quite a few things, and as I thought the only thing that I was not able to check off my list of things to do was to watch The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe, which is not a big deal, I will have plenty of time to watch it. Looking at my schedule I only work Tuesday and Wednesday of next week.
My day was not without drama though, I had just put the last load of laundry in and was sitting down to eat something at about 7:30 that night when I got a phone call asking what was going on at church and why there were firetrucks out there. I had no clue and took off driving like a mad woman....SO thankful that I didn't get a ticket!! I was able to speak to a police officer who told me that there was a gas leak at a neighboring business and they were just parked in the parking lot. Whew!
I ended up with the whole crew for a while yesterday. They were all good and we spent the morning at the park letting them run off some energy.
We went out for supper with some friends as a repayment for some work that K had done on their computer and went out for root beer and vanilla ice cream after we had hung out and caught up for a while. We decided to go on a drive instead of heading right home afterwards and we were both so tired we went to bed before 10pm! I even slept through until 8:30 this morning!!
K had to work so I cleaned house and did a load of laundry while I waited for him to get home. He finally got home around one and we've just been hanging around the house since doing some blog and Bible reading. We are planning on heading out to a neighboring town to a concert tonight, we may head out a little earlier if things go well, the town is having a big celebration this weekend and there is alot going on around town to check out.
Hope you all are having a great weekend!!