VBS...Boomerang Express

Well, it is Friday and the last day of VBS. My girls are quietly sleeping upstairs...exhausted from a week full of wonderful activities and learning more about Jesus. I should join them, but I couldn't help but want to reflect on what God did.
This year's theme was Boomerang Express...It all comes back to Jesus! It was a great theme set in the Outback with kangaroos and a cool train that lead the children to teaching others about Jesus. I taught 1 of the 5 classes for 4 year olds. They had a total of 1,200 children registered. Each day was action packed. I loved my little class. We acted out the Bible stories and had so much fun. I think though everything really sunk in when I saw Carlie performing in the musical. I had practiced all the songs with my class each day, but the last song we taught them really touched me. There Carlie was singing, "I will pray in Jesus' name, and believe things will change." It still makes me choke up remembering her little voice saying those words.
Because the reality is that for years I have prayed that God would heal Travis' back and give me back my sweet husband who I fell in love with. And you know He has! For two months now, Travis has been off all his pain medicine, and the difference has been incredible. He is gaining weight and is laughing again, more energetic, more physically and emotionally tuned into me. It is wonderful! Of course, he still has pain, but what we once thought would make him bed ridden hasn't. What he once thought he couldn't live without (the pain medicine)...HE IS!
I guess I didn't realize what a toil being on pain medicine had taken. The side effects they warn you about, but that you don't pay attention to. Anyway, it makes me grow even more and more in love with Jesus when I realize that only because of my relationship with Him was there any hope that things would change. That one day the troubles that seemed so overwhelming so all encompassing would fade. "So I'm praisin' and I'm thankin' God for His son, Jesus...because He can do anything." Out of the mouths of children....PROFOUND!

The not-so-baby pool

It always delights me how children can find enjoyment in the smallest of things. I resisted buying a baby pool, because I thought it wouldn't compare to the real pool we had back in Abilene. But after a few trips to the swimming pool on Base, I wanted something more convenient here at home. The girls took to it immediately.
They splashed and giggled for hours. Here I was so afraid they would be disappointed, and yet they were ecstatic.

Everyone needs a sister!!!

Here is my dare devil!

Not quite sure about being in the cold water, but loved the splashes that hit her.

Going one more time...

In my spare time...

When I wrote the title of this blog entry, I laughed. What spare time? :) With three girls at home for the summer, there isn't much spare/alone time to be had...but I did manage to squeeze in this project. Ever since we moved into 1010 Sycamore Place, I've hated the chandelier in the kitchen. It was one of those that would most often be found above a pool table. You know the round kind minus the beer logo. Anyway, since we are renting, I've tried not to go overboard in updating the house. But I couldn't pass up this deal. I was selling some garage sale items at my dear friend's house and decided to venture over to the other garage sale down the street. I found this chandelier for $3. Her husband is a great handy man, and told me he could install it. PERFECT!
So while I was in Chicago, Travis and Keith got together and put it up. The funniest part though, was afterwards they took our girls and Keith's two girls to McDonalds for lunch. It makes me smile thinking of Travis and Keith having their own play date.

The original lamp shades were dusty and old, so I decided to recover them. I had some left over fabric from the curtains I did by the sink. Taking the original lampshade covers and using that as my pattern...it was actually pretty easy. Then I added some fringe to make it more whimsical.

I thought the chandelier base was beautiful, even more so with the matching fabric lampshades. Now, I know I can always recover them when my decor changes.

I also found this great print at a garage sale for a $1. The original frame didn't give it justice. So I got Hobby Lobby to re matte it and re frame it. The frame is very similar to the chandelier base.
I think what I love most about both of them is that they match my favorite dish pattern, Blue Italian by Spode. For Mother's Day, Travis splurged and bought me matching tea cups and enough other dishes to entertain up to 12 guest.

There is a great little Tea Room in Lebanon that my girlfriends and I enjoy going to. Now, I can bring the tea home and have my own little party. Honestly, I try not to become too attached to material things, because there is always that chance that the movers will break it. I do hope the chandelier, picture, and dishes make it to our "Dream Home" one day, though.

Whenever we do finally settle down, even if that is 20 years from now...I hope to surround myself with things that have a history...a story to tell. Some many wonderful memories in so many different places...Colorado Springs, Wichita Falls, Abilene, and now O'Fallon.

Chicago Trip with the Girls

Several of my dear friends from Mother's Day Out decided to head up to Chicago the last weekend of May. It was wonderful!! We all piled into Kelly's Honda Odyssey and headed to the Hyatt Regency in downtown Chicago. Cathy had gotten a killer deal on some really nice rooms, just two blocks from Michigan Ave. We couldn't have been more giddy as the car pulled away from the driveway.
The drive up there was 5 hours, but it went by so fast. I think having uninterrupted conversations was my favorite part. I relished being able to "really" listen to what my girlfriends were saying. I get easily distracted at play dates. I think the trip really helped everyone to get to know each other better.
The picture below doesn't give this scene justice. It was our last night in Chicago and we were on the 97th floor of the John Hancock building. The view was AMAZING! Millions and millions of lights...absolutely stunning. It was the first time I wished my girls and Travis were there with me during the trip. I would have loved to share this moment with them.

But they weren't... so the girls and I decided to have a few drinks and share a scrumptious dessert.

Here is the whole gang that went...including two friends of Jodi and Kristen. It was an "Authetic" Mexican food place...I'm from Texas..."authetic" mexican food doesn't quite describe it right. Cathy and I just laughed having actually been to Mexico and seen the real deal.

I love this one of Gloria and me. We were laughing because Jodi's friend mentioned how nasty catfish was...as if only white-trash ate it. She was from up north. Gloria, from Georgia, whispered, "Girl, I was raised on catfish." I seconded it...and added, "She must not have tried it with tarter sauce." It was a Southern thing. Gloria kept me laughing the entire time.

Friday night I ventured away to spend some quality time with my sister and niece and nephew, Dan and Emma. We visited the Field Museum which was extremely interesting and then walked along Lake Michigan. It was a gorgeous night. I love the Chicago skyline behind us.

First Fish, First Camping Trip

For Memorial Day weekend, we decided to go camping with some friends from church. It was by a state park, but we camped at this farm house near the lake. It is neat to see all the old farms here in Illinois.

My favorite part...making smores. Travis toasted my marshmallow perfect...it oozed right off the graham cracker.

I wasn't comfortable Ellie crawling in the grass, but she didn't mind. She jumped like crazy watching all the activities around her.

Here she is enjoying her dinner, under the shade. My girlfriend Martha has a darling picture of marshmallow on Ellie's face. I'll have to post that later.

Here Carlie is taking a ride in the canoe with Debbie and her granddaughter, Skylar. Skylar goes to school with Carlie at First Baptist Academy. She is a 1st grader and was telling Carlie all about it.

We rode down to the state park to play on their playground. The road was very hilly and we went really fast...like a roller coaster. The kids were laughing like crazy. Don't worry...we only drove a few miles down the road. I'm not sure what sign Jessica is doing with her hands. She didn't know either...too funny.

Carlie caught her first fish. He is really small, but she mainly just loved the action of reeling him in. This pond was awesome. The kids didn't have to be patient...two seconds later...a fish was on the line. PERFECT! They all caught one.

We were the laughing stalk of the party. Our tent was so tiny. We will definitely upgrade now that we know how much they loved it.

It was blistering HOT at first, and Ellie got super red. Of course, she had SPF 50 on. She didn't get sunburned, but boy was she having a good time. She loved it.

Poolside at Rebecca's

Carlie's last day of school was Thursday, May 21st. I had been counting down the days until summer, and was so excited about ALL my girls being home once again. So right after school dismissed, we had our first of many adventures.
One of Carlie's precious friends, Caylin, recently moved into a beautiful home, complete with a salt water pool. So Rebecca, her mom, decided to have us all over. We ran home, grab our bathing suits, and headed over. It was so much fun, and the water felt great! I was hesitant about it being cold, but Rebecca had planned ahead and heated it. We weren't use to having to "heat" pools back in Texas. In some ways, it was bittersweet, because I knew all the wonderful memories Rebecca would be making this summer and for years to come. My mind wandered back to our home in Abilene, Texas and how Carlie had learned to swim in our pool. It seems like yesterday Whitney was encouraging her and Morgan to swim on their own, and they DID! Anytime I got hot, I knew I could just jump in the pool...no prior planning, no traveling...just JUMP IN!

These are the girls Carlie always would tell me about. The ones she would write about in her journal at school. "I luv Caylin. I luv Amanda."

As you know, Ellie has three teeth now. The fourth is breaking through. So she decided to snatch this pizza from Carlie and chew on it. She was so excited.

It looks like Mollie was a little excited to have pizza, too.

Ellie loved the water. She splashed and splashed. Mollie unfortunately was almost swimming independently last summer, but was scared to try this time. I enrolled her in swimming lessons at the YMCA to build up her confidence. It is hard having two precious little ones clinging to you in the water.

She loves the water so much. I'm sure she will get the hang of it. Carlie is going to swimming lessons, too...but to improve her stroke. Plus, she wants to go down the big slide on Base and has to swim the length of the pool to get to. Whoa...

Definitely a Top 10 Birthday Party

I don't know if I ever mentioned this before, but the parents at First Baptist Academy are AMAZING! I always thought, "I'm pretty cool. I can throw a great party!" Now, I've even been blown away! All my past efforts pale in comparison to what some dear friends have been able to pull off this year for their little ones. I think the first time I was amazed was at Conner's birthday party. Renee had made a cupcake python...4 cupcakes wide, extending, no kidding, 9 ft long. It was absolutely delicious, and completely "over the top." It went with her safari theme. Then this past Saturday, Lenna amazed me.
In the beginning, the girls got to play on this darling playground. A gentleman at their church had actually assembled this for his daughter in their backyard...for roughly $40,000. Then he decided to donate it to the church. The girls were so excited!

Then Amanda, Lenna's daughter, is an extremely gifted artist. She wanted all her friends to be able to paint their on artwork on a canvas and get as their goodie bag, their very own art set. Can you see how each girl has their own canvas with supplies. Then on another table was thousands of paints, ribbons, beads, etc. Lenna even textured the canvas to get it that artsy feel.

Here is what Carlie came up with. It proudly hangs in her room. We added the ribbon that had been tied around her own art set as an extra touch.

So the pressure is on...What should I do for Carlie's birthday? Well, we have decided to surprise the girls and get tickets to Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO. The week we booked them is actually Children's Fest, which will include even more kid-friendly activities and attractions. We have rented a 5 bedroom condo along with 3 other very special couples we knew back in Wichita Falls. Between the couples, we will have 11 children under the age of 5. :) All of our children have summer birthdays except 2. So even more fun birthday festivities will happen.

The Stevens, The Pritzs, and The Greicars are considered our lifelong friends. Each year we have done something special and all met up. The first time we went on a cruise, then Montogomery, AL, then Six Flags, and now Branson, MO.

I can't wait to see all the kids playing together. Katie, one of the moms, also has 3 children. What is awesome, though...is that Eli, her oldest, is 6 weeks older than Carlie. Then Joy is a few weeks older than Mollie, and her Ella Faith is a few weeks younger than Ellie. We didn't plan to have children so close, but what a blessing it is.