Monday, June 20, 2011
Random
You know you are getting old when you go for your annual check up and you get a requistion for your FIRST mammogram...wow, that was a weird feeling!
Molly has been paci free for 3 weeks now and is doing just fine...she sleeps through the night and only cries going to bed, which I'm not thinking is really missing the paci...it is just the fact of her not wanting to be put to bed. She screams for like 5-10 minutes and then falls asleep. She was anti-bed before we took the paci away though...going through a phase I guess.
VBS was awesome but SOOOO exhausting...I'm playing catch up now with laundry and house stuff...and school. We have NO other plans for the rest of the summer so I plan to do spontaneous play dates and work on serving others...intentional acts of service (notice I didn't say random)...because truly it is the fact that Jesus is in my heart and in an intentional way I want us to act like he would and serve others...this week, I'm building up the nerve and gumption to go across the street and speak to my neighbor...she is different than me, a little strange, single mom, older kids, kind of unkept, just different...and I KNOW in my heart of hearts that Jesus wants me to reach out to her..I think we will make a lasagna and take it to them and see where it goes. I say intentional too because this is hard for me, it is a struggle within, it is awkward...just being honest.
Father's Day was a little anti-climatic...John worked, we went to church as usual, worked in the nursery, and my Dad took us to Outback...yep, I'm lame...Daddy paid for it! I was thinking about this and I think the card I gave him said this. He always takes care of us! He wouldn't even think of having me and the kids pay for his and my mom's lunch...I just don't think he thinks about things like that...I'm still his girl and he wants to do for me and it means a lot considering that I wouldn't most likely go to Outback on a Sunday for lunch to eat steak...we would have gone home and eaten sandwiches. I did make him and John cookies and I did buy him dessert the night before at Fuzions and introduce him to the world of natural frozen yogurt...and we got him a book by the General that I heard speak at the homeschool conference and a $25 gift certificate to Shulas (it was my Dad's bday too)...that I bought for $3 on restaurant.com...hopefully after taking Dave Ramsey's course at church, he can appreciate my cheapness....
I decided that for John's Father's Day present we would try our best to serve him...his love language is acts of service and I know a few things have been on his mind but with him helping so much with VBS, he hasn't gotten around to much yard stuff. He had cut down a bunch of limbs a couple of weekends ago and they were all still laying on the groud in the yard. So the kids and I cut up the limbs so that we could make stacks out by the rode. It took about 2 hours in the hot sun in the middle of the afternoon but we did it! We made 7 huge stacks of tree limbs, sticks, and such and cleaned up the yard. The cold water in the hose felt so good! We also cleaned out the van and vacuumed it and wiped the interior down. We made him his favorite cookies and a nice dinner. He ended up coming out in the yard and helping but said that it was a treasure having us out there helping...because he new it was a service and not something we were doing out of pleasure but just pleasure in serving him!
I've had on more than one occasion the past week, someone tell me how wonderful my kids are..even Molly! It really makes my heart happy!
The greatest fear that my mom has against computers and why she will NOT do any kind of automated bill pay or online banking came true for us this last week...there was a computer GLITCH within our bank...nationwide (we have a rather large bank that has branches across the US)....we got paid and John Paid all our monthly bills on Friday...and EVERY single banking customer that uses bill pay with the bank that paid bills on Friday had every single bill doubled...so for instance our mortgage went out TWICE and the utilities went out TWICE and so on...it was a nightmare and John freaked when he saw the balance and went to get donuts and the card was frozen, etc. He waited on hold Saturday morning for 45 minutes and finally reached someone that said it as Bank Wide! They had charged all kind of fees and frozen cards...it was crazy and the computer/banking people were going crazy trying to get it all fixed! Wouldn't you have loved to be the one at that bank that got the CALL that morning...YIKES! By Saturday night they had returned all money and fees but it was a mess...So to say the least, my mother will never use bill pay!
Molly has been paci free for 3 weeks now and is doing just fine...she sleeps through the night and only cries going to bed, which I'm not thinking is really missing the paci...it is just the fact of her not wanting to be put to bed. She screams for like 5-10 minutes and then falls asleep. She was anti-bed before we took the paci away though...going through a phase I guess.
VBS was awesome but SOOOO exhausting...I'm playing catch up now with laundry and house stuff...and school. We have NO other plans for the rest of the summer so I plan to do spontaneous play dates and work on serving others...intentional acts of service (notice I didn't say random)...because truly it is the fact that Jesus is in my heart and in an intentional way I want us to act like he would and serve others...this week, I'm building up the nerve and gumption to go across the street and speak to my neighbor...she is different than me, a little strange, single mom, older kids, kind of unkept, just different...and I KNOW in my heart of hearts that Jesus wants me to reach out to her..I think we will make a lasagna and take it to them and see where it goes. I say intentional too because this is hard for me, it is a struggle within, it is awkward...just being honest.
Father's Day was a little anti-climatic...John worked, we went to church as usual, worked in the nursery, and my Dad took us to Outback...yep, I'm lame...Daddy paid for it! I was thinking about this and I think the card I gave him said this. He always takes care of us! He wouldn't even think of having me and the kids pay for his and my mom's lunch...I just don't think he thinks about things like that...I'm still his girl and he wants to do for me and it means a lot considering that I wouldn't most likely go to Outback on a Sunday for lunch to eat steak...we would have gone home and eaten sandwiches. I did make him and John cookies and I did buy him dessert the night before at Fuzions and introduce him to the world of natural frozen yogurt...and we got him a book by the General that I heard speak at the homeschool conference and a $25 gift certificate to Shulas (it was my Dad's bday too)...that I bought for $3 on restaurant.com...hopefully after taking Dave Ramsey's course at church, he can appreciate my cheapness....
I decided that for John's Father's Day present we would try our best to serve him...his love language is acts of service and I know a few things have been on his mind but with him helping so much with VBS, he hasn't gotten around to much yard stuff. He had cut down a bunch of limbs a couple of weekends ago and they were all still laying on the groud in the yard. So the kids and I cut up the limbs so that we could make stacks out by the rode. It took about 2 hours in the hot sun in the middle of the afternoon but we did it! We made 7 huge stacks of tree limbs, sticks, and such and cleaned up the yard. The cold water in the hose felt so good! We also cleaned out the van and vacuumed it and wiped the interior down. We made him his favorite cookies and a nice dinner. He ended up coming out in the yard and helping but said that it was a treasure having us out there helping...because he new it was a service and not something we were doing out of pleasure but just pleasure in serving him!
I've had on more than one occasion the past week, someone tell me how wonderful my kids are..even Molly! It really makes my heart happy!
The greatest fear that my mom has against computers and why she will NOT do any kind of automated bill pay or online banking came true for us this last week...there was a computer GLITCH within our bank...nationwide (we have a rather large bank that has branches across the US)....we got paid and John Paid all our monthly bills on Friday...and EVERY single banking customer that uses bill pay with the bank that paid bills on Friday had every single bill doubled...so for instance our mortgage went out TWICE and the utilities went out TWICE and so on...it was a nightmare and John freaked when he saw the balance and went to get donuts and the card was frozen, etc. He waited on hold Saturday morning for 45 minutes and finally reached someone that said it as Bank Wide! They had charged all kind of fees and frozen cards...it was crazy and the computer/banking people were going crazy trying to get it all fixed! Wouldn't you have loved to be the one at that bank that got the CALL that morning...YIKES! By Saturday night they had returned all money and fees but it was a mess...So to say the least, my mother will never use bill pay!
Friday, June 17, 2011
The Big Apple Adventure
John and I truly truly truly LOVE VBS week. For the past 4 years, John has taken the entire week off if he didn't already have it off...one of the things that drew us to BFBC was the joy, cooperation, excitement, creativeness, eagerness that the church body, pastors, and leaders put into the kids this week...and all year long..
I will NEVER forget the first contact I had with our Pastor..it was VBS 2006 and Emily was 4. We were visiting this church and decided to try VBS. It was POURING down rain at pickup and when I drove up, I saw Pastor Mark, soaking wet, in the driveway putting kids in their cars...I seriously was so impressed that he cared enough to be out there number 1 and that he was being such a servant...that attitude and connectivenss continues to this day. Servanthood is his heart..he is very compassionate and cares about all the tiny details like remembering people's names, making sure he gets to meet each child during the week, having fun, and showing support. The staff at BFBC is never allowed to take vacation during VBS week...they ALL from the top down are running around decorating, doing drop off, pick up, scooping ice cream, picking up trash, etc. Today I saw Pastor Mark going down the hallway taking decor down from the teacher's classes and putting trash in trash bags as he went so the teachers didn't have to do it all alone...this church truly chips in and blesses over 300 kids with an awesome week in learning about God's love and the free gift of salvation. I think this year was one of the best years yet...the entire VBS volunteer staff seemed to be so excited to help and work together...all the teachers were happy and enjoyed the kids..the crafts were awesome and Ms. Karen that led recreation was the first to volunteer for VBS...who wants to do rec anyways?!?!?! It seemed like the church really just came together with such enthusiasm...which is a good feeling when we've had so many problems over the past couple of years...we still have problems (no church is perfect) but I know for a fact that everyone at BFBC has heart and a love for the body and spreading God's love! I have tons of pictures and some video and I'm posting it mostly so that I can remember. It won't mean much to those that don't know these people but it meant a lot to me! The pastors once again couldn't help but make a fool of themselves...they LOVE acting goofy for the kids and boy did they put on a show this year! I absolutely love the fact that Pastor Eddie can put on gold pants and sing MC Hammer's "Pray" one day and then turn around and wear a suit to direct the choir the next day...The boys and girls at VBS brought in $1,250.00 for missions during the week and filled 3 shopping carts full of groceries for the food pantry...they learned that they can have Faith in Jesus, love others, Admit, Believe, and Confess in Jesus Christ, and then go and make disciples by sharing God's love with others. We had some great Bible Study in our 3rd grade class. It is the oldest grade John and I have ever taught and it was neat to see that it clicked with them, they could read and study Bible verses that we gave them, and really understand the mission...Cool enough, this year was the largest amount of visitors we have had at VBS. Apparently the majority of the 300 students that attended were NOT members of our church. I had a child in my class that had never ever been to a church function or service...it was truly his first experience with the church and Christians! So now for the onslaught on pictures...forgive me, I had a great time!
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
I will NEVER forget the first contact I had with our Pastor..it was VBS 2006 and Emily was 4. We were visiting this church and decided to try VBS. It was POURING down rain at pickup and when I drove up, I saw Pastor Mark, soaking wet, in the driveway putting kids in their cars...I seriously was so impressed that he cared enough to be out there number 1 and that he was being such a servant...that attitude and connectivenss continues to this day. Servanthood is his heart..he is very compassionate and cares about all the tiny details like remembering people's names, making sure he gets to meet each child during the week, having fun, and showing support. The staff at BFBC is never allowed to take vacation during VBS week...they ALL from the top down are running around decorating, doing drop off, pick up, scooping ice cream, picking up trash, etc. Today I saw Pastor Mark going down the hallway taking decor down from the teacher's classes and putting trash in trash bags as he went so the teachers didn't have to do it all alone...this church truly chips in and blesses over 300 kids with an awesome week in learning about God's love and the free gift of salvation. I think this year was one of the best years yet...the entire VBS volunteer staff seemed to be so excited to help and work together...all the teachers were happy and enjoyed the kids..the crafts were awesome and Ms. Karen that led recreation was the first to volunteer for VBS...who wants to do rec anyways?!?!?! It seemed like the church really just came together with such enthusiasm...which is a good feeling when we've had so many problems over the past couple of years...we still have problems (no church is perfect) but I know for a fact that everyone at BFBC has heart and a love for the body and spreading God's love! I have tons of pictures and some video and I'm posting it mostly so that I can remember. It won't mean much to those that don't know these people but it meant a lot to me! The pastors once again couldn't help but make a fool of themselves...they LOVE acting goofy for the kids and boy did they put on a show this year! I absolutely love the fact that Pastor Eddie can put on gold pants and sing MC Hammer's "Pray" one day and then turn around and wear a suit to direct the choir the next day...The boys and girls at VBS brought in $1,250.00 for missions during the week and filled 3 shopping carts full of groceries for the food pantry...they learned that they can have Faith in Jesus, love others, Admit, Believe, and Confess in Jesus Christ, and then go and make disciples by sharing God's love with others. We had some great Bible Study in our 3rd grade class. It is the oldest grade John and I have ever taught and it was neat to see that it clicked with them, they could read and study Bible verses that we gave them, and really understand the mission...Cool enough, this year was the largest amount of visitors we have had at VBS. Apparently the majority of the 300 students that attended were NOT members of our church. I had a child in my class that had never ever been to a church function or service...it was truly his first experience with the church and Christians! So now for the onslaught on pictures...forgive me, I had a great time!
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Lyrics
Lyrics to "Pray" by Kendall Payne: The song that our friend, worship leader, Mike Gelderman sang "prayed" for us this morning on his last Sunday...This is his prayerful goodbye to his worship family...and I loved it...
I will pray for you now, for you have been my faithful friends
While the road we walk is difficult indeed.
I could not ask for more than what you've already been
Only that you would say these prayers for me.
May your heart break enough that compassion enters in.
May your strength all be spent upon the weak.
All the castles and crowns you build and place upon your head,
May they all fall, come crashing down around your feet.
May you find every step to be harder than the last
So your character grows greater every stride.
May your company be of human insignificance.
May your weakness be your only source of pride.
What you do unto others may it all be done to you.
May you meet the One who made us
And see Him smile when life is through.
May your blessings be many but not what you hoped they'd be
And when you look upon the broken
May mercy show you what you could not see.
May you never be sure of any plans you desire
But you'd learn to trust the plan He has for you.
May your passions be tried and tested in the holy fire.
May you fight with all your life for what is true.
I have prayed for you now all my dear and faithful friends.
But what I wish is more than I could ever speak.
As the way wanders on I'll long to see you once again.
Until then, would you pray these prayers for me?
Oh, that you would pray for me.
I will pray for you now, for you have been my faithful friends
While the road we walk is difficult indeed.
I could not ask for more than what you've already been
Only that you would say these prayers for me.
May your heart break enough that compassion enters in.
May your strength all be spent upon the weak.
All the castles and crowns you build and place upon your head,
May they all fall, come crashing down around your feet.
May you find every step to be harder than the last
So your character grows greater every stride.
May your company be of human insignificance.
May your weakness be your only source of pride.
What you do unto others may it all be done to you.
May you meet the One who made us
And see Him smile when life is through.
May your blessings be many but not what you hoped they'd be
And when you look upon the broken
May mercy show you what you could not see.
May you never be sure of any plans you desire
But you'd learn to trust the plan He has for you.
May your passions be tried and tested in the holy fire.
May you fight with all your life for what is true.
I have prayed for you now all my dear and faithful friends.
But what I wish is more than I could ever speak.
As the way wanders on I'll long to see you once again.
Until then, would you pray these prayers for me?
Oh, that you would pray for me.
Friday, June 10, 2011
HA! The Jolie-Pitts are home schooling....
Most likely for many different reasons than us or the friends we have but it made me laugh and smile...not that I care...it's just funny..
http://www.educationnews.org/ednews_today/157564.html
http://www.educationnews.org/ednews_today/157564.html
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Infatuated with cows...sort of like her grandma?????
We talk about cows a lot around here....the chick-fil-a cow, is the cow happy, is the cow nice, the cow in our books, etc. Well,our Nee Naw is equally infatuated with cows as much as Molly....she has taught her a song that I remember her teaching me when I was little....Here is Molly's rendition...or at least as much as she can remember!
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Blueberry Pickin' and Wacissa River
Today was our annual blueberry pickin' day (I guess I can say annual since it is our second time)! We drove to Wacissa to Blueberry Springs where the berries were ripe and ready for pickin'. Several other families met us there and Nee Naw came with us...it was a party! Seriously, even though it was hot, buggy, sticky, and work...we had a blast! The kids all did awesome, socialized and picked berries! Even the littlest ones did great! When we drove up, Molly was standing by a tree waiting on us and I hear John say, "Molly get away!"...I looked over and there was a really long pine snake slithering right beside her...WOW! Welcome to the hot Florida wildlife! After picking 2 1/2 gallons of berries we drove right down the road to the Wacissa Springs Landing. John was determined to jump in off the rope swing and he was the FIRST one in! The kids all followed. John was the #1 Daddy for everyone and made sure all the kids stayed safe and followed the few instructions he gave! I tell you, this is one of the reasons that I fell in love with this man....I love how he loves having fun and he will help anyone enjoy LIFE along with him....he helped all the kids, got in when he needed to and played like he was 13 again! I LOVE THIS ABOUT HIM! It makes me smile! He's not afraid to get cold, wet, dirty, look silly, look stupid, act crazy, get his clothes wet, take risks or be messy! He just enjoys life and I love watching him teach our kids to do the same! While swinging off the rope swing, a huge owl flew right above everyone...he was beautiful! The spring water was really cold and clear...
After cooling off, we drove to Dog It All and met Pop Pop for a slaw dog and fried apple pie...I was nervous about a restaurant that serves only hot dogs but it was a really cute little old fashioned joint...perfect after the morning we had had! It was a great summer day!
After cooling off, we drove to Dog It All and met Pop Pop for a slaw dog and fried apple pie...I was nervous about a restaurant that serves only hot dogs but it was a really cute little old fashioned joint...perfect after the morning we had had! It was a great summer day!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)