a FULL day of preschool...

18 three-year-olds in one room, 2 teachers...pure chaos...ok, not complete chaos, but at times I thought it was close. It was a lot of fun, and I'm sure tomorrow will be much more relaxed. Out of 18 we only had one crier...and he was fine after his mom was only gone for about 2 minutes. My mind went blank and I could remember only two of my transition activities and NO "goodbye" songs. I couldn't even remember the prayer the rest of the preschool says before snack. All I could remember was the prayer we say at home (God is Great, God is good...) So, that's what we said. Hopefully tomorrow I will remember the prayer, the transition activities/songs, and everything else!
My co-teacher seemed much more prepared today, and I was very impressed with all her skills! She's a very good teacher (which I always knew!) and I'm so thankful God has given me the opportunity to work with her. After a morning with 18 3yos who have never been in school before, to an afternoon with 12 4yos who have a year and a day of school under their belt....the afternoon felt like a vacation! :o) We had so much fun with them! And I know the 3's will get it soon...it's all so new for them. Sitting and listening, doing what you are told instead of whatever you want. Putting things away when you are done with them instead of just going somewhere else....they will get it!
One tough thing was Bethany. My 4 yo class was out on the playground when her class came to join us. We do plan it that way so that all the kids can play together for a while, then my class goes inside so the other class can have the playground to themselves for a while. Well, Bethany latched onto me, and didn't want to let go. She just wanted ME! BROKE MY HEART!! I had to leave her with her teacher (two women I trust completely, they are both great teachers whom Bethany knows and loves), as I walked my class back to the building I could hear her crying "I want MOMMY!" I'm crying now just thinking about it...ok, so I'm tired, but it really did break my heart! We only had about 15 minutes left of school, so we weren't apart for long, but still. She came running to my room as soon as the classes were dismissed and wrapped her arms and legs around me and wouldn't let go. We had to go pick up Abbie and Andrew from their school and she wanted me to carry her. She burried her head in my shoulder and pretended to be asleep so she wouldn't have to talk to anyone. She's really having a tough time sharing me with all the other kids. And now, the poor baby isn't feeling well. I think she might have a UTI (she's going to kill me someday for sharing this on my blog!). She says her bottom hurts and when she was going potty, she stopped herself because it hurt so bad. She's been doing so great with the night potty training, so well that she can now wear panties to bed...could she have made herself sick by trying to hold her urine? I don't know but Hubby is picking up some cranberry juice on his way home from a meeting tonight. Hopefully she'll be better in the morning. I even had her wear a pull-up to bed tonight just so she wouldn't have to worry about anything, and she didn't argue at all about it. Please pray for my Baby...she's got it so rough right now.
I'm really questioning right now if I've made a mistake going back to work. What have I done to her?

First Day is DONE!

First of all...THANK YOU for saying a prayer for me! I really appreciate the support!

The first day with the 4 year olds is done. We had fun. We played a game about the rules. We colored. We practiced writing our names. We played outside. We read stories. We sang songs. We had fun...oh, I think I said that already.
It was a bit awkward for me. I'm used to being in charge of a classroom. That is how it was in the past, I was in charge and had a teacher aide. But this year I am co-teaching with another lady. We have not taught together before. So...since we don't know each other's teaching style, she is teaching the 4's and I'm teaching the 3's for the first month or so, and then we will re-evaluate how we want to co-teach. Well, being the aide, I wasn't always sure what I was supposed to do, where my boundaries were, etc. The kids need to see me not as an aide, but also as their teacher. It was nice because I got to sit back and watch the kids instead of teaching...got to watch them in action. I also got to see the way my partner does things. We are very different, but not in a bad way. She's more of the grandma-type....loving, yet strict, rigid, yet soft (does that make any sense?) I do a lot more 'transition' activities than she did. I ask a lot more questions than she did. It will be interesting to see how this year develops. My co-teacher has been teaching for 20 years and is very good at what she does, though she does not have any formal training except for the professional development required by the state. I have a college degree in early childhood education, but only 4 years of teaching experience. Like I said, it should be an interesting year. We will ALL learn a lot!!
Tomorrow the 3's come in for the first day. It should be a whole new ballgame! These little ones will probably have a hard time. For many of them this is the first time they will be away from mom. It will be scary. Please say a prayer for not only me, but also for all these precious little ones.
Well, it's 6:02, and I think I need to figure out what is for supper...I'm thinking sloppy-joes, cantaloupe and cucumbers (the custodians at preschool have a wonderful garden, and they share their bounty!! What a blessing!) . Maybe a little ice cream for dessert!!!
Night all-

BUTTERFLIES!!!

I am SO NERVOUS!!! Preschool starts in about 30 minutes. I AM NERVOUS!!! Have I told you I'm nervous? I have the major butterflies going. I think I may loose the granola bar I just ate for lunch. WHY am I so nervous???? I HAVE NO IDEA!!!! I love teaching! I love telling kiddos about Jesus and what He has done for us. I love singing songs with them. But yet, I'm nervous.
Please say a prayer for me today!

ARRRGGHHH!!

Can you say FRUSTRATED???? I am FRUSTRATED! We alwys buy backpacks for our kids when they go on clearance, for the next year. You know, after school starts they sell all the ones they have left for more than 50% off??? Well, that is when we buy them. We put them away for the NEXT school year. We actually found Abbie's pink one over 1 1/2 years ago on clearance for only $5. It is SO cute! I love it....I almost stole it and used it for myself. Now I'm glad I didn't. Second day of school...and the zipper is broken. One of the zipper pieces is completely broken off, and the other one catches ALOT and won't do it's job wihtout a lot of coaxing. I guess my only consolation is that it wasn't a lot of money, but STILL! I guess we're going back pack shopping again this weekend!

First Day of School

OK...QUICK post! I've got about 10 minutes before my next OPEN house for preschool (nope, someone showed up, it's all over now...just getting ready for the first day, better hit "Post" before I forget!!!)...I wanted to share the pictures of my BABIES on their first day of school! Aren't they just ADORABLE!!??? And not the least bit ornery!

Ooff Da, Oy Ve, Good Grief What a Week!

I seem to have used "What a week" a few times, so I thought I'd add a few extra words to help describe my week.
It all started on Monday...I met the other teachers at preschool and we spent the next NINE hours arranging, rearranging, and arranging again our rooms. We then spent the rest of the week changing things again, and getting a TON of other things ready. We laminated about a million things (by hand with clear contact paper...but the BIG things we paid the elementary school to laminate with their machine), which means we also cut out about a MILLION things. We went through our supplies, made many items to help organize our classes. Wow, seems like we were there FOREVER this week.
Hubby stayed home with the kids on Monday so I could focus on my work, but the rest of the week the kiddos were with me. They did really well. One of the other teachers brought her girls, and our 5 kids played well together and occupied each other.
We all agreed that we would take Monday off to be with our older kiddos who start school on Tuesday. But then while they are at school on Tuesday we are having a power-planning session. We are going to try to map out the year. Basic themes (letter of the week, Bible story or book of the week) and do more detailed planning for the first 6 weeks. After this major planning party, we should be able to do the rest of the detailed planning pretty easily. After we have the basic planning done, then I can get to work on the journal that the kiddos will be working on daily to help them learn to love to write, color, and basically learn to express themselves and be creative. We have our planning session on Tuesday and open houses on Wed & Thurs. School starts next Monday.
For those of you in the education field, we are using two curriculum this year: Handwriting Without Tears and ZooPhonics. Both have a lot of good aspects about them. I'm excited to learn more about them...and they always say you learn best by teaching to others!
Our current student count is 34 three-year-olds and 28 fours. The 3's classes are going to be challenging, but we will survive...no, we will THRIVE! We are going to have so much fun!

This has been a very fun week, and I am totally exhausted. Besides just being so busy, I've also had difficulty sleeping. I guess I'm having another bout of insomnia...I guess this school thing is stressing me out more than I thought. So, I went out this afternoon and bought some sleeping pills. I battle insomnia every once in a while. When I was pregnant with Bethany I had it really bad. My midwife told me it was safe to take unisom while pregnant and it totally worked. So, this is what I got today, I am praying it works its magic again! I go to sleep fine, but wake up between 2 & 3 and am awake until usually 5 or 5:30! Next week when the kids are back in school I will have to get up at 5:15 to get my walk in...so I NEED that sleep between 2 & 5!
So...here's to a GOOD night's sleep!

Sorry it took me so long!

And I don't even have the pictures I wanted to share! I've got a few pictures, but not an "after" picture...just some "in progress pictures." So....without further adu....

Before:

During (Abbie)

After (under my chair)

Yes, we got our HAIR cut! Mine is short (just below my shoulders) and layered. Abbie's is a chin-length bob. Andrew also got his hair cut, pretty short! And, Bethany felt a little left out, and needed a bang trim anyway, so I trimmed her up...and then took 2 inches off her back! Her hair is almost to her shoulders, too! We got A LOT lighter (from hair!) in this house yesterday. Abbie and I got about 8 inches cut off, each. We're going to save a TON on conditioner! So far, I LOVE my cut!! Sorry this is such a bad picture, but I just took it myself...hopefully you can see a bit of the hair...I'll try to get a better picture tomorrow! :o)

Guess what I did today!!!

Go ahead. GUESS!!! You'll never guess!!! But, I'm too tired to download a picture, and I forgot to take another picture, so you'll have to come back tomorrow to find out WHAT I DID TODAY!!!! (Hint....Bethany, Andrew, and Abbigail also did this....and Hubby did it last week). (Hint #2...I LOVE IT!!!)
See you tomorrow...I'll spill the beans then!
Nighty Night all!

Ice cream for dinner!

How could I forget...we had ice cream for dinner tonight! Well, that was the idea anyway. We were all tired, and played outside with the other kids until 7:30. The kids said they were hungry, but not TOO hungry. I wasn't too hungry either...but figured I should feed the kids before sending them to bed. I've heard of other moms surprising their kids by serving ice cream for dinner, so I thought I'd try it! I asked Abbie what she thought about ice cream for dinner. She didn't like the idea, she said it wasn't healthy. Well, no, but for once it's ok. Nope, nothing doing. She said she needed something healthy first, like a hot dog....(SNORT! Her idea of healthy is a hot dog, what have I done to this poor kid!???) Finally we decided that if we made it a banana split, it would pass for "healthy" ice cream dinner. Bethany didn't worry about the health factor and asked for extra whipped topping on hers! Andrew, who was in the shower while I was getting the girls their 'dinner' agreed with Abbie that ice cream was not a proper dinner, so he had a pb&j. I steamed an ear of corn or two, and then had my ice cream!!!
Refusing ice cream for dinner??? What is wrong with these kids??? :o)

WHAT A WEEK!!!

Has it really been a week since I've posted? Are you sure? I can't remember that many days! I've been a very busy little worker bee this week. Does my house look wonderful? No, a bit better, but not much! I've been VERY busy at preschool. I have nearly all of my paperwork done (well, lots left, but SO much done)...I have furniture moved around. I've called parents. I mailed 70(ish) letters to students. I've organized our enrollment papers...again and again!
I've also spent a lot of time outside this week with the kids. BOTH of my older kids learned how to ride their bikes without training wheels this week. If you will remember, during spring break I ran behind their bikes ALL week, with a little improvement, but not a lot. We have new neighbors (I've mentioned this before)...but they have completely changed the dynamics of our street! We love and miss Terry & Glenda (our old neighbors), but this is fun. We now have three families with kids the same age (we all have a 6 year old and a 4 year old, one family has twins 11 months, one has a 1 year old, and we have Abbie, 8 yrs). NONE of us can go outside without having ALL the kids rush out! The kids and I were sitting down to dinner one evening (Hubby was working late) and we heard the bikes start. I went to see who was playing, and told my kids who was out there. Then the questions "Are they using training wheels?" No...they are ALL (except the 4 yr olds) on 2 wheels. "Mom, don't tell them I can't ride!" After supper the other kids were inside so we went out and were going to try it again. We didn't even make it to the church parking lot (across the street from us, where we ride bikes) before we had 2 other families joining us! Andrew took off right away, never looked back! Abbigail tried a few times, but then it started raining, so we all went to one house so the kids could play and the moms could talk (boy, I love having these moms next door!). The next day Abbie wanted to try again and she took off!
The next day I took the kids swimming and Bethany decided she was going to try something new, she now can go down the slides by herself, but I still catch her! All my babies are growing up so quick!
We enrolled in elementary school. Andrew has the same teacher as Abbigail had in first grade. She is a nice lady, and it's a lot of fun. Abbigail has a man for a teacher. She's a little nervous, but everyone says he's a lot of fun. (BTW, Abbigail's teacher and his wife had a baby today...or at least that was the plan, can't wait to hear about it!). While we were there enrolling the kids, I spotted Mrs. Wonderful (Abbie's teacher from last year who HAD cancer, she's now in remission). I pointed to her and said "Look who's here." to Abbie. She looked and looked, it took her a little bit before she recognized her (she has REALLY short hair, just growing back from the chemo)...and then took off running to give her a BIG hug. Boy it was good to see her! She's doing wonderfully! Also while we were there, Bethany decided that she has been at preschool enough, and is ready for Kindergarten. Poor girl has been in the preschool a lot lately, so I'm REALLY trying to cut down!
Also, I spent the afternoon (at least a portion of one) on the phone making our Walt Disney World reservations! We are all set to go...plane tickets, check! Room reservations, CHECK! Park tickets, CHECK! Meal reservations, CHECK! Meal plan paid for, CHECK! YIPPEE!!! IT's really happening! Come on January!!!
Well...that's been our week. Oh, wait...Andrew has also been attending wrestling camp the past two days....as if we didn't have enough going on!

Hope you are all having a great week...try to take a breath, and I will too! Next week I'll try to get the camera out once or twice and have some pics!

Mom and Dad's Anniversary Party

Despite the sadness I still feel, we had a great time this evening celebrating 40 years of marriage for my parents. They rented a building (Thank GOODNESS for air conditioning! It was over 100 degrees!!) and we had lots of good food and fun with so many people! Nearly all of my Wichita family was there. There were only two cousins who were missing, and my two aunts (Marilyn, I hope your elbow is healing and not tooo painful. Patty, you should have skipped your camping trip, it's too hot out there anyway! ;o)) and their husbands. One cousin had a good excuse, she had a baby this morning! (Congratulations Kym and Jesse, I can't wait to see pictures of Layne!) The other one, I'm not sure where he was...but anyway, it was wonderful to see everyone else. Lots of Mom and Dad's friends came to show their love and support. I tried to get a good picture of Mom and Dad, but he couldn't stop talking long enough to smile!

One of my cousins who I haven't seen in probably at least 3 years was there, but it felt like we had just seen each other last week. She has a blog, and it's been so wonderful to keep up on each other's lives even though we don't see each other or even talk on the phone...it was SOOO good to see you Loni! Let's not let another 3 years go by!! I want to see that little girl in your tummy when she's still a baby! :o)

As we were chatting with my cousins, we realized that all of us girl cousins were there (except Kym, but we figured we would let it slide) so we wanted a picture. As we got all together, Loni and I started looking around. So, why are 4 of them so tall and blond, and then there are Loni and I, not so tall and absolutely NOT blond? Well...looking at the picture, some of the blonds are more blond than others! :o) Go figure...Oh, well...we'll love them anyway, won't we??!! :o) The tall blond with short hair directly behind me just found out that she is expecting her second child in the spring, Loni is expecting her 3rd little girl in November, and Kym had a baby today...The family just keeps growing and growing! My grandparents have 12 grandchildren and 16 great-grands (with two more coming soon!).

There was this fun heart/love confetti on the tables, and the kids (ok, Dad {MY DAD} started it) would lick the confetti and stick it to their faces. They kept telling us that they were their tattoos! How funny!

Here is Bethany with her two youngest cousins...they just LOVE being together! They have SO much fun! (Oh, look, now Dad is smiling!)

I just wanted to put a few of these pictures up so everyone can see my awesome family.

Prayers Please

A terrible tragedy has occurred. I'm still in shock a day later. One of my students (he was in Bethany's preschool class last year) and his family were in a car accident on Wednesday evening. Another car hit a deer and that deer flew through their windshield and killed the dad. The deer went entirely though their truck, in the windshield and out the back window. Lisa (the mom) was able to grab the steering wheel and bring the truck to a stop. The family was on their way home from a baby shower. The mom and Jaren were admitted to the hospital for observation (all three, Mom, Jaren, and the unborn baby are all doing fine physically) overnight, but have been released. I cannot even imagine loosing my husband. Just the thought of being left alone, and alone to raise two children...I can't breath.
One thing that freaks me out is that I went on a trip with the girl scouts on Wednesday. Most of the girls were in a small bus, but another leader and I followed in her van so our little ones could be in their car seats. We went on that exact stretch of road less than 30 minutes before the accident occurred. And yes, we saw lots of deer. Oh, My, Goodness...I'm getting goosebumps just thinking about what could have happened, and what did happen. It was a freak accident. Nothing could have been done to prevent it, but WHY? I'm not angry at God, I'm just so sad. I can't imagine what Lisa and Jaren are going through right now.
The funeral has been scheduled for Saturday morning, and I can't even be there. We are in Wichita to celebrate my parent's 40th anniversary, the party is tonight. We could leave after the party and drive at night, getting home early Sat. morning, but I just don't see the need. Lisa is going to need support for a long time, not just tomorrow. I am praying for her nearly constantly...

Anyway, just asking for prayers for this dear woman and child. Such a wonderful family. Pray for strength, comfort, peace...
Go hug your babies, and your husband. Make sure they know you love them. Don't let them doubt it for a moment.

My life is pretty great... :o)

First of all, thank you all for the prayers and encouraging words. I really do appreciate it. One of my blogging buddies (yes, you, J!) helped me to remember that it's not my life that has problems, but mainly my attitude. When I'm stressed and tired, I don't react well to much of anything. Especially when I'm tired (what can I say, I am my mother's daughter! :o)) (LOVE YOU, MOM!)

The state inspection of my preschool was today and it went really well. I was even complimented. The lady thought I had done a wonderful job of gathering the documentation I needed as well as making charts from scratch that I should have been able to fill in from her charts that she forgot to give me. Anyway, it is over and it went well. We can start preschool!
I've gotten a lot done in the way of stuff to get ready for school, too. I had to refill my printer twice on Saturday because I was printing so much stuff out. My co-teacher and I have decided that at least for the first month, she will teach the 4 year old class and I will teach the 3 year old class. This way we can learn each other's style of teaching, see if either of us is "better" at one aspect of teaching than the others, etc. I offered to teach the 4's since they are a 5 days/week program and the 3's are only 3 days/week...I didn't want her to have the heavier load, but she said she LOVES teaching 4's and would prefer that, FINE BY ME! So, at least for now we have a game plan. We still need to gather all 4 teachers for a planning session, that will come...
I think I'm going to take tomorrow almost entirely off from school to get this house worked on. It has completely fallen apart with me being so consumed by school stuff and that is one thing that stresses me out! I'm no neat freak (by ANY stretch of the imagination), but when the house is THIS chaotic I can't think strait. I can't cook, I don't even know where to start in the cleaning. So, tonight I got the kids back on their chores from the school year. Abbie vacuumed (and then I 'helped' finish it up) and I shampooed the dining room carpets. Whoever thought it would be a good idea to put carpet in a dining room needs to be SLAPPED! Tomorrow I'm going to shampoo the living room. Plus, I plan on finding my kitchen counters, and that floor could use a GOOD scrubbing!

If you are the praying kind (and I know almost all of my blog readers are!) please keep my aunt Marilyn in your prayers. She fell this past weekend and broke her elbow. OUCH! It's a clean break, but she's in a cast from fingers to shoulder. I can only imagine how painful and INCONVENIENT that must be. Her typing skills have certainly taken a turn for the worse (;o)) Love ya M!

We will be seeing family this weekend because my parents are celebrating 40 years of wedded bliss! I'm so blessed to have such wonderful examples of what a marriage is and can be. Are they perfect? No. Do they fight? Well, yea. But do they love each other more than anything. YES! And that is what a marriage is made of. Love, Patience, Forgiveness...Thank you Mom and Dad for being that kind of example to me. I love you guys!!

Well, my favorite Hubby just walked in the door with a DQ Blizz*rd for me! YUMMY! I'd better go eat it before it melts.
Thanks again for all your love and encouragement. Today is a new day, and tomorrow is yet another one!

Blogging Break

I know I haven't been blogging much, and I'm sorry. I'm in a stressed, tired, frustrated place right now and I just can't put the extra energy into writing something "happy" for my blog. I'm going to try to get myself out of this 'funk' and when I do, I'll be back.
Love to you all...Andie

Happy Birthday to ME!

It's my birthday....no big deal. I'm getting older by the minute, hubby keeps reminding me! :) Andrew surprised me this morning by bringing me breakfast...in the bathroom! I was showered and dressed, but not finished getting ready. I opened the bathroom door and there was Andrew with a pop-tart (I normally don't buy these!) and a glass of milk. He even toasted the pop-tart, poured the milk (and didn't spill!). How sweet is that?!!?!
Abbie and I spent the morning at 4-H judging for our county fair. This is her first year in 4-H. She entered two ceramic pieces and some pictures in photography. She received a purple (best) and a blue (next to best) in ceramics. On her photography she received two purple, a few blue, a bunch of reds and one white (lowest ribbon). Overall, for being her first year, she did awesome!
While we were at the 4-H judging, I found out that an important piece of paperwork was FINALLY finished for preschool. We've been waiting on this paper for months. We can't get our state certification until we have this paper, an inspection, and then get the paperwork back from the state. I'm afraid we'll not be ready to start when we would like to, but I'm trying! It's been out of my hands (board and church trustees have been working on it) for so long, just waiting and waiting (I'm not good at that!).
VBS is over for another year. It was a great time, LOTS of kids for our small church. We normally have around 10 kids on a Sunday for Sunday school...and we had 52 children for VBS!!!! AMAZING! We are thrilled with the turn out! Most of the children are from other churches, but there are some who are unchurched, so we are planning some follow-up for those families. God is good!
We had our annual church pool party last night. It's always a good time. Lots of good food and fun with God's people! I actually was having so much fun that I forgot to take any pictures.
We've had some late nights with our busy week...I think I'm going to curl up on the couch with my little one and take a birthday nap! I will try to post pictures later...ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ...

We love Glenda

Many of you might remember that my neighbors are moving. The days are dwindling, and we are trying to love on Glenda while we can. Anytime we see her outside, we head over for hugs. Last night when we arrived home from VBS she was outside trying to take a picture of a spider, silly thing wouldn't cooperate! Glenda is a very talented photographer. Her sprinklers were running, and I told my kids to go ahead and have fun so I could chat with Glenda. They were all hot and sweaty and I was planning to shower them when we got home anyway! They ran and had fun, Glenda and I chatted a bit, and she snapped away. Before I even got myself to bed, she emailed me the pictures. Like I said, she's a very talented photographer...when she moves I guess I'll have to get my camera out more often!

Glenda called them over and whispered something in their ears, and soon they all came running, DRIPPING over to me and gave me WET hugs...what fun!

Glenda has a BIG frog/toad (HOPPY THING...ICK!) living in her srinkler box, she wanted to show the kids, so I took the camera and snapped a few, I'm so thankful they couldn't find that nasty hopping thing! (Have I ever told you how much I HATE frogs?)

We will live next to this wonderful woman for only about one more week, then she will move to Ohio to join her husband who began a new job there 2 months ago. We already miss Terry, and now we know we will miss Glenda, too. The family who will be moving in is going to be fun to have around, though. They have 3 kids, a daughter Andrew's age, a son Bethany's age, and a 1 year old daughter. We know this family and like them a lot, it will be good to have more kids on the block...and it will be fun to get to know them better. But, they will never fill Terry and Glenda's shoes!

VBS night 2!

Last night we had about 40 kids, tonight....51! Yes, 51!! We usually have around 10 children in Sunday school each week, so this is totally awesome! I was so glad I had a second craft prepared for the little ones, just in case (I only had 48 of the original craft available)! We did, however run out of t-shirts. A wonderful company here in our town makes t-shirts for all the VBS programs for FREE! We just get some clip-art to them and tell them how many you want, they give them to us. What a wonderful ministry! I'm going to call them in the morning to see if I can possibly get 12 more shirts! I told each of the parents that we ran out and would try to get more, they were all really understanding, most told us not to worry about it because their kids "don't need ANOTHER t-shirt!" which I can totally relate to! But, the kids all want one like their friends, so I'm going to see if she can make us some more. We have so many people just showing up and asking "What can I do?" Which is totally awesome! Thank You, God, for providing all we need! Please bless all the children, parents, and volunteers....THANK YOU, GOD!
I am taking lots of pictures, we usually make a CD with all the pics for parents to purchase at the closing (to help defray some of the costs!), so I'll try to post more of them later in the week! Thanks for your prayers.

ND Pictures

Here are the long awaited pictures from our trip to North Dakota...at least a few of them.

The cutie with the curly hair is my niece, Addison...isn't she just about the cutest thing you've ever seen??? And just ask her any question and she shakes her head "NO!"...it's so adorable! The only question she doesn't answer "NO" to is "Do you want a raspberry?" She'll come running from the other end of the house to answer this question with a mouth open wide! Again, I say...ADORABLE!

Here the kids are waiting for the 4th of July parade to begin...and the raining of candy, which of course is the best part of ANY parade! The boy in the chair behind the kids on the curb is my oldest nephew, Hunter (he's too old for chasing after candy...yea right!)...and his younger brother, Braden, is sitting next to Andrew (Braden is 8 months older than Andrew...they are the best of friends!). Addison is their baby sister.Here Bethany is a bit saddened because she didn't get one of the candies thrown out from a float, the other kids are much quicker than she...but they all shared in the end! (WAY too much candy anyway!) What would the 4th of July be without sparklers and fireworks? My new camera has a cool "fireworks" setting! Very neat. Got some cool shots of the kids with their sparklers and the fireworks. We had 8 children, and 4 "grown" men who shot of literally hundreds of dollars in fireworks...WHEW! Can you say NERVOUS! I am always so worried that someone will get hurt. Then when one of the guys lit a roman candle, and put it in the pipe (stuck in the ground to hold such an item!) UPSIDE DOWN! (it was an accident, he thought that was the right way!) It flew out on the first round and then shot it's fireballs right where all the children were...THANK GOD no one got hit! We all were pretty freaked out, but all went well from then on. Bethany did back into Abbigail's sparkler, but only got a tiny red mark on her shoulder, but I think it scared her more than anything.

While we were in ND, the church where hubby grew up celebrated their 125th anniversary! We had picnics, horse carriage rides, games, a balloon release, and lots of other fun stuff. Here are a few pictures from that! It's literally a little country church, dirt roads and all! This is what the church looks like from the back of the horse carriage.

Here is a very rare picture of my mother-in-law. I think this may be only the third or fourth picture of her that I have, not including wedding pics. She doesn't know I took it! ;o) She did a lot of the work for the anniversary festivities.

These other cuties are my other niece and nephew (Bailey & Maddox). Their dad is in Iraq serving in the army...actually he should be HOME right now for his 2 weeks of R&R. Originally we thought he would be home over the 4th, so we would be able to see him, but the army postponed his leave for a few weeks, so it didn't work out. Prayers for his continued safety are very much appreciated!

OKOKOK...so there are more than a few, but hey, it's MY blog! Besides, they are cute kiddos, what are ya gonna do? :o)

First night of VBS...whew!

Oh boy Oh boy...it's VBS week. I'm exhausted and it's only the first night! We had almost 40 children tonight, which is just about what we had last year, and we have a bunch more who registered and just couldn't make it tonight...we'll have more tomorrow. One wrench that was thrown to me was a new baby! NOT MINE! :o) One of the ladies who was leading one of the centers had her baby on Saturday (a full 4 weeks early!...both mother and daughter are doing wonderful!) and I had to BEG in church for replacements! Two women came forward able to cover the week, He always provides!
If you wouldn't mind...please pray for all those involved in our VBS, the children and the volunteers. That we would all grow to know Jesus as our "Forever Friend" Thanks!

We're in the south (ok, center) again!

We made it home last night around 11:00 pm. We're EXHAUSTED! We had lots of fun, took lots of pictures, and had lots of fun (did I say that twice?? :o))

To answer one question from the comments in the last post, yes, there is Internet UP there in the NORTH country, and my brother-in-law actually has high-speed now, last year it was dial-up (I DO NOT have the patience for dial-up!)...but we were too busy chasing the 6 kiddos, shopping with my sis-in-law (LOTS of good clearance deals!) and just hanging out and having a good time to sit on my computer all day. I'll try to get the pictures off the camera and post them soon. I'm going to be a bit busy this week getting ready for VBS which starts on Sunday, but hopefully I'll have time to do the pictures this evening!

The trip home was much less eventful in the area of wild life (are bulls wild??), but it got interesting toward the end when my dear hubby started feeling sick. My niece had a bit of a tummy bug for a few days during our trip, but we all thought she was eating too much fruit (little fruit monster!) and teething...but apparently not. I ended up driving the ENTIRE way from North Dakota to Kansas! I have bragging rights now! Hubby hasn't ventured much out of the bedroom today, so back from a trip and he's already taking sick days! Poor guy!