Basketball camp and apology!

Good afternoon all! I'm sure most of you have given up trying to check my blog for any new entries as of late. I've been tired, uninspired, and downright lazy and just haven't blogged in well exactly 8 days now. So for those of you who have waited it out with me, I'm sorry, please forgive me. I'll try and do better next time!
Last week was basketball camp. The kids learned all their basketball skills all over again along with new scripture memory verses and the camp theme verse. Sarah had fun this year also because she participated as a staff member for the very first time. She thought helping was awesome and had a great time! Here are some pics for those of you intersted.

Fun in the Sun w/ water!

We have something on Wednesday evenings at our church that is called Wacky Wednesdays! This program involves scripture verses, bible stories, question and answer time and lots and lots of wacky and wild games! The coolest thing the kids think is the prizes they win. Isabella was the only one who remembered her memory verse and won this cool watering hose that shakes, spins, and gets you really wet.

So Thursday afternoon they spent their time (w/out Sarah still) outdoors enjoying the game and getting wet. Yes, I know that is my daughter sporting her middrift but I had no idea her bathing suit was too little until I saw it on her and since we were the only ones playing I felt no need to cover her up any more. Guess we will be going bathing suit shopping soon.

Anybody wanna come play?

Daddy's little girl!

Zechariah is in a play at church for the VBS that will be the last week of June. Because of that I had to stay late at church Wednesday night to wait for him. Well Daddy amazingly so did not have any meetings or hospital visits or anything that night so he took Isabella home.

Zech and I drove home together and was amazed to find this scene pictured above! Isabella was mowing with her daddy. The only motivation for her to do anything is with somebody and if it includes daddy she is there. She loves him beyond anything and well as you can see it works for just about every chore!

She came in from that experience all hot, sweaty, and wanting to take a shower. She also received from the lawn mower a great, big blister on her thumb. In spite of all that, she was grinning ear to ear! Oh what love will do to motivate someone.

God is Working!

Several years ago Henry Blackaby came out with a new study on Experiencing God. In this study you learned that God is always working and our job is to find what he wants us to join Him in and go for it. Well since we've moved into this house it has been amazing to see God work. I must tell you though I don't always see it and this time God really had to hit me over the head with it to do it.

My DH is a pastor for those of you who don't know. One of the biggest gifts he has is to have a relationship with you in such a personal way that you grow close to your pastor. Well our neighborhood is filled with young couples and young kids (younger than mine) and Mike and I are well should we say "older" couple on the block. Many have been drawn to Mike because of his personality and his position and come to him with questions and counseling situations. He has become the "block" pastor! Well that has been going well and he is counseling with a couple who has recently been divorced and trying to help them mend some fences. He has also been able to lead in various talks about the bible. A couple of weeks ago one of the ladies who is young and asian came over "purposedly" to talk with me about coming to our church. She is aware of who Christ is and what He did for us, but it seems to be in her head, not her heart. However she really wants her children and her family to start going to church and realized how serious life and death are because her own father just died back in the Philipines. They have been coming for about a month now and he and the kids are just pumped about all kinds of things and really want to join the church. She wants to but she is afraid of what salvation and baptism mean and not sure. She says she wants to know more about the bible. So she came over one day and I visited with her about salvation and what the bible says and asked if she wanted a bible study. She overwhelmingly said yes, but about that time neighbor after neighbor started coming up and we had a block party that evening and nothing else was said about this except for a few other ladies. Unfortunately I dropped the ball and kept thinking to myself I need to get this started but it wasn't happening. Anyway last night one of the ladies called and said, "When are we going to get this going." So right there and right then God showed me, "I am working you need to join Me here." So thursday we begin our bible study in the book of John covering salvation and baptisms.

Pray for me not to get in the way here and for Him to be the teacher and leader. Pray for Elsa's soul and two other ladies both named Sarah who I'm not sure are Christians. Thanks God for working through me, help me not to be a stumbling block!

A bed fit for a King and Queen!

When I was little I always loved going to older houses that have the original furniture displayed from the time period the house was or the people who lived there. I loved especially the bedrooms. They were always so spacious (because I didn't tour poor people houses except the slaves quarters out back) and the beds always looked so special. You know the kind I mean, four posters, canopy, and a stool to step up into the bed (I adored the idea of stepping up into my bed). Some had special linens draped around the four posters where you could close out everything and enjoy your bed and your sleep.

Mike and I love our King size bed. We love each other but over the years we know how important space is when sleeping. Mike's parents bought us our original King size bed. I thought it was great. It was so big that I felt lost on it for a while. I quickly assumed familiarity with it and fell in love with the greatness of it. We never had a bedroom furniture so it was just on a frame. Then we moved and bought some grown up furniture where we live now. I wanted a canopy bed that was dramatic in all its words that would describe it. Not outlandish, just simply elegant and fit for a King and Queen. Mike didn't want the canopy though so after many, many weeks of bedroom furniture shopping we stumbled accross a sleigh bed that both him and I admired. It is very simply but very elegant in its line. Bought and brought it home and have had it a little over a year now. However we had one problem, the mattress. The mattress starting showing signs of distress and I tried to call the manufacturer or the warranty information but to no avail. I was stuck. By now you can literally trace our outlines as to where we sleep and the middle is always a big hump because no one lays there.

After many years and months of living with this delapitated mattress we decided to pursue the option of purchasing another. Wow were we in for a surprise! There are so many different kinds to choose from, pillow tops, innner springs, seperated innner springs, foam, memory foam, foam and springs and a variety of brand names! Also the question do you buy new box springs or not? So after shopping and scratching our heads and discussing this over and over again we finally found the one we wanted. Mike went and purchased yesterday set for delivery today.

Well they came and delivered it and I'm pretty sure I got the bed of my dreams. No canopy mind you, but I have to use a stool to step up into it. It is way tall and spacious and it truly looks like a bed fit for a King and Queen. Now my Mike is what I call princess and the pea (you know the story with the pea under so many mattresses and she could still figure out there was something amiss among all that) because he is way picky about his sheets and covers and he will be happy over our King sized bed!

(notice it comes up to Isabella's chest)

My oldest is off to camp!

She is going to Mississippi! She is only 12! What am I thinking? I've had these questions over and over and over again in my mind for the last 6 months leading up to this date. The youth leader decided that the usual spot for camp (which is only 2 hours away) is not his thing. He wanted the kids to experience Centrifuge or Missionfuge! So we've been dreading sending our twelve year old daughter off to camp for a while. However, I know she is up for the challenge, she was paired up with another girl her size, her style, and her same interest. We had many trips to the store talking about our attitudes, actions, and more upon this trip she will embark.

Sarah - she is my oldest, falls in line with all the first born traits, her name means little princess and yet she aspires to be queen of my house (I will not abdicate my throne!), beautiful, very serious natured, a leader, a budding artist, loves to play on the piano, and my one that we but heads with quite a bit. I love her completely and somtimes I just laugh out loud when we but heads because she is truly becoming the woman God created her to be. She loves to be right (who doesn't), she loves to voice her opinion, and she loves to be the leader! Hmm, lets think about some possible careers out there . . . lawyer, politician, maybe the first lady president!

Getting serious here, I love her heart. She is amazing that she really doens't seem concerned at all what people say about her. She lives in the world God created her to be in and that is a love for the things He loves and an abhor for the things He abhors! She is such a leader among her youth group and I'm so proud of her. She is always very deeply hurt when other christians live like this world! She has a heart for missions. She is still praying though what God would have her be and where He would have her do His work! She loves God immensly and her knowledge of Him is ever growing. She is Sarah and I love all that she is and what she is becoming!

A little bit of everything!

Well we are doing a little bit of everything! I'm trying to get ready for a garage sale. In the midst of doing that though, I'm trying to clean house, do laundry, keep up with the school we are doing for the summer, fix the computer, run kids to where they need to go, sleep, pray, and have my quiet time with God! I have vowed this to be my last garage sale ever! I don't like garage sales and getting ready for them. It takes forever and all your time and energy even when you don't have the time or the energy.

Also my boy has been gone for 4 days now and I miss him! As you read in a couple of post back Zech escaped to camp. When they go to camp they don't call and usually they don't miss you. However I miss him. Zech is a sweet, kind, gentle, and very humorous young man. He can captivate your heart because he is just so laid back and loves to just be there for you. He is my boy and I miss him. He does come home today and that is why I'm being so mushy because I'm ready to see him! From the pictures of Student Life website though, he looks to be having way fun!

Since our boy is gone and our man is usually working, us girls have been hanging out quite a bit together. Isabella even stripped down to her birthday suit without closing a door because as she said it, "We are all girls here, no need to hide now!" They both won't admit it but they miss their brother too! Sarah will be gone next week and I'll go to missing her as well. Ah, the life of a mother, some days you can't stand them because they keep rolling their eyes at you or they leave their stuff lying around, and some days you just can't get enough of their funny antics, their "I love you Mom!", and their cherub faces! What's a mom to do? Surrender and enjoy the moments you have because they grow up way too fast!