VBS "Panda Mania" 2011

As you know, this past week was our annual Vacation Bible School at church. I think it was a great success with 34 souls saved. I don't have a count yet as to how many children attended. Speaking of salvation, please pray for Katie. We've been talking quite a bit about God, Heaven, Jesus and Salvation for the several months. Of course, Katie wants to go to heaven and meet Jesus. It's what she has told me that she wants. Katie was so excited about M professing her faith the other day. That night Katie told me to pray for her to be saved.  We talked about it and she believes completely that God is real and alive. She believes in Jesus that he walked the earth and died for our sins, so we may be with God for all eternity in heaven. Personally, I don't know if Katie is ready (age) to receive Christ just yet. I think the whole M being saved, might have confused her a bit. We prayed about it. I do feel that God is working in her heart.  Last night, Katie and S wanted to talk to one of the counselors about salvation.  I knew one out of the two counselors.  I explained to Delaine and the other counselor about what we talked about the other day.  I also expressed my concern about her confusion.  Bottomline, Doug and I feel that a little peer pressure might be in play and we know that's not the proper way to salvation.  As a  small group, we all gathered and prayed because S wanted to go ahead and do the sinner's prayer.  I'm so happy for S and her decision to receive Jesus into her little heart.  I think after Delaine and Chelsey talked with Katie, I think they agree with me a little bit.  Delaine gave me a "Becoming a Christian" booklet to read with Katie.  She said it is great at explaining what's going on in her life and how to become a Christian on her level.  I can't say that Katie isn't saved, it's not my place and I'm not in God's way of working his blessings.  We just want to make absolutely sure Katiebug understands fully what it means to become a Christian. 

I think the girls had fun last night during the VBS celebration. There was music, face painting, food and inflatables. Here is a video of Katie and S singing and dancing to one of the songs that they learned this week. Katie is on the right side of the little girl with black hair. The little girl with black hair is S. I thought they did so well, especially being on stage singing in front of a large crowd.

S, Katie and M after their face painting - Red Pandas and Snow Leopard (characters from the VBS theme "Panda Mania")

Outside in the parking lot - 4 inflatables

Katie waiting in line to get up the double slide

Sorry this is a little blurry, my camera phone is very touchy.

While I was standing, watching the girls have a blast on the inflatables, I ran into an old acquaintance, Johnny J. Our dads use to work together many years ago. We use to visit Johnny's parents a lot while I was growing up. Johnny is much older than me, so he didn't give me a second look. I loved going to his house because they had a big orchard and always had animals. They use to have these bee hives by the orchard. I thought they were so neat.  His parents were always so sweet to me. I was shocked that Johnny recognized me because I haven't seen him since 1993, I guess. We both have changed a lot and he had more hair. LOL! Either way, it was good seeing him. He said he went to school with my husband, so it is a small world. I couldn't believe how much he knew about me these past few years. HAHA! I guess his parents and my parents have been talking about us. I got to meet his baby girl, Sarah. He told me that his family has been visiting our church for about a month. Doug doesn't remember him, so I guess I'll have to introduce him Sunday. 

My New Project

We've been so busy going to Vacation Bible School. The theme this year is Panda Mania "God is wild about us" (something like that). I think it's been the best one thus far. I've got to take my camera to church tomorrow and take pictures. They've got it decorated so cute with live bamboo, lotus flowers in the fountain inside the atrium and of course the character pandas all over the place. Our little neighbor girls have been going with us every day. I'm so proud of M, she's 9 years old and she received Jesus as her personal Savior today. YAY! She didn't tell me until we were all in the truck and heading out of the parking lot. Normally, I don't pay much attention to what the girls are saying in the back seat, but this time I hear her. "I got saved today," very non-challantly. What? I pulled over before getting out into the traffic, turned around and asked her what she said. She said it again and I began congratulating her, patting her on the leg, and telling her how happy I was for her. M is a beautiful and sweet little girl. I'm so thankful that God has come into her life and hopefully great things will become of it. The sad part of it is, M told me later that when she told her mom, she didn't say anything. She said that she just looked at her. I gave M a big ol' hug and told her that I was proud of her decision. M has two older siblings that I got to meet this afternoon. I hope God will do His work through M. We will see.

Tomorrow night, the grand finale to this year's VBS, there is supposed to be all sorts of inflatables in the church parking lot. The festivities begin at 6PM. Poor Katie continues to believe that they mean 6AM instead of 6PM. She reminded me for the hundredth time today that she has to get up really early, in order to get to church at 6 o'clock in the morning. Ugh!

Today, I began painting Katie's room. She was so estatic to finally getting her pink room. She is funny. This afternoon, all I heard from her was "oh my gosh, mom. My room is so beautiful." HAHA! She is pretty dramatic. I wouldn't have been able to do it without the help of Doug, Millard and Peggy. The men helped me move furniture around, while Peggy watched the kids for me. Shew! I have two walls completed and I've got two walls to go. I plan to start as soon as I drop Katie and the girls off at church in the morning. I hope to get it finished. Don't worry, I took pictures. LOL! I nearly forgot to take before pictures. I still have a couple of shelves to put up and then Katie can finally start unloading all of her stuff. It's amazing what one person can accumulate in such a short lifetime.

Picture Day

VBS Photos

A few arts and crafts, Katie did in class during VBS.  She brought home a new craft every day.  We'll have to find a perfect spot outside for the bird feeder.   

Everyday was a different theme - Saddle Ridge Ranch T-shirt day (2 days), Hat day, Denium day, and Bandana day. She had an opportunity to go to the Aquatic Center, but we had company coming over for supper. 

My aunt Sherry and uncle Roger were in town and we wanted them to come over for supper. We had a very nice Country Boil with crab legs, shrimp, corn on the cob and potatoes. My nephew is allergic to shell fish, so there was also fried chicken, potato salad and green beans. For dessert, I whipped up some brownies for Hot Fudge Brownies. Kim Ann brought a Strawberry Angel Food Cake and Lemon Bread. Everything was so good! I think everyone went away satisfied.

I've been trying to get Katie to just try boiled shrimp, but I never could get her past the smell.  LOL!  Well last night, I guess she thought she was missing out on something because she asked me for a taste of shrimp.  Yay, she liked it!  She ate a small serving of the shrimp.  I was so surprised because children will eat fried shrimp before they will boiled.  Well, she wanted a late night snack before going to bed.  Doug fixed her a plate of shrimp.  He didn't de-vein and apparently left a shell on one of them.  We heard her gagging in her bedroom. Doug went to check it out and came back to tell me that she won't eat anymore shrimp.  Ugh!  I went to check things out.  She told me the shrimp was scratching her throat.  That's when I knew what happened.  I explained to her about the shell, while Doug checked all the other shrimp for shells.  My great efforts came to an end.  Katie had a bad experience and won't try them again, for a long time. 

Happy Anniversary!

I didn't get to blog yesterday, so I have to wish my husband of 15 years a very . . .

Happy Anniversary!

It's hard to imagine how 15 years has flown by so fast. It's been a roller coaster ride, but I wouldn't want it any other way. Honestly, I love roller coasters a lot better with all of it's ups and downs because in the end it can be such a RUSH! I prefer them than the constant round and round of the carousel.

VBS
Today was the last day of Vacation Bible School.  Katie had a blast!  When I went to pick her up, she had not finished coloring her bible page and asked to stay and finish it.  Mrs. M told me how she's admired Katie's pretty coloring.  LOL!  There was nothing for me to do than take a seat beside Katie.  She introduced me to her new friend, Rachel, and a few of the little boys came running up to me, showing me their paper cowboy hats.  I thought is was so sweet while Katie was coloring, she turned to me and said she would miss Mrs. M.  I told her that she needed to tell Mrs. M because after being with a room full of 4 & 5 year olds for a full week, she would like to hear those words right about now.  Katie even gave her a big hug, while telling her how much she'll miss her.  I think it made Mrs. M's day hearing those words.  I told M the other day because things were a little crazy that she was one brave soul.  She teaches music at a school, so she is probably use to it.  Since Katie was so good this past week and wasn't too hard to get out of bed every morning, I took her to Walmart after Bible School.  She was so excited! 

What's for Supper?
Millard and Peggy had supper with us.  Peggy made a big pot of beef stew.  Dad had just given us a mess of squash, so I thought it would go great with the stew.  I stopped by the farmers market and picked up a mess of zucchini and a sweet onion.  I love boiled squash, zucchini and onion smothered in butter, salt and pepper.  So good!  You can't beat fresh veggies on a Summer day!

Tonight, we are having company over again.  So, the menu will be a good ol' country boil (shrimp, crab legs, corn and potatoes).  We are also serving fried chicken and sides.  For dessert, we'll have watermelon and Hot Fudge Brownie.  So, y'all come on over!  I'll post pictures later. 

Lots To Do

VBS "Saddle Ridge Ranch"
I've got Katie all registered for VBS this year. It will be her first year at Vacation Bible School. I think she'll have a great time. I hate that I didn't sign up for a specific job to volunteer during this year's VBS. I don't want to commit while I have Colton. I hope to help out in other ways such as gathering things for them and prayer. If you're looking for a great VBS experience for your children, then give Northbrook Baptist a chance.

Katie's Birthday Party
Katie's been so undecided for the past few months as to what kind of party she would like to have.  It's been between the following:  Strawberry Shortcake, Barbie, Princess and the Frog, The Little Mermaid, Hannah Montana and Hello Kitty.  After much deliberation, we've decided to go with the Hello Kitty theme.  We saw the new Hello Kitty design and we both fell in love with it.  Closer to her birthday, we will have another "cake and ice cream" party just with family.  She wants Strawberry Shortcake theme for that party.

This pattern just came out recently, so not all the Party City stores have all the pieces to this set.  I think it's crazy that the theme is available online before they are at stores.  Oh well!  I got most everything I needed for the party, except for the mylar balloons and centerpieces.  I'm not getting a whole lot this time around.  This party will be for Katie and her little friends.  She plans to invite her classmates and a few other friends.  I still haven't set a date, but it will be in early June.  The rental place, I was planning on renting the moonwalk informed me that the last time it was rented out, it got damaged.  I didn't think about asking if they plan on replacing it.  I'll call them back this week a long with another place, I have in mind.

I would like to make a two tier buttercream icing cake with fondant polka dots, but I'm afraid it will be too much cake.   I'm not expecting a lot of kids to show up.  You know you have the ones,  you know will show and those that won't.  So, I don't want to make a large cake because there will be so much waste.  I'm thinking about purchasing a flower shaped cake pan and decorating it.  Wilton shows one decorated real cute on their website.  I may decide on doing something totally different.  Stay tuned . . .

Great Finds

Annie's Homegrown is our family's new favorite snacks. Maryann introduced us to the first Annie's Homegrown snack.  She gave a box of chocolate snacks to Colton for an Easter gift.  They are pretty good and Colton loves them.  The only thing is they make a mess all over his face.  Soon after Easter, I noticed Walmart started carrying more flavors of Annie's.  We like Annie's Homegrown cheddar flavor crackers better than Cheez It.  It seems like it's more of a cheesy flavor than the other brand crackers.  Well, the other day when we visited Whole Foods Market, they had a wall full of Annie's Homegrown brand snacks.  I noticed the fruit gummies and I knew Katie liked gummies, so I let her pick out a box.  She chose the tropical flavor.  We tried them out for the first time today and they are very good.  They are not like any other gummy, where they stick to your teeth and they have a rich fruit flavor.  I recommend this brand snack! 

Prayer Request
A friend of mine, Rebekah, recently had sinus surgery in her nose area.  Now that she has healed and can breathe good, apparently her sinuses drained into her ear.  She went to Urgent Care for the ear ache and sore throat.  The doctor didn't look in her ear, instead told her it was sinus drainage and for her to go home and take some Advil.  Ugh!  Some creep!  She must have had an infection in her ear because it wasn't long before it ruptured.  Of course, it not only scared her seeing the blood coming out of her ear, but it hurt.  She went to an ENT and he told her what probably happened.  Now, she can't hear out of her one ear.  The ENT seems to think it will heal in time, but she may have to have surgery.  Now that she can only hear out of one ear, her equilibrium is off and she get a little dizzy.  I just hope the doctor can fix her ear.  Please remember her in your prayers.

Another friend, A, needs your prayers as well.  Her doctor discovered her thyroid was enlarged.  They ran tests.  Of course, she is upset.  Please ask God to not only heal her body, but give her strength to overcome.