Christian Youth in Action

These are the 5 girls who stayed with us the first week of training for teaching 5 day clubs this summer.  Right after this picture we had one leave and another come for the second week of training and then the first week of teaching one of these girls stayed with us again as she and the Ballerina were teaching together all week.

I was so proud of these young ladies.  There was a 14, 15, 16, and two 19 year olds here the first week and one of the 19 year olds left to be replaced by a 17 year old.  They were simply amazing girls that I am so proud to know and proud to be a part of what God is going to do through them this summer!

You can read what is happening with Child Evangelism Fellowship through these young ladies and young men (there are young men teaching as well) by going to this blog and read and pray for them as they try to reach kids with the gospel of Jesus!  Pray for my daughter as well, because although she is not pictured with them, she is giving her summer for teaching as well and we are so proud of her!  Pray that they will be strengthened, and encouraged, that they will bear fruit, and pray as the Spirit leads as you read the blog!  Oh, and ask her about it if you know her IRL, she would love to know that you are interested! Thanks so much!

Summer lovin'

I am totally enjoying this summer break already.  We aren't really supposed to be taking the whole summer off - there is still some Math to do, although the Princess is done hers completely.  There is still some reading to do, although lots of it I can read aloud anytime of any day....but it is awesome to just be home and not feel like there are 1000 things to do.  Yesterday we made cootie catchers - such fun!  Today the Princess has the process mastered and she has made a new one just for fun.

We've also made them in miniature - because everything is more fun in miniature.











We have eaten seasonal fruit.....
 mmm, kiwi...at least my kids think it is mmmm, I don't think I have ever tried it.

We were going to go to the library, but I don't really feel like it.  So we'll just be happy with the books we have for now!

We can't really let any more butterflies out since all that we have raised are gone, but we can still look for more and try to get them to land on us.

 Maybe we'll run through the sprinkler some more 






 or skateboard some more....

We may even do math or read or make crafts, but regardless, it is all more fun in summer!

Just some pictures

I am reading blogs tonight.  Not because I don't have other things to do, I truly do...but instead I am catching up...it has been so long since I have caught up on blogs.  Thank you for posting your pictures and sharing your life - I truly appreciate it! I try to comment but the reality is that I get behind and so I don't comment on all your posts.  But I do try to comment so that you know I am reading!

So I thought I would share a few pics here, as I am inspired by the blogs I have read tonight!

 I got a new hair cut, summer highlights and my stylist straightened it for me, because she is awesome and I can't get it that flat no matter what!

 This was our cat Leo, he had to leave our house because I just couldn't handle it.  Now that I am mentioning that, I am realizing I haven't had a single sneezing fit or itchy eye for weeks.  He went to a family who lives on a farm and so I am sure he is much happier living outside!

 These were our caterpillars this year, hundreds extra again....

 And this picture was our last night in our old house.  We were getting ready and all and the neighbour (whom we loved) came over to bring the girls some skipping ropes.  She stayed to turn and Dash tried so hard to get it down...it will take some practice!

 The Baby fell asleep on Dash one day while we were watching a movie - so cute!

Moving day!  This is our family picture taken on the first day, right after we had prayed over our house and read some Scripture.  The realtor showed up just in time to take this for us!

Have a good night.
C

mi casa es su casa

Did you know that?  I mean it, our house is yours...whenever possible we want it to be open to whatever and whoever.  We love it when people just stop by - but be forewarned, it might be messy!  But if you don't mind it a bit messy, stop by - we would love it!

This week (and next) we get to host 5 girls who are in town training to teach 5 day clubs this summer.  Do you know what a 5 day club is??  It is a mini vacation bible school in your own backyard!  It is so amazing.  I really was nervous that no one would show up the first year we hosted, but I did it anyway - and what do you know??  Kids come - every year!  Some of them are church kids that we know, but who cares??? Our church kids need just as much encouragement in the Lord as non-churched kids! 

You know what I realized?  It is not about me getting kids here - it is about me being willing to let the Lord use me and my house and my yard and my life for His glory.  To be willing is all I need to do.  It is not my job to get kids here, it is God's.  So cool!  There are a few really cool things too - in your own backyard you can invite kids who might not want to go to church.  Also it gives them a taste of VBS and then you can invite them to the super cool, hugely crazy, totally fun and wild VBS at your own church (if you are blessed enough to have that).  And finally, it is a step outside of the box.  It is an easy way to let your neighbours know that you are a person of faith.  Our sermon on Sunday was partially about how Christians should expect to suffer persecution because Jesus did...so why wouldn't we?  And even though I don't AVOID the subject to keep from suffering persecution - I don't have any way to start the conversation, often.  5 day clubs is an easy way to do it!

(If you want to host one you can probably still do so by calling the number on this website....you don't have to do anything really, except open up your yard.  They send a worker who takes care of all the teaching - and it is only for an hour once a day for a week - super easy!)

Anyway, our experience with 5-day clubs has been very positive, and our oldest daughter is going to be teaching this year!  Yay for her!  And now we have this big house, so we decided it would be great to open it up for girls who are coming for training.  I will ask them tomorrow if I can post a picture of them here on my blog - they are fantastic girls!

So it is a party around here with lots of girls...ranging in age from 19 down to almost 2.  Fun times!  Feel free to stop by!

So much for blogging once a week

How long can I use the excuse of our move?  Okay, this is the last time (probably).

 These pictures are of my kids making me a mother's day gift at Lowe's.  I took them, but still acted surprised on Mother's day!  My husband was working, there was no other option!  I love programs like this one at Lowe's....I think they call theirs Build and Grow.  I love them because it allows my kids to make some cool stuff in a controlled environment - and other than whatever you impulse purchase at the hardware store while you are there, it is totally free.  This day I purchased a picture for my wall for $29.99 and some ant poison.

 My neice danced at her second recital this year and it is in Strasbourg at the hall, so there is lots of room to run around there...the cousins raced, cartwheeled, ran for fun, etc...it was fun to watch...so fun that my sister showed off her mad cartwheeling skills too - and when her husband challenged her about it she even did some cheerleading for us!  I so love her, she is so much fun!

 We had a family BBQ for Mother's day at the park here - it is a huge park, with lots of picnic areas.  It was really fun.  A different sister (above) suggested it and then we even had inlaws as well - super fun, did you know that I am all about the potluck??

Okay, this next set of pictures deserves a pre-description... I found this awesome post on Pinterest - actually the coolest thing I have found on Pinterest so far (which is not saying much I never go on there) anyway...I found a link to this blog post and so we decided to try it out ourselves!
We took an ordinary bar of ivory soap

 and put it in our ordinary microwave

we all gathered around to see (you can even see my reflection in the door taking the picture)

 and what do you know, the soap starts to gently erupt into these puffy clouds!!!  It was the coolest thing I have done with my microwave since the first time I made microwave popcorn!  When we took the soap cloud out we discovered that there was still a little bit of the soap that hadn't expanded - so just to see what would happen we put that little bar back in and sure enough, it made a second cloud!!!

It was very cool, and not even a little messy!

 Although it was very flaky, so if you handled it too roughly, little soap flakes did fall off, but you just had to be careful!  I can't wait to do it again in our new microwave,  just to see if a turntable makes a difference!

Anyway, that is a few more pictures of things we did in May....

In the new house

Yes, and we do have internet finally!  Yay!

I was so incredibly blessed by all the people who helped us lug all our junk from the old house to this one, those who helped me clean this house and even cleaned the old house even though I told them not to worry about it.  I am also grateful for the meals that were brought and the ladies who started unpacking my kitchen stuff, don't be offended if you come over and some of it has been moved! And to the lovely girl who looked after the baby all weekend, following her all over the yard and house to be sure she didn't become a pancake on the street outside!

Here is a few pics to whet your appetite to come for a visit!

Picture days

We had picture day today and yesterday.  Now the next kids will be in June, July and August...what a process!
In the process of moving we had to change season of clothes as well, so when Tapper took out her vaccuum sealed bag of summer clothes, most of them had to be handed down the the Princess.  So she has nothing to wear, almost literally.  She has one pair of capris, and one or two pairs of shorts...so today we took a quick look while we were at the big discount department store, I won't say which one but it starts with Wal and ends with Mart...anyway, we were there and took a look for some summer gear.
We have such a hard time finding shorts that aren't too short.  Even if they technically fit, because her legs are so long and so skinny, they look extra short!  So we did find this outfit....

 and then she got a couple of shirts and these cool shoes,

as well as a regular pair of flip-flops.  We'll have to go to the department store that starts with a Z and rhymes with 'yellers' and to the consignment store that is only a few blocks from our new house...and probably end it all with a trip to the opposite of Young Orange and then she will be set up!

(See my new buy messy kitchen in the background??  Awesome!)  Do you know what I think is funny?  Neon!
I think it is hilarious that neon just won't dye.  I really wish they would bring back Hypercolour.  Remember hypercolour??  Too funny!
Anyway, I just thought I better post and show you our new purchases, I am going to read to my kids now - have a great day!