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1. We have had an extremely busy summer, but we have had alot of fun.  I am looking forward to the structure of school, however.  I can only stand so many lazy days and so much Disney Channel.  I am aiming to start back Aug, 24. (which is my 18th anniversary!)
   
2. Spenser is selling necklaces made from can tabs.  He has an etsy shop, but so far all of his sales have come from kids and teens he runs into.   He sold 3 bracelets this week.
3. Sydney won free music lessons for the summer at our church music camp.  She was Camper of the Week and her prize was 8 weeks of lessons.  She is having fun-- she is learning piano and recorder.  She and Macy are also in a handbell class for the summer.  They are playing at a nursing home Monday night.  I guess we are a musical family-- everyone plays something and/or sing.  I love seeing them use their gifts in church.  Spenser plays guitar every Sunday and Reed plays keyboard.
4. We got a new mattress this week-- hurray!  Our backs were hurting and we inherited a king size.  So now we need a new frame; we thought ours would expand to fit it, but it doesn't.  Oh and we need new sheets.  Another perk-- I cleaned under my bed and found a ton of socks LOL!
5. I am not a gardener/farmer but I play one on Facebook.  I love the Farmtown game!  I wish real farming were that easy ;)
6. God is continuing to do amazing things in our church children's ministry.  We had over 50 in VBS, which is alot for our sized church.  And their behavior has improved so much!  Of course, new kids come in and are just as rowdy as the others used to be, so we are in a constant cycle.  Maybe eventually we will have enough "good" beavior to dilute the bad.
7. Reed won an award at the Springer Theatre Academy tonight-- most focused.  I am so proud of her-- she is a great kid!

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1. I have a sore throat.  The only thing worse than having a winter cold is having a spring or summer cold.  It just seems wrong.
   
2. I am ready for school to be over LOL.  I have Spring Fever, I guess.  My kids are already done with a few subjects, but we are behind in others.  I am hoping to finish by the end of May when the public schools here get done.  Spenser has already started on math for next year, because he likes being ahead.  He is doing Geometry and seems to enjoy it more than Algebra I.
   
3.  Our children's ministry at church is still growing.  We had 7 new children and youth this Wednesday, which was exciting!  I think we had 37 total there this week-- 10 youth and 27 children.  What you have to understand about our Wednesday church, is we probably only had 27 adults there Wednesday night, give or take a few.  So this is an amazing ministry God has given to us.
   
4. The neatest thing about this ministry is that we are in waayyyyy over our heads-- and are therefore completely dependent on God for every aspect of the ministry: the finances, the staff, the discipline.
   
5. Our biggest problem has been discipline-- how do you discipline kids at church who are way out of control?  I don't want to send them home because they desperately need to be there.  This week I had a man ask me what he could do to help, so I put him in charge of work detail.  Anyone who was disruptive or disrespectful was sent to him, and he took them to sweep, pick up trash, etc.  This was great-- it removed the disruption,  sent them the message that disrespect would not be tolerated, and gave Billy (the adult) a chance to talk to them one on one.  Score!
   
   
6. In case you haven't heard, there is a basketball tournament going on.  And my team is in it.  As a matter of fact, they should win the whole thing!  I hope!



7. I am not ready for Easter-- I don't have dresses or shoes for the girls and I haven't bought anything for the baskets.  I did buy Spenser a new button-down shirt the other night.  It was $9 at Walmart so it was hard to resist.
   

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1.  Sydney and Reed had to get glasses.  Interestingly, they have the same prescription, but Sydney has an astigmatism so they are not interchangeable.  They both look adorable!

2.  Spenser opted for contacts this time around, and so far he is doing great with them.

3.  Here is Macy in her Heidi costume:


4.  Wednesday night we had a Passover Seder at our church-- not the full-blown 4 hour version, but a shorter version.  It was fascinating.  It was presented by Jews for Jesus, so it they explained all of the Messianic prophecies within the meal.

5.  We debated whether or not to try to incorporate the Wednesday night children's program into the Seder.  We weren't sure how well unchurched kids could follow the program, and we weren't sure how their behavior would be.  We opted to include them and pair them up with adults (divide and conquer.)  It went really well.  I am not sure how much they learned, but they won't soon forget the horseradish LOL.

6.  If you aren't fluent in subtext. let me illuminate the last paragraph for you:

• We debated= Jason and I had a HUGE fight over this issue
• We weren't sure= Jason and I had a HUGE fight over this issue
• unchurched kids= 20-25 kids from the neighborhood who don't know much about the Bible much less the Passover
• their behavior= would they completely disrupt the entire program and embarass us in front of our guests?
• pair them with adults= beg people to let a couple of rowdy kids sit with them
• it went really well= it went really well minus a few passing gas incidents and a horrible sacrilegious comment during communion
• they won't soon forget the horseradish= I thought the ones with me were going to hurl

7.  My baby turns 6 next week.  That's not really a baby anymore, but she has promised to be my baby forever.  I cry when I see the little clothes that all 3 of my girls have worn.  We are trying to sort and donate and somehow tame the clothes monster that has overtaken our house, but sometimes it grieves me to see little outfits going away.




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• I was sick with the flu last week.  I already had the flu in November.  The injustice is overwhelming ;), but I am very thankful that my children and my husband have been healthy.  I am taking it a sign from God that I need to slow down and take better care of myself.
• While I was sick, my son turned 14.  Seems hard to believe.  I thought he was just born yesterday!  He is a great kid, and I am incredibly proud of him.  He just earned his Star rank in Boy Scouts, which is 2 ranks away from Eagle.  He bought himself a 12-string guitar last month, and he plays for our worship service every Sunday. 
  
• Sydney and Reed are in the play The Hobbit.  Reed is the lead dwarf, Thorin, and Sydney is another dwarf, Gloin.  I can't wait-- it's going to be a great show.
• Meanwhile, Macy is Heidi in the play Heidi.  She is adorable, and I can't wait for this one as well.
• I am ordering curriculum for next year.  No I am not super organized; I just have to buy it now while I have the money.  We got a tax refund, and I earmarked some of it for school.  I ordered the Notgrass American History for Spenser-- it looks really good. I am trying Noeo science for the girls-- but I bought the books largely from Amazon and eBay cheaper than buying the package.  Spenser will do Apologia Biology.  We have loved Apologia Physical Science this year.  Right now we do labs with another family on Tuesdays, but I am hoping to switch to Fridays so that Jason can do labs with us next year.
• Our church children's ministry continues to be a joy and a challenge.  We have had some fighting and racial issues, but I see God at work in these young lives and pray that we will be able to continue reaching them.
• Sydney and Macy got a TV for Christmas from my mom-- it has a built in DVD player.  Her intent was that they could take it to the theater when someone has practice and watch a movie while they wait.  The other day, Spenser wanted to take it to the theater to play a video game with his friend while the girls had practice.  He offered Macy $3-- she charged him $5 and gave Sydney $2.50.  I am not sure how I feel about that, but it makes a funny story.
  

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