Dancin' with the Folks

We had a fun night at O's school last week. They had a "Dancin' with the Folks," where the students learned a lot of group dances at school, and then took the opportunity Thursday night to teach and perform the dances for the parents. It was so cute! O was quite the dancer, and knew exactly what to do in every dance. Mimi, Nana and Papa got to come and watch, also, and we all enjoyed a hot dog dinner before the performance. The best part of the night was when O picked her Daddy to dance with her. I'm not sure she got her dancing ability from him. (and I'm not sure it came from me either!)
O, Kaylee Beth, and Merritt.

Papa, M, Daddy, E, and Nana-Mimi was there too!

O and her partner, Fuller. Neither one of them look really comfortable, do they?(Look, buddy, you should feel HONORED to dance with my daughter! She is AWESOME!)

Drew and O, tearin' up the dance floor.

I'm a Little Indian

"I'm a little Indian on the go;

Here is my arrow, here is my bow.

When I go out hunting hear me shout:

BEAR AND BUFFALO BETTER WATCH OUT!"

We've had some fun Thanksgiving preparations around here lately. I am truly in the spirit after going to E's preschool Thanksgiving program. It was so great. FYI-I am the music teacher! And the music was great!(I'm not biased or anything, huh?)

Anyway, it was all really cute, and my little E (who's becoming not so little anymore!) was an Indian. Isn't she a cutie? Something I love about E is that she loves to sing. She sings all day long, and usually songs that she makes up on her on. A fun game we like to play in my family is, "what kind of song can E make up for THIS. (fill in any sort of situation--Daddy's haircut, M tee-teeing in the potty, a cold day, etc. etc. ) It is ALWAYS entertaining. I may dedicate a post one day, just for this, with video to prove it. The precious part of it is that there's always a part in it that says something like, "Oh, God, I love...." or "Hosanna," or "God, you're so special.." so I like to think her heart's in the right place!

I am thankful for my Indian E.

Happy Birthday Mimi!

Okay, mom, so I know that I'm a week late, but I am finally blogging about your party! My mom turned 60...I mean 50...I mean...uhhhh....sorry Mom. I truly am just so dang impressed, because you SERIOUSLY do not look 60! Not that that's old or anything.....okay, moving on, since I'm putting my foot in my mouth...

We celebrated my mom's b'day last Saturday with dinner at Danver's (hey, it may not be fancy, but it's a place that small kids running around doesn't offend as much!) and back at our house for cake and karaoke. Now any of you who know my family know we love a microphone. And for those of you who just know me, should know that I get my microphone hogging honestly. And, seriously, I'm not even the biggest hog in the family. That honor would probably go to Blake or my Dad, and may be passed on to E pretty soon. She couldn't get enough of that mike. Sigh. That child is TRULY mine.

So we had good times together, and laughed a lot, and celebrated Mom, and our family. Does it get much better than that?

Anyway, I just wanted to honor my mom on here, because I love her! I am so thankful for you mom. Thanks for loving me unconditionally(even though I have a big mouth and am REALLY stubborn), and thanks for the blessing you are to my girls. I love you so much!

Happy Birthday Hot Rod!

Well, we had a blast of a weekend! For one, we all took a step back in time to the 80's. Doesn't really seem that long ago, does it? If you're wondering what in the heck we've got on, we were dressed for a birthday party for my brother-in-law, Rodney. It was 80's themed, complete with 80's karaoke, and 80's music to dance to. Needless to say, we probably got a little too excited about the dressing up thing. (as usual!)

I must confess, I didn't look much like this in the 80's. I was much more conservative, and much less attractive. I favored the sweater vests, walking shorts, and Dexter look much more the the Molly Ringwald look. But, of course, my secret desire was to BE Molly Ringwald, so I had to fulfill this here. I also had a huge crush on Corey Haim, so my hubby kind of went for that look.(cute spikey hair......recessed of course)

Other people featured in these pics are my sis-in-law, Leigh, who isn't afraid to sport a side ponytail, my brother Blake, who looked just like John Cusack in Say Anything, and my sister, who just looked plain "hot."

O just said I looked like Sharpay. Maybe Sharpay isn't THIS trashy looking!

There's nothing better than having a great time with your own siblings.

Oh, and by the way, it isn't a PARTY until somebody shatters the crowns on their front teeth while doing "The Worm." Glad you got it fixed, Chuck.

E can ride a bike!

Drew's worked with E for months on riding her bike without training wheels. She just wouldn't commit. She'd stop pedaling, or not watch where she was going, but we kept feeling like she could do it if she really wanted to.

We were correct. She's so much like me in many ways, and one of those ways is that she is really motivated by others. So, when her best friend Sage learned to ride, E was READY. She learned that very day.

I'm proud to say, I'm the one who taught her in the end. Which makes me feel good, since Daddy usually gets that privilege. Right now, he taught O, and I taught E. We'll have to see who gets to M first. I'm planning on working on it with her this afternoon. Ha.

New Camera!!!!

I got a new camera! What do you think?

Eyewitness

All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. Acts 4:32

I had the privilege of being an eyewitness to one of the most beautiful acts of kindness that happened in the world today. Today, our pastor preached on giving. I know some of us grow to dread the "stewardship" sermons that come up once a year, but our preacher did it with his typical freshness and authenticity.This was a sermon in a series of 3 about giving. One thing I love our pastor is that he preaches biblical truth, sometimes truths that are hard to swallow, but preaches them with an amazing attitude of brokenness and grace.
As he preached about giving to others, he said we are responsible for the downtrodden-the widows, orphans, poor, etc. etc. He went on to say that in this economy, we have many that are struggling to make it without jobs. He pointed out 1 family in particular, and showed a video of this church member talking about the journey through unemployment. This particular man is a true servant of the church. You constantly see he and his wife serving diligently, with much passion. He has been without a job for many months, and has 2 children. In the video, he spoke of how good God is. He spoke of how independent he was of God before (when he had financial security) and how dependent he is on God now (with no financial security). This has caused a radical tranformation in him. After the video, our pastor, with much grace, (as usual) asked for an offering for this family. Now I have never been in a church that this was done. I've seen some wonderful behind the scenes stuff, but never an open asking for offering of an individual. And some of you might be critics as to whether or not it was appropriate. But I would tell you that the Holy Spirit was moving so strongly in the room, appropriate-ness was not even a question. This family has needs, and the church wanted to move. And oh, did they ever move. I was on stage helping with the music, and to observe this action was one of the most humbling experiences I've ever had. Very quickly and enthusiastically, people got up from their seats and started laying money at the altar. As they went up, they either layed hands on this family, prayed with them, or hugged them. This wasn't just 25% of the church, 50% of the church, or even 75%. This was the majority of the church on their feet, moving to bless this family.
I don't believe I'll ever forget this day at church. I can't wait to see all of the ways God wants to move, if we'll only step out from behind our pride and let Him.

Seven Daily Prayers

On one of my favorite blogs, the author challenged her readers to pray 7 prayers a day for 7 days for our children. I am sometimes speechless as to how to pray for my girls, and feel they can be so repetitive and cliche. And although I have an attitude of prayer for my girls at all times, I am a moody prayer, spitting out a passionate, pleaful prayer during some sort of emergency with the girls, or I can rush my girls through prayers, when it is late and we're all ready for bed. I needed some structure, and these have seemed to really do the job. I printed them out, and have been using them. (as often as I can keep up with what my children are doing during the day!) Praying these scriptures so far have deepened my prayer time with the girls, and are definitely reminding me to pray ALL through the day for them! If you haven't done this before, give it a try this week! (I've been praying them outloud also, like the author)

Leaves are Falling, Falling Down

Well, since the leaves have turned, it's officially Fall. Funny thing is, I didn't even notice it! I was inside "straightening up" (aka, picking up a thing or 2 here, and sneaking in a read of my newest book-will post on that soon!) and the girls ran inside with their leaf bouquets, screaming, "it's Fall, it's Fall! Look, mom, I'm a bride!,"etc, etc. I can't tell you the joy that welled up in my heart at that scene. If I could freeze those moments and pick them from the air to watch again at any given time in the future, those snapshots of a joyful life would be the most valuable thing I owned.
I couldn't help but remember on that day(election day) that in all of the craziness and confusion and fear in life, God is still the Great Creator, who delights in creating beauty for his children to live and breathe in.