Thursdays Post...On Friday

Yep, I'm late with my post again.  I was pretty busy yesterday, and by the time I remembered to blog I was already in bed, half asleep.  It happens.  Certain times of the month, it happens.  Girls know what I'm talking about.

No school yesterday or today - teacher service days, meaning my son's teachers are still grading papers and getting calls made.  My son still doesn't know his algebra grade.  He's got A's in all his other classes, but I suspect he got a B in math, just because he had an 89% before midterm finals, and he got C's in 2 of those.  We don't know what his score was on the last portion of the exam, but whatever it was, it wasn't going to be high enough to bump his grade back up to an A.  Still, I'm pretty satisfied.  His grades are improved from last year, and I'm sure they're better than they would have been had he been in public school.  His science teacher called him to say he'd gotten one of the highest grades on his exam: an 87%.  He was so thrilled about that; he'd always worked hard in science but his grades would never reflect it.  Last year his science teacher was very disorganized, and she had zero control over her class.  She spent 70% of her time disciplining or yelling at the students, then the end of the grading period would come and she was behind in all the lessons.  I was the one that ended up teaching him from his book.  She was always behind in posting grades in his grade book, so I didn't know what areas he was having trouble with.  I would email her but her answers, when they came, were vague.  It was so frustrating, because I wanted to be involved in his schooling but it seemed some of the teachers were working against me.  Not the case anymore.  His teachers are on the ball, even though they have more students.  And I'm his primary learning coach, so I have full access to all his lessons and can help him better.  Homeschooling may not be for everyone, but it's been a win-win situation for us.

Since there was no school, my son asked for a haircut.  E had initially said he wanted to go to a hair stylist and get his hair styled, but in the end he realized he doesn't want his hair to be too long.  Most styles now are fades, with the hair on top of the head long and the sides short.  The problem with that for my son is, he has wiry hair.  The hair styles that are popular for men now are for straight hair.  He'd have to let his wiry hair grow out long enough to blow dry, and he's not going to do that.  He can't stand how it feels.  So I cut his hair, then cut R's hair as well.  My boys appreciate the fact that I'm cutting their hair: E because he can jump in the shower right away afterwards, and R because it saves him money.  Another win-win.

I made jambalaya in the crock pot.  It was spicy and delicious; so much so that there were no leftovers.  After lunch I went to pick up some dried up coconuts and branches from the yard, and saw that my little pepper plant, which looks more like a weed than a plant, had 4 more peppers on it.  I haven't even been attending to these plants, but they're producing.  I figured it out: this is the time to plant in Florida, not in the summer or fall, but in the winter.  So I cleaned up my garden area (which had become overgrown with weeds), threw away everything that had dried up, and moved my pepper and tomato plants closer to the house.  I then got some of the larger containers, added more soil to them, and planted green beans, green peppers and cucumbers.  I was going to trim the raspberry bush, but I saw a bunch of buds on the branches.  Who knows, we might finally get some raspberries from this bush!  I'm excited to see if I have better results from my garden this time around.

I was debating whether or not to go to the ladies bible study at my church.  The group started up again last week, and I missed it because of midterm finals.  My son E was actually encouraging me to go, so I did.  Boy, am I glad!  We're doing Beth Moore's study of the book of Daniel, my favorite Old Testament book.  Let me just say, this is not a study for wimps.  She goes into this book deep, both biblically and historically.  I'm super excited now!  I have to catch up in my workbook since I didn't attend last week's class, but I'm determined to do 2 lessons per day so I don't miss any of the information.  Can't wait till next week for our next class!

After that I came home, cleaned up the kitchen, then went to bed.  I had a slight headache, which hasn't gone away yet.  I'm gonna take some Tylenol, then get started with my day.  Catch up with you later!

Monday, Monday

I feel like I'm starting off the week right.  I'm getting back into my groove.  It's a good way to start the week, especially on the day everyone hates.

I woke up once in the middle of the night, and prayed that God would take any unnecessary thoughts out of my head so I could go back to sleep.  It worked.  I dozed off till 6:00.  I got up at 7:00, after spending some time with the Lord, and got my day started.  My cousin was bringing the kids over today, since there's no school (Martin Luther King Jr. day).  I figured they'd be here between 8:30 and 9:00, so I had to get moving.  I had already decided what we were gonna have for lunch/dinner: spaghetti with meat sauce, breadsticks, and salad.  I needed to get the sauce in the crock pot early.  I don't care for sauce in a jar, so I make my own.  It's so simple, yet so much better (and healthier) than anything in the stores, and it takes less than 10 minutes to prepare.  A couple cans of crushed tomatoes, garlic, dried basil, dried oregano, one dried bay leaf, sofrito (made with onion, green pepper, garlic and cilantro), olive oil, salt and pepper.  Throw all the ingredients in the crock pot, and in 3 hours you have sauce.  Done.  The meat gets added later.  For breakfast, I decided to make pancakes.  I like buttermilk pancakes, again from scratch, because in my opinion they are just as easy to make as the boxed version, only they don't taste like a cardboard box.  I made a batch, along with bacon,  Oh, my kids love me, and now you know why.

As I was finishing whipping up our breakfast, the kids arrived.  They were actually late; it was after 9:00 when their dad dropped them off.  They brought bags of cereal that they had for breakfast, as we sat down to our pancakes.  Once I got the dishes in the sink the kids immediately asked to play a board game.  They brought Monopoly Jr., which they'd gotten for Christmas.  Over the summer I babysat them everyday, and we played at least 2 board games daily.  They loved coming over to my house because I took the time to play with them and teach them games.  I believe board games are so much better than video games; they're more interactive, and require more thinking.  While video games can be good for motor skills, so can card games.  The best part is, with board games you're looking at your opponent in the eye, rather than at a television screen.  I'm not opposed to video games; I just think there's better stuff out there.  So we played a game of Monopoly Jr. (totally fun), then my son R came out and started playing on his Wii U.  And they were gone.  For the next 2 hours.  Oh well, at least I was able to keep them focused for a little while.

I took advantage of those 2 hours and got some cleaning done.  Yesterday, as I was folding laundry, I tried to plug a light into the wall and accidentally knocked down my Dyson vacuum cleaner, the one that's been out of commission for the past few weeks.  I'd tried taking it apart to figure out why it wouldn't stand upright or work properly, but to no avail, so I had it in my room as I tried to decide whether to get it fixed or not.  As I picked it up to put it back where I'd had it, I realized what the problem was.  A piece, conveniently located right in front of another piece that I had taken apart and put back together, was out of place.  I moved it back to where it was supposed to go, and voila!  The vacuum cleaner was upright again.  Since it was already late at night I hadn't tested it, but I did try it out today.  It works like a dream.  To think I'd done so much to try and fix it, yet in one split second it was up and running.  All I could do was shake my head.

My daughter stayed home from work today.  Her throat is sore, her voice is gone, she had a low grade fever, and her sinuses are hurting.  Sounds just like what her brother had.  The good thing is that she's been able to nap during the day.  The bad thing is, she's gotta work tomorrow.  Hopefully she'll feel better in the morning.

After cleaning up I browned the ground beef and added it to the sauce, then made the breadsticks and spaghetti.  I like Pillsbury breadsticks; they taste good and are less messy to make.  As I was pulling the salad fixings out of the fridge, the kid's mom came and brought them pizza.  It's easy to see what their favorite food is: they went at it like piranhas.  I made the salad with a few sweet peppers from my garden, and my one lone tomato which had finally turned red.  It was a tiny little thing, but it packed a lot of sweetness!  I'm hoping it won't be the only tomato I get from that plant.

As I sat down to eat my lunch I took a look at the Bare Escentuals website to see about my order.  I hadn't gotten an email yet but I kind of hoped there would be an update about it shipping (there wasn't).  What I did see that caught my eye:  10% off everything on their website, and free shipping.  Why do they do this to me???  It's like they knew there was something I'd wanted to order but hadn't, so they enticed me with an incredible offer.  I have to admit, I debated back and forth whether to place the order or not.  I went through my makeup, reviewed my budget, and ultimately I got it.  It's a set of 5 eyeliners in different colors: bronze, green, taupe, plum, and gold.  This set normally sells for $29; one Lasting Line eyeliner on its own sells for $16.  This particular set was already on sale for $13; with the discount and tax I ended up paying just over $12.  That's about $2.50 per pencil.  I couldn't let a deal like that slip away!  Besides, I currently have 2 black eyeliners and 3 brown ones.  I also have one called Forever Brandy, which is a sort of burgundy/purple shade.  One of the brown ones is a bronze color, but that would be the only repeat.  I'm excited about having pencils in different colors because, at my age, black is harsh against my skin.  I'll still wear it, because I love black eyeliner, but it's too dramatic for anything other than special occasions.  Lighter colors are more flattering, and these colors will be a perfect fit.

As I was putting the lunch dishes in the dishwater, I asked my 8 year old niece if she'd gotten homework over the weekend.  She said that she had, and that she'd done all of it except for Reading Plus.  Reading Plus is a computer program the kids in public school use to improve their reading skills.  She knew she was supposed to do Reading Plus at my house, but she hadn't mentioned it to me.  When I asked her about it, she said, "I was going to tell you."  Uh-huh.  Like 5 minutes before her grandma picked her up?  Yeah, right kid.  I had her sit down and get to work.  She could have finished quickly, but she's so easily distracted!  Her brothers played on their tablets to keep them quietly occupied (as if it's possible to keep two little boys ages 5 and 7 quiet), and she was almost done by the time her grandma came to get them.  It was sad for me to see their grandma; she had been grandma Maria's primary caretaker for almost 30 years.  Her mother had helped her raise her daughter, and she in turn had cared for her mother in her declining years.  While she smiles and loves on her grandkids, there's definitely a sadness in her eyes, and I'm sure an empty spot in her heart.  We all know grandma Maria is with Jesus and she's no longer suffering.  It's the one comforting thought we have.

Once they were gone I fed Molly, then went to the front yard to trim some trees and bushes that were getting overgrown thanks to last week's rains.  Tomorrow is trash day, so I wanted to get as much debris inside the garbage tank as could fit.  I filled it up but good!  It took me an hour but thankfully the weather has been superb, in the low 70's with a nice breeze, so yard work was actually pleasant.  I had my dinner and rested a bit before taking my shower.  I cleaned up, picked up, and now I can try and plan tomorrow's school day.  Honestly, I have no clue what we're gonna be doing.  E has finished all his assignments; unless there's something he needs to change or correct, he's done, but he has 2 days of school this week.  I'm pretty sure his teachers won't be having any live lessons, since they have to finish grading everyone's final exams.  I'm waiting to see if I get any emails from his teachers, otherwise we're gonna have to figure something out.  Shouldn't be too hard, right?...

With that I will bid everyone a good night, sweet dreams, rest well, and remember, Jesus loves you.

Tackling Tuesday

Did you ever get the feeling you were the last person to find out about something?  Like everyone is in on the secret but you?  That was me this morning.  The world is progressing forward and I'm stuck in neutral.

Last night my computer (which is pretty old, by the way) started acting up as it sometimes does.  I shut it down multiple times but for whatever reason I could not get internet access.  At all.  It wouldn't recognize our wireless network or any other wireless network in the area.  I was concerned because this is the computer my son uses for his schoolwork.  He can't get Java to work on his computer so he watches all his live lessons on mine, and today he had two. I prayed this morning that my son would be able to figure out what was wrong with the computer before 10 am when E's first lesson started.  As soon as R woke up I told him what had happened last night.  He walked over to the computer, pressed a button on the top of the keyboard, and all the wireless connections came up.  I sat there in amazement and asked what he'd done?  His matter-of-fact answer:  "I turned on the wireless."  I couldn't do anything but laugh my head off at what an idiot I was.  I must have turned the wireless off without realizing it.  Even funnier, I pointed to another button and told the boys I'd thought that was the button for the wireless.  My 14 year old said, "No Mom, that turns off the mousepad."  I shook my head and wondered when I'd left the prehistoric era and landed here in the 21st century.

Breakfast today was pretty basic:  one fried egg, 2 strips of bacon, honey wheat toast with homemade apple butter, and coffee.  Lunch will be tacos, with lettuce from my backyard.  I'd started a garden months ago but had given up on it when the caterpillars waged war and were winning.  Still, without even trying, my lettuce seeds sprang up and I have large gorgeous lettuce leaves ready for the picking.  Not only that, but I was watching our dog Molly and happened to look at my tomato plant.  There's a tomato growing!  The first one on this plant!  I stopped watering this plant because I was sure it was a dud.  It grew and grew but never gave me a single tomato.  Now it has a small tomato and 2 more little tomato buds.  Proof again that I plant, I even water, but it's God who makes things grow.

I watched Alexandrea Garza's new video this morning and had to tell my daughter about it.  She goes over her evening skin care routine, and there were some really good pointers.  For instance, why hadn't I thought of using Johnson's Baby Shampoo to remove eye makeup?!  Oh my goodness, that is genius!  It's gentle on the eyes and cleans really well, plus it's way cheaper than any makeup remover on the market!  She also had some advise for people with extra dry skin which my daughter suffers from.  Especially now that the humidity has gone down, our skin gets drier than usual, and her skin gets downright flaky.  Her regular moisturizer isn't doing a good enough job; hopefully she can find something that will work for her.  My daughter has started using Michael Todd products which are totally organic, since she has sensitive skin.  Hopefully a good moisturizer regiment will also help improve her complexion.

I thought today was gonna be another busy school day; after all, E had a couple of assignments to do, and 2 live lessons.  He went in for his first live lesson, English class.  Except it wasn't a class per se, it was review and question time for their end of semester assignment.  The class is writing a thesis on Dr. Martin Luther King's Letter from Birmingham Jail (which is an inspirational read).  They've done the thesis statement, introduction, body paragraphs, and today they were writing the conclusion.  It took all of half an hour.  So he read his book till his next live lesson, leadership.  Turns out the teacher had cancelled the class because they are just about finished with the semester.  So he did his reading for leadership, wrote his conclusion paragraph, and was done in 3 hours.  Great.  He needs 5 hours of work per day.  We went ahead and started working on his music history lab, but I don't want him getting to far ahead of himself; the rest of the week is really light, and if he does all the work today and tomorrow he'll have nothing to do the rest of the week.  I'm looking forward to Christmas break so I don't have to figure out what schoolwork to do.

While my son was listening to his English teacher review for his assignment, I took our dog Molly out for her bath.  Molly is an American bulldog mix.  She acts very much like an American bulldog, except that lately she had gotten to digging in the backyard.  She comes to the door with filthy paws.  She also has taken to rolling in the dirt, causing her to stink to high heaven.  I was dying to get her cleaned up good but it had been too chilly out - we have to bathe her outside because she absolutely HATES getting a bath and she would not stay still for a moment to get bathed inside the house.  Besides, she sheds enough to build a second dog, and I can't imagine the damage her hair would do to our plumbing.  The weather has gotten nicer the last couple of days; 50's in the morning, 70's in the afternoon, 60's in the evening.  I had to wait till the sun came out so I could give her a bath without her freezing.  Now, normally I tie Molly up to the patio furniture to get her bathed because if I don't she'll run off.  The patio furniture is light, but she wouldn't move it because the sound it made against the patio floor would scare her (she's part dog, part chicken).  Today, however, she decided she wasn't having anything to do with cleaning or water or shampoo or anything.  I brought the hose out and started getting her wet.  All of a sudden, she bolted.  And I mean she was taking everything that was in her path!  She knocked down one of the patio chairs, a large planter, the glass from the patio table she was tied to went flying and only by God's grace landed on the grass and didn't shatter, and she ended up on the other side of the house, patio table still dragging behind her, where she turned and gave me that look said, "I'm in trouble, aren't I?"  Yeah, you better believe it!  I not only had to give her a bath, I also had to put the patio back together again.  She was in the doghouse, so to speak, after that little incident.

I got the email from Ulta today:  my order has shipped :-).  I'm glad; it's one less thing I have to worry about.  The Bare Escentuals orders are also supposed to ship this week, in time to receive them for Christmas, though none of the items we ordered are actually Christmas gifts.  Of course, there might be a birthday gift for my little girl, whose birthday is two days later ;-).

Tonight was our weekly group run, and I met up with my friend DS at the corner of our block.  We live about a mile away from the meeting spot for our running group, so DS and I sometimes go there on foot.  We took my son E since he'd been cooped up at home all day.  The night was brisk - 61 degrees felt nice for our walk/jog around the neighborhood.  DS and I don't usually run like the others in the group; we either walk or jog, so we lag behind and chit-chat the whole time.  Tonight we were walking along a path that is directly behind a bunch of houses, and there is a concrete wall separating the houses from the sidewalk.  My son E was a few feet ahead of us, running.  As we walked something along the top of the wall caught my eye.  It was a possum.  Possums are nothing more than giant rats as far as I'm concerned, and anyone who knows me knows I hate rats.  I let out a scream, grabbed my friend DS, pulled her away from the wall and yelled, "Run!!"  I hit my turbo button and took off like a mad woman, DS was trying to run but didn't know what was going on, and my son turned around and wondered, "What in the world are they doing?!"  He heard laughter and thought maybe we were laughing at a joke.  Then he saw us running and thought we were racing!  It wasn't until I'd gotten far enough that I told them what I'd seen.  It was so hilarious, we couldn't stop talking about it and laughing!  Even our exercise time is an adventure!

Oh, and I did change the background on my blog today.  The background I had was pretty but it was more appropriate for spring; this background is more of a winter theme, but not too wintery - it's not like we get snow or anything.  Hope it looks appealing!  Have a good night y'all.

Has It Been That Long?!

I knew it had been a long time since I'd posted anything on my blog.  But I didn't realize just HOW long it had been!  I wish I'd come on just to add a few little tidbits here and there of what's been going on - remembering everything will be a task! Let's see what I come up with...

Since September of last year, I've been very busy - too busy to sit down and get things put in writing.  October is, of course, Halloween.  My son and his best friend dressed up for our church's Harvest festival.  My son was dressed as Robin, again.  His best friend made a Minecraft costume that was the hit of the festival.  What an original idea!

November was busy because it's when I finish my Christmas shopping, and it's also Thanksgiving.  We were blessed with my sister and brother-in-law spending Thanksgiving with us for the first time.  It made the holiday less lonely having them with us.  Of course it made the thought of Christmas even lonelier.  God knew how I was feeling, so He surprised me:  my sister and brother-in-law came back down for Christmas as well!  It made for a very busy but very joyful time for us.

December also marked a huge milestone for me.  I've now officially lived on this earth for half a century.  Ugh.  It doesn't sound very glamorous, does it?  I didn't have a party (too close to every other holiday), but I chose to do something different, and that was in my home.  I love decorating, moving furniture, choosing new things and shaking old things up.  My choice for my home's new look:  something with a Northern feel.

I'd always wanted one of those media fireplaces!  I thought they looked so cool, giving the home that warm, cozy feeling, even though we rarely need a fireplace in South Florida.  However, when I saw this media fireplace by Better Homes and Gardens at Walmart for $249, I didn't care what the weather was like - it was just what I was looking for!  Add 2 matching bookcases at $60 each, and I was able to give my living room a newer, more contemporary-while-still-traditional look for under $500.  It made turning 50 a little more tolerable ;-).

That was completed in January, after all the Christmas decorations were put away.  February brought new decorating challenges, this time in the form of the outside of the house.  Our house was in desperate need of a paint job.  Before that could be done, however, the roof tiles needed to be cleaned.  I hired someone to do that - no way was I climbing up on the roof with a pressure cleaner! - and not a moment too soon.  Our town was sending letters out to all the residents who hadn't cleaned their roofs, giving them a deadline to get it done.  I was glad I didn't have to be told my roof was disgusting!  Once the roof was nicely scrubbed (it turned out even better than I'd expected), the painting began.  I started with the dividing wall in my backyard.  It's a cement wall that our old neighbors behind us had put it.  At one point it'd gotten full of ivy which peeled the paint off.  The difference after painting was night and day.

That's a glimpse of the before and after, after being on the left.  It looked like a brand new wall!  After that was done (it took a total of 4 days), painting the actual house was next.  Yes, I painted it.  Me.  Why yes, I am insane.  Why do you ask?

The color on the house had faded to the point that it was peach colored - not what I wanted at all.  Besides, our dog Molly had gotten into the habit of rubbing herself against the wall, leaving a long dirty mark all along the back of the house.  I went with a brown color, Country something-or-other, to create contrast with the roof which is lighter and has terracotta and light grey tiles.  The difficult part of painting the back and sides of the house was 1) the sun burning down and roasting me, and 2) getting up and down the ladder.  This was a piece of cake, though, compared to doing the front of the house.

Before

After

Getting good pictures of the front of the house is hard due to some trees that block the view.  Still, I think the contrast is noticeable.  The trim went much lighter - the color is called Milk Toast - and it set off the color of the house and garage/front doors beautifully.  The garage door was originally white.  It was painted some 7 years ago in a brown color that, like the walls, had faded to peach.  It was hideous.  Now the doors are dark chocolate brown and they look clean and sophisticated.  I'm very pleased with the results.

Of course, getting that done made the area next to the front door stand out in a bad way.  Because of the way the roof pitches, the area in front of the living room window would get flooded, causing mud and dirt instead of a nice planting area.  Anything I planted there died or was stunted because of the excess water during the rainy season.  There was only one way to fix it.  Get rid of it.  How?  Pavers, that's how.

And once again, I did it myself.

 I had to start with clearing the area, laying down sand, then installing Brock Paver Base.  The hardest part was working in a tightly confined area - just 9' by 6'.  It made putting everything down level a challenge.  In the end it did work out very nicely.  My daughter helped me with the design.  There are some pipes that stick out of the ground that had to be left that way, and getting around them was yet another challenge, but she did a great job.

The end result is neater, cleaner, drains well and No More Mud!!!  It looks great, and the feeling of accomplishment at having done it myself (another project costing about $450) is beyond words.  I'm thrilled with the look!

So, what have I been up to lately?  Gardening.  I've started a veggie garden in my backyard - small, just a little corner by the patio.  I've planted butter crunch lettuce, spring mix lettuces, bell peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, cilantro, basil, and oregano.  Along the edge of the house we have blueberries, strawberries and raspberries.  For the kids, of course.  I'm allergic to berries.

I started my cucumbers from seed.  They sprouted in less than a week.

I saw how my cousin was growing lettuces in bags, and decided to give it a try.  They are progressing nicely.

This is my green bean plant the day it sprouted. Just barely noticeable.

And here it is, the very next day.  I was so excited!  It's continuing to grow and thrive.

Well, that's my recap.  I hope I'll be more diligent in keeping my blog up, especially now as I become Arlene the Gardener.  Thanks for sticking around, if you have.  More fun to come!

Move It Mondays

Wow, I've really let this blog go!  I hate to admit it, but some days I just don't have anything new or particularly interesting to write about.  Life is busy and there's much to do, but it isn't anything out of the ordinary so I don't stop to blog about it.

For instance, I've been barbecuing more often now though today was definitely not a day to be outdoors.  It turned dark at about 11:00am but it didn't start raining until after 1:30pm.  I did my grocery shopping this morning and picked up some flowers for my backyard planters.  I'd planted petunias in the large brick planter but heavy rains destroyed them.  I planted vincas instead.

The white ones on either corner were already there, I just planted the ones in the center where the petunias once resided.

I also bought this torenia because the color fascinated me.  It's called Midnight Blue.

I think it's more of a deep purple, but either way it's stunning.

You might notice in the pictures that everything is wet.  Once the rain started, it meant to stick around.  It's now past 6pm and the rain is still falling.  Thankfully it isn't raining terribly hard.  It's just non-stop.

Our pastor is doing an amazing series called Momentum.  This Sunday he talked about what to do when the desires of our hearts are not fulfilled.  It has me thinking a lot about how things don't always turn out the way I expected.  It's not that God isn't listening, it's that His will is different from mine.  I have to find out what His will for my life is.  I'm gonna be praying about that.

We went bowling on Saturday.  Our local bowling alley has a really great deal:  $34.99 gets us 2 games per day for up to 4 people all summer long till September 2.  What's really nice is that it doesn't include my youngest son because he gets the games for free anyway!  Kids 15 and under can sign up for their Kids Summer Fun deal, 2 games per day for free.  I hope we can go at least a couple of times per week so we can be ready when my sister and brother-in-law come to visit.  My brother-in-law is a great bowler, so we have to be in tip top condition come December.  I printed off the free movie schedule from our local movie theater as well.  I try to find as many free or low cost entertainment for the summer as I possibly can so my son doesn't have to complain about not having anything to do.

The last day of school is June 6.  My son has field day this Thursday, so although he's in school he won't be going to any of his classes.  Next Monday is Memorial Day which means no school as well.  So officially he now has 11 days of school left.  There are no words to describe how happy he is that the year is almost over - he is ready for a vacation!

Speaking of endings, this Wednesday is our last day of Awana - awards night.  I'll be saying goodbye to my sweet third grade girls who will be moving up.  It's a joy to serve at Awana and see how God's word starts to penetrate into their little hearts.  Kids are kids for a very short time - use that time wisely!

Hmm, I guess I did have plenty to write about after all!  Have a wonderful week everybody!  God bless.