Where have we been?????

Lots of places ..... OK not really. We have been in the same place doing the same things. We have just been struggling with putting our life back together. I think we might be at a place where we are able to join the rest of the world. Check back soon for updates on who and what we are, now ...

He is Our King

This summer Kasie had to be back at camp on Sunday mornings at about 10:00. So it was near impossible to go to church. It was very hard for me not being able to go to church. Once we are out of a routine it is very hard for us to get back into what we should do (and what we need).

Well camp is over, the big girls have moved back into their dorms and our life is on it's way back to normal (as normal as our life is, LOL!). Kalie and I were able to go to church and the message was just what I needed to hear. God is so GOOD!

At the beginning of the service we sang:

He is Our King
He is our king. He is our love.
He is our God who's come
To bring us back to him.
He is the one. He is Jesus.

This song touched me. I do not know if I have ever heard it before or not, but today this song stayed with me for most of the day.

The sermon was titled God Is Alive: The Book of Acts (Acts 1:1-14).

Toby (pastor) said a few things that made me think all day ...

He (Jesus) died the death I should have, after he lived the life I couldn't.

There are no spectators in the Kingdom of God, only participants.

I do not know why these quotes were so profound to me as I have heard them before, but today it struck me as very important. I typed them up and posted it in our dining/school room. I think it is something I should read every day.

Christmas in July

November and December were very hard months for our family. Bill started going downhill two weeks before Thanksgiving. It was very hard for us to be thankful when all we could think about was the fact that Bill would be dying very soon. He had a few days right after Thanksgiving that were GREAT days. He was even able to see Santa Claus with Kalie. (That was probably the last Santa year we will have in our house, until grandchildren come.) Then at the beginning of December he took his last turn. (Now I can look back and be thankful for the time we had with him.) When Bill was diagnosed with lung cancer and we knew that there was no hope, we began to pray every day that Kalie would know her daddy well before he left. The Lord was very good to us and answered his prayer. Kalie adored her daddy and misses him terribly.

We had many plans for the month of December. We were going to bake cookies, make fudge, decorate ornaments, make presents, sing carols and decorate a gingerbread house. (Just a few of our goals.) Well most of our usual must haves for the holiday did not happen. It was a very sad holiday in our home. We put the Holiday season behind us and tried to put our life back together.

Well ... I was looking in the way back of our pantry for my extra bread flour and found our gingerbread house kit. I was just going to throw it away, not wanting Kalie to be reminded of our last Christmas week.



Well, once she saw it she was so excited and wanted to build it right away.



So build away they did.



Kalie and Wendy had a great time. I even played some of our favorite Christmas CDs.



They girls worked for over an hour and I did dishes. It was a good afternoon.



Our finished house looked nothing like the box, but I thought it was beautiful! Wendy's parents might have thought we were crazy, but that is OK. They girls wanted to eat it right away. They started to munch away and soon realized that they did not like gingerbread. They started to pick off all of the candy. I finally had to say, NO MORE CANDY!

I have been worried that Christmas will always be a sad time for Kalie. Maybe I am wrong? We will see come December.

Happy 19th Birthday Kasie!

Kasie, my little princess (Cinderella as she likes to be called) is 19! We celebrated her birthday at Melissa's house during our church community group (with our extended family).

Kasie wanted a Disney princess theme birthday, but Wal-Mart was sold out of the cups, plates, napkins and whatever else we might have needed or wanted. So ... Kalie and I improvised and tried to do our own "Princess" theme party. We made her this cake. It is a two layer cake with purple frosting in the middle. The tiara also lights up and flashes.




My Princess and Kalie. Kasie is my only girly-girl (which I love). She has always been a little bit prim and proper. When the girls danced she always wanted Ballet or Lyrical solos. She loved cheerleading. Some girls collect shoes and handbags, Kasie collects formals. LOL! She loves to get her hair, nails and make up done. She can be seen, often, in a dress or skirt.



Melissa, myself and Maryteal.



After community group we went to visit one of Katie's best friends, Ilsia. She had a baby last November and moved to Washington with her boyfriend shortly after. They recently moved back to be near her family. We had to go and see the baby. He has grown so much.



I hope Kasie had a great birthday. Because of her camp/work schedule we are celebrating her birthday again on Thursday with her present ... check back for the surprise. LOL!

Summer Fun ~ Sunburn

Kalie and Wendy spent most of the day outside playing in the yard and wadding pool. I was the responsible mother and applied sunscreen. She wore her swim suit almost the entire day. It is a cute bikini with a matching swim top that she wears over it.

Kalie looks so sweet with sun kissed cheeks.



During her play the swim shirt kept riding up on her back, a place I did not apply sunscreen as it was under the shirt. She is miserable, poor baby. No water for us today.

Art in the Park

In our town we have a local group called the Travelers Rest Arts Mission. They host different events in the communities and have classes for adults and children. This past weekend they hosted an event at a local park called "Art in the Park". Kalie and I went with her best friend Hannah (from Girl Scouts). They earned many different parts of try its and had a great time.

Kalie at the Girl Scout booth with Mrs. Barb Green making a necklace.



Kalie and Hannah decorating their banks.



Hannah and Kalie with their painted faces.



Kalie always looks so serious when she is concentrating. LOL!



We had such a fun day. Everything that Hannah made she gave to Kalie and visa-versa. It was so funny.

Girl Scout Camp

We have had a very busy week! Fun, but busy. Kasie is working at Camp Wabak (local girl scout camp) again this summer. She is a natural and does very well!

One of the camps (Sew Glam) for the older girls (grade 7 & above) needed a workshop leader. So Kasie volunteered me! (I am not mad.) I picked a project using recycled jeans. The plan was to come up on Monday and Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday evening for about 2 hours each time.

I was very excited to be working at camp. I LOVE girl scout camp. When the big girls were younger, I was a day camp director for 4 years. It was a wonderful experience! I wish I could give that to Kalie, but camp is set up much differently in this council.

Kalie, Wendy and I spent 2+ hours on Monday and Tuesday at camp with the camper girls. After Tuesday I altered the project (the girls were not getting it). Brooke (a girl in our troop), Kalie and I spent almost 3 hours on Wednesday evening. Wendy, Kalie and I were at camp from 10am until almost 6pm on Thursday. They finished it! WooHoo!

On Thursday we worked from 10:00 until 12:15 with the big girls. We had lunch with all of the campers in the dining hall. So fun! We were able to eat with Luna (Kasie) and her group. Kalie loved it. I hope that she will go to camp for a little bit next year. (Brownie sampler: 3 days 2 nights.)

After lunch Wendy, Kalie and I went back to the administration building to rest and work on projects. The big girls had rest time and another activity . I corrected some mistakes and helped a few girls get further along on their bags.

Buttons (Chris, the camp director) surprised Kalie and Wendy with an invitation for swimming, so off to the pool we went. On our way we had to stop to pet the horses.

Wendy



Kalie



The girls after our swim.



The big girls started working again at 3:30 and finished just in time for dinner! YEA! I wish I could post the pics of the girls and their projects, but the council did not have signed releases for all of the girls. I will post a picture of my finished bag (when it gets finished, LOL!) so you can see what the girls worked on all week.

It was a very busy, eventful week! I LOVED it!

Build A Bear Workshop Party

Our Scouts sold 852 boxes of cookies. Not a lot, but a good number for a new, small troop. The girls choose to spend their profits on a Build A Bear Party! WooHoo! Kalie is the only one who has ever been to BABW. So for the other girls it was a new experience. They had so much fun! I just love these girls!

Katy, Brooke, Hannah, Karin, Kalie and Miss Brittany.



Inspecting their bears.



The heart ceremony. Hayden was unable to come. The girls missed her but made her a bear as a surprise. Miss Brittany had each of the girls and leaders insert a heart into her bunny.



The girls earned the Careers Try It during the party.



Kalie stuffing her scruffy puppy with Miss Brittany.



The girls just LOVED Miss Brittany, she was a wonderful party leader! (I knew she would be, that is why I requested her.) She was very energetic, professional, respectful of the girls and their questions. We had so much fun.



Hannah being goofy, not wanting her picture taken.



Baby Beka (Hannah's little sister) was such a good little girl. She sat quietly in her stroller the entire time. She is going to be a great Daisy Girl Scout in 2 years.



Our troop. Ms. April (me), Ms. Amy (asst. leader), Brooke, Katy, Hannah, Karin, Hayden's Bunny and Kalie.



We ended at Ms. Amy's house. The girls had such a great day!



Katy with her Champ Bear.



Hannah with her Hears for You Bear.



Kalie with her Scruffy Puppy.



Brooke with her Tropical Sun Kissed Hello Kitty.



Karin with her Tropical Sun Kissed Hello Kitty.



We had a GREAT day!

Pizza Inn

Our troop had their "End of the Year" Celebration. For the beginning of the day we went to Pizza Inn. The girls made their own individual pizzas and toured the "kitchen". They LOVED it!



Matt was so great with the girls. He was great with the girls, answering their questions, letting them explore and build their own pizzas.



They loved that we were having pizza for brunch. (The tours are only done at 10:00 in the morning, so we ate at about 10:30.)



Matt, Brooke, Hannah, Katy, Kalie, Karin and Shawn (our favorite waiter) and another kitchen guy (not sure of his name).



This was a great start to our wonderful day!

Wendy

God is good!

I have been very stressed about money lately. We have the monthly income for the absolute necessities: rent, power, Internet (most of Kalie's curriculum is found free on line), cell phone (we do not have a home phone), car insurance, food. Anything extra is always unknown. We try to do free or cheap things as much as possible. With the prices of gas lately our "socialization" has decreased. I have passed on many wonderful free or cheap field trips because I couldn't justify the gas expense.

I had been a nanny for the most precious little girl (Carlee) for 2 years and then last August she went to preschool (daycare). It was nice having just Kalie, but the loss of income took away all of our "mad" money. I have been praying for another child to watch for a few months. I told everyone I knew to keep their ears open for opportunities. I posted an offer on our church email loop.

Nothing for weeks.... then Susanna email me. YEA! She needed someone to watch her 8 year old daughter 3 days a week this summer. We go to church together, Wendy and Kalie are in the same class for children's worship. So now we have some mad money to play with for the summer. Which means we can go to all or most of the free activities for the summer library reading program, we can attend a few free or low cost field trips that are a little further from home and we can visit different parks in the county.

Wendy and Kalie.



Kalie is excited to have someone her age to play with.



Another great perk ... Wendy use to be homeschooled. So her mother is thrilled that we will be doing many educational things this summer. Susanna had wanted to use Story of the World with her kids and try a classical approach with education, but she had to return to work. So she is very happy that Wendy will be getting the experience this summer.

So I am homeschooling 2 this summer. Which I am finding almost easier than just 1. They can play games together and Kalie tries to hurry so they will have free time to play. I save the boring stuff for when Wendy is not here. I pray that this works out!

Court of Awards

Our End of the Year Coart of Awards was a huge success! They girls were very surprised that they had earned so many Try Its and Patches.



The girls sang a few songs and told everyone about their favorite memory of the past year.



Kalie was very excited to have sold 200 boxes of cookies and earn/win her dog.



The girls had worked so hard this year. I am glad that they were able to earn so many recognitions. I think they may work even harder next year. LOL!

Park Fun!

A group of us from church went to the park to play. We had so much fun!

Kasie and Carissa. I wonder if she knows how much she is loved?



Kalie and Caroline are eating lunch together, alone as "big" girls.



Josiah and Caleb conquering the wilds. LOL! These boys are so funny, cute, smart and we are very glad to be part of their life.



I am very thankful to have this "church family" they have been a wonderful support to our family.

Show and Tell Day

Half of our Girl Scout troop is homeschooled. How cool is that! In the Girl Scout organization each troop is set up a little differently. The organization has a framework for leaders to follow but there is pleanty of room for leaders and girls to make each troop their own.

One thing our troop allows, is badge work outside of meetings. The girls are give a form that needs to be completed and turned in. They are also required to bring proof (photo, the completed project, a program or brochure, etc.) to share with the troop. Our plan is to have 3 Show and Tell meetings a year. One at the end of the year (May/June), end of the Summer (August) and one mid year (January). These times match up with our Court of Awards. The COA meeting is usually the next meeting after our show and tell meeting.

As they arrived the girls were given 15 minutes to set up their tables. We began our meeting as usual with the Pledge, Promise, Law and announcements. As leaders, we choose 2 activities (per girl) from the requirement forms as the "shareing" activities. After the group sharing time, we divided the girls into 2 groups with the first group manning their tables and the second group visiting. Halfway through they switched. The girls did a very good job sharing their "talents" and talking in front of a group.

Hannah sharing to Brooke and Kalie.




Karin and Hannah.





Katy explaining to Karin.




Brooke and Katy.

Our troop is small, we now have only 6 girls as we have lost 2 due to behavior expectations. The girls have learned so much this year. They have become a close group of friends. At the beginning of the year Katy and Brooke hardly spoke to anyone and if they did speak you could not hear them. Karin and Kalie were wild and crazy. Hannah was so excited about life and Hayden was happy to be in Girl Scouts again. (She had been a Daisy but could not find space in a Brownie troop when she bridged.) Now they all interact with each other.

The night was GREAT!