VBS Crazy

Whoo whee, am I ever glad that the week is over. It was crazy busy and I loved every second of it. I like to be busy and have a variety of things to do, and boy did I ever.

The kids did Vacation Bible School Monday thru Thursday at a friend's church. It started at 8 and ended at 12. The great thing about it is that they served the kids breakfast and lunch. All I had to do was get the kids up, dressed, and out the door. It was about 25 minutes away, but very worth it. The kids had the best time.

It was an Arts and Sports Camp. I thought I had made the kids each pick an art and a sport, but somehow the boy ended up in soccer and basketball. The big girl wasn't happy about him being in basketball, because he was in her class. Sometimes, it's a challenge. She has gotten to the point that she doesn't want to share all of her activities with her brother and sister. We are definitely talking about that one. We don't always get to pick what we share and what we get to be stingy with. For the first couple of days we took our friend Am with us. She had also gone to the VBS the kids went to last week. It was nice to have the company. And she is such a sweet girl. She sat in the back and giggled with the big girl. One day they waved at all the cars behind us on our way home. They were so funny.

Two days last week I went to dance. This is the first time I've gotten to take summer classes and I love it. The kids are in VBS so I have time to do it. The class is very full and we have all levels. There is one lady that danced as a child, but hasn't danced in forty years. One of the ladies took ballet this past season, but has never taken tap. We are learning the recital routine the advanced class just did. It is harder than it looks. A couple of us had asked our teacher to make it a little harder and she is! It is wonderful. I am having the best time. This week coming up is the last two classes and then we break for the rest of the summer.

There is a new place that has opened not too far from us. It is a dance studio that teaches Polynesian, Hawaiian, Tahitian, and Samoan dancing. I was thinking we may try that for a month of two and see how we like it. I need to call for more info. How cool would it be to know how to hula when we go to Hawaii? It would help the kids know about that part of their heritage. Me, too, for that matter.

Thursday was produce day. The house it's run out of happens to be right across the street from the VBS the kids were at. It was also my day to help bag groceries. I just dropped the kids off and went across the street. By the time I was done, there was about an hour until the kids were done. I had a couple of errands to run and got back with about 10 minutes to spare.

Thursday was also the kids last day at VBS at that church. I really think we're going to do that one next year. I like the idea of an arts and sports camp. The kids got to use their brains and their bodies. They got fed and they had a great time. It was a win-win all the way around.

Thursday was also movie day at the library. The kids wanted to go because they had not seen Madagascar 2 and that was the movie. We had to run home from VBS, drop off the produce, walk the dog, wash hands and faces, go to the bathroom, and back out the door to the movie. After the movie we stopped by a store for the big girl to try on shorts they had on clearance (I saved over $60 that trip and spent less than $20) and then to eat.

And all week we were doing VBS at our church. That ran from 6-9 and really late nights. That wouldn't have been so bad if we weren't getting up so early all week as well. Our theme this year was God's Big Backyard and what a bunch of fun that was. I helped with registration and sign in and then floated wherever I was needed. Hubby helped with games. He is after all, just a big kid. Hubby was working a lot of overtime and was on call, but he came as soon as he got off work. He got called out one night, but made it back in time for the slide show at the end and clean up.

The big girl got to be a helper this year because she is a sixth grader now. We had a couple of issues with one kid, but it got straightened out and she didn't have anymore problems. She had a great time. She had a little attitude problem at the beginning, but I told her she could be a part of the crew instead of the crew leader and she straightened up. The rest of the week she laughed and joked and was very happy. She also got to be in all the skits. She was really excited about it. She did a fantastic job. I am so proud of her for getting up in front of all those people.

We all had the best time. The entire week was focused on serving. We talked about how we could serve our families, our friends, and our community while serving Jesus at the same time. Attendance was low this year because there were two other VBSs running the same week and the same time. We still managed to have about 40 kids visit us. Attendance dropped a little towards the end of the week, but we expected that. We still managed to talk to the children, the youth helpers, and the adult volunteers, including myself. It was an honor to be there, serving others and serving Jesus. It was one of the best weeks of my life.

Saturday I had a girls night out. It was fantastic, but you have to go to my other blog to see the story. It's rather tame, but maybe a couple of highlights. We'll see. We have all been sort of lazing around, trying to recover from the week. Hubby worked Saturday as an overtime day, so he is really tired. He's about to snore now.

Have a great day!

Thursday Update

It has been awhile. Things have just not slowed down this summer. This is what we've been up to.

The kids are in Vacation Bible School this week. I had planned for them to go to 6 different ones, but there are several that have been during the same weeks. Right now I have them registered for three. I'm still looking for a couple more for them to go to. Next week they will go to one in the morning and then our church in the evening. That will be a busy week. We are all looking forward to it this year. They love going to VBS and seeing friends they haven't seen in a while and some they see pretty often.

The big girl is officially a middle schooler. She is now in the 6th grade. How did it happen and where have I been? I know I've been awake for most of it, but I swear I don't remember any of it. I had told her in fourth grade that when she became a 6th grader she could start wearing lip gloss in public. When I brought up the fact that she had moved up a grade, that was her first recation. She is so happy she gets to wear make up of any kind. She is so beautiful, she doesn't need any of that junk. I never listened when I was a kid, and she isn't either. It's that some of her friends get to wear it. Some have worn it since 4th grade, which is how the conversation came up. Crazy if you ask me, but I'm not their parent.

This is her last year attending VBS. Some programs have extended to 6th grade, so maybe we'll get her in some things next summer. She will be a helper at our VBS this year. She is so excited about it. She is now part of the youth program and no longer the children's program. She also gets to be in all the skits at our VBS. She likes to be on stage and perform and this is right up her alley. I am so proud of my baby. I know, 6th grader, but she will always be my baby.

I've been taking summer dance classes. They have them for the first part of the summer and the kids being in VBS has allowed me to do this. I don't have to worry about finding someone to watch the kids or leave them in the back room. They are more than welcome to stay in the back room, but I don't like it. I don't want to have to worry about what the little munchkins are up to. And the last thing I want is to listen to fighting and fussing while I'm having a good time. It's definitely a buzz kill.

We finally finished the Harry Potter series. We listened to the last CD of "Deathly Hallows" last night. What a fantastic series of books. I will say that the last two were a little old for my two youngest. There were some things in there that raised some questions, but over all, what a good time. When my kids beg me to "listen to just one more, please Mama", I love it. I hope that I am opening a whole new world to them that reading allows. You can go anywhere, be anyone, do anything in and with a book. Now I am looking for another great series that we can listen to together. I was thinking "Lord of the Rings", but I think that may be a little old as well. They have seen the movies, but I have never read the books, so I don't know. If any of you have read the books, let me know if they are too old for 10 (almost 11), 8, and 5. I don't really expect the baby to get it right away, but she is very smart.

We are starting a new after dinner book. We took a little time off with recital and VBS and company, but we are back at it. We are starting "James and the Giant Peach" tonight. I was looking for something at the library yesterday and came across Roald Dahl's name (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) and decided to see what was on the shelf. I was thinking Swiss Family Robinson, but maybe we'll do that one as a book on CD. Huh, there's an idea. When we went to Disney, the kids were fascinated by the tree house. I'll let you know how the new book goes.

We are doing summer reading camp at the library again this year. We went yesterday for a performance of Didgeridoo Down Under. It was really neat. For those of you who are local, you really should take advantage of the library this summer. For those of you who are not local, look into your library's summer programs. There are some really good ones out there. We're lucky enough to live an equal distance to three different libraries. We can mix and match and really have a good time. The program yesterday was about Australia and it's culture and nature and art and history and we really enjoyed it. He even had several didgeridoos that he played for us. It's not as easy as it looks. And we learned more about a different culture. How great is that?

And we are still saving for our vacation. We are so looking forward to our grand adventure and the baby is ready to go. She doesn't understand the concept of "two years" at this point. On the way to VBS this morning she said, "I'm ready to go to Hawaii." I am, too, baby girl. We just keep plugging away and our jar is almost full. We want to know how much money is in it, but we're going to let it be a surprise when we open our vacation account. I emailed my Dad to tell him to save his pennies. I hope he can go with us. The kids would love that. So would I, so there.

That's about all for now. We have a busy week next week. But hopefully it will be fruitful and blessings filled. I pray all of your days will be.

Have a great day!

Recital Pics

I couldn't get the videos to download here for some reason, so here are the pics we got. We didn't get any action photos, because we were recording video, that we can't post here. Eerrrr. I'll try Facebook for video. Here are the babies.

Have a great day!

Dance the Night Away

It's that time again. We have been at rehearsal and recital all week. It has been long hours, long nights, and the kids all have stuffy noses, and so does hubby. We have one more perofrmance on Saturday. We are all tired, but...


My kids are so awesome. They are so incredibly talented and I am the proudest mom. When they each take the stage, they light it up. I am always in tears with joy. My heart swells with love. When they are done, I yell and scream and hope they hear how proud I am of them. I'll post pics and videos and whatever else on Sunday.

Have a great day!

Vacations

We have decided that we want to go to Hawaii. We're just going to jet over, see the family,and lead a life of leisure. And then I woke up. But seriously, we want to go. We have started a vacation fund that we hope to have full in two years. We want to stay for two weeks to be able to do all the things that are on our list, and that will take some serious fundage.

We want to do this like we did Disney. We want to have enough money to do whatever we want to do. We are going to try to rent a condo or timeshare or house for the time we are there. It will be cheaper than a hotel, so we are already saving money there. Some places still have maid service, but I don't know if that's the type of place we want to rent or not. We would love to be close to the beach, but that's more expensive. We'll see when it gets closer to vacation.

We can also buy our own groceries and prepare some of our own meals. It's expensive for our family of five to eat out. To eat out for all three meals a day for two weeks is a lot of cash I would rather spend elsewhere. If we eat most of our breakfast meals and some lunch and dinner at "home", we can spend that money on other things.

We want to go to other islands and do some of the really touristy things. We will be staying on the Big Island, so we will need to ferry or fly to some of the others. We want to go to the pineapple plantations, the coffee farms, ride horses in the valleys, the black sand beaches, North Shore, learn to surf (stinkin' hubby already knows how), volcanoes, and so many other things. We know we will have to pick and choose, but we can have a list of will dos and maybe dos.

I also want to spend some time with family that I have only met once. I don't know nearly as many people on that side of my family as I would like to. I would like to reconnect with my half sister. I have only met her once, and that was when I was ten. I have thought about her often over the years, but neither one of us has ever made the gesture to get to know each other. I'm hoping to correct that when we get there.

My dad had gone back a couple of years ago, and I have to say I was a little upset. He took my nephew, who probably wouldn't have gone otherwise. That was a great experience for him, I'm sure. I just wish he had let us know earlier. I wish he would have taken my kids. Those are their relatives that don't know them. Those are their relatives they don't know. That is neither here nor there now, and we are trying to rectify that situation.

We would really like to get the credit cards paid off before we go. That will allow us to save even more money. No cards to pay, more money in the bank. I like that idea. I like the idea of the credit cards being paid off. We are about to pay off another one. Three down, four to go. If hubby can get some really good overtime this summer and my Juice Plus business takes off, we can really start putting some money in the bank. Please pray for lots of rain and people who want to get healthy.

Those are our plans. We are going to live as frugally as possible and save as much as we can. We are planning the trip of a lifetime and memories our children can carry with them forever. The kids bring me all kinds of change to put in our jar. They find it when they clean their rooms and want it to go to our fund. They're so funny and I love them dearly. Hawaii, here we come.

Have a great day!