Children's Sunday

Celebrating God's Love Through His Children

Praise the LORD! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens! Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness! Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals! Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! Praise the LORD! ~ Psalm 150

Today was Children's Sunday at Asbury, the church were our boys attend kindergarten.  Since services don't begin there until 11:00, we went to Sunday school at Shandon and then headed across the bridge so the twins could sing with their classmates and those wonderfully amazing teachers that I have to brag about every chance I get. 

Speaking of the boys' teachers, they think it is so cool that Mrs. Stewart teaches them during the week, and Mr. Stewart is my Sunday school teacher.  I must say that they are both gifted teachers.  Mr. Stewart is so encouraging and has a love for the Lord that just shines through.  I feel so incredibly blessed to have been lead to his class. 

I need to apologize for the quality of the pictures ahead of time.  I thought we would be able to get a seat closer to the front of the church but we didn't.  I only had my phone camera and when I cropped the heads out of the photos, the pictures are not that clear. 

 

See that beautiful lady in the striped shirt standing in front of the group?  That is the amazing Mrs. Stewart.  What a gift for teaching (and singing) she has been given. 

 

My roosters are the two blond boys in white shirts with plaid shorts to the left of the picture.  The kindergarten class sang "We Walk By Faith And Not By Sight."  They sounded so good, and you could tell the teachers spent a good bit of time teaching the children the song.  I was truly impressed with how good they sounded.

 

My big rooster is the one in the purple and his best friend Ian is in the pink.  Ian's little brother is in the same class as the Roosters.  They are all buddies.

 

"We Walk By Faith And Not By Sight"

 

After church we headed to McAlister's for lunch.  I was craving their country potato soup.  While I was there, I saw two students that I taught in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades.  I looped with that class and had the pleasure of teaching them for three years.  The final year I taught them, I was pregnant with the Roosters.  Cameron couldn't believe how old they were, and I couldn't believe he was driving and in high school.  That was a very special class.  We were very close, and I loved the students' parents as much as I loved them.

After lunch, the boys and I played a game of Monopoly Junior.  It is a favorite of ours.  I am a game board freak of some sort.

 

And this would be Blake sporting his "loud" Gamecock T-shirt since the Gamecocks are playing LSU in baseball today.  Go Cocks!!!

 

I had to snap a shot of a play of the game especially since the score was 3 to 0.  And, yes, that ugly TV does sit in my den.  When the Colonel returned from Iraq, he bought that hideous thing.  When we went on vacation not long ago, I asked my neighbor to please keep an eye on our house; however, I told her that if she saw anyone leaving with the TV to please wait until they had it out the house and gone with it b/c calling the police.  The thing takes up an entire wall and is such an eye sore.  After a year in the sandbox, I figured I shouldn't say much about how ugly it was/is.  I'm trying to figure out how to camouflage it, but I haven't come up with a solution yet.

 

I hope that each of you were encourage today during your time with the Lord.  As Mr. Stewart said today, "I'm sure it is no accident that Sunday comes before Monday."  I don't know about you, but Sunday is exactly what I need to start my week. 

Spring Ball

FHES's Spring Ball

Don't forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it! ~ Hebrews 13:2


Last night the elementary school where I teach had its annual spring ball for the students and their parents.  I volunteered to serve on the committee, and boy is it a lot of work decorating and getting ready for it.  However, the students and their parents seemed to enjoy themselves.  Since this is my first year teaching at this school, it was nice getting to know my coworkers a little better. 

 

In the car heading to the ball after running home and having only half an hour to get ready.  Whew!

 

Armstrong and Booker having fun together.  These young ladies have such energy and are a lot of fun to be around.

 

Armstrong, Booker, and Hemmingway sporting our "Team Jassmine" shirts.  Our CRT's granddaughter is fighting cancer.  She is a two-year old cutie that is so brave.  We are all praying for her.  Friday almost the entire school wore our "Team Jassmine" shirts to support Jazz and her family.  I hope you will add Jassmine, her parents, and her grandmother to your prayer list.  I need to introduce you to Mrs. Betty.  She is our CRT and has such a beautiful heart.

 

This is a member of our fourth grade team.  We have nicknamed him "Bowtie" because he dresses to the nines with a vast collection of bowties that he wears almost daily to school.  Bowtie is a first year teacher and is doing a really good job.  He is very smart and has wonderful manners.  I would like to meet his mother as she did a fine job raising him.

In this picture, Bowtie was hanging the disco ball for us.  There was a black box that was hanging down that was an eye-sore, so we gave him some grosgrain to dress it up a bit.  The young ladies were teasing him by telling him it looked like a beehive.  We were all supervising but none of us wanted to get on the ladder to do the job.  He was a good sport about it and gave us more than a few laughs at his efforts.

 

Maybe one day soon I will write a blog post about how rewarding it is to be called into the teaching profession.  People who do not teach have no idea how difficult it is to teach in this day and age.  I have been doing it for 24 years and so much has changed.  However, the one thing that hasn't changed is that teaching is a calling from God and is so rewarding to know that God has entrusted us to educate His children.  Teaching is such a blessing even on those days when I am praying for 2:30 to arrive--quickly!!

    As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace. ~ 1 Peter 4:10

 

Today's Creature is...

Am-phi-vee-bians

“How many are your works, O Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number-living things both large and small.” ~ Psalm 104:24-25

Today I picked the Roosters up from school to find Nick chasing after a frog.  I guess I forgot to say yesterday, but I don't really have a fondness for frogs either.  I'm not really afraid of them, but I definitely don't want to touch one.  Nick caught the little creature and wanted to take it home.  Um, no way!  I could just see that thing getting loose in my car on the ride home.  I talked Rooster into taking the poor thing across the street and letting it go in "the most perfect frog yard ever."  On the trip home, I got to hear all about "amphiveebians," as Nick calls them.  John Ryan feels about the same as I do about frogs.  He was busy digging in his lunch box.

Speaking of the Roosters' lunch boxes, they dig into them time they get in the car.  I don't get it as I know they have snack in aftercare.  I usually only let the boys eat crackers or chips on the ride home, but today they talked me into eating their yogurt.  Not a good idea.  The picture below tells the story. 

 

Ask me how yogurt ended up on the window and running down the side of the door?  It seems that the Roosters were not happy with each other on the ride home from school today and this is the result of trying to claw each other in car seats.  There is a reason I call them "Roosters."

 

This is the "creature of the day."

 

 

You know, as I look at this creature, he sort of has an intelligent expression, doesn't he?  I'm wondering if there may be something to those frog/prince stories??  Hmmm....

 

 

Snack eating after picking up a frog and playing in the sandbox at school.  Guess what?  No hand sanitizer!  Ugh!

 

Ham and cheese cracker sandwich.  I took these food pictures while we were waiting on Blake to get finished with weight lifting.

 

 

Sleeping Rooster.  I couldn't help but add this precious picture to the batch today.  After Nick got ready for school, he laid (is that the correct verb?) down on my bed and went back to sleep.  I love to watch all three Roosters sleep.  Such peace.  Sigh.

 

 

 

 

 

Boys and Their Critters

An Afternoon of Critters

So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. ~ Genesis 1:21

It seems that the Roosters are studying insects this week in school.  On the way home, I was told that insects have six legs and three body parts and that a cockroach is a very big insect.  Now, I love being a "boy mom," but there are a few things related to boys that I just can not handle.  I am sorry to say that insects make the list.  I have tried not to scream and go crazy in front of the children when I see a critter with six legs, but it is all I can do not to go nuts.  I totally dislike bugs! 

How bad do I dislike these creatures?  Maybe this little story will give you some insights.  When the Colonel and I were first married, he would often go on military trips out of town for a few days at a time.  I was fine staying alone.  I lived alone in college, so I wasn't afraid of being alone for a few days.  However, there were often times when the Colonel would return home to find an over-turned Glad ware bowl in the middle of the den floor, in the hallway or maybe on the bathroom floor.  The first time he returned home to find a plastic food contain in the middle of the den "I some some 'splaining to do," as Ricky Ricardo used to say to Lucy.  So, much like Lucy, I too had a ridiculous story.  The food container was over-turned in the middle of the den b/c there was a bug under it that I was too afraid to kill.  Yes, you read that correctly.  I could get close enough to the creature to put a plastic bowl over it, but I wouldn't kill it.  You see, I can't stand to hear that crunching sound that comes with bug killing.  I was also afraid that I would miss the bug and it would be roaming around in my house and I would be clueless as to where it was.  The way I figured it, at least I knew where it was if I had a food bowl over it.  The first time the Colonel heard my explanation he just walked away shaking his him.  I'm sure he was wondering what in the world he had gotten himself into.  However, he soon learned that when he returned from a trip and found a stray plastic bowl on the floor, he had the job of exterminator. 

Well, today was a tough day to be a boy mom for me because the boys wanted to LOOK for insects outside and CATCH them.  I will tell you I was so NOT into this adventure.  An adventure that actually began in my car on the way home.  The pictures tell the story of my afternoon. 

 

It seems that on the way home Nick found an insect in my car.  The first thing I thought of when the child said, "Mom! I found an insect in the car and we are studying insects in school" was that Rooster had found a roach.  (If you could see the inside of my car, you would know exactly why "roach" came to mind first.) 

 

Thank goodness it wasn't a very big insect and actually one that I can handle.  The little creature Nick is trying to get to "look at the camera" is a Ladybug.

 

Yes, I can stand Ladybugs because they really look like a tiny tomato and you can't see its legs.  If it shows some leg, then I freak. 

 

Now this is John Ryan explaining that while he was climbing onto the deck he saw something orange that was this long.....

 

and this tall and went into the crack in the brick.  Really?  It was THAT long and THAT tall?  And to quote my child, "It wooked weally gwoss."  Lovely!  And you want ME to look for it? 

 

 

And this would be the creature he was describing!  Yes, a skink.  I have to agree with John Ryan:  They are really gross!  While I am okay with those little green garden lizards, skinks are another story.  I dislike these things, too. 

 

I will say that the only reason I tolerate these reptiles is because they eat insects.  They also like fruit, so if I have fruit that is going bad, I'll throw it around the brick trellis for the skinks. 

 

I wonder what tomorrow will bring?  Whatever it is it is sure to be interesting if the Roosters are involved.  There is never a dull moment around here.

Monday

Let's Play Ball!

Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” ~ Deuteronomy 31:6

Do you ever feel like you live anywhere but home?  I think having kids at the ages I do (15 & 6) can lead to that since of "I stay on the go."  My fifteen year old is a freshman in high school and plays football, is on the wrestling team and loves working out at the gym.  He and his friends enjoy going to the sporting events at their high school and going to the movies to see whatever is decent for them to view.  My six year olds are into baseball at the moment and have a good bit of end-of-the-year events taking place at their school; not to mention that I am a teacher and my own school has events as well that I am need to attend in order to support my students.  Then there is the Colonel who is in the military and has his list of functions that are added to the calendar.  It all makes for a busy life--sometimes too busy. 

Anyway, there are just some days that I just feel like I am in my car longer than I am in my house.  Yesterday was one of those days.  I left school, ran and got the roosters, ran and picked up Blake, ran home, got the roosters ready for their ballgame, and ran to the ball field.  I was in my car forever!!  However, it was worth it to see Nicholas and John Ryan enjoy being in the spotlight for an hour.  Blake is their sport's hero, and they think it is so cool that they have a sports basket in the laundry room beside Blake's where they get to put their equipment. 

Here are a few photos from our evening at the ole ball game...

 

John Ryan taking a few practice swings before the game.  I didn't realize it at the time, but I grabbed a pair of Blake's old soccer socks and gave them to John Ryan to wear to the game.  By the end of the evening, he had ankles four times their normal size where the sock slid down.  Poor baby.

 

Cole, Nick and John Ryan heading to the field to get in a little last minute practice with the coach.

 

Cole and Nick flexing on the pitcher's mound. 

 

I love that this league has a prayer and plays the National Anthem before the games begin.  The boys love it.  In this picture, Nick is making sure everyone removed his/her caps.

 

Is that not the cutest child in those overalls and Gamecock ball cap?  Nick and Cole are trying to get Win to talk to them.  It was so cute. 

 

The REAL reason Blake comes to watch the Roosters:  FOOD!!

 

Um, Guys?  Hey, Guys?  Excuse me!  I'm hungry too.  Where is my hot dog?  Fry?  Hamburger?  Okay, what about a drink at least??

 

YEAH!  Another fun night on the field!!  Go, Waves!!

 

A very proud baseball mom

 

I love my three Roosters!  (Even if the oldest does tell me my shades look like fly eyes.  Ha!)

Shandon Family Fun Day

Roosters Had a Blast!

We who had sweet fellowship together, Walked in the house of God in the throng. ~ Psalm 55:14

The church we have been visiting for the past few weeks had Family Fun Day at PLEX.  The Roosters said their worship leader told them to "be there or be square," so PLEX was on our calendar for this evening.  The boys had the best time.  They actually skated for the first time.  Here are a few pictures of the Roosters enjoying themselves.

Okay, so this isn't a picture of the Roosters. I haven't figured out how posting pictures works once I put them on my board.  I thought I was only posting pictures of the photos I selected.  I'll figure it out one day.  Oh, well...This is a picture of me on my way to Sunday school.  I'm laughing at this photo because I look like such the school marm.  

The Roosters had just put their skates on and this was the first time standing up. Oh, how long did it take!  I thought we would never get off the floor!

I tried to get a picture of them both up at the same time but that was not to be had this day.  This was actually one of the very few times that the Roosters were not pulling on my arms trying to stay upright.  Both my arms are six inches longer now.  They had a lot of fun and I got in more than a few laughs at them.

Roosters waiting their turns at the games.  I think they were getting ready to bowl here.

Street hockey!  Both Roosters seemed to be pretty good at this game.  

This is Nick getting ready to bowl.  He got a strike!  

It was a fun afternoon.  The Roosters and I really enjoyed the few hours playing games and talking to people we have met over the past few weeks.  After we left PLEX, the boys wanted to eat at KFC.  I was surprised because we rarely go there to eat.  It isn't my favorite place to get chicken, but we pulled through the drive-thru and just sat in the car and talked and ate our greasy chicken strips.  The boys can't wait to get to school tomorrow and share their adventure with Mrs. Stewart.  What a great ending to a wonderful Sunday!  

A New Look

Do Blonds Really Have More Fun?

But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." ~ 1 Samuel 16:7

I don't know if blonds have more fun, but I do know that it is easier to decide what to wear when you are a blond.  I found that to be a rather strange, unusual insight after less than 24 hours as a very dark blond.  I have been a light blond for my entire 46 years.  About three years ago I started going mousy on the underside and then came the inevitable gray hairs.  I remember the day one of my students pulled the lovely thread from my head and said, "Mrs. Dew, look how white this hair is!"  My question is:  Why do they have to stick up and announce their grand arrival?  Ha!  

Anyway, around December when I started getting into Pinterest, I began thinking it might be fun to try a different hair color.  I pinned photos of different hair color I liked and decided to just go for it.  It wasn't like I was cutting off a limb; I was just changing hair color.  However, the gal that does my hair got walking pneumonia and had to cancel my appointment.  I am horrible about making appointments, so it took me four months to reschedule.  (Yes, four months. I told you I was horrible!)  Yesterday was the day to decide if I was going to get blond highlights or go darker to try something different.  I decided to travel the path less taken (by me) to see what difference it would make.  I am still a little shocked when I see myself in the mirror.  Yesterday, I even found myself flicking what I thought was a bug off my cheek.  It was just a strand of hair that was being blown in my face.  I wasn't used to this dark thing flying around my face.  Last night as I was getting everyone's clothes out for church, I pulled this black, white and gray leopard print dress out the closet and realized it would probably not "go" with my new hair color until it lightens up a tad.  Back in the closet the dress went and out came a royal blue dress that I thought looked a bit better.  Below are a few pictures of the "new do".  I'm giving the color a month to grow on me.  If I find that blonds have more fun, then I'll have Anita fix me back.  HA!  

This is a picture of me sitting in my car right after I left the salon.  

This is me at home (trying to figure out how to use my phone camera yet again) after I added some "fluff" to my do.  I have very, very thin hair and it tends to just stick to my head if I don't fluff it some.

This was taken about three weeks ago while cleaning the house.  Wow!  I really did go a few shades darker.  

Spring Fling

It Was a Great Morning!

O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.  ~Psalm 63:1 

Today was Spring Fling day at Asbury!  I usually take the day off from teaching to volunteer to man a game at the Roosters' school.  Since Mrs. Stewart wasn't here and most of the subs were working the Fling, I got the pleasure of helping Mrs. Kerry today.  What a sweet, well-behaved, highly organized class it was!  I was in awe of the way those little six year olds knew exactly what to do and did it without blinking an eye or without incident.  I think that is a true indication of an awesome teacher which I have always believed Mrs. Stewart to be.  

The children had a great time playing games, making crafts, planting flowers, racing against one another and enjoying the fun that is always to be found at Asbury.  I wish I could share group pictures with everyone, but I didn't get permission to share photos of other children, so I had to do some cropping of a lot of my photos.  The quality is not that great b/c all of the pictures were taken with my cell phone.  Sorry.  

Nick doing an event he does very well--hopping and jumping!  

It was fun to see the strategies the kids came up with to make the games work better for them.  John Ryan is one-handing it here.  

Nick in the egg race.

This is half the class at the craft station.  I felt okay posting this picture since their faces were away from the camera.  They made the cutest Earth Day craft here.  Mrs. Kerry's group seems to be so calm.  My group was chasing art supplies that were being blown away by the wind.  It was still fun.  

I enjoyed the day with the Roosters and their classmates.  However, my roosters missed their "real" teacher.  Mrs. Stewart and Mrs. Kerry hung the moon.  It seems I am just dangling by a star.  Now, if I could only talk my Roosters into an afternoon nap so I can recover.  :)

Tuckered Out!

Sleeping Roosters 

    
If you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.
 ~Proverbs 3:24

The Roosters had a field trip today.  Their kindergarten class went to see the play based on the book "Knuffle Bunny."  They had the best time.  Their teacher, Mrs. Stewart, has proved once again what an amazing teacher she is.  Before going to see the show, Nick and John Ryan told me that Mrs. Stewart read the book to them.  On the way home today, they were both explaining to me how the play was different from the book.  The Roosters kept saying, "Mommy, we have to tell Mrs. Stewart that the play had _____ and the book didn't!" (Mrs. Stewart was absent today and didn't get to attend the trip to see Knuffle Bunny.)  

We have some really interesting conversations on our ride home except on the days when the boys are fighting like roosters.  After discussing Knuffle Bunny, I told the boys that the Colonel was on crutches because he went to the doctor today.  It seems the Colonel is suffering from a heel spur.  Nick asked me, "Where did he get his crunches from?"  I burst out laughing!  

Last night, John Ryan went to Piggly Wiggly with me and got a candy bar.  When he got to the car, I asked him if he got one for Nick.  He looked so shocked and worried because he had forgotten to get his brother a treat too.  I told him he could just give Nick half of the candy and that would be fair.  He agreed.  Then, the teacher in me came out and I asked him what "half" meant.  John Ryan said, "Mommy, half means the same much."  Yet another laughable moment for me.  Yep, half is the same much!

Here are a few pictures of the boys on the way home today.  I love my little roosters.  Oldest rooster is sunburned and doesn't want his picture taken.  

I've never read Knuffle Bunny before, but the Roosters liked it.  I guess I need to add it to our home library.

The Roosters love the "pigeon" books.  

This would be John Ryan today on the ride home.

This is the Nick Rooster.  Shoulder strap behind him.  NOT GOOD!  UGH!

Love to see them sleep.

When I got home and tried to get John Ryan out the car, he kept leaning against the door and telling me to just let him sleep.  

Colonel and the "helpful" Roosters.

I'm waiting on Nick to try and climb up one of the "crunches."  He looks like that is what he is about to do in this photo.

This is another favorite book of the Roosters.  I must admit that it is one of my favorites too.  It's silly and cute.

The Roosters love David.  I think it is because they can relate so well to him.  HA!