threesixfive, week 26

allen, zach, and myself left for camp sunday after church. the students and other sponsors came down monday morning.

we brought a group of about 80, and the camp was at full capacity with 600 people. lives were changed. the worship was great; the pastor was awesome, and hundreds of kids and adults saw Jesus work in their lives. it was an incredible week. i was the "dorm mom" for our group of 20 seventh and eighth grade girls. they called me "momma a" all week. i loved getting to spend time with them, as well as the rest of our students.

here are some of the pictures from the week.

sunday

welcome to camp zephyr!

monday
after check-in, the campers had the opportunity to go swim either at the pool, or the pond (where the blob is located). due to their insurance, sponsors are not allowed on the blob, but its one of my favorite things to watch during free time.

tuesday
the late night event tuesday was a block party and firework show. some of our girls went back to the cabin, put-on their pi's, and watched the display from our "yard".

wednesday

late night event was a concert by trip lee; a christian rapper. he was SO GOOD!! i wish his show had been longer than just an hour!

thursday

we had whats called extended worship, where after the worship service, students are directed outside to area where they can participate in other worship experiences. theres are seven different  stations offering activities such as foot washing, journaling, prayer, drawing, etc.

friday
we got home from camp friday afternoon, and this represents what i did the rest of the day, followed by an early bedtime.

saturday

we got the kids back from mimi, and colbys hair had grown another couple of inches while he was there. ok, not really, but he was pretty shaggy, so allen trimmed his hair so he won't melt at camp this week!

tomorrow we leave to go back down to zephyr. alleys the camp pastor this week--a new experience for him, so we're super excited. the kids are going with us, too.
pray for safe travels and a fun week!!

threesixfive, week 25

our last week of nothing before another three weeks of stuff!!

well, we didn't do 'nothing', but there wasn't anything we had to do, you know? 

my parents got moved into their new house up in rowlett last weekend, so the kids and i went up for a few days at the beginning of the week to see it and hang out with them. the rest of the week we just took it easy.

sunday

i can't believe i didn't get a good fathers day picture!!! i didn't take one of allen and the kids OR me with my dad. grrrr. this picture is not from sunday, i confess, but i started reading the harry potter books to colby this week, so i thought it was an appropriate picture to share. we've just started the second book, and he loves it! i read them all a few years ago, and he's been asking for several months if he's old enough yet. we may have to take a break when we get to book 4, but so far so good. :-)

monday
we got to my parents house sunday evening (its super cute!). my dad took monday off and we all went to a pool/water park-ish place there in town called wet zone. i have a couple pictures from this day because i couldn't pick between these two. the first is colby with my dad, taking a break, and the second is molly laying under one of the water sprinklers.

tuesday

my parents have two min-pins that molly adores. we can't have animals (with hair) because colbys allergic, so anytime molly gets to love on a dog or cat, she eats it up. mollys hugging nellie right before bedtime--you have to look close; she's the same color as the couch.

wednesday
on the way home i drove through quite a storm in waco. it doesn't look as ominous in the picture, but it was pretty nasty.

thursday
allen and i got to go on a double date with some of our best friends, andy and lauren. we had dinner, and followed it up with fro-yo.

friday
allen called the kids and i to come up to the church and help him with a video he was making for youth camp next week. he got to smash that tv with the sledgehammer.

saturday
and the packing begins.....youth camp with our group starting tomorrow (monday), but allen and i and zach (our friend who does all the videoing) are going down there this afternoon.

and that wraps up our week.
like i said, we leave today for youth camp. the group actually leaves tomorrow.
we'll get back friday, get the kids back from my in-laws saturday, then load back up and go back down to the same camp next week where allen is the camp pastor for another group of students that will come thru.
the week after that is kids camp, where our only involvement is that colbys going each day, but i'll have to pack a lunch and have him up to the church each morning by 8:00.....or maybe its 8:30. i should check on that.
then we're done!! DONE!

threesixfive, week 24

we had a great, much-needed, low-key week.

not a whole lot to lay out for you, so i'll get right to the pictures.

sunday

I've been making a lot of smoothies. i was tired of our fruit going bad before i had a chance to eat all of it, so i started freezing what i thought would freeze well. i've been using it for smoothies. pretty yummy.  

this one is mango banana with coconut milk.

monday
we still aren't all caught up on our late nights from vbs last week, so we slept in, and had kind of pajama morning. we got out in the backyard and played in the sprinkler in our pjs.

tuesday

we met some friends at the pool. molly was laying out to dry off before we went home. i snuck a picture when i saw her being such a little diva.

wedensday
we met my mom in waco and she took us to lunch and the children's museum. when she pulled this out to pay for our meal, colby couldn't  believe it (they don't use credit cards much, so she always keeps cash on her. we put everything on our card to get air miles). you won't see anything this big coming out of my wallet.

thursday
our friend ryan has been living with us for a couple weeks while he's between living arrangements. he's a graduate of culinary school, and although we didnt have a chance for him to cook for us, he did lend me some of his favorite books. I've even tried some new recipes out of this one already.

friday
ryan and his girlfriend katie (she lived with us, too back in the spring) watched the kids friday evening for a couple hours. this is how i found them when i got home. pay no attention to molly picking her nose. just pretend you don't see it. the picture will be much cuter that way. :-/

saturday
my 3 favorite people.

the kids and i leave this afternoon to drive up to my parents for a few days. they moved into their new house yesterday, so we get to go see it and be their first guests!! mom said we may be sleeping on the floor in a room full of boxes, but i assured her we don't mind a bit.

have a great week!!!

threesixfive, week 23

we had VBS this week, so we left every day at 4:45 to go eat dinner up at church, then VBS was from 5:45 to 8:30. the kids usually go to bed at 8:00, but this week it was almost 9:30 every single night. bless their hearts, they are absolutely wiped, and molly was in trouble pretty much all day today, because her attitude was the pits. i know its because she's exhausted, but there are still consequences for a sass mouth, miss thang.

VBS was a success, though, and everyone involved seemed to have a really good time.

unfortunately my pictures are overall lacking in zeal and excitement this week. 

i have been super low on energy and fighting a losing battle with a head and neck ache for about two weeks. i finally went to the dr. on friday because i was just fed up with it. the headache was diagnosed as tension, and they're doing blood work to check my thyroid, electrolytes, etc. on one hand i hope i come out of it and get my pep back in my step, but on the other hand theres a small part of me that hopes they find something that explains why I'm so darn pooped all the time. i know being a mother is hard work, but seriously. my kids aren't that bad. ;-) 

sunday

colby and molly got to go onstage and dance in the blacklight (you can't tell as much 'cause i had to use my flash) with a group of other kiddos to promote VBS.

monday
my mom came into town to celebrate her birthday and fathers day early. we met my grandparents for lunch. this is my pawpaw. he's a sweet, sweet man.

tuesday
ok, i didn't take a picture tuesday, so this one is from monday, too.
the library and a local toy store sponsored a free kids' concert in the city hall plaza to kick off their summer reading program.

wednesday
I'm trying to eat less meat and less processed foods, so i've been making my own dinners to take up to church each night. yes, thats a big block of tofu. and i ate it. it won't be something i do again anytime soon.

thursday
this is our DVR list, or lack thereof. i honestly don't know that this has ever happened. we're caught up!

friday
this is my group of 3rd grade girls i herded around for VBS (and a few parents; friday was family night).

saturday
this is literally one of those 'i need a picture for today!' pictures. dinner at chili's.
cut me some slack, people.

we have two weeks of glorious nothing!!! we will be going to the pool, hanging out with friends, and doing whatever we want to during the days! hooray!

have a blessed week!

chicago, always a good choice

molly loves power ballads. chicago, air supply, journey, foreigner; all of these bands have at least one or two songs that she knows by heart. well, at least the chorus.
her current favorite is Hard Habit to Break by Chicago.
she sings it in the shower on a regular basis. loudly.

enjoy. :-) i certainly do.

threesixfive, week 22

we spent most of our week at the beach with the 12th graders. the ones that have 80% attendance in bible fellowship for the year are eligible to go. i think we had 17 eligible and we took 9. plus the two couples that teach and my family. it was a fun trip as always.

sunday

this is my 'beach read' for the week. i only got a few chapters in. its pretty intense, so i could only read a few pages at a time, then i had to let it sink in. i won't be done with this one for awhile.

monday
we couldn't get there fast enough. don't my kids looked thrilled?

tuesday
the "big kids" as colby and molly call them, dug a hole large enough for colby to sit indian style in, then they covered him with sand. my camera was still adjusting to the heat from being in my cold room, because i had just run in to get it for a picture, so the shot is a little foggy.

he was filthy once they got him out. sand everywhere. and i mean everywhere.

my sweet molly enjoying the beach.

wednesday
we went on a sunset cruise. colby was trying on everyones accessories on the way.

this photo op was outside the place for the cruise. molly of course picked the well-endowed mermaid. thats probably the closest she'll ever come to it....

thursday
the long trip home.

friday
these are my keys. on my seat. in my locked car. i was literally outside the sprint store where i had just dropped off my broken phone to be fixed, so i had to go back in and call allen on their phone to come rescue me, which he did (thanks, babe!). later that evening, i rear ended a guy at a red light. it was one of those days. ugh.

saturday
allen gave his old hat to colby before we left for the beach monday. colby didn't take it with him, but chose instead to use it as sleepwear saturday night.

VBS kicks off tonight at our church, so thats what our week will be focused on.
my mom is coming down for the day tomorrow so we can celebrate her birthday with her.
after a week of being away, im as always, looking forward to a week of routine.

be blessed!!