Sometimes my dreams inadvertantly involve other people's kids...

This week my dear friend, Marsha, came over to help me organize my school room. This is the next room on the list, if you've been following my progress on facebook. If not, I've done two rooms so far, and Caitlyn's closet. I've been purging and donating everything I don't need. This process began a few weeks ago when my other dear friend, Melissa, came over to get this big, bad project started. Melissa started me on my organizing journey and really can't thank her enough. She was the voice of reason I needed to hear when I was just hanging on to things for emotional reasons. Like the little rattle toy that all of my kids have played with as babies. Did I really NEED it? Melissa said that if it was really special then it belonged in a keepsake box. I sadly handed over the rattle and told her I would not look if she made it disappear. What a lifted burden to get rid of a bunch of stuff that I don't need that can bless another family! All of my items have been taken to Ronald McDonald House near Driscoll Children's Hospital in Corpus Christi. We are so lucky here in south Texas to have a children's hospital locally. We have had some wonderful doctors there. We love Driscoll and RMH is a charity dear to my heart, as I began supporting it back in college.

Anyway, back to Marsha. We were busy cleaning out my schoolroom and I was purging right along and I came upon a plastic recorder that my mom had given Noah so long ago. I remember when Noah got it, he was really excited, as was I. I envisioned him tooting along, teaching himself songs, like "Mary Had a little Lamb" or "Twinkle, Twinkle little Star". My dream was quickly shattered by obnoxiously screeching squeals from the recorder as Noah ran through the room. That was the beginning of a very loud, raucous relationship. The recorder became a sword, a dog whistle, a battle horn, a telephone, a police siren, a calculator; none of which I had envisioned. So, I shelved the recorder in hopes that Caitlyn would someday toot peacefully teaching herself the nursery rhyme songs. With Caitlyn it became a key ring, cell phone, lip stick, and microphone. Dream deferred...
When we passed over the recorder, Marsha commented, "Oh, Nathan has been begging to learn one of these." I seized the opportunity..."Do you want it? I even have books!"
A day later I was talking to Marsha on the phone and overheard beautiful tooting. Marsha said that Nathan had already taught himself two notes and was practicing them. It was music to my ears! I felt so good to bless her son with this (and to have my own dream fulfilled). Who knew my dreams included the kids of my friends?

VBS fun

Caitlyn petting the snake at VBS!

Modesty...a must!

The last morning of VBS I was getting dressed and Caitlyn came in while I was examining my progress in the mirror. I had gotten so far as my shirt and realized that I would not be able to dance and jive on stage with the blouse I had chosen, so I removed it and was searching for another in my closet. Caitlyn had come in to tell me that she really liked the first blouse and asked why I was changing. I was busy explaining the shirt dilemma and she interrupted me to say, "But, you ARE going to wear pants, right Mommy?"
Thank you, Lord for letting me plant the seeds of modest dressing into my little girlie's heart, but did she REALLY think I would NOT wear pants, ha ha ha. That was a good morning laugh! Thanks, Caitlyn!

The advantage of being the third...

The advantages of being the third child in a homeschooling family are vast. I've always thought Noah's reading level was quite a bit higher than average. Caitlyn just has such a social gift (and the gift of words, if you know what I mean), not to mention her natural dancing abilities. Aiden, well, he just ceases to amaze me. I am constantly in awe of his drawing abilities. He can already draw a circle and write the letter M (for Mommy, of course). Well, tonight we were playing with the new Bananagrams set that Grandmommy got for us and Aiden surprised me once again. I pulled out the letter A from a group of tiles and asked him if he could find the other As. Well, he found every one of them! I then continued with different letters and he found the matching letters each time I asked him. So, I guess when you are the youngest of three homeschooling siblings you have the advantage of doing 4th grade work, K work, and 2.5 year old work all at the same time! At this rate he'll be heading to college when he's about 13! (Okay, maybe not, but I'm sure he'll be gifted in many ways just like his brother and sister!)

Fun with bananagrams...

Finding A...

Billy from the botanical garden brings critters...

It didn't work...

The human seat at VBS!

"I like Vacation Bible School..."

As I prepared for the first day of VBS, I had that little song in my heart. I remember my dad teaching that little song to many children over the years, including me. For those of you who didn't have the privilege of attending one of my dad's VBSs, here are the words:

"I like Vacation Bible School,
I like Vacation Bible School,
Learning Bible stories and the many things we do,
I like Vacation Bible School!"

Simple, sweet, to the point. I am amazed how much VBS has changed over the years. I don't ever remember any "themes" to VBS, with the exception of the main theme (Jesus as our savior). I am happy to report that even though we now have themes, decorations, and snappy music, the message is the same. Praise God, Jesus does NOT change. He is the same today, yesterday, and forever! I am so glad to have this opportunity to share His beautiful message of salvation with my children. Caitlyn even came up on stage yesterday to help me sing the songs. She remembers them from VBS at Asbury UMC last summer. It is so neat to see her really participating this year. Noah is not attending VBS this week. He is going to Tae Kwon Do camp. He did go to VBS at Asbury last week and will probably attend another one later this summer with Gidget's kids. He loved TKD camp last year so much that we wanted him to have the opportunity to do it again this summer.

We realized a month ago that this would be our last summer in Texas, sigh... That's the life of the military family, I guess. As I was driving down our street a few weeks ago, I started to think about not being here and it made me a little sad. I have loved our stay here in Corpus. Even though, the city itself is not the best, I will fondly remember the wonderful relationships we have experienced here. I always tell people, "We came to Corpus with one child and are leaving with three, Corpus must have been VERY good to us!" And, truly, it has. We have made life-long friendships here that I hope will set the tone for our future friendships. I could not have asked for better friends for myself and my children. I know we will so miss our little chapel here at NASCC. What a wonderful blessing that loving environment has been for us! The dear retired members there will leave a lasting imprint on my heart. So much to learn from military wives who fear the Lord! They have given me the guidance that I have so needed, being a new military wife when we arrived in Corpus. They have advised me about so many things over the years. I will so miss that wise counsel. I just thank God for leading us here. It is not the city we chose, but wow, has it been the BEST city for us!

If you get a moment this week, say a little prayer for our VBS. We had 20 unexpected guests show up yesterday, which we were thrilled about; but we did have to do some last-minute scrambling. I am constantly amazed that no matter the level of preparation for VBS, everything ALWAYS turns out great! God has a way of taking care of all the details! I praise God that He is a God of big plans AND details! He's got us all covered! Pray that we can meet the needs of these very special children and show them God's love in a very clear way. I'll be sure and post pics later this week!