A Retreat and A Bible

My 3rd grader, Drew, and I went on a retreat this weekend.

Our children's pastor, Mr. Nathan,

who is the greatest children's pastor EVER....

oh yes he is and don't even try to argue with me about it....

takes the 3rd graders on a Bible retreat

the Friday and Saturday before they get their Bibles.

In our church,

you are presented with your very own Bible....

with your name imprinted on it....when you are in 3rd grade.

When Nathan joined our church as children's pastor,

he started taking the kids on a Bible retreat prior to them getting their Bibles.

It's really cool, because the retreat is designed to help the kids start learning how to use their Bibles more independently..... The retreat was on the lake, and we stayed in a cabin!
Here's our group of kids that went, along with Mr. Nathan, right in the middle.
That's Drew in the pink hat.

At the retreat, the kids did a lot of praise and worship

with the counselors which was a ton of fun!!!

There was a lot of singing and dancing going on during praise and worship!

There were activities to introduce the kids to all the books of The Bible....along with The New Testament and The Old Testament. In this activity, we all had to put on a t-shirt with a book of The Bible written on it. Then we had to line up in order and go down the line and say the name of the book we were wearing. It was cool. Drew was the book of 3John. Her friend, Macie, was Jude.....which happen to be right next to each other in The Bible. I was Zecheriah, but there's no picture of me; because I was the one snapping the photos!

They also broke into small groups and made a timeline of the story of Moses!

And of course there was some free time. The girls loved riding in the canoe. They actually did this twice, and when I asked them if they wanted me to ride with them; they kindly said "No thanks!"

They played some team building games....in this game, one team member (Macie) had to have her eyes closed while the other team member (Drew) had to instruct her where to go to pick up the tennis ball that she had thrown. It was quite successful, and they are learning that you can't get through life on your own....you have to rely on Jesus to get you through life!!!

Second recreation break, and they enjoyed the water park....YES in September!

The weather was actually really nice!

Before we headed home, I snapped a picture of Drew, Macie and Mr. Nathan!

Then Sunday at church, we had a Bible Dedication. All of the 3rd graders were presented with their own personal Bibles! They also started Bible Study Sunday evening....which was also something Mr. Nathan started when he came to our church. If you think about it, it's very appropriate to start a Bible Study for the kids when they receive their Bibles. He does an awesome job of teaching them about The Bible, how to use it, what's in it, etc.

Once we got home from church, Drew had her nose stuck in a book....The Book....The Bible....all afternoon!! Although she already had a Bible, she really loves this one; and it is a really great Bible for kids!!! She read and read and read!

And Another Conversation

So today I'm in the carpool lane waiting for Bryna, my kindergartner, to come out. I see her come out with her usual big happy smile, and I also notice that she doesn't have her ponytail in. She comes bouncing up to the car and happily gets in, and the following conversation occured....
ME: Hi B....how are you today?
B: Great Mom, I got a green card!!
ME: Give me some skin (high five). What happened to your ponytail?
B: I had to take it out, because I was brainstorming.
ME: Oh really?
B: Yes, do you know what brainstorming is?
ME: Yes I do.
B: Well I was doing it today....it's really using your brain or your imagination!
ME: And you needed your ponytail out for brainstorming?
B: I did today!

Bed Time Prayers and a Conversation

Tonight we were saying bedtime prayers, and the following conversation occured....I have to admit, I had a little chuckle.....


Me: .......praying.....praying.....AMEN!
Bryna: How does God hear you if He's dead?
Me: Oh honey, He's not dead! He....(interrupted by Drew)
Drew: He lives in heaven. Nobody is dead in heaven, it's like a whole nother world.
Me: Your spirit goes to heaven.
Bryna: What's that?
Me: It's what is inside of you....it's filled up with Jesus....it's what makes you feel God....sort of like when you feel really happy!
Bryna: Is that the thing that makes you feel like throwing up?
Me: Oh B-Nut, you're so stinkin' cute! But no baby it's not what makes you feel like throwing up! It's when you ask Jesus into your life and to live in your heart, and your spirit gets filled up with....(interrupted by Drew)
Drew: What did she say?
Me: She asked if your spirit is what makes you feel like throwing up.
Drew: No silly, that's your stomache and your throat that make you feel like throwing up....you know when you get that icky feeling in your throat.....(me interrupting Drew deciding this coversation would have to continue tomorrow, or we might be up all night)
Me: Goodnight little ladies! I love you!
Little Ladies: LOVE YOU TOO MAMA!
Had any interesting conversations with your little ladies or little gentlemen lately? Leave me a comment if you have. I would love to hear them.

Four Day Weekend

When I first realized that the kids didn't have school Thursday and Friday of this week, I was a little annoyed....mainly because we just started school....we've already had one week of early release (for kindergartners), two days of early release for all elementary, one day of early release for middle schoolers; and now two days off!!! Are they ever going to get in a routine? Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE school holidays and for my children to be home; but I was thinking these 2 days off might have been much needed in the spring instead of 3 weeks after school has begun. But then when I realized the these two days off surrounded our annual street fair, I was THRILLED!!! Yessiree Bob....thrilled! On Thursday of our street fair and all day Friday until 5:00, admission is FREE!!!! We always go on Thursday when NPayne gets home from work, however we usually have to rush to get home and get everyone ready for bed and school for Friday. But not this year :)! This year we leisurely went down on Thursday evening and leisurely walked around, and leisurely rode some rides, and leisurely played some games, and then we leisurely walked home. And to top it off, NPayne was able to take 3 of the kiddos with him to the private school which is right down the street to watch their football game. We go to those a lot, because they are just plain fun and cheap entertainment. The other 2 kiddos (Addi and Elli) stayed home and painted toenails and fingernails, and I stayed home and leisurely relaxed and didn't have to rush anyone into a bath! So whoever in our school district decided to choose these two random days for my kids to be out of school, YOU ARE A GENIUS and I THANK YOU!!!!!

Getting ready ro ride!!!!

HOLD ON DREW!!!! Help Me Henry....I got as much enjoyment out of this as they did!!! This was cracking me up.....I mean literally laughing so hard I couldn't catch my breath!!!!

B and Cal in the Funhouse!!!

NPayne and Elliot on the great big humongo slide!!!

Mama, that would be me, watching Elliot on the train!!!!

She's waving to whomever will wave back at her.

Callahan.....chilling out!

Walking over to meet up with the rest of the family!!!

Me and two of my girls!!!!

Bryna was playing this relay game where you had to hop down the path with this ball between your legs, then you had to slam it into a basket. As you can see, the little girl behind her completely disregarded the rules and just ran down with the ball and slammed it into the basket, so.....Bryna's team (the green team) WON!!!! Smart little girl if you ask me!!

The Train Depot is one of our favorite places to go!!!

So again to whomever decided to give us this four day weekend, I thank you from the bottom of my heart!!!!

Tea For Two or Six...Whatever It Takes!

We had our second school holiday today and since the twins' mama is a teacher; and it was a teacher training day....they stayed with us. Let me tell you that my kiddos were THRILLED that they actually got to play with the boys today. And honestly the boys were THRILLED that they got to play with my kiddos today. The boys and Cal LOVE playing together. Cal, being surrounded by sisters, rarely has boys to play with; so he has been LOVING having the twins to play with. They play trucks, cars, and outside every chance they get. BUT.....the twins have also been introduced to some things that....well....might make some daddies (of little boys) a little uneasy. What I mean is that they have been introduced to tons of "girl" type toys....Barbies, magic wands, and even tea parties....don't think I'm stereotyping my children. I am not at all a stereotypical toy person....in other words, if my son wants to play Barbies....so be it....if my daughter wants to play trains...so be it. We try not to label things....girls or boys....but just toys! Today the girls decided to have a tea party, and of course we invited the boys to join us. I will have to admit that although the boys didn't really drink tea, they sure did enjoy sitting at the table and shoveling in some cake!!!! Tea and cake!

We didn't ask them to hold their pinkies up when they were drinking their water!

That might have been pushing the tea party a little too far, but they did use very nice manners!

THEY DID LOVE THE CAKE!!!

Look Alikes

It amazes me sometimes when I see an "old" picture of one of my children at how much they look like another "old" picture or even a "new" picture of one of my other children at that same age. Does that make sense?

Some of them look like one sibling but not like another sibling....some of them look like me....some of them look like NPayne....some of them look like their grandparents, aunts, cousins....some of them are a good combination of me, NPayne, and all of the above. Sure I can tell you who is who now, but I still have to mark all of their pictures; so I can tell who is who when I'm seventy. By then, I won't have a clue which picture is which child; because honestly sometimes I have to look at what they were wearing or the background to tell which one it is now! Which two are these? If you have looked at my Facebook lately, you know; but if you haven't....take a guess. Which two are these? Obviously Cal is not an option, since these pictures are of girls; so are they..........Addi, Drew, Bryna, Elli?

What's In A Name????

On Sunday during Sunday school, we had a lesson called "What's In A Name?"
Before I go into details, think about what is in YOUR name....whether it be your first name, middle name, last name or all of your names. NPayne and I put a lot of thought into naming our children.....I even wrote a post called What's In A Name? Actually NPayne does have much to add when it has come to naming our children, but all in all.....he has always said, "Whatever name we end up choosing.....in the long run....they always end up becoming that name." You know what he means? He means that the name, that we have chosen, whether it was his first choice for names or not always ends up suiting that child perfectly. It's like their name definitely becomes a defining factor in who they are.
Now back to the lesson, on Sunday we were instructed to fold a white piece of paper in half (hotdog half not hamburger half....although I don't guess it matters which type of tasty sandwich half you use). On one side, we wrote our last name....then under that we were suppose to write characteristics, traits, descriptions, things you are known for, you get the drift that describe your family. I'll go ahead and tell you what I wrote on my half under PAYNE...

Large family who always come to church,

Kindness,

Accepting,

Servants!

Now I could have written some negative things as well....believe me I could have, but I chose to write things that I truly HOPE people think about when they think of THE PAYNE TRAIN!

On the other side of the hotdog, we were suppose to write the word CHRISTIAN at the top....you know where this is going, don't ya? Then as a group, we brainstormed some things that can define folks as Christians. This is the list we came up with. We had some positives and some negatives that people might think of when they think of Christian. Of course there are many other descriptions that can be added as well....

Kind

Generous

Serving

Acceptance

Loving

Forgivenss

Worshipful

Prayer

Intentional

Purpose Driven

Forgiven

Hypocritical

Judgemental

Narrow Minded

Then we were suppose to compare the list on our last name side of the hotdog to the list on the christian side of the hotdog....if you matched up perfectly with all the positives, then add some mustard and gobble it up....you're perfect....NOT ;)! Then we were asked to think about what of these "Christian" descriptions we were passing along to our children. It was really eye opening! As I said, although I did only list things that I hope people think of when they think of us....I know that we waiver and fall privy to some of the negatives on the Christian side as well. We strive not to, but we falter; and that's when we pray for guidance. We pray that we teach our children by example but also that we can sit down with them and teach them through scripture and discussions, and that's how we learn as well. As a matter of fact, I have learned so much through my children's examples and teachings too....who knew that I could actually learn something from them! So think about what your name means and what you think it means to be more like Jesus!

BUTTERCUPS & DANDELIONS....Back in Business!

Now it's official....I am back in business!!!! Although my shelf is small....really small compared to the space I've had in the past....
....it works....especially for my budget!
I'm going to embark on some new business cards....and many "new" types
of items to sell as well!!
So if you're ever in my neck of the woods, come in and shop!!!
Everything I sell is handmade....mostly by me,
BUT I do have a few things that others have made for me to sell!

My favorite things to make are custom items using photographs!!

I LOVE taking photos, and I LOVE using them in cool and unique ways!!

As I said, if you're ever in my neck of the woods; come in and shop!

It's official.....

I'm back in business.....well.....actually not yet, but after noon tomorrow I will be!

At noon tomorrow, I'm loading up some adorable shelves

with some adorable handmade stuff made by my adorable crafty hands!

It's exciting to be back in business!!

I'm hoping to list some stuff on my Etsy site as well.

Wanna see what I've been making?

I'll show you soon!!! Gotta get to pricing!

The Teacher Called.....

I pick Cal and Drew up from school today and literally before I was out of the carpool lane, my cell phone rings; and it is Cal's teacher....whom I really like by the way. It was his regular ed teacher, not his special ed teacher....whom I also really like. After I put her on hold until I got out of the school zone....it's against the law to talk on your cell phone in a school zone....she began to tell me about how out of sorts he had been today and even somewhat the last few days. We are going to chalk it up to the lack of routine and change of schedule, because there has been some major testing going on in our school district. Anytime this occurs, Cal's schedule is modified....and after a few days....well he starts to get a little agitated by this. It seems that today, he wasn't really agitated just silly....which is actually a nice change when you are his mother; BUT it is a problem when his silliness is disrupting his entire grade level which seems to be the case. He's turning off lights in other classrooms, loving his friends a little too much....in other words hugging them a little too tightly, flinging water on people....one of them being his teacher....HELP ME HENRY....and doing a few other goofy things. After we hung up and got home, I talked to a few of his friends' mothers. They assured me that their children were okay with Cal's affection, but perhaps he was hugging a little tightly (at least one friend). These children....3 in particular....are true angels for Cal. They play with him, encourage him, and love him!!! They aren't embarassed or intimidated by Cal's attention or behavior, and they truly want what's best for him. We are so grateful to have these children in his life and in our lives, and we are so grateful that Cal is starting to finally make friends....real friends. I'll be real honest....when you get a phone call from the teacher, it's usually not a good thing....and today it wasn't exactly a good thing; BUT I will admit I was glad to hear that he was loving too much instead of too little! The last thing his teacher said before she hung up with me was...."He is a joy, and we love him"! And he is, and we do!