Sunday Afternoon

Sorry it has been a while. It is a busy time of the year.

I want to start off by telling you about a conversation Lynzi and I had one day last week.

Lynzi: I want to die so I can see God.

Mommy: What? Did you say you want to die so you can see God?

Lynzi: Yes, I can't see him. You know, He can see us but we can't see him. I want to see him and you have to die to do that.

Mommy: (Speechless)

Wow...that was deep. How many of us really WANT to die? We have too much to do...get a 4th of July cookout ready, get a birthday party ready, get a float ready for the next parade, get the house cleaned, catch up on reading blogs, catch up on your own blog! Sad...I don't take the time to WANT to die. There is my profound thought for this entry.

Last Friday...the 20th...Lynzi was sick. I don't know what was wrong but she was just laying around. I thought, "well, I can get her to the church and get her on a blanket in front of the tv and she can just lay around while I work." It didn't work that way! I hate to say it...but I should have listened to her. She didn't want to go! We get there...I get her set up with blankets and some movies. I go down the hall to get a pillow out of the comfy couches classroom. (If you read Karmen's blog...this is when I discovered a collapsed igloo in the Children's Church room!! ACK!) I get back to my desk and just moments later....Lynzi got sick on the blankets and her clothes. "Ok so it is out of her system. She will be fine now. I will put the blankets and clothes in the washer...and go out to the car to get some more clothes...and we will be fine." (I had extra clothes because she was going to Grandma and Grandpas that day for the weekend.) So ...not even 20 min later....she got sick again. OK! We are going home! She got sick in the car....and then once at home. Then she went to sleep. Poor thing! I called Grandma and cancelled their weekend custody. (That is what they like to call it! HA!) She didn't have a fever or anything, just some bug. Later that afternoon she was doing much better and wanted to go to Grandma and Grandpa's. So I get things packed in the car and head to the church to get a few things done before heading to Marion. As soon as we get in the door of the church----she got sick again! So...off again plans with Grandma and Grandpa! UGH! I don't know if it was the heat or what. But thankfully that was the last time she got sick.

So on Saturday, I got up to go to the Angel Food distribution. (Side note: Gene never gets to help out because he usually works. This is the 2nd month he could have volunteered since December...but didn't this month because of Lynzi being sick. The only other month was the same day as the men's camping trip. I think he paid Lynzi to get sick so he didn't have to volunteer! Hmmmmm!) Anyway...it was a fun time as usually. I just LOVE this ministry!! It makes my heart happy each and every time we take orders or we distribute the food! The mayor was there to help this month! He really thinks this program is what the community needs with rising gas and food prices! Anyway....shut me up! I could talk forever about Angel Food Ministries and Financial Peace University!

Gene is still liking his job...and his time off! I gotta admit...he probably does more around the house than I do these days. He is always on top of the laundry and the lawn!

You would think with all this extra time I have I would scrap more...but no. I miss scrapping!

Tonight is the start of our church VBS. This is the first time since we have attended this church that I have not helped out with VBS. I am looking forward to going to the adult study that will be going on along with the kids study. I am planning on taking Lynzi to two other VBS's the next two weeks...with one of her friends.

We enrolled Lynzi in a reading program at the library. She has started reading Dick and Jane books...she is so smart!!(I am not just saying that because I am her mom. Many people have told me that....and I believe them!) I love to watch her learn!!

Last night we went to our church for Girls' Night Out. This was for girls preschool-4th grade. Lynzi was so excited. She knows her days of the week and she knew when we woke up it was Saturday and it was going to be "Girls' Night Out" day. It was a lot of fun. There were different stations set up for the girls to do....facials, make up, fingernail polish, feet scrub, and then they made scrunchies for their hair. Here is a picture of Lynzi...being cool as a cucumber.

This week we are having our annual Fourth of July cookout with our friends Jim and Becky in Anderson. I always enjoy catching up with them. Then next weekend is a festival where Angel Food will have a booth on Fri and Sat...and will have a float in the parade on Saturday. It is ...and will be a lot of work...but again...I LOVE IT!!! Serving God's people is soooooo rewarding!

Also on that same Saturday is Lynzi's birthday party. It will be at Chuck-E-Cheese this year! She is so excited. Her cake theme is Giselle...which is the princess from Enchanted! That is her new passion! Here are some pics of the invitations her and I made. I didn't take a picture of the front...what was I thinking...that is the cutest part that Lynzi did with her new scrapbooking Cuttlebug!!

Happy Birthday....

...to me! It was a great day! I went to work---that wasn't the great part but it wasn't bad either. I got a few projects done there. One project being Father's Day cards. Here are some pics.

After work I went home, paid some bills and then headed out to dinner with Gene and Lynzi. We went to a new place in town. It wasn't great...but they had fried pickles...so it cancels out all the bad! HA! We then went to Walmart to pick up a few things.

While at Walmart Gene informs me that he needs to go home to go to the bathroom! I was like, "WHAT? They have a hole in the ground here! You can go in it!" I was not done shopping! We were looking at some scrap booking things deciding what I wanted for my birthday. My phone rang, I ignored it because I was telling Gene of all the benefits this new scrap booking item had! So, whoever called left a message so I listened to it. It was my friend, Julie, in despair. So I called her back. Our Angel Food freezer stopped working and she needed me to come help her unload the freezer and take some of the food to put in our freezer at home. So we headed to the checkout. I told Gene to go ahead and check out and I would go to customer service to see if they had a couple boxes. They didn't. So we headed to the church. We walked into the gym and I hear ..."Surprise!" There was Julie and other friends there to celebrate! How nice of Julie to plan this party for me. But....she didn't! It was Gene's idea. Julie helped out a lot by picking up the cake, etc and getting things ready at the church. Thanks Julie!

Here is the cake.

It was a shoe and it is purple (my fav color)...also Gene's idea! He is normally NOT good at keeping a straight face about things but this time he did real well! Thanks, Honey!

Lynzi's flower garden

Lynzi loves watering the flowers. Here she is having some fun with her new elephant watering can.

Grandma E's hair

Here is a before and after picture of Grandma E's hair. As you can see she didn't make any drastic changes....just a little here and there. NOT!



BEFORE

AFTER

Recital pics!

Playing catch up.

It has been a crazy few days. I don't have all my pictures downloaded but here are a few things from the weekend.

Wednesday we picked Gene's mom up from the airport. Even though we have had a zillion thunderstorms here lately...not on Wednesday evening. So her plane was on time! Lynzi had fun touring what we could of the airport. Before going to the airport we went to this new play place in town called Bounce About. Lynzi went up and down this HUGE slide hundreds of times!

Friday night was Lynzi's dress rehearsal for her recital. She did so well that night. She surprised me how much of her dances she really remembered!

Saturday was full day. We had lunch with many members of Gene's family. All 10 of us had a good time catching up while eating an early lunch. Then us girls headed to the hair salon to get Grandma E's hair cut and Lynzi's hair done for the recital. We had a lot of fun there....and of course it was raining! God was working with us though. The rain stopped right at the moment when we are to walk out of the salon! YAY! We headed straight to the high school for the recital. It went great! I got so emotional...but kept the tears in. I can't imagine how the parents of the seniors felt! Lynzi received her 2nd trophy for perfect attendance. She was so proud...and I gotta say...I am too! After the recital ended, family went back home and we headed to the field house where they were having the Relay for Life. We walked a couple laps as they were putting out the memorial candles. Here is one we found...Brenda Ferrell...Lynzi's preschool teacher her first year. As if I wasn't emotional enough! Then we decided to go home and change and head to the drive in theater where we saw Kung Fu Panda. It was ok, not the greatest for a little princess.

Sunday we went to church, had lunch with some friends, and then attended another church that evening. There we saw the India Children's Choir. Lynzi was very attentive!

Monday, Gene took his mother back to the airport and I worked and took Angel Food orders. While doing so the electricity went out right before we were hit with yet another, thunderstorm! The electricity did eventually come back on and we finished business and Gene and Lynzi made it back from the airport.

Today, ....have I mention I HATE COMCAST! Ok so we got rid of Comcast at home, but at church...we still have it. I was without internet today and had to made the dreaded call! They were NO HELP! God intervened and had our computer guy call in about something and he was on vacation from his job. So of course he was available to come to the rescue! So by 2:50pm we had internet!

Then I made these little gift bags for a Hawaiian Luau Bridal shower. My best friend, Julie, is helping host the bridal shower for her brother's fiance and asked me to come up with an idea. Here is what I did. It was fun!

I will try to post more pics tomorrow from the weekend!

Big Storm, Little Post

It is storming like crazy but here are a few pictures from today.

We got Lynzi all done up to do some pictures. Here are the "green screen" looks on some. Gene hasn't played with the digital backgrounds yet for these pics.

Also here are some beautiful flowers from our flower beds. I came home to see them opening up so nicely!

TAGGED!

Ok, so I got tagged! I have just learned of this game where your blog gets tagged and you have to answer the same questions as below. Kinda fun! Thanks, Krista, for tagging me! HA!



What was I doing 10 years ago today?

1998...let's see. I was just about to turn 23. I was a student at Anderson University and worked at Pay Less Supermarkets in Anderson. I was about to celebrate my first birthday with Gene. We had been dating for 4 months. Oh ...weren't those the good ol' days! He got me a "Just the Right Shoe". I had just begun collecting them. It is called Frosted Fantasy.

Five things I have on my to-do list today?

1. Buy pots to put plants in.

2. Take Lynzi to her last ballet lesson.

3. Fix Lynzi's hair so that Gene can take pictures of her tonight when he gets home from work.

4. Mop the kitchen and bathroom floor

5. Go to the bank to deposit my check.

Five snacks I enjoy?

1. Chip and dip

2. Popcorn with extra butter melted on top

3. Starbucks-Vanilla Frappuccino

4. Carrots and ranch dressing

5. Cottage Cheese

Five things I would do if I were a millionaire?

1. Pay off my parents' mortgage, build us a house, buy (or build) a house for my sister, Tina, in INDIANA!!

2. Set up college fund for Lynzi. ( I stole that good idea from Krista!)

3. Give random families in our church money each week.

4. Take more vacations and take my parents!

5. BE TOTALLY DEBT FREE!!

Five places I have lived? I have only lived in 3 places.

1. Marion, Indiana

2. Anderson, Indiana

3. New Castle, Indiana

Five people I tag?

1. Tina

2. Karmen

3. Robin

4. Morgan

5. Becky

My First Piano Lesson

Today I gave Lynzi her first piano lesson. She is a quick learner. She understands where C is and can point out all the C's on the piano! YAY! Then I started her playing some 3 finger and 5 finger scales in the key of C. I need to look online for some books. Perhaps grandma and grandpa can find one at the music store where they take organ lessons. I plan on teaching her the beginning basics. I hope she likes it and goes far with it! Next lesson...posture! ha!

Stories from a Sunday School Teacher

Today was the big dinner for Julie's kids and our assistant pastor. It went very well! The food was great and the company was too! Our family sat with Lynzi's first Sunday School teacher. Lynzi began a new SS class today. Her first teacher had some cute stories to tell us!

Story 1

Lynzi has always had an imaginary friend named Annie. Annie goes to church with her and to school with her. Lynzi informed me today that Annie has the same birthday as her too! Anyway...one Sunday morning the teacher was beginning story time. She assigns them seats to avoid fighting over them. So Lynzi was assigned her seat. Ok. Then Ethan was assigned his. He sat down and Lynzi abruptly said..."Ethan you're sitting on Annie!" Whereas Ethan began to scoot over. With a look of terror he looked up at the assistant teacher and said, "I don't think I want to sit here." Annie spooked him!

Story 2

Payton is a little girl in Lynzi's class. She is a cute little thing, but frowns a lot. She likes to have her way...like most 4 year olds! Well the Sunday School teacher has an attendance sheet where they put a smiley face by their name. Well a few weeks ago the teacher had Payton put up her smiley face. By accident she put her smiley face on Lynzi's line. Lynzi, knowing where her line is, says, "She wrote on my line." The teacher apologized and said, "You can give Payton a smiley face." They have a routine of putting up two eyes and mouth and nose with matching verbal gestures. Well Lynzi did so. However, instead of a smiling mouth...she put a frown! The teacher looks over at Payton, who realizes what just happened and has.....you guessed it....a huge frown on her face!!! The teacher said she looked over at Lynzi and she was just smiling. Ornery!

More Mints!

Well here are the Cinnamon Dora mints Lynzi and I made. We had the molds left from her 2nd birthday party were Granda A made some Dora Gummies for some cupcakes. So glad we got some use from them. I am so glad I have this mint recipe!!! YUM!

She is just looking so big!

Friday Night Fright

Friday night we are all laying in bed. Lynzi is fast asleep. Gene and I are in bed--him, watching tv---me, online. We could hear the sound of rain outside the window.....and the TORNADO SIRENS! "Quick turn on channel 13!" We are under a tornado warning...and the worst part is heading our way! We watch it on tv for a bit and then went downstairs. Gene grabbed Lynzi and we made a comfy place in the hallway. We turned on the news downstairs and eventually the dish went out. So we were tracking the storm on the laptop. Thankful to God we never lost power ...or anything else! I was a little...ok a lot ...frightened! Lynzi slept threw the whole thing. She woke up enough to tell Gene she wanted him to carry her down the stairs. (She normally doesn't like for us to carry her down...afraid we will fall.) She was so tired she was not going to make her legs do that work! The next morning...she remembered NOTHING! I am glad though.