Write Me...Write Me Not

Well, my weekly blog goal is not quite happening for me.  I think perhaps, with all the homework and lesson plan writing I've been doing, writing just doesn't seem fun right now.  So, with that being said.  I think a pictoral post will do - with some captions, of course.  I don't want to leave you totally in the dark. 
Here we go...I think we'll work our backwards.  :)

This was what we woke up to this morning.  Although, I shouldn't complain - it's been a mild winter.

Bear and his "Angry Birds" Valentine Box. 

When family visits - it's time to dance! :)

Oh no!  It's the Paparazzi! 

Helping out (and having fun too) at the church family Valentine's party.

Cavy @ Basketball

Miss Shay & her Daddy attended the Daddy/Daughter Dance  :)

They had such a good time.  :)

One silly birthday boy turned 13...

The Four Amigos....Oy!

Little Miss taking the ball down the court.  :)

Our little players after their games.  :)

Birthday fun fit for a teen (sigh).

Unbelievable weather for Janurary!

We had a lovely Christmas, followed by a not so nice week of the stomach flu.

Spending time with family made Christmas Eve extra-special!

Bear played at the Candy Cane service. :)

The kiddos love dressing up and playing a part in the Nativity Story.

I couldn't get Bear to go up and join in the fun...  :(

The older boys took part in one of the candlelight services with their dad (who sang).

Miss S had her winter dance show.

Here she is with her flowers.

And with one of her biggest fans.  :)

This picture just makes me smile.  :D

Mr. B's winter concert.

Bear was "Joseph" in our church's Christmas program.  He was so cute!  He was mad at me when I told him this, but I couldn't help but think he looked like Linus from Charlie Brown Christmas. 

See?  ;)

I suppose it gets tiresome when mom always has the camera pointed in your direction. LOL

And this, my friends, is ME.  :)  The kiddos in my kindergarten practicum class did a unit on "Community Helpers."  One of the helpers was a teacher - so they drew me.  I asked them if they gave me a haircut (see the drawing - that's not a lot of hair - ha!).  They simply explained that I always wore my hair up when I was there - and they were right.  :)  I sure do miss those kiddos!

Our Thanksgiving table. 

Some cousin fun. :)

Wow!  I think that acutally covered all of my missing time.  Hooray!  I guess I'm officially caught up (for now).  Thanks for checking in with us.

Blessings,

Stephanie :)

All Dressed Up...Now give me some CANDY!

Look!  Look!  Here I am!!  I remembered to blog this week!  Woo hoo!  Yes, I'm still behind, but hey - better late than never.  Here's a small photo essay (if you will) from our Beggars Night (2011).

Yes - the same costume - 2007 & 2011...someone's grown a bit. ;)

A cute little Bee stopped by for a visit.

Isn't she a doll?  :)

I don't think I'll ever outgrow my love for Beggar's night or for dressing up - I hope my kiddos don't outgrow it for a long time too!

Blessings~

Stephanie :)

Treats or Tricks?

Is it wrong to be blogging about October in January?  Nah...it's all good, right?  I try to avoid sharing non-essential jargon, but this little tale is a must.  Every October our church has a family fun night where children are invited to dress up (in a friendly, non-gore costume ;) ) and play games and collect candy in the gymnasium of our Christian Life Center.  The youth in Eweth Group (that's what it's really called) play a big role in the evening and it's just a fun way to get in the spirit of beggar's night while also sharing in fellowship with our church family members. 

2010's Family Fun (beggar's) Night

Last year, I had a fun time snapping pictures and walking around with the kiddos.  However, this year I was predisposed with an evening class and had to miss out on the fun.  Well - I didn't have to miss out on ALL of the fun.  I took on the awesome task of outfitting the children with costumes.  Now, I'm one of the quirky people that loves dressing siblings as a "theme" of some sort.  I know there are some people that detest people like me, but, you know - they'll get over it.  ;)  Anyway - Mr. B wasn't sure if he even wanted to dress up because you know - he's in the 7th grade now and you have to be cool in the 7th grade...yadda, yadda, yadda...  I tried all kinds of ideas with him but he wasn't biting.  Then, (cue the opening heavens and angel chorus, please), the day before the event, it came to me (divine intervention, perhaps ha).  I could dress Mr. B up as our fearless leader...John.  John is our (most righteous, dude) site director at the CLC (Christian Life Center) and is just an all-out essential part of our church family. 

Here is he is (in the white - as if the arrow didn't give it away) with the Rock-tastic band Risen.

So, long story short - I convinced the B-ster that dressing up as John was do-able (and that John would be okay with it).  After this the gears in my head really began to churn and the think tank known as my idiosyncratic creative juices really flew into overdrive.  If Mr. B was going as John, Bear could go as another of our awesome fearless leaders - Thom (he leads our worship at Faith Chapel- another rockin' Christian quintessential part of awesome church). 

Thom & his beautiful wife, Katie

AND if Mr. B was going to as John and Bear was going to go as Thom...then maybe, just maybe Shay and Cavy could go as our co-pastors, Bob and Martha..  So, my plan was formed and all I had to do was to convince children. ;)  I finally won Shay & Cavy over when I offered to send them as Bob and Martha from the Fall Stewardship Promo (see below) because they were dressed as football players. 

 

Bear protested until it was time to get read and then he caved. So, with my stage of characters set...I sent my kiddos off as the AFUMC pastoral staff. It only would've been better if I could've seen people's reactions to them, but the word on the street was that they were a big hit! :)

And here they are...

Mr. B & the "real" John! :)

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right?  I think so.  It's the must fun too! ;)

Blessings~

Stephanie

Disdain and Declaration

Miss Shay & her Simple Machine project.  (Oct. '11)

I was on Facebook tonight, a ritual I partake in many times daily (embarrassingly enough), and I saw some friends of ours (The Mains) had updated their blog.  Before I could even think to resist the urge – I clicked on the link and soaked up the words and pictures unveiling their holidays.  As I scrolled down their page, I caught a glimpse of the link to our blog...just sitting there like a forgotten pup with a tail tucked between its legs. 

Last soccer tournament of the season - Oct. 2011

With a twinge of guilt, I clicked...and there all alone, was my neglected, forgotten blog. Someone should be calling DBS (Department of Blogging Services – if there isn’t such a thing…there should be) because I have been an irresponsible and negligent blog mama. As I skimmed the words and meandered down the screen, I smiled – remembering and reliving the moments I documented. THIS is why I love blogs – this is one of the reasons I started our blog...and then I felt some sadness - seeing how sporadically my posts were in 2011. My heart filled with melancholy for the moments I didn’t stop to share because I may have felt too busy or stressed with motherhood, school, homework, housework...or life in general. But knowing my very tiny, minute, little spot of the world was still sitting here waiting for my words, my thoughts, my feelings… is reassuring and encouraging. In fact - I’m feeling immensely inspired to try to do better.



(Snapshots of pumpkin carving.  Oct 2011)

Life is short (and so am I - tee hee), so I am formally making my first "official" resolution of 2012:

*I RESOLVE TO BE A BETTER BLOG MAMA!  I am going to put forth every effort to at least blog weekly (even if it’s short – no pun intended).  I know I will be grateful to myself in the future if I can complete this once enjoyable (and still enjoyable - I just forget sometimes) task.  Wish me luck.

Happy New Year!
Blessings~

Stephanie :)