Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Swords, Boxes, and Pepsi Throwback

Michael is in Bradenten this week at Bible Baptist Church. He sent me these pictures from his phone of the awesome decorations that the church did for their vbs.
One of the church ladies has connections with a local play theatre! Michael was super impressed with the costumes and true to guy fashion... a sword. He sent me a picture of it but I couldn't get it to open.
Michael says that things are going really well and that there has been a huge attendance of over 200 every night with last night being close to 300. When I talked to him today he was in the midst of making 200 balloon swords. Any child who brings a parent or an adult with them tomorrow night will get to take home a sword.

Pray for his fingers. :)

Josiah and I have kept busy while Daddy is away. We've done a lot of playing on the floor,
and playing outside.
 (Do you like the 'fog' effect on my outside pictures? Cold camera+Hot outside=fogged up lens)
J loves to play 'night-night'. He'll snore and then 'wake up'.
 His favorite phrases this week include: Awesome, That's Awesome, Last Night, Be Riiiiiight back, and Mommy, Come Here!
 We also went to Publix this morning and grabbed a few things. Josiah was so good in the store. I saved 59% today. I didn't really have many coupons, I just wasn't feelin' it this week. It was good to see my favorite cashier again. As soon as she saw me she started asking me why I haven't been in the store much AND she still remembers Josiah's name! I love my Publix! 
Main reason I haven't really couponed lately is I've been busy packing. Here is what I've gotten done today. It really doesn't seem like a lot but it is when you've had a full day of shopping and taking care of a 2 yr old.
Amidst my packing this is my reading material for the week. A friend gave me the Once a month cooking book on Sunday and I've already fallen in love with it! :) I love to cook extra and freeze it so I'll have an easy meal I can pull out on a busy night. I am hoping this will help me understand a bit more so I can learn to put more in the freezer and avoid McDonalds.
 On a side note... Has anyone tried Pepsi Throwback? I have become addicted! It is so good! I know, I know. I talk about avoiding McDonald's and then I show a picture of pepsi. Call me a retard y'all but it is 
SO GOOD!
Tomorrow I'm taking Josiah to meet up with some friends at the library for story time and then let him play at the park till I start to sweat too much. But for now I am going to go sit down with my pepsi and read until Josiah wakes up from his nap in 30 minutes. Have a great day y'all!

                                                                                                  ~Joy

Saturday, June 25, 2011

{Random} "Stuff" from this Week

 Monday night Michael mentioned something about how a chest plate made out of jello would be really cool. One team heard that and automatically thought it would make a great bribe. He really did enjoy eating his jello armor.
 Josiah cracked me up with his Buzz inside of his 'space ship' complete with sound effects!
The kids really loved the Scary-Go-Round. There was always kids standing there waiting to get a turn.
 I lived at this creek catching anything that moved when I was a kid. I am glad to see that the tradition is still being observed. There is something fascinating about having a cup full of minnows, tadpoles, or frogs.

  enjoying the cheesecake
 I just noticed what Mike's shirt said in above picture... "I'm your knight in shining armor"!!! LOL It really went with the theme at camp.
 Being a counselor has its benefits, like back rubs and personal fan attendants.
 Michael attacked my vacuum trying to figure out why it sounds like a small jet engine. I kept telling him it HAD to be the motor because I am meticulous about keeping my vacuum clean. But I was wrong, that silver piece at the end of the roller (pictured below) is not connecting tightly hence it sounds like a small plane is landing whenever I vacuum. It can't be fixed, we'll {eventually} have to buy a new roller. But for now I'll just pretend I am attending an air show or something as I clean. Maybe I'll invent a new form of housecleaning mania... air show vacuuming, ice skate mopping... yep, it's past my bedtime.

I had such a nice weekend with my guys. Friday afternoon Michael told me not to do anything except relax. I cheerfully obeyed!!! He even brought home pizza so I didn't have to cook supper! I am SO SPOILED! Today I spent some time getting some chores done, making my hubby a nice lunch and then just talking and spending time with my hubby. I love these guys!
I am so incredibly blessed, Thank you, Lord!
I hope everyone has a wonderful Lord's Day tomorrow!

                                                                ~Joy

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Camp Glory 2011

Monday morning started Camp Glory's Jr. Camp. We had to stay in town longer than normal so there was lots of singing then Michael pulled out his balloons and entertained the kids as best as possible. 
Josiah was a big help running the camp registration forms back to me and Miss Dannielle. He was so exhausted afterward.
 A few pictures from Tuesday...
 Boys playing football
 The Scary-Go-Round
 Decor inside the Tabernacle
 
 Mmm-MMmm Good! Ms. Jennifer makes THE BEST NANNER PUDDIN'!!!!
 "No nap, Mommy. I not tired yet." Two minutes later I hear snoring.
Big Joe & Josiah after the evening service

Wednesday Afternoon
 Cabin Inspection Report
The blurry version of Sir Roland
 Michael spent some time playing with Josiah after lunch.
 I loved playing tether ball at camp. My wrist/hand always had bruises from that ball.
We left right before they started the afternoon activity where each child is given an alka seltzer tablet to wear on their shirt and a cup. The object of the game is to use your cup to throw water onto the other teams' tablet and try to get it to dissolve. I'm not sure how it went but I am sure they had fun throwing water on each other.

                                                                            ~Joy

Sunday, June 19, 2011

VBS "Fun" Night

Saturday night, Dixie Highway Baptist Church had a fun night for all the kids who came to their vbs this past week. Michael did balloons and I did a little face painting... until the rain chased everyone inside.
Michael then kinda made it a bit of a 'show' for the kids which was totally off the cuff. I think he enjoyed being challenged like that.

 My sister's girls stayed with their 'Nona D' this past week so they could go to vbs. Becky came up to pick them up to take them home so she had Aunt duty with Josiah while I painted faces.
I mean who wouldn't want to keep snot boy? :)


 Josiah enjoyed seeing Bro. Chad! He got two lollipops, 3 pieces of watermelon, a hot dog, cheese doodles, and COKE! Oh, and popcorn. The way to my son's heart is definitely through food.

Josiah and Daddy had to try out the slide before we left. Josiah really does have a wonderful daddy!

Tomorrow starts our Jr. Camp! We are excited and looking forward to seeing what the Lord will do this week at Camp Glory!

~Joy

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Good Advice

As I was going through my blogs last night one caught my eye from The Happy Housewife. It was a little bit of a long post so I just skimmed over the post and came across a gem of wisdom. The article was about how a homeschooling mom deals with negative reactions from people who thought she was crazy for choosing to homeschool.

Here is the portion that really caught my eye.

Morals of the story:
  • Show, don’t tell.  We let our families and friends interact with our kids rather than try and prove they were doing well.
  • Listen, don’t argue.  We heard the complaints, but didn’t try to counter them with arguments of our own.
  • Don’t criticize back.  We didn’t tear down anyone else’s educational choices, just went on with our own.
  • Wait.  Let critics see results over time.
  • Answer questions about homeschooling without trying to ‘convert’ anyone.                                                                                     
To me this is just great advice for LIFE! I have had so many Bible verses running through my head since reading this and just wanted to share in case it might be of some encouragement to someone else.

There will always be someone who doesn't agree with the choices you make. I know I've not always responded well when someone criticized me for a choice I've made but this is an area that I want to work on. I am responsible to God for my actions/reactions even when I feel provoked.

And while I'm telling on myself, I have come to the conclusion that even when someone asks my opinion I need to say "Let me get back with you on that". I've really felt like I've stuck my foot in my mouth just by being too hasty and not really thinking about my words before I say whatever is on my mind.

It might be a good idea for me to sing "Oh, be careful little mouth what you say" about ten times through as well. :)

~Joy

Happy Anniversary...

... to my parents!!!




Don't ask me how many years because I don't know! :) 

We love you, Mom & Dad!