Introducing…

My new (to me) car:

It’s a 2003 Ford (I know, don’t faint 😀 ) Taurus SES.  And yes, I got it at the price I wanted.  Did I mention I love haggling over prices?

It’s not a manual transmission, but quite frankly I didn’t think the van would make it to Colorado where manual transmissions are available. For some strange reason, they are not easy to find in this area. It does have leather seats and a sun roof. 😉

Last night, we had a fun time with the youth.

I would love to say that there was some great spiritual significance to this,

but the truth is that after the lesson, the youth (and Tim) found the masking tape.

They had fun, though. 🙂

A Ministry First

While there are many and varied pastoral duties, I think the most exciting and precious is that of a baby dedication.

This past Sunday, Tim and I had the privilege of performing a baby dedication. It was a ministry first.

 

After the service, we had a baby shower / fellowship dinner for the new baby.

Isn’t she a sweetie? She’s only 2 weeks old.

As an added blessing that day, some friends of ours from OKC were visiting.  They were on their way to Kearney as special guests for the State Minister’s Meeting that began the next day.

Babies, Gun Cabinets, and other random (but exciting!) happenings

Okay, so we aren’t really back to ‘normal’, but then maybe this is our normal.

Monday and Tuesday were fine.

Wednesday was fairly normal for the kids, but I needed to go into town to visit someone in the hospital who just had a baby.  Oh, was this little baby precious!  He’s the third newborn I’ve held this week. I love the sweetness of little babies!

Anyway, after I left there I went to a store to buy a gun cabinet (I’ll explain why in a minute), then I went car shopping.  Yes, we are trying that again. 😀

I found one I like, but we are still haggling  negotiating over the price. I have found that haggling  negotiating is one of my favorite activities when looking for a car. It’s fun!

After I left the car dealership, I went to Wally World to pick up some items and realized I forgot my list (this is the third time in a row that I have left the list on the refrigerator. You’d think I’d learn 😦 ). Fortunately, I only missed one item, and it wasn’t a necessity.

Today is going to be quite busy!  Besides school and cleaning the UMC, we all have to get packed for this weekend. My kids are spending tomorrow and Saturday night with another homeschool family so they can go to their basketball game in Hastings. They will be gone until Sunday afternoon.  Tomorrow, Tim and I have a funeral and then we will be heading out to N. Platte for foster/adopt classes. We will be spending the night there.  We have another set of classes next Friday and Saturday.

Monday and Tuesday of next week, we have our State Minister’s Meeting – for which we will be out of town as well.

So, why the gun cabinet? I mentioned the foster/adopt classes.  Tim and I have decided to adopt a child through the Foster/Adopt program.  In order to adopt, we need to become licensed foster parents. In order to become foster parents, we have to lock up our BB guns and throwing knives. 🙂

We probably won’t be able to adopt a baby (although after holding so many this week, I’m thinking it would be nice), but we have decided that we will not be adopting a child over the age of 10. Please pray for us as we go through this process, and for our future child that God will prepare both of our hearts for this life changing experience.

Well, I must get ready for the day.

Daddy, I hope you’re on the mend!

Love you all!

 

Monday, Feb 13th

Today, I’m going to try to get back into a normal routine.

As many of you know, I had worked as a para educator for a few weeks while the other para was on vacation.  Last week I had whatever crud was going around.  I am thankful that I was feeling good enough on Tuesday to go into town with the kids on their birthday.  The rest of the week I wasn’t feeling so hot, so the kids had a rather easy week of school.  This week, we are getting back to normal. (whatever that is 😀 )

Shan and I had a fun time on Sunday afternoon.  We are involved in a Wii Bowling competition at the Methodist Church in Culbertson.  Shan is a pro at it and bowls quite well.  I usually wii bowl sitting down. But because I didn’t want to look like a lazy bum sitting down to do this in front of the mostly 60 to 80 year olds (who tromped all over me, by the way), I stood.  Ummmm…  Next week I’m sittin’ down. My ‘standing’ score was horrible. But we had a blast!

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day.  I’m trying to think of some creative ideas or special things to do for my family.  What is something special you do for your family?

 

 

Birthday pictures.

Some of you may have guessed by now that I forgot to take the camera on our day out with the kids on their birthday.  I wasn’t too worried, though. I had my phone.

Our first stop was the music store. The kids take lessons at 8:00 & 8:30 – right before the store opens.  We have the music store basically to ourselves.

So I took this picture of Joel (waiting for Shan to get done with her lesson),

right before the battery in my phone died.

But never fear…. the kids have a phone too.

So I took this picture of Shannon (waiting for Joel to finish his lesson),

right before the battery in their phone died.

So there are no pictures of their birthday meal; no pictures of their birthday gifts.

However, there was someone snapping quite a few pictures that day.

My twins now share a birthday with their new cousin…

Happy birthday to a precious little boy!  Please give him lots of hugs and kisses from his cousins in Nebraska!

 

Happy Birthday!

Today is Joel and Shan’s 14th birthday.  Where has the time gone?

I told Shan I was in denial over the fact they were turning 14, and she asked me to remember back when I turned 14. Did my mom tell me jokingly, “You aren’t allowed to get any older.”? Probably.

Did I tease her because not only was I getting older but was also taller? I’m sure I did.

This morning when Shan gave me a kiss, she leaned forward and kissed the top of my forehead. I’m eye-level with her chin. Yes, my mother is getting paid back. 😀 I have a daughter just like me. 🙂

Usually, I call their birthday a holiday and give them the day off school, however today will be just like every other Tuesday.  Actually, it will start a little earlier. The kids have guitar lessons starting at 8:00 a.m. (they are usually at 10:00), then Shan and I have a chiro appointment at 10:30. After our appointments, we will eat lunch and then drop the kids off at the YMCA for basketball practice while Tim and I do grocery shopping.

When we get home, I will make them their requested birthday meal. This year:  Grilled cheese, bacon, tomato, and avocado sandwiches (grilled in bacon grease, of course.  we can’t have unclogged arteries for a birthday celebration 😀 ) with a French Silk pie for their birthday ‘cake’.

Tomorrow, I will post the birthday pictures, provided I remember to take the camera with us. 😉

And the answer is…

No.

The first prediction was for blizzard conditions and receiving 12-18 inches of snow.  The last prediction my daughter read before she went to bed last night was 3-5 inches.

I don’t even think we received three inches.

Kind of disappointing. First because we need all the moisture we can get, and second because I’m really a kid at heart and love a huge snow storm.

The kids had a homeschool basket ball game scheduled for today, but it was called off due to weather. Not ours, mind you. The town where we were going to play is 3 hours away and is receiving all of the snow we were promised.

So, today we are just going to spend a lazy day at home. I would have done so regardless, since the crud that has been going around town has decided to take up residence in me. So today, I’m taking up residence in my favorite recliner.  Well, not the whole day. Shan and I need to practice for an upcoming Wii Bowling competition.  This could be quite entertaining. 🙂

Will we get it?

There is a blizzard warning for our area. We are predicted to get up to 14 inches of my sister’s favorite precipitation 😀 .

Of course, the last time they predicted that we would get any kind of accumulation, I don’t recall seeing one single flake (of the precipitation variety, that is.).

I guess only time (and my joints) will tell. 🙂

Well, I need to get ready for work. Praying everyone has a great day!