Who was more homesick?

It was very hard to say good-bye to all three of my children Sunday afternoon.  My youngest was finally old enough to to join his brother and sister at camp for the week, and couldn't have been more excited.  I didn't cry when I left, but it wasn't because I didn't want to... at least a little bit.  Does it make me a bad mother then, that that heartache I felt was soothed when I received a call at 10 pm telling me that Garrett was feeling a bit homesick and needed to talk to me?  (YEA!  He still loves me!  ha ha!)  

I know that they are all having an absolutely wonderful time, and by the breakfast the next morning, he probably had to really concentrate to remember what I even look like.  I am incredibly blessed, knowing that all the youth at Beulah Beach this week with Impact camp are in wonderful and reliable hands- not only the hands of the leaders we sent them with, but our Heavenly Father's Hands.  There are none greater.

Catching my breath

I have been absolutely & unbelievably busy! So much to share!

Timmy & Sierra went to camp with church the morning after we got back from our mission trip to Appalachia. Garrett went to Grandma's for a few days. You would THINK I'd get some serious tv & bon-bon time in, but nooooooooooooo........

We went to see Jeff in the hospital to visit him & his new liver Monday night.
The next day I went to visit another friend in the hospital who the doctors didn't know what was wrong. They were concerned about liver failure, but later found out it was a bad case of mono. (That was my second adult friend to get mono this summer!)
Wednesday is bible study
Thursday we went to pick up Garrett from Grandma's out in Vermilion and to visit Timmy & Sierra at camp. Luckily, I knew about this "hair thing" ahead of time:

Timmy & Sierra at Frontlines Camp
Friday we sat for hours at Garrett's orthopedist. He'll be getting orthodics for his shoes....hopefully soon.
Friday night I had a karate demo in Northfield Village.
About midnight Friday night we picked the kids up from camp.

The following week was insane, but AWESOME! It was SPORTS CAMP week!!!!

Our church has a very cool version of vacation bible school. We offer sports for the kids! They can chose from soccer, basketball, cheerleading, and now this year karate & flag football! We have camp from 9-12 in the morning, and from 6-9 at night. I taught karate at both sessions all week. (Sierra & Timmy helped, too.)

We had about 160 kids in karate. I had the3rd & 4th graders, and I had about 50+ kids between both classes. I was exhausted, but there wasn't anywhere else I would have wanted to be.

We had 629 kids at Sports Camp this year with over 200 volunteers. It is an amazing outreach. On Sunday we have our CELEBRATION! There are blow up, music, food galore, and demonstrations from different groups. And everything is F-R-E-E!!!!!!!!!

Our karate demo team performed and then we promoted all the kids who were in our karate class that week to their first belt: orange! They were so excited, and my class rocked!!!! The parents were taking pictures and were so proud of their kids.. and they had every reason to be. Those kids worked HARD that week.... I really miss them!


After that, we had two weeks off to relax and try to recover. Yesterday, we started school. Yes, it seems early to me too. But I use an e-school and Timmy is now in high school. His classes are very different now, and he needs to start when they start. Sierra is also taking high school English, even though she is still in 8th grade!

Maybe my biggest news: I am going back to school! Yup! I start classes on Sept 8th. I'm going full time. Right now I plan on going to become a surgery tech. Who would have thought, huh?

And last, but definitely not least-
A friends son put together this video about our Appalachia trip. Enjoy!!!!!

Appalachia Mission Trip: The Movie from Spencer Tuckerman on Vimeo.

Ketsup

Or catch up.... whatever.......

Where do I start?

I'm still working, though not as many hours. The study I'm on is nearing the end, so my hours were decreasing. I also have leadership classes at karate as well as teaching cardio kickboxing every Tuesday. So my hours went from 36 a week, to 16. The drop in hours stinks, but I think I'm probably a bit nicer than I was when I was working like a dog.

Wednesday I got an email from work that they wanted to train me for a higher position! YEAH! It is more interesting, more challenging, and more pay. God is so good!

The highlight of the last couple months was on March 8th at about noon, when Garrett decided he wanted to ask Christ to be his personal savior!!!! We knew he KNEW Christ, but this was a step only he could decide to take. This is my greatest wish for all children. Without Christ, nothing else they do will ever matter.

A couple weeks before this, our church, Cuyahoga Valley Church, did Cardboard Testimonies. Both Sierra & Garrett participated. (Sierra's started with "God was boring to me", and Garrett is second from the end.)



I'll add more tonight or tomorrow!

We had a grand ol' time!

I am so incredibly blessed!

I have spent the day with this dumb grin on my face, and this time it isn’t because I’m plotting something. (Yea, I do that occasionally)

I have been much more purposeful in my time with God lately. I started by allotting a half hour in the morning, after Tim left for work, for bible reading, journaling, and prayer. The past week or two, I have spent around 1-1/2 hours each day. I don’t plan it… it just works out that way.

Some time ago, I would have insisted that I did NOT have that kind of ‘extra’ time every day. But now I am calmer and seem to be getting more done. This past week was absolutely crazy with meetings, doctor appointments, and events. I really thought I’d be half insane by this time, but here I am with this sense of peace that passes all understanding!

I have been praying for God to help me be a better friend- Today I sit back and I’m in awe of the wonderful friends that I have, and have been spending time with!

I’ve been praying for peace during a very uncertain time of employment for Tim. Things have become more & more uncertain, but I am very calm.

While I prayed about how “clean my refrigerator” is, I’ve been taking a harder look at myself, and I see changes. I still have a looooooonnnnnggggg way to go, but I feel I’m heading in the right direction.

Now, of course, there is another reason for this grin-

I had one of the most wonderful nights of my life last night.

We were blessed with the opportunity to go to the Home Opener of the Cavaliers last night. We were part of a group that went with our church,Cuyahoga Valley Church, and included the kids being able to go on the court before the game & shoot hoops. Our names were put in a drawing for a chance to “high five” the Cavs players as they entered the court after half time.

We got into the arena a little after 3:00 and walked down to the court and sat down. They started by telling us what was going to happen. and then they asked some Cavs trivia. Timmy answered the very first question and won a t-shirt! Then the kids got to go out on the court. They took turns throwing from the free-throw line, then they did drills. The kids had a blast, and I got some great pictures. (We were allowed to go just about anywhere we wanted around the court area.)

A couple hours later, we walked off the court and went into the concourse. They had all kinds of ‘goings-on’ out there- the kids made signs to hold up during the game, they got candy galore, other assorted thingys, I got a blanket and Tim got a t-shirt. I was with a great friend of mine. A few of our kiddos got their hair sprayed with Cavs colors. There was also the opportunity to have our faces painted. We pressured my friend’s husband to have his head painted like a basketball! (There’s no hair there to mess things up.)

While we were talking, some young ladies walked up to us and asked if any of our children were involved in the “High 5” group. I said yes, and luckily they asked if ALL the kids were. As soon as we said “no”, they handed us flyers for the “Cavs Kids” group. Our other kiddos got to down on the court again, but this time while the players were warming up! There were only about 20 kids picked for this!! Each of the kids got a t-shirt, a press pass, and a disposable camera to take pictures of the players! Then, they picked 5 kids from this group, and the players handed them basketballs to keep!!!! (We didn’t make that group.)

Oh yea, as soon as we were sitting down inside to watch our yunguns, my friend looked at the Jumbo-tron and yelled. There was her Hubby on the screen! He was being interviewed while he head was being pained like a big orange basketball!!!!!

After that, we headed for food (which was included in our ticket price) and then for our seats. We had quite a walk…… LOL

The game was going great, with the Cavs trouncing the Bobcats. With 5 minutes to go in the first half, Timmy met with his group to get ready for his brush with fame. I got his picture when he had his hand up to meet that of LeBron James.

As my friend said:

Purchasing a ticket for your son to the home opener: $25.00
Buying him a Cavs sweatshirt: $30.00
Seeing the look on his face while high fiving Lebron James at the end of half-time: PRICELESS

We ended up winning 96-79. Perfect!