Photo of the week!

We Sprung Mom for the afternoon. Sunday Lunch at Bob Evans!
Merry Christmas!!!

Photo of the week...

Just thought I would add a photo. Nothing really new to talk about. I really love my glasses and earrings! Have a GREAT weekend!

THANKS!

thanks to Chip for fixing my computer!

Yep...I'm gonna try again!

It's been soooo very long since I wrote on here. I apologize to those who have asked...it's been a bit of a crazy few months and just so I don't sound like I am whinning, I will just pick up from today!

Christmas is only 17 days away!!! I love Christmas though I never get out and shop anymore till the last possible moment. We are cutting way back this year. Both Bill and my family are, and also we are at home. Only necessary and needed items will be bought and one want item...so as always, socks and undies are always a priority!

I remember opening socks when I was younger. We kids always (as we got older) wore our dad's TUBE socks. Do you remember the sports socks that came to your knee and had the different color stripes on them??? If you don't, just wait, they will be back in style again someday! Dad could never find his socks! But...every Saturday morning I remember a huge basket of unmatched socks were dumped on the family room floor for us to sort! I must say those socks were soooo much easier to sort with the different colors! Today...all the white ones with different lengths and names, with logos and different color stitching...it takes forever! At least the dress socks are a bit easier!

We also went much smaller for our tree this year. William and I managed to get it together this past weekend and surprise Bill. It was lots of fun spending that time with him. We are waiting for Bill to put up our lights outside our house. Our old ones have now been retired to Rumpke and hopefully the ones William picked out will brighten up our street. Looks like after the cold we have had it will be warming up this week for enough time for him to get them up.

NP-3 is now getting a Christmas makeover too! I think I get all my decorating out here at the church and always want to skip all the decorating I used to do at home...maybe that will change again someday...we will see.

So, just to say to you all, Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and are working on a great Christmas season too! I MUST get some work done...it just never ends!

Type to you again soon! (I hope!)

YOU HAVE NO IDEA...

You have no idea just how blessed I am.

You have no idea just how great my family is.

You have no idea just how many wonderful friends God has blessed me with.

You have no idea just how blessed I feel to work with children in our church.

You have no idea just how much I admire and respect my co-workers.

You have no idea just how much I love my God, family, friends, co-workers, and children of our church.

You have no idea just how many times I praise and thank God for all He has given me...

You have no idea...but

He knows...

that's what really matters...

On the ???? day, I rested!

Well, not exactly all day...yet! But, our NP-3 room is done and I think it's kinda good! Really there are just a few more things that need a little tweaking, but it has to wait for next week. I must say, I am tired!!! ( and very sore...Emily...help!!)

There are some really wonderful people out there that helped to make our room change to an underwater "DEEP" sanctuary. I always go to my friends with a "vision" of what I would like, and after a meeting or two, which usually includes a dinner or lunch, we put a plan together. Thank you sooooooooooooooooo very much Rosa Miller! She is soooo great at painting!! The mural is BEAUTIFUL!! Thank you Cathy Collett! Her submarine is great and will be a big hit for the children when we finish and allow them to go inside! Heidi Constable, Vicki Charles and Geneva Myers thank you for helping me hang all the "water", making it feel like we are really deep in the ocean! William too for helping out moving & hanging stuff. Bill and William for helping out and not giving too much grief because I was gone late into the evening. Thanks to Vic Miller for bringing your drill that sounds like an airplane taking off and helping hang the heavy stuff. Thanks to Brian and Dan for allowing me time to work on some of it during the day also! We have spend lots of time here at the church, but it will all be worth it tomorrow when the kids see the transformation.

The Weber's were here setting up for Sunday school and the kids PUMPED me UP! I was feeling really tired, and sick of blue, when they came...their reactions gave me the energy to finish up and work on music for tomorrow...so here I am, sitting in the office writing and really ready to go home and sleep. Just a few more things to do, then beddy bye, here I come!!!

Please pray for our children and our ministry here at LCC. We have such wonderful kids and I am so very blessed to be able to work with them all. Thank you God!!

Only have a second...

We are working hard to complete the transformation of our NP-3 area for our kick off this Sunday...it's sooooooo DEEP! I would share pictures, but then it just wouldn't be a surprise, would it?!?!?!?!?

Hopefully everyone is ready for our DEEP celebration! See you right here at LCC this Sunday at 8:45, 10, or 11:15am! All children will be in their new Sunday school classes at the 10am service time, and all the new kindergarteners will be welcomed into NP-3 at 8:45 and/or 11:15am where we use Kidmo. We use our MAP books and other take home activities called "Family Huddles" to reinforce the lesson from each week.

Here is some information about KIDMO...

• Front and central to the KIDMO curriculum is the hyper-video-teaching of Johnny Rogers, a rising force in children’s ministry today. As a virtual teacher, Johnny reaches and empowers kids with innovative messages and engaging interactivity all delivered with his fun, fast paced humor.
  
• Each week, kids take home a MAP (Mission Action Plan) study guide that reinforces the principles of that week's teaching video while engaging participants in real life application.
  
• K'Motion is fun and infectious music delivered in video form, well-illustrated with easy movements, lyrics on screen and lots of energy to invite participation.
  
• Kwizmo interactive games designed for lighthearted team competition. Questions, quizzes and challenges -- all reinforcing the week's lesson and Bible verse -- make for a wild and zany time.
  
• Memory Madness makes the team concept more fun and effective through Scripture memorization.

Wow...it's sooooooooooooooo much fun to learn about our GREAT GOD! Come and join us...won't you???????????????

Type to you later!

BUSY...Not on Vacation anymore!

Ok, so I'm back to real life again. It was hard to leave the calm and restful vacation to jump back into it all again, but now I think I don't even feel like I had a vacation! But this weekend was a 3 day weekend...(if you don't work Sundays) And, of course when you're off work, there's always something that needs to be done at home!

This weekend we painted our porch. Well, Bill has been working on the porch for a month replacing and fixing up boards. We have sanded and scraped for too long. So, one coat is on, one to go!!! And that's only the pillars and railings! We still have to sand the floor and paint it too. It already looks la lot better, but I will be really happy when we are through.

Rosa and I met this weekend to look at the NP-3 room and figure out how we will decorate for DEEP! My mind always goes CRAZY with ideas! I only wish we had the funds to run with them! The next two weeks will be full of late nights and exciting times to get it ready for the 14th fall kickoff.

I have not had the time to put pictures here from the prior weekend. So here are a few. Kelly, Geneva and I went to Indy to see Joyce Meyer. It was a great and relaxing time! It had been a really long time since I had free time to spend with friends. We left on Friday and came back on Saturday, so it definitely could have been longer!

Sean was in town for the weekend too! We headed to Coney Island. Here's Mom & Sean! See the family resemblance??

Then, we invited a Rock Band to our home!!! Check 'em out! We were ROCKIN!!

Ok...see what you get when you keep asking where I've been!

Type to you later!

SOAR

Tomorrow in NP-3 will be our last day for "Soar" and then there will be a couple of weeks off to prepare for the fall session...

Here's a preview of

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyUr-cSmqwI

Rainy Day with Fay!

William and I had a lazy day at home (Sean's) today. It was raining off and on, but no real sunshine, except really earlly! So I took this opportunity to clean up a bit, doing laundry, and helping Sean out some.

We also played Wii (William won, of course), watched a movie, and played cards. It's been really great just having some time with William and nothing else going on. We don't get that often...hardly ever.

We are already packing up and ready to move back home :( It has definitely been a great trip. I have had tons of fun with everyone and had many times of relaxation. We didn't get as much sun as we usually do, but that's ok.

I thought I would put a picture of Fay on here. Seems she passed by us with minimal wind, but lots of rain. Looks like she will be going back to the ocean only to return again over Florida. But, as always, no one really knows!

Our flight leaves tonight at 8pm and we will be back in Dayton a little after 10pm. Seems like we will be coming to 85 degrees and sunny weather for Thursday. Of course, it will be back to work...lots to do cause we'll be home again. Thursday is also school check in day too. So it will be a busy day.

oh yea...here is Sean's new car! See you all really soon! Type to you later!

What a GREAT vacation!

Yes, really! We went to Epcot again and rode some different rides. One called Spaceship Earth, which is in the Epcot ball. You ride all the way up and learn about how the past makes the future. Under the ride you get the chance to help save electricity and other things all made up as games. We didn't stay long. It would be sunny, then rain, be sunny, then rain.

Here are our postcards to the future!

Later, I washed clothes to send Toni home with clean ones, and took her to the airport. She bravely flew alone and Angi & Tony met her at the airport. She had to get back early for Freshman orientation!

We are getting some rain and wind now. Fay is going slower, but throwing out some tornados along the outside rings. I keep watching the radar...I know Brian would love to be in the middle of it somewhere! Even tho lots of things closed here today, it isn't too bad...yet.

Well, it's off to finish washing towels and going to dinner! Type to you later!

Vacation YEA!

Today was a lazy day! The sun shined all day! We vegged around, played cards, talked with Sean, and went shopping. Oh, and we took out a bush in front of Sean's and replaced it with new plants.

We were shopping for new plants, while Toni found gifts for a couple friends. William was eyeing the cameras, which is what he wants for his birthday. We bought plants & a shovel. A baby gecko was living on the plant, so William caught him and released him to the plants staying at the store. It would have been interesting to chase him around the Hummer! I thought the kids would need it to dig out the plant. Well, I was wrong. Toni started cutting on the branches...William started pulling. He pulled the whole thing out of the ground! Toni did use the shovel tho to dig a new hole for the plants.

We went out for lunch today and the kids (with a small, really small, help from me) beat the Halo game at Sean's. They have been playing it all week and have been on a mission to finish before Toni goes home.

We are still watching and waiting on Fay! Sean is on the hurricane team at Disney. If they close, we will be going with him to one of the Lodges where he will lead a group of characters to entertain the guests while they are closed. They evacuated Key West and Miami...just of the tourists. The people who live there and all the press are still there. I think it is suppose to hit the mainland sometime tonight or tomorrow. I will take any prayers you have for Fay to stay away! Looks like we are in for some really good rain tho!!!

Type to you later!

Saturday...Still on Vacation! YEA!

And here we are, with another great day in Orlando!

Sean dropped us off at the Contemporary since it was raining. William and Toni did their pin trading thing there, then we rode the monorail to The Polynesian and another resort, that I just can't remember it's name. They were pin trading the whole way! When we made it to Magic Kingdom for Sean to get us in, it had stopped raining and the sun was out. There were a few more sprinkles later, but cleared up and gave way to a nice, hot day!

Now, I'm not one to really worry about a little rain here or there. Seems like we have definitely had more sunshine than rain. But now, many people have text and called to let us know that Fay is on her way! We are watching the radar and I am praying that she does not interfere with our vacation. Toni leaves tomorrow. We leave on Wednesday, and Sean is coming to Ohio on Friday for a weekend visit. So, please pray that Fay stays AWAY! She could just dissipate and I would be happy!

Anyway, we made it to Epcot by the afternoon. Here William is ready to pitch the Epcot ball!

We rode Soarin. It's a really great ride that you are in a hand glider as a surrounding screen takes you over trees, mountains, ocean, etc. It even has the wind going through your hair!

One of our favorite spots in Epcot is the Cool Club, sponsored by Coke, where you can drink soda from around the world. Some are good...some not so good! (even YUCKY!)

We finished the day by coming home and making pizzas with Larosa's sauce! Just like home! Watched a movie and headed for bed. Another full and fun day here!

Mickey said to say HI to you all!

Type to you later!

Friday in Orlando!

We started the day off right with William cooking pancakes for us all. They were yummy!

Then...I drove the Hummer! I don't have a picture yet, but I will get one before we leave. It is a great drive and ride! I love it! Too bad it costs more than my house, and it drinks gas faster than you can put it in. The kids were quite impressed that I could drive the beast. The brakes are a bit touchy and I would park away from all other cars since I'm not too keen on parallel parking, but all in all, I think I did ok!

We headed to Orange Lake Resort to swim for the day. William and Toni swam the lazy river, and played volleyball. Here's Toni waiting for the ball and looking beautiful. Then a picture of William sending the ball back over the net. They have a game room also that the kids wanted to go to, but I told them they had to wait until it started to rain. It was 70% chance...but we didn't get any the whole time we were there. It was GREAT! I let them play for an hour, then off to Publix to pick up a couple of things.

Back at Sean's we cleaned up, I cooked (yea...really!), we waited for Sean to get home from work, ate, then played the card game Golf. Sean kicked our butts, and he just learned how to play! Then it was off to bed and another great night of sleeping.

Saturday...today...is Epcot! Sean works till 8pm, so we will be going to Magic Kingdom first then on to Epcot. Bill, Angi, Tony, Grandma...we are having a GREAT time! Love to you all!

Type to you later!

Thursday in Orlando!

Thursday morning. Sean drops us off at Magic Kingdom. We ride some rides, and then it's off to

Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM). We had a great time, even though it rained a bit. There are many 3D rides here and we love them all. Except the kids nixed my idea of seeing the Muppet one, can you believe it?


Yes, I did cook supper too! Roast, potatoes, carrots...yum yum!

If you watch the slide show here on the right, you will see the alligator that we saw in the town of Celebration. (where Sean lives) Last year I took a picture of the sign, which I thought was funny. Now...not so funny! He looks like the ones from Louisianna...I've seen too many latley!

Vacation Time!

I sooooo love vacation time! Especially when I get to come to Florida and spend the week with Sean! William and I planned to come and decided to ask Toni if she would like to come with us. We called her the day before we were to leave. I'm so very glad we did! We are having a great time!

Grams drove us to the airport (thank you Granny!!)and I took lots of pictures of the sunrise. It was beautiful! We stopped at Cinnabon, which is a tradition, then had our 2 hour flight to sunny Florida! We collected our luggage and Sean picked us up in Tommy's Hummer. The gas guzzler is a great ride...Sean is expecting me to drive it this week...we shall see! We headed to Sean's, unloaded, took a (very) short nap (Toni & I) went to lunch then took Tommy to the airport in Tampa. He is going to Key West with his family. Since we took him to the airport I need to pick him up on Tuesday. This was so we would have a car to drive. Sean has a new car. A Mini Cooper. Talk about David and Goliath! It should be an interesting week of driving for me! Please pray!

We headed down the road and found a beautiful beach, with white sand on the gulf coast. It was quite windy, but beautiful and there were tons of shells. We stayed there and played for awhile. You can see all these pictures in the slide show I added on the right side of this blog. We finished out the evening with showers, grocery shopping and video games.

The joke of the week (William always laughs tons) is that I am cooking!I used to love to cook, but now, never have much time to do so. But...you will see! I am taking the time to cook for the kids...plus it is lots less expensive!

ok...this is long enough!

Type to you later!

Swamp Thang!

Here is a few pictures from our swamp tour tonight (40 of us went-we took 2 boats, here is ours)...we got to see some gators...and not ones that are driven in the lake at camp either!






Check out the blog pictures for many more pictures and more information from everyone!

This is our last day, tomorrow begins our "hopefully" 13 hour trip and not any longer coming home. I think we all have mixed emotions of wanting to get home, but also wanting to still be able to help more...thanks for all your prayers!

Here's some pix...check out lovedtolove.org for more!

Today's rain.




Our first work day!




Computer Time!



Kevin



Still raining...

I'm In Louisiana & Mississippi

Yep, that's right, both!We are staying in Louisiana & working in Mississippi! I am now on the mission's trip helping to build houses. William and I left with a group of 42 from our church, a church from Brazil, and a couple others yesterday. We begin work tomorrow.

You can see all about our trip and read stories from all of us by going to our church's website and clicking on blog. There's suppose to be pictures there too! Our fearless leader, Brian is keeping up with the pictures. Here is the link...www.lovedtolove.org

I do want to add...please pray for Skip Hardwick's family...He passed away yesterday and he will be missed by many...I know I will miss his great smile and his BEAUTIFUL blue eyes! I am sending LOTS OF LOVE to Jill & Pam and their families! Love you lots!

Type to you later!

It's all GOOD!

Here's a slimy pix for ya! We had a GREAT time!!!

Alas...

VBS has come and gone...the great week flew by and slime time is over. I have soooo much to tell you about, but hopefully you actually got to experience the week, or at least a part of it yourself. It was WONDERFUL! All the people were great and now the Worship Center looks quite bare. There are so many people to thank for all they did before, during and after, that I will be saying thank you for a long time! LCC PEEPS-YOU ROCK!!!

Now, last night I decided to skip small group...sorry guys! But it was my sister, Angi's birthday so we went to see Momma Mia!!! IT IS FANTASTIC!!! A relaxing night with so much laughter that my stomach hurt and I had tears in my eyes!!! I had seen the play a couple years ago, and loved it...this movie...I want to see it again!!! If anyone out there wants to go and has no one to go with, give me a call!!!

We then went out to dinner and then home to lay around till I went off to bed! What a novelty!! Bill is off to Pennsylvania for another fishing trip, so I even had "the power" over the remote! I woke up at 3am, watched some more TV, then went back to sleep!! YEA! My mom called at 9am...we went out for breakfast (Mom, Toni, Wm & I)then hung out at Walmart!

William is now the proud owner of "Rock Band" so this afternoon I tried my best to keep up with the thing! I get a bit spastic when the drums have you to push the peddle AND pound on the drums, at the same time...I feel REALLY uncoordinated! The guitar is a bit easier and the microphone...well, if you hum in the right key, it still works! William and Toni are much MUCH better than I am!!! It is quite comical tho.

So... here I am, at home! I even have cleaned up a bit and did some laundry. Tomorrow I will be starting to get all the stuff William and I need for our missions trip! We will be leaving on Saturday morning with a group from church to Louisiana to help build houses! I think playing the drums will get us ready for hammering there! Or...I hope so! Oh yea...we will be journalling (sp?)while we are there. I will let you know where to find us!

Tomorrow, I will hopefully get some pix up from VBS...as usual, I can't do it from my home computer! OK...gotta go, William is waiting for me to try, try again!

Hope to see you tomorrow! Type to you later!

Wish I could...

find the time to write ALL ABOUT OUR VBS this week, but time is going much toooo fast! It's 10:30pm the last night, I'm trying to clean up some stuff & answer some emails...but really want to let everyone know how GREAT everyone & everything has been! THANK YOU...THANK YOU...THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GOD HAS BEEN WITH US ALL WEEK & I'm ready for one more BIG MIRACLE tomorrow night!!! Will you pray with me????

For lots of pictures, check out the www.lovedtolove.org and click on the picture at the bottom...Thanks Brian for keeping up with the pixs!!!

I will type more later! (after VBS!)

UNBELIEVABLELY FANTASTIC!

Tonight...the first night of VBS...the children, the fun, the stories, the singing, the smiles, the laughter, the games, the high screeching screams?!!! The crafts, the snacks, the great leaders...so many wonderful people there tonight that made it such a great night! I am TRULY blessed with a fantastic church family and they all came together tonight for our kick off of "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything"!

There were over 150 kids!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't even remember the total, but I know there was over 200 tonight counting all our adult and teen helpers! We were actually all on time for the first 40 minutes...and then...yep, running late as usual.

Everyone did a wonderful job...Did I already say how blessed we are???? Thank you ALL - SOOOOO VERY MUCH for a great first night!

If you didn't make it tonight...there's always tomorrow!!! SEE YOU THEN!!

Type to ya later!

So busy...and So Blessed!

Within all the hubub of 4th of July parade & VBS preparations, Williams baseball games, practices and now tourneys, and of course regular work at the church and the city, housework, laundry, bills,comes the North American Christian Conference! I was trying to figure out just why I had said I would help in the Welcome Center at the conference, with all the extra stuff already on my to do list, and thinking I really wouldn't be to very excited about the whole thing...and then...

I attended on Tuesday evening...The Weber family was gracious enough to let me tag along and spend the evening with them. We dropped off an extra table for the "Beading to Beat Autism" booth for Brian, Jen & Lisa. Then off to take the kids to the children's section.

Who is in there???? My favorites (besides Dellmo & Jimbo that is) was Johnny Rogers and Kai! They are from KIDMO!!! Anyone that helps in NP-3 will know these guys and we got to see them in action-LIVE!!! I wanted to stay with the kids SO BADLY! But, since I had to go to the "Big Church" part of the conference Austin & Meredith had to fill me in on all the great things that happened. And then I was really sad I wasn't there! "Kids Blitz" was there also! I had been trying to get William's schedule so that I could help with the children's section, but never had anything set yet, so I was really even more bummed when I saw who was there. :(

But...God did bless me! Jared, the guy who I had been emailing about the kids was the one helping us sign the kids in and I asked if they would be needing any help on Thursday. I had a shift at the Welcome Center but could help in the evening if he needed me...anyway...today I looked him up and YEA!! I GOT TO HELP!!! IT WAS WONDERFUL!!!

There was probably around 150 kids, a few adults and teens in their "Home Depot" aprons and the GUYS!!! We had a blast and I am sooooo very thankful that I could share this experience with the Webers! We got pictures with them and Kai gave us the newest KIDMO called "DEEP"!!! And, we all got T-shirts!!!

So, not only was I blessed with a great week of craziness with busyness, I have been blessed by the craziness of fantasticly crazy people that love Our Lord and love to share it with our children! And...Saving money on new curriculum! BLESSED!!!

I also got to spend some time with some really great people, like the Pachta family! Thanks for giving me a ride tonight, and Patty, thanks for the workshop selection, and not dropping ALL the pills on the floor, and for being a GREAT MOM and always putting your children first! (no, really, you do ROCK!) I got to work with Lisa, Michala Riggle's aunt, and hang out with Brian & Jen for lunch OR dinner (I'm not sure which it was). Thanks for letting me crash your meal!

For the evening, I got to forget all the stuff that still needs to be done, and just worship God and be thankful for all the blessings God has given me with church family and wonderful teachers! I have just a few pics to share. I am at home, so I sure hope these work! Looks like I will have to load them later...night!

Please pray for the KIDMO team, especially Johnny & Kia...thanks!

Type to you later! See you all at the parade!!!

Only have a Moment...

Here are a couple of camp photos...

The Whole Crew!!!


The Deans!!!


All the next ones are the "Adults" in charge???

Congratulations to Vicki!!!

It was a WONDERFUL WEEK!!! Remember, these are just a few! Check out our church web site and click on the photo link to see MANY more!!!