This week over at I ♥ Faces the photo challenge is "Candid". While at Sam's football practice tonight I took some pictures of a little boy that was there waiting for his bigger brother to finish practicing. He was just too cute! If you'd like to see more "candid" photos click on the icon above.
This year Sam has started a new sport. He's always done soccer in the fall and spring along with basketball in the winter. Sam has been begging us lately for him to do football. So this fall he is doing flag football with the Upward program. After the weeks worth of rain that we got here they were finally able to play their first game this past Saturday. Sam's team WON! He hasn't been on a winning team these past few seasons as in not winning a single game so it was so great to see his team win. Sam mainly played defense at the game but did get a chance to play offense too. Here's a picture of him going after a flag on the opposing teams player. I love the look on his face. There is such determination which he has a lot of and if he wants (after watching him at practices and this game) I can see him going a long way with football.
My dear friend Rachel will be having surgery tomorrow morning. She is having a hysterectomy. She just wrote a wonderful letter to her uterus on her blog and I'd love it if you would head on over to her blog The Science of Music, read it, and leave her a comment. And before I forget...pray for her, her family, the doctors, the nurses and all of those that will be there for her.
This week over at I ♥ Faces the photo challenges are "Contemplative" & "Pets". I'm going to enter both with the photos below. If you'd like to enter a photo you only have until 12:00 Central time today to do so. Like to see more photos? Click on the icon above!
First up is my contemplative photo. I took this photo on the first day of school this year. Sam didn't realize that I had the camera focused on him while he was getting himself together after he got out of the car. I love the deep contemplative look on his face. I really wish I knew what he was thinking at that moment in time.
The second photo is from a trip to the Ft Worth Zoo this past summer. It's of a lizard but I can't for the life of me remember what lizard he is. I'm sure someone here visiting might know and if you do please let me know in the comments. I do know that I really do love the colors on him!
This morning at church our Sunday School started a lesson series on "What Does It Mean to Be United Methodist". We did the first lesson which was "Wesleyan Heritage". I was teaching this one this morning and it was nice because I was able to bring in some pictures of when Andy and I went to St. Simon's Island, GA, which is where John and Charles Wesley also preached. I shared pictures of the churches where John preached along with 3 older hymnals that belonged to my Grandfather when he was a Methodist pastor. I also shared with them my Grandfather's Book of Worship. It was nice to share my Methodist heritage with them.
Today at church was also our Kick-Off Sunday. The choir and orchestra presented two great pieces of music. The second one that we sang really touched me to the point that it moved me to tears as I was singing. They were happy tears for sure and God truly was there this morning. The name of the song is "God Is Here" but unfortunately I can't remember who wrote it. The words go like this:
There is a sweet anointing in the sanctuary There is a stillness in the atmosphere. O come,lay down the burdens you have carried For in the sanctuary God is here.
He is here, God is here To break the yoke and lift the heavy burden. He is here, God is here To heal the hopeless heart and bless the broken.
O come,lay down the burdens you have carried For in the sanctuary God is here.
Then it was on to the message from our Sr. pastor...which is always good but this morning really hit me hard. This morning our pastor started a sermon series on "Rethink Church" with today's message being "What If Church Was a Verb". Now we are not the only United Methodist church doing this type of series. This is a national one that thousands of Methodist churches will be a part of. There is also an advertising campaign that is nationwide. I'd like to share with you the full video that was presented to us during church this morning. Please take the time to view this full video as it is VERY POWERFUL!
I'm hoping that he won't mind but I'm going to share with you part of our Sr. pastors letter in our bulletin this morning.
"For generations, many folks have thought of church as a building, something we do on Sunday, an institution or even a place to go. A church is far more than that. Yes, it is something we are (a people), but also something we do (a mission). God has called us to more!
Our church is already a significant part of this emphasis. What defines the biblical Church is not just traditions and buildings, but our faith, love for God and each other, spirit-filled worship, passion, evangelism, mission, a faith that is solid and real, as real as the Jesus we trust, follow and serve. Church is a "verb"." Rev. Mike Ramsdell Senior Pastor
WOW! Think of it...church as a VERB. That is powerful. So powerful that I am now sharing here with you how I feel that church is a verb. I think I've always seen the church as a verb. One of my earliest memories of a church being a verb is when the First United Methodist Church in St. Charles, MO, took in some Vietnam refugees. I remember being at their house watching every one getting along no matter how different we were and sharing in some wonderful food. Granted I was a very young girl at the time but it has stuck with me all these years. Heck, I may not even be remembering it all correctly but obviously I remembered it as the church as a verb.
Now fast-forward many years. The churches that we attended as a young married couple in Nashville TN helped in with Room in the Inn program. It was a program that helped the homeless have a place to sleep, eat, and get some much needed rest and hospitality. That was the church as a verb. Those churches helped us when we were moving away and moving back there. Those churches were there when we adopted our son and going through every single process that we went through to get him.
On to the present. This past spring when our landlord was foreclosed on and we were left with having to find a place to live in a single weeks time it was our church and members of our choir and Sunday School class that were there for us helping us pack up and move into our new place. It is our church that has helped my husband through some very tough emotional times that he has had in the past year. It is our church that has gone to Mexico (and other places through out the world and our own nation) to help those in need. It is my tap class that I have found a wonderful group of ladies not only to dance with but that will listen to my prayer requests and pray for me. It's a bunch of friends visiting another friend while they are in the hospital. It's even the great ladies of my Sunday School class that come together once a month to play Bunko and have a great time. I honestly could go on and on about how our church is already the verb. It is the church that is always there...but it's not a building...it's the people there at the church, in our Sunday School classes, in the activities that we are involved in and the open doors. We go out into the world every week after our church services and we become the church. It's fellowship with fellow Christians that make a church a church and that church a verb. We are the verb.
Our pastor wanted us to think of how we can become the verb...but honestly in my own personal experience: WE ARE THE CHURCH AND WE ARE THE VERB!
Running behind as usual with my sky photos for Looking At The Sky On Friday. Unfortunately I didn't get any photos taken of the sky this week and today it has been raining all day. So either I take a picture of gray skies or I can share with you some photos that I took back in 2007 when we were living in Louisiana. These were taken at a friends house that is actually an old plantation house that belonged to a Dr during the Civil War. We were there with our Sunday School class having a crawfish boil. Here are some pictures that I took of the sky with some old buildings and one with the plantation house. If you'd like to see more sky photos then head on over to CrAzY Working Mom and take a look around or feel free to look around.
I can't even begin to tell you how many posts to my blog that I have written in my head while I've been out and about this week only to get home, sit down and completely forget what I was going to write about. And it's happened yet again today. Every thing has started back up in these past few weeks. Sam has started flag football, choir and handbell rehearsals have resumed, my tap dance classes started this week, PTA board meetings and just getting all of the money going with that (I'm the PTA Treasure in case you didn't know) and everything else that goes along with school starting again. I've been a busy beaver lately!
I do remember that I was going to let you all know that we have finally gotten a new vehicle! It's another van and oddly enough it's almost the exact same color as the one that was wrecked. My shoulder is doing better. I went 2 weeks with my arm in a sling and I'm doing 2 weeks worth of physical therapy. I'm on my second week now. I still can't pick up heavy objects, do anything with my arm that has resistance (like putting on a seat buckle) or just do too much in a single day without it starting to really hurt. I know that even after I finish my PT I won't be back to "normal" but it will be a start. We are all still dealing with emotional issues from the wreck too. Andy had an instance last night coming home in the rain from visiting with a prospective student that had him driving exactly where our accident occurred. He told me that he was very aware of everything and everyone around him at that time. I know that I'm still a very nervous passenger and that when I'm behind the wheel my eyes are watching everyone! Not that we don't normally but it's been completely heightened now. Sam is getting better at being a passenger but he still talks about the wreck a lot. Which is good. We told him just the other day that it's okay to talk about it. We'd be worried if he wasn't.
Sam's first Flag Football game is this Saturday (tomorrow) but with the rain that we have had yesterday, today and there is rain in the forecast for tomorrow I don't know if they will play or not. I went ahead and warned him this morning about it and he was upset about that it might be cancelled. I'd rather tell him now then once it happens though. I have to say that I see quite a bit of potential in him as a football player after watching him at practice this week. He's fast, tall and can catch and throw the ball pretty well! Not to mention that he's REALLY LIKING IT which I'm happy for as it's probably my favorite sport. If we do have the game tomorrow I'll be sure to take my camera with me and I'll post pictures here for sure.
Sam has started back up with Cub Scouts these past few weeks too. He's now a Webelos I. He'll go through two years of being a Webelos so next year he'll be a Webelos II. It's also the beginning of "that time of year". POPCORN SALES! This year he has given himself a hefty goal...$2000! He really wants the college scholarship that the Boy Scouts offer for selling that much popcorn. He sold just over $600 last year and he and I had a late start in selling (I plain ole forgot to get him started)! Not to mention that we're not the parents to take the forms into work to sell for him. I don't work and Andy doesn't have an office to go into to help him out. So it's Sam and I taking the forms and going door to door and asking EVERY SINGLE PERSON WE KNOW. This year they have told us that they have added online ordering. I'll know a bit more about it in the coming weeks when we get all of the selling forms and have our information meeting about selling. Sam has already been selling the popcorn every weekend at their Show-N-Sells here at neighborhood businesses. It's good experience for them and they all have been doing a great job! I forgot to bring my camera to the first Show-N-Sell but I remembered for the second and third one. Here a few photos from those. The first two photos are from last Saturday (and yes, I forgot his neckerchief for his uniform). We were at Discount Tire, had no shade at all, it was in the mid to upper 90s and we were out there for 4 hours! The rest of the photos were taken on Monday and we were at Kroger. We were in the shade most of the 4 hours there but it was still in the mid to upper 90s without much of a breeze. So needless to say that those 8 hours were pretty miserable for our boys but they had fun, sold some popcorn and got plenty of donations.
I can't even begin to tell you how many posts to my blog that I have written in my head while I've been out and about this week only to get home, sit down and completely forget what I was going to write about. And it's happened yet again today.
Tonight Sam and I were watching the moon rise. It's almost a full moon and it was a beautiful orange/yellow color. Then I switched the telescope over to what I was assuming at that moment to be a planet. It's in the East-Southeastern sky right now. Once I focused in on the planet to my surprise I saw 4 moons! Quickly I not only let Sam view it but I also jumped on the Internet to try to figure out what we were looking at. It ends up that we were looking at Jupiter! The moons that we saw are as follows: the moon Callisto was to the east of Jupiter and the three moons to the west of Jupiter were Io, Europa and Ganymede. If our telescope was a stronger one we would also be able to see the red spot as it is currently facing Earth. I'm telling you now that if you have a telescope take advantage of this opportunity to see a planet along with other objects in the sky. If you have kids...let them look. You'll be amazed at how much they will want to learn more about everything "up there"!
The below image is not mine. I found it out Photobucket (you can click on the image to be taken to it's original site). This is pretty much what we saw except for the fact that to us Jupiter looked completely white. But it still was pretty cool to see.
When we went to the Ozark Empire State Fair I had the list of themes from Photo Hunt with me. I thought it would be a great place to find items to photograph while we were there. So when this photo opportunity came up I knew exactly which week I would share it here with you. This weeks Photo Hunt theme is: ORANGE. I give you orange:
As you can see Sam had an orange jawbreaker in his mouth just after purchasing an orange hat. So you have an orange hat, orange jawbreaker in his mouth and that in turn turned his tongue orange.
What's your orange picture? Click the icon above to see more Photo Hunt pictures!
I'm a bit late getting my photo up for Looking At The Sky On Friday but I finally am here getting it up. I spent all day up at Sam's school helping close down our PTA Book Fair. Then once Sam was home we ran a few errands and then we were off to pick Andy up from the airport. We are now finally all back home and finally resting from our long day. It was then that I remembered it was Friday and I hadn't gotten up my photo that I had taken earlier this week. I'm glad I took a few photos because today it was dark skies with scattered showers. If you'd like to see more sky photos head on over to CrAzY Working Mom and look at all the other Looking At The Sky On Friday pictures!
I'm so excited! One of my favorite books from my childhood and one of my favorite children's authors is coming to the big screen on October 16! "Where The Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak! The first video below is an interview with Maurice Sendak. I love the fact that Maurice gave his blessing for this movie.
I was playing around on the Crayola page and found that you can take your favorite photo by using special codes (which are inside specially marked boxes) to access Lights, Camera, Color! Once you have the special code you need to go to their Play Zone and then click on Lights, Camera, Color! Here is what they have to say about how it all works:
"Select any photo on your computer. Lights, Camera Color! drains the color, leaving just a black outline. Then add decorations, captions and word balloons. You can even rotate, flip, stretch or compress the images for a fun-filled coloring experience! Now, print out your coloring page and let the coloring (and giggling) begin!"
Also on the site there are tons of activities that you and your kids can do. There is a section for parents, educators, fun crafts, coloring pages and more! When Sam was younger he had a ton of fun on this site and I'm going to take him here again later today. Not to mention I'm looking for that special code in his boxes!
So...what are you waiting for?
Who doesn't love to get some free ice cream? I know I do. Don't need it but it sure is nice to get it for free and to be able to treet your kid. Sign up now and you'll receive a coupon for a free Blizzard!
I can't believe that it's already September. It seems as though just yesterday we were starting our summer vacation! Now school is on it's second week, September is here and Labor Day weekend is coming up. Sam is now in Flag Football and is already loving it! In fact he wants to practice every night! His first game won't be until September 12th so it will be awhile before we know how his team does. But never fear I'll let you all know. The other night while Andy and Sam were playing catch I grabbed my camera. Sorry for some of these being blurry but I love the expressions on Sam's face so much I just had to share them.
He's catching just quite a bit of the throws that are sent his way. There may be a football player in our future. We'll just have to wait and see.
On a completely different subject....As you may or may not have noticed I've added some items to my sidebar just to the left. I've been accepted by a couple of affiliate programs. I've been extremely picky as to which ones I've applied to not to mention ones that I will share here with you. I'd love it if you could just click on them even if you don't order anything as I'll get some money just for you clicking. I'll be changing them out every now and then and sometimes you may see me writing about them in my posts. So here's to making a little extra money!
I have found a great place to order cards that you can personalize, including custom photo cards, and they will mail them for you! Not to mention that from September 1-7 they will mail one card out that you can personalize (even with your own photo) for FREE! Order your free personalized greeting card from Cardstore.com during "Hope is in the Cards"! My thanks goes to Freebies 4 Mom and her thanks goes out to Nicole's Nickels for sharing this.
It's easy to order your card:
1. Select any card from the Hope Collection. Includes lots of photo cards to choose from. 2. Personalize your card with photos and a message 3. Address it to the person you want to receive it (if you will hand deliver it yourself it's fun to send it to yourself so you get to see how it turns out) 4. SENDHOPE is the coupon code to use to get it for totally FREE
I did participate in this today and I have to tell you that I had a great expierence!
