Another successful AWANA year all wrapped up!

My husband, Ray has been the AWANA* Commander for our church's program for 4 years now. In addition to helping him out with the behind the scenes stuff, I started out helping with the Cubbies, (3 and 4 year olds), for a year and then moved next door to the nursery 3 years ago. My favorite age of kids has always been from about 18 mos. up to 3 years old. They're just sooooo cute and lovable at that age! And now, as a grandma...I really enjoy giving them back to their parents when our time together is through for the night too ;).

This last Fall, AWANA clubs started a new program for pre-Cubbies, called "Puggles". We didn't want to completely open it up to the public, since we have a rather small nursery, and just two of us also need to watch the babies that are in there. We decided that we'd try out the Puggles program on our toddlers that were already going to be in the nursery on Wed nights, (due to their parents helping out with the older AWANA kids). We had a fun year, and the kids learned about 4 simple precepts: 1) God made all things, 2) God saw that it was good, 3) God loves us, and 4) We thank God. The little ones don't have a very long attention span...but we tried to get at least a few "teaching moments" in each night. We had anywhere from 2 to 7 "Puggles" throughout the year, but ended up with just two of them there for our awards ceremony last night. Here they are:My dd, Molly just finished her very last year of AWANA. She loved it when she was younger, but the last couple of years, we pretty much had to drag her there. After all, we figured if we were going to volunteer our time and energy to this great program, it wouldn't kill her to stick it out and maybe even "accidentally" learn a few bible verses ...whether she wanted to or not. I think she actually did have fun there most of the time...but she'll never admit to that...she's waaaaayyy too cool for that! She did look pretty excited to finally, (after 3 yrs), get her 1st T&T book award though...but she'd never admit to that one either. Our annual awards ceremony was followed by ice cream, cookies and lemonade for all. (I had one M & M cookie and black coffee).

Here are a couple of pictures of Molly accepting her award from her leader, Yevette:

And look-- there's our friend, Sarah, (Sassyfrazz), behind Yevette too! She's our T & T director. As you can see by this picture, Molly is at least a head taller than most of the other girls in her class. My "baby" is now 5' 7" at 11 years of age! I've still got about 3/4 of an inch on her, but she's bound to pass me up by 6th grade.

Yevette told her twelve 5th grade girls last Fall, that if they collectively learned 500 verses throughout the year, she would take them to a movie and buy them candy. It worked, they did...in fact they exceeded the 500! Rumor has it, they even got Molly to contribute a few of them here and there. Thank you, Yevette for putting up with my daughter for the last 3 years, even when she didn't want to be there. We never really gave her a choice in the matter, and appreciate what you were able to do with her. She's very excited about youth group next year!

I get to go along to help chaperone and drive them to the movie this Sunday. We're going to The Chronicles of Narnia~Prince Caspian! WooHoo! I'm as excited as the kids are I think. I've wanted to see that one ever since I heard they were going to do it. I'm reading the book again, just to refresh my memory about what happens in that one.

*Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed

Week 6 Weigh In ~ Going Down...

Whew! I had a 2 lb loss this week! I know I was down a few more pounds somewhere around Thursday or Friday, but with the weekend I just had...I was happy for any loss at all. I got another 5 lb star sticker for my WW bookmark, so that was encouraging. My total weight loss so far is: 16.2 lbs! And no...I never did get on that treadmill, (that is sitting about 6 ft away from me staring at me at the moment), but I did buy myself some new tennis shoes...maybe, just maybe tomorrow will be the day.

I met a gal at the meeting tonight, who has lost just over 50 lbs in 4 mos! Wow~ if I could do that, I could have 50 lbs off by age 50! But I know to do that...I'm going to have to exercise.

Mother's Day Weekend

Well, here it is...weigh-in day again... After a weekend of Friday night "Ladies Night Out" , (where we all stuff our faces), and the "Ladies Spring Brunch" on Saturday, both at church, and then of course, Mother's Day on Sunday. I think I was down a couple of more pounds than I am now, about Wed or Thursday of last week...but I will go weigh in tonight anyway, and hopefully show a bigger loss than last week.

I really wanted to share what I got for Mother's day this year: From my grandson, "CJ" I got a beautiful bracelet, (like the one here except the inscription on the heart was "Love, Christian"): Thank you CJ, (and Mama Jessica)!

From my 11yo daughter Molly, I got this lovely photo mat that she made for me in an after-school craft class. I framed it, and hung it on the wall and will cherish it forever. Here it is:

It's a little hard to read here, but the top square says, "Being a mother means that your heart is no longer yours; it wanders wherever your children do. -unknown". The middle one says, "Live-Love-Laugh", and the bottom was says, "You Make My Life a Beautiful Thing". She also created and printed a nice card, a bookmark, and a coupon that is good for one breakfast in bed. Thanks Mo, You are so creative!

My daughter, Jessica, (CJ's mom), got me a few things to finish off my "Fun Frogs" bathroom, a wastebasket, a decorative hand towel and a toilet brush holder that is shaped like a frog...too cute! Thanks Jess! You always know exactly what I want.

From my DH, (darling husband, for those of you not familiar with blogese), brought me a dozen roses on Friday night. They are beautiful-yellow, with red tipped petals. That's not all, he got me a 50 pc. cake decorating tool caddy, which is something I've wanted for a very long time. I know that my friend, Lisa will appreciate this the most. She and I get together to decorate cakes for church on occasion, so now I can have all of my "tools" in one place, and can grab it all and go. Here's what it looks like:

He also took me out to the Chinese buffet...but of course, we do that EVERY Sunday! Thank you Honey! I Love you.

We then went out to my parents' house for supper, where we grilled, and each brought something to share. I got to meet my great-great niece, Maya. What a cutie! I can't believe that my oldest niece is now a grandmother... Happy Mother's Day, Everyone!

Wordless Wednesday #2 ~ AJ Meets His Hero

Week 5 weigh in ~ Not great...but I'll take it!

I went to WW a little reluctantly tonight. I had done pretty well most of the week, until Thursday, when my daughter, Jessica and my grandson, CJ came to town from Rapid City, SD. I asked CJ on the phone what he wanted for supper when he got there, and he answered, "Pizza". I don't get to spoil my grandkids very often, so I stopped at "Mama Vee's Take and Bake" and picked up a couple large ones. They were very good, and I only had 2 slices, but I also had some of the "supreme nachos" that came free with the special.

Then, on Saturday night, we went to a Cinco de Mayo fiesta at my brother, "Roberto" and his wife, "Rosa's" casa. The food was delicioso, but I ate too mucho! I never took Spanish, (and I'm pretty sure that is not correct Spanish)...but you get the idea. Sunday, we did our usual Chinese for lunch, and that's not normally a problem, but then we went to my parent's house for supper. Mom made goulash. You know, one of those "comfort foods", that we probably ate at least once a week when I was growing up with my 9 siblings. She did make brussel sprouts too...which have 0 points...as long as you don't load them down with real butter...oh well. They sure tasted good.

Anyway, I lost .8 lbs this week. Nothing to write home about, but at least it wasn't a gain, and it makes my total weight loss 14.2 lbs. I just have to keep telling myself that that is an average 2.84 lbs per week so far. That's still not too bad if I can keep it up.

Last week, I threatened to dust off my tread mill...and I did dust it off! Maybe this week, I'll actually get on it and turn the thing on! Maybe I'll even walk a few miles, what do you think? It's such a crazy idea, it just might work?! I'll let ya know next week.

Prom 2008 ~ One Crazy Morning!

What do you do when you need to find a prom dress...fast? My step-daughter, Ruth, (who went to her Sr. prom in 2006 and is now actually in college), was asked to this year's prom by a friend of hers from youth group. I found out about this a couple of weeks ago via her dad, whom Ruth had told over the phone. I was happy for her that she'd been asked to prom again, but I said, "What does she plan on wearing?". Her father had no idea, (since guys don't necessarily think about those things). I figured she had something in mind, and hoped she wasn't planning on wearing the same dress she wore two years ago, fearing it wouldn't fit her anymore and just because it would be much more fun for her to have a "new" dress to wear.

Ruth was coming home from Bemidji that Friday night, the night before prom. We were doing our karaoke at church that night, so I asked my friends if any of them had an idea of where I could come up with a dress for her on such short notice. My friend, Sarah, (sassyfrazz), volunteered that she'd been a bridesmaid quite a few times and had a fairly large collection of dresses that just might work. She would have her husband drop some of them off in the morning.

Ruth tried on the dress she had planned to wear, but it didn't fit, so that was no longer even an option. Terry dropped off 4 lovely dresses around 10:00am, and Ruth tried 3 different ones on. We, (Ruth, Molly and I), decided on a beautiful sea-foam green strapless number, that fit Ruth to a tee. The only problem now was, we had to run to the store to get her a strapless bra to wear underneath it. The three of us jumped in the van, and knowing we had very little time to get everything done before her date would be there to pick her up, (because pictures were at 2:00pm), I was maybe driving a little fast for the road conditions...

Yes, it was Spring, yes, it was prom...but it had SNOWED the night before. The roads were wet, and had just a little slush on them. My van, which never slides around, started skidding sideways, I corrected it, but must have over-corrected a little, cuz then we went sliding the other way. Thankfully, the oncoming drivers saw what was happening and waited for me to straighten things out. I did manage to get it back under control, and we stayed on the road and didn't hit anyone or anything. Another potential crisis averted. Thank you Lord!

We got to the store, found a bra, pantyhose, and a little make-up and proceeded back home to get her ready. Ruth jumped into the shower, while I pressed her dress. She has never been what you'd call a "girly-girl". Preferring the natural look, Ruth has never worn make-up, except for the few times when her friends have tried it on her. On the other hand, my 11yo, Molly has been experimenting with make-up for about 3 years now. I don't like her to wear it outside of the house, but once in a while she manages to slip out with some on anyway. I told Ruth that I'd do her hair, and Molly was going to do her make-up. I put her hair up in a french braid, (because that's pretty much all I know how to do), and it looked very nice that way. Molly did her make-up, (quite well I might add), while we all ate a frozen pizza for lunch. Her date was coming between 1:30 and 2:00pm, and I was so afraid that morning that we'd never get everything done. We did, with about 15 minutes to spare! Thank you, Sarah and Terry, it just goes to show you what you can do with a little help from your friends! The kids all ended up having a great time that night, despite the cold wintry weather outside. Here's a pic of Ruth at home, and one of her with her date, and a couple of friends at the Grand March.

Thursday Thirteen #1~ 13 Reasons to Lose Weight

This is my very first "Thursday Thirteen". Since I've now lost Thirteen pounds, I thought it only appropriate to list my top 13 reasons to lose weight. Here they are...

1. To feel better about myself.



2. To be healthier.



3. To not be afraid to go to the doctor, because they'll make me get on the scale.



4. So I don't have to worry about other people's lawn chairs breaking when I sit on them.



5. To NOT get "those looks" when eating at restaurant, even when I'm making wise choices and taking only ONE trip to the buffet.



6. So I can cut up my "Catherines" credit card and wear clothes that don't say "PLUS size".



7. So I don't have to hide behind someone or something when posing for a picture.



8. So my doctor will never again have to say, "You really need to lose some weight", but just says, see you again next year.



9. So a regular bath towel goes all the way around me.



10. So my grandchildren will never remember me as being fat.



11. So my 11yo daughter is never again embarrassed for her friends to meet her fat mom.



12. To be able to get up off the floor or out of my couch without making a loud groaning sound.



13. So I don't think evil thoughts whenever I see a skinny woman.