Supremely Happy

McKenna was thrilled to eat corn on the cob tonight.....we are gradually making our way through the foods she had to avoid because of her braces for a couple years.  

If you just got your braces off, what would you start with?  

For me, definitely something chewy and caramel :P

Brad had to pick up some of the girls at 5:30pm and I had to drop off some of the girls at 6:00pm at the high school for cheer.  Brad's schedule now is to come home, eat something really fast, and go to rehearsal.  I made a green pepper stew tonight....it is Brad's favorite, so I called him to see if he had eaten the food I left for him since we passed somewhere on the interstate.....and he told me he WOLFED it down....haha!  His character is Lazar Wolf.....guess he will be wolfing down a lot of food for a couple months :P

Smile Pretty :)

Already Middle School picture day....

Love these cuties!

Everlasting....

Chew on that for a while :P

Upon hearing of Gene Wilder's passing, my girls and I have been watching scenes from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.  Three of my daughters enjoyed performing in this musical several years ago as Oompa Loompas, Lollipop girls, and Veruca Salt.  This was one of my favorite movies as a child....I still love it!  I've always felt like Gene Wilder was the perfect combination of funny and sad...evidence that those aren't opposites....sometimes funny is born from sad...or maybe I should say born for sad.  Charlie Chaplin said. "To truly laugh, you must be able to take your pain and play with it."  Some people do a really great job teaching us how! 

Live Coals

We are working through the book of Genesis on Sunday mornings at church and this week we were studying the deal Jacob tries to make with God in Genesis 28 the morning after he has the dream of the stairway to Heaven.....where he says, "If you do this...and if you do that....and if...if...if...., then you will be my God"  It is a little humorous (in a preposterous way) to think about a person trying to make conditions for God to follow, but it is true that we often think or try to reason this way.  I just mentioned in a different post how different my prayers might be if I truly prayed for Christ's sake and not my own.  GOD is GOD.....His love for us is unconditional, and yet we often approach Him and our willingness to give ourselves completely to Him with a list of conditions we want Him to accomplish for us first....(but that would not require faith now, would it?) Today our pastor contrasted Jacob's selfish response to his dream of Heaven's staircase to Isaiah's response to the vision God had given him of Heavenly glory.

When you are in the midst of HIS glory, what is your response?  

Look at the verse again....Are you on earth?  Then you are in the midst of His glory :)  The only thing hindering us for being fit for service to God is our sin.....there are no other excuses for us....nor are there any conditions we should set before God.  I love how quickly Isaiah goes from being completely ruined to being zealous and empowered after the LIVE COAL touched his lips and the seraphim told him his guilt had been taken away and his sins had been atoned for......"...well then, I'm your man!" :)

Here we also stand....live coal to our lips....guilt taken away...sin atoned for.

Some Crazy Fun!

We enjoyed spending some time with friends to celebrate a birthday today out at Grass Lake after church....

They brought the hulk gloves for me to wear when I play Kan Jam....this little goose looks so cute with them on :)

Then we had some crazy Back To School fun with the youth group...messy games are a MUST!

This was the "try to stick as many Lifesavers on your partner's face as possible" game :)

The Dizzy Run Game....spinning the bat on the ground and in the air....

This table was coated with BBQ sauce, Italian Dressing, Smoked Hickory Flavoring, Relish, Jalapeno juice, garlic, and pineapple juice and the kids had to push a pineapple chunk through it with some part of their face.....some did their nose, some...chin, some....tongue...Kassi tried her forehead....but it was pretty disgusting....mostly because the smell was sooooo strong.

They are trying to melt a frozen t-shirt the fastest :)

Vannah's team won and got it on her the fastest!

FUN TIMES!

This is the happiest place.

I was looking for a picture with the verse from Psalm 61:2 because I was feeling a little overwhelmed today with a few things in life and I came upon this prayer.  It would have been such an honor to have known her....her quotes and prayers so often touch my heart and I find her story so strongly inspiring, but I love how she ends this prayer and I think it is the way we should always end a prayer or a request...not just the AMEN, but the "for Christ's Sake"....it is easy to pray for things "for my sake"....."please do this for me, God"...but, it is something entirely different to say, "for Christ's Sake"  that changes the perspective and made me wonder how many of my prayers actually make sense if I were to add "for Christ's sake" to them.....they'd change to "how can this situation glorify Christ"....not "how can I get out of this" or "how can this be easier for me" or "WHY, GOD".....so much different, right?

Mini Golf?...Challenge Accepted!

Love this smile!

He's so fierce :)

Not sure if photo shoot or fishing stream...

We were missing Vannah tonight because she had to work and Danielle because she is partying with some school chums :P  BUT, besides that, it was about the perfect night for PUTTING!

The Shirt Dr. Howe Gave To McKenna :)

And....she is wearing it proudly today!  LOVE IT!

This is an excerpt from my devotional thought today...

The enjoyment of God is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied.  To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here.....[These] are but shadows; but God is the substance.  These are but scattered beams; but God is the sun.  These are but streams; but God is the ocean. ~ Jonathan Edwards

Brad got the part of Lazar Wolf (cool name, right?!) in Center Stage Jackson's, Fiddler On The Roof :)  He is excited....I told him before he knew his role that if he got Tevye, I would "act" like his nagging and annoying wife at home to help him get into character :P  But he got the part of a single, butcher....hmmmm....now what I am supposed to do?! HAHA!

So happy for him...I am certain he will enjoy being a part of the production!

Notice Anything?

This girl skipped out of school on the second day....BAD MCKENNA!

Said the first thing she wanted was a fruit roll-up....I KNOW!  weird girl....what about a Caramel Apple?...that would probably be my first craving :P

This one was from her first day with braces in 2014....awwwww....

THIS MAKES ME SMILE!  Thanks for your hard work, Dr. Howe!

Vannah got to wear her cheer uniform and cheer at a Back To School Pep Rally today....at lunch we asked her how her day was going and she said, "Great, I'm just smiling and saying hello to a bunch of people who are ignoring me"....just to clarify, she is able to laugh about these things so that is good.....oh, to be back in high school, right?

Not everyone will SEE us....but, the ones who do are worth every effort!

Raindrops On Roses

Each raindrop made a puddle as I was running the girls around tonight, so I got the "My Favorite Things" song stuck in my head....I decided to peek at my roses when I got home and, sure enough....I would agree they are one of my favorite things :)

Fun with puddles on petals :P

Are You Ready For This?

Happy BACK TO SCHOOL Day!

Round 1....Back to school for 11th, 8th, and 6th grade....I am grateful that my girls are always excited to go back to school and I don't have to push, pull or drag :)

Round 2.... Back to school for 3rd and 5th grades :P  It is about this time I start wondering if I will get any calls from any school today telling me someone forgot something.

If I Were A Rich Mom

What a day!  I got Vannah some scrubs because she is going to be starting a program at the Career Center this year...Health Technician I.  It was so cool seeing her trying them all on....she is growing up so fast.  I know she eventually wants a career in the medical field, so I hope this will give her some great insight into different careers so she can pinpoint what she may want to focus on.

We took the girls to a matinee of Pete's Dragon to celebrate BACK TO SCHOOL :P  It was super cute and we all cried...haha....even Brad :)  Then Kenna and I did some school picture day shopping because that will be upon us FAST!

Brad attended Center Stage Jackson's try-outs for Fiddler On The Roof ....I will keep you posted, but I am soooo glad he tried out....I have been trying to get him to do that for a few years.  It means I will be running the girls around a lot on my own, but since they are all in cheerleading right now....it seems a good time for one of us to take a turn doing something!  Not that taxiing isn't also AWESOME...ha!

At cheerleading practice, Karly was so excited to have landed her back tuck tonight.  I am glad she has a coach who is encouraging her to build upon the skills she learned in gymnastics last year.  She couldn't wait to show me when I picked her up.

So much goodness packed into one day...I AM RICH.

L'chaim!

These Are The Days

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGHk7Yq1cJI

Vannah told me tonight that she forgot her locker combo, but she thinks muscle memory will kick in on the first day of school....I wish I could be there to see if that really will work for her....haha!  

Karly, Danielle, Kassi, and McKenna had their school orientation tonight.  Brad and I had to split up, so he went with Kassi to 6th grade orientation while I took Karly and Danielle to 3rd and 5th grade orientation.  Then I met up with them at the Middle School to see how Kassi was doing and find McKenna who was starting through her 8th grade schedule.  I finally caught up with her in the hallway between her 2nd and 3rd hour class and she was being sooooo dramatic saying, "I have noooooo parent with meeeeeee!"  I thought she probably just said it that once, but later several other parents were repeating it back to me so evidently she was groveling for pity for a little while :P

My favorite embarrassing moment tonight....somewhere in the process of walking to a million different classrooms, I must have leaned up against a chalkboard with the word awesome on it...haha....and I was wearing a black shirt.....yep,

More Fun Pictures....

These are also from last night's fun night out....taken by my friend, Chrissy.  THANKS, CHRISSY!

This next one is hilarious to me...haha!  And I look like I am smiling at Brad for doing this...haha!  Poor Josiah.....can't believe his own mother would create this photo.....with moms like this, who needs enemies :P