This week....

Well, talk about random!!! This week has been anything but normal. Emily has had Annie practice almost nightly and either Clay or I have been with her, working on green room, sets, or something. Busy, but fun. That being said, we have dropped to just language arts and math for this week and half of next. So what did we do? Well, we created a Star Wars base from an old diaper box (Jacob did, anyway), Kimberly got into my jewelry box (and broke 2 necklaces), and the big kids made homemade taffy (pretty tasty). We went to the library, went to the park, watched movies, rode bikes, mowed the yard, and read books. But the show has been coming along very well, and promises to be fabulous! We are pretty tired after all these late nights, and once the shows are all performed, we have one day to clean and pack and leave for vacation......it even sounds tiring! But once we get to the beach house and walk the shore, we will have a computer free week of beachcombing and relaxation! I dread seeing my inbox when we return! It should be monstrous! But I can deal with that when the day comes. Hope you have a blessed week!!!

Good Things to See

The above picture is the solar halo from last Thursday--very beautiful! Below are videos from the Bull Creek Cowboy Church talent show. Kids performing bits from Annie.

LTC Awards

Last night we had an awards banquet for the LTC kids, after evening services. Most kids performed, but Jacob didn't get to show his video, so I am going to try to post it on facebook or something. I think it is too big for here, but if not I will post it here. Our group did very well. Jacob won a silver for his video bible drama, a silver for his Bible Bowl team, and a silver for his individual score on Bible Bowl! Yea! Emily won a gold for her sculpture, and a bronze for her team on Bible Bowl! Yea!

Easter 2009

All the kids, lined up and ready to go:
Jordan, Emily, Max, Will, Maggie, Kimberly, Elizabeth and Jacob

The egg hunt is on!

Lookie what I got!

Daddy and Jordan-what a handsome pair!

Emily helping little kids find eggs!

Elizabeth running to find eggs. Jacob coming up behind her....

Will and Kimberly after a big Easter hunt.

What a cutie!

And topping the day with some bubble blowing....

We headed to Clay's parents on Saturday evening for Easter dinner and an egg hunt. The kids were tired from LTC, but everyone had a great time eating and playing together. We grilled and ate outside since the weather was nice. Unfortunately we didn't get to have Easter with my family because it rained today, and because we had to remove a toilet to see what was clogging it--turned out to be 2 wooden building blocks! Long story! Anyway, yesterday was fun. Tonight we have a banquet for the kids to get LTC awards! Will post those in a day or so!

More Pictures from LTC

Checking out the hotel room.

Outside the puppet rooms.

The kids waiting for Bible Bowl.

Emily's sculpture...

Emily in the room.

Around the atrium area

Our First LTC

The Hyatt Regency hotel where we stayed.

Our competitors--Emily and Jacob!

Wandering the hotel, taking in the sights...

Hanging out in the room.

On the second floor of the hotel....

Waiting for Bible Bowl to begin.

The view from our room.

Elizabeth by the elevator window on 6th floor.

Clay and the kids by the lobby waterfall.

This was our first time to attend LTC, Leadership Training for Christ. It is a competition for all North Texas churches of Christ. The event took 3 large Dallas hotels. Ours was the Hyatt Regency. Never have I been to such a fancy place, and man, was it crowded! Completely booked, was what we were told, mostly with LTC families. The kids in 3rd-12th grades competed in videos, art, drama, filming, essays, puppets, chorus, bible quiz and bible bowl, to name a few. They got to choose what to participate in. The theme this year was the book of John.

It was a bit hard to get to, and once we entered the hotel, we had no clue where our group was, but luckily after about 10 minutes we saw someone from JSCOC. We finally got everything figured out and headed to the room only to discover that Kimberly and Elizabeth are terrified of escalators and elevators--I mean screaming afraid. Made getting to a 6th floor room with a family of 7 loaded with luggage and food kind of tricky. But once we got settled and had Emily's sculpture entered, everything was much easier. The kids watched some teams do puppet shows and we ate in the room. Then from 6-10pm all JSCOC kids did Bible Bowl. After one round of Bible Bowl, Clay took the 3 youngest to the hospitality suite to get snacks and settle in and I stayed with Jacob and Emily at Bible Bowl. They had fun, and said they will do this every year. I think we had some younger kids who wanted to participate, too.

It was kinda crazy, but I was pleased with our kids and their behavior. They stayed with us and didn't wander. It was amazing how many young kids roamed freely without adult supervision.

Sunday night we will have a sandwich supper for LTC awards. I am curious how the Bible Bowl turned out, and Jacob's bible drama video of the resurrection of Lazarus, and Emily's sculpture of the empty tomb. We will be back next year!