2010 Awana Grand Prix

the cars as they were being checked in by the clubbers

Every year our Awana clubs host the Grand Prix, where the clubbers design and build small cars to race. The kids can make their cars to look like...well, cars...or they can come up with a different design altogether. For example, my son chose to make his car look like a wii remote, as seen in the photo below.

The races are divided into three different divisions -- Sparks, which are kindergarten - 2nd graders, T&T, which are 3rd - 6th graders, and Leaders, which are obviously the adult leaders, plus any 7th graders and up that may be working in Awana. The clubbers can place 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place in the design category as well as 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place in the speed category. Will's car placed 3rd in speed in the T&T race, which is kind of funny to us because he wasn't building his car for speed. He was going for design. He was a little sad that his car didn't place in design, but there were several other cars that were really neat. Overall, he was happy to win a trophy!

Below are some pictures of the evening. I hope you enjoy them!

waiting for the race to begin

getting ready to race

waiting for their cars to come down the track...the little fellow

on the right is Will's best friend and his car won 1st in speed

3rd Place in Speed

A New Camera

I am so excited because I have a new camera. A Nikon D3000.

I've been asking for a D-SLR for quite a while now and my sweet dh has been researching and price checking for me. I know there are a few very competitive brands out there. I narrowed it down to the Nikon and the Canon. I think both are very comparable, but my brother-in-law is a professional photographer and he personally prefers Nikon, so I think that is probably what influenced my decision to purchase this one. I hope I won't be disappointed. I don't think I will.

I've already taken a few inside shots of my children. But I haven't had an opportunity to take outside pics because I received it later in the day. I'm really excited about getting to use it at our Awana Grand Prix tonight! Hopefully, I'll have some good pictures to post.

Our Day

Today was just one of those days...nothing seemed to go according to plan. For one thing, I overslept this morning. That's always a good indicator that things aren't going to fall into place for the rest of the day! I'm just sooo tired. My dh is sick (with a cold) and he hasn't been sleeping well at night. Also, my little fellow has had strep throat and now he has developed a bad cough. So I've been lying down with him at night to help him get to sleep. And I always fall asleep in his bed. Then I wake up and go get in my bed. And I have a hard time getting back to sleep, because dh is either snoring (bless his heart) or he's tossing and turning.

Well, I've said all that just to justify my sleeping late this morning! So we got behind on our lessons and our chores today. We did finish everything; it just took us all day! Then I had to call the doctor again...and go to Wal-Mart for more medicine...again. I'm so ready for my family to be well again! I'm sure they are ready, too!

I hope your day has been better than mine!

Bits and Pieces

Some of the things we've been up to lately:

Just for fun... math with Aubie

Science investigations:

investigating how the continual rubbing of rocks...

contributes to the formation of soil

investigating the ability of freezing water to break rocks

obviously we shouldn't have used a pickle jar... as the water

expands, the jar is supposed to break...

Upward Basketball:

     Our two youngest children are on opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to competiveness in sports, as you will see in these next few pictures. Kate is a very competitive and aggressive player. Winning is very important to her; she gives 100 percent and holds nothing back. Will, on the other hand, is so nonchalant and very laid-back. If his team wins, that's great; if they don't, well...at least he had a good time.

Kate, on a fast break

going in for a lay-up

Will dribbling down court, no fast breaks for him

putting up a shot

Our little guy, sick with strep throat, on sister's birthday...

please mom, no more pictures...

I'm happy to report that today he is feeling much better, after being on his antibiotic. He was not happy that he had to miss Awana last Wednesday night. Lord willing, he should be able to go to church in the morning.

Celebrating Another Year

We had the privilege of celebrating another year with our dear daughter yesterday; she turned 14. We are so blessed to have her in our lives. What joy she brings to my heart (of course there are many times when she brings feelings other than joy into my heart, but for the most part, it is with joy that I look upon my dd...insert smiley face here).

her little brother gave her these cute flip-flops she saw and liked in Wal-Mart

some clothes we gave her

a new camera

$ from Granddaddy

her big brother gave her iTunes $

We went out to eat pizza with some friends after church last night. She made cupcakes to share with everyone. The only sad part was little brother was sick and daddy stayed home with him. :( But we will try to do something to celebrate as a family this weekend, when he is feeling better.

Kate, with friends Alyssa and Bethany

Kate, with our youth pastor's wife and their daughter

(He is in the background, on the left)

They have played such an integral role in her walk with Jesus

and have been a HUGE blessing to our family!

 She was a little embarrassed  that we were singing

happy birthday loudly enough to draw the

attention of everyone in the restaurant!

I thank God for the privilege of watching her grow into a beautiful young lady. I am so very thankful that He saved her and is working in her life right now. Watching her grow in her relationship with Him has been awesome, to say the least! I thank Him for the joy and privilege of being a mother, and I pray that He will allow me to celebrate many more birthdays with my children!

Monday, Monday...

It's interesting how we'll have a day or two with nothing much going on at all, then all of sudden, things just take off at break-neck speed! Monday we "hit the ground rolling" so to speak, beginning the day with an out-of-town doctor's appointment for me. We could have hurried back home to begin school, seeing as how we didn't get much school work done on Friday (because of dh). But, I felt that since we rarely have time for browsing and window shopping, etc. we'd just hang around and make a day of it.

I HAD to check out the latest finds in Beall's Outlet, lol. Not sure if many of you are familiar with this store, but it's kind of like a Big Lots with close-outs and bargains and what-not. I found two pairs of shoes for me (very inexpensive!), and a couple of things for the kids. I love that store! Next, the kids wanted to check out the pet store. We looked at everything in there! And we bought a new toy for Aubie, our cockatiel. Then we had lunch at Zaxby's, my children's FAVORITE restaurant. After lunch, we stopped in at Rue 21. My daughter loves this store, but I'm not so sure that I do. For one thing the music playing was nothing that I'd want my kids hearing all the time. And while some of their clothing line is cute, a good bit of it is...umm, well let's just say it's not what I'd want my daughter to wear. After Rue 21, we made a stop at the Dollar Tree. Who doesn't like a store with lots of $1 items?

When we got back home that afternoon, the only school work we decided to tackle for the day was our reading subjects. So all in all, it was a day well spent. And I think the kids enjoyed it as well.

Friday

Friday...we usually spend this day wrapping up our school week...probably just like you. Right now dh is on a different work schedule, so he is off on Fridays, and that affects our school schedule. Alot. Today, the only school we accomplished were our morning read-aloud time and about 1/2 a lesson of math for each child. DH had lots of things he wanted to accomplish today like taking the trash to the landfill, lol, (there is no trash pick-up where we live) an optometry visit, and working on Will's (and a little friend's) race car for our upcoming AWANA Grand Prix... and of course the kids would much rather help him than do their school work!

But, I'm not complaining. I am thankful for the time we get to spend together. Maybe I will incorporate what another blogging friend does...Fun Fridays. Maybe I can even get dh in on school. He loves math and science, so maybe I can ask him to do some fun science experiments with the kids on Fridays. He has done some experiments with them in the past and has quite enjoyed doing them! I might have to change the name from Fun Fridays to Freaky Fridays, though.

I don't know that I'd want dh home all day every day, but for this short time I will welcome the change. It was neat that everybody was here during school hours, even my college kiddo. I managed to snap a couple of shots of them doing school work this morning...

my fifth grader working on math and my college freshman working on Biology

my eigth grader working on math (Teaching Textbooks) at the computer

Although we didn't accomplish everything on my agenda for today, we did get to experience what was on God's agenda for our family. I was a little stressed to begin with, and if I can be honest with you... I was a little miffed because my dh was interfering with my plans for the day and interrupting my routine and schedule! Thankfully, the Lord showed me how ridiculous I was to feel that way! And thankfully, He showed me early enough in the day so that I didn't completely ruin the day for everyone. I am usually slow to learn the lessons He teaches me each day, so needless to say I am VERY grateful that He penetrated my stubbornness and softened my heart on this little (or should I say big) "my way" issue. Yes, my God is BIG like that! Why does it so often take me so long to see that?

 

Well...our day turned out to be a good day for all! I would say that we experienced a Fabulous Friday. Hey! That might be the new name for our family Fridays. Of course, I can't say that each one will be as good as today was. But... if I leave it open for God to plan the day, who knows? And isn't that what I'm supposed to be doing every day, anyway?

 

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Matthew 6:33

More Snow Pictures

SNOW!

Can you believe the weather forecast for the South???? We knew it's been cold down here longer than usual! DH came home from work yesterday and told us to pack up...we were driving north. Not too far, just to our hometown in Alabama! Because the weather advisory predicts 4-6 inches of snow for them. So...pack up we did and drove home. We arrived around midnight. Got up around 6...no snow. We're patiently waiting. My kids are wondering if it will really happen. They've not seen much snow. We occasionally get a few flurries and we have driven home before so they could see the snow. We're watching the weather channel and see where there is already 2 inches in Montgomery, but our hometown is about 2 hours drive north of Montgomery...so nothing here yet. But wait...now they are coming in with cries of "It's snowing! It's really snowing!" So now the snow is here! It's really coming down...beautiful! I just hope we get a few inches so they can play in it.

Now I know my northern blogosphere friends are probably laughing at my post, but this is really big for us! We never get snow. So we don't even have the necessary items needed for dealing with snowy weather...like really warm clothes, or boots, or even an ice scraper for the car windshield...lol!!!

Well...I suppose I should venture out and take a few photos to share!

More to come later...

Icicles

Just a few photos from the "cold snap" we had down here in the south for about two weeks in January. Every few years we get a few snow flurries, but not this year. So we have adopted an idea from one of my dear IRL friends...leave the water hose on overnight and have some neat icicles the next day...lol.

Merry Christmas!

Wow! Where did the time go? I mentioned before that when basketball season kicks in, it gets very hectic at our house! My dh coaches varsity b-ball at our local Christian school, and right now we are having 3 games per week! Plus my daughter and son both play on Upward b-ball teams, so we are out of our house all the time it seems like! We've been in b-ball season since November, but the really hectic time (3 games per week w/ dh plus children's Upward games) only overlaps through January! It's crazy around here, but we do seem to survive!

Here are the kiddos posing for the Christmas card photo this year

I hope your Christmas season was a blessing to you as it was to me! I absolutely love Christmas! And although we didn't get any snow (we never do), it was actually cold here for Christmas! That's a record for us, because here in south Georgia, it is usually very mild, if not warm! This was a special Christmas for me because we went "home" for the holidays! We packed up on Christmas Day and traveled home to be with our families. That was quite interesting traveling on Christmas Day! It was also kind of strange, because we are usually at our house (so far away from all family) and I always cook a traditional meal for our Christmas dinner. On this day, of course, there were no restaurants open; the only restaurants we found open were in a bigger city just off the interstate and they were Waffle House and Hong Kong Palace. So...we had Chinese for our Christmas dinner! Something we will definitely always remember!! I love making memories.

my kids with my dear daddy

my kids with my dear father-in-law

A big change for us over the holidays was having our oldest son move BACK home again! After all my fretting and being so down over the summer because he was moving out in the fall, and here he is, back at home! He decided dorm life was not for him...yet. And since we are only about 40 miles from the college he attends, he decided that he'd just move back into his room and commute to classes each day. So, at first it seemed strange, having him back here again. But I've had the holidays to adjust. And an adjustment it has been! College kids....they keep the strangest hours! (LOL...it really has not been THAT long that I have forgotten what it was like!) It's been nice having him back home.


Another highlight for us during the Christmas season was having the Children of the World International Children's Choir back in our town again! We were able to host the same two little girls in our home again! What a joy they were...and what a privilege for us to be able to share in their lives! Our church raised enough money (since they were here back in October) to put in a well in a village so that 1,000 people can have clean drinking water! God used these children to touch our lives in a way that we could never have imagined... I'm sure you remember reading my post about them back in October!

my family with Pashi and Aljane and yes, we wish so very much that we could adopt them!