Despicable 2!

To say that I am excited about Cody's birthday party is an understatement. I have literally been working on it since shortly after his 1st birthday. But on the other hand, I can't believe my baby is 2 :( No more babies for me. Cody thinks he is a big boy and pretty much refuses to sit in his high chair. This is just one example of his stubborn nature which I'm sure he gets from his father.

A few months ago, I discovered Pinterest which would turn out to be quite helpful when searching for inspiration for a Despicable Me birthday party. I think what we ended up with was something pretty fantastic if I do say so myself.

So here's the invite which I made. Luckily, they are making a sequel to Despicable Me, so I was able to find this picture of a minion holding up two fingers, or whatever you call the digits of a minion. I copied the images I found into a Microsoft Publisher blank document, and measured the envelopes I had to make sure the invitations would be the right size. I printed the invite on white cardstock but thought they needed a pop of color so the whole thing went on a piece of blue cardstock and I used a scrapbook tool to round the edges.

One example of an idea I borrowed from a fellow pinner, were these minion cupcakes made with twinkies.

Here's how mine turned out:

When I was scanning my memory for food ideas (that weren't sweets) I remembered the line about stuffed crust pizza! Alas, there were ideas on pinterst for stuffed crust pizza bites, perfect for little ones and grown ups alike! Pretty yummy if I do say so myself! I assembled the morning of the party, but kept them covered in the fridge and didn't put them in the oven until just before guests started arriving. I opted not to serve with a side of dipping sauce (marinara or ranch) because, well, I like my carpet.

Something I came up with myself, were "Dr. Nefario's anti-gravity orbs", AKA bouncy balls. These were an after-summer clearance steal at CVS :) So glad I got them! I didn't get a picture but it was my attempt to tie in the plot of the movie to capture the moon. The kids used them to "bowl" in the kitchen. Check out these minion bowling pins. They were totally on the to-do list, but we don't drink soda and I didn't want to just buy the liters to dump them out so we just used small plastic bowling pins from Walmart.

Box of shame photo-op:

I used a large cardboard box from my office, turned it inside out by cutting at the seams so that the solid brown would be on the outside, and re-taped the box. Husband cut a hole with a box cutter and wrote Box of Shame in Sharpie.

I found some cute orange water guns at Party City that reminded me of Vector and his squid launcher. In the background you'll notice the red dog bowl; another Dollar Tree find filled with candy to replicate the scene when Gru first adopts the girls and has no idea what to feed them.

Many of our family and friends hadn't seen Despicable Me so I used pictures to attempt to tie-in all of my kitschy details. I love these double-sided white frames from Ikea, $.99! I just googled scenes from the movie and then copied the pictures into a Word document. The font used for the movie propaganda is called "Las Vegas" so I was able to download and use that on the invitations as well.

Goodie-Bag breakdown:

I bought sets of blue canvas bags by Darice from the Target Dollar spot. At 3-for a dollar, I knew I could find something to use them for. I kept looking at the handles and thinking they looked like the minion overalls, but I ended up just using them to hold a few goodies. You can see them in the background of the picture below, stuffed with yellow tissue paper.

Another find, months later, in the Target Dollar Spot were these scientific-looking measuring cups. I had seen where other Despicable Me parties let the children drink out of beakers, etc. but we have a toddler and light-colored carpeting, so no fun blue punch in beakers for us.

I served organic cheese puffs to tie in the scene where Agnes says: "Awe, my caterpillar never turned into a butterfly." Edith: "That's a cheeto."

Since Despicable Me party-gear is no where in stores, I ordered stickers on ebay and included those in the goodie bags. Many of our family and friends had not seen the movie, but my hope was that after Cody's birthday party, they'd want to rent it and see why we love it.

I think my birthday boy enjoyed his day!

"Happy Birthday" to Cody Wyatt!

Are you Religious? A response to Jefferson Bethke's, "Why I hate religion, but love Jesus."

A phrase I saw on Pinterest, "It's Facebook, not your diary" is with me this morning so I'm doing a quick blog entry in lieu of a super-long Facebook status. You're welcome.

A couple of friends re-posted a youtube video titled "Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus." I immediately went to click on it, but it definitely made me pause to think what in the world?!

[ok now would be a good time to watch his video, link above]

Jefferson Bethke's poem asks the question, is religion a verb or a noun?

Let me start with what I love about what he has to say.

As of 10:15 AM on Friday January 13, 6.3 Million people have watched this video and heard that Jesus died for them and in God's grace they are forgiven of their sins.

According to Wikipedia, 15% of the adult population in the U.S. claim to have no religion. Of the others polled, only 9% said religion is the most important part of their life. Mr. Bethke, now that we all know who you are, I hope you continue to share God's love with the masses and clarify that the Church is our home, a place to gather and worship our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ! Your words are fluid, but convoluted and confusing!

I've been sitting here reading over and over the words he spoke, and that's pretty much what I have to say about the positives. I kept pausing the video and asking myself, "wait, wait. Is he talking about faith or the church?" It's hard not to be defensive, I love my church! I love the church I grew up in, I love my brother and sister-in-law's church...there are some amazing church families out there!

I think one of the big points he's trying to make is that some Christians want to feel perfect, like there's a checklist and if we do more good than bad we get into heaven. Wrong. The challenge to lead, to give, to share His love, to be thankful and humbled is daily, never-ending.

I also saw another friend re-post a status that said: "If Christians stopped judging each other, that would be a real miracle ♥" via I Can Do All Things Through Christ Who Strengthens Me. Isn't that sad? We all need the reminder?

So maybe I fit a cookie-cutter mold that people like Mr. Bethke perceive to be. I would call myself (mostly) republican (not sure what that has to do with anything BTW) if someone asked me. I post about going to church on Facebook, as well as teaching Sunday school, christian song lyrics and bible verses. I have a "cross wall" in my house, a religious decal on my car and I'm listening to Casting Crowns as I type! But I don't think any of that is wrong. Those things make me happy, remind me of my savior and I hope encourages others to be open about their faith or ask me questions about mine!

Before I joined Redeemer I never would have thought I would substitute teach a Sunday School class or volunteer to help with Vacation Bible School. My church has made me a better person but more importantly a better Christian and has taught me to BE the church.

"Christ has no body on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours. Yours are the eyes through which Christ's compassion for the world is to look out; yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good; and yours are the hands with which He is to bless us now." ~Saint Teresa of Avila

Hopefully his choice of titles was to grab attention. It worked. It got my attention, my full attention that resulted in lots of reflection and this blog. I can't imagine hating religion. In his description beneath the video on youtube, Jefferson Bethke says this is "A poem I wrote to highlight the difference between Jesus and false religion. In the scriptures Jesus received the most opposition from the most religious people of his day. At it's core Jesus' gospel and the good news of the Cross is in pure opposition to self-righteousness/self-justification." I just wish he made it more evident in the text that he's calling out false religion.

I'm going to borrow a couple of phrases from our church belief statement:

Jesus has called us to be His witnesses in spreading the gospel to all people
and serving others as he did. As faithful Christians, it is our response to
Christ to live a life of love and service to others. We continually ask,

“Lord, what would you have me do?”

Isn't that what a christ-centered community should encourage us to do?

Jefferson is correct in that God already took care of our sins.

Personally I don't give a flip if you go to church or not. But for my family, our church has been the best thing to happen to us.

If someone asked me 'Are you religious'...I would say YES.

Thinner

Last week I posted on Facebook that I had finally crossed the 25lb mark- as in I've LOST 25lbs. David is at 35lbs! His goal was 40 and mine was 27 but it appears that pretty soon we'll have to set new goals.

I haven't been too concerned with those numbers because it seemed like we were making such awesome progress that reaching our goal was a matter of when, not if. But I must be looking at the scale more than in the mirror because today I had a total "aha" moment. I spent my lunch hour today at Ross trying to find a wallet to match my latest fabulous find I got a new Mark Ecko purse after seraching for months and months for a new bag! Anyway, I found a few pairs of slacks and tops to try on and the sizes I grabbed were all too big, I mean like way big. It was a pretty exciting moment. In some stores I'm back down to the size I was as a senior in HS. Now I was no skinny-mini, but I think I was healthy. I don't really have a weight in mind. In a former life I was pretty opinionated when it came to fashion and I worked in HS so I could buy name brand clothes, etc. After two children and LOTS of weight gain, lets just say I didn't really fit in at Banana Republic anymore. So that was my goal and I'm almost there.

It's amazing. Growing up chubby it's like I became programmed to believe that I'd never be thin. "It's just in my genes' amongst other excuses.

9/11

Wow, where do you begin on a topic such as this? This morning I got up early to make brownies and macaroni and cheese for a local fire house that Emma's girl scout troop is hosting for dinner tonight. Then we headed to church. It's not every Sunday that we sing patriotic songs but September 11 has become one of the times that we do. Today we sang "God Bless America" and "America the Beautiful" and a few verses really struck home with today's 10 year anniversary of 9/11.

O beautiful for heros proved,
in liberating strife.
Who more than self their country loved,
and mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
till all success be nobleness
and every gain divine!

O beautiful for patriot dream
that sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee,
and crown thy good with brotherhood
from sea to shining sea.

O beautiful for men of faith
Who founded this great land;
Proclaimed for us, "In God We Trust,"
and held to God's strong hand.
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
til lives confess his righteousness
from sea to shining sea!

That's what it's all about folks. The men and women who risk their lives for others everyday and I have not forgotten 9.11. I was a junior in high school about to turn 17 the following week. We were out on the band practice field (AKA the parking lot) rehearsing our marching band routine. The orchestra director came out and told our director he should get us inside and to turn on the TV in the band hall. I remember sitting on the cold floor, watching live. We saw the first tower fall and then the second get hit and fall. I don't remember what the commentators were saying, were there news journalists on? I don't remember any if there were. Just the images. I worried for my friend Sarah who's family who lived in DC and wanted to talk to my parents. I used the phone in the band office and called my Mom. We went on with our day, it was quiet on campus and we watched the news for the first two periods or so. I worked part time at Stein Mart and I remember having a candlelight vigil with co-workers for those lost. I remember American flags everywhere. All over town. I was friends with young men who couldn't wait to "sign up" when they graduated, and many did.

Fast forward to today. I sat in church with my parents, husband and children. Today I prayed for the spouses and children of those lost in the 9/11 attacks. I need to remember them in my prayers more often. So many people are hung up on the politics. That's not what today is about. Not who's on the senate floor or signing the bills. But the men and women sworn to protect us and many of whom have paid the ultimate sacrifice. God bless them!

Life As We Know It

Good grief it has been a crazy week. I was so worried that Cody was sick. On Monday Ms. Debbie text me that Cody woke up from nap with a low-grade fever. So David stayed home with him (and Emma) on Tuesday. He's had a runny nose but really other symptoms. I immediately thought this was some sort of secondary infection popping up since we had just finished antibiotics for his ear infection. But, thankfully, so far so good. He has been back to daycare all week and has rested well, played hard and most of all EATEN like a horse. This kid is having a growth spurt. Emma often helps me get Cody fed because Cody goes to the kitchen as soon as we get home and starts yelling until there is food in front of him. She generally makes sure there is something on his plate until I'm done cooking. Poor kid, sometimes she gives him her food just to make him quiet, then I have to go make her more to eat. LOL, I've been making extras now to compensate. David tells me to just wait until he is playing sports and I can't imagine what I'll have to keep in the house when he has friends over. Definitely going to need a freezer in the garage.

Things are going well with the "diet." David keeps losing and is almost at 30lbs! This week I haven't lost anything but I'd imagine next week will be better :) I made the chicken/pork sausage stuffed shells on Tuesday night and Cody didn't like the meat and Emma didn't care for the fresh tomato sauce I made; I guess I have her hooked on Ragu :( But she did enjoy them without the sauce. To say that David liked them is an understatement. He ate his dinner and next-day lunch portion.

My grandfather Shoenfelt is in the hospital in Houston right now and we don't really know what's going on other than he is having difficulty breathing. My Aunt Catherine is with him.. I'm praying for his comfort and healing and strength for my Aunt.

Tangled

Will someone please tell me why this is $150? REALLY!?!

It is beautiful, my daughter would look gorgeous in it but I'm also trying to teach her the value of a dollar and this is just NO!

HCG Meals

I've had lots of friends contact me with interest in the HCG diet that David and I have been doing. We started on June 18th (I got this date wrong the other day on Facebook) and I have lost 20lbs and David has lost 28lbs in less than two months! So I finally decided to upload the pictures I've taken to give you a little insight into what we've been eating.

For this phase of the diet we would prepare our lunches for the week on Sunday evenings. David would grill chicken and we portioned it out into tupperware containers while I measured out cauliflower, broccoli, and salad. We both had apples and I would take strawberries to my office for snacks and David enjoyed celery and cucumbers with his lunches.

Day One of HCG VLCD (Very Low Calorie Diet) Phase 2

You don't really have "breakfast" on HCG but I was convinved I needed something since I don't drink coffee or tea and grapefruit is on the approved-food list.












Day 1: Lunch! 3.5oz grilled chicken with 4oz lettuce, seasoned with lemon juice and pepper. 1 melba toast and an apple.

Snack: 1 handful strawberries. Occasionally I would have strawberries for an after-dinner snack if I was still hungry. But my favorite "dessert" was an apple! I would slice an up with my fancy apple-corer and sprinkle on stevia (hcg-approved natural sweetener) and cinnamon. Microwave for 30 seconds-1min...YUM!!!

Another Lunch: 3.5 oz grilled chicken breast w/onion from the kabob and 4 oz steamed broccoli. Since we pre-portioned our veggies in ziplock containers, it was really easy to steam them in the microwave by adding water and cooking for 1min.













Shrimp, it's what's for dinner!
This was definitely one of my favorites and "shrimp nights" felt like a treat. This time we seasoned with lemon pepper, shown with 4 oz broccoli and grissini breadstick.


Italian Chicken and tomato
I loved this little recipe I cooked up! This is my 4oz chicken breast which I cooked in the skillet with italian herbs, garlic and pepper. Then I cut up a tomato and added it to the hot skillet- cooking it down until it was "sauce-like". I had it with my grissini breadstick. Yummy little lunch!

Another Dinner Entree
We stayed away from all red meat until the final week of the VLCD. This is a 4oz burger (98% lean organic beef) seasoned w/pepper and garlic powder. Yum! Roasted asparagus- we did this a lot because broccoli and cauliflower got old. I would measure out the 3-4oz of asparagus (trimmed) and put into a foil packet with a little water and whatever seasoning you like. We tried pepper, lemon pepper, etc.

Pan seared cod with fresh cabbage!















On to maintenance! During Phase 2 while we were on the VLCD taking our HCG drops 3x a day, I lost 17lbs and David lost 21lbs...in just 23 days!

During the first week of Phase 3 (maintenance) you SLOWLY begin to up your calorie intake from 500 calories a day to 1,200-1,500, wherever you are able to maintain your new weight. If ever you go 2lbs over your weight you're supposed to immediately have a "steak day," keep in mind that you continue to weigh yourself every morning as soon as you use the restroom and undress. We had to do a steak day once, and made it a point to never have to do that again. A steak day consists of eating nothing all day long (you can have as much water, tea, coffee as you like) and then for dinner consume the largest steak that you are able. David bought us both 15oz ribeyes. I am not a steak person anyway, especially not a marbled cut, but it was pretty delicious. We lost 2-3lbs each over night but that sucked and can't be healthy.

During the maintenance phase you are also allowed to add back in exercise (it's generally not recommended during phase 2 because you're taking in so few calories.) So now David and I are working out at the gym 3x a week and doing Wii Fit on the nights we're not at the gym. This has allowed us to occasionally "cheat" and recover as well as take off more weight. In the last couple of weeks since we began maintenance I've lost another 3lbs and David's lost 5-6 and we've both taken off additional inches.


My favorite post-hcg recipe! One of the salad dressings I've enjoyed is Kraft's sun dried tomato vinaigrette so I went to their website and searched for a recipe to make using it. Yummy! David and Emma enjoyed it too! Served w/spinach salad and oven-roasted cauliflower.

We try to keep to the original ingredients as much as possible: organic boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cod, tilapia, and shrimp as well as lots of fresh veggies: peppers, cucumbers for David, tomatoes, etc. We can now eat "whatever we want" but we've learned so much about what we put into our bodies that we don't miss the excessive carbs, processed and fried foods. We're still human though, I crave sweets and David gets hungry for burgers. Moderation is key.

This is what I have for breakfast everyday. Thanks to my brother for turning me on to greek yogurt. This is honey yogurt w/fresh strawberries. I happened to have a package of granola from ChickFilA left over so I use a pinch of that for a few days.

More on ChickFilA...I love their chargrilled chicken and fruit salad. It's only 220 calories but it's still pretty high on carbs, sugars and most of all sodium, so you definitely can't have it all the time, but in a pinch it's a good option when I'm running around w/the kids. I use just a small amount of the berry vinaigrette dressing and save the granola packet for breakfasts :)

I hope this was helpful for those of you w/questions for me and who are considering giving HCG a try. We used the X-30 Hcg from GNC. I should also mention the amount of water intake is so vital to success. David and I both bought 1/2 gallon water bottles and filled them up each night so they'd be cold in the morning and drank them all day long (2x).

I'm excited about my meal plan for the week:

• Grilled pork chops, green beans and grilled peaches w/cinnamon/stevia for dessert (Emma loves this meal too!)
• Chicken fajita tacos. I found whole wheat, gluten-free tortillas with only 10g carbs and no sugars. After the dietary fiber, your carb intake is only 3g. We'll have these w/peppers/onions, a little cheese and avocado. The kids will probably go more for the quesadilla route with fruit.
• Ground chicken sausage stuffed shells with fresh parmesan! I am so excited about this one! The italian chicken sausage looked so delicious at Sprouts I just couldn't resist, so I stood there until I could come up w/a recipe idea. So I'm going to boil some whole wheat large pasta shells and then fill them w/the chicken and bake with my fresh tomato/herb sauce and sprinkle (not cover) with cheese and bake. Yumm-o!
• Taco salad in tortilla shell. I got this idea from Kraft I believe. You briefly bake your tortillas in muffin pants to make them rounded and then fill with ground beef, shredded lettuce, etc. I think Emma will think this is cute.

This grocery shopping trip will actually last us a while because on the nights that we work out, David and I are having meal replacement shakes and we feed the kids before we go to the gym. I love feeling proud of my shopping cart at the grocery store now! But we're by no means perfect, just a far cry from our former habits. I was having sandwiches everyday from Thundercloud or Subway and we were doing the burger/fry thing 1-2 nights a week and ordering pizza at least once every other week. We had salads, sure, but would douse them in ranch. I am SO thankful that David and I did this together. I wouldn't have been able to do this without his love and support. I was so funny because it seemed as though we would rotate giving/needing support. I would have a grouchy day and he'd be there for me and then the tables would turn. It's mind-boggling when you realize how much you live your life around what you eat. Once I realized what poisons (with little to NO nutritious value) I was putting into my body and those of my children and husband I was pretty disgusted. My sister-in-law who is credited with guiding me in our HCG journey, also told me about lysa terkeurst's Made to Crave.

One more thing, here's a great youtube video that helped me get started w/HCG. For additional recipe ideas, just google HCG recipes.

HCG = You + Me

Well, David and I are dieting. Can't you tell how excited I am? HEHE.

My brother, sister-in-law and nephew were in town a couple of weeks ago and my sister in law looked fabulous! I asked her what she had been doing and she told me about HCG. I started my research the next day :) My SIL is very fit and always has been but a recent knee surgery has put a stop to most exercise since last year. On the HCG protocol she was able to lose 19 lbs in 23 days!

I approached David about us doing it together and he was totally on board.

If anyone's intrested in deeper information, I'll let you do your own research. But in a nutshell, HCG stands for human chorionic gonadotrophin which is the hormone produced during pregnancy. Basically you pair the hcg supplement with a very low calorie diet (VLCD) and you will lose 1-2lbs a day. You spend the first two days "loading" up on carbs, sugary foods etc. In this way your fat stores are at their maximum. Then you begin 21 days of the VLCD while taking the drops 3 times a day. What do I mean by very low? Well, 500 calories to be exact. Are you ok, have you picked yourself up off the floor yet? Yes, 500 calories. I thought the same thing when I first heard it. I though there was no way it was a healthy diet. I probably would have stopped reading then if it wasn't for the success my SIL had seen. If she trusts it, I trust it.

The originial protocol was first developed in the 50's by endocrinologist Dr. Simeon and his is proven to be a successful routine. There are digital copies of his book "Pounds and Inches" available online. The concept is simple. You are "disposing" of your fat daily and in the 2nd and 3rd stage(s) of the diet you are re-setting your body and re-training your brain.

It has taken me forever to finish this entry! It's now July 13th! We're done with stages 1-2 and are now in maintenance. In just three weeks I lost 17lbs and David lost 20! I must admit that we fell off the wagon over July 4th weekend and it took about 3 days to recoup what we gained. With that being said we are both very happy with the results. It feels amazing to be so much less bloated. Another thing I noticed since day one of the restricted diet is how much better my complexion has been. I don't miss the sodas or fried food. I occasionally miss the sweets though. During this final phase of the diet you gradually add in foods that have been off limits. We can now eat anything but carbs, starches and sugars and work up to 1,200 to 1,500 calories a day- whatever you can maintain your new weight with. This doesn't really seem that obtrusive since we have been so limited up until now. Avacados never tasted so good! We like pork so I bought pork chops and a pork tenderloin. We grilled the chops and had grilled peaches one night and tonight we had the pork tenderloin which had been in the crock pot all day. Yum!

As soon as we were done with the VLCD David began adding in exercise; it's generally discouraged in the first 3 weeks. Tonight I joined him at the gym. I haven't worked out since I had been doing yoga last year. I'm going to ease back into it and hopefully this will help me take off a few more lbs and re-shape and tone my new body. I'm generally not a fan of the gym. It smells. The ppl smell. And at Gold's so many of them are intimidatingly large and/or fit...and then there's me. Blah. Oh well. It was nice to work out side by side w/David tonight. We walk/ran (David ran, I walked) on the treadmill for half an hour and then rode the bikes for about half an hour. A few miles and many calories later burned, I feel great! Saturday I'll try their Body Flow class which combines yoga, pilates and tai chi.

After these three weeks of phase 3 we can begin having limited amounts of carbs and sugars again. I think we'll definitely have made some long-time changes by then. I have been having sandwiches without bread, burgers without buns and learning how to grocery shop, cook and occasionally eat out differently. Also this week I've focused more on the kids eating habits as well. It killed me the first week or so that David and I were eating so "well" and still feeding the kids chicken nuggets, corn dogs, pizza and macaroni and cheese. I don't expect them to eat asparagus and tilapia, but there will definitely be other changes coming their way. It's our job to establish healthy eating habits NOW.

Overall I give this diet two thumbs up. No side effects (aside from one headache on the first VLCD day since my body was detoxing sugar), great results and a plan that can work long-term! I think we are considering completing another rough of HCG, you should wait 6 weeks after you've stabilized.

I'll do a separate post w/pictures from some of the things we've been eating :)

Proverbs 22:6

Big surprise, it seems as though it's been an eternity since my last entry. Not so surprising, it has been nearly a month (again). We continue to be blessed with our two healthy children and are still enjoying our new home. Summer has brought with it day after day of 100+degree weather and very little rain.

Even with school being out, the past few weeks have been very hectic. My best friend McKenzie got married!!! She was kind enough to ask Emma to be her flower girl and Cody to be a ring bearer. It was very special to be there for the rehearsal Thursday evening and Friday afternoon before the wedding. It was absolutely gorgeous. Everything. Her gown was stunning, color choices were perfectly paired, etc, etc. I felt like I was having an out of body experience watching "Crazy Aunt Kenzie" tying the knot! All those years of talking about boys and now we're all grown up. McKenzie been by my side through good times and bad and I've always thought of her like a sister. She has definnitley played a major role in Emma's life as well. David and I have really enjoyed getting to know her husband Paul and look forward to many more years of friendship! (Check out my Facebook Album for pictures.)

Last week was also VBS at Redeemer and it was my first year to volunteer. One evening we had a training session and it got me very excited to be involved. Teri Frantz is infectiously energetic about sharing the Good News with children! I've been feeling God tugging on my heart strings a lot lately and I'm definitely feeling led to make changes. But what direction? That's for another time. Back to VBS. Since I couldn't take the whole week off from work, I volunteered Monday and ran the "Elementary Chadder" room where groups of children rotated through to watch a brief DVD. After the video I talked to the children about God Sightings and we each wrote down an example of God working in our lives or in the world around us. Volunteering for VBS was amazing and I can't wait for the next opportunity to get involved w/the youth at Redeemer. I really enjoyed this opportunity to talk to the children about God and see them living out their faith in Jesus Christ. Emma's "crew" didn't rotate through my Chadder room but I got to see lots of her friends. I am so thankful God led us right where we need to be!

God Sightings Close up
Close up

We were in the High School Youth room :)

I really wished I had gotten a picture of the sanctuary decorated for VBS. There were bamboo plants everywhere and the giant Panda posters that David and I cut out and mounted on foam board looked fantastic up on stage and Teri told me lots of other churches will get to borrow them for VBS.

"Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." Proverbs 22:6

Too Blessed to be Stressed

Yesterday was an extremely frustrating day for me. I was so worked up that I could hardly sit still. On more than one occasion I have cried for the children and families that I have gotten to know and grown to love who are fighting cancer. I learn the names and ages (and even the hobbies) of not only the child w/cancer but their siblings as well. I've gotten to know who does what, who likes what, their chemo schedules etc; they are literally a part of my life. I get frustrated because I wish I could do more. But I do what I can. Recently I read about little Wyatt from WA who is fighting stage 4 Neuroblastoma. The same diagnosis of Layla who inspired my participation with pediatric cancer research. Wyatt is 4 years old and his father is a fireman in the Air Force. So natuarlly, Wyatt idolizes all things fireman. We have many friends who are firemen or are connected to Fire Depts so I sent out a few messages. I am blessed with friends who are there when you call on them. Scott Wegner brought me a ton of goodies from Pflugerville FD, Round Rock FD and Perdenales FD. CoryLynn brought me the coolest, hugest commemorative patches from the Exxon Mobil refinery fire as well as a Kyle FD and Bertram FD patch. David's Aunt Julie, her sister Tina and David's step-mother Brenda have also jumped on the bandwagon and there will be lots of packages arriving on Wyatt's doorstep from Roswell, NM as well as about a half dozen agencies from central TX! I should also mention that David recruited his friends from Lake Travis and Hudson Bend FD's to donate patches, t-shirts, stickers and hats as well.

As I police wife I don't often get to look at firemen stuff (lol, that sounds suggestive but we'll go with it) let alone bring it in the house but this is an exception. I've found the cutest firemen figureines and accessories (his very own axe, hat, etc) and dalmation coloring books to send along w/our patches. I really hope it brings joy to Wyatt while he's inpatient for chemo right now.

I took a step back w/my involvement w/Battle4aCure but I realized I can't step away from these kids; I love them too much. If everyone stood up for what they believed in I think we'd have a much happier place to live in, or maybe there'd just be a lot more arguing. In this case, how could anyone be against a cure for cancer? I just can't fathom those (especially parents) that don't jump up and join in? But then again, I didn't get involved until last year and it was because I became attached to Layla, read day in and day out about her fight and fell in love with her precious sweet voice (thanks to Mommy and Daddy's videos). Layla earned her angel wings in April 2010 and I look at her picture in my bathroom everyday. Layla's story made me appreciate my children more, made me worry less and love more.

So just when I'm feeling like wanting to hit something or someone to get them to PAY ATTENTION because YOUR CHILD could be next, I get a text message from Scott (the same one from above) asking me to check out this link: http://https//www.austinovertheedge.com/scott_wegner/
Scott decided to see what ELSE he could do for children battling life-threatening diseases! How amazing is that! Now if I could just inspire someone who happens to have the CURE in their back pocket.

I just gotta keep moving forward and recognizing the blessings that are in front of my face. Thank you God for my supportive husband, family and sweet friends who do what they can when they can! I don't mean to make any of you feel un-appreciated, I just see those that could be of so much help, but choose not to. Untapped talent! Stay tuned for a CureSearch Kickball tournament and of course the CureSearch Walk on September 24th!