I think I Might be on Speed

Over the past few weeks I have been feeling MUCH better.  If you read this post, you know I was feeling pretty bad.  I have been taking the vitamins for a little over a month now and I can tell. 

My energy level is back to normal...or maybe even better. 
Just today I went to the doctor, walked for an hour, ran a ton of errands, dropped off about 25 bags of clothes to Apex, finished our Halloween costumes, laundry and now I am making dinner. 
Had this been two weeks ago I would have collapsed after the walk!

Maybe Iron, Vitamin D and C work together like crack...or speed...or something.  Either way, they are helping me feel better.

I will say, my legs are still hurting, so if you could please pray about that.  I go back to the doctor at the end of November so we will see what she does then.

Until then...I will keep taking my concoction of speed!

I love getting dressed up!

 

Give me a reason to get in costume or dress in a spirited fashion and I am there!

In just one week I will be doing just that.  It is our annual Halloween party.  My friend Carrie has one every year.  She always does a theme, which I think makes it more fun.  We will play fun games, have great food, and a costume contest. 

Here are some of the things we have been in the past... 

 

Jesse and Woody from Toy Story (Western theme)

 

 

Trailer Park

 

Rebirth of the trailer park couple for a Wedding Theme

(and yes she is pregnant!)

 



Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne (rock star)

 

We have won every year except when we were Woody and Jesse. 

(Still trying to figure that out, because the costumes were awesome!)

 

This year the theme is "A Night at the Movies."  We have to come dressed as movie characters.  Now you know we already have it planned, but I was curious about some of your ideas.  What do you think would be good, or who do you think we will be?  And will we win!?

Thankful Thursday

Tomorrow is a BIG day! 

Not really for me, but for my babysitter, Liz.

She takes her driving test.

I am super excited.  For her...and me.

I have known Liz for about 7 or 8 years.  I used to work with her mom at our church and I remember telling her mom, "when she is old enough to babysit, she is mine!"  When she turned 12 she started babysitting for us.  She is the best and she comes from a great family. 

It is hard to believe that she is going to be driving!  Last night I was talking to her mom and we both started laughing because I was sounding like the mom.  Talking over with Liz what the safest way to get from my house to hers would be.  That she shouldn't be driving late at night.  The truth is...I feel a little protective of her. 
(Would you all say a prayer for her safety?  The roads can be dangerous.  Thanks!)

Why am I so excited about her getting her license?

You see, this means, when she babysits, she can drive here and home!  AWESOME!  (That seems selfish, doesn't it?)

Well, today,

I am thankful for Liz and that she is going to be driving!

Good Luck Liz!

Operation Christmas Child

Have you heard of Operation Christmas Child?

If not, go here and read all about Samaritan's Purse and Operation Christmas Child.

In short, you pack a shoebox with goodies for children all over the world.  Each child that receives a box hears the gospel.  It is a great organization.  Our family has done it for about 9 years.

Now...

It is time to start packing shoe boxes.

Our house church packed over 150 boxes and our church packed over 7,000 last year!!!

A lot of you made it possible.  So, I am asking for your help again.  There are several ways to help...

You can pack your own box.  (If you want to do that, go to the website and find out what you can put in it.  Also, let me know, because our church has 10,000 of the same size boxes that we can use.)

You can donate items to our house church and we will put the boxes together.  We take a night, and we fill the boxes.  We have the kids color pictures and we include a picture of all the kids in the box.

Here is a list of what we are collecting...

Pens:  63                                                      Markers: 50 packs

Color Book:  42                                          Picture Book:  42

Cars/boy toys:  40                                       Stuffed Animals:  50

Toothbrush:  75                                           Toothpaste:  120

Soap-bars only:  90                                     Washcloth:  90

Comb/Brush:  125                                       Socks:  119

Hair clips:  63                                              Flashlight w/batteries: 

Ziplocs of Candy:

 

A lot of stuff, right?  I know, but we can do it!

You can also donate money.  It costs $7 per box to ship.  (150 x 7, you do the math!)

If you would like to help out please let me know.  No pressure!

Oh What A Night

I am not even sure where to begin with this post...
So I will start at the beginning...
(Bear with me...it could get lenghty!)

Monday I saw on NeedtoBreathe's Facebook page that somewhere was giving away some tickets to an upcoming show.  So naturally, I entered, because they are my favorite band!  I just saw them a few weeks ago and didn't at all think that I would win.  but I entered anyway.  Guess what? 

I WON! 

I was giddy like a school girl.  (Ask my mom, she was here to witness the jumping and screaming.)  After talking to Rob about going he wasn't really feeling it so I asked Carrie to go.  Now, between us we have 5 kids so working out the details to leave at 3:30 was going to be tricky.  Shockingly we had it all worked out in less than an hour.  Poor Carrie...she had no idea what she was in for!

Now, if you know Carrie you know she is always ready for any kind of crazy!  I don't think she knew I had it in me!  I had the whole night planned out in my head. 

It got off to a great start.  We left on time and got to the venue about 2 hours before the show started.  (It was general admission - standing room venue, so I wanted to be there early to get in line so we could be up front.)  When we got there we parked and walked a couple blocks to a Chipotle.  The plan was to get food and take it back to eat in line.  Well...Chipotle closed at 4 so that didn't work out.  I told Carrie, "Sorry, looks like you aren't eating dinner tonight.  There is a Starbucks, let's grab some coffee and go get in line."  Her response, "Well okay!"  So that is what we did.  (I also got a chocolate chip cookie the size of my face!)  We stood in line for 1 1/2 until the doors opened.  I had warned Carrie before that when they opened we would go get our spot and then take turns going to the bathroom so we wouldn't loose our spot.  At this point, she is thinking, "What in the world is this crazy lady doing to me!"  So that is what we did.  Which can I just say, we were about three rows back, standing, right in front of the guitar player.  (The waiting was worth it...in my opinion.!) 
Once we got in we had a to stand and wait another hour.  I know...brutal!  However, we made some friends.  HA!  (This part is unforgettable!)  There were these darling teenagers in front of us.  One with brown hair and one with blonde.  I said to Carrie, "Look, it is a younger version of you and I!"  (Unfortunately Carrie and I did not know each other when we were 19, but I have no doubt we would have been at concerts togehter if we did.)  We started laughing and then one of them turned around and said, we were just saying that.  We laughed more and then I thought, "So they were thinking that we were the older version of them!  NOOOOO!"  They wanted to get their picture taken with us.

So here we are with our 19 year old friends, Alexa and Dottie.  Adorable aren't they!

We stood around and talked.  And laughed.  Then I said to Carrie, "Look around.  We seriously are in the middle of a bunch of teenagers!  All the "older" people are in the balcony or in the back sitting."  (Roaring laughter at this point!)  What can I say...I am not sure.  I can say nothing...I have no excuse for standing with the teens except that I wanted to see NeedtoBreathe up close just once.

Finally the concert started and we really had a GREAT time!

So...
The concert ended.  And it was amazing.  But I had more plans.  I really have wanted to meet the band, because yes...I am dorky like that!
So we got in the car and started to leave, but we drove past "the gates" and there was a small line of people.  Okay, not people, girls.  So I said to Carrie, "We are going back.  They are waiting to meet them."   She is going, "No, no, no."  Me, "Yes. We won't wait long.  Like midnight.  If they don't come out by midnight we can leave."  (It was 11:00)  You guessed it, we stood some more to wait.
I was asking some of the people if they normally come out or if they had waited before.  This one girls said she has seen them in concert a bunch and always waits for them and every time they have come out.  We waited 45 minutes, with some interesting ladies but I won't get into that.  At about 11:45 two white vans pulled out.  In the first one I am sure one of the NeedtoBreathe guys was in.  In the second one, the lead singer for one of the opening bands was in and he stopped and said they were getting on the road.  So my dreams were crushed, right there.

Oh well!  It makes for a good fun story. 

And all in all, I had a GREAT night!