One my fellow bloggers said one of her friends threw down a challenge. The challenge, 100 days of blogging. That is blogging everyday for 1oo days in a row. The challenge starts tomorrow. I am going to give it a try. I know my blog may not be the most exciting blog out there on the web but maybe the more I blog the better I will get at writing. So will any of my friends join me in this challenge? Are you up to the challenge?

So last night was Mom’s Night Out at church. A group of us moms get together and go out to dinner on the last Friday of the the month. We choose a different place each month. Last night was Red Lobster. Not being a seafood fan, I had grilled chicken and a baked potato. But it is not really about the food. It is about the fellowship around the table with out being interrupted every 5 seconds with requests from a child for more juice or complaints that they don’t like what is for dinner. I really look forward to getting to go out with these ladies. We can sit and laugh and have a great time. Well last night two of the ladies were going to the movies after dinner. They extended the invitation to anyone else in the group that wished to join them. Steve said I should go as I don’t do get to go out to a movie with friends very often, so I said I would go. Well, we went to see Shutter. I won’t tell anything that happened in the movie but it was a scary movie and I am not a scary movie type. I made it through the movie. I did not have any nightmares but Bean did scare me almost to death this morning about 6 am. She came into my room to tell me she had a headache. Well she says she said my name but I didn’t hear her. All I know is just as she was reaching to touch my shoulder I opened my eyes and saw someone standing beside my bed about to touch me and I screamed. That freaked Bean out. But fortunately we did not freak each other out too badly and we did not wake up the rest of the family.

After we finally did get our day started today, we headed into the “city” to Walmart. We had to get cleats for all three kids since practices have actually started. The kids had also gotten some money for Easter from all of their grandparents so we let them pick out a new Wii game. They chose My Sims. It is a pretty cute game. Then we also let them chose a toy with the rest of the money that they had gotten. They each chose one thing at Walmart and decided that they would like to get a new Webkin as well. So off to Books-A-Million we went in search of Webkins. Driving through the parking lot to get to the bookstore we drove past Petco. It was doggie adoption day. The kids immediately began begging to go see the dogs. So we said we could go LOOK. With LOOK being the key word. So we did not come home with a dog if that is what you are thinking, because I know that is what is in your head. But we do have a new addition to the family. Meet Hannah, she is a dwarf hamster.

So Thursdays Steve is not home for dinner, ok well he comes home and eats a frozen meal or left overs at like 4:30 and then goes back to church for visitation. So the kids and I usually eat later on our own. Well tonight I was not in the food fixin’ mood so off to Sonic to drove. Buddy threw me for a loop and ordered not his usual corn dog and tots, but a burger with just ketchup. He is not usually a burger kid but here lately has been eating a burger just to keep me on my toes. So a burger and tots is what he got. (hey that rhymed) After he was done eating his burger he comes in my room and says, “Mom, you know I wanted the ketchup on top of my burger, not on the bottom.” My reply, “It tastes the same. Go eat your burger.” Which was beside the point since he had already eaten the whole thing. Kids are too funny.

I had to edit my post. No sooner had I hit the publish button my best friend called. She was calling to tell me that on her way home tonight she hit a possum. Now she lives way out in the boonies so wildlife is abundant. What is unusual is that she has lived out there for 4 years and has never hit anything while driving home at night. So anyway her 5 year old son says, ” What was it, Mom?” She told him she thought it was a possum that she hit. He then says, “Good then we can have possum soup!”

Well the kids got report cards today. Bug made B honor roll. The only B she got was in English, her worst subject she says. Math is her best subject according to her. Her teachers say that if she would acquire some organizational skills then she would soar as a student. Bean was kept off the honor roll by a C in English. This grade has seen a decline over the course of the year she went from and A first quarter to a B 2nd and now a C. So we need to work with her to make sure it does not drop any more and hopefully goes back up. Buddy, being in kindergarten does not get letter grades. Therefore he does not make the honor roll. But I am sure the fact that he went from an S to an N in “Keeps Quiet” would keep him off the honor roll. Other than that he is doing well in meeting his academic goals. We did get an IEP update from the speech teacher and it said, “Buddy tries hard to do what is asked of him-after we came to a meeting of the minds.” Hmmm, I am not sure what that means exactly but I can tell a difference in some of his speech patterns. It is making a difference.

Buddy had his first T-ball practice today. I think he had fun. He was a little reluctant to get out on the field at first but one of the other moms offered to take him out there and show him where to stand. So he went with her and then he started to learn the fundamentals of fielding the ball. He also got a chance to hit the ball off the tee. I was glad to see that he is not the only left handed player on his team so the coaches have tow players that throw and bat differently than the others on the team do. I did figure out quite quickly that I am going to have to spend Buddy’s practice time walking on the track around the ball field because Buddy wants to talk to me the whole time he is on the field. So next week I will get him on the field and start walking.

Well it is bath time for the kiddos. They have spring pictures tomorrow. I probably won’t buy the individual ones as they are usually outrageously expensive. But we are going to get the class picture so they need to have clean hair and look their best.

Have a great night. Smile, it really does brighten your day.

I decided to forgo the frilly Easter dresses this year for the girls. I found these oh so cute Mary Kate & Ashley outfits that I knew the girls would love. And being that I know my girls so well, I was right they did love their new outfits.

Buddy then got a nice new yellow polo shirt because there was yellow in both of the girls shirts. I may be a little partial but I think that they look pretty nice. And the pants the girls were wearing came in handy as it was near freezing as we went to church yesterday.

Then we woke up to snow today. Yes you read that right, SNOW!!!

These are a few pictures taken this morning right outside of our house. Steve took these pictures. I went to look for the camera this morning to take a couple of shots of the hill across the street and the camera was gone. I was so thankful that school was only on a one hour delay today instead of being canceled. My heart sunk a little when I woke up at 3 am and saw the snow because I just knew that they would cancel school. But school was in session. Softball practice on the other hand did not happen today. The snow was all gone by lunch time so I thought they might still have practice but when I went to get the kids it was snowing. Mind you it was 45 degrees outside so it was not sticking but it was coming down pretty hard. So no practice. Hopefully Buddy will have his first T-ball practice on Wednesday.

So we played the Wii for a bit tonight. Steve, Buddy and I bowled a game. I won that game but the little guy is not half bad at bowling, even if his technique leaves a lot to be desired. Then Steve, Bean, Buddy and I played a set of tennis. Buddy and I won the first two games but Steve and Bean were the ultimate victors. Of course Steve does have an almost Pro rating on tennis. We did a home run derby which Steve won too. Then for some reason I decided that I needed to see what my Wii age was again. I should have left well enough alone. I went from age 28 to age 62. And Buddy says to me, “Wow Mom! you are older than me!” No, Really? I didn’t realize that? So it was then I decided that it was time to turn the Wii off for the night.

What a perfectly great way to end a pretty good spring break. We pretty much did not do anything today. I have gotten some school work done that needed to be done. Other than some reading I think all of my assignments as complete for this week. The girls and I did make some peanut butter chip cookies. They are baking in the over as I type. They look and smell yummy. I will let you know how they taste.

Yesterday we had the last service of Holy Week at First Christian Church. The services there this week were such a needed reminder to me of what the Easter season is about. I enjoyed the services that I attended each day but even more than that, I enjoyed the fellowship around the table at lunch afterwards. Each day we were treated to a delicious meal and had wonderful fellowship with other believers. Then last night we had friends over for dinner. I made empanadas, a Spanish dish I usually only get when I go visit my best friend in FL. But when my best friend and her family came to visit us last summer they brought some of the shells with them so I had shells in the freezer to share with friends here. We all enjoyed our dinner and then we moved to the living room to play the Wii. After watching the guys play Guitar Hero for a bit, we then moved on to bowling. I think Steve won. Then we played tennis. For those of you that own a Wii, have you ever actually played 4 player tennis? It is a hilarious undertaking. First Steve and B-man were on one team and I was paired with David. Steve’s team summarily beat us, but then Steve does have a ranking of like 842 (you have to have a Wii to know what that is). But then Sunny and I joined ranks and the girls came together and beat the guys. So all we can say is, “Girl Power!”

We really did have a lot of fun having friends over. But it made me realize other than the few times that family has been to visit, we have not had anyone over to our house since we moved here last year. That is really sad because Steve and I really are social people. So I purpose from here on to have friends over much more often. Somehow between softball practices we will have friends over for dinner or to play games or just to hang out every once in a while.

Speaking on softball, we now know when all of the practices are. Bean will practice on Sundays at 4 pm. Bug will practice on Monday at 5 pm and Buddy will practice on Wednesday at 3:30 pm. About Buddy’s practice, his coach called last night as we were sitting down to eat dinner. He said to me, “practice will be Wednesday at 3:30 or 4 or there abouts. And if it is cool enough to wear a jacket outside then don’t bother to show up for practice because I won’t be there.” Umm, OK. So Bean won’t practice tomorrow as it is Easter. But starting Monday all the practices are in full swing.

Well I have baskets to put together. I will post pictures of the kids with their baskets, wearing their Easter outfits tomorrow.

I pray you have a very blessed Easter Sunday! He is Risen!

This morning about 10 am there was a knock at the door. I was greeted with a beautiful basket of flowers from Steve’s parents. Thanks Mom & Dad. They are very pretty. We all like them, even the cats, who as soon as I sat them on the table, tried to eat the flowers. So I had to put them out of the reach of the kitties.

Anyway the kids and I had McDonald’s for lunch today. My dog, Angel, has started this new thing. She thinks that when I leave the house to go somewhere that she should be able to ride with me. Last Sunday afternoon I had to run back up to the church for a baby shower. I ran out to get in the van and thought I was getting in, blocking Angel from being able to get in but she managed to jump in the van. So I had to pull her out so I could go to the shower. So today, I go to get in the van to pick up lunch and let Angel ride along with me to McDonald’s. When we pulled up to the window to pay the lady sees Angel and says, “Oh here I have something for you.” She proceeds to give the dog two little milkbone treats. Then we pull up the next window to get the food and the woman hands me the first Happy Meal and sees the dog and calls over two other ladies to look. They were just Ohhing and Ahhing over the dog. I had no idea that the dog would be such a celebrity at McDonald’s. Oh, life in a small town is so interesting.

I did not go to the midday service today. But we just returned from the Maundy (from a Latin word that means new commandment) Thursday services. I was glad to be able to go since we celebrated communion. It was a very nice, formal service. I must say at times like around Easter I do like having that sense of ritual to the service. It seems to give the service a more, something, I don’t know I can’t quite put what I am feeling into words.

I am singing a solo Easter Sunday morning. This will be the first time I sing a solo in the morning worship at this church. I know it will be just fine. It is not like I don’t know the song. Steve has used this musical at the last two churches we have been at and I have had this solo each time we have done the musical so I know it well. This is a very good musical that why Steve keeps using it. It tells the story of Jesus and His death on the cross in a very powerful way.

Well I am going to bake cookies with the kids tomorrow. That should be lots of fun. We have not done that together in a long time.

Have a blessed day!

ETA: I am so glad that Amanda went home last night on American Idol. I don’t have to try to understand what she is singing anymore. YEAH!

I have just returned from the third service of Holy Week. These services are a collaboration of the churches in our county. Each day a minister from a different church brings the message. Today the pastor from the Methodist church shared with us. He posed the question, “Why did there have to be a Judas?” Judas had to be a part of the story of Christ to show us that someone can walk the walk and talk the talk but never really have a true change of heart. Yes Judas was baptized and did all of the things a good “Christian” should do but he never had the true change of heart that happens when a person accepts Jesus as Savior and friend. When you accept Jesus as Savior your life will change and others will see a difference in you. It does not matter what kind of label is on the outside of the church you attend, what matters is what is in your heart. Are you really good at “Churchianity” or at being the hands and feet of Jesus to the lost of the world around you? Are you more focused on how much money you put in the offering plate, how many times a week you walk through the doors of the church than you are on helping a hurting person in need of a loving touch?

As we move through this Holy week, let us not forget today would have been the day that Judas betrayed Jesus for just 30 pieces of silver. I am so thankful that Jesus was willing to die on the cross for sinner like me. I pray that I can be a light to the world around me. I pray that I can show the love of Jesus to those that need it the most.

I hope that is your prayer as well.

It did not occur to me until late last night after we got home from choir practice and I was checking email and reading blogs and such that yesterday was Palm Sunday. Not one mention was made of Palm Sunday in Sunday school, morning worship or evening worship. We had really good messages from a guest speaker in the morning and from our associate pastor in the evening but neither one of them mentioned the fact that it was the beginning of the end for the man that laid down His life for us. This really made me kind of sad. I know each church has its own way of doing things but it does make you appreciate something when you no longer have it. At our last church Holy Week was a big deal. It started on Palm Sunday with remembering that Jesus made the triumphal entrance into the Holy city, with the people shouting, “Hosanna!” Then we shared the Lord’s Supper together at a Maundy Thursday service. So as the saying goes you don’t know what you have until its gone applies here. This is not really what I wanted to post about today.

While there was no mention made of Palm Sunday there were some really straight from God things said and right from when I was sitting in Sunday school could feel a blog coming on. In our Sunday school class we are trying to show God’s love to a family that needs to see it. We as a class committed to taking dinners to this family just as a way to show love to them as they adjust to having a new baby in the family. Well not ever having been on the receiving end of this kind of unconditional love they have been a little hesitant about taking our gifts as they see it as more of a hand out. We talked as a class that we still need to just love on them and show them that we don’t want anything from them that we just want to love them because that is who we are as Christians. Then we go over for our worship time and our guest speaker shares this verse with us, 1 John 3:17-18, “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.”

This really hit home with me. Then he went on to say Jesus did three things that ministered to people that we should put into practice.

1. Jesus listened. Think Zacchaeus, the Samaritan woman and the woman caught in adultery.

2. Jesus touched. Think the man with leprosy, the dead girl brought back to life.

3. Jesus showed up. John 1:1, 14 Jesus became flesh

If we take the time to listen, touch and show up how much more of an impact could we make on the world around us?

Then last night Bro. Jeremy asked one question that really stuck with me. If you died tonight do you worship God enough that He would miss your worship?

Ok I will leave you with the words from a song we were working on in choir last night.

This Is Love

Nail pierced hands, a wounded side,
this is love, this is love.
The holy heart was sacrificed,
this is love, this is love.

I bow down to the Holy One,
I bow down to the Lamb,
I bow down to the Worthy One,
I bow down to the Lamb.

The Son of God, He died for us,
this is love, this is love.
He walked the hill, He bore the cross,
this is love, this is love.

I bow down to the Holy One,
I bow down to the Lamb,
I bow down to the Worthy One,
I bow down to the Lamb.

I pray you have a blessed week.