From Camp Until Now

Why is it so hard to blog nowadays, anyway?! I just can't seem to keep on top of it. I have, however, been keeping notes so I know what's been going on in our lives the past two weeks. Here we go...

Camp ended on Sunday. We came straight to church and made it at the tail end of Sunday School, so we were there for morning worship and the message. Two kids were snoring by the end of service and the rest of us weren't far behind, but God always, always blesses when we're faithful. Even if we're physically wiped out. :-)

I managed to get completely unloaded and unpacked that night and ran two loads of laundry before bed. Monday and Tuesday were spent finishing up on the laundry and preparing for VLB service Tuesday night.

Wednesday was when we started back to work on the house again--at long last, and with time 'til Convention quickly slipping away. I experimented with a few different things on Sam's wall, trying to figure out how we were going to "seal" all of the craft paper. I had several glitches, but finally came up with something we would be happy with. Actually, all along the way James has hated that room. He was just sure it looked horrible and was a big mistake. "I like to do things to IMPROVE the house and make it look BETTER than it did before, not worse!" Ha! I think it looks great. It's fun and different, but not too wild or crazy--and it's going to look TERRIFIC once we get it decorated with western stuff. And once I sealed the walls the paper darkened just a bit and has a little bit of a sheen to it and James seems to like it much better now. That makes us all happy. :-)

That was the 4th of July and we knew we had to work at the house, but we did take a few hours out of the day to celebrate. By that we mean that we ate and talked. :-) We went to the Ridlespurges house for some great grilled burgers and such. And I was introduced to the best grilled delicacy ever invented: pineapple. Sounds strange, no? It was soooooooo good! Brother Ridlespurge sliced it and grilled it up and put some honey on it... and I think I ate half of the pineapple all by myself! Ha! YUM. My mouth is watering just thinking about it again. :-)

We got home that afternoon and I was soooooooooo tired. I allowed myself a 30 minute nap before forcing myself to back to Sam's room to work some more. We picked up a few fireworks for the kids and had a good time with them that night. Though you wouldn't know it from the pictures. HA! The ones of James and Joe CRACK ME UP! At least Katie looks happy. When I see this picture of Sam I'm overwhelmed at how long and lanky he suddenly is!






Let's see... from what I can tell, in the time since Camp I have pretty much worked on the house, worked on the house, and worked on the house some more. Instead of taking you through the day by day of it all, I'll just list everything that we have accomplished since then. It'll be faster and easier for all of us that way. :-)

* Sealed Sam's walls
* Wallpapered the foyer
* Wallpapered Joe's room (with the worst wallpaper EVER! It had no glue at all--though it claimed to be pre-pasted--and it wrinkled and bubbled like CRAZY)
* Installed the bead board in the guest room (that was mostly James, I was only there to measure things and offer moral support--ha!)
* Painted trim and edges in the small bathroom
* Painted brown window sills and trim for Sam's room (then James installed it)
* Painted white window sills and trim for Katie's room (then James installed it)
* Then stained window seals and trim, plus chair rail, for Joe's room and the guest room (then James installed all of it)
* Painted the door and frame in Sam's room
*** Scrubbed the entire chapel-looking room (ceilings, beams, walls, doors, and all 36 bookshelves) with wood oil soap
* Stained the three doors and trim in the chapel room
* Touched up with white paint all over the house, upstairs and down
* Painted the closet door in the big bathroom, along with trim and edging the closet itself
* Touched up red paint the guest room, followed by blue paint (long story concerning the baseboards vs. no baseboards dilemma... I'll spare you)

And then just the general clean up and prep for carpet. You read that right: CARPET. :-) I'm sooooooooooooo excited!!! But more on that in a minute. In the midst of all of that progress, James has been killing himself with Church stuff and Convention prep (along with several house projects I didn't mention--installing a sink and such) and has been to visit Sister Sutton in the hospital a few times. And we made a trip to Anniston and stayed with Sister Bishop one night. Sister Ricker was there too, so the Alabama Trio could practice and practice and practice. All three of them just love to get together and sing. And they're pretty entertaining to watch, too. :-) Ah, yes--on our way home from Anniston we stopped at the flea market and then Bass Pro Shops. Look what was in the parking lot...



Joe had to go check and see if there was actually "someone" in there. There wasn't. --You know you were wondering the same thing! Ha!

Maybe it was just all the hard work we'd been involved in with more to come, but the visit to Bass Pro was sooooo nice! I just LOVE all of the woodsy stuff there and the logs and the simplicity and old-fashionedness of the structures and decor. (Not the products or prices--that would raise my stress level considerable if I looked at THAT stuff! Ha!) It was almost like a mini-vacation for an hour or so and it felt so soothing. And it makes me wonder... why in the world am I living in a giant brick house?! It's so not me!!! I belong in a little log cabin tucked up in the woods somewhere. But the answer is obvious--I live in this home because it's the one God reserved for us for this time in our lives. And I'm truly grateful for it. (Just feel the need to visit Bass Pro Shops on occasion to get a taste of LOGS and CHINKING and BARNWOOD--the things I truly love. Ha!) I drove the rest of the way home from there and it was raining, which I also found very soothing and therapudic. It kind of makes me wonder about my condition. I seem to be in great need of soothing and therapy right now! Ha!

As for the house, we have been working ourselves to death in an effort to be far enough along that we'll be able to keep people here during State Convention. James went ahead and scheduled the carpet to be laid this past Friday, so we worked in a frenzy to try to be ready for it. The kids pulled staples out of the floor for DAYS. They were such troopers! Sometimes we forget that they are KIDS and can't be expected to work like adults, but I found a system that worked out fantastic with them. I would have them work hard and solid for one hour, then give them 30 minutes off with which to do anything they wanted to do--watch a video or play a computer game (those are things they're not allowed to do very often) or ride bikes, WHATEVER. Then they'd work another hour to earn another 30 minutes of their choice. They were happy and cheerful and worked so good and hard under that arrangement! We got FAR more accomplished like that than on the days when we just make them keep working and working and working.

Anyway, the day before carpet was to be laid we just rushed from one project to the next and were trying so desperately go get everything accomplished. At one point in the afternoon I snuck away for a few minutes and asked God again to pleeeeeeeeease bless our efforts and our time and help us to accomplish everything that needed to be done. I was AMAZED at how much we were able to do with the rest of the day! It's the little things like that that make me feel so overwhelmed with what a mighty God we serve--that He takes the time and cares enough to answer the "little" prayers. :-)

That brings us up to this past Friday. The carpet guys showed up and got to work, then Josh Anders came and spent the day working on electrical stuff for us. :-) We enjoyed having him here and he accomplished grand things for us. We now have an outlet to plug the freezer into in the laundry room and one to plug the de-humidifier into downstairs (no more extension cords), he wired new lights for the upstairs bathrooms, then spent a considerable amount of time changing out old, nasty, painted-over light switches and outlets and putting nice, fresh new ones in for us.

I had spent the better part of the day staining the chapel room. ~sigh~ I don’t know what came over me. I was just going to touch-up the nail holes that had light-colored putty in them, but on a whim I just started re-staining everything. And once you start on that there’s no quitting--you have to follow through and do it all. It was after 9:00 when I finally had the entire ceiling, the beams, all of the walls, and all 36 bookshelves (can you imagine?!) stained. And I must say… that room looks terrific! What a change from how dusty and faded it had been before! The shelves were in REALLY bad shape, but even the walls and ceilings just look so fresh and shiny now. ~aaahhhhhh~ I told James that it’s all over. I have scrubbed every inch of those ceilings and walls and have now freshened them all up with new stain. From here on out, the only attention that room will be getting from me is coming in the form of a feather duster. Maybe. Ha!

So sometime after 9:00 I came downstairs, got all cleaned up, put my pj's on, and enjoyed some Totino's pizza, root beer, and kettle corn with the kids while playing a game of Phase 10 Dice. What a great way to end a long, hard day!

We had a very late family devotion (to follow our late dinner) and then let the kids take pillows and blankets (“AND NOTHING ELSE!!!”) up to their bedrooms (the only three rooms the carpet guys finished up there that day) so they could sleep on the floor in their very own bedrooms. They were so excited!!! The boys have always shared a room before, so having separate rooms is brand new for them. Their rooms are looking great and all of the kids are bouncing off the walls with excitement and gratefulness. I love the appreciation that this living-in-the-basement time has spawned in them. And it's been nearly a year and a half since we packed up their stuff in New Mexico (we've really been in one transition or another since that time)and they are sooooo happy about getting SETTLED again, in rooms of their very own. But as excited as they are, I’ve already told them that they are not allowed to move in to their rooms until after Convention next weekend. There is NO WAY I have time to finish getting the upstairs bathrooms finished (still lots of work to do up there!) and get their beds built and everything ready for company… and then try to clean up all of the mess and chaos that they would have introduced after having lived up there for 5 days! Ha!

Anyway, here they are, SOOOOOO HAPPY to be sleeping on their very own bedroom floors instead of the basement floor. :-)


This is Sam trying to hug his new room...
Bad picture of Sam, but decent lighting..
Good picture of Sam, but bad lighting... (I had a hard time choosing which one to post!)


Yesterday was another red letter day around here. We took care of a few odds and ends around the house, then hauled out the boxes in the front of the garage so we could better get to our STUFF out there. Then we started pulling out pieces of furniture—headboards, nightstands, dressers, mattresses, etc. We vacuumed, dusted, oiled, shined, de-scuffed, and bug sprayed each piece (not ALL of those steps on each piece; just the ones that applied!) and then hauled them UPSTAIRS!!!! :-) We managed to move everything without outside assistance this time, though there was one particular piece that nearly caused some permanent damage to my blue wall, my person, and most significantly my marriage (only kidding, of course--ha!), but after a great deal of huffing and puffing and lifting and twisting and pushing and pulling and prying and gasping and grunting and groaning… Katie’s big dresser FINALLY landed in place in her room. WA-HOO!!!!! I would have done a victory dance if I hadn’t been sprawled out on her floor gasping for breath and trying to let some life seep back into my limp appendages. ;-) In any case, it’s THERE and it looks terrific. I already warned her through. If we ever move from this house, we're selling that furniture with it! Ha!

It was a horribly hot and humid day around here, or at least it felt like it digging through the garage and hauling furniture. By the time we got everything in place, I was soooooo sweaty and miserable. ~Bleagh~ I had to stop and take a shower as soon as the last piece was in place. Then I helped each kid build their bed while James ran and picked up a couple of mattresses and some closet doors for Kate's room. James got the closet doors installed, I caulked both upper bathrooms, and the kids slept on their very own beds (not IN them because they're not actually made up with sheets--they just used sleeping bags!) for the first time. Another super exciting experience for them. :-)

So at this point there are three rooms upstairs that are carpeted and have beds and dressers in place. (Except for Sam's room--we still need to find a dresser for him.) We also moved all of the guest room furniture upstairs and just set it in Sam's room for now. Tomorrow (Monday) morning the carpet guys will be back to finish up the job--the upper foyer area, the chapel room, the guest room, and the stairs. Tomorrow night we'll move in a couple of pieces of furniture for the chapel room, then wait until after Convention before moving in any boxes and trying to unpack or decorate anything. It feels sooooooo good to be to this point! And I'm SO HAPPY that God has blessed and helped us to get far enough along to have beds for people to stay in and functioning bathrooms for them to use--we can keep company for Convention! Oh, happy day!!!

So there you have it. I've been working on house stuff during the day and miscellaneous computer projects at night. Anything but blogging. ;-)

Alabama Camp 2012

We had a staff meeting at the Bessemer church Wednesday morning, went to Chick-Fil-A with some of the crowd, then back to the house with Brian & Liz Denard (we really enjoyed visiting with them--and they have the cutest kids EVER) to kill some time before heading to the campground. It still feels bizarre that we drive less than 30 minutes (instead of many hours) to get to Camp!

We got all settled in and then my campers started arriving. This year I had the girls ages 9-11. Joe & Sam had Matt Barnes for their cabin leader this year, and James stayed in the room with them, too. They loved Brother Matt. Mostly because he rarely knew where they were or what they were doing. Ha! Okay, so it probably wasn't THAT bad, but they certainly had more freedom this year than what they expected.

Amy Anders was our evangelist this year and she did a great job. She is just such a blessing. She has such a wonderful spirit and is so sincere. She's in tune with the young people and has such a love and burden for them. We had really good services, good worship, and good prayers. I was especially blessed on the last night of Camp. There were a couple of young people still unsaved and the service was drawing to a conclusion, it felt. But there had been so many people working with these kids and talking to them and praying for them all through the week and they just weren't willing to give up yet! In the end, nobody in the building made it out the door before coming to the altar and giving their hearts to the Lord. There were at least three saved that night and I would say it is due to the determination and the love in God's Church that compelled them. It was beautiful.

James taught the teen class this year. I was able to sit in on the first class and I was just amazed at how well he did! Is it horrible to be shocked by that?! Ha! James has changed soooooo much over the past several years and it just blows my mind that he actually seems to enjoy being with young people (he never was one, you know--skipped from "kid" straight to "old man"!) and how easily he seemed to relate to them in the class. I was so impressed. :-) There was one slight (or not so slight) blunder that was unfotunately memorable, but it really wasn't James' fault. ;-)

The other two days I went to class with my girls. Brother Brandon taught that age group and he had a tough crowd! Ha! This camp helped me to discover that I'm not very good with the pre-teen age. Hahahaha! No, I enjoyed it. But I'm not as good at relating to them. They're not little kids any more so they're past the kiddy stuff, but they're not quite to the age where things CLICK in their heads or where they're really interested in focusing and paying attention to what you're saying. Sometimes it's hard to tell if they've "gotten" anything that you've said to them! Ha! Brother Brandon experienced a whole lot of that during his class. ;-) But he did a really great job teaching the kids about the armor of God.

What else... Katie was in the Sewing Club this year and made a great skirt out of two pairs of jeans. :-) Joe and Sam were both in the Leather Working / Survival Club with Dustin Warren. They LOVED it and each came away with a little leather pouch full of who-knows-what that they keep tied to their belt loops at all times now. All of the real little kids (ages 8 and under?) spent the Club hour playing on a Slip-n-Slide. I was asked to help keep an eye on that, otherwise I would have worked in at least one or two naps sometime during the week! Ha! It was soooooooo hot at Camp and the only thing that made it bearable to sit in the miserable temps while watching the little ones slide was the knowledge that swim time was the next thing on the agenda. :-)

This campground has the best pool ever. With the temperature at 106 or more (can you imagine--along with muggy southern air!!!) the pool was the ONLY relief to be found. In fact, the only time we spent outside at all this year is when we were walking from one air conditioned building to the next, or when we were in the pool! And for me, only the deep end was worthwhile. I spend the hour over there anyway, diving and diving and diving some more, but I did wander over to the shallow side once--and discovered that the water over there was way too warm for my liking! I prefer sitting on the bottom of the deep end, thank you. In fact, after the last service we had a baptismal service at the pool and several people who hadn't planned on it decided to be baptized after all, feeling like they just wanted to obey the Lord. It was soooooo hot and muggy that night. I told James afterward that I had really obeyed the Lord by NOT being baptized--because there is nothing I wanted more than to jump into that pool, but it would have been for all the wrong reasons! Ha!

What else... Sister Kristal and Dalton were in charge of Fun Time this year and they did a fantastic job. On the last day of camp we had no lifeguard and therefore couldn't use the pool, so it was decided that we would have an extended Fun Time that afternoon. It was a great decision--and nice and cool in there. ~Aaaaaahhhh~ They had set out nomination sheets at the beginning of the week for "Alabama's Got Talent." You could nominate somebody and list their particular talent. If that card was chosen, they had to go up front and demonstrate it for us. It was so great! It was fun and fast moving and so diversified. One of the best things was Samantha and Nasha doing their impersonation of a Spanish Overseer and his interpreter at the General Assembly. Hahahaha! They did sooooo good and it was sooooo funny. Sister Kristal and I had to sing opera and yodel (she did the opera, thank goodness), Jeremy Wallace threw a ball with his toes (gross), little Addy Anders (9 months old?) walked across the stage with her Mom's assistance (so cute), Joe sang a song and (get this--) Sam did the hula. I couldn't believe Sam actually got up front and participated!!! There were lots of other things I'm failing to recall right now. Everybody was a good sport and it was such fun. Maybe it just seemed like it from my perspective (!), but James was the star of the show. He did a dramatic reading of When the Church of God Arises, followed by several impersonations. He did the usual ones--Brother Ammons, Brother Byers, Brother Ard--then added a new one to the ensamble: Janet Talley. :-) He would KILL me if I posted the video on my blog, but I so wish I could. I laugh out loud every time I even think about it! Ha! It's just amazing. Truly amazing. Sister Janet was on the front row, but not for long. Within about 10 seconds she had laughed herself right down to the floor. It was sooooooo great!

Hhmmm... That's all I can really remember about Camp, so I guess I'll post the few pictures that I took. It's not very many, but I didn't take ANY last year so it's a big improvement.

These are my girls: Kayla, Kaleigh, Madison, and Katie. I also had Elizabeth, but she didn't show up until later on. Our Camp theme this year was "Stand" and I had made these shirts with the girls on the first day during our devotion time. We talked about how much we need one another and how important it is to have good, godly friends to help you stand for the Lord, as well as the need to live right and encourage others in their walk with the Lord. Then we painted everybody's feet with fabric paint and they all stamped each other's shirts ("Stand," get it?), then I added each girl's name next to her footprint. It was fun!

And they had to do that crazy face thing. :-)
The only other pictures worth showing are these--but the require a bit of explanation. On Friday night of Camp, after service, I put my girls to bed and left them with Sister Ridlespurge. (She was the leader for the younger girls and we shared the same building.) Fun Time was just beginning down in the chapel and it was the perfect opportunity to slip away and have some fun at the staff house. :-) I knew that the directors and deans would be at the chapel with everybody else, so I got my prank supplies together, filled a basin full of water, and started off for the staff house. I was intercepted on my way there by Sister Karen, the women's dean (of all people!), but she didn't know what I was up to so there was no reason to panic. She said they needed me for Fun Time, so I put my supplies down and went to the chapel. Throughout the day I had been asked at least 3 or 4 times if I would be at Fun Time that night, so when I walked in and saw they were doing Kangaroo Court it didn't take too long to figure out I would be on trial for something. I had been an angel at Camp thus far (after all, my immediate plans had been postponed!) so the only thing I could think of was the prank I had pulled last year--stealing beds, mattresses, and bedding from one of the cabins and hauling them to the middle of the campground and stacking them up. I had the teenage girls last year and they thought it was the best thing ever. Anyway, I was right--that's what I was on trial for. How ironic. To be interrupted from pulling a prank so you could go stand trial for last year's prank. Ha! Josh Anders was the judge, Jeremy Wallace was the prosecuting attorney, and I represented myself--simply because I wasn't sure a single person in the building would actually be on my side and defend my case! Ha! It was fun, but I thought of a thousand things later on that I could have/should have said in my own defense. Isn't that always the way it goes?! I was found guilty, of course, and sentenced to carry a pillow with me all day long the next day. It was the best sentence ever. Ha! That was the last day of Camp and I was sooooo tired. It was nice to have a pillow everywhere I went. :-)

Anyway, since my plans had been inadvertently sabotaged the night before I decided that breakfast would be my next best chance. I set a look-out at the cafeteria to make sure none of the residents of the staff house disappeared and might catch me in the act (Brother Brandon was more than happy to assist), then grabbed Katie and headed to the staff house--where I had stashed the goods under the desk the night before. In less than 10 minutes we filled nearly 400 Dixie cups with water and placed them in front of each of the four doors, then filled in the middle as much as we could.

I was having a grand time and I truly thought that Katie would be ecstatic to be included in such merry making. Nope. She complained the whole time. "Mom! I can't believe we're doing this! We're going to get in trouble. --It's the STAFF house!!!" I kept trying to get her in the spirit of things, but to no avail. "Katie, can't you feel that they-could-walk-through-the-door-any-minute rush?! Hurry, hurry, hurry! This is FUN!!!!"

When we were about half way through Brother Jeremy went driving by on the golf cart. We thought he was coming so we knocked a few cups over on our way to go hide underneath the desk (ha!), but he just drove on by. ~whew~ Close one. :-) We fixed what we had spilled and had lined cups up almost all the way out to the exit door when Katie said, "Hey, where are my sunglasses?" Do you see the red sunglasses on the counter in the upper right hand corner of the shot??? ~sigh~ Bad planning. Since I wasn't rushing to hide under a desk (!) I managed to tip-toe in between cups without toppling any of them to retrieve the shades. On my way back I noticed that my cell phone was on the gray chair! Ha! I would be pretty ashamed of myself for leaving evidence like that at the scene of the crime, so it was a good thing I went for the shades otherwise I wouldn't have ever thought of the phone again.

We rushed back to our cabin to stash the empty cup boxes and put the basin away, then dared to go back to the Staff House just long enough to step in the door and take a picture together. First ever Mother/Daughter Prank. "Train up a child in the way she should go..."
As it turns out, Katie needs lots and lots of training in the prank department. Not only was she no fun during the prank, she was a nervous wreck afterwards. After breakfast we all loaded up on the bleachers to take our Camp picture. Sister Karen down beside Katie. Kate leaned over to me and whispered frantically, "Mom, she's sitting right next to me!!!!" I told her to RELAX, she knows nothing, she has nothing to hide, just play it cool. [Note: the Dixie cups we used had pink and gray polka dots.] Sister Karen leaned over the Katie and said, "I like polka dots... And pink is my absolute favorite color." To which Katie replied, "It wasn't my fault--I had nothing to do with it--it was my Mom's idea and she made me do it!!!!!!" Hahahahahahahaha! Crazy kid. That is NOT how to play the game. Still, it was quite funny. :-) And whether Kate ever enjoys pulling pranks, ever gets good at it, or ever learns how to play it cool, we have fun memories of this time.

And when we went to our cabin later on, this is what we found. This is my bed. :-)
My girls didn't seem too upset over having the room trashed. We cleaned up the toilet paper quickly enough, then they sat and played with the cups for a good little while. :-)

Ah, yes. My favorite part about the prank... Brother Jeremy was the first one to discover the Dixie cups. Not knowing they were there, he swung the door wide open and knocked several over, then said he felt like Godzilla walking through Tokyo trying to get to his room so he could make it to the restroom. Hahahaha! I love the mental image I get of that. :-) I asked him if he knocked any more over. "Oh, yeah!"

Oh, wait--I almost forgot! Saturday afternoon court was called back into session and I was exonerated due to the good deed that I had done (by pranking the STAFF) and no longer had to carry my pillow. It was bittersweet. I was still tired. Ha!

Post BTI

So since then...

I will spare you (and me) the details of each and every day, and just hit the points that are most memorable.

I cooked liver. It was an accident, I assure you. When James made that trip to Pennsylvania a while back he brought a cooler full of deer meet. We bought a cute little freezer and filled it up. We were all sooooo excited to have some deer meet again, even if it was white tail instead of mule deer. So a few days later I grabbed two packs of steaks (presumably) out of the freezer and thawed them out. I have never seen, touched, or tasted liver before, but I knew that something was wrong with one of the packs! Nothing smelled sour, but the pieces were slimy and smooth with no grain to them. The word "liver" came to mind, but I dismissed it. Who's ever heard of somebody keeping and cooking deer liver?! Apparently James' folks had a few packs of beef liver in with their deer meat and we were lucky enough to have one. I went ahead and cooked it up (it was already thawed out and we didn't have enough of the real steaks to feed everybody), hoping that the kids wouldn't notice. No such luck. They took one bite and started grossing out. "Ewww, Mom! There's something way wrong with this steak!!!" What a horrible let-down when we had all been so excited about finally having deer! Ha! We all had a very small portion of steaks--and quickly threw the liver away. I usually feel guilty about being wasteful and throwing food away, but not this time. I'm pretty sure it's okay to be opposed to eating organs. In fact, I think I'm going to develop a spiritual conviction about it now that I've handled the nasty stuff. :-) ~BLEAGH~

I was awakened one morning by Joe bringing me a booklet that he had put together. The cover page said, "Dismal Times of the Year." Each of the following twelve pages had the name of a month along with an illustration of something horrible that takes place at that time. I really should take pictures of all of them and blog them sometime. That kid cracks me up!

I went to Bath & Body Works. That may not seem noteworthy to most people, but it's a real rarity for me so I thought I'd mention it. Jamey had given me some really great socks as well as a gift card to B&BW as a thank you gift for watching the kids during BTI. Wow!!! It was totally unexpected and completely unnecessary, but I was so excited! I splurged on some sugar scrub and it is soooooo wonderful. Oh, it just feels soooooo good and soothing. I never spend money on stuff like that, but since I had a gift card and since I'd spent two weeks with seven children (ha!) it just felt like it would be okay to spend money on something soothing and relaxing. :-)

We had a VLB birthday party for one of our local kids, Michael. It was at this point that I realized that my auxiliaries are all mixed up. I'm in charge of the VLB services at church right now, as well as being the ABM leader for all of the VLB's. When I planned this VLB birthday party to be held during my Band Meeting, it occurred to me... my VLB services at church are really more ABM oriented (general subjects anyway; nothing particular to young people most of the time) while my ABM meetings are completely centered around young people and subjects and issues that apply to them. Oh well, I guess it's all getting done, even if I've got my letters all jumbled up! Anyway, in our June Band Meeting (just a few days after Michael's 12th birthday) I did a little devotional on using the precious years of youth to serve God with all your strength, then went into party mode. Look! I made a VLB cake! I was happy with how it turned out, and it tasted soooooo good. Michael has a hard time NOT posing for pictures... Ha!

I had invited the Gleaners to join us for this particular ABM/VLB Meeting, hoping to stir some enthusiasm about one day being VLB's themselves.
We played a game where the kids had to pop their balloons (black and red, of course) to discover if they were a winner or not according to the piece of paper inside, but they weren't allowed to use their hands at all.
And then we played Pin-the-Star-on-the-Shield. Judging from the picture, everybody lost. Ha!
And here is Michael making that goofy face again. He just can't help himself. I'm hoping that by the time he EXITS VLBhood he will have learned how to subdue that. Ha!
I can't believe I didn't think to take a picture of the gift itself! It was the VLB logo, his name and birthday along with the VLB Pledge in a black frame. I thought it turned out pretty neat.

We worked hard throughout the month of June trying to raise money for Camp. Well, actually that's debatable. I really don't think it can be considered "working hard" when you're panhandling! HA! In fact, I had a couple of the girls with me while we were standing out there and they kept wanting to take a break. "A break??? A break from what?! We're doing NOTHING!" Ha! I find myself standing on the corner with my sign and my bucket thinking silently to the passing cars, "We've baked nothing, we're washing nothing, we aren't even here to sell you donuts that we didn't even make ourselves... but we'll complain because you're not filling our bucket fast enough!" Hahahaha! I don't know that I'll ever be totally comfortable with the idea of doing nothing and asking for money (ha!), but I apparently don't feel strongly enough about it to NOT participate. ;-) Between 8:00 and 1:00 or so we had collected over $1,100. It just BLOWS MY MIND. There's no denying the efficiency of this event over all of the other fund raisers I've ever been involved in. Still, if we did it any more than one day a year I think I'd start to have real problems with it! Ha!

But the following week we worked for funds. :-) We had a Car Wash at the church and pulled in over $300. Praise the Lord! It was fun, but way, way, way too hot that day. ~bleagh~ It was close to 100 degrees and too muggy for my taste. It FELT like Alabama that day. Don't get me wrong--I love living in Alabama and I am so thankful that we are right where we are. I just don't like for it to FEEL like Alabama. Ha! Even the water wasn't refreshing. I grew up washing cars with cold water--usually ice cold. Even if it was an incredibly hot day there was relief to be found in the cold water. But the water here is hot and doesn't bring any reprieve at all. No matter though. I spent most of my time out at the road with a sign trying to draw customers. God was good to us and we only had a few lulls here and there. And the folks were VERY generous in their donations. It is sooooo much easier to raise money in the south!

We were soooooo hot and tired and exhausted by the time we got home at 3:00 or so, but we were having yet another Camp Fund Raiser the next day -- a church dinner. So when we got home from the car wash I took a shower (as cold as possible), then crashed for a little while before making a double lasagna, a truly horrible Italian pasta soup (I know better than to try recipes for the first time at pot-lucks--what was I thinking?!), a strawberry cake and some dessert bars. Katie made some Rice Krispy treats, brownies, and snickerdoodles. Actually, she did that two or three Sundays to try to raise money for Camp. So see--we really did work hard. We don't JUST panhandle around here. ;-)

We were awakened early one morning about three weeks ago by a phone call informing us that Aaron Dudley had been in an accident. He had rolled his Jeep and was thrown from the vehicle. We got everybody up and dressed and got to the hospital as quickly as we could. We were unable to see Aaron, but had a couple of good prayers with the family. I was blessed to see how many church folks showed up there to pray and lend support. Aaron is a cousin to the Dudley boys that sometimes attend church, but you certainly would have thought he was a member himself with as much love and attention he received from the church. He was scratched and scraped and bruised and banged up horribly--and he'll be unable to work or function without pain for several weeks yet--but it didn't appear that any of his injuries are life threatening. I KNOW God heard and answered the prayers that were prayed so fervently for that boy that morning. We are still praying for his recovery, as well as his soul. I've always really, really liked Aaron. He's always been so respectful and so nice, but he needs to be saved. We're trusting that this accident would be a wake up call for him and his brothers and cousins--they all need the Lord. Of course, Joshua did give his heart back to the Lord at Camp this past week--praise God! :-)

What else...

I ended up working a total of ONE day upstairs in between BTI and Camp. :-/ That is sooooo not the way things were supposed to go! We just had so many other things going on, trying to get all of the ministers reports tallied and put together (that takes hours upon hours upon hours--usually lasting two or three days, at least) and finishing up on the kids' school stuff and formulating attendance records and contacting their umbrella school or whatever it's called (that stuff was a whole day all by itself!), and Camp prep and who knows what all. There just wasn't time to work on the house. The day that I DID work up there I managed to finish papering Sam's walls. I had done two walls before BTI, so it did feel good to finally get the other two walls completed.

The kids signed up for the summer reading program at the library a few weeks ago. When we took them back the next week Katie had read enough to get a free ice cream from Chick-Fil-A, a piggy bank (actually a fuzzy dog bank), a free book, and I don't remember what else. It really inspired the boys to get involved the following week, so all three kids have been reading up a storm--even Sam! I am sooooo proud of him!!! He read over 500 pages on day. Some of that was from easy reader books, but lots of it was from real, true-blue chapter books. He just sat and read all day long. Wow!!! Who would've thunk it?! We really need to get the kids back to the library to claim whatever prizes they've earned.

Some neighbors invited us to their Annual Fish Fry. :-) We already had plans (it was the car wash day), but I was just so amazed that we'd received an invitation! I've tried to befriend the neighbors everywhere we've ever lived, but to no avail. I usually go around the neighborhood with baked goods to hand out and introduce myself and the kids... then never see or hear from any of them again! I never did that here (I didn't have a kitchen for the first several months and haven't taken the time for such a thing since then--maybe I'll get around to it at Christmas time), so I was extra excited to have been invited. That morning I got up early and baked some cookies. On our way to the car wash I stopped to drop off the cookies and introduce myself. It's a black family and they are sooooo friendly. When I told the lady my name and where I lived she just almost squealed--and she wrapped me up in a big hug and told me how happy she was to finally meet me. Ha! The whole family seemed super nice and I was so glad to have such pleasant neighbors. :-)

James turned 33 on June the 25th. There wasn't a lot of time to celebrate (wa-a-a-a-a-ay too much going on!), but we did manage to do some shopping (in the midst of our camp shopping) and I got him a pair of jeans and a polo shirt, total: $22. I like shopping like that. Of course, I wouldn't have found that great deal if he hadn't been with me. ;-) We also had to buy stuff for my cabin group, shoes for all in need (our family goes through them way to fast!), swim stuff, shampoos and such, and jeans for Katie. That last part still freaks me out. I've NEVER gone shopping for jeans for Katie! To even SAY it sort of makes my stomach do that "foomp" thing, but to see her TRYING THEM ON was way more than I could handle! It was horrible!!! Ha! They do different clubs at Camp (Survival Club, Sign Language Club, etc.) and in the Sewing Club this year Sister Marie was teaching the girls how to change a pair of jeans into a skirt. What a great thing to learn! Katie was all excited about it (and did a great job, by the way), so she needed a pair of jeans that fit her comfortably to start with. We tried several pairs at two different thrift stores before finding some that would work just right. I'm so proud of my girl! :-)

That day, Monday before Camp, one of my contacts was killing me. It was my very last pair and I knew I'd never be able to make it through Camp like that. We got home late that night, so the next morning I made a couple of calls and was actually able to make myself an appointment for that very day (praise the Lord!) at an eye place about half a mile from my house. Wow! I rushed in for an exam and the guy even threw in TWO sets of trial contacts since I was on my way to Camp, "just in case." What a blessing!!! So, knowing me, I'll wait until the second set of these get torn and I'm totally without once more, and THEN I'll go and actually buy new contacts. It's the way I roll. ;-)

And then it was time for Camp. :-) I was up way, way too late the last several nights before Camp, just trying to get everything done. That, coupled with all of the fund raisers, had me (and everybody else, no doubt) totally wiped out and exhausted before we ever even left. That's a horrible way to go into Camp! Ha! It all worked out just fine though, like it always does. But Camp will have to wait for another post. I'm done for tonight.

I did find a few Car Wash pictures to add though..

Joe drug out his guitar during one of the lulls and put up a sign that said, "Gospel Songs -- 25 Cents." Ha!
The girls decided to set up a lemonade stand. There were a couple of customers who came and bought some and sat in a chair under the car port while their cars were being washed, but mostly we just bought and guzzled a whole lot of lemonade ourselves. :-)
For the western folk who've never seen it, this is the Bessemer church. It is truly beautiful. I wish I could share part of it with all of the churches out there who have no building at all and who struggle each and every month to come up with enough money to pay the rent! We are truly, truly blessed here. And look--even a blue sky!!! :-)
And here are a couple of the hard working girls, Laura and Katie.

BTI Babysitting, Days Eleven, Twelve & Thirteen

Since I have no actual recollection of any of those days (!), according to my notes...

The girls were fussy and tattly that day, but before long they were all out picking raspberries, then making Jell-o to put the berries in.

Though I was still doing fine, it was apparent that the kids were just DONE. Ha! Things never got out of hand, but you could just feel that everybody was coming to the END. It's only fun to live with other people for so long, you know!

That was the day that James FINALLY showed up. I don't know how he managed to stay away so long. There is no way I could be three hours away knowing that BTI is going on and I'm missing it--and that some of our very best friends ever are there... for two weeks!!! I would just die. But James insisted that he just couldn't pull away until then. I know he really was swamped working on church and house stuff. Still, I would have found a way! Ha! Anyway, when he finally did arrive I could SEE how happy he was to be there, especially with some of the friends that we hadn't seen in nearly a year. He just sort of beamed. :-) It's strange. I don't usually spend my time missing people... but when I DO get with them, I am just soooooo happy to see them! That must be how James feels too.

Let's see, what all happened those last few days...

James directed the BTI Choir one day since the first two directors had both left for funerals and such.

We had our Alabama Banquet at Golden Corral. I was thoroughly Golden Corraled OUT by the time we were finished.

On the last day of babysitting I looked outside and saw the boys running around in loin cloths. It's okay--they were still wearing their jeans, but they had tucked loin cloths into the front of them. Hahahaha! It looked hilarious.

Jamey and I knocked ourselves out cleaning and cleaning and cleaning some more, as well as trying to get packed up so we could all leave directly following the Commencement Service on Saturday to head to Alabama. In the end, there was no way we were going to be able to get it all done before the service. Oh well. We tried!

The service itself was very good. James preached the commencement address and did an excellent job, though he preached 15 minutes longer than his wife had advised him. ;-) We went back to the house afterward and it suddenly occurred to Brother Dustin that we would all get more rest and have way more time together if we just stayed at Mom & Dad's house for the next two nights instead of driving down to our house. So he then set about convincing James of the same. It wasn't especially easy, but we all know that if James is going to be talked into anything, Brother Dustin is the one who can do it. In the end, it required a phone call to our pastor, a little extra persuasion from my Dad, and a whole lot of nudging from Brother D.T., but James finally agreed. :-) We all went out to eat, along with the Ridlespurges who had come to pick up all of Kody's belongings, at an overpriced buffet. We were super tired but had a good time anyway.

So then we spent the night again (so much for the fresh sheets Jamey and I had put on the beds--ha!) and then went to church at Zion Hill the next day. Brother Risch preached that morning and Brother Oscar preached that night. Both services were great, but at the end of BTI you're just sooooo tired! (And at the end of babysitting for BTI, too, apparently!)

We stayed up way too late talking and laughing every night once James arrived. I love doing that, even if I pay for it the next day. The opportunities are too few and far between to miss a moment!

Monday morning we tried to get up at a decent hour and get packed up (again) and get the house all cleaned up (again). The goal was for all of us to pull out by about 10:00. Unfortunately there was more to be done than what we were able to manage in that amount of time. And then there's that thing about us just having a really hard time saying goodbye! I even cried when I hugged Mom (and we only live three hours away from each other now!) this time. We always hate saying goodbye to the Hays and feel rather glum once leaving. This time was no different. It's really pretty pitiful! Anyway, it was close to noon when we finally left, all sad and gloomy. Ha!

And thus ends the account of BTI 2012 from my perspective. :-) I did find just a couple of pictures to add. Lillie and Aleah were both pretty happy to see "Brother Horne" when he finally showed up. He was pretty happy to see them, too. I can't remember what he was telling Lillie when I took these pictures, but she and Sarah both seem to be enjoying it. :-)

It's a Holiday, Right?

That means I'm okay to sit and blog for a few minutes instead of working upstairs like I DESPERATELY need to be doing if there's any chance of being able to keep people at our house during Convention. Right??? Nah, probably not. So I'll make this real short. I've got about a month's worth of life to catch up with on here. Hopefully I'll be able to squelch my tendency to ramble painfully long and just hit the highlights whenever the time comes. But for now I'll just post a few pictures. (Pictures always make people forgive you for being a horrible blogger.)

On the last day of Camp they gave out awards. It was a total fluke, but Katie somehow came away with the Cleanest Girl Award. Not surprisingly AT ALL, however, Joe came away with the Messiest Boy Award. I've rarely seen him so excited and proud of himself. He's already begun his campaign for next year. Just the other day I heard him practicing a speech. "This coming year of 2012 I once again plan to run for office of 'Messiest Boy.' I know that I can count on all of your support..." ~sigh~ There's just no hope.

Along with all of the other awards (Best Cook, Best Music Director, etc.), they announced Best State Overseer, then paused just long enough for James to begin shifting in his chair before announcing, "Robert Hawkins." Hahahahahaha! It was GREAT. James went up and received the award on his behalf, but assured the Camp that he would pass the award along to Brother Hawkins next time we saw him. As providence would have it, the Hawkins were at church when we got home that day. :-) So, as promised...

As you can see, James had a hard time parting with the trophy...

This one is my absolute favorite. Hahahahahaha! Don'tcha' just LOVE Brother Hawkins' expression?! :-)
And truth be known, after the pictures were taken James took the trophy back--said he wasn't REALLY giving it to him at all; he just wanted to take the pictures. Ha!

Okay, I really do have to go. But there's a little itty-bitty blip of blogging. That counts for something, right?! ;-)