My Thursday

[The following took place on a Thursday, and should in no way be confused with the My Friday movement]

My day started with Kindergarten orientation with Chloe at 9:00. Hannah, Rachel, and a friend that stayed with us the night before accompanied us. Chloe met her teacher, checked out her class room, made a new friend, took a ride on a school bus, and loved every minute of it.

We got back home at 11:00 and Lance called soon after that. He was headed home from this year's Ride of Passage trip and needed to be picked up at the church in about 30 minutes. I headed to the church with all 4 girls, and helped Lance load up his gear. We picked up lunch around 12:45 at Chick-Fil-A and came home to eat.

At 2:00 Rachel and I headed back to the school for open house so that she could meet her 5th grade teacher and look around her class rooms. At 2:30, Rachel and I left the school, stopped by the house to pick up her violin and music, and took off for her 3:00 violin lesson.

We returned home at 4:00. At 4:30 Hannah's friend was picked up by her dad. At 5:00 I began making dinner for the kids (Mac and cheese and Chicken nuggets). At 5:30 another friend arrived to spend the night.

At 6:00 Lance and Rachel left for her soccer practice. I cleaned up from dinner and played outside with Chloe and her neighborhood friends until dark. After the practice Lance and Rachel picked up another friend that would also be spending the night. They got back to the house around 8:30. A little later, the 5 girls and I tried out a new recipe. After that I cleaned up the kitchen.

During the kitchen clean up I told Chloe to put on her pjs and snuggle with her dad for a little bit until I was finished. This is how I found her in the living room at around 10:30.

More Signs

What?!?!

When we saw this last week we had to stop for a photo.

Camping at Codorus

We took off for a few days of camping this week at Codorus. I'm glad we decided to squeeze this trip into our busy August schedule. It was relaxing and a lot of fun to be outdoors. The weather was beautiful and cool. Low temperatures were around 60 degrees and highs were around 80 . . . in August! Amazing. The camp fire felt great each night.

My Favorite Things About Camping

1. Putting up the tent with Lance
2. Cooking outside on my camp stove
3. Camp fires every night
4. Setting up camp
5. The smell of breakfast cooking each morning
6. Hiking trails
7. No need for watches or alarm clocks
8. S'mores and Jiffy Pop
9. Riding bikes
10. Playing cards and board games
11. Sleeping in the tent (on my Aero bed)
12. Wildlife

August 10, 1991

Today is my 17th wedding anniversary!

Some day I'll scan in a few wedding pictures for you all to enjoy. Our hair styles alone will be quite entertaining. I love my husband, and I love the 17 years of married life we have had together. I'm looking forward to many more.

We're leaving right now for a few days of camping. The family is loading up the car, so I've got to run!

Movie Night

We try to have a family night at least once a week. Usually that means a fun meal together and some board games or Wii. But, sometimes I put a little more into it. Here we are enjoying a family movie night.

We made pizza for dinner. Then we headed down to the basement where I had set up a ticket booth and concession stand. The girls were surprised and had fun buying their tickets and snacks with Monopoly money before watching the show.

Baby Hopper

Look what we found in our yard the other night. We called a local wildlife rescue to see if this little guy was too small to be put back in the woods on his own. We were told he was a "hopper" because his eyes were open and he was able to hop and explore, and we were advised to put him back in the woods. I was amazed at how he followed the girls. Every time they stepped away from him, he would hop after them. We enjoyed him for a little while then brought him to the woods behind our house and said goodbye.

Training Camp

One cool thing about living in Westminster is that the Baltimore Ravens have their training camp here each summer on the McDaniel College Campus (about 2 miles from my neighborhood). We spent a morning out at the camp while my Mom was here last week.

Back from Barnabas

Lance returned home today from 9 days at Camp Barnabas. He is tired, and sick. We are glad he's home. We missed him tons!

Adventures with Gigi

The past week has been busy with my Mom here visiting us. We love to go, go, go and we always find plenty to do. We enjoyed having her here so much. I shed some tears on the way home from the airport today. I just wasn't ready for Mom to leave. We only get to see her twice a year, so we make the most of our time together. Here are a few photos of our adventures.

Reality Week Pics

Where Has the Week Gone?

I returned home from camp a week ago, exhausted but excited about what I had experienced. It was great to be at camp with middle school and high school students again. These kids are amazing, all of them. It was a privilege to get to know some of them better and to hear their stories.

Of course, I can't describe all that went on this year at camp, but I'll hit some highlights.

First, I've never seen a large group of students love each other like these kids do. From the oldest to the youngest, each one was taken in and made to feel a part of the family that is Underground Student Movement. We had several kids who are new to LifePoint on the trip and a few who have never attended a service or been to the Underground. These students were taken in by the group before the buses arrived at Millersville. It was also incredible to watch older students befriend and mentor younger ones.

Another highlight was having some of our good friends from Texas here for the week. Clay Walker spoke to the students Sunday morning at Elevate and Uprising, then each evening during the week. From hilarious stories to great truths and challenges, Clay was phenomenal.

Todd Wright and band played for our morning and evening services. I have known Todd and his family for years, and love to worship with him. He is an amazing song writer and musician. Please do yourself a favor and check out his new CD, All The Freed. Great stuff.

Forrest Layton, one of our former students, flew in from Nashville to play guitar with the band. I first met Forrest when he was in middle school. Throughout his high school years, Forrest played for our student ministry on Sunday mornings. This guy is super talented and fun to listen to.

One last highlight of the week had to be cornhole. We set up four cornhole games in a large commons room in the dorm and each night everyone gathered there. It was fun to stand on the balcony that stretched across the room and look down on everyone throwing some corn bags and interacting. It was also fun to stay up late and play after sending the kids to bed at midnight each night.

So, that was camp from my perspective this year. I'll post some photos later when I have time.

Reality Week 2008

I'm headed to camp this week with the student ministry. Camp was once a part of my summer each year. Then Chloe came along and when she was an infant we moved across the country and away from our family. I haven't been to camp in 5 years now. Thanks to good friends Julie and Jodie who will be taking care of Rachel and Chloe, I'm going this year! I'm excited to be rooming with Rachel, it will be like old times.

Fun 4th

We had a great time at the Blauwkamp/Oskam 4th of July party Friday. The rain didn't ruin the fun, and it stopped in time for us to enjoy the fireworks that night.

Life in Carroll County

As the girls and I walked out to our car after doing some shopping, we heard someone yelling. It turns out it was just this guy, who was parked beside us.