Power Up! VBS 2010

This week is our church's VBS week, and man is it AMAZING! We've seen over 2,000 kids and adults participate in this year's VBS on our campus alone, and it's been really cool to see the excitement and energy that God has brought to this week. We've already seen many kids give their lives to Christ and commit to follow Him in baptism.

I pray that this week will draw families to the Lord. It seems to be a 'trend' that the Lord is doing to bring families to Him through their children. It is something that we have seen in our community in our high school area...where teenagers give their lives to Christ and commit to live for Him...and then they share with their parents, and their parents decide to follow the Lord and get involved in the Church. It has been a super exciting summer seeing that happen. I believe this again will happen with our children. Be praying that God does a BIG work...He is at work, no question...but we must commit to expect BIG things and commit to live authentic, committed, passionate lives for Him, so that others will see and desire to know and experience Him personally!

In our BIG Show at VBS...

the Super Heroes getting a message from the Commissioner

Jonathan & Brayden at VBS...

Brayden is proudly wearing his crown he made

(The lesson was on how Samuel anointed

David as the future king)

Our JUMP team of HS students leading

the songs in the BIG Show

Our 5th & 6th graders in VBX

Pure Yummy-ness

A friend introduced the goodness of Nutella with strawberries

to me. Oh wow...it was so good! Brayden thoroughly agreed...

Digging in...

Oh yeah, lick the fork clean!

...sure go ahead and lick the plate too!

YUM!

Powerwashing

I love my goofy but very sweet hubby!

He isn't a mushy-gushy guy, but he does little sweet things

that are super meaningful. I loved his message to me

while powerwashing. It would've been cool to keep it,

but I did want the sidewalk cleaned. So I took a pic...

Frogs

I am NOT a fan of frogs. That is no secret. But we have several frogs that live around our house, and I guess it's a passage into boy-hood to play with frogs. So, Jonathan caught a little baby frog in our yard, and let Brayden pet it. Brayden thought it was SO cool. I did not. But the boys definitely enjoyed the moment playing with frogs...

Slam Dunk!

He is so talented that he dunked himself...

...with a little help.

Wicked!

When we were in NYC a few years back, the show we went to see on Broadway was Wicked. It quickly became our favorite show we'd seen...super creative, witty and funny, and beautiful music! When we found out it was coming to Houston, we just HAD to go again!

We decided to eat before the show at this Italian restaurant just blocks from the theater. It was AMAZING! Some of the best Italian food I've had! We had walked to the restaurant (parked at the theater), and when we looked out the windows after our meal, the clear skies were now POURING rain! Luckily we had a small umbrella (per my request to not have to tote a big one to the show...b/c, of course, when we went in, there were clear skies!)...so we huddled under our 'personal' size umbrella and made the trek to the theater.

We narrowly escaped getting drenched by the cars driving by who didn't seem to see the pedestrians walking next to the HUGE puddles of water in the street. I know, smart us...right?! Luckily, I hadn't worn white linen pants like the lady I saw in the restroom, who had not escaped the drenching by the cars' splashing. I guess white linen pants + water = see through. Not good. I was thankful I had a black dress on. The water dried though. I had a great time with my amazing hubby. And the show was absolutely incredible...WOW!

Mingalone Italian Restaurant

where we ate before the show

At dinner with my incredible hubby!

Excited to see the show!

Ready to see the story of Elphaba & Glinda...

Let the show begin!

While in Oklahoma...

While we were in Oklahoma for my HS reunion, it was especially great to get to spend time with my parents. Brayden loved getting to see Mimi & Papa!

Brayden with Mimi

O......U.......GO SOONERS!

With Nanny & Papa

OCS 10 Year High School Reunion

Class of 2000

Class of 2000...with our families

This past weekend, we made the trek up to Oklahoma for my 10 Year High School Reunion. Has it really been that long?!? WOW. It's hard to believe I graduated that long ago. It's something I've really looked forward to, so I was super excited when Jonathan was able to get off work for us to be there. We met up with everyone at my high school - Oklahoma Christian Schools - for a tour (lots of new add-ons since I was there), and Mr. Hough, one of our favorite teachers, was there to give a short devotional. It was a special time. Brought back memories of sitting in his Bible class daily listening to these short, great thoughts from the Word. I graduated with 55 and over 20 made it...a pretty good turnout. My good friends from HS were able to make it, and we had a blast together.

My good girl friends from HS - Leah, Melissa,

(Me), Courtney, & Jessica

Our class met up for dinner at Jazmo's Bourbon Street Cafe in Bricktown. We all sat around a U-shape of tables and told about where we're at in life now, talked about fun memories of the last 10 years in our lives, and reminisced about the days of high school.

Our classmates at dinner

We capped off the night sitting in a coffee shop

for a couple hours with our good friends, Melissa & Bart.

It was a great reunion. It was fun seeing old friends and the families that they now have. It is hard to think about where we'll be at in another 10 years at our 20-year reunion. I'm sure time will fly, just as the past 10 years have. But as Mr. Hough shared with us this past Saturday, in the words of a famous poet, "Above all else, pursue God." I desire that for my family, and I pray that for my friends and their families as well. If we can do that over the next 10 years, at our next reunion, we will all be able to come together and say we have been VERY successful in life.

10 Short Years Ago...

It's hard to believe it's been 10 years, but this weekend I'll be making the trek back to my Alma Mater for my 10 Year High School Reunion. I graduated in 2000 from Oklahoma Christian Schools in Edmond, Oklahoma. I went to school there from Pre-K through 12th grade, and I am so thankful I was brought up in the environment and education of OCS.

It will be an exciting time getting to catch up with friends...ones that I've kept up with and ones who I've lost touch with. I look forward to introducing my family to them and seeing their new families. Going to reunions tends to bring some nerves with it, which I admit I have a bit of, but overall I know it's going to be a fun time hanging out with people from my past, enjoying the present with them, and keeping in touch with them in the future.

Party Decor...Part 2

Brayden's 2nd Birthday Party had a safari animals theme to it. I made a lot of the decor out of scrapbook paper (from Hobby Lobby) which allowed it to be a lot more personalized. I cut out letters for the "Celebrate" sign and hung on a twine from the curtain rod. A cute little blow-up monkey hung by it as well.

I hung a fishing net from our entry ceiling and

hung "Barrel of Monkeys" from it.

I found a great deal on bins of sidewalk chalk in the dollar

section at Target and simply wrapped them in Zebra fabric.

I put a small little safari animal on top and added the kids' names on each favor.

I tied a balloon and lined them up on my kitchen bar counter.

I found a chipboard "B" and ModPodged scrapbook paper on it

after painting the edges black. I attached it to a sheet of scrapbook paper

and hung it from our dining room chandelier.

I made the circle garland from a 1 1/2" circle punch. I used ModPodge

(could use glue) to adhere the scrapbook circles together with twine in between.

I hung these from the arms of the chandelier.

Happy 2nd Brayden!!!

I just cut out scrapbook paper

and glued it on a plain brown gift bag.

For the candy from the pinata, I gave each child

a brown paper sack w/ a circle punch with their name on it,

so they could stash their candy to take home.

An awesome gift from Grayma & Graydaddy

that made an appearance at the party. You talk to the parrot,

and he really mimicks what you say. Brayden LOVES this!

Brayden's monkey mask and very cool "Brayden Goes to the Zoo"

book from Mimi & Papa...and Frecklebox.

Check it out, these are SO cool!

Cupcakes, cupcakes, and more cupcakes...

I made cupcake flags with scrapbook paper

and toothpicks. Super easy!

Jungle Juice! YUM!

I covered our coffee table with white butcher paper.

It was a fun area for the kids to color on...and not have to

worry about getting on the furniture!

The masterpiece after the party...

Brayden's 2nd Birthday Party

For Brayden's birthday party this year, we had it at our house. We invited some of his friends over for pizza & cake. We had a great time just hanging out and celebrating his birthday.

Family pic (Note to self: Next time, make sure the balloon doesn't look like it's growing out of his hair. Ha! Photography 101)

All the kiddos

It was amazing they stayed somewhat on the couch together!

The Krugers - Matt & Julie with Kelsey

Emily & Cate Woods

Erika with Brayden

Ben...enjoying his cupcake

Olivia was really enjoying that chocolate cupcake!

Birthday Boy!

Priya

Erin with Lucy

Jett - LOVE that smile!

Elephant Pinata time! We got the kind that you pull strings... the right string will release the candy. Perfect for little ones!

WOOHOO...the candy fell!

Brayden picked up one lollipop, and all he cared

about was opening it to eat. He just stood there in the middle of

all the candy on the floor, trying to unwrap it. Ha!

Intense look...he's got his (4) lollipops, and he is happy!

Cake time...this was the birthday boy's

lion cupcake!

Digging in...

(Reminds me of last year)

YUM!

Opening presents...I never have experienced anything like this. Brayden loved opening the presents. He wanted to play with every one though and was upset when we made him move on to the next present. So, we would set it aside and one of the kids would go and pick it up to play with. Ha! Also, all the kids crowded around super super close wanting to see and help open all the presents. It was bizarre. Pretty funny how kids act at this age. Oh, the realm of toddler-hood!

He got so many fun things to play with. One of his new toys were the little matchbox Hot Wheels cars. He carries them all around with him, lines them up on the ground or table and lets them fly down the track that his Daddy bought him. So fun!

After the party was over, he crawled up on the couch and pulled the blanket over him. I think he wanted us to know he was ready for bed.