Project 365: Week 10

*Don't miss my Week 9 post that I also posted today!*

Having dinner together each night is a top priority for us. Some of our best conversations happen at the dinner table. 

Pepper's buddy Little N comes over for a few hours after school each day. On this day they got really silly with watermelon. 

I am making a puppet for Matt to use on the puppet video blog he is working on for our ministry. This is Mr. Puppet in his early stages.

Guess what? We have a broken car. Again. Story of my year. This time the problem is with my van: nothing in the dashboard works. The problem is not yet solved. 

My favorite remedy for the grumps is GNO. My best girls and I went out for sushi and frozen yogurt. Oh, and lots of laughter, too. Behind me is Tracie. Across the table from back to front, Laura, Anita, and Brandee. The 5 of us do pretty much everything together. Tina, in front of me, was a fun addition to our crew.

While Matt, Pepper, and I attend a conference in Colorado this summer, Snapper is heading to California to spend 9 days with Gramma and Poppa. Due to heightened security measures and the fact that Snapper will be using the airline's unaccompanied minor service, she is required to have a state-issued ID. We spent an hour at the DMV to get her ID card. She is an official Floridian, and can't wait for her trip!

 Little S is on Snapper's swim team. Snapper had a great time at S's birthday pool party. Poo on my camera phone that messed up the color in this photo, necessitating the change to black and white.

Project 365: Week 9

Okay, so it is summer and none of my clothes fit me right. Thought I haven't been eating badly, there has been A LOT of stress in my life the last year--especially the last 6 months.  Up goes the stress, on goes the weight. Time to break that cycle, though. Each day when Snapper swims, I don the running shoes and walk/jog 2 miles. Making a change, and making it permanent.

I grew up going to Awana each week, and it made a huge impact on me. Snapper has been in Awana since she was 3. This year she completed two whole handbooks, as well as the extra credit for the first book. She memorized approximately 230 Bible verses over the course of 8 months. Awards night was a great time to celebrate her accomplishments, and more importantly, the eternal treasure she has stored in her heart. 

Unloading the dishwasher is one of Snapper's daily chores. She also cares for the cats, clears the table, and keeps her room clean. On the weekend, she cleans bathrooms, tidies the family room, and helps me with laundry. 

This amazing market sells hormone and antibiotic-free meat and an incredible assortment of fresh fruits and veggies. I make the 20-minute drive to the market every week because the food is so good, and because it ends up costing me about half of what I would pay for the same things at the regular supermarket!

Snapper and her relay teammates cleaned up on awards in their age group at their meet this week. I think Coach Gaby is a little bit proud of them. Snapper was thrilled with her first medal--in 50 meter butterfly!

 We started working with our new ministry this week, and they threw a welcome party for us, complete with pinata! Sorry for the poor photo quality. My camera phone doesn't like dusk lighting.

Another morning in Pepper's Pre-K class. He has had an amazing year!

Project 365: Week 8

A few weeks ago, one of our ministry partners offered us a matching gift to help us identify the last bit of our support. We are now only $100/month away from being fully funded! To help us find that last bit of support, we made a video using our Bradley the Bear. I can't post it here because it gives too much personal information. If you want to see the video, leave me a comment with your email address and I'll email you the link. I moderate all comments, and to protect your privacy, I will not post any comments that contain email addresses.

My beautiful Zoe. I so totally love this cat! 

I have a love/hate relationship with this photo. It is super cute and all, but my kids look so old! 

We celebrated Mother's Day with a picnic at the park with friends.

This photo was from Mother's Day also. These life-sized foam cutouts of the kids were their cards to me. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them, but I absolutely love them. Both kids put in several hours on decorating them. Love, love, love!

My little man is conquering the water! Though he hates that I force him to swim longer and longer distances, I know that it must be done. We live in Florida, so we are around water all the time. Yesterday Pepper swam independently across this pool 3 times. I estimate the distance to be around 20 yards. When he was done, he insisted he was "swim sick," but now I know he can safely navigate water that is well over his head. Way to go, Buddy! Mommy is so proud of you!

Yes, I am missing one photo this week. It is of a rather sensitive nature. Again, if you are interested in seeing it, I would be more than happy to share it. It is a happy photo that I can't post here right now. Leave your email address in a comment. 

Project 365: Week 7

These three girls, ages 7, 8, and 9, have been best friends since they were 2, 3, and 4. It is so much fun to watch them grow up together. 

God is so cool! One of our awesome ministry partners provided his ebay car dealing skills and half the funding to purchase us this wonderful car!

First official day at Campus Crusade! It just happened to fall on Take Your Child to Work Day, so we got to take the kids with us!

Playing games with Brian and Carol is one of our favorite things to do.

We spent Brian and Carol's last Florida day at DeLeon Springs, a favorite spot of ours.

Three days after getting the new car, the battery and alternator went out. GRRRRR! Once again, I am thankful for a husband who has the know-how to fix cars.

My own personal Spider-Man!