handsful

Most days, we’re told we have our handsful (hence, the name of our site).  Yesterday, we had a houseful!  We braved the unknown and gave an open invite to the whole Jr. High at our church.  We wanted to give the kids a chance for one last bash with their friends before we move.  They began trickling in around 1pm. 

And, by 2:30 or so, we had a crowd.  Randy did a rough count at some point, and came up with about 75. 

We all gathered in the kitchen for some games.  We chose a few of the Minute to Win It games, from the tv show and made them girls vs guys. 

Stack Attack

Defying Gravity

Hanky Panky

Paper dragon

Randy’s made up game…

Junk in the trunk

Ping tac toe

Stick the landing

Games can be messy. 

Somehow, after calculating the girls and guys times, we had a tie.  “Okay, everyone go swim!”

Some went involuntarily.  Here, Ethan is being helped into the pool by some very kind 8th grade boys.  Awwww…notice brother Payton at the bottom smiling. 

The girls safely out of the 8th grade boys way. 

Apparently, our pool is still a little chilly.  A few brave souls decided the pond behind our house was much warmer. 

Abbey, far right.  Payton and Ethan swam across, too.  Marley is too much like her momma…either too chicken or too smart to try it. 

No, they aren’t wearing black socks.  Ewwwww….

I mean, really.  Would you want to swim in this gunk?? 

it does have a practical purpose…camo. 

Everyone who dunked in the pond was required to hose off / jump in the pool to “cleanse”.  I’ve not heard of anyone with pond sickness yet. 

How about some nice pictures??

Lainey and Nate

Abbey with homeschool co-op friends, Sarah, Brendan, and John

Ethan and Reese.  Or, I called them the “two guys with brown shirts and shaggy hair”

Abbey posing with Lindsey and Delaney

Lisa, David, their daughter Lauren, and Kristen (her husband Gregg was also there).  They are also Jr. High leaders with Randy and graciously helped us supervise the crowd. 

Marley spent some the day hanging out with her friends in the front room, playing “Sing It”. 

Marley (with her blow-pop stained lips) and Jasmine have been friends for years. 

Funny how no one is behind us in the pool…I think they were all in the pond. 

The grand finale of the party…ready, set, GO!

Girls vs. guys, of course

Great shot, Abbey!

Is there anything more fun than silly string?

Okay, ya’ll break it up!

The party was crazy, loud, tons of fun, and…did I mention loud?  Three kids ended up spending the night with us.  Thankfully, they all woke up early enough for us to get to church on time.  :)  We were all ready for Sunday cat naps today!

I know our kids will remember this party for a long time.  Any amount of noise and exhaustion is totally worth that.

Our church’s annual Easter outreach “All Cracked Up” was this past Saturday.  It started out a little chilly, but warmed up nicely and we all had a good time.  Lainey stood by the sign like we told her to, but she decided she didn’t have to smile. 

Egg hunts were divided by age, and Lainey’s age (the one that Randy and I were in charge of) was planned for the b-ball court.  The eggs were already out there when we arrived.  Problem…it was windy on Saturday, and the eggs kept rolling out to the edges of the court.  Our kids and friends attempted to spread them back out, but one gust of wind and they were right back.  Oh well, they tried. 

Ready, set, go!  See Lainey in the middle?  We had to prod her to get her out there, and then she basically just walked around like she had no clue what to do.  ??  Thankfully, a little boy with a basket full of eggs shared with her. 

Call me cheap, but I didn’t buy her an Easter basket (gasp), so we used this pink bag.  We’re a non-Easter bunny/Santa/Toothfairy family so my kids are obviously deprived. 

Payton, Marley, and friends help her go through her loot.  They were looking for a special yellow paper that meant she’d won a prize.  She did.  Silly Putty!

After the egg hunts, it was time for a KidStuf show.  The teens dressed up for fun…the cute little ladybug on the right is Abbey. 

Next, was the Manhunt.  A special egg hunt for the big guys.  There were gift cards for a certain chicken restaurant (see the cow?) and a golden egg with a Lowe’s card.  Food and tools…motivation.  See the guy in the middle with the wide brim hat?  My guy. 

He zeroed in on the sandbox.  Afterwards, he told us he did find a silver egg, but left it there so a guest could find it.  Should I believe him?  :)

This face wouldn’t lie. 

Abbey snatches the camera, and helps prove that I was there. 

Lainey finds her smile surrounded by her brothers and their friends. 

I hope you celebrated Palm Sunday today.  This week we remember Jesus, his sacrifice, and then celebrate the truth of his resurection.  Happy Easter!

Click the link below to go to the Change This World website - if you read an earlier post of mine, you’ll remember that is the organization that arranged for the Jr. High at our church to package 15,000+ meals for Kids Against Hunger.  They did a write up on their trip to CFC.  You can see the back of Abbey packaging meals (black and white striped jacket) and a pretty interesting picture of Randy having a hair net malfunction.  Only MY husband. 

http://www.changethisworld.com/2010/03/15120-meals-by-middle-schoolers/ 

Reading this makes me even more proud of my kids taking action in this world for Christ, and it makes me want to find even more opportunities to make even a small difference.

Our kids had an amazing experience today at church. It’s been Missions Weekend at our church, and the Jr. High decided that their project would be raising money to feed the people of Haiti. 

The kids spent the night at church last night, and packaged 1,000 meals with the help of Change This World (www.changethisworld.com) and Kids Against Hunger (www.kidsagainsthunger.org).  The meals consist of rice, dried vegetables, soy/protein powder, and vitamin powder.  Each individual meal costs approximately 25 cents to make.  The goal for the Jr. High kids was to raise enough money to feed 15,000 Haitians. 

All the kids were super motivated.  They were giving their allowances, birthday money, babysitting money, etc.  Our kids went door to door and raised money, too.  The fact that there was a boys vs. girls competition MIGHT have encouraged them a little.  Not sure who won, yet! 

They awoke this morning at 7am, and by 8am were back at their packaging stations.  Randy and I saw them at work, as we walked into church.  A whole group of teens standing around tables, wearing hair nets.  I hope to get a few of those pictures.  After about 3 hours, they were done.  15,080 meals packaged and ready to go to Haiti.  The organizations rep told them they would be on their way in a couple of weeks, but when they actually make it to Haiti depends on Customs. 

Today, they’re all pretty worn out.  But, with the satisfaction of knowing that each one of them was part of something really big.  What a blessing and honor to be the hands and feet of God.

It is a rare Sunday when we come home from church with only the children we took TO church.  Sometimes one of ours goes to a friend’s house, but more often we’re piling extra kids into our truck.  This past Sunday, the boys hit the motherload.  THREE friends!  I just had to get Lainey to pose with them.  All the guys seem to love Lainey, especially the guy in the middle with her….he has her picture in his wallet.  Too cute.  Their favorite thing to do is “high five” or “fist bump” with her - she loves it.  Looks like Lainey has a bunch of big brothers!

Last day of our Power Up Club was fantastic!  If you’ve been reading my blog for the last few days, you’ve seen how our weather has been less than dry lately.  Everyday, it’s been blue skies until JUST before it’s time for our club and the rains come.  Thankfully, we have the back porch and it’s worked perfectly for those days when we’ve needed it. 

Abbey douses her brother during a game of “drip drop’ (think duck, duck, goose with a pail of water).

But, Thursday is always “Tidal Wave Thursday”, meaning WATER games.  Kids come in their swim suits and get seriously wet.  I SO wanted the kids to be able to have this day, without having to improvise on the back porch.  So, I prayed.  I gave the outcome totally to God, like I’d done each day.  He’d use it as He saw fit, and if that meant rain then I’d take it.  But, I asked God to give the kids their water day.  

As the club drew nearer, the clouds started rolling in and it looked a little dark behind us.  But amazingly, as the kids played, the clouds just rolled by without a drop of rain. 

No rain!  And, the kids had a blast. 

Abbey the interviewer (picture a microphone in her hand…)

Wanna know the interesting part?  About 5 minutes AFTER all the kids left, it started raining :)  Thank you, God.

We thought we might avoid the rain tonight…

At one point, the ominous clouds appeared to be blowing over. 

But, eventually it was clear…we had to head to the back porch again! 

I’ve never been so thankful for this porch than I’ve been this week.  Our club has been awesome, all the kids have loved it, our team of teen leaders has been amazing.  I hate to see this all end tomorrow!  Tomorrow is called Tidal Wave Thursday - the day set aside to play water games.  Makes me laugh, considering everyday has been water-filled!

I don’t see any rain. 

I mean, would we REALLY still have our Power Up Club if it was pouring rain outside? 

Of course not. 

That would be irresponsible, letting all those kids get wet and all. 

Downright silly, dont ya think??

But, if we did decide to hold the Power Up Club when it was raining, the least we could do is offer our back porch. 

A little dancing…

A little drama…I guess it could be fun.  Maybe we’ll consider it.  If it ever rains on Power Up Club night.

Day One of our Power Up Club was a success…I’m partial to this particular team member :)

Here she is, giving her testimony.  She did a great job. 

Games, drama, music, dancing, snacks, small group time, lesson, more games…who wouldn’t love this?  More pictures to come as the week goes on!

The big kids had a fantastic time at Out2B these last three days.  We dropped them off at the church on Monday morning, and the event ended with a banquet tonight at church for all the kids and their families.  The kids slept at church (boys room and girls room were WAY apart from each other and had adults staying in both rooms!), ate all their meals together - it was like a mini camp.  During the mornings, the kids were in group sessions taught by Charles Covington, an incredible bible teacher who has taught at Out2B for the last three years.  (He spoke at church last Sunday, so I can attest…the guy is fantastic and hillariously funny to boot). 

During the afternoons, the kids split up into groups and went out into the community doing various service projects.  What did our kids do?  Let’s see, ministered to a nursing home, painted a playground, worked at a food bank, worked at a thrift store, worked at a charity that collects clothing for missionaries, helped with another church’s kids program, and watched children dropped off by moms in our church so they could have a few hours to themselves.  Cool stuff, and they loved every minute of it.  They kids were SO wired after the banquet, wanting to tell me everything about their time away!  These few days taught them to truly look outside of themselves and serve with a servant’s heart.  I’m so thankful that our church has THE best Jr. High ministry and works so hard to equip our kids with God’s truths.   Welcome home, kids :)