Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Awana Award Night

Both Maddie and Micah participated in Awanas this year.  Maddie finished up her last year of Sparks and Micah was a cute little Cubby.  Here are some pictures from their Award Ceremony.


Not sure what this face is, but he sure is cute!


 Waiting on her award


Saying her verse


Getting her award from Mrs. Valerie

 Micah doesn't seem real sure about being up in front of everyone


Waiting patiently


Getting his award from Mrs. Carolyn


Maddie with her Sparky Award, the award given to those who finish 3 books

Micah and his certificate and Cubby Bear award


I have to be honest - I am SO glad that Awana is over for the year.  Maddie had ballet at 5:00, so getting her to ballet, then picking her up at 6:00, getting her changed, fed, and getting both of them to church by 6:30 was an exhausting process.  However, I am so incredibly thankful for the deposit of God's Word that was made in little hearts week after week.  And realistically, I know that Micah didn't actually learn all that much scripture because the Cubbies just basically repeat the leader rather than learning the verses well.  But, it is a process for them.  Taking him there week after week to recite scriptures tells him that learning God's Word is valuable and important.  And Maddie learned so much scripture during her three years of Sparks.  There have been lots of times along the way that she has been able to utilize a verse she learned in Awana in her daily life.  And sometimes her Mom used some of those verses against her - "Rejoice in the Lord always" or "Do it wholeheartedly as unto the Lord".  You get the idea.  Even though I am glad it is finished, I am thankful for another year of these kids learning more about God and hiding His Word away in their hearts.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Happy 8th Birthday to Maddie

Boy, oh, boy.  How can it be so that my sweet little girl is already 8 years old?!?!?  Whether I want to accept it or not, on May 15, 2012, she turned 8 and she had her last day of 2nd grade.  Crazy!  But the celebrating began long before her birthday!

Since Maddie and Micah's birthdays are so close, we decided to have a joint party for them.  We had done that once a couple of years ago and it worked out well.  So, we decided to do the party at the high school pool.  It was a great place for a party.  The kids got to swim their hearts out then we had pizza and cupcakes followed by a few presents.  Here are some pictures from the party.  Since this is Maddie's post, I will only use pictures of her portion of the party and save Micah's pictures for his post in a week or two :)

We don't want to pose, we want to swim!

Enjoying pizza

Listening to the lifeguard give the safety speech

Most all the girls


I think that everybody had a great time and it was a very successful party.  So after this party, Maddie had party #2, which was her family party.  We had it on a Sunday afternoon.  This party was also a success - she got plenty of Lego Friends, which was her main request!  Here are the pictures from this party:


Blowing out her candles
Her rainbow cake, designed by her
Opening presents



Playing with her presents



She had a wonderful time at her family party as well, of course.  But the celebrating is not quite over yet, because her actual birthday still hasn't happened yet.  But it is coming and it just so happens to be on the last day of school as well.  Which of course makes it an extra special day!

She started her day off with some yummy biscuits for breakfast. You'll have to ignore the crazy bed-head!

Next was the fun part - it was Mark's turn to be a "Watchdog" at her school which means that he went to school with her the whole day and helped out around the school.  So he went and picked up some birthday donuts for her to take to school.  Then she got a ride to school via her Daddy.



After school, she and Mark came home and then we let her choose where to go for dinner.  She chose Genghis Grill so we had a yummy dinner, then had some ice cream from Braum's.  I can't imagine how her birthday could have possibly been better!

I love you so much, my Maddie Pie.  You are such a blessing to me, and such a great kid.  You are always willing to lend a helping hand to me with Mason.  You have a huge group of friends from so many areas of your life and you are kind to everyone.  You love the Lord and you love going to church.  You love school and you were so sad to see 2nd grade end.  You love your family and told Mr. Jered at church that the best part about summer was spending time with your family.  You love playing softball and you have rocked it this season.  You love summer time because it means lots of time at the pool and lots of play time in the yard with your best buds across the street.  I love you and I love your enthusiasm for life!

Sunday, May 6, 2012

The Big Picture

For me, this has been a long year for Children's Choir.  Jill and I teach the Pre-K and Kindergarten kids and they are sweet as can be, but can also be very loud and rowdy.  We have definitely had some rough nights.  So we weren't really sure what to expect when it was time for this year's program.  However, the kids pulled it together and did fantastic.  The older kids (1st through 4th graders) did the majority of the program but the little kids sang a few songs along the way. 

The title of this year's program was "The Big Picture" - this is also the name of the main song in the program and the big and little kids sang this one together.  It is a very good song, speaking of how we are empty canvases that God is turning into something beautiful and in His image.  I loved the program itself - it was just a wonderful concept.  The kids decorated canvases throughout the program in what seemed like random patterns.  In the end though, it is revealed that the canvases spell "WORSHIP".  I love the way that it showed that we are all unique and can do our own thing but yet work together to praise our Creator. 

Micah and the little choir singing "Colors" which was the opening song

Maddie decorating her canvas, which would later be rotated and shown to be a letter "I"

The girls singing after they decorated their canvas



The reveal - the canvases spell "WORSHIP"


All in all, I thought the kids did very well.  After the performance, they were able to go to the gym and have a party.  Mason even joined us at the party and had a hot dog :)

Very enjoyable experience, but I am oh so glad it is over.  But I do love seeing my babies sing about God!

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Mother's Tea

Micah's preschool hosts an event near Mother's Day called the "Mother's Tea".  Since this was his first year at Covenant Children's School, I didn't know what to expect.  However, it was a very well executed event and a very fun time for both Micah and myself. 

It started at 10:45.  Moms arrived at the preschool and got to spy on our kiddos for a minute or two while the kids finished up with a story.  After the story was finished, the kids came and got us and presented us with some "beautiful" hats that they had made for us.

My lovely hat that I proudly wore for the duration of the Mother's Tea

Then we proceeded to go into their classroom and got to particpate in their "work".  This is the time at preschool when the kids can choose from many stations or centers and play whatever they choose.  There are rules but by this time in the year, the kids have the routine down very well so it was fun to watch Micah in his element.  He got his mat, and proceeded to choose a puzzle to work.  The particular puzzle he chose is one that he works nearly every day according to the teachers.  I watched him work his puzzle and helped him as he asked me to, and then it was time to clean up and head over to the rug for the kids to sing some songs for us. 

According to his teachers, Micah does not love singing with the group and often chooses just to watch or listen.  However, this day he did sing and participated in all the songs and activities.  He did great.  After they sang a few songs for us, it was time to go enjoy the lemonade and cookies in another room.

We were assigned seats and we sat by a couple of little boys that Micah is friends with and talks about often so it was nice to spend a minute or two with some of his friends.  The decoration in the room included some cute things that the kids had made for us.

Micah is ready for his cookies
 

The tea ended with the kids singing us one more song about moms.  It was really a cute little song but Micah wasn't quite as excited about singing this time around.


Singing the mom song
All in all it was lots of fun and both Micah and I enjoyed getting to spend that time together.  And I loved the cute things that he made for me!


Tuesday, May 1, 2012

North Star

Maddie's school has a program called the "North Star Incentive Program."  It is 3 parts - North Star Reader, North Star Citizen, and Facts Master.  A North Star Reader completes their goals within the Accelerated Reader program.  A North Star Citizen has good attendance and behavior at School.  A Facts Master passes a special math test within the pre-set time limit.  If kids complete at least two of these components each semester, they are rewarded with a special field trip.  This year, it was a trip to Bentley Park for a picnic with a surprise of Sprite and Ice Cream when they got there.

Maddie qualified for the picnic - yay!  She was so excited and had a great time.






The morning of the picnic