Later in the Evening

Someone thought boxing sounded more fun than board games. What do you know! We have inflatable boxing gloves in Braden's closet! So...........

Here are Jon and Austin. Jon maintains he couldn't get his hands all the way in and was scared to hit Austin hard and knock him out. (I ordered some new gloves since these were leaking air. Hopefully, they will be able to schedule a rematch so that Jon can defend his name!)

This may be the best picture I've ever taken!

Before Round 2. (Austin had Jordan video this on his cell phone. He was pumped that he beat up a D-1 athlete! His parents both talked to us at church Sunday morning and said what a good time Austin had..... and yes, he showed them the video.)

Kayla and Alyssa gave it a try. Too bad Alyssa couldn't stop laughing long enough to get in a good punch.

Jon and Braden. Braden would only fight Jon if he agreed to stay on his knees. Braden and Nick also went at it.

This one was before any punches had been thrown.

King Cake and Beads!

After RockBand, and a break for snacks, we played a board game where correct answers earned the players beads! Though the boys technically won the games, I think that was due to lucky rolls. We would move one space. They'd move 4! After the games, we had KING CAKE! It was a huge hit!

Here are the girls in their masks and beads: Alyssa, Christina, Audrey, and Kayla

Austin and Dallas in the giant beanbag..... after Austin's 2nd piece of cake.

Audrey found the baby in her piece of cake so she won this fabulous hat!

Kayla enjoying some king cake.

Nick and Braden with their cake and beads.

The girls enjoying their king cake.

Ice Breaker

Saturday night, they all played RockBand as an ice breaker. I didn't get good pictures of everyone, but Jon rocked the mic!

Audrey gave the drums a try and played the guitar.

Austin rocked it on guitar.

More of Jon.

Braden played and sang a little. Alyssa played guitar and drums. And I think a few of the others played when they got here later on. This is the most action RockBand has seen in a long time! I think I'm going to give the guitar a try this week!

For Laci

Since Laci hasn't updated the blog she has where she shares her deals (usually from CVS), I thought I'd share mine today!
I sent Jon to CVS on Saturday morning because Braden was in dire need of Zyrtec. He had a list: Zyrtec, Nature Made multi vitamins (which I had a $3 off coupon for), and some CVS brand mouthwash (which I also had a coupon for).

Zyrtec was on sale for $26 or $27 for a bottle of 45
Nature Made vitamins were Buy 1 Get 1 Free = 2 for $10.99 - $3.00 off
Mouthwash I had a coupon for a free bottle

So he left the store only spending $37...... WooHoo! I thought that was a steal!

Sr High Mardi Gras Party

Here are some of the before shots..... as in before the madness :)

The entrance into the dining room. Just a little something to "set the mood!"

A centerpiece, the jester hat that went to the person who found the baby in the king cake, and all of the beads I bought..... and yes, that is probably the cleanest you well ever see the top of my table!

Party favors my mom bought in Louisiana and shipped up to us. The footballs and soccer balls were the big hits!

And the king cake...... so delicious! Thanks to the church (and the youth budget) for shipping this up here!

I have lots more pictures that I'll be posting later. Or, if you don't want to wait, you can check them all out on Facebook!

It's Hard to Take Your Own Picture!

There you go! No more long hair! I feel so free..... :)

Now you see it....

.....tomorrow you won't!
I have an appointment at noon on Wednesday to remove some of the excess weight on my head.... too bad you can't do that with other areas --- like around my waist :)
And is it just me, or does my hair look very reddish?

We're Ready!

On Jon's birthday, we went shopping so that he could pick out a new skillet. While wandering the store while he debated what he wanted, I found the last 3 gingerbread houses in a back corner. $3.00 each! So our family is now ready for the decorate-off next Christmas!!

(Dallas loves the smell of gingerbread!)

Change

In his musings on Christianity (and the disparate lives of its purported Christians) Leo Tolstoy writes:
Blame me — I do that myself — but blame me, and not the path I tread and show to those who ask me where, in my opinion, the road lies! If I know the road home, and go along it drunk, staggering from side to side — does that make the road along which I go a wrong one?


This spoke to me today was I was blog-stalking.
I have such a long way to go in my walk, as we discussed last night (Jon, Chad, Tammie, and I). I know where I'm lacking the most, but getting to the point of change just seem so hard and uncomfortable! Isn't it enough to be self-aware without giving up control? I know the answer to that question. And I also know that "control" is really an illusion. And I know that I need to stop talking and start acting.

But how about starting tomorrow?

But Wait! There's More!

The church van was out in the parking lot that night!

More Sr High....

B. "post-it noting" Chad's door. She was even sweet enough to leave a message on her post-its: Merry Christmas and Happy Cleaning."

The door leading to the foyer/sanctuary. (This was before they finished. I'm pretty sure they left no trace of wood.)

C. in Clark's office relaxing while B. works on his monitor.

C. showing off Troy's office.

B. enjoying the great job done on Chad's office.

B., D., and C. (No idea why they wore shorts when it is FREEZING in VW)

Hard at work on the door. Way to encourage them, D.

Look what C. did to Clark's office.

D. working on Troy's floors.

The silly-stringers, minus Brittany who stopped at the little girls' room.

Sr High Girls

Last Wednesday night, some of my girls and I met to "decorate" the pastors' offices. Here they are before we headed out. I've got more photos of the decorating process that I'll post later.

L to R: Christina, Caitlin, Kayla, Danielle, Brittany, Miriah

Ouch!

Braden came home from school on Monday with this......

He says the teacher on recess duty let them slide on the ice. He must have went face first!

I'm Scared to Ask

Last night, I went to small group with Brooke G.

Yes, it ends at 9pm.

We sat in the car talking (Jon says "making out") until around 10:30 though!

We have great conversations!

When I came inside, I went up to kiss Braden goodnight before getting around for bed. He felt a little warm so I was slowly trying to pull his covers back a bit. (Like his dad, he sleeps with them around his neck/head) He cracked his eyes open and mumbled, "Don't. Don't. Don't. Mom." (Mom needs to be said in an annoyed way and drawn out.) I waited a minute and then asked, "Don't what?" He answered, "Don't tell them anything." And promptly fell back into a deep sleep.

Wonder what that was about? Though I'm a little scared to ask!

Our Super Bowl Guest

For the Super Bowl, Jon went to watch the game with "the guys" at Sam's house and Braden and I went to a big party at our church. Braden and I headed home in the 4th quarter. As I was putting things away in the kitchen and letting Dallas out, something caught my eye.

*GASP*
Is that? Yes it is!
(hands on my face) "Oh my gosh! There is a bat in the kitchen!"
Braden didn't believe me right away.
I called Jon who said, "I'll be home soon. The game's almost over."
Seriously?
So I left the lights on, hoping that would keep it stationary while I worked out a plan to get it out of the house. I took a picture, but there was NO WAY I was turning on the flash! So the pic is a little blurry, but still a bat. Jon finally came home. Checked it out. Went to the front porch and grabbed his racquetball racket. Seriously? It hasn't moved. Why not try and grab instead? So I ran upstairs and got an old comforter while Jon got "suited up." My plan was for Braden and I to hold the comforter up against the door frame in the dining room. That way, if he missed and it started flying, it wouldn't get into the rest of the house. Blah! Jon put his hand in a plastic bag and then into another bag. Braden and I got into position. He reached up and grabbed it. He said he never felt it move. And then he took it outside. MY HERO!

If it comes back, he is definately beating it to death!

AND A HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JON TODAY!!!!!