Happenings

So this past week has flown by. My goodness I think this summer has flown by. Next week we take the boys to registar for school. I can't believe it's already that time again. We have been slowly gathering school supplies. So many expenses this year associated with school. Not only have the twins had to have physicals but also eye exams. Which I am thankful for the eye exams. Eli needs glasses. We got the call yesterday and he was so excited he didn't want to wait to go get them. We had to wait till Sean returned from the dentist. Poor guy, had to have a tooth removed. A couple of weeks ago he went to have it pulled and found out it was abcessed. So he had to wait two weeks and take antibiotics. I would have thought he would have been in a lot more pain but he says he wasn't thankfully. So last week he headed to the dentist in hopes to come home without a tooth, instead he returned with half a tooth removed. So yesterday he went to see an oral surgeon and thankfully it was all removed rather quickly. For someone that brushes his teeth 3 times a day I still can not understand how he has had to have two teeth removed this summer. Go figure!

Anyway, so we waited till Sean got home and went to town to pick up Eli's glasses. He is so stinkin' cute with them. It's been interesting getting use to seeing him with them. He is very careful with them, makes sure to put them in their case when he isn't wearing them. He primarily needs them for reading but we have been having him wear them all the time so that his eyes get adjusted and he gets use to wearing them.

So many changes taking place around here. Many that deal with our church and my ministry in it. Starting in September we will start a new Kids program..."All Stars for Jesus" I am looking forward to the program. It is a merit based kids club which the kids will earn badges and other things for. I am beliving it is the first step towards eventually expanding out and starting Mpact and Royal Rangers. For those of you that do not know what Mpact and RR they are girls/boys clubs through the Assmblies of God. Awesome biblical based clubs. I love Mpact and have been a teacher for years. I miss working primarily with the girls. I am praying we will start this again in our church as we grow. Also we are starting a youth group. When your kids start entering the teen years and junior high you need a good strong youth group to continue to minister to them and give them the positive support so many teens lack these days.

So starting in Sept. I will be solely responsible for Children's Church (Jungle Explorers as I call it), All Stars and the youth group. My life is about to become even fuller. Thankfully the twins will start kindergarden and that will give me some free time to concentrate on things for church a bit more. I do plan to be more of a presence in the school this year though. I know for sure that the Kindergarden teacher requests for parents to help in the class room on a regular basis. I wasn't able to do this with Kristofer because that year started the saga with my knees that lead to surgery.

Next week we will be heading for a 4 day getaway. We are so blessed to live here in IL. The IL District Office offers their pastors a 2 night/3 day stay R & R getaway for free. So we are taking advantage of it this year. And taking an extra day to relax and spend time as a family before school starts. We will be staying here at the Lake Williamson Retreat Center. We also plan to visit the St Louis Zoo and Grants Farm. The kids are extremely excited abou tthis getaway as are we. We haven't gone away as a family since last July! Which is WAY TO LONG for a break away.

Here are a few other pictures of the kids doing some crafts this summer: