Picnic and Sleepover

Last night was another really fun night with some wonderful girls!! I invited 6 girls, M, T, J and C, (I'm trying to do better about keeping the kids' privacy as much as possible...) along with Bonita and Linda, to come to a sleepover at my house. Kirsten came for most of the night, but she is allergic to Gizmo so she didn't stay the night. 2 of the girls, J and C, have been wanting to spend the night for a long time and I decided to finally do it. J has been struggling a lot over the last few months and I have been wanting to spend some time with her. Honestly, I didn't think I could relate a lot to her struggles (she is pretty boy crazy), but the more I get to know her the more I do see myself in her.

Unfortunately, J got in trouble at school on Friday...she was actually suspended...so her mom didn't let her come to the sleepover. Her mom and I were both very sad about this, but I am going to try and spend some one on one time with her next week. And actually, it was nice to get to spend time with C without J being around. C is the youngest child in the house and is often overlooked. Plus, I am starting to see a lot of characteristics in C that are very much like J, and I don't want her to face the same stuggles that J does, so I want to try and spend some good time with her as well.

Our night started with a picnic at the park. Kirsten made us an awesome picnic basket with sandwiches, fruit, chips and drinks. We all ate until we were full and then played for hours. We even took Bower (The Hinson's dog...they are on vacation) with us! He was really fun, at least for me. He didn't want to behave with any of the kids, but he and I had a really good time walking around and getting some good exercise! The girls ran around playing on the swings, walking on rocks, and overall just being really silly. There was a lot of laughter, and a ton of fun. It was so great!

Once it got dark we decided to head home. At home the girls literally ran through the house for over an hour, laughing hysterically and having so much fun. They also wrote a rap that they performed for us, and it was really good! I made them all "go to bed" around 11, but they stayed up much later than that. I heard laughter for over an hour after I put them to bed, which was fine with me. They all had a lot of fun and I really enjoyed the night as well.

Overall it was an amazing night that I am hoping to repeat as often a possible. Nights like last night really remind me of how much I really love what I do. And, I begin to wonder what will happen to these girls if I leave. I still haven't made any decisions, but I have been seeking the Lord A LOT. I will probably write more about that later, but I still don't have any answers yet. I trust Him completley though...with my life and theirs.