Slumber Party!

As I write this there is a very intense game of Hide and Seek going on...the older girls (Bonita and Monique) verses the younger girls (Eliza and Tasha). The younger girls are winning by a landslide. :)

Linda is at her dad's house and Mercedes was out with her family, so they missed out on the fun. This is the first time Eliza (she is Pastor Joe's daughter) has spent the night, and its been so much fun!!

We started the evening making our own pizzas. I got the kind with wheat crust, so Tasha and I were the only ones that really enjoyed the food. :) I then made them watch 3 separate Christmas movies and pick which one I should show at the Kids Club Christmas party. I chose "The Crippled Lamb", but the girls unanimously selected "The Birth of Jesus", so that's what we are going to go with.

After dinner and the movies they went to the basement and played and danced for a long time. I have been hearing giggles for hours. The only problem we have had has been a little struggle with Bonita. She spent all day with her Prayer Pal, where she was the center of attention and the whole focus was on her (her Prayer Pal even bought her all her Christmas presents...and then Bonita wrapped them herself, haha). Once arriving at my house, she struggled with sharing and the fact that things were no longer all about her. She threw a small temper tantrum at one point, but we had a little talk and she seems to be doing much better. Tonight was the first time I have ever seen her or Linda become possessive about "their" room. I squashed that pretty fast, making it very clear that it is MY room. She has a right to privacy and to be respected, but she has no rights over the room. She responded well to our talk, which made me very proud of her.

Our evening started out very interesting actually. I picked up the girls (except Eliza, she came over later) and as I was driving back to my house there were tons of people and cars lining the street to my house...and even blocking my street so I couldn't drive down it. It actually made me very nervous as it looked like a fight was about to start...and you never know how far those will go. Turns out, however, that the people were there for a candlelight vigil. Apparently someone recently passed away on that block...I don't really know any details though. No one else on my block did either. The girls and I were just so relieved that it was a peaceful gathering, we aren't used to those!

Santa!!!

We just got back from taking our pictures with Santa...and I just have to show them all to you!! They are (in order), Tasha, Monique, Joey, Eliza, Raheem and Jared. We had a blast! Stay tuned for more pictures later...tonight I'm having a slumber party! :)

My Friends...the Drug Dealers

I had a very interesting experience today. First, let me give you a little background. In the last few months a few new people have moved onto my block, and frankly they scared me a little. Its not easy to scare me, but they succeeded. The spend almost all day every day standing on the corner...so I'm pretty sure I know what they are doing. They also own dogs...a lot of dogs. I have had my suspicion that they are involved with dog fighting. They always seemed distant and somewhat ominous...and basically a little scary.

In the last few weeks I have started saying hello and trying to develop a rep or with them. I started praying that God would give me wisdom about how to handle them...whether I should try and become friends, or keep an eye out for them or even possibly call the cops. I felt Him leading me in the friend direction. Of course, I didn't want to do anything to lead them on or make them think anything more than friendship, so I just stuck with hellos. The slowly responded and I even started to get smiles and laughs. I started to feel less and less afraid of them and found myself enjoying them and praying for them more and more.

Tonight as I was leaving my house I ran into one of the guys and of course said hello. Then, for the first time, he took the conversation farther. He asked me about my work (he sees me with kids all the time), asked about my house remodel (he saw all the people doing the work on my kitchen). Then he proceeded to tell me that he was Alan's cousin (I'm changing the names). Alan lived on my block a few years ago, when he was a teen, and we always got along really well. He was on the block when the kids lived with me and had fun with all of us. Anyway, Alan apparently told this cousin all about me and how nice and fun I was and that I really loved kids. So, John just wanted me to know that he has my back. He lives 2 doors down (the house in between us is abandoned) and said that he will be keeping an eye out for me, and that he was there for anything I need. Then his friend, the other "scary" guy came by and said hello to me and told me that he has my back as well. He lives on the other side of me...

They both told me that they really appreciated how nice I am and how I take care of kids and they wanted to let me know that they are here if I need anything.

What an answer to prayer!!! They are absolutely the most influential people on my block, and they think I'm great! :) I'm excited to continue to talk to them...stay tuned for the say they come to church!!!! :)

That whole conversation brightened my day and got me ready for my evening. Tonight was the church adult Christmas Party and I was in charge of helping with the kids. I had 3 other babysitters, and I was kind of overseeing everything. There were only 7 kids signed up, but with 130 adults coming, we were pretty sure we would have more than 7 kids. We were right...there were 30. Thankfully, they were 30 of my favorite kids in the church and we had a lot of fun!! We had almost 0 discipline problems, which is pretty much a miracle. We had a blast and kept the kids pretty much under control for the first 3 hours. Unfortunately, the party went on for 4 hours. Had the evening ended after the first 3 hours, I would be raving about all the fun I had tonight. However, right now all I can think is, I am not going to do that again. 4 babysitters with 30 kids for 4 hours. That's a lot. Thankfully, I have a year before the next Christmas party, so there is plenty of time to come up with a new game plan for the kids...one that will likely not include much of me; at least as long as the party lasts 4 hours and we only serve them grilled cheese sandwiches to eat. :)

Now I must get to bed. I am going to see Santa tomorrow. :)

Another Fun Day

Today was a pretty fun day. I ended up staying up pretty late last night, so I had a hard time waking up this morning. I was pretty busy with AIM, which is kind of nice...I didn't get bored. :) After the kids got home from school I took Bonita and Miguel shopping for school uniforms. Both of their Prayer Pals sent me money to take them shopping, so off we went! Our first stop, though was the Rite Aid, where we found out that they are doing FREE pictures with Santa on Saturday! Bonita and Miguel weren't too excited about it, but I called Natasha and she said she wants to go. So, we're going to see Santa on Saturday!

It took us close to 2 hours to find uniforms for Bonita and Miguel. Forman Mills only had boys uniforms (well, they had skirts and dresses for girls, but Bonita would not wear either). Unfortunately, Miguel is very hard to size, and their uniform section was extremely disorganized, so it took us a while. Linda had come with us, though she didn't get anything, and was extremely helpful. Bonita was as well and they were actually the ones that tracked down pants that would fit Miguel. Apparently Miguel only likes the dress shirts (he is a funny kid) and the only ones we found came with ties. The ties are removable so he can still wear the shirts to school. He can also wear them with the ties, "when I want to be fancy" (his words!).
Since Forman Mills didn't have anything for Bonita, we headed to Target for her. Unfortunately, we only had about 30 minutes before I needed to get to Teen Club, so we had to rush a bit for her. We found some really cute pants though and a shirt she loved, so in all it was a successful trip. I had hoped we might be able to find something for Linda, but we ran out of time. Maybe next week.
I am finding that even though Kids Club has only been down for a week (other than the Christmas party), I already have more time to spend with the kids...and I am loving it. Its not even just that I have more time, but I'm not so tired on the weekends, so instead of just wanting to sleep, I want to be with them!! In addition to taking Tasha to see Santa on Saturday morning, I am having Bonita, Linda, Monique, Tasha and Mercedes spend the night on Saturday. We are going to make our own pizzas!! I also have to pick the Kids Club movie...or should I say, the girls have to watch 3 movies and pick which one I should show. :)

Most of Sunday and Monday will be taken up with Christmas party preparations. I have most of the "administrative" stuff finished...name tags, the schedule, etc. Sunday and Monday will be shopping and setting up. I will probably take Bonita and Linda with me when I go on Sunday, they are very helpful, and can carry things. :)

Let it Snow!!!

I finally did it!!! I have been trying for weeks to get a picture of me with all my god children, and tonight we finally took it!! I want the picture to be my Christmas card this year, so you will be getting one in the mail soon! (I have some non-crazy faced pictures to choose from as well). :) We had fun taking the picture though, and I even got Dario to pose with me!!

Can you believe how tall he is?!? He just turned 17 and I still can't believe how grown up he looks!!!

I had originally want to take the picture outside, but I couldn't get everyone together until 5:00, and by then it was too dark.

Today was also our first snow of the year! Yay!! It was just enough snow to put a beautiful white coat over things, but not enough to get black and yucky. It was so nice! The kids enjoyed throwing snowballs at each other, so not only was it beautiful but it provided a lot of laughter. I'm not usually a big fan of snow, but this was a great snow day!!

I also meant to write last night...that I love Family Night!!! We had huge Family Night at church last night and it was wonderful! Last month we had a big Family Night, but we were giving away free food, so we kind of expected it. Last night was just as big as last month, but no free food giveaway. I spend Family Night with the kids, and I had a blast last night. There were a few kids that felt it necessary to run and show me every individual ticket they earned while playing games. It made me smile every time. :)

Wednesday is my early night, so I am looking forward to eating oranges (my mom sent me a huge box full of oranges!!), drinking tea, watching Criminal Minds and getting ready for the Kids Club Christmas party. That's pretty close to a perfect night for me. :)

Is it nap time?

I am exhausted!! Its almost like I didn't just get back from a break!! I find myself taking naps during the day, and always ready to sleep. I have been able to get things done fine and feel fine once I'm doing things. But, the minute I have any down time, I'm out! I actually decided today that I am ready for a snow day. I would love a day where I didn't have to leave my house and I could just curl up with Gizmo and watch movies, eat grilled cheese and tomato soup and drink hot chai. Its so ridiculous for me to feel this way, I just got back from Thanksgiving break!!

I think the last few months are catching up to me. It has been an incredibly busy time, coupled with stress that I don't think I realized until recently. I took on a lot of new responsibilities this fall and while I didn't feel really overwhelmed by it all, the pressure that was suddenly on me has taken its toll. That and months of uncertainty as I tried all these new things. I feel like I have been feeling my way through the dark both with AIM and with Kids Club...and that is tiring. I'm excited for our winter break from clubs, which will be here soon!!

In the meantime, I am also excited about everything else that is going on. We found out today that we will get gift cards for the Kids Club gifts next Sunday, giving us 2 days to shop for 200 kids. We actually went out today and bought a few things that were on sale (the sale ends this weekend) and we are hoping for some great sales to start on Sunday. Its going to be a busy few days, but I had fun shopping today so next weekend should be cool too. There are so many details that I am just now figuring out...so this party is going to be interesting. :)

The Kids Club Christmas party and the Prayer Pals Christmas party are 2 of my favorite days of the year, so the work ahead of time will be totally worth it. I have to pick a movie for the kids to watch at the Kids Club Christmas party, and I have 3 options. So, I am going to have Bonita and Linda spend the night on Saturday and will make them watch all 3 and pick the one I should show. :)

Tonight was the God Squad Christmas party and it was a lot of fun. We don't do gifts or anything, but we do decorate the church and spend a lot of time in worship. Sometimes the teens can be so challenging, but that's really because they constantly make me look at myself and see my own sinfulness. Its easy to forget sometimes, but I really do think we have some of the most amazing teens in our ministry.

Tomorrow night is family night, which I always enjoy. This Friday is the Adult Christmas party, which should be really fun and apparently huge this year (I heard we have over 100 adults signed up). I think I will be spending most of my time helping babysit the kids, but its guaranteed to be a fun night for everyone. I did make it to the grocery store this past Saturday, so I will hopefully not have too many errands to run this weekend and can sleep in on Saturday morning. I am loving the sleep!!

And on a completely random note, the man I have always known as my father is in fact my father!! :) I had a blood test done on Friday to find out what my blood type was. My mom and dad are both A positive, so if the blood test came back as anything other than A positive, my mom was going to have some explaining to do, hehe (forget the fact that I look EXACTLY like my dad). :) I got the results today, and I am A positive!!! Whew! :)