outta here!

We leave here for our vacation in less than four hours and we are still awake.  The house is going to stay messy, but I'm over it.  However, we are packed and ready.  I'm most excited that we are leaving the computer home!  Be back with some pics in a few weeks.

Aloha, bloggies!

superhuman?

Ever wish you could be superhuman for a day??

Tomorrow we leave for an amazing Hawaiian vacation with hubby's fam.  We are really looking forward to it and have been anticipating it for a long time.  So, this post is NOT a complaining post at all, don't be confused...  We leave on a 6 am flight.  By this point, I had hoped to be just about packed, to have the house relatively straightened ( or maybe even close to all the way clean!) and just using today to finish up at work, and run a few last minute errands and get to bed early. Maybe even have time for a pedicure.  HA!  I, apparently, like to live in a dream world.

So today needs to be a superhuman day.  I need to be able to wiggle my nose or something and have the house organized and neat (busyness has certainly taken it's toll these last few weeks); have the kids wake up and offer to help in any way they can; be able to split into two people and have one of me go to work and one of me pack and run errands.  I need to have lightning quick decision making abilities as I try to figure out what to bring and what to leave behind for 13 days of fun in one 50 pound or less suitcase.  I need to stretch time, so Dave can find time to mow the lawn before we go.  And the list goes on...  I guess I want to be like the little boy Dash in The Incredibles who runs around so fast you can't see him.  Just for today.  

Well, unfortunately, I don't hold out hope that I will have superhuman powers today.  However, I do know that I have supernatural Power on my side.  So, I ask for God's help today.  To be efficient.  To not be neurotic.  To be OK with less than perfection.  To be content with what we are able to accomplish.  To go before me and make the path smooth...that the things I need to accomplish at church will fall into place quickly (like finding teachers for the empty Sunday slots while I'm gone!!).  To help me make quick decisions.  To help me remember everything. To help my kids channel their excitement into helpfulness, and to get along in the process.  To give me peace in the midst of it all.   

I have confidence that He hears my mundane prayers and is happy I know I need Him.

I know you think I should stop blogging already and start packing...time is a-tickin and I'm stressing you out.  OK, I hear you.  I'm off to pray. And experience the supernatural miracle of  hair color from a box.  Roots in Hawaii?  I don't think so.  I hear you have to forfeit your lei if you show up with roots.  

Aloha!

Top Ten Things I Love About My Dad

(this post is modified from something I wrote to my dad for Father's Day)

1.       He’s proud of me.  He came to my cheerleading competitions in High School (and kept score by his own scoring system).  He came to volleyball games – even though I was only the manager--to watch my friends play. He speaks highly of me to others, and thinks I make a great Children’s Ministry Director and church leader.

2.        I always have known that his family is his first priority.  In his busy jobs over the years…I remember calling his secretary  a few times just to ask a question — she would put me right through to him, even if he was in a meeting — because that is what she had been told to do.  We always ranked above everything else.

3.        He thinks I can do more than I think I can.  Dad was convinced I could win a college scholarship for which I never would have applied for.  He drove me from New York to Boston and back in one LONG day so I could compete for it.  That scholarship allowed me to go to the school of my choice.  He is also the one who encouraged me for years to think about Children’s Ministry at our church.  I wasn’t sure…but he was.

4.        No matter how old I am, I am still his little girl.  He looks out for me, protects me, brags about me and is always concerned if I am doing okay.  I know he cares.

5.       He loves God, and is a man of integrity.  He has given me that legacy of faith.  He is a wonderful example of a Godly man and husband.

6.       His goofy sense of humor.  He introduced me to Fawlty Towers.  He raised me on “punny” jokes.  He likes to laugh and even thinks I’m funny.  I have been caught trying to pass off dad-like jokes more and more often lately.  Can’t help it.  I hear them in my head.

7.         Anyone who knows my dad knows he is wise.  He is smart, but beyond that applies Godly wisdom to life situations. He is able to see the big picture, and bring out what is most important in a decision or situation.  Some of that has rubbed off on me, and I am grateful.

8.        His lingo.  We make fun of him, but it’s great.  He has his own way of saying things lots of times…and scarily, some of them are starting to make sense to me.  I mean, sometimes you just gotta “cube it out”!

9.       He is also a great grandpa to my kids.  Pickle and Bubba adore him and know he loves them too.  He goes to band concerts and soccer games.  When Aidan was alive…he spent hours at the hospital on his own, pacing at his bedside.  I recently learned he visits Aidan’s grave more often than I do.  He has a tender spot in his heart for each of his grandkids.

10.     He loves me.  I have always known this…and still do.

He’s a cool dude, my dad.  I thank God for him.  I love you dad!!

Welcome to the Bayou!

Check out our Crocodile Dock VBS decorations! I'm so proud of our decorations team!

This is what the kids see when they enter the church:

The main set:

Some other touches I really like:

The dock that leads down the stairs:

Day One down. Four more to go...