Happy days...

It's been a very full week and a half. Last Thursday was Michael's birthday. Although Michael enjoyed his birthday, Katelyn REALLY enjoyed his birthday. She "helped" him blow out his candles and open his presents. What's hers is hers and what's ours is hers...

Uncle Mike and Aunt Mimi came over for dinner and cake. Wednesday night I took Michael out for Mediterranean food. Yum, yum, yum!

Last Saturday we went to the farmer's market for the first time of the season. The city has built a new pavillion to house the market and it's wonderful. We've been enjoying some fresh veggies this week. The Living Arts and Science Center was having a free family fun day so we went over there as well. They had different hands on exhibits, a drum circle, a petting zoo, different arts and crafts the kids could do. Katelyn loved it. She ran from thing to thing (a bit too excited about it all to focus on any one activity for more than 30 seconds.)

Michael is 6'4". Katelyn's Dora tent is not. But she was super excited to welcome him into her play area. And he is a super good sport. They ate play food until they were full. :)

Yesterday Michael helped me create an area out back for an herb garden. I've grown herbs in containers on the porch but they'll do much better in the ground. The containers dry out so quickly. So he cut out the bed and put the edging in and we pulled out all the grass and tilled up the dirt. I'm going to have someone from church who does landscaping get some good composted soil and bring it over for the raised bed so we can plant seeds and seedlings next weekend. (I'll take pictures when we get this done.) On a positive note, my cilantro, onions and oregano have come back from last year. The broccoli, swiss chard, turnips, spinach and lettuce that I planted the weekend before Easter are coming in nicely. I'm still amazed when I put seeds in the ground and things actually grow.

Our church has a potluck/worship gathering that's hosted by different families each month. I hosted the one tonight and we made chili and everyone else brought yummy food. One of the youth comes to help with childcare. We had 18 adults downstairs and 13 kids and a youth upstairs. The funniest sight was everyone's shoes in a pile by the door. We had a lot of fun together! I'm so thankful that this house is full of people and laughter again. So much restoration has taken place and I'm thankful for the life I have here.

Mom and dad leave Arizona on Monday morning to head this way and will get here on Thursday. We can't wait to have them back here in Kentucky. Katelyn's already talking about the boat and the beach.

In closing I'll leave you with this week's Katelyn-isms:

Yesterday Katelyn said to me - "Mama, quiet in Chinese is shhh."

This morning she was walking around the house barefoot and said -"Mama, I don't have socks and shoes on, just my toes."

Bowling

You need to mentally prepare yourself for these pictures. I mean seriously...these are AWESOME! A two year old in baby bowling shoes and a six pound neon orange ball. IT. DOES. NOT. GET. ANY. BETTER. THAN. THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fridays are excellent. The after school program kids don't have homework. It's the end of the week. We all just want to play. What better than a trip to the bowling alley with a dozen kiddos???!!! Of course Katelyn is always included in the big kid field trips and she's always really excited to ride on the bus and participate in all the craziness...

Kateybug was serious about rolling this ball. She pushed that thing as hard as she could and that ball could not have rolled any slower down the lane. But she watched and waited and then gave everyone high fives when she knocked some pins down. HILLARIOUS!

Whoop, there it is! Did you see that strike?? (just kidding...she's only two).

Katelyn is so animated. She's hollering at someone and she's serious about something. She talked nonstop ALL DAY today. I heard the phrase "Hey mama...." no less than 2000 times.

Here are my girls. Aren't they fabulous!

Working with inner city kids has its challenges for sure...but it sure has its joys as well. Today was super fun and I love that I get to be in full time ministry and be a full time mom as well. Sometimes it's tough to juggle all of that but I am so blessed to get to do what I do with the kids and Katelyn LOVES getting to tag along. The kids really are great with her. They're so helpful and they look out for her and let her participate. Yesterday Katelyn got to be part of their kickball game. She was thrilled to kick the ball and run around the bases. Katelyn said several times today that she wanted to go to school with the big kids. I'm already looking into preschools. That's next... Katelyn's new thing she's working on is letter sounds. So she's constantly asking, "Mama, what letter does (insert word) start with?" And then she'll answer herself with the letter. She's got most of her consonants down. She's a smart little girl for sure!

Lisette was our high scorer today with a 123~! She even beat me (sad I know since we had the bumpers up).

I know what we'll be taking Grammy and Papa to do when they get here... You better grease up your ball....Katelyn's pretty good.

Hangin' out with the big kids

Because I'm a children's pastor, Katelyn sometimes gets to come along on the field trips. During yesterday's after school program, we took the kids to the YMCA to play basketball and soccer in the gym. Katelyn loves getting to play with the big kids and they're really sweet with her. They look out for her and try to get her to play with them.

Of course for Katelyn, snacks are part of any outing. :)

And then she ran, and ran and ran in circles. She's very quick.

I'm not sure what was happening here, but it looks like she's busting out a dance move. Hillarious.

And a mouthful of food...of course.

The girls were showing Katelyn how to run up to the wall and jump up as high as you can. I think she's got a way to go before she'll reach the top...but she tried hard.

I'm so thankful that I have a job where I get to do something I love and have Katelyn there with me for parts of it. It's the best of both worlds.

My kiddos

Being an inner city children's pastor is challenging for sure...but it's really rewarding also. We started an after school program this fall and although it adds a lot to my plate each week, it's been really great to be able to have time with the kids everyday instead of just once or twice a week. I couldn't let Thanksgiving pass by without saying that I'm really thankful for my church and for these kids. The kids I work with are kids that would most likely be overlooked. I'm so thankful that I'm at a church that welcomes people that wouldn't feel welcome at most churches. The picture below is of me and some of the kids with the craft project they did the last day we were all together before Thanksgiving.

The other thing I'm really thankful for is our local Christian high school. I have students from Lexington Christian Academy that have been coming and helping with our kids after school. Our kids love having all of these high schoolers around and for me and our staff it has helped ease the load.

It's really awesome to get to do something that you really love doing....for this, I am thankful.