Hannah's weekend with Joshua

As you know, we took the teens to the Dare2Share conference in Chicago this past weekend. Aside from being sick, we had a great weekend. Hannah didn't go with us...I missed her terribly..but I'm afraid that I was missing her a lot more than she was missing me. Rachel, Randy, and Joshua shared our ministry to the teens this weekend by taking such good care of our little one. I am so thankful for a friend that I can trust so completely with my precious little girl. I was so sick on Saturday, I didn't have the chance to even call and check on them once, but knew that I didn't have to...that they were totally fine. To see some of the fun adventures that she had with Joshua, you can go to his blog here. Enjoy!

Dare2Share

This past weekend, we took our teens to Chicago for Dare2Share, a teen evangelism conference. The conference was wonderful, our God did a great work in the hearts and lives of the teenagers that we took! I was incredibly sick the whole weekend, which was hard, but it was still such a blessing to be there and watch Him work.

Love these girls! Meet Erika (on the right) my new sister in Christ!

The most exciting part of the weekend, was watching one of our teen girls come to know the Lord as her personal savior!! Can I hear and AMEN?! She has been heavy on my heart and mind..and it was so exciting to see her accept God's free gift of salvation. It was neat that this happened on Friday night! We were able to celebrate her salvation as a group then focus on sharing our faith on Saturday. The people at Dare2Share did a great job of equipping the kids and teaching them how to share their faith. On one of the breaks Saturday afternoon, they were on their cell phones calling unsaved friends and sharing the gospel!

God created us to be with Him

Our sins separate us from God

Sin cannot be removed by good deeds.

Paying the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again.

Everyone who trusts in Him alone has eternal life

Life with Jesus starts now and lasts forever!!

(the GOSPEL explains God's redemptive plan for humanity from Gen. 1 to Rev. 22...to learn more go here).

Some of the kids were texting back and forth with unsaved friends at home the whole afternoon, and others have committed to write letters...so exciting!

Another highlight of the weekend was sitting in a coffee shop and hearing (I was very sick & totally observing by this point of the weekend) the kids talk with Seth, Jeff, and Amber about what they can do to practically apply all that they had learned when they get home. It was neat to hear them say specific names of people that they need to reach out to and and how we can grow as a youth group in the area of evangelism.

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit come on you; and you will be my witnesses..." Acts 1:8

The Lord used the music of Starfield and Propaganda to speak to our hearts too!

Is your name on the list?!


"Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying 'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?' And I said 'Here am I. Send me!'" - Isaiah 6:8

St. Patty's Day

We had a great St. Patricks Day!

For breakfast, we enjoyed green eggs and Hannah got to have Lucky Charms (a very special treat) for the first time.

We played with green playdough

then met Seth for a lunch date at Baja Fresh. They gave away free burritos to anyone wearing green...so we all enjoyed yummy burritos!

The day was SO beautiful, so on the way home, we stopped at the park to play.

We decided to save our normal Irish dinner (Irish beef stew, Irish Soda bread, salad, and mint dessert) to enjoy with friends who would be coming over on Thursday and have a quick meal since it was crosstrainers night...but don't worry...it was still green: we had creamed cabbage with hamburger.

I made yummy green Lucky Charm cupcakes for the teens and we enjoyed the evening with them at Crosstrainers. It sure is fun being Irish!

My new table & playdough set

A few weeks ago, Mommy was able to snag this great table for me at a mom to mom sale. We had been thinking about getting one, and pricing them a little bit, so when she saw this one...she knew it was just right! It fits me perfectly, and my Mommy likes it because it looks like furniture and matches our house nice. She got it for only $20!! I love to sit at it and play with my new playdough set from Mr. Randy, Ms. Rachel and Joshua. I also like to color, eat snacks, and look out the window. I love my new table!

Happy Homemaker Monday- March 21

The weather in my neck of the woods:
cloudy and 44 degrees. Kinda miss last weeks weather..but at least it's not the snow that we had in Chicago this weekend!

Things that make me happy:
the joy of staying home each day with my little girl

Book(s) I'm reading:
The Power of a Praying Wife
The Excellent Wife

What I'm enjoying on TV:
American Idol & The Office

On the menu for dinner:
Chicken Pasta Primavera

On my To Do List:
unpack from weekend,laundry, change sheets
baking

New Recipe I tried or want to try soon:
Pepperoni Pizza Pie (very yummy!)

In the craft basket:
still working on those spring hair bows...I need to get to the craft store for more glue sticks!

Looking forward to this week:
our weekends have been super busy lately...looking forward to being here this weekend and spending a family day together on Friday.

Tips and Tricks:
When you can't use bleach in your laundry, hydrogen peroxide (1 cup to a load) makes for a good disinfectant.

My favorite blog post this week:
Celebrating Jesus with your kids...go here for great ideas on making your own resurrection eggs!

No words needed (favorite photo or picture, yours or others you want to share):

My sweet nephew: I love those blue eyes and his sweet smile!

On my mind:
Praying hard for my sister in law, Jill who is in a drug induced coma right now. She is having trouble breathing on her own, but slowly improving. I'm so glad that my God is the Great Physician and that she is in His hands.

Devotionals, Scripture Reading, Key Verses:
"Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?' And I said, 'Here am I. Send me!'" -Isaiah 6:8.

as always...thanks to Sandra for hosting Happy Homemaker Monday each week!

Hannah Reads to Baby Ethan

Hannah just loves her baby cousin Ethan! She had so much fun seeing him this past weekend. She loved talking to him and reading to him. Here's a clip of her reading "Brown Bear, Brown Bear"

Helping the Adam & Beth and more birthday

We had a great time with my family this past weekend. We are so excited for Adam and Beth who just moved into their dream home last weekend. Beth said that instead of coming down on moving day, that it would be more helpful for me to come and help with unpacking...so that's just what we did. While Beth was at work on Friday, Seth worked on his sermon and Mom, Hannah, and I enjoyed some time together. We went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch and some playtime them headed back to the house to get some work done for Beth. We washed and polished all the kitchen cabinets...they were shining by the time Beth got home from work. We enjoyed Mom's yummy soup for dinner and celebrated Hannah's birthday that evening.

It was so great to see Ethan...he changes so much every time we see him. It was fun to share Hannah's Bumbo seat with him and see him enjoy it!

look at those blue eyes and that sweet smile!

Friday was beautiful...so we headed out for a walk. Here's Momma and baby posing in front of their beautiful new home :)

Hannah loved reading to her baby cousin

She's getting better at the candle thing...she blew one of them out all by herself this time!

so excited!

she loves licking the frosting off the candles

yum!

a new jumper from Nana & Pop

a personalized train whistle from Uncle J

fun bubbles from Auntie Beth and Uncle Adam

how fun! Swimming butterflies and a net for the bathtub!

She loved sitting on Nana's lap to open gifts

thank you family for all the great gifts!!

On Saturday, Beth and worked around the house. We did lots of cleaning, unpacking, and organizing. Seth moved the rest of the boxes that were in the living room to their respective places which was a huge help too! We helped Jeremy learn how to make lasagne and enjoyed a delicous dinner together before heading home. It's always hard to say "good-bye" but we are so thankful for the special times we have together!