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Gratituesday: Special Choir

April 14, 2014 by Laura 15 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

gratituesday[2]

Every year since our oldest was a 3rd grader, we’ve headed to Kansas City each spring for a big event called Leadership Training for Christ (LTC) that our church participates in with other churches in the area. Our kids work super hard ahead of time preparing for Bible bowl, skits, puppet shows, choirs, sculptures, paintings, stories, poetries, speeches…and the list goes on. It is a lot of work for parents and kids alike, but the fun we have at LTC is so worth it!

This year, our family and some friends of ours decided to team up and put together a special choir. Why? Well, let me give you a little background:

Matt and Tim played soccer at York College together for four years. At the time, Tonya and I sat in the stands together during every game – so proud of our boyfriends. :)  Those boyfriends became our fiancés, then in 1994, those fiancés became our husbands. Yep, we got married the same summer.

The years went by, and babies were born. They had a girl, we had a boy. They had a girl, we had a boy. We had a boy, they had a girl. And then, last but not least, we had a boy…and they had a girl. Yep, every time one couple had a baby, somehow the other couple had a baby. We began to wonder if we were drinking too much of the same water. However, they seemed to have all the girl-flavored water, while we had all the boy-flavored water.

We’ve loved raising our kids together, going to the same church together, and of course, playing soccer together. This year, we realized that this would be the first and last year that all eight of our kids would be in LTC together. Our youngest kids are finally eligible, as 3rd graders, and their oldest is a senior. This is it.  That’s why we signed our kids up for a small choir together.

For several weeks our families have gotten together to practice the songs. Tonight was our final practice. This weekend is the real deal.

coppcarr

Here’s a picture I snapped on my phone tonight while the kids were practicing.
I have got to remember to turn the volume down on my phone as the “snap” was completely distracting. Sheesh.

I’m so grateful for friendship and the joy these kids bring to us. Can’t wait for the fun this weekend!

Now your turn. Share what you’re thankful for!  Leave a comment on this post letting us know how God is working in your life. If you’ve written a blog post about what you’re thankful for, leave the link in the comments so we can visit your blog to read about it. We love sharing and reading about God’s blessings!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Gratituesday: Time Off

April 25, 2011 by Laura 17 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

I rarely take time off. I rarely watch movies and pretty much never watch TV. This doesn’t make me “oh such a hard worker” or “better than” or any of that silliness. (It could actually mean that I have issues – not that that would be shocking for any of you to hear about.)

It’s just that I really like working and doing things. I love writing, I love cooking, I love teaching the boys, I love corresponding with so many of you through emails and answering questions, I love creating new eBooks, I  love making meals for others, I love gardening. I love working hard. The bigger this site has become, the longer it takes to get all my blog work done. I spend quite a bit of time on it, and I love it. As I said in this podcast, my work is my play. I feel blessed to have found so much “work” in life that is fulfilling and enjoyable.

But this weekend, I took time off. We made our annual Kansas City trip, attended Leadership Training for Christ for our kids, then spent the rest of Easter weekend with friends who live close to Kansas City. I didn’t get to cook all weekend, but was instead waited on hand and foot. We got to relax and visit. I got to catch up with some loved ones I haven’t seen in months (or years!). 

Not only that, after LTC was over and we were back at our friend’s house, I sat. With my feet up.  I watched Chitty Chitty Bang Bang with the boys. And when that was over, we watched Mary Poppins. Then we watched a couple of baseball games. Every once in a while I thought to myself, “I should try to get some work done on the computer.” And then I said something to myself like, “nah” and kept snuggling with the boys or with Matt.

Sitting and doing nothing rarely works for me. I like being productive. But during those hours of down time, I felt like I truly was being productive. I feel refreshed and ready to work again.

Here are a few fun pictures of our weekend:

Malachi borrowed the camera and took some shots while we were waiting for
some of our kids’
events at LTC . Here’s a goofy one of me snacking on a Larabar.

And then Daddy got to join Mama for a picture.

After that, I grabbed the camera and said, “Okay, your turn”.
So here’s one of Malachi looking like his normal prim and proper self.

Elias and Justus were in a skit together that Matt wrote called “The Conqueror in the Hat”
(since the theme this year was from Romans:  More than Conquerors). I love this picture.

As I looked at all of our LTC pictures after the event, I realized that I hadn’t taken one picture of Asa the whole weekend. He looked and did great too…I just don’t have any pictures to show you to prove it.

I’m very thankful for our mini-vacation! And now, if I could get the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang song out of my head, that would be helpful.

What are you thankful for this Gratituesday? Write about it on your blog, then come link up with us here. If you don’t have a blog, be sure to leave a comment letting us know what you’re grateful for!

If you are linking up a blog post for Gratituesday,
please copy and paste the following sentence into your post! Thanks!


Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Gratituesday: Another Awesome Weekend

April 5, 2010 by Laura 16 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

gratituesdaynov09

Each year our older boys participate in Leadership Training for Christ (LTC), a big event for 3rd-12th graders to examine their talents and leadership abilities. Each year there is a special theme and book of the Bible to focus on. This year’s book was 2 Samuel (tough book to study!), with a theme of “The Rock”.

rock_smallGoing along with “The Rock” theme, Asa (seventh grade) took this picture
and entered it in the “photography” category. 
Framed in black, this photo looked pretty cool.

We were blessed to spend our nights with good friends who live close to the convention center in Kansas City. That may have been my favorite part of the weekend…spending time with people we love and don’t see often enough. We enjoyed a wonderful, relaxing visit on Friday before the LTC activities began! 

Friday night and all day Saturday, our boys (along with hundreds of other kids from the midwest) participated in dramas, puppet shows, choirs and other events that they had spent weeks and months preparing for.

ltc_oneThis is our friend N, pictured with Justus and Asa at LTC.

We got to strengthen relationships among our local church friends. We got to hug friends we only see once a year at LTC. We got to catch up with friends to see how the past year has gone. We got completely exhausted! It was awesome!

ltc_twoOur friend S, pictured with Justus, Elias and Malachi at LTC

Sunday we were back home in time to celebrate our Risen Savior with our local church family. We had a big Easter feast with Adam and BryAnna and a big Easter egg hunt with our church small group in the evening.

It was for sure…another awesome weekend!

What are you thankful for this Gratituesday? Write about it on your blog, then come link up with us here. If you don’t have a blog, be sure to leave a comment letting us know what you’re grateful for!

If you are linking up a blog post for Gratituesday,
please copy and paste the following link into your post! Thanks!


Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

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