Then Sings My Soul Saturday 7

My Weekend Adventures

My weekend began earlier than usual this week. My employer was kind enough to give each of us an afternoon off of work (paid!) to enjoy the festival in town. I chose Friday and so I got to start my weekend at noon! After returning some things to the library, stopping at the bank, and grabbing a sandwich for lunch, I met my dad, brother, nephew, niece, and some cousins and we took a tour of a chocolate factory. We really enjoyed the samples that we got to taste along the way! Unfortunately I don't have any pictures since pictures are not allowed.

Next, we made our way (mom joined us now) to the mall. My niece had received some gift cards for Build a Bear that were burning a whole in her pocket. Instead of spending it all on herself, she decided to share and let her cousin (my nephew) make a bear as well. She actually picked out a lamb to make.

First they picked out an animal.

Then it was time to stuff, add a heart full of love, and name their new friends.

They named them after family members. The bear is named Chad after my nephew's uncle. My niece named hers Jennifer after me. Honest, I had nothing to do with it! When the lady asked her what she wanted to name her lamb, my niece immediately said Jen because my aunt likes lambs.

Then it was time to give Chad and Jen an air bath to get all the extra fuzz off.

Don't forget about making the birth certificates!

All snug in their travel boxes, Chad and Jen are ready to go see their new homes.

My niece and I parted ways with everyone else and I took her to a local restaurant for supper. I promised her that we could go and have "Scooby Snacks" for her birthday. After supper, we went for a walk.

On our walk we posed with a statue of Sammy.

The next day, we went to the children's festival and had a lot of fun while my sister worked at a booth.

My niece got to make a cd at the radio station's booth. She chose to sing "I Will Rise" made popular by Chris Tomlin. She sang it without any help or music and did a wonderful job! This song has meant a lot to her and her mom during the past 5 months.

Getting her picture taken with the hockey mascot.

How many fake tatoos can she get in one day! It seems like almost every other booth was giving them out!

After we left the festival my sister, niece, and I went out to lunch at one of our favorite chinese restaurants.

We have been having really big and beautiful clouds lately! (I guess they tend to come with the storms...which I am not as fond of! :) )

That night, my parents and I volunteered at the Collingsworth Family concert. If you have not seen them in concert, I highly recommend it! They are really good and man can the momma play the piano!!!

Sunday morning, I not only was the large group leader for the 4-5 year-old Sunday School class, but I was also the room leader since the room leader couldn't be there. The kids seemed really energetic when we sang "Thank You Lord". I was being attacked first by monkeys...then bears...and finally a bunch of gators! I had about 20 kids doing the motions towards me which made it almost impossible for me to do the motions! It is nice though they get involved in the songs; there are some weeks it takes all I have to get some of them to participate. After Sunday School when I was cleaning up, one of the kids I had 2 years ago and is now in another class saw me and ran up and gave me a huge bear hug and an even bigger smile. This really made my day! He was my trouble maker who loved to try the teachers' patience when he was in class. However, you couldn't help but like him. He is growing up and in the few minutes I saw him this weekend could tell that it is not only in height!

It was a busy weekend but really fun!

Look what I discovered today!

I'm back! I've been busy but nothing too exciting. However, I was very excited to day to find this in my garden:!

This is my first green pepper! It was not there last night when I watered my garden. My spinach is pretty much done for the year. I did have a cereal bowl full of spinach about four times. Next year, I will have to remember to plant more than one row and plant each row a couple weeks apart so I can enjoy the spinach longer.

Sunday, one of my 5 year old girls in the Sunday school class I teach brought in her violin and played four songs for us. She has been taking lessons for six months and did a great job! It was fun to see the other kids enjoying listening to her and interacting with her between songs. Even the boys who like to be a little ornery were attentive.

My weekend

I spent Friday & Saturday at my parent's house. We celebrated the Fourth on Friday with a chicken bbq lunch with my parents, nephew, brother, and grandpa. In the evening, my nephew's other grandpa and step-grandma came over and we had a cook-out and roasted marshmellows followed by some fireworks. The next morning, someone let a rooster into the house! We woke up to my nephew crowing like a rooster "cockadoodledoooo!" for about five minutes! He was so excited to spend the day with his dad he woke up on his own and tried his best to wake us up too. It was fun to hear him.

My nephew & one of the 3 kittens.

Grandpa with the kitten.

My nephew with his other grandparents with great-grandpa in the background.

On Saturday, my parents and I went out for lunch with our adopted grandparents. When we got there, we noticed that their daughter and her significant other were there eating lunch. They brought their plates over and joined us. It was his birthday, so the waitresses put a sombrero on his head and we sang to him. When we went back to my parent's house, we watched a marathon of "7th Heaven" that I had rented from the library.