And it was a success!

I'm finally getting my wits about me again today - the retreat (Fri/Sat) went great and I am exhausted! What a week. Whew. And the funny thing is - 6 months of planning went into this and it was over in the blink of an eye. There were a couple things I would have changed, but they were minor details, so all in all, I'm very thankful for how the whole thing came off. Such a great journey. Now I have no idea what to even think about! :)

So now I have a little bragging to do about my babies, so if you don't have much tolerance for that kind of thing, here's where you want to sign off. You know, it's the only-a-grandparent-can-really-appreciate kind of stuff. :)

Jack: 1) He had big news a week or so ago - he won a coloring contest sponsored by the major health care provider in South Dakota! 1st graders throughout the state submitted entries - 750 total, and they picked 20 winners. Jack was one of them, so he gets a $50 savings bond! He was SOOO proud. Pretty cool, huh? Noah tried to be happy for him, but got upset at one point when he thought Jack would get to go to college longer than him because Jack now has $50 more in his college account. :) Love it. 2) Jack also scored 4 goals at his soccer game Saturday, so he was a happy kid. 3) The other night, he recited the page numbers of his favorite hymns from school chapel. How cute is that??

And Noah - he's done some interesting things lately . . . 1) He sat down at school last week and wrote down all 32 teams in the NFL from memory. ?!? Not sure how I feel about THAT. And it's not like he even watches that much football! 2) He's proving to be a whiz at piano - he "rewrote" the ending of a song from his lesson book because he thought it sounded funny. And wouldn't you know, his version DID sound better. THEN he replicated a little tune from the Wii on the piano - no music or anything, just figured it out. I was shocked. 3) He finished reading his first novel in 4 days - a 200 page mystery. He's discovered he loves laying in bed reading at night before he goes to sleep. Yep, he gets that from ME. :)

Okay, enough already, right? I just LOVE love love getting glimpses of how God is molding their lives. It's awesome.

This week my focus is getting life back in order around here. I have about 3-4 hours of bible study ahead of me tomorrow in order to get caught up from last week. But I look forward to it - some peace and quiet and time to focus on God. There is no better way for me to spend my time.

(Oh, and I haven't even mentioned the WEATHER here. Oh. My. Word. It was 86 here on Thursday. Then it started snowing on Friday. Snowed on and off all weekend. Then got 6 inches last night. ?!?! Enough already!!)

I got nothin' for ya this week . . .

Wish I had something interesting to fill you in on, but I'm drowning in retreat planning. Our church's women's retreat, which I have been coordinating, takes place this coming weekend so I'm in full "retreat mode" this week, finalizing paperwork and 347 other details. Okay maybe not that many. But I'm feeling the pressure, people.

The build-up of this week is head-splitting (I did this last year too), but the feeling of euphoria once it's all over is unbeatable. Not that I'm dreading it - I'm totally not - it's just so awesome seeing 6 months of intense, hard work come to fruition. And this year has been really special because my committee and I have totally seen God moving and at work in this. We have had bumps, bruises, road blocks, closed doors, and have watched God remove every single issue for us. Incredible. No other word for it.

And that's what I've learned about service. It can be so easy to say no when God seeks you out for a job or project, big or small . . . we have so many excuses . . . but the thing is, if you don't go out on that limb with Him, and take these journeys with Him, you are the one MISSING OUT. He wants to reveal Himself to us, to show us what He can do, but He can't do it unless we make ourselves available. I was terrified two years ago when I was asked to coordinate the annual women's retreat. I'm not kidding - terrified. After several prayers telling God that He had the wrong person, and getting nowhere with that argument, I said yes. Now, two retreats later, I'm soooo glad I did. What a ride!! I feel really blessed to have been able to do this. I can't wait to see what He has in store for me next.

If you are so inclined, say a prayer for me this weekend - and pray that the 65 women attending would walk away renewed and fulfilled. Prayers for good weather wouldn't hurt either!! :) Thanks, dear friends and family!

The proverbial light at the end of the tunnel!

The countdowns are beginning around here - and I am soooo excited. Two days until our big consignment sale at the school (I have 150 items marked and ready to go). A week and a half until the ladies retreat for church that I've been coordinating (that will be one major WHEW when it's over). Three sorority meetings left. Three Awana nights left. Five weeks of BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) . . . but I'm not as happy about that one - wish it went all year. Five weeks of school left, which equates to 25 school days. I feel like we're slowly starting to shed these chains of commitment and we're on our way to being FREE! I'm craving freedom. To go camping. To sit at the pool all day. To sleep in. To play with my kids. To HIDE for the summer! :)

Anyhoo. I have a lot on the calendar between now and then, but at least the end is in sight.

Did y'all have a good Easter? Ours was fantastic - spent too much time in the car (4 travel days, people!), but it was worth it, getting to spend a few days with my sista and her family. It's an interesting milestone in the progression of life when you find yourself spending a holiday with your siblings, but not your parents. We do still spend most holidays with our parents, but this one was different. We felt old. :) We were the adults and our kids were the cousins looking forward to seeing each other. Where do the years go?

We sure do have cute kids, though, don't we?

This is our totally adorable nephew. He doesn't like me. I'm serious. Anytime I tried to hold him he burst into tears. Uggh - broke my heart. Mark, however, is another story. He liked MARK. Why is that?! Mark has earned the nickname "Baby Whisperer" in our family - he has the most uncanny connection with babies and toddlers. They just adore him. Anyway, note to my nephew: listen up little dude, the next time I see you, you had better be over this or you'll kill me!

This is a LONG post. Sorry.

We survived our 3rd major snowstorm in 2 weeks - this one being the biggest in terms of snowfall - 14.5 inches! With MUCH bigger drifts of course. Our neighbors have one in their backyard at least 10 feet high. Unreal. Because in good 'ol South Dakota we always gotta have our 50 mph winds to go with the snow. We don't have that pretty snow with the big snowflakes peacefully falling straight down. Our snow comes straight sideways. And whips you in the face. Nothing pretty about it. Here's a view out our back door:

Poor Mark trying to stay on top of the drifts in the driveway. He snowblowed (or is it snowblew . . ?) FOUR times during this storm. He was a sport.
We made the best of our confined weekend and got very productive.

Studied for Awana. HARD. What these kids have accomplished this week is AMAZING, people. They are working on Psalm 23. Totally adorable. I'll have to record it and post it . . .

Colored Easter eggs. Very intense process with these two - they strive for perfection. Check out their expressions . . . .


Dad even joined in the fun and did his own egg (only one. The boys would only allow ONE for each of us.) For those of you that know him, I'm sure you can guess what he did with his.

His would be the purple and yellow one on the top - ? Guess what that stands for. Nothing to do with Easter, I assure you. Mine is the cute yellow one with green polka dots. I joked that I did green and yellow for the Packers. No one thought that was funny. Hmmph.
When the snow finally quit, the boys all headed outside to assess the damage. That would be Jack laying in the snow. Do you see how much is there???? Uggh.

Here's a shot of the 3-ft. wall of snow along our VERY clean driveway. Mark does nice work, no?

And here's Noah taking a break . . .

Noah got his once-a-month turn sleeping in our bed over the weekend. Here's why we don't make a habit of it.

When I came upstairs to bed, here he was, laying perpendicular across the bed with his THREE dogs and big red blanket. (The head of the bed is against that green wall) Yes he sleeps with all this stuff EVERY night. This is what we have to deal with - Noah's head is usually over there on my stomach and his legs are on Mark's. It's always an interesting night but we put up with it because we're pretty sure he's not going to be asking to sleep with us when he's 16. At least I hope not.

So, moving on to this week. It's nuts. Yesterday I spent the entire day marking stuff for our consignment sale at the school. I marked 100 items. I haven't even made a dent yet, people. I have boxes upon boxes of the boys' clothes to still go through. I might have a bit of a shopping problem when it comes to dressing my kids. Good thing I didn't have any girls. We'd REALLY be in trouble.

Today I spent the morning working on the upcoming Women's Retreat for church that I'm coordinating. Two weeks away. I'm starting to get a little panicky. Then, here was my massive afternoon project:

That would be our former camper on the left, and our new one on the right. Today I moved everything from the old one into the new one. Oh. My. Word. Did we have a lot of stuff in there. Then I scrubbed the old one within an inch of it's life because we sold it to our very good friends, and she is just like I am about cleanliness so I had to be sure it was up to her standards. :) I even vaccumed and scrubbed the icky, filthy external compartments. Then her husband thought he was going to put some wet wood in one of them and I nearly had a fit. He did it anyway. I didn't have a fit, but immediately called her and let her know the front left compartment HAD BEEN spotless until her husband thought he needed to actually USE it. The nerve.

Here's the new one: (I'll give an indoor tour later, when it's all ready to go)
And here's the old one. Goodbye, old friend. I actually felt sad when I saw our friend pulling away with it. We bought this one when our kids were 3. We have more memories in that camper of our babies growing up. Uggh. Yes, only WE can get attached to a camper. I am excited to use the new one, but am thinking it will be JUNE by the time all this snow melts.

Tomorrow is the craziest day of the week - my bible study in the morning, my bible study ladies here for lunch, a retreat meeting, Awana and sorority in the evening. I'll be a happy girl tomorrow night when it's all over. Then we're off to see my sister and her family in Iowa - whoo hoo!

The best part about this week? It's Holy Week. The most important time in Christian history. Every year I love studying about the events of this week, and it never fails, every year I learn something new. Take some time this week - think about the magnitude of what Jesus accomplished for you. It always leaves me awestruck.
Happy Easter!

And here we go again . . . .

Yet another storm has its sights set on the Black Hills - due to arrive here in the next few hours.

The novelty of this is wearing off, folks.

The first storm was a hoot. The second was fun, but cabin fever set in by the end of the 2nd day. This being the 3rd storm in 2 weeks . . . I'm not so amused anymore. The fun is over, and this is now becoming a nusance. Mainly because our new camper has arrived, is all set and ready for us to pick up - - but we can't because we have a few feet of snow and ice blocking our driveway AND it snowed all day today. I was hoping to do the switcheroo (move our stuff from the old camper to the new one) tomorrow. Not going to happen. I don't do well when things don't go according to MY plan. :) I am learning, though.

So I got busy and ran like 100 errands today, preparing this family for another snow day. Lots of goodies from the grocery store, 2 dozen eggs to color, a new card game, and the stuff I needed to get myself ready for our school's consignment sale - my big project for the weekend. At least we'll stay busy.

And oh yeah - another storm is predicted for Wednesday. We leave for my sister's on Thursday. If we can't get there, I will be a tad bit upset.

Oh spring, where art thou? This girl is ready for some CAMPING weather!!