Counting Down

I know I've been a bad blogger. I've been incredibly busy getting ready to go to the Philippines. I have finished writing the lessons that I will be teaching and now I'm concentrating on getting the family ready for me to be gone. I don't think any of us will be "ready" for it, but you know what I mean. There are just certain instructions that a mom has to go through, like what colors to wash together and how to use the crock pot. I'm confident that my family will be fine especially with so many praying for all of us.

Speaking of prayer requests here are some for you.

1. I'm coming down with a cold and feeling kind of crummy. I've been so careful to get sleep and use hand sanitizer and I've now added drinking Airborne to my regime. It's still coming on and I'm feeling tired. Please pray for this to be healed quickly.

2. Travel will begin on Monday, February 9th at 12:45 from Wichita. Please pray for safety and for easy connections both ways.

3. Please pray for my parents that are having to stay. My father's health is still not up to par and it's discouraging for them.

4. Please pray for my family and I would say especially Angie and Ryan as change is not always the easiest on them. Pray for the Jim and the girls as they hold down the fort. Single parenting is not easy.

5. Please pray for me on February 24th and 25th (see clock to the right). Those are the days I will be speaking. I am not a public speaker by nature...I'd rather just get the stage ready for someone else...but I know my God has called me to this and I want to be a faithful servant and willing vessel to be used by Him. He's so graciously given me the lessons already and already taught me much through them. Please pray that I can boldly stand up and speak what He wants me to say. I have a tendency to get emotional when speaking of things dear to my heart so please pray that I will be able to deliver the messages with only a few tears if He chooses.

I most likely won't be able to blog again until I get back. I might be able to facebook, but I don't have any guarantees that I'll be next to a computer. Thank you to all of you that read this and agree to pray for me. I so much appreciate it.

Awaiting the Philippine Grand Adventure,
Yvonne

Snow Days

We have been out of school for three days now and I'm happy to report that the electricity has stayed on the entire time. School has been called off because of ice on the roads. The funny thing is that most of my family has been to the mall a time or two. Still, I'm thankful for the time to get some stuff done.

One of our family traditions and I've been held to it every year is every time school is called off I make cinnamon rolls. I thought I'd take a picture of them for everyone to drool over. They were very good if I do say so myself :O) They tried to make me do another batch on the second day, but I told them that the second half of the pan was just going to have to suffice. Today we had goodies from people in the church. I foresee some dieting in our near future.

The little ones have been busy playing outside with the promise of hot chocolate if they stayed out long enough. This ploy has only worked today because the other two days have been bitter cold. (No we didn't try it on the other days!)

So here's what we've been up to.

Joel is now home from college and living in the office. He keeps the coffee pot going for us and we've been enjoying just having him around...even though I get put in head locks every now and then. The first semester of college was great for him. Now that the semester is over he's enjoying reading just for fun. He's tried to hold it over the other kids that he's already out of school, but since they've been out too it has sort of fallen flat for him.

Both Kayla and Noelle have pretty much had the same schedule this last semester. They were both in fall color guard and also had parts in the fall play, "Music Man". They now are in winter guard and had so much fun in the fall play that they tried out for the spring children's play. They both got real parts this time! They were townspeople in "Music Man" (and very entertaining I might add). In the children's play, Noelle's character is sort of an airhead that gets distracted and Kayla's character giggles and laughs all the time. Hmmm...no typecasting there.

Angie is enjoying first grade and is learning to read. Her slow start in life makes it a bit more difficult, but she's a hard worker and generally tries until she gets it. She is our resident chatterbox and we just know she's talking to make up for all the years she didn't talk.

Ryan is still working on the potty training so please keep praying for him. He did have an appointment to have a pediatric GI done to see if there's any internal problems, but because of the weather they are having to reschedule it. I have to call in January to get it set up for February. He's all boy and keeps his sister on the run.

Jim is still plugging away at the church. He went to a men's retreat in the fall called "Men's Encounter" and has since found a place with that group of men. They meet once a week to hold each other accountable and to encourage one another. It's really given him the boost he's needed. As I write this he's at the House of Bounce with the 4th Grade boys class. Yep, he's still my oldest kid.

I've taken on some more hours at work doing various secretarial duties at central office. I really do love it. The hardest part is that I'm gone all the hours that the kids are and there's no down time to get some stuff done. The older kids have been helpful in keeping laundry and dishes going. I'm still doing my Close to My Heart business too. In February I'll be travelling to the Philippines to do some mission work with a group my parents travel with. My part will be to teach three different times for a group of about 150 women. They will be attending a conference at a Christian college with their husbands. Some of them will be students there I believe. My mom and I are leading the women in a study of different women of the New Testament that were touched by Jesus's life. I've been using the time off from work this week to plan some of those lessons. Please be in prayer for me because this is a tremendous opportunity and very much out of my comfort zone. I honestly feel that the women there could teach me more than I could teach them. I do believe God has called me to do this so I know He'll provide what I need.

Well, that's what we've been up to. I know it's short on pictures this time. I'll try and get some around Christmas.

Until the Next Grand Adventure,

Yvonne and crew

Talking Politics

Today in first grade the kids got to vote for president. Much to our dismay, Angie voted for NO'Bama. She couldn't remember his name; only that it started with a "B". We just couldn't figure it out since we talk politics all the time around here. We finally asked her what made her make that choice. She said, "He has hair!" Ok, we want a re-vote. Seriously, if only it were that easy!

Until the Next Grand Adventure,
Yvonne and crew