Valentine's Day Wreath

E made this cute  Valentine's Day wreath in her co-op class. I love it and am so glad I get to benefit from her craftiness!

F.L.O.W. 2012

This semester E had the privilege to be a part of this great group of homeschooling friends.

After co-op each Tuesday, they would eat lunch together, have a devotional, then go out around town to minister in various areas.

Throughout the semester, E went to the nursing home to visit with the residents, cleaned stoves at the local Habitat for Humanity, organized food at the local food bank, and did chores at the Humane Society. I am so thankful that she got the opportunity to serve others this semester and she loved doing it!

The Frog Story

Yesterday, as we were loading up to go to co-op, somehow a frog got in the car. I have a child who is TERRIFIED of frogs, so you can only imagine the mass hysteria that went along with that. There was some refusal by her and another sibling to get in the car with a loose frog. After 10 minutes of looking for the frog and not being able to find it, I finally declared that they would just have to deal with it and ride with a frog or stay home from co-op by themselves. They reluctantly got in. 

Fast forward to today...we get in the car and look what we find on our dashboard...a crispy fried frog! 

Immersion 2012

This is a youth activity at church. They had several games they played that  included some of the ingredients shown here.

Things like a slip-n- with eggs, chocolate syrup, and oil just to name a few.

They had a huge relay race filled with crazy things they needed to do with all the ingredients. Things like "flour" ghosts, cracking eggs on someone's head, drinking gross things, etc. They all had an absolute blast getting dirty!!!

E with some of her friends after the games!

The Launch 2012

The youth group kicked off their new school year with The Launch last night. E had a fantastic time eating supper, playing games, and being challenged from God's Word!

photo: via Breaking Point 

I am so thankful that she has a great group of friends who love the Lord and desire to have a closer walk with Christ.

Rewired 2012

For camp this year, E went to Rewired with our church. This is an event where they stay at our church from Sunday to Thursday. During the day, the participated in local community projects and at night, they gathered with dozens of other church youth groups and had an amazing time of worship.

Photo  via Breaking Point

She had an amazing experience and is already looking forward to next year!

Camp 2012

E is going "away" to camp this week. It is actually only 5 minutes from our house! Our small town church is participating in a camp that connects other church youth groups together through large city wide ministries throughout the day and collective worship each night. This is her first year participating and she could not be more excited.

I will share more pictures when she returns later in the week!

The Suprise Party

Last night, we were able to pull off a surprise party for E's 13th birthday!

A few of her friends came over and popped up from behind the island when she walked in the door. She was genuinely surprised!!!! Love her facial expression :)

Group shot of the girls.

Of course you get the camera out and they want to have some fun shots...love this one!

What a great group of girls! I am so thankful that the Lord has blessed E with such sweet friends this year!

E Ball Update

E is having a great time playing ball this season. It is always fun to see an improvement from one year to the next. So far they are undefeated! yeah!

E and part of the team

Lady Dynamites 2012

E is playing for the Lady Dynamites again this year. They have a great team with wonderful coaches. She has learned so much from them and has really grown as a player.  We are looking forward to another winning season and the privilege of cheering on these sweet spirited 11-12 year old girls!

E's Sewing Project

E made this pillow at Co-op this semester.

She did all the stitching by hand. I think she did a fantastic job! We are going to be adding some new fabric in her room and this is part of it. It is going to be so cute....more to come on that later!

E got Braces!

Co-op Performances and the Art Gallery

The last day of Co-op for this semester, several classes were able to demonstrate things they made or learned during the semester. S took a Cheer and Gymnastics class and they demonstrated a cheer they had learned. It was really  good to see how well they did!

E took a painting class and they displayed their art pieces in an Art Gallery for everyone to come by and take a look.

She did some great pieces, learned a lot, and really enjoyed her teacher! She is looking forward to taking another art class next semester!

E with her teacher

Recipe Contest - Winners!

S and E both placed in the annual Recipe Contest at our local fair. S won first and E won 3rd place! I am so proud of both of them!

We got a huge surprise when S also won GRAND PRIZE this year! They take all the first place winners and choose a GP from them. How cool is it that this year they chose S!!!!

7th grader

My baby girl started 7th grade today! She is growing up so fast.

We are looking forward to another fantastic year!

E's First Camp Trip

Group picture of the youth that went to camp in IL.

The time has come....

for E to leave for camp! She is so excited....

and I am full of mixed emotions. I am happy she has the opportunity, but sad that she will be gone for a week! I will miss her terribly!

New Hair Cut

E got a new hair cut today.

How  cute is she?! She is looking way to grown up for this momma!

E was excited that she was finally "too old" for VBS :) However, she did get to help with VBS! This year she was in the snack area along with her friend M.

This is the girls delivering food to some of the workers. She had a great time...and how could you not when you get to spend all morning with your best friend!

E turns 12!

Happy Birthday to my beautiful 12 year old!

This picture was taken at 6:45 pm...the time she was born.