Motherhood

Now, I'm with kids ALL the time... Mia and I have even had a few sleepovers... but the key is, I'm always giving them back!! Well, I finally got my first, true glimpse of motherhood!! My friend Nina headed to Costa Rica for a 2 week internship, and her mother was taking care of Amiyah (her 6 yr. old) while she was away. Except her mother had to go to Idaho for one of the weekends, so with Andee's approval... Amiyah was spending the weekend with us!! Now Amiyah and I go WAY back!! I started babysitting her back when she was 2, a little cutie sitting in the back of my car with stickers ALL over her face and her coat upside down... and now she's a beautiful 6 yr. old, answering all the questions in my children's church class!!

So anyway, Friday I picked her up after work and we headed to the house to unload our stuff, put a little food in our belly and then headed off for some adventures at Target!! Hey, Nina said she like to shop... and who doesn't like Target?! Anyway, we stayed up late playing and reading our Bible stories with hopes of sleeping in on Saturday. It sort of worked!


Saturday morning was filled with cartoons and after lunch we headed out to Violet's so Amiyah could play with Mia and Cannon!! Their house is a little more entertaining than Andee and I's!! After spending the afternoon there with all the toys, and after being completely soaked after "helping" Justin water the grass... we headed back to Portland, picked up a movie and McDonalds and it was off to bed early on Saturday so we could get up early for 7:45am service!!


I have to admit, it was a little odd actually dropping a kid off at children's church instead of checking them in for class!! She was a little disappointed when she figured out I wasn't staying to teach, but the separation went well and I was even early for church!! After church we had lunch, watched the movie AGAIN and got ready for Amiyah's soccer game. Her grandpa met us at the game and took her home from there. I was officially off duty.


Well, if I never get married and have kids of my own... atleast I can say I was a soccer mom, even if it was just for a day!! It was a great weekend!! And I'm honored that Nina thought enough of me and our friendship to trust me with her most treasured possession... 'lil Miss Amiyah!

Once again...

my co-workers take it to a new level! Back in January, a group of us went snowboarding and we found out that our sales rep from Texas can sing and play the guitar! Well, we all gathered once again for meetings and then hung out on the roof of our building for drinks, snacks and surprisingly, a few more musical debuts!!! Have I mentioned lately that I love my job??

Tip Box! He actually made some $$ too!!

Springtime to me...

means the warmth of the sun on my face, I can start running outside, my feet actually stay dry when I wear flip flops, and it means we'll be taking field trips to the park for Literacy Club!! Woo hoo!!! We've already hit the part twice this year, and as always, it provided plenty of entertainment for both the kids and the mentors!! So, trip #1 was just a Fun day... a couple relays and then free time in the park...






































Trip #2, we had some special guests from Vancouver, WA. It was nice out, and we needed lots of room, so we headed to the park once again!! They taught us some fun games to get to know each other, and then we all broke up into groups and drew different kids' names from the Bible out of a hat and had to perform a skit for the audience to guess the "mystery kid". It was a blast!!

Easter Sunday!!

Don't let their good looks and smiles fool ya! They can be a bunch of rascals... but they are one of the best classes I've ever had. Then again, I'm sure I say that every year!! Easter Sunday was my biggest class yet with 22 kids!! So what if we were only supposed to have 15... what's 7 more 5 yr. olds!! :-) For someone who avoids leadership positions at all costs... I'm still not quite sure how I ended up being the head kindergarten teacher for the past 5 yrs!! But I know it's God's will... otherwise I would have lost my mind years ago!! Only God could supply the patience and overflow of LOVE that I have for these kids!!!

Just another night at the Craft house...

while Mom and Dad are away... it's PLAYTIME!!!! Violet and Justin had a b-day party to attend, so Aunt Stacie came to the rescue!! We spent the night playing Barbies, experimenting with static electricity, stuffing our faces with popcorn and watching numerous Barbie movies!! It's always fun times at the Craft house!!

Mia's rendition of Swan Lake, in case you couldn't tell!

Dang it! You turn your back for 1 second...