Sweet Blessings

Today has been long and tiring for sure. We had church this morning, of course, and we had to pick up donuts on the way for the youth. That is definitely one of the highlights of Asher and Lorelai's weeks. They never get stuff like that, but on Sunday mornings they get one if the youth are getting them. They seriously go crazy over them. During the service I kept Asher's preschool/nursery class. He is in there with his buddy Seth, and I took some pictures of them to make up for not taking any last night.

After the service I stayed at church with all the girls in the youth group. They planned (all on their own) a girl's fellowship to mainly grow closer with each other and more specifically the new girls who have moved up into the youth group. We did manicures, pedicures, and facials. They also made baked ziti, lasagna, bread, brownies, and brought some other treats. We then had "talking" time where we just discussed how our weeks were and gave prayer requests. After everyone had participated in that I realized that it had been a little over 3 hours already, and Jon was needing me to get home to take care of the kids so he could get ready for church. I couldn't believe we had already been there for 3 hours!! Thankfully, Heidi (the pastor's wife) had recently joined us and was willing to stay with the girls so they wouldn't have to end it. I later found out that they didn't leave until Jon kicked them out so he could do praise band practice 2 hours later! Wow! I'm so happy they had a good time and so thankful for the girls who participated and especially the ones who put it all together! :)

The kids and I later went back to church. The kids went to nursery while Jon and I played ultimate frisbee with the youth. Jon started this ministry called "Calvary at Borden Park" at the park down the street from the church. It's meant to reach out to the kids and their families in the neighborhood surrounding the church. They play games, have snacks, do a Bible lesson, etc. Anyway, we went to that park to play ultimate frisbee which allowed Jon to be there in case they needed him as well.

Afterwards we went back home and played outside for a little bit with bubbles that Asher's buddy Jordan (he is one of our new youth - 7th grade) gave him. Jordan is such a good friend/help to Asher! We started noticing that the mosquitoes were beginning to get Lorelai so we told them we needed to go in before the mosquitoes got us. Actually JON told them this. I think I would have known better. :) Asher is so sensitive and was genuinely concerned and worried. He ran to the door trying to get in as fast as he could. We told him the mosquitoes wouldn't get him because they only get Lorelai (which is actually true - she ALWAYS gets eaten alive by mosquitoes while Asher doesn't get touched), and he started screaming, "Oh no! Hurry Lorelai!! Get inside quick!!" Of course Lorelai couldn't have cared less. Jon took Asher outside and did the mosquito dance to get rid of them all. He was satisfied with that and decided that all the mosquitoes went home. It was so sad to see his worried face like that!

I do want to take a minute to mention what a sweet blessing Heidi (again, the pastor's wife) is to our family. Not only is she so amazing with our kids (who both love her more than you can imagine), but she really touched our family with two gifts yesterday. As I mentioned in yesterday's post, Heidi came over yesterday morning and took the kids out to play. She treated them to McDonald's and gave Jon and myself a little break which gave me a chance to clean the house without little hands pulling out everything I put away. :) Jon and I have recently made the decision to cut back on our spending pretty much completely. We no longer have allowed ourselves spending money. We have our money to pay bills, get groceries, gas, etc. Our only spending is for the kids to continue in gymnastics and Lorelai in dance. We figured they should in those because of how much they love them both and to get them out of the house more. We're also going to let our family know to not expect gifts for Christmas because we're saving the money. Only our kids will get Christmas or birthday gifts, and we're even cutting back on what we normally get them. The reason we're doing this is because of medical bills. We have a lot of medical bills mainly from my pregnancy with Lorelai because of the many complications and also from when Asher had his seizure. We are cutting back on everything in order to get these bills paid off ASAP. Our goal is to have them paid off by next January which should be completely possible if we can keep on track. Anyway, my point in saying that is because I mentioned something to Heidi yesterday about how we were saving money (however, I didn't mention why or any other details - it was only in passing). After she dropped the kids off she slipped Jon $20 for us to "do something fun." We also found out this morning on the way to church that she filled our gas tank up while she was out - she took our van since it was easier for keeping the car seats in it. I can't even tell you how much what she did meant to us especially while we're being so tight on money. Heidi has been such a joy to our family, and we're so thankful to have her in our lives! We're most importantly thankful for how much she means to our kids. They truly adore their DiDi and anyone who has even met her can see why!

We love you, and thank you DiDi!