Crayons, Playdoh & Wax

So church was really good today. Have I mentioned how much I love our new church? Of course there are changes going on. Right now we are down 2 pastors, so there is some shortages. And with everything that happened recently with New Life and Pastor Ted, it has made us look at how our church was being run and addressing all of that… but that is only a good thing, right?

Pastor Mike has been talking about Joseph… and it has been really good. We have covered stuff from disfunctional families to trials and being tempted. K actually had her best day at church since we started going there today. After the Ash Wednesday service at our old church on Wednesday, I told her there were no more excuses, cuz she behaved so badly!!

I got to lay hands on a friend and pray for her today too. I miss doing that. God likes to use me to pray for others, and I need to volunteer to do that at the end of services. I so love the feeling when He is working through me!

After church we stopped at Panera for lunch. Apparently it is a popular place to stop. Our Worship Pastor and his wife were there, then the Senior Pastors family came in. It is nice that I am getting to know people at the church. I am one who always knows all the pastors and I am so outspoken, that I don’t have a problem going up and giving my 2 cents

Ken actually did a few home improvement things today. I need to put a call into the landlord about one of our locks, but in the mean time dh has it working We are off to Girl Scouts in a bit. Picking up a bunch more cookies… 57 boxes… She will get her 100+ patch this year after all!! And if you still need cookies, I can get them for you!

Thirteen Things I Have Done This Year And since I haven’t done one of these this year, I thought I would definitely do the last one, since the Meme is retiring… and do an update all at once. 1. Got a Passport 2. Went to a third world country 3. Met a child we sponsor (although we didn’t know we were going to sponsor him at the time) 4. Spent a week alone with my husband (we haven’t done more than 72 hours without the daughter since she was born… I was thinking it was 24 hours, but I forgot about Girl Scout Camp!) 5. Started a new medication that is injections. 6. Had ingrown toe-nails removed on 4 toes (and none of them were my big toes) 7. Had Bronchitis (and am ready for the cough to go away! 8. Celebrated my daughters 9th Birthday. 9. Celebrated the dh’s 41 birthday. 10. Signed a contract to sell Pampered Chef. 11. Gave up Cheeseburgers for Lent. 12. Actually got to the point that I am tired of snow (that doesn’t usually happen since it usually only sticks around for 24-48 hours after it lands) And the 13th… 13. Became an Aunt for the 16th time! (He is adorable!!) on the 13th!! Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

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I actually signed the contract with Pampered Chef yesterday. Right now I am just waiting patiently for my consultant number. I did however receive confirmation that they have received my contract and everything is being processed. I have been a faithful customer since I went to my very first show 9 years ago… K was 1 month old!! Ken bought me the Apple, Corer, Peeler, Slicer!! and our pizza stone. That thing is actually BLACK now!!! It is WELL used!! (I LOVE stones btw)

I am having a kick off show next week. I figure I have just about everything here, so why not do my first show at home, should I forget something, I will just have to run in the kitchen.

I think I am going to try out a couple of new recipes. I really wish I could order the bowl on the front of the new catalog before the show, cuz I would love to make that dessert… and I would borrow one from my director, but she is planning a hostess appreciation party that night and will be showing it off.

Anyway, I will put a link to my website in the sidebar once I am officially qualified and get access to that. I have to turn in 4 shows or $1250 to qualify… so, if nothing else, by the first of April I should be qualified!!

I am doing a show in Phoenix for my Mom and sister over Spring break… so if anyone in Phoenix wants to book a show, I can do it the last week in March

I thought the Bronchitis is finally gone… and today I spike a temp. Man, I am ready to give up!! Then the nausea and headache hits. Probably a sinus infection… that would explain both… cuz the nausea is from drainage and the headache… well, it is a sinus headache (except it is up high, not in the face). I just went and checked the blood sugar… a nice 91. Oh well, I think I will head to bed (and it is only 7) (so what does the dd ask… do your b–bs hurt?? Only cuz AF is due!!!)

Yah, this probably should have been over at Better Me!!

Hey, I totally forgot to post the fact that it is Girl Scout Cookie Time!!! (granted the weekend they went on sale I was on my way home from the DR)… so, if you need cookies…. or want to help K out (cuz she always sets a goal of 100… and we turned in an order of 24… oh man, never been this low) then send me an email. (and yes, I will ship… or if you are in Phoenix, I will deliver on Spring Break!!! :)) Our prices went up a quarter this year, so they are $3.25 a box (and you can paypal the money :))

Carmel Delites (Samoas in other states)
Peanut butter patties (the one with chocolate)
shortbread
thin mints
peanut butter sandwiches
cartwheels (lowfat oatmeal/cinnamon)
Thanks-a-lot (short bread with chocolate)
and our new one…
Lemonades (short bread with lemon… highly recommended if you like lemon!!)

Thanks.
K

Well, Daniel finally made his appearence on Tuesday, Feb 13 at 5:20 in the afternoon. Apparently it was a really nice and easy birth at that. They are home and the trick now is Erin trying to find clothes small enough. He was 5# 9 oz (although the next morning he was 5# 15oz… they think the original scale was wrong). He is itty bitty!

Anyway, we had a nice Valentine’s Day. I didn’t stop running all day. I took Ken to work, then I went to work. At work I had to finish the 2nd prayer shawl I was making. I had to finally put it down at midnight the night before. I only had about 5 rows to finish and the fringe.

I then went strait from work to K’s school, cuz I was the class mom planning that party. We had a nice party with 2 senior citizen’s from a near by assisted living facility that came to join the class. After the party, K had therapy… so I told her not to even bother leaving for specials, cuz I would have to pull her out 10 minutes after she got there.

It was trying to snow all day… and the closer we got to therapy the harder it was snowing… which is the really weird part… cuz it usually snows at our end of town before the south end of town… but this time it was the other way around.

Anyway… That is about the extent of our week. K has her program this afternoon for her percussion class she has been taking before school. Other than that… I have my follow up for my toes. Oh, I did get my 2nd toes done last Friday… So now I have had my big toes, 2nd and 3rd toes done… even the podiatrist has been impressed with the amount of nail he has removed on each of the smaller toes. He has agreed that I don’t do anything normal!! (got to love it when you hear that from a doctor!!!)

Today is the dh’s birthday… we get to be the same age until my birthday in July. I always enjoy this part of the year… cuz he likes to make me feel old.

Speaking of which, I had an eye appointment on Friday, they started talking bi-focals. I didn’t get them yet… since most of my reading is on this thing, I figured what is the point.

The dd had an ad in appointment with her therapist on Thursday… which I made after her melt down at church on Sunday. We now have an Rx for her to get evals with OT & Speech. They are ruling out asperger’s disorder (which I think Ken actually has) and also Sensory intergration dysfunction… they actually think she might have both. I told her social worker at school when we returned and she was like ‘really, I would have never thought that about her’ My thought was ‘how much time have you actually spent with my dd????’. This morning we gave K ear plugs for church and she did much better. I was talking with one of her teachers that was there last week when she melted down and he said when they are in the worship/music, she seems to do ok with the loud noises… cuz it has a purpose. It was when she got back to the classroom and the noise was just the kids messing around is when she started to lose it.

I have been trying to recoup from this nasty round of bronchitis. The coughing is driving me nuts, especially at night… thus you notice the time of this post.

Oh, and the cool news… I am getting a nephew today too… I was joking with my sister when I found out she was due in February. I said, Hey, Kerry had her baby on my birthday, so why not you have your’s on Ken’s. Last week as she was waiting patiently for the hospital to get a bed to open so they could induce her, I was joking and said, well, maybe he will wait til Monday. I almost fell over laughing when at work on Friday I got a Text from her that said, since her doctor wasn’t on call this weekend, they were going to wait until Monday!! Hey, since she couldn’t have him last Wednesday (which was my Grandma’s b-day) why not have him on Ken’s!! (and it is also his cousin Dawn’s b-day… they are exactly 1 year apart!!)… So, if she doesn’t deliver today… I will have to go and change the title!!

I am trying to decide on an email address for when I start selling Pampered Chef… which one works for you… or do you have another idea??? Leave me a comment and let me know… Our upline said she thinks it is important to have our name in it… but what do you think?? What would make you remember me???

ChefLeslie@
Lescheftools@
Cheftools@
Leslie-kitchentools@

Or I can do this with or without dashes or underscores… (and then you can go down and read my long post about my trip!)

Ok, so people keep asking about the trip… and I know I haven’t written much about it. It was such a wonderful trip, and just seeing how Compassion touches the lives of these children was amazing. I think that the part that really got to me though was the sponsor part of the trip. Yes, it was a sponsor tour, so that was the focus of the trip, but since Ken and I didn’t sponsor a child down there (when we went anyway), it was different for us.

One night at dinner, we got to meet some graduates from the program. It was really cool talking with the young adults about their experiences and what Compassion meant to them in their lives. You have to remember that Compassion is a Christian organization, so one of the main focuses of their program is to introduce these children to Christ. But there was this one girl, that I just can’t stop thinking about. She went through the program, and she even told us (through an interpreter) that she knows that without Christ in your life, you have nothing, but yet she had not made the choice to become a Christian. Hearing her testimony and how much Compassion had done for her and her family really touched me. And then when it came time for questions, as usual, one of the sponsors asked her if she had a close relationship with her sponsor. She told us that she received the initial introduction letter and then never received another letter. She said she felt like she didn’t really have a sponsor. Yes, those sponsors did provide funding and she was able to remain in the program, but she didn’t have a personal relationship with them.

When talking with the kids a couple of days later in the LDP (leadership development program), these are the kids that have graduated from the Compassion program and have been recommended by the church, their teachers and others in their community as leaders, and then move on to University. When we were talking with these kids, the one thing I did notice… EVERY single one of them, when we asked them about their relationship with their sponsor, they ALL had a very close relationship and not only did they write to their sponsors more often than the required writing, but their sponsors wrote more often to them. The other thing I did notice is that every one of the young adults in the LDP program had become Christians.

That is when I realized how much more important it was for me to write… and not only write, but to pray for and to build that relationship with the child (and now children) that we sponsor.

The other thing I am thinking about doing is becoming a child advocate for Compassion. That would mean I would volunteer for them. I would get to help man a table at concerts or other type of events that they would have packets available. I could be asked to speak to churches or other groups. I have started filling out the paperwork. Just trying to figure out what Pastor I want to give my referral letter too. (the fun of changing churches…)

I am putting my Compassion button back in my sidebar. I have had that there since I started my blog… and when I moved this last time, I didn’t put it up. Dh finally got me an html editor this past week so that sure helps!!!

I have been carrying packets of 2 kids in my purse (I had 3, but gave one away) since I got home. The cool part is, if you go to the website, you can pick what country you want to sponsor a child from. One of the couples in our bible study want to sponsor one from Africa after seeing the movie Blood Diamond. I have heard it is very motivational!!! (and of course when I decided I wanted to see it, it was at the other end of town and only 2 showings a night… which doesn’t work when you want to go on a Sunday afternoon!!). I have also talked to our pastor about the fact that Compassion Sunday is coming up on April 22!!!

This week was sort of crazy. It seems to be going that way recently. I so can’t believe it is February already. My sister is due to have her baby any day. I so figured it would be today… she already had 1 on a Super Bowl Sunday… why not a boy!! (And I even asked my niece if she still had the football I bought her :))

I am getting sick. This one didn’t start in my head like most do… usually I get the stuffy nose/sinus infection that goes into my chest. This one started right with the coughing. I haven’t had this happen… but the coughing has gotten worse over the weekend and today I had that ‘taste’ that I knew Bronchitis is on the way. It is weird when the coughing gets a ‘taste’. Now it is just a wait.

Ken is in Tampa. He said it was raining there… like it did in Miami the whole game. I was kind of sad when he said he was leaving today for his trip. This is the first time since BEFORE we were married that we haven’t watched the Super Bowl together. And man, I would have won our ’standard’ bet tonight too… cuz I was cheering for the Colts… he was cheering for the Bears!! Oh well, he can pay up when he gets home on Thursday.

K had a major melt down at church today. She has been having a really hard time with the new church. She complains it is too loud. I put a call in to have her therapist call me tomorrow. This too loud complaint is getting more and more frequent (and I know I should have never Googled the symptoms… makes my head start wandering and worrying!!) (although she didn’t seem to be the least bit bothered at the Chris Tomlin concert on Wednesday night… but maybe that is because she knew it was a concert!!) The concert was so wonderful… and one of the coolest parts was at the end of the concert looking down the row and seeing my pastor at the concert!! (and he recognized me and came over to say hi!)

Ok, I am off to bed. Have a great week!! I will do my best to write something tomorrow!!