Sunday School Teacher

This Sunday, Mark and I got the chance to be Sunday School teachers!  Well, I did the "teaching" and Mark ran damage control.  It was so much fun!  I taught in Lauren's class and was a teacher to 11 three year olds.  We had 4 high school student-helpers, and Ben came with us, also.  Besides one little boy getting a bloody lip from tripping on the rug, it went pretty well!  We made birthday invitations (for Jesus' birthday party :)), read the story of Christmas (okay, I read and they listened for about 30 seconds), played with toys, and finished with some goldfish and water.  The best quote of the morning came from Lauren:  "I'm not afraid of God anymore," she said.  I told her that was good...?


It took me back to my childhood, growing up in church and attending Sunday School.  Church was a big part of my life when I was a kid, and I am so thankful that my parents gave me a good Christian foundation to live my life on.  It always meant so much to me that as a child and young adult, whenever I had a question about God, my parents could always give me an answer that was Biblically based.  As an adult, it's nice to know that I belong to such an awesome church (Christ's Church at Mason) that gives that same spiritual guidance.  We have been members for almost 6 years, and I have learned so much about the Bible and met some incredible people during this time.  


I hope you will spend some time in the next couple of weeks focusing on the reason we celebrate Christmas, and give thanks to God for the blessings you have in your life.  One of the most precious blessings I give thanks for is that I  live in a country where I am free to teach a class full of children about the birth of Jesus Christ.  And I am so thankful that I have such a wonderful place to do it!  Thanks CCM!

Our Week

I usually have Fridays off, but I switched and had Monday off, instead.  I had a great day on Monday hanging with my girl.  The house was clean and I was pretty unmotivated to do anything but play and relax.  We had some Barbie time, we had a tea party, we painted some potails, we watched some TV - all in all, it was pretty awesome!

playing Barbies/tea party

Then...it was time to go to the doctor for her 3 year check up.  She started to panic, but I informed her that I didn't think she would need any shots.  Much to our dismay, she needed one.  She got upset, but not near as upset as when he looked in her ears!  After having repeat ear infections and tubes, she is completely freaked out by anyone touching her ears.  Here are her stats:

• Weight:  32lbs
• Height:  37 inches
• Percentile:  60% for weight, 40% for height

at the doctor, after her shot!

The doctor said she is doing great!  She is potty-trained (except at bedtime), she's talking well, and is learning more and more each day.  She is constantly asking me when she can go to school now that she's "a big girl."  I keep telling her to quit rushing me!  I need some time to take in all this cute 3 year old behavior, 'cause I know what lies around the corner.

On Thursday, Mark traveled to Columbus to act in a commercial for an attorney's office.  He had to get up at 5:00am to drive there and be on set by 8:30.  If you know Mark, he is not a morning person.  He isn't mean or grumpy, he just simply won't get out of bed!  When it comes to acting or directing, however, he bounces out of bed with glee.  I remember when he was shooting a film called 13 Floors during the Summer of 2007.  He was getting up at 6:30 in the morning and coming to bed between 3:30 and 4:00 the next morning; not once did he complain.  He loved it!  It's nice to see him so happy, doing something he enjoys so much.  

at the shoot in his dressing room

This commercial was shot at a production company that has all the bells and whistles.  He even had his own dressing area!  He met the attorney, who told Mark that he was chosen out of 215 people to act in the commercial.  He had a great time and is very excited about the increase in acting opportunities that he has had recently.  Hopefully there are more to come in 2011!

Bengals Game

On Sunday, I was fortunate enough to spend the day with my cousin, Jeremy, at the Bengals vs. Saints game at Paul Brown Stadium.  We had awesome seats in the "Club West" section.  It was only 30 degrees outside, but I was pretty comfortable throughout the entire game!  The Bengals lost (of course), but they did keep it interesting.  The final score was 34-30.  

 

It honestly didn't matter to me whether they won or lost because I was so happy to spend some time with Jeremy.  We grew up in the same neighborhood so we had more of a brother/sister relationship.  He was always the one beating up on me, throwing beetle-covered tennis balls at my head in a pool, making fun of me, telling potential boyfriends that I had never kissed a boy (I hadn't-but they didn't need to know that!), or my favorite, closing the door to his house when he saw me walking towards it!  Yes, Jeremy was quite the brother...but as we got older, he became one of my best friends.  We have a lot of fun memories together-one of my favorites was "Cousins Christmas" at my sister's house.  All of the cousins got together and watched home movies of Christmas, made fun of our parents (okay, mostly Uncle Terry wearing spandex) and laughed until we cried.  

Our family gets together a lot, but now that most of us have children, it's really hard to get to talk in complete sentences!  There have been gatherings where I've barely spoken to some of the people that were a huge part of my childhood.  That's why I am thankful to have gotten a piece of it back, yesterday.  Jeremy is still so much fun to be around.  He is smart, a great listener, and he always makes me laugh.  I love you, Jer!

First Snowfall

This weekend was our first taste of winter-we got our first snowfall of the season!

I was awoken on Saturday morning at 7:45 by Ben, dressed in a snow suit & boots, repeating over & over, "Mommy...you've GOT to look outside!  You're gonna be surprised!!!"  He was right, I was surprised.  We had maybe 1 inch of snow on the ground.  Even though I was annoyed that he kept waking me up every 10 minutes for a weather report, I came to a realization:  it's nice to have kids around to point out the simple joys in life.  Too often as adults, we tend to look at the negatives of everything instead of remembering the pure joy of watching snow fall and being able to play outside in it.  Not once did they say, "I'm too cold" or "All this sled-riding is wearing me out!"  Those thoughts are reserved for the minds of adults.

Here are some pics of our snowy fun!

it's not a big hill, but it works!

my "old man" dog enjoying the cold