Surprise!!!

 

We did it! We managed to pull off a surprise 13th birthday party at home(!) for Strike...tho' it certainly helped that we celebrated a week early - when she was least expecting it :)  I took her shopping so her sister could decorate the house, make a cake & get things in order for the guests to arrive at 6:00 PM and for us to arrive shortly after that. All went according to plan...without a hitch! We stopped on the way home to pick up a pizza  & walked into the dark house to a  flashing camera - & after a slight awkward delay...a shout of "SURPRISE!" as friends & family popped out all over the place :) She was sooooo surprised! She had no idea whatsoever what she was walking into. We had dinner, played BINGO (w/ lots of silly prizes at stake) & later the kids played the WII & her girlfriends slept overnight.

 

Playmaker made her cake ... I think Spokes may  have helped as well.

Fun, fUn, FUN :)

I've got mail! :)

...and it's not junk mail(!) - or bills (hooray!) - but rather something much more fun! ... a prize I won in a drawing over at The 4 Bushel Farm. I love the recycled wrapping paper! Thank you, Farmgal!



I consider myself to be "conservative", so the description below has me wondering what makes a "Liberal" feel guilty?? :)

What does it really take to live eco-effectively? For one year, Colin Beavan swore off plastic and toxins, turned off his electricity, went organic, became a bicycle nut, and tried to save the planet from environmental catastrophe while dragging his young daughter and his Prada-wearing wife along for the ride. Together they attempted to make zero impact on the environment while living right in the heart of Manhattan, and this is the sensational, funny, and consciousness-raising story of how they did it. With No Impact Man, Beavan found that no-impact living is worthwhile--and richer, fuller, and more satisfying in the bargain. via Amazon.com product description

In honor of Farmgal, who has been implementing one small change after another in an attempt to be more environmentally conscientious, I intend to recycle this book right down to the wrapping paper & ribbon! So stay tuned for a book review/giveaway in the near future!

arkwork by budding arktists :)

Following are the works budding arktists submitted for Arkeology's powerpoint art gallery at the end of the play this weekend. I cropped some of the arkwork bc the arktists autographed their masterpieces with their full name.

Arkeology

Our construction crew did a marvelous job converting our choir loft!

SO MUCH detail.

The closer you looked, the more you saw! :)

below....the organ :) You'd hardly recognize it!

We narrated the entire program with Scripture
& used a Powerpoint presentation to change the sky from clear

to stormy...

to sunny...

to rainbow!

below
Strike is the Zebra on the right.
....told ya pajamas make great costumes :)
Tho' a bit big, thanks to a drawstring,
they didn't require altering after all.
SO SIMPLE!

Two of this. Two of that.

below....

(elephants at dress rehearsal)

&
Noah & penguins during our final performance

At the end we shared a Powerpoint slide show of the kids preparing for the performance, "Ark Art" that children made, & "Noah's Nursery" for which several parents submitted photos of our precious babies & toddlers dressed in animal costumes. So incredibly cute, they were! :)

I had planned to get the congregation involved by having them help us create an acapella rainstorm to set the stage but as time got closer, I let that go. I loved the idea!! - but it was an extra challenge we just didn't need.

Every week we tweaked our plans a bit more...made changes.... worked out little bugs - all the way up to the very end - until time no longer afforded us that option.

I'd love to share pics of all the clever costumes but I don't feel right posting pics of the children without permission. I included a few here bc I figured they wouldn't be recognizable.

All in all over the past few months, it took God (I'm sure it was Him who helped us identify a major technical issue at the very last minute & remedy it just in the nick of time!) & about 50(!) people, each doing their part (including 16 lively "animals") to pull this off! It was a tremendous team effort! The kids rose to the occasion beautifully! I could not be more proud of them!

Stay tuned for "Ark Art" tomorrow!

Funny Friday - Two Cute

How twins are made....

Sorry - I don't know the source of the pic here - but isn't it two cute :) There are twin boys in the Arkeology play (Which - by the way, is this Sunday... Yikes!) & I just cannot keep them straight to save my life! :)

Self storage

Just stumbled on this article this morning. Something you'll have to see to believe. I guess it gives new meaning to "thinking outside the box".

Funny Friday

Rain is in the forecast all weekend here so this just seemed timely in that regard :)

My house is in pretty good order & it will probably be too soggy to do much work outside so I'm hoping to get my laundry all caught up today & plan simple dinners for Sat & Sun. That way, over the weekend, I can do some things I enjoy without feeling like I should be doing something else :) My plan is to work on my quilt, read & maybe write some handwritten notes to mail.

Happy Friday! Have a nice weekend!