Fourth of July Joy

Fourth of July has come and gone....again. I am thankful for a day that has been set aside to remember the cost of the freedoms we enjoy. This year we stayed home....again and were blessed to have Mark off for 4 days. We got to enjoy having our hubby and Daddy with us from Friday before til the Thursday after the holiday. It was WONDERFUL!!!

We had a pitiful little car wash to raise money for the kids, Nathaniel and Ian to be able to attend Jr. Camp. They each made a whole $10!!! They washed their parents' cars and then four other cars of church members. The poor little guys so on the corner for hours, yelling for people to come and get a car wash, but alas, noone ventured our way. Thankfully, the kids were completely relying on the car wash for their funds. They are all going and looking forward to the week away at camp! Justin has been sooooo jazzed that he has been packed for 2 weeks!! He has to keep wearing the same clothes every few days because everything else is ready for camp! LOL

Back to the Fourth. We slept in and then Mark went to work in the fireworks booth that Lighthouse Christian Academy runs every year. The girls and I made salads, fruit, and a flag cake then got ready for the celebration at the church. After Mark came back, showered and took a short nap, we headed to the church at 4:30. I immediately went to work making sure the instruments were set up for our Jazz ensemble and groups that were going to sing.

The celebration started at 5. The church provided the tri-tip sandwiches and members brought the sides and desserts. There were quite a few people who attended and we had a huge tent set up on the parking lot with gigantic "air conditioners" set up to keep us cooled down. It was a HOT day!! The music entertainment started at 6 and we had the Rialto Youth Chorale, Lighthouse Voices, a trio, a duet and the Jazz ensemble who played and sang. Everyone did a great job and I personally had a wonderful time playing the jazzy renditions of classic church songs like Amazing Grace, The Blood, I Feel Jesus, Dance Like David, and other songs. We also had patriotic songs like I Still Do, God Bless America, America, and others.

At dusk, we started the fireworks display. There was a cordoned off section of the parking lot and everyone brought their chairs over to watch as some of the men set off a $500 box of fireworks purchased by the church. After all those were set off, the area was opened to parents and their children to set off their own small fireworks. Justin got to set off around $15 worth and LOVED every second!!

Then, it was over and everyone quickly helped to clean up and put away the tables and chairs, instruments. etc. It was a wonderful day spent with family and friends. By the way, while the celebration was going on, the customers from the fireworks booth were invited to join us. We had several families sit down with us and enjoy the food and fellowship. I hope that they come back and decide to make ILC their church home!!!

Thank God for the men who fought and are still fighting for our freedom. God Bless America, land of the free and the brave!

Justin's and Jessica's EXCELlent Joys

Well, I said I would come back and brag on my kiddos, so, here goes.

Towards the end of school, Justin went to an assembly. They were handing out awards and Justin heard his name called. His award was for being THE highest level reader in his entire elementary school. He had tested at 12.9+ on his STAR reading. That number indicates that my 9 year old is reading at college level and beyond and comprehends what he is reading!!! Needless to say, we were jazzed that he was honored and that he is doing SO well. Just goes to prove that NO TV makes a little guy love reading all the more and helps him to EXCEL!!!!

On the day that Jessica graduated, *sniff*, from 5th grade, she also was a recipient of a great honor. For academic EXCELlence, she received a letter and certificate from President Bush. It was the President's Gold Seal Certificate for Academic Excellence in her overall education! She was the only one in her class to receive this award!

Isn't that just AWESOME??? I love my babies and am SOO proud of them and their achievements.

P.S. Marissa was homeschooled, so, she didn't get any awards but we are looking forward to seeing what she will do now that she will be in 8th grade and in public school. Go Rissa!!!

Finally-Another Post

Hello all!!! I am still in the land of the living!!! HAHAHA Sorry that a whole 2, oh my, 2 months have passed and I haven't blogged!!! I have to say that blogging just was not high on my list of priorities with finals and the beginning of summer on the horizon. I am back and hope to be more faithful with this blogging enterprise. Well, let's see if we can catch up with what has been happening, ok?

May came and went in a blur of classes, papers to write, Spanish to learn, and BIG speeches to give. My BIG speech was a persuasive speech about drunk driving and it's dangers. It took us 3 weeks to prepare the speech and 2 weeks to have the whole class perform. I have to say that it was a pleasure to finish my speech, have the class ask me questions and make positive comments, and for my instructor to whisper, "Wow! I mean, WOW!!" Comments on my speech from my young classmates included, "Where do I sign up for MADD?", "You really moved me to be sure to have a designated driver" and the best one, "Makes me want to never drink and drive!!" I got a VERY high score and ACED the whole class!!! My Spanish class was harder to earn an A BUT I DID IT!!! As for my Critical Thinking and Writing class, the instructor returned from her operation with the good news that the cancer had been localized and the doctors had gotten all of it!! I wrote my heart out on the last few papers and missed an A by 8 points!!!! My GPA for the semester was 3.6667!!!!! Now I only have 12 units to complete to obtain my Associates of Arts and Science both!!!!!!!!

June came and went in a blur of trips to central and northern California to visit family, my nephew's graduation, and lots of activities at the church. We finished the month with a quick revival with Rev. Jonathan Stringfellow. It was an awesome time of refreshing and seeing new souls added to the kingdom!!

I will brag on my kids in posts to follow because they are EXCEPTIONALLY bright and awesome in my estimation!! Be sure to check out what they have been up to!!!

Glad to be back and hope to be able to keep going faithfully when I go back to school this fall. If I slack, just email me and remind me to freshen up my blog, ok? Thanks for coming by and checking to see if I had finally done anything!!!