Kitchen, Catch-Up, and Cafe

Kitchen

Happy Monday! First, our menu for the week. I've decided that when we start school I will add what we're having for breakfasts and lunches, too, but for now I'm keeping it simple by just listing dinners. This week I've included a recipe that my 11 year old chef-in-training created a few months ago, which he adapted from this Hay and Straw recipe. Fun!

Monday: Cheesy Beef Potato Bake, green beans, yeast rolls
Tuesday: Teriyaki Chicken (Fix It and Forget It, p. 178), stir-fried veggies, rice
Wednesday: Pizza Pasta (a recipe created by my son! See below.) garlic bread, Caesar salad
Thursday: Leftover buffet
Friday: Take Out Chinese
Weekend: Sandwiches, leftovers, eat out after church

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"Pizza Pasta" (A Culinary Creation by Kyle)

1 16 oz package elbow macaroni
1 T butter or margarine
2 C pepperoni, cut into quarters
3 C frozen green peas
1 1/2 C shredded Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 C heavy cream
Salt and pepper to taste

Cook elbow macaroni according to package directions. While pasta is cooking, melt butter over medium heat in a large skillet and saute pepperoni. Add peas and heat through. Drain pasta, transfer to a large serving dish and toss with pepperoni and pea mixture. In a sauce pan, combine Parmesan cheese, garlic powder and cream. Add salt and pepper. Toss with pasta mixture. Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

To read more weekly menus or to post your own, head on over to Laura's.

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Catch-Up

Y'all. Guess what happened after my last post, in which I was so thankful for air conditioning??? You guessed it. We spent Thursday night camping out in the kids' rooms (the only rooms with a/c) and Friday morning with the air conditioner repairman getting our main downstairs a/c unit fixed. Can you believe it? (The same thing happened with my washing machine once after I posted a Thankful Thursday about it!) But, I still went to bed thankful for a/c that night... and thankful that we have two units!

We went over to a friend's house and had a small High School Musical 2 watching party, It was cute! I wrote about it, as well as the new musical I think Disney should write, here.

I hope you had a great weekend! I know some of you are returning from last-minute before-school vacations. I hope everyone had a relaxing time! I wouldn't exactly call our weekend "relaxing" but it was wonderful. On Saturday we enjoyed our niece's 4th birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese. We hadn't been there in years! It was fun to see her and all of her little friends enjoying the games and fun (but they weren't quite so happy to see Chuck E. the giant mouse when he showed up! Oh, the tears! They either love him or hate him, I've found!) Here's a picture of the older cousins clowning around. I didn't get a picture of the birthday girl, though!

After the party we did some work around the house and then spent Saturday evening after church unpacking our 15+ Awana boxes at the Awana office. (Whew!) It was fun to restock our shelves of all of the t-shirts, vests, jewels, handbooks and supplies that we will need during our Awana Club year. It always makes me excited about the upcoming year, much like buying school supplies does! As usual, we couldn't do it without our faithful kids, diligently working alongside us.

Then, yesterday evening we had our annual Awana leader orientation. We had over 100 people there! We enjoyed some wonderful words from our new teaching pastor, who really encouraged us in our roles to point these little ones to Christ and help them love Him more as they learn to love His qualities that they see in us. While our faithful leaders were enjoying sandwiches, inspiring words, door prizes and training sessions, the leaders' kids upstairs were enjoying our annual "Wild About Awana" party. I love having those parties for the leaders' kids when we have leader meetings. I tell ya, if you want to love on me, love on my kids! That's the philosophy I have when I want to show our leaders how much we appreciate them... I love on their kids! We had food, games and prizes for them, and they all had a great time! We had a great team of older kids and moms upstairs running the party while I ran back and forth between the big meeting and the party, checking in.
Whew! I didn't get to snap any pictures at the kids' party, but I wish I had. It's so fun to see those smiles! I did snap this one of my cute husband, "Commander Luke" speaking to the leaders. ("Commander" is the Awana term for the person who leads the entire club. To me, it seems like more of a "scout-y" term from back when it seemed to resemble more of a scouts-type organization. Our church is more relaxed, and Luke and I prefer calling ourselves the "coordinators" but once someone called me the "Lt. Commander" and, I have to admit... I sort of like it, LOL!)

This week I am continuing to flesh out our school plans. We have our big homeschool association meeting tonight, and I am officially passing the baton of "librarian" to someone else. Our fun friends that are "m's" in China are stateside so we are hanging out with them tomorrow. My hard-working daughter is working at the church cafe on Wednesday helping to cater an event. Friday is my final, major Awana work day in the office to finalize everything for the year. Add to the above a zillion errands and that's my week!

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Cafe

Lastly, (as if you haven't read enough of my rambling if you've made it this far!) join me at the Internet Cafe today where I'm talking about how God hears us, even when it seems like He doesn't. How can we know? Come find out!


Well, I'm all menu-planned and caught up. And, I'll be at the cafe all day!

I'm so very blessed that you stopped by, and have a terrific week!

Happy Monday!

We had a wonderful weekend, and I hope you did, too. We spent most of it around the house getting some much-needed things done and making the last-minute preparations for our Awana Awards Ceremony. Luke did the videos for each club ,with the help of his faithful Production Assistant (moi) who chose all of the music! He really has a gift for putting together videos. After watching the awesome videos of each club's year, I wondered how I too could get involved in such a great program!

While he was doing that, I sat and went through the lists, files, and orders I had placed, making sure we would have the more than 400 awards we would be giving out. I tell ya, our club is huge and our kids have flat out learned some verses this year! The ceremony was last night and it was a great success. Our Cubbies (preschoolers) had theirs first and then the K-12th graders had theirs. It all went off without a hitch, thanks to our awesome volunteers, our top-notch media team, and (of course) the dedicated parents. I didn't get many pictures because I was too busy running around with my clipboard or sitting on the front row counting trophies. I had to remind myself when it was my kids' turn, to see them as my child and clap and be "in the moment" rather than see myself as a coordinator of the event.

But I did.

I cheered and applauded. I remembered when they used to wear the little Cubbie and Sparky vests. I thought about all the work it has taken for them to finish their books. I praised God for how He has hidden His Word in their hearts this year, and thanked Him that it will not come back to Him void, but that it is an accomplishing Word. Praise You, Lord.

But, I didn't get enough pictures. I really wanted pictures of them with their leaders and directors. I didn't get those. Here's what I was able to snap:



Kyle receiving his award from Mr. Tracy, his faithful leader for two years.






I didn't get Bethany getting her award, but here she is coming down the steps off of the stage. This was her first year in "Trek," the jr. high program. She loved it!





Of course, some parents got those really great shots, but perhaps in all the hubbub, they didn't get a chance to get a picture with the Commander. Luckily, we bring him home with us each week, so we snagged those pictures when we got home:

We stayed late, with the help of some faithful friends and volunteers, and got the stage cleared and the receptions cleaned up. The records are locked in the office, ready for me to update for next year. Another successful Awana year has come to a close!

And I am tired. There is no "Menu Plan Monday" today. I have a plan, but no post. Besides, the guys may take a camping trip this week with some friends from Wednesday through the weekend (the opportunity has come up, so Luke's deciding today) so that would change my cooking plans anyway. With the guys away, the girls may eat at La Madeleine and order in Chinese food!

We're working on finishing our school year. We'll even finish some things this week, just in time for me to sell some of our used curriculum on Friday at our homeschool association's used book sale. Fun!

I hope your weekend was all that you needed it to be, and that your week is off to a great start!

Awana Grand Prix

It's Grand Prix night! Since I didn't have this blog a year ago, I didn't post this picture taken on Grand Prix night last year. So here they are, looking a year younger...

Awana Grand Prix is sort of like the Scouts Pinewood Derby; you get a block of wood and make your car. (Google the words "Awana Grand Prix" and you can see that it's a big deal at clubs all over the country!) In our club, the 3rd-6th graders participate. The Sparkies (K-2nd graders) come watch and cheer. The Cubbies bring their Matchbox and Hot Wheel cars and "race" them on little tracks in the main hall. It's a fun night!

There are 1st through 3rd place trophies given for speed and design. Last year out of 60 cars Bethany's car won 1st place for design and Kyle's won 3rd place for speed. Way to go!

I just have to post this picture of Bethany's car that she and Luke designed last year. Since it was her last year to participate in Grand Prix, they went all out! (Obviously she was going for design, not for speed. She's SO related to her mother.)

Here is Kyle's contender for this year.

Be sure to tune in to ESPN later for the results. Or you could check back here. :)

*Update*

Presenting the winner of 3rd place in the Speed category, for the second year running:

Way to go Kyle! (And Dad!)

Terrific Turnout!

What a great start to what promises to be a fantastic Awana year! We had around 100 leaders come to leader orientation. Our pastor spoke powerful and timely words to us about leadership, marriage and sharing the gospel. He not only affirmed all of us in our ministry, but also highlighted Awana's role in partnering with and equipping parents as they spiritually train their children. It was just the encouragement we all needed!




Down the hall, over 60 kids (leaders' children from age 5 through grade 6) enjoyed our 3rd annual "Wild About Awana" party. In keeping with our theme, we had the "Creature Teacher" come out this year and teach the kids about some "wild" animals. She brought 8 animals with her, including a chinchilla, hedgehog, python, hissing cockroaches and a huge lizard.

We also had a dedicated group of teen helpers who really did their part to make the party go smoothly and enjoyed "meet-the-creature" night as well!

Seeing those animals from all over the world reminded me that every country represented also has at least one Awana Club. Kids in those parts of the world may actually see a Senegal parrot or a Madagascar Hissing Cockroach on their way to club! Those wonderful animals not only reminded me of our awesome Creator, but of the people who worship in those far away lands. I'll be praying for those clubs and missionaries as they begin their Awana year as well.

And... as typically happens when hosting an event, Luke and I didn't eat. (We ran out of food, but that's another post...) SO naturally, we hit Taco Bell on the way home. The evening was complete. Dios es fiel! (God is faithful!)

For Whom the (Taco) Bell Tolls

I am so easily amused. I just love reading these Taco Bell hot sauce packets! It may mean that I need to get a hobby, but if I do, then so does the curator of The Condiment Packet Museum...

We went to Taco Bell today. We haven't been all summer. Because we haven't had Awana. You see, during the Awana year it's become our family's tradition to drive through Taco Bell after club each Sunday night on the way home. Maybe we started it our first year because we were up there so late and it was advantageous that Taco Bell's drive-thru was open until 2:00 AM. (Just kidding, we're not there quite that late!) Well this weekend we are ringing in our fourth year coordinating our church's Awana club, and as it turns out we drove through "the bell" this afternoon. Here comes a new Awana year, so here comes Taco Bell!

Please pray for us as we have our leader orientation meeting tomorrow and finish registering between 300 and 400 kids these next couple of weeks. It's a big job, but an exciting time for Luke and I as well as our kids who willingingly roll up their sleeves working alongside us, doing whatever we need them to do. I absolutely love being in ministry with my family. I think it's one of the best gifts God has ever given us, truly.

Speaking of those who roll up their sleeves, I am amazed and humbled by those who volunteer in Awana. The Lord so faithfully draws some of the most capable, positive and energetic folks every year. They are more "on fire" than the hot sauce at Taco Bell, and funnier too! Approximately 120 faithful leaders spice up our weekly club meetings with their warm smiles, encouragement for the children, top-notch Bible lessons and crazy games. Sometimes I just stand in the hall and smile, watching them in action.

SO... next time you drive through Taco Bell, think of Awana. Think of our amazing volunteers! (And don't forget to enjoy reading the hot sauce packets...)

Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed

"Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth." 2 Timothy 2:15