A Wonderful Surprise!

Happy Birthday Hot Pink Cupcakes-pink's her favorite color!

Cupcakes, Juice, Happy Birthday Napkins, what more could a girl want!

This was her birthday surprise. She loves dark chocolate and jelly beans! Plus I threw in a cup pencils, card and notebook!

Today was my little tutoree's birthday. I was so excited about my surprise to her I barely slept at all last night...isn't that nuts??? I was able to pick up her cupcakes and juice boxes and be at the school WAY before 12:30. I waited patiently out in the car until it was time to go in. All the while trying to hide from her. One little girl saw me in the classroom and she also saw the cupcakes but promised it was a SECRET!!!

My little tutoree was the last one to walk in the classroom. I swear she could hear my heartbeat as excited as I was. She was shocked! The look on her face was simply priceless. She passed out her birthday napkins, cupcakes, and juice boxes. We sang Happy Birthday to her....and I even gave her a present! I even got 2 hugs today from her! I think she made my day just as much as I made hers!

I can't to talk to her next Monday!!! Enjoy the few pics I took.

Taste of Home Cooking School

Mrs. Nancy and her prize

Christylee and her Mom

The Taste of Home Cooking School

Me & Mom

UCA Theatre

Mom and I went with Christylee and her Mom to see the Taste of Home Cooking School this past Saturday in Conway. It was a blast as usual. Mrs. Nancy even won a prize....it was a wine prize which we thought was hilarious since she's a preacher's wife and doesn't drink! The school lasted about 3 hours, but we got some fabulous recipes. Happy Mothers Day Mom!

It'll Cost How Much????

The broken piece...somewhere I really don't know!

The top half of my seat

Boy that looks like a comfy ride now! LOL!

My Poor Car

Luke doing research online.

Luke took some friends out to eat lunch the other day at work. Of course, having 4 people in my little focus is really a squeeze. While one of his friends was getting out of the backseat, with a broken elbow, his pants leg got caught on the lever on my seat! Off it went!! Luke thought he could fix it....so the surgery began last night. We ended up having to buy a part from the Ford dealership which should be here on Tuesday.....that little lever was an EXPENSIVE one!!! It cost us $100 bucks for such a little, but important piece. I have a feeling Luke won't be putting 4 people in my car again!

Being Tender Hearted

Sometimes I hate that I have such a tender heart.....especially when it comes to animals of any kind. This morning I let everyone outside in our usual routine. I noticed a pair of birds in our Crepe Myrtle....I also saw one of them land on the ground. I thought it was a rather small one and just figured it would fly away if one of the dogs got too close. I was SO wrong. Samson went right for the little guy....and I watched it all. I am so thankful Luke was home and could go get something to dispose of him with (in our house that would be a walmart sack!). So as I watched the little bird take his last breath with Samson looking at me wondering what he had done wrong I cried. In fact, I've cried almost all morning. Sometimes I simply hate being so tender hearted. At least that little fellow is flying in heaven.....now I just think about his poor little birdy Mom! This heart thing sometimes stinks!!!

Road Trip with Mom

Mom and I left Tuesday morning for a Road Trip! We dropped off Madison, Mertis, and Sadie at Dr. Mike's and hit the road. We went to Rogers, AR to go to a quilt store and scrapbook store. We couldn't leave there without eating some french fries from Steak and Shake....YUMMY!!! We checked into our hotel and then decided to eat dinner at On the Border. We passed by a movie theatre and saw that Madea Goes to Jail was playing. Mom hadn't seen it yet so we just had too! We were the only 2 in the theatre!

Wednesday we headed for the War Eagle Mill. It is always so pretty to go out there. We were going to head to Branson after that.....and we did....the LONG way around. Our MapQuest trip said it was only supposed to be a 2 hour trip to Branson...boy were they wrong...try 4 hours! It's OK though, the scenery was beautiful! We even found an old school in Dogbranch with a cemetery!!! We shopped til we dropped in Branson. We ate dinner at Coltons which was GREAT!!! Then we drove around a while. There was hardly anyone at Branson which made traffic a dream.

I had a blast with my Mom! Thanks Mom for a wonderful trip!!!

Scrappers Gone Wild

This past weekend I went to a Scrapbook Retreat at Ferncliff. We had a wonderful time! I was able to get 18 double pages done....which was really good for me! I roomed in a cabin/bunks with Ann and Margaret. They are always a hoot. It rained most of the weekend, but it was still wonderful to be surrounded by such pretty scenery. We made some wonderful friends and had some good laughs. Ann was able to work on her daughters wedding album and Margaret finished up the Race for the Cure. Our table mates Carrie and Cecelia were too fun. I even ran into an old friend Mrs. Margie...that was shocking and cool all at the same time! The food was delicious. I think we ate the entire weekend! I would highly recommend this retreat!

Trying Times!

Today I mentored my 2 kids at Otter Creek. My first little guy was shy as always. We "tried" to read together....but he struggles so much! He had big tears in his eyes when I picked him up today. Turns out some kids on the playground were mean to him and he tripped and fell into the fence that was outside. Then he told me his little tooth was hurting....It was all I could do not to give him a BIG old hug and tell him it would be fine. I did my best to encourage and he seemed happier when I left him today.

My other child that I mentor at Otter Creek was very TRYING for me today. I know the Lord has a sense of humor....because this kid has the attitude my brother used to have at one time! I picked him up from his classroom and we went to the library. He slumped down in his chair and refused to do his work the "right" way. I pushed all the work aside and said, "Look, you can sit up in that chair and have a good attitude or I'll just take you back to your classroom. I don't get paid to come and see you every Wednesday, I do it because I want too. Now if you don't want to participate that's fine, but you are not going to waste my time." (I surprised myself!!!). He surprised me too. He looked at me and said, "You don't get paid to come do this?" Almost immediately he sat up in his chair and we did some schoolwork.

I asked him why the attitude today. He said he had a kid hit him today in the classroom. I said, "So what did you do hit him back?" "Yeah" he replied. We talked about what the right thing to do would have been. Let's just say it was the longest 3o minutes I've had in a while!

I got in the car and told the Lord, "I tried today!" It was then I felt his gentle reply, "That's all I asked you to do!" It may not have felt like much to me, but I did today what my Savior asked of me...that's all I can do! He'll do the rest!

The Kingdom-Light (lots of posts below!)

If you look close you will see the Lords supper table cloth, the cripple stick, bird cages from the market place, palm fronds from the triumphal entry, the hammer used to drive in the nails, the swaddling cloth, 3 kings gifts, Judas's money, Shepherds Rolls, and the cloth they threw on Jesus at the cross. It took some thinking, but I think it has more meaning for sure!

The finished look.

Mom & Sharon Barker

Me, Dad, Luke

Good times! My 2 favorite guys!!!

We were told last night that this is simply the Kingdom-only lighter. I'm not sure if it really feels lighter or not...we are almost just as tired for this 1 song as we are for the Kingdom. Needless to say we haven't had any shortage of laughter during this whole experience. Mom and I were able to dress the set yesterday which is always fun. If you look closely at the front of the stage you will see many things that Jesus did during the Kingdom. Take a look!

Sunday Morning Spoiler-if you want to be surprised, don't read!

If you scroll through these next few pics you can see the look we are going for. We want to make him dissappear! I think it just might work!

A Good Time of Scrapbooking!

Anna & Corley

Corley loving that gluestick

Mom & Daughter all smiles

This past Saturday Anna and her daughter Corley came over to scrapbook. Corley was excellent!!! She had a great time of doing her own scrapbooking, watching TV, and even taking a long nap! I think she used about all of her Mama's glue but she had a blast. Anna and I haven't gotten together to scrapbook in a while and this was a nice treat. Anna's the type of friend everyone needs....you might not get together all the time but when you do it's like you've never been apart! I'm truly blessed to have her in my life!

A Day of Volunteering!

Today I actually felt like I am getting in the routine of things at Otter Creek. I met the principal and my actual tutor kids today. My first little boy is still really struggling with his reading. We worked on his spelling today though and he rocked it! One word was "smile" I asked him if he smiled a lot and he told me he couldn't because one of his teeth hurt. That kinda made me sad. I began wondering today if I was really making an impact in his life or not. Well as I was leaving the school his class was walking down the hall. He gave me the biggest smile and even waved at me. I about melted right there in the hallway.

My second tutor person is in the 5th grade. I felt sorry for his teacher as it seemed like those kids walked all over her. We were able to work on ruler reading...which he is FAST and awesome at. I have a feeling he's a class clown and just needs a little guidance. Actually to be honest, he reminds me of my brother at that age! Lord help me!!! I had a good time with him, he wants to be a choreographer when he grows up. He said he loves to dance, and the way he wiggles I'm sure he does great! He told me he thought it was cool that I got to come and get him out of class every Wednesday. I'm not sure if he thought I was cool or not, but I'm sure it was the getting out of class thing that really won him over.

I had a blast as usual. Even though I can't teach in a classroom the Lord is filling my heart beyond measure with the three kids I am able to mentor. Gotta love being a volunteer!