Marshall Forest

Last week our family went over to Marshall Forest on Horseleg Creek.

We walked on the trail and had a lot of fun on a gorgeous spring day.

There was a bridge over a dry creek bed.

There were fallen trees to stand on.

There were trails to follow...

...and lots of plants to see.

It was warm and sunny.

Where last season's life ended...

...this season's new life began.

There were even cool bugs to see.
Here Julia points at a caterpillar.

It was a fun afternoon jaunt for the family.

And even Daddy got to strike a pose,

Easter Hunts

Easter, as Pastor Mac likes to say, is "the Super Bowl" for Christians.
Interesting metaphor.
This years was full of Easter egg hunts.

There was a hunt at the Library.

Julia went on her first hunt...

...and Junior helped show her the ropes.

Julia was all about eating the treasures she found.

We had another hunt put on by our church, Pleasant Valley North Baptist Church. You can see Julia was just content to pick up rocks and put them in her basket.

The church hunt took place at the Burk Farm, and Julia roamed the grounds with Daddy.

Stephen rescued an open egg.

The hunt was over in less than a minute, with speedy kids like Junior snapping up the eggs.

Syndi was in a different hunt with older kids.
She's getting so big!

Here she is hanging with Eli and Abbie.

Stephen had fun wading through the grass at the Burk Farm...

...and so did Junior.

The kids had a lot of fun playing after the Bible message.

Junior and Parker hanging out in a house.

At home, the kids decorated their own eggs again this year.
Syndi is ever the artist.

Stephen and Junior are very creative, too.
It's been so fascinating to watch how they are different from one another in their artistic styles.

Thirty farm-fresh, hard-boiled eggs, and they didn't even last us two weeks!
Hope you had a happy Easter!
He Is Risen!

Kidz Blitz 2009

Our church, Pleasant Valley North Baptist Church, recently held the Kidz Blitz program in our sanctuary.

Kids and parents alike went on stage and were involved in the competition. This particular game (shown above) had children using a razor to shave shaving-cream-laden water balloons atop their fathers' heads.
Mom held the balloon on Dad's head while the kids shaved off all the shaving cream. As it worked out, neither balloon popped, leaving the fathers dry...and rather relieved. That is, until some assistants came over and popped the water balloons on the dads' heads!
Hundreds of children from our church, other churches and our local community attended. The kids repeated after the leader, shouting scriptural truths which they were being taught throughout the night. The loudest team won points.

Even the assistants, Tony Carver (L) and Lana Ogle (R), were pulled into the fun by our event coordinator, Donnie Slade (C).

Here they ended up with powdered faces!

They hadn't bargained for that!

Kids did all kind of cool games, unlike your standard kid games. You don't normally see kids hanging from a harness on the stage of the sanctuary.

Kidz Blitz was a great event!

Kids and parents both were excited and eager to see what would happen next.

Kids learned truths from God's Word.

Kids came forward and were saved at the closing invitation.

I'd certainly give it my recommendation!

http://kidzblitz.com/

Big Day for Junior!

Today was a big day for Junior!
~
Junior, who had once tried to ride without training wheels about a year ago, decided he wanted to try again. Monday, Daddy took off the training wheels, and he determinedly worked at riding his bike all evening. Tuesday morning he went right back at it, and by Tuesday afternoon, he was riding up and down the street like a little speed demon, with nary a hesitation, and with no feet touching the ground. He took his turns easily, and was a real pro. Hard to believe we took the training wheels off yesterday!

Last night, as he was getting ready for bed, Junior pointed out that his loose tooth was bleeding. (This is the tooth that began to wiggle last week, so he took off for the bathroom to yank it! We stopped him, as it wasn't really that loose.) Tonight it was very loose, and Daddy pushed on it a little, asking if it hurt. Junior said "no," so Daddy pushed a little harder. After Daddy had the tooth perpendicular to the other teeth, and Junior said it still didn't hurt, Daddy realized it was ready to come out. When Daddy pulled the tooth up, it came out with no pain!
~
Junior has lost his first tooth! Congratulations, bud!

Syndi & Upward Basketball

Syndi has been playing basketball in the Upward program this year. She began with basically no knowledge of the game. We bought a basketball goal to put in our driveway for her to practice and us to teach her a thing or two.

Her skills have improved tremendously, and by the final two games of the season, our timid girl (who ducked when the ball came at her) caught passes and actually scored. We were thoroughly impressed. And she had a blast.

Here she is pictured (1) with her team, (2) on the court with the other 4 ready for the start of a period, and (3) taking a free throw after getting fouled. Way to go Syndi!

Awana Bible Quizzing 2009

This past weekend, Syndi traveled to Marietta, GA for the
Awana Bible Quizzing competition. Her team competed against 8 other churches from the North Georgia region.
She and her 4 teammates were quizzed on Bible facts and verses from their T&T books. It was the first year a group from Pleasant Valley North Baptist Church went to the competition, and they did well for being newbies.
Syndi had her own practice sheet, which she reviewed on the trip to the event. Sylvia and Junior went along to cheer her on! Great job Syndi!

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day!
Hope you enjoy a great day! Syndi has been attending an art class for several months.
She has worked with several types of art, one of them being pottery. This week, Syndi gave her Mom a Valentines Day gift, which you see pictured above. She made a heart-shaped jewelry box and... ...a necklace with a heart pendant.
She also made a matching necklace for herself. You can even see the "S" impressed into the heart.
Pretty neat, huh?!
A beautiful gift, SyndiLu!