Our homeschool co-op recently toured our local movie theater in town. It was a pretty neat experience getting to see what goes on behind the scenes...
We also learned that the theater does not make a profit off of ticket sales, only concession stand sales - hence, the reason for the high food and drink prices. After the tour, we got to watch a movie - and we saw it in a totally different light after knowing what went on behind the scenes. Another fun field trip with friends ;-)
In a previous post, I wrote about how LifeWay Christian Resources heard about Girly Me Missions, the ministry my girls and some of their friends are in. They contacted me because they wanted to come and film the girls in the group and do a story on them. They wanted to turn their story into a video that will be shown at next summer's LifeWay CentriKid nation-wide camps. Soooo...
The film crew arrived yesterday. They were young and energetic and made the girls feel very comfortable. They interviewed them as a group, then individually...
Then they bought everyone pizza and we had a pizza party for dinner that night. The girls had so much fun ;-)
The film crew wanted to film the girls "in action" so we invited them to visit their booth at the Owasso Harvest Festival and Chili Cook-Off the next day. The girls have been working very hard for the last few months making lots of crafts to sell including fall-scented candles, Duck tape items, crocheted items, jewelry, Christmas ornaments, Fall decorations, and baked goods. They had so much fun selling their crafts and telling people about Project Hope Worldwide, the non-profit organization that their profits were going to.
They set a goal for how much they wanted to make at the sale and because of the donations of several generous people, they were able to exceed their goal! :-) We also had BEAUTIFUL weather for the entire sale (unlike last year when it was cold and rainy). When the sale was over, the girls gathered together and said a little prayer to God to thank Him for the nice weather and for helping them exceed their goal.) An hour after the sale was over, it started pouring down rain! Mackenzie said, "I need a t-shirt that says, 'I truly witnessed a miracle!'" ;-)
This entire experience has been really fun for the girls and I'm just so proud of all of them. They have such sweet spirits and have a true love for serving others and helping those in need. I am amazed at their motivation and their selflessness. I can't wait to see where God will lead them next!
Trying to decide what to do this weekend? Check out some of these ideas!
PUMPKIN PATCHES & FESTIVALS:
Amish Cheese House (Chouteau - celebrating 10 years this weekend!Come out to enjoy the Amish way of life with free buggy rides and delicious, homemade ice cream. Jupiter Jumps, giveaways, and lots of yummy samples also included! Come anytime Saturday Oct. 23rd, between 9AM & 5PM!)
Little House on the Prairie (Independence, Kansas - Meet our very own living historians as they portray Ma and Mister Edwards on Saturday, October 30th from 10:00 am-5:00 pm!)
to get ready for the race. They've really been working hard to prepare for the big day but I've also stressed to them how it's not really that important to win - but that it's more important to try their best and to have fun. I think so many families get caught up in competition - gotta win, gotta be #1, gotta be the best. I just want them to enjoy this experience and know that staying healthy is important and exercise is part of taking care of our bodies. I'm looking forward to watching them in a few weeks and supporting them in their choice to stay healthy and have fun!
My girlz and several of their friends participated in the Kid's Day at the Owasso Farmer's Market this past Saturday. Kid's Day is held the first Saturday of each month during the summer and the kids have an opportunity to sell things they have made or grown from home.
Here's the girlz making domino magnets to sell...
And here's some of the things they are selling...
They recently started a blog, "Girly Me Missions", selling some of the stuff they are making. (You can see their website here.) They have a group of friends that will be selling things, too, and their proceeds will go to a charity of their choice. Currently, they are contributing to Project Hope Worldwide, a non-profit organization that is building homes, a medical clinic, and a school for orphans and widows in Uganda.
And here's pics from the Kid's Day at the Market...
It was so much fun participating in Kid's Day and we look forward to doing it again next summer!
The girlz just completed a week of Art Camp at the Owasso Community Center and they loooved it! Of course, they love any chance they can get to paint and draw. They come by that naturally, I suppose ;-) Their teacher was Mrs. Kuhns and she did a FaBuLoUs job! The girlz learned so much and hope to attend next summer, as well.
Here's "M" and her artwork...
Self-portrait entitled, "Miss Independent". (Hmm - should I be concerned?!)...
"Friends of Fruit"...
Leopard in the bushes...
"Going Down the Track"...
And here's "A" and her artwork...
Self-Portrait #1, "Are you done yet?" - Referring to Steve and me painting her bedroom ;-)
Self-Portrait #2, "Thank you" - Referring to when Steve and I finally finish ;-)
Owasso lost one of it's own, Spc. Andrew R. Looney, to a suicide bomber in Afghanistan last week. A memorial service was held in his honor tonight so many from our city and surrounding towns lined the streets near where the service was held to pay respects to his family. It was an amazing site that brought tears to my eyes. Everyone was wearing red, white, and blue and waving flags. I thought it was a great experience for the girlz to witness and it reminds us to be so thankful of those that give up their lives so that we might live in a free country.
We had the best time last night at a new event in our town called, The Stone Canyon Summer Concert Series. It's in a new neighborhood of the same name, Stone Canyon, is on a huge grassy area and overlooks a beautiful body of water. When the concert first started, the temperature was in the lower 90's so it was pretty hot when it first began, but it actually cooled off fairly quickly as the sun went down and there was a nice breeze going.
Raz-n-Kane was the featured band of the night and they were really good - and I'm not even a country music fan ;-) Lots of kids went up front to dance and even a few adults, too! Food and beverage vendors were there including our family's favorite snow cone vendor, IceCrystals - she makes the best shaved ice!
Dayspring Homes sponsored the event and gave away several country music CD's and an ipod! When they first started calling out names, they called my 10 year-old's name so we thought she won the ipod. Of course, so happy for her, I'm cheering and yelling for her as she runs up to the stage to claim her prize. She runs back with a Toby Keith CD. She was such a good sport and smiled graciously anyway. Ends up, a sweet friend of mine won the ipod. Later that night we were jokingly telling her our story about how the ipod "really" belonged to "M". A minute later she gave the ipod to her! We tried to refuse it and tell her we were just kidding but she persisted. She said they already had several ipods at home and didn't need it. That was so incredibly sweet of her and she sure made one big grin on two little girlz that night!
After the concert, we went to a friends house and cooked out smores. It was such a fun night and we look forward to the next concert - Remedy (rock/pop) followed by fireworks!
Our homeschool co-op went blackberry picking at the Owasso Tree Farm yesterday. That's one of our favorite things to do in the summertime and I think this year's crop was one of their best! They had a TON of huge blackberries and we can't wait to turn our 7 1/2 pounds the girlz picked into cobbler and jam! Here's a few picks from our fun morning...
I've mentioned in previous postings how I have recently been involved with "Kwero!", a dinner and auction to raise money for orphans and widows in Lira, Uganda. Well, last night was the night of the event and it far exceeded our expectations! The entertainment was awesome, the food was to die for and the best part was that we generated $60,000 in auction and ticket sales - far exceeding our goal of $30,000! It moves me to tears as I think about how "Kwero!" moved from just being a concept in our minds to seeing it come to fruition - God definitely had His hand on the entire event and I look forward to seeing what He has in store for next year!
