Kids Triathlon Club

Ever since Corey participated in his first triathlon, Caleb has been waiting for the day that he would be old enough to do one himself. The youngest race we have found begins at age 6, most age 7, so this summer, Caleb will be able to compete in his first tri! Well, Corey, Fred and Tony Lawrence from our Paris Parks have gotten together to form a kids tri club here in Paris! There are about 10 kids involved currently. Tuesday was the first practice. They are splitting the practices into swim practices 2x per month and a bike/run day once a month. Caleb is so excited (and Bennett, too...I am swimming with him and we're going to take his bike, so he thinks he's training also!).

I am excited that this is something that our family can continue to do and enjoy as our boys grow in order to be healthy and to spend time together. I am thankful to Corey for investing this time so that our boys will be able to enjoy competing in triathlons!

Easter Egg Hunt

Each year the boys look forward to the Easter egg hunt at church... this year was lots of fun, and Ge and Natiley even came and joined us for the fun!

Office Furniture Shopping Day!

Corey has been looking for a new desk for himself and Mrs. Kay for several months. The search intensified as the move in date drew closer. We found out about a place in Antioch, TN that has a lot of used office furniture at really good prices...so we loaded up in a truck (and trailer) and prayed that we would finally find what we needed and could afford. God provides...even in seemingly insignificant ways like shopping...beyond what we can imagine. Corey is so excited to finally have a nice wood desk, and Mrs. Kay was so pleasantly surprised when she walked into her office and saw it. It made me happy to see her excitement and Corey's...they've both worked so hard. Check out our purchases!!!

Maplewood Children's Day

Each year, our church has a special Sunday to allow the children in our church to have a special part in worship. Sunday the 21st was Children's Day at Maplewood! The day starts with a special breakfast for the kids and their parents. The children lead the worship service by singing, puppets, a flag routine to a song...they even lead in prayer and take up the offering! The boys really anticipated this special day...I thank God for a church that loves and encourages leadership in its children.This young man, Cole Culpepper, had an accident Sunday morning after breakfast and cut his arm open. His parents then took him to the ER during the Sunday school hour for 10 stitches, where he told the doctor to please hurry because he had to get back to lead in prayer and sing a solo...it truly blessed my heart to see his dedication and commitment to the Lord and to the leadership roles with which he had been entrusted! Thank you, Cole for your awesome example!

March Construction

Last week was very busy at the site. With so much to do in order to be ready for our first service in the new building Easter Sunday, we have people out there working almost every day and a lot of evenings.

Diane, Corey's mom, was in town Wednesday and Thursday, and God could not have sent her at a better time. She was so thoughtful to work at our home cleaning and doing laundry while we worked at church.

At the property, the floors were finished in the sanctuary, and we had a cleaning night Thursday in order to get ready for the pews to be installed Friday. We also scrubbed down all the toilets (Diane helped me with this...I told her she was going to have to go back to work in order to get some rest ;), while others cleaned and sealed tile and continued to lay base. The sound and video system installation also was part of the progress as well as cabinet installation in the children's rooms, and part of the tile was waxed...it looked totally different afterward...so pretty!And on Friday, the day finally came...the pews were installed! They are absolutely beautiful, and the whole atmosphere seemed to change from that of a construction site to that of a place of worship. We were in and out all day, but it was really neat that several others were there at the end as well, so Corey, Kenny and Bruce were able to put into place the final pew! And the Mathis clan stopped by too...we were all able to gather together, join hands and pray God's blessings on our church and thank Him for all his faithfulness and goodness toward us. It was a very worshipful time for me...a lot to take in, very emotional, and so exciting!

Bennett on the Site

Bennett has been very patient with the amount of time we've spent out at the property the past few weeks. All he has asked in return are a few trips to McDonalds and for me to take a few pictures of him...here are a couple of them!

First T-ball Practice of 2010!

It is hard to believe, but Bennett is going to be playing t-ball this year! He has been ready to play since last year. We are super excited that the boys are being allowed to play on the same team...Corey was grateful to only be helping coach one team instead of two ;) I love that he enjoys being involved with the boys' activities...Caleb asked me the after practice, "Why is daddy always my coach?" I explained that he chose to do that because he enjoys doing things with them. Caleb then told me, and later Corey, how much he likes it and that he was thankful that his dad wants to do that...precious! The boys are so happy to be "teammates." Bennett has a lot to learn...he is having fun chasing every ball that is hit, doing flips on the grass and just doing his own thing, hehe. I forget how much they learn during that first year...you can definitely tell he's the youngest on the team, but he actually hit very well for his first practice. Caleb is enjoying "teaching" him how to play. Here are the pics from the first practice of the year!

March Story Hour Fun!

Bennett and I have had a lot of fun at Story Hour this month...one of the highlights included Aunt Michele joining us for one of the days! Bennett was able to show her how his "school" works ;) They learned about mixing primary colors to make secondary colors and had lots of fun painting!
Another fun event at story hour involved pulling out the duck hats, one of his favorites, for the 5 Little Ducks song...can you tell he's excited?And then I was so very proud of Bennett for the rainbow he drew all by himself...he did a great job on his arches and controlling the markers!I was thinking while sitting in there that we only have a few more of these days left! He'll be in preschool in the fall :( We have absolutely enjoyed story hour so much these past four years...I think I'll miss it as much as the boys will!

Early March Construction Update

The building seems to finally be coming together to the point that we can imagine moving in and worshiping there...it is awesome and humbling to think how far God has brought us over this past year! Hardwood and carpet have been installed in the sanctuary and cove base is being installed in the foyer, fellowship hall and a few other rooms. We had several work nights to clean, lay tile, and install the base. Here are a couple of pics from the first two weeks of March. I can't fail to mention that Bennett really loved the guys that were laying our floors...they became fast friends! They allowed him to "help" quite a bit the week and a half they were there. It was a blessing because it also allowed Corey and me to get a lot of work done out there as well! God even blesses us in seemingly small ways, but to me, as a mom, it was huge knowing that these people cared about my child and allowed him to feel special and a part of what was going on!

Toby Mac/Skillet Concert

I have a confession to make...I've never been to a real concert unless you count groups that have performed at youth conferences...take that back, I did go with a friend to see Sandy Patti and the Friendship Company in the 4th grade. That is until Miranda said she wanted to celebrate her upcoming birthday by going to the Toby Mac/Skillet concert and we loaded up for a girls night. It was incredible, and I absolutely loved it! I won't go into a long description, but if you have a chance to hit their tour, you definitely should! I couldn't believe that I left my camera out in the car, so the only picture we got was at dinner afterward...Happy Birthday to my sweet friend, Miranda! I'm so glad we got to celebrate together!

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

Caleb's school has a fun celebration for Dr. Seuss' birthday. On Tuesday, they had parents and other special guests come read throughout the day...it was lots of fun. Corey read that morning before we headed to Jackson, and I got to read that afternoon. In the middle, Corey, Bennett and I ran to Jackson for Corey to have his West TN Pastors Conference, and B and I went shopping with mom and Natiley...short but sweet visit. Bennett wanted me to take his picture with this dog at Old Navy...the glasses were Bennett's...silly boy!On Wednesday, they continued the celebration by having Wacky Wednesday...based off one of his books where everything is, well...wacky! So the students and the teachers got to dress crazy and moved things around the room...Caleb had so much fun...check out his wacky outfit for the day! Miss-matched shoes, socks, clothes, and his shirt and coat were on backward with spiky hair to top it off!