Merry Christmas!

Well, before Christmas hits me hard, I wanted to pause and say "Merry Christmas" to all of my family and friends on here. I am hoping to get back to my regular blogging at the beginning of the year. With being a full-time wife, mom, pastor's wife, college student, middle school coordinator, amongst other things, a few things had to be put aside and my blogging was one of those things. Lord willing, my schedule is getting freed up so I'll be able to get back to doing what I love....writing and filling people in on our family.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Free Pie Night @ Bakers Square

I don't know about you, but when we go out we don't need drinks to have a good time....
Well, unless you're talking about sweet tea.
Tonight after Vacation Bible School several of us headed over to Bakers Square for FREE PIE WEDNESDAY. If you order anything off of the menu you get a free pie. We always order drinks and get out for around $14 (including tip). Tonight we were all exhausted from VBS, but we decided to go and have a good time. We just kept getting louder and louder and louder. The restaurant was full so I seriously thought we were gonna get kicked out. We sang happy birthday to people; said good-bye to everyone; and joked for over an hour. I love the memories that our kids are going to have from nights like this. I do have to go to work tomorrow and we have so many other things, but sometimes it's just good to stop and laugh. NO DRINKING REQUIRED!

It's VBS Week

Mitch and I absolutely LOVE Vacation Bible School. It is so much work, but in the end, it's worth every minute.
This year our theme was Lifeway's Boomerang Express. The kids are learning about Peter all week long. It's just fabulous!

Below is a picture of our worship team. These seven kids worked on Sunday evenings for the past five months learning the songs and preparing for this week.

The kids have poured in and we've had record breaking attendance this week.


I should know the number of salvation decisions soon and I'll let you all know.

It all comes back to JESUS!!

4th of July Parade

Hobart has an amazing parade every year on the 4th of July and our church promotes VBS with a float.
This year is the Boomerang Express - Where it all comes back to Jesus!
Several people worked hours to get this wooden train built. As we walked along passing out flyer's and candy, we got lots of great compliments.
It's always so much fun!

Vacation Bible School starts on Sunday, July 12th and goes all week. All kids ages 3 through 8th grade are invited for a week full of fun!

Thanks so much to all of you who worked on getting this done and for those of you who walked in the parade inviting people to church and passing out candy.

Top Ten to Blog About

I know, I know...
it's been awhile since I've posted. We were on vacation, gone to convention, and I had heart surgery....enough said.
When I get a chance I will have pictures and posts of these top then things (in no particular order):

10. my new job (at PCS)

9. Michael's birthday

8. Camping in Kentucky

7. My newest great-nephew Caden

6. Visiting my in-laws

5. Visiting my dad and family

4. visiting with extended family

3. the Southern Baptist Convention

2. BRBC updates

1. my heart surgery and all of the details

I know that I've been MIA, but here sometime soon I'll catch up if anyone is still out there reading what's going on with the Whidden family.

Frustration

It's been a long while since I've been completely frustrated about something. This weekend I reached my boiling point and I was hot! I had been working on a research paper for my college class and after I saved it (several times) and went to submit it, Microsoft Office did something crazy and lost my paper. After talking to their support team, I found out that it was gone.....forever. I was MAD!!! I had worked nine hours on it just on Saturday. As I sat and sulked, I realized that I could either rewrite the paper or loose the 20% that the assignment was worth. Right now I have a 4.0 GPA and I'm kind of proud of that so I opted to spend yesterday afternoon rewriting the paper. Let me say that it's not nearly as hard the second time around. I did it in about four hours and IT WAS BETTER THAN THE FIRST ONE! I am choosing to let this be an educational experience rather than let it get me down. Apparently I needed the rest on Saturday and apparently I needed to learn more about computer recycling.....;D.
With that class over, I'm now heading on to Anthropology. I will take this five week course while going on vacation, going to the Southern Baptist Convention, and having a heart procedure. Let's see if I can keep that 4.0 with this class.

You Gotta Love Kids

Today we were invited to lunch after church along with our associate pastor Jake and his wife Alicia. We were able to pick our spot so we chose Red Robin. We did not mention to our kids that someone else was buying or anything else for that matter. They just knew we were going. The kids all ordered water (Hey it's an extra $10 to $20 on our total if we all order drinks) and then their favorite meal. When we were finished eating Michael was asked if he wanted dessert. He immediately said,

"I'm not allowed to get dessert. My mom won't let me because it's too expensive. She makes us order waters too."

He was then told that he was allowed to get dessert and his expression was priceless.

Oh, and for the record.....DAD is the cheap one who makes them get water so I'm not sure how my name got thrown through the mud on that one.

Oh, you gotta love kids and what they have to say about you!

Summertime?

I don't think so. Yesterday the high was around 69. Yes, it felt good, but no, it's not summertime weather. We've planted this beautiful garden with strawberries, squash, cantaloupe, carrots, onions, greens, tomatoes, radishes, watermelon, and pumpkins. Today I woke up to more rain and while I want my flowers and garden to do great, I want some sunny days!

Mitch doesn't take off work too much and we have planned a short camping trip for about a week to take place this weekend. I'm hoping we won't have to drive too far to find a sunny spot. I'll post pictures if we get to go!

World's Strictest Parents

The Whidden family has a new "family" show that we enjoy watching together....World's Strictest Parents on CMT. Each week as I watch two trouble teenagers go into "strict" homes, I'm amazed at the transformation that takes place as they're in the care of not just "strict," but rather of parents who are in control. As soon as the teenagers realize that they are no longer in charge and someone else is, it's almost like they can breathe and relax. Last night after we watched the Forsythe family in Arkansas, I mentioned to Mitch and the kids that it's a lot about the dad and his care and involvement in the teenagers lives. Whenever the teens would get out of hand, he would step in and let them know the rules and how they were to behave in their house. He didn't yell, but remained in control.

Mitchell then said that we should apply to be on the show because we could "help people." I asked him if he thought we were strict and he said, "no." I am really enjoying the short time that we've had teenagers and to be quite honest we don't have very many rules in our home. Our kids know what is expected and don't really challenge us. It's enjoyable! Mitch is the best dad I've ever seen and we make sure we support each other with our decisions as far as parenting goes. We don't have to "make" our kids go to church; they want to go. They know that the computers are passworded and they "ask" to have it unlocked and never out of frustration. They know that all shows on TV that are rated over PG are locked and they don't have a problem getting us to approve the show. I don't consider us strict, but rather close and caring. I know that we have a long way to go with the teenage years, but so far I'm enjoying it. I talk to my kids, text my kids, and play with my kids. I'm just hoping I'm making a difference in their lives and raising assets to society for the future.

how long will it last?

Well, today marks our official first day of summer break. The kids were home on Friday, but I had to work so that day didn't count.
I've been following Lacey's blog for a few months now and she has encouraged me to save money.
Today I made my weekly (or sometimes bi or tri-weekly) trip to the grocery store. With the kids being home all summer, it's going to get expensive around here in the food department. As I was heading out the door, Mitchell mentioned several things that I needed to pick up. While I do cook a healthy meal almost nightly, there needed to be some easy meals for them during the day and for snacks.

Today on June 8th, my fridge looks like this (the top two shelves):

Our deep freezer looks like this:

and our pantries look like this (just the first layer of stacked food in the deep pantries):

(the Crystal Light was free with my coupons, thanks Lacey)

I saved $84.02 with coupons and only spent $124 on the majority of these groceries. On Sunday afternoon while Mitch is resting after preaching, I go through the Sunday paper, make a list at each store that has great deals and match my coupons. I also go to www.coupons.com, www.kraftfoods.com, www.couponclipper.com and a few other sites to get my coupons. If you have a Meijer in the area, www.meijermealbox.com is a great resource. It drives the kids crazy if they have to shop with me, but they love the benefits of the food that we normally wouldn't be able to purchase.

How long do you think all of this food will last? I'm hoping to NOT go back to the store before next Monday. We'll see =).

Grumpy People Make Me Sad

We all know them and if you're anything like me you try to avoid them at all costs. I hear of grumpy people all the time. There are some stores that we don't like going into because of the employees. There are some friends that we try to avoid because of gossip and negativity. There are even grumpy drivers.

Last Wednesday there was a grumpy man in the neighborhood behind our church yelling at some kids that were getting "too close" to "his" lake. It made me so mad so I simply asked him if he would like to pick on someone other than little children. I left thinking, "I would hate to live a life like that." Isn't it so much easier to smile and be happy?

The other day Mitch and I had lunch with the staff at PCS and of course I was one of the last ones leaving because I love to chat. I especially love to chat when I know that I won't see some of these people all summer. Mitch went out and got the van and pulled alongside the building to pick me up. He happened to be in a spot that a lady wanted. In the less-than-minute that I jumped in this lady was cussing and glaring. I remember sitting and thinking about how sad it made me to see someone so upset over waiting a few seconds for a parking spot. Really.....is it worth being that miserable?

The one thing that I cannot stand is grumpy church people. We are to be set aside and different from the world around us. If you cannot find something to smile about then you need to have a spiritual check-up. Seriously! Smile.....it will make your day and cheer up those around you! Life is too short to live unhappy.

A Restful Afternoon

This afternoon I talked Mitch into going for a bike ride instead of taking a Sunday afternoon nap. There is a trail not far from our house that is an old railroad track. I've noticed it while driving by several entrances, but had no idea what it was all about.

Today as we set out on our adventure we could not believe how beautiful and peaceful it was. We had no clue that something like this existed in the middle of our "city." We saw chipmunks, deer, and lots of other wonder critters. It was amazing!

Here is a shot I got from my cell phone of Mindy on the trail. Not bad for a phone camera!

There is a bridge on the trail and here is a shot of the view. Can you believe it? I know....I know....we'll probably spend a lot of summer mornings or evenings on this trail. It's a nice way to get away and see some great scenery without traveling far away.

Did I mention that it is officially summer break? YES!!!