Kids say the funniest things...

"Cornbread"

Last week, I was getting ready to put supper on the table and I asked our 6 year old to help set it for me. She agreed. We were having corn on the cob that night and so I asked her to put the "holders" (is there an official name for these?) for the corn on the cob at each plate. I already had a homemade bread roll on her sister's plate. So when I turned back around to bring more food to the table, this is what I found. I laughed as Rachel said, "Now it's cornbread"! :)

Down to 9 things...

Remember my post on "10 things you may not know about me" list? Well, it's down to only 9 now. Last Friday, I finally got a Starbucks. It was okay...I really wanted a french vanilla cappuccino, but had to settle for hazelnut. Bummer. Hey, at least I tried one, right? (So Nicki, you are off the hook. You don't have to buy one for me now.)

Random Stuff...

Just thought I'd post some more random pix from Indiana...

Cousins

My nephew Trey with his baseball trophies
(1st place for league and tournament champs!)

My nephew Michael and his girlfriend Katie

Hangin' out with Uncle Jon

At D.J.'s cabin ridin' 4-wheelers...the girls loved it!

DID YOU KNOW??

I thought this would be a fun post. The following are some things you just might not know about me. Here goes:

10 THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT ME:

1. My birthmark is on my face.
2. I've never had a Starbucks...seriously.
3. I have a left shoulder injury from a car accident.
4. I hate math. Yes, I can do the simple math...you know, like 2 + 2 = 5, but that harder stuff...forget it!
5. I have been spelunking...with bats!
6. I was on a trip to Indianapolis to hang out with college friends and ended up in New Castle. Even saw signs for Richmond. After turning around, made my way home via Spencer. (check out Indiana map sometime)
7. I have seen Pete Sampras play tennis...in person.
8. Back in the day, I thought Scott Baio was "all that"! (those were some "Happy Days")
9. I was at the I.U. basketball game when Bob Knight threw the chair across the floor.
10. I am in a college tennis team picture that is on display in the Assembly Hall in Bloomington. (I've been told that there's also one in a Steak 'n Shake restaurant in B-town as well...have never seen it, just have heard about it.)

I know for those of you that are regulars at Starbucks are probably shocked that I've never had one. I always have good intentions. And someday, yes, I will get my french vanilla cappuccino. As far as #6 goes, let's just say that by the time the evening was over, my dad had called every cop and state trooper to send them out looking for me. Amazingly, as lost as I was, I found my way home. I still get teased about that to this day.

P.S. Matt, YOU are "all that"! Forget Scott Baio...(I'm glad you don't wear cross necklaces or red bandanas!)

"Cornhole...WHAT??"

THIS IS CORNHOLE!!!

My brothers Jeff and Jon

Matt and my dad

My sister-in-law Jamie (what you can't see is, she is playing in heels!)

Yeah, it's fun now, but not for long!!!

(As you can see, Jon's set of cornhole games is a basketball court. Michael's set is green with a duckhead on it...the little kids were playing on that one!)

My teammate Katie (and Michael's girlfriend)...I'm tellin' you, this game is serious!

Yes, I know...I step with the wrong foot, but it works!

Cornhole Champs...Dad and Michael

(yes, that is a can of corn on dad's head...that was the trophy!)

Yep, you read that right...CORNHOLE! Have you ever heard of it? If so, have you ever played it? Oh my goodness, it's my new favorite game...besides tennis of course and shootin' baskets.

The first time I ever heard of the game was last summer. The girls and I went to visit my parents in Indiana and while we are there, my mom always has a cookout to get all of the family together. My brothers announced that we were going to have a "cornhole tournament". "A what?" I asked. "Cornhole", they said. I was starting to get offended...I mean they've always had some "nicknames" for me, but never "cornhole". ("Mallory" sounded so much nicer!)

So we played...and I found that even though it was my first time playing, I wasn't too bad at it (which irritates my brothers...especially Jon!) I can't remember who was on my nephew Michael's team last year...probably my other nephew Matt...they are undefeated when they are on the same team together. Anyway, they won the tourney last year.

As soon as I got home last summer from my visit to Brazil, I told Matt, "I want you to build me a cornhole game." "A what?" he asked. "Cornhole", I said. He asked, "What did you just call me?" "No, it's a game...I want you to make me one." Well, he got to experience this fun just last week. I think he kinda likes it too. We're already talking about the design on our cornhole boxes that we want...one camoflauge one and one tennis court one. Pretty cool, huh?

Teams were randomly paired up this way:

Dad and Michael
Jeff and Matt
Jon and Jamie
Katie and me

(My mom chose not to play; Michelle and Kristen were busy working on college registration; and my nephew Matt couldn't make it...good thing, 'cuz he's pretty good! So it was just the 4 teams.)

I couldn't tell you what the scores were to all of the games...I just tried to put the corn bag in the hole. Well, and beat my brother Jon...which I did (with help from my teammate...thanks Katie!) Needless to say, I have a very competitive family. Anyway, Katie and I ended up in the final with my dad and Michael. Sadly, they won. But it was so much fun! Seriously, if you've never played "Cornhole", you really need to. I'm thinkin' that could be the next Wii game they come out with!!!

Down Memory Lane...

Carmen and me


Our girls with Cana and Harmony Bear (Cord and Carmen also have 2 sons...weren't home for the picture!)


Last week, my family and I headed back home to my hometown of Brazil, Indiana. On our way there, we made a pit stop in Wheeler, Illinois. This was the place of our first ministry. We wanted to show Macayla her first house she used to live in. Of course, she doesn't remember any of this because she was only 6 months old when we moved away from there. But going down memory lane can be fun sometimes, so we drove by our first church and our first house...actually, this was our 2nd parsonage, but the first for Macayla.

From there, we went to our friends' house, Cord and Carmen Bear. We had developed a very close bond with them during our time in Wheeler. They became some of our closest friends. In fact, they were both there when our daughter Macayla was born. Carmen is an o.b. nurse and it was her day off, but they spent the long emotional day with us anyway. We have kept in touch some over the years, but "life" gets in the way of that sometimes. It was refreshing to sit down and be able to talk with them and catch up. They remain very dear to our hearts.

We visited some other friends of ours too. It's so encouraging to go back years later and find that all of these people are still actively serving God and growing as families.

"Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints." Philemon 7

Do you remember your church camp days?

Macayla and Kate became good friends...


Macayla and her cousin, Josiah


Macayla, Kate, and Terra

This past week, I took our oldest daughter Macayla to church camp. It was her first time going. I wasn't sure if we would be able to work it in this summer, because our June has been pretty full. So far this summer, she had already participated in a cooking class camp and a basketball camp. She had fun with both of those, but as busy as she has been, I wanted to take her to the camp that would benefit her the most...church camp.

I grew up in Indiana, so I had never been to camp cyokamo before. Matt printed off a map for me before I left. Getting to Pittsburg...no problem. Getting to camp cyokamo...big problem. Let's just say I made a "couple" wrong turns and had to call Matt a "couple" of times. As we were driving, Macayla says to me, "Oh great, we are lost!" I come back with, "I am NOT lost...I just don't know where I am going!" HUH? Does that even make sense? I kinda shook my head after I said that, knowing full well that when you don't know where you are going, yeah, you're kinda lost. And the more "lost" I got, the more frustrated I became as I chomped away on as many twizzlers as I could. It all turned out ok tho'...we made it just in time for supper.

I hadn't pre-registered Macayla so I had to do that first thing. I had told her that our friends Allie and Lauren would be at camp, and maybe Britain and Hannah would as well, so as we got out of the suv, that's who she was looking for. No success. I put Macayla in the line for supper with her cousin, Josiah and went on to register. I just figured she would be alright.

I got all the paperwork done and as soon as I walked into the mess hall, out of 190 or so campers, the first person I see is Macayla. I could tell she had been crying. I asked her what was wrong and she tearfully said, "I don't know what to do and I don't know where to go." She clung to me and at that moment I thought to myself, "What have I gotten her into?" And on top of that, I had to break the news to her that her friend Lauren had just left that morning to go home...she had already been to camp.

So, after hugging Macayla and telling her, "It will be okay", she came back in with me so I could eat supper. I told her that after she gets plugged into a team, she would meet other kids and make friends. The more we talked, the better she seemed. And I knew that would happen for her. Macayla is very outgoing and has a great personality, and is not shy about meeting new people. It wasn't very long at all before she met some friends. In fact, she ended up enjoying camp so much that she didn't want to leave and she told me she wants to go back next year.

Do you remember your church camp days? I went some as a kid, but I went as a sponsor as a college student more than I did as a camper. And I loved it! There was just something about it. That's why I was so excited to be able to share this first time camp experience with my daughter. I think it is something she will remember for a very long time.

We both kinda felt "lost" at first. And I may not have a great sense of direction on the road sometimes, but I'm sure glad to know "where I am going".


P.S. Allie and Regina, I was bummed that your kids weren't there! :(