Thankful Project #3: Thank a service member

So, this was done a while ago, but things have been going on. Also, it's #3 because I started it first and finished the other one quicker. Project #3 is thanking a service member. Matt's oldest nephew is an active military member in Georgia so we sent him a care package with treats and pictures colored by the kids. It was interesting explaining to the kids what the military is. I didn't do a very good job the first time. 

My silly kids:

James is holding a bag of homemade deer jerky if you were wondering. 

Thankful Project #2: fire fighters

Next up for thanking is the South Lee County Volunteer Fire Department. The kids colored pictures and I wrote a card and included a couple encouraging Bible verses. Just a simple, "Thank you!" Since it is such a small VFD there's usually no one there so we put our notes in an envelope and taped them to the door. 

It was bright. 😃

RACK #1

Another project I have come up with is to do random acts of Christmas kindness (RACKs) all through the month of December. One is coming early though. Each of the kids got a box for Operation Christmas Child to fill and take back to church. They are due this Sunday. We spent about $10 to fill each box. We filled the boxes with toys, toothbrushes, wash cloths, soap, coloring pages, crayons, and stickers. The kids had fun picking out toys for them. Today they colored little notes for them and packed the boxes to take Sunday. 

Coloring pictures

Holding up their favorite things from their boxes. 

Thankful Project #1

Partly inspired by Daniel Tiger's Thankful Day, I decided we are going to do thankful projects leading up to Thanksgiving. I want to teach the kids (and myself) to say thank you. And not just when someone does something nice. We are intentionally going out of our way to thank people who are rarely thanked but greatly deserve it. Here's my initial list of ideas:

Fire Department

Sheriff's Department

Pastors and church staff

Sunday school teachers and volunteers

A military member

Daddy/Matt

Dr Juno 

First up, Lee County Sheriff's Department. A couple days ago we made apple cinnamon muffins. They are so good and I almost always have all the ingredients. I got the recipe off the box of Aunt Jemima pancake mix. This morning we delivered them with a thank you note to the sheriff's department. They kept asking me who we were with and were surprised when I told them it was just from us. As a bonus, the sheriff's name is Rodney. Our James Rodney thought that was pretty cool. 

Waiting for the sheriff to come out

We found out we know some of his neighbors and I worked with his mom in the kitchen at Camp Tejas. 

This was fun! Let's see how many more we can get done in the next couple weeks. 

James is 4!

Just a quick post for now. Stay tuned for a longer post about James' party. He is definitely growing up. He disappeared into his room about 30 minutes ago and has been playing with his new toys alone since then!  There was also a lesson today on tithing and saving before we could go spend his birthday money. I'm proud to say that out of the $25 he got, $5 will go to Jesus and $7 has been put in savings.   And we had fun shopping for a new toy with the rest. 

A preview of the birthday post: Grandpa got the prize for picking out the best gift. They have asked to play play-doh several times each day since Saturday. And, yes, there are tiny balls of play-doh all over my table and floor. Thanks, dad!

Our week in pictures

It's the end of day nine. It's been a fun week. Here's a few of the things we have done since arriving in Virginia. 

Mam'ma has a great backyard! A fence and lots of fun toys. 

Auntie 'Lisa just had to get a picture. (Melissa is #2 of 7)

This is Clayton Newsome. He and his wife Joan play games with Matt's parents frequently and they've known the family a very long time. They even came to Texas for our wedding. 

Meg eats breakfast several times every morning. She eats early then mooches off everyone who sits down to eat. She was loving Pap'pa's Rice Krispies that morning. 

Saturday we went to Chuck E Cheese with Ann's crew and Melissa. That was the kids' first time going and my first time in a long time. We all had a blast. 

Meg and Matt racing. They won three races in a row, of course. 

This was their favorite game. 

This one is so cool. Melissa and I had to pump the pedals so The bike would go up in the air. 

Meg was a little shy at first, but once she warmed up, she went down this slide over and over again. 

This one is cool. Each colored thing is a drum and the speakers are in an arch over their heads so only they can hear it. 

Ours and Ann's. They spent the weekend with us since they won't be here for Thursday. (Ann is #6 of 7) 

We went to church this morning and evening. Tonight was just a Thanksgiving meal plus a few songs and sharing thankful stories. Davy got lots of points with Meg by giving her sweet tea. Yummmm!

And that's our week!  Looking forward to our last 4 days. 

Horses and drums

Today we drove from Davy's in South Carolina to Mart's parents' house in Virginia. Not very eventful except for the pretty trees and stopping for lunch at Deb's house in North Carolina. For those unfamiliar with the Wall clan, Deb and Davy are Matt's siblings numbers 1 and 3 respectively. Deb was about 30 minutes out of the way for us but definitely worth it. She fed us and she has horses and a drum set. The kids were thrilled. 

Their names are Joy and Bella. The kids both loved feeding them. -anyone see anything missing?-

Meg just cried when I put her on Joy's back. She didn't stay up there long. James was not sure about it at first but he did sit on her back. -there's that missing item from the last picture!–

She was supposed to stand still but when James grabbed her mane she started walking. Obviously, James was thrilled. 

And the drum set. He's a natural. But no, he doesn't need a set. There is no room in my house for drums. And they may all wind up with holes in them overnight. There is a video of him playing on Facebook. Meg hit a couple of the drums but they were too loud for her. 

How's that for pictures shared, Gigi?