Sisterly LOVE!

We were all tired when we woke up Saturday. There was just too much going on Friday afternoon with getting Tom, Chelcie, and Drew off to Nicaragua and our quick jaunt up to Dollywood. We were worn out, so we all slept in until about 8:00 Saturday morning. I even took a nap on the couch! Saturday afternoon, we went to see Kung Fu Panda. Olivia Houston came over to join us, and Ed brought his Oliva over, so she could join us. I had a jam-packed back seat! Shhh! Don't tell the police, but Olivia Houston and Addie double-buckled!

The big surprise of the day came when we were going in to the movie. I heard someone behind me say, "Is that YOU, Mrs. Crawford?" The young man behind the concessions stand looked vaguely familiar to me, and going through the memory files takes a little longer than it used to, but I was able to pull the name out of my "file." Christopher Knee recognized me after...let's see... something close to 12 years! I had Chris in the third grade. He sent me a message of Facebook later that night. Here's what he said that made my day!

Hey it was good to see you too. You really do look exactly the same, and I promise that is not something I would just say. And I think my .05 second reaction time to recognizing you will contest to my honesty. Next time you come to the theater, bring your own cups and bags and I will give you free popcorn and drinks for you and your friends/family so you can saved some $$$. I'm glad to hear you are still teaching...you were always and have always been my favorite teacher out of every teacher I have ever had. I loveddddd third grade. I actually want to be a teacher now too, although I want to teach college. I'm going to try (emphasis on try) to get a PhD in philosophy/world religion so I can teach graduate level school, even though I'm at a music school for my undergraduate degree. I really want teaching to be my retirement job I guess. Anyways, have a great summer and maybe I will pass you again in the theater sometime!

See? Teaching has rewards that are out of this world! I LOVE my job! And I LOVE the little reminders God gives me to stay the course.

Anyway, the movie was cute and actually had a bit of a moral lesson. Respect for authority and the pursuit of wisdom was emphasized, but it seems the only thing Sam took away from the movie was a really painful KICK and karate chop to whomever is in his line of vision! Wouldn't you know?

After the movie, we took Olivia Houston back home and met Ed at Chick-fil-a so he could pick up Olivia. Lori called during the movie to see if Natalie could hang out with us instead of going to Charlie's basketball game. Of course, Addie was PUMPED about seeing Natalie, but Olivia was highly disappointed as she had asked Addie to spend the night with her. We managed to get it all worked out with as few tears as possible. We met Chuck and Lori back at the house and Olivia went home with her dad for a while. Addie, Natalie and Sam had fun playing with the WebCam on my computer and distorting their pictures. I've never heard so much laughing! Ed walked Olivia over so that she could spend the night with us and we invited Natalie too. Lori stopped by after the game with Natalie's clothes, toothbrush, etc. so all was well...Well, except for my challenge of how to get three giggling girls and one crazy Kung Fu-obsessed boy to calm down and get to sleep! Miracles DO happen and with only two threats of bodily harm and grounding for LIFE, the girls drifted to dreamland in Sam's bed, while Sam practiced his Kung Fu moves in his sleep back in my room with me.

Sam and I woke up before the girls and prepared some gigantic cinnamon rolls for breakfast. They sure did make the house smell good! Note to self: I gotta cook more! Then we dropped off the girls in Ed's yard as my car couldn't carry all of them to church. Sam and I enjoyed some good Mommy and me time in the car on the way to church. I tried to call my mom and dad to see if the girls could ride to church with them, and to wish my dad a happy Father's Day, of course, but I could not reach them. The nerve of them...leaving the house without telling me where they were going! Anderson called to say she needed a ride to church so Dane could use her car to go to WestLake and Deron was preparing for a Father's Day brunch at Seasons, so Sam and I ran by her house to pick her up.

Church was awesome even though Scott was not there. Anderson and I sat with Lidelle and Andrew Bowling and Chris Ellis. Lucas, the new youth pastor spoke and did a phenomenal job! I was very impressed with his ability to connect with the audience and endear himself to us. I liked him a lot! After church we took Anderson home to clean her house and met Chris, Lidelle, Andrew, and Ed at Moe's. Courtney came by Moe's to pick up Natalie for a day at the lake and then we headed home for a little down time before heading to Lori's for a Father's Day dinner. Before we went to Lori's, we walked next door to meet our new neighbors. Randy was the only one home, so we gave him a loaf of Amish Friendship Bread and a belated "Welcome to the neighborhood!"

Yesterday was the day Sam was supposed to have his stitches out, so Ed graciously called his dad to see if he would be willing to do the honors. He was playing golf, so he said he would do it when he got home. Lucky for Sam, when I took him to the good doctor's house, Dr. Knowling suggested he swim for a while to loosen the scab that had formed around his stitches. Even though the hospital had told us he was not to swim with stitches, Sam made a beeline for the pool! Addie, of course, joined him. I basically sweated by behind off watching them splash and laugh in the water while we waited for the softening of the scab. Sounds nasty, I know. Before I completely melted, Dr. Knowling, assisted by Jamie, performed an uneventful stitch-ectomy on my baby boy and we were discharged from Knowling General Hospital.

We raced home to prepare our 36 ears of corn to take to Lori's for the festivities. The barbecue was delicious, the company was loud, but the porch was a sanctuary for me and I found my favorite rocking chair and a current People magazine and rocked to my heart's content. I did a little soul-searching before Lori and Katie joined me for some laughs. It did my heart good to spend some time with my family. Andrew was out of town, so Chuck and Dad were the only fathers there. Will and Darryl were there too. It was a great night. I loved being with my people.

Monday morning found us at Dr. Henson's office for Sam's check-up. Looks like he's his father's son and is highly susceptible to cavities. He had several. Too much sugar! After a stern warning to cut out the sweet tea and candy, we made our two follow up appointments for fillings and were on our way. Poor Sam! He SO loves his candy. I will make an effort to provide his favorite fruit as alternatives to the sticky stuff. He did great in the chair though and earned a couple of prizes, a new toothbrush and some yummy bubble gum toothpaste! Oh yeah, as we were leaving for our 9:00 dental appointment, we "caught" Randy mowing our yard! There are good people in the world!

Rick Kuhlman called to ask if I would mentor a girl who just graduated from Furman and is working with KARM. It would require a ten month commitment of meeting with her 3-4 times a month. I'd really like to do it, but honestly, I'd like to commit to meeting with Chelcie instead. I wonder if Chelcie would be interested in a scheduled meeting with Mom. I have a lot to talk over with the family when they return. Praying for their safety and that their efforts will be multiplied many times. I've had Drew on my heart especially. God, please do a work in him. I love that boy!

Addie and Sam worked on Welcome Home signs for Daddy, Chelcie, and Drew.

Today is a beautiful day. Highs in the 80s, sunny with low humidity. I called Katie to see if she'd like to meet us at Ft. Sanders for a swim, but she was already at Camp Baine. I got the invite to join my two little sisters and we made a day of it! We played tennis and the kids swam and played on the playground. If we'd tried to plan any of it, it never would have worked, but God was smiling today and we had a rare, unhurried time to bond as sisters and as friends.

Back at home, I kicked into work mode and made arrangements with Jesse to pick up our website dvd so that Ed's "people" can start working on making the updates. Addie has made plans to spend the night with Taylor, so it might just be me and my man! Looks like it might be a Waffle House night at this point. More later...

...And They're Off!

Well, they're gone. Tom, Chelcie, and Drew are officially in Nicaragua now. I just received an email from Tom telling me they arrived safely. Addie and Sam are sleeping soundly beside me in bed, but I'm tossing and turning, unable to turn off my mind.

This morning got off to a late start at 6:30. I knew I couldn't make it to Panera at 7 if I took a shower, so rolled out of bed, put my hair in a ponytail and did the best I could to look "presentable" at the Breakfast Club. Lisa, Phil, and Suzanne were there today. I have really enjoyed getting to know Suzanne, and I am looking forward to hanging out with her and Grant. Tom and Grant get along famously! It's rare to find a couple that matches up well with us. Tom always says he can get along with anybody, so it must be me that causes the trouble. He may be right. I don't have patience with superficial relationships and "girl talk" tends to get on my nerves, so...there ya have it!

After Panera, it was laundry, kids, dishes, and last minute preparations to make it to the airport by 11. Tom ran into a glitch at his closing this morning, so he was running a little bit late. When he got home, he was quite stressed and I did the best I could to anticipate what I could do to help. Dad came to drive the Camry back home from the airport as all their stuff couldn't fit into one car. The long good-bye at the airport brought back Ulster Project memories for me. I hugged the kids and told them I loved them and to be careful. Garland was impressed with my homemade Amish bread and I made him promise not to tell anyone that I could bake. I DO have my reputation to protect! Tom passed his cell phone to me in the ultimate act of trust, and put me in charge of handling his calls. "Just tell them you're my assistant!" - he said to say. I hope my new "job" pays well. Then they were off to Atlanta for a 3-4 hour layover. Sam, Addie, and I headed for home.

Back at the house, I was busy working on some things Tom asked me to do for him. I talked to Scott Harness about Sydney's potential participation in the Ulster Project this summer. I checked his Coldwell-Banker email accounts, and checked the time on a closing for next Friday. Meanwhile, the kids made up a dance video starring Addison Claire Crawford. I think it's cute, but boy, oh, boy-the impact Hannah Montana and the like have had on my innocent 8 year old daughter!

About 5:30, we made a quick run up to Dollywood for an brief visit. Of course, Ed and Olivia joined us because they have become our "adopted" family. Sam and I rode the Scrambler and Swings together. Addie and Oliva rode the Scrambler together, but they were both tall enough for their own swing! Poor Sam was still too short. We all rode the River Rampage and the Mountain Slidewinder and got appropriately soaked, but it was a hot afternoon, so we didn't mind. That's all we had time to ride before the park closed. TOLD YA it was a quick trip!

The kids were exhausted but happy. I am missing my family! It's sad to come home to an empty house! Sam, Addie, and I prayed for them tonight, so I know God is going to work in a powerful way through their efforts to reach the people of Nicaragua. One more item of interest-Tim Russert died of a heart attack today! Very unexpected. Poor man built his entire life around politics and the election and now he's not even around to see how it will end.

Broken Window, a Car Wreck, and a Dream Coming True!

How quickly the days get away from me! I've got three days worth of life to record and just a few pictures to "prove it" this time. The batteries on my camera had to be recharged, so I am left to depend on my memory. Lucky for you, oh faithful reader of my blog, I'll be uncharacteristically brief!

Tuesday, I had two Reach Them to Teach Them meetings; the first one was with Anderson and Candice McQueen. Candice was referred to us by Eric McNew as a gifted, new young talent in the world of graphic art. She seemed very interested in picking up our project; the trick now is getting her price down to an affordable rate. She has initially quoted us $65/hr. She will be working off of Eric's designs, so I hope the time per hour will be reasonable. I like her, and I'd love to hire her, but in the world of non-profits and spending other people's money, we have a responsibility to be good stewards of what God provides for us. While we were meeting at Panera (my new office), I happened to run into Eddie Speeks. Talk about a divine appointment! I have been trying to get him tracked down for a while now. Eddie said that "he was gonna call me TODAY" (Lucky for him, he ran into ME, huh?) We briefly talked about getting together Thursday or Friday of this week. The second meeting was with Martha Riordan and her father, Dan, at the Panera in the Commons (my "west" office). Dan was very interested in learning more about the "dream" of Reach Them to Teach Them and once the foundation was laid, he was ready to help us build a dream! Dan brings administrative expertise that we desperately need. Strategic planning, organizational structure, and a "business" mind are his strengths, so we are thrilled to add him to our "dream team." Oh yeah, he works for FREE! Well, the benefits are out of this world, so there will be perks! Back at home, I fixed tacos for dinner and Chelcie's friend, Becca Cox, joined us. I went for a quick walk, caught up with Jenny Morris via cell phone, and the kids and I finished reading Stuart Little tonight!

Wonderful Wednesday started out great! I met Anthony Ingram downtown at Market Square to tour a very special place that is currently under construction. Merti Elliot was there for a brief time, so I got a quick update from her before she had to leave. Rick Kuhlman and Ben Bannister led our hard hat tour of 4 Market Square. Check out http://knoxvillefellows.com/ for more information about this creative, incredible plan to share the love of Christ with our city. I'm sure I'll write more about this in the days ahead. From there, I was off to another Reach Them meeting. This time with Ed Knowling and Jesse Jones regarding our website (http://www.reachthem2teachthem.org/) It is due for a major update. With our new date for the 2008 event (Oct.28) and our new speaker (Dr. Don Bartlette), we need to get the "word" out on the street as soon as possible. Our meeting with Jesse was productive in a backdoor kinda way. After discussing some of the additions we'd like to make to the site, Jesse confessed that he did not have the technical expertise to do the work and he was going to charge $25 per page to do the work. With all the coming changes, it is just not financially frugal of us to pay Jesse when Ed can do the technical work for free. We settled our dilemma with Jesse being our "man" for new webpages, and Ed will handle the changes to the site. I'm sleeping better at night knowing that Ed will take care of it. I also ran into Robert Eldridge's mom and dad! Funny, the folks down at Market Square had just mentioned that Robert was writing all their insurance. Well, after two days worth of meetings, I was ready for a little Mommy time with the kids, so Sam and I took off for Dick's to purchase another set of Pokemon cards as his reward for being a tough guy when he got his stitches. I had no clue that those darn cards are more expensive than Webkinz! I thought I was getting off easy! Chelcie ran into a wall (?) and busted her cell phone so she and I headed down to the Verizon store to transfer her phone data to my old cell phone. She feels like she's back in the dark ages, because she can't send or receive pictures, but she'll adjust. Back at home, Tom, Addie, Sam, and I went for a walk around the block. We saw the most gorgeous rainbow! My fingers literally itched for my camera so I could "blog" it, but I didn't have it with me. We were lucky enough to have timed our walk just right to catch a train as it rumbled down the tracks. We all enjoyed waving to the engineer and listening to the lonely, peaceful sound of the train. Yet another busy day in the lives of the Crawford family!

Today. Sam woke up ready to go to his best friend, Evan's, house, but he wasn't supposed to be there until 1:00. Sam busied himself gathering his bathing suit, Pokemon cards, change of shirt (just in case) until about 9:00. Now his challenge was what to do for the next four hours?? Our Amish Friendship Bread was ready to be baked as today was "Day 10" on our bread-baking schedule. With Sam's help, we made four delicious loaves of bread with plans to share one of our loaves with Evan's mom so they could be our friends for life. Sam and Addie worked hard cleaning the hardwood floors with scrub brushes. Addie took on a leadership role, making sure Sam did his fair share while I cleaned up the kitchen from our bread-making adventure. Before we knew it, it was time to take Sam to Evan's house! On the way there, Drew called me and said, "Mom, can you come to Kingston Pike and Bridgewater Road right now?" Caught off guard, I said, "What?" Then came the words every parent dreads hearing, "I've had a wreck!" Then he added, "...but I'm not hurt!" (whew!) I assured Drew that I'd be right there. Not wanting to panic Sam, I dropped him off at Evan's and made my way back to the car in time to have Drew call me back and say that Dad was there, no one was hurt, and the car was just "dented a little." Turns out, an elderly couple had accidentally run into the side of his car. Actually, the couple wasn't driving-that would have been really weird. The elderly gentleman just gave us his information and said he wasn't going to report the accident to his insurance company, he'd just pay us himself to keep from having his insurance canceled. Poor guy! I just hope he doesn't hurt someone before he decides to give up driving. And I hope we get his check to have the car repaired!

At 2, I met with Travis at the Kingston Overlook Chick-fil-a. He generously treated me to a chicken sandwich, an iced tea, and a chocolate milkshake. Even more generously, he shared with me that the Chick-fil-a owner/operators agreed to be our title sponsor for the second year in a row! To add to that, Chick-fil-a is providing dinner at the Tennessee Theatre for 1,600 people free of charge! They want to bring their "cows" and pass out coupons, and generally create a celebratory feel to the entire evening. Travis was concerned that I would not consider the "in-kind" donation of food in the total necessary for the title sponsorship ($15,000). I assured Travis that I LOVE being associated with Chick-fil-a, and am more than willing to make accomodations to allow "in-kind" donations to make up the cash difference. This is yet another miracle in a long line of miracles that have happened to make this whole movement possible! Never before, at least in the ten years Travis has been their Director of Marketing, has Chick-fil-a agreed to provide that many free meals! He said the most he's ever heard of them providing was about 300! In addition to that, they also agreed to cater the pre-event at Two Rivers Pavillion FREE as well. Talk about a pouring out of God's blessings! We are grateful!

After my meeting with Travis, I headed home to pick up Addie because she wanted to join me when I went to pick up Sam at Evan's house. I had briefed Sam as to the "procedure" for leaving Evan's house (say thank-you, say you had a great time, come right away, don't make me ask you twice, tell him mom thanks, ...you know the drill). Once we got there, I started talking to Evan's mom and the boys continued to enjoy each other's company! Evan wrote the sweetest letter to Sam (see photo)! Sam is just in awe of Evan and would easily spend 24 hours a day just hanging out with him. Isn't that how it's supposed to be with a BFF?

Finally, back home AGAIN, preparations were frantically being made to leave for Nicaragua in the morning! Tom, Chelcie, Drew, Andrew, and Abby were all at the house packing and weighing all their bags for the flight ahead. Scotty stopped by to chat with Tom for a few minutes and I got to hear all about his new classroom at Maryville Middle School. To add to the chaos, two guys were replacing (yay!) the broken out window in the kitchen as well as the broken garage window. Their price was the best of the three estimates we got, AND they could fix the windows right away. So...my "panes" are fixed! Through it all, Buffet just watched and drooled on the floor.

Looking forward to 7:00 tomorrow. My weekly "meeting" at my west office with my West Valley support group. I gotta do better on the photo-ops! Oops! So much for BRIEF! :)

"Sew" Much for Monday!

What a day! Today was the kinda day that made me grateful to have a blog in which to contain and preserve it! The challenge now is how to do it justice with a few words and pictures. I'll give it a shot-

Up early this morning because Tom was leaving again to work with Scotty Hicks and Matt Stevens on a job site, and Sam was sleeping diagonally in my bed. Would you believe the Tooth Fairy forgot to come last night and leave Addie some cash for her lost, lost tooth? It seems the Tooth Fairy had mistakenly put the cash under a pillow in Mommy's room! She must've thought Addie had slept in Mommy's bed last night! Once Tom got back home about ten, and told us he had a lot of work to do, we opted for another Dollywood day.

Yes, I know it was supposed to be record high temperatures. Yes, I know 98 degrees is dangerously toasty, but I have the compulsion to get my money's worth outta those passes. Besides, Sam and Addie really wanted to go. Drew is camping at Elkmont with Silas' family and Chelcie had lunch plans with Jamie, so what was to keep us from making a day of it? So off we went, just the three of us.

We stopped at McDonalds on the way up to grab a quick bite to eat and to save us from having to buy Dolly Food at inflated prices. The kids were happy with that especially since the toy of the day was Kung Fu Panda! I mean, how great could one day possibly be?!

We headed for River Rampage first thing! The kids were nervous about riding it again, and I could tell Addie was having flashbacks to her "stomach problems" from last week, but we pressed on and had a great, wet ride.

Then it was on the Country Fair where we rode the Ferris Wheel, the Veggie Tales roller coaster, the blast off rocket thing-y, the Scrambler, and the swings (twice). Addie quickly made friends with a little girl from Virginia named Erica (see pictures) and Erica promised to ride the Veggie Tales coaster with her, so I could ride with Sam, then she chickened out at the last minute and Addie had to ride alone! Can you believe the nerve of that girl? Actually, she was a sweetie and was just too scared to ride in the first car, but Addie wasn't and we had a blast!

We capped off our impromptu trip to Dollywood with a quick slide down the Smoky Mountain Slidewinder! This one's our family favorite because of the special memories it brings of past moments of panic. We shared a frozen lemonade (3 straws) and headed back down the mountain about 3:00.

We were home by four. It's 48 miles to Dollywood from my driveway. Just a little documentary FYI.

I checked my Reach Them email and am scheduled to meet with Candice at 1:00 tomorrow, Anthony and Rick at 10:00 on Wednesday, and Jesse at 12:00. It's going to be a busy week, but I love it that way! I feel like we're making progress and heading in right direction.

About 6:30, I really wanted to go for a walk, but Tom convinced me that a bike ride would be better, so we helmetted (is that a word?) up the kids and began what was sure to be another Crawford adventure. Sure enough, we were not even through the Colonies when I was scolded for not making Sam bring his new helmet. The one he was wearing kept sliding forward and blocking his vision. I made some minor adjustments to the helmet and it was determined that the helmet could stand as is.

Once we were through the Colonies, we chose Mulligan's for dinner due its close proximity to...the Colonies and our way back home...uphill...

Sarah Anderson and Hannah McNamee coaxed us into purchasing a strawberry-banana smoothie. I had a pizza florentine, Tom chose the Mulligan's meatballs, and Sam and Addie split a pizza and chicken fingers. I don't know what our total bill was, but I'm sure it was a lot more than it was worth. We had to ask for our check. I doubt we'll eat there again.

On the way back home, Tom and Sam went on past the Colonies, but Addie and I headed toward home. We were almost to the top of the big hill when we saw the boys gaining on us. We tried to stay on our bikes and ride up, but it was just too steep, so we pushed our bikes up the hill and got passed by the boys. We turned right by the playground to avoid the woods and the remaining hill, but it turns out that was a WRONG turn for us.

The boys went riding past us while we continued to push our bikes uphill. Sam and Tom were way past us, out of sight. It wasn't until we were riding our brakes down the hill that I realized Sam had had a bike wreck. Tom was already on the phone telling my mom to bring a wet towel and the car. He asked me to call Ed to bring his truck for the bikes. Turns out, Sam had bumped his head, scraped his elbow, and cut his chinny-chin-chin! Poor boy! There was blood all over Tom, but fortunately the cut was small and Sam did not lose any of his teeth!

Papaw, Grandmom, Sam and I headed to Baptist West Emergency Room to see if stitches were in order. Sam did not take the news that he was to be sewn back together very well. The knowledge of his stitches to come was much harder to take than the actual stitches themselves. He had to have two stitches in his chin. Now he has more whiskers than Drew! The whole hospital ordeal took about 2 and a half hours! Once we finally arrived back home, Addie had made Sam a get-well card and had given him one of her tooth fairy dollars! Sam says he doesn't like hills AT ALL, and will never ride a bike down a hill again. In fact, he said he doesn't even plan to WALK down any more hills! And that includes our driveway. We'll see if he can hold out.

It's 11:23 and time for me to call it a day. Thank you, Lord for doctors, bicycle helmets, and sweet sisters!

Our Day of...REST?

Sunday morning. Beautiful day. Church day. I got up early and made some cinnamon rolls for my family. They sure did make the house smell yummy! The sky was clear and we were all set to be on time for church. Yay!

Church was jam-packed crowded today, which is a good thing because that means more people can grow in their relationship with the Lord. I sure didn't mind scooting over some to make room for others.

After church, we went to Jason's Deli. Nothing like a little FREE ice cream on a hot summer day! Chelcie was scheduled to babysit the Eldridge boys this afternoon, so we had to head to the house pretty quickly.

I decided to take a little walk to Weigles (bad idea) to get some exercise. I was about 1/2 mile into my trip, when I realized that I was sweating bullets and had no water with me to rehydrate myself. Call it my stubborn streak, but I'm not one to start something and not finish, so on I trudged until I had the end in sight. Knowing that it was not wise to be out in 97 degree heat without water, I used the grown-up part of my brain to call Drew. All it took to get a ride home in the convertible was a large cherry icee. (My kids will work for food!)

This afternoon Addie, Sam, and I headed up to Grandmom's and Papaw's to try out last year's Slip 'n' Slide. Fortunately, Addie found it in the garage, so we loaded it up in the trunk of my car and headed up the street.

As you can tell from the pictures, a great time was had by all! ...until disaster struck! Apparently, the heat and time had taken their toll on our investment and POP! No more Slip 'n' Slide! We definitely got our money's worth out of it before it joined the garage door window and found holiness a thing to be desired!

Abby, Andrew, Drew, and Tom are meeting this evening to finalize their plans for the mission trip to Nicaragua later this week. The younger kids and I are looking for ideas to fill our days while they are gone. I'm sure Dollywood will play a part. We'll have to see what happens...

Oh! One more thing! I emailed Dr. Bartlette last night and heard back from him this morning. He has a close affiliation with Chick-fil-a as his daughters work at one of the local restaurants and he volunteers there when he's in town handing out sample nuggets to folks at the mall. I believe that Dr. Bartlette is our match made in Heaven!

Tempers + Tantrums+ Time = SUMMER!

Trying to wean myself from my blogging addiction so I have intentionally resisted the urge for three days! And to think I was worried about not keeping up!

I've been dreaming again. Yes, Reach Them to Teach Them has grabbed me firmly by the heart, and it's about all I can think about most of the time. The trouble is, my family got so tired of hearing about it all the time, I've had to find other people to talk to about it. Sometimes, I just can't hold it in, and I'll talk to Chelcie or Tom about it. They'll be patient and listen attentitvely for the first twenty or thirty minutes, then they kinda tune it out. I'm grateful to the two of them though, and to Drew too, because if it weren't for their help with Addie and Sam, I would not have the time to meet with folks and build this dream to the extent that I have. I must be mindful not to underestimate the sacrifices my family makes in order to me to follow this dream.

Most often, I talk to God about and I KNOW that's why He has continued to bless us is ways I would have never dreamed possible! If I have to talk to someone with skin on, I'll usually choose anyone who doesn't run from me when I bring it up. My parents are patient victims of my rants, as are two of the most supportive friends I've ever had-Ed and Anderson. They understand that I go off on tangents occassionally. They know I need a place to "talk it out" sometimes. I think they've probably learned to take what I say with a grain of salt until I finish processing. But the best thing about all of them is that they support this dream. They see the need and are willing to take time out of their lives to help make the dream a reality. I couldn't ask for more than that!

Thursday's highlight was walking to Weigles with Sam. We took the dangerous route down the railroad tracks because Nick Bowles told us that he could get to Gettysvue in seven minutes! Let's just say it took us a little longer than that, but we had a good time even though it was oh, so very hot! So hot in fact, that once we finally made it to Weigles, we purchased our Icee reward and called Chelcie to come pick us up. I had to pay her for her trouble in cherry icee, but it was worth it!

Also, Thursday was our June meeting for RT4 at Citadel. I was discouraged before the meeting because I kept getting emails and phone calls from our team members telling me that they were unable to make it-all for very legitimate reasons. God had the people at the table He needed there though because we managed to get quite a bit accomplished. For the first 15 minutes, it was just me, Dad, Phil, and Martha. Then Dave, Jo, Anderson, Laurie, and Emmette (the executive director of the Mission of Hope), showed up. I was thrilled to see Emmette at the table. My heart goes out to the teachers who serve in the impoverished areas served by the Mission of Hope. We're going to make an effort to bring those teachers to the event in October and even give them a few surprises for themselves and their classrooms. Jo Bruce and I talked for quite a while in the parking lot about God's ability to take tragedy and turn it into triumph, and how vitally important it is to reach the kids God places before us. Jo shared her beautiful heart with me and I remain in awe of her courage, strength, grace, poise, and immense faith. Turned out to be a very productive meeting. Laurie called me and left me the sweetest voicemail message. I think God has been speaking to her heart through Reach Them to Teach Them. It's a good thing.

My sweet boys got their hair cut today. Tom's #1 buzzcut is preparation for his trip to Nicaragua on Friday. Sam's hair is so beautiful that people stop us on the street just to comment on it. Drew is the most adorable teenage boy I've ever seen, but I wouldn't dare tell him that-he'd change his "look" immediately! One more piece of Crawford News-our window estimate of $285 seems a bit high. We're going to keep trying! We have a hole-y house!

Friday passed quickly even though I was up at 6:00 preparing to meet my "buds" at Panera Bread. I thought about walking there, but changed my mind. Chelcie was not happy about having to get up and join Sam in my bed this morning. Of course, I hoped they would be able to go back to sleep, but it did not happen. Angel, Sherry, Lisa, and I enjoyed our bagels and sunrise before Angel and Sherry had to head out to an inservice meeting. Lisa and I stayed around and chatted about our crazy families and our strategies for fixing everything that's wrong with the world. I SO hope we are able to keep her at West Valley! She is such an asset to our school. Nancy stopped by just long enough to swap howdies before heading out to a meeting of some sort. Then, our token male, Phil, made it for a few minutes before he and his kids headed to the mountains for a father-child(ren) camping weekend with his church. So, it was a great start to my Friday!

I spent my time at home trying to sort through the piles of "stuff" that have accumulated over the past nine months. It's mind-blowing how many papers can be piled up over a school year! I'm also tackling my Reach Them files and trying to get them in order so we can easily find what we need. I talked to Dean today and he is totally commited to seeing our team succeed, and he's willing to use his name, money, contacts, etc. to make it happen. He's a good friend to me. I hope I can be the same to him. Today was another hot, hot, day! We paid an unannounced visit to the Alford's pool and enjoyed some time with Garland, Stephanie, Michael, and Esmelsa. Jennifer was in Nicaragua, so we missed catching up with her. Once we got home, Tom headed out to Wal-mart for some mission trip supplies, the kids heard the ice cream truck and ran for their quarters! Ed and Olivia met us in the driveway with the same goal in mind. We tried to track down the ice cream truck, but we were unsuccessful. Ed has been gone to Las Vegas on business for about two weeks, so we chatted about the progress we've made with Reach Them while he's been gone. The kids kicked an inflatible soccer ball around in the front yard until the mosquitoes got to be too much. Olivia enjoys being with Addie and Sam so much, she asked if they could join us for dinner. Addie decided on Moe's (go figure), and Ed and Oliva met us there. We saw Alan Fethe dining alone, so we invited him to join us and it was great catching up with him. I also saw two former students, Joey Patton and Brandon Knorr, and enjoyed chatting with them for a few minutes. It's always good to hear that the kids I taught are moving on to bigger and better things! Mom left me a voicemail while we were at Moe's. Apparently, she had just finished listening to Dr. Don Bartlette's "Macaroni at Midnight" message. She affirmed my pick for our speaker, but saying that he is not "telling a story, he has a story to tell." I loved that! I had been saying that we are not about the messenger, we're about the message, but I like her way of saying it better! She was full of ideas last night when we stopped by the house to pick up the CD. I was encouraged by her enthusiasm. I could tell that it came from God's prompting of her heart after hearing the message and that is exactly what I'd like to see happen at the October event! Who knows? Mom might even be MVP of the Dream Team this year!

Sam had Lincoln's 4th birthday party to attend at 11 on Saturday, so we headed out early to pick out a gift for him. We ended up at the dollar store and racked up $10 worth of super-cool toys for him to enjoy (I hope Scotty and Joy don't kill me)! I dropped off Sam and headed home to pick up Tom. We were going to use our two hours to enjoy lunch on the porch at Lakeside Tavern. We saw Amanda Barton working at a hostess there. Another student doing well and enjoying life. After lunch, we headed over to Charlie's Pawn Shop to meet Chelcie, Addie, and Abby who were there searching for a guitar to donate to the mission house. They found one for $48 that needed new strings, but looked to be in pretty good shape. We picked up Addie and headed back to Lincoln's to reclaim Sam. At the ripe, old age of six, Sam was the oldest kid at the party and enjoyed showing those "babies" how the "big kids" to it! Scotty told us a tale about a black snake that tried to crash the party, but was caught in a trashcan and redeposited down the street. Once back at home, we were all exhausted from the heat. Tom took a nap, I read magazines outside and refereed fights between Addie and Sam. Finally, Addie fell asleep on the couch, and Sam played with his Army men. Then Tom headed out to Clinton to do "what do you THINK I'm going to do" and I caught this blog up to date while chowing down on my second box of cinnamon wheat thins in two days! Of course, I'm still battling my Sonic (R) ice addiction.

Aw, summer. Tempers, tantrums, and time to enjoy them. This too shall pass...right, Mom?