Happy Monday morning, friends! We only have 4 days of school this week and then we are on Easter Break so we are excited in our house this morning.
What a beautiful weekend we had!
Friday after school the girls and I headed to Poplar Bluff to go shopping. They both needed a new dress for the Teen Challenge banquet we had Saturday night and I still wasn’t able to have any luck finding them an Easter dress.
Our first stop was Marshall’s and both girls immediately found a dress they loved. I didn’t really like the one Emily picked out too much, but she loved it and was happy with it, so that’s all that mattered.
After Marshall’s we stopped at the new Petco. We are looking for Happy a new dog bed for our new house but didn’t have any luck. Liz has also been BEGGING for a chameleon and she wanted to check those out. We also looked at all the fish and petted {pet?} every dog that was in the store.
We headed to JcPenney’s next. I wanted to look and see if they had any cute Easter dresses on sale. The girls also both needed new white shoes to wear with their dresses. Elizabeth found a simple but cute teal dress that she loved and Emily liked a few dresses but they didn’t have her size in them. So we are still on the hunt for her an Easter dress. Both girls did pick out new shoes, so that was a success.
We got home around 6:30 and Chris had just gotten home from baseball practice. We ate supper real quick and then spent the rest of the evening outside enjoying the beautiful weather. We chatted with the neighbors while all the kids played. It was a great night!
Saturday morning Chris left around 7:00 a.m. for an all day baseball tournament. The girls and I slept in and then headed into town. Our first stop was at the Bearcat Event Center to participate in a fundraiser for our Middle School Beta Club. Ford/Lincoln was sponsoring a fundraiser where they would donate $40 to our school for test driving a new vehicle. We ended up test driving two different vehicles: a Lincoln Continental and a Lincoln MKX. I almost had to have a lesson just to figure out how to drive the fancy things! They were really nice and the girls thought it was cool. We drove by the ball-field and saw Chris for a minute. They had just finished their 9:00 game and he had a little break.
We then hit the road to head to Poplar Bluff again. My sister volunteered to sit with my dad for the day so my mom could get out of the house for a while. She wanted to take the girls and I to see the new Smurfs movie and we were happy to meet her over there. The girls didn’t get to see her last weekend so they were excited to see Granny. We had way too much popcorn for lunch, but it was a great time! The movie was super cute too! I talked to my sister on the way home and she said dad wasn’t having a very good day at all. He was really agitated acting and is getting almost paranoid of things. We are all having a hard time adjusting to this dementia diagnosis. Please keep my dad in your prayers, and also my mom. As the caregiver of dad she is taking on so much. I can’t wait until we get moved and settled and school is out so I can be over there more to help out.
We made it back to Dexter safely around 2:30 p.m. We headed straight to Chris’ baseball tournament to catch the championship game. Dexter played Bloomfield and they ended up losing 10-11 to get 2nd place in the tournament. It was a beautiful day for baseball and I enjoy watching my students play. I also like watching Chris coach~ he is such a good role model for those young men!
We went home to shower and get dressed for the Teen Challenge banquet. My father in law is the Executive Director at Adult and Teen Challenge Mid-America in Cape Girardeau, MO. Adult and Teen Challenge International of Mid America is a long-term, residential, faith-based program that ministers to men with drug, alcohol and other addictions, as well as life controlling issues. They are part of a worldwide network of ministries which include about 200 centers around the world. They minister to men ages 16 and above, many being in their 20’s, 30’s, 40’s and above and from all ways of life because addiction knows no age boundaries, education or social class. They typically have between 130-140 students or more who are with us for 10 months at a time, completing upwards of 330 men per year. There is only one explanation for their high success rate and that is Jesus Christ. Their program is based on the principle that only Christ can truly change a life. Their primary goal is to help each student develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and learn how to apply this relationship to every aspect of his life. Visit their website here to find out more about this amazing ministry.
Since the ministry is non-profit and relies on donations to keep it running, every year they have a huge banquet for all of their donors and local supporters. Saturday night’s banquet was a wonderful evening together. My heart is always touched by hearing the testimonies of how these men have overcome their addictions through Teen Challenge and God’s amazing grace. The choir and praise band sings a few worship songs and does a phenomenal job. They end the night with an auction to help raise even more money. The girls get to go up on the stage with Papa and draw names of people who win door prizes. They look forward to it every year. All in all it was a wonderful night together in the Lord!
The banquet didn’t get over until around 9:30 and the girls were starving so we went to Steak N’ Shake with Nana and Papa. When we got there Emily was begging for quarters to play the claw machine. I told her no and when I turned back around she had picked up a stuffed animal with the claw and had a pig! Someone must of left money in the machine and she was just messing around and actually ended up getting a stuffed animal! She was SO excited!
Sunday morning Chris and I let the girls sleep. They both slept until 10:30 so we didn’t make it to church. Plus, Chris had a 10 page paper to write for his Specialist Degree and I had to get busy with packing! I didn’t take many pictures, but I was able to clean my whole house and go through both girls’ rooms. I ended up getting 4 lawn and leaf trash bags full of stuff to be donated to Teen Challenge’s Thrift Store. How do we end up with so much?!?!?!?
Sunday afternoon/evening the girls were able to play outside with the neighbor girls again and I was able to sit down on the couch and read a few chapters in my book. It was a nice little break from the busy day.
Sunday night the girls caught up on their chores and I continued going through some closets and packing.
Leaving you with our #selfieSunday that was actually taken at the banquet on Saturday. Sunday I didn’t shower or even attempt to put any make-up on, so we didn’t take our normal selfie. I pray you have a blessed week!
