~SONIC~

ok, so I must say before I even begin to compose this post that this may be very insignificant to most, if not all, of you who read my blog! But please understand that it is not my love of fast food (I actually hate most fast food places) that prompted this entry. Ok, so most of you have probably figured out that we must have ate at the new sonic ! Not a big deal to most, but please understand that I spent an entire 9 months (while pregnant with Aodhan or was it Keiran? ) craving sonic's food. I did not sleep through most of my pregnancy, so there was a good deal of late night television being watched and I was bombarded with Sonic commercials. I craved almost everything they advertised, but with the closest sonic being a 6 hour drive from Chicago (can you imagine sending your husband on that journey for a craving) I could not have any of it! I once told Jim that if they opened a sonic near us I would order one of everything on the menu. So a few weeks ago, Sonic opened about 15 min from our house (on Kirk near the outlet mall) Yesterday we stopped on our way home for lunch. Now, I have never been to sonic before and wasn't even sure if it would be good, but my good friend Brandie and a few of my girls from StuCo had assured me that it was well worth stopping. Now, I must tell all of you that I DID NOT order one of everything on the menu ! But I really did enjoy my lunch - it was some of the best fast food I have ever had ! Having never been to sonic before though our stop did prompt a few questions and maybe some of you know the answers; Like how much do you tip your car hopper ? and can you eat your food at your stall? and is it rude to eat your food and then order your dessert (otherwise your ice cream would melt) and make your car hopper make 2 trips to your car? and what about when there is no ketchup or dipping sauce for the kids - do you call them back for that ? Well here is what we did - please tell me if I am wrong so I can get it right next time - We tipped the car hopper 3 dollars (i think i would have tipped more if she was on roller skates but she was not.) I skipped dessert because I could just not figure out the proper thing to do here ( that just means I will have to go back ). And I was a terrible mom and forced the kids to eat with no ketchup or dipping sauce. So we had a great lunch ( and yes we ate at the stall) the kids loved hopping into the back of the van and having a "picnic" and I thought the food was great! I would definately recomend trying it if you have never done so before !

Photo update

A couple of weeks ago, I blogged about our new found "Family Fun Day" tradition. I stated that since it was summer most of our activities included water in some way or another. Well, here are some photos from a recent extended "Family Fun Day!" On this particular trip to the water park we had a few guests with us; Jim and I got to bring my sister, Hailey 5 (yes I said sister, but that is a blog entry of its own), my nephew "baby Johnny" 10 months, and Noah Moberly 5 (Aodhan's best friend)! It was interesting having 6 kids at the water park! We got a couple of weird looks, and even a few comments on how we were crazy to have that many kids that close together (they all could pass for belonging to Jim and I - Hailey is the only one who looks slightly different and she could still pass for looking like Jim.) Once we explained that they did not all belong to us, we were told that made us even crazier! But Jim and I really enjoy having the kids around, and six kids at a water park sounds like fun to us. Sometimes I am surprised that we stopped at 3 kids, glad, but surprised! I could see us being one of those huge Irish families with 7 or 8 kids and enjoying it! Jim is just amazing with the kids (I think it is because he is on the same level as most of them) he never fails to impress them ! When I watch him with the kids I fall more in love with him than I already am, he is the greatest Dad in the world! He is always the dad that is ready to jump right in, to play whatever crazy game they have come up with, to wrestle around with them, and to just love them with all he has. Watching him sometimes I choke up; a little jealous of my kids (I never had that experience with my father) but so glad that they have a strong, amazing, incredible, fiercely dedicated dad. I wish that every child was as lucky as mine, I wish that every child had a dad as awesome as Jim, I thank God everyday for giving our family such an incredible man!!! Maybe one day we will follow in the Moberly's footsteps and look into adoption, who knows ! Wow, this was just supposed to be a brief introduction to some pictures, so here they are

T-Ball 2008

Over the last 3 months, Jim and I have had the chance to organize and coach a t-ball league. We had over 30 kids sign up and had an amazing experience with them! The kids ranged in age from 3 to 10, we met once a week and played at a very basic instructional level. The kids were great, it was awesome watching some of the older kids start to "get it," and start playing on a different level! It was also pretty incredible watching the kids help teach the younger ones the basics of the game. It was a great group of kids - who cheered each other on and helped those who were struggling ! It was a great summer of baseball and I am sad for it to be over, but on Tuesday August 12th we had our team BBQ and awards day. We invited each of the kids and their families to join us, cook out and just celebrate all of the hard work that the kids put in each week! At the end of the night each kid was rewarded for their dedication with a trophy. Can't wait for next next season, Jim and I were talking about it last night and we've already come up with some new and exciting things to try next season!!!

~MOVE~

What an amazing experience!!! I am just returning from our 5 day trip to StuCo Junior High Camp, where Jim and I served as leaders, and I can not stress enough what an amazing experience this was!! Several of our friends have told us how awesome camp was for them growing up, but we never had the opportunity to be involved in anything like this. Last February was my first experience with anything like this, we attended StuCo's winter retreat Blast/Fusion, where my friend Brandie and I co-led high school girl's small group. Some very powerful, raw emotions came out that weekend, but I must admit that I had much lower expectations for this week, I mean really it's a bunch of junior high kids (my lack of faith sometimes even surprises me) ! Wow, was I WRONG !!!!!

Tuesday we departed from the yellow box along with several other leaders, student leaders, and hundreds of junior high students . We arrived at Timber Wolf Lodge in Lake City, Michigan Tuesday evening (what an incredible camp- it really was beautiful! ) I was leading a group of high school student leaders as a work crew. We had a rough first night (work crew was not really what we had anticipated - much more WORK than we had expected). The students had a few complaints but for the most part they worked incredibly hard to make it the best possible experience for these junior high students.

MOVE was the theme of the week ~ to move to Jesus, in Community, by the Holy Spirit, with Boldness, and I am sure that this post does incredible injustice to what happened over the course of the week, but all I can say is it was AMAZING to see these students impacted by the fellowship and love that poured over them.

There was plenty of fun for everyone: tubing (I lost my bathing suit bottoms on that one - don't worry, I was under water when I found them. No students saw this happen) a zip line across the lake, mountain biking, the blob, a high ropes course, a rock climbing wall, a beach, sand volleyball, basketball, and much more that I am sure I'm forgetting. Students were for sure moving physically.

There were also amazing services; services so moving that I found it hard to contain my emotions. Here was this huge group of junior high students experiencing at such a young age something that I was 26 before I ever experienced. Each message was so powerful, so applicable, so AMAZING. The first evening message was delivered by our great friend and Montgomery stuco director, Tim Raad, and I must admit that I cried like a baby. I believe it was one of the most powerful messages I have ever heard ! The stuco staff really is incredible!!

Each night we got to watch as the number of students who were committed to following Christ grow, and on the last night we were privileged enough to see an amazing baptism in the lake (what a great moment) ! I was lucky enough to get to work with an incredible group of student leaders, who gave their all to make this experience great for others. I was incredibly proud of my husband, as I watched his interaction with his small group, and I saw (not for the first time and I'm sure not the last) God's love move through him and onto his students. On our last night at camp, I saw the most beautiful shooting star (bigger and brighter that any I have ever seen before ) and as I lay in bed that night and prayed and reflected on the week, that star kind of brought it full circle, God's love can MOVE anything, and because of that we can all shine a little brighter!

LOST !

On Wednesday evening I experienced my worst parenting moment, a moment when I thought to myself "How could I have done this?" As I am typing I am wrestling with whether or not I should even blog about this - do I want a permanent record of my worst moment ? Do I want people to know about this ? But most if not all of my readers are friends and probably have already heard about my short comings, so I figure why not? Maybe it will help rid me of some guilt !

Our family, along with the Moss and Moberly families gathered for dinner (6 adults, 9 kids) on Wednesday evening. It just so happened that Jim had to replace our hot water heater that day, so our van was torn apart with not enough seats in for our family. Rather than take the 10 minutes that it would take to put the van back together, we decided to just divide our family among the Moss and Moberly vehicles.

We all gathered at the Moberly house, the kids were all playing pretty well together, while the adults gathered in the kitchen talking and waiting for everyone to get there. I felt a little pull on my leg, a little voice spoke and said "Mom, I'm going outside to play on the swings!" "No, Keiran we will be leaving in one second" I replied. She walked away and I continued my conversation.

Everyone headed out the door and into the two waiting vans, Jim in one and Me in the other. We got everyone settled and headed off for pizza.

Jim and the Moss family arrived first and got situated at a table. We met them about 5 min later. We unloaded all of the kids and piled into the restaurant. Jim met us at the door and I could see something was bothering him. He quickly scanned the kids and the restaurant, it was at this exact moment I realized something was horribly wrong, Keiran was not with us. "Where's Keiran?" Jim asked as calmly as he could. "She's not with you?, I thought she was with you!" I said freaking out at this point. I think at this point I may have heard someone say she must be in the backyard or maybe I just thought it, but regardless we hopped into the van and got home as fast as we could.

Along the way we called several neighbors, who all headed to the Moberly's house. The Moberly and Moss families also made some phone calls from the restaurant (thank God for cell phones) ! Keiran was sitting on the Moberly's front porch with several of our friends when we arrived.

I gathered her in my arms and cried like a baby. I kissed her little forehead and hugged her so tight, I apologized to her over and over. What went through her head? Was she scared? Did she think we left her on purpose? I will never know what kind of hell I put her through, just typing this I am starting to cry again thinking about what her thought process must have been!

I handed her over to Jim, who patiently waited much better than I could have, to hold her. She turned her sweet little tear stained face to her daddy and asked "Do I still get pizza?"Jim quietly replied "You get whatever you want baby!"

So I am still guilt ridden, and so ashamed ! I am sure one day this will be one of those stories you look back and laugh at, I just don't think it is funny yet ! I have been comforted by several friends who have similar stories, but it shouldn't have happened to me !