Mondays at Metro

Monday morning means we are back at the food pantry hang out with our crew.  Metro Relief had a need for food for the upcoming Spring Break and I sent out a request on my Facebook page.  Many of our friends brought in food and in fact after the picture in the upper right hand corner was taken, three more friends from church drove out to Metro to bring us more donations. 

After we closed up the pantry at noon the volunteers headed out to lunch for burgers.  

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.  Revelation 3:20

Road Trippin'

Today we had a break in Abigail's softball schedule so we took a trip up to Atoka, Oklahoma to meet up with Granny and Donnie for lunch.  With the cool weather, Padme' and Sport both made the trip. It was good to do a little catching up and be able to hug their necks! 

We texted Caleb a 'guess where we are' text knowing he would recognize the Mexican restaurant where we meet Granny and Donnie.  So Caleb texted back the picture of 'hello, Granny and Donnie' from Caleb and Sonny.  It was funny because at about the same time I got a 'hello' picture from my blonde son, Richard and his fiancee' Melissa!  

The father of a righteous child has great joy;

a man who fathers a wise son rejoices in him.

Proverbs 23:24

CHANT vs. John Paul II Softball

Tonight was a chilly but another exciting game for High School softball! At the end of seven innings the CHANT Chargers tied John Paul II 9 to 9! My catcher girl had 2 RBI's and scored twice! She got to catch eight out of the nine innings. I'm surprised they let the game end in a tie and didn't let them play on but because John Paul's field is near a residential area they can't have stadium lights so when it's dark they are through playing ball!   

Without any light, they feel their way along in darkness.

    God makes them unsteady like those who get drunk.  Job 12:25

Stained Glass Art Class

It's time for another Teen Art Class at the Dallas Museum of Art.  The kids have studied a lot of different medium of art through these classes and today was no exception. 

They began class looking at the stained glass in medieval cathedrals in the Art and Nature in the Middle Ages exhibit. Later in Tech Lab they made their own 4”x6” glass panes. 

Using Plexiglass panels they took essentially a glue gun with black sticks to create the iron work and then painted their panes of glass.  

Each work was very unique and when they were flipped around to allow the light to shine through it was quite impressive.  Because they were working with Plexiglass each student to draw and lay out their design and then transfer it using the 'iron work.' 

To others, show mercy mixed with fear of sin. Hate even the clothes that are stained by the sins of those who wear them.  Jude 1:23

Bon Jovi in Concert

It took nearly thirty years but I finally made it to a Bon Jovi concert!  Now of course this was Jon's third time to see them.  Jon saw Bon Jovi open for Ratt at the Tulsa Fair Grounds in early 1985.  Later the same year he saw them open for Scorpions, and Deep Purple at the Texas Jam.  

When I was Oklahoma Christian University I had a wonderful roommate Nancy who loved Bon Jovi.  In the conservative house I grew up in was limited to country music.  So the rock n' roll tunes of their first album Slippery When Wet were a whole new experience for me.  Nancy and I listed to that cassette everywhere we went in Edmond.  So much fun and so many great memories.  

Nancy and always talked that one day we would see Bon Jovi in concert, but school, weddings, and children happened.  About seventeen years ago Nancy lost her battle with breast cancer.  I can't tell you how many songs brought back memories of my friend.  She would have loved it! 

The other great memory for Jon and I tied to Bon Jovi is on the back of one of Jon's race cars I stenciled "On a Steel Horse I Ride" from the Wanted: Dead or Alive song.  That was one of the encore songs from tonight's concert along with Living on a Prayer.   We were able to enjoy the entire concert from the comfort of Thompson Reuters luxury suite at the American Airlines Center.  It was a great night out with my guy! 

Junior Toastmaster's Tall Tale Contest

This year our homeschool group offers a Speakers Club is being directed by a Toastmasters Master Speaker, Ms. Vogel.  Each of the youth are required to present six speeches and compete in the Speaker's Contest. Last year Abigail completed all six speeches but because of her commitment to the varsity softball team she was unable to compete in the contest. 

This year the girl was all prepared to compete.  The youth were to present a Tall Tale.  Abigail chose to present her 'Nina Story.'  Which you would have thought was a tall tale except every word of it was true! 

Jon's company gave us tickets to their luxury box at the Bon Jovi concert tonight so we headed to the concert.  But like a the great friend that she is, Ms. Donna and the boys came down to cheer Abigail on!  It's great to see the girl being independent and surrounded by friends.  She drove herself and Frankie to the contest.  Ms. Robin and Ms. Donna texted me updates and pictures of her presenting her speech.  And after wards the girls went out to Braum's with the Gungans and the Hansens. 

Click on the video above to hear my girls tale! 

Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children,
and their children to the next generation.  Joel 1:3

ZAP! Review Game

This is for my other Bible Class teacher friends; it’s my favorite review game called HA!  The game was originally called ‘Zap!’ but when we were studying the book of Acts we saw the footnote of ‘HA’ which means ‘leave us alone.’  It’s a great game mainly because the brightest team doesn’t always win, which makes it fun for the whole class.

This is the perfect review game for any subject matter! To build a game board you will need:

Supplies: 

24"x36" foam board

16 library card pockets

1 sheet of self adhesive numbers 

Cardstock

double-sided tape

Place the self-adhesive numbers on the library card pockets and use the double-sided tape to attach them to the board. Simple!

To play the game you will insert cards in each pocket.  Click HERE to print off the inserts.  They say things like:

• ZAP other team
• Switch scores with the other team
• Add two points to your team score
• ZAP both teams
• Add to points to the other team's score
• ZAP your team
• Subtract two points from your team's score
• Add two points to another team
• Blank (nothing happens)

To play split up the class into teams.  Have your review questions in hand to play the game.  You will need a dry erase board to keep score.

Ask each team a question, if they get it right they receive one point AND they get to pick a numbered card from the game board. The game cards can either be good, bad, or do nothing at all.  The team with the most points at the end is the winner.

I have played this as a review game in class for four years, so it was time to build a new board!  Hope your group enjoys it too! 

“Ha! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.”  Luke 4:34

Delbert McClinton Concert

This is my guy, he gets me! Valentine’s Day conjures up images of chocolates, roses and poetic cards, right?! My Valentine’s Day gift included a Delbert McClinton CD, 2 tickets to the concert tonight and a giant can of hairspray! Why? In 1989 I drove a 1967 Ford Pinto that had a Delbert McClinton cassette stuck in the player. It was the only thing I could listen to in my car, over and over. Jon would laugh every time he got in my car and I would just sing along louder. The cassette would later get traded in along with the Pinto that year. 

Tonight we headed to the Granada Theater in Dallas to see the now 77 year old McClinton perform!  His music is a mix of blues, jazz and soulful rock.

After the concert we were walking through the parking lot and there were fans waiting in line to get a photo with Delbert, I couldn't miss out on such an opportunity like that!  Jon just laughed and stood in line with me and took the picture! We had so much fun.  Thanks, Jon! 

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. I Peter 4:8

Little Elm Softball Tournament Day 3

Today was day three of the Little Elm softball tournament.  We've faced some really great teams so far and done well.  Most of the time our home school team only plays against other private high school teams. But this tournament lets us play the Big Boys!  

All of the teams we've faced were 5A and 6A schools from the Dallas/Fort Worth area.  Our first game of the day was against Frisco Heritage HS.  It was a really fun game to watch because the teams were evenly matched.  In the end our Chargers lost 13 - 14.  The second game of the day was against Frisco's Wakeland High School.  

Wakeland is the team that has played after us most of the weekend so the moms got to interact with their team while our girls were playing.  I was impressed with the girls and the coaches on the team.  One of the funniest moments was when a player from Wakeland said, 'oh that's neat that they let you (homeschoolers) play sports!' 

Unfortunately we lost to Wakeland, but we left the tournament with four wins and two losses and that was a better showing than we had last year.  Not too shabby for team with no school, no practice fields, and volunteer coaches!  Go Chargers! 

In all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified, sound in speech which is beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us.  Titus 2:7-8

Little Elm Softball Tournament Day 2

Today was day two of tournament play in the Little Elm tournament,  The girls first opponent was Greenville High School.  Greenville is a 5A school which is a far cry from our high school team of 9th-12th graders. It was a a tight game but the CHANT Chargers won 9-8! 

The second game of the day was against Little Elm High School.  They are a strong team with really great pitching!  They were the toughest team we've played so far this season.  They are the only team the Chargers lost to in this tournament 5-0 in seven innings. 

It was a much stronger showing that we had in the same tournament last year.  The girls have two more games lined up for tomorrow.  

Above all, love each other warmly, because love covers many sins. Welcome each other as guests without complaining. Each of you as a good manager must use the gift that God has given you to serve others.  1 Peter 4:8-10