NEC Marriage Retreat 2009

February 6-7, 2009 Doubletree Hotel, Dallas Texas

It was finally here. The 2009 NEC Marriage Retreat. We had 51 couples attend. We were blessed with an overnight stay at a local hotel. After much prayer the Lord blessed us at every turn and took care of the little details to boot. Much praise can go to the Creator of the idea of marriage and the blessings he bestowed on us over this weekend.

Our Speaker was Al Pickering. I would list the amount of letters on the back of his name but there are so many I am sure I would miss a few. He is well educated and trained in marriage therapy and on marriage in general. He was fun and entertaining. His materials were very insightful and we only wish we could have had a week to listen to all he had to share with us. If you ever need a speaker for a marriage seminar we highly recommend him.

We wanted this to be a fun, informative, and relaxing weekend. We wanted it to be a time where couples could share time together as they were given tools to enhance their marriage. Friday night Al spoke and started off our weekend. After he spoke we had planned some fun and games. Here you can see our version of "The Newlywed Game". However, since we had couples who had been newlywed up to married for 30 years we created our own game called "The Really Wed Game".
We had predetermined our contestents based on the different stages of marriage. We had a Newlywed couple of 7 months, a couple with young children, a couple with a teenager who were soon to be empty nesters and empty nesters who had been married 30 years (needless to say, they won, but it was close!) We had a prize of an upgraded suite for the winner and they were able to move into an executive suite for the evening.

We even had an emcee and hostess dress up for the fun.

After the newlywed game we had some ballroom dancing for those who were interested.

Saturday began with a wonderful breakfast and then 4 different sessions with Al speaking. Between sessions we played some videos relating to marriage. Tim Hawkins provided some of the material : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZnIaPl8BsM We also used some materials from the special features on the "Fireproof" video. We were able to laugh at the differences between men and women and just laugh in general.

We also played some games in between sessions to keep eveyone's blood pumping. Here are some scenes from the games we played to demonstrate non-verbal communication. Since most communication is non-verbal it is important to be aware of it. However, since non-verbal communication is often misunderstood we thought we should demonstrate the pros and cons of nonverbal communication.

We gave our couples a sealed envelope with 3 other sealed envelopes inside. They were marked 1, 2 and 3 and were to be opened in that order. One envelope said "For Her Eyes Only", one "For His Eyes Only" and one "Both Must Read". The only instructions they were given were that they were to open the envelopes in order, do what they said but they were not allowed to speak a word. Here are some highlights of the games.

"Both Must Read"

Without saying a word and with your hands behind your back, you must work together to get a balloon from the starting point to the finish line before going to your next envelope.

Most of the couples finally figured out how to "communicate" and pick up the balloon. Some watched how others managed and "non-verbally" agreed to do the same. As you can see by the pictures and all the smiles the couples were able to enjoy each other and laugh together.

In the "For His Eyes Only" or the "For Her Eyes Only" envelopes they either had a charades word they had to get their partner to say or a task they were to get their partner to do by acting it out but with their hands behind their backs and without saying a word....

Charades

Getting your partner to complete a task.....

The confused looks on the faces were a common site. All of our couples were able to complete their tasks and all comments were very positive at how much they enjoyed these games.

All in all it was a great weekend. But aside from all the fun we had many comments on how much they enjoyed the retreat. Though that was one of our goals our main goal was also accomplished. We wanted to give marriages some tools they would need to enhance their marriages, to be able to work through the tough time and to be able to laugh together. With these tools their marriages could flourish, stay united but more than anything else, they would glorify God.

Our speaker said that in his counseling experience he realized that most marriages struggle simply because they do not have the tools necessary to understand each other and work through the hard times. He also mentioned that the main ingredient for the successful marriage was having our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ with in the marriage. That as we build our vertical relationship with Christ we are able to enhance our horizontal relationship with our spouse. Without Christ in the mix we tend toward selfishness and self-centeredness.

We know that the Lord worked through this weekend through the many comments we received from the couples who attended. We are thankful the Lord blessed us with this opportunity to serve Him in this capacity and would love to help any who would like help in their marriages. Struggles happen but there is hope, not only for those marriages who are struggling but also for those that are coasting and for those that are doing well but want to draw even closer to each other. Please feel free to contact me if you would like help in any way.

Satan trys to destroy people and churches through destroying marriages. It is our desire to come along side couples and share the ways the Lord has taught us to work through the tough times and enjoy the good times to the fullest.

To God be the Glory!

NEC Marriage Retreat Prep

Phillip and I have been serving in our Marriage Ministry at our church for almost 2 years. We have seen some tough times in our ministry but God is faithful. We had a time of focusing on healing many struggling marriages and had come to a point in our ministry where we wanted to focus on all marriages not just the struggling marriages. Our leadership decided we should have a Marriage Retreat.
Well, neither Phillip nor I had ever led an endeavor like this, but with much prayer and much help from others the Lord blessed our efforts and multiplied them tenfold. The week before the retreat was a busy one for us. Here we are getting the materials for the retreat ready. We had 110 notebooks to stuff.

Thankfully our children have always been willing helpers. Here A is helping out with her usual smiling face and very helpful hands.The finished product turned out very well thanks to my very talented husband. Here is the completed notebook.

Here is a better picture of the completed design. I am so thankful that the Lord has blessed him with these gifts. I can stuff folders but the design both inside and out came from his talented hands.

We worked a lot that week preparing for the retreat but in the end, the Lord blessed us beyond measure for our meager efforts. We had 51 couples at the retreat and our speaker did such an amazing job. See my next post on the retreat itself.

Ants!!!!!

February 2009
For some time now we have had a problem finding ants in our shower. No matter what we did they kept showing up every morning and quite often wanted to join us as we showered. Needless to say, this was not an acceptable situation for me. Phillip finally had a chance to work on this situation and here is what we found.

First, I found the kids all watching Dad do something.....

After listening to much pounding this is what we found. Phillip had to break through a lot of tile to get to them all. The kids were a little concerned as he started pounding the tile with a hammar to break it up. Dad finally handed the hammer to the kids and let them each break up some tiles. They thought this was great fun.

The ants were in the walls and behind the bathtub. They had an anthill throughout the wall and up a water pipe.

The more Phillip dug the more ants he found.

Between our shower and bathtub is a half wall. This is where we found most of the ants.

There were so many ants that I suggested the shop vac. Phillip went to the garage, grabbed the vac and proceeded to vacuum them out. It was amazing how many there were. But he eventually vacuumed out the nest. We knew that we would have to make sure all the ants were killed so we sprayed and set out ant poison to make sure they did not decide to rebuild.

February 15,2009

After a week of no shower or bathtub in our masterbath Phillip saw no more ants and began the repairs.

The finished product. He did a great job. It looks like new!!!

Now we just wait for it to dry and I will have my shower and bath back looking better than ever.

Speaking of Boys....

The weather finally warmed up and the boys were outside on the trampoline as soon as they could. Here they are.....doing what boys do.

Boys and Sam Moon

January 2009
Boys are a new experience to me. Although I have had boys now for 11 years as they grow I learn more and more. Thus far my boys have been more joy than I could have ever imagined. I was one of 4 girls. My first 2 children were girls. I know how to do girls. Boys, on the other hand, are a learning experience for me. The younger ages, though busy and full of energy, were exhausting but fun and fairly easy. However, as my oldest is transitioning from boy to young man, I am having to learn to treat him differently. He is patient, kind and understanding. He "tolerates" his mom a lot. Every now and again he shows his growth into a young man in his understanding and patience. He is an excellent big brother to my youngest and amazes me over and over again at how much he can tolerate in a house full of women. For example, my sister came for a visit. She and my neice wanted to go to Sam Moon. My two daughters and I thought this was a great idea. A store full of purses, jewelry and accesories, who could resist? Well, I am certain my boys would have if it were possible.But, since the boys were already with us and it was a considerable way from our home they "tagged along".
One thing I do know is that gameboys are a good thing to let them bring when we will be shopping. My oldest son is very good at occupying my youngest. They take their gameboys, find a quiet corner and patiently wait for "the girls" in their family to finish their shopping. After enjoying a time of shopping with my sister, neice and daughters this is what I found....

We can learn from boys. Today we learned how to make the best out of an "unpleasant" situation. LOL!

NOTE: As we were walking out of Sam Moon my oldest son C told me that I "owed him big". R jumped right in and said, "Ice Cream!" To which C responded, "Be quiet! Think bigger!" LOL!

They did tolerate a lot of shopping that day and so we did "pay them back big".....It was Cinnabon for all~!

The Pros and Cons of Homeschooling and Ice Days

Today we woke up to 20 degree weather (those of you up north can stop laughing now). It rained most of the night so the roads were icy and schools and businesses were closed down (okay, I will pause a second while those of you up north can catch your breath from laughing so hard). Better? Okay. So, as a homeschool mom do we take an "ice day" or keep schooling?

Our deck in the backyard.

My wishing well up front. (Ignore the Christmas lights, we will get to them eventually.

Well, if it had been snow and the kids would have been occupied outside then we would have taken the day off. But, ice just causes them to have nothing to do inside and so school keeps them busy and engaged. However, there are some pros to homeschooling too. It was very cold today. So the boys were up early and started a fire. I love my fireplace and can sit next to it all day on a cold day like today.

Another advantage of homeschooling is that we can still do school but we can do it in front of the fireplace. Here we are doing writing class in the family room right across from the fireplace. We are all dressed very comfortably and warm. Anything we have to get out for we can do tomorrow.

I am not sure the kids agree with these thoughts, but I have loved sitting in front of the fire doing school.

Tim Hawkins Live

We were blessed with the opportunity to see Tim Hawkins Live tonight. He is such a great comedian and seeing him live is an experience! He did a lot of his material from his most recent DVD "I'm No Rockstar" , but he had some new stuff too. His physical comedy just makes his show.
The kids all wanted to meet him and get his autograph. J got an autograph for herself and for a dear friend . When she told Tim she wanted it for her best friend he signed it, "Hi Emily!" Tim Hawkins. Now imagine him saying it as he signed with a big flourish to his signature.

C told him to just sign Tim Hawkins to which he replied, "Why didn't I think of that? I was going to sign another name. James Burley!" As you can see he had the boys cracking up.

Phillip asked if he could take a picture with all the kids and Tim was so gracious and jumped right up to pose with them. As you can see, He was classic Tim Hawkins!

We all had a great night with lots of laughs. If you get a chance to see him live, I recommend you go. We also got to see Cleto Rodriguez who is another comedian that performs with Tim Hawkins and the improvisational group HimProv . Tim used to perform with Himprov before he moved on. If you get a chance to see them they are fun and quick with their wit.

Today was a better day.

Yesterday we had a pretty bad scare. My dd J had a migraine headache. So did I so I was not surprised. She began throwing up pretty violently so we decided to give her phenergan so we could ease her stomach enough to give her some pain meds. She fell right to sleep. As I had already taken pain meds, so did I. My oldest A realized I was not in very good shape and neither was J so she called her dad and he came home. Thank God she did this. While I was sleeping and thought J was sleeping she had stumbled downstairs. Phillip found her on the couch. When he asked her how she was doing she could not talk and was making no sense so Phillip came and woke me up. He brought her to me and her tongue wasn't working, she couldn't talk and she was not making sense. We immediately called the doctor. While on the phone they told us to give her benedryl, which we did. We noticed that her right arm was no longer working and it was "posturing" (held in a position she could not change). This is a neurological sign. At this point the nurse had us hang up and call 911.
When the ambulance got her the paramedics checked her over and wanted us to send her to the hospital. No problem. I could not go as I was still very ill so Phillip hopped in the ambulance but they made him sit in the front seat. They were not going very fast and had only one light flashing so it seemed okay at that point. Then Phillip heard movement in the back of the ambulance and one of the guys told them that everything was fine but to bump it up. So, all the lights and sirens came on and they were speeding to the hospital. Once at the hospital she was already starting to do better. While in the ambulance she could not answer simply questions like, name, age, birthdate or answered wrong. She told them she was 9??? She was talking more clearly in the ER but her arm was not working well. It was working some. They did a CT Scan to rule out any brain problems and she was fine.
She is allergic to phenergan. She was sent home with a different med for nausea.
Today she is back to her same bubbly self but a bit sleepy. She had an awful lot of medicine pumped into her yesterday.
It was definitely not the way we had planned our day but the Lord was fully aware of it. There were so many things that just fell into place.
A called her dad to come home and he could come home.
For some reason J stumbled downstairs.
Phil checked on her just at the right time.
With me sleeping and thinking she was upstairs sleeping there would have been no reason for me to go check on her. She could have had this reaction and no one would have known.
I could not have gone with her to the hospital even if I had called 911, if Phillip weren't home I don't know what we would have done.
God had it taken care of. We had so many people praying and all turned out well. Thank you to everyone who lifted her up to the Great Physician. She has always been in His hands and that is a strong tower of protection for her.

Smart Cookies...

Mom: J, we need to get you through Algebra 1 so you can take the PSAT next year.

J: What's the PSAT

Mom: It is the pre-SAT. Remember you need to take the SAT for college. If you do well on the PSAT you can get scholarships etc.

J: Really?

Mom: Yes, I was a National Merit Scholar and was automatically accepted into the colleges I applied for and received a few full scholarships.

J: (Looks at mom amazed or shocked, one of the two)

Mom: I know I may not look like it but your mom is one smart cookie.

J: (pointing to self) smart cookie!

C has walked in during the end of this conversation....

Mom turns to C: C, are you a smart cookie?

C: I'm a tough cookie,... but I don't know if I am a smart cookie.

At this point all I can do is laugh. How does he come up with these witty replies so quickly? LOL!

100% No Broken Bones......still

With 4 kids you might expect to have at least 1 broken bone in the bunch. Well, so far so good. Yesterday we almost lost that record. R managed to jam his finger while on the trampoline ( I know, I know, I am a nurse and know that trampoline injuries are quite common. We have had one for years and this is the first incident.) It did look misshapen but afer x-rays we were assured it was just a lot of swelling and he will have to wear a splint for a few days until it starts to feel better. Here is the splint that R says is VERY limiting to his activities.We sent him to AWANAS tonight with instructions to be careful with his finger. Well, he was. However, his hip was not in the stipulation and he is now in bed with ice on his hip where he landed on it. It is swollen and bruised and painful to the touch, but once again, not broken.

In the Hands of a Child - Kit Pack - Sale Announcement

Jeff and Kate Estes are an intregal part of the homeschooling community and have faithfully supplied needed projects to help many homeschools run more smoothly. They have served by putting together many wonderful history kits with all the needed items including some hard to find items so that homeschooling parents, like myself, can save time as we school our children. It is with great saddness that I post here to help this precious family. They run the company Hands and Hearts.
Below you will read about a new law going into effect on Feb. 10 that will prevent the Estes' from continuing in the business. Please read the notice below and help this family and other homeschooling businesses if you can as they try to sell off their inventory. For those of you who do not know the Estes, they are Noah's (see sidebar) parents, whom many of you have been praying for.

From another Company - "In the Hands of a Child"
January 12, 2009

Dear Valued Customers,

Due to the new CPSIA law In the Hands of a Child for the time being, is discounting our Kit Pack inventory in order to lessen our possible loss in the event that an exemption is not granted.

While we are still praying for this situation to work out for all small businesses we feel that it is in our best interest to lessen our possible loss. And what better way than to pass the savings on to you, our wonderful customers, who are praying with us through this difficult situation!!

Please help us clear our shelves and enjoy a 35% savings on all Kit Packs!! Savings will be automatic! Spread the word and help us empty the shelves!!

This sale will continue until our Kit Pack inventory has been exhausted, so purchases will be on a first-come-first-served basis.

Once they are gone, they are gone!

In the event the law is modified, In the Hands of a Child reserves the right to bring back Kit Packs in the future at full price without any discount, implied or expressed, during this sale.

Cannot be combined with any other offer, special, discount, coupon or sale.
Super Member discount DOES NOT apply to this sale.
Tax and Shipping not included in calculating discount price.
Not valid toward prior purchases.
No rainchecks.

DO YOU HAVE A BLOG? YOU CAN RECEIVE A FREE KIT PACK!

Help us spread the word by posting the above notice on your blog. Then place an order for at least 1 Kit Pack, email us the link to your blog where the notice is posted along with your order number and your choice of Kit Pack and we’ll add it to your order. How easy is that?*

*Please note customer is responsible for shipping costs for free Kit Pack, shipping will be combined with original order if email is received same day as order is placed notifying us of blog posting.

Sunday Catch up

Since I see Monday as the first day of the week, Sunday is my wrap-up day. We started the week cold and icy which turned out to be a good thing. It kept us home, by the fire and all working well on our first day back to school.

The kids were focused and worked really hard on their school work and were up most days doing their schooling without any prompting from me. I was sooooo proud of them.
We didn't really get out the rest of the week except for our usual bible studies etc. but we have had a lot of family time together.
We have introduced the kids to "Hogan's Heroes", an old sitcom about a WW 2 POW camp. The kids needed a little background and an understanding that this show is a comedy and in NO WAY reflects the truth of the matter. However, we don't really hit WW 2 until next year in our studies.
Today we enjoyed worship and fellowship and then came home and napped and relaxed. When I woke up it was back to the Christmas decorations. It took awhile and the effort of all involved but we did get it done.



All in all it was a really good week. I need to get prepared for next week. I also have some further musings on the New Year and Resolutions, habits, thoughts but that is for another post, another time.

Back to School, Pencils and Ice

We started back to school today. The kids were up and going and were very diligent in their work. I was really proud of them. We finished up school shortly after 3. It was a long day but a productive day.
While teaching writing today I noticed an odd site.

I don't know how this pencil was sticking to the wall or how or why it got there. Unfortunately it peeled a little of the paint off when we pulled it off. But it was a nice distraction and a good laughing break in the middle of a long school day.

It was a good day to start back to school. It was cold, rainy and icy outside. No one wanted to go out for any reason so it was easy to focus on school. The boys had to make several wood runs to keep the fireplace going and came in exclaiming the icicles on the trampoline and all over the trees. It really was one wintery day.
Here is a picture of our pecan tree and the crepe myrtles covered in ice. The picture does not do the beauty of the scene justice.

It was a good day all in all and we are back to school full force.

Holiday in the Park at Six Flags

1-02-09
We have made several attempts to attend "Holiday in the Park" this year. We finally made it and it was the most beautiful day we could have gone. The weather was perfect and the park was not crowded. We were able to take a couple of the kids "cousins" with us and so it was me and 6 kids. What a blast! We started our trip on the carousel like we always do. However, those pictures are on another camera and I have learned that if I wait to blog until I get all the pictures it will never happen. So, here are a few highlights of our day.
Here are the kids on the Teacups. I love this picture!

While some of the other kids rode the Superman, A and R rode the "Gunslinger" or "The Big Swings".

Snow Hill is part of Holiday in the Park. It is some of the only "snow" we will see here in Texas. As you can see by the short sleeve shirts it was not exactly snow weather. LOL! I went down first so I could take pictures.






The Tony Hawk is a new ride. We all wanted to ride this one. It was so much fun. Here are the girls who rode in one car....

and the boys and I rode in the other.

Most thrill rides at Six Flags have a station on the ride that snaps pictures as you are riding. However, they have stepped up the pictures on the Tony Hawk. On this ride there are four seats. Two seats facing two other seats. In the middle of the four seats are 2 video cameras. One facing the first set of seats and the other the second set. The boys said the ride was okay but watching me scream made it all the more fun. Thankfully, the cameras were NOT operating that evening. God is good. LOL!
After the Tony Hawk, we only had 15 minutes left to closing so we ran across the park to ride the Yosemite Sam. This is a boat that floats you through a Looney Tunes story of Yosemite Sam stealing the gold. Well, it was definitely relaxing.

After the Yosemite Sam I had promised the kids Funnel Cakes for dessert. We had 4 minutes until the park closed. Where do you get Funnel Cakes? Back at the opposite end of the park from the Yosemite Sam! So we were off and running again. I definitely had my workout for the day.
Here they all are enjoying their funnel cakes and a wonderful ending to a wonderful day at Six Flags.