The New PTA Secretary

As the school year continues to wind down, it's time to think about the school year that lies ahead, when it comes to a new PTA Board, etc.

Last week at the PTA meeting, we discussed what board positions people were interested in and what we would do if more than one person was interested in a position, etc.

After a few years of observing, I was very much interested in the PTA Board position of Secretary. So I voiced my interest. And no one else was interested!

An official vote will be made next week, but for now, I'm happy to report that for the 2010-2011 school year, I will be the PTA Secretary for our school!!

A Day of Rest

In Genesis 2:3, it says that on the seventh day, God rested....What a reminder of the importance it is to take a day here or a day there to rest and not feel guilty about it.

In our busy lives - some Moms working outside the home, others carting kids back and forth to school, homework, meal planning, errands, grocery shopping, etc, etc, etc. It's important to take time every now and then to just rest. It's obviously important - God did it!! :)

And that is exactly what we did this last Saturday! It was pure bliss!!!

The last several weeks have been extremely busy, and the weekends packed full. Early last week, when we looked ahead and saw that that weekend held nothing, we made sure to keep it that way.

We did go to Disneyland on Friday night, but Saturday, we never left home. I tried a new recipe for breakfast. I colored my hair. I cleaned off the patio. And eventually sat outside and started in on a new book. Steven got up to date on posting Podcasts of recent sermons. The girls played games on the computer and DSi's, they caught up on chores.

It was a nice and much needed day of going no where and not having to be anywhere.

In the evening, we had some friends over to talk about our upcoming camping trip over Memorial Day weekend. We BBQ'd chicken and then play a few rounds of Mexican Train, a dominoes game, out on the patio. Most definitely a great day!!!

Life is Short

"Life is short, remember to live for God and His glory,
regardless of what the world thinks."

~ Pastor Raul

Sisterhood Evening

There is a pastor and a church that has come beside our church and our pastor. They are a great support to us and we hope we are to them.

Last Friday evening, their women's ministry put on a "Sisterhood Evening" and invited our Pastor's wife and some of the leaders wives to attend as their guests. What an amazing and fun evening!

The seven of us women carpooled in Betina's SUV. We stopped for dinner together and then headed out to to the church. We were greeted outside the door by young girls dressed in fancy tutu's and bedazzled shirts and welcomed with smiles. Just inside the door was this beautiful table. We were taken to a table that was beautifully, and simply, decorated with pink napkins and sparkle gems spread about, and a brown box in the middle of the table with a word painted in pink. Our word was "FRIENDS" and it fit perfectly.We were told by one of the table hostesses that there was a pampering station off to one of the sides of the room and we made our way over. There, we found a few chairs and some of the women ready to give hand massages with pretty smelling lotions from Bath and Body Works. Anna enjoyed this station a little longer than the rest of us. LOL. The evening consisted of yummy desserts, worship, a great message by the Pastor's Wife, and what women's event wouldn't be complete with giveaways and party favors! It was a great evening, a true blessing. And the ride home was a lot of fun too, we laughed and laughed, and laughed even harder when we taught Betina (our Pastor's wife) what a Chinese Fire Drill was and performed the act on a side street on our way home. LOL.

It was a great evening and I'm so glad to have been able to be a part of it!

The Spring Tea

The Spring Tea is officially behind us and all the work and thought that went into planning is done. It was a beautiful morning to say the least.

It was a few months ago when the ball got rolling for a Spring Tea. Our Pastor's wife asked if my Mom and I would like to plan it all and put it all together and from there it went. We met once for lunch and presented our thoughts and ideas and then it started to come alive.

There were so many details involved - the date, the theme, the decor, tables, and table cloths, the food, this and that, and this and that some more.

The big details were taken care of fairly early. Asking my sister in law, Grace, who has an amazing voice, and another woman in our congregation to do worship. Betina, our beloved Pastor's Wife, being shown that the message was hers to do. And then selecting all the table hostesses.

The theme for the event was "In The Garden" and that's exactly what we did to the community center where our church meets. We turned the stage into a garden setting and all the tables were decorated in spring colors, or spring decor - bunnies, flowers, birds, etc, etc.

The week leading up to the tea, there was the last meeting to go over final details, any changes, etc, and a time of prayer. Two days later, I went with my girlfriend whom I asked to do the food, to Costco, where we shopped for all the food. And Friday, from 8:00 in the morning until mid afternoon, we did all the prep work and made what we could when it came to the food. To say it was a busy week for me would be an understatement.

We were able to get in to the community center where our church meets the night before for one hour. There was a scheduled cleaning crew coming in that night, so we didn't get to completely set up, but the stage was able to get completely done, as were the tables for the food. That alone was a huge relief. The stage, before.The stage, after.
The next morning came early as could get into the community center to start decorating the tables at 7:00am, to be completely set up and ready to go, in preparation for the 9:30 start time of the tea. Soon the seven tables began to be transformed into beautiful tablescapes, each one different and special in their own way.We sold tickets for $15.00 each and we had 52 women sign up! We had seven tables beautifully set and hostesses at each table, some had two hostesses. I was the one that got up on stage and welcomed the ladies and opened up the morning, and I was the one to close it at the end. My Mom did a short message on "The Joys of Journaling", whereas she shared the different journals she keeps and how to make them a special place for keeping verses, prayers, promises, and special things the Lord has shown her. Worship was amazing! My sister in law had asked a friend to join voices with her and the other lady from our congregation, but the day before the tea, the other lady would not be able to make it to the tea, and it left Grace and Michelle to bless us with their voices, accompanied by my brother on the guitar. It was absolutely beautiful. The Lord gave Betina a special message to share with us and she did an amazing job. Following the message, it was time for lunch. We worked hard to prepare a nice lunch for the ladies and that we did! We served chicken salad sandwiches on large crossaints, a nice spring salad, fresh fruit served in little plastic pots, sliced cucumbers with a cream cheese ranch spread, and cheesecake and brownie bites for dessert. And let's not forget the delicious scones and devonshire cream we devoured earlier in the morning. My Mom made almost 200 scones for tea and they were most delicious. We made the cheesecake look that way, drizzling chocolate sauce on the plate and then atop the sliced cheesecake, placing a sliced strawberry atop. I thought this presentation came out looking amazing! Everything tasted great and we heard many a compliments.

The event was A LOT OF WORK leading up to and the day of, but it was an absolutely beautiful morning. It went better than I had anticipated and it moved me to tears during worship when I knew we'd glorified the Lord and blessed the ladies that came.

My Sister in Law Totally ROCKS!

The name Pioneer Woman, aka PW, or Ree, is pretty well known throughout the internet world. Her website The Pioneer Woman is one of the few websites I check on a daily basis.

Last Fall, she released her cookbook. I got my cookbook and there isn't a recipe of hers, either on her website, or in the cookbook, that I haven't liked!

Following the release of her cookbook, she went on tour. She came to Los Angeles and I really, really wanted to go and meet her and have her sign my cookbook, but we live an hour on this side of L.A. and she was at a bookstore an hour on the other side of L.A. Two hour drive, probably more with traffic just wasn't a good idea. So I didn't go.

Last month, PW did a few cities on a Spring tour for her cookbook and she came to a nearby town that my sister in law lives in. When I found out my sister in law was going to go to her book signing, I teasingly asked her to get Ree to sign a card for me so that I could paste it into my cookbook. This is the picture on Kim's Facebook page with the caption reading "Oh, and could you please sign a card for my dorky sister-in-law too? She missed you when you were in her area." And guess what...she did!!! Kim mailed me the card and I got it over the weekend! I was excited that my sister in law did that for me!!! Thanks Kim! I'm off to paste it into my cookbook!

BUSY! BUSY! BUSY!

To say the last few weeks have been busy would be an understatement! I've fallen so far behind in my blogging and I've missed it to say the least.

So far this week, my mornings are empty, and it's allowing me time to catch up on things about the house, our accounting, getting things put away from this last weekend, and even catch up on blogging.

This last weekend was The Spring Tea at our church that my Mom and I coordinated. It was absolutely beautiful, and I'll share pictures and details in another post.

Every evening of the weekend was full and come midday Sunday I was so exhausted. Monday morning wasn't pretty either.

This week is Teacher Appreciation Week at the school. It's the first time that I've had two girls who's school expressed teacher appreciation the same week. So I've been staying atop of the list of things and how we can express our appreciation every day to both our teachers. It's fun to walk onto campus in the mornings and see all the kids with vases of flowers, and other gifts of appreciation. This afternoon, the PTA will be decorating the library in anticipation for the luncheon for the teachers tomorrow. I can't wait to see how the coordinator plans on turning the library into a beautiful lunch setting.

We are down to less than six weeks of school left. And if the last eight months are any indication as to how quickly time goes, then the next six weeks are going to fly by. Hannah has had such a great school year, I'm really sad to see her school year coming to an end. The teacher is amazing and does such creative and fun things and Hannah has grown academically in her class. Rachel's school year coming to an end is a bittersweet one. I'll be glad to see her move on, do the fun things that 1st grade holds for her, especially if she gets the teacher I requested, but on the other hand, it'll mean she'll be in school all day long, just like her sister. It'll be an adjustment having both girls gone all day, but I'm sure that first trip to Disneyland I make in the middle of the week will help ease the adjustment!

This next weekend is another busy one with a woman's worship night to attend on Friday, the local community day on Saturday, a possible visit to Steven's mom's on Saturday night to celebrate Mother's Day with her, and then Sunday, there's church and an afternoon BBQ at my brother and sister in laws house. I am looking forward to lounging about, maybe sitting by their pool and just relaxing!

And from there, it's the start of the wind down of the school year...play days, PTA nominations, parties, promotion ceremony for Rachel.

And again I say....where does the time go???