It's Almost time!

Right now, the stands sit empty.....

And the press box is quiet and still......

But soon, there will be the sound of cleats on the crushed brick that lines the field.

And the roar of the crowd in the stands!
Let's Go Cubbies!

These pictures were taken during our tour of Wrigley Field 2 years ago. It was a wonderful experience and I recommend it to any Chicago visitor or baseball fan.

Here's hoping the "W" flies over Wrigley tomorrow! (If they get to play at all - there's a chance of snow -Yikes!!!) We were at the season opener last year in Atlanta, and let's just say...... things didn't go so well! Ha!

We're going to rush home from school to catch the last few innings on TV, and we're having some pretty special snacks to celebrate! More on that tomorrow!

St. Pat's

Big Daddy grew up in Chicago, where St. Patrick's Day is well celebrated. From dying the Chicago River green to the infamous parade (Ferris Buller anyone?!), in Chicago - they know that everyone's Irish on St. Patrick's Day!

So he was really excited when he and his business partners decided to dye the fountain green at one of their developments. One of the partners carefully researched what type of dye to use. Don't want to have a green fountain year round! Just for one day, thank you very much! :-)

They finally settled on a company that supplies dye to not only dye the Chicago River, but also to dye the White House fountain. Fancy!

Here's Big Daddy handing out the dye. Not knowing how much dye they would need, they ordered 6 containers of dye and ended up only using 2.

Pouring in the dye:

It's green!

Happy (Belated) St. Patrick's Day!

May the road rise up to meet you! May the wind be ever at your back. May the sun shine warmly on your face and the rain fall softly on your fields. And until we meet again, may God hold you in the hollow of His hand.

~ Irish Blessing

Spelling Bee

Like every mother, I think my children are exceptional, beautiful, and wonderful in every way, but I am still surprised some times at their many gifts. So, it was very unexpected when JR got into the car after school one afternoon and announced that he was 1 of 4 children in his grade selected to be in the local Spelling Bee!

I was so excited and immediately thought of the "Spelling Bee Dinner" highlighted by Melissa at A Little Loveliness. I knew I wanted to do something just as special for my son, to wish him good luck on the eve of his Spelling Bee.

So last Thursday night, our table looked like this:

Children's cups were purchased at Party City and decorated with scrapbooking stickers from Wal Mart. Straws were by Sugar Diva:

I was lucky enough to find this "bee" plate at Hobby Lobby for only $1.50! I considered purchasing a set for all of us, but decided to make the honored guest's spot at the table feel special instead:

Even our flowers were buzzing with excitement!:

Our menu consisted of Alphabet Soup, rolls, and petite fours. Yum!

I had trouble locating "ABC" pasta to make my own Chicken Noodle Soup (JR's favorite), so I substituted this household favorite:

Who doesn't love a petite four?

We are so proud of our Spelling Bee champ!

Oh How He Loves Us

A quick post.

Two weekends ago, I was blessed to take part in a Junior High Retreat at our church. I know 'blessed to take part in a Junior High Retreat' is an oxymoron in some people's language, but I just L-O-V-E love Junior High kids!

My group of 7th grade girls is just the best and I was so glad that so many of them got to take part in this retreat. To me, the weekend is centered around two things - #1- showing Christ's love through the Church (*note the capital "C") and #2 telling the story of Christ - His love for us, His forgiveness, and the joy that He gives.

We kicked off on Friday night with a Welcome party that both the C-group that my husband and I lead AND the C-group that we are members of (I'll tell that story another time! -okay?) put together. These are the ladies from our groups who could be there. I love these ladies so much!

Also, a part of the weekend- my husband, Big Daddy, led the games. If you know my husband, you know he was called 'for such a time as this.' He went all out!

Of course, there were lots of serious times.

And one of the most serious times, came on Saturday night at a Prayer service for all of the Junior High kids participating (all 127 of them!!!!) After a long, very emotional service, the kids are ready to let loose and celebrate their fellowship in Christ, soooo...... there was an amazing Mexican Fiesta waiting for them when they finished!

Don't these cupcakes look amazing?!

Every detail of this event was perfect. The cheese dip/ make your own taco station:

YUM!

Mexican Marketplace:

I'm telling you, EVERY DETAIL = Amazing!

Two of my favorites and I, after the tearful prayer service/ right before the kids descended:

And finally it was time to party!

It's party time in heaven too, as almost all of the kids who participated in the event came to a new realization of who Christ is and many of them will be baptized this coming Sunday.

God is good! All the time.

Oh, how He loves.