Total classroom transformation

One of the cool things, to me, about IMPACT, is that it is such a wonderful collaborative effort(remember my "teamwork" fettish). Christians from all over Houston, as well as all over the country come and work together. Last week the helpers on my team were from Oklahoma and Tennessee. This week they are from Huntsville Alabama and somewhere in North Texas. When a group leaves and a new group comes in, the room decorations all change, because each group brings and sets up the stuff and then take it all down when they leave. Some of the rooms are just amazing. The team that did my room for this week is from Huntsville Alabama, so they brought this whole Chinese scene, structure and all (in pieces) from Alabama, and then put it all together here.

I'm so grateful to be a part of this work and get to share it with my children. The children we're teaching are so precious, and every day brings new joys and excitement.

Another word about Impact

You may or may not be familiar with the work of IMPACT church of Christ in downtown Houston. It is a congregation/mission to serve and minister to the people who live in that area, most of whom are underpriviledged or homeless. With every experience I have with Impact, I am blessed, amazed and encouraged. The LORD is doing great things in so many ways I can't begin to explain. Currently, Ryan, Brendan and I are helping with the literacy program down there and enjoying it immensely. There are over 300 children in the program right now. Today, Ryan was just bursting with pride for the little 6 year old boy he has been a reading buddy with, as he gains confidence and succeeds at reading. If you live in the Houston area or ever have the opportunity to participate in the work at IMPACT, I strongly encourage you to do so. You'll be sooooooo glad you did!

Lovin' Impact literacy

The boys and I are working with the literacy program at "Impact" downtown, and lovin' it. The bee hive is the doorway to my classroom, and the Pooh scene is in the corner of my room.

Monumental haircut

Brendan lost his lovely locks yesterday. I only cried a little while I cut.

Happy Independence Day!

I hope you all had a nice 4th with loved ones. We had fun out in Hempstead. Here are a couple pictures of us out there, and one of my sister and me.

Back from vacation

I'm sorry it's been so long since I've updated this. Anyway, we just got back from our little vacation. We had a nice, low-key, relaxing family time. We went to the Dallas area for our friends' Juan and Becca's wedding, which was very sweet. Then we stayed in a hotel, in Dallas for a few days. We played a lot of cards, played and swam in the pool, and just enjoyed being together. Thankfully, we were able to visit some family while we were there and see all of the precious new babies in the family. I'm kicking myself for not getting pictures of them, because of course they are absolutely adorable. Anyway, we saw Jacob and Erica and their baby, Colton, and Shane and Hannah and their daughter Gracie and new baby Aubri, as well as Shanna and Jim, who are expecting twins. We also went to Medieval Times, and that was a total blast! When we left Dallas, we went on to Abilene, to visit Maw-Maw (Wes' grandma, Gladys Smith), Wes' aunt and uncle Tony and Edilyn Smith, and my aunt, Jo Ann Campbell. We had a great visit with all of them and wish we could see everybody more often.