Week of Sept 2-9

I cannot seem to post randomly........maybe weekly updates are best for me at this point!

We survived Westfest......the kids had a great time riding all of the rides. Jill rode the zipper four or five times in a row! The ride worker kept asking her if she wanted off and, of course, she kept saying no! I lost count of how many times she rode.........thank goodness the worker finally made her get off because she was in there for about 30 minutes. Thomas and Grant weren't tall enough to ride the zipper, but they were tall enough to ride the Dragon Coaster, the Spook House, jump in the Bounce House and the tall slide. Thomas and Jill rode the ride they called the Hanglider. You lay down with a seatbelt on the you go up in the air and spin around. Grant, once again, was not tall enough and was pretty mad about it. He did not want to ride the "baby rides" like the motorcycles or little dragons that go round and round. Maybe next year!
The parade was great, too. Jill's teams float won first place---it had a batting cage on the back with the pitching machine and everything.

Since Monday was a holiday, I had time to get my nails done finally! We also had lunch on the patio at On The Border with Dad. I think I came home and took a nap after that. I love naps.

I drove all over Central Texas with appointments this week........but that is good for business! : )

Thomas has lost 2 teeth this week----one on the top and one on the bottom---both in the front and school pics are this week. He looks great and was trying to catch the Tooth Fairy last night by holding his tooth in his hand while trying to fall asleep. He told me this morning that he did not catch the fairy, but got a dollar for his savings account.

Speaking of savings accounts.....the kids all opened one this week of their own. We started them out with $25 each--once they contribute $25 we will add another $25--and so on. Their contributions come from the commissions that they do during the week. They get paid weekly based on what jobs they have done, then they decide what to give to church, save, or spend. Jonathan then takes them to the bank on Monday to make their deposits. We are hoping that they learn the importance of managing their money and saving for things that they want, as well as giving to church. J and I talked yesterday about maybe asking them if they want to earmark their giving money for a project that our church is helping sponsor in Cuba. One of our elders went to Cuba in the Spring to check out the efforts there and brought back a picture of the house, that they call the Castle, that they are hoping to use as a meeting place instead of using one of the families' garages. Jill saw the picture of the Castle and asked if it was a picture of a real place.
OH MY.......that really opened my eyes to the effort there........has she not seen enough dilapidated buildings to realize that there are people that actually live in those places and are happy with it? I told J that the next time our church wants to send members to Cuba, that we need to volunteer and take the kids. They dont realize how fortunate they are.

I went to a Bible Teacher's Workshop this weekend at Saturn Road Church of Christ in Garland with some other members of our church. We got some new ideas of things that we can do for our classes. One funny thing that I saw was a sign by the registration table with Brooklyn's name on it. Apparently she was "in trouble" for not returning pager #119. HA.....I called Cathe and she forgot it was in Brooklyn's bag.

Besides watching the Cowboys last night, I think that's all that has gone on besides all the normal stuff. J has a drawing class tonight......one of his new hobbies. My new hobby seems to be studying for the series 6/63 tests so that I can market securities. BORING!!

Have a good week.........love to all.........V