Palm Sunday Service

This morning we went to church and heard and AMAZING message! The music was absolutely wonderful and the Easter decorations were gorgeous. The banners and flags were hung in the sanctuary, the wooden cross with the purple sash and the new choir pew rail was just beautiful. We have some talented people in our church and they worked hard to make everything so beautiful on this special day. Thanks to all that put hard work into the decoartions!
One of the special songs that was sung by a lady on the choir was called," The Day He Wore My Crown". Wow, you really need to hear the words to this song if you have not already heard it. It was so touching and really makes me wonder sometimes, why? Why would Jesus go through so much pain to save us? We are sinners and and He loved us sooo much that he died for us and went through a lot of suffering and criticism for us. This song really touched my heart. I know we celebrate Jesus' death and resurrection this time of year, but I just could not stand to sit there and listen to that song Mrs. Hix was singing and think I don't deserve this. There was also a picture of Jesus on the cross that was on the projector screen during the service today. Houston was even kinda emotional as he looked up at the picture and said, "that is sad". I know it was sad but guess what? HE LIVES! CHRIST JESUS LIVES TODAY!! He is in our hearts and we will meet again someday! I CAN NOT wait.
Also, today we observed communion or The Lord's Supper today at church. This was Houston's first time to take the bread and cup since he has accepted Christ in February. It was funny, because last night we were working in his workbook and it was about Baptism and The Lord's Supper. We had discussed that you can only participate in communion if you are a Christian and know Jesus is in your heart. So today, he was excited that he could participate. When the tray came around with the bread, he got it and held it patiently until the entire church had received one. When Brother Jack, read the scripture and said, "you may eat the bread", Houston put the cracker in his mouth and said, "Eww, this tastes yucky". I was kinda embarrassed but told him, this was very special and important to Jesus. Then the cup came around and he was shaking a little. I had to help him hold his cup until we were able to drink. I am so glad he got to experience this and hear such an uplifting message today. I hope everyone remembers what the real meaning of Easter is all about and why we celebrate it.
Hope everyone has a wonderful week.

beautiful weather Tuesday

Yesterday was my first day back at work since Spring break. I was sad the weather was so yucky, but today, God had blessed us with a beautiful spring day! The weather was great and the flowers are blooming. Absolutely gorgeous. I took my class outside to play today and we stayed out a little longer since it was so nice. I still think half my class is still exhausted from spring break because it seems like the past two days have been so smooth. Thank the Lord! Let's hope they stay like that! TCAP is right around the corner.

I wanted to share Houston's favorite Bible scripture.

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son. That whosoever believeth in Him, should not perish,but have everlasting life.

This verse is in his daily kid's Bible Study workbook and he has memorized it about 3 weeks ago. He is so funny though. When he is reciting it, he will get to the everlasting life part and ramble on and say "evermemmeming life".

He is getting so interested in learning! He has been practicing his handwriting lately and invented spelling. He wrote a letter to his teacher telling her the things he did on Spring Break. She actually read it and knew exactly every word it said. I had written on the back what it really said. When he was writing about the zoo, he said, "zzz oooo". I said, "ok, so how do you think we spell zoo"? He said "z-o-o"! I asked him how in the world did he know that? and he said I learned -oo says -ew. Wow, talk about being a proud momma!

Sorry to change the subject but, is anyone into American Idol this year? I am rooting for Casey James! I love him. His voice is great and he kinda reminds me of Bucky Covington in a good way. I know, his teeth were blah, but I loved his country voice. Anyway, I don't know if I can continue to watch it after Simon leaves next year :( He is the main reason I love it. I was kinda iffy about Ellen being a judge, but she is really good. What do yall think?

Spring Break pics

Here are a few pics to sum up our fun week!

Houston at the circus

Me and Heather at the circus

Houston and his new friend Patches the clown

Houston and Me at the zoo

Scooby-4 months old

Abbi and Houston competing in Just Dance wii

Houston and Abbi eating leftover brownie mix

My Spring Break 2010

So this week was my Spring Break and I have enjoyed every minute of it!
I have shopped til I dropped, ran errands, spent time with family, friends and cleaned house.
The beginning of the week was designated for dr appts, dentist appts, errand running and shopping. So, I told Houston Thursday was "his day". He woke up and was so excited about doing what he wanted to do. We had his cousin Abbi over for the day and they had a blast. They played in the sand, rode bikes and scooters, played Just Dance wii, ( which is teh best game EVER made for the wii) had our own Easter egg hunt ( more than once), baked brownies, played with chalk, and played with the wild man puppy. They were so so dirty and so tired by the time I took Abbi home, but they had so much fun together. I have pics, but have not loaded them to my computer yet.

I also weighed this week and have lost a total of 38.9 pounds since November. It is so hard, but I feel like I have so much more energy now. People are starting to notice and it feels so good. I have been cutting back on what I eat, quit eating after 5 pm, walking at least 30 minutes a day and doing 100 situps nightly on my AB rocker. My sister is getting married in 2 weeks, my 30th birthday is next month and my beach trip is coming up which I scheduled today. I want to do this for myself, my health and so I will be around for Houston for a long time. My blood pressure seems to be better and maybe one day, if it is the Lord's will, I can get off blood pressure meds.

Thursday, I hung out with my sister for a while to discuss wedding plans, then I headed out for a much needed Girls Night Out with friends. We had great food, fun and just sitting around having some good conversation. I got in after midnight and had Houston wake me up at 7:30 a.m. wanting to know all the details of my night out! haha, he thinks he is grown sometimes.

We went to the zoo Friday and talk about beautiful weather. It was the best trip yet! We went as a family but ended up running into some fabulous friends and had a ball. Houston's favorite part was the fountain at Teton Trek. It comes up like a geyser and then goes back down. It has steam too. He had so much fun playing in it. We really are lucky to have such an awesome zoo in our hometown. The wolves were laying by the fence and we could almost touch them, they were so close. Everything was perfect!

After a long day at the zoo, we went home and showered and headed right back out for a night at the circus with our friends Brian, Heather and David. The kids had so much fun watching everything, especially the three motorcycles and the crazy woman in the ball all at once going in circles so fast. Brian had never been to a circus, so it was quite an experience. Once again, we had good food, great company and awesome entertainment.

Today has been spent picking up around the house, and playing outside, We have been outside ALL day long. It has been so beautiful and just think they are calling for snow tomorrow. UGH
We gave the dogs a bath, practiced TBALL, played in the sand, rode bikes 3 miles and hung out with our neighbors. We have recently met some of our newer neighbors and they are so sweet. We are so blessed! Well, Houston has passed out after a long day, and I need to get off here and get some more things done. Hope everyone else has enjoyed this weather as much as me.

Something to think about

"We can't keep skipping class (our daily walk with the Lord through scripture and prayer) and expect to know when He's scheduled a field trip".

This is a quote by Beth Moore that is a favorite of mine. It is so true. How can you expect great things when you are not living a Christian life?

Houston's awards

This is a picture of Houston and his awards for 4th six weeks in Pre-K. He got Perfect attendance and the Citizenship award for excellence in Behavior.

I am so proud of him this year. He is learning so much. I was so proud last week, when he wrote his friend Martin a letter that was invented spelling. That is what my Kindergartners started out doing.

This is what his letter said, "Mtn wll u bng m ms mv. Love Houston " It meant, "Martin, will you bring me mouse movie" Love Houston.

His teacher was so proud. Now he has a special assignment over spring break to write down the things he did all by himself. He is excited about learning and I am thrilled. I started helping him with his first name last summer and he struggled with letter "s". I have been helping and his teacher too and his "s" is just about as good as mine. haha. He has been able to write his first and last name for some time now, but I think we may begin on his middle name soon. (Franklin) What do you think Melissa?

I feel a weight lifted off my chest too. He is in a Kindergarten Boost program at school ran by an organization in Memphis. It was talked up to be great at first, but I have come to realize, it is unorganized and very inappropriate for a pre-k student. After discussing with his teacher and other teachers, I have written a letter to have him withdrawn beginning the Monday we come back from Spring Break. The "teachers" work with kids for an hour a day, where they are pulled from their pre-k setting and they have no classroom management. Houston and some of his other friends that never get in trouble have been caught doing things they never would do with their teacher. It is sad because these people let them get away with it, and now they have no control. I mean, I will look out my classroom door and they will be running in the halls. I met with the head teacher and she told me Houston was not a problem. I told her he cries every morning because he doesn't want to go to school. I also told her 1 hour is way too long to hold the attention of a 4 year old in reading. I also told her I thought he should be learning more than letter/sounds which she said he is partial proficient. Whatever, he has known every letter since he was 2 and knows all sounds currently. She basically told me he had dyslexia without saying that word. She said he is getting his blends turned around when he reads. Well woman, he is 4 years old! She said they will soon begin on sight words. What? Is she serious? He has already learned about 45-50 sight words in his class this year. I also have some safety concerns. Needless to say, she was not happy with me. Oh well, at least he will not have to go back to that class anymore. It is actually costs alot of money from Pre-K funding, but I personally feel it is not beneficial right now.

Well, I gotta get off now. I was planning on spending the entire day out shopping, but Houston talked me into staying home and playing his wii fit Plus. There are so many fun games on that one, I don't think he will ever be able to play them all. His favorite is the juggling at the circus and the obstacle course with the giant balls. Finally, I think we are gonna head out the door, just a little delay! haha

playroom floor pics

Before and after pictures of Houston's playroombefore with carpet

After Tim and his dad finished

Spring Break/ new floors

This is the after picture of the dining room. Sorry, they loaded out of order
This is the before picture of the dining room

Well, it's official Spring Break has arrived! yay! The weekend was great but very busy. I stayed up until 3:30 am Friday night throwing out stuff. Yep, I went through EVERY drawer,closet, dresser, nightstand and room and got rid of everything we have not used or seen in the past year. Today, I dropped everything off at Goodwill. They met me at my car to unload everything and it felt good cleaning . I haven't blogged in a while, but I know many of you know, we have been contemplating redoing our floors since Valentines Day. Well Wednesday, Tim's dad came out and did our dining room floor while we were at work. We had picked out our materials the weekend before and he was on spring break, so he spent the day doing a fabulous job on our dining room. It turned out so good, that Tim wanted to go ahead and do Houston's playroom . So once again, he came out and spent the day doing the playroom. I was so impressed! Houston is excited to have an even surface to roll his race cars and play with his toys on. The carpet had been in our house for the past 8 years and was in good condition, but we thought it was time for a change. So now, the entire front half of our house is hardwood, tile or laminate. I was so excited about the floors, I went crazy cleaning. I scrubbed every baseboard in the house, bought new airfreshners and it feels like we have a new house. I am posting pics of before and after.

I have a praise post/update. A week ago, my new neighbor's huge dog attacked my dog Paws. She is the best little dog ever and is just a little mutt. It was an Airedale that got loose and came over and jumped on poor Pawser. It happened during the day, so she took her to the vet and got her stitched up. I am so glad to say, Paws jumped up on Houston's bed the other day. I was so happy to see that, because her leg had a hole in it and her stomach had been ripped open last week. Pray her dog doesn't get out anymore, because it is so scary to think Houston could have been outside. God is sooo good though and He is always watching over us.

Thankful Thursday

I am beginning to think I have insomnia or something because I have always gone to bed by 10pm and now it is at least 12 am before I get into bed and then I am wide awake before the alarm goes off. So, after my workout tonight, I decided to blog.

Where do I begin to list all the things that I am thankful for that I don't deserve?

*I am thankful for my wonderful family. My hubby hasn't had to work as much on the weekends the past few months and we have spent ALOT of much needed family time together. He is great and I am so happy to be married to him for almost 8 years!
*My handsome son, Houston. Gosh I love that kid. Every day I learn something new from him and I think I still fall in love with him more and more every day. He has been through alot of changes the past year and has been a real soldier.
* I am thankful for my son's relationship with the Lord! We finally got to go and meet with our preacher, bro. Jack and he gave us a great workbook titled, I'm a Christian Now! For Younger Kids. We have started the book and Houston seems to be really excited and engaged in learning about the scripture and activities for new Christians.
*I am thankful for the awesome girlfriends I have and the times we spend together.
* My job and my students in my class. Sometimes I get so busy and don't make time to listen and be there for my students and they need that. I feel like I need to TEACH TEACH TEACH! They often tell me, "I love you Mrs. Collins" and I tell them, I love them back. Today I had a child come and tell me how much they love me and just hug on me. I hugged them back and felt so good knowing that I make a difference in these kids lives.
* My health. Thnak you Lord Jesus for keeping me and my family well this winter. Houston seems to have bad sinus problems and croop but thankfully nothing serious so far.
* This beautiful spring weather- Today I took my class out and it was absolutely beautiful. One of my little girls sat there and played hairdresser on my hair and everyone got to run and play and burn some energy finally. Praise the Lord! haha Looking forward to another day outside again tomorrow
* Anyway, I just wanted to catch up and blog some tonight and express the many things that I am thankful for.
* Oh yea, I am so thankful that the Lord protected my mom on her Israel trip. It was a 16 hour flight and she was gone for almost 2 weeks. She has some cool stories to tell, that is for sure and Houston is obsessed with every little detail. Long story short...... Her friend that led the trip fell and broke her leg on the first day in Israel. The other tour guide didn't have an endorsement or something on his passport and got arrested and taken to jail in Jerusalem and mom accidentally deleted all her pictures off her new camera (which her SD card held up to 3,000 pictures) while on the trip. It has taken my mom 3 days to catch up on jet lag, time change and to re cooperate. She brought me back the coolest necklace from Jerusalem. It always points at the North Star, it has one big cross and 4 small crosses that represent Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. And of course she brought back Hou Boo all kinds of goodies. His favorite, a stuffed camel. He loves camels and so does mom. She actually got to ride one while there and she was baptized in the Jordan River or the Mediterranean Sea? I can't remember.
Well, I hope everyone has an awesome weekend! I have kinda been busy this week but look forward to this weekend, I can't wait!