Hannah's Homeschool Teen Christmas Party

This past Friday, our teen group got together for a Christmas Party. 

It was wonderful.

Hannah's new "do".  She wants to be a hairdresser, and will spend literally hours in the bathroom fixing her hair. lol

Here's a few pictures of the teens getting to know each other.  The wonderful man in the Santa hat was our game controller, and he did a great job. 

Next came a break for some more visiting, and eating. 

Then back to some games, very challenging.  Plus the kids were learning at the same time.  (shhh, don't tell them that) 

Next came the gift exchange.  And the silly Santa game.  No names were on the gifts, and stealing was encouraged. lol 

After all the gifts were distributed, it was time for one last game, the left/right game.  Santa read the nativity story and every time he said left or right, the gifts were passed.  So no one actually went home with the gifts they started with.  It was fast, and funny. 

Now the group shot.

A really great group of kids, no-one felt left out and everyone had a great time. 

And I want to give a special thank you to Charles and Judy Blow who handled all the food, and Michelle and Roger LaFlamme, the game masters. 

The kids (and us adults) are already looking forward to our Valentines Day party.

Be blessed,

Debbi

Our church vacation bible school started last night and while we don't get "hundreds" of kids, we do have fun with the ones we have...the theme this year is "Praise the King".  Our wonderful youth leaders want to get our kids out of their comfort zone, and just enjoy praising.

They were dancing to a cool song that Greg and Amanda shared...

at the end of the evening they played a game where they raced to find their own shoes....

and being the loving mother that I am...I hid one of Hannah's shoes!

BWAHAHAHAHA

We'll be going back tonight for more fun and fellowship.  Do you attend a church?  And does it host a vbs for your neighborhood children?  It's a great outreach.

Be blessed,

Debbi

I'm ready for summer

Now, I am not one to complain (much), and while the weather here has been wonderful for winter, I am sooo ready for summer.  And to that end, let me share with you some past summer days with the kids, and some shops with great summer items.  Now first, at the end of last summer, we found an amazing water park right here in Statesville.  We have lived here for just over 12 years and never knew about this place, the Statesville Leisure Pool.  It's part of the cities parks and recreation, and for only $6.00 per person, it is a very affordable all day mini-vacation with your family.  Bring your own coolers with food to eat (outside the park) or purchase something at the snack bar.  There are chairs and tables and umbrellas, sprinklers for the little ones to run thru, and a tubing area and bigger slide for the bigger kids.  We had a ball, and Owen loved it.  We learned about this place on the last day it was open, so this summer we plan to go several times.  While we have our own pool for daily fun, sometimes it's nice to just go out!

I did a search on Etsy for children, water, and summer, and on the first page I found these very cute Water Balloon Flip Flops from the shop Debbiefife.  You can't go wrong purchasing from a Debbi, lol.

I myself have several embellished flip flops for sale in my Handmadeartistsshop, so let's see what else we can find amongst the talented artists there...(how's that for a tie-in, oh I'm good :~D )

These Faith, Family, and Love Flip Flops from the HAS shop lilybluedesigns were created for a wonderful cause, 25% of the proceeds from the sale of these flip flops go to help Robert the Great, a young boy fighting lukemia.  There are also other charms in this shop to help support this family in their fight for life.

And since I'm not above a little self-promotion...

you'll find my Rainbow flip flops in our very own HAS shop, aptly named, Ourhometoyours! hahaha.  Now the water balloon flip flips are listed as girls size 12 - 13, and mine are listed as 8 1/2 ", I'm sure they all can be made in the perfect size for you, just let us know what you need!  So, start planning your summer days, and don't forget your summer wardrobes!

Debbi