Space Camp

The cousins came to stay with us for a week so the 4 oldest kids could go to Space Camp!

Isaac was very hesitant for the first two drop offs, while the three girls had no trouble and ran right in to play.

But he was ready for the fun by the third day.

More cousin fun at home:

Thanks Mimi and Boppa, for sending the kids to space camp!!!

Sale for a Cause

While finally getting around to cleaning out the toys at Mimi's house, I got the crazy idea to try a toy sale.  Then, the idea got even crazier as I thought up a scheme of using the toy sale to help teach generosity to the kids.  I borrowed this idea from a friend who's child sold lemonade for charity.

We picked World Vision as our charity for the sale.

Coloring a sign for the yard.
We decided to hold our toy sale for 1 hour in the morning and 1 hour in the evening.

The first customer!  

Isaac gets to color in our progress on our donation chart.
We're at $5.

$16 would allow us to buy a Rabbit to feed a needy family.

Coloring in the chart after a very generous donation from Nana and Aunt Robin.

Now we can buy 3 ducks and one shelter and clothing fund.

 Our second shift was much more popular and just as generous.

By the end of the night, our friends and family had donated more than enough for us to order a goat.

Since we had a bit left over, we added some of our own funds and purchased a goat and 4 ducks!

Showing the kids the goat and 4 ducks that we were purchasing.

They all helped me push the button to make the final purchase. 

What made this a success:

First of all, Isaac (almost 6) and Lily (age 6) were very helpful, as long as we kept reminding them of their tasks.  They sold items, counted money, and marked our progress  on the chart.  The littler kids were less helpful (well, they helped themselves to ice and toys).  The point: age 5 is probably a minimum for this experiment.  

If we had just set out to sell our toys, we would have made a few dollars at best.  Making this an effort to teach the kid generosity also showed us the generosity in our friends and family.  Even though we had prices marked on the toys, many paid far more than we asked, and had us keep the change.  It was so special to see our family and friends pull together to purchase such an awesome gift for families in need. I hope the kids were as impacted as I was.

Surprise Visit

We knew our Lubbock cousins were visiting their family this week.  But since we had space camp this week, we thought we were going to miss them.  But this morning, they surprised us with a visit.

Lunch in Kemah

Exploring Kemah

Trying to beat the heat while Nana gets tickets for a ride

Sweet girl cousins

The aftermath of a group "thank you" hug for Nana

Thanks Nana and Robin for the surprise visit and your generosity for us and our kids!

Artist in the House

Anyone who knows Isaac knows that Isaac loves art.  Well, my friend Jennifer, who is an artist herself, has also noticed.  When she agreed to paint a work of art for our church, she decided to ask Isaac to help.  The concept is "Unity in Christ" inspired by our church's study on the book of Ephesians and Jennifer thought it would be fitting to have different people paint different parts of the complete work.  She painted the tree (representing Christ) and four other people painted the branches which come together in Christ.  Isaac's is the one with the blue background.

I love the concept and love that Isaac got to do something so special.   Can't wait for Isaac to see it in church on Sunday!  Thanks, Jennifer, for letting Isaac be a part of this!