Natalie told me to!

Natalie thought I was joking when I said we wanted to make purses. She finally took me serious in Holland when she and Francie told us they were going to a fabric store. We asked to tag along and that is where the addiction started. It was so much fun. They helped us purchase the fabric, pattern, and accessories. Then it was back to the camper after getting Sabbath groceries, eating lunch, Hobby Lobby, etc. But, when we did get back, Francie got us started. Natalie had brought the sewing machine along with her CAMPING.

We worked all Friday afternoon til sunset and then Sarah and I had our first crafting session together. She has penciled in Wednesday morning for us to craft/scrap together at her house. Well, it took us all morning to get her sewing machine up, new bobbin winded, and the machine threaded. I know how to do mine but not hers. With Sarah reading directions, and finally a phone call to Natalie, we got it done.

Sewed until 5:30 when I sat in the car to go home. It was so much fun and such a good feeling to accomplish this by ourselves, at the end anyways. Natalie came and helped us put Sarah's flower together and I finished mine at home in the evening. We love them.

Thanks Francie and Natalie. Going to Fields Fabric on Friday. Gram Lois now wants one and Natalie will show me how to do a new one. Can't wait.

Of course the pink is Sarah's and mine is the blue.

Oakwood Vacation Bible School

Leah and her friend Laura riding Shamu.

Another VBS. "Waterworks Park" was our theme. Great program. Everything is run like a water park and all the bible stories relate to water. Such as crossing the Red Sea, Jesus calming the storm, Jonah and the Whale. Sarah, Cori, Christie, and Kim were in charge again and did a wonderful job. Sandy could not possibly have made the snack area any better than it was. All water park foods but healthy. Even had frozen chocolate covered bananas.

The girls decided to set up a special area for children under 4. Covered the floor with a huge tarp and had actual indoor water and sand activities for them. Everyday we had at least 6 children in this area. Here I am as the "Lifeguard" helping them keep the sand and water separate. Nice try. Giving the tubes a try. Leah deep in thought about VBS and what to do next.

Are there any seashells in here?

I love this picture of Leah and Jeremiah so deep in thought.

Sarah giving some instruction to the entire group. We registered close to 100 children this year. At least 27 from the neighborhoods surrounding the church. Our members were great volunteers and it made the work load so much lighter for everyone. Pastor Kim was a super addition to the Bible Bay story area. What a delight to have a pastor who has a passion for the young. He is the same age as Sarah and David. He sure enjoyed getting wet!

Sarah and I were "Lifeguards" and led out in the singing and the opening and closing segments. Thanks to Char for her painting abilities on our backdrops. This was the main area to start and close in our foyer. Also had an adorable puppet segment each morning. First day each child received a bright colored beach hat.

The children loved the music. "Splish, Splash, the Bible Bash" was the theme song. Every song had a video with it and hand motions. As you can see they thoroughly enjoyed the music.

Can't go to a waterpark without sunglasses. On Wednesday everyone got a pair. Thursday all families were invited to go to a local waterpark for a group price of $5.00. We hoped at least 30 would show up to get the group rate. Surprise, Sarah said at least 75-80 people from VBS were there. Gram and I babysat Lily and got some work done around the house while Sarah enjoyed the water and sun.

Bubbles were pretty important also. All total we set up 4 bubble machines. Kids loved them. Pastor Kim is entering thru them here. He was funny the first day. Came in long pants and dress shoes. We put a stop to that and finally got him in shorts and sandals.

Miss Leah liked the bubbles along with all the children. We went thru gallons, and I do mean gallons, of bubbles.

Our set up sound man couldn't be beat. He projected the pictures and words of the songs on the front for the kids and also in the back so Sarah and I could see them. Great. We didn't have quite as much time to learn them this year, so my old mind was pretty happy to have them to see.

This was the front of the foyer.

The walkway into the "Coconut Island"

And, our ticket booth. Of course, Miss Nilza helped put this together. She had just finished a week of VBS at Metro church and so willingly came and did the following week with us. Didn't miss a day. Outside we set up 4 sprinklers for effect before they entered thru the bubbles. All the games were outside and involved water. So much fun.

God truly blessed us with a wonderful week. Can't wait to see what he has in store for us next year. Little Lily will be swaying to the music then. Here she is with her friend Lily.

We Have Been Busy!

Where does the time go? I have so much good stuff to blog about that I don't know if I can get it all done. It is hard to even know where to start. So, expect this stuff to be pretty mixed up but I am going to get started.

We just returned from Alaska and Michelle's wedding. But, before that, Lily, our second grandchild was born in May and lots of stuff in between. Had a great VBS at church, wonderful Women's retreats, wedding showers, and more.

Here are a couple of pictures from the shower in Alaska we had for Michelle. Our dessert was so cool. I found them on the internet on a great site called Bakerella, Cupcake Kabobs. You make them with mini cupcakes and marshmallows. Can also add strawberries or other fruit.

First you must cover the tip of the marshmallows with melted white chocolate and then roll in sprinkles.

These are all the little purses Natalie made. She also made an adorable purse for Michelle that matched and another one as a big door prize. Vonda was pretty happy to get it. She even used it at church the next day. Amongst all that Natalie had to do she still found time to make a beautiful purse for Sarah. That was so sweet and thoughtful.

In each of these we put a hand sanitizer and lip gloss. Then on the table we put nail polish and files for the ladies to choose from. It all looked so good at the "Scraptique" store cause her decor is bright pink with black vinyl cutouts on the wall.

These are the freshly coated marshmallows. You can even buy pink ones, which we did, and add a little more color to the kabob. To separate everything, we put a small slice of the neopolitan colored sugar wafer cookies. These we made for VBS potluck as a special treat.

The ones for the shower we colored the frosting pink, purple, and green. I liked those even better. The way Natalie took the picture makes them really look professional. Since they tend to be a bit sweet, they are a great dessert to share.

Here is Stella picking out her favorite purse cookie. Natalie and Sarah had a competition on their decorating skills while making these. Natalie is just so crafty that she sort of put Sarah in a downer mood. I kept asking Natalie to fix Sarah's cookies. Then Stella picks one of Sarah's as her favorite. We had a good laugh at that. Nilza and Joe got delayed on their flight and we missed Nilza helping us.

For the shower we wanted to do something different so asked Michelle what she would like. This is the owner of Michelle's favorite scrapbook store and they got together and found an adorable purse kit to make at the party. We had over 25 ladies show up. It was great fun. She walked us thru the kit. Had lots of good food and fun.

This is one of the centerpieces Sarah and I made at home and brought with us. All paper. We made 7 different ones and filled them with things you would find in a purse. They were given away as door prizes. So cute. Can't wait to make some more.

Grandma and Nilza at the shower.

Girls all went to have pedi's and mani's after the shower to a store they could walk to.

Michelle opening one of her adorable gifts.

This is what each one received to take home with them. Natalie made 25 of these coin purses with a little help from Stella, Sarah, and I in Manistee over the 4th of July. They were sooooooooooo cute.

Cookie purses.

Great cousins.

Can't resist this picture. Leah and Sarah after Michelles wedding. Sarah was matron of honor and Leah was one of 3 flower girls.