show update

The show for The Gilberts & TAWV was yesterday & it was great! For more pictures & a short update go here. There are some items still available for sale or for order & with Mother's Day just around the corner you may have just found what you were looking for! Also, the best looking & most budget friendly 4th of July attire!

my bug

60feet

Our friends headed over to Uganda on Saturday with a specific group of children in mind. They were able to see the kids today & the guys are doing an amazing job of keeping us posted on all that's giong on over there. We spend enough time watching reality TV - so this shouldn't be too hard. Check in on the sixty feet blog . See the images & read the stories. Know that it's not only real...it's right now. There are definitely some short term needs that are being met for these kids & as Dan & Michael gather information & make contacts we will learn best how we, as a community, can be a part of helping them have a shot at believing that they are loved and important and worth sacrificing for.

birthday on a budget

Well, in response to our friends Dan & Shelly, we would like to join this spend less to do good movement...and so we give you....birthday on a budget.
Our eldest spent the entire morning wrapping up gifts from around the house, many that didn't even belong to her, and giving them (with great delight & pride) to her daddy to open for his birthday.
She did color him a lovely picture.....and then gave him one of her Easter books, her brother's water colors & one of his trucks.

Generous little sucker. It made our morning - we laughed all day about it.

and I almost forgot that she gave him the owner's manual for the lawn mower that his parents gave him :).

This birthday card makes me laugh.......

And after the baby & I ran out for a little while, we came in to find this precious picture sound asleep on the sofa.

Worn. out.

I guess from all of the finding of & then the wrapping of all the gifts. And from all of the smiling & laughing & the eating of cinnamon rolls.

It was a great day. We finished it off celebrating the wedding of a sweet friend.

A perfect day.

look at her!

Well, look what my girl did today!!

I am so proud of her. If you know anything about this kid - you may know that not too long ago she would shake, scream & cry over bugs, butterflies, dogs (other than our own), swimming & lots of other things. We would have called her "fearful." All the reasoning in the world couldn't shake it.
And then she learned a Bible verse "do not fear for I am with you. do not be dismayed for I am your God & i will strenghthen you & help you & uphold you with My righteous right hand." My best bet is that she doesn't really know what all of that means. But she knew that it said, 'do not be afraid" & "I am with you" and she believed it.
She's come a long way......

family fun

Just some pictures I've needed to get off my camera.......and into the blog world.

UN-believeable.

Some people in Uganda find a place where children are living in crazy unacceptable conditions.
Some boys start meeting to talk about what to do.
Some families jump on board & make some cupcakes & lemonade.

And the Community moves into action......

Even the sweet policeman stopped by to grab some treats & let the kids take a seat on his motorcycle.

And when God moves & people jump into position .... great things happen....
At this point, from the 5 Cupcake Kids sales in the Atlanta/Marietta area....over 9000 dollars have been raised.
Seriously?

$9000? (correction....now, $10000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

I'm a bit overwhelmed.
And I keep thinking that my icing should have tasted better :).......
but next time, folks.....next time.

In the meantime, read about 60feet & what is going on....and stayed tuned as Dan & Michael are headed over there just next week....we'll be following the story on the blog.

those crazy kids.....

See you tomorrow at the cupcake sale! Above is a sampling of what will be available.

Those crazy kids are at it again! With the team (Dan & Michael) headed over to Uganda with sixtyfeet in less than 10 days, the kids have multiplied & then divided to make an even bigger difference!

this Saturday (like, tomorrow) 10-12

TWO stands will be set up in the Atlanta area to meet your cupcaking needs
The Kirby's home in Springlake just across from the Ellsworth playground at Howell Mill & Collier
The Hartys Home - 2262 Lenox Ridge Court

The parents will be matching the kids' efforts for the boys to take to the children in Uganda & you can be a part of this!
Come out Saturday morning & grab some lemonade & a treat
and if you don't live in Atlanta....well, grab your kids & a friend & host a cupcake kids sale of your own. What a great way to teach your kids to use their gifts & their resources (piggy banks) to be multiplied & used for good things.
Let them be a part of something BIG - and then send us your pictures. We'll put them up for your kids to see.

Info to send tax deductible donations is on the sixtyfeet website

a great afternoon

We battled the stomach bug last week & maybe I've been a little too conservative....but we've been laying low for even days after it passed, having what the kids call "boring days." And it seems we're in the clear so we loaded into the car & redeemed a coupon for a free Chick Fil A milkshake. We split 2 among the 4 of us & the played in the grandparents yard. I'm glad I had the camera with me...though I think I may be taking too many pictures of the kids....there are times when I will look at them & I can almost hear that *click* in my head - just trying to "get" it.
Don't let it slip.
Write it down.
Capture it.
It blows my mind to look at the older 2 & though I remember that they were the baby's age/size...I can't really imagine that they were really that little....it's strange somehow. They are just who they are right now....size, age & all. And it's crazy that so much of who they are today is sort of similar to who they were back then.
Amazing creatures we are.
I should probably go to bed & stop talking all of this nonsense.
Nighty night.

Give away!

Some of you have met the store. For those of you who haven't, here's a formal introduction - Bloggy friends, this is the store.
Store, these are my bloggy friends :)
And for the fun of it & to raise awareness for all of the needs represented by this little shop - I'm hosting a give away. So go check out the details.....right here on the Neema Shop blog.

favorite picture

I almost forgot to post my favorite picture from Easter day.

Bottomly giveaway

Amy Bottomly is having a giveaway on her site. Go check it out!

Easter

I almost forgot the dying of the Easter eggs...I remembered late in the game on Saturday. When I realized I was out of eggs. And thus begins the panic that leads to the stress of the holidays...what is that? So, I got the eggs, we got the kids bathed & in their PJs & we started dying the eggs. The kids helped me fill the cups with water & vinegar & I hand the color tablet to my boy.....who pops it in his mouth.
He thought it was candy.
Don't blame him.
It's perfectly rational thinking in hindsight, but at the moment I didn't think so clearly as I am certain I freaked him out with my "spit it out! spit it out" yelling while jumping around the kitchen a little bit.
But from the looks of the pictures, he seemed to have recovered nicely.

And we had to wake the kids up to get an egg hunt in before getting ready for church. The baby looks pleased.

It was a great day. I can't believe I got a couple of good ones of all three! I'm kind of in love with them. Sorry for posting these so late. It's been a crazy week. Happy belated Easter!

and more from the zoo

There was static electricity at the zoo.

And lots of double & triple sliding at the zoo. Ah, I miss the days of being able to double slide. The days of my hips being small enough to share that space......but these 3 kids were worth it.