Play Ball!!!!

It’s been a long winter break, but it’s finally softball time again! Gracie just started her 3rd season.  She is playing in the 8 & under league again.  It’s coach pitch and it’s competitive {meaning they keep score} but the girls are still very much in the learning stages of the game.

She is on a new team this year, the Tigers! Her colors are red & black {which makes her Red Raider parents happy} and she is number 4!  I have to admit that I don’t have pictures of her first game though.  It was on a school night and a busy night at church so I didn’t think to grab my camera.  I’m bummed that I don’t have those pictures but I am even more bummed because Uncle Alvin came into town from Austin to watch the game and I don’t have a picture of he and Gracie together {sorry Uncle Alvin.  It meant so much to Gracie that you came to her game. Thank you for coming and cheering her on!}. She did win her first game and got to play her two favorite positions, catcher and first base! It ended up being a pretty exciting game.  They were leading by 2 going into the last inning but the other team rallied and jumped ahead by 5 runs. The Tigers stayed in the came and came back to win by one run.  Gracie was super excited to be the tying run!

So the pictures below are from her second game of the season this past Saturday.  She had the early game and the weather was gorgeous.  The icing on the cake was that the umpire allowed the parents that wanted to {yes please} to go inside the fence to take pictures. 

 

 

 

The Tigers had a great game and even though we only had 8 players {meaning that every time the ninth player would have come up to bat we got an automatic out} they still played strong and won the game 10-2.  They are really working well together and made some great plays. Looking forward to what the rest of the season has in store.

 Way to go TIGERS!!!

Gwynie’s Easter Party

Her school has Friday off in observance of Good Friday so Gwynie’s party was today.  Here are a few pictures of the festivities:

 

 

 

‘Love You Neighbor As Yourself’ Monday

I was introduced to a wonderful organization recently through the Women’s Bible Study that I attend at church.  This organization is a wonderful way that we can reach out in love to the youngest of our neighbors.  This week’s installment of ‘Love Your Neighbor as Yourself Monday’ is dedicated to:

Project Linus is a 100% volunteer organization dedicated to comforting kids with security blankets. Their mission is two-fold. First, their mission is to provide love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need through the gifts of new, handmade blankets and afghans, lovingly created by volunteer “blanketeers”. Second, it is their mission to provide a rewarding and fun service opportunity for interested individuals and groups in local communities, for the benefit of children. The Project Linus website is packed with more information about the charity.

My Bible Study group has been collecting “no-sew” fleece blankets that will be used by all the Women of the congregation at our Women’s Conference.  As our service project during the conference we will be making these blankets and then donating them to our local Project Linus chapter.  I am “no-sew” kind of person {expect for a set of random Christmas outfits for my girls this past year} so I am looking forward to being able to support Project Linus in this way.

How we can help Project Linus serve our neighbors:

*Keep Project Linus And Our Young Neighbors They Serve in Your Prayers

*Become A "Blanketeer"

*Encourage Your Kids To Become “Blanketeers”

*Hold A Supply Drive With Your Church, Office Or Community Group

*Give Of Your Time At Your Local Chapter

*Start A Local Chapter In Your Area

*Donate Fabric And Sewing Supplies

*Donate Funds

*Sign Up To Received Their Online Quarterly Newsletter

*Follow Project Linus on Facebook

With Tender Loving Care

“Linus has a blanket that’s all his very own.
It comforts and sustains him when he’s feeling quite alone.
He knows that others love him for ’twas made with special care
And because it means so much to him, it’s carried everywhere.
You too can have a blanket that’s created just for you,
To comfort and support you when you’re feeling rather blue.
It’s yours to keep forever, so you may always know
That others out there love you and to you our wishes go.”

-By Soni Uhler

                                                                                                                        Images & Poem Courtesy of Project Linus Copyright © Project Linus

If you have any questions about Project Linus or ways we can serve our neighbors in love, please leave a comment to this post and I will do my best to answer your questions and get your the information/resources you may need. God’s Peace.

You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself.”  ~Galatians 5:13-14 NIV

Holy Week Services

If you are looking for a place to worship this Easter we would love for you to join us at St. Philip’s!  Below is a list of all the services and activities being held at St. Philip’s during Holy Week as well as Easter Sunday!

You can find all the information you may need to attend services and what to expect when you do under the “Home>Service Info” tab on our church’s website:

www.StPhilipsFrisco.org

March 29, 30, 31 - Holy Eucharist - 7:00 pm

April 1 - Maundy Thursday -
Foot Washing and Seder - 5:00 pm
Eucharist and Stripping of the Altar - 7:00 pm *
Prayer Vigil - 9:00 pm thru 7:00 am

April 2 - Good Friday -
Morning Prayer to end Prayer Vigil - 7:00 am
Stations of the Cross - 12:00 pm
Family Stations of the Cross - 3:15 - 5:00 pm *
Stations of the Cross - 6:00 pm
"The Passion of The Christ" Movie - 7:00 pm

April 3 - Easter Saturday -
Children's Easter Service - 3:00 pm *
Easter Egg Hunt - Following Children's Service
Easter Service - 7:00 pm* +

April 4 - Easter Sunday -
Rite I Easter Service - 7:30 am
Easter Service - 9:30am* +
Easter Service - 11:00 am* +

* TinyTots Club Available

+ During these three Easter services, elementary children start in the Worship service with parents then follow the cross to the Education Building for an age-appropriate telling of the Easter story.

Gracie’s 1st Grade Class Picture

I always like to purchase the group picture of the girls classes.  I think it will be neat when they get older to be able to look back and remember which classes they shared with friends {I know…the yearbook serves the same purpose}.  I removed the names that were listed {privacy reasons}, but just for the record…Gracelyn’s classmates will look back one day and be like “I always thought her name was “Gracelyn” this says “Grazelyn”.  Yep, her name is misspelled with a “Z” {that’s a first}.  Not a big deal, but I do need to call the school and make sure it gets spelled correctly for the yearbook.

“Rockin’ With The Chipettes”…Sort of

Lance was out of town for work this weekend and I wanted to do something fun with the girls.  I read online that the Chipettes were coming to the mall.  The article said that you could rock out with the Chipettes while they teach you the dance steps to their favorite song.  They girls LOVE the “All The Single Ladies” song that the Chipettes sang in the movie {I don’t think they have any idea who Beyonce is and if you ask them who sings “all the single Ladies” they will say the Chipettes} so I thought it would be fun to go.  When we got there they were setting up and the girls were pretty excited.

I got there early thinking that there would be a huge crowd {not to sure why} so we ended up waiting for quite a while, I guess the audio wasn’t working so great for them or something because you could tell that it was taking them a little longer to set-up than they wanted.  The girls were good sports having to wait that long. 

Okay, this isn’t your typical “awe, I could just eat them up” picture.  There are no smiles and they look bored {which they were because we had been waiting about 40 minutes by this point} but I love it because this is how they chose to wait…with Gwynie sitting on Gracie’s lap.  So as their Mom this picture does make me say “awe, I could just eat them up”!!!

After about 45 minutes the event starts to show signs of life!  They started handing out balloons and I could see the back-up dancers beginning to warm up.

They started the song over one more time and out came the back-up dancers to get everyone pumped up.

After about 2 minutes of dancing they introduced themselves as “Brittany” and “Jeanette” {What?!?}.   Yep, these two ladies were going to be the Chipettes.  I am guessing that “Eleanor” called in sick. They were lovely girls who were very talented dancers but I think you can tell by the expressions and body language of the other people in the picture that this is NOT what we were expecting.  I don’t know, I guess I had pictured big furry costumes and the whole bit.  It was a free event to promote the movie being released to DVD, so I am not too sure why I thought it would be some big production.

We hung around for their first performance.  The Chipettes invited all the kiddos to join them to learn the routine, but the girls weren’t feeling it.  {Funny side note: they were requiring the parents to sign a waiver if your child wanted to dance and learn the routine. I am sure you have to do that sort of thing these days, but it just seemed silly to me}. I think if I came across the event while already at the mall it would have been great, but to know about it for a couple of weeks and to change plans around to make sure we could be there…well, it left a bit to be desired.

We left the show and went around the corner to Build-a-Bear.  We have never made a build-a-bear before.  I guess Gracie made one at a party once, but Gwynie had never been.

             

Build-a-bear was a hit! They kept with the Chipmunk theme and Gracie picked “Alvin” and Gwynie picked “Brittany”.  We finished our morning with a early lunch in the food court and had a cookie while watching the ice skaters.

Gracie had softball practice and pictures in the afternoon {the wind was CRAZY, so it I am anxious to see how the pictures turned out} . 

After pictures we rushed over to church to try to catch the end of the movie night they were having for the kiddos.  We made it just in time for the second feature.  The girls got to have popcorn, hotdogs and juice while they watched the show.  They REALLY enjoyed it and are looking forward to the next movie night.

We missed having Daddy with us for the weekend, but we had a great time!

Gwynie’s Western Day

Gwynie has been studying the State of Texas this week at school.  Her teachers decided to end the week with “Western Day”.  She was super excited because she got to wear her pink boots!

Nana & Paw Paw gave her these boots for her birthday last year.  We haven’t had too many opportunities to wear them {except for the random trips to the grocery store and out to dinner when she decides to put them on} so she was thrilled to be able to wear them to school!

 

God Bless Texas, Y’all!