Star Spangled Fried Chicken Dinner 2016

One thing we do really well at Mayfair is the Star Spangled Fried Chicken Dinner. A Sunday close to July 4th we meet for a fried chicken dinner, complete with members bringing homemade ice cream of all flavors. The highlight for the kids is a parade that they do through the family center with bikes, wagons, cars, or decorating themselves! I loved our little friend Ava's skates this year. One reason I love this event is the same as Trunk or Treat. It gives families a project to work on. They can come up with a unique flavor of ice cream or work on decorating their wheels. I think those projects are ways families can work together on a common goal, while building special memories. I look forward to the seasons when the kids are older and can have more input. The Star Spangled dinner is also a time our church family can fellowship together, and invite extended family and friends.

It's something Elle and Todd look forward to each year, and I'm sure Reese will too. This was her first year to ride her own bike. She had a little trouble with the line up, but once we got started she was into it! Todd had a tinsel issue with one wheel so I had to push. Still learning what decorations will work and what won't.
 
    

 

 

looping through songs

I was listening to someone talk about how kids who don't come every week have a hard time really understanding when you say "last week we talked about..." In the curriculum we use for our nursery-preschool every lesson generally has a short song. Songs are great memorization tools, so I decided one great way to help those kids pick up on what we talked about previously, and reinforce the lessons for the kids who were there, was to loop back to all the songs from each lesson. I bought small chart paper tablets and my intern and another volunteer began writing up the songs. Now teachers can quickly flip through each song.

father/son campout 2014

Chris and Todd went on Mayfair's Father/Son Campout last weekend. This year it was at Arcadia Lake. They began the evening at a pavilion we rented. Since Arcadia is not a state park you have to buy parking passes, so we ended up getting a party package to get some passes and save some money. The dads and sons were meeting at the pavilion to eat, play, and do some activities. Then those that wanted to could reserve a campsite and spend the night. Chris and Todd were the only ones that braved spending the night. Unfortunately, Todd hadn't had a nap that day, and the kids played so hard that he fell asleep before Chris got the tent up. Todd woke up during the night and was a little freaked out so Chris got him up, walked him around a little outside to show him the tent, and then he went back to bed. Apparently, when he woke up in the morning he thought it was pretty cool to be in the tent. Think they will definitely be doing more camping in the future!

martial arts playgroup

In November we started a playgroup at church for babies-preschoolers and their parents. I thought this would be something we could use as outreach and would be something families from our own congregation would enjoy. We've been doing one once a month and have been able to have someone from a group or organization do a presentation. I find a book to go with the theme and then the kids have playtime. So far we've had Tippy Toes Dance do a ballet class, a Christmas tea party with a tea party expert, and a librarian from the Metropolitan library. The last two were also members at our church, which was nice to involve them with the ministry. We've gotten a few community members to join us and the kids have had a lot of fun!

A week or so ago we had the February playgroup and Blake Graham from Martial Arts Ministries presented. I had found them through Elle's school. Blake is the dad of one of Elle's former classmates. He did a brief introduction about Martial Arts Ministries and then showed the kids some moves. He was so good with them. Elle wanted to sit back and watch and eventually Todd wandered over to check things out. We were especially lucky to get my cousin Emily and her daughter Hope to join us too! After Blake finished we read The Three Ninja Pigs by Corey Rosen Schwartz, which is incredibly cute and so appropriate for this event. Then the kids had a good time playing with their friends!

last summer 2012 getaway

Before Elle started school again we decided to join the Mayfair ladies on their trip to the Braum's Dairy in Tuttle, OK. It was interesting to see how they made everything and hear all the statistics (sorry no pics allowed inside), but 3 year olds don't care as much about that as they do about seeing a cow. Where's the beef?! We didn't get even one token cow to look at. At least Elle had fun with her girlfriends and Todd got to spend time with Po'okela. We did get ice cream at the end of the tour and then stopped at the Newcastle Braum's on the way home for lunch. This was especially fun since we got to have one last visit with the Kochers before they headed back to Nebraska! I recommend the tour at least once in your life. You can guess which brand of milk is our fridge now!

UP movie watch party

Sorry, no Waco posts yet because those pictures are on a new camera card that my card reader is too old too old for! But, on Friday we watched UP at church to get ready for the Sunday night series Randy, the pulpit minister, is currently doing. We had a a small, but mighty crowd. We popped popcorn and had crafts. I found a cute UP coloring sheet could paint on. Then they made pom pom and pipe cleaner balloons and we had legos to build the house. It was a fun morning!

summer music

We went to the first Sunday night summer concerts at the Myriad Gardens with friends from church. A good time was had by all. Elle especially loved running around with her friends. They got a bit wild, and I have no idea what's going on in the last pic. Keely and Elle are still friends though so I guess it's okay.

women's retreat report

Friday night and Saturday morning, Todd and I attended the Mayfair women's retreat. It was really nice to have some time to get to know more of the lovely ladies we attend church with. The retreat theme was "the balancing act" and focused on practical ways to juggle all the balls we have in the air. One activity we did was to put "ball" stickers above a stick person, which represent what we juggle in our lives. Then put some below the person for things we'd like to juggle. At first I thought I'd only have a few, but once I got started I had a few "aha" moments. Here's what I came up with:

right now I'm juggling:
-housekeeping
-babies
-husband
-dog
-other family
-church
-friends
-bible study
-ossm
-dissertation

what I'd like to juggle:
-swap my dissertation ball for a job ball (something that still allows me to spend most of my time with Elle and Todd, but uses my talents)
-exercise
-swap the ossm ball for a house and a yard ball
-start a crafting club or craft more in general
-get a mentor
-learn to sew
-work with missionaries or other charities

I liked that it got me thinking and motivated. It also helped me realize that I don't have to look at all those balls in a negative way. I wished we could have shared more to hear what others had put down, but we ran out of time. I'm sure my balls were different than the "more experienced" ladies.


Friday night they also aired a story on Fox news about Mayfair. Here's where you can check it out.
KOKH FOX 25 :: Special Reports - New Face of Faith