Bible stories by Allyson: John the Baptist

I am so behind on blogging. My computer wasn't working during the entire trip to California and then it was being worked on for several weeks. New hard drive and a bunch of other new parts. Now I'm trying to figure out how to get everything back to normal from a backup. (Nothing is in the right place!) Add this to back to school and... well, you just have my promise that I'll do the best I can!

We were on the way to "Meet the Teacher" the other day and Allyson insisted on bringing her bible and "reading" John the Baptist. I held the camera/phone up while I was driving. The girls could see themselves and... well, Nicole's faces are hilarious. So is Allyson's take on "John the Baptist." Did you know they held their nose before getting dunked?

Bible stories by Allyson: Jesus heals blind man

Bible stories by Allyson: "The Last Supper"

Wine or grape juice? How about neither! Find out what they were REALLY drinking at The Last Supper. (She says it rather quickly at :56 in case you miss it.)

(There is a lot on this one I just can't follow. Maybe you can! Not completely sure which story she was reading... )

Bible stories by Allyson

This one is a bust. Allyson is more enthralled with seeing herself than anything else. But it's still kind of funny.

New cook in the house

Allyson made toast for the first time! She was so excited. When she pushed the lever down she declared, "I'm going to be the best baker ever!"

Allyson graduates preschool!

Sweet Allyson promoted at church from the preschool department. They held a graduation ceremony that was beyond adorable. See for yourself.

A picture of Allyson being shown on slideshow prior to ceremony

This was a picture on the slideshow of Allyson and me racing down the slides in play land. I took a bunch of pictures inside this play land but they were lost when I got a new phone. This is simply the coolest play structure ever. I was so bummed to find out she doesn't go to play land now that she's in kindergarten. I love getting to be a kid and race around the slides and in the ball pit, etc. There's one corkscrew slide that's so steep… honestly, it's so fun!

Waving at Mommy and Daddy

And… Ta Da! The big performance. I have to say, she's been singing these songs for a long time. And she talks about the lessons. I'm so grateful for the teachers and programs and all that she's learning. I can see it in her little life already. I put a bunch of snippets together so it's a bit choppy and, evidently, the final "applause" video didn't make it… but you still get the idea. I love, love, love my little girl's enthusiasm for life!!! (Make sure to enlarge the video… bottom right corner.)

Convoy of Hope

Our church life group took an evening to volunteer a Convoy of Hope, an amazing A/G ministry that was started by two brothers. It feeds people in the U.S. and overseas when disaster strikes. The headquarters is here in Springfield and I've been meaning to volunteer with the kids but finally had the opportunity. Britt, unfortunately, had to work late this night. So Mallory stayed with a sitter and the big girls got to work.

Our job was to fill pasta bags. 

Nicole loved running the tape machine.

Other friends from the group and their kids.

This would have been a perfect evening except I started not feeling well. Ended up tossing my cookies at Convoy of Hope. And… we had to leave. Almost made it to the end! We will definitely go back. It was a great experience. (Mostly.)