Week number two of the after-school program begins today! Yesterday I went to Canton and got to see the Therabeat recital. All the kids did a great job and it was fun to see all the families. Kids grow up in no time! Our friend Brian helped us load up the dance mirrors and he drove them back to AL last night. We just unloaded them - now we just have to hang them in the dance room!
I'm looking forward to going home (Fairview, TN) this weekend to see my family and compete with my clogging team in Nashville. I have my sights on another trophy or several. My parents and my Granny are coming to watch!
I've got to plan something for Sports and Games this afternoon...looks like we might need a rain plan. C-Ya!
Monday, August 30, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
Weekend Fun
Today is one of my days off, but I have been at BigHouse most of the morning playing on the computer. Also clogging. I'm going to competition with my clogging team over Labor Day weekend - it's in Nashville so I'm staying at my parents' house, which will be nice.
I changed the background (obviously) since a few people said they couldn't read the hot pink text in front of the tie-dye background. It's really too bad, since I love tie-dye. thecutestblogontheblock.com had no tie-dye backgrounds. Not even close. Sad day.
Tonight I'm going with Micah and Blake to the Opelika High School football game. They are the Bulldogs. I'm ready for football, so it should be exciting. On Sunday I'm going to Canton for church, the Therabeat recital (to see my kids perform!), and clogging practice. One of our friends is going to attempt to bring our dance mirrors from Canton to Opelika. Pray! I want our mirrors so badly!
I'm off to the post office to mail my mom a letter and see if my Bucky's book has come in the mail - she wrote and published a book and it came out this week! I can't wait to read it. I'm so proud of her! I'm also going to try to get a library card today.
I changed the background (obviously) since a few people said they couldn't read the hot pink text in front of the tie-dye background. It's really too bad, since I love tie-dye. thecutestblogontheblock.com had no tie-dye backgrounds. Not even close. Sad day.
Tonight I'm going with Micah and Blake to the Opelika High School football game. They are the Bulldogs. I'm ready for football, so it should be exciting. On Sunday I'm going to Canton for church, the Therabeat recital (to see my kids perform!), and clogging practice. One of our friends is going to attempt to bring our dance mirrors from Canton to Opelika. Pray! I want our mirrors so badly!
I'm off to the post office to mail my mom a letter and see if my Bucky's book has come in the mail - she wrote and published a book and it came out this week! I can't wait to read it. I'm so proud of her! I'm also going to try to get a library card today.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
After-School Program Begins!
Yesterday was our first day of the After-School Program at BigHouse. We had 7 kids from kindergarten to 7th grade. I taught the drumming class at 4:00 - I think it went really well. The kids participated in everything and were really well-behaved. Typical kids fly through activities faster than special-needs kids apparently. I guess that's a no-brainer, but I was surprised when we got through with the first 3 activities in 15 minutes. Luckily we had plenty of stuff to do.
Today I'm teaching songwriting with 2 kindergarteners, one middle schooler, and 2 high schoolers - wow! We're going to be working on a BigHouse CD project throughout the semester.
I went to GA this weekend and got to spend time with friends there which was a lot of fun. I'm going back to Canton on Sunday for the Therabeat recital. I'm also planning to go to church and clogging practice while I'm there. (Really it's all just an excuse to refill my RaceTrac cup 10 more times before the freefills are over!)
C-Ya!
Today I'm teaching songwriting with 2 kindergarteners, one middle schooler, and 2 high schoolers - wow! We're going to be working on a BigHouse CD project throughout the semester.
I went to GA this weekend and got to spend time with friends there which was a lot of fun. I'm going back to Canton on Sunday for the Therabeat recital. I'm also planning to go to church and clogging practice while I'm there. (Really it's all just an excuse to refill my RaceTrac cup 10 more times before the freefills are over!)
C-Ya!
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Final Preparations
This week we are busy getting things ready for our last big work day, first volunteer training, and family orientation and sign-up for our after-school program! I am so glad to be here doing this! When I got a facebook message back in June telling about the after-school programs BigHouse planned to start in August, I had a strong jealousy to be there doing it, not just watching from a distance. And here I am - working my proverbial tail off.
I am in charge of volunteer training which means I've written the volunteer handbook, gathered supplies, compiled the volunteer email list, organized the volunteer office, all while doing 100 other small things around the building. (And not so small things too.) We have 2 hour training sessions on Saturday and Sunday. We will have additional training sessions for new volunteers as needed one Sunday per month.
I've made another list of things to buy at Dollar Tree/Walmart/Sam's. I signed us up for a Sam's Club Membership on Monday - not as easy as you would think. We got a good amount of snack supplies there.
So now I'm headed out to run our errands!
I am in charge of volunteer training which means I've written the volunteer handbook, gathered supplies, compiled the volunteer email list, organized the volunteer office, all while doing 100 other small things around the building. (And not so small things too.) We have 2 hour training sessions on Saturday and Sunday. We will have additional training sessions for new volunteers as needed one Sunday per month.
I've made another list of things to buy at Dollar Tree/Walmart/Sam's. I signed us up for a Sam's Club Membership on Monday - not as easy as you would think. We got a good amount of snack supplies there.
So now I'm headed out to run our errands!
Friday, August 6, 2010
Shopping Spree
So this morning I went shopping for all of our remaining supplies for the After-School Program. I went to WalMart, Dollar Tree, and Dollar General. Dollar Tree was by far my favorite because I bought lots of prizes for our BigHouse Bucks Prize Shop (BigHouse Bucks is the reinforcement system I came up with).
I've technically been working since 7am - I didn't even go home for lunch and nap time like usual - but several things have been thwarting my progress since I got back to BigHouse. First, one of the three staplers I bought at Walmart broke - the spring came apart. Now, it was only $3, but I thought I could fix it, so I tried and tried and tried and finally after a ridiculous 45 minutes, gave up. It's in the "to be returned" stack on my desk. Next came the mouse poop. We have a dresser type piece of furniture in the outer office for our volunteer computer and printer. In the bottom drawer I was going to put our first aid kit and flashlight. Well the drawer was dusty and dirty inside so I took it out to shake it outside, and -hello!-mouse poop all in the bottom of the dresser. Gross. First I tried to sweep it, but because there was a lip, I ended up having to get out the vacuum, which worked like a charm. So next I moved on to organizing the catch-all drawer in the kitchen, which was when I noticed a busted package of grape jam (not naming any names here, but his initials are MBM)...as you can see, there are no quick tasks at BigHouse! Oh and meanwhile my computer got a virus. "My Security Shield" is a virus that looks like Windows popping up with alerts about unwanted programs. Just so you know. And then it won't let you download anything to get rid of it, so that's how I ended up having to use a computer in the tutoring room to download the files on a jump drive and go back and forth between rooms to read the directions.
So, I'm exhausted. And starving. The good news is, Micah and Blake are home! And I'm going to eat with my Bible study girls tonight. But first I need a snack, and maybe a nap. Happy weekend to you!
I've technically been working since 7am - I didn't even go home for lunch and nap time like usual - but several things have been thwarting my progress since I got back to BigHouse. First, one of the three staplers I bought at Walmart broke - the spring came apart. Now, it was only $3, but I thought I could fix it, so I tried and tried and tried and finally after a ridiculous 45 minutes, gave up. It's in the "to be returned" stack on my desk. Next came the mouse poop. We have a dresser type piece of furniture in the outer office for our volunteer computer and printer. In the bottom drawer I was going to put our first aid kit and flashlight. Well the drawer was dusty and dirty inside so I took it out to shake it outside, and -hello!-mouse poop all in the bottom of the dresser. Gross. First I tried to sweep it, but because there was a lip, I ended up having to get out the vacuum, which worked like a charm. So next I moved on to organizing the catch-all drawer in the kitchen, which was when I noticed a busted package of grape jam (not naming any names here, but his initials are MBM)...as you can see, there are no quick tasks at BigHouse! Oh and meanwhile my computer got a virus. "My Security Shield" is a virus that looks like Windows popping up with alerts about unwanted programs. Just so you know. And then it won't let you download anything to get rid of it, so that's how I ended up having to use a computer in the tutoring room to download the files on a jump drive and go back and forth between rooms to read the directions.
So, I'm exhausted. And starving. The good news is, Micah and Blake are home! And I'm going to eat with my Bible study girls tonight. But first I need a snack, and maybe a nap. Happy weekend to you!
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Hello August
I was doing such a good job of updating my blog every day or so...then Micah and Blake and Anderson went to the beach and I've been running around like a crazy person trying to get things done at BigHouse. So here are the highlights:
Sunday - I went to Sunday School at 9:45. It was even more fun this week since I'd met several people when they came to help with the Clothes Closet last week. After church I went out to lunch with 7 others to Chili's. (Note for Cantonites - Chili's Chicken and Green Chile soup is very similiar to Tecali Grille's Caldo! A delicious surprise.) I had a really good time and took home a whole bag of tortilla chips with the salsa and a bowl of soup. Sunday evening I went to church and then we all went over to the Scoggins house for pancakes - very fun! We also played spoons, which was hilarious. I'm really enjoying the One2One Sunday School class!
Monday - Worked at BigHouse all day but felt like I had little to show for it. Some people from Valley High School's Band showed up with a trailer full of clothes for the clothes closet. Overwhelming! We put them in the reading room to be sorted. Monday night I ate supper with the Browns. Angie makes AWESOME mashed potatoes!
Tuesday - Lo and behold ANOTHER huge load of clothing donations showed up. Overwhelming x2! The morning was very frustrating because I started several things that either had to be redone, put on hold, or amounted to very little. When I came back after lunch I decided to take on the clothes sorting task since no one was coming to help (despite my facebook pleas). I called Angie because I found several things I thought her girls might be able to wear, so she came over and helped me for about an hour and a half I think. BLESS HER! I spent about 31/2 hours in there and only got through about half of the stuff, if that tells you anything. Tuesday night I went to Bible Study at Libby's. We had great discussion and next week we're doing a potluck dinner so I'm bringing the famous funeral Fudge Pie.
Today - I got very frustrated again at my computer, PeePaw (no offense to anyone's grandfather, but I'm convinced my computer has dementia). I had to leave the office and come to Jesus - I told Him I cannot do anything for BigHouse on my own, obviously, and I needed Him to just show me what to work on since everything I started was being thwarted. So I started prayer walking the building and felt much calmer when I returned to my desk. Miraculously PeePaw reacted much faster for the rest of the day. I ran some errands which were also very productive. And now, I've updated the blog! Hooray! I am hungry so I'm heading out. C-Ya! (that's for you, Jess, even though you're in wedding mode and probably won't read this - love you!)
Sunday - I went to Sunday School at 9:45. It was even more fun this week since I'd met several people when they came to help with the Clothes Closet last week. After church I went out to lunch with 7 others to Chili's. (Note for Cantonites - Chili's Chicken and Green Chile soup is very similiar to Tecali Grille's Caldo! A delicious surprise.) I had a really good time and took home a whole bag of tortilla chips with the salsa and a bowl of soup. Sunday evening I went to church and then we all went over to the Scoggins house for pancakes - very fun! We also played spoons, which was hilarious. I'm really enjoying the One2One Sunday School class!
Monday - Worked at BigHouse all day but felt like I had little to show for it. Some people from Valley High School's Band showed up with a trailer full of clothes for the clothes closet. Overwhelming! We put them in the reading room to be sorted. Monday night I ate supper with the Browns. Angie makes AWESOME mashed potatoes!
Tuesday - Lo and behold ANOTHER huge load of clothing donations showed up. Overwhelming x2! The morning was very frustrating because I started several things that either had to be redone, put on hold, or amounted to very little. When I came back after lunch I decided to take on the clothes sorting task since no one was coming to help (despite my facebook pleas). I called Angie because I found several things I thought her girls might be able to wear, so she came over and helped me for about an hour and a half I think. BLESS HER! I spent about 31/2 hours in there and only got through about half of the stuff, if that tells you anything. Tuesday night I went to Bible Study at Libby's. We had great discussion and next week we're doing a potluck dinner so I'm bringing the famous funeral Fudge Pie.
Today - I got very frustrated again at my computer, PeePaw (no offense to anyone's grandfather, but I'm convinced my computer has dementia). I had to leave the office and come to Jesus - I told Him I cannot do anything for BigHouse on my own, obviously, and I needed Him to just show me what to work on since everything I started was being thwarted. So I started prayer walking the building and felt much calmer when I returned to my desk. Miraculously PeePaw reacted much faster for the rest of the day. I ran some errands which were also very productive. And now, I've updated the blog! Hooray! I am hungry so I'm heading out. C-Ya! (that's for you, Jess, even though you're in wedding mode and probably won't read this - love you!)
Friday, July 30, 2010
Just for Jen
So obviously I started this blog just so J Puckett could stalk me in my new life in Opelika...
Now on to the real post: We found out this week that we received a Google grant - it's not $$ in the bank, but free GoogleAds! So I've taken on the project of creating our Ad account and making cool ads for BigHouse that will appear in the side bar of the search results pages. I'll let you know when they go live.
In other news, we are updating the website today! We've got cool online registration forms for our families and volunteers, and we want to put up all our new pictures and info. We've got a list of things to do in the next two weeks - several of which I'll be tackling on my own since the Melnicks are headed to the beach on Sunday and will stay for a week.
Our Clothes Closet Back-to-School event was a huge success - we had 64 children get clothes. A total of 540 items! We also gave out school supplies donated by Cornerstone church.
Keep praying for our after-school program - that we will get as many families involved as possible and have the right amount of volunteers to minister to them.
Reading the Bible: yesterday I read about the throne room in Isaiah 6 and Rev. 4. Today I read Zechariah 1-5.
Prayer: Thailand! For Jess and David who love it so much.
Now on to the real post: We found out this week that we received a Google grant - it's not $$ in the bank, but free GoogleAds! So I've taken on the project of creating our Ad account and making cool ads for BigHouse that will appear in the side bar of the search results pages. I'll let you know when they go live.
In other news, we are updating the website today! We've got cool online registration forms for our families and volunteers, and we want to put up all our new pictures and info. We've got a list of things to do in the next two weeks - several of which I'll be tackling on my own since the Melnicks are headed to the beach on Sunday and will stay for a week.
Our Clothes Closet Back-to-School event was a huge success - we had 64 children get clothes. A total of 540 items! We also gave out school supplies donated by Cornerstone church.
Keep praying for our after-school program - that we will get as many families involved as possible and have the right amount of volunteers to minister to them.
Reading the Bible: yesterday I read about the throne room in Isaiah 6 and Rev. 4. Today I read Zechariah 1-5.
Prayer: Thailand! For Jess and David who love it so much.
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