Easter Blessings

Easter brought a morning of happiness for the kids, who are now officially too old to hunt for eggs. After a morning of opening baskets

and church, we had a relaxing day contemplating the love that Christ showed when he chose to give his life for us. We hope everyone had a wonderful Easter Sunday!

Closing out March

March has been a super-busy month! Danny continued celebrating St. Patrick's Day nightly by dressing in his kilt and Irish hat

and posing for me while I cooked dinner.

He and I planted our front porch garden,

with the special addition of a cactus and a healing aloe plant (in case someone touches the cactus). 

Meanwhile, Megan received special recognition at school for getting good grades for most of the year,

and while I volunteered in the kitchen at church, she learned that she loves to help decorate.

Although it was busy, we made time to do some things we enjoy.

Welcome home, Megan!

Megan was gone for 5 1/2 days, and during that time, George and Danny went into a deep depression. OK, maybe not a deep depression, but definintely a significant funk. We missed her smile, her humor, and most of all the love that she pours out daily. Danny woke up with tears in his eyes, and George was generally grumpy. This is not to say that they didn't have fun with their alone time running errands and snuggling until noon (while it rained every day!), but we were all ready for her to come home on Saturday. Danny and I went to pick her up at the church at 5:30, and here she's saying hey to her dad (who was working).

Recognize the outfit? She had to wear most of her outfits twice as she was limited to one small suitcase and a backback for everything including clothes for 6 days, linens, towels and all toiletries. She had an awesome time the whole week, and she regaled us with stories of her adventures. For example, she told us about Ransom Cafe, a network of churches that hold a soup kitchen for the homeless in different locations around Mobile. Megan stepped out of her comfort zone and took orders, delivered food, and socialized with the folks she was serving. During her lunch break, she met a homeless family and talked to them about her experience while asking about theirs. It was very eye-opennig for my sheltered girl. She also spent some time at a Mobile nursing home, playing bingo and singing hymns and gospel tunes for the residents. 

Between the work and the worship, she was inspired...and exhausted. On Sunday, after being immersed in all of the activity for the week, she actually missed church because she slept all morning. After waking up, she needed some quiet time, so we sat and watched create tv where Megan found her new favorite show, b. organic. In this show based out of Iowa Public Television, the host (Michelle Beschen) show folks how to create a natural lifestyle by making everyday fun from recycled and reused treasures, getting kids outside, and using natural organic products. Their website, borganic.net, has tons of project ideas to get folks inspired about living the natural lifestyle. The kids even got inspired, and built a fort in the living room (it was raining outside - shocker!).

Megan says you're never too old to build a fort. We had a super relaxing weekend, and I know her week will be spent recovering in the quiet comfort of her room. Welcome home, Megan!

I miss her already...

Megan set off on her first mission trip to Alabama this morning, and I miss her already. Before she left, I snapped a few pics of her,

including one of her saying goodbye to Danny

and one of her saying goodbye to Harley.

I am so proud of her for signing up for this trip. She knows few people and is going to a strange city, but she's committed to helping those in need. Megan has the biggest heart of anyone I've ever met, and I love her so much, I missed her as soon as I dropped her off. I can't wait until she gets back!

My favorite kids!

This week, George was back on weekday shift, so every night I got to spend some time with my favorite kids. Here they are on Wednesday night, eating with me at Taco Bell.

Their beauty moves me sometimes, but I digress.

Last night, we went to the end-of-vacation-Bible-school (aka Adventure Week) celebration at our church. After a full week of play, Danny was excited to show me what he'd learned and all the fun he'd been having. Megan, on the other hand, was a worker, and she had less fun. She spent all week setting up snacks for all of the classes, and she was pooped by the time she got home (not to mention walking home in 95-degree heat). But here they are looking oh-so-refreshed as we went in for the last night of fun.

For a treat afterwards, I took them to Sweet FROG, a new fro-yo joint in town that gave them coupons at Adventure Week. FROG stands for Fully Rely On God, and they support all of the local VBS programs. They also have some of the best tasting fro-yo in town. The kids loved it!

I'm so glad I got to spend the week with them. They are super kids, and I love them so.

Upward Celebration

Tonight was Danny's Upward Basketball celebration at the church.

We had a great time this season, and I am so proud of both Danny (who kicked some booty this season) and Coach George (who devoted what little spare time he had to being with Danny).  Here are some good shots from the season.

Sunday mornings at the Creamer house

Sunday mornings before church are all about coffee, breakfast, and reading the comics.

The kids, especially Megan, love to read the comics every day, but mostly on Sunday because they'e in color. She loves Dennis the Menace, Garfield, Foxtrot, Get Fuzzy, and Hagar the Horrible. My personal favorites are Wizard of Id and Blondie and Dagwood. After the comics, we clip coupons and plan the week's meals. It is a family affair.

February's gone already...

February was such a busy month for us. Our list of activities included, in no particular order:

1. Megan's Upward games and playing for the Lady Noles at half-time during the Maryland game. (See previous post at link below:
http://thecreamerchronicle.blogspot.com/2011/02/upward-basketball-megan-style.html)

2. A visit to the Fairgrounds during the Alpaca show and auction.

I was shocked at how soft the alpaca fleece is, and at how docile they are. They walked around like dogs on leashes! I was also shocked at the price tag. Those are some expensive farm animals!

3. George's birthday celebration at the fairgrounds for the PigFest Barbecue and music festival. We had ribs, pulled pork, roasted corn, pork rinds, boiled peanuts - any southerner would say that was a good day!

4. Megan's birthday celebration lunch at home with the grandparents (Happy Birthday again to Mom Creamer and Dad Gilbert!) and then the Lady Noles Game vs. Clemson.

Megan had a blast with the family, and she loved it when they called her name on the loud speaker. Best of all, tickets were free - Senior day is the best!!!! WE LOVE SEMINOLES BASKETBALL! 

5. The Manly Man Feast at our church. This is a day that men can go to be together to worship, eat smoked game, and try out the activities set up around the church grounds. Danny went with Daddy (tickets were his birthday gift to Daddy) and Papa Creamer. They all had a great time, but I think Danny had the best time of all. He's still talking about shooting the bow and arrow,

training the dogs,

and eating all of that food - especially the chocolate cake.

I don't think we sat down in February!

Upward Basketball, Megan style...

Megan has really enjoyed playing Upward Basketball at the church this year. Normally she plays soccer, but Mom did not feel like standing in the cold and rain at 8:30am on Saturday morning. So she tried a sport she's never played, and she's learned so much.

The highlights of the season were

1. Throw-back to the '60s night - the girls played 60's style basketball (for women). Three on three on each end of the court, and no crossing the center line. They even dressed like 60s players, and 60s music played in the gym during the game. They had a blast, and Megan got two baskets that night! 

2. Upward day at the Lady Noles game. This past Sunday, the 5th grade Upward teams attended the Lady Noles game at the Civic Center, and the 5th grade girls got to play at half-time! It was a blast, and they looked so cute out there on that big court.

They got to watch the Noles kick some butt against Maryland, too!

It was an experience Megan will never forget.