Kudos

This from one a Cleveland teacher: "I think I speak for all of Cleveland Elementary when I say that we are incredibly blessed to have a partnership with your congregation. Thank you so much for every ounce of encouragement, prayer, and service you provide to students and staff here at Cleveland. We are very fortunate to walk side by side with your church in helping our students succeed. Thank you for all that you do!"

In the news

The kids' school is in the news for winning a reading challenge.

Priority Check

Our basement is finished, which is awesome and has allowed us to host company, have the kids' friends sleep over, and basically regain some sanity. It has also allowed all of us to resume playing the Wii since we had to unplug it during the remodel. We've had fun playing it again and I've been able to work at lowering by record on golf score, which this past week went from -5 to -7 courtesy of a hole in one and an eagle. Boo yah. Later that night, as I was praying with one of my children, he/she thanked Jesus for being able to watch me play the Wii! Seriously- an 'ouch' moment. So, I resolved that next time that I would play with them, though it seriously affects my ability to lower my score!

Another fun fact- I'm better at golf than tennis (which is comical if you know my real life golf game) and most of my kids can beat me in Wii tennis!

What I wish I could say

Things said to me, the reply I wish I could say, and what I really said, while ringing bells the other night:

#1: Said to me "well, at least it's not that cold out tonight"

• I wanted to say "easy for you to say as you get out of your warm car and into a warm store"
• I said "yep"

#2: Said to me "Thank you for what you're doing. I used the Salvation Army years ago. They gave me $25 and I bought vegetables and Malt-O-Meal. That was back when $25 was a lot of money. You could live a whole week on Malt-O-Meal"

• I wanted to say "and look at how your life has turned around, you're shopping at ShopKo!"
• I also wanted to say "and thank you for your donation" (but that didn't happen either).
• I said "have a good night".

#3: Said to me "well, at least you're not sitting in a chair ringing bells like this guy at HyVee. I mean, if you're going to ring bells, you have to stand. Can you believe it? This guy brought his own chair!"

• I wanted to say "listen, if he's ringing bells, he can do it however he wants"
• I said "wow. Have a good night"

My favorite bell ringers