Bristol Road Church of Christ: I miss my church family

There are many things I miss about the church family I left behind in Michigan. 

I miss my kids running off to class on there own excited to see their teachers and friends.  I miss hearing their teachers tell me about how one of them prayed in class or answered a certain question.  I miss the discussion and insight given by Brian and Jim in Sunday School and the fun of Brad's class.  I miss being impressed by Brad's knowledge of Church History.  I miss the sharing of prayer requests and the feeling of deep caring that could be felt as everyone shared what was on their hearts.  I miss singing the new As The Deer, Awesome God, Light the Fire, and Magnificant.  I miss my littlest bouncing to the pew behind us to visit with the Allens and the attention and love they gave to her.  I miss the goofy things Mike sometimes said and how he made everyone feel welcome.  I really miss Hearing Brian and Brad and sometimes even Craig preach interesting and meaningful sermons.  I miss visiting with Lisa and Debbie or Katrina or Sue or so many others before and after services.

I miss our small group. I miss how well the kids played and how well they got along.  I miss seeing the projects they did or hearing the stories of what they played.  I miss seeing and hearing first hand what the Spencer girls were learning in school and being amazed. (Thanks, the blog helps.)  I miss the banter between Clint and Jaime.  I miss eating and sharing and bouncing ideas off each other.  I miss staying too long and rushing to get kids to bed.

I miss Wednesday nights.  I miss the amazing things the PEAK team put together and being sad that I didn't get to participate in them because I was teaching.  I miss teaching.  I know I didn't have a fabulous lesson planned each week but I miss the satisfaction and pride when I knew I had a good one.  I miss seeing Mary in class each week, sharing my week with her and knowing she would listen and give me wise council.  I miss Connie's wit giving me reason to chuckle.  I miss the occasional words of encouragement from parents or grandparents telling me I was doing a good job or that their child enjoyed my class.

For nearly 10 years I was in that building twice a month during the school year for MOPS.  I miss chit chatting with Tiffany for a few minutes before going down to the meetings.  I miss seeing Brad or Craig in the hall and having them interact with my little one(s).  I miss the comfort of feeling like I belonged there and eating a breakfast without someone asking if they could have part of it.

 I miss the many woman who had become my mentors and friends.  I miss going in to church and seeing the faces of people who I knew cared about me and my family.

We spent many weeks and months talking about what a church is and should be.  Talking about community.  I miss the community of the Bristol Road Church of Christ.

Opinions Welcome

I got a package in the mail yesterday.  It was the Tangerine Messenger Bag made by Hagar Design that I had ordered from Susie Finkbeiner Better Way Imports.  I had been looking forward to it's arrival and thinking about using it for a new purse.  I feel good buying these products because I know who made them and who I am supporting when I purchase them.  Each of these products was made by a woman who has been rescued from slavery.

I was recently disappointed to find that they sell Pencil Cases because I had already purchased and written JD's name on the one he needed for school.  I would have much rather bought from Freeset through Better Way Imports.

Back to the Messenger bag. I am not fashion savvy so I need to know, is this an appropriate thing to carry as a purse?  Yes, I'm desperately seeking approval from my peers.

Positives:

• It has many pockets and ample space for everything I need to carry and more. If I wanted to carry books or toys I would have no problem.
• The long handle allows me to sling it across my body, keeping it secure and my hands free. I hate to carry purses so this is great.
• The net pocket on the back is wide enough to carry grocery ads and coupons and keep them accessible, no more carrying them separately and dropping coupons along the way.
• It is made from a recycled rice bag so it is fairly waterproof.

Net pocket with sales ad.

Negatives:

• I picked out the tangerine color and like it, but it is a bit more wild than something I would normally carry on a regular basis.
• It is big and bulky, and I'm not sure if that equals obnoxious.

 So my fashion wise friends and my personal fashion consultant (aka my sister), is this an appropriate purse for a ??yr old mother of 3 or is it better left for travelling and day trips?  I may or may not listen to what you have to say as I am falling in love with that strap holding it on to my body.



PS, check out my link to Better Way Imports.  There are lots of items (jewelry, bags, stationary, and beautiful sari blankets) and lots of brands to browse.  I love the punjammies!  I'll try to get Susie to add some info for ordering through her so check out the comments section below.

Exploring Minnesota: A Mill, A bridge, and the Mall...again.

Last week the kids were surprised that we had two visitors come to our house.  Grannie and Papa had called early in the week to let me know their schedule had opened up and they were coming to visit. I chose to not tell the kids and they were VERY surprised to see Grannie and Papa's car pull into the driveway Thursday after supper.

It was a good time to once again venture out and explore our new state.  On Saturday we went to The Mill City Museum. It is in an old flour mill that mostly burned down in 1991.  In 2003 the ruins were made into an interactive museum.  It is a family friendly time to be sure.  One of the activities is a ride on an old freight elevator that has been made into bleacher seating.  It goes up and down 5 stories stopping at different levels to show scenes and video of the milling history of Minneapolis. There are voices of the mill's past telling about what it was like to work there.  Imagine filling train cars with sacks of flour.  Sweat and flour...ewww.  At the end you are let off at the top of the building which is an observation area to look out over the beautiful Mississippi.

JD with Grannie and Papa looking out at the Mississippi.
Well, I'm not sure what Papa is looking at.

JR looking at the beautiful stone bridge where we would wrap up our day.

The museum is child friendly and has lots of learning opportunities.  You can observe flour milling from farm to flour in the main area.  There is also a baking room and a water room where we learned about the river, the falls, and locks.  We ended our museum time watching a 20 min. video about Minneapolis history that was quite entertaining and then going out through the courtyard that was once the main milling building.

An old train car loaded with barrels of flour.  Papa said much of the museum
experience reminded him of when he did similar work with soybeans a few
years back.  The equipment and procedures are still very much the same.

JD reading the caption on an old grinding stone.

JR designing a cereal box.  There were several stations and it is all felt.
The kids all enjoyed this activity and came back to it a few times.

JJ "cooking".

An example of a thresher's table. Each chair and each plate had
information and quotes about what it was like to be a thresher and
what it was like to feed them.  One said that a hog and a cow had to be
slaughtered each week the threshers were there to feed them.  One said it would take
three hours for two ladies to just wash all the dishes daily. Another told
that if the women was a bad cook the threshers tried to hurry that job
so they could move on to the next farm.  But if the women was a good
cook they might take their time.
 This might have been a good time to be a bad cook and get them moving on.

This describes how the water was used to power the mill.  The children are trying it out below.

Steel beams in the courtyard twisted by the heat of the 1991 fire.

In the courtyard.

A view of the mill building from the bridge.  It had been unused for many years
before the fire that destroyed it.  How nice that it was turned into something useful.

After the museum we walked partway across the beautiful stone bridge to view St. Anthony falls and the Mississippi river.  The kids thought it was neat to feel a little bit of the mist. 

Grannie, Papa, and the kids.

Observing St. Anthony falls.

On Monday Erin took a day off work.  Daddy, Grannie, and Papa got a chance to watch the kids at swim lessons.  Then we headed back to the Mall of America.  Hey, that's why people visit us right, to say, "I've been there", about the MOA.  Well maybe that's just one small reason.  Papa decided to treat the kids to a couple of the rides.  Because of height restrictions there were only a few that all three could ride.  One nice thing is that if a child is too short to ride alone a chaperone is allowed to ride free. Since Papa was treating, he got to ride.

JJ was sure she was going to ride a Ferris wheel this summer...and she did.

We ended with a nice treat of lunch at Bubba Gump shrimp company.  That was a fun and filling experience.  I ordered shrimp dipping broth.  It came with jasmine rice and french bread for dipping.  It was spicy but sooo yummy.  Not something I would normally order but it was fun to try something new.

Grannie and Erin with the Bubba Gump paging system.

JJ was the only kid who ordered fish.

JR was original with...pizza.  Each kids meal came with fries (yes, even the pizza),
an orange wedge, and blue jello.

I thought the paper boats that the kids meals came in were super cute.
 The papers are like newspaper with Forest Gump related news stories.  Fun, fun, fun!

Photo op, the kids haven't seen the movie but they still thought the bench and shoes were fun.

Notice the bench is complete with suitcase and box of chocolates.

Of course it was photo op x3. 

We had a fun time with Grannie and Papa.  There is so much to do at the MOA that we would be glad to tour it again with anyone else who wants to visit us in the Twin Cities.