Awana 2014 - 2015: Sparks

So, over the summer we began going to McLean Bible Church - Tysons over the summer with our friends/neighbors.  Then, said friend, Heidi, told me about an Awana club that her son, JD (who is the one in Jacob's grade at school), attends at one of the other MBC campuses.  So, we signed Jacob up right away!

He's in the Sparks club with other Kindergarten - 2nd grade kids.  Each week he works through his booklet learning new scripture verses, books of the bibles and he even got to choose a missionary one week.  After he finishes a section he earns different awards.  The first two awards were a patch for his vest and then his wings.  Now each time he finishes a section he earns a new jewel that goes in to his wings.  He also gets points each week for attending Sunday School, so it's really important to me that we go.  We kind of fell of the wagon at the end of 2014 due to sports/sleepovers/traveling/holidays/etc., but it's a new year and I'm making every attempt to get us to church every Sunday!

Here's Jacob with his brand new Awana vest and his book he's currently working on.  Because he didn't go to Awana last year (we didn't know about it) he had to start with the very first book this year.  This one is the one that Kindergarten students receive during their first year of Sparks.  We're over halfway done with the book now, though, so as soon as he's finished with it (hopefully by the end of February), he can move on to the next book.  It's red (I forget what it's called) and is what he 1st graders are working on this year.  I have a feeling if we work really hard at it, he can finish all THREE books that Sparkies receive over the three years they're in Sparks, in TWO years. :)

Pumpkin Patch Fun!

October is always such a crummy month in our family now that my sister passed away that month, but it's also Henry's birth month.  So, we try to make it as fun and memorable as we can.  I don't always succeed, but I sure try.

That said, Henry's birthday is 6 days before my sister's angel-versary, so the weekend before his birthday, we took the boys to the Pumpkin Patch.  We took them to Pumpkinville in Leesburg.  The last time we went there, it was the week before she died.  Last year we went to Great Country Farms to try something different.  It was fun, but really far away!

So, this year we took them to one that was much closer.  It was a long day for Jacob and myself.  We went to church in the morning, the pumpkin patch all day and then Awana that night.

When we got there immediately we went to all the fun stuff and figured we'd save the animal park for last.  Jacob wanted to go down the big hay slide right away, so we were happy to oblige.  I wish Henry would have gone, as well, but he's a lot more timid than his brother, and I'm not about to push him.

We met up with some friends there who have a son that's the same age as Jacob.  They actually go to the same school and were in the same class for a few weeks last year.

While my parents were hanging out with Henry, Jacob and I talked to and hung out with our friends.

We checked out a fish pond that I had never seen before on my other visits.  Some kids were there feeding them, so it was a frenzy!

After we were only there about 20 minutes or so, our friends left.  They had been there all morning and we're tired, so they excused themselves  and we went on to enjoy the rest of our day.

We took the hayride next!!  It wasn't busy, which was nice, so we were able to get right on with no wait.

We rode this around the entire park, and then when we got back, the boys wanted to check out the maze (made of hay).

After they were done in here, they checked out a few of the moon bounces, and then when started working our way back to the front of the park.  On our way back up the hill, Jacob saw the zip line and decided he wanted to give it a whirl.  I know he likes to try new things and he's super athletic, but I really didn't expect him to go through with it.

But, he did!

That was pretty much the highlight of my day!

After that there wasn't much left to see, so we headed out to the Animal Park.  I LOVED seeing all the animals, as did the kids!!  There is one area where you can go in and pet/get up close and personal with the animals.  That's where I fell in love with this beautiful little goat!

There were also soooommme ... not so beautiful animals.

Most of them were friendly enough, though.

This next one just made chuckle ... 

Then we just cruise through checking out the rest, and then we pretty much left.  Henry stayed with my parents the rest of the day, but Jacob and I headed straight to Awana.

The Pumpkin Patch is one of our favorite things to do, especially as a family, so we'll continue to do the same thing year after year.  We may just change up the location from time time.  Ironically enough .. we took the kids to the *pumpkin* patch, but didn't actually buy a pumpkin there. Lol

Our new church!!

Basically since we became parents I've been wanting to start going back to church, I just didn't know where.  John was raised Catholic, but isn't a practicing Catholic anymore.  I was raised Methodist and haven't been to a Methodist church in YEARS.  So, where do we go and what do we do?? When we got married we even went so far as to have a non-denominational minister perform the ceremony since we were both raised in different denominations.

Anyway, we checked out a church a few years ago, and it just wasn't a good fit, so that was the last time.  But, then back in May my friend and neighbor invited us to her church to check out a children's program that was going on one Sunday afternoon.  So we went .. and I was pretty much hooked!  We started attending McLean Bible Church on a regular basis from then on.  The kids started going to Sunday School.  Jacob and JD (my friend/neighbor's son) are in the same grade in school, so therefore they're in the same Sunday School class too.  Henry started out in the nursery still, but in July during their promotion week he moved up to the Preschool class.  He (Henry) had such a hard time adjusting, but finally in mid-August he stopped crying and having a meltdown every time we left him.  That made me feel good.  We've been so busy during the Fall that we've barely made it to Sunday morning service, but that's about to change because the holidays are almost here and I can't wait to take the boys to their first Christmas Eve service!!

Back in September, Jacob also started going weekly to Awana at the Loudoun campus of McLean Bible Church.  He's in the Sparks class and is learning so many scripture verses and seems to really enjoy it, so I'm glad we got him signed up.  Next year Henry will go too and be a Cubbie.  We didn't sign him up this year because of how harsh the transition to Sunday School was, but I think next year he'll be ready and he'll really enjoy it.