I love this time of year — it’s fun when everything seems new and all the possibilities are ahead of us!  Today was our teacher orientation at the preschool.  It’s awesome to see how God takes individual personalities and turns them into a team!!!  Our staff is incredible—I can’t wait to see what a great job they do in their classrooms this year.  I feel sure they are going to leave giant heartprints on each child they have in their class!

Our theme this year is “Journeying with Jesus”— I can’t wait to see where He takes us this year!!!

Family Legacy is opening 4 new schools in very scary parts of Zambia.  Imagine the children beginning school in January (which is the beginning of their school year) with large classrooms, desks, and more than just a broken chalkboard, as well as a teacher they can trust to teach them without punishing them.  Check out www.legacymissions.org and read the blog about the schools they are opening.   They are trying to ship supplies from the US to Lusaka, because the cost of supplies there is enormous.

I was in Office Max this week and picked up 3 boxes of crayons for a penny a piece, WalMart had glue sticks for a quarter!  It is possible to fill a whole backpack full of supplies for very little money.   As you are out doing your shopping this week, why not pick up an extra set of supplies for the children in Lusaka. (School supplies are tax free this weekend)  I will be happy to pick up anything you might collect or you can bring them by Vista Ridge and I will get them to Family Legacy.  They are going to be put on a cargo ship the first week of September so that they will arrive by January!

New school supplies are exciting for every child – whether here or across the ocean.  As we pray for our children as they begin a new year, let’s also begin to pray for the children who will be filling the seats at 4 new schools in Lusaka in January.

Okay — call me old fashioned!  I just thought that when you took your children out to eat it was an opportunity for everyone to visit and catch up.  Recently at a restaurant I watched as a mother and father visited while all 3 of their children played hand held video games.  Do they not get enough of that at home, in the car, and at friend’s houses?

Then I sat behind a family at church Sunday where the mother sat and listened to the sermon as her children played video games or listened to ipods.  These were not teenagers who brought the games in their pockets, no she reached in her purse and handed out games and ipods to each child.  I guess she didn’t think they needed to hear what the Psalms had to say.  I remember bringing a “Big Church Bag” for my boys with paper and colors, but they would still listen to the sermon.

Movies in the car — what happened to slug bug, or the ABC game?   Video games in their bedrooms — what about monopoly or cards?  Handheld gaming systems everywhere —whatever happened to cooking together or playing tag?  It is very sad to me to see that we have handed a lot of our familly time over to technology!  Are we raising a generation of people who won’t be able to talk to each other – oh, wait, it’s already here — we don’t talk we text!

Zambia was awesome!!  It was truly a great time — even the long flights went well—thank goodness for the exit row with extended leg room!

The best part was seeing my girls again!!  This year I had 11 of my girls back again!  It was so good to see them.  I also had 3 new girls this year, and they were wonderful.  It was so exciting to see those girls bound off the bus on Monday morning and practically tackle me!  I wondered if they would remember me, and they did!

Me and my girls!!!

I was amazed that I remembered all of them too!  The saddest part was that one of the girls had an identical twin last year that died of a stomach ailment.  There were a lot of tears over that!

All of my girls need sponsors, so if you are interested in helping out some great kids, I would love to give you information.  Sponsorship helps them with school fees and food, and everyone of them need the help.  I hope that God leads you to sponsor one of my sweet girls!  Camp Life 2010 sign ups begin in a month, so if you want to go meet my sweet girls, it’s a great trip!

Life is good at the Rives house!!!  Josh and Mindy are returning from a vacation to Greece & Turkey, Wes has started his new job at the Hard Rock Cafe, and Jacob is still looking for big tips down at the Gristmill Restaurant in Gruene, Texas!  Wray is still working in Dublin on a contract job, and I am gearing up for my trip to Zambia!

There’s lots of packing to be done before I go— if you want to donate something for me to take to Zambia — I’ll be glad to take it!  The children there are so awesome,  you will be glad that you gave to them!!  There is a special need for socks, and for little girl panties!  I can only take 3 suitcases, but I plan to have them loaded up when I leave!!

This summer has been awesome so far  — as soon as I get some of my pictures back I’ll blog about my greatest week as a foster parent.

It’s a proud day since all of my boys have jobs!  Wes started his new job today at the Hard Rock Cafe —no, not his dream job, but in this day and time–it’s a job!  He is training, and the restaurant is supposed to open July 15!  If your down at Victory Plaza looking for a good meal, stop in at the Hard Rock, and smile at the sweet red headed host!

Jacob is working at the Gristmill Restaurant in Gruene, Texas.  He’s going to school the second session so he decided to stay in San Marcos for the summer.  If you happen to be floating the river, stop in for delicious food— and don’t forget to tip big the cute waiter from Coppell!!

Josh is loving his job at Family Legacy Missions International — he was in Zambia in May helping set up for camp.  Check out Family Legacy’s camp blog and you can see Josh at work.  It’s fun tosee him having a great time with the children over there.

Wray’s still working in Dublin and really liking it.  He loves the people he is working with.  He’s pretty deep into the accounting part right now, and anxious to get into the part where he helps them make more money!

With unemployment soaring, we feel blessed!

Josh was in Africa — now he’s in Greece!   Wray spends most of his days in Dublin.  Jacob is in San Marcos, and Wes spends most of his time in College Station (until he starts work).   What is a moron on the computer supposed to do if she can’t figure it out for herself —exactly what I’ve done — wait until some one can show me how to work this new format-Thanks Wray!

I’ll post a lot later –I have lots to say now!!!!

I’m trying to learn how to blog in a new format—I am not a very literate computer person….help!

Okay I know it’s been a while since I last blogged—I have been working on my new admiration for single moms!  Two infants by myself makes for lots of feeding, pooping, and holding!  We’re in a groove now so we’re hanging in!

This last weekend I hung out with big girls!  My sweet friend Rebekah had her high school graduation party at Lake Conroe.  Her uncle has an awesome lake house there, and we had a terrific time — sunning, boating, eating and a little karaoke!  Rebekah’s friends were awesome, and I loved catching up on the scoop at Coppell High School.  One highlight was when her friend Renata told me that she knew Jacob in middle school and remembered how cute he was — well of course he’s cute!!!!

I made my debut on a banana boat!  Carolyn and I rode with two of the girls — there was a lot of wrinkly fat bouncing up and down on the water last Saturday!!!!  Carolyn didn’t want to fall off because the water was “dirty”.  Really, how often do you find a clean lake!!   I guess it was confirmation that we are really happier on floats in a great pool–which we did a lot of too!   It was a great time had by all!

I loved going to both of the Majors’ girls graduation parties at the lake, I hope Delanie (class of 2014) will invite me too–I just hope these old bones will hold out so that I can hang out with the girls again!

For months now we have been worried about the economy — why?  Because the media kept telling us how bad things were and how things were only getting worse.  Every once in awhile they would throw out a warm fuzzy story about the economy, and counter it with a dozen bad stories.

Now there is mass hysteria about the swine flu—why?  Because the media is constantly telling us about the people who died, how many cases were diagnosed, and how many cases were unconfirmed.  This hysteria caused school districts to overreact, health departments to panic, and people to walk around in ridiculous masks.    In reality fewer people have died from the swine flu than die from the normal flu.

The good thing is the economy has been able to rebound some since the media has been too busy telling us we might die to worry about telling us that we’re going to run out of money!  What catastrophe are they going to grab onto next to help us forget to Purell our hands a million times a day?