Lazzara Life

Thanksgiving is one of our very favorite holidays.  All the great food without the stress of shopping, gift giving and overcommitting.  This year we appreciated more and were more thankful than ever.  This year we have seen so much, we’ve seen people who have nothing and are still thankful and still praising God for what He has blessed them with, even if it is only a little.

Spending time with family is our favorite thing to do. Being with those we love is immeasurable and this is why we love the holidays so much. There is a set day to do nothing but enjoy each others company, to catch up on life & to just sit & be together.  We take so many things for granted in this world and it’s nice just to sit back & reflect on just how much God has blessed us with.  Here are some photos of our day.

We started our day by watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade & then heading over to my aunt & uncles home.

Here’s Avery with her turkey leg.  Her favorite part of the bird!

Haley with Jake…

Me & Kaden, who is going to be a big brother next year!!  Jason & Lauren announced that they are expecting!!  YAY!!

We then went over to the Lazzara’s for some more Thanksgiving fun…  Here’s Poppe in the kitchen making some gravy!  Yummy!

JoJo put Haley in charge of making the mashed potatoes, she said that “it was a very dangerous job for a little girl, working with a hot pot, an electric mixer while on a tall chair.”

Tony’s job was cutting the bird…

The next night we went to Hyde Park & met Tina, Oscar & Lily for some Christmas music, hot chocolate & tree lighting.

We finished off our weekend with a very bad garage sale over at my parents house.  It was a bad day for a garage sale & not so great location (kind of far out), but we had FUN!  Here’s our set up…  We had a “Home Good’s” department.

A kids toy’s department…

More kids stuff with a “car seat” department as well as “pet care” department…

Last but not least, the “outdoor fun” department…

We only had 4 or 5 paying customers come to see us, so we packed everything back up and stored it until our next community garage sale in our neighborhood…  We are sure to do better & get rid of a lot of stuff there…  Oh well.  The best part of our day is below.  This is Petey, he escaped from the neighbors house and came over for a very long visit.  We guess no one was home when he got out of the back yard, because he came and stayed with us for about 5 hours!  He kept us very entertained!

Uhhhh, the sweetest little thing!  We had a great weekend and hope you did too!

Today was a great, teachable day.  Rich & I, along with the girls & some great friends of ours, the Boyle’s, went to Metropolitan Ministries downtown.  We volunteered for a few hours in the MetMin tent.  There were many tasks to perform, but we got chosen to handle hospitality!  We all greeted as the people arrived through registration & pointed them to the hospitality holding area, which had a large projector playing cartoons, a children’s play area & a few carts going around with snacks and beverages…  Sorry these photos are not that great, I forgot my camera & had to use my cell phone.

My job was to greet & show everyone where to go & what to do.  We had 4 groups, Zone A, B, C & D.  The zones would change every 15 minutes to help keep everyone on task & not get overcrowded.  Once in the hospitality area, they would wait for their zone to be called & then they would move to the shopping area.

Haley stayed by me for the first 30 minutes…  here she is with an A zone card.  We would give them their zone cards along with a card for any prayer requests they may have and then walk them over to the seating.

Here is the children’s play zone.  I think I would like to work that area the next time we go.

Lorin went to the tables and collected the prayer requests & delivered them to the little “chapel” inside the tent (don’t worry,it was right next to where we were)

Avery decided to work the snack cart with Blake.  At the end of the day she said, “Gosh, I sure ate a lot today, I had 3 brownies, lots of cookies & 2 capri suns”…

I went to the chapel for a few minutes to read some of the prayer requests & take a moment to pray for a few of them, some of them read, “Pray for my families finances to get better in 2010″, “Please pray for me, I’ve lost my job and have 5 children”, “Pray for my mother’s health”, the one that got me the most was, “Please pray that we will find somewhere safe to sleep tonight”.  

These are people who live within 15 minutes of our home.  The poverty, hunger, homelessness is in our backyard.  So, I encourage all of you who can, GO!  Your mission field doesn’t have to be across the ocean, it is  HERE too!  Go to the link below & see what you can do to either make a donation or volunteer your time…  We are taking 35 people & youth from the Youth Department to Metropolitan Ministries again in a few weeks & I’m excited to get our baby 9th graders excited about the missions they can do right here.

http://www.metromin.org/

One last thing… This quote is awesome!  ESPECIALLY in this time of holiday & gift giving:  What will you give?  Who will you help?  Have a great Thanksgiving!

This Saturday we joined Poppe & Tracey at their church’s annual “Family Football Turkey Bowl”.   Our team consisted of Poppe, Tracey, Rich, Haley, Lorin, Tony, Trisha(Tracey’s sister) and 2 other friends from church.  I sat out to be team photographer because I have NEVER participated in a team sport (because my mom thought I’d get hurt), so I wasn’t sure that this was a good time to start.  We had so much fun.

The teams were very diverse, you have the little kids, high school kids, youth workers, pastors & mixed families.  We worked very hard and had a lot of fun, but we did not win.  When the 2 top teams were playing the final game, they tied and then tried to do a tie breaker, but it got way too dark, so they called the game.  I’m sure there will be a make up game so someone can win the Turkey Bowl trophy.

Here’s a video of one play…

After most of the games were finished they had a BBQ.  There was a lot of GOOD BBQ and Avery decided that she was going to eat a turkey leg (first time) all by herself.  I don’t know why, but I really didn’t think she would eat it.  But she DID!!

After receiving our first letters from Caroline, I was inspired to do a little bit more.  She was so excited to receive mail & the girls were equally as thrilled.  I thought it would be a great idea to try to coordinate a pen-pal program with the children from Ms. Agnes’ orphanage and the kids from Haley & Lorin’s 4th grade classes.  So, this Friday I went into the classrooms and shared a slideshow of our time at Ms. Agnes’, explained what pen-pals were and what orphans were.  I think this was something several of the kids weren’t aware of.  They asked LOTS of questions, like “Where do they take a bath?”- my answer, “I’m not quite sure, I never saw one while I was there, I think they have stalls like their bathrooms & they take in a basin and water”

– “where are their toys?”- my answer, “They don’t really have “toys” like our toys.  They make balls out of plastic bags & use water bottles and make things to play with.”  

Nylah said, “This is so sad.”- my answer, “Yes, it is very sad by American standards, but THEY don’t know any different, so they are not sad, they are very happy children and they have no idea what all we have here, BUT we did give them a few soccer balls.”  

Sarah said, “I want to send money with my letter”- Okay, I almost cried, she GETS it!  my answer, “That is very sweet of you.  Maybe we can take a class donation & buy them paper, pencils, sharpeners, crayons and some lollipops.”

SOOOO, it was very successful, all I need now is to get a list of names from Ms. Agnes…  The children are very excited to start writing their letters after Christmas break.

After my talk with the classes, it was time for their first 9 weeks awards ceremony.  Haley & Lorin’s reports cards were identical, mostly a’s and a few B’s, HONOR ROLL, Citizenship Award for good behavior & Perfect Attendance, my rule is… “If you’re not bleeding, throwing up or have a fever, you’re going to school.”

Avery didn’t get real grades this 9 weeks, they will give out A’s and B’s next time for Kindergarten, she got all Excellent so far & the Citizenship Award…  Yes, she is wearing a crown.

Avery neer fails to amaze us, she went to school like this….  for “Show & Tell”

Last night I attended the Girlfriends Live Christmas event.  It was such a great show!  There was a colorful cast of characters, including Novine Bodine (talk show host), a lot of beautiful Christmas music, Decorating Tips from Sheila & Dettye Ann, Caroling with Chiquita, a cooking segment with Chef Woo & Claudette and Frosty the Bluesman (snowman)…  Our pastor and his wife also read a beautiful passage from a Max Lucado book.  The evening was beautifully decorated & we were surrounded by our fabulous girlfriends and then treated to decadent desserts under the stars.  One of the highlights of the evening (for me) was the presentation of the “Angel Tree” program.

The Angle Tree program is a Christmas outreach program that helps inmates in local prisons give gifts to their children while they are away.  The children & caretakers need so much to feel loved  by the father/mother  who is incarcerated, especially at Christmastime, and what better way than to receive a gift from that person under your tree on Christmas morning?  So I chose 2 children and 1 caretaker (the person who cares for the children) to send them Christmas gifts from their loved one who is in prison.  This morning we went to Target & the girls helped pick out gifts.  We bought a jacket for 4 year old Donnaysia, a board game for 10 year old Amber & a gift card for Jamie, a caretaker (mother).

The Christmas season is a valuable teaching time for us as parents to show our children how to share Christ’s love to those around us, to our families as well as a stranger.

Below is a link for you to find the Angel Tree program in your area.  Please take part in this ministry if you are looking for a way to make a child smile on Christmas morning. I wish I could see the faces of Donnaysia, Amber and Jamie when they receive a gift from their loved one who is not able to be with them on Christmas.

http://www.angeltree.org/angeltree-home

Some of you may remember this sweet face.  This is the little girl, Caroline that we sponsor in Uganda at Ms. Agnes’ orphanage.  For those of you who aren’t clear what we do as a sponsor, we simply send $30 a month, which covers her school costs, 2 meals per day and clothing as needed.  We can also send her items and letters.  Haley & Lorin wrote her letters as soon as we received her photo & story in the mail.  We were so thrilled this week that she was able to write us back!  I scanned her letters & they are below.

I spoke to the director of Fair Haven ministries, the group that puts us in contact with Caroline & they said that 18 of Ms. Agnes’ children still do not have sponsors.  Do you have an extra $30 a month to help a child like Caroline?  For him or her to have food, clothing & the opportunity to go to school?  Pray about it.    If you aren’t able to sponsor a child, please go on their website & make a 1 time donation OR buy a necklace that the children make.  This Christmas give beautiful hand made necklaces & help support the great work that  Ms. Agnes is doing by raising and caring for these 58 orphaned children.   Below is the link to Fair Haven Ministries.

http://www.fairhavensministries.com/

This Sunday we went to church and came home for a daddy-daughter picnic.  Mommy had a baby shower, so Daddy had the afternoon to spend some QT with his little ladies.  They took pictures &  I was so happy to see then when I got home!!  Plus they had a very funny story to tell me too…

Here’s Daddy with Avery & Haley…

Lorin is just like me as a kid.  I have always LOVED food!  Lorin loves Dorito’s with melted american cheese on top.  This is something I would have done as a kid.  AND, she is SOOO skinny!!  I also had a very fast metabolism when I was younger.  My parents would kid that I must have a tape-worm because of the amount of food I would eat & never gain any weight…

Haley is practicing the art of the perfect self portrait!

Haley is quite the photographer.  I love this shot of our mossy tree out back…

And one of Daddy…

Okay, so the funny story…  My poor poor Serafina!  This indoor cat LOVES to be outside!  Whenever we are working in the yard or playing outside Serafina always comes along.  She likes to lay in the grass, watch the squirrels and lizards and feel the cool breeze in her fur…  Anyway, everyone came inside & forgot she was out there.  Rich comes into the backyard with the leaf blower to clean up, turns the thing on and scares the cat to death!  SO, she runs FULL SPEED into the back door, which is mostly glass.  Haley & Lorin were in the toy room, which leads to the back door, so they saw her from the inside running into the door.  She was SO panicked!  She then was jumping up the door trying to get in.  My poor poor baby!!!  Rich didn’t know she was outside either, and this leaf blower is really LOUD!  So this pitiful, terrified cat is smashing herself into the glass door.  Funny now, NOT funny then, especially not to Serafina.  Here are some pictures of my sweet baby before the incident.

Well, you all have seen my shout out for Kaden’s actual birthday…  But we celebrated with the whole family this Saturday, pirate style!  Jason & Lauren did such a great job with his first birthday party that Haley said, “This was the best party ever!”, and we have been to a lot of birthday parties!

Here’s our precious little birthday boy!

Mama Lauren had a little too much time on her hands and made really pretty cards and named all the food in pirate lingo.

Kaden with Mommy & Daddy

A big kiss for Haley!

Kaden with JuJu

Rich & I…  These were the cutest pirate masks!!  Tina has a really horrible picture of me wearing a patch over my eye, fake teeth & a hook…  I will post it later…

Happy Happy Birthday Kaden!

Oh, how I love the Women’s Ministry at BSBC!!  I spent my morning with some great friends helping to decorate wreath’s for the Women’s Christmas Event! This was my first time making a wreath, so Amy showed me how to do it.  First you start off with a bare green wreath & just start attaching the pretty stuff with floral wire!!

This was the sample & we just copied exactly what was shown…

Here’s Amy with her new corsage.

Okay, seriously, you just use the wire to attach each piece & it turns out so pretty!!

So, here is Yolanda with her finished wreath!

And crazy Amy…

And here is my first ever decorated wreath!  I had such a fun time with my sweet girlfriends this morning!!

Now, here’s the event that we were decorating for…

It’s going to be a wonderful night with fun, fellowship, music, some seriously funny ladies & a dessert reception with CHOCOLATE fountains!!!. Please join us!!

If you would like to come, you can buy tickets online at  http://bellshoals.com/pages/page.asp?page_id=86850 click at the bottom where it says “BUY TICKETS NOW”.