Passing Out Info

Text from a friend:

Our neighbor is asking for some sort of extra curricular for a first grade boy who has special needs. He gets over stimulated easily but needs some socialization. Any thoughts or ideas?

A few clarifying questions & 18 recommendations later ... my friend texted back: 

You. Are. Amazing!!

You should have a job passing out info! 

My reply: 

I just had a conversation with the principal and she said the same thing and asked if she can give my number to parents. Absolutely! I’m happy to help. I know how hard parents want to help their children and yet it seems impossible to even know where to start looking.

And you've done so much leg work. You should be an advocate or liaison for kids!

Yes, it's no surprise that moms of special needs kiddos often become advocates. 

I think this might be part of my answer to the question, "What is my 'running?'"

Related to that link, what is your "running?" What is that thing, which when you do it, you feel His pleasure, and you know, "THIS is why God made me!"

Oh, the places you will go! ~ 2025 Version

Places where I spent one (or more) nights in 2025:

Chicago 

Murfreesboro, TN

motel along I-75 on our way to FL

Madeira Beach, FL

motel along I-75 on our way back from FL

St. Louis, MO

Hudson, IL

Williams Bay, WI

Kingsport, TN

Lexington, KY

Orange City, IA

Rapid City, SD

Gardiner, MT

Yellowstone National Park, WY

Grand Teton National Park, WY

Jackson, WY

Cheyenne, WY

Omaha, NE

Georgetown, KY

Gray, TN

and home

(italics - stayed there more than one night)  
(* stayed there on more than one occasion) 

   
2025 travel ...

January 1st found us driving to Chicago for a doctor's appointment.  It turns out that hotel rates are low on the 1st of January, so we stayed downtown right across from the hospital in a corner suite on the 27th floor!  It was good to get away!

We drove to FL in February.

The first half of spring break we went to St. Louis, returning at 4 PM Wednesday.  (Post here.)  We were delighted to discover that spring had already sprung there! Redbud, forsythia, and cherry blossoms! Oh, my!

By God's mercy I was able to attend the church women's retreat ... the first one that had been held in 12 years!  It had been many years since I had slept in a camp setting :) but it was amazingly restful and relaxing not to be responsible for anyone! 

We were able to getaway to Wisconsin May 31 - June 3 and July 12-15.

Our late summer trip to Tennessee was moved up to June 25 - July 1, so we could take an epic road trip out west July 24 - August 1.  

A long weekend back to Wisconsin over Labor Day weekend (got to get to the County Fair!).  That seems like the fewest trips we have ever taken there in a summer.

Our year to be with Jim's side on December 25th, so we headed to Tennessee on December 30th for a New Year's visit.

 

Whew!! We certainly ramped our travel up this year!

Here's to even more exploring in 2026!  I better eat my Wheaties!

I added two new states (South Dakota & Montana) and no new foreign countries.

Where did you go in 2025?  Anywhere new? Any place we should put on our list? We're especially interested in national parks. :) 

Oh, the places you will go! ~ 2009 version
Oh, the places you will go! ~ 2010 version 
Oh, the places you will go! ~ 2011 version 
Oh, the places you will go! ~ 2012 version
Oh, the places you will go! ~ 2013 version  
Oh, the places you will go! ~ 2014 version 
Oh, the places you will go! ~ 2015 version 
Oh, the places you will go! ~ 2016 version
Oh, the places you will go! ~ 2017 version
Oh, the places you will go! ~ 2018 version   

Oh, the places you will go! ~ 2019 version  

Oh, the places you will go! ~ 2020 version

Oh, the places you will go! ~ 2021 version

Oh, the places you will go! ~ 2022 version

Oh, the places you will go! ~ 2023 version 

Oh, the places you will go! ~ 2024 version

Looking Back on 2025

My friend Wendy uses this as a template for end-of-year blogging, and I am attempting to do the same as I look back on 2025.   

1. What makes this year unforgettable?  

• Our 10-day epic road trip to Badlands, Yellowstone, and Grand Teton National Parks, Mount Rushmore, Custer State Park, and many museums along the way! 
• BK learned to ski and mow our yard and started middle school. I feel like this is the year that the years started speeding up for us as parents. 
• LM became an emerging reader!
• Doing the closings for my homeplace (going to a notary to sign each deed & then sending it via FedEx overnight delivery to the closing agent) consumed my January and February and marked the legal end to a long era.  

2. What did I enjoy doing this year?  

• Praying weekly during the school year with other moms in our Moms in Prayer group.
• Blogging more
• Reading more
• Preparing a testimony for our church women's retreat.
• Sending Christmas cards for the first time in forever!
• New York Times puzzles :)
• Practicing Japanese on Duolingo
• Connecting with two moms (one lives several states away & we see each other every 2-4 years; the other I refer to as my texting friend)
• Making headway on decluttering

3. What/who is one thing/person I'm grateful for?  [I can't limit it to one!]

• Jim for keeping me sane and being a rock and pointing me to the eternal and the true. 
• People who pray for me/us.
• My rheumatologist. 
• My Moms in Prayer moms.
• Our pastor.

4. What did I read/watch/listen to that made the most impact this year?

• A constant diet of missionary biographies kept my heart for missions ignited and also kept reminding me that God can do things that seem impossible.

5. What did I worry about most and how did it turn out?

•  LM getting the academic help she needs in 3rd grade. The school was VERY responsive - changed her reading curriculum (to a strong phonics program) and changed her Special Ed teacher (from a first-year teacher to a veteran teacher), did due diligence in testing her, and the veteran SpEd teacher started over at the beginning with the short /a/ sound. She's an excellent emerging reader! 
• our 2026 health insurance ~ to be determined!

6. What is my biggest regret?

• Not connecting with people more
• Not making more progress on decluttering and on implementing systems 
• Not setting goals (& working towards them) in memorizing Scripture

7. What's something that has changed about me?

• The biggest physical change is that my disease stopped spreading, and as a result I have much more freedom of mobility.
• I'm doing much better about resting from 1-2.15 PM on weekdays before afternoon pickup from school. 

8. What surprised me most this year?

• Learning that at least 4 of the school staff on BK's IEP team are believers in Jesus!

9. What Bible truths impacted me this year?

• "This world is not my home; I'm just a passin' through." 

10. What meta-themes have I thought about this year? (in no particular order)

• how fleeting the teenage years will be
• how faithful the Lord will be to our children after we are gone
• I want to be content & a life-long learner like my mom & Jim's dad!

Highlights:

My disease has stopped spreading! I can move my joints so much more freely! 

Our vacation out west!

Reading significantly more books in 2025 than I have in any year in the past decade.  

 

Lowlights:

My mom's health. (She spent Christmas 2024 in the hospital, followed by a stay in the rehab hospital.  And then spent about three months in the rehab hospital again in the summer, following a hospital stay & operation, and then had to have another operation when that had complications in healing.)

Concluding thoughts:

We really do not know what direction a particular year will go in terms of the physical realm, but for believers in Christ our anchor is FIRM.  2025 was a good year (in many ways) and truly another step forward out of the fog of parenting littles / pandemic / disease. Life is still very stressful, to be sure, but there's a tad more margin (if not emotionally...).

I have a dream and a prayer ~

I have a dream and a prayer … of a Special Ed Christian school in Central Illinois. 

I don’t know how the Lord might answer that prayer, but I’m asking others to pray about what God’s desire is for Central Illinois.

Promise Christian Academy in St. Louis (https://www.promisestl.org/) is a state-of-the-art special ed Christian school that strives to provide an on-ramp for life for individuals with special needs.

Promise began with one person recognizing the need to make a difference for the "sake of our Jesus" and asking others to pray about what God's desire was for the St. Louis area.  This became the first board of Promise. It was seven years later that Promise opened its doors to two students in a half-day program, and the rest is His Story.

 
Will you join me in praying about what God’s desire is for Central Illinois? And/or in sharing this request with others who might want to pray? 

Christmas 2024

::memories from our Christmas road trip a year ago::

Every Christmas is different.  The 2024 Christmas season was short, because Thanksgiving was the latest it could have been, leaving less than four weeks between the two holidays.  

2024 was the year for Jim's side to spend Christmas Day with their in-laws. Often that means that Jim's side celebrates late, but it worked out better to celebrate on December 21 & 22, giving us only three weeks and a day between our Thanksgiving & Christmas celebrations with extended family from near and far.   

After two full days with Jim's side of the family, we spent Monday December 23rd driving to Tennessee.  The 600 miles were full of texts and concern and prayer meetings in the van, as my mom was spending the day in ER. 

We arrived in Tennessee after 9 PM, and as we were settling in to our AirBNB a friend texted back, "Would you like to talk with my husband?" Her husband, a family friend, is a physician, and though that certainly is not the reason I had texted her, when presented with that opportunity, I realized it would be comforting.  

So, as Jim and the children unpacked the van, explored the AirBNB and found bedrooms for each, I was carefully listening & frantically taking notes as our friend explained pulmonary embolisms (their cause, treatment, and prognosis) to me. 

I woke up very early on Christmas Eve, and although we were only around the corner from a local grocery store, I embodied the modern Proverbs 31 woman and "considered my online grocery order and had it delivered." Thanks to Walmart we had yummy breakfasts in our AirBNB!

I'm not sure how it all worked. I think Jim dropped me off at the hospital where I spent a few hours, while he & the children went to a state park (BK roller bladed; LM did cartwheels).  Later he picked me up and we ran errands and ate lunch. Then he dropped me off at the hospital again. 

The room was busy with various ones coming and going ... and noisy.  Constant beeping, a bed bath, the speech therapist, the phlebotomist, the chaplain (whom Mom knows! from Zimbabwe! and who knows a local lady who has been a longtime missionary PA there!), the doctor, the meal cart, two visitors ... and on and on it went. 

Jim and the children picked me up and we ate Christmas Eve supper at Cheddar's, lost (& eventually found) one hearing aid, and lost (& never found) one pair of glasses, and drove around looking at beautiful Christmas lights in a neighborhood with streets lined with luminarias.  

Christmas Day included opening our immediate family presents at our AirBNB, a visit to the hospital, setting festive tables in the church fellowship hall, a meal from Cracker Barrel with two of my sisters and their families, exchanging our presents, and then taking leftovers to the hospital for Mom and my other sister. Jim dropped me off there from 3.30-6.30.  Then we ate Christmas supper from the McDonald's drive-thru (!).

December 26th, I arrived at the hospital by 7.30 AM with my packed breakfast & tea in tow, so I would be there before the case manager or doctor showed up.

I took the van home, Jim and the kids dropped me back off at the hospital, and they went to swim!

On the 27th, after they dropped me off at the hospital, they went to the sensory gym AND to swim.

On the 28th, we woke up in a motel room (we needed to stay an extra night & our AirBnB was already booked).  I left Jim and the children to swim in the motel pool until check-out time, while I ran errands and picked up a cheerful grocery store bouquet (since we had learned Mom would be staying in the hospital over the weekend at least, just waiting for a bed to be available in the rehab hospital).  

 

We must have picked up lunch somewhere, and then Jim and the children dropped me off at a funeral home so I could go through the line at a visitation. (In the line I greeted a couple and a bachelor we know. In the congregation, I visited with four more couples and at least five more individuals from my childhood.)

Back to the hospital to say our good-byes.  And then back to my childhood farm for an hour hike in the woods (where Jim & I were engaged) and driving through the barnyard one last time.  

Then we hit the road!  Two hours later, we were at our regular Kroger for one of our favorite (?) road trip meals.  Two more hours, and we fell into bed at our favorite midpoint hotel, after driving through the 12 Days of Christmas display for the fourth time that season! Whew!

Christmas cards

Each of our first three years of marriage, we handled Christmas cards differently.  One year we sent a photo, one year a card, and one year a letter.  I'm not sure what happened after that.   

Every year we had good intentions.  And most years we purchased photo cards. (And some years we did send photo cards, with or without the letter I wrote, I am not sure - ha!)  And every year that we didn't get cards sent, I would think, "Oh, we'll send New Year's cards!" or "We'll send Valentine's cards this year!" or "This year we'll send Easter cards!" or "This year we'll be early and send Thanksgiving cards!" 

In December 2025, I went through the box of all those photo cards we ordered & did not send over the past decade.  I saved a few from each year of our collection of photo cards (& threw away the rest).  

In 2025, we sent both a photo card and a letter ... before Christmas!

In 2025 ... the photo cards arrived November 25, and I had the bulk of them addressed before Thanksgiving! 

But it wasn't until December 8 that we bought paper. On that day I did a massive assembly line and mailed most of the cards.  The rest were for friends & family whose address had changed since the last time we sent cards.  But, by 4 PM on December 10 they were in the mail ... along with 20 Christmas cards from my mom (sent by me) to various friends & relatives. :) 

We LOVE receiving Christmas cards! Hopefully we are on a new trajectory. And hopefully we won't keep losing addresses of people we hold dear!  If you would like a (belated) 2025 Christmas card & letter from us, & we somehow missed you (or had lost your address), just let me know.

One year

It has been a year since the farm auction in Tennessee.  The auctioneer said, "From the survey to the title, nothing has been simple." Praise God it is all finished!

I'm still a jumble of mixed emotions. And to be honest, my emotions are more jumbled now, possibly because it's final, or possibly because I had to focus like a laser beam to do the work last year, and now I can finally process.  

Text conversation ~ 

Friend: "Seems longer than a year in some ways when you were working on that project."

Me: "It's definitely one of those situations where you look back and wonder how you ever did it and the only answer is the Lord's enabling and lots of prayer." 

Friend: "Totally agree."

I found this on my computer recently, and thought it was worth preserving in my memories...

{written in October 2024, after I had flown to Tennessee, leaving the children with their grandparents, while Jim harvested}

Dear friends, 

We ALL were upheld by prayer last week. Thank you for praying!

BK & LM had a great week!  BK was a great help at their 94 & 84 year old grandparents', and got up without complaining at 5 AM Saturday for his swim meet, where he swam fast!  (He kept track and told me he rode in 6 different vehicles getting to & from his activities last week.) LM seems so much more mature & independent.   

I haven’t seen their grandparents yet. I imagine they are beyond exhausted!

Jim had a safe week of harvest, and we are all glad to be back together again as a family.

My first flight on the way to TN was greatly delayed, and I almost missed my (rescheduled) later connecting flight. One asthma attack later, I was on board just before the door closed, and I landed in TN at midnight Monday.  I really wanted to wake up Tuesday in TN to start working!

My cousin and I really sensed the Lord going before us in all we needed to do during our 4 days of working. We weren’t sure we would finish, but we did!! (Spoiler alert - I boxed up the last three boxes of archives, put them in a closet, and will bring them home at Thanksgiving to go through later.)

Answers to prayer:

* we finished!!!

* in the last box in the last closet, we found the things my mom had asked for from the house! 

* the antique company decided to do the private invitation-only estate sale (we were not sure until Friday noon that they were going to do so)

* a family friend came for three days to clean the house (my mom hadn’t been upstairs in recent years)

* the three of us worked together really well & enjoyed fellowship over lunch

* other friends brought us meals, took items to the UPS store to ship to cousins, took used clothing to be donated, took durable medical goods to a group that lends them out, etc.! 

* the Lord directed my steps (though really interesting ways) to three new archivists, and boxes of papers and books were able to go to places where they will be appreciated

* my mom came to see the “staged” house, and seemed okay with it. (She just wanted to sit on the porch swing one last time, which we helped her do.)

* I got more sleep than the previous visits!

* despite my loss of range of motion in my ankles (and pain from Achilles tendonitis), I got almost my double average number of steps every day with NO pain, and as soon as we were finished I was in pain again. God did a miracle!

* we found more treasures, including a prayer written by my father’s mother’s father (about whose spiritual life I did not know anything).

Every muscle in my body aches, and I assume it will take weeks to recover, but I want to give thanks in the congregation that the Lord helped us tremendously last week.  Thank you for being part of that through your prayers!

Now we pray for success of the private estate sale, safety at Thanksgiving when we empty the attic & cellar contents into dumpsters, and the Lord’s will in the farm auction on December 14th (specifically that the new owners will be good neighbors to those in the community). 

We are the recipients of much prayer, and we are thankful.

Love,

J~

IEP team

I had an IEP meeting this week.  Since attending my first one nine years ago, I estimate I have sat around the conference table at least a dozen times (and at least once on Google Meets), usually with quite a large number of professionals.  

Several meetings I have cried. At a couple meetings I have been on the receiving end of unkind and unprofessional comments. The first meeting was completely botched, and despite BK's diagnosis of hearing loss (which is an automatic IEP), the speech therapist was reticent to find him eligible. (She resorted to using his frequent drooling [as a 2 year old] as one of three supposed reasons she needed.) One meeting was handled very unprofessionally ("the worst one I've ever seen," according to an adjunct faculty member who teaches IEP prep at the university level & was my parent advocate at that meeting). For three meetings I have had parent advocates attend.  Very few meetings have been cut & dry. 

I try my best to look professional.  Well-groomed & well-dressed. Makeup & nails done. And jewelry. Those things don't affect the IEP, but they affect me, and I like to think it helps the team see me as competent. (This special ed advocate agrees.)

My Nozomi necklace (made from broken pottery from the Japanese tsunami). ♥️

The OT was on Google Meets and had another meeting at the same time, so she went first.  I was impressed that she had read the eye doctor's letter with suggested accommodations, and she deferred to the team, but said she agrees with the suggestion of using cursive writing (not just learning it, but incorporating it in schoolwork). Kudos to her!

The educational audiologist had another meeting to go to, so she went next. Her main concern had to do with behaviors in the past. Everyone sitting around the table was aware of them, and we all laughed (now) at the bad memories.  Thank the Lord things have changed, so it's a go for her recommendations. 

Then we got into the nitty-gritty. The team appreciated the fact that I had read all 31 pages of evaluations & suggestions which they had emailed me in advance. I assured them they did not need to read every word out loud in our meeting! 

The rest of the meeting was perfunctory.  And thankfully I was in agreement, and only had a few clarifying questions to ask.  The evaluations in all these areas show x, the suggested goals are y, the recommended accommodations are z, the new primary eligibility is abc, everyone please sign on these three lines.  The ELA teacher left for lunch. 

And then, as we were signing in triplicate, we had conversation.  I see these people more than I go to family reunions! So we chatted. :)

I asked about a different accommodation which we don't currently need but is on my radar. It turns out there is a simple solution which doesn't even involve an IEP. I enjoyed hearing the principal's report of daily interactions with our child. I told of my recent participation in a research project for parents of a child with an IEP. The team was impressed by the research & proposed project. We talked about how every parent is different. Some come in begging for an IEP for their child who does not need one. Others refuse an IEP for their child who needs one.  

I expressed my appreciation for all they do, and mentioned that I feel like I ask a lot. They assured me that I am advocating for my children, and that's my job. Amen! Jim and I are not young, and our children, who face extra challenges, need to be equipped to live in the real world.  May the Lord be pleased to use their FAPE (Free & Appropriate Public Education) to help them thrive to the best of their God-given ability in this life.

Meet Day

We sort of slid into swim team.  After 3.5 years of swim lessons (minus some pandemic months), BK was struggling with motivation in swim lessons, and on a whim (or Holy Spirit leading) at the end of 3rd grade, I said, "Do you just want to do summer swim team instead?" "Yes!"

We didn't really know anyone on the team very well, and that was the first summer of the pool problems with the 50 year old high school pool. So practices were here, there, and everywhere in farm towns across our large consolidated school district. Sometimes early morning. Sometimes late evening. 

And the first meet. Well, that's a story!  I was hosting a bridal shower, so Jim took both children to a distant meet. It was pure chaos. He had trouble finding the team (knowing no one on it), forgot to apply sunscreen on BK's half-naked body, and had no idea he needed a sharpie to write all over BK's forearm.  

But, we survived! :) 

BK has completed three seasons of summer swim (and LM has completed two!) and is in his third year on fall/winter swim team (and LM is in her first year!).

I know how to go to a swim meet now.  I know how to pack folding chairs, good snacks, activities for in between events, $ for concessions, extra towels, suits, and goggles. I know to wear short sleeves in the winter for indoor meets (the stands get HOT!). I know how to write all over their arms. I know that the $13.99 annual fee for the Meet Mobile app is worth it! 

I love cheering on my two swimmers ... and their team! I enjoy conversations with other parents and the camaraderie that quickly builds among team families. It is like a camping atmosphere in the gym where we set up our chairs & wait. 

But ... it's exhausting!  We just had two Saturdays in a row of swim meets. Both were 30 minutes from our house, which is not as far as some of the meets will be.  We were gone 7 AM - 3.45 PM the first Saturday, and 8.30 - 5 the second Saturday.  I got 10,000 steps in easily at the second meet.  We sat in the gym, and then walked a long ways and upstairs to get to the bleachers when our swimmer was swimming, and then went back to the gym ... and you get the picture. :) 

Both Saturdays, I came home ready for bed! :) 

We are skipping the November 1st meet for a church event, but we have the opportunity to spend six of our Saturdays between November 15th and February 14th at all day swim meets 30 minutes to 2.5 hours away.  

Send caffeine!

Annual Garage Sale

The other day after school drop-off I headed to a multi-family garage sale I attend annually. BK is of the age when it's hard to find clothes at garage sales.  But not at this one!  So I always prioritize going.

I arrived 7 minutes after it opened, and there were dozens of minivans parked on the street! I quickly spied a badminton set for $5, and fidgets (what LM was hoping I would find).  

I entered the garage and quickly searched the backpacks for a bag I would buy (& in the meantime use as a shopping bag!) and then wove my way through the tables to the big boys' clothes.  My arms were laden with pants, shorts, hoodies, and t-shirts.  And! And these two pair of shoes for BK. The Asics were new with tags for $10. This kid goes through shoe sizes like nobody's business.  Praise God for His provision!

After paying for my big haul and carrying it a block up the street to my parked van, I made another pass through, this time without full arms.  :) I found a golf shirt for Jim and a Columbia rain jacket for LM and three books.  

And when I came home, I did some internet sleuthing and found free printables of road trip games to replace the ones missing for this Boogie Board I purchased at the sale.   

I think I spent less than I did last year, but I did not find any jeans. All in all, I am very thankful! 

Chicago Day Date

We left home around 9, with plans to eat in a restaurant in the hospital.  Good thing we allowed for some margin, as traffic was really bad.  

We only had time to share a cup of fruit and a cup of two boiled eggs from a deli in the hospital before my 1.30 appointment.  After the appointment we were seated in a familiar restaurant on the 1st floor, and enjoyed the delicious food and big city atmosphere.  

                             

It's not quite like the mist over the Appalachian mountains, but it has a beauty of its own. 

Our ride up was filled with leisurely conversation, something that is harder to come by when the children are with us.  On the ride home, I read a book on Kindle and we enjoyed the quiet, something that is also harder to come by when the children are with us. ;) 

The children enjoyed riding the bus to Grandpa's after school, having snack there, helping Grandma plant the garden, and helping Grandpa take branches, etc. to the village dump.  BK walked to baseball practice when the time came, and I picked them up just as practice ended.  

A good day!  Especially when the doctor said she thinks the disease is not progressing any more. Praise God!  She says it's still a long-term project to wean off the prednisone, though I may be stuck at 5 mg forever. :( And we need to pray that the scar tissue over much of my body softens up.  

Summer Vacation Minus 15 Days

Last year I wrote Summer Vacation Minus 20 Days.  

I'm scarfing down the book, "The Opt-Out Family," underlining many sentences on each page, circling parts, adding exclamations in the margins, etc. We'll see how or if we opt out of screens over summer vacation. :) 

Swim team and baseball (and gymnastics, if I can find a class at the right time for LM) should help work off some energy and give some structure to our days. 

We plan to purchase a pool pass to the little pool 5 miles down the road. Several friends do, too, and it's hardly ever crowded.  We would only have to visit 8 times over the summer to make it worth it.  Last year I estimate our children were in the water 70 out of the roughly 85 or 90 days of summer vacation.  

I always have goals for reading & math workbooks &/or games. Not sure exactly how we'll plan those this summer.  I'm envisioning 15 minutes of silent reading in the same room every weekday. We shall see. LM has tutoring twice a week. 

BK has two yards to mow and will hopefully work on the farm as well. LM is set to go to the Christian school's daycare 1-2 days/week. 

There are one or two weeks of VBS to attend, trips to WI & TN, and 1-2 weeks of spend-the-night camp for BK.  

Daily/weekly chores + menus are the big rocks we haven't addressed yet. 

What are your best tips for a good summer?  

Season Opener

Yesterday was the season opener of spring townwide garage sales!

A friend and I printed off the map and listing (of 61 sales!), took our to-go cups and dollars, prayed we would find the items on our list, and hit about ten of them. 

At the first sale, I found this teeter-popper for $7. Several years ago I found one (also for $7) at this same townwide.  Our children are not ready to let ours go, but a fellow adoptive mom I know has been looking for one, so I got it for her children's sensory needs. 

Two pairs of shoes, swim goggles, two pairs of boys' pjs, two church shirts, two church pants, a hoodie, three other shirts and a (Gulp! $10) pair of jeans...

Some books, some drawing books, an easy word-find, a year of JR Clubhouse magazine, and two activity packs. (LM only has 5 more weeks of children's church. I am accumulating quiet activities for a church bag for her.)

I think the Lord answered our prayers. (My friend found the two things she was looking for ... and a third item, which will be helpful.)

On to the next town next weekend. :)