hard to believe...

...but it's true, TRU curriculum has officially been launched. Michelle presented it at CPC (children's pastors' conference) in Nashville. The response was incredible, and we are thrilled to see the excitement people have about the philosophy without even seeing a whole lot of the product. If you want to check it out, click here. Tru is something that I could talk about forever. I have yet to perfect the art of describing it in less than 20 minutes, but I'm working on it! Here are a few pieces of the philosophy straight off the website ::

"Through the process of spiritual formation, we desire children to open their hearts to God, learn to discern His voice, have a desire to obey Him, and to do so in the power that the Holy Spirit offers to each believer."

"God has given parents the incredible responsibility of impressing a love for God on the hearts of their children (Deut. 6:5–7). These impressions best occur as a natural overflow from the lives of parents who are seeking to love the Lord with all their hearts, souls, and strength."

"As we teach the Bible in church and at home, we want to be true to content and context. We take a historical-literal approach to Bible interpretation; we investigate what Scripture meant to its original audience and draw out the corresponding biblical truth principle for application. Additionally, because we propose that the mind learns differently from the soul, our approach to Scripture is not only informational (analytical, linear, mastering the text—for the mind) but also formational (receptive, in-depth, letting the text master you—for the soul)."

We've seen transformation in our kids, parents, volunteers and staff. We watch God show up week after week and yet for some dumb reason, we are always surprised. I can't wait to see what God is going to do other in kids, parents, volunteers and church staffs!

Oh, and if you want to see what I specifically work on, check out Tru Wonder on the site...it looks like this ::

:)

feeling very pregnant...

i am at 23 weeks, and loving being pregnant! i started feeling movement around 20 weeks, but didn't become consistent for a little while. Now I'm feeling him more and more and i love it! alex was able to feel a little tiny kick for the first time a couple of days ago which was also VERY exciting! we've been clearing out space and trying to make room for our little guy and hopefully will be getting the crib very soon. I finally tackled the registering yesterday with my mom and dad...alex opted out. Initially, he had wanted to be a part of every decision...well, there are a LOT of choices and being the crazy woman I am, I did a lot of research online before I ever stepped foot in the store. So of course as I was researching online, I was asking him a lot of questions about what his opinion was about certain things...he quickly tired of giving his opinion and suggested I go with my mom :)
We are registered at babiesrus, as well as amazon....I didn't even KNOW you could register on amazon!! We only have a few things there...most of the everyday things are at babiesrus, but there are some fun little things on amazon. Here's a preggo photo...honestly, we haven't been good at taking them...also keep in mind that we probably should taken this earlier in the day because my belly isn't THAT big all the time :)

so proud

Another one of Alex's shirts has been spotted in stores...this one is in Kohl's!! Not only was it spotted in stores, but it's online as well! We are so excited and think it's pretty awesome that Alex's designs are doing so well!


Needless to say, I am a very proud wife :)

better late than never...

we had a great Christmas...it was full of fun and family and celebrating the birth of our Lord...what could be better?! Here are some shots of our celebrations::

christmas eve with my side of the family...

christmas morning at our little home. just alex and i. can you tell it's early?! it's crazy to think that next christmas there will be three of us celebrating together!

christmas day/day after with the pavone side of the family::

We hope you had a wonderful Christmas!

i'm in love!

This Bible is by FAR my favorite children's Bible. It is marketed for kids ages 4-7, but with a little paraphrasing, I think it's the only way to go, even with kids a little younger. I could never do this book justice, so I'll let the description do it on it's own!

Written for children ages four and up, The Jesus Storybook Bible tells the one story underneath all the stories of the Bible and points to the birth of a child, the Rescuer, Jesus. Complete with 44 Bible stories, The Jesus Storybook Bible paints a beautiful portrait of Jesus and invites children to see that he is not only at the center of God’s great story of redemption—he is at the center of their story too. Children and adults alike will be captivated by the beautifully written narrative and the original and unique illustrations by accomplished artist Jago. Lloyd-Jones’ powerful gift of storytelling draws the reader into the greatest adventure of all time in an exciting page-turner that kids (and adults) find hard to put down.

And here's something from the author ::

The Bible is of course an adult book, so in order to make it accessible to children, by its very nature, as you retell it; you’re going to have to reduce it down. Unfortunately, the danger is that you reduce it down into moral lessons. The entire Bible is hammered down into one long lesson on obedience. Almost like a Bible Aesop’s Fables. Each story becomes a lesson so you can fix your behavior and be a better person. Children are then likely to be left with the impression that they must be good for God to love them. Disastrous and inaccurate. It’s as if Jesus never came.
So I wanted to write a children’s Bible storybook that first and foremost told the Great Story of the Bible--the story running under all the stories of the Bible like a golden stream--the story of how God loves his children and comes to rescue them. The Story that at the center has a baby, the child upon whom everything would depend—Jesus, the only, real true Hero of the Bible. I wanted a Bible Storybook that was, like the Bible is, not all about us and what we should be doing--but about God, and what he has done.

We have purchased a few copies for some special little people in our lives, and it will definitely be the Bible that I point people to when I get asked (which is quite a lot!).

It's not often that I find things that I love in terms of ministry to kids. To be honest, I'm extremely opinionated and dislike pretty much everything that Christian media puts out for children; and not because I think I'm too cool, but because inevitably things violate something deep in me...yes, I've been ruined in the best possible way by my job (and don't even get me started on VeggieTales...). This is by far the BEST product I have seen for kids in a very long time! If you don't believe my hype ( I don't know why you wouldn't!), check out the website...www.jesusstorybookbible.com. Take a look around their site, listen to one of the audio samples, check out a sample story, and watch a video of one of the stories (they change it every week) and then let me know what you think. I honestly think you will love it as much as I do!

so proud...

Next time you're in Target, look in the boys section for this ::
It's Alex's design! So fun! We've already got one for Micah and friends and family have been finding them all over southern California, so check your Target for them and buy one! There's another one of his designs in Kohl's, but we haven't been able to find it just yet. Alex is such a hard worker, and probably the most motivated person I know when it comes to following his dream...I couldn't be more excited to see his hard work (and perseverance) rewarded. We are also extra thankful for this little bit of extra income :)

well....

We had our 20 week appointment last week. The one where they check out the baby's anatomy to make sure everything is on track, and thankfully, it was. Funny enough we had our 20 week appointment at 18 weeks because of Christmas and the doctor's schedule :) We were definitely not sad to be scanned early! We were looking forward to this appointment since my very first appointment at 8 weeks! Yes, I am a freak and made sure to schedule this one way back then!

We had everyone on standby to find out the gender of the baby, and of COURSE, our little one decided to be extremely modest (or stubborn...i choose modest!). Our tech literally had to dig just to get all of the medical measurements that she needed, much less find out the gender. Our sonogram lasted an entire hour!! When she tried to move the baby, he would just curl up in a ball or cross his legs! It was comical to watch, but I don't think she thought it was very funny :) So, after an hour, we finally got a look and found out that it's a BOY!

Alex and I were a little bit in shock because we had both thought that there was a little girl in there! We are SO excited to have a little boy! It's fun to be able to refer to him by his name! We are so in love with our little man already! We can't wait to meet Micah Alexander :)

December is the best time of year!

I've been wanting to put up some pics of decorations around our house, because, well, we love our little house at Christmas and we wanted to share the pics! So here you can see that my professional christmas lights man decked out our front area :I glued little bows onto mini clothespins for a fun way to hang our christmas cards on garland.
our new living room set up complete with our stockings and the tree!
i bought these simple letters at Wal-Mart, covered them in Mod Podge and then dumped some glitter on them. so fun! Is there anything you CAN'T do with Mod Podge?!
This is my favorite this year...i found a tutorial for this wreath online, and decided to try. I found a huge pack of ornaments at Marshalls for $5, and bam, a very sparkly, very festive wreath!

I hope everyone is enjoying the season...as for this house, we are well stocked with hot chocolate, egg nog, and tons of Christmas cheer!

baby pavone!

We are so excited to be expecting our first baby!! I am due May 20, and we couldn't be happier!

Meguiar's product review (2)

. DA Polisher . SwirlX . Tech Wax 2.0 . Trim Detailer .
I used a DA (dual action) Polisher on the Civic and it was amazing! Once you have used a polisher or buffer you'll never go back to doing things by hand. Not only does it take almost every bit of the hard work out but it allows an you to provide even coat of what is going on the surface in half of the time. Great thing is that you can use them for swirl removal, ultimate compound, polishing and waxing.

After applying a rubbing compound to the surface by hand I knew the finish needed more done. I could still see some light swirls and feel some tiny bumps on the finish. This is where SwilrX came in. It is slightly stronger than the compound that I used and is designed also to eliminate swirl marks cause by wash and drying with the wrong materials.

Next was the deep gloss shine and protection layer of Tech Wax 2.0. This wax provides the rich colors of dark colored cars to put out with the polish and provides great protection with synthetic wax. The shine and reflection that these two provided for the ride were unbelievable. Both the SwirlX and Tech Wax were extremely easy to apply with the DA Polisher and were able to be done in about an hour.

To finish the details off I used the Gold Class Trim Detailer. This works amazing on all those black plastic parts. Even when the car is completely detailed these areas can be the biggest eye sores because they never look the way they did originally. This works a great to rejuvenate those spots.

NO way!!

For anyone that has ever had one you know how awesome they are. At our local grocery store last night I happen to stumble upon these wonderful delights of heaven. I present... the classic It's-it.












Not only are these the best ice cream sandwich on the planet but they take me back some 10-15 years to when I first had one (in the same exact packaging). One of the best parts of our summer vacations was taking ice cream breaks from the 100 degree weather in Northern California. I'm pretty sure my sister and I thought these were the bee's knees as far as ice cream goes. Actually I think right after I caught these fish I went to get an It's-it from the store.






















Bottom line, if you see these in your local grocery store frozen section pick a box up and enjoy! aren't my pants AMAZING??!!

Basball in 2009

2009 was a great year for baseball. I think I hit the most games in one regular season at eight games. Unfortuately, the Padres finished in third in their division with a 88 - 74 record. I guess that is an improvement from last season’s 99 losses though. Hopefully they will have a stronger season in 2010. Living in southern California we have the great advantage of being able to see three teams with an hour or two of driving. Even though I’m a Padre fan at heart, it’s nice to live 15 minutes from an AL team (Angels) that I can root for. I’m pulling for them in the Playoffs! (even thought Ang is rooting for the Yanks)


May 1, 2009 - Padres @ Dodgers.
We were totally famous that night making the kiss cam! Along with the Bennetts, Andersons, and Kit we got watch a slow long game that Dodgers ended up winning in the ninth by one run. We did get to catch some batting practice from the field just outside the center field wall which was pretty cool.

May 8, 2009 - Royals @ Angles.
Had a great view from the first base sideline just about to the flag poll field level. Kit and I went with a friend from church who got some free tickets. We got to see a really exciting game, a Halo victory, a little Big Bang Friday action(fireworks), and I think saw about ten Royals fans.

June 5, 2009 - Phillies @ Padres.
Ahh, Petco Park. Not just the home of the Padres but an amazing stadium. My dad went in on a half season with a friend got to go to ten home games with an awesome view. We were his company that night and even though the Padres lost, it was a lot of fun

June 14, 2009 - Padres @ Angels.
Interleague play. Although the Padres were down 2 - 0 in the series, I felt they would at least win the game I went to. Not exactly. They lost pretty bad, had multiple errors and ended up getting swept in the series. Had great seats though with Corey and Jake.

July 3, 2009 - Dodgers @ Padres.
We spent the day with the Bennetts in SD to go on a tour of Petco Park in the morning which was sweet! Got to see the return of Manny from his suspension(which Gigi was happy about), got seats with free food and had an awesome view of some Friday Friarworks!

September 28, 2009 - Rangers @ Angels.
Picked up some awesome seats in center field second row back hoping to sit right behind Josh Hamilton. That didn’t happen due to him being injured again. I did get to see him slug six in row to the left field seats in BP and the Angels clinch the AL West over the Rangers. Exciting game.

October 2, 2009 - Giants @ Padres.
Sitting in the Pavone sweet seats again, I got a great view of the major loss the Padres suffered that night. They let 6 runs in the sixth inning! Before that they were playing great and it looked like they were gonna beat the NL west competition. Ate some good foodthough.

I also went to a Yankees / Angels game and a Diamondbacks / Dodgers game.

proof.

the proof is in the slippers...you know it's fall when we both are in fuzzy slippers!

fall has arrived!

Around here, the consensus is that Fall should start the first week of September. We LOVE fall. We love the cooler weather, and all that it brings with it. Unfortunately for us, Summer usually
lasts well into October! It has finally cooled down this week (even though the forecast shows warm temps this weekend) and we are enjoying it to the fullest!

Alex and I had our first full day off together on Monday and were able to start to enjoy the cool weather! We started with a great breakfast and then we grabbed a couple of things at Michael's and went home. We spent the whole day watching movies, and working on a few projects around the house. A perfectly relaxing day together! In the end we ended up with a painted mirror for our bedroom, and our fall decorations complete!

Here's our mirror ::




I made this paper leaf wreath using a kit from the Paper Source ::


And here are some paper gourds I made by copying on the of Paper Source kits...I pretty much cut the price to 1/4 of the price of the kit!
HAPPY FALL!!

the soundtrack of the season

right now, things are nothing less than insane. i'm pretty sure that we'll be slowing down at least a little in the very near future, but in the midst of the crazy there has been one album that has been on repeat and has helped me keep my sanity. i'm pretty sure that 20 years from now when i hear any song on this album, it's going to take me right back to this season. the album is Hillsong's, Faith + Hope + Love

if you haven't heard it, we highly recommend that you listen to "We the Redeemed," "It's Your Love," and "I will exalt You." Here's a video of "I will exalt you." (it has a long intro, but don't let that scare you away!)

Meguiar's product review (1)

.The Headlight Restoration Kit.
After hearing great things and experiencing great results, I am a firm believer in the Meguiar's The Headlight Restoration Kit. Angelina and I both have cars over eleven years old so as you can imagine they don't exactly look very new. Learning about Meguiar's awesome line of car care products over the last couple of weeks has really sparked my inner car care personality. Although this is not a piece of the five part car care system to show car perfection, it is a great product to use for us old car owners.

The kit comes with a soft brissel drill bit, a small bottle of PlastX, and a microfiber towel. For those of you who have old oxidized, yellow, cloudy headlights this does an amazing job. PlastX is a abrasive car care product that eliminates almost all problems with old factory headlights. Using the kit on my Malibu made a small difference, while using the kit on Angelina's '97 Civic did wonders!

it's been a while...

we've totally been m.i.a

the past few weeks, we've been getting ready for the fall launch of new rooms, with a new curriculum for my younger threes and upgrades in all the classrooms. it's been completely crazy, and september isn't looking any more calm! The upside is that we love it! We love the families we see each weekend, seeing the kids respond in new ways all the time, and the amazing volunteers we get to serve alongside....and one of the best parts is that we get to do it together!

Fall is always busy around here. We are currently lacking nearly 200 volunteers...it's nutty, but I know that God is going to show up. The funny thing is that this time i'm not sure how He's going to provide or lead us. I have a sneaking suspicion that He's not going to drop 200 applications in our laps, so I know we're in for an adventure!

This is a boring post with no pictures, but I do have some baking adventures to show you very soon :)

want to eat cheesy pasta for 331 calories?

for the month that Cook Yourself Thin aired, I watched every single episode. basically, they took people's favorite foods and revamped them in a healthy way. i hadn't tried any of the recipes...until last night!

i had gotten home later than i thought, and i wasn't in the mood to cook right when i got home, so i had a late start to begin with, but then as i started cooking the tomatoes, and the zucchini for my stuffed shells, i knew that we'd be eating late, and i was just hoping that it would be worth the wait. man...was it ever! at 331 calores per serving (4 shells), it was more than amazing. i always gauge my cooking and recipes based on alex's first bite, and this time, he actually stopped after one bite to exclaim at how good it was!


so thank you Cook Yourself thin, because really, who doesn't want to eat cheesy, stuffed shells for 331 calories per serving?! go get the recipe here, you won't be sorry!

Gum for my Boat

the trailer is here, and needless to say, i am thrilled. THRILLED! i can't wait to see the full length film, but for now i might watch the trailer another dozen times. i hope you enjoy, and i hope you'll support Russell Brownley and this project. Check out the site

Gum For My Boat: Surfing In Bangladesh Trailer from Russell Brownley on Vimeo.

for more info about surfing the nations, just click the link on the right side of our page!

joy the baker strikes again...

i've been loving quite a few recipes from Joy the Baker. i made her browned butter blueberry muffins, and oh wow, they were DELISH!! i did feel the need to cut the amount of blueberries, cuz really, blueberries are expensive, and 2 cups for 12 muffins is a little extravagant :)

So I cut 1/4 C. of blueberries, and they were still amazing! alex can vouch for that! so, instead of re-typing the recipe, you can find it here. if you like blueberries, and you like muffins, you will LOVE these! go ahead...forget that there's 10 oz. of butter in these, and have at it!

the leadership summit

The last two days, I attended the Leadership Summit at one of the satellite sites. I was a little reluctant to go...only because they were taking up my only days off, and I do not give those up easily! But, I had said I would go, so I did, and I'm so thankful that I did. We had some great speakers, but there were a few that totally captured my heart. I don't think I could capture their message with my little blog, so I'll just give you their names, websites and what they do. If you are curious, I'd love to chat about it, I just don't think writing could do them justice!

Jessica Jackley :: kiva.org :: "Kiva lets you lend to a specific entrepreneur, empowering them to lift themselves out of poverty." That's what their website says first off, and I've gotta say, it's brilliant! God has gifted the founders of Kiva with a heart for the people around the world living in poverty. What a great way to make things personal for both the lender and the entrepreneur. Ahhh...I could go on and on about the ways Kiva is awesome, but you should check it out for yourself!

Harvey Carey :: Citadel of Faith Covenant Church :: Harvey Carey is a dynamic pastor out of Detroit, Michigan. He spoke to us with passion and authority...and his authority came out of his authenticity. He was teaching about the way he leads his church, and we wanted to listen because he was so real. He doesn't bring his church together every week to learn and grow and then go home. He creates opportunites for them to actually get in the game. He gave the analogy of a football game, and encouraged us to stop being part of the huddle and start being part of the game. Very inspiring and convicting at the same time.

Andrew Rugasira :: Good African Coffee :: Andrew is the founder and CEO of Good African Coffee, which is a company that is committed to helping Africans help themselves through trade, not aid. He made a great point that no country in the world has developed by taking handouts. He said that we as a world, are creating a continent that is chronically dependent on aid, when what they need is someone to parner with them and see them as people they can do business with, not "poor africans" that need a handout.

Wes Stafford :: Compassion International :: Wes spoke about his past and the pain that he endured as a young child in a missionary boarding school in Africa. Having read his book, Too Small to Ignore, and heard him speak multiple times, it was STILL incredibly moving to hear his story and how God has redeemed his pain and has used him to lead an incredible organization that helps an amazing amount of children each year. I highly encourage you to read his book...I have two copies if you'd like to borrow :)


Those are some of the people that really spoke to my heart and challenged me both as a Christian and a leader. The winds of change are blowing, and I can't wait to see where they take us!

no pain, no gain.

alex and i have officially started working out more. alex has been riding his new bike a ton, and i have started the jillian michaels 30 day shred. i started at just about the worst time since you are supposed to go for 30 days straight, and i started 2 days before my birthday and vbs, and about a week before our laughlin vacay! But, even with the hurdles, we're both pretty dedicated to our workouts. For me, videos have always been the way to go because I am an inside girl. I could stay inside all day every day and be pretty content as long as I can look out the windows! I'm hoping to see good results from the shred now that I'm home and can get on a regular schedule with it. I also plan on using the new wii game that alex gave me for my birthday to up the results! I'm already 3.8 pounds lighter than when I started :)

can't wait....

if you know me at all, you know that i LOVE bangladesh. i've been to a few different countries, but my heart literally aches for the people of bangladesh. my experience there has shaped me in ways that would take days to explain, so you can imagine my excitement when i heard that Russell Brownley of the wuss productions was making a movie about none other than Bangladesh...and not just some random movie about bangladesh, but we spent time in the same village with the same surfers, so i know i can count on seeing my friends soon...if only on film . I haven't had the pleasure of meeting Russell, but he did another movie about the efforts of Surfing the Nations in Arugam Bay, Sri Lanka...which is where I went in February of '06. So, we have many mutual friends, and I am so excited to see his film about Bangladesh! Here's a sneak peak from his vimeo site along with his description on the video ::

Surfing Bangladesh in HD from Russell Brownley on Vimeo.

Some images from my recent trip to Bangladesh. Its is a glimpse into a documentary that I am working on about a surf club in Bangladesh. Many of the children are street kids or come from very poor families. Some don't even know how to swim, but their love for surfing brings them together and into a way of life they never even knew existed. An ocean that was once deemed off limits due to fear and a very conservative Islamic culture, is now becoming source of fun, escape and even a chance for a way to make a living.

it's coming...

v. b. s.

i honestly can't believe all that God is doing. this week has been a huge eye-opener for me. my dreams were not big enough. God has taken this tiny little dream we had called GO: BIG, and blown it up across the entire county. we have the privilege as staff to travel to different sites and see what God is doing through people who were willing to step out of their comfort zone. lives are being changed in HUGE ways, and many more lives will be changed without us knowing anything about it. it's day 3 right now, and i am thrilled to continue to witness all that God is doing through a simple act of obedience. we didn't know if our people would be ready, but with all 26 sites being led by volunteers, i'm pretty sure they were ready. we didn't know if kids would come, but we have more kids spread across the county than we ever had in our building. we weren't sure if we could create vbs curriculum that would be transformational and relevant to kids of all ages yet here we are hearing stories about kids AND adults encountering God. We may have had many quesitons, but as i sit here, i know for certain that this is what God wanted from us. he wanted our obedience. he wanted us to go outside of our walls and reach His children. he wanted full and complete dependence on Him. i am so blessed to be part of this...

whew!

The two of us have been quite busy recently. Alex started a new internship, we (RH) launched the alpha test phase of Trû, we moved to Costa Mesa, we (again, RH) hosted 24 churches this past week and trained them on the Trû philosophy and how to use the preschool and elementary curriculum, AND Alex and I celebrated our one year anniversary and his 24th birthday. All of this within the last month...most within the last 2 weeks! Since there's no way to possibly recap, here are some highlights::

• we upgraded from a studio to a 2 bedroom with an amazing breeze in a great neighborhood
• alex is enjoying his internship and feels like just being around the guys he works with makes him a better designer
• Sharing Trû with all of the beta test churches was inspiring and encouraging in so many ways
• I got over my fear of teaching adults...I had to teach a sample lesson to adults as if they were preschoolers!
• My good friend Jenny is part of the beta test, and it was amazing to share the vision and product with her...i am SO looking forward to partnering with her more in the future!
• our anniversary was great and SO relaxing...we had our own staycation and enjoyed our own home!
  
• Alex's birthday was super fun with both of our families, but we missed the bennetts!
• we both love our presents...I got a pink beach cruiser, and alex got a Sean Woolsey painting that he's been wanting for months! He also got a sweet mountain bike from his parents!