Registration for the June SnapShop began at 9:00am this morning and closed by 9:20am – thank you to all of you that registered! Thank you also to past students who have continued to recommend the course. I am humbled and grateful. I will be doing a couple more SnapShops in 2013. Thank you!

Samaritan’s Purse Disaster Relief / click here for more info

American Red Cross Disaster Relief  / click here for more info

My sister is selling this print in her shop, 100% of proceeds go to the Oklahoma Red Cross / Click here for more info

She also has a bunch of other organizations helping listed on her blog / click here for that post

My friend Joy created this print you can download. All proceeds go the Oklahoma branch of the Red Cross. Available until 5/31 / click here for more info

Teddy Bears for Oklahoma / click here for more info

If you are interested in helping a specific family, here are two. I know there are countless more, but these are two I can verify and ‘know’ through friends.

• Oklahoma City Police officer Austin Childs and his family lost everything.
• Master-at-Arms Shawn Buckman is currently stationed in Afganistan. His home was destroyed. His wife and 3 year old daughter survived in their storm shelter. Their 6 year old daughter was at Plaza Towers Elementary School and thankfully survived.

For information on how to directly help these two families, you can visit my friend Mariah’s blog by clicking here

**This is not an extensive list, feel free to share ways to help below. Also, please be courteous in your comments regarding organizations that are mentioned. Everyone has a different stance regarding non-profits and government organizations. The ones above are listed because I have seen first hand the work they have done in Oklahoma disasters before and I know they are on the ground working tirelessly right now. Sadly, there are so many scams that pop up in times like these, so however you choose to help, please be wise and cautious.

Soccer season ended over the weekend. I’m a big fan of soccer. We play in a low key fun league that suits our family so perfectly. I’m going to miss soccer. Only 2 of our kids are old enough to play, but the other three have plenty of friends and fun during games.

The hat is on different kids. Above my 5 year old. Below my 7 year old….trying to catch tadpoles.

All the little girls play lots of games…many of which are directed by Firecracker (in the stripes).

Little One has a thing with pointing lately. It is very ET-ish. She and my dad…

She also thinks she needs one smoothie per game. I would jump up to cheer while trying to hold her as she ate…which usually had a messy result. Then I got smart. She could eat mess free, I could cheer.

On championship day we had two games back to back. This guy reached his limit. He told me we all needed to stop talking and be quiet so he could take a nap. He never takes naps. He got very mad at me when I told him that I wasn’t going to ask the crowd of parents at the championship game to be quiet so he could sleep. Goodness, I love that boy!

I’ll miss soccer. I’ll miss it because it is just fun to watch the boys play. But I’ll also miss it because the boys play on teams with several of our close friends. I love getting to see my friends a couple times a week for practice and games. Such a gift. There were times during the season I’d look over to see good friends cheering for my boys as I cheered for theirs – what a gift. Friends make life so rich and full. And soccer makes Saturdays fun! Yay for soccer moms!