Hope Community Church

We "church dated" another new place this weekend - Hope Community Church. The Children's Director, Laura Lee, and I have been emailing back and forth for a month or more, but we just hadn't been able to get together. Even after we arrived early and looked all over for her, we kept missing her in the hallways. Everyone would say, "she was just through here, maybe she's in room [x]". We'd go there and they would say the same thing. After a while we gave up. I will definitely make sure I get together with her next time we go....I have a lot of things to ask and pick her brain. (Clay says I act like I still work at Seacoast! Oh well, it's in my blood.)

Here are some highlights & thoughts from our first experience:

• They had the "turn on your flashers if you are a first time guest" signs...and the parking team did a fantastic job communicating with each other. A guy at the front door even came out and greeted us at the car with an umbrella! He then walked us to the info desk.
  
• The ladies at the info desk were excited to see us. A woman named Jennifer was on standby to take us under her wing and show us to the kids' area. She stayed with us all through the check-in process, getting them to class, and then walked us to the auditorium! (Now, that's customer service!)
  
• On the way to KidCity, we saw the cafe area, which was huge. They serve hot breakfast & lunches there during the week. I also noticed that their cafe "proudly served Starbucks coffee"...everything looked very professional.
• Another thing that I noticed was the artwork throughout the building....it was by the same artist who did some for Seacoast Church. It made me feel like I was back there.
  
• Once at the kids area, the check-in process was great! They asked our names and the kids names & birthdays (and for allergies). When Abby's tag printed out, she had a birthday cake on it to show that she had a recent birthday (very nice!). Both Cody & Abby's tags had the same parent number....but you know, I didn't see one number go up throughout the whole service!
• The KidCity decor was fantastic...they did a great job theme-ing each area and keeping it simple, but good quality. It was like they took Seacoast's ideas and added NorthPoint's high quality. Loved everything about it!
• They had an indoor playground, called The FunZone, and it had a parent viewing area and rules posted very clearly. I liked that they limited to a height restriction (48"), opposed to age, but it seemed to work.
• The classrooms are closed until 15 minutes prior to service. We were one of the first ones allowed back to the rooms and there were volunteers ready to greet the kids and stations were already set up for them to play. No one looked rushed or understaffed.
  
• Outside of the classrooms, the small groups were listed on a cute display of sea animals. (Pictures below explain it better than I can.) On Cody & Abby's tags, it listed what small group they were assigned to for the day.
• They close the classrooms once they reach capacity (which is 40 kids in the 3 year old class). They offer a Family Chapel to go to if you need to bring your kid to service with you. It is located upstairs and its in a very nice theater-style room. I don't recall seeing any kids in the main auditorium now that I think about it. Hmmm...I wonder how they redirect folks from bringing the kids in?
• The "big church" service was great....great music, great message, and very comfy seats! The Pastor was wearing white pants, a turquoise button up shirt with sleeves rolled up and flip-flops. He looked like he should have been on the beach in Cozumel sipping a Corona! He was funny, engaging and overall, a really nice guy.
  
• During the message, the Pastor mentioned their class for parents & kids to attend so they can learn about salvation and baptism. He really pushed parents to get involved in their kids spiritual decision and talked about the importance of being parents partnering with the church. I started to cry!
  
• When we picked up the kids, Abby had a sticker that said "I was changed"...they said she accepted Christ as her personal Savior and was ready to be baptized. Just kidding. She had her diaper changed during service. For kids who go potty, they get a sticker that says " I used the potty today!" I thought that was a great idea for the kids who are being potty-trained. : )
• I forgot my camera, so these pictures were taken with my phone. I only went into Cody & Abby's classes, so I didn't get many pics of the Elementary area. What I did see was a cool diner-style hangout for the elementary kids, with booths and tables. I just love that look!
  

Overall, I LOVED IT! I can't wait to go back and see more and meet more folks. I really wish my team at Seacoast could come up for a visit. I think they could get a lot of great ideas. Plus, they would get to see me! : )

Angus Barn

Last weekend, we went to dinner with Lee & Martha Ann at the Angus Barn in Raleigh, NC. The company was great, the meal was wonderful (I could have just had the salad and been full) and the dessert was fantastic. We got a tour of the wine cellar after dinner. They showed us the kitchen and beautiful dining rooms downstairs. I think they have over 26,000 bottles of wine on hand at all times. Needless to say, they win the Grand Award from the Wine Spectator each year. (That's a very impressive award!)












































After dinner, we went outside and I gave myself a swift kick in the butt with the "Butt Kicking Machine"! Here are the rules that were posted:

1. Use machine at own risk
2. Children under 12 must be supervised by an adult
3. One person at a time please
4. DO NOT STAND FACING BOOTS

Disclaimer: The Angus Barn will not be responsible for anyone who does not like the way they were kicked.

Abby's Birthday Party

We celebrated Abby's Birthday this weekend with Mamaw and Grandad. They drove up to spend the weekend with us and we had a wonderful time. Abby loved her princess birthday cake and all of her presents....especially her tea set!

Happy 2nd Birthday Abby Michelle Stuckey!

Abby ended the day standing on the front porch, holding her balloon, in nothing butt (get it?) her "birthday suit"! It just doesn't get better than that! Now, let's take a look back over the last 2 years....

Kids went back to school!

Yes, its true. We have decided to put the kids back in school. We found a lovely little school near our house that offers some wonderful learning opportunities for the kids. They are taught sign language, Spanish (Cody was learning Japanese symbols last week), computer skills and they even have a water park to play in once a week. I couldn't ask for more in a school (other than for it to be cheaper!)...but it is well worth the price!

The teachers send home notes each day/week to give us updates on their progress. Abby is doing great and this week she is learning to be potty trained...they are taking her to the potty every 30 minutes. She did great today - only one accident - and it was only because she forgot to pull her panties down when she sat on the potty.

Cody seems to have a harder time in the morning when we are leaving. He gets fussy and whiny. It seems like forever until he lets go of us so we can slip out, but he still cries every morning. We were getting there right when they transitioned to the cafeteria for breakfast. That just seemed to make it worse, so we are now taking him to class early so he can transition with his classmates. Hopefully he will get through this phase soon. It breaks my heart to hear him call out for us as we are leaving.

The great thing about this school is that it offers internet monitoring....that means I can log in and watch them in their class, in the cafeteria, on the playground, etc. It is awesomely addictive! : )

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UP: The Movie

We took Cody to his first real movie this week....we went to see the movie UP in 3-D. He was so excited....as were we!
The movie itself was not what I had thought it would be. It was a little more geared toward an older audience. It made me cry a few times and the mean dogs in it scared me a little. All in all, it was a cute story, great animation (of course, its Disney!) and Cody was happy. He took his 3D glasses off during most of the movie, but he said he still liked it.

Cody's Inquisition

Cody is a very inquisitive little boy...always asking questions. I hear that it is very typical for kids his age. But no matter how many blogs I read or articles I see about "dealing with your child's curiosity", I still seem to get annoyed and aggravated by having to constantly explain EVERYTHING, ALL THE TIME!

It happened again today when Cody started asking questions about where we were going and where was it and how were we going to get there.... Clay decided to beat him at his own game by answering questions BEFORE he could ask them. Here is how the conversation went:

CLAY: (Where are we going?) We are going to the movie theater, (where is it?) it is located on Cary Parkway, (how do we get there?) we have to drive to High House and turn left, (why do we have to go to High House?) because that's how they engineered the roads, (why did they engineer the roads?) because they hired smart engineers to design it, (why are they smart?) because they went to college, (why did they go to college?) so they could get good jobs, (why did they want good jobs?) because they wanted to make a lot of money, (why did they want a lot of money?) because they were greedy.

.....about then is when we stopped to laugh at how ridiculous it all was and celebrated how Clay had outsmarted Cody's inquisition. Then Cody said....

CODY: But why?

Missing old friends, buying new ones

Today, I was having Cody practice spelling his name by typing it on the keyboard...C.O.D.Y. Then we practiced spelling Stuckey...S.T.U.C.K.E.Y.

Then Cody said, "Mommy, let's spell Rainey's name." (She is a girl from his class back in Charleston. I think her real name was Rayleen or something like that. Cody has always called her "Ray-nee" though.) He typed out R.N.Y....."Rainey!"

It made me sad that he still remembered her, afterall its been well over a month since we left. I asked him if he missed her. He said yes.

Then I said, "Well, we will just have to make new friends here in Raleigh." He replied, "Maybe we should go to the Friend Store and get new friends...maybe I'll get a new Rainey."