"Your greatest contribution to the Kingdom of God may not be something you do, but someone you raise." ~Andy Stanley

September 30, 2010

Dog sitting gone awry

This is something Joy and my hubby will remember for awhile! (and probably twitch over and need therapy in the future because of. Just kidding!) ; )
It has to do with dog sitting for our neighbor and not remembering exactly what time of day those responsibilities ended...And possibly some misinformation via a certain sibling...

All and all that equaled one really AWKWARD moment tonight as Joy and Dad were in our neighbor's kitchen feeding his dog as he WALKED OUT of his bedroom!!!!!!
LOL!
Oh. My. Stars.
I can't even express how glad I am that he went with Joy instead of me! ; )


~Becky

September 28, 2010

The reverse robbery

Ever since Honey passed away we have been wondering if we should get another dog. But since our Honey was 'practically perfect in every way' we don't really want another one. (but I guess that depends on which family member you ask though)
Living in our neighborhood makes you think you do NEED a dog for security reasons. My new thought is that a security system wouldn't SHED or leave the house smelling like dog, so it has my vote at the moment. All of these things have really been on my mind a lot lately and then over the weekend, my next door neighbor's house was broken into. Very sad. (the ones I mentioned in the last post who are moving)

So, on Sunday after church, when I was the last one in the door and I heard everyone else exclaiming and standing around the kitchen in shocked surprise, I said "What??? Did we get robbed?"
And the kids said "No!!! It was the opposite."

-What fun surprise to find that our dear friend Carlos had come inside (he has a key) and dropped off all kinds of fun drinks, munchies for the kids. On closer inspection, we found more food items in the fridge and freezer. And then I was really floored because I discovered I'd been visited by the home repair fairy. Don't you wish you had one of those?
He might not like that title ; )
but what else do you call someone who comes in while you are gone and surprises you by doing all the home repairs on our to-do-list that you haven't had time to do! (new faucet, leak under the sink, bathroom drain etc...)

It was pretty amazing to come in and think we got robbed only to find out we got BLESSED!
It was a really sweet blessing that reminded me that God is in control of what happens around here.

~Becky

September 25, 2010

Our latest news

I had a very nice birthday last week! : ) It was filled with flowers, 2 shopping trips and a couple fun dates with my hubby. -With my anniversary and birthday in the same week, I feel completely spoiled now, and caught myself wondering 'what else can we celebrate?' (so that I don't have to cook) LOL!

Good news! Joy is having a GREAT time in the new soccer league. (you know, the quirky, low-key one) It is really perfect for this season of our lives and the Lord as always, knew what we needed. Her team won yesterday and she scored two points and had a blast. Yay!

Joy attended the Missionette's sleep-over without me this year. Sounds like it was a big hit. (and I enjoyed my own bed, but missed all the fun since I've gone for the last 6 years)

In reality, it has been a rather sad week for us because our precious neighbors of 16 years are having their house foreclosed on Monday which is tearing our hearts up. It's been very rough on their children. Our kids all grew up together and are best friends...
So, we have spent a lot of time over there this week packing and reminiscing adding some rather sobering memories to the many, many years of sweet ones.

~Becky

September 23, 2010

A little home school humor

So, we have a senior in high school. Amazing! Recently my hubby was looking into some things regarding graduation/college and he said
"It is a really good thing you are apart of that rainbow group."

(Me: ????)

And then it hit me!

He meant "umbrella school!" LOL! It was really cute!

Now whenever I communicate with the director of our "rainbow group" -I smile.
I'm glad we went that route too.

~Becky

September 20, 2010

Our special day

Our 19th Anniversary equation




(because I have a whole lot of math in my life!)



A game of this in the morning:






+ the day spent swimming here:










+ a walk for lunch here:



+ a little something from here:









+ dinner here:





= a day that I will never forget! : )


~Becky

September 18, 2010

I love my RAYS fan!

So, I've decided that you know you have a sweet and attentive husband

when:

You are at a restaurant and it actually takes you awhile to figure out that the 1st place Rays are playing the Yankees on a big screen TV
right
behind
you!

LOL!!!

~Becky

September 14, 2010

Happy Anniversary to us!

Guess what? I've been the most blessed woman on the planet for exactly 19 years now! : )
Happy Anniversary, Honey! I love you!!!!!

~Becky

September 11, 2010

Joy and the missing joy of soccer

Anyone else ever put their kids in totally awkard situations totally accidentally...or am I the only one??? (groan!)

Oh.My.Stars. I did this very thing to Joy this weekend.

I decided it would be nice to try a new soccer league. A league for homeschoolers. (maybe that shouldn't been a red flag right there -LOL)

A league where their basketball and volleyball teams play against the Christian high schools in the area. That sounds "legit" as my boys would say, doesn't it? The league is a little cheaper than the one we were in, the season is a little longer, it starts sooner, and the practices and games are all in one day. To my thinking, it is all a plus, plus, plus....

Now picture that you are Joy, who loves soccer and can't wait for the season to start and when you show up:

-the field is half the normal size or the lawn in front of a church


-you are taller than all the other children


-you are taller than the goal


-99% of the other kids look to be about 7 (which totally explains why you are taller) and there isn't a GIRL in sight (a few turned up later, thank the Lord!)

UGH!!!!

~And if you are Joy, you handle the shock with GRACE and make your momma proud! (while whispering about the possibility of getting a refund) LOL

Bless her heart!!!! I had NO idea! Obviously their soccer teams have a ways to go before they'll be playing against the Christian high schools nearby. ; )

They are a sweet bunch of folks though and I think we should stick it out. The "QuirkyLeague" as my hubby has dubbed, could be a blessing in disguise. We'll keep you posted.

~Becky

REMEMBERING.....

September 8, 2010

Love this!



This isn't a product review, I really do just love this stuff. It is great for washing pesticides and wax off your fruits and veggies! And guess what else? By mistake I found out that it KILLS ANTS. Whoo-hoo!

One of my boys says that I have a pesticide paranoia. : ) I guess I do act like you might drop dead on the spot if you don't wash a piece of fruit before you eat it. LOL -Which probably explains why this is one of my favorite things! : )
~Becky

September 3, 2010

Vacation fun part 2

We enjoyed this beautiful beach in Carlsbad a couple of times:
We went to a bonfire and the kids gave surfing a try and then
they roasted some starbursts
AKA "shish-ka-bursts" as they called them! We warmed up late that night at our friends house with Mexican hot chocolate and a nice visit with my sister.
The next morning my brother and sister-in-law had us all over for waffles and we said good-bye to my Sacramento nephews who had a plane to catch.
And then it was time for a road trip with 7 teens, loud music and LA traffic to


Hollywood!
Next stop was to In-N-Out for the best shakes ever and then a pizza/movie night!
The next day we all worshipped together and then had a fun family lunch of Italian food. That made Andrew a happy camper because he'd pretty much had his fill of MEXICAN FOOD. : )

We headed to the beach again for more sand and surfing fun, but it was too chilly!!! We were very thankful for an awesome lifeguard who rescued my niece!

We walked along the pier in Oceanside again and went to see Toy Story 3.
The next day we hiked in Carlsbad! I was bringing up the rear most of the time because I live below sea level and am not used to that altitude...or at least that is my story and I'm sticking to it. LOL! (don't ask why my kids were unaffected)
But it had its advantages! I did get some good pictures of those specks -which are our kids! : )
Then we headed to Mt. Palomar! It was a long, beautiful drive up 5000 ft in elevation!

But when we arrived at the top it was sprinkling and the Ranger said that they were having a flash flood warning!!! So, we headed back down... Here's the disappointed crowd that thought we should brave a flash flood.
Here are the brakes smoking which made us moms glad that we didn't hang out for a flood. LOL

We had another fun dinner with my parents and the next day they took us to
SEAWORLD! What a fun blessing that was!



My best friend and her kids came too! Here is Andrew and his best friend:
Then we visited with my sister again and her baby, Hurley. : )
The next day we flew home into this


which was almost as wonderful as seeing my hubby who was waiting for us! : )


~Becky

The vacation fun

Here are all the fun vacation details:
As I've mentioned, our wonderful friends and relatives in San Diego flew us out to spend a week with them!
It was SOOOOO much fun!
Here are two of our kids having a better time on any layover than I've ever had! : )

-Helps to have your synthesizer and dvd player along for the ride.

First of all, we ate a lot of:
Yum!

And we had guacamole
on everything possible, like burgers, roll tacos and omelette's!!! -Because my family loves me! lol

We went swimming

and played the Wii a lot.
The kids got beat by Grand Dad at every single game of Wii bowling!

Way to go, Dad! : )
We went to the movies and went shopping at Horton Plaza with my parents and my aunt. -Such a cool looking mall!
We had moreat my sister's house and had fun visiting while the kids played with her ipad. -Having an ipad and a Converse obession, make you a very cool aunt in case you didn't know.
She bought homemade tortillas and heated them on her gas store, how cool and authentic tasting is that?!
Then we did more swimming and Wii bowling that day.

We met up with more wonderful family members and dear friends for a street fair and ate "street tacos" and fudge. Yummy! I think there were about 20 of us all together.

Here are all the cousins -and the friends we love like cousins, on the pier in Oceanside.

A fun game of Apples to Apples with that big crowd followed until us Floridians could hardly keep our eyes open.
In the morning, 16 of us went for more
This time to a place in downtown San Diego that has been serving Mexican food since 1935!
I can't pronounce the name but two weeks later, my kids are still talking about it! You have to wait in line on the street for your turn to place an order. (Just like the "Soup Nazi!")
Our big group made that line a good bit longer than it was. But it was SO worth the wait! These were the biggest rolled tacos I'd ever seen. (no guacamole here, but lettuce and goats cheese was almost as yummy) I wish I had some of that Mexican food right now! This post is making me hungry!
-More vacation memories to come in the next post. : )

Have a great Labor Day weekend!

~Becky

September 1, 2010

Cute!

In history today, we studied Prohibition. Our lesson said that before Prohibition women were not allowed in saloons.

Then Andrew stopped me to say, "What?! Women were in saloons everyday."

But he meant 'salons'

and I got too big of a kick out of it. ; )


~Becky