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

October 29, 2011

Survived the corn maze without calling 911

Our homeschool group planned a teen field trip to go to a corn maze at night with flash lights.
Joy and Andrew were so excited about it and talked about it for weeks. They are pretty sure that they have been on every field trip possible by this time and don't usually get this excited but we have never been to a corn maze in the day time, let alone at night.

I was excited FOR them until my friends started telling me all their corn maze experiences which sounded like being caught in a very, very bad dream. (one was so lost that she and her kids went plowing right through the corn until they got out) They also mentioned a woman, who got lost in one recently, and called 911! -Apparently she had a newborn baby with her so, that was suppose to make me feel better somehow but it didn't.

Since it suddenly sounded dangerous, I signed up to go with them, knowing deep down that me going with them wasn't going to be a whole lot better than them going alone...
because as one of them said last night:

"You don't need corn to get lost Mom, you have roads." Bahaha!
~And that is why the GPS is my BFF for life! : )
And that explains why I was dreading the nighttime corn maze for the past two weeks. It even rained on the way to the farm and I was sure God was delivering me, but no such luck, it stopped.

We got all the rules while standing outside the maze with our group. Since Halloween is in a few days, the owner let us know that this was NOT a scare maze. (that was a horrifying thought that hadn't even crossed my mind! ha ha) Someone jumping out of the corn to scare you, not fun!

Since we had to go into it in groups and because I lack a good sense of direction, I asked my friend's hubby if we could tag along with him and his daughter since he was an Eagle Scout. -I was pretty sure we would come out alive without calling 911 with him around. lol
My next option would have been other friend's hubby who is a paramedic, which would've been almost like taking 911 with me! ; )
ANYWAY,
We ended up having SOOOOO much fun in that 5 acres of corn! There were clues along the way that kept us knowing we were on the right path and we made it through in about 20 minutes. Whoo-hoo! I'm pretty sure I felt like a person in a marathon when they see the finish line.

As we were about to head off to the camp fire, Joy realized that she lost her phone somewhere. Can you guess? Yes, it turned out to be IN the corn maze. At that point, I was really glad that I don't believe in buying my kids expensive phones! AMEN! It was only a $10 Tracfone, so I was perfectly happy to leave it in and among the corn, but our Eagle Scout friend went back in and found it while I was calling it.

We did some marshmallow roasting and then needed to leave the fun farm, that is in the absolute middle of no where, in a town I'd never heard of, to get Andrew to a friend's house. (for one final sleepover before his friend moves away)
When we finally got back home, my hubby informed us that our friend called and Joy left her phone at the farm on the picnic table. -I'm pretty sure it is there to stay!
Hooray for cheap Tracfones and the fact that we had such a great time that I am not in need corn maze therapy now! ; )

~Becky

October 18, 2011

Tid bits of news around here

Nathan got his learner's license. Whoo hoo!
If you've been to the DMV lately, you know the wait is LONG and the folks are grumpy. I'm guessing that is why the clerk waiting on us asked the reason for my joy. lol
-It was a great opportunity to tell him that it comes from Jesus, who has done
a lot for me! : )

It is fall and it is time to knit! This time we are helping an Eagle Scout who is doing a Christmas outreach for Native American children on a reservation in South Dakota. I love to sit at the table with my kids while they do school and knit, knowing someone somewhere will be a little warmer this winter. : )

Joy is going to a women's conference this weekend. It wasn't in my budget to go or send her, but God isn't limited to my budget, (AMEN!) and He made a miraculous way. She gets to spend the weekend with her friends (and their mom) in a gorgeous hotel in Orlando being ministered to by Christine Caine from Hillsong Church in Australia!!!! And, yes, I'm a wee bit jealous but mostly just a whole lot thrilled for her. God is so good!

Nathan experienced being part of toilet papering and forking someones house for the first time! Uh oh! I'm slightly worried about pay backs, but as he pointed out, none of the kids from church are going to drive 25 minutes away to do someones house. lol -If they ever do, guess who I've assigned to clean it up?! ; )

Zac is enjoying life at Starbucks and Dad is enjoying Zac's free bags of coffee. I didn't think anything would persuade him to give up his Cuban espresso, but a $12 bag of coffee for free seems to be worth the change. Zac doesn't get much sleep these days in between late nights studying for his classes and working at caffeinating the greater Tampa Bay area, but he's a happy camper anyway.

John's back had a set BACK, and he's missed some more work. We are praying and believing that it was just minor. He was pain free for 4 glorious weeks and so we hope he's headed BACK that way soon. : ) But if there is anything I've learned from this LONG trial it is that it is totally counterproductive to worry. So, I am refusing to go back into that dark tunnel of despair and discouragement... Whether he can work or not, we are learning to 'Bless the Lord at ALL times.' I want 'His praise to continually be on my lips.'

My brother-in-law, who is a stroke patient will be here in a few weeks to stay with us for 6 months. We are getting ready for his visit and turning the family room into his bedroom.

I may be crazy, but I'm thinking of adding a puppy into our lives! It might be good for my brother-in-law too. He loves dogs and he can contribute to the family by helping us train it.I think it is either the greatest idea ever, or the polar opposite and I can't decide which so we all are praying about it.
If you don't see pictures of a cute 3 month old, crate trained lab on this blog in the next week, then you will know that I came to my senses. lol

Blessings!
~Becky

October 10, 2011

The new couple


I've tried to convince my boys to wait until they are about 30 until they start liking girls, but it hasn't worked. ; )
Zac and a certain someone have liked each other for almost two years now.

Which equals: sitting together at church



and sending a whole lot of texts

(even if it was in line at Disney).


After a recent get together with both sets of parents
it was decided



that they can now be an official "couple."



Which in our world, pretty much means they can still just
sit together at church, text and go out in groups !


Proud of these two for doing things God's way, in purity.

~Becky

October 5, 2011

I'm back from CA and I had a blast

I had a great time hanging out with my parents in San Diego.

They treated me to lots of Mexican food. : )

We ate here twice because it was soooo yummy!

The other restaurant even included some LOUD mariachis serenading us. And I had
guacamole enchiladas for the win! Yum! That's a lot of guac in one place! whoo-hoo!


My sister gave my dad a LOVELY retirement party.

And when she gives a party she goes all out. Filet mignon tenderloin, need I say more!? Incredibly delicious!

He got lots of silly gifts from his sister who had a gift to remind him of every job he has ever had. Here he is with the bowling shirt she made.


Here is one of my gifts. It's on a t-shirt, except my dad's name isn't Jerry. lol
We all had such a fun time that we told Dad that he really needs to retire again soon. lol

I also got to celebrate my birthday with my family. Such fun! They gave me a Slap Chop and a Graty! -I can't wait to try them. I'll be 'slapping my troubles away' in no time. Too funny!
(lyrics from the Slap Chop Rap)

We also enjoyed the farmers market and the Oktoberfest while I was there. I had fun buying little gifts for the kids and a very unique cane for my brother in law. And last but not least I carried home a carne asada burrito for my man from his favorite taco shop 22 years ago when he lived out there too. I knew my mission was a success when he called me the next day and said he had the best lunch of anyone in Florida and I was greatly relieved when he DIDN'T get food poisoning.-Because after traveling for 10 hours, you start to wonder. ; )

On my first flight out, I had to run to catch my connecting flight and found out that adding some exercise to my life would be a good idea! lol
On the way home, my lay over was a lot more relaxing. And how crazy is this? -I ran into friends from our church in FLORIDA in the DALLAS airport who were flying home from vacationing in WASHINGTON state. Isn't that wild?! It was too fun!

We ended up sitting on the run way for an hour unable to take off. I was starting to think that the captain was making up these excuses just to keep his night interesting because they were so odd! Here they are: "We have to count the luggage in the hull by hand before we take off because electronics have failed us." Next-"We have a water leak." Next- "The coffee maker is broken and has to be replaced." (I for one, could definitely handle flying without a working coffee maker but maybe I'm the only one!) With everything breaking I thought I might get to meet Jesus with my friends Devin and Natalie...lol but we made it! We got in around midnight. I was so happy to see my family that I stopped traffic by hopping in the car! : )


They were pretty happy to see me to because I arrived home to a CLEAN house and this sweet sign from my kiddos:

Had an awesome time and happy to be home! ~Becky