The week and the weekend

Wednesday, our church held their annual Fall Fest and I was given the choice of which carnival game to man and I quickly took an inventory of all the games and chose the one where I would clearly have to bend down the LEAST. LOL

Because this was not, by any means, my first Fall Fest, I have learned not to work a game that includes rings or basketballs that you will have to chase and bend down to retrieve at least 100 times or more in 3 hours. ; ) 

And this was by far the coolest game out there! Giant rubber frogs!

 And what little kid does not want the chance to smash something wth a mallet?!

 They hit the edge of the yellow board and that made the frog jump up and if it landed on the lily pad DOUBLE PRIZES! Fun stuff! -There were a few times the frogs got out and a couple when my fingers almost got the mallet but overall, great fun!

Zac and Tiffany moved in last month, to make it easier for Zac to finish school and we suceeded in combining two households in our little house. It has been fun to see them more, although we don't all get to see each other very often because we have different schedules.

But this Friday night, was actually one of the rare times this month when we found an evening when everyone was free so we met up at a restaurant and had a family dinner! Yay!

~Speaking of dinner, since I work full time, I think it is the most amazing accomplishment ever if I come home and actually cook.  And bless my heart, the only one left I really have left to cook for is SO picky. Let's just say there is a mighty big difference between what this one thinks of my cooking and what my hubby thought of it. ; )

Last night was the big EP release for the worship album that our church produced and that Andrew played the bass on. Such an exciting night! 

the band

And tonight my kids look like this:

And here's the grand-dog! LOL

Have a great week! 

~Becky

Favorite quote of the week

"I want to do what you say without an attitude, Mom,
but I'm angst-y!"    -the 17 year old

Oh, how I love this kid!

~Becky

Wednesdays in the Word

I am reminded today (from Mark 4:35-41)
that we serve the One whom the winds and the seas must obey.
Can you even picture being on a boat and the wind obeying you? Or the waves doing what you say? It is just laughable.
Once the disciples woke up Jesus, who was sleeping during the storm, they experienced that very thing!
They watched as creation obeyed its Creator.
Imagine it.
It must have been so humbling and mind boggling all at once.

The notes in my Bible say that "Peace, be still," is literally just "Be quiet."
I love that. Nothing fancy for King James-ish. He didn't wave a rod or yell or gesture wildly. He didn't need to.

"And the wind ceased   (here's my favorite phrase) and there was a great calm."

And who doesn't want "a great calm" to come over their tumultuous situations?
My winds and waves are probably different than your wind and waves. But there isn't a storm inside of us that is more powerful than His "Peace, be still."
He can absolutely rebuke whatever it is that is trying to sink us and take us under.
His presence can overcome our storms because He is greater. And so is the calm that He gives.

~Becky

Pumpkins and more pumpkins

Recently, I have learned how much air to put in my car's tires, 

 and how to change the string on the weed-eater 

and yesterday I learned how to use a drill! Whoo-hoo!

Don't get me wrong, I didn't do any home improvements with that drill. I just used it to 'carve' a pumpkin, which is all the rage on Pinterest! ; )

There's a cute pumpkin patch at an old church near our house, which had me thinking about the time we went to one in San Diego when Joy was almost one. Here she is picking out a pumpkin 19 years ago!

Soo cute! And here she is picking one out yesterday! Time flies!

Before we arrived, we realized that we matched! So, here we are twinning in the pumpkin patch!

We planned to buy several pumpkins there until we found out that they cost 

thirty

actual

dollars 

each!

So then we headed to our neighborhood Publix, which was lacking in all the previous charm, 

and bought pumpkins that were five dollars each! : ) 

Then we made a great pumpkin mess all over the kitchen table 

and what came out of it were these amazing creations:

And here is the one that I spent two hours drilling holes in! For some reason it seems to defy illumination! I guess my holes aren't big enough?! : (

Next year I am totally going back to two triangles for eyes and a mouth! LOL

Happy Fall!

~Becky

A blue day

We woke up to cool weather on Saturday!
It was absolutely gorgeous out! Only 73!
We didn't run our A/C for the first time in a gazillion months! Yay!
And we decided we just had to be outside!

 These two hunted for Pokemon

And as always, were made to take a selfie with their mom! LOL

Then we stopped for donuts at this cute place!

We did not actually buy the ice-cream cone that is made out of a doughnut because it is EVEN larger than these!  

And these were HUGE!

After that we went into a couple shops and then headed home. It was a lovely way to spend our Saturday! I know we may not always leave near each other and so I'm extra grateful for all the memories we get to make!

~Becky

Happy happenings this week

I have to make this quick...

First of all, my sister texted that she is coming for Thanksgiving! And I am beyond excited about that! We can never get enough of Aunt Jenny!
Not only will we eat lots of yummy food, but we will binge watch the new episodes of Gilmore Girls together when they come out the very next day. Yay! How fun is that?!

Andrew's best friend is here from CA. We love J all to pieces!

One evening he and the kids had a meeting of The Whine and Cheese Club. LOL

They really did take turns whining. And there was sparkling cider, cheese plate

and cheese balls in a vase, to look fancy!!! They crack me up!

They took J to two concerts this weekend, LANY and Houndmouth. I don't know if Houndmouth is one word or two, but I have finally learned that it isn't Houndsmouth. ; ) 

 They also made sure to visit all the places he loves that were on his list.

It feels a tiny bit like fall here in Florida now. 

 This is my happy, little corner of the world, where I am enjoying my job.

Last year, our church recorded a live worship CD with 5 original songs! So exciting!

 It was during the crazy week that Hubby was in the hospital and we found out that the cancer had returned and we immediately had to send his brother back to CA because I couldn't care of them both. That Sunday, Andrew had the opportunity to play the bass for the recording! Which I completely forgot about, until recently when the tech guys at church played the title track for me so that I could hear him play! So fun! 

Well, all that to say that it comes out next week  and it is awesome! Can't wait!

 It will be on iTunes on October 30th and it is called Come As You Are. 

If you want a CD, because you are related to us,

 let me know. LOL ; )

(even if you aren't!) 

Blessings, 

Becky

Wednesdays in the Word

Here's a verse that has convicted me recently, during this election season:

"Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men." Titus 3:1-2
Ouch!

And speaking of the election:

"I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people-for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved ..."1 Tim. 2:1-4

~Becky

The weekend

On Friday morning, to my surprise,  I found out that our street did not even flood during Hurricane Matthew.
This is what happened to my neighbor's car during Hermine.

Which means that we have definitely learned not to park under any of the oak trees on our street during a hurricane. So, I was really surprised to their car parked under the same tree as we awaited Matthew! Yikes!

-A branch did fall but it was from another neighbor's oak tree and thankfully, it missed their car. 

Now that I have a full time job,  I absolutely love and appreciate weekends! I spent a lot of this one cleaning, reading, cooking and even baking and I loved it!

And also exercising!  80's style!
Once upon a time, I bought an aerobics video by Stormie Ormartian, who authored all those awesome books on prayer. (Power of a Praying....) Her books were definitely a blessing to my prayer life!
I loved the exercise video, but I especially loved the music on it. It was the first time I had ever heard contemporary praise and worship music!
Well, I recently found that same VHS tape in my attic and since it was never made into a DVD, I decided I wanted to own a VCR again and try it out. LOL
(this also means that I can play all my old Anne of Green Gables tapes again) ♥️

 It was definitely a blast from the past!
And much harder than I remembered. LOL

Oh, the 80's!

~Becky

Luke's and Matthew

 So, Hurricane Matthew is hitting Florida tonight.
Several people I know have opened up their homes to friends and relatives south of us who have had to evacuate.
We should be fine. But since we lost power during Hermine we went and got all the usual supplies last night. And today Zac and Andrew cut hundreds of pounds worth of branches off of our oak tree because they were too close to our house.
So grateful!
I will be perfectly happy to 'hunker down' and start Beth Moore's first novel (love her Bible studies!)
and crochet!

Wednesday was a really fun morning!
Netflix sponsored coffee shops across America to do a Gilmore Girls Day, to promote their upcoming continuation of the series. 🎉
Being a big fan, I had to find a coffee shop and go! (even though I don't like coffee!)

The place we went to had underestimated the number of fans and only had two people working there! My goodness, the wait! 

But it was fun to sit at the counter, while girls who were dressed like Luke, made really good coffee! 

Almost as fun as being in Stars Hollow!

~Becky