Blessed with olive plants around my table

I heart my sewing machine

2012-02-08T16:22:00.002-05:00

I am SOOOO happy that my sewing machine is now repaired. I've been without it for two years! (boo hoo) Who knew that the problem could be fixed for only $16! I wish I would have had it fixed long ago. Not that I'm all that great at sewing, I really only like to make quilts,which is pretty much just sewing in straight lines, lol but it is relaxing and I enjoy it.

I've made a little place for myself to sew in the little 'alcove' in the living room instead of using the kitchen table. The (ugly) antique sewing table I was given years ago, just fits! (I know a guy who could paint it, but I'm going to pretend that it has a shabby chic look and not bother)

Lots of natural light from the window, the noise of falling water from the fountain in front of the house, and the fact that I'll be seated right in the middle of all the homeschooling action, should make it a great place to sew. I've named it 'my happy place' and I can't wait to get started.

Since the kids are independent learners these days, I don't have too much to do but give some spelling tests and keep them on task. (which can be quite a challenge when the college guy and the 7th grader get to teasing each other and running around the house wrestling!) All of them definitely work better when I am seated in one place and not running around myself doing housework or errands. It is hard for me to sit still sometimes when no one needs me but probably explains why I like to blog, right? I've tried knitting scarves, but I kept having to say "just a minute, I have to finish my row and then I'll help you' lol and that didn't work out too well.

I do plan to quilt but my first project is a missionary project for women in a prison in Zambia. I'll let you know how it goes, once I get started.

~Becky

Patients and more patience

2012-02-06T20:48:00.001-05:00

I've gone from two patients around here to THREE!
My hubby's back is still healing. Andrew was awake throwing up all night. (pretty sure that was due to all the Super Bowl munchies) And now, my brother-in-law's back is giving him trouble. He fell backwards back into his chair while trying to stand up during the game, and we are guess that is what did it.

Anyway, I think I need a vacation, or two or THREE. lol : )

~Becky

The weekend goes awry

2012-02-04T18:46:00.001-05:00

We had two parties planned for this weekend....

It was time for our annual celebration of the addition on our house that the Lord and our friend Carlos did in 2005. Always a fun time with lots of food, memories and giving of thanks. And Sunday we were having a Super Bowl party with some friends and yummy food.
But all those plans came to halt when on Friday morning at work, my hubby's back went out. (boo hoo)

That means no parties and two patients for me.

It was slightly amusing to us all when Dad and his brother (who is a stroke patient and living with us for 6 mo.) were hobbling around the house together. (when my hubby wasn't moaning in pain, that is) Then they headed to the van 'like a herd of turtles' so I could take them each to their appointments. lol
Hubby is on the mend. Even though he injured his back, we were happy to find out that it is not really out of alignment, like we thought. THAT means that those back exercises he does faithfully EVERY. SINGLE. NIGHT. are actually working. Yay! In other good news, the massage therapist reported on some improvements she's seen in my brother-in-law's arm.
So, it will be a quiet weekend with family and food and two thankful guys, hobbling around.

~Becky

Quotes I adore...

2012-01-31T14:19:00.004-05:00

from Patches of Godlight by Jan Karon

"The ultimate effect of our mass culture is to make children older than their years, to turn them into the knowing cynical pseudo-adult that is by now the model kid of the TV sitcom. It is a crime against children to make them older than their years. And it won't do for the purveyors of cynicism to hide behind the First Amendment. Of course they have the right to publish and peddle this trash to kids. But they should have the decency not to. Let us therefore take a pledge, a stand, a covenant, against such rubbish, and recommit ourselves to the great civilizing impulse that gave rise to such things as LIBRARIES." (emphasis mine!) ~Charles Krauthammer (LOVE this!)

"The philosophy of the classroom in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next." ~Abraham Lincoln

"It is impossible to mentally or socially enslave a Bible reading people." ~Horace Greeley (Amen!)

"I sought for the greatness and genius of America...Not until I went to the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great." ~Alexis de Tocqueville (May our pulpits still be aflame!)

"Education is not the filling of a pail but the lighting of a fire." ~William Yeats

"I cannot live without books." ~Thomas Jefferson (me neither!)

"Cheerfulness and contentment are great beautifiers, and are famous preservers of good looks." ~Charles Dickens : )

And these just made me laugh:

"A real Christian is the one who can give his pet parrot to the town gossip." ~Billy Graham

"Noah was a brave man to sail in a wooden boat with two termites." ~ Anonymous

Have a glorious day!
~Becky

In awe of coconut oil

2012-01-28T14:54:00.000-05:00

I knew zip, nada, nothing... about coconut oil, except that a friend cooks with it, until a couple of days ago and I am BLOWN AWAY by the uses for it. If my library had "The Coconut Miracle" I would SOOO be checking it out right about now, but unfortunately, it doesn't.

Apparently it is: antibacterial, anti fungal, antimicrobial and antiviral! That is a whole lot of 'anti-s' in
one place. ; )
This post would be a lot shorter if I were writing a list of what coconut oil is NOT good for! lol

Here is what I've read that it is good for: (externally)

as a moisterizer, make-up remover, spider repellent, sun screen, diaper cream, lip moisterizer, burns, cold sores, hemmoroids, eczema, psoriasis, cuts, hair conditioner and ear infections.

The internal list:

thyroid issues, diabetes, aids your metabolism, good for your dog's skin and coat, boosts your energy level, lowers cholesterol and protects from heart disease.

Last but not least:

is great for baking (use in place of butter or shortening) is apparently amazing on toast, great for frying foods and makes your homemade popcorn yummy as can be.

WOW!

It is not an "artery clogging fat" which I read was a lie spread by the soybean industry. Interesting!

So, I bought some today and I plan to slather it on and cook with it and who knows what else. : ) If I'm missing any uses you know of, I'd love to hear about them in my comments!

It's surely going to smell pretty tropical around here soon,
~Becky

This and that

2012-01-26T14:32:00.004-05:00

Not too much going on her lately...just a little of this and a little of that.

~Teaching our puppy to walk on a leash, which resembles being attached to a rocket
~Our sweet, Joy has been sick for weeks : (
~Busy college guy started his second semester
~Care-giving stress is improving, thanks for the prayers!
~More Jane Austen for another one of our boys. -Thankfully, Pride and Prejudice is an easier read than Emma was for our last guy. (this mom doesn't mind a bit! Love me some Jane Austen!) lol
~Signing Joy up for high school softball, hooray!
~Seeing God move in the lives of our kids (the best thing ever!)
~Fun date with my wonderful man -"Outback" which was really "out back" and NOT the restaurant (lol)
due to care-giving and our sick girlie (he's one creative and romantic guy!)
~Youth revival services this week at church and a girls' night out with my BFF

Being stretched and blessed,
~Becky

Wednesdays in the Word

2012-01-25T08:00:00.000-05:00

This blessed my socks of today. I just love, love, love Oswald Chambers.

"But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit." 2 Cor. 3:18

"We have to maintain ourselves in the place of beholding, keeping the life absolutely spiritual all through. Let the other things come and go as they may, let other people criticize as they will, but never allow anything to obscure the life that is "hid with Christ in God." Never be hurried out of a relationship of abiding in Him....Keep beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord." AMEN!

Desiring to keep beholding,

~Becky

Happiest of Mondays!

2012-01-16T11:43:00.001-05:00

Making these and enjoying the holiday!

Here is the Pioneer Woman's recipe! : )

Have a great day!
~Becky

Of men, dwarfs, elves and dragons

2012-01-12T19:12:00.004-05:00

Years ago we heard about a home educated young man who wrote a novel when he was 15, and being intrigued, we gave it a try.

Soon after, our whole family was hooked on these books:

I tried reading them to the kids, until we found out that they were available on c.d. from the library!

I certainly couldn't do the voices of dragons, orcs and elves anywhere close to as well as Gerard Doyle,

so why try. : ) He is amazing!

For Christmas, our family received the last book in the series, by Christopher Paolini on c.d.

We have been enjoying (all 24!) of them ever since on our various ipods. Yay!

Yes, we are a little on the nerdy side. : ) But a quote I love, goes something like this "If you don't read with your children, how will you know who their friends are?"

We've certainly made some interesting 'friends' here!

Embracing the science fiction geek in us all, ; )
~Becky and family

Wednesdays in the Word

2012-01-11T14:36:00.003-05:00

Remembering that this world is not our home:

"We live as those who are on a journey home; a home we know will have the lights on and the door open and our Father waiting for us when we arrive. That means in all adversity our worship of God is joyful, our life is hopeful, our future is secure..." ~John Oxenham

"If I discover with myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world." ~ C.S. Lewis

"Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who will also do it." 1 Thess. 5:23

~Becky

Legoland Florida -in pictures!

2012-01-10T12:43:00.003-05:00

I thought it would be crowded since a thousand homeschoolers were signed up to go, but since the rest of the world was in school, it wasn't! They were able to ride all the roller coasters over and over and they had a blast! : )

~Becky

Happy Monday

2012-01-09T11:10:00.003-05:00

So, there is a LEGOLAND in Florida now! Yippee. And we just barely have one kiddo young enough to enjoy it! I'm so happy about that because who could pass up a $5 admission fee with the home school group!? Amazing! We went to the one in CA once when Andrew was a baby and had a blast with about 12 of our relatives! But he, of course, doesn't remember it. Joy only remembers being afraid of the statue of a Lego witch. What I remember most, is being afraid when she followed a Lego employee and wandered off. Ahh! -We seem to loose our kids when there are a bunch of cousins around. (ask Nathan) ; )

Things being the way they are around here, it wasn't looking like I could be far away from home, all day long. Thankfully, my hubby was able to take the day off and he and Andrew are off having a great father/son memory making day.

Wasn't that an amazing pass by Tim Tebow last night? I think the whole neighborhood could hear our family and the boys' friends shouting!!!

I'm wondering if a puppy during this season of care-giving was a good idea after all. Here's hoping that Bree can go a day or two without destroying something expensive. Some of the kids Christmas presents have been chewed already. -Sad! Joy and I took her on a two mile ~~drag~~ walk, in hopes of wearing her out. I got blisters on my hands from gripping the leash so hard and trying to teach her to walk next to us. Hopefully this will help.

We could use prayer in the area of care-giving, which is a challenge for us and we could use some encouragement. Maybe it is just the busy season of life we are in with: 4 teens, homeschooling and a puppy -who is becoming the size of a small horse, but it isn't easy. Thanks.

Blessings,

~Becky

Painting with the fam

2012-01-06T20:36:00.000-05:00

During the holidays we did some painting.... My hubby has made sure that over the years all of us have learned to paint!

This time we had the opportunity to do it for a children's home.

This is cottage is going to house orphans who are siblings so that they can be together as a family instead of being separated in dorms for boys and girls.

Here are a couple of our boys masking the windows. Not an easy job.

Here's our girl who looks pretty even when she paints!

Unlike her mom! -I look like a mess when I paint. LOL!!!

Had fun burning some Christmas calories, making memories and doing something for someone else! : )

~Becky

Celebrating...

2012-01-04T13:24:00.003-05:00

the day I became a mother and the life of our 19 year old today! What a blessing on both accounts! The Lord has been good to us.

We are proud of our college guy who got great grades in his first semester. And he's making us proud over at Starbucks! ~His boss told me that he is awesome the other day when I was in the drive thru and he got a text from him on Christmas Eve saying what a great job he's been doing. He must be since his shift supervisors were fighting over him. : ) Glad that he is being 'Jesus disguised as a barista' out there in the world.

It is hard finding the time to celebrate with such a busy guy, though... Since our youth service was cancelled, we ended up getting a chance to do it last night! When we celebrate Zac, that always means FETTUCCINE ALFREDO with chicken and sun dried tomatoes! So, that is what we had. We enjoyed an ice-cream bar, since he isn't a 'cake guy' then we took a quiz about his favorite things and listed all the things we love about him. Lots of fun! After that it was off to the movies to see Mission Impossible. Fun night. Happy Birthday, Zac! We are always so proud of you!

~Mom

Frying in the New Year

2012-01-03T13:12:00.000-05:00

We laid low this New Year's Eve and didn't attend the fun parties we were invited to even though we wanted to.We still had a fun night as a family, watching movies and frying everything we could think of in the deep fryer that Zac gave us for Christmas! Yum!!! Until we ran out of oil and I headed to Publix and it looked like the rapture had taken place because they closed early. ; ) We have some practicing to do. -The fried cookie dough didn't turn out too well...the onion rings were good but the mozzarella sticks were the best! Hubby can't wait to do wings once we get the hang of it. And speaking of deep frying everything known to man, I better add some exercise to my new year plans. : )

~Becky

A family tradition

2012-01-01T13:22:00.000-05:00

One of our Christmas traditions is to go eat at Cracker Barrel during the Christmas season.

This year we didn't get to pull that off until after Christmas.

We said the food 'made us want to slap our mamma' and we looked to see if we were 'seated under the cow castrater' because we've been watching Tim Hawkins "I'm No Rock Star" dvd. LOL He's SO funny describing the Cracker Barrel.

Every year the kids each pick out a new ornament that I write their name on and store away in their own ornament boxes. That way, someday they will have a good start when they live on their own and decorate their first trees.

Those cute curls of Joy's are from the Conair You Curl that she got for Christmas. I'm just getting the hang of it.

~Becky

The Christmas Elf

2011-12-31T20:25:00.000-05:00

Joy went to an Elf themed Christmas party and won the costume contest for the best elf costume, which she made herself!

With the help of a green dress she already had, hot glue and lots of cotton balls!

I thought a red tulle skirt would be cute over the green dress. Don't you love tulle!? Tulle is my friend! : )

But this may be the first time tulle has ever let me down because it wasn't cute and she didn't end up using it. BUT, my Christmas tree ended up getting lots of red tulle bows on it after she left for the party and they helped disguise the fact that that poor tree only 'lived' for about 2 and a half weeks. Nothing like a tree with the needles on the floor to say 'Merry Christmas' when you walk by. lol Oh well. As you can imagine, it will not be seeing us into the New Year since it made a quick exit to the curb after Christmas. : )

Wasn't she the cutest elf ever?! Love you, Joy!

~Becky

Scenes from the season: Christmas day

2011-12-30T15:48:00.000-05:00

Christmas Day Fun!

Scenes from the season: Christmas Eve

2011-12-30T09:30:00.000-05:00

The Christmas Eve service

Andrew, Zac and Joy

Moriah and Nathan

Handsome hubby and I

Hubby and his brother Phil

Andrew's buddy Joel

Marcie and I (I must been in middle giggle or something) lol

Home for fillet mignon cooked by my handsome men, yes, please!

Crusted with blue cheese! Yum!

The meal!

And our puppy, Bree, who spiced up the holidays!

~Becky

2011-12-27T20:06:00.003-05:00

They did it! They earned Chinese!

~I know my dad can't picture me getting my money's worth at all-you-can-eat Chinese. lol I guess I've had to expand my tastes to hang with this gang. ; )

The song had to have 2 verses, a bridge and a chorus, which it did! -All about how they want to experience a cold Christmas because we had an 80 degree Christmas! It was a very ROCKIN, cute song.

We have a video of it that Nathan is editing for the grandparents. : )
~Becky

A Christmas carol

2011-12-27T18:12:00.004-05:00

My day has been blessed with lots of music.

Music made by our three boys on the drums, guitar and synth.

Here's why:

A couple weeks ago, my hubby told our kids that he would take everyone out to all-you-can-eat Chinese food, if they wrote and performed their own Christmas song or wrote and performed a skit that would 'make mom cry.' (if it didn't 'make mom cry' than it was out for cheese burgers) lol

They opted for the song option.

Zac wrote some verses last week and they have been working on the music all day.

Joy has been in downtown Disney all day with her friend, so they gave the job of singing it to Nathan and have assigned her a small part with the tambourine. : ) It is dinnertime and they are all 4 feverishly jamming away!

They've got Uncle Phil here, cheering them on. I think he might be more excited about going for Chinese than even they are. lol

Anyway, I can't wait to hear the results!

I feel so blessed to have such talented children. I couldn't write and play a song if my LIFE depended on it. ; )

~Becky, who isn't sure if she is making dinner or going out!

P.S. A post soon to follow on all the Christmas festivities!

LOVED this video!

2011-12-25T15:58:00.001-05:00

We saw this video at our Christmas Eve service last night and it is THE cutest portrayal of the Christmas story ever! You'll love it too!

It is now time for our Christmas 'roast beast,' I mean ham! : )

Merry Christmas!

~Becky

Let the Stable Still Astonish

2011-12-25T00:16:00.002-05:00

This poem really touched our family's hearts during one of our devotions recently. Hope it blesses you too!

Let the stable still astonish,Straw -dirt floor, dull eyes,Dusty flanks of donkeys, oxen;Crumbling, crooked walls,No bed to carry that pain,And then, the child,Rag-wrapped, laid to cry in a trough.Who would have chosen this?Who would have said:"Yes, let the God of all the heavensand the earth be born here, in this place?"Who but the same Godwho stands in the darker, fouler rooms of our heartsand says" "Yes, let the God of Heaven and earth be born here- in this place."

~Leslie Leyland Fields

Isn't it a glorious thing that Jesus, the King of Heaven wants to live inside of us? And that His birth was announced to the lowest working class -shepherds and not to kings. Isn't it amazing that he left Heaven for a stable instead of a palace? I think He wanted to assure us for all time, that salvation would have nothing to do with social status. I hope you've had a new glimpse of the stable this season and are 'still astonished.'

~Merry Christmas~

~Becky

2011-12-21T23:03:00.001-05:00

It is the week before Christmas and all through the house not a kiddo was studying not even a...little bit! ; ) (sorry, but nothing rhymes with 'house' and my brain is fried from a gazillion Christmas errands!)Yahoo, this home school mom loves Christmas break!The gifts are bought, the goodies for the neighbors are baked, dress shirts taken to dry cleaner and next up is: grocery shopping, cleaning and some baking for friends. The boys have been busy learning Christmas songs for tonight's youth service which was awesome. -The Little Drummer Boy with 4 drummers playing was pretty awesome. Great message too. Love our youth ministry!Our church does a very moving Christmas Eve candle light worship service every year and I CAN'T wait! It is a beautiful and formal evening. We aren't able to attend our favorite Puerto Rican family's Christmas Eve party afterwards since my hubby's brother can't stay out late. (he's a stroke patient) And do they party late! lol So, we are making our own tradition... So far it looks like it will include the early candle light service, a fancy dinner cooked by my guys (whoo-hoo!) and watching a Christmas movie. Sunday, we will be opening gifts, eating, worshiping, then more eating and going to a movie. : ) Can't wait! Tis the season! Hope you have yourselves a merry little Christmas!~Becky

Nathan made a Christmas album!

2011-12-17T14:34:00.006-05:00

Nathan and his very talented friend, John, got together and made a Christmas EP! It has three songs on it. Two cover songs and one original one!
We are so proud! It is just too fun to be playing Christmas music by your son! : )
John has a fabulous voice and plays the guitar. Nathan accompanies him on the keyboard.
John has a band called Adalee and he leads worship for our youth group.

Here is a link where you can download the songs for FREE! :) And if you are one of his grandparents, ; )let me know if you want a hard copy because we will totally 'hook you up' as the kids say. lol~Becky, Proud momma of a talented musician

Birthday pictures!

2011-12-17T10:07:00.003-05:00

Happy 17th Nathan!

2011-12-16T09:27:00.006-05:00

We had a wonderful time celebrating Nathan last week. (I think this is the third time I've written this post. Blogger is not cooperating lately especially when it comes to pictures)

Nathan inspired a new birthday breakfast around here. Because of his idea, none of the December birthday guys had bear shaped chocolate chip pancakes which is our tradition. They had his 'Basage recipe.'

And Basage is a combination of bacon and sausage that are cooked into a pancake and oh so yummy. (precooked of course) and then you pour some pancake batter made with EGGNOG instead of milk, in an oblong shape on your griddle, then lay a piece of bacon down on it and a sausage link on top of it. When it is bubbling and ready to flip, you cover the meat with a little more batter right before flipping. And Voila! Basage! ;)
My bear face making days may have officially come to an end.

We played a "Nathan Quiz." He is the kind of guy that lets you know (more than once) lol what he is into since he's so passionate about everything in life. So, it was pretty easy to take a quiz and list his favorite song, favorite movie, favorite phrase etc... I also had questions about his gifts/talents from God, what you admire about him and what your favorite memory with him is. He got to pick the winner, who won a candy bar! They made a nice keepsake for him to save. He said he felt very loved! : )
And he certainly is! A few of the things that I love about Nathan are his sense of humor, passion for praise and worship, love for piano, his insight into the Word, and his sweet spirit. Love you Natie! Happy Birthday!

Aim at Heaven

2011-12-14T18:30:00.002-05:00

I soooo LOVE this quote by C.S. Lewis:

"If you read history you will find that the Christians who did the most for the present world were

those who thought the most about the next...

It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so

ineffective in this one. Aim at Heaven and you will get earth 'thrown in.' Aim at earth and you will

get neither." ~C.S. Lewis

AMEN! : )

~Becky

The best day

2011-12-12T20:37:00.001-05:00

My hubby gets his birthday off each year and for the past several years we've been blessed with free Disney tickets, to use on that day! Tons of fun!

This year we used those tickets before my brother-in-law came to live with us since he wouldn't really be able to go to a theme park and we couldn't leave him alone all day and be that far from home.

Anyway....The new plan for the hubby's birthday, was for me to steal him away for the WHOLE day to do things he would enjoy! We had a blast and he loved it! We spent time in the stores he likes, like Guitar Center and the pro football shop at the mall. We went amp shopping and I got a lesson in all things guitar and amp related. ; )

We also went out to lunch and then to the movies to see Courageous. We were probably the last people on the planet who hadn't seen it yet. : ) Absolutely amazing!!!!! I cried all through it. And you know it is a good movie, when you enjoy it even though the words aren't matching the actors' lips and there is a power outage that stops the movie in the middle of it for 20 minutes and you aren't mad and trying to get your money back. lol It was THAT good!

We went out to dinner after that. (Thanks Carlos!) And we had our own chance to be 'courageous' when we were seated at a table next to a poster of a woman that was ...well, not good for any guy to be looking at. We asked our waiter to move us and told him why. Can't say we've ever had that experience before. I hope the restaurant gets more complaints and takes it down, for goodness sake...

Anyway, then we headed home to celebrate with cake and our kiddos and Phil.

My sweet man loved his day and assured me that if it were my birthday, he didn't think he could handle going in all my favorite stores and listening to me talk about something like shoes for an hour or more. LOL! I got a kick out of that. So, glad he enjoyed it! He's so much fun to be with, I'm sure I had as much fun as he did and I'm looking forward to next year.

~Becky

Grateful

2011-12-10T20:09:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, my hubby had the day off and he and I spent the whole day out and about celebrating his birthday!!! (whoo-hoo) More on that later.

Our fabulous kids, (minus the college guy who had to go to work and had two finals to take)

did their school and took care of their uncle (who's a stroke patient) for us.

We came back that night, to a clean house and a fed family. Not to mention that it seemed to be an extra hard day in "care giving land."

Nathan said "But the Joy of the Lord took care of everything." : )

That is a capital 'j' as in Joy!

So proud of her!

Thank you Joy, for blessing our whole family! You are the Joy of the Lord to us.

~Becky

Scenes from the Season...

2011-12-09T20:05:00.000-05:00

The tree!

Some of our favorite Christmas books! And some cute mittens I found in the $1 section at Michaels.
I found this REAL wreath at Home Depot that smells heavenly for only $5.00. -Thank you, Black Friday.
When your daughter's name is 'Joy' you have lots of decorations that say 'joy.' : )

I love putting fresh evergreens on every possible surface around here. (even though my family teases me)

And (despite the earlier post) one of our very favorite things this year is Bree!

Hope you are enjoying the holidays!

~Becky

Life with a puppy

2011-12-06T20:37:00.001-05:00

is never ever dull.

In the last week, Bree has taken some of the lights and a half dozen ornaments off the tree, dug under our fence with the help of the neighbors' dog -where they had a romping good time together, munched a $60 audio book belonging to the library, broken Nate's keyboard stand, ripped a hole in Joy's sweater, and escaped down the street, just to name a few...

Good thing she is just so doggone cute!

She redeemed herself by somehow finding my reading glasses when I had hunted high and low for them! Now how amazing is that?!

~Becky

Holiday yumminess

2011-12-05T12:56:00.008-05:00

Have you tried the Cranberry Bliss bars at Starbucks?

They are divine!

Thanks to Zac, we get to try some yummy things of theirs for free.

Anyway, I saw this recipe on how to make them yourself, and I had to try it. Go here.

They were a big hit even though I somehow forgot the TWO sticks of butter that belonged in them in the microwave. LOL

Andrew's buddy Joel, tasted one and called me a "Culinary Goddess." -Love that kid! ha ha : )

So, give them a try and remember the butter. Or don't. ; )

Or buy them already made at Starbucks on Dec 6th when they are 50% off!

(they are having twelve days of sales) Go here to see if there is a store participating near you.

No, this isn't a paid add, just sharing the love or the calories, however you want to look at it! ; )

~Becky

Here's the real deal

2011-12-01T19:04:00.000-05:00

When I think of looting, I picture a natural disaster having occurred and desperate people breaking into stores...

When I think of rioting, I picture a protest of some kind having turned violent...

When I think of pepper spraying a crowd, I think of demonstrators who are out of hand and on the verge of rioting...

Picture this, just 8-12 hours after Americans sat down to a meal in honor of being THANKFUL,

looting, rioting and pepper spraying took place.

Was there a natural disaster? Were people desperate for food? Was there a protest over injustice or a violent crowd???

NO, there were sales!

People rioted,

looted and were pepper sprayed over:

name brand clothes, $2 waffle makers and an X box 360...

Oh the greed! America, what must the God heaven be thinking of 'you' right now?!

~Becky,

Here comes Santa...on a bike

2011-11-29T18:36:00.001-05:00

You may remember last year when our 80+ year old

neighbor gav e us this decorat ion

which she didn't want as a part of her decor anymore, and then called to complain that we didn't have it up and said she was coming over to help us set it up! ugh!

Unfortunately, we found it when we were getting out all of our decorations yesterday and what was even worse, it still worked. There's something to be said for things made 25+ years ago. lol Much to my chagrin, it just won't die.

We all stood around staring at it and wondering what to do with it this year. Or should I say, how to get out of setting it up...

My hubby's brother, Phil, volunteered to sit on it so that we could tell her it was broken, lol.

I thought we should bury it back in the attic and hope she'd forget about it.

Not my hubby. He decided to do the unthinkable....

PUT IT ON THE ROOF!

He said a slot has become open to be the house with the gaudy Christmas decorations on our street and he intended to fill it. lol

He got some help from our cutest Christmas elf, Joy.

And so, Santa is now riding up our roof,

specifically facing the direction of her house.

Hope she enjoys it because I'm pretty sure that this will be his last appearance. lol

I think I'll be praying for one really strong breeze, which ought to do the trick. ; )

~Becky

Thanksgiving Day

2011-11-26T18:27:00.019-05:00

Our Thanksgiving was blessed with:

great friends,

Food,

Football,

Fun,

Family

lots of laughs

and all our favorite games.

~Becky

Thanksgiving fun

2011-11-23T20:09:00.003-05:00

Wednesday has been filled with cooking. (last night I did the cleaning)

Pumpkin bread, deviled eggs, stuffing, green bean casserole, corn bread pudding, garlic spread, blackberry cheesecake and toffee, oh and I began brining the biggest turkey I've ever made! Fun, fun, fun!

I also picked up a Jan Karon book on audio cassette to keep me company in the kitchen(no place like Mitford for the holidays) and I have some Walton episodes to watch while I cook too. -Until football starts and the men take over the TV. : ) And a sweet boy of mine who works at Starbucks brought me something with Bliss in the name that was heavenly and blessed my day.

We have my brother-in-law staying here who will be joining us for Thanksgiving, also Carlos and my BFF and her family. Love a house full!

I saw a cute idea in a magazine, for a Thanksgiving table cloth. They suggested using a sheet and having everyone write in a permanent marker what they are thankful for and signing their names. Then you can pull it out every year to use and see who was with you and what God has done in the lives of everyone. I bought two vinyl table clothes to use instead, since we have to extend our table out so far for this crowd. Should be a fun keep sake.

I'm mindful of how blessed I was recently to go to San Diego and see all of my family members. I always miss them during the holidays. So, glad I get to enter this season with a full heart having just spent time with all those I love so dearly. I'm also thankful for the friends I get to spend holiday with. Lifetime friends, who have been in and around our lives for years and years (as in 20+). What a blessing they are. I'm thankful to be spending our day with such precious people who love us and who love JESUS more than life itself.

"Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever." Ps. 107:1

Feeling so blessed,

~Becky

Birthday joy or Joy! (both apply)

2011-11-19T15:40:00.019-05:00

We are spending the day celebrating our Joy who will be 15 on Tuesday!

She is certainly a joy to celebrate because she is truly the sweetest girl on the planet. -We always wonder how we got so blessed.

Joy wanted a family party with a Doctor Who theme. That is a sci-fi show on BBC that has been running for over 40 years.

Joy loves it. Wouldn't Grandmum be pleased to know that Joy's favorite shows are on BBC. : )

I'd never watched it before, but I've spent the last few days going to the show's web site to get some recipes, (like K9 dogs and Sonic Screwdriver punch)

and getting costumes ideas for my trip to the thrift store so we could all be one of the show's character. My hubby and I both tried to locate a refrigerator box (to be the police call box that the Doctor travels through time with) that we could paint blue, but no such luck. I just love a theme!

Uncle Phil believes that no party is complete without

so we had those last night while we made the cupcakes.

First thing this morning we gave her our gift, which meant we headed off to Surf Style on Clearwater Beach for indoor surfing lessons.

(I had a Groupon deal for 60% off! whoo-hoo)

We saw one of these places when we were visiting Mission Beach, CA with my parents and she was really excited to give it a try. Plus, her other uncle gave her surfing lessons on one of our trips out there and she actually got up once, so she was excited to try it again.

Here she is with Dad who sang Beach Boys songs to her all morning. lol

Here she is with her 1 1/2 worth of private surfing lessons!

But we found out that one hour was PLENTY.

She's so athletic that she caught on quickly.

Although there were some wipe outs...

she was doing this by the time I left:

Whoo hoo!!!!

Our surfer girl!

Then it was Doctor Who party time!

Complete with Dalek cupcakes!

Here is Andrew as the Doctor!

I didn't quite pull off Amy Pond, my kids tell me (lol) but I tried!

Nathan was the Master (and looked quite mean)

Zac was Rory.

We did a trivia game, had the theme song playing and then we watched one of her favorite episodes. : )

And she declared it "the best birthday ever." Yay!

~Becky

Flushing with gratefulness

2011-11-15T08:28:00.005-05:00

Yesterday as I was in a waiting room at the doctor's office with my brother-in-law, I read an article that said basically that you haven't known gratefulness until you've been without

a flushing toilet for an extended amount of time. : )

Well, guess what happened when I got home?

A kicked soccer ball resulted in:

a broken pipe,

then 5 trips to Home Depot and now going on 13 hours without running water...

I'm going to be one grateful gal when our plumbing nightmare is over! lol

What a crazy coincidence huh?

The woman writing the article was about to host a wedding in her home. Now, there's something I'm glad I'm not facing today! lol

She also said:

"...gratitude is not the same as giving thanks. It comes from a deeper place that knows the story could have ended differently, and often does. Gratitude is surviving the worst thing you can imagine...and realizing that you are still standing."

Yes, amen!

And hopefully, soon-to-be still flushing! ; ) But we'll see.

"Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus." 1 Thess. 5:18

Have a great day!

~Becky

(Article: Finding Gratitude by Heather Lende)

Edited to Note: This is the work of art that my hubby had me photograph that did result in us happily flushing, showering and washing clothes again. Yahoo! Good job! Honey!

Phil comes to stay

2011-11-12T19:47:00.004-05:00

My hubby's oldest brother, Phil, is going to stay with us for the next six months. He is a stroke patient.

My hubby is in Orlando picking him up at the airport.

Since our home has 3 bedrooms, we made our family room into a bedroom.

We just finished it a couple of hours ago. I think it turned rather cozy.

We found this antique dresser today and emptied out our armoir for him to use. And no room in the home of any of our extended family members would be complete without at least one Longaberger basket.

For now, he is using the bottom half of Joy's bunk bed since he really liked it on his last stay. She's hoping for a futon or a daybed.

We may have to build a wall in the future, but for now, 4 curtains are giving it what I call a 'tabernacle look' and forming a 'wall.'

And since his birthday was this week, we will be celebrating tomorrow. Which will include a trip to his favorite ice cream place, BO's. : )

~Becky

A magical day!

2011-11-12T19:45:00.016-05:00

Some dear friends of ours blessed us with tickets to Disney again!

We felt so blessed to spend a fun day with our kids before we begin the adventure that is

care giving!

Zac bought Tiffany a ticket and she joined us for the fun.

"I'm positively certain that this will spoil everyday life forever."

~Anne of Green Gables

~Becky,

All pictures care of Joy and her new ipod touch! : )

Best chicken salad!!!!!!

2011-11-05T22:28:00.004-04:00

Try it!

Last weekends fun!

2011-11-05T22:18:00.007-04:00

I made a blackberry cheesecake

did some decorating

and we gave our very special friend

a birthday party!

Joy and Andrew made this cute balloon chandelier:

It is birthday season at our house and I realized that I can decorate now and just about keep them up until January. lol

~Becky

Puppy Love

2011-11-02T13:33:00.011-04:00

We officially welcomed Samantha into our family. Then we changed her name to Bree because Samantha was just too long. Isn't she cute!?

She is 3 mo. old and belonged to a family in our homeschool group who had to move to a house without a fence. After a one week trial period, we all fell in love with her. Her momma was a lab and her daddy was a german shepherd. And she is smart, gentle and sweet as can be.

Here she is on Halloween. Give her a hand!

Oh, never mind, she already has one! LOL!

It really is fun to have a sweet little dog laying around the house again.

Of course, that isn't all she does. She does this whenever she gets bored:

Or she runs away with our shoes.

It didn't take her too long to win the battle of the furniture, because Dad is quite taken with her, just like everybody else in the family.

So, it is all about

PUPPY TRAINING around here lately.

And I thought babies were a handful! Wow!

But, she's worth it!

~Becky

Survived the corn maze without calling 911

2011-10-29T10:58:00.006-04:00

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

I brought these home today:

2011-10-21T13:54:00.004-04:00

~Becky

Tid bits of news around here

2011-10-18T22:29:00.007-04:00

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

The new couple

2011-10-10T20:23:00.022-04:00

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 too for doing things God's way, in purity.

~Becky

I'm back from CA and I had a blast

2011-10-05T14:15:00.010-04:00

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

How to make an acoustic guitar cake!

2011-09-29T15:07:00.000-04:00

Gather your supplies:

Two cake mixes, chocolate frosting, white frosting, black icing, food coloring, gum drops for pegs, and that new fangled glaze from Duncan Hines!

My hubby's Epiphone was our model. Joy drew the best pattern so we used hers. : ) She's the artist in the family.

When the cake cooled we put the pattern on top of it and cut around it.

We baked another cake to be the neck and put our neck pattern on it and cut it out.

Frosting it was fun. We used chocolate frosting for the sides and around the edges. She and Andrew wanted it to have a sunburst pattern so they mixed up food coloring into vanilla frosting until they had a brown that they liked.

I heated up the glaze and used it for the shiny parts of the guitar. (you can tell I'm not a guitarist because I don't know what they are called) : )

We didn't frost the hole in the guitar, it was chocolate cake, so we left it and frosted around it.

We mixed up some gray frosting and added some more details. And used white icing for the fingering dots. We also added and 'E' for Epiphone! : )

The top of the neck said 'Bryan' because there was no way that I could squeeze in the 'Epiphone' and he was the birthday guy! White gum drops were our pegs.

The hardest part of all was doing the strings!

Ta Da! Here is our finished product! : )

It took forever but Joy and Andrew and I had a good time doing it and Bryan loved it!

~Becky

The terribly expensive "T word"

2011-09-26T13:33:00.000-04:00

So, it has been a very memorable 2 and a half months around here.

My hubby was out of work for 3 weeks with a back injury and he missed two weeks of pay. Then when we thought we dodged the broken transmission bullet, we found out we hadn't. -Just delayed the inevitable. In fact, we even had to throw in a radiator for good measure. Blah!

Now, we can officially tremble along with other people when they say they "hope it isn't the transmission."

I told the kids that a new transmission means that we have to live with one of them when we get old. ; )

But, seriously, I hope when we look back on this time we remember that God has been faithful and that He somehow He really does "meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus." Phil 4:19

We'll be the people with the t-shirt to prove it. : )

~Becky

When I saw a recipe for Reese's cupcakes...

2011-09-22T14:43:00.000-04:00

I knew I had to make them!!!

And then I remembered that I was having a birthday! whoo-hoo! So I did!

And they did not disappoint! Yum! -I need to find another excuse to make them again soon.

I'm sure mine were better than this recipe because I didn't bother with the low fat yogurt or the seltzer water

(just followed the devil's food cake recipe on box)

because as I told Andrew 'Either go home or go big!'

LOL! -You know you are really tired when your sayings come out backwards

or maybe that is what happens when you turn 42! ; )

~Becky

From Joy and Andrew on my birthday

2011-09-18T15:05:00.004-04:00

Cute and yummy! : )

~Becky

Remembering 9/11 with the Rays...

2011-09-14T13:09:00.011-04:00

.....and beating the pants of the Boston Red Sox!

Fun, fun, fun!

~Becky

20 years and celebrating

2011-09-12T11:38:00.025-04:00

For our anniversary we went on a cruise!

Just kidding!

But our celebration did include:

a boat, a tropical paradise and a hotel. : )

We went to Honeymoon Island (how appropriate!)

and caught a ferry which took us to Caladesi Island State Park. Since thunderstorms were in the forecast for the entire day, there were only about 8 or 10 of us willing to risk the trip.We'd never done this before (since the ferry ride is pricey for a family of six) so it was a whole new adventure.

We went for a 20 minute ride and then the ferry worked its way through a maze of mangrove lined shores

until we came upon the dock and disembarked.

From there it was a 10 minute walk on a boardwalk

until we reached this beautiful beach

and knew that it had been worth the trip! And

it got SUNNY!

It was like a deserted island paradise!!!

~Except for those 8 other folks we'd ridden over with, which made my hubby think of Giligan's Island! ; )

The island had gopher turtles and rattlesnakes.

Thankfully, we only saw this guy who wanted to cross the sidewalk in front of us.

We had fun shelling, playing in the water and picnicking and then we caught the ferry back.

There were some dolphins that accompanied us part way!

Then we headed to our hotel room in St. Pete which happened to be filled with Boston Red Sox fans. I'd say Boston's got some loyal fans since they are willing to fly down here and watch them play the Rays!

That evening we walked to dinner at an Italian restaurant. (we tried taking pictures of ourselves, good thing hubby has long arms!) : )

We stayed up late watching the Rays beat the Red Sox in extra innings.

Here's my hubby's slightly subtle way of gloating the next morning as we passed all those Sox fans in the hallway. lol

Then my hubby got a call from a friend who had four FREE tickets to the final game of the series that he couldn't use! Whoo-hoo! So, it was off to pick up some kiddos and go to the game!

(pictures to come)

And that was our weekend!

Lots of things I would change about the wedding but not one thing would I change about our marriage!!!! : )

God gave me the best man ever and I'm so thankful!

~Becky

Labor day weekend fun

2011-09-06T13:02:00.004-04:00

It is already a blur! : )

On Friday night:

Zac worked at Starbucks and had a great night. He's getting the hang of making all those complicated drinks. yay! My BFF and her hubby and kids took Andrew and Nathan to a minor league game because they knew the father of one of the players. Then they went to Crabby Bills for appetizers and a walk on the beach. (I'd say they had the most fun out of all of us) My hubby hung out with his BFF then had his transmission give out on the way home and needed a tow. I hung out with Joy having a Waltons -fest because I love the Waltons and because she had the flu. She taught me how to make duct tape wallets and then we went to rescue Dad who was stranded in a not-so-great part of town.

On Saturday:

We found out that we didn't actually need a new transmission and we only had to spend $42 on a part for Carlos to fix it. He doesn't do transmissions so if we needed a new one it was going to be $1800 not including labor!!! UGHHH! -And so there was great rejoicing... : )

Nathan and I picked up his BFF in Spring Hill which is an hour away, for one last sleep over. His friend's family is moving to VA this week. It was sad to loose such an awesome, godly family that has meant so much to us. We had him and a couple other friends over for one last get together and dinner.

On Sunday:

We went to church and that evening we headed to the BEACH with 2 other families! (because we never go on a holiday -too crazy) Thanks to what "Lee" was doing in TX, our gulf beach had big WAVES! Sooo much fun. My hubby hung out in the sand not wanting to risk any injury to his back. -Smart man! I got pummeled more times than I can remember...lol.Then we headed to get our traditional slurpees! (can't go to the beach without having those on the way home) Zac had to miss all the fun and go to work. We had more boys sleeping over that night and playing video games until who knows when. Zac got off at 10:00 and joined in the fun. Hubby and I fed them all and went for a quick date alone! : )

Monday:

The boys and their buddies played more video games and surprisingly enough did not have their eyes fall out. ; ) I made oatmeal cookie pancakes that were a big hit. (Thanks Rachel Ray)

We were pretty lazy all the rest of the day, until we BBQ'd burgers. Hubby and I took a walk to a near-by pond, but it was beastly hot. We are trying to figure out how to celebrate our 20th anniversary next week (whoo-hoo!) and we are getting ready to have my brother in law come back to stay with us again. (much sooner than we expected) This time his stay will be for 6 mo.

That's all the news and fun happening here!

~Becky

Retirement

2011-09-02T19:35:00.003-04:00

My dad is retiring from the U.S. Postal Service in

T-minus 27 work days! : ) Whoo-hoo!!!

And I get to go to San Diego and celebrate with him! Hooray! (thanks, Dad!)

-My hubby said I could go on one condition:

That I bring him a carne asada burrito from Alberto's. And not just any one, but the one on the corner of College Ave and El Cajon Blvd. -because he's not at all picky about his Mexican food.

Ha ha. ; )

~Becky

I've joined the ranks of those...

2011-08-30T21:28:00.010-04:00

who need reading glasses!

boo-hoo!

And it makes me feel old...

So, I bought the cutest ones I could find and they happen to be from Forever 21.

-There is something kind of ironic about that. lol

I love them soooooooooooooo!!!!!

But I don't love being one of those ladies who has glasses part way down her nose all the time to keep from being blind if I look up. Ugh! I think I will wait more than a few years before I resort to keeping them on a string around my neck though. ; )

~Speaking of Forever 21, someone recently told me that they have John 3:16 on the bottom of their bags, and they do! How cool is that!?

~Becky

The happenin' place to work

2011-08-25T16:45:00.004-04:00

So, we all knew Starbucks would be the coolest place ever to work, but we didn't know that it would have so many fun benefits like free drinks while you work, a pound of coffee a week and some health insurance even for the part time employees... just to name a few. Not to mention a kid who smells yummy when he gets in your car.

Speaking of yummy, when you get a job there, every friend you have proceeds to tell you what free drink they want you to bring them. lol

Our Starbucks is 3 miles from our house which makes it an oh-so-convenient place to work and it also happens to be the busiest, MOST profitable Starbucks in our entire state of Florida which totally explains why I can never get a parking place.

So, our oldest guy is pretty excited about his new job and his plan is to start saving for a car.

~Becky

New school year and one less student!

2011-08-22T12:52:00.011-04:00

We painted our school/family room this summer and I just got it done in time for today! I did a bunch of lesson planning before our company came and got all my books ordered in a timely way. (this is a big improvement over last year) Yahoo!

I spent the weekend filing away last years work and moving old books and replacing them with everyone's new ones. Then I made the kids their daily schedules. Oh, I love that part. -Ms "Type A" here! -So, we were all ready for our big day today and I was excited!

The big changes around here are that we added a high school student (Yay, Joy!) to our home school and we lost one. Happy first day of college Zac!

Today was the first time I've ever sent him away for school! Praying for him to 'be Jesus with skin on' and go make a difference in his world. : )

I'm glad I'm not one of the moms I know, sending there kids off to college. Glad he chose to stay here and go to school nearby. His community college is only 8 minutes away. It is in downtown and it looks like they knocked down several condemned buildings, built some new ones and called it a community college campus. lol -Not pretty but very convenient. -He decided to leave his wallet at home today. ; ) I'm pretty sure I'm NOT sending Joy that that campus someday. lol

Andrew is having Zac withdrawals and Zac only had one class today! : ) It is pretty cute how much he loves him. When we took my niece to Florida College the other day, I showed the kids the mail room and told them how much mail from home meant to me and I got A LOT of it. (thanks Dad!) -So it was cute last night when Andrew said he wanted to write letters to Zac and send them to his mailbox at his school. SO SWEET! We had to explain that his school doesn't have a mail room!

That is the first day of school from here! So far so good...

~Becky

My niece is here!

2011-08-18T21:55:00.010-04:00

My niece from CA came to visit! She'd never flown before -EVER and she came out all by herself! Such a brave, sweet girl.

We are having lots of fun.

We picked her up around midnight last week and then she and Joy chatted until 4:30 AM, so needless to say, there was some sleeping-in that happened on her first day here! Once she was up, we headed to Florida College, where my hubby and I went, and where she hopes to go in a few years. I gave her my version of a tour around the campus and had fun going on my own 22 year old trip down memory lane!

We took her to our favorite beach the next day, on the Gulf of Mexico. There were huge waves which made it so much fun and which is odd for the Gulf. My noodle actually got ripped into 3 pieces from the force of the waves. Totally felt like we were on the Atlantic side! Certain people who will remain nameless always forget how fair they

are and don't put on sunscreen and always come home red

and sore. Why is that? : )

Because this is Florida, the next day included another beach trip! My BFF took my gang (minus Zac who had a second job interview at Starbucks) and her kids to Cocoa Beach on the Atlantic coast. They had a blast and visited some relatives of the BFF's while there and then headed back to our coast. Then sleepovers abounded. Boys at our house and girls at her house.

Saturday the boys were all burned (and whiny? Why? Because we forget that God made our family fair and we don't remember to wear our sunscreen!) so my hubby had them get on their instruments and make a music video! He has such great ideas. This kept them busy almost the whole day and it is SOOOO cute. I hope to post a link to it soon. (I know my parents will get a kick out of it) Meanwhile the girls were sleeping in half the day and then watching chick flicks together at the BFF's house. We all got together later here for dinner and this dessert , which is SOOO yummy on a hot summer day! But then the kids talked us into ice cream sundaes too.

Church was the next day and we spent a mellow day at home.

We went to the park in search of alligators on Monday. The lake was filled with blooming lily pads and looked beautiful, but they hid the alligators from view, so no such luck showing the niece alligators in the wild. oh well! Sonic's happy hour made up for it! Joy learned how to make some duct tape wallets. That night the family band added their cousin and they played/sang the Coldplay song 'Yellow' together, which dad said earned them ice cream at BO'S. (a hole in the wall that has the best ice cream place in our city!)

I had my favorite peanut butter and chocolate shake, which is to die for! Then the girlys and I watched Beastly! : )

Tuesday, I had a college-bound guy to do a bunch of errands with, so they were on their own and they made these cute dessert hamburgers which we affectionately call crabby patties now:

And Joy taught her cousin how to knit hats and she taught her and I how to crochet while all the boys were off to their friends' houses for before-school-starts-sleepovers.

Yesterday we did the mall.... Me and 5 teens! Never boring! : )

Then it was off to church and a late night pool party.

I got them all home around midnight and then I got so sick! It was either the stomach flu or the fact that although I fed the kids dinner, I only ended up eating french fries and Twizzlers for my dinner at 11:00 pm. Not sure how that happened. Oh was I ever sick, all night long and all day today. I can't say I minded being in my bed all day and resting. My sweet hubby had to take off work to take our niece to the airport. The kids all went and gave her a big send off. She cried and didn't want to leave so I guess she had a great time too. : )

Good-bye Summer! It was fun but I can't wait for school to start! It will be great to be on a schedule again. One that includes less running around and all of us sleeping before 11 pm instead of eating. lol

~Becky

Baseball and a concert

2011-08-13T17:40:00.000-04:00

Joy and Andrew read books for 24 hours, no, not in a row, ; )

and earned free tickets to a Rays game which we went to last Friday night. Guess who was doing a concert after the game? Here's a clue

-A certain 80's chick band and the song 'Vacation.'

When my BFF heard about the concert, she said "I'm in" and bought tickets for her and her kids too!!! Hubby had to miss the fun due to his back. He still can't sit form more than 20 min. Actually, hubby was not sad at all about missing the concert -just the baseball!

The game was rather dull but the ladies in the band LOOKED amazing,

like they were in their 30's! But they have to be about 55 at least!

I'm grateful to the camera man who kept focusing in on one of their members hands which looked about 60 years old if they were a day. So... I encouraged myself, that my face and hands are at least going to look like they are from the same generation someday and not 30 years apart. ; )

Thanks Joy and Roo for giving us all a fun night!

~Becky

Zac got a job here!!!

2011-08-12T17:30:00.003-04:00

After two interviews! Hooray!

Congrats Zac!

Edited to update: His Fine Arts human video team came in 10th place in the nation!

whoo-hoo! This has been one exciting week for him!

~Becky

Fine Arts Nationals

2011-08-04T13:38:00.003-04:00

Zac is in Phoenix, AZ for the National Fine Arts competition where an estimated 7500 teens from all over the nation have come to compete in various categories. His human video team competed on Tuesday and earned the highest rating -'superior.' There were 42 other teams that earned a superior also. Out of those 42 teams, his team stood out to the judges and earned a 'call back' to perform it again this afternoon!!! So at the moment they are in the top 24 teams in the nation! Hooray!!!!

As for the rest of the trip, they've had a great time spending 5 hours at the Scottsdale mall while they were waiting for the rest of the group to fly in.

Sounds like they've had a lot of burgers this week! They ate at 5 Guys Burgers and Fries (Zac's new favorite restaurant) and In-N-Out Burgers and Burger King... which obviously lost any charm it ever had after the first two burger places. LOL

They also went hiking, at night. -Sounds like a good idea when it is 111 degrees during the day.

I'm so excited for him because this is his last year and God totally gave him the miraculous financial provision to go and it is just awesome to know that they are doing so well in the competition. It is a beautiful, God glorifying human video. PTL!

~Becky

Back issues

2011-07-29T13:55:00.003-04:00

My dear sweet hubby's back is a big issue right now. It hasn't been quite right since he caught his brother who was having a seizure. A week and a half ago, when we thought his back was better, he lifted some ladders....The next day, it was so bad that he could not get out of his truck. So, he took one more week of vacation to give it time to heal. But that wasn't enough time and now he's taken an unpaid leave of absence from work, which hopefully won't be for too long, until his back is completely healed. So pray for his complete and total healing, if you would.

He bought a swim pass and is visiting the city pool to swim laps twice a day. He's doing his back exercises and hanging upside down for 5 -10 minutes a day. : ) -His best friend bought him an inversion table the other day! Such a thoughtful gift!

He's also put himself on a diet and isn't eating much and he looks thinner by the day. He is keeping his spirits up by praying a lot more than usual, reading tons of the Bible and other spiritual books, memorizing scriptures and writing a spiritual book of his own. (I SOOO love this guy!)

This is definitely a trial for us. These words from Oswald Chambers were comforting today:

(I love, love, love Oswald Chambers!)

"Clouds are those sorrows or sufferings or providences within our personal lives which seem to dispute the rule of God. It is by those very clouds that the Spirit of God is teaching us how to walk by faith. If there were no clouds, we should have no faith. 'The clouds are but the dust of our Father's feet.' The clouds are a sign that He is there."

So thankful that He is here,

~Becky

Nate is back!

2011-07-26T22:36:00.010-04:00

Nathan is back from his amazing trip to CA. He was gone for two weeks which seemed like forever. We were all so excited to see him, that the kids stayed awake with us and we all headed to the airport to pick him up at midnight!

He stayed with my parents, my brother and sister-in-law and my aunt and her husband. -Lots of family fun! He visited the church I grew up in and met lots of people who I hung out with as a teenager and folks and who knew my mom, and my grandmother way back when. He said his trip was like "reliving Mom's childhood." : )

But he had the opportunity to go and see places I've never even been to like: Big Sur, Mammoth and Yosemite. (they were actually hiking the waterfall at the same time that those three hikers were swept over last week) He also went to Palm Springs and rode the tram.

He doesn't have any pictures since he lost him $300 iPod during his travels. : (

Our many thanks to the sweet "L" family for inviting him to join them on their trip! He had an unforgettable time and thanks to all our dear family members who had him over!

He came back a little chunkier, he says (from all the yummy Mexican food) and a much better Ukulele player! : ) (he had only owned it for a day, before he left and we are amazed at how many songs he can play now!)

So, we are all back together again! This mom loves that! -But it will be short-lived because on Monday Zac is headed to Arizona for Fine Arts Nationals for a week!!! Hooray!

Andrew is glad to have his buddy Joel back. He went to spend the night with him last night after VBS and he was so excited. He said "I'm reuniting with Joel. My favorite brother in Christ!" Too cute!

We are all busy helping at our church's VBS this week. Last I heard there were about 543 kids attending! Whoo-hoo!!!

Tired but blessed,

Becky

Lazy summer dayz

2011-07-18T00:29:00.007-04:00

It is unusually quiet on the summer home front.

We have one kiddo in CA,

one who is college-bound and job hunting,

and two who are reading like their lives depend on it. (they are in a summer reading program trying to earn free tickets to a Rays game)

Things will pick up soon enough though. We are having a couple of boys stay over this week. One had a death in the family and his mom is out of town and another whose parents are in ministry and will be out of town for half the week. Adding more boys to our bunch will liven things up.

The rest of the summer will look like this:

Next week is VBS -which is plenty of excitement and then some...

By then our kiddo in Cali will be back. Yay! I miss him!

A week later we'll be minus one again when we send off our oldest to AZ for the National Fine Arts competition.

A few days after he comes home, my niece is coming from CA for 9 days of Florida fun.

And four days after she leaves, school starts! But with only 3 students this year! -Hard to believe!

All that being said, I think I'll enjoy the calm before the storm, I mean -before the FUN! ; )

~Becky

Our love for Lewis

2011-07-13T10:33:00.000-04:00

Like a lot of families, our favorite book series of all time has been The Chronicles of Narnia.

After I read our kiddos the series, we wrote down our favorite quotes from the books and voted on them. I wrote the winning quotes on the walls of our boys' room with a paint pen.

After 6 years, it is REALLY time to do some painting so it is kind of an end of an era.

Here are the quotes that meant so much to our 3 boys over the years:

"Wrong will be right when Aslan comes in sight. At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more." ~Mr. Beaver

"Courage Child! We are all between the paws of the true Aslan." ~Trinian

"Once a king and queen in Narnia, always a king and queen in Narnia." ~Aslan

"Proclaim the truth and take the adventure that Aslan sends us." ~Jewel

"I must make it the mail object of life to press on to that other country and help others do the same." ~ C.S. Lewis

"This was the very reason why you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there." ~Aslan

As you can imagine, Lewis received A LOT of mail from children after he wrote those books and he actually read and responded to every letter. I'm reading C. S. Lewis' Letters to Children and this is my favorite part of a letter he wrote to a young reader who wanted to know who Aslan really is:

"As for Aslan's other name, well I want you to guess. Has there never been anyone in this world who:

(1.) Arrived at the same time as Father Christmas.

(2.) Said he was the son of the Great Emperor.

(3.) Gave himself up for someone else's fault to be

jeered at and killed by wicked people.

(4.) Came to life again.

(5.) Is sometimes spoken of as a Lamb.

Don't you really know His name in this world.

Think it over and let me know your answer!" ~C.S. Lewis

Isn't that sweet!?

Well, it certainly doesn't matter how old you are, a trip to Narnia will do you good, I promise!

You'll get a glimpse of the Lion Judah while you are there! : )

~Becky

Cali bound

2011-07-12T11:11:00.005-04:00

Some of my favorite people:

are headed to San Diego today, to see MORE of my favorite people!

The rest of the family is wishing that we could have found a way to stow away in all their luggage! ; ) But no such luck!

Have fun, Nathan! I know you'll be fine but your mom won't be unless you call once in awhile! K?

13 days is a LONG time ya know! : )

Love you! Eat lots of guacamole for me! And give hugs to all those I love so much!

~Mom

Fun on the Fourth

2011-07-04T18:32:00.013-04:00

Because the BBQ must go on! ; )

LOL!!!

We thought we had time to grill before the storm came in, but we were totally wrong. : ) We were only half way through when it hit....and did it ever hit.

~Gotta love Florida's weather! -Our kids do. They love any chance they can get to play in the rain. (while our elderly neighbor watches and frowns at them. lol) But it isn't like there is any chance of getting sick when it is 90 degrees out!

In spite of the weather, we had the best burgers ever! The fam thought they were better than Reb Robins! Now that is saying something! Zac wanted us to try bleu cheese burgers, so he found a recipe and I added a few things to it. He loves to grill. This might explain why Nathan doesn't know how, so Dad gave him a lesson today, "because men have to know how to grill!"

It was cute because somethings I overheard were "Go get a big drink. Men have to have a big, cold drink while they BBQ." And "If you are lucky, sometimes the women will prepare the meat for you." ; )

Here's what I do for burgers: -I put Worcestershire sauce on and Lawry's season salt on them before they hit the grill. But here was the kicker that we tried today:

4 T softened butter

3 oz of bleu cheese

2 cloves of garlic minced

2 T of mayonnaise

This mixture is enough for 6 burgers and we divided it up and put it on each burger while it was still hot. And they were amazing. The kids said they can't wait to have some company soon and "blow their minds." ; )

Besides eating, the guys took a trip to the music store, we played some Frisbee, learned to play Skip-Bo and of course had an exciting time grilling in a major storm. That was pretty much it. It was happy fourth, despite the fact that Dad's back is still recuperating and he had to spend a good part of the day laying flat on the floor and doing back exercises.

Happy birthday, America! May you be a nation that God wants to bless in the days ahead.

~Becky

*Edited to note: Our new variation on the bleu cheese recipe is: 2 T. mayo, 4 oz. bleu cheese, pepper, 4 crumbled pieces of bacon, 1/2 an onion cooked in bacon grease. -The mind blowing continues! But we all about fainted when we saw Andrew about to scrap his off his burger into the trash can! : ) That's my picky eater!

Trying E-Mealz

2011-07-03T21:58:00.000-04:00

A friend told me about E mealz.

It sounds really neat. For $1.25 a week, someone else plans your weekly menu around sale items at your local grocery store and makes your grocery list for you! : )

-And it is endorsed by Dave Ramsey!!! How cool is that?!

It is basically $5.00 a month and you have to pay for 3 months at a time. Before I signed up, I found a coupon code! It is DAVE. That code made the service only $12.50. Whoo-hoo!

They have lots of grocery stores to choose from (even Wal Mart). You can also choose a list for vegetarians, or low fat, or low carbs etc.. Lots of options. You can also choose a list for a family or for two.

I'm doing the Publix list which uses their BOGO deals. : )

If it doesn't end up saving me money, then I won't renew. We'll see how it goes. It will be fun to try some new recipes anyway.

~Becky

Back at it

2011-07-02T17:44:00.004-04:00

My hubby who often times, lifts and climbs ladders all day had his back go out just by reaching for something on Monday. It was SO sad. What a week it has been! He was unable to get up for 3 days.

So thankful for all our sweet friends who kept him in prayer! He's been able to walk around for the last two days, pain free, Thank the Lord.

He saw the chiropractor last night and things are looking up now. Whew! Monday will probably be the last day off he has until Christmas but that's OK.

Just thankful,

Becky

Father's day fun

2011-07-01T11:09:00.000-04:00

My hubby's best friend bought us all tickets to the Ray's game to celebrate Father's Day!

I thought it would be kind of dull like it is on TV and last for 5 hours so I actually thought about bringing a book. (too funny!)

But I was wrong on both counts.

1. It is football games that last for 3 but totally feels like 5! ; )

2. Baseball in person is not a bit dull!

We got to see the Rays play the Marlins. It was SOOOO much fun!

Because our pitcher got 10 strike outs, everyone who went to Kane's Furniture got a coupon for a free medium pizza from Papa John's! And since we had 6 tickets, that was 6 pizzas. (after driving all over creation to the Kane's and then to find a Papa John's that is!)

But ya can't beat a free dinner (& leftovers) after the game!

Guess what? The cameras (wherever they were) zoomed in on our family and we were on the big huge mega tron screens! Wow!!!! It is funny to be watching the screens and then realize that you are seeing people in your own family!

For some reason Rays fans ring cowbells. (if you know why, let me know! And while you are at it, please tell me what creature our furry mascot is, I'm stumped!)

I was pretty sure that sitting in front of a two year old with a cowbell was not going to be

too fun, lol but thankfully, he got bored with it pretty quick. At one point, he came flying over the seat next to me and was caught by the lady one seat over. Her great reflexes kept that little fan from landing on his head! (I'm amazed that someone would bring such a little guy and then get mad at him for "not watching the game." Good grief!)

Next, the elderly lady in front of me had to be carried away by medics out of the stadium! She had a really weak pulse and was sweating profusely. (in the air conditioning)

So, like I said, baseball in person isn't a bit boring! -And the game wasn't bad either! LOL!

We won! 2 to 1! Hooray! And did I mention the free pizza!

Such a fun Father's Day! -And no one loved it more than a certain major Rays fan that I'm in love with!

~Becky

The retreat returns

2011-06-29T13:23:00.000-04:00

Due to the economy and the fact that very few many millionaires have been building their dream houses in Florida lately, my hubby's job has been rather insecure.

But God changed all that at the end of 2010, hallelujah, and now we know that he will have work for at least another year!

The economy isn't really any better and there are lots of custom home builders who have gone out of business, but I know that God is providing for this company because of its generous, godly owner. I can't say enough good about him.

He's devoted to helping the poor and that is why I think, God is keeping this company going in spite of the economy. Amen!!!

Here are just a few examples:

He housed a family who lost their home in New Orleans due to Katrina for a least a year. He PAYS my hubby and another man to walk around the job site and ask the other trades if they need prayer for anything and then they go and spend at least a half hour praying over peoples needs on company time. He gives his employees the book of John to hand out to those they meet during their day. He funds the painting and restoring homes for a ministry that helps men getting out of jail get back into society and does amazing things for a local orphanage. You won't come to a company Christmas party and not find some random needy person there that just met him that day, that he invited to come.

Another thing he does is hold a retreat for all his employees and their families at a cute resort in Steinhatchee, Florida (located in the middle of no where) to spend the weekend in adorable cottages with huge porches on the river.

The weekend consists of a meeting for employees while the families ride bikes, swim, kayak, do archery, canoe or just relax. Then there is always a spiritual seminar for everyone to attend and be blessed. There is a banquet with awards for employees based upon godly character traits. (of which my hubby always wins some) : ) There is also time for lots of free play as a family and we don't have to cook because all the meals are provided!!!

This is the first time in three years, the company has been able to have a retreat and we were pretty excited. We had a wonderful time! Pictures to come!

~Becky

The weekend away

2011-06-27T23:10:00.014-04:00

Here are some random pictures from our weekend get-away.

We took these and headed out for some fun in the sun.

Here is the walkway to paradise!

Otherwise known as our

favorite beach!

We played in this

with these

then we headed here

It was historic

and full of antiques

and if you ever needed to wash your hands while in the hallway for some reason, you could!

Our room was really SMALL. I called it small and my hubby called it European, which sounds better.

We headed here by trolley at night for a gorgeous view of the city and some ice cream

which ended up in my hair due to the winds from a brewing storm while we were on the top floor!

We enjoyed the trolley drive around the city and headed back to the hotel and sat here in the moonlight.

The next day, we went to an outdoor market and then to the beach again. We stopped and had more ice cream which did not end up in my hair in my hair this time.

After that we headed back home to the kiddos who thought they might die since mom's taxi service hadn't been in operation for a whole 28 hrs or so.

lol! : )

Hope we don't wait another 3 years to do this again! It was so much fun having my sweet hubby all to myself!

~Becky

Two of the best dads

2011-06-17T13:59:00.011-04:00

My hubby says that one of the things that struck him about me while we were dating was seeing me sitting on my dad's lap while he was over at our house chatting with our family.

He says that it made him stop and wonder what kind of a wife a daddy's girl would make. He wasn't sure but he thought that a girl who loved and honored her dad seemed like someone who would love and honor her husband.

Guess what?

He says it did work out that way. : ) Hooray!

-Now he's got his own daddy's girl and three boys who are crazy about him!

(Happy Father's Day, Honey!)

Let me tell you, I have one sweet Dad that I've always been crazy about!

Happy Father's Day, Dad! I love you! : )

~Becky

(sorry for the big empty space, this is a scanned picture and it isn't cooperating with the blog but it is one of my favorites so I'm posting it anyway!)

The get away

2011-06-12T21:58:00.005-04:00

During the winter, I bought a one night stay at a historic hotel near the beach (which came with a free bottle of wine and a free breakfast) for $59.00. Yay! I bought it on Groupon. (I've actually bought a few things on there in the past year)

Check them out here: Groupon.

We decided to save it to use in March, but they were all booked up.

Then my brother in law came for two months and so we had to put it off until June.

Then my hubby's company decided to have a retreat this year (Fun!) and take all the families of the employees along for a paid weekend get away (yes, they are amazing like that)...but it was on the same weekend we planned to go. So, I changed the reservation.

Then, the company changed their retreat date and I changed the reservation back again.

-Kind of confusing but it actually does have some significance. While my hubby and I were off on our weekend, riding a "trolley" by the beach, it hit us that it was the anniversary of the night he asked me to marry him 20 years ago!!!!!

What a sweet surprise that was!

So, we've decided to celebrate two anniversaries every year from now on!!! Engagement and wedding! Whoo-hoo!

Pictures to come!

~Becky

First adventure in care giving comes to an end

2011-06-07T14:40:00.001-04:00

Nathan flew my hubby's brother (a stroke patient) back to CA for us on Saturday. All went well and I am so proud of our 16 year old.

That was not an easy assignment because of the pressure of changing planes, pushing a wheel chair and dealing with a very nervous adult, who needed caring for. I told him that he was my hero! He also reminded me that he would be dependent upon on prayers (which he had in a big way) and that made me even more proud. He really handled it like a champ, with all the love, compassion and courage any mom and dad could hope for.

God is making Nathan into an awesome man!!!

I hear that when they landed, his other uncle took them to an infamous diner and Nathan ordered the biggest thing on the menu, bless his heart. (they'd been up since 2:30 AM and hadn't had much to eat all day)

So...care giving -WOW!!!

I think "Wow" sums it up pretty well. : )

It is really something!

My hubby and I had a chance to share with each other the scriptures we'd each been clinging to during this time and they all had to do with death. lol!

Death to ourselves and our flesh.

I've decided care giving is an accelerated course in dying to one's self.

Even if you think you've done that,

in let's say: 25 years of walking with the Lord, or in having your first born baby, or in raising 4 toddlers or dealing with 4 teens on a daily basis, (lol) because I personally think those things make for good practice, BUT, I found out otherwise. ; )

For me, it was like going to all new levels of dying to self that I never would have ventured into otherwise. Care giving rocked my world and the only peace I had was when I sought the Lord to help me to die to me. OUCH and double OUCH on constant basis.

Not too fun, but God shows up when you are living on an alter. The holy isn't always happy but the joy is deep. Amen?

I wonder how anyone who doesn't have the Lord in their life to strengthen them even handle it??? -I have no idea!

I don't know when my brother-in-law will be sent back out here for us to care for him again, but it sounds like the next time will be for 6 months instead of just 2.

WOW!

But this I do know. We will all be the better for it, and my prayer is that we will handle it in such a way, that gives God glory.

~Becky

The Florida to-do-list

2011-06-03T13:21:00.000-04:00

My brother-in-law had a list of things he wanted to do while he was here for two months....

and today we checked the last one of the list!

Today's adventure took us to Lettuce Lake in search of alligators!

I never even pictured him climbing the observation tower

but he decided to do it!!! : )

42 steps! It was awesome! (the guy who was afraid of stairs when he arrived!) PTL!

I love this picture with us at the very top looking down on the wheelchair that he left behind! Whoo-hoo!!!!

The other items on his list included:

Eating Bo's Ice-Cream,

It is a 50 year old, famous, family-owned ice cream stand and when Phil tried their ice-cream he said it was a good thing he couldn't drive anymore. lol!

He also wanted us to help him walk across the sand and into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico,

(which he did on Memorial Day, hurray! -with hardly any help at all). He also wanted to eat Cuban sandwiches and try a Cuban pastry.

Andrew, our 12 year old, highly encouraged him to achieve all his culinary goals because those two, have almost as much fun just talking about food as they do eating it. ; )

~Becky

The state wide home schoolers graduation ceremony

2011-06-02T11:07:00.000-04:00

It was everything I could've hoped for in a graduation!

It was sentimental:

Hand written thank you notes to moms were posted on the screens from each student before it started

It was formal:

The ballroom was gorgeous!

It was inspiring:

This is Rick Scott, the governor of Florida! He spoke and handed the graduates their diplomas and had a photo taken with each one! (which I ended up purchasing for a gazillion dollars, because that is pretty awesome!)

It was fun:

Graduates could wear any color cap and gown they chose, which made the throwing of the caps really a fun, multicolored sight to see. They had every color in the rainbow!

It awesome:

My favorite part was that they announced the achievements and future aspirations of each graduate. They gave you a wonderful picture of the uniqueness of a roomful of home educated students and made you quite proud to be apart of that community.

Lots of kids were headed to universities. Some to community colleges. Some were headed to Christian colleges (not as many as I expected) Some had an unbelievable amount of community service hours. (1000!) One guy was going to go rock climbing in Greece. Another was going to be a singer and hoped "it would prove to be lucrative" which made Nathan and I laugh. And I got a big kick out of this one:

"_______(her name) aspires to fall helplessly and madly in love." LOL!

It was announced how long each one had been home schooled. Twelve years was the average and the shortest was 4 months! My favorite was "since birth." lol! -There is the true spirit of homeschooling for ya! ; )

We are blessed with some SWEET friends who made the trek all the way to Orlando and missed our morning worship service to show their love and support for the 3 kids from our church. They watched all the A's, B's and C's and then they had until "U." I heard later that if you watched Zac get his diploma, (our last name begins with a "C") you could go and get coffee, walk around the massive hotel and come back and unfortunately find out that we were still only on the "M's." LOL!

At one point as we were all politely clapping for someone who's name started with a "Z", the graduates went crazy and the applause went wild and then more excited applause spread throughout the entire ballroom. This girl happened to be the very LAST graduate!!! It was pretty cute and she got just as big a kick out of the extreme enthusiasm as everyone else did showing it. There were 269 graduates so the ceremony a lot of things, BUT it wasn't quick! ; )

And I'm glad! We worked a long time to get to that moment!

The day was absolutely perfect and I know that for sure, because the graduated thanked us and told me so several times! Thank the Lord! Love you, Zac!

~Becky

Zac's graduation in pictures

2011-05-31T12:10:00.000-04:00

We were up at 5:45 AM for the big day! Unless you were me and you woke up at 4:00 AM and were too nervous to go back to sleep!

The grad getting Dad's help with the tie

The still sleepy grad and the weepy, sentimental Mom

who actually didn't cry nearly as much as she thought she would

The proud, (sleepy) siblings!

With one missing because he got dressed up and then fell back to sleep on the couch ; )

Zac and Mom and Dad

The proud Uncle!

God gave us the grace we asked for and Phil handled the big day really well.

The happy grad!

The some of the sweet friends!

The excessive celebrating by the proud homeschooling parents

One down and three more to go! Whoo-hoo!!!

The Chinese food afterwards

because someone takes after their dad and not their mom. lol!

Then we all went home and napped for hours! More to come on the ceremony itself!

~Becky,

proud mom of her first home educated graduate and an awesome, godly young man at that!

De-something

2011-05-30T15:22:00.003-04:00

When a certain cute guy of mine thinks I should pay for something and I tell him that he will have to use his OWN money,

he likes to say, in his serious voice, "Wow, I'm depraved."

But of course, he means deprived! LOL!

Obviously he is neither one and I can't help but giggle every time I correct him. For some reason he gets those two words confused.

It happened again today and when I corrected him, he informed me that he will:

"grow up to be depraved because he's been so deprived." Too funny!

Oh, the joys of raising teenage boys with a quick wit. ; )

~Becky

Next big event...

2011-05-24T21:32:00.001-04:00

IS GRADUATION!!!

It is this Sunday morning!

Early!

And the governor is speaking!

It will be a monumental moment in this homeschooling mom's heart.

~And I'll probably be a wreck. ; )

I'll be back when all the fun is over!

Prayers that all goes well with my brother-in-law at the event would be appreciated. Thanks a bunch!

~Becky

The new adventure took a crazy turn

2011-05-23T21:19:00.003-04:00

Last week, "the new adventure" -also known as the two months of caring for my brother-in-law who is a stroke patient,

took a painful turn.

Here are some words that will remind us of this week, not that we will ever forget it:

over stimulation, seizure, turning blue, a fall, a catch, a bad back, ER, pain, missed work, yard, street, a walk, ALONE, rush hour, scare, stubborn streak, speech, pain, family meeting, apology, forgiveness...

Not a week I ever want to relive, but things are better now. So thankful for my sweet relatives, church family and friends who've been praying for us. You are blessing I wouldn't want to live without!

Caring giving is never dull, I guess.

~Becky

AZ bound after all

2011-05-20T08:50:00.005-04:00

Well, God did something AMAZING and Zac IS going to Fine Arts Nationals after all!!!!

And so I'm back in the fund raising zone making necklaces once again.

We are SO excited for him. He's a humble guy with a servant's heart and I'm so excited that he is getting blessed. Since he is a senior, this is his last year to go, which makes it all the more special.

I'll try not to be jealous, : )

because if I was going to AZ this summer, I would be sure to visit my precious aunt and I would talk my dad into driving out from CA even though AZ in the summer has to be his least favorite place in the world. lol!

~Becky

Catch up time on the blog!

2011-05-13T23:20:00.004-04:00

It seems to be my lot in life lately to be flying by the seat of my pants from one major event to the next. -Too bad my family still expects dinner or I'd have it pretty easy. ; )

Mother's day was a lot of fun! I was spoiled with some fun gifts. We went out to lunch and then headed to the beach with BFF -Marcia and her kids.

Lots to do for my graduate lately. Graduation invites, graduation ceremony requirements, cap and gown order, register for college, take placement test, apply for Pell Grant etc...

Exciting times!

Last night we had our home school group's graduation. Beautiful event! Those new board members stepped it up quite a few notches from the one I gave last year. They transformed the room, had Debbie Strayer as a speaker and did a top notch job blessing our seniors and recognizing everyone's advancement to the next grade. Loved it! Debbie Strayer is a special friend of ours, and so it was a blessing to have her speak. She's been a big part of Zac's educational journey and he thanked her for all of her help and encouragement over the years.

Not sure that any of my boys will be attending fine arts nationals after all due to the cost and deadlines for the money being at the beginning of summer instead of the end. (in other words, not enough time to find summer jobs and start earning the money) But there will be other years for Nate and Andrew. I'm still making these necklaces even though they won't be a fund raiser now. They are a fun diversion and I love them! Have had several orders placed and I'm so excited. (black is the most popular) One of my sweet friends helped me make some on Saturday night while our girls were at a movie and then she bought a black one to wear Sunday morning and went around modeling for me in her black dress. : ) Too cute!

Friday, Nathan is going to "Uncle-sit" for us ; ) (aka -watch my hubby's brother) while we go on our first double date with one of our boys and a girl he's liked for awhile now.

Well, there's a lot more going on but this is the quick summation of the fun stuff! I am blessed that whatever family crisis we have going on at the present, it has nothing to do with our teenagers! (how cool is that?!) -They are amazing and they bless my socks off with their love and care for me, their love and honor for their dad, and their service to their uncle. May I not get distracted from the fact that I am very blessed and God is answering all of our prayers for them.

~Becky

Lots of rosettes!

2011-05-09T21:46:00.004-04:00

As I've mentioned, all three of my boys made it to fine arts nationals (insert cheering here)

but the cost per person is $900 since they will be flying to AZ and staying for a week in a hotel.

Ouch!

I spent my Saturday, watching some tutorials and I learned how to make rosette necklaces

which I'm planning to sell to try and help out with those enormous fees. Yay! -We'll see how it goes!

At least my boys will remember that mom tried to help out and didn't just spend the ENTIRE fine arts season complaining about the cost of gas for all those practices! LOL -Or maybe they will only remember my complaining so (enter blog post here) to serve as a reminder! : )

Planning to sell them for $12.00 a piece. Let me know if I can make you one. (add $3.00 for shipping) : )

~Becky

Week Four of the new adventure

2011-05-06T13:06:00.001-04:00

As you know we are caring for my brother-in-law for 2 months. He had a stroke last March.

I've enjoyed:

1. Listening to him talk economics with Zac

2. Watching Joy proudly push him in his wheel chair into a crowd of 200 teenagers (to see his nephews in the worship band)

3. Having him here for Andrew's birthday, Easter and soon enough- Zac's graduation

4. His sweet prayers. They begin "Good Evening, Father" and are filled with thanksgiving

5. Hearing his real laugh

6. Watching our kids rise to new levels of service and compassion

7. Watching him, love to watch Joy, play softball, and her waving to him from the outfield and him hugging her before she's up to bat

8. Hearing Nathan challenge him to take bigger strides and take steps faster and promising to catch him if he falls

9. Having him as my Sarah Palin's Alaska buddy. LOL

He and I love that show and I order it on Netflix. (it is right up his alley since he used to collect guns, hunt and work in the oil industry)

10. Having him here for Fine Arts Districts to cheer on our boys.

It isn't all easy and fun. But "whatever trials don't kill you, make you better" Right? (I think I read that quote somewhere) Anyway, we are learning to lean on the Lord and His grace in a whole new way and that can only be a good thing.

~Becky

Wednesday in the Word

2011-05-04T12:57:00.001-04:00

I love this:

"With what can be seen as divine humor, God chooses a stutter to speak for him, an infertile woman to be the mother of a nation, a weakling to defend him, a forgettable youngest son to be the most unforgettable king of this people, an unknown youngster to be the mother of his Son and a persecutor to take the gospel to the nations!" ~ Ann Spangler from Women of the Bible

God can do pretty amazing things with some willing vessels! : )

Happy Wednesday!

~Becky

Wow!!! AZ bound?!

2011-04-30T20:05:00.007-04:00

Fine Arts Districts results:

DRUM ROLLLLLL!!!!!!!

Zac's human video team made it!

Nathan's human video team made it!

Andrew's human video team made it!

And Andrew's worship team made it and took 3rd place in the state! Whoo-hoo!!!

1700 participants! Our church had 147 teens involved and 107 made it to Nationals!!! Really amazing! These kids worked SO hard! (we have some incredible vocalists)

Exciting weekend!

Hello, summer jobs!!?!? And fundraisers galore! -Lord help!

Proud of my guys!

~Becky

Fine Arts Weekend!

2011-04-30T05:02:00.001-04:00

I've survived Fine Arts season! Yay!

It sure kept the mom-taxi busy! We were at practices almost every night of the week. Ugh!

Zac, Nate and Andrew were each in

a human video and they were in two worship bands and Zac was also in a funny small drama.

This weekend they are at the statewide competition in Ormond Beach with 17,000 other teens who are participating! It is a BIG deal!

We'll be streaming the celebration service here from home tomorrow where they announce those who've made it to Nationals. Those who make it are headed to Phoenix, AZ in August!

(let the fundraising begin!)

We had a dress rehearsal on Tuesday night, and Joy got these great pictures for us.

I always need a little help understanding what Bible stories the human videos are portraying.

Except for the crucifixion, of course. ; )

This is Zac's human video and his best friend Jon, who usually gets casts as Jesus. He's got great facials! (and is a wonderful guy)

Zac is one of the soldiers, whipping him.

Here's Nathan with Jesus carrying the cross in the background.

This is the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and Nathan was Adam. His best friend is holding the serpent.

Andrew is apart of the great fish and this is Jonah, not looking too happy.

Here is Andrew and I didn't get a chance to ask him which story this is. I'll have to do that when he gets back.

And here he is as the lead guitarist in his worship band.

Love that smile!

Didn't get pictures of Zac and Nate in their band, but we are blessed to see/hear them play every Wednesday.

The worship bands competes tonight, so I'm praying for our boys to be at peace and play their best for Jesus and TRY to forget that there are any judges involved at all. : )

~Becky, a proud drama mama!

*Edited to say that figure was wrong. There were 1700 participants!

Happy Birthday, Andrew!

2011-04-28T21:51:00.000-04:00

A certain awesome young man is turning 12 today and I can hardly believe it!

My baby! ; )

-Sorry Roo, but you will always be my baby!

Even though you are already taller than Joy and I.

He's on a bus headed to the Fine Arts Districts competition in Ormond Beach right this very minute, so we fit in some time in between a gazillion fine arts practices and Easter, to have a party on Saturday!

He's competing in a worship band, as the lead guitarist and he's also in a human video.

And speaking of guitars, here is the cake I made!!!!

-So glad that it turned out and it actually had the approval of at least 3 serious guitarists who were present. LOL : )

Andrew, being one of them!

Before dinner, Dad had a speech to make!

This alway includes all those present making a "covenant" to help the birthday person in their walk with the Lord, us being thankful for all God is doing in their lives and then a prayer of blessing!

-And in Andrew's case, we always mention his birth and how glad we are that he made into this world! Amen! ; )

We celebrated at a trampoline place which had trampolines on the floor and the WALLS!

Here are the girls, ready for some fun! LOL!

And it was fun until a bunch of

20 some-thing year old guys started taking their dodge ball WAY too seriously.

But being the athletic bunch that our guys are, they were more of a challenge than those guys anticipated. Our gang was thinking they needed to get a life -LOL

but my hubby reminded us that we should be glad those guys were here and not out drinking instead. -Spoken like a true youth leader! Love that man! They eventually left and things got more fun again.

-Except that Nathan turned his ankle. And this is fine arts week and he has to do stunts in a human video competition in a matter of days. Ahh!

Unfortunately, my ancient camera didn't capture their flips! Andrew is really good at those!

This next picture is going in my "Tease Zac Collection," to prove that he spent a good part of his teen years texting, no matter where

we were!

Ha ha! -But in all fairness, he just got done taking some pictures! ; )

Glad that my best friend and her kids are Floridians now and that my hubby's brother is here for a couple of months and all were able to join us for the fun!

~Becky

Our senior

2011-04-22T14:28:00.002-04:00

One day your firstborn looks like this:

And then you blink

and he looks like this:

Then you thank God that you chose to home school and that you have 13 years worth of memories that you made together during his educational journey, which have made you two close at heart. I'm thankful for my sweet son, who is also one of my dearest friends.

For Zac's senior pictures, our photographer took us on a photo shoot in downtown at sunset.

Two hours and literally 700+ pictures later, we had some great shots!

His best smiles happened when I made goofy faces behind the photographer. ; )

Come to think of it, I was probably doing that very same thing in that baby picture.

This is my favorite picture!

This one reminds me that 'the sky's the limit' and that he 'can do all things through Christ who strengthens him.'

Quite a few girls like this one. lol

Here he is in during his short lived modeling career. lol

Our drummer for Jesus!

~Becky,

the blessed mom of a great guy and a soon-to-be-graduate!

While we were at the pond...

2011-04-19T14:18:00.001-04:00

feeding the ducks and looking at the box turtles, this gave me a giggle:

Uncle Phil: "Who comes to get the alligators? (when they are reported in residential areas)

Andrew: "Probably the Department of Homeland Security."

; ) Too cute! lol

~Becky

Week One of the new adventure

2011-04-17T18:55:00.000-04:00

So, this has been Week One of caring for a stroke patient and I've learned a few things, like:

1. That I have the most wonderful kids ever. (actually I already knew this before this week. LOL)

They are devoting tons time to doing physical therapy with their uncle with the sweetest of attitudes and cheering on his improvements.

2. Stroke patients have sweet tooth's (or at least ours does) and actually, talking about donuts, seems to appease him as much as actually eating them. So, we talk instead... LOL

3. Sometimes you just have to laugh.

4. When you tell someone that God can make all things work together for good and then He does, it is awesome!

5. Always check his pocket for his cell phone before doing laundry, if not you will spend a good amount of time, and money at the Verizon store! And then two days waiting to see if leaving it in a bowl of rice really works to soak up the water so that you can transfer an address book to the new phone.

6. It is great fun to share the stories of the Bible with someone who doesn't know them.

7. I've started to notice all those with physical difficulties around me every time I leave the house and wonder if they need help. A new sense of compassion has taken me captive.

8. It is impossible to hurry. There's nothing you can do but go at a slower pace.

9. Once in awhile you will be rewarded with a glimpse of the person he was, in the voice that almost sounds like it used to, using the mannerisms and inflections he used to use, and then... your joy abounds.

10. His dry wit is still there and it takes me by surprise.

11. Saying "please" and "thank you" go a long way and I can't even count the number of times in a day he says them. May the rest of us remember to do the same.

12. Stay upbeat because the 'joy of the Lord is your strength' and it can strengthen those around you.

13. When something is really funny, he slaps his leg a few times. May there be lots of leg slapping times in the weeks ahead. My hubby jokingly told him that sarcasm "is apart of therapy," to which I said, 'feel free to hit him with your cane.' ; )

14. I will never know all that my other brother-in-law and sister-in-law went through in taking him into their home, straight out of the hospital, to make him able to come to us in the condition he's in today...

They've worked tirelessly for 9 months helping to make him able to eat, walk and use the facilities all on his own. They are my heroes.

~I guess I've learned quite a bit this week.

Becky

Shoes on or off

2011-04-15T09:11:00.000-04:00

Sunday I saw Andrew walking around in kids church after playing his guitar in the worship band without his shoes on.

(the youth group's guitarist plays barefooted so I know where he got the idea from)

After church, when we were ready to leave, he was still barefooted!

So, I said "Andrew, what are you doing going barefooted in God's house?!"

And because he's inherited a quick wit from his dad,

he said "Because I'm standing on holy ground, Mom." LOL

Too funny!

-Since I haven't seen any burning bushes in the church's landscaping, he's wearing shoes from now on though. ; )

~Becky

Wednesday in the Word

2011-04-13T08:27:00.002-04:00

"If we undertake a work for God and get out of touch with Him, the sense of responsibility will be overwhelmingly crushing, but if we roll back on God, that which He has put upon us, He takes away the sense of responsibility by bringing in the realization of Himself." ~Oswald Chambers

"The Lord will give strength to His people. The Lord will bless His people with peace." Ps. 29:11

Yes, and amen! : )

~Becky

A new adventure

2011-04-11T13:23:00.012-04:00

My hubby flew to CA to pick up his brother (who had a stroke last year). He is going to be staying with us for the next 8 weeks.

Yesterday, my hubby stayed home from work and the day was all about training us in caring for Phil. We learned all about his brain injury and about the exercises he needs help with so that he can regain movement on his left side. The brain is a fascinating thing.

He is certainly the most patient, patient there is! He's very polite and thankful and easy to serve.

It hit me last night what a gift from God it is to have this time to teach our kids that 'family comes first.' Since we've lived thousands of miles away from our relatives for almost 20 years, we've never had any opportunities to teach them to love and serve their extended family. (we've just had awesome times vacationing together) : )

I'm thankful for this new adventure and what our children will learn from it. -Not to mention it is also a great way to show them how I hope they'll treat me when I'm old. ; )

~Becky

Tornadoes

2011-04-10T11:17:00.000-04:00

I'm a little last posting about this, but a week or so ago we had some severe weather in central Florida. Three tornadoes came through Tampa!

A house a few blocks from ours, had a gigantic oak tree fall down on their house! So awful.

Nathan took a video of the crazy weather happening outside our front door, which I'm not savvy enough to put on the blog. But it is safe to say that there was more water running down our street and in our back yard than any of the hurricanes in years gone by have caused.

The crazy thing for me was that I went to Walmart in calm weather and I came out in calm weather. This is what I missed:

Here's some pictures from the news:

We went two days without seeing the sun, but then it came back and gave us some glorious spring weather. And now, it is feeling a whole lot like summer.

~Becky

Wednesday in the Word

2011-04-06T09:07:00.004-04:00

Here are some quotes that have been on my mind lately:

"When life squeezes you, what comes out?" The works of the flesh or the fruit of the Spirit?

Life has been squeezing me and well, I got some work to do. : )

"If someone were to pay you ten cents for each kind word you ever spoke about others and collect five cents for each unkind word, would you be rich or poor?" Ouch!

I think this verse sums it up:

"Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near." Phil. 4:5

~Becky