G is 11!!

I can hardly believe that our little girl is 11?!!! I still remember the raw emotion of hearing the doctor say,"It's a girl" and the utter joy to be experiencing pink bows and lace in the midst of our Tonka trucks and mud!! G is becoming a young lady and I feel so blessed to be her mom. We hosted a "Minute to Win It" themed party for G---what a blast it was! Mimi also hosted a gathering at her home and Grandmom and Pop-Pop B joined us...what a fun day we had together. So thankful to be a mom to this brood :)

G with her 2 sets of godly grandparents...how blessed we are!

Mimi and G with her piano cake creation~

G had such fun picking out party favors, and Mimi surprised her with handmade 'snap purses' for each of the girls

Dizzy Mummy game~The girls had to wrap themselves in a roll of toilet paper without ripping it...harder than it sounds!

"Face the Cookie" This game is a hoot...the girls have to get the cookie to their mouth without use of any other body parts...they have to move their heads and facial muscles to get the cookie into their mouth...some girls got close but no one was quite able to do it ...the best part? eating the cookie of course!

"Junk in the trunk"--the girls had to bounce 8 ping pong balls out of the tissue box attached to their waist.

"Hanky Panky" Each girl had to empty a tissue box as fast as they could with one hand...the dust was amazing especially when after the boxes were emptied, they tossed the mess of tissues into the air!

It killed me to waste all these tissues so I saved them in a trash bag and have been shoving handfuls of mangled tissues in our tissue boxes around the house for over a month now with no end in sight! My wise hubby told me to put the bag in the garage...he'll use them for clean up with oil changes. We are all relieved to have neat tissue boxes again :)

It was a fun night...I'm so grateful G is growing up with so many sweet friends!

Just after this picture was taken, the majority of the girls piled into our huge van and I taxied them all home...believe me the party continued until the last girl was dropped home!

Celebrating Daddy's birthday

In March we celebrated my hubby's birthday with a visit from Grandmom and Pop-Pop B. I am so grateful for my husband's diligent example in our home, for how faithfully provides for us, and for his commitment to raising our children in godliness. I am a blessed woman!

Everyone got in on the preparations...peeling 10# of potatoes...to go along with the meatloaf I prepared and froze earlier in the month....the meatloaf that I thought was fully defrosted but took hours to cook all the way through! Thankfully, I have understanding inlaws who don't judge me by my cooking blunders ...it tasted great-finally!

The floor and cabinets were covered in potato peels but these guys were a huge help in getting the job done!!

Pop Pop has taught Odesco how to play a mean game of checkers.... they always have a match during their visits and Pop-Pop usually wins:)

Mercy had the grand idea to get Daddy a new shredder-yeah, I know, sort of like getting a vacuum as an anniversary gift BUT, my hubby truly appreciates these kinds of gifts...we use shredded paper to start our wood burning stove and our old one bit the dust. She was so proud of her practical and useful gift idea!

Mercy and Odesco in their glory... singing "The Red River Valley" as G accompanied on the piano...

Even Pop-Pop got into the song...it was hysterical listening to them all!

Let's just say, they (Mercy and Odesco) could use a little practice--Daddy and Pop-Pop sounded pretty good! :) P and C seriously wear these headphones throughout the day in order to get their schoolwork done in peace (well, maybe not peace but at least the decibel level is dimmed a bit! )

The gang :)

Catching up...

We have been changing things around on our computer and until yesterday, I was unable to access any of my photos. Since this is a family archive that I hope to print out for everyone one day (in my spare time :), I need to play catch up and post a ton of happenings. These are a conglomeration of pictures taken at various times...

PEACE :)
We were studying the 60's movement and I convinced some of the kiddos to dress up for a coop I was teaching to the older students. Mercy certainly looked authentic, don't you think? They came into the class handing out flowers and peace necklaces ...

G actually made this skirt with Mimi...cool, huh?

Mod Squad flashbacks?

Odesco sure looks like a cool dude...but he bailed on me at the last minute and did not dress up for the class~ I can't blame him...there were other kids there playing ball outside!

Then there was the bin of costumes loaned to us for our annual Summation event...can you guess who Scooby Doo is??

These 2 were hysterical in these costumes!

The theme for this year's Summation/youth-parent banquet was Disney...
C is surely secure in his manliness and came as Piglet!!

Hundred Acre Wood Buddies....Mimi rescued us once again with costume help after we hit the thriftstores!

My handsome man in the mirror!

Mimi created my costume as well!

Totally unplanned, my old college buddy showed up as the evil witch!
I was awed at the creativity displayed at this event...the decorations, the themed food, the creative skits and the costumes were just amazing!!

Thanks for checking in on this very delinquent blogger!!!

Love,
Mama B

And God is Able...

The other morning when I went for my morning run I was on my porch stretching and inwardly lamenting that winter had returned after a few 'teaser' days. It was freezing again. My thoughts were interrupted by the beautiful trills of a songbird accompanied by the background chirping and peeps of many other feathered friends. I was thinking,"Don't these birds realize spring is gone?...it's winter again!" As I ran, I felt the Lord instructing my heart. There was a lesson in this for me. Surely those birds could feel the frigid temperature yet they continued to sing on.

It made me think: how often am I more affected by the 'climate' around me than trusting in the promises of God? In a given day, there always seem to be someone who is 'off'(often it is my heart that needs major adjusting!) Sometimes two are off simultaneously...a few minutes later, it could be a different combination altogether...add into this homeschool lessons, chores, meal prep, doctors appointments, choosing curriculum for next year, and my heart can be so tempted to unbelief, anger, discouragement, and weariness. Yet this is what rang out in my mind as I continued to think on this even today...Lord what is it you are trying to say?
And God is able...
He reminded me of one of my favorite 'medicine for the soul verses'
1 Corinthians 9:8
And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.

So He has promised that He is able to make His grace abound in me...I have all I need to do the job He has called me to. What a comfort!

Oh, how I long to be more like that songbird singing forth praise when the climate around me is less than spring like. When I am tempted to be discouraged by character issues in my heart or in one of our children or when I am tempted to fret due to an unending 'to do' list... let me sing on knowing that God is able.

Fifth and Final Florida Post....the trek home:)

The trek home was actually another adventure. Mimi and Pop-Pop purchased auto-train tickets for the kids' birthday and Christmas gifts this year. It was so nice knowing at the end of our Florida trip we did not have to endure another 19 hour car ride through the night :) We arrived early at the loading station in Sanford, Florida so we headed to the local mall for a meal in the food court. That in itself was an event as we rarely eat out and here each person could choose whatever meal suited their fancy! Then we headed over to the station to line up for check in on the train. Once checked in, we waited in the station (which is under construction) and then boarded the train. We all settled in to our seats and were blessed to be in an almost empty car so we were able to each take up 2 seats if we wanted to stretch out. We had dinner and breakfast on the train....there's even a snack car with tables for playing games, reading etc. The kids thought it was such fun to be able to move around the train while we were traveling across the country. They thought the bathroom was pretty cool too! We slept in our seats...and arrived in Maryland on Sunday morning. We were amazed at how quickly they unloaded the vehicles- it was a huge train with 2 decks of cars, vans, and motorcycles...I can't find the pictures I took of that:( It was a great way to end a great trip!!

Waiting in the make shift station for boarding time....

The kiddos and the Amtrak mascot~

All Aboard....we can never 'travel light'

Hanging out in the snack car before the train left the station...we were trying to check emails to no avail...and I could hardly believe they were eating again!!!

G settling in for the long trip home....

The boys kill some time catching a movie on Mimi's personal DVD player...

C chilling with Pop-Pop

Dinner in the Dining Car...

Breakfast...doesn't look like Odesco woke up yet!

To put the van on the train we had to remove the soft luggage carrier... Daddy was having a challenging time getting everything to fit again!

So grateful for God's kindness in allowing us to take this trip!!!

Florida: Part 4-Downtown Disney-

We spent a few hours in "Downtown Disney"... a fun place to people watch and window shop. This was one of the highlights for L and Odesco because it is home to the Lego Store...what fun they had there. Before we left for vacation, a very thoughtful friend brought an envelope over for each of the kiddos with $10 of spending money. I was so touched by her generosity and thoughtfulness! The girls and older boys each chose a shirt or hat as a memento but our little guys spent their money in the Lego store...so many choices...they were almost paralyzed with indecision but finally made their purchases!

We spent quite a bit of time watching this "Red Man" and the crowd he drew. Believe it or not, this is not a statue but a living ,breathing man. It is a riot to watch him because unsuspecting tourists stand next to him for a picture and all of a sudden he very quietly moves. The responses were a hoot to watch. The wild thing is it does not even look as if his eyes are open, yet he is watching the people who come close to him~I can not imagine how he does this for hours on end in the heat and barely moving a muscle...very intriguing!

Mercy is bold but keeping her distance, just in case :)

Later in the evening, P got brave and moved close to him for this pose...watch what Mr. Red Man did....

He changed P's hand position!

The others were keeping their distance!

This is just outside the Lego store....L was so impressed and could not believe it was made entirely of Legos~

Inside the Lego store...so much to see! Even a Lego Woody!!

There is an entire wall of little Lego figures...and this cool magnifier that moves in all directions to help you see the details...

Yep, this is now the header of my blog...this picture 'just happened' as we all had fun trying on the various hats. L is not mad ...he is imitating Donald Duck on his hat!

A fun end to a fun evening!!

Thanks for stopping by :)