A quick update

I really haven't fallen off the face of the earth...but life gets busy, schedules change, and some things get put on the back burner, so to speak.
Lots of things have changed since my last post--

• I returned to teaching in the classroom in August, 2013
• My kids started Christian School at the same time
• Grandma went to Heaven on October 16, 2013
• We saw God's faithfulness to us during the loss of my husband's job
• My parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary last year (July 2015)
• Mom had to move into an assisted living facility in July 2015
• Dad joined her in February 2016
• We have taken several trips up to the Northeast section of the U.S. and have loved it!
• "R" is now a Junior in High School; also has her learner's permit!
• "D" is now a 6th grader and in Junior High
• "S" is now a 2nd grader
• Our church celebrated her 35th anniversary in June--we had lots of food, fellowship, preaching, inflatables, and fireworks!
• Oh, we love summer!  =)

I know there is lots that I haven't written about, but one last thought is that God is good, all the time!

A Summer 2012 Recap

Wow! How time flies...I certainly did not intend to be gone from my blog for such a long time! It's good to be back.  :)

Summer 2012~this involves lots of pictures  :)

June~

• the family schedule relaxed
•  vegetable garden was a few weeks old

• my youngest daughter was promoted to my Sunday School class  :)
• my son finished first grade and was excited for summertime!
• my oldest daughter finished sixth grade and was thrilled for time off
• we went on an overnight trip with Grandma to Williamsburg to celebrate her birthday
• when we got back to her house, the "clubhouse" had been delivered and set in place

• the kids and I went with some friends to the zoo--it was a gorgeous day!
• Hubbie and I had a few days to ourselves while the kids visited Grandma and Grandpa--we even toured a Harley-Davidson factory

• a super strong storm went through the area (durecho), but thankfully, we kept our power and had no damage to our property. Others in our area were not so fortunate...
• play date with sweet friends

July~

• our family marched with our church in our local 4th of July parade

• we watched some beautiful fireworks and enjoyed the gorgeous weather
• celebrated my mom's birthday and my parent's 47th anniversary

• play dates with friends
• we visited Appomattox Court House (where General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant, which ended the Civil War)

• "R" went to church camp for five days
• "D" got to have some fun days with friends while his big sister was away
• a friend of ours had very successful cancer surgery--PRAISE THE LORD!
• my niece, Anna, got to visit for a little while  :)
• some cute ranch hands came to visit for the day

August~

• Hubbie and I had a few days to ourselves while the kids visited Nanny and Poppy  :)
• we drove on the Skyline Drive--it was beautiful!

• "S" tried corn on the cob for the first time

• another play date with some friends
• school started the last Tuesday of the month--"R" is in 7th, "D" is in 2nd, and "S" is in preschool

• we finished cleaning out and organizing our storage room--oh, what a nice feeling!

September~

• the family visited Gettysburg National Military Park for two days, where the kids earned their "Junior Ranger" patches and certificates

• while in the park, we climbed an observation tower, and could see the beautiful Pennsylvania countryside with a 360 degree view

• "D" lost his first tooth
• our church had a wonderful Missions Conference--Our theme this year was "Missions Makes A Difference"

What a wonderful summer the Lord gave us! I am so very thankful for great memories and sweet fellowship with friends and family.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a blessed day!

We Never Forget

When someone touches your life, you never forget that person or what they did for you...my nephew, Darrell, has been in Heaven for 7 years...July 8th will always be a bittersweet day.

We love you and miss you, Darrell! We cannot wait to see you again! Heaven's sounding sweeter every day! 

School, Fall, and Remembering

SCHOOL~Our school year has officially started...R and D have been in school for over two weeks and things are going well! We have had the smoothest start to this year. God has been so good to us!

While R does her DVD's upstairs, I work with D and S in the basement (S is only two, so you can probably figure out how much she "works"). Our schedule is structured, which I LOVE, but we are also doing some fun things throughout the week.

• Monday evening, we visited a local state park--what a gorgeous evening!
• On Tuesday, we had our first homeschool meeting and had a great turnout (9 families in all!) 
• Our church is preparing for Missions Conference next week and it is the highlight of our year
• Aunt Beth, Caroline, and Quinn came over yesterday for a fun lunch visit

FALL~I think fall has arrived, although the calendar says it won't arrive until next week. Last night was COLD! It was raining and cool, and guess who forgot to take her jacket with her when she went out? me! We had the heater on in the car and everyone loved it! When we got home, the kids wanted their warm PJ's, but the only one who got them was S because R and D's are still packed in storage containers. It might be time to pull those bins.  :)

I have placed all the fall decorations and they are so pretty! Did you know that I love this time of year? ;) I will be creating a new fall wreath for the front door and found some really beautiful accessories for it at Hobby Lobby. I'll post a picture once it gets finished.

REMEMBERING~Today, September 16th, would be my nephew, Darrell's 21st birthday...how time flies...He has been in Heaven since July 2005, and I know my brother and sister-in-law miss him terribly. We all know we will see him again! Thank You, Jesus, for the promise of eternal life in Heaven!

Thanks for stopping by today...here's a picture from our state park visit...we stayed until the very latest possible. Right before we left, Hubbie captured this beautiful shot. Now that I see it uploaded, he captured the "Blue Hour".   :)  Have a wonderful day!

An Earthquake, a family day, a Bible Bee, and a hurricane~

WOW! is all I can say as I think back over the last seven days. God's power is amazing. The power of His creation is unbelievable!

Last Tuesday, I took the kids for a picnic lunch to a local park...and while we were under one of the pavilions, the ground started shaking. At first I thought it was the Marine Corps base in our area, but the shaking kept coming, and then the pavilion started moving back and forth. We quickly moved out from under it...I tried to call my Hubbie, but cell calls wouldn't go through...anyway, we were all safe, and the earthquake didn't do any damage to our home.

On Thursday, 8/25, Hubbie had the day off, so we were able to have one last "family day" before school started. We decided to head to a museum and lunch and...you'll see from all the pictures.   :)

~Hubbie's meal~

~my meal~

~the museum~

~one of the planes hanging from the ceiling~

~my sweet kiddos~

~Go, Marines!~

~an amazing adventure!~

~the size of the space shuttle was incredible!~

~one more picture of the shuttle~

~aren't these fascinating?~

~soaring~

Then, it was on to...

~one happy gal~

It was a beautiful day for our family...lots of great memories, too!

On Friday, we were making our final preparations for Hurricane Irene to come for a Saturday visit. Thankfully, we just got some much needed rain and some wind. We never lost power, although a cousin who lives a few hours south of us, was without power for 54 hours! We had some branches down in the back yard, but we were fine.

On Saturday, "R" participated in the local contest of the Bible Bee. She had worked hard all summer studying I Peter and memorizing verses. She placed 3rd at the local bee, and we are so proud of her!

Today, we're making our final preparations for the start of school tomorrow! Have a happy Tuesday!

Valentine's Day and a few other days

Happy Wednesday to you! I cannot believe it has been two weeks since I last blogged! Life is certainly busy enough, but I need to do better at recording my family's memories every day! Here's a quick recap so I don't forget...

On Friday, 2/4, we met my parents at a fun country market and did some shopping, and then went out to dinner together.

Saturday, 2/5, we had several activities at church so we stayed busy. We had our visitation program and basketball league for "R".

On Monday, 2/7, I spent getting our house ready for guests the next day. That evening, I attended my Ladies' Group meeting...and had Mexican food...we all brought something to the meal to share. We had chicken enchiladas and beef enchiladas, spanish rice, a delicious soup, 7 layer dip, and Pioneer Woman's tres leches cake.

Tuesday, 2/8, we were busy with our homeschool Valentine party! What fun we had and there were 32 of us in the house! Some of the kids participated in a valentine exchange and that was a lot of fun for them. There was lots of food. I am a planner, so we had party food--bbq meatballs, two different types of chips and dip, fruit with dip, cupcakes, brownies, fudge cake, cookies, candy, and drinks. Everyone seemed to have a good time! The kids all did really well with their "literary" presentations. Moms and kids alike had lots of good fellowship!

Wednesday, 2/9, my sister-in-law came over for lunch and brought her two little ones with her. We had a good time of talking and the kids played well together. My youngest cut her fingernail about halfway down into her nail, so she and I spent an hour or so at the doctor's office while Hubbie took "R" and "D" to church that night...

Thursday, 2/10, my youngest niece came over for a few hours while her parents ran an errand. What fun to watch my oldest learning how to take care of others...she does well with the little ones!

Then, Friday, 2/11, Hubbie had off and we worked on our bedroom some, went out to eat, and "S" went to Grandma's for the night.

Saturday, 2/12, was another basketball league day...the red and blue teams were tied until the very last seconds of the game...and the blue team came away with the win. The girls (and their parents) were so very excited! Go BLUE!

On Sunday, 2/13, our church celebrated "Sweetheart Sunday" and the messages in the AM and PM service were both on "The Invisible Part of Marriage", based on Psalm 1:1-3. I came away from those messages encouraged and challenged to not listen to the world about how my marriage should be...not to listen to ungodly counsel...it was good! After the PM service, we had a dessert fellowship and all the men were supposed to make the desserts! There were some really yummy things! Hubbie made brownies, then covered them with a layer of cream cheese (mixed with crushed Mint Oreo cookies), then chocolate pudding on top of that, followed by a layer of whipped topping...it was delicious!

Then our Valentine's Day~I'll show you in pictures.  :) I think we would all agree~we had a very lovely day!

~breakfast~

pancakes with valentine sprinkles

sausage cut in the shape of hearts

pink milk

 ~pink milk was a definite "hit"~

 ~for a more grown-up palette~  ;)

 ~Valentine's table~

~a dozen roses from my sweetheart~

 ~enjoying breakfast~

~excited about his meal~

~she loved her pink milk~

~one of the valentine decorations and kid's cards~

 ~new Valentine's apron~

~bag full of my favorite scent from Bath & Body~

japanese cherry blossom  :)

~huge rose from Hubbie~

over three feet tall!

 ~Grandma came over after breakfast,

Hubbie and I went out for some shopping,

talking, and fun together! We ate an early Valentine's dinner

at The Cheesecake Factory~

cajun chicken littles

~orange chicken~

 ~we ended our day with a slice of

Reese's chocolate peanut butter cheesecake~

delicious!

But, most of all, I thoroughly enjoyed spending the day with my sweetheart! I hope you enjoyed your day!