Our craft building

This is how it all began in October of 2008

With the help of Russ' folks we began work in earnest

The floor is down. End of day 1

The walls go up

The roof goes on

And it finally looks like a building

We got it painted Memorial Day 2009.
This building is 12ft by 48 ft. It houses an office, workout space, sewing area, jewelry making areas, bead making areas, oil painting area, and a scrapbooking area. We also have storage space for each craft. It's a dream come true! Finally we don't have to clear off the craft supplies off the dining table so we can eat!

Duckies!

While Russ and I were enjoying our anniversary picnic (tomorrow makes 18 years together), along came a momma duck and her babies. They were SOOOOOO cute!

Pix from the water park

Kerrie shivering....Dad Laughing


Mykhal wishing dad wouldn't block the sun
Lunch....
Yum!
Top of the Caribean Swing
A brave soul harnessed up
On his way to the top
On your mark, get set,...
GO!!! swinging through the two towers
And back again.
Better him than me. We watched them send two and three people up at a time....UGH! NO THANK YOU!!!

Cold waterpark weekend

We did get up to Arlington and to the water park. Our drive up was cold and rainy, but we were behind the worst of the rain so it wasn't too bad. Then we met up with my folks and Russ' folks for dinner....good food and good company! Lex had no desire to go play in the water so she went home with Russ' folks for the night. She took schoolwork to get ahead on during Sunday. Sunday morning dawned slightly overcast, but the sun soon broke through and began to warm the air. We had a leisurely morning since the park didn't open until 10:30. I did take pictures as I promised I would, but I don't have a cable for this camera nor a reader for the card so the pics will have to wait. The sun was warm and the sunning chairs were quite inviting....so Russ and I sat while Mykhal and Kerrie went off to play in the icy cold water. Watching every one's reaction to the water was highly entertaining as we sat in the nice warm sun. The kids checked in periodically so all was good. We did get to witness further entertainment with a short jump rope team display, and one of the wildest rides I've ever seen! They had three towers and cables hanging between two and a wench on the third. People were hooked up to the cables in a hang glider harness and pulled up to the top of the third tower about 250 feet in the air. They pulled a rip cord releasing the wench cable and away the swung! FLYING at the ends of the other cables. It was just a huge swing....but what a wild ride! No I didn't want to go up....but yes I did get pix. We left the park about 3 in the afternoon with the kids shivering in the breeze. After showering we met up with Lex and Russ' folks for a steak dinner. It was a whirlwind weekend, but it was fun! Good to be back home again though. I'll get pix posted as soon as I can get things figured out. Now it's back to the grindstone tomorrow morning! Blessings!

Birthday

What a glorious day it has been! I am so richly blessed with so many wonderful friends and family members!! I have had numerous emails, phone calls, texts, and posts to my homeschool lounge page. God is sooooo Good!!

Happy Mother's Day!

As I sit here thinking about it being Mother's day, reasons I'm proud of my kids start to come to mind. They are growing so fast. But they are becoming incredible young adults. They are learning to use their words to truly communicate with each other (instead of crying and screaming), with us (instead of whining), and with their God. Without being prompted, each of them is seeking a place to serve in the church. Their desire to give from the heart is truly evidencing itself. Their understanding of the world, and their faith, and the difference their faith has on their world and the world around them is growing by leaps and bounds. I am so greatly blessed by my children. And yes I'm going to make sure they read this so they know how proud I am that they are mine.
I had many people today hug me and ask deeply how I am. I know they were truly asking how I am feeling on this first Mother's day after our precious Nathan went to his Heavenly home. I was able to smile and squeeze them back assuring them that I am doing fine. No I'm not lying nor in denial. I sit here with tears rolling down my face as I write this, and I am blessed. I got to hold and enjoy that precious baby for 2 and a half years. And now I rejoice in those memories.
....and more importantly I keep making happy memories with my other three children. As the song "Cinderella" says "...so I'll dance with Cinderella while she is here in my arms, 'cause I know something the prince never knew, oh I'll dance with Cinderella, I don't want to miss even one song, 'cause all too soon the clock will strike midnight...and she'll be gone."
I sit here this Mother's day thinking also of the family yet to come. Yes, there's the next generation part of that, but as we are looking into adopting in the near future I think about the children who will be ours. And I pray, I pray that God will protect their hearts and help them to have hope of a better future...pray that God will begin their healing now.
So on this Mother's day, I hope you are "dancing" with your child(ren)! And that you will keep dancing and making memories! God Bless!!!

I am so glad that this school year is nearing an end! There's light at the end of the tunnel!! We will continue to do some schooling through the summer months just so we don't lose our "groove". But with Church camps, park days, weekends with family, and mini vacations we just don't have time for a full course load. And then of course there are the projects on the house we want to work on too.
Kerrie recently participated in Jump Rope for Heart through our homeschool co-op. She raised over $150 dollars on her own, contributing to the over $1700 total that was raised by the dozen or so participants. By raising that amount, Kerrie earned 2 free passes to Hurricane Harbor water park in Arlington. They are having a special day for just the JumpRope for Heart kids and families on May 17th. So we are going. Hopefully we will get to touch base with family while we are up there, but the details on that will have to be worked out quickly! I'm sure I'll have pictures to post after that weekend!
Time for me to go get ready to pick up our weekly produce! Have a blessed day and weekend everyone!

Keeping up...well with the rest of you!

I can't say I'm keeping up with the Jones' since I am one....but I've finally joined the fun and have myself a blog.