Vacation to Remember!

  For the last several years, we have taken our family vacation in Branson at Silver Dollar City. We love spending a few days there. The atmosphere is so family friendly and since we usually go at the end of April, the weather is pretty good. We like taking our family vacations in the late spring to avoid the summer crowds.
  The kids & I have been wanting to go to the ocean for the last couple years. Michael does not like swimming or getting wet too much so he really had no desire to spend much time at the ocean. He loves the view and the sights/sounds of nature, but not the swimming part. He was concerned that the kids would get bored too quickly without the constant busyness of an amusement park. But....he really wanted the kids and me to get to see the ocean while we knew we could, so here we are!

 Day 1 - (Sat): We left home a little before 4am on Saturday. We arrived at our rented condo in Pensacola Beach, FL at 5pm. The trip down went surprisingly quick. David & Alahna were incredibly well behaved. We saw several areas in southern MO and Northern MS that were flooded. As we drove further south through MS we saw several areas of tree damage that appeared to be from the many severe thunderstorms/tornadoes that have hit in recent weeks. Thanks to books, drawing pads and the wonder of technology, we did not hear the age-old -every 20 minutes -trip questions of "Are we there yet?" or "How much longer til we get there?" I think Alahna asked a couple times if we were almost there. Instead we were entertained by Alahna singing with her mp3 player. She played a song by Christian band Mercy Me about 6 times and sang with it so passionately! LOL She was really getting into it.



Here she was reading a poetry book and listening to her music.

 Meanwhile, David was playing with his new iPod Touch that he just bought with his Christmas and birthday money. He was able to take pictures along the way, listen to his own music and play games! He also spent some time drawing.

  After we arrived at the condo and unloaded the car, we took the kids across the road to the beach. Watching their excitement at seeing the ocean was one of my favorite moments of the whole trip. Here is one of my favorite pics:


We made it!

We told the kids they had to wait til the next day to get in the water...well, it didn't quite work out that way. They were thorougly soaked by the time we walked back.

Day 2 (Sun):  First thing after breakfast we went to Walmart for some groceries and miscellaneous items. We had to get extra dollar bills b/c we had to cross a partial toll bridge in order to get to Walmart and an area with more restaurants. It cost $1 each time we went back to the peninsula where our condo was. :) I think we went to Walmart at least 3 times during the week! LOL The rest of the day was spent at the pool and the beach. We did use sunscreen, but didn't reapply b/c of the sand at the beach....and well, we paid for it! Poor Michael suffered the most. David looked the worst because of the white patches on his face where the goggles were! LOL Alahna wasn't burned as bad as they were, but she whined more! :)  We went through over half a bottle of After Sun Aloe gel throughout the week.
 At some point during the week I made everyone line up so I could spray their sunburns with vinegar. It stinks like crazy but definitely helps cool the sunburn. Let me tell you, there is nothing on earth funnier than watching your husband gag while you are spraying vinegar on his sunburn! I laughed so hard! Poor Michael had a towel to cover his mouth and nose and he still gagged and choked from the smell and nearly jumped out of his skin from the cold spray on his burned skin. Alahna cried and threw a fit til Michael had to hold her still while I sprayed her back. She has issues with vinegar b/c I've made her taste it before for being unkind with her words. I promised her she wouldn't taste it, that it just had to go on her back, but she still screamed. David handled it pretty well, and I sprayed my sunburn as well.
  Here's a really funny pic from Sunday.....It was so windy that David's blue swim ring blew away. He had to chase it so far up the beach! It just kept rolling and rolling. It finally rolled up and over the sand dune. I'm not sure if you can see the blue ring up in the grass, but that's what he is chasing! Michael and I could hardly stop laughing. Michael said it would slow down and start to wobble like it would fall and then the wind would catch it again and send it rolling away faster.

David chasing his swim ring

Such fun!

Here comes a wave!

Buried Treasure!

More Buried Treasure!!

Ouch!

Day 3 (Mon): Michael spent a good portion of Monday sleeping. He was so uncomfortable and just physically drained. The kids and I did go to the pool for a little while, and we went to the beach in the early evening just for a walk and to search for sea shell treasures.

Day 4 (Tue): We rushed around to try to get to the Pensacola Naval Air Station in time for the 8:30am Blue Angels practice show. We were told this was great and that there was a free museum on the base a well. So our plans were to watch the air show and visit the museum , then go back to the condo. Well, we were running late (as always!) and after sitting in line to get onto the base we were concerned we would miss the show. Turns out it was some sort of week long Aviation celebration and there were air shows and coastguard demonstrations from 8:30am - 1:00pm!!!! This would explain the crowds that began showing up, and the soldiers selling water and soda! We saw the Blue Angels practice show as well as a Harrier demonstration, some coast guard rescue demonstrations, and a vintage aircraft flyover! Needless to say, we were in the sun much longer than anticipated! I did have the sunscreen with us and we did use it, but we got more burned than we already were! Our necks were burned because we spent so much time looking up in the sky at the aircraft.

Michael showing Alahna where to look. David taking pics!

Sleepy girl...tired of waiting. 

Thankful for technology! He got tired of waiting too.

The Blue Angels were so worth the wait!

They were amazing!

After the air show and museum we stopped for dinner at Whataburger and collapsed back at the condo. We didn't bother going to the beach that day. I must say, the burger at Whataburger was good....but their chicken rated right up there with Chik-fil-A!! It was YUMMY!

Day 5 (Wed): This was a much cooler morning. We took an early morning stroll on the beach and found much more treasure. Here are a few pics from Wednesday:

Looking for sea shells

 This was the day we tried to build sand castles!
 We didn't do too well, but it was fun trying!

We did use a beach umbrella one day. We were in need of the shade.

Cleaned up and ready for dinner.

Little Beach Princess

I loved their water tower!

Interesting house we saw while out for a drive

Look at the small trees by driveway! Too funny!

Day 6 (Thu): Much more time spent just playing in the sand, watching the water and enjoying our time together. We rented a movie for the evening and had a family movie night. We watched the new Yogi Bear movie. It was so funny!

Day 7 (Fri): This was probably one of the best days! All week it had been so windy and the waves were pretty active in the Gulf. The warning flag system they use at the beach was flying a yellow flag all week, which meant use caution when swimming. There was a chance for rip currents possible, so we kept the kids pretty close while in the water all week. We didn't go out very far on the Gulf side until Friday. The flag was green, which meant it was safe for swimming, and the water was so calm and so much fun! We went out much further. We were out over waist deep and could still see our feet the water was so clear. This was also the day we got to see dolphins! (well, their fins! LOL) I had been hoping all week for a sighting of dolphins. A couple times I thought I saw movement way out in the distance, but it was so quick I couldn't be sure. On Friday while we were at the beach we saw about 4 dolphin fins going past, quite a ways out from where we were, but much closer than we had seen before. From what I read about the difference between shark and dolphin fins, I'm pretty sure they were dolphins! :) Let's hope so anyway!

our dolphin sighting

my Sweety & me

David

Add caption

David & Alahna loved burying themselves in the sand.

Alahna

Life's greatest treasure.....My Family!

This was such a memorable trip. It was such a blessing to enjoy our time together the way we did. No rushing around except for one morning. No set schedules for anything. Michael was surprised at how much he enjoyed the down time. I think it was good for all of us. David and Alahna played so well together all week. They actually play pretty well together at home most of the time.

One of the best parts.....I was able to do laundry while there and came home with suitcases full of CLEAN laundry! I was loving that! 

 We don't know what tomorrow will bring, so we will enjoy today and cherish each moment we have together.

Easter Sunday

  We had a wonderful day today. I had breakfast ready at 7:30AM. WOW! It was delicious, if I do say so myself! Sausage gravy and biscuits. Mmm, Mmm!
 We actually managed getting a family picture done before we went to church AND made it to church ON TIME!!! Miracles DO happen! LOL

Our Family 

 Church service was great. The Choir Contata was wonderful. The songs and narration had me in tears several times. I love singing the Easter songs! We actually got to sing a hymn today! ;-) The kids left church with WAY too much candy. We (Michael & I) were raiding their candy supply before we got out of the church parking lot. LOL David was not as happy to share with us as Alahna was. I'm thinking the candy supply will come in handy for our vacation that is coming up soon.

  We spent the afternoon at Mom's house. Her little apartment was pretty full, and it was pretty hectic for a while, but the time together was very enjoyable. I had a short sister time with Carla while we watched the kids play out on the sidewalk.

Carla, Ronni, Me

        I love spending time with my little sisters!!! but I sure do miss my two older sisters!!!!!!!
                                                        I love you Joy & Lisa!

 I really enjoyed the hour or so that I snuggled with my youngest niece Chloe.  She is 3 months old and I think I was starting to feel some baby fever. LOL I'm sure it will be gone tomorrow. :-)

Chloe - my brother Jason's first child

  The most memorable moment of the day though was when I looked over and noticed that my little baby boy (who has seemed to age so much lately) was no longer with the youngest group of kids in the family. He was standing right in the midst of the "guys" (his daddy and uncles) talking about a video game they all like to play.

 It was just one of those very brief moments in time that grab your attention and burn an imprint in your mind. That moment in itself was like a transition in my mind of who he is growing to be and that he really is not just a little boy any more. I know he is still a little boy, but not a preschool little boy. He is inching closer and closer to that big "A" word..... Adolescence! Again, I realize he just turned 10, but I see so many ways that he is maturing and changing. Life just keeps changing and I am trying to keep up. 

  Alahna spent the whole afternoon playing with Kynzie. They are so sweet to watch when they are together.

Kynzie & Alahna (just 6 months apart in age)

 I love that my children have cousins so close in age to them. I hope and pray they will always stay close. I remember playing with our cousins when we were children, but we have not stayed close over the years. I want my children to know their aunts, uncles and cousins and be close to them. We did not have that as children and now we really don't "know" our aunts & uncles or cousins. Well, except for a couple cousins who make it easy to get to know them online! ;-) I'm loving that! I'm finding that they are some fantastic young women. I can't believe I actually babysat them at one time and now they are all grown up, married and have children!

   Somehow I ended up the family photographer today. Got some great photos of my siblings and their families and my mama! Here's some of my family:

Jessica & Justin

My little Brothers
"The Boys" - Jesse, Jason, Joshua, Justin

Jesse, Ronni, Jason, Justin, Joshua

Carla, Brent, Warren, Kynzie

The Boys and Ronni

What a gift these lives have been to our family! God does all things for a reason. He had a purpose for building our family the way He did. Let me tell you, there is never a dull moment when these guys are together.  I try to refer to the boys as the "guys" or the "men", but it just always ends up being "the boys". 

Looks like they really love their baby sister! LOL She adores her big brothers! Well... most of the time!

Melissa, Chloe, Jason
Tyler, Kylie

Ronni & Mom

As I look at these photos I am reminded how very blessed my life has been. Some people never know the joy of having siblings. I am so glad that my parents listened to God's calling in their life to be foster parents. I admire my mom for all that she has given of herself over the years. Our home was always open to anyone who needed a place to call home. It was not always peachy; many times were quite trying and downright ugly. But God blesses our efforts and always provides. He definitely has blessed our family and has always been faithful. Even when things were so dark, the blessings were hard to see, He has blessed our family with His presence. I love to remember back to the first time I saw the faces of my brothers and sisters. I can remember each time with each child distinctly. With  most of them I can remember where we were and how I felt meeting each one for the first time. They were all so little. Maybe I'll make a post about all that sometime.

This post has become long enough. I must get to sleep. We have an incredibly long and busy day tomorrow. David and Alahna will be in "The Wizard of Oz" tomorrow evening. David will be playing the part of the Wizard. Alahna will be a munchkin and a flying monkey! :) 

Follow the yellow brick road. Follow the yellow brick road. Ready? We're off to see the Wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Oz! 

New traditions, old hymns, and sweet teaching moments

 We are trying to come up with our own family traditions for Easter. So today we repeated what we did last year. The kids and I had a time of communion and feet washing. We used our Resurrection Eggs and the Bible to go through the events from the Palm Sunday donkey ride into Jerusalem all the way through the resurrection. We used saltine crackers and grape juice today! Last year we used a slice of a deli flat bread and broke it to share between the three of us. We use one cup of grape juice and share it. We pray and talk about the meaning of all of it, and then we wash feet. I wash the children's feet and they each wash one of mine. :) And today, we all had dirty feet! LOL Although they think it's lots of fun, they worry that I'll take too long praying or going over Scriptures (I guess they know me a little too well!), but I did good today and kept it brief and to the point. After we finished washing feet we went to the piano and we sang some great old hymns. David balked at first, saying he hates the old hymns. He hasn't heard them in church for the last 3 years, I don't know why he would say that. (eye roll from me) I occasionally try to teach them a hymn or two here at home. But, once we got started, he seemed to enjoy it. He was singing along with me and it sounded so sweet.  We sang "The Old Rugged Cross", "Are you Washed in the Blood", "There is Power in the Blood", and "Up From the Grave".  Alahna sang a little but she was being a bit stubborn and didn't try much. Some day they will appreciate those wonderful songs!
 I asked Michael and the kids what they wanted for breakfast tomorrow. No one really gave input besides David, so I'll be getting up extra early to make sausage gravy and biscuits. I usually never COOK breakfast on Sundays. The kids get poptarts or fruit bars on Sunday mornings. But I so very fondly remember the early Easter morning sunrise services and BIG breakfast afterwards. So even though I'll probably regret it tomorrow morning, I'm going to make sure my kids get to have fun memories of doing something special and different on Easter Sunday. I realize it has no spiritual significance, but having special family traditions only makes for more sweet family memories. And I want to make as many of those as possible. My mom managed to raise us with so many wonderful family memories. In spite of having a broken/combined/imperfect, often loud, sometimes fighting but very LOVING and very active family I have so many fun and sweet memories.

 It's interesting to me how teaching moments just pop up completely unexpected. I try to use  the opportunities given and make the best use of them. Sometimes these moments are educational and other times they are spiritual in nature. Just this evening we had a spiritual teaching moment with Alahna.
 Just as I was walking down the stairs into the living room, I saw Alahna run through and head for the door to the garage. She turned around when I asked her what she was doing and I saw that she was chewing on something. So naturally, (since she just finished a pack of peanut butter crackers and dinner was cooking) I asked her what she was eating. Guilt and fear instantly washed over her face. I told her to come to me and tell me what she was eating. She stopped by her dad's desk and bent over for a moment before coming to me. Finally, after assuring her that I just needed to know what she was eating, she told me she was eating a starburst. She had taken it from the pantry without permission. I told her we needed to tell Daddy what she had done. Let me say here, it's amazing the impact that a father has on his kids. Our kids care so much about what their daddy thinks. They always want to please him and I love to watch them interact together. I knew that for her, just having to confess to her daddy what she had done would be punishment enough. So as we are walking past the desk again to go see him in the garage, she stops at the desk and reaches under for something. She had hidden another piece of candy under there so I wouldn't see that she had two pieces! This was clear evidence that she knew that taking the candy was wrong. So now at this point I was very disappointed that not only had she stolen candy, she had been deceitful in hiding another piece. We had a chat with her daddy and we expressed our disappointment in what she had done. Michael then went back to his work as Alahna and I sat on the couch and talked. I explained to her that taking things without permission(stealing) and being dishonest or deceitful would bring darkness into her heart. I told her that allowing those things in repeatedly would crowd Jesus out. (This in no way implies that she would lose her salvation, just that she can't have lots of sin and Jesus in her heart at the same time. Just to make the illustration for a 5 yr old.) I explained that sin brings darkness and we can't have darkness and light at the same time. She understands that Jesus brings light and she then said, "I want to have light". Let me also clarify here that 2 years ago this very perceptive little girl asked Jesus to be her savior at church camp. I fully believe she understands and has a faith in Jesus. There were a few times that, as I would make a statement about what the Bible teaches, she would light up and say "I learned that in my class at church". How great to know her teachers there are making an impact and she remembers what they teach! We then prayed. First I prayed for her to have courage to confess her sin to God and for her to be able to make choices that would keep the darkness away. Then she prayed. How I love those moments with my kids.

 I put my kids to bed WAY later than planned. Then they keep finding reasons to get back up. I'm sure the excitement about tomorrow is partly to blame. David knew he would have trouble going to sleep so when he prayed at bedtime he asked God to help him get to sleep. :) I love to hear my children pray. Sometimes it's a quick, generic, "thank you for today, thank you for my mom & dad, amen", but other times, it's so heartfelt and precious, I just try to soak in the words and memorize them. That's how it was tonight with Alahna. This was her prayer: "Thank you God for this day, thank you for my mommy & daddy. Thank you for your presence you have given us and for your glory and for all the work you do above for us. And please help us have fun tomorrow. Oh and thank you for my mom and that she is so good to us." WOW!!! She always smiles really big at me when she prays for me or mentions me in a more specific way. I love it!

 I also REALLY LOVE  celebrating Easter Sunday. It's one of my favorite days of the year. So I must go for tonight so I can get up and make that yummy breakfast for my family in the morning. I thought about putting Alahna's hair in rollers, but decided to save myself the stress! I bought her a new hat for tomorrow, so it would just smash her curls anyway. I showed her all my old hats I used to wear to church and I told her I might wear a hat tomorrow too. :) It's been a while. I hope to get a good family picture of us sometime tomorrow. Can't wait to visit with my younger siblings and Mom!

 That's all for now!

Here Goes.....Just a little of this, little of that.

 I have thought for a long time about starting a blog....for various reasons. It seems to be a way for family members to get a little insight into our lives, I mean you can't share every detail on the phone....believe me I've tried over the years. Just ask my mom and older sisters! LOL I am sure there were many times they tired of hearing me share minute details of our lives. Especially once the kids were born. :)
 Sometimes at night I want a place to tell about what the kids have done, maybe share my thoughts, and if no one ever reads it, that's fine by me. I just need a place to record some things, and I get tired of trying to write in a journal. After a while my hand gets tired and my writing becomes very messy!
 I plan to write about my kids, my hubby, our life as a family, maybe some deeper thoughts (don't worry...they don't go too deep!). Maybe I'll share some pics so far away family members can see how quickly my kiddos are growing up and keep up a little.

 So....the first milestone to record, is that just last Sunday, on the 17th of April, we celebrated David's 10th birthday. We actually celebrated all weekend! We took brownies to our homeschool workshops on Friday to share with our friends at lunch and they all sang to him. He had a friend over to spend the night on Friday, then another friend came to spend the day on Saturday. Of course we had to have cake & ice cream with both friends here. On Sunday afternoon, while the weather was beautiful, we took a family bike ride on Grant's Trail. We had a great time, rode 9 miles and wore ourselves out!
 I find myself watching David so often. I see him growing up right before my eyes and I am a very proud mama! Sometimes I worry that I push him too hard, or that I expect too much of him, but I trust that God will give me wisdom each day as I do my best to teach and nurture this wonderful young life. David and I have always had a very close and special bond. He, from a very young age, has always been very nurturing himself. Anytime I am sick or really tired or just feeling down, he does what he can to take care of me. He is very caring and serving when he sees any of us in need. He is so sensitive and smart and funny! He is such a joy to be with.
  I hope he never outgrows his mama's hugs. Most of all, what I desire for him as he grows up is to always follow Jesus. I hope and pray that I can show him how to live his faith every day.

 Now...to record a precious moment....Alahna loves to make up songs about God and sing them to me. (I really need to get her on video singing one of her songs. It's great!) She came to me this evening as I was cooking dinner and asked if she could sing a song to me that she just made up. I, of course, told her to please sing for me. The name of her song was "Glory to God" and I loved it! I was laughing so hard inside. Just watching her sing with her toy microphone and the way she moved while she sang....oh, it was hilarious! Her songs almost always are about God or Jesus and His love for us. I guess she's learning, huh? :) She makes me so proud!

 That's all for now. I really need to go to sleep. No school today! YAY!! I am planning to have a time of communion and feet washing with the kids later today as we talk about Jesus and the reason we are celebrating this Sunday. We did it last year and we really enjoyed it. I am so blessed.