Blooming Where We're Planted

Monster Jam 2012

2012-01-22T00:50:00.006-05:00

This truck was made of K'Nex!!

It's that time of the year again and today we went to Monster Jam. Of course, we started yesterday by going around town to meet some of the drivers. Jerry also had some friends go along with us this time...Sammy and Pastor Billy (who said it was on his bucket list to attend a Monster Jam event with Jerry). And our friend Jen got us box seats through her work, complete with snacks, drinks, and a visit from the dessert cart. We had a great time and met lots of drivers and trucks we'd never seen before, including Grave Digger The Legend, Madusa, Bounty Hunter, Scarlet Bandit, and Captain America. As always, Jerry was in heaven. We even tailgated in the parking lot with burgers and hot dogs and other friends beforehand.

Legoland!!!

2012-01-09T21:23:00.003-05:00

We went to Legoland today. It's new to Florida since October and where Cypress Gardens used to be. In fact, many of the rides remained...were just given Lego themes and colors. It was a lot of fun. Probably would not have gone if it weren't for getting homeschool group rates of only $5 per person. Ordinarily, they want Disney prices for a park that's only open from 10 am to 5 pm and can be covered in just one day....shows, rides, shops....everything. Very worth the money for $5 though.

There were 4-D shows, giant minifig men, ski shows, rides, cool Lego displays, and so much more. Everyone had a blast. We could not have asked for better weather or a smaller crowd. We never waited once to ride rides....not more than 5 minutes anyway.

The park is geared more towards younger folks. Needless to say, Jerry, and even Ben, really had a blast. The others liked it too as it was their first time there. For Jerry though, it was better than Disney!

I took a TON of pictures...too many to put all on the blog, but here is a link to my Facebook album. Enjoy! We sure did!

P.S. - If you don't have Facebook, let me know and I'll post some here or e-mail you. Not sure, but I think you can see the pics from this link even without FB!

Legoland 2012 Pictures

Christmas 2011

2011-12-26T20:52:00.009-05:00

Another Christmas gone by already....wow time flies. We had a good holiday with time off from school, the bowling Christmas party, Christmas caroling, a broadway play called The Gospel According to Scrooge, our church's ladies' Christmas brunch, family, friends, and way too many cookies and other sweets!!

The kids started opening presents days before Christmas with packages from up north. We had Aunt Wendy and Uncle Billy and Brett and Sarah over pizza dinner, gifts, and visiting then. On Christmas Eve, we had all of John's family up from Ocala for Christmas dinner and to celebrate Micky's 13th birthday. Then on Christmas Day, we were up at the crack of dawn with a very excited Jerry...who had been counting down the days to Christmas with an advent tree that he had to put ornaments on every day. After church we went to Lynn & Don's (friends) house for dinner and charades. We got home to Aunt Bobbie Jean, Uncle Matt, Sammy, Joshua, and baby Gabriel over for a visit.

All in all, it was a busy, but very very blessed Christmas season. Enjoy the pics!

Christmas at UCF

2011-11-13T15:29:00.007-05:00

We took the kids to the UCF campus in Orlando this past weekend for the opening night of their Christmas season show. They went ice skating, sledding, rode some rides, and just had a great time. It was very cool, especially the ice skating part since that's not something we can do verily easily or naturally here in Florida.

Orlando 2011

2011-10-10T19:15:00.005-04:00

We got out of dodge for a mini family vacation of sorts...a combo need to get away from everything and everyone/19th anniversary trip. We didn't do any themed parks, but found a great rate at a nice hotel (minus the fact that it was next to the interstate). We swam at the hotel pool, went to Old Town and rode the go-karts, went to Downtown Disney (Lego heaven for Jerry), saw the movie Courageous (excellent), spent a day at Daytona beach (jellyfish galore), and even enjoyed the Medieval Times dinner show. Jerry had no voice by the end of those few days between screaming on the go-karts, cheering for the knights jousting and sword fighting at the restaurant, and laughing hysterically in the waves at the beach. Overall, it was a nice time away. Went too fast as always and we're already thinking about the next one sometime the beginning of next year. Hard to think that in 3 1/2 short years, one of our kids will be an adult and probably not be interested in "family" vacations anymore. Gotta take advantage of what time we have left with all of them still at home. Time flies!

Buddy Michaela

2011-10-01T16:21:00.002-04:00

Jerry has played Buddy Baseball for three seasons now and the new one started today. He is on the Bobcats...and so is Michaela! She is buddy to a boy named Chris and she helps him bat, run the bases, play outfield, and wait his turn. She did such a good job. Micky has never been the touchy-feely type, but to see her holding Chris's hand today ad encouraging him was such a blessing. Confirmation that, along with lots of frustration, compassion comes with being Jerry's sister.

International Night

2011-10-01T15:33:00.002-04:00

It was our homeschool group's international night last night and I let the kids be a bit more relaxed with their projects this year and do what they wanted to do. They did what interests them and they did a great job. Jonathan mapped all the U.S. and Canadian baseball teams. Micky mapped out where all of her favorite singers/songwriters were born. Ben used a world map to trace the steps of Jack and Annie from all of the Magic Tree House books. Jeremiah mapped where every Monster Jam driver currently lives in the U.S.

Pappy was here!!!!!!!!!!

2011-07-30T14:39:00.004-04:00

Pappy and Becky came for a visit. It'd been three years since the kids saw pappy and so we were all quite excited. They stayed for five days and we packed lots in. We went to Sea World, Big Top, Lithia Springs, Wiregrass, the beach...whew! We needed a vacation from our vacation after they left! Pappy also surprised the kids with a motor scooter that thrilled Jerry to no end. It was fun, memorable, and way too short of a visit, but we're all counting down the days until we see them again.

VBC 2011 - PandaMania!!!

2011-07-25T15:18:00.008-04:00

VBC was last week. The theme was PandaMania, "Where God Is Wild About You". I was assigned to help my favorite crew leader again, Angela, and Jerry was in our group again too. Most of the crew leaders are youth from the Zephyrhills FUMC and this church just has the neatest youth group...no offense S.T.O.M.P. Michaela was a crew leader this year too since she was officially too big for VBC :( She enjoyed being a helper though. John even got to help one night so I could be at our church to teach our youth group. Divide and conquer!!

Jonathan worked in games again and even got to use the super cool "panda launcher". Yes, it was a leaf blower with PVC attachments that shot stuffed panda bears yards through the air to screaming kids eager to catch one.

Everyone had a blast, learned about God, made friends and memories, and can't wait to go back next year. Jerry even begged me to make a costume for him to wear on the last night so he could look like camp's mascot, "Panda Pete".

Once again, there was a contest between the girls and the boys to raise money for rice bowls to feed hungry children all over the world. The boys won this year. Jonathan and Ben were chipping in chore money and loose change they scrounged on the last night to try and push the boys over the edge. In the past, the girls have dominated. Not this year though! In the end, everyone won because more than $200 was collected to feed the hungry.

Thanks for being the unofficial photographer again this year Suzanne!

Wonderworks

2011-06-12T18:21:00.006-04:00

We spent the weekend in Orlando this past weekend for Jonathan's USBC youth state tournament. The tournament was Saturday and Sunday, but we had to be at the lanes so early on Saturday, we decided to stay over Friday night too. We left early and spent Friday at Wonderworks before checking in at the hotel.

We had a blast! What a cool museum. It looks upside-down from the outside and makes creaking noises, as if it's about to topple over any minute. The exhibits inside are great. There are three floors and we were there for over four hours scouring over every exhibit. Jonathan tried his hand at pitching in MLB, they all played lasertag and climbed a ropes obstacle course (Jerry was in heaven!), there was an earthquake and hurricane simulator, and so much more. We'll definitely be going back someday. Lots of fun!

The Renaissance Festival

2011-03-13T17:23:00.005-04:00

Ok, we've never been in all the years this festival has been in our backyard. It's weekends in the months of March and April. First, we could never afford it. It's quite pricey to get in and then, once in, there are vendors and games and food that all cost as well. Second, we never knew what was there and so we never really cared to go. Well this year, Jerry's old buddy Jennifer from Buddy Baseball and her mom gave us free tickets. They volunteer at the festival annually.

It was pretty fun actually. Everyone that volunteered or worked the festival was in Renaissance costume. There were all sorts of jesters, village idiots, belly dancers (gypsies) and wenches roaming the grounds. There were shows of comedians and acrobats and magicians. Food was there and games, of course, but in reality, the prices were not that bad once inside the gates. The shows had rating so parents could choose which ones were family friendly. There was also a playground for the younger kids. Jerry's favorite show was the jousting and knights sword fighting. He hooted and hollered for them like no other. There was even a human chess match, where the pieces on the board were live people moving about.

Anyway, it was a very cool experience and a nice way to spend our Sunday afternoon.

Kennedy Space Center & St. Augustine

2011-02-25T18:07:00.016-05:00

On Top of St. Augustine Lighthouse

Going Up In the Lighthouse

My "Criminals"

Drama Queen!

Sheriff Joe Perry's Office

Perry Family's House

2 Men Hung Here!!

Old Jail

Kids with Sheriff Joe Perry

Gator Bob's Trading Post

The Best Shuttle Pic My Camera Would Capture

The Fort

Kids Getting Quizzed and Their Junior Park Ranger Badges

Oldest Schoolhouse

To the Moon!

Garden of Rockets

Inside the Explorer Shuttle

Moon Buggy

3 Miles from the Launch Pad

Awaiting the Final Countdown

We took a few days from our crazy schedules and lives to breathe and go on a mini vacation to Kennedy Space Center and St. Augustine.

First was Kennedy Space Center. John and I had never even been there. It was very cool....and larger than life at times. There was a garden of rockets, a guided bus tour to within 3 miles from the launch set up for the very next day, a meeting with a real astronaut, interactive shows, IMAX movies, and an actual retired shuttle you could tour inside. Jonathan and Ben even dared to ride the flight simulator, which they said was awesome. The memorial wall to the astronauts who lost their lives was humbling to see as well.

Then we went to St. Augustine for two nights. We toured the shops on George Street, visited the oldest schoolhouse, the oldest jail, the Castillo de San Marcos fort, and even watched the space shuttle launch from the wall of the fort. The kids completed a book about the fort while we were there to earn junior park ranger badges (Yes, I made them do school!) It was awesome and the weather was perfect. We had some wonderful seafood and incredible homemade ice cream. There was a huge wooden playground (obstacle course to Jerry) we found just to let the kids run for a while. We also did the St. Augustine lighthouse, though only John and the kids went to the top. My eight-month-pregnant ankles, feet, and knees said no way! The kids LOVE St. Augustine and could go there every few years and not get tired of it.

Now we're home and back to the routine as usual, but the memories will last a lifetime. Enjoy the pics.

Florida State Fair 2011

2011-02-12T17:47:00.007-05:00

Micky's Palm Tree Ornament

Micky's Flower Pot Dish

Micky's Flower Plate

Micky's Farm Scene Tray

Ben's Watercolor Rabbit

Ben's Silk Painting

Ben's Roosters on a Paper Lantern

It's that time of the year again...Florida State Fair time. And with the fair, came more art entries into the exhibit hall for Michael and even Ben this year. We turned their items in a few weeks ago and the kids have been waiting on pins and needles to see how they did. We went this afternoon and here are the results. Ben got two first place and one second place ribbon. Michaela got three second place ribbons and an honorable mention ribbon. We're so proud of both of them and hope it motivates them to keep painting and drawing.

Florida State Fair 2011

2011-02-12T17:47:00.004-05:00

Monster Jam 2011

2011-02-07T18:09:00.006-05:00

It rained, but we didn't care. The tradition continued this year. We even found 6 trucks at different sponsors all over Tampa in the days before the show. There the kids got autographed pictures, met and talked to the drivers, and saw the trucks up close. Saturday was a rainy day and so we poncho'd up for the show. The pit party was 2-5 p.m. and the show from 7-9:30 or so. We had a blast. We went with friends of ours and Mr. Don put Jerry on his shoulders for an up-close view of the trucks crossing the street after the pit party and into the stadium. They even had an arena where they showcased remote control trucks jumping ramps. Jerry was in heaven!

Christmas 2010

2011-01-01T14:12:00.009-05:00

It was a great holiday this year. The kids were in our church's play once again. Michaela played a stressed out mom and wife trying to teach her kids the true meaning behind Christmas. Jonathan was a king and Benjamin was Jesus, once again, and once again making people cry with his theatrics. He has quite the flair for drama.

They had a Christmas party and ornament exchange party with their homeschool group. We turned their fingerprints into reindeer on frosted white glass balls. Jerry was Rudolph of course.

Christmas day brought their gifts and lots of grateful hearts. I'm so glad their easy and thankful for no matter what they get! Jerry loved his new bike and remote control truck the most. He was quite excited about Santa this year and even used computer paper to try and make his own beard one night. He lived everyday to put another ornament on the advent tree calendar we had that counted down how many more days there were until Christmas.

Ben was thrilled with his action figures, comedian Tim Hawkins DVD's and CD's, and Vivitar video camera (he wants to make movies).

Michaela's treasures were her American girl doll, doll closet for their clothes, and iTunes gift card.

Jonathan got the scooter he wanted and several more yo-yo's (his thing lately).

The kids shopped for us too and we got some really thoughtful gifts from them. They were more excited to see us open their gifts than to open their own. They got us CD's collectibles, and even candy. They had great big stocking for each of us with mom and dad sewn on the tops. Too cute! Louis rather enjoyed laying on them under the tree the week before Christmas.

After presents, we ate dinner with John's little sister's family and then went to Sea World for their Christmas celebration. They had a fantastic ice skating show and dozens of illuminated trees in their lake that were synchronized to Christmas music. Unfortunately, the Polar Express ride line was too long and it was getting late and so we look forward to going back again next year. We did have some yummy kettle corn though. They were making it by the barrel's full!

Micky's 12!!

2011-01-01T14:07:00.002-05:00

Micky's Birthday this year was combined with her youth group's New Year's eve sleepover and belated Christmas gift exchange party. All her friends were here so why not?! We got her all peace sign things to redecorate her room from butterflies to peace signs. I can't believe how she's growing up! Anyway, we had a cake at the sleepover and she is now officially in her tween year. Oh my!!

Babysitting Class

2011-01-01T14:01:00.004-05:00

Michaela has been dying to turn 12 and for one reason only.....to finally be old enough to take the babysitting class at St. Joseph's Women's Hospital. She has been a mommy's helper, sitting for kids while their mom is still in the house....and she loves it. She loves kids really. Anyway, she took this course the day after her birthday and used her own birthday money to pay for it. It was called the Safe Sitter class and she learned business techniques, discipline and behavior management, how to save a choking infant or child, and more. Here she is demonstrating how to save a choking child for the class and their parents at the graduation ceremony they held at the end of the day. I can't believe my baby is old enough to babysit! :(

2010 Imagination Fair

2010-10-25T07:30:00.003-04:00

Our homeschool group's annual Imagination Fair was last night and the kids worked real hard on their projects. Ben's was on birds, mostly hummingbirds, his favorite. Jerry did his project on the making of his loft bed and construction. Jonathan's was on the 2010 Tampa Bay Rays team, and Michaela and her friend Katy did their project on babysitting. Micky has been logging in some hours for friends at church lately and is looking forward to taking a babysitter certification class at University Community Hospital next year when she's twelve.

Chinchillas

2010-10-09T21:21:00.003-04:00

Yes, we're crazy, but we adopted two new pets last weekend. They are Gizmo and Mufasa, father and son Chinchillas. Here are some facts about these critters that, up until a week ago, even we did not know.

They eat only rabbit food or hay and raisins for snacks.
They have 60 strands of hair per follicle, making them extrememly soft and fluffy.
They are hypoallergenic pets.
They are found in Central America and near endangered because of being hunted for their fur.
They cannot carry fleas, mites, or ticks because their fur is so dense.
They cannot get wet because their dense fur doesn't dry well. Their bodies would mold and get dry rot and they would die.
They take a bath twice a week by rolling in a few tablespoons of volcanic ash to dry the oils on their skin and in their fur.
They're very docile and cute!
Their teeth NEVER stop growing and so they have to chew on wood to keep them filed down.
They are nocturnal.
Jerry absolutely LOVES them!

Welcome to the family boys.

Ben's 10!!!

2010-09-18T15:06:00.009-04:00

Ok, so not really, but tomorrow he will be. To celebrate this year we went to Orlando for the weekend. We started with Sea World Friday morning until about lunchtime and then went to Pop Century, one of Disney's very cool hotels. It was the first time we'd ever stayed in a Disney hotel.

Pop Century has buildings decorated according to time period. We stayed in the 50's building and swam in the bowling pin-shaped pool. There were giant replicas of artifacts from that time period everywhere. It was very cool. In the lobby were glass cases of memorabilia from each era too.

We got there too early to check in so we ate first and then hung out in the arcade for a while and let the kids play some games. It was a Chuck E. Cheese style game room and the kids cleaned up in tickets. Both Ben and Michaela hit the jackpot of 1,000 tickets on one of the machines!

Friday night we went for Chinese, Ben's favorite. Then back to the pool and then the room for desserts we picked up in the hotel food court.

This morning we went for breakfast and then to Downtown Disney for the kids to shop with some of their chore money and play in the Lego store for a while (Jerry's favorite place).

Tomorrow, actually being Ben's birthday, we're going to a Ray's game after church. It's with the free tickets the kids got for reading 24 hours over the summer.

Good weekend. Still can't believe my Benji is 10!

This One Was For the Birds!

2010-09-16T16:33:00.002-04:00

Ok, we've painted snowmen, butterflies, and flowers, but birds? Wow, are they hard! Micky didn't make it to this class because she spent the night at grandma's to go to her cousin's gymnastics meet the next day, but I think this was a good class for her to miss! I love the finished product though and it'll go great in my blue lighthouse bathroom.

Painting Class

2010-08-23T19:15:00.003-04:00

We made these cute little plates. Micky put Philippians 4:4 on hers and I put my favorite my favorite saying.

Project Kitty Condo

2010-08-20T15:35:00.005-04:00

The "Site"

Jerry made from 2 x 4"s and popsicle sticks - the cats love to rub on it.

Louis likes it!

Mmmmm! Catnip carpet!

Well ever since construction started on the new townhouses down the road from us, our house has been all abuzz with Jerry's obsessive talking about how they're doing, which part of the houses they're working on now, etc... He sits down there and watches them everyday and has become friends with most of the workers now. They eat lunch together and today the workers gave Jerry a safety hat to wear and some nails, scrap wood, and a hammer to practice his skills on.

Anyway, they also let us abscond with some wood and we contemplated what to make for a while before the boys decided upon a large cat toy. They've always wanted one of those climbing posts with the carpet and toys on it, but it's not in the budget. In essence, the kids need socks more than the cats need toys! So we spent the better part of the afternoon working in the living room (97 degrees outside) on our project and ended up with a two-story carpeted cat condo. It has cat toys dangling from it. They even attached a piece of wood to one of the legs to hang another cat toy from. Jonathan spray painted the legs and a litter box for a bed, and then we rubbed the carpeting down with some catnip for the final touch. It was sooooo much fun!

Tubing!!

2010-08-05T21:56:00.007-04:00

The kids went tubing on a friend's boat this evening out on Thonotosassa Lake. What fun! The weather was perfect and the kids had a blast!

Wipeout

2010-08-02T09:36:00.004-04:00

Yes, as in the ABC show on Tuesday nights. My kids love that show, though the commentary by the two rude guys leaves a lot to be desired. Watching it on mute helps that though! The biggest fan in the house is Jerry of course. He jumps and flaps himself into a sweaty frenzy while it's on.

Anyway, his OT Miss Erin helped him make a Wipeout course in therapy last week and he came home all hyped up about making one in our house. So Ben set right to the challenge when they got home and here's what they came up with. I'll explain the course.

You start by jumping over the back of the couch. Get on the skateboard over to the Ripstik. Balance on the Ripstik for a few second. Then crawl under the coffee table up onto the loveseat. Jump from the loveseat arm onto one of the kitchen stools...then onto the other (note the pillows under the stools for safety). Then from the last stool, you jump onto the couch and hop over it, go around the wall between the dining room and kitchen, and then stand in the moon chair until it flips backwards and lands you in front of the trampoline. You jump on the trampoline, over it, and then put on the Fun Slides (carpet skates) and attempt to climb over the bike ramp and then balance on the red rocker. Take the Fun Slides off now and go up the stairs while people on the other end pull the blankets out from under you to slow you down. Once around the corner upstairs, you crawl across the bunkbed ladder over the two storage bins, and end by leaping from one IKEA stool to another.

WHEW! This course is not for the faint of heart! Jerry even wore his helmet! They had a blast and we even left it intact for daddy to see them complete it when he got home from work. The boys even made me time them. Two of them got their time down to under one minute. Amazing! And no trips to the emergency room! Even more amazing. Boys will be boys. Michaela, on the other hand, after having broken the same arm five times in five different places, decided participation was too risky and stayed in her room! Smart girl!

VBS 2010

2010-07-16T21:48:00.006-04:00

Our High Seas Expedition has come to an end! The kids had a blast at VBS in Zephyrhills this week. It was a bit crazy because we had to leave by just after 5 p.m. to get there on time and so we had to eat dinner around 4! The rush and change in routine was all worth it though. The kids had a blast learning about Peter and Paul, Bible Buddies, Scripture promises, and making new friends, as well as seeing some old ones they remembered from last year. Jonathan was too old for VBS this year, but had just as much fun as a volunteer with another couple at the games center.

Art Classes

2010-07-07T11:12:00.003-04:00

Here's Micky's finished landscape tray. Poor thing was sick last time we went to painting class, but she didn't want to miss. She never finished her project that night because she felt so horrible. We finished it just the other day here at home.

Then there's Ben. Here are his hummingbird wind chime and his parrots he painted on silk. That one took a few weeks. It's very cool. He painted the parrots on one side and the foliage on the other. Then when you fold the silk in half, you can see the birds in the foliage. Very cool!

Drama Club

2010-07-05T17:52:00.001-04:00

The kids have been performing skits for church lately through the creation of a children's drama club. It's awesome. Here's the skit they did for Independence Day.

Painting Projects

2010-06-21T16:19:00.005-04:00

Wooden Crate Planter

This is on the planter.

These are wooden coasters from the thrift store for 50 cents! Flip around the 1st and second picture to read the verse (Psalm 1:3). This one is summer.

Spring

Fall

Winter

This was a kit.

Tacky candleholder from thrift store. Again, 50cents. Originally, hat was straw-colored with blue bow and shoes were blue with green bow! UGH!

Well, with summer here, more time to "play", and instruction from the amazing Dianne, our painting instructor, a monster has been unleashed! Here are a few of my latest projects, most of which I purchased as unfinished from a thrift store for 25 to 50 cents!

North Carolina Retreat

2010-06-06T21:52:00.007-04:00

Rock Climbing In A Neighbor's Yard

The Kids Petting Toby, Roger, & Chloe

The Freshest KFC You'll Ever See

Jen & A Turkey....or Two Turkeys!

Fireball Loves Coffee!

At the Play

Jerry Dancing With An Actress During Intermission

Jerry & Roger

The kids and I had the opportunity to go on a mini vacation/retreat with a friend of ours. We left on a Friday and returned on a Monday. We stayed at my friend Jen's sister's (Julie & Brian's) house with their family. It consisted of two great kids named Emily and Allen, three cats, three dogs, including an English Mastif named Roger, one bearded dragon, and an exotic frog. And let's not forget the three beautiful acres in the middle of the woods and the pool! We had lots of fun. The kids swam, played games, jumped on the trampoline, and we got to see an awesome play at a Christian dinner theater based on the story of Hosea and Gomer and set during World War II. They also loved feeding and watching the 100 or so chickens the family raises and sells eggs from every week at a farmer's market. It was a really nice trip!

Latest Art Projects

2010-05-12T22:41:00.004-04:00

Ben's Parrot Painting

Michaela's Flower Pot Jar

My Flower Pot Jar

Here are our latest art pieces. Micky and I made these cool flower pot projects. They could have been planters, candle holders, or jars. We made them as jars. We changed some of the colors up a bit because we didn't want to use black. I used a burgundy and Micky chose purple to match her room.

Ben drew and painted this parrot in art class. It's my new favorite project of his. He's really getting good! He impresses me every week and still is very passionate about the class. It really is his thing.

Etched Glass

2010-04-21T18:08:00.003-04:00

Ben learned etching glass the last two weeks in art class. Here are his bottle and vase. The bottle has an owl on it and the vase has a monkey and bird on it.

Ben's Latest Art Class Creations

2010-04-07T12:07:00.001-04:00

Broken Bones

2010-04-07T12:04:00.001-04:00

Yep. 4th time! Same arm. We gotta teach this girl how to brace a fall. She was roller skating while holding onto the back of Ben's shirt. Ben just happened to be riding his bike down a hill at the time! Thank goodness it's early in the swimming season and there are only two weeks left of school! She gets her cast off May 4th.

Countdown to Teenager!

2010-03-28T19:28:00.004-04:00

In two days we will officially have a teenager! I can't believe how time has flown. Once my bald-headed little baby boy and now a teenager! Jonathan had a sleepover Friday night to celebrate. For those of you who don't have boys, let me enlighten you....big boys smell!

Then tomorrow night, we are taking just him out to somewhere quiet for dessert to present him with letters written by wonderful Christian men that have been in Jonathan's life, some of them for all thirteen of those years. The letters are full of bits of advice, wisdom, and favorite Scriptures for how to walk through these next few years into manhood. Reading them has been a blessing to John and I as they have trickled in. Tears were definitely shed! Jonathan will be so blessed to have these letters as keepsakes for future reference as he grows and faces many challenges and obstacles on his way to adulthood.

Tuesday is his actual birthday and he has requested a quiet night at home with all of us....and ice cream sundaes of course. Then on Friday night, we are going to Outback with grandma and grandpa for dinner.

Yes, we're celebrating all week. That's how we usually celebrate the birthdays of our blessings.

Disney 2010!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-03-12T14:53:00.004-05:00

We surprised the kiddos (not very easy) and left for Disney after church last Sunday. We stayed until today and went to Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios. We still have a day to use, but the rain today made us decide to hold off using that day until a later date. We'll likely go back to Hollywood Studios because we had more to do and see there when rain cut our day short yesterday.

We also went to Oldtown one evening, as well as Downtown Disney. The kids were very surprised and we all had a great time. Now we need a vacation from our vacation!!

Jerry's 8!!

2010-02-27T22:00:00.005-05:00

My baby is 8!! Wow! John took his actual birthday off. We went to see Step Afrika at the performing arts center, went to Common Ground park in Lakeland, and then ended the day with some good friends and cake at their house. Then today we had a party at his friend's house who was also turning 6. I made him a monster truck cake and we rented a bounce house. It was lots of fun.

Common Ground

2010-02-27T21:42:00.007-05:00

We found the BEST park in Lakeland off South Florida Avenue and Edgewood. It's called Common Ground park and has something for everyone. There's a music area, climbing area, sand pit, swings, slides, things that spin...you name it. It's excellent. They even have the park covered in astroturf type grass! No ants...no dirt!

Art Class

2010-02-23T11:21:00.004-05:00

Ben started an art class at a local pet store where they learn to draw live animals using different mediums. His bunny, the first project, was done with watercolor pencils. The boxer dog was drawn with charcoal and so was the dachshund. He LOVES the class!

Painting Class

2010-02-23T11:18:00.002-05:00

This month's class was a short, but fun project. We made these adorable paintbrush people. Michaela made hers into a pin and mine is on the fridge as a magnet.

Monster Jam 2010

2010-02-07T00:30:00.003-05:00

Jerry and His Favorite Driver, Linsey Weenk of Blue Thunder

Wow! That's all I can say. What a show. My girlfriend Jen took Jerry by himself last year and it's been his obsession ever since. We decided to make it a family thing this year for his birthday and we ALL had a blast. We had pit passes for 2:30 p.m., five hours before the show! The kids met the drivers, got autographs and pictures, and were completely in awe of these machines. We'll definitely be making this an annual family tradition. I took 160 pictures! Click this link to see them all. Monster Jam 2010 Photos

Florida State Fair Results Are In!!!

2010-02-05T16:20:00.001-05:00

Well, this is the day we'd been waiting for! John took off and we went to the Florida Center at the fairgrounds and searched out Micky's paintings she entered. 2nd place for both!!!!! She's so excited!!!

Our Budding Artist

2010-01-27T21:23:00.005-05:00

Benjamin has always loved to draw, doodle, color. You name it, if it has to do with art, Ben's there. A while back, he entered a National Smokey the Bear poster contest. He worked diligently on his poster for about two weeks. He even drew Smokey on a separate sheet of paper to make sure he had him right before drawing him on the poster.

Tonight at Pioneer Clubs, representatives from the Temple Terrace Garden Club, sponsors of the contest in this area, presented Ben with his award......1st Place for all of third grade in this area!!! He was so excited. I had prepared him in advance that he might just get a participation certificate and not to be disappointed because a lot of kids were likely entering the contest. But we never imagined 1st Place. He won a blue ribbon and a gift card to Barnes and Noble, where he plans to buy more drawing books!

Ben was the only homeschooler who entered.

Holy Chickens!!

2010-01-27T17:45:00.002-05:00

These are our latest painting class projects. They have the verse from Lamentations about God's mercies being new every morning on them. We had a little more freedom with these and could add swirls to the edges or spots to our chickens if we wanted to. These were not near as difficult as some of our other projects, but way fun. I could see making more of these for gifts!

Nature Projects

2010-01-27T17:39:00.004-05:00

What fun! Being the outdoorsy, manly man my dad is, he collected some porcupine quills and beaver-chewed wood on one of his hikes last year and sent it to the kids. Seeing as how we don't have many beavers or porcupines in Tampa, FL, they were quite thrilled to say the least. With the move and all, we kind of forgot about the box of nature stuff until I was re-arranging the boys' closet the other day. So today we decided to make stuff with what we had (and a few added extras).

I made a stick figure family portrait, complete with pine cone feet, acorn hands, moss hair, and mulch and leaf clothing. Jonathan and Michaela both made crosses. Jonathan used the porcupine quills to make a crown of thorns for his. Ben made a small stool that I need to get a little plant for. Jerry wanted to make Louis, our cat, and so we used the beaver wood, porcupine quills for whiskers, leaf feet, and pine cone ears. We had so much fun once we got started!

Micky's 11!

2010-01-11T19:52:00.004-05:00

Michaela's birthday always comes after the hype and exhaustion that immediately follows Christmas, with her birthday being just three days after. We try not to let her suffer for that which she cannot help however. Afterall, it's not her fault when she was born! This year, we were blessed that the youth group decided to have a sleepover party on New Year's Eve and the majority of Micky's friends were there. I provided the cake and they provided the friends, pizza, and even fireworks. Can't ask for a better party than that!

A few of Micky's friends, however, are too young for the youth group and Micky didn't want them to feel left out and so we had an "under 10" party the next Friday night for those girls. They spent the night at our place, got pedicures and manicures from "Aunt Jen", stayed up 'til 2 a.m.watching movies, working on craft projects, and dancing to Micky's new iPod tunes on her docking station.

Painting Class

2009-12-25T17:52:00.002-05:00

Micky

Tara

Micky

Here are mine & Michaela's latest projects in painting class. We made snowman plates and palm tree ornaments. I am entering Micky's butterfly on canvas from last month and her snowman plate in the Florida State Fair this year. She LOVES this class. She actually turned down a Christmas party at her friend's house so as not to miss class this month. She plans on using some of her birthday money to buy the remaining supplies she needs for the class.

Christmas 2009

2009-12-25T17:01:00.014-05:00

Jerry's picked this necklace out for me!

A John Wayne Picture for Dad

A Snuggie for Mom

Grandma scored big with Indiana Jones.

Jerry picked this singing moose out for John!

Louis just loved all of our garbage.

Micky and Her Long-Anticipated iPod

Completing Jo's Magic Tree House Collection

Ben's New Favorite Book Series - Captain Underpants

Jerry's Christmas Projects

Tree At the Top of the Stairs

Jonathan, Micky, & Ben's Advent Calendar

Jerry's Advent Calendar (He wanted to do his own.)

Wow! Christmas in our new house! It was fun to decorate all the space we had this year and the kids were as excited as always with all the bustle that goes along with this time of the year.....their children's choir program at church, Christmas parties, decorating, baking, shopping and wrapping, and of course counting down to the big day. Here are some pictures from our first Christmas in our new house. Mom and dad came over for dinner and the kids spent the better part of the afternoon riding their new bikes. They haven't had bikes for the past four years because we had nowhere to keep them in the apartment. They are thankful for our garage this year.

Updates

2009-11-25T16:44:00.003-05:00

It's been so long since I've really blogged last, not sure where to begin. School has been busy, busy, busy, but our best year ever. We absolutely love SOW. We just finished combing through Genesis, studying words, passages, truths. It's been awesome. The kids have learned so much already about God's creation, judgment, mercy, and love. The lessons in this curriculum are priceless. I wish we would have discovered it sooner. Even the kids love school so much more this year.

Michaela got braces as well. She has them only on the top and expanders on both the top and bottom. She gets two teeth pulled next month and then next spring will likely have to have surgery to surgically expose those two adult teeth and begin to bring them down in place. Doesn't that just sound painful....surgically exposed?!

We were supposed to go to Alabama with all of John's family for Thanksgiving at his older sister's house, but plans changed. Mom fell and hurt her shoulder, sprained her ankle, cut her head, and broke two toes. She's not going anywhere and we couldn't imagine leaving her here for the holiday. So I'll be cooking this year and we'll be celebrating our first Thanksgiving in our new home. It'll be nice.

Painting Class

2009-11-16T15:05:00.004-05:00

Tara's Butterfly on Canvas

Michaela's Butterfly on Canvas

Tara's Picture Frame

Michaela and I have joined a painting class...just us girls along with some other friends from church. We are really enjoying the class. I painted the picture frame at the first class that Michaela did not go to with me. Then we both did the butterfly on canvas. That one took two nights, about three hours each night! Totally worth it though. It's very relaxing and rewarding and a great time of sweet fellowship with my Micky.

Benji's Nine!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-09-21T17:39:00.004-04:00

My baby's 9!! I can't believe it! We celebrated by going to Downtown Disney for a night's stay. We ate at the T-Rex Restaurant, which is very cool....similar to the Rainforest Cafe, except that it's animated dinosaurs of every kind in jungle and ice age environments. Way cool. Of course, the kids had to have a Build-A-Dino...similar to Build-A-Bear. Ben named his dino Dino-Mite. Today we woke up and went to Sea World for the day. And the best birthday gift of all, as far as Ben was concerned, was finally making the 54" tall mark and getting to ride Sea World's new roller coaster, Manta....twice in a row!

Scholl...A New Year and a New Beginning

2009-09-09T15:01:00.004-04:00

Yes, summer is over and I too did my share of crying over it. I was just as sad to see it end as my kids were. I felt as though we didn't have much of a summer with running to SLP and OT therapy for Jerry twice a week. It's just been busy, busy, busy.

I was a little apprehensive to get back to school this year too because we were embarking on a whole new journey complete with new curriculum. Out with all the textbooks! That became our motto this year. No, we're not insane. In fact, just the opposite. Let me explain. A few years ago, my girlfriend Kim and I both attended the same seminar at our annual homeschool convention by R.C. Sproul, Jr. called, "The Three G's". At it, he spoke of kids needing first and foremost to know who God is, what He did for them, and what He requires of them (the kids). Everything, R.C. surmised, could be taught using nothing more than the Bible. He challenged us to find education, math, or even school in our concordances.

Kim and I left convicted, to say the least...as we dragged our portable Office Depot file boxes overflowing with all of the textbooks, helps, and other curriculum we had just bought over the weekend. Now Kim and I had always been the textbook type, though Kim did have more of a fly-by-the-seat-of-her-pants reputation when it came to homeschooling. We have kids who are so close in age, it has been awesome being able to share teacher manuals and reading books from year to year, passing them back and forth as we make our way through the grades from oldest to youngest.

About midway through our school year last year, Kim and I both, without the other knowing it, were feeling convicted by R.C.'s message from the previous year's conference. We had both, again separate from one another, read another friend's blog about a Bible-based curriculum she used, looked it up online, and began to research alternative teaching options. Both Kim and I were apprehensive to tell the other of our desire to change curriculums for fear that the other would be angry about not being able to share books anymore. Needless to say, when we finally confronted each other in the midle of Chuck E. Cheese's about our hearts desires, we knew without a shadow of a doubt that God was at the bow of this ship!

Thus, SOW! Student of the Word was just what we were looking for, a Bible based curriculum, written by Christian parents who desired to teach their kids more than just math, American history, and literature. We ordered the curriculum and, after several hours of, "Oh my goodness, what did we get ourselves into?", while trying to decipher how to make lesson plans from the student and teacher's manuals, we finally got it! Be sure that the confusion was on our parts solely. Once read thoroughly, the curriculum is quite easy to comprehend.

Basically, within six years, our kids will have read the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation, having learned everything they need to know about prayer, penmanship, English, language arts, science, geography, history, literature, creative writing, spelling, art, music, and physical education. The only subject not included in SOW is math and for that we have A Beka. Some have questioned, "But what about American history, like World War II or our government?" It's in there. "Nouns, verbs, pronouns, adjectives, sentence structure?" It's in there. "Spelling?" It's in there. I promise you, it's all covered...and so much more...using the true stories found in God's Word. And like our pastor says, "Hollywood's got nothing on the real-life drama played out in the Bible."

And when you think about it, they didn't have textbooks back in Pioneer days. The Bible was their only textbook. When I think of all of the money I've wasted on textbooks over the years, I have only one regret...that I didn't hear R.C Sproul, Jr. speak earlier or find SOW sooner. But God's timing is perfect. he knew my anxieties about not using those textbooks and my obsessiveness for structure found only in workbooks and textbooks. It took Him time, but He patiently changed my heart and changed our homeschool...for the better. Here's a testimony for SOW. Even Jonathan loves school this year! All of the kids agree that this way of doing school is so much better.

And it's only been one week! But oh what a week! We've outlined Genesis 1, memorized Scripture while practicing penmanship, completed a book report on a Max Lucado book, discussed why creation couldn't have just happened the way big bang theorists and evolutionists say it did (and wrote a paper about our findings), made a notebooking page on all of God's attributes, studied vocabulary (including finding the Hebrew words and writings for the words), wrote a commentary, completed a character study on God, made our own gospel tracts, and studied spelling words. And I mean studied them...their roots, prefixes, suffixes, synonyms, antonyms, homonyms, definitions... Whew! And did I mention we're tracking the phases of the moon this month? Sounds like a lot, but it takes no longer than our textbook school ever did...some days, even less time. And the stress on me has been greatly reduced as all of the kids are learning the same things at the same time and so I now teach a "class" instead of three individual grades and kids.

Anyway, here are a few examples from Ben of some of this week's work. I am so excited about all the kids are going to learn this year, in their core subjects and about their God and know that I will be learning just as much right along with them.

Weaving the Day Away!

2009-08-11T19:11:00.004-04:00

Michaela's friend Katy has turned her onto weaving and it's proved a great hobby so far. The loom is only $5 at WalMart and we've learned that with a little sturdy thread we can make more than just potholders. My girlfriend showed me how to turn four of them into a nifty water bottle holder. Micky gave me her first one and I love it!!

Club Louis

2009-07-29T14:02:00.003-04:00

We have a carpeted room under the stairs with a light in it as well. It WAS my storage area, but who needs storage? Now it is Club Louis and the kids have spent hours under there making it their own. I put a tension rod and curtain up at the entrance. The boys have a wall and Michaela has a wall. The boys already have Episode I Star Wars glow-in-the-dark appliques on their side. Micky is working on her butterflies. Light Sabers and butterflies...hhmmmmm...should be interesting!

They have a list of rules, which includes no passing gas while in the clubhouse. They learned the necessity for that one real quick with no windows or ventilation under there. The penalty for breaking this rule is to have to wear the "hat of shame" and banishment from the club for one hour. Nice....democracy at work!

Ben made a basketball hoop with Louis in the center and it hangs from the back wall. The kids also charge themselves and others a 5 cents a day entrance fee into the clubhouse. They are saving for $5 gift cards to fast food restaurants to pass out to homeless we see while at red lights.

Such fun!

Pets or Pests?

2009-07-11T14:37:00.004-04:00

Now that the inside of our home is done for the most part, we're working on the outside...our butterfly garden. We had fun with one of these in the past when we had our own yard and so we're at it again! We love the dozens of butterflies that visit and the flowers and colors are all so pretty. Anyway, pics of the garden are yet to come once we've completed it. In the meantime, we've also attracted these mutant gargantuan grasshoppers! They're like two inches long and quite creepy (for mom anyway). As you can see by the reflection on the sliding glass door of my camera lens, I was NOT opening the back door for a better view!

Cirque du Soleil: Saltimbanco

2009-07-01T13:06:00.003-04:00

We were blessed by a friend who works at the YMCA and was able to get tickets to this show. What a delight! The acrobatics were astounding. It's unlike anything I've ever seen before. The kids were glued! Yesterday happened to be the 25th anniversary of Cirque and so blinking clown noses in little silk pouches were given to everyone for a photo opportunity at the end of the show. It was truly an incredible experience, and one we would not have been able to afford anytime soon as a family. Thanks Amber! And thank you Suzanne for always being ready with a camera!

Fine Arts Afternoon

2009-06-29T16:31:00.003-04:00

Yesterday after church was our fine arts afternoon where kindergartners graduated and parents got to share how proud they were of their kids' achievements and growths both academically and spiritually over the last year. All students received certificates and were honored with a luncheon and cake. Benjamin gave the opening prayer. I am so proud of my kids for a wonderful school year, another year completed...but most of all for the leaps and bounds they grew in their relationships with the Lord this past year. There have been signs of real maturity and some awesome Christ-like character developing. My babies are becoming young men and women of God! Oh my!

Crocodile Dock

2009-06-27T17:17:00.003-04:00

VBS was this last week and, as usual, the kids had a blast. We went to an evening VBS this year in Zephyrhills. It was awesome. The group was smaller, but the kids loved their crew leaders, new friends, the games, crafts, and snacks, and the incredible truths they learned about God's Word through fun activities, silly songs, and story reinactments.

Ragman

2009-06-07T16:50:00.005-04:00

They're home!!!! John, Ben, and Michaela made it home safe from their Honduras missions trip, where some days it reached a blistering 110 degrees! They ministered at a boys and girls orphanage, built an outhouse for a single mom and her four kids, assembled and delivered 48 food bags to underprivileged families, and performed skits to share with others the gospel of Christ. Above is Ragman, a very powerful skit portraying how Jesus takes on our infirmities and sins, died for them, and then rose again to bring us eternal salvation. Here is another ten-minute power point presentation on the trip.

They're Off!!

2009-05-30T15:13:00.002-04:00

Hope for Honduras from TPCC left this morning and took with them John, Michaela, and Benjamin. It seems like forever ago we started the journey to this trip...fundraisers, missions meetings, practicing skits, and on and on and on! And as usual, there were a few snags leading up to departure day, including a flu bug circulating through team members and an earthquake in Honduras only 72 hours before trip time. It wouldn't be a missions trip without the enemy rearing his ugly head, now would it? Michaela had a few nervous tears at the airport, but Ben was so excited he could hardly sleep last night. While there, they'll be visiting orphanages and feeding centers, delivering food bags to underprivileged families in villages, and sharing the love of Christ with everyone they encounter. I am so very excited for them and can't wait to hear about all that they do and learn down there. Pray for them...and for those of us "left behind"!