Becca Jean is 13!!!

Today my precious Becca Jean turned 13.  She is such a fantastic person.  Bubbly, passionate about life, energetic beyond belief, artistic, flamboyant, outgoing, oh...I could go on and on about this girl.  When God placed her in our lives He couldn't have placed a more kindred soul in my life.  We have some of the best times together.  We had a great day today celebrating her life.  We even slipped away for a bit to take some pictures. 

WE LOVE YOU BECCA JEAN SO SO SO MUCH!!!!

Max is 15!!!!

Today Max turned 15! I can't believe how fast these years  have flown by.   I was looking back at pictures I took almost four years ago of him when he first came to live with us.  He was this small 11 year old boy thirsty for love.  He has gone thru so much in his short life, yet he has come through with such strength.  I admire him so much.  I see the man he is becoming, just around the bend it's approaching, and I am so proud of him. Each day I see him becoming more responsible, more compassionate, more rooted in his relationship with God.  I can truly say I respect this young man.  He is my precious boy and I just love him so extremely much.  

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAXWELL!  This next year is going to ROCK!!!

Fun with pictures!

Tim bought me a new program for my camera!  Excitement!  It is Corel Paintshop Prox4 and I am looking forward to learning how to use it.  Today I just had a little bit of fun learning about taking an object out of one picture and putting it into another picture.  So much to do with this wonderful program.  

 Fun experiment #1 ~ Davidson and Lilly Girl!

   Fun experiment #2 ~ Johnston & Tinkerbell (Love the background on this one!)

Fun experiment #3 ~ Jensen & Holland  (This was my most challenging one, but I do love the end result!) 

Thankful ~ Everyday!

I had a few kiddos come down with a nasty cold this past week.  Between sick kiddos and wrapping up our school so we can take the week of Thanksgiving off from our bookwork I wasn't able to post about things I'm thankful for.  So today I'm just going to say I'm thankful everyday for my Salvation, my husband who loves me so much, my children whom God has given me the privilege to raise, laughter in my home, times of learning, being able to homeschool my children, freedom to worship the way we choose, friends, and so much more.  I have so much to be thankful for!!!!  I am truly blessed!  

1 Chronicles 16:34 ~  O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; For His loving kindness is everlasting.

Read more: http://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/thanksgiving-bible-verses-15-great-scripture-quotes/#ixzz2Cctd0jMi

1 Chronicles 16:34 O give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

Read more: http://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/thanksgiving-bible-verses-15-great-scripture-quotes/#ixzz2Cctd0jM

Thankful ~ Day 6!

I am thankful that I can put my trust in God!

I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." ~ Psalms 91:2

Thankful ~ Day 5!

So thankful that my daddy served in the Marine Corp for 20 years.  He and our family gave up a lot for the country we love.  He could have served longer and had a better retirement, but he wanted to be with his family and go into ministry as God was leading him to do.  He has always been faithful and committed in all he ever does.  He is my hero!!!

  While we were in Florida he gave the boys a Marine hat (which they LOVE) because he is a proud Marine....FOREVER!!!!

Had to add this picture cause it just rocks!  I love how Jameson always pulls this serious face when I go to take a picture.  Goofball!

Thankful ~ Day 4!

Today we are thankful for cousins and having them near us so we can visit them often!!!


(These two cousins lived in China with their parents up until a couple years ago...so we really are thankful to have them close enough to visit...in person!)

(Top row: Becca, Johnston and cousin John; Middle row: Davidson, Justice, Max and Morgan; Bottom row: Jensen, cousin Hannah, Holly and Jameson)

Thankful ~ Day 3

I am so thankful for Godly parents who raised me with all the love any child could ask for! I am thankful for the many wonderful memories I have of my parents   I have been blessed with two amazing people to call Mommy and Daddy!

 

Even after 59 years together they are laughing and having fun!!!!  Never a dull moment with them!

We were able to go to Florida for a family vacation this past September to visit them and it was a most memorable trip.  Sunday morning we didn't make it to church, so my daddy decided to do something at home.  Here is a picture of him teaching my babies about the most important friendship (with Jesus) they will ever have! Brings back precious memories of my own childhood!

I love my parents and just pray that I have a relationship with my children when they are my age  as I have with my parents!  God is good and I am so THANKFUL!!!

Thankful ~ Day 2

 I can't even say how thankful I am for these two girls!  Becca 12 and Holland 6!  They are precious, beautiful, talented, loving, giving, tender hearted,....the list goes on and on.  They are just lovely in every way!

I'm thankful that Becca is such a loving older sister who takes the time to invest into Hollands life every single day.  Wether it be taking time to fix her hair each morning or being patient as her little hands try to do the big things Becca is doing.  I never see her loose patience with her little shadow!

I'm blessed beyond words with these two right here!!!!  Thank you Father for these beautiful gifts to our family!

Thankful ~ Day 1

 I am so thankful for these four sweet boys!  Johnston 12, Davidson 10, Jensen 8, and Jameson 7. 

 They are brothers through and through!  I'm thankful for how close they are and what adventures they have together.

God is so good!

Tinkerbell, candy, and more!

Tim was able to get home early today in time to watch the newest Tinkbell movie that the kids have been waiting ever so patiently to see.  He being the best daddy in the entire planet bought us all pizza for dinner so we could just have a nice family night.  A big thank you Daddy from all of us!!!!

Tinkerbell and the Secret of the Wings. This was my favorite out of the three movies so far.  Even though Becca and I had a hard time choosing...they are all three very wonderful.  This one had Becca and I tearing up.  We hope they bring out a fourth!!!

During school today Becca had a little bit of a sidetracked moment and in her excitement she dressed our Tinkerbell up in honor of watching the new movie.  Look at this precious little girl!  She is just so lovely, and what a good sport to let Becca put her in such wonderful attire.  Tinker was greatly rewarded with many treats for what she had to suffer through.

First order of business after breakfast this morning was to let the kids organize their T-N-T candy! It was much to late to deal with it last night after we got home from out adventures.  So...this morning they put all their loot together in one bowl and separated everything into bags that are neatly organized.  They will be eating on this for quite a while. 

School went by quickly today as the kids were wrapping up their book work for the week so they can take tomorrow for a fun filled school day.  We will be meeting up with fellow homeschoolers for homeschool swim day, also spending a few hours having classes at the YMCA, and a visit to the library just to list a few of the things on our list for tomorrow!  I have to brag on these kids of mine...they have been going above and beyond in school this year.  I am so thankful for all their hard work and diligence.  Blessings they are!

Seems like I wrote my day all jumbled up...ha!  It was a good one full of noisy children, candy, hard work, snuggles and more!  Love it!

It's the little details....

....that make the outfit complete. At least this is what Johnston said to me today.  I came home and found him dressed as Iron Man.  Red shirts, black gloves with a blue light up toy tucked safely inside the palm of the glove.  My kids seem to live in costume daily.  I have knights, police officers, princesses, spies, superheroes, etc walking around my house from the minute we wake up until bedtime.  Sometime I find them sleeping in the outfit they have made up.  I love my kids imaginations.  I love that they enjoy creating costumes and characters.  They make movies with my video camera that we all watch later together.  Kids imaginations are priceless and should be allowed to grow without limitations!  

Johnston was Iron Man today!

He even had the chest battery thingy that Iron Man has.  He will be buying a blue glow stick to make it glow so it's more realistic he told me.  I love that he taped this to his chest all day long just to have this small detail.  I mean...I had NO idea it was there all day long until he lifted up his shirt to show me.  I then understood what he meant by...the little details. 

Special Date Night!

Tonight I got home from a long day of errands and appointments to find Becca and Johnston had cleaned the house and put together a date night for Tim and I.  They had our blankets and pillows on the couch for snuggling, our favorite drinks on ice and even prepared a meal of munchies we could eat while we watched a movie together.  It was so sweet and they were so excited for us to sit down and enjoy their hard work.

 They made chips and dip which they ended up eating!  What a great presentation though!!! 

Also, a wonderful chicken salad!  This Tim and I shared and it was WONDERFUL!!!!  We love salads around here.

This had to be my favorite.  Onion and Chives Cream Cheese, little smokies, cheese cubes and garlic Triscuits.  Do you see the king and queen chess pieces right there?  Johnston said that it was Tim and I!  I love it!!! They put so much thought and effort into this.  They ended up eating this as well as the chips and dip, but the thought was precious!  We are just so extremely blessed!

Brothers.....

What is a brother?
Someone who is there
when you are hurting
He picks you up
and dusts you off again

What is a brother?
Someone who sees you are without a smile
And he gives you one of his
and gives you a hug too
just especially for you

What is a brother?
Someone who stands by your side
and holds your hand
when things don’t go well
He helps you understand

What is a brother?
A cherished friend for life
a brother by blood
A cousin or friend
But always by love

~Hydia Hollins

 

(Jameson 7 and Jensen 8 ~ Best friends!)

Thinking outside the box!

 Jackson was in the hospital a couple weeks ago and we were discussing the normal things people take when visiting someone in the hospital.  This became a pretty long discussion actually on why this was even something people did and all kinds of different questions came up.  It was a great discussion actually...not one I ever thought would be a discussion I would have, but very interesting none the less.

 One of the kids brought it to my attention that we are not a normal family...we are an "awesome family" *high fives all around* and that doing something normal would not do.  So instead of a bouquet of flowers the kids came up with a bouquet of balloons...and because it was Halloween they thought a pumpkin basket filled with candy would make a great "vase"!

Instead of a card they each signed a balloon!  It was very sweet!

I bought one of those tanks in a box at Walmart so the kids could blow up their own balloons before signing them.  There was a lot of balloons flying around and even a few squicky voices during the filling stage!  They really enjoyed doing this!

Jameson drew a picture of Captain America on his blue one.

Everyone even decided to get a gift card to a restaurant and tied all the balloons to the card before attaching them to the Jack-o-lantern full of candy.

Johnston did make a very good observation as we were picking out the candy.  He brought it to our attention that it didn't seem like such a great idea to bring a person sick enough to be in the hospital candy, but I told him that Jackson would be getting better and once he was 100% that candy would be fine to eat!

A Precious Dream!

 Today I was able to go with my friend to visit this little blessing who will soon be a part of their family!  He was perfect in every way.  Look at that face!  Precious!

 He has such an expressive face!

 Precious little bundle of joy!

 Look at his little scrunched up face after getting a kiss! So cute.  He will just have to get used to these, because I know for a fact he will be getting dozens and dozens every day very soon!

Little D-Man! You are precious in His sight indeed!!!!

Wonderful Wednesday!

 My girls found a new store....Rue 21!

Morgan found this shirt among many others that she LOVED! 

 Becca showing off the back of her jacket! She loved the lacy see thru back!

I love this outfit that she put together.  It was even more exciting that the two tops were on clearance and the colored skinny jeans were on sale!

We will most definitely be going again in the very near future.  The girls are saving their money up!

Triple Date Night!

Today started early!!!  We had Johnston's birthday party last night and a few of his friends and Becca's friend spent the night.  After they finished watching the Avengers they all went outside and played Avengers until about 1am.  So Morgan and I stayed up until they were all in bed which was around 1:30am and Tim, Justice and I had to be out of the house for our morning out by 8am.  I did not want to get up....I REALLY did not want to get up...but I did. 

We got our running around done which included a trip down to Lawrenceville, Buford, and Oakwood.  We had a nice lunch at La Parilla with Justice which was super sweet getting to spend that time with him.  We managed to get home in time for Tim to take the kids up to the woods near us and play on the trails, while I grabbed a power nap which was much needed!

To top of our very busy day we loaded up the kids and headed to our friends house to drop them off.  Today was our monthly DATE NIGHT!!!!  We have so been looking forward to this night with our friends!  Each month all the kids get dropped off at one families house to hang out, eat, play, do whatever they want to do.  It's about 15+ of them all together.  Then the couples either go to one of the others houses for dinner/movie/games/etc or we go out.  This month we all decided to try a restaurant called Pappadeaux in Atlanta.  Tim and I have heard about this place for many, many years and it's all been amazing reports.

We decided to head down early and have a little extra time just the two of us.  So we dropped the kids off a little early and went to the restaurant to reserve the table for us all.  Once we got down there we found out this place is HOPPING!!!!  It was a steady stream of people in and out.  Also, because of the high demand...no reserving tables.  You can only sign in and get a buzzer once your entire party is there and ready to go in.  That kinda blew our plan to make our friends wait time shorter, but rules are the rules right?  Thankfully they have a BIG outdoor patio waiting area with tons of benches and little tables, a nice fountain, and lights strung up everywhere.  We got a bench in the shade.  The weather was beautifully perfect tonight.  Not to hot in the shade with a nice gentle breeze.  We had so much fun just talking, and snuggling on the bench.  OH...and we had a lot of time to people watch!!!  There were some great things to see...from a lady with 10inch nails...yes...10 INCHES to an elderly couple who were as adorable as anything to watch! We had a lot of fun just being together.

I snapped a picture of us while we were waiting out on the patio!  I love this man!!!

 Amazing couple #1 that we get to enjoy date night (this is our third month of doing date night!!!) with.  Pat and April!  WE LOVE THIS FAMILY!!!  They are great parents of three really awesome boys whom we are blessed to have as our children's friends.  

 Amazing couple #2 that we get the pleasure of hanging out with as well.  Chris and Trina!  I am just so proud of them for how strong they are.  WE LOVE THEM!!!  They have three beautiful children who we are blessed to have as our children's friends as well.  

Trina told Tim she wanted to get a picture of him and his date!  Haha! The food at this place is AMAZING! Truly people..it was so good.  We all tried tons of new stuff which was so much fun.  I love trying new things.  I even tried a bit of Tim's 2lb lobster.  It was oh so yummy!  I had a wonderful stuffed shrimp and cajun red beans and rice that was....just....oh.so.yummy!

I am so thankful for my amazing husband and great friends!  I am truly blessed!!!!

Fun with friends!

The kids got their school done pretty snappy this morning so we could go and hang out with friends for the afternoon!  We have our annual pass to the Interactive Neighborhood for Kids (I.N.K) which we use tons during the school year.  (Not so much during the summer, because of how crowded it gets!)  One of the many perks to homeschooling is having places like YMCA, library, parks, museums, etc., not overly crowded!  Today was our first trip to I.N.K and the kids have been so looking forward to it since our last visit at the end of May.  We met up with some homeschool friends the Hayes family!!!

Becca visiting the restaurant thru the window!

Chef Johnston whipped up some amazing cuisine for all the customers! 

 

Jensen was the best waiter I've ever had!  What great service and big smile!

This is proof of his great skills!  Look at these happy customers!

The lovely Miss Gracie!  (Holly's bestest friend!)

The lovely Miss Holly!

Katie and Becca (BFF's!) showing their Deuces! 

Jensen playing with the train sets!

Jensen driving the train!

Judge Gracie!

Holly and a little girl they met were the jury.

Becca was a wonderful cashier at the local store.  Davidson and Justice were very pleased customers!

Becca and Katie....hard workers!

I.N.K. has a realistic store, dentist and doctors office, salon, music room, a real police car that the kids can get in and turn the lights on. There is a ton of different rooms for them to play in!  They love it!  It's amazing how fast two hours pass when fifteen kids are running around letting their imaginations run WILD!