#150 - Memorial Day

Today was Memorial Day and honestly we don't usually cook out or celebrate. It is a day set aside to honor those who have served our country and lost their lives doing so. Our family deeply appreciates all of those that make our freedoms possible! Thank you to all who have served and sacrificed so that we may be able to lay our heads down to rest in comfort.

Our dear sister came to stay with us a few more days and we have been excited to have her back! Tomorrow pictures will be made :D This evening Holly had a softball practice and afterwards we jumped in the pool!!! Suse came over and swam and then ate supper with us. It has been a very blessed day indeed!

Psalm 22:27
"All the ends of the world
Shall remember and turn to the LORD,
And all the families of the nations
Shall worship before You."

#149 - African Children's Choir

For our evening worship service at our church we moved our services over to a sister church so we could be part of a concert by The African Children's Choir. It was an amazing service with precious children from Uganda with ages ranging from 8-12 years old and with voices like angels!

Here are a few pictures that I took:

So exciting! For more information you can go to their website.

Afterwards we arrived late for Chris' cookout/birthday party. They still had some fun! 2 Samuel 22:50
"Therefore I will praise you, LORD, among the nations;
I will sing the praises of your name."

#148 - My Job is Secure

Remember a little over a month ago when the girls did some testing with our homeschool co-op group?!

Well, the results came in the mail today and I am happy to report that they did good!!!

Anna scored at or above her grade level on everything and even got an equivalency of a junior in high school on her social science (social studies :) So all of those field trips and political rallies are paying off! Ha! The funny part is that Anna scored proficient in the "listening" category and that was the ONLY category that Holly was average on...hehe! She was proficient in all of her subjects and most of her grade levels were at least 5th grade (she is finishing up 3rd grade.)

We are very proud of our young ladies!

If you are even considering homeschooling, please let me encourage you to do so!!! Trust me, if I can do this and after three years of doing it, get good test grades, then you can too! Not that we judge what we school on the "national average" but it is nice to know that our girls are up to and exceding par on all of their subjects. And that I'm hired back for at least another year! :D

"Your children are not your hobby; they are your calling."

~Max Lucado

#147 - Friday Family Fun Night

Today was Brian's only full day off since last last Monday :) So he took the girls to lunch today while I was working and then when I got home we headed to eat some supper at Sonny's. Afterwards we played a round of putt putt.

For the record I was totally leading for the first 9 holes, but then Brian took the lead and I just kept getting worse :(

While we were there we practiced some batting at the cages and there may or may not be a video of me falling down while trying to hit a softball :/ (My flip flops may or may not have been wet.) I threatened Brian if he ever were to post that video that he may or may not have, then I'd unleash a really really funny one of him. :D Always gotta be prepared with cameras around here!
To round out our family fun night Brian and the girls got a treat at Chick-fil-A. I'm saving my milkshake money for a pedicure:D Haha - not really, I was just still full of bbq pork from Sonny's!

Ephesians 3:14-16
"For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,"

#146 - God of Wonders

With all of the recent severe weather we feel very grateful and blessed to have missed the worst of things. The clouds the last few days have just been amazing! Anna took this picture tonight.

In totally unrelated news - this newest addition is about to be added to our town!!!

Yay!!! You know you're a country girl when you get excited over a Tractor Supply store opening up! :) Or would that be a redneck?!! Hehe!

Job 37:14
“Listen to this, Job;
stop and consider God’s wonders."

#145 - Friends, Flowers, & Spiders

We have a close friend staying with us for few days and we are having a wonderful time!!! I just got finished saying that we've not taken one single picture of her here! Tomorrow we'll change that :)

My sister had some extra flowers that she brought over tonight and helped me set out. There was a few that we didn't get planted, so I was going to pick them up in case the storms that are getting ready to roll through here damaged them. She handed me her mini flashlight so I could see to get them. I had about 3 in my hand when I reached down to pick up the fourth one and saw this:

This is honestly the biggest spider I have ever seen on any properties that we've ever lived on! Just to see the comparison of the size my sister set her phone near it so we could see the difference in a picture.
I am happy to report that this huge arachnid is no longer living in our front yard!

Looking forward to the next few days with our sweet friend that is also our precious sister!

John 3:17
"For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."

#144 - Buzzzy Bees!

We've had another busy, but very blessed day! Holly had another game tonight and our friend Christis is staying with us for a couple of days and we are super excited!!!

Here are a few pics from the game tonight:

James 1:19
"My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,"

#143 - The Neatest Thing

Today I took some maternity photographs of a sweet young woman that we know. While I was snapping away I took the following picture and didn't realize until I got home that the shadow through the tree made this amazing heart!

Isn't that neat?! I promised it is not Photoshopped on there! It formed almost a perfect heart. I have cropped this picture very small for her privacy, but the full frame photo turned out to be a really pretty picture.

Our prayers go out to all of those affected by the storms last night. My sister lives about an hour south of Joplin, MO and we are very grateful that she and her family are okay.

Romans 12:10
"Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves."

#142 - What Happened to Modesty?

Since our girls are growing up and getting bigger it is getting harder and harder to find clothing that is appropriate anymore. Honestly, retailers are making young girls look way too old for their ages. A friend of mine on Facebook made a comment about not being able to find a decent swimsuit for her little girl and I SO agreed with her statement. The first trip we took to Massachusetts we stayed with a precious family that had two daughters. While we were there she showed me their modest bathing suits and I was just fascinated with them! I had never seen anything like it. We don't go to public pools since we've had our pool and I haven't ordered one of these for the girls, but I would love to order one to have on hand. Anna is swimming with a swim team and while they've been practicing she has worn her bathing suit with the skirt. Soon when their swim meets begin she'll have to wear the team suit (which aren't that bad), but she would much rather wear something like this:

(Photo credit: http://www.swimmodest.com/)

I am very thankful that both of our girls take modesty very seriously and know what is decent and good! If we are to represent Christ then we need to be fully aware of not only what comes from within, but also what covers us on the outside.

1 Timothy 2:9-10

"And I want women to be modest in their appearance. They should wear decent and appropriate clothing and not draw attention to themselves by the way they fix their hair or by wearing gold or pearls or expensive clothes. For women who claim to be devoted to God should make themselves attractive by the good things they do."

#141 - Hot Enough

Holly had a softball game this afternoon and the temps got hot enough that when we got home they jumped in the pool! It's been kind of like torture having the pool ready all week and temperatures in the 60's! The water was cold, but they didn't care!

Matthew 24:36
“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."

#140 - Anna's New Friends

Anna got a book for Christmas that teaches you how to draw cartoon faces. She worked on it today while we were at the office and came up with a whole new set of friends!

I'm pleased to introduce Shocked, Grumpy, Hopeful, Sleepy, & Suspicious :D

Have a great weekend!!!

Psalm 34:4-5
"I sought the LORD, and He heard me,
And delivered me from all my fears.
They looked to Him and were radiant,
And their faces were not ashamed."

#139 - Some Softball

Holly got to play softball tonight - finally! They have been cancelling so many games because of the weather. It was the perfect softball playing kind of weather tonight. :)

Here's our girl playing short stop. She normally plays on 1st base, but the last two games he has switched things up a bit.
She also got a hit!!!

I've got a praise! The first two games that were cancelled they rescheduled them on Wednesday nights....ugghh! We missed them both because our worship at church on Wednesday takes precedence. Then this past Tuesday they had to cancel another game because of weather. I sent a very polite text to the man over the city league asking him to please conisder rescheduling the game on another day other than Wednesday if at all possible. He sent me back a nice text saying he would do what he could, but because of field use, etc. that he wasn't sure. Well...Wednesday afternoon I get a text from Holly's coach letting us know that our cancelled game had been rescheduled for........Saturday!!!! Yay - woohoo! So I then sent him a thank you text and for his reply back to me - "no problem"! Ha! If we don't speak up - then things won't change!!!

Romans 15:5-6
"Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."

#138 - Arrgghh, The Pirate Family

On Mother's Day, last Sunday night after church our family decided that it was time to partake in some Long John Silvers. We all had a hankerin' for it. Now mind you, it had been over 2 years since we've dined at this particular restaurant. Due to some personal reasons (it almost kills us when we eat there!) we always opt out of going there for our meals. But this night - for the Mother's Day finale - we decided it was time to try our hand at the 'ol LJS! Plus, I had some awesome coupons :D

Anna went inside with me to order our food and I had her run a couple of hats for her and Holly and some of our food order out to the car while I waited on some more food. When she came back in I noticed her go over and get 2 more hats and I kind of giggled because I knew Brian was up to something.
Sure enough when we made it back out to the van, it was full of pirates! Brian made me put my hat on and then we preceded to drive through our town donning our LJS pirate hats! We figured if the food was gonna kill us after we ate it - then we'd go out with a bang! Haha!

I am happy to say that the food settled just fine that night and we survived the breaded fish, and the hushpuppies, and the cole slaw, and the crunchies - which I could almost eat for a meal by themselves! After our more positive venture to LJS - I am thinking we might not wait 2 years to go back. :0)

Psalm 104:26-28
"There the ships sail about;
There is that Leviathan
Which You have made to play there.
These all wait for You,
That You may give them their food in due season.
What You give them they gather in;
You open Your hand, they are filled with good."

#137 - Friends and Elections

After voting in the Primary election this morning the girls and I had our traditional pancakes! 3 out of the 4 I voted for won, but our choice for the Governor nominee lost. :(

And yes, it is May 17th and not only do the girls have on sweatshirts, but we've also had our heat on today. I think the high today was. 45. degres. Seriously :o)

Tonight our sweet friend, Amanda, came over to spend some time with us before she goes back home to Virginia for the summer. It seems like it's been a decade ago when she came to our church her Freshman year and now she is finishing up her Junior year at college! We love her dearly and we'll miss her this summer!!!

Update on the bird parent attackers - they are still guarding the front of the house and squawk their beaks off at us me everytime I step outside!

Proverbs 17:17
"A friend loves at all times,"

#136 - Bye Bye Birdie

Okay, this is the last post about these baby robins....unless something else happens that is funnier than what I'm about to tell you. :)

Tonight I took my camera outside hoping to get a better picture of the baby robins. There was one that looked like it was at the edge of the nest. So I snapped the following two pictures and then....
Out the bird flew! Then another one and then the other two. All four birds flew out of that nest so fast that I thought I was being attacked!!! They all flew in different directions and about the time I got my berrings straight - here comes the Mama and the Papa! Directly at my head!!! I ran back under our carport and watched to see if I could see the babies. But all I could pay attention to was the VERY angry Mama & Papa flying back and forth in front of the nest! They were making noises that I've never even heard before! A little while later I walked back outside with Anna (she stayed under the carport) and I walked behind Brian's Jeep to see if I could see any of the baby birds and I am not exaggerating - one of the parent birds flew within a few inches of my head! Anna and I were running for the door - laughing all the way!

I guess I'll have to walk out in the morning with helmet protection on!

On a totally unrelated note - if you live in Kentucky tomorrow - Tuesday, May 17, 2011 is our Primary election. For more information on candidates you can go HERE.

Please go VOTE!!!

Genesis 1:20
"Then God said, “Let the waters swarm with fish and other life. Let the skies be filled with birds of every kind.”

#135 - Critters

Our weekend has been busy, but blessed. Today after church Anna helped me make tuna salad and then we rested! Our church services were wonderful and it is so nice to have Bro. Kenny back behind the pulpit. Our Associate Pastor does a wonderful job also!

Seems like our baby robins are getting really big, very quickly.

The mama robin still does not like us getting very near her babies!

Last night there was a toad on our carport and as I was trying to snap a picture and I caught him in action! I have never seen so many toads and frogs before. I guess it's from the wet spring we've had. I am beginning to feel like the Egyptians with that frog plague!

And tonight after church we took Brian a treat while he was working and as we were leaving a family of geese was crossing the road. The mama and 3 little ones went first and then the daddy with 1 baby, then they all just were waiting beside the road and then we saw another baby come flying across. It was the cutest thing ever!
It was almost like he was saying - "Wait for me!"

Hope you've had a wonderful weekend and I also hope you have an excellent week!!!

Zephaniah 3:17
"For the Lord your God is living among you.
He is a mighty savior.
He will take delight in you with gladness.
With his love, he will calm all your fears.
He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.”

#134 - Showers

This morning Holly had her softball pictures super early and then played a game at 10:15 A.M. in the pouring rain! As long as it didn't lightning - they could still play:) She hasn't been able to play the last two make-up games because they've scheduled them on Wednesday nights.

Then after a quick nap this afternoon we headed to church for a baby shower!

So excited for Miss Abigail to be born to this preciously sweet Mama: Here is Sarah and Holly after Holly won one of the games.
Here was our gift for Sarah. We always like to give the necessities :) And instead of buying a gift bag, I buy a small laundry basket!

Many many blessings to them!!!

Ezekiel 34:26

"I will make them and the places all around My hill a blessing; and I will cause showers to come down in their season; there shall be showers of blessing."

#132 & #133 - Battle of Richmond Living History

The girls were able to be a part of the Living History at the Battle of Richmond park. They participated in the One Room Schoolhouse and had such a good time! Since blogger was down for the past two days I thought I'd just combine two days posts into one. :)

Here are a few pictures in no particular order:

It was such a blessing to be involved with this event where over 1100 local public school kids got to see and touch history!

Psalm 33:1

"Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous!
For praise from the upright is beautiful."