Raising Floridians

Two posts in one day - can you believe it? But, I had to share this! This morning when I took Maggie out, it was on the chilly side - 65 degrees! As the children woke up, I encouraged them to step outside for a few minutes before breakfast and they did. When they came in, they decided that we needed to open all the windows and doors and let the air in. Caleb went and put on a big sweatshirt! Then, they decided that since it felt so "cold" we had to listen to Christmas music! So, here we are on September 25 with cool air coming inside and Christmas music playing as I made yummy, warm Cinnamon Swirl Muffins!

Here is Caleb in his sweatshirt - notice the shorts! True sign that you are Floridian!

Also, we took Maggie and had her trimmed up today - I don't know how much you can tell from the picture, but her and Holly look cute anyway!

Do NOT read if you are lactose intolerant!

If you have chosen to read anyway, you are doing so at your own risk!! I hope that all of you have a Coldstone Creamery near you and some free time this evening, because for today only, they are giving away FREE ICE CREAM at all Coldstones! Do you know what that does to an Ice Cream lover like me! Oh my! It is for a good cause too - you can go here for all the details or to find a store near you. I hope you get to enjoy some free ice cream - I will be taking my family before prayer, so we even get to repent afterwards!! Teehee!!

Happy First Day of Autumn!!

Whether you call it autumn or fall, don't you love this time of year?? Some of the things I love about fall are:

Cooler weather is on the way.

Baking -mmm! We made a pumpkin cream cheese roll over the weekend to usher in the season!

Pumpkins, scarecrows and apples.

Baking!

Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner.

The colors - reds, yellows, oranges in all shades - how warm and homey!

More baking!

Leaves changing - even if it isn't here in Florida!

Did I mention Baking??!!

Here are some pictures of little odds and ends around the house that help make it feel like fall:

Do you love fall as much as I do??

Still Catching Up...

Catching up on housework, school and blogging! It was so much easier to keep up with blogging without the other responsibilities of running a house! Here are a few picture memories of our time with Kimi in Alabama that we wanted to share with all of you!

We all got to help in their Deli for a few days and that was truly great fun, even though they find it hard to believe that we enjoyed it so much! Holly and MaKenna made cookies and then progressed to making sandwiches while I helped with whatever they needed and the smaller children did odd jobs, played games and watched a movie.

The only pic. I have with Grant in it!

One day, all of the children decided to play "Oregon Trail" and I got these cute shots. The boys were not still and together long enough to get a pic of the 3 of them together - you know how hard it is to be a man on the Oregon Trail?

(Doesn't Micaylah look just like Kimi in this pic??!!)

One of the days we were there, they decided to take us to a cavern nearby that they had been to and wanted to share with us. Outside the entrance, we stopped to get this shot of the kids before driving in:

However, after getting the shot and driving down to the gate, we saw a sign that said they were closing early this day because of a death in the staff. So, we have the picture of being there, but we never really went in! Maybe next time!

Since we couldn't got here, they decided to take us to a place where we could do a little hiking. As we got to where you turn, there was a sign pointing the other direction for another state park. Kimi commented that she had never been there, but wanted to some time and I said, well, why not now? So we did! It was worth it! The park was High Falls State Park and it was just beautiful!

The bridge behind the falls:

Notice that the boys are NOT wet in the first pic! The bottom of the river was very slippery and as careful as they were being, it didn't take much for one after the other of the boys to go down!

While we were there, there were a few guys who were actually jumping off the side of the waterfall into the basin below. It was scary to watch them, but apparently, people from the area do this all the time! Here are a couple of shots I took of 2 of them jumping:

Best Friends for 17 years!!

After leaving there, we decided to check out the other park we started to go to first. It was a beautiful hike along a mountain!

Yes, this is a cliff the kids are overlooking - I was just a little nervous with all those children on the edge!!

All of us at the end of the trail:

On another day, the girls played Barbies:

While the boys worked outside on a "treehouse":

Another day, we went to see their horses:

Our last night. This pic. was taken very late and is not the best, but it is the only one of Kimi and I with all of our kids, so it will have to do!

We had such a nice week visiting with them. They were so hospitable and made us feel right at home and part of their family. What a blessing to have good friends!

Thanks for letting us share our vacation with you! I hope it was as fun for you as it was for us! Now, we are getting back to "normal" (whatever that means!)!!

A Great Motto

I saw this somewhere and loved it so much that I typed it out and hung it on my fridge:

Live your life in such a way that when you wake up in the morning and your feet hit the floor, satan shudders and says, "Oh, no, she's awake!"

Monticello - Day 9

Well, it has taken a while, but here is the final post of the official vacation part of our vacation! We drove Sunday morning to Charlottesville, Va. where the home of Thomas Jefferson stands. Around here, we call him TJ and he is Holly's favorite president (long story!). In case you don't know, Monticello means "little mountain" and is so named for the "little mountain" that it sits on top of. We were bused up to the top and enjoyed the views immediately.

Next came our tour of the house. He was such an awesome guy and had the coolest things that he invented or improved upon in his home. I am amazed at the "technology" they had back then! We were not allowed to take pics, so once again, you will have to go for yourselves to see the inside! After the tour, the kids used quill pens and ink to write notes:

The tree pic:

The rest of our day was spent walking the grounds, climbing up and down the mountain and enjoying being together in a beautiful place.

TJ had an immense garden with all sorts of things growing that is kept up even now. One of the most intriguing to us was the Caracala Bean. The flower is called the snail flower because of the way it twists and turns. I want to grow these! You can see the flower and the bean in this pic:

I had to get a good pumpkin pic since fall is in the air!

We were beginning to get REALLY homesick by this day and these windows in a hallway of an outside building reminded us of church:

The pics don't do the view around us justice, but here they are anyway - it was breathtaking!

It was a beautiful end to our vacation. When we finished our day here, we began the drive toward Charlotte, NC where Mark was flying out of to go home on Monday. We got him to the airport (much crazier even than OIA!) and the kids and I drove to Alabama to spend some time with my bestest friend and her family. That is at least one whole other blog post and I will leave you hanging there! Let me thank all of you though for your thoughts and prayers as we have been on this journey. It truly felt like you were with us and it made the trip that much more fun!