Spring Has SpRuNg!!!!

It is always such an exciting time of the year to me when all things become new again. What was dead is now alive! Surely God has a plan and we get to see it unfold every year. I took some pictures of the new life happening around here to give hope to those of you still in the woes of winter =P

OK, this one is not really spring, but the kids and I thought that it was so cool - a homeschoolers opportunity. Do you see all the cloud formations in this one picture? What a great time to teach - while enjoying a beautiful day outside with my children!

The first new leaves on our crepe myrtle tree:


Our azaleas in bloom:

Our big maple (?) tree out front - I love when this one gets new leaves - every day there are more of them and they are open more:

I saved the most exciting one (to me!!) for last. We have had 2 little orange trees since Holly was about 9. When we moved in here, 2 1/2 years ago, they came with us. We planted them and fertilized them, but never have we noticed that they are growing or doing anything. Well, this year, we have blossoms on one of the trees! Aren't they beautiful!

We are going to try to plant a few new things this year and maybe some herbs or veggies, too.

What I really want is a chicken tractor!!!!!!!!

Reality Check

The other day, as many days are around here, was quite full and busy. Before I knew it, lunch had come and gone and I had never cleaned up from breakfast, let alone lunch and had made bread in the middle. I looked up and noticed the kitchen counters overflowing with mess. Many people have this notion that I am always neat and clean and that my house is never messy and that I am always caught up on everything. Well, when I mentioned to MaKenna that I should blog what reality often is around here, she grabbed the camera and took these shots:





Pretty bad, huh? So, just to clarify, I really am not perfect, nor do I want to pretend to be - I am just me! I am striving with all that is in me to be what God wants me to be and often fail. I do try to keep up after everything and often do well, but some days, the demands on my time are too great and things like dishes have to wait! Does anyone out there know what I am talking about??!!

Finished (For now)!

With the kids feeling yucky from the off the chart pollen count and then a mid week field trip, we took school easy this week and that freed me up to get some more spring cleaning and painting done around here. I am happy to report that I am finished!

We painted Caleb's room and then rearranged the furniture, sorted through clothes and toys and did cleanup and maintenance. Here is his new room:

This is the view from his doorway, so it is totally different than it has been since we moved in! The back of his bed is open underneath, so this arrangement gives him that as extra play space. It also means that all of his toys are on the back side of his bed, so I don't have to see them! We gave him MaKenna's old desk and he is thrilled to have a desk in his room. There are still a few finishing touches that we will get to one day, but this is good for now!

On to the back porch, here are pics of what we did back there. This is the view from where the bar used to be:

We love this little sitting area and have eaten out there a lot since we finished.

The view from the wall behind the sitting area:

The bar is the whole way down in front of the sliders at our bedroom. Again, there are some more finishing touches that I want to add, but it is always a work in progress, right?!

Spring Cleaning

Yep - it's that time again. At least for us Floridians, the weather beckons for me to prepare for spring by cleaning out and cleaning up. That said, we had our first free Saturday in a month yesterday and it was dedicated to spring cleaning the outside.

We started with the garage and let me tell you, the kids figured out quick that if they wanted to keep it, they better have a good reason and a place to put it, cause momma was in a "just throw it away" mood. I have the ability to be a pack rat - like any good mother, I save all those firsts of the kids, all of the things for crafts that we may use one day (but haven't for 10 years), etc. Well, yesterday was purging day and the trash men may not like us tomorrow! The garage really didn't take that long, though, since we just cleaned out there just before Christmas.

Next was the back porch and backyard. I need to take some pics to show you what we did so you can see the change, but I haven't yet. Many of you know that we have a large bar (really just a counter shaped like a U) on the porch that was left here for us by the previous owner. While it is extremely functional, it is also massive and positioned right in the middle of the porch so that we really couldn't work around it. I was ready to sell it on Craig's List or put it out for the trash with a free sign on it, that is how much it just bothered me. Mark felt like we needed to keep it though, since it houses all of the pool chemicals. Well, I knew that there were other storage options, but still did not proceed with getting rid of the bar. So, while the kids and I cleaned out back, I had a brilliant idea. Why not just move the bar? Duh! Just a couple of screws to unscrew and 3 girls to push and pull and that baby was out of there! We moved it all the way down to the other end of the porch against the side window and in front of the sliders to our bedroom, which we never use anyway. Oh my goodness, the difference that made.

We then reorganized all of the chemicals, the pool supplies, the odds and ends out there and rearranged the seating area to be more of a little room in and of itself. It looks so cute and like a totally different room. We would love to fully enclose that room, but it is not in the budget right now, so this is the perfect compromise.

On top of all of that, we scrubbed down the screen pieces, did pool maintenance, trimmed up the trees (which we hope will prove to have survived our freezes this year), cut roots out of the ground, cleaned up the back yard, etc. We have not raked yet, though. The leaves are still furiously falling, so why rake? It was such a productive day with everyone being outside all day together, singing, working and playing. I love Florida in March! Oh, and we ended with a cookout and ate out back. Sorry if you still have snow!

Then, after all was done and the house was quiet, I was thinking about the great day we had and all that we accomplished and something hit me. Do we spend that same amount of time and effort to "clean out" our spiritual lives? I don't know about you, but I let junk start to clutter up my mind and my heart. Hurts, expectations, fears. Sometimes, my attitude just plain stinks. I am not always the wife/mother/friend/sister that I want or intend to be. But, I tend to tuck those things away and create piles in the corners of my brain and the secret places of my heart instead of cleaning them out. So, I will end this post by quoting what David said in Psalms 51:10:

"Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me."

That is my prayer that I will remember as I continue my spring cleaning effort over the next couple of weeks. And, as I clean, I will remember to ask God to help me clean the inside, too. If spring is about change and new life, let it start in me! I'll continue to share my adventures as we go!

WOW!

I never expected the response to my last blog about my hair! And I surely never intended it to be about whether or not I look young or old, pretty or not - just sharing something new that I tried with all of you! But, thank you for your kind words and thoughts! Here is what I realized over the 3-4 days that it was straight.

~I am still the same inside, no matter what my hair is doing. This may seem basic, but sometimes, we judge others by what we see, forgetting that they are a person inside, no matter how they look on the outside. I guess I just had a "moment" of understanding in a different way than before about the effects of passing judgement based on appearances.

~Sometimes, change feels good! Holly, I think, had the hardest time with the change. She likes things to be predictable and I would find her looking at my hair and call her on it. We had some good talks about the inevitability of some changes and that mixing things up does not have to be bad. I tell you, I think at this point in my life, I can make a spiritual lesson out of Mickey Mouse!!! =D

~The last main thing I learned, I am shocked to be saying here. May none of my old hairdressers find my blog and read my confession. While I did like the change and will try it again sometime, I truly did miss my curls! I was always told as a kid that I would appreciate my hair someday and that people pay lots of money for hair like mine. Well, now I have reached to point where I get that.

Straightening Up

I got a wild "hair" tonight and decided to try something different with my hair. So, I borrowed Holly's flat iron and got to work! Pretty "hairbrained" idea, huh? Well, here is the result - let me know what your vote is, curly or straight!





Can't wait to hear your thoughts!

Yummy Dinner

Tonight for dinner, I made one of our new favorite dishes. It is called Sausage with carmelized apples and onions. Now, don't give up on it just yet! When I found it in the fall last year, we had just bought some chicken sausages with apples in it from Costco. I did not want to just make sausage, so I turned to the internet (what else?!) and found this recipe. It sounded odd to me and out of my comfort zone, but it also seemed appealing and worth a try. Well, from the first time we made it, it was a family favoite! So, I share it here for your pleasure and consideration! =)

Ingredients:

8 sausage links

3-4 tbsp. butter

4 onions, sliced

4 apples, peeled and sliced

6 tbsp. brown sugar

6 tbsp. apple cider vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

Slice open the sausages down the middle and either grill or broil til golden. Melt the butter and add the onions. Saute til soft and translucent. Add the apples, vinegar, brown sugar, salt and pepper and saute til carmelized. This takes 10-20 minutes (or more, depending on your stove!).

Now, to put it together. We make brown rice with this and put a small mound on the plate. Put the apples and onions on top, then a sausage link. Tonight, we served this with veggies - brocolli, cauliflower, squash and baby carrots. Here is a picture:

So yummy and satisfying! Enjoy!

Just some updates on us!

We have had another full and busy and wonderful week here at the DeVore's! Monday, we went with Mark to help him pick out some new glasses. About 2 months ago, he broke his only pair and superglued them together - on the bridge, right in the middle of his face! But, that is what we had to do. After a few days of that, I remembered that he and I have the same prescription (weird, huh?) and offered him my spare pair to get him by. They are not really guy or girl frames, so they sufficed. But, we were finally able to go pick him out some new frames at Costco - great deals on cute frames if you are in need! However, we realized that we were never given a written prescription last year from the eye dr. So, we called to get it faxed over and find out that that dr. is no longer in that office and they have none of his paperwork. Call the new office and find out, the dr. is out and won't be back til Thurs. All of that and still no glasses! He is going to go again tomorrow to put it all together! So crazy - and this is only Monday! I will post a picture of him when they come in.

Tuesday was a very full school day - lots to do!!! Here is a candid shot of all the kids hard at work, each one needing me for something different - Math, Writing, History and Quizzing! Mom in Demand and wishing there were 2 of me (or more!).

Wednesday - kid's Connection. If you know anything about it, that says it all! Two little words packed with energy, diversity, craziness, planning, fun, etc. We really had a great time, though. Check out the details on the POA KC blog - look on my sidebar under blogs worth checking out for the details of our evening and pictures.

Thursday we planned a short school day to run some errands. We finished in good time and headed to the library and post office, then to the thrift store. I LOVE thrift shopping. You can buy so much for so little. Yes, you have to overlook some things and you have to bring the clothes home and wash them, but you simply cannot beat the deals. We were specifically looking for some things for Caleb who is now only about 1-2 inches short of me (no jokes, please! I have heard them all!!!!! =P) For our quiz tournament, the team colors this month were to be red shirts and black bottoms - well Caleb had outgrown his black pants and had no red shirt either. We scored 2 pairs of new jeans - one from Old Navy and the other a pair of Levi's, a pair of black Docker style pants, a khaki Christopher and Banks skirt for me, 2 Andy Griffith movies (Are we the only ones who still love those??), 2 shirts for MaKenna (who is now about 3 inches taller than me!) and a jean skirt for MaKenna - all for $25.00!!! Still no red shirt for Caleb. We ended up finding a red polo at Walmart on sale for $4, though.

Thursday night was piano and prayer. Did you know that Holly is taking lessons again? Yep, she is! She meets with JP each Thursday. That was our birthday gift to her. It was worth it for her to take some time off from lessons and start again now that she is older. She is so motivated and practices without us making her. In fact, sometimes I feel like she pushes herself too hard - I can't imagine where she gets that from...

Friday was Holly's turn to babysit at Jeff and Cara's, so we finished school and chores and took her to their house. After a couple of errands, we came home to more busy-ness. Cleaning, dinner and lots of prep for the tournament on Saturday. Friday evening, we had a couple's event in our New Family and Fine Arts building - a showing of Fireproof, an awesome movie. We arranged to meet up with Micah and Melissa, a couple who have recently moved here from the Pamer's church, before the "service" and had a nice time of fellowship - with no kids! It was so nice to get to know them better and spend some time with them. They have 3 children like us only 2 boys and then a girl and they homeschool. Then, off to church for fellowship there. Such a nice evening. Oh, and our kids stayed here with a list to do: Clean up from dinner, pack our lunch things for Saturday and iron Saturday's clothes, for the whole family. If they did those things, they were allowed to watch a movie til we got home. I am happy to report that it all got done! I am so blessed.

Now, Saturday was just crazy. Mark, Caleb and I left at 6:40 (after oversleeping and waking up at 6:15!!) for our junior tournament. We took 3 teams to Tampa and had a full day of quizzing. I ran back and forth and up and down staying in touch with all 3 teams to see how they were doing. Plus, I am the official 15 passenger van driver. By the time we get home from a tournament, my brain is just mush!! I have nothing left to give at that point. But, quizzing is so worth it and to hear these little children quote the truths in God's Word is absolutely amazing! I got to work with our youngest team this time and be in the session with the youngest quizzers - 8 and under. WOW! 6 year olds quoting the Word. So awesome to be a part of that. It is also always nice to see and catch up with great friends from around the state. Not to mention that I get to hang out with Bella, Tim and Andrea's daughter. Isn't she adorable?

The girls were doing a Community Service event with the youth group Saturday morning and were being picked up from our house at 8 AM. They worked hard for 4 hours sorting goods to distribute to homeless people, then came home to study their verses, practice music, finish some school work, do chores, shower and prepare for their first Youth Service in the new building! They were beyond excited! A room just for the youth to have their services in with everything geared toward their age group. Then, after service, they opened the gym for basketball and fellowship. They came home and wanted to tell me every detail of their day, but my brain could not even comprehend it!

So, there are some highlights from our week. How about you? I hope you are having as much fun as we are. I heard a quote: "I don't want to survive, I want to live" and that sums up our life, really. I want to live life to the fullest and enjoy every second of it! We only get one life to live.