Hadassah Day 2

Day 2 of Hadassah began with the early line-up to get the classes you want to take that day. Even though they are ALL excellent, the girls always have their top choices that they hope to get that day. While we wait in line, there is entertainment, goodies and coffee to help us pass the time. I love the signs that they have created - it makes it look so fun and girly!



Waiting in line with new friends from the Arcadia and Cooper City area:


So, each day, they are able to choose one Personal Confidence Class - teaching them to be Godly, modest and wholesome young ladies who shine for Jesus - as well as one Ministry class - where they will learn something that they can use to minister in the evening services. For this first day, Holly and MaKenna both chose Skin Care and Stix as their 2 classes.

In skin care, Lacie Varnum taught the girls how to take care of their skin and the steps to easy facials.



In Stix, the girls used dowel rods to "perform" to a song that was then used in the church service that night.





Since Holly is 15 this year, she and I had a special session during lunch in the 15U Chamber. While we ate, Denee taught the girls "It is OK to like boys!" Well, at first, that honestly made me a little nervous, even though I trust Denee! The class was actually excellent, though, and she discussed dating vs. courtship - it cemented for us all of the things that we have already discussed and believe in. I am so thankful for other Godly women in my daughter's life who give themselves to influence in a Godly way.

We sat at the cutest table at lunch! I felt so blessed to have this time to share with Holly and can't wait to go through it with MaKenna.


After classes, there is a break until the evening events. We took the time to go to Hobby Lobby, since we don't have them in Orlando and just had fun being together. That evening began with an amazing church service - about an hour+ of worship and prayer. Seeing these girls give their all to God in the midst of a world that pulls them in a million other directions is amazing - only God could do that! I watched them in awe as they ministered and were ministered to. Our speaker that evening was the woman who started the Hadassah type conferences - an awesome woman with inspiring stories that she shared with us.

To put the cherry on top, the evening ended with a "Fuzzy Slipper Party" - talk about a party! A gym full of girls, music, games, candy, coffee, soda, jammies, slippers and pizza - OH MY!!! What a time! Words can't truly do it justice!

Holly, Kelsey (from Deland) and MaKenna having fun:


The candy bar (actually, this is just one part of the whole thing! Talk about a sugar rush!):


Praise in Motion Songs - working off those calories!


The day ended VERY late with an immeasurable amount of life packed into it. The times that I have with the girls are passing so quickly. I want to invest everything that I have into them - being with them, laughing, crying, praying or playing - building memories that money can't buy. I can never express how thankful I am for opportunities like Hadassah to add to the memories and the meaning of our life.

Hadassah Day 1 - The Banquet

Each year, Soul's Harbor, a church in Belleview, puts on a conference for mothers and daughters called Hadassah. Hadassah is another name for Esther in the Bible - a young lady who was used of God and was in the kingdom "for such a time as this." She has a beautiful story for our young girls to model their lives after - a better "hero" than any offered by this world we live in! This was our 4th year to attend this event and it was their 5th birthday - and I have to admit, it gets better every year! What a blessing it was, what a time we had and what an awesome opportunity to hang out, just me and my girls, for 3 days!

This year, the conference started on Wednesday night with the formal banquet. The girls get all dressed up in their formal gowns - not for boys, but because they are girls and it is fun to get all dressed up sometimes! I love that they have this chance to be girly and Godly! They serve a wonderfully yummy meal, have entertainment and a guest speaker as well as fellowship with other girls from around the state.



Here are some pics from our evening.

Big sister helping her little sister do her hair. I love this! They are as different as night and day, but they are best friends:


The girls and I at the church - I love the picture in the background!


A fun shot at a beautiful mirror in their prayer room:


We ate dinner with Rebecca (not pictured) and Cheyenne, Sister Debi, April and Kirsten:


The Happy Birthday cupcakes:


Sisters:


Some of my great friends - Kathy and Tasha from Deland and Melissa from Belleview:


Denee and I:


I loved this! One of the young boys from Belleview, who wasn't allowed to stay (girls ONLY!!), left this sweet note. In case you can't read it, it says "girls are pretty"!!


Too cute to not share - MaKenna accidentally slept in her tiara after the banquet, so the next morning I took this picture and told her that "real princesses sleep in their tiaras!!!"


Well, that wraps up the first night. I will get the other 2 days posted soon!

Holy Cow!!!

Today was Cow Appreciation Day and, in case you didn't hear, Chick Fil A celebrated by offering free food to anyone who came in dressed like a cow. We were up to the challenge and did the best we could with what we had on hand - after all, it wouldn't be free food if we bought stuff to make a costume! So, we put on our outfits and headed to the local Chick Fil A (early, to beat the rush and in between hospital visiting hours!) If you missed it, be ready - they do it every year! It was fun to see all the things people did to dress up as a cow!





We had a lot of fun and free food to boot - it was udderly amazing and almost mooooved me to tears!!!

4th of July

Happy Birthday America! It is still a blessing to live in the land of the free and the home of the brave. Although we often take our freedoms for granted, sometimes we need to stop and remember how awesome it is to live in a country where we are free to vote, free to speak, free to worship according to our own conscience. I hope we never forget what we were founded on and where we have come from. We truly are one nation, Under God!

And if God's people who are called by His name will humble themselves and pray and seek His face and turn from our wicked way, He will hear from heaven, and forgive our sin and heal our land - He truly will bless America! What a mighty promise!

We had a wonderful day at Hickory Point Park in Tavares with our church families. It was just a little hot, but there was a nice breeze coming off the lake that helped!





Caleb fished for a long time, but never caught anything!


MaKenna coming down the slide with Madilyn:


Holly swinging with Madilyn:


I didn't take enough pictures at the picnic, but we had a great afternoon with so many special people.



I hope that you and your family had an awesome 4th of July holiday!

Ponce Inlet

Recently, we were able to introduce yet another friend to Ponce Inlet and the Lighthouse. This is one of our favorite places to go. It is close by, beautiful, not very busy and there is a lighthouse on top of all of that! So, making up for not really taking any field trips during the school year, we got together with Melissa and her 3 children and headed to the coast. I have posted about the lighthouse before, so I won't go into huge detail, but we toured the grounds with all of the old keeper's homes, the garden that we helped plant on another trip, and of course - we climbed the 203 steps to the top of the lighthouse!

All of the children at the top - (L to R) Andrew, Tyler, Caleb, Holly, MaKenna and Delaney:


This little squirrel was very used to people - he was eating my bread right from my hand! He liked the homemade bread best! Smart squirrel!


After leaving the lighthouse, we wanted to walk over to the beach, but a storm was coming. We waited a short time and it seemed to be going around us (after a downpour!), so we decided to chance it.

This is looking the direction AWAY from the storm:


Here is the other way. Notice my children going toward the water with that storm in their future??!! It was actually nice above us and the storm did pass around us.


Caleb and Andrew playing in the water:


Holly, MaKenna and Caleb on the jetty rocks:


Me and the kids:


My good friend, Melissa and her children - Delaney, Tyler and Andrew:


OK, I thought this was so neat and had spiritual value. As we were walking along, we looked over to our left and here is the picture we saw:


Do you see the storm all around with one spot in the middle that has no storm? In the middle of those 2 storm sections was a huge house (if you look close, you can see it!). So, all around it, the storm was raging and here is this house sheltered and protected right in the midst of the storm. Isn't that how it is for us when we follow after Jesus? The storms of life may rage around us, but we are sheltered under His protective hand. Sometimes we may feel the effects of storms and sometimes, they may even hit us, but if we can see our life like this picture - HIS hand covering us and sheltering us through it all - oh what peace we can have!

To make it even better (was God helping me with my blog post?? Hmmmm, I don't know, but it did minister to me!) when I looked the opposite direction from the house, here is what we saw:


He brings beauty from ashes. It is so great to know the Lord and trust in Him no matter what life throws my way. It is more than a bumper sticker - No Jesus, No peace... Know Jesus, Know Peace! I would not want to go through the storms of life without knowing Him.

And, in spite of the storm, we had a great day at the lighthouse and the beach - walking, talking, laughing, playing. Friends are definitely one of life's great blessings!

The Most Dangerous Cake in the World...

A friend sent me this recipe and it just begged to be sampled! Well, you might guess that, if I am sharing it on here, it must be good! WOW!! BTW, at the end, I'll tell you about the name. Here's the recipe:

5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake

4 Tbsp. flour
4 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. cocoa
1 egg
3 Tbsp. milk
3 Tbsp. oil
3 Tbsp. chocolate chips
a small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly.
Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the chocolate chips and vanilla and mix again.

Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts (high).
The cake may rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed! (none of ours ever did, but we used pretty big mugs!)

Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.
EAT! (this can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous).

We had it with whipped cream, but it would be good with ice cream, too, I'm sure! ;D Mmmmm - the chips melt inside making it like a lava cake - oh boy!

The kids "suffered" through it!


Now, why is it called the most dangerous cake recipe in the world? Because now we are all only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of the day or night! OK, print this out and go try it for yourself, then let me know what you think!

Random Pictures Documentary

A sample of our life the past couple of weeks in pics:

Shopping for a banquet that will feed almost 200 people is fun! You get lots of comments and looks at the grocery store. Here are the girls with our 3 carts full of 14 gallons of ice cream, 120 water bottles, 16 twelve packs of soda and 8 gallons of iced tea for our 4th annual Junior Bible Quizzing State Finals Banquet!


Randomness = fun shots! Holly, MaKenna and Kaley's shadows:


MaKenna and her violin, "Kristie":


Holly at the church piano:


Caleb:




Holly in a fun shot at State Finals:


MaKenna:


The girls reading with Madilyn:


Our morning glories that we planted from seed are blooming!!:


Fully opened - they are so pretty!:


MaKenna and Maggie:


The girls helping at KC - I just loved how their hair looked while they stood there together!!!


Holly is practicing taking pictures and many of the shots above are a sample of how much she is learning. Both girls are still loving being involved in music - instrument practice, choir, ministry, singing, etc. MaKenna is knitting and crocheting up a storm of yarn. Caleb is really loving legos and has designed and built many of his own creations. These are just samples of the many things that they are doing these days.

We are spending the summer so far catching up on unfinished school projects, church projects and house projects. On the to do list are scrapbooking, sewing, quilting, swimming, babysitting, school planning, church projects and more! Our life is as full and blessed as ever - just the way we like it! How are you spending your summer?