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?

Blessings in May

May was such a full and exciting month around here - birthdays, anniversary's, changes. So many things going on every day. Our family definitely does live life to the fullest! We were so blessed this month, on top of everything else, to have visits from two wonderful, awesome, terrific, can't imagine my life without, friends! First, Tammy, Bryan and Sarah came to town for a short visit. We had a wonderful time together catching up, sharing testimonies of things God is doing, laughing and hanging out. They never cease to amaze and inspire me with things God is doing in and through them. They even came to KC for old times sake!

Bryan, Mark, Tammy and me:


MaKenna, Caleb, Holly and Sarah:


Then, the very next week, Kimi, Garrett, Micaylah and Austin came to town. Even though it rained most of the time they were here, we still let the kids get together and swim - blue lips and all! They had a blast in spite of the rain.



I am so thankful that our children are growing up together even though many miles have always separated them. They just pick up right where they left off the last time they got to be together - and isn't that what true friendship is? They are learning that at a young age and I know that it will bless them their whole life. Holly and MaKenna even play Barbies with Micaylah for old times sake!

Kimi and I were able to be together during homeschool convention and for my birthday! I am so blessed!



The time is always too short when you are with good friends. However, I am so thankful for any time to get to be with them. I feel blessed to know people that it is so hard to say goodbye to. An old saying says it best:

"Some people come into our lives,
leave footprints on our hearts,
and we are never the same."

Children's Crusade

Recently, we were blessed to be a part of a Children's Crusade at church. WOW! What an amazing weekend. Working with children is such an awesome experience that never ceases to leave me in awe.

For as long as I can remember, I have worked with children of some sort - my mom had 4 more children after I was 12, which I helped raise; I worked at La Petite for 3 years; I was an Elementary Ed. major in college; I taught in the public school system; I have tutored many children; I have homeschooled for 10 years, Sunday School, Junior Bible Quizzing and Kid's Connection.

All of those things were nothing compared to seeing children on their faces weeping before the Lord, pouring their hearts out to Jesus and feeling His presence. They are so innocent in their prayers and are honestly hungry for Him. They don't hold back anything when they feel Him near!

I left that day amazed, speechless, inspired, awed, encouraged, affected, astounded, excited, moved, influenced, exhilerated - I could go on and on! You can not totally understand unless you were there! Here are some pics from our time.

The teachers dressed up in "Crazy Praise" for the occasion:


Mark, Brother Collins and Edward - it doesn't get much crazier than this!


Kid's Praise:




Children's Evangelist Jeremy Joyce with Jonathan and Mark:


Prayer:






These children amaze and inspire me to follow hard after Jesus - He is the only One worthy of giving my everything to. I can't wait to continue to watch what He does in their lives.

18 years

How did 2 weeks go by since my last post??? So much has happened since then that I am not sure that I will even be able to try to catch up. I will try to do a small post each day for the next few days to at least cover the highlights! Here goes the first.

On May 12, 1991, I married my best friend. We celebrated 18 years this year! WOW! It is hard to believe that 18 years have gone by while we have lived, laughed and loved. We were both so very young and knew nothing about life, but we knew that we were in love and that we could do anything as long as we were together! No, we did not know to pray about our decision, but thank the Lord that by His mercy and grace, we have grown together anyway as He would have us to. Over the years, we have both grown and changed so much, yet in many ways we remain the same. I am so thankful and amazed that through it all, we have chosen to remain steadfast in our commitment to each other and to our vow. It is only by God's grace! We are blessed beyond measure - not as the world measures blessings with material goods, but in countless ways that money can't buy. I wouldn't want it any other way.

Here are some pictures in case you weren't there! =D

My wedding party - Brenda, Nancy, Noel, Paris, Me, Mark, Steve, John, London and Terry:


Peargie, my "little" sister who now towers over me: (Is she adorable or what???!!!)


Bear, London and Jason, my "little" brothers, who also now tower over me!


The cake fight:


Can you believe he did this to me????


Us then:


Us now - still together after all these years!