working on the farm

Today started off as a relaxing day at home (except for the palmetto bug)...
ended up being a busy day working on the farm.

The kids love being at the farm...
my little free birds.
One of the horses left for training in Texas.
Sophia's sweet nature- she cried when he loaded up,

he'll be back in 6 weeks.
Troy was most concerned if 'Stormy' was riding in a Peterbilt or a Mack, turns out it's a Volvo, he wasn't impressed.

And dinner in the back of Poppa's truck...

And anywhere there is food on the farm, you'll find Poppa, who wanted a picture with Troy, too bad Troy was making a 'goofy face'...

It was a long day on the farm but any day spent surrounded by God's creation is a rewarding well spent day.

we do not like bugs

We do not like bugs...
No lizards, no frogs, no spiders, nada...
nothing that crawls, creeps and wiggles needs to be in this house...
except the children of course.
It was a nice morning at home...
no where to go...
a little bit of school work to be done by the monsters...
but other than that, nothing to do except a heaping pile of laundry...
and the monsters were playing nicely building gardens in the living room...
when the dog brings me a gift...
she runs in merrily and drops a palmetto bug by my foot...
had it not startled me I may not have screamed...
but I did.
The kids came running in...
Troy suggested I get a gun...
Sophia suggested calling Daddy so he could get his gun...
but I thought I would just use tissue and toss it in the toilet...
as I bent down to pick it up...
little eyes admiring my bravery...
the bug sprung to life and popped up like a corn kernel on a hot skillet...
AHHHH! We all went running...
I peaked by in the room...
there it lay lifeless...
I thought for a moment we all imagined it...
I mean, clearly it was dead...
I decided it may be better to not get so close...
Troy brought me his plastic garden shovel...
perfect, it's about 3 foot long so I wouldn't have to get close to the creature who very well might be playing possum
I took a deep breath,
Sophia said "be brave mommy, we are right here"...
as she hid behind a towel I had folded on the table...
Troy said, "you can do it mommy, you so strong"
"Of course I am, just stay close" I'm always more confident, or rather I can fake it better if I know they are watching me...
I scoop the bug onto the end of the shovel...
It begins to wiggle...
I was totally prepared to toss the shovel and the bug back into the room and slam the door and wait until Tony got home to deal with the creature...
I make it to the bathroom and drop it into the potty...
Troy and Sophia cheer!
Yah! Mommy!!
Troy pats me on the back and says, "you can do all things with God you makes you strong mommy"
Thank you Troy! :)
Troy proudly flushed the bug and we all went back to our morning...
did I mention that we don't like bugs?

confession time...

Yep, it's that time again...
This morning began like a whirlwind... we all have mornings like that.
I have learned since having children, when a mother says, "It's been a crazy morning"... it's really been nuts.
On Tuesdays we have homeschool co-op, I try to get up about 7am, get myself dressed, coffee, lunches packed, then get the kids up. I try to leave the house about 9am so we can stop by Office Max to make copies of history worksheets for the elementary students.
This morning, I woke up at 8:10... not on time.
Troy and Sophia dragged in, not in good moods, apparently I was "moving too fast" for them. I plopped them in from of the life-sucker (television) so I could get ready.
I gave them frozen waffles and got them dressed.
I had planned to make an important phone call before they woke up and that was not working out this morning. This was one of those must dos... and it was turning into a cannot do...
I needed a quiet place to make this phone call and it was not working out...
So where does a mom go when she needs peace and quiet?
I'd say the bathroom, but no, they follow me in there...
I hid...
hid in the kid's closet...
as I stood there among the clothes, hoping they wouldn't find me, I prayed,
"God please let this day get better, let me make it through this day, Amen"
I get off the phone and go to find the kids,
shoes,
lunches
and out the door...
Where was Sophia!? In the playroom closet...
doing what?
praying....
"God please help us have a good day"
I scoop her up, assure her this is going to be a good day and sometimes things don't happen like we plan them but it's no biggie.
She rushes off to get her shoes... never having been so helpful.
Where was Troy?
in the backyard, on the trampoline... soaking wet from the sprinklers that had drenched the trampoline.
Really God!?
I drag him in, fussing at him to go take off those wet clothes.
I go get him dry clothes, dress him again....
I forgot about the dog.
I get the dog, take her to potty, feed her...
Now, get the kids, shoes, lunches and out the door (let's try this again)
Did I mention it was 9:08...
Troy Anthony... just guess, he was...
on the trampoline...
again...
I yell out the door, "you better get in here and pray your clothes aren't wet!"
I feel my heart in my ears...
TROY ANTHONY!! Soaked again and now I'm late.. or going to be...
I find him new clothes and warn him if he goes outside and gets his clothes wet one more time we will stay home and he won't jump on the trampoline for a week... I may have threatened to send him to live with his Great Grandma too... but either way... I was serious.
So, we get to Office Max... guess what... the copier is down...
and do you think anyone is there to help me?
Nope, all the employees were outside on their smoke break... really standing around outside smoking...
so it was me, Sophia and Troy vs. the copy machine.
We got out of there at 9:36... not making good time... did I mention I hate being late.
We got there just in time.
The chaos from the morning was fading and we were right where we needed to be.
Sophia was sitting with her friends, showing off her new red purse that her "Aunt Nonnie" (Tony's mom) gave her.
Troy sat on my lap.
The director asked if anyone had a prayer request?
Troy raised his hand... "pray for my mommmy, that her won't be angry with me"
My heart melted, I sank in my seat, kissed my boy his curly head...
momma isn't mad at you baby
How can you be mad at that?
Did I want to get out the door on time?
Did I want him to listen?
Did I wish I had woke up earlier?
Yes, but did any of that really matter?
Nope... not one bit.
We were together, fed, clean, happy, healthy and sitting in our church getting ready to fellowship with some great families...
So, no, that morning all of the madness really didn't matter one bit.
I didn't need to pray that God would help us have a good day...
I needed to pray that God would help me see the good in this day and recognize that everyday is a gift.
So- I did just that...
and you know what, it really was a great day.
Did I mention today is my daddy's birthday :) Tomorrow I'm taking him out to lunch to celebrate.

take a moment and breath them in...

I encourage you busy momma...
take a minute to hold them...
put down that laundry you are folding...
stop talking..
and just breath them in...
the will only be little for a moment and then that moment will be lost forever...

look what God has done...

I look at the last 5 years of my life and cannot believe what God has done.
He is perfect and when we allow Him to take full control (which I don't know if I will ever be good at, but I sure try)He can make our lives great.
I literally feel Him in control of my path.
The confidence of knowing He is leading me and the security that comes with that truth would have been unimaginable to me 5 years ago.
Five years ago I thought I had it all figured out.
I thought God was leading me.
God shook me.
He wanted to show me, to teach me, that I was not allowing Him to have full control,
He gave me the chance to fully put my trust in Him,
I did.
The path has not been an easy one,
there have been many ugly moments,
things I am embarrassed of,
no one is perfect and those who know me know I'm the first one to admit my faults,
but I have the grace of a perfect God and that makes me feel pretty darn good.
We have some exciting things happening in our life (not another baby!) and I'm so excited to share with you what God is doing... but not just yet.

Hope everyone is having a great week.

Discover Science Field Trip

Today we went to a field trip with our co-op.
It was a fun day for the kids with lots of hands on planet/solar system related learning.
I'll spare the details and just share the pictures.

Here is Scarlett and Colin working on their play-doh planets, they both have older siblings who are in our co-op.

Riley, Sophia and Natalee making the planets, 4 inner planets were little and 4 outer planets were larger.

Troy shared about Mercury...

Sophia didn't want to go up and share about one of the planets so Riley joined her up front for support, he is a great friend.

The kids watched a short video from Bill Nye the Science Guy about the distance between the planets.

Then they got to make a scale of the planets distance from one another and demonstrate how they revolve around the son. Here's Rusty helping (building) Troy's scale.

Last part of our visit the kids got to go in the 'star lab'. We all crawled into this dome and got to see a presentation about the stars, very cool.

Our Classroom

Recently I switched the kids into one room so we now have a classroom/playroom :)
Helps reduce the risk of distractions.

This is our work area...

Eventually I would like to turn the closet into the reading nook but until then, it houses the toys.

This is where the kids hang their completed work, in the evenings I go in and put everything in their portfolio..

This is my space, where I keep workbooks, lesson plans, manipulatives, all the 'teacher stuff'

I keep our learning lists on the wall.. more for me but the kids like looking at it to know what we will be learning each day.

Classroom rules, something every class needs to have...

and more toy storage, I moved a utility shelf from the garage and it works perfect to keep toys out of the way...

Most important... my students, hard at work... loving their new school room.

My Birthday Weekend

My mom gave me the best birthday present 27 years ago... life... and this birthday weekend she treated me and the hubby with a weekend away. I'd say this birthday present was a close second to the day she birthed me into this world. :)

Tony and I haven't gone away in 6 years without the children, a far overdue mini-vacation and something we value and we are already planning to get away again soon.

We went to Ormond Beach while the monster's stayed with my mom. The kids had a great weekend and were glad to see their momma and daddy when we returned.
They made me this beautiful cake to welcome me home on Sunday afternoon. :)

On Sunday morning we checked out Tomoka State Park and did some canoeing...
We saw lots of fish and manatee in the river, def made some great memories on this river.



Oh- and who knew that Outback made a gluten free chocolate thunder from down under! So Yummy! Happy Birthday to me!

patting you on the back

I used to say it was God's way of patting me on the back saying everything was ok.
You laughed and rolled your eyes.
I knew you didn't understand and that's ok.
But I still tell you because someday you will recognize all the times that He has pat you on the back.
You just don't notice it yet.
Sometimes it's a "job well done" kind of pat.
Other times it's a "get yourself right" kind of pat.
"Pay attention I'm trying to show you something" kind of thing...
I see them a lot more lately...
you recognize them more too.
I know you feel Him.
He is reaching out to you.
I pray the next time he pats you on the back that you reach out and cling to His mighty hand.
Walk with Him a while, let Him show you the way back, back to Him, back to life everlasting.
He's there.
He always has been.
He always will be.
Waiting for you, patting you on the back.

Growing Up

Troy seems to be growing so much.
He was a late bloomer when it came to talking...
he was practically three before we could understand much of anything.
I knew he was the kind of 'talker' that had it all inside,
he was just waiting for the worlds to come.
His fourth birthday will be here in a few months and I love talking with this little guy.
He loves to tell stories.
Often times in the evenings Tony will come home and sit on the couch with him and they will talk and talk...
I love listening to them.
Not just talking but understanding...
He really understands things now.
I used to give direction after direction and wonder why he didn't 'get' it.
He gets it now.
With that understanding comes some new emotions too.
Ignorance is truly bliss...
Until recently Troy didn't recognize when someone was being mean,
he didn't understand when someone was unkind
or when someone wasn't being honest.
He didn't understand that people can hurt one another with their words.
He has been telling me a lot, "people should treat each other with kindness."
Something I've told him for a very long time now,
but now those words have meaning.
He knows what kindness means and he understands when others aren't being kind.
It's a little sad to see him recognize the cruelness in this world
but I am proud of the kind little person he is becoming.
I know there will be many seasons in his life but I hope he never forgets to treat others with kindness.

A new commandment I give to you,
that you love one another: just as I have loved you,
you also are to love one another.
-John 13:34