Hi! Thanks for stopping by...

I love.... God, hubby, my posse of kids, wool, jelly beans, quilting, my Canon 50d, watermelon, fabric, Philadelphia Soft Pretzels, TastyCakes, my Bunco girls, laughing, my chickens, antique quilts, buttons, sewing, photography, freshly bathed babies, camping, the sound of snow falling at night, Fiestaware, Elm Creek Quilt books, and a whole lot more! I am a Pastor's wife,a homeschooling mom, a proud Navy mom, and am just downright busy!

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Um... how long has it been?

Apparently I haven't been on here since January! Yikes!
 
Life is busy. That's all I have to say.
You all know that! Your lives are busy too!
 
I will see if I can condense our year into a few short sentences. Probably not!
 
McGyver's oldest brother, Ricketty, had been struck with rheumatoid arthritis since he was 8 years old. Ricketty had a rough 2012... lots of new pain, new types of pain, etc. In January, he started having respiratory problems and was in and out of the hospital. McGyver had been his ft caretaker. In February, he was in and out a few times. He had a harder time breathing and the pain was getting worse. Long story short, he passed away, surrounded by family, on Feb, 25th. We had the Memorial Service the next week.  It was very hard on my kids. During his service, McGyver read letters written by our 2 oldest, Sailor Boy and Missions Boy, who could not make it back for the service. Guitar Boy came forward (before the letter reading) and spoke a few minutes about his uncle. It was at that time I realized that he, Guitar Boy, had lost his best friend. My husband had lost his best friend. My boys' had all lost their best friend.
Uncle Rick was always there... would let them get away with most anything... and would purchase particular items that we just would not... just so our kids could use them.
He took care of his family and his friends.
 
March brought Chicklet's birthday and an attempt to find the new 'normal' in our lives. We still have Grandma - who Uncle Rick lived with - to take care of. She is going to be 86 and this was the first time in her life she had lived alone.
 
April brough Missions Boy home from Cambodia!  His trip and work were amazing. He did several medical outreaches, even performing minor surgeries! Soooo proud of him. In May, he moved in with Grandma. He started working full-time and is taking Bible classes.
 
May brought a big change!  Guitar Boy and Survivor Boy left for BoyScout camp in Arizona... 9 weeks and 5 weeks respectively! Wow... talk about quiet!
Sailor Boy came home a few days later for a spur of the moment visit! 
June took Sailor Boy to Hawaii for his sub cruise and snorkeling. Rough!
The end of June brought Survivor Boy home.
July was rough on me. The heat, my hip, the heat, my hip, etc. It made me another year older, as I spent my bday in the E.R. for my hip. No fun. Guitar Boy came home a few days before my bday and we could celebrate his bday here at home!
August ... we finally made it out of town to Colorado. Took us 24 hrs and a auto breakdown, but we made it! Had a nice, quick visit - just enough to score some produce from all the neighbors
 gardens. :)
It also brough school. We had a pretty sad semester in the spring... not much schoolwork was completed, except for Guitar Boy.
 
We are back in the  groove, relatively. Our homeschool group started a co-op and I am teaching Latin, Shakespeare, and upper-level science. YIKES! We had our first day last Wednesday and it was great!
The kids are being challenged with some of the classes there!  I love it!
 
 
See - couldn't do it in a few sentences, let alone a few paragraphs!
There's so much more I missed, trips to Colorado and Philadelphia.... a family trip to the beach in August when... for the first time in 569 days, ALL my babies were home!
It was beautiful!

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's off to school we go!

We've had some big changes here at our home school!

Guitar boy has started an online virtual academy. He is a junior and needed to be challenged more. 
We're 10 days into it and he is enjoying it so far.  He is doing well.  I'm enjoying the accountability.

Survivor boy and Chicklet are doing great. We're moving along in our studies...
Truthquest History is amazing.  We really appreciate the spines that they recommend by Charles Coffin.  Very meaty and thought-provoking books. 

We are definitely having fun with our home school group! 
We go ice skating, roller skating, game playing, park games, etc. 

A fun group!

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Another Year, Another Challenge...

My readers (all two of you, lol) might remember I posted a few times last year on my Project 52 for photography.  I had joined up with the My Four Hens Photography Challenge, better know as M4H 52.
I was honored to have 5 or 6 of my pictures chosen for Eye Candy this last year.
Sarah Cornish at M4H has started another challenge for 2013.
Week 1 was Time...

I want to be in charge of these tools, not them in charge of me.

Week 2's theme was Pieces of Me


Surrounded by all the pieces of me...
my kids, my father-in-law's piano, my dad's and mother-in-law's artwork, vintage quilts passed down, my grandmother's afghan,
so many little pieces of me.

Week 3  Daily Routine


Maybe this is still on my Resolutions list...
out to the gym, 5 days a week, rain or shine.

Week 4 - Favorite Color

Well, this is a toss-up. I knew immediately what I wanted to do. I wanted to hang all my pretty sea-foam green and aqua shirts on my clothes line, and have them blowing gently in the breeze. 
Ok... that line is in Colorado and I am not. Right now, anyway. So... I hang my shirts up to dry in the kids bathroom. So that's where I got my shot...


Remember I said this was a toss-up?
Because not only does the color sea-foam and/or turquoise speak to my soul, so do this next group of colors. 


Fiestaware Colors!

I love these colors. So vivid, so refreshing, so energetic!

Me, on a good coffee day!


Thursday, January 17, 2013

I just realized how long it's been since I posted!
No bueno!
 
We've been busy, that's all I can say. That's pretty much how we roll around here, lol.
 
 
So... Thanksgiving was wonderful... we had dinner here with Grandma & Uncle Rick.
Missions boy called during dinner, to make it extra special.
Sailor boy was hiking in northwest Pennsylvania that long weekend.
 
We spent Christmas day sledding on Mt. Charleston and had a blast. Sailor boy flew home the 26th at night and we opened our presents after midnight on the 27th, lol! Never done that before ;)
 
We had a great visit with him, and were very sad to see him fly back to school on January 3rd. He has another hectic schedule this semester, plus many important decisions to make in the next few days, weeks, and months.
 
Missions boy is doing well in Cambodia.  There is a team from our church over there right now, lucky ducks! Wish I could have gone, it was expensive! He will be back on US soil on April 1st!  Then home a few weeks after that. I cannot wait to get my hands on that boy and hug him like crazy.
 
Homeschool is going well. There has been a few changes here and there, and more coming up. BUT... all is going well!