Wordless Wednesday- Fishing! :-)

Earthquakes, Evacuations, Hurricanes, Tornado warnings, oh my!

What a week this has been!  The earthquake, thank God, was more of a "wow, that's cool" and "it'll be something to tell our grandchildren" type of moment.  Yes, the ground shook, the furniture rattled and the chandelier shook, but that was all and it was over in seconds. 

Unlike people of many years ago, we have the benefit of knowing about major weather events like hurricanes far in advance.  Thus, our evacuation (and that of millions of others) was ordered from the New Jersey beach where we were on vacation.  A 1 1/2-2 hour ride turned into 5 hours.  But, in a spirit of gratefulness, I explained to the kiddos that we were leaving a vacation rental, there were people here on the island who were leaving their real homes.  I can't imagine their fear of not knowing what they were to face when they returned and packing up only what could fit in their car.  I thought of that a moment.  What would I take? 

We returned to my parents' house since they have a generator.  So, unlike many who were spending the night in a shelter, we were in a warm home with food, water and a gassed-up generator.  Thank God.

The tornado warnings did come out of nowhere and were frightening.  I thought it an ironic end to a crazy week-- what other "natural events" could we possibly experience, well other than a volcano.  lol.  Not to scare the kids, we made it be an "adventure" and blew up the air mattesses and told them what "fun" they could have camping out in the basement, lol!  My parents' basement has a rug and a tv with a dvd player, so they were happy and set for the night.  Only their parents worried and watched, as well it should be.  And that we did, for hours and hours and hours....

When I awoke in the morning and looked outside, it was eerily still.  The rain was no longer pounding, the winds had died down.  So, this was the closest to what an "eye" of a storm looks like, I thought.  I looked outside, the street was not flooded and the trees were still standing.  The electricity was even still on.  We were truly blessed.

As I sat to again watch the unending news coverage, I saw devastation, I saw flooding, I saw loss of life.  My family was spared and I am grateful beyond words.

"Give thanks to the Lord, proclaim His greatness; tell the nations what He has done..." 1 Chronicles 16:8

We returned to the vacation rental yesterday and my husband will finally get some well deserved vacation days. (he was able to get one week off )  I am so happy that we will be able to spend some family time together.

Happy 12th Birthday Kiddo #2!

Our precious second child arrived at 7:59PM on August 25, 1999.  Induced a week early because of his size, he was still a whopping 10 pounds 12 1/4 ounces!  What a horrible labor it was for both mom and son.  I still remember the nurse having to climb on top of me to literally push down on me to help him out.  The doctor was a blessing.  He had come on shift when it was already too late to begin a c-section.  Kiddo had already descended into the birth canal and they would have to either break his collar bone or my pelvis.  He promised us he'd do his best to try to avoid both.  God bless him, he did it.  It wasn't easy, in fact, it was hell and the poor baby looked like he did a few rounds with a championship boxer, but he was here!  We were so blessed that that same doctor delivered all 4 of our children.  He is a wonderful, compassionate man who I will never forget. (a bit of an aside-- while he was delivering our 4th, and dh was on the phone from Iraq, the doctor made a special point of getting on the phone to thank dh for his service and to assure him that wife and daughter were fine.  He also called my room from his home the next day, Thanksgiving, to tell me that his family was grateful for mine)  Sorry for the tangent!  :-)

Kiddo #2 is such a blessing.  He is super-smart, funny as can be, and just amazing with his younger brother and sister.  He has the patience of a saint with them and can teach them almost anything!  He makes up games for them, practices math with them and teaches them how to do power point! (oh, yes with full graphics and animation!)  In fact, he just walked in the room and announced to them that there are multiplication facts hidden in certain rooms and gave them hints to find them!  :-))))

If you want any statistic about sports, just ask Kiddo #2.  He can tell you every team that has been in a Super Bowl, what year it was and the final score.  He wants to be a math teacher.  I think he'd make a great sports commentator, lol.  Whatever he wants to do, he will succeed, I'm sure.

Most importantly, his faith is so strong!  He received a beautiful letter from his CCD teacher complimenting him for his kindness and patience, but most significantly, his knowledge of the Bible and his devotion to the Lord.  A parent couldn't be prouder than I was when I read that letter!

Happy Birthday, dear Kiddo #2!  We love you very much and are so very grateful for the gift of you!

making homemade pizza



on a recent trip to Colonial Philadelphia

Kiddo volunteered as a group leader at VBS and this was during their final show as he and the other "crew" were leading the younger children in song.

during our recent trip to Hershey, the kids "made" their own candy

a prayer book Kiddo made during our online VBS



Wordless Wednesday

I will break the rules and add words just to explain the reason for the photo of the chandelier.  This was what was swinging from side to side during the earthquake today! 

A Visit with "Great Nann" and "the cousins" :-)

My husband's grandmother, whom I love as if she was my own, comes to visit us every year at the shore. And, thankfully, this year was no exception.

My husband's cousin, wife and two children bring "Nann" and we always spend a wonderful day together. It was nice to see my husband, his cousin and my dad really enjoy each other's company and I got to spend time chatting about "mom stuff" with my cousin-in-law, who has become a dear friend over the years.

My children began waiting anxiously at the windows from the minute we returned from Church for "the cousins" to arrive. The girls are 9 and 11, and fit right in with my crew. They play so nicely together.

They swam

and swam

and swam...

After a delicious homemade Italian meal by my mom, the kids played hide and seek and found places to hide that we didn't even know existed, lol! :-) They so entertained each other with games, art and Thomas trains.

They all wanted photos together as the day/evening was winding down. And we all made promises to get together again soon.

Here is a picture of Nann and the 6 great-grandchildren with whom she shared her day.

Did you have some special family time this weekend?

Homeschool Mother's Journal

 

Thank you to Sue for hosting the HMJ!  :-)

In my life this week: we are blessed to be on vacation in Ocean City, NJ.  There has been swimming in the pool, lots of time on the beach, walks on the boardwalk and rides on the amusements.  :-)

In our homeschool this week: We haven't done a full load here, of course, but we are reading some of our literature from Sonlight every day and I did bring down the materials for an ocean/beach lapbook that I am looking forward to.  One of my sons found a sand crab on the beach.  We brought him back to the apartment overnight, watched him and looked up their characteristics on the computer.  That was fun and they were learning, too!  :-)

I am inspired by: This week, there are little things that my children are doing to inspire me.  After we saw a magnificient rainbow over the ocean, my 7 year old daughter drew a picture with a rainbow that said "thank you God" on it and hung it up in the window.  If that doesn't give inspiration, I don't know what will!  :-))

Places we're going and people we're seeing:  During the remainder of our vacation, we are planning to do more of what we have already done in addition to going to the local zoo and aquarium.  We may even rent a boat for a ride.

Questions/thoughts I have: I am trying not to stress about the boxes of curricula that lay waiting at home or the two classes I will be starting to teach at co-op, teaching Sunday school and teaching a class at the university two nights a week.  It is too overwhelming if I think about it all.  Right now, I am trying to focus on vacation and having fun with my kids.  :-)

I'm reading: "Beyond Band of Brothers: Memoirs of Major Dick Winters", the new Duggar book, in addition to finishing "Raising Real Men"

I'm grateful for:  a wonderful husband, our 4 children, God's beautiful creation, sunsets over the beach/ocean and so much more.  I actually posted a "thankful Thursday" post yesterday that you can read where I listed so many more of the "little things" for which I am grateful.

A photo, video, link or quote to share:

We took the kids to Hershey last month.  I thought this was an awesome pic of the 4 of them together.

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for so much in my life, but am really focusing on the little things today, the things that we may pass by on a daily basis, but are truly beautiful and such gifts from God.

So, today, I am thankful for:

the beauty of God's creation all around me

my 9 year old son, who when seeing the colorful sky in that last picture said to me, "it is beautiful mom, but it isn't as lovely as you." (sniff, sniff!)

the sheer joy in my children as they make sand castle "villages"

seeing their excitement and exhiliration as they jump over waves again and again

teaching them fun games to play (ones that I knew as a kid before playstations and ipods, lol!)

special reading time together every day

my 13 year old grilling our dinner

"And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."-- Colossians 3:18 

What blessings have been showered upon you today? 

Wordless Wednesday