Our Annual Disney World Family Trip

I have to say, I honestly can't remember EVER getting to Disney before the gates opened. But this was a first! LOL! All the dwellers of the Castello went. We also invited 7 friends to come along for the fun. We had a great time!

While we waited for the gates to open, the crowd sang Christmas songs led by cast members. Cast Members are the employees that work at Walt Disney. Our wait time was less than 20 minutes, so it wasn't too bad at all. :o)



We were entertained by the younger ones playing with the hula hoops provided by Disney. Superstar is the one wearing the gray, GAP sweatshirt. Giggles is the one wearing the Cubs sweatshirt. Let me explain how they came by these pseudonyms. Superstar is quite the baseball player. Giggles, really enjoyed the Muppet 3-D movie at Hollywood Studios. I mean, he REALLY enjoyed it. I couldn't keep my eyes off of him. He was really taken with the 3-D effect. It was priceless.



This is their sister, Dee. I'm having trouble coming up with a name for her. So we'll go with Dee for now. She was getting into the fun too.

Of course the first thing we went to ride was Space Mountain. But I have no pictures of that. While the older ones rode the roller coaster, Superstar and his mom, Lady D rode the Buzz Lightyear ride. Once we were done with Space Mountain, everyone rode Buzz Lightyear too. Yep, Superstar and Lady D rode it again. :o) From there, we were off to...



... the Race Track! Oh, this was the first time Superstar had been to Disney World. Can you see the joy in his face?! :o)



Dr. J (basketball is his sport) is the eldest of the four sibblings. He and G.I. Joe are the same age. They play basketball for the same school. He's a nice young man. I'm glad he and G.I. Joe are friends.


I'm so glad I got a picture of Dee smiling. Turns out she didn't want to go to Disney World. She wanted to go to school. She's a little social butterfly and wanted to be with her friends. Well, she ended up having a great time anyways. :o) How can you not?! After all, it's Disney World... The Happy Place! :o)



This is Giggles first time at the wheel. He LOVED it! LOL! I'm sure he can't wait until he's 15. But he's got a ways to go.



Gent that he is, JC let Soaring Amongst The Clouds drive. Oh, did I mention how cold it was? Well, it was in the low 40's. The sun didn't come out until almost lunch time. Wind was blowing too. So to us native Floridians.... it was FREEZING!!!




Steps was a gent too and let Daughter of the King drive too. Isn't that so sweet. :o)



I'm sure G.I. Joe can't wait until he's REALLY behind the wheels. Wish I could say it'll be a while. He turns 15 next year! YIKES!!! Be still my heart...

Next stop was the Tea Cups. Let me go on record saying, that I LOVE ROLLERCOASTER RIDES and ANYTHING THAT SPINS! But due to my ah... chiari issues, per doctor's orders, I'm not allowed. :o( So, I decided to hurry and take pictures before the ride started...



Four of the Castello dwellers...



Giggles wanted to ride by himself.



I don't think Giggles would of fit here anyway. Good thing he wanted to ride by himself. I took a picture of Soaring Amongst The Clouds, JC, Daughter of the King and Steps, but it didn't turn out. :o(

After the Tea Cups, we headed out to Goofy's Barnyard Ride. That was a big hit too. I went into one of the stores to "thaw out". Brrrr!!!!



It was decided that Splash Mountain was not going to be ridden. I'm sure no explanation is needed. Brrrr..... So we went on to Thunder Mountain.




Can't believe Still Waters got this picture. She turned around while riding, just to get this shot. Not bad! LOL!



I'm so glad this picture turned out. First family picture this year. I really need to take more "family pictures", but it isn't easy!



Group picture! Ok, now everyone smile! Come on now! Help me out... pleeeeease?! Pretty please?!



When we left the Magic Kingdom, we had a compartment on the monorail all to ourselves. Steps decided to lay on the top of the backrest. Once the monorail got going, he fell back. Way to go Steps! Daughter of the King really got a kick out of it. LOL!

By this time is was time for lunch (around 1p). We went to a McDonald's that right on the Disney property. After lunch, Soaring Amongst The Clouds and JC headed back home. JC had to go to work. They also had a viewing to attend after work.

Everyone else went to Hollywood Studios. They all rode, Tower of Terror, Rocking Roller Coaster and Star Tours. We saw the shows The 3-D Muppet Show and Lights, Motor, Action! We walked the entire park. We also saw the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights. It was absolutely beautiful! We see it every year and I still find it breathtakingly beautiful!

Well, we practically closed the park down. LOL! We were all very tired puppies. We stopped to eat dinner on the way home. There happen to be a Chick Filet and a Panda Express close by. The few that ordered Chick Filet carried their dinner and ate it at Panda Express. The workers didn't mind since most of us ate Panda Express "cuisine". I had never eaten there. It was pretty good for "express" Chinese food. The serving portions were very big. We even had enough left over for lunch the next day.

We all had a great time. Can't wait for our annual Disney World family trip next year. YEAH!!!

Facebook Chat

I'm always logged on to facebook and my instant message account. This morning, my G.I. Joe decided to have some fun with his sisters. So he started having a conversation with them (on facebook chat) pretending to be me. This is what transpired...

G.I. Joe (pretending to be me): I like G.I. Joe the best.

Still Waters: ?
Still Waters: huh?
Still Waters: for what?

G.I. Joe (pretending to be me): 4 being so awesome

Still Waters: what did he do?
Still Waters: G.I. Joe is that you?
Still Waters: you stink

G.I. Joe (pretending to be me): no he doesn't

*At this point The Warrior got into it. He got on Still Waters computer and wrote, "you stink" to G.I. Joe. Then she got back on and said...

Still Waters: i didn't write that
Still Waters: nice try


At the same time he was doing the same thing with Daughter of the King. This is what transpired between them...

G.I. Joe (pretending to be me): i like G.I. Joe the best

Daughter of the King: funny G.I. Joe, I know this isn't mom. go do your school work!


End of conversation. LOL!


Have I mentioned lately how much I love my children? Well I do. I love their sense of humor. My cup runneth over...

Tennis Anyone?

Well tennis fever has hit the dwellers of the Castello. Last semester, Soaring Amongst The Clouds took a tennis class. She really enjoyed it. But she really hadn't had a chance to keep playing. Until.... recently. The tennis bug has bit us... and has bit us hard!

On and off for the last 3 weeks our Fair Maidens have been on the tennis courts. Steps and JC have also been bit. Some of their friends from church have also been bit. They have all been having a great time.

Did I mention that my Knight and I use to play tennis? Well we did. We really enjoyed playing too. We stopped playing once we had Soaring Amongst The Clouds. Remember, Still Waters was born 10 months after Soaring Amongst The Clouds. Daughter of the King came 18 months later. I never played again. LOL! I really haven't missed it. But I'm enjoying getting back into the swing of things (pun intended) with our children and friends.

Here are some pictures we took the other day...



I LOVE this man! It's been years since we've played tennis. But it's like riding a bike. It all came back. He was awesome!



Still Waters had never played before. She had a good time though. I'm sure she'll get the "swing" of things. Pun intended. *hee hee hee*



Time to say, "good game". I believe JC and Soaring Amongst The Clouds won. G.I. Joe and The Warrior put up a good fight.



This is probably one of my favorite shots of the day. I love how Soaring Amongst The Clouds is giving her all and she's in the air. TOO KEWEL!!!



JC giving it back to my Knight and Still Waters. JC and Soaring Amongst The Clouds beat my Knight and Still Waters. That's ok, a rematch will take place soon. ;o)



G.I. Joe is a natural born athlete. God has truly blessed him in the athletic "department".



I love being my Knight's partner. We had such fun!



We're taking a breather. We are watching G.I. Joe & The Warrior play against, Soaring Amongst The Clouds & JC. I love spending time with my family.



I thought this was so cute, I just had to share it. Daughter of the King and Steps lost against, G.I. Joe and The Warrior.



He must of had a great shot. The Warrior's smile makes everyone else smile too. It's contagious.

We have had a great time playing tennis. I like tennis cause it's a sport that the entire family can get into. It's also a sport that a couple can do together. Fun for everyone. Can't wait to hit the courts again!

Shoot & Clean

My Knight and I went shooting today. No we didn't skip church. Sunday School was great! I'm always learning something new. My Knight is an awesome teacher. Big Church (as our children always called it) was awesome too!

After church we all went home to have lunch. Everyone had something different. Sunday's are relaxing days. We try not to cook big meals or anything like that. Once we were done with lunch, my Knight and I went target shooting at the indoor range. Our children stayed in our Castello. They wanted to start decorating for Christmas.




Ok, this was with Soaring Amongst The Clouds' pistol, Giovanni. Yep, she named her pistol, Giovanni. What's funny is that, that is my favorite Italian name. That's a name I would of picked if I had a pistol. LOL! It's also the name I wanted to name one of our sons, but my Knight wasn't to thrilled with it.

I was having a little trouble figuring out how to line up the dots in the scope thingy. But towards the end, I finally got the hang of it. :o) Notice the bullseye? :o)



For this target, I used my Knight's pistol. Which I LOVED!!! The barrel is longer, so it didn't have too much of a kickback. It was LOTS of FUN!!!



This was the target my Knight used. He reallllllly ROCKS!!! All the holes in the middle were from 21 feet away. He shot at each order from a further distance. I can't remember what it was though. Notice all the holes smack dab in the middle?! He's AWESOME!!!



Cleaning a gun is not something new to our Fair Maidens. So here, Soaring Amongst The Clouds got busy cleaning her pistol. Thank you sweetie for letting me use Giovanni. :o)



Father and Daughter, side by side. I LOVE this picture! You should of heard them talking and laughing. They were so cute!


Oh, by the time we got home, our Castello was already decorated. Well, all except the tree. Turns out some of our lights are no longer working. So I need to get some more. Traditionally we have homemade pizza for dinner on the day we put up our decorations. So that's what we had. Boy was it DELISH!!! Once again, our FAir Maidens outdid themselves! Thank you Baby Girls!

Cast Off!

YEAH!!! The Warrior got his cast taken of on Friday.



It so happens that The Coach was The Warrior's football coach back in 2004. He's great with children and the children love him. So it was great that he was the one that put the cast on and took it off.



Did I mention that he was also the one that assisted the orthopedic surgeon years ago when The Warrior had surgery on his elbow? Well he was. He had fractured his elbow and needed two pins put in due to the severity of the fracture. Praise the Lord this time around surgery wasn't needed.



He said his hand felt very heavy and stiff. The area around the fracture was still a little swollen, but nothing compared to how it was before. The x-ray showed it healed nicely. We were told to buddy tape it for the next 3 weeks if he's going to be doing any kind of activities and when he goes to sleep.



This is the machine they used to cut the cast off. Looks like a circular saw thingy. It's and old model. Their new one broke. We hope we don't have to see these kind of tools again!



This is what the inside of his cast looked like. The Coach asked us if we wanted to keep the cast, we declined. LOL! No reason to keep that around. Four weeks of it was enough!!!



You can see where they cut through the cast. I don't know if I could of sat still while someone used that machine to "cut" my cast off. But The Warrior was calm and collected. He amazes me!

All in all he's doing great. His wrist is tender and sore, but it's because he's been unable to move it while it was in the cast. He's not complaining, but I can see him favoring it. He's such a tough little guy. He goes back for a check up in 4 weeks.

Today...

... Soaring Amongst The Clouds, my Knight and I attended the concealed weapons class. It was awesome and very informative.

The class was 4 hours long. There were 20 people in the class. The instructor was funny and made the class very interesting. At the end of the class, we got to shoot a target. It was awesome!

I would of taken pictures, except, I broke my camera. :o( Yesterday, I was taking a picture of a rug I liked and I accidentally dropped my camera. Needless to say, I'm disappointed with myself and heartsick. I love taking pictures of my family, of our every day happenings and just stuff in general. I don't know if it's something work fixing or if I'm going to need to get a new one. :o(

Date Night!

YEAH BABY!!! My Knight and I went out on a date. It was a last minute date. But even so, we had a great time.

Turns out he had a Little League Board meeting. So we decided to go out after the meeting. He's the secretary. He thought it was going to be a short meeting. So I thought, no problem, I'll wait in the car. Then I figured, why not visit the outlet store and see if I can find some clothing for The Warrior. He's growing like a weed!!! I found three pairs of jeans, shirts for him and the girls. I hit the jackpot! Then I noticed that I had been gone for almost 1 hour. So I hurried back. Well, they still weren't done. So I waited in t he car. The meeting took 1 1/2 hours!

I have to tell the truth, spending time with my Knight is well worth the wait. We went to Outback (my favorite) and didn't have to wait for a table. We talked and talked and talked some more. We talked about our children and what's been going on with who. We shared our thoughts and concerns.

It was good to reconnect. We really haven't had much alone time lately. We know it's important to make the time for each other. Now I'm not saying we haven't talked or anything like that. But making time like we did tonight, is very important. Yes, even after 26 years a couple needs date nights. :o)

It's good to know that we are on the same page. It's comforting to know that no matter what, we are there for one another. It's a blessing to know that we are till very much in love and are committed to each other and our family.

When we got home JC and our children were all on the couch watching Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. JC hadn't seen it yet. G.I. Joe wasn't home yet. He had a basketball game and it was an "away" game. JC hung out with us for a while. G.I. Joe got home around 11p and he shared a little about his game. He had a great time and the won. He even scored three times. YEAH BABY!!! I look forward to his next game. :o)

I know I've said it a million, gazillion times and I'll say it again... I LOVE MY FAMILY!!! I love hearing about their day. I love spending time with them. I love seeing their smiles. I love hearing their voices and laughter. Being a wife and a mom is all I ever wanted. Thank you Lord for blessing me above and beyond what I dreamt possible. My cup runneth over...

All-Star Soccer Tournament

G.I. Joe was asked to play in a soccer tournament. Turns out that all the schools they played picked three players from each school to participate in the tournament. Even though G.I. Joe is not an enrolled student at the school he played for, he was chosen to play. What an AWESOME honor!

Did I mention that the other two students chosen from the school he played for and G.I. Joe were the only freshmen asked to play?! Well, they were. ALL the players on both teams were seniors. WOW!

I can't begin to share just how proud I am of my Squire, G.I. Joe. He plays with heart and soul. I pray that he will always have such passion in all he does. That he continue to walk the straight and narrow path God has chosen for him.

Allow me to share some pictures of the day...



G.I. Joe warming up. They were told they could wear their team shorts and would be given a white shirt. All the players on the team he played in, wore white shirts like his.



I know this looks odd, but I think it looks KEWEL! LOL! Pretty freaky looking!



The three players from the school he's playing for. They get along really well. G.I. Joe wore #9. Moon wore #6 and Man wore #16. Moon and Man have been playing soccer since they were wee ones. They are great players. G.I. Joe felt honored to be playing in the All Star team along with his friends.



You guessed it, another "hand" shot. My Knight didn't allow me the pleasure of taking his picture. :o( Don't know why, he's so awesomely handsome! His baby blues still make my heart skip a beat.



The evening was quite cold. Good thing we brought blankets and had thick towels. The quilt they are folding is one of my favorites. I wish it were bigger, but it's just a lap quilt. I love our colors... red, white and blue.



Can't believe I got this shot....



... or this one! I love to see their smiling faces.



Here we have the coaches and the players. From left to right... Coach Gerry, his son- Moon, G.I. Joe, Coach 24, and Man. Everyone had a great time.



Well what do you know, I did manage to get a picture of my Knight. :o) Too bad you can't see his baby blues. But that's alright, cause I get to see them. Be still my heart...



I love shots of people walking. Everyone's walking back to the car. Boy was it chilly! The wind was blowing too, which of course made it feel colder.



I took this inside the car. JC came along too. Did I mention that JC plays soccer? Well, he does and he's really good too! It was fun to "hear" him during the game. We all enjoy his company. Specially Soaring Amongst The Clouds.

We all went out to eat at a outdoor burger stand. I have to admit, the burgers were really good. After burgers, we went to Carvel. I LOVE their ice cream. Even though it was cold, I wanted to eat ice cream. Mainly cause we hardly visit that town and there isn't a Carvel in our town. I was freezing, but boy was my ice cream good.

Daughter of the King wasn't able to go with us because she had lots of homework. So she stayed home and got it done. I'm so proud of her for prioritizing. Way to go Baby Girl!

The Warrior spent the day with his best friend Bro. They went to see the movie Madagascar 2. It was Bro's sister's birthday and she had some friends over. So The Warrior was asked to go over and have some fun with Bro. He had a great day. Thank God for good friends.

All in all, we all had a great time. I hope JC did too. There is nothing like spending time with family and friends.

End Of The Fall Ball Season

Thursday night was the last baseball game of the season. The Dodgers played AWESOME! They ten run ruled the Indians. Which is awesome considering they have been in a slump for 3 weeks. But they played their hearts out and showed what an awesome team they are. I was so proud of them.

Last night was our team end of the season party. We had a FANTABULOUS time! We decided to have a parents against the children baseball game. There was a purpose for this. You see we had a couple of parents who were... ah... a little critical (to put it mildly) about their children. This is the perfect time to say, that some of those parents learned their lesson. It's easier said than done. It's easier when you are "coaching" from the stands. The children OWNED their parents tonight and they (the children) were glowing!

I took some pictures of the games, but it was in the evening and none of them turned out well. :o(

Gun Toting Mama

Today my Knight and I went to the gun range. :o) We signed up to take the class required to carry a concealed weapon. I'm sooooo excited!

I called yesterday to get some information. They told me the next class available isn't until the second week in December. We would have to pre-pay and pre-book for the class. So we went went to get that done today. Well, the class they told me about yesterday was already booked up. They had a class for the following week and it was halfway full already! Looks like lots of people are trying to get their permit before they take that right away.

We also signed Soaring Amongst The Clouds up to take the class. In order to get the permit for a concealed weapon, you have to be 21. So our other Fair Maidens aren't able to get their permits yet. But they will as soon as they turn 21. That's if the law doesn't change and we pray it doesn't.

In the mean time, we are checking around for suitable guns. Today I got to try a Glock 26. I enjoyed shooting, but I really didn't care for that particular gun. I like our 357 and our 38 special. So the search continues. I'm going to enjoy our search. :o)

A Memorable Baptism

I felt led to share this because I don't ever remember being moved at a baptism as I was today. JC was baptized today. It was done at his home, in his pool. He was surrounded by his beloved family and friends. It was a beautiful, spiritual moment and I was blessed to have witnessed it.



Before he stepped into the pool, the pastor read Matthew 3:13-17. Needless to say, my tears started flowing...



I have been to baptisms before. But I've never been to one like this one. I was moved beyond words.



Before he was baptized, the pastor asked JC to share how he came to accept Jesus Christ. JC shared his testimony and it was from his heart. I'm pretty sure I was not the only one that was touched by his words.



When he arose from the water I couldn't help but shed tears. As he walked by us, to stand by the door, all I wanted to do was to hug him. I wanted let him know how we (his family & friends), the angels and God were rejoicing because he had accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. I wanted to tell him, how his profession of faith and following it up with baptism was being celebrated in the heavens. There were others around and I held back. Maybe one day, I'll be able to share with him, just how blessed I was to be present at his baptism.

Swing Dancing!

Yep, you read that correctly. Swing Dancing has hit the Castello. Alumni University offers free dancing lessons. Immediately following the lessons, they have a dance. To stay for the dance, they only charge $5. Not bad for a night of dancing!




Well, Soaring Amongst The Clouds, JC (more on him later), Daughter of the King and Steps went dancing tonight. From what my Fair Maiden's have shared, they had a great time. This was JC's first time. My Fair Maidens and Steps have attended on and off for the past 3 months. They are really enjoying it.

JC is a young man that started attending the college/career Sunday School class we teach at our church. He's a nice young man. We are really enjoying getting to know him. This time around, I didn't pick his pseudo name. G.I. Joe did. But it's well picked. He's a young man that's walking the path God's laid before him. I've been wanting to hear his tetimony, but I haven't asked him. I'd hate to come across as judmental or nosy. I'll just wait until he feesl led to share. I just love hearing people share their testimony. God's good... ALL the time.

Soaring Amongst The Clouds Is Now... 21!

The other night I was in bed trying to go to sleep. But my mind was whirling with thoughts. When all of sudden, I realized that I had not written an entry about Soaring Amongst The Clouds 21 st birthday! What kind of mother am I!?!?

This is a belated honoring post about my first born... Soaring Amongst The Clouds...




Allow me to share 21 things about her...

* Her heart's desire is to be a wife and mother.

* Is a dreamer.

* Ireland fascinates her. She hopes to one day travel there.

* She loves watching romantic movies. If she doesn't like the ending, she'll make up her own. BUT she also loves to watch action/war movies.

* Her favorite movie is The Last of the Mohican.

* Enjoys listening to country music, but loves love songs of any genre.

* Reading is her passion...

* But so is traveling.

* She's a thrill seeker who enjoys adventures. She has gone: sky diving, kayaking, white water rafting, horseback riding, backpacking, hiking, snow skiing and indoor rock climbing. Hopes to do more of the same and others that I haven't mentioned.

* Has incredible athletic ability. Enjoys playing just about any sport.

* Loves children and children love her too.

* Is BEAUTIFUL inside and out, but doesn't see herself so, which makes her even more beautiful.

* Italian cuisine is her favorite.

* Loves going on mission trips.

* Would rather go on mission trips where she has to minister with physical labor than evangelize.

* When she was a little girl, she was quite the tomboy. Loved to dress in camouflage t-shirts and military green shorts and cowboy boots.

* Her favorite program is Man vs Wild.

* She's scared of spiders, bugs, scary movies (which she won't watch) and Fabio. Which I don't know why cause in The Last of the Mohicans, the main character, Nathaniel, has long hair.

* I know this is hard to believe (specially in this day in age) but, she's never been kissed. She's saving her first kiss for the man she will marry. She wants him to be her last, first kiss.

* She has a way of making up her own words and phrases. Around our Castello, they are known as"insert her real name here ism's". If you click on the link, you'll get a taste of her isms. :o)

* When she's around, there is never a dull moment.



Dearest Soaring Amongst The Clouds,

You have a way of brightening up my day. I love your isms, your facial expressions and your gestures. You are funny without even trying and I love it. I love seeing things through your eyes. God has gifted you in a mighty way. He's got and awesome plan for you. Continue to stay the course...

I love you...
Mom~

Update On The Dwellers Of The Castello

* The Warrior fractured his finger at the knuckle, therefore requiring a cast. The cat is midway up his forearm.

* My Knight was at home on vacation all last week... YEAH!!!! We really enjoyed having him home with us 24/7. :o)

* Soaring Amongst The Clouds went to NC for a weekend with an adventure group from her university. They went kayaking, horseback riding and hiking. The purpose of this trip was to see the changing of the leaves. She had a FANTABULOUS time! Thank you for your prayers. God has really showered her with peace. She's having a great time this semester in school. She's getting to teach a Junior Achievement class in a local private school. She's enjoying working with children. She's meeting new and interesting people and loving it.

* Daughter of the King changed her major from teaching/minoring in sign language to communication disorders. With that major she'll be able to work as an interpreter and with the hearing impaired. She's thrilled, because she really didn't want to teach, she wanted to focus on sign language. :o) She's still trying to learn how to jump through professors hoops. So she's still struggling a little with her school work. We are so proud of her for sticking to it.

* G.I. Joe's soccer season ended last night. They made it to the 1/4 finals, but lost. This is the first time in eons since the school he played with made it to the finals. He had a great time and is looking forward to playing again next year. This season he scored a total of 5 goals. Which is great considering he's never played soccer before. We are so proud of how he has risen to the occasion.

* Still Waters is really blossoming! I'm so proud of her. She's loving what she's studying, digital art. School work and working in the media center is keeping her very busy. She's the one that's going to give me more gray hairs. She plans on purchasing a Harley once she finishes school and gets a job. YIKES!

* Basket ball season has started and G.I. Joe is playing in the JV team. He's never played basketball before. So, we went out, bought him basketball sneakers and a basketball. Now I get to watching him play my Knight's favorite sport. Hope he enjoys it too.

* My great-niece's christening was yesterday. It was good to see the family, except my sister in law and her husband. I avoided them like the plague. At the end of the day, my Knight hugged me and told me he was proud of me. I didn't loose it and treated them cordially. :o) The tigress in me comes out when someone messes with those I love. But I kept my composure. Thank you Lord.

* My mother in love came home with us from the christening and will be here until tomorrow. She has already made negative comments about us and our home. URGH!!! But I'm trying hard to grin and bear it. I tried my hardest not to let it get to me.

* I'm having trouble eating. I can't quite figure out what food give my belly a reaction. So I'm limiting my food intake. What's funny is that I seem to do fine with fast foods or restaurants food. Maybe it's my home cooking?! When I do eat, I eat very little, for fear that it will send me running to the bathroom. Which leads me to...

* My size 7 jeans can literally be pulled down without it being unbuttoned or unzipped! YEAH! The 3/4 is fitting a little loose, but still a good fit. Now if I could do something about the effect gravity has on my body! I'll leave it at that! LOL!

* We bought a new van and we are loving it! We all love being able to ride together instead of going out in two cars. :o)

* I'm trying really hard to be a good steward with our finances. Please pray for me not to be tempted. I'm even avoiding going to Wal-Mart. LOL!

My Poor Warrior...

... was injured the other night while playing baseball. Soaring Amongst The Clouds has already posted about it. So please feel free to read her post called...

Baseball, Fractued Bone, and a Marine in the Making...

I will say that The Warrior is an unbelievable young man and has high pain tolerance. At the time of his injury we didn't now it was fractured. Yes it was swollen, but not to the point that it was concerning. Once we got home, had taken a shower and had eaten, we took a look at his finger and knee again. We applied ice, buddy taped his fingers and gave him some anti-inflammatory. During this whole time he didn't complain, wince or cry.

Next morning, the swelling had not gone down. We called the orthopedist and he worked us in. Sure enough he's got a fractured pinky. The fracture is at the knuckle. A cast was required. We were told to come back in 2 weeks . The cast will be removed and another x-ray will be taken. If everything is healing correctly, no surgery will be required. The the bone has moved out of place, surgery will be needed to put a pin in to help stabilize the bone for correct healing. We are praying surgery will not be necessary. He's already done through that with his elbow a couple of years ago.

Oh, did I mention that he also has a hematoma in his knee? Well he does. He got hit by a foul tip in the knee while he was catching. His knee was the size of a grapefruit!

The Warrior, amazes me. I know that I know, that God is going to use him in a mighty way...

Look What G.I. Joe Found...

.... in my Gardenia flower bed.....



A dead bird. :o( We have no idea how he got there. You see we have no trees near our home.



So Still Waters dug a whole in our "pet cemetery". Which in a corner of our property. Well, I say pet cemetery, but we only have two hamsters buried there. We also have our Morgan horse, Smokey buried in our property too. But he's at the other end of our property.



She wanted to make sure the bird was buried nice and deep....



So she dug...


dug...



and dug until it was deep enough. That way the coyotes or foxes wouldn't be able to get to it.



Then she covered it up and packed it....



... until it was level with the ground. She did a great job. She my outdoor nature loving one. She the one with the green thumb. The pineapples she's planted are growing. I really need to take a picture and share it.

I'm Back!

I can't even begin to share how busy I've been. So I wont' even try. But I will share what my family is up to...

As I type this, Soaring Amongst the Clouds is in North Carolina. She went with a group of student from Alumni University. This morning they went kayaking. They'll also be horseback riding and backpacking through the mountains. That's right up her alley. I'm sure she's having a FANTABULOUS time!

*Oh, feel free to visit Soaring Amongst The Clouds' blog. She's shared about a trip she took.

Still Waters and Daughter of the King are camping at the beach, with the college/career group from our church. They are having a great weather and LOTS of fun. I text them and asked how it was going. Still Waters said... FUN! Daughter of the King said... Good! They take after their dad... he's a man of few words. Straight to the point.

G.I. Joe scored 3 goals yesterday. Did I ever mentioned he's never played soccer before this season? LOL! Yep, he's played baseball since he was 5 and played some football too. He just started playing soccer 2 days before the first game. Which means he missed 2 weeks of practice. We even had to go and buy a soccer ball cause we didn't own one. I'm so proud of my baby. He's scored a total of 5 goals this season. :o) He's having a great time. Being that we homeschool under an umbrella school, he's unable to play for our local high school. But a local private school allows homeschoolers to play if the umbrella school you are registered with doesn't have an athletic department. Which ours doesn't. :o)

The Warrior is playing baseball and my Knight is coaching his team. It's such a blessing to see my Warrior and my Knight working together. You can see the respect in my Warrior's eyes when "The Coach" is talking to him. He really does look up to him, as it should be. My Knight is such a good role model.

My Knight is officially on vacation! YEAH!!!! That means he'll be home 24/7 with us. YEAH!!! I'm looking forward to having some one on one time with him. :o)

Well, that's all I can share right now. I have to get going. Come back cause I have LOTS of pictures and LOTS to share about two of my Fair Maiden's trip to Panama. You'll want to read about that.

I'm Blessed

Last night around 9p, I let Nicodemus (our golden retriever) out. About 20 minutes later, I called him back in. As I was calling him, I saw him doing his business around where my Knight usually parks his car. I quickly got onto him and tried to get him to stop. I was too late. URGH!!!

I believe Nicodemus was missing my Knight. You see he had to work last night, so he was gone since noon. So as retaliation, he pooped right where my Knight parks his car. Not only that, but it was right where one steps out of the car. So I got the shovel attempted to "scoop" it up. But it wasn't happening. URGH!!! So I decided to hose it down. I cleaned the shovel and went back into our Castello. I sat down to watch the rest of the debate. After a while our children went to bed (at different times). After the debate I decided to change into my pj's and brush my teeth. That's when I noticed that poop was all over the bottom of my slippers. OH MY WORD!!! I was LIVID!

It was 10:30p and I was mopping the floor down stairs. I mopped the whole down stairs. I couldn't remember where I had walked so, I cleaned it all. URGH!!! I also bagged up my slippers and put it in the trash. Yes, it was that bad. How I didn't notice before, I'll never know. I can't believe I hadn't notice the odor. Needless to say, I told my Knight that once Nicodemus passes away, we won't be getting another dog. I know that's kind of drastic. But I said that in the heat of the moment. So that's how my day ended yesterday.

The last couple of days, I've been feeling a little under the weather. I thought that by today, I would be feeling a little better. Ah... no. But there were things that needed to get done. Pain or not pain, laundry, groceries and errands needed to get done. The library called,they had some items waiting for us and other items were ready to get turned in. When I got home from all the errands, the laundry had been done, all the clothes were folded and some were put away. I didn't ask anyone to do that for me. The Warrior had seen the basket of clothes on the couch and took it upon himself to fold it and put it away. I was blessed by his gesture of kindness.

G.I. Joe had soccer practice and The Wariror had baseball practice too. My Knight took The Warrior to his baseball practice. Did I mention that my Knight is coaching The Warrior's team? Well , he is. When I got back from soccer practice, I was all tuckered out. I was not looking forward to cooking a meal. When I opened the front door to our Castello, I was greeted by some wonderful aromas. Soaring Amongst The Clouds and Daughter of the King had cooked dinner. I was blessed by their thoughtful gestures.

I'm so blessed. Thank you Lord for my family. I'm so underserving...