Monday, December 17, 2007


Wow, we've been pretty busy. Wish I had some pics to show what we've been busy doing but I've been too busy!! We've begun one last full week of school before taking some much needed Christmas vacation. My mom and Grandmother will be coming up for Christmas so I'm busy trying to make things as comfortable as possible for them. Grandma is 94 and it's been a while since she's spent any length of time here at our crazy house. The kids, the animals, the toys, the noise. I don't know if she's going to be able to stand it for very long! We'll have Christmas Eve dinner here at our house and then go down to the Tampa area for Christmas Day dinner with Dan's brother and his family.

The boys and I are reading Jotham's Journey by Arnold Ytreeide for the Advent Season. What a great story that twists and turns and leads us to a manger in a stable; we are all enjoying it very much.
--Merry Christmas to all of you!


"It just needs a little love"



Monday, November 19, 2007

A new drainfield...again

Didn't we just do this? This morning, the septic guys are out back digging away. We did this a few years back and we had such fun, we're doing it again. We've decided the big hedges in the back yard have to go. The roots seem to be causing the problem...we think. It will be nice to have things flowing in the proper direction again...down and OUT and not up and IN. Hope the neighbors have their windows shut tight...noisy and stinky!!


But inside...All is well...

Sunday, November 4, 2007

Some Halloween Fun...

Had a great time on the 31st! Did some trick-or-treating with some friends and got tons of candy. The real fun came later on at the Fall Festival at church! The rock wall, the jumpy things, MORE candy...I was pooped.
Ready for combat...
Enjoying some early trick-or-treating with the Wonder Women.

This was one creepy dude.

After roaming the streets for a bit,
we spent the rest of the night at our church festival!




Ellie's gonna soak Ethan!

Pound the Pumpkin! Why not?!

Ethan got pretty good at this one after a while!

Festival of the Arts

This past Saturday was the annual Festival of the Arts in Inverness. All the boys displayed their artwork along with all the other students from the county. At this point, we participate for the fun of it, but next year Daniel will be able to be enetered for judging because he'll be in high school(9th grade). The festival invites all students: public, private and homeschoolers to join in the fun. This was our 2nd year. Here are some shots!


A couple of homeschool buddies in the tent.

Some of Jaret and Ethan's work
Daniel's Bugatti

Grandpa came by!


...and Bari and Tommy!


Ethan is waiting for someone to challenge him in a game of Chess.
Daniel's "WWII Dogfight"


This is Daniel's latest piece. He really enjoyed working on it.

The artist...

It was a long day and the guys deserved an ice cream break!

This is the Old Citrus County Courthouse and Museum. Isn't it quaint?


We took a stroll through the Old Historic Courthouse and Museum
while were there. Here the guys are playing "judge".








Monday, October 29, 2007

Jaret's First decade!!

Happy Birthday Jaret!! You've enetered the doube digits today-

10 years!


Go for the old games! They're cheaper but still bring a big smile!


Awesome book about skyscrapers!
No birthday is complete without a box of Legos!!



You can always count on Daniel for the "bunny ears".



Spongbob needs a good beating, in my opinion.Everyone gets a stab at it.

Chocolate cake with buttercream frosting from Publix... doesn't get any better than that.
Unless you put Darth Vader on it, of course.
Singing their hearts out...
And BLOW....
THE END...
until the next one...
they just keep coming and coming!









Monday, October 22, 2007

Waiting on the mailman...

And waiting impatiently, I might add. I'm anticipating the arrival of a new book called Signs of Life by David Jeremiah. I have been catching David Jeremiah from "Turning Point" on the radio lately. I've always enjoyed hearing him, but lately I've been drawn in so much more by what he's been sharing. I think I've been coming in very late into his messages but he's been working through a series called Signs of Life. I have been moved to tears as I drive down the road as he causes me to think about what true life really is and where it can be found.
"...dusty shoes, rolled up sleeves and worn out knees..." Am I seeking out people to love and to serve? Am I showing the love of Christ in my life? Will people know that I am His by the way I love others? I wish I could answer that with a resounding "YES!" But sometimes I wonder...
I've already read some excerpts here:
Signs of Life Excerpts
I can't wait to dig in.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Cross Country Started Today!

....Unfortunately, we arrived late. Well, we were there at 2:30 just as we were told...but...it turns out they had a half day at Inverness Middle School so practice was at 11:30! So because Daniel does not go to that school, we were out of the loop. I did speak with the coach when I went into the office and it was then that he remembered speaking to me on the phone a few weeks ago. He didn't have my phone number...but he's got it now and I will be notified of any changes!


Since Daniel and I were all ready for a run, we zipped across the street to the park and had a nice run on the trail. (This is what I was going to do while Daniel was at the track) We started off nice and easy, did about a mile, even walked some. Occasionally, Daniel would take off just to remind me that he's faster than me. I told him that beating his 40 mother is great and all, but he's soon going to have a taste of some real competition!


I think Daniel has a real gift and he'll do very well with cross country and track. He's got the speed for the short distances but he's also got the endurance for the longer runs. He's awesome! It made my day to have a nice run with him.

But we still have to do MATH!!!

Saturday, October 13, 2007

4H Fridays!

The boys are enjoying getting together with a small group of guys around the same age to explore Insects! The name our 4H club is Nature Coast Investigators. Jaret and Ethan are working through the project book called Entomology 1 and so far we've learned the body parts, different ways they eat, the ways they camouflage themsleves and so many other interesting buggy things!

Yesterday the boys had to create an insect out of all kinds of crazy materials and hide it out in the butterfly garden(at the 4H extension office) for the mom's to try to find! They had tons of fun.
Ethan is checking out a book for some creative ideas for his insect...
...and then gets busy...

Jaret had an idea. Something like a butterfly's sippy straw.


It's pretty hard to make out but it looks like a fuzzy catepillar!


Jaret's watching as the mom's run around trying to find their critters.
They hid them a little too well...they had to show us where they were eventually!
A perfect example of camouflage! (This, of course, was a real moth!)

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Adironack Dog

Dan is one of those people you love to hate. He's good at everything. Here's his latest creation...the chair, not the dog. (He's not that good)

A few years back he made lots of nice things...birdhouses, shelves, dressers, fences(indoor decor kind). He even sold some stuff in Country Sampler magazine for a while. His jobs over the last few years have stolen his play time but when he really wants to make something, he cranks it out pretty quick!


Tuesday, October 9, 2007

lovin' the new table

Request for picture of coffee table fulfilled!

Wood and wrought iron...love it! Also have the end table which is the same, only square!

Saturday, October 6, 2007

Another great trip to KB!


The boys and I spent a couple of slightly windy days down in Key Biscayne again this past week! It was a little rainy but the sun still fried us pretty good when it broke through the clouds. We celebrated the tenth birthday of a wonderful little friend there with a day at the beach/pool, pizza, cake, balloons and a crazy game of hide and seek on the beach in the dark! We settled in for the night with "Grease" on the tv and played some fun card games.
Before we went all the way down, we stopped to visit my mother in Port St. Lucie for a couple of days. We found some great shells on the beach(Jensen Beach) to add to the collection and the waves were ginormous! If that's not a word, it should be! Mom came for the trip to the Key as well!
A big thank you to Katy for her unending generosity and hospitality but most of all for her coffee table that we fell in love with but that she was apparently tired of looking at!! We loaded it up and took it home with us!

Jensen Beach near Port St. Lucie

Jaret and Ethan lost in the crashing waves


Picnic lunch at the Dupeyroux's
Terri and Katy smothering mom with luv...
Happy Birthday Megan!

Craziness...

Some of my favorite Key Biscayne Critters!

Before we left Miami I promised Jaret that we would go check out the tall buildings! Jaret's VERY into skyscrapers, SIM City, architecture, city planning...


This one's cool!

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