Bugs and Bats............

Seen more bugs this year? I know I have. If you have not heard or read about it yet you make want to read about what is going on with the bats. There is a fungus disease that they are contracting and it is sweeping across America killing thousands of them. Bats may not be on the top of your list as favorite animal, but they are a much needed part of our environment, and we know God created them for a purpose.
This is a great current events article that you can share with you children and stir up some interesting conversations, and get their views and opinions on what they think we should do about it.
Video Clip on bat disease.

Bat Facts Article for kids from Time Magazine.
Bat Coloring Page
Bat World

In between the rain drops...

Anna and the boys have been busy fishing when ever they get a chance which seems to end up being after the thunderstorms roll through. They have caught lots of fish but we have not been clear on the identity of them. They may be bass or perch we will have to bring a field guide with us to be sure.

I am still a little paranoid about an alligator making its way into the lake the property is mostly fenced in but a canal is nearby and I need to remind the boys not to hang so close to the edge. It is hard for me to know if I am being silly and overly cautious I really do not like to micro manage them. I love Charlotte Masons philosophy of play, but sometimes I just want to twirl them in bubble wrap and tape it up. I will say though my hesitation of wild animals is only because I have been chased by quite a few including a rather large bull moose when we lived in Alaska, and we have run into a few large gators while hiking and biking in the everglades.





I have to giggle my husband is working from home today and I usually have the classical music playing on in the background. But instead my husband has some old Godzilla movie on and is playing the music in that very loud and telling the kids now listen to this music kids. hehehehe!! Oh how opposites attract lol!
I have been enjoying the international treasures Adrian brought back for me from his trip. I dug into the beautiful Japanese linen he brought home and made my favorite the circle skirt.



....and also enjoying tea out of the new teapot he gave to me from South Korea. The nice thing about this teapot is that it has a built in filter for loose tea which I have not had in a long time....but look forward to enjoying soon. Well the rain is about to start again and I think I will grab the children, some pumpkin cake and a nice cup of hot tea. Hope you have a blessed day!

"Firstly, be peaceful yourself, and you will be able to bring peace to others."
Thomas a` Kempis

Sunshine on a cloudy day............

Well rainy season is upon us we are getting closer to the start of hurricane season as well and the afternoon tropical rain showers are rolling in on a regular schedule. I just have to remember to get the kids over to the pool sooner. I keep waiting until late in the afternoon, and we have to run over really fast, they jump in and I say swim fast, we stay until the first crack of thunder which seems like it has only been 10 minutes since we first arrived and then they jump out of the pool and we run home dodging the huge raindrops.

Something that has been nice about the rain is we are now having tea together in the afternoons and have taken to ignoring the rain all together. Yesterday we had Irish Breakfast Tea with milk and cookies and I pulled out an old copy of the A.A. Milne Winnie The Pooh stories. My personal favorite. My boys who are nearing there teen years were shocked that I was going to read this to them. But I quickly informed them that this was not the Bear they new from the disney channel or the baby section at walmart and to just sit back and listen. I choose the story of Piglet being surrounded by water which I thought was a good comparison with the buckets of water being dumped outside our window. We laughed so hard at Pooh and Piglet and the boys were surprised at how much they enjoyed the story. Yet another reason why you just have to love the classics. I even caught one of my boys later in the day sneaking off with the Winne the Pooh book hehehehe! Shhhhhhhhh we won't tell any one! But a good story is just that a good story.

By time the story was over and we looked out the window the rain had stopped and we were ready to go back outside again. With all this rain I knew in order to get through all these chores I had I would need a new apron that looked just like sunshine. So I chose some fabric from the back of my closet that is as close to Florida sunshine as you can get. And I have just tied it on with a warm smile on my face I am off to do the laundry and I don't even care if it rains again.

"You O Lord keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light." Psalm 18:28

Weaver Volume 3 .............

Well I know summer vacation has just begun but I just had to crack open Volume 3 to get a sneak peak to see what we have to look forward to in the next school year. Weaver Volume 3 will take us back into the Old Testament where we will be studying in the books of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1Samuel with a tiny bit of new testament mixed in. We have just finished Volume 2 and I really enjoyed the study of Exodus. I really relate to Moses I have a very hard time with public speaking and it's nice to meet someone in the bible who knows what I am talking about lol! Moses encourages me to not give into fear but to know that the Lord will equip me for what ever he has called me to do. Of course I always look around to see if I can find an Aaron to speak for me *giggles* but then if there is not I think about Moses and muster up the courage to speak. Even though when I open my mouth it feels like my tongue has swelled and doubled in size and my knees start knocking and instead of butterflies it feels more like giant playground balls bouncing in my stomach lol!
I think we are going to really enjoy Volume 3 and I also can't wait to see how much we will all learn and grow with another year of Weaver. I especially enjoyed the note tucked in the introduction of the Volume 3

Many of the world's finest Oriental rugs come from little villages in the Middle East. Each rug is hand produced by a crew of men and boys under the direction of a master weaver. Since ordinarily they work from the underside of the rug to be, it frequently happens that a weaver absent mindedly makes a mistake and introduces a color that is not according to the pattern. When this occurs, the master weaver, instead of having the work pulled out to correct the sequence, will find some way to incorporate the mistake harmoniously into the overall pattern

It is a useful object lesson, for we all can learn to take unexpected difficulties and mistakes and weave them advantageously into the greater pattern of our lives. There is an inherent good in most difficulties.
Norman Vincent Peale

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28

Raining Cats & Dogs Again..........& Church BBQ

It has been down pouring most of the day but I am rather happy about it because it has our lake looking beautiful. And I am sure there will be many more sunny days to look forward to here in Miami. And we decided to hide out in the movie theatre munching on popcorn.

This sunday our church is going to have another BBQ and I kind of set the standard high for myself at the last BBQ with those great recipes I had last time from the food network, with the rocky road crunch bars, buttermilk chicken, and the New Orleans coleslaw. And I have no idea what to make! If you have any suggestions please pass them on or any links to good picinic/BBQ food I'm stumped lol! And the Italian side of me just loves to feed people!!

Hope your having a peaceful and restful Memorial Day and that you are enjoying your family. We are feeling blessed with the safe return of Adrian from Japan and he says a special thankyou for the prayers as do the kids and I we really appreciated them..... unfortunately he has come home with a cold and terrible jet lag and has spent alot of time tucked under the covers. Hopefully he will be feeling better soon~ Were giving him lots of tea and honey and TLC ~Blessings :-)

New Beginings

As yet another 7day dress challenge is coming to an end. Anna and I are feeling recharged in spirit and dress. We will continue on this journey of faith as we seek to draw closer in our walk with the Lord. Already we have seen many changes come about just from changing our attire, when we first took the challenge earlier in the year, and I think that was sparked just from the simplicity of us wanting to draw nearer to God and spending more time in the our bibles. Our new challenge is growing our hair out. Anna has quite the head start on me and I have the in between stage which I will be hitting over the next 2 months right before it gets bob length. Yet again another area I never thought I would change my mind in! I am hoping that the Lord will bless me with a treasure of some beautiful locks. And it is summer so I suppose I can find a pretty straw hat to shield others from having to go through the growing out of my hair hehehe! And again like our choice in attire the growing of may hair has nothing to do with my salvation or making up a rule for myself to follow but just something personal between me and the Lord and something I have been in prayer about. But hopefully it will be an encouragement to others to seek God in everything you do!

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord,"plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29:11-13

Modesty....Skirts....Fishing...7 day dress challenge

What do modesty, skirts, and fishing have in common well if your a young girl quite a bit. My daughter Anna is an active young girl who loves the outdoors but she is also a young Christian girl trying to honor God in all she does, especially her choice of dress. We thought it would be great encouragement to show that you can really do lots of things and still be feminine and modest. And I just want to note that when Anna wears skirts or dresses that hit just below the knee she always puts a pair of bike shorts on underneath. Now some christian women choose to wear long skirts or dresses for their modest apparel. In our house we feel that long and below the knee are both acceptable. When you are doing something that requires you to be active a long skirt or dress can cause a few problems like getting caught in your bike chain or restricting your leg movement so you are not able to rock climb properly. Otherwise you may be tempted like we have seen many heroines from classic movies do and take that skirt and hike it up and out of the way in frustration which ends up not being very modest at all.

I do not force Anna to wear skirts or dresses, though I certainly encourage her too! I am not trying to raise her in a legalistic fashion but rather training her up in the way as the bible says. I have discussed with her from an age appropriate stand point for a 7year old what the bible says about being feminine and modest. I think for a 7 year old she understands quite a bit! She knows wearing skirts or dresses does not have anything to do with her salvation but more about her own personal walk with the Lord and about seeking to be the young maiden that God wants her to be.

Earlier this year Anna and I began to study modesty and what God says about being feminine. We started by taking the 7 day dress challenge at feelin feminine and have only worn pants a few times since. It is funny how much can change in 7 days but isn't that what is truly so amazing about what God does when he touches our hearts with truth. At first I thought the whole thing was rather silly but I still wanted to try it out. And some of the verses that had been mentioned about modesty I had never really spent anytime praying over or just seeking what God's purpose for my daughter and I would be in this area. I knew that this was something I wanted to study with Anna becuase we talk about it so frequently as we struggle to find clothing at the store that is even remotely modest. If you have not tried out this challenge yet. I say go for it, give it a try! Pray about it and seeks God's direction in this area I was pleasantly surprised to see how God changed my heart and my daughters heart.
If you are in need of some cheap skirts or dresses thrift stores are a great place to shop for these and I recently went to a ROSS clothing store and was able to purchase several long skirts for 9.99$ a piece they had a huge selection.
Feelin Feminine Website
An older Post but great article on one girls choice to wear skirts & dresses
Another article through the week in feminine dress.
Yet another good article on modest dressing

Some of the verses we have been studying and praying about.
"Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, in purity." 1Timothy6:6,7

"I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds appropriate for women who profess to worship God."1 Timothy2:9

"A women must not wear men's clothing, nor a man women's clothing for the Lord detests anyone who does this." Deuteronomy22:5

"Likewise, teach the older woman to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger woman to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God." Titus2:3-5

"Honor your mother and father so that you may live long in the land the Lord is giving you." Exodus20:12

"Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-If anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things. Whatever you have learned or recieved or heard from me, or seen in me-put into practice. And the God of peace will be with you."
Philippians 4:8-9

Something to ponder............

If you sit down at set of sun
And count the acts that you have done,
And, counting find
One, self-denying deed,
one word
That eased the heart of him
who heard
One glance most kind
That fell like sunshine
where it went-
Then you may count that day well spent
But if, through all the livelong day,
you've cheered no heart, by yea or nay
If through it all
You've nothing done that you can trace
That brought sunshine to one's face
No act most small
That helped some soul and nothing cost
Then count that day as worse than lost.
~George Elliot

The Summer Buzz!

Hey it's Summer here in Miami and we don't have time for hair we're to busy riding our bikes, swimming, and fishing! This is a summer tradition for us we call it The Summer Buzz!

Anna gets a sewing lesson .....

Click Here to see Anna's first sewing lesson on the machine.

That's My Guy!

Adrian made it to the fabric district yesterday I was happy to hear this! Adrian works mostly with men so when he promptly announced that he was heading to the fabric district this was to much for the men he was traveling with and they all scattered or disappeared I am not sure which it was. Adrian says the women in the fabric stores were also surprised to see a big American man shopping for fabrics. I had to giggle about this. But hey that's my guy and he picked out some very cute fabrics for me to sew with. Now lets just hope they make it through customs! The other thing that is rather comical is my husband decided to grow out a beard. In Japan it seems they find facial hair offensive. Oh well he is off to South Korea now I am not sure how that country views the good old American Beard????

Snap shots from Japan!

Some pictures that Adrian emailed me from Japan.

Our New Backyard !

Here are some snapshots of our new backyard. The grounds here are beautiful. Great incentive for walking which is the opposite from our last place. We go outside all the time now and we have been feeling so much better with all the fresh air we are getting. It is hard to believe how much things have changed in just the last 2 weeks. We are feeling really blessed to be in our new apartment it has been so much better for our family.

"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
Matthew 11:28

Practice makes Perfect...

Over on my sewing and art blog I have posted some pictures of my latest sewing project. The Blouse Part 2 Click Here

Raining Cats and Dogs.......

Miami is getting a down pouring of rain today. The kids were able to take a quick swim in the pool in between showers so we were not stuck in the house all day. I am thrilled though that it is raining. Our lake here was looking a little low so I can't wait to run outside tomorrow and see how high the water is. We also have tons of ducks so the sidewalks could use a little natural cleaning as well. School is winding down this is our last week and we are missing Adrian making Monday feel like a very long day. His trip to Japan seems to be going well he has arrived back from Okinawa and is now in Hiroshima taking a train ride. I can't wait to see some pictures he promises to send some soon since the last place he was in he had no cell phone coverage at all.
While I was dusting my bookshelves today I discovered a fairy in my living room and I took a picture to prove it!

Bloomers!

Some one turned on the heat here in Miami Whoa! It must have been 90 today. With the intense summer heat being modest can be a little tricky. Yesterday I made Anna a pair of lightweight cotton bloomers to wear under her dresses to replace the heavier leggings and such that she usually wears. Anna is definitly a feminine girl but she also plays very hard and she doesn't have all of her lady like skills yet so I always put something on her under her dresses. I used a super easy pattern Simplicity 4206. This is a great pattern for amteur sewers it makes a cute peasant blouse, a tiered skirt, and you can also make a cute pair of gaucho like pants which I happened to turn into bloomers. To make this pattern more modest you can add an extra tier to the skirt to make it longer or you can use the three tiers but make the tier each a few inches wider I have done both and that has worked really well. I also have sewed the peasant blouse to the skirt to make a dress which turned out really great too! I curled Anna's hair for church and I had to laugh with the bloomers I thought she looked just like Nellie from little house on the praire.






Anna has the giggles and can't stand still for a picture lol!!

And He's Off...........

Adrian woke up at about 4am on his way to the airport for his international whirlwind for work. My husband Adrian works for DHL he is the director for the government and military. So anything the government or military ships he oversees. At least I think that is how it works, I am sure it is much more complicated than that and I may not even be explaining it correctly since I really do not know that much about Logistics and such. His job is really amazing he gets to speak and meet so many great people and I get to hear all the wonderful stories. He has been on t.v. a few times recently which was exciting he works with Mark Evans and others to coordinate the Pizza 4 Patriots. And this year he also got to participate in the Inaugural parade and march with the kids from the Special Olympics who DHL sponsors as well. The kids really enjoyed seeing their father march in the parade even though we are republicans lol!! I reminded Adrian not to get too excited and start shouting Obama hehehe!!
Blog that mentions Adrian from a news article.



This trip that Adrian is on brings him to a few places in Japan, Okinawa and then a stop in Seoul, South Korea. He promises to send me pictures via his blackberry so we can see what it is like where he is traveling.
The amazing thing about Adrian's job is he started as a delivery driver and worked his way from the ground up. We are very proud of him. We have seen God do some amazing things with Adrian and his job, and we are very blessed indeed.
Here is first picture of his plane as he leaves Miami.
May the Lord Bless you and Keep you Honey......see ya soon!!

Lucy's New Trick

The kids taught Lucy a new trick check it out...I just had to share this ignore of course my dirty dishes in the backgroud!!! I thought it was very funny. I can hardly believe that she is actually doing it lol!!

Miami

I really like living in Miami. When we were living more up north in Florida everyone thought we were nuts when we said we wanted to move south into Miami.It wouldn't be the first time someone thought we were nutty lol!! I love Miami sometimes I feel like I have been magicly transformed into another country. Now I know that really upsets some Americans I have heard that first hand in some off color comments from people before. But not me I love it I try to soak it all up. I enjoy trying new foods, meeting new people from other countries the driving can be frustrating sometimes scarey but I love the communities down here. I thought I would share a picture my husband took from his cell phone when we were at walmart today. There was some wonderful live music. Wish I could play that music for you, but at least you can enjoy the picture. Now I just need to get started with my Roseta Stone and learn some spanish.

Adrian's Trip..........

We have been gearing up for Adrian's international travel. I spent last night looking for some good fabric stores in Tokyo near where Adrian will be. He thinks he may have time to stop in one and pick up some fabric and notions for me. We tried to plan out some nice dinners this week where we could spend some quality time together as a family. We had a nice tea time where we shared some bible reading out of Proverbs with some family prayer. We made super yummy fresh frozen yogurt last night for desert. We have been taking some walks together. I am thinking we need to do this allot more. I also have been working on a summer tunic blouse, I am not totally thrilled though with the end result. I used a very cheap fabric from Walmart I think it was like a 1.50 a yard so I am planning to make some changes to the pattern and then I would like to try it again. I find it so frustrating how shapeless some of the patterns are from the store. Not that I am looking for something really fitted but there must be a happy medium. I guess that is where I am learning with my sewing is how to alter these patterns just a bit so that it fits me better. I am looking forward to checking out the library in this area maybe they will have a few books on sewing I can read up on. Until then it's live and learn lol!!

Green Acres...........

Well they say be careful what you wish for. And I confess I have always wanted to live on a farm or a ranch. I love nature and animals. Well somehow instead of a farm or a ranch I ended up with Lucy. I know there is alot of irony in my life but I have learned to embrace it. Taking the journey the Lord has laid out for me rather than the one I would follow. Who knows with all my allergies farm life would probably not suit me I would be one giant red puff ball with hives. And then of course my fear of butterflies. I have a feeling there are lots of butterflies on farms.

Lucy is my standard poodle and I will say through Lucy I am able to experience quite a bit of the farm life, and the allergies aren't so bad. I take on many roles while caring for Lucy some of those similar to caring for livestock of course. Sheep shearer, cattle wrangler... Although I definitely need to take a class on sheep shearing! I have yet to master her haircuts.

Today was bath day for Lucy which means the usual trim, bath, nails, ear cleaning, teeth brushing and possible some scraping of plaque off those back teeth. I know it is all very glamorous. It really ends up being quite the ordeal. The only way to get through messy situations like these is to tighten up your apron straps and jump on in.

Matthew 17:20
I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, "Move from here to there" and it will move.






Looking Good Lucy!! You made it through yet another one of my grooming sessions!!

Is it possible to be too organized???

After this recent move I have been wondering is it possible to be too organized? You may be thinking why I am asking that?? Well I have realized that in an attempt to be like super over the top organized I packed things away so well that I had no idea where I put them lol!! For days my paintbrushes were missing leaving me feeling rather frustrated and not at all organized. My thought was that I had wrapped them up in paper and on accident they were grabbed up and thrown out. But then yesterday morning my son said to me "Mom where is the pencil sharpener?" And the light bulb went on inside my head and I had remembered that I had purchased before we moved a tackle box to store all my art supplies in which I pretty quickly found tucked away in the garage since it looked like fishing gear. And I was able to breathe a big sigh of relief.
I have been thinking though are you really organized if you can't remember where you put anything? If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? Well I think I will leave all this pondering in God's hands and just continue on my quest to be organized. I am just grateful that true wisdom comes from God and that I definitely understand!

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge" Proverbs 1:7a
"For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding." Proverbs 2:6

Yippeeeee!

Today I was pleasantly surprised to find in my email box or mail box or hmmmm how do you say the place you receive your email. Ok my inbox LOL!! I may need a little more coffee, but I won a 15$ gift certificate to Sewzannes. They sell really nice knit fabric that I have been using to make my daughters clothes out of.
Now I just have to think of what I want to make with the the fabric I choose.

I had a Great Mother's Day I think my husband over pampered me but that is because he will be traveling the next few weeks. He will be off to Japan (hoping he can bring me back some fabric!) and Korea ...and Singapore....and a several other countries which means he will probably need a week after he comes back to recover from the jet lag.
One of the pleasant things my husband did for me this weekend is he got me a nice little cabinet to store my sewing machine and all my supplies in. He got this on clearance because one of the knobs is missing. I never imagined that there could be something that could work out so well. The shelf on this unit is even the correct size to hold my finished scrapbooks. Aghhhh I love being organized! So Sunday evening I put on some classical music and began going through all my sewing notions and organizing all my thread. A rather pleasant way to end the week or begin it however you view Sunday!

"O, give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever."
IChronicles 16:34

Cooking Lessons

Noah started his Back to Basics Internet cooking lessons. His first few lessons are on how to cook all different kinds of eggs. Noah does not care for the eating of just an egg so these lessons were a little tricky for him. He is used to seeing me cook and try to multi task ( I usually start fires lol!!) So I had to keep reminding him to focus and stay in the kitchen.

I really enjoyed this last paragraph in a chapter that I am reading from the book Parenting The Way God Parents. This is one of those books that I go back and will read again for a refresher.
This chapter of the book is on patience and how to be the example to your children so they will be able to demonstrate it. Patience is definitely one of my weak spots. And with each of my children displaying such different personalities I forget that I need to have a different set of expectations for each so that I as a parent do not frustrate them. You know that if the bible says do not frustrate your children there is a good reason for it. I think when we frustrate them it can harbor feelings that they carry on into adulthood.

"When our impatience for them to mature drives our expectations of them, we set the stage for frustration and exasperation. But if we release our children and there development to the Father who made them, then we are free to be present with them, not rushing them but watching for what God brings to pass."
Parenting The Way God Parents by Katherine Koonce
Thanks God for the gentle reminder....I so am glad you took the time to create my children each so special and individual and so unique it shows how much You love us like clay in the hand of the potter. We are uniquely hand made by You!
Proverbs 19:11 A mans wisdom gives him patience
1Corinthians 13:4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hope, always perseveres.

Moving In !!

We had a super blessed move...nothing broken or missing. The movers were also really friendly which helps and makes a huge difference when you are doing something so stressful. We are still getting settled but we are pretty much unpacked we mostly own books lol so that makes it easy. This apartment was smaller than the last apartment so it was tricky trying to figure out how to place the furniture and I think that took longer than the actual unpacking. I have made a slide show of some pictures of our new Home Sweet Home.

Moving.............

Were Moving into our new apartment so there will be no new posts till we get settled we will miss all our blogging friends but until we meet again.....Blessings & see ya soon :-)