'Fishing River'

Fishing River is officially known as Fish River, but according to John Luke it is most certainly called Fishing River. And that is where we have been. Resting {Ha,Ha!}, relaxing, and enjoying some cooler weather!
Most of our trips are extremely long. And not necessarily in distance. I mean long as in very stressful! Our children are NOT 'riders' by any stretch of the imagination and usually we've run out of tricks within the first 10 minutes! To keep our sanity we sing, jam out, watch TV, dance, read books, look at equipment magazines, look at anything and everything that might be of interest outside of the vehicle, eat snacks, play with toys, drink juice/milk, etc.... This particular point in the trip down, we were singing 'If you're happy and you know it'...

Even daddy was participating. {I told you, we're desperate}...


And ofcourse I was entertained by the sky...



Throughout the weekend we...

Rode the boat...
What in the world is John Luke doing?!?!?












Rode the tractor...


Did some fishing...and caught some fish!

Played the drums...


Found some little 'hideaways'...



Hung out with the Mamys...


Got baths in the kitchen sink...

Entertained by the sky...again...


And on the way home...

We found a nice little something we'd all like to bring home with us...

And then we made a quick pit-stop for a waffle cone, and a brownie earthquake. While there, a little girl practiced driving...

Hope y'all had a fantastic holiday weekend!

Leaving the Light On

I love the sky. My most favorite times are sunrise and sunset. Since I usually don't see the sunrise, I love to watch the sunset. It helps me remember the greatness of God and I feel so at peace.

As for a different subject...another book. I have just finished up with this one and I highly recommend it to anyone.
"What kind of home do you want your children to look back on years from now? Are you turning on lights of love and laughter and shared dreams in your children's memories..."

"Whenever I find myself in the darkness of disappointment or puzzling circumstances, I start looking for the sun rays of God's presence and purpose. God has always been faithful in providing that light. The clouds break and-of course!- He's been there all along. His sovereign love and tender concern shine out like sun through a patch of blue.

Every family will experience it's share of "cloudy day" hardship and pain. The Bible assures us of that. James writes:"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds" {James 1:2}. It's not a matter of IF, it's a matter of WHEN. Dark days and difficult times are unavoidable. Although we may work overtime trying to shield our children from hurt, we'll never be able to shelter them totally from bruises caused by their own or other's actions.

As caring parents, one of the finest legacies we can pass along to our children is a determination to discover positive gain in troubled times. We can teach them to wait for the sunlight." Gary Smalley

Every trial contains value!

I do still love my blog...

and for me, a month is a mighty long time without a post! I have been out of a computer for about 2 weeks, but thankfully other people know a LOT more than I do, and we are back in business:)

Some, most days I wonder if I will make it til' sundown. Apparently I do. At the end of the day I question whether I did anything right. Did I make any positive influence on my children? More often than not, it seems my answer is no! I just pray that God continues to be gracious and gives me lots more days to try~
Although there are many days of down right exhaustion, there are also those that make me smile. And thank GOD for those kind!

"She did it!"

This picture is nothing out of the ordinary, I just so happened to find it funny this particular day. I had gone to put some laundry in the wash and when I came back in the kitchen John Luke pointed at Allie Beth and screamed, "She did it!!!"

Grits

We l-o-v-e grits! If all else fails, my kiddos will eat grits! The other day we had Luke Jones visiting, and I made grits for breakfast. Knowing that Luke is a good eater, I dipped him out a big bowl and we all sat down. He took one bite and just sat there. I said "Luke, what's wrong?" He said, "These not very nice." I said "You don't like them?" He said, "NO! They not taste good!" What a yankee!!!! Sorry Luke. I'll try better next time!


One very good reason we have not purchased new furniture...


It seems we all like it...



It's the simple things...

like suckers and sitting in the front seat that put some of us on cloud 9!

And for others, it's date night with one really handsome little man...

For me, it was huge! When you have a sweet boy that loves to hang out with his DADDY, having a night that's ALL mine, is really, really big! And when he looked over at me as we rode to the movies and said, "Mama, you can be my date. And you can even sit by me, and I can sit by you! It'll be real fun!" I melted!!!

On our date, we went to the 'big screen' and watched Despicable Me. {A FANTASTIC movie}. First of course we stopped at the store and got an Alligator Ice, then he thought he might could eat some pizza so we got pizza. Then by all means, when we got there we ordered popcorn {and ofcourse mister, I want butter!} and a drink! We found the perfect seat, started chomping down on our popcorn, watched the previews, and then finally the movie started. John Luke climbed in my lap and after about 10 minutes, I heard snoring! Yes! He was out cold!!! I debated whether to go or stay. I decided I'd just stay and enjoy it myself. Then something hit me... I bet he's gonna wet his pants. Sure enough about an hour later I felt something warm and wet!!!! I stayed and finished the movie. Nothing I could do then! Even though we were both soaked, I cannot explain how precious that night was to me! I will cherish every minute of my date!

The next morning we were up bright and early and off for some hotcakes!

Then we hung out outside since it was cloudy and cooler...






Rain!
What a pleasant blessing!





Enjoy the rainy afternoon everybody!