ATC's, Mud, and More

It's been a few weeks since my last post. During that time I had 3 kids get sick, one after the other. We did have a few days in-between kids being sick where we were able to enjoy a Mud Run(very messy race), enjoy the great weather outside, and have another delightful time celebrating Mothers Day at my Nanna's church.

To all my mommy friends and family......have a great Mothers Day!!!! Enjoy your precious kids, for the time is short. Be blessed with what God has given you this day. :o)

Please excuse the large amount of pictures. I truly cannot help it!!!!

Between the exciting events I went to and getting a new camera....

I'm just overflowing with pictures to share.

I love pictures(as those close to me already know)! I've been wanting a DSLR camera for a long time. But my history with cameras is not too good lol. I am in constant juggle mode, and the camera seems to be one of the "balls" that gets dropped(sometimes literally).

Mark and I found a good deal on a DSLR on Craigslist, which gave me the courage to brave a more expensive camera. So, the past few days I have been driving some of my kids nuts following them around, snapping like the paparazzi.

My older 2 children and I joined my sister-n-law and my 2 nieces for a Mud Run. I had a great time bonding with my sister-n-law while we climbed walls and crawled in mud.

The kids had a blast too.

We can't wait to do it again next year.

The before picture

He was the only one of us to run non-stop

The girls....almost there.

Fun riding on their ATC

Every year my Nanna's church has a Mothers Day Dinner. We've been going for years now, and I hope to continue for many more years.

It is something we look forward to as each May comes around.

Sister-n-law, Nanna, niece, Mom, niece

Niece taking a picture of me

Love this one.....simple picture of my daughter laughing. I can feel the joy!

Sister-n-law :o)

My sweet boy a bit wet from the rain

Bike riding pals

Sweet face, messy hair

Love my lil' man!

He looks so little up there!

The sisters modeling for me.

The pals at play

Pure Joy

Happy but sick baby

A Shower, Fun Times, and Resurrection Sunday!

My lil's sis is going to have a baby!

The end of June is the expected time of arrival.

I am so excited for her to start this new season of her life.

It is a season I sooo love!

Below are some pictures from her shower

Here is the Momma-to-be with me

The weather has been BEAUTIFUL!

Warm days, nice breezes, and lots of sunscreen :o)

We took a few days last week to just soak up some fun. Homeschooling and activites keep us very busy, so we decided to take a 2 day break last week. Our mission was to have fun and simply enjoy some down time together. It was sooo nice! Will do again very soon!

The boys fort

The girls fort

Just a cute shot from tennis.

Resurrection Sunday was spent at my brothers church where we enjoyed a great service as well as seeing our neice get baptized.

Can you tell who did not want to take a picture?

I considered it a win that we even got his body in the picture.

One Thousand Gifts

I was "window shopping" through Amazon one night when I came across this book.

One Thousand Gifts

I was intrigued by the 295 mostly 5 star reviews. There were a few people who did not like Ann Voskamp's writing style, but most thought the book was life changing and loved the way she wrote. So, I paid for my book and waited the 2 days for UPS to drop it off at my home.

I started reading it the same day of delivery, and have not stopped since then. It's been a few weeks and I am almost done.

It is one of the most amazing books I have read.

It has reached deep in my soul and changed me.

Here is a little glimpse of what the book is about

"One Thousand Gifts beckons you to leave the parched ground of pride, fear, and white-knuckle control and abandon yourself to the God who overflows your cup. As Ann Voskamp invites you into her own moments of grace, she gently teaches you how to biblically lament loss, turning pain into poetry; intentionally embrace a lifestyle of radical gratitude; and slow down and catch God in the moment."

One Thousand Gifts has taken me a while to read because it is so incredibly deep. It is more relevant in my life then I could imagined. When I am done, I will immediately start my 2nd round, this time with a pen to underline and take notes.

I could share a hundred quotes from this book if that were possible.

Don't worry though, I won't do that to you! There have been many that have touched me, causing me to find my husband and share the words that have pierced my soul and taught me much.

Here are just 2 of them......

"We only enter into the full life if our faith gives thanks. Because how else do we accept His fee gift of salvation if not with thanksgiving? Thanksgiving is the evidence of our acceptance of whatever He gives. Thanksgiving is the manifestation of our Yes! to His grace.

Thanksgiving is inherent to a true salvation experience; thanksgiving is necessary to live the well whole fullest life."

and

" "Your eye is a lamp that provides light for your body," Jesus said. "When your eye is good, your whole body is filled with light. But when your eye is bad, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is!" (Matthew6:22-23). If Satan can keep my eyes from the Word, my eyesight is too poor to read light--to fill with light. Bad eyes fill with darkness so heavy the soul aches because empty is never truly empty: empty is only a full, deepening darkness. "

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Went with the 3 oldest to a field trip last week. We joined a large group of other homeschoolers to take a 4 hour tour in the glades. We learned, explored, and had a great deal of fun.

Riding in the tram

Walking up, and up, and up to do some great sight-seeing

He volunteeered to do this, and did it well!

Those little babies are so cute!

My brave boys testing the water to see what it tastes like.

more time on the tram

Love this picture!

Love the freindship!

Sonny Ericson Open and other things too!

We have never watched tennis on TV, nor have I have I ever played the game(loved to play Raquet ball though)or watched others play. Since our oldest 2 started playing tennis months back, we have really come to enjoy the sport. Recently we started playing them in tennis, which has been so much fun for us all! Having a sport to play as a family was one thing we were looking for when we looked into tennis lessons. This is a sport we can play with them, and enjoy for years to come. Along with the pleasure of being able to play together, we have also enljoyed seeing a few tournaments. This past week, we went to see the Sony Ericson Open.

It was a bit on the hot side, but we really enjoyed it.

He's getting so big!!!

A few band friends during the Homeschool Convention

Nightime Beach Adventure

Buddies on the playground

Groupons and Coupons!

I love coupons!

Just got this one this morning.

What a deal!

I found it here

Great site with lots of info. and coupons.

Another site I LOVE!!!!!!!

Groupon

In the last month, I have bought 6 Groupons.

1. paid $10 to get $20 worth of merchendise at Barnes and Nobles

2. Got the Sunday Sun Sentinel for the whole year for $10

3. Paid $5 for $10 worth of treats at a local Frozen Yougurt place that we love.

4. Paid $25 for $50 worth of food at a very nice Italian Restaurant

5. Paid $20 for 4 people to play miniture golf, hit some balls in a batting cage, and end the night with ice-cream

6. Paid $50 for a photography session(and a few prints too) with a very talented, local photographer

Just wanted to share!

Some shots of Lil' Man