R & R

Bruce and I took Hannah and Harry on a weekend trip to Myrtle Beach. We love this time of year. For one thing, all the kids are back in school and everything seems so deserted. The weather is getting cool it's just a great time to go. This was our first family get away where Justin could not be with us because he had to work. We are so very thankful he has a job, but we sure did miss him on this trip.
Bruce was doing his "Uncle Rico" impression here. LOL Anyway... we enjoyed some good eats.

And, of course, what trip isn't complete until you stop at a Krispy Kreme?? You know what the red light means!!

This is the front view of our hotel. We stay here everytime we go and we are never disappointed.

This was the view from our balcony.

Despite the cool winds that first night, the children still enjoyed some swim time.

Although I love the ocean and the beauty of it, I don't usually put my feet in. If I do, I don't go far. Bruce and Hannah, on the other hand, love to body surf. So they did a lot of that while Harrison hunted shells and sharks teeth.

We woke up to beautiful sunrises...

Watched gorgeous sunsets...

And were simply amazed at how bright the moon shone down on the ocean. It was just lovely!

So glad we were able to get away and enjoy a few days of solitude. With Bruce working six days a week all year, he really needed it and I'm glad he was able to go and just chill for a while. He has recently gone to second shift and I really couldn't be happier. His goal is to get to first, but that may be way down the road from now. Right now we're happy he's on second. I have to admit that I've been sleeping so much better now that he's home at night. He's worked third for so many years, I had no idea how bad my sleep habits were until he went to second. LOL

We officially begin our homeschool year on Wednesday. I'm looking forward to it and I think the kids are ready to hit the books again, too.

I have two photo shoots going on this weekend. One is for some high school senior pictures and the other is a charity event for cancer patients. I'm looking forward to both.

My business cards came in while we were on vacation. They turned out super! I was so glad. I made them at Vistaprints.com. They are really great.

So that's about all there is to say today. I actually have tons more, just don't have time to say it. So... there ya have it.

Hope y'all have a great week!

Psalm 69:34 "Let the heaven and earth praise Him, the seas, and everything
that moveth therein."

Successful First Day

We had a great first day of school. Hannah hopped right on her Algebra. After about thirty minutes she said that Algebra wanted to make her curl up in a ball and cry. She followed that with a sigh and "It's going to be a long year!" LOL I'm still hunting a good Geography curriculum, so if you know of one, please let me know.


Harrison jumped in with both feet too. He reviewed number sequence and some multiplication, learned about Lief Ericson, studied the importance of learning about God's creation, started his first Unit in Spelling, and worked on subject and predicate parts of speech.

It was a good day and they finished up around 1:30 this afternoon. We have a field trip scheduled for Wednesday and we're looking forward to that!! We'll be visiting a local museum to view their World War II exhibit.
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Here's a picture of a rabbit that we saw a few times at the beach. He was in and out of the vegetation. He had little rabbit holes everywhere. One minute you'd see him and the next he was gone. He was a cute little fellow.

Vacation!

I got a couple of emails and a note on facebook wondering where I was and why I hadn't been blogging. Remember I told you a few posts ago that we were making plans to go on vacation? Last week we did just that and it was wonderful!
This is the perfect time of year to go! We like to go after regular schools start back. That way the beaches aren't crowded, the hotels aren't crowded, and we pretty much have everything to ourselves. :D
When we left last week, it wasn't long until Harrison was becoming sleepy.


Hannah and Justin had already passed out.

And it was just me and my darlin' enjoying the quiet ride down and talking. He is so funny. He had me rollin' several times in laughter.

When we got to the hotel it was already dark. The pool and lazy river were still open (AND EMPTY!!!) so the kids headed straight down to play.

Hannah decided to just hang out for the evening.

My men in the hot tub. Don't they look relaxed?

:0)

Listening to the ocean.

The front of our hotel...

The back of our hotel...our room was the third floor down from the top, third from the left.

:D

We ate at chick-fil-A Monday before stocking up on groceries for the week. Hannah was thrilled to see that she was now too tall to play in the play place. haha

Bruce's sandwich was in the shape of a heart. It was meant to be because he loves chick-fil-A.

Harrison got Justin in the game they play and Justin had to do a push up.

But then Justin turned right around and got Harrison. So funny! And a little embarassing too, that my sons were doing push ups in the middle of the restaurant.

We played in the ocean. Well, they played in the ocean. I don't get in the ocean. There's too many creatures out there. But it sure is a beautiful part of God's creation!

I'm positive we were the only people that used the indoor pool all week.

We saw people parasailing....

played football on the beach....

played some more in the ocean...

went shopping....:D

Enjoyed spectacular sunrises...

went rock climbing...ok, not really. Justin just posed on top of a rock at the putt putt course we played at.

We always have the M***** Putt Putt championship and choose a place we haven't played yet down there. I think the Mayday Putt Putt was the only place we haven't played. So Mayday it was!

Hannah won the tournament. Bruce was in shock. He's never lost, of course. Hannah won $20. She was thrilled.

We played UNO by the pool...

read some books....

And all in all, it was a fantastic week filled with nothing but time with my family and some relaxation.

Like they say, all good things must come to an end. I am so thankful the Lord allowed our family the opportunity to spend this time together.

Bruce and Justin go back to work and we start school in the morning. I'm ready to get started in the 2010/2011 school year. It's going to be a great year!!

Some Random This and That

I had a great day. An awesome visit with my parents for a little while, until Justin showed up on his lunch break and we all went out to eat. Daddy wanted some wings from his favorite pizza joint while the rest of us enjoyed the pizza and salad bar. As usual with any time spent with mom and dad, we shared a lot of laughs and giggles. We had fun!!

On the way home I stopped at my Mother-in-law's to drop off some pans of hers and was pleasantly surprised that Bruce's Aunt Janette was there. We had a very nice visit together and again shared some laughs and giggles.

The other day when I was at her house she gave me this beautiful pie plate. I adore pie plates and fell in love with this, the moment I saw it. It was so sweet of her to give it to me. And now here it is with fall upon us and you better believe some nice fall desserts will be made in this plate.

Justin bought a truck a few weeks ago. Since then he has put on new tires, changed the motor in his windshield wipers, and yesterday he changed the alternator out. I was proud of him because, although he's done body work on vehicles, he's never done anything in mechanics, so it was a big deal that he had it changed it out and ready to go without any help from anyone. He's such a smartie. Not to mention it made his dad very proud!

We always start school after Labor Day and this year will be no different. I'm looking forward to getting on with this new school year. I think it's going to be a good one!

Before school starts, it looks like we'll be going on a family vacation. We didn't go on vacation last year because Bruce used his vacation days for SIGMA things. He had done the same thing this year and his days were gone. BUT! It's been worth every vacation day. No complaints. at. all! However, it worked out for him to earn some vacation days back. And so we don't have to use the credit card, he's been working a LOT of overtime. So we can rest and relax and enjoy our children and not worry about paying for it later. LOL

I have to say that the beginning of this year and through Justin's graduation was an emotional time for me. And as I expected, things changed once he graduated. He's eighteen now, he's working full time, he has EMT classes a couple nights a week along with other things at the fire station and he has financial obligations now too. So I must confess that I am more excited about this family vacation than any other we have been on. The Lord is working it out, it seems right now, that we'll be able to take a family vacation this year and it very well may be the last where all five of us will get to go together. So I am very excited and hopeful that it will happen and plan on soaking in every single minute with all of my children and my hubby, making some memories that will last a long time.

Before vacation, though, we'll be enjoying some wonderful services. One this Saturday at a local church for their ladies meeting. Our church ladies are very excited about it. And we'll also be in revival with Brother Tony Hutson. He'll be here next week and I am so ready for him to be with us. I think we're all looking forward to him coming.

Home Sweet Home

I think I slept nearly all the home from the beach, waking up once to eat lunch at Wendy's and then more than a few times to fix the kink in my neck caused by my head dropping to the side. Very uncomfortable. I had my pillow, but I also have a phobia about leaning against the car door, even if it is locked. I'd hate to wake up rolling on the ground. You know?

We got home around 3:30, I think. We unpacked our suitcases and rested a little bit before heading to church. After the four and a half hour, off and on nap I took on the way home, you'd think I wouldn't want to rest any longer. But that just wasn't the case.

It's funny, because when we got to church I felt like we had been gone forever. I love my church!! I heard about the good service we had Sunday night and hated we missed it.

I have to say that it was nice crawling into MY bed last night. And when I said, "Thank you, Jesus, for my bed" before drifting off to sleep, well, I meant it with my whole heart!

*sigh*

Well, our time of vacation has come to an end. It has been relaxing in every sense of the word. Swim in the morning...nap in the afternoon...activity in the evening...night walks on the beach...late night swims. It is true when they say that all good things must come to an end.

The children are swimming for the last time this evening and then we'll pack our bags and have them ready to load the car in the morning.

Just goofing off.

I'm thankful for the time we've had to share as a family. We needed it! And it's been grand!

Great Waves!

Bruce and I had a nice walk on the beach tonight. We walked to Pier 14 and back. By the time we got back to our hotel, my ankle did not want to move. I was pretty well dragging it. We looked for a jacuzzi that might be opened so I could soak it for a while, but it was too late. They were all closed. Other than that, it was a nice walk. The air was chilly so we were both in jackets and sweaters, but the water was actually warm. Go figure.

We took the kids to the mall tonight. We ate at Chick-fil-a and did a little shopping. This of course took place after a day playing in the ocean and taking ANOTHER long nap. Oh boy, have I enjoyed these naps!

Justin and Bruce threw the football around for a while. Bruce was being crazy here.


Justin grabbed Hannah and started horse playing with her. She put up a good fight, but in the end.....


...she lost.


The kids love to play in the waves with Bruce. And today was a great day for riding the waves.



Bruce, Justin, and Hannah are all three in here somewhere.


And in here too. That just scares me, but they love it.


Bruce was able to ride the waves all the way in. It did look like fun, but I still couldn't make myself try it. lol I was perfectly content watching and taking pictures.



There was a man and his little boys that did this crab in the sand. I thought they did a great job.

It was a wonderful day at the ocean. We had a great time.