Alafia River Rendezvouz

This past Friday was our annual field trip to Homeland for the Alafia River Rendezvous. This day is always a highlight in our school year. The setting is a pre-1840's encampment of fur trappers and Indians. The participants actually live on the grounds in either tents or tee-pees for one week. They dress in period costume. The last two days of the event are open to the public. Doesn't this beef roast look tasty?


Here we have an Indian and a fur trapper having a pow-wow. Sure hope they come to a peaceful agreement on their trading! There are lots of innocent people around that may get hurt if a fight breaks out!!

My two younger ones save their money for this event. There are always lots of things they would like to buy like knives, tomahawks, bows, arrows, furs, arrowheads...well you get the idea. Definitely a "mall" for guys!! This year Brandon purchased a bowie knife and Bryce decided on a tomahawk.

How about a fresh, warm loaf of brick-oven baked sourdough bread?

This lovely couple kindly posed for a picture with the boys. See the bow Brandon is holding? He picked it out last year on this field trip and it was his birthday present from his Dad and me. However, he didn't have it but maybe a month and the string came off. Well, this is a REAL longbow and we couldn't find anyone around that knew how to restring it so it hung in his room for the rest of the year. Torture! He was so happy when we found a gentleman that fixed it for him at the rendezvous. Needless to say, these two boys have been shooting arrows every day since.

There are also competitions for all ages. This picture is of the younger guys in a tomahawk/knife throwing competition.

There is also a shooting range for black powder guns.

We had a great time enjoying our day of living history. Our entire family loves history-any time period! I remember hating history in school but since we have been homeschooling it has really been a fascinating subject for everyone. We use "living books" to study with and add awesome field trips such as this one. It is the icing on the cake!

By the end of the day we were all exhausted but happy. On the drive back home Brandon thanked me several times for great field trip and said that it was as much fun as a day at Disney. Wow, can you believe that?! And at a fraction of the price!! I love boys!!

Our Florida "Snow"

Finally the mercury dropped low enough for our boys to enjoy an icicle tree! They look forward to this every winter and most winters we only get one shot because it rarely gets cold enough. So, we watch the weather very closely to make sure we don't miss our chance. This is something we have been doing for our children for the last 20-something years and they all have loved it!

Brandon is tasting an icicle. He ate so much ice he came inside with a stomachache. Bryce is still asleep I think : )

Today, I let the boys play outside in the ice before it melted so we got a really late start on school. We had a short school day as I have found my little ones get really sluggish in the afternoons. That is the great part about home schooling. We make it work with our schedule.

I hope my sunflowers make it. They got the mist off of the water we hooked up in the oak tree.

After listening to the weather report tonight we may be able to have our icicle tree again tomorrow morning. It is as close as we are going to get to snow here in Florida. We better get out there and get the water going!

Garden Bounty

I have been very busy in the garden this winter! In fact, I have had a hard time keeping up with the wonderful vegetables that need to be either eaten or put in the freezer. If it weren't for my dear friend, Kay, I would STILL be washing and blanching greens!! Thank you, Kay!! The above picture is just a sampling of a day in the garden. We have broccoli, several varieties of greens, rutabagas, beets, carrots, cauliflower and my first attempt at lettuces. I was inspired by a new friend. I love reading her blogs and she has inspired me by sharing about her lettuces and how to store them. I am amazed at how delicious my fresh lettuces have been. What a difference in the taste compared to the grocery store-even when I buy organic. They were very easy to grow too-which is always a plus for me ; )

Here is the red romaine.

This one is called oakleaf.

And this one is a head lettuce called butter-bow-head. Isn't it pretty.

And this, of course, is broccoli. I expected one large head, like I buy in the grocery store but instead I got several shoots per plant like the one shown here. Maybe it is the variety of broccoli that I bought?

The Lord has been gracious and my freezer is filling up with this winter's garden surplus. I love to just go open the freezer door (don't tell my boys I held the door open!) and see how good He has been to provide for my family. I also love knowing where our food is coming from. We are slowly growing or hunting our own meats too. So far we have our own pork, beef and venison. I am anxious to grow our own chickens for meat but Monroe isn't so enthusiastic about that project. He remembers the job of cleaning them when he was a child and has some bad memories/smells to overcome. Oh well, maybe one day. Until then, we will keep our chickens for their yummy eggs! After eating "homegrown" eggs it is hard to eat store bought eggs-even the expensive free range ones.

I would love to have my sisters, brother and their families come for a visit. My freezer is stocked and ready!! Ya'll come on!

Be Blessed,
Pam

Boys and Their Toys

My dear hubby is always on the look out for a good deal. He also always has his boys in mind. Imagine their surprise when he came home one day with a new (to them) 4-wheeler. Dad came across this "toy" and struck up a deal with the owner. My guys were on cloud-9!!

Know what this is? Read on and find out!

After riding around in our front pasture, which isn't very big, they asked to go out in the back pasture to ride. The back pasture is not our land. However, we are blessed with a wonderful neighbor that has told the boys that they could use his pasture anytime. They weren't out back very long when we noticed we didn't hear the 4-wheeler anymore. Sure enough, they were stuck in the mud! Bryce was the driver and he doesn't have the experience to navigate through the muddy spots...yet!

Luckily for the boys, Dad was home for lunch and came to the rescue with the tractor. I am sure in the back of his mind he must have been wondering if this gift was going to be more trouble than good. He was not a happy Dad at that moment.

Let's just say they haven't asked to go out in the back pasture again. I am sure they will be out there one day though. Actually, I think they enjoy that kind of adventure as long as it doesn't require Dad to come to their aid.

They have blazed a trail and left their mark!

I love to use opportunities like this to remind my children of the Lord and His goodness. Our family, like so many others, is feeling the economic pinch in our budget and we could never afford to buy something like this. However, we serve an infinite God and His economy has NO limit. Only because of His perfect love and care for us do we receive anything good-even 4-wheelers.

Thank Him for His goodness,

Pam

Christmas Happenings

I don't know about you but my Christmas Holidays just flew by. I feel like my head is still spinning from all the activities! We enjoyed each and every one of them and I wanted to share a few pictures to remember our good times.

Our local Christmas Parade was at the beginning of December. We always look forward to it! My guys are enjoying the parade. Can you see Parker sitting in his Dad's lap? I think he waved at everyone! It was so cute.

Here is one of the many antique cars my father-in-law owns. He is riding in the back seat with his best friend "Daisy".

Another one of his cars filled with friends.

One day we got together with friends and made gingerbread houses. We laughed and cried (some of the houses fell!). All in all it was a great time to share with loved ones.

We were fortunate to be able to go to Universal Studios for a day of fun!
Luke being silly!

Time for lunch break.

Parker's favorite game in the arcade. We couldn't pull him away.

Two tired little guys. They were such good boys the whole day.

One night we got together with long-time friends just for fun. We moms are best friends and our girls, thankfully, also became best friends which makes it really convenient for girls night out!

Yes, Kay is wearing a basket on her head! She is so goofy!! Fun Times!

Brooke (middle) is pregnant, by the way. That is why Nicki has #3 up and Jess is holding Brooke's belly.

My boys made new friends with Kay's grandsons, Chance and Trevor. We had a blast one evening at Downtown Disney. We visited the Lego store.

Which kids are real and which are lego people?

The boys built lego race cars and spent much of the evening racing on this track. They loved it!

Our meal at Rainforest Cafe was adventurous as well as delicious. During our dinner we had unexpected rains and the elephants came to life roaring and lifting their head. I don't know if you can tell but that is an elephant right behind us. He was very noisy!

We have a tradition at our house. On Christmas Eve we make our annual Fruit Salad. This fruit salad comes with memories of past holidays spent with our Granny Mathews who is no longer with us. The oranges MUST be sliced the way Granny did it to get the best flavor. Yummy! This ritual brings the family together with much conversation and laughter. It tastes better when we all contribute! After being refrigerated overnight, it is always the dessert we look forward to the most.

Looks delicious! Can't wait till tomorrow!

We always have a church hayride with Christmas caroling. We ride through the surrounding neighborhoods singing and sharing Christ. Then we come back to church for a chili cook-off and Foreign Missions Auction.

What a wonderful Holiday Season our family was privileged to enjoy. We are so thankful to God to be blessed with such great family and friends. How about you? How was your holiday?

It Must Be In The Blood

In December of 2008 my nephew, Mark, graduated from the Florida Highway Patrol Academy. He is an awesome nephew with a very bright future. I was not able to attend the graduation which makes me very sad. I would love to have been there along side his family. Isn't he handsome!

But this is only part of the story. My brother, Ron, is a Lieutenant for FHP where he works as an Equipment, Compliance and Testing Officer. John, his older son, graduated from FHP in June of 2005. So, Mark completed the family FHP force! Unless the ladies in the family are feeling a little "law enforcement" in their blood...Rhonda? Karen? ; )Here is my dear family from left to right, my niece Rhonda, my nephew Mark, my brother Ron, my nephew John, and my sister-in-law Karen. I don't have a picture of my nephews' sweet wives, Laura and Veronica, but I am sure they were there for the celebration also. This was such a special day!

I am so proud of my nephews and brother. They have worked hard to achieve their goal and they are men with outstanding character! And hey, if I ever get stopped by a FHP I can throw a few names around. Who knows, it may help me out!