Frozen Florida

We have been having some unusually cold weather this past week for Florida! According to our weather forecaster it even got down to freezing in Miami!! There was a possibility of snow flurries on Saturday in our area and some of our friends did see the flurries but we only got sleet. It was still fun for the boys to go outside and actually see it falling.


This is what we woke up to this morning. Okay, so we "helped" to get this effect :-) Every winter when the temperature gets low enough Monroe sets up our water hose and micro-jet or whatever invention crosses his mind so that the boys can play in the ice.

Every winter he comes up with a different icy creation. I really liked this one with the icecicles hanging off the fence and bird bath.The boys always enjoy playing it the ice. Hey, we have to make these cold days fun somehow. They get out and "ice skate" on the frozen grass. I love to watch boys play!

Speaking of ice skating, I did a little skating of my own yesterday morning. It wasn't too much fun, however. I was over at Brooke's house and I stepped out her back door with Parker in my arms and I didn't see the ice on her backporch. I went sliding and as I was falling all I could think about was protect Parker. So, down I went. I fell on all fours but I was able to keep my baby from getting hurt. His head hit the tricycle but it didn't leave a mark so it wasn't too bad. I am feeling like I was in a car wreck this morning, though, sore and bruised. I have a scraped nose to boot! My kids have an ongoing joke about a previous fall I had and I scraped my nose then too! They think I don't notice but I still hear them grinning behind my back. As I was on the ground yesterday morning gathering my senses (I think they went flying with the spill!) all I could think was, "Ahh Geez, my kids are never going to let me forget this one! They wouldn't dare poke fun yet but I am prepared. Just give it a couple of weeks and I will become the topic around the dinner table. I can just hear them now, "Yeah, remember the SECOND time Mom fell and injured her nose...." That's okay, by then I can laugh along with them.

When you get to be older with responsibilities you don't think these cold days are too much fun. Brent had to get up this morning and scrape the ice off of his windshield before leaving for college. Notice the bare hands. Florida Boy-ha! ha! He does have gloves but did he remember to put them on?

Getting ready to leave with a somewhat clear windshield. This is when we Momma's pray for a hedge of protection for our babies on the roads! Notice the bowl of oatmeal on the dash. Brent said when he got in his truck to leave, the steam off of the oatmeal had formed ice on the inside of the glass!! He never gives himself enough time to eat before leaving for school so he always takes it with him. I don't know about him. As in his ownwords, "It's whatever."

Last night we had about 15 college kids stop by for a bonfire and s'mores. Brent goes down to the school on Sunday evenings to play in the Worship band at the church service on campus. After the service the kids wanted someplace to go so.... I am not complaining at all. In fact, we love to have the college kids over and we tell our boys that our place is always available. We have really been impressed with the guests they have brought here. They have been very respectful and well mannered kids. Last night was no exception. I quickly pulled out the hot cocoa mix I had made. (Thanks Sharon for the recipe. We have been through several batches this winter. It is delicious!) Thankfully, I had ingredients on hand for s'mores. It was a great evening. I think the last of our company left around midnight. Brent had an 8:00 a.m. class this morning and a 45-50 min. drive. He wasn't moving too fast this morning.

It wasn't too cold this morning for "Mr. Ken" the rooster. I keep finding him on my back porch and front porch during this cold snap. I think he would like to come on in and join the rest of our family if we would just invite him.

I always love to look out in the pasture behind the house and see the sunrise no matter what the season. This morning was especially beautiful with the icy grass and the cows grazing. Ahhh, I love the country!

The Extra Special Gift

Once again the Christmas season has come and gone so quickly. Due to the economy I am sure we are not alone when I say this Christmas was a very "slim" one in respect to gift giving. In a way I am glad we had to experience a "slimmer" holiday. It really caused us to focus more on being grateful for the everyday blessings we have that we would normally take for granted. For example, dad/hubby has a job, we have a warm home...it has gotten COLD in Florida, folks.....we have our health and our cupboards are not bare! Also, while we always make Jesus the focus of our Christmas, this year I think it made us focus on Him even more!

The two older boys graciously said they would rather see their two younger brothers have a nice Christmas and they would be okay with no gifts. While it did my heart good to hear this, I was not about to give all the presents to half my children while the others did without. So, I did the best I could and I think everyone was pleased and grateful!

There was one extra special gift, however. This gift was a huge secret and everyone was in on the secret except Brandon and Bryceton. For over a month my sweet husband worked hard on this gift every spare moment he had.

What was this gift? Well, here in these boxes was the first clue for the boys.
After opening the boxes they each found a key. A key to what?
We made them close their eyes and go outside. Ricky led the way.

Taa - Daa!!! Their very own swamp buggy!! Nurse/niece Rhonda don't look ;-)

Just look at the excitement on these faces! I am sure this moment made every late night of working worth it all for their dad!!

Brandon even picked out the paint job colors (camo of course!) without even realizing it was for him! The entire time they knew their dad was working on a swamp buggy in the barn but they were led to believe it was for someone else and the buggy was already sold. It was so funny. One day while watching his dad work Brandon made the comment that something would have to be wrong with this "guy" if he didn't love that buggy! Well those "guys" ended up loving that buggy ;-)

Big brother, Brent, took everyone out for a Christmas morning drive.

The Lord is so good to us. This buggy cost us so little in money. Monroe was able to barter with different friends and our boys had a wonderful Christmas because of it.

Egg Hatching News

I almost forgot to give an update on the egg hatching experiment.
Well, if you remember from a previous post, Brandon thought that he heard some peeping coming from the incubator that morning while he was doing his math. Of course I was a little skeptical because it was a perfect plan to take a break from the dreaded math book!
He was right, however!! What an exciting science lesson. The boys wanted to reach in and help this little one out so badly but I wouldn't let them.

Finally she made her grand entrance into the world.

The boys liked to put the chicks on the school table while they wrote. The chicks would chase their pencil around and peck it.

The final results of our egg hatching was not an accurate count due to some help from my sweet, but curious little grandson, Parker. He was looking at the eggs in the incubator one day and Bryce remembered hearing him say, "What's dis?" Hours later we realized he was asking about the temperature knob, which he apparently turned higher :( So...we got 4 chicks out of 13 eggs. We will try again in the spring. Maybe we will use the primitive method and the incubator method and record our findings. Hmmm...I see a great science and math lesson in the future!

A Thanksgiving Chuckle

After spending two days preparing and cooking for Thanksgiving Day the moment finally arrived....Lunchtime! We had all the traditional fixins, you know- turkey,ham, sweet potato casserole, dressing, mashed potatoes, squash, pumpkin rolls, pie, etc. While everyone was busy making their plates and having a great time talking and laughing together, Uncle Brent was busy helping Parker make his Thanksgiving lunch plate. After Brent went through the entire menu of choices to eat, this is what Paker wanted...




Ha! Ha! What a hoot! I thought that was so funny I just had to share it with everyone! I just love two-year olds with a mind of their own!!

How was your Thanksgiving?

Operation Christmas Child

Our family has been so busy lately. I wanted to share one of the projects we have been working on. It is Operation Christmas Child. I would encourage everyone to get involved in this ministry! Under the direction of Franklin Graham, Billy Graham's son, shoe boxes are delivered to needy children around the world. This is a hands-on way for families to reach out to others with the Good News of Jesus Christ and to fill each box with toys as well as essential items such as school supplies and hygiene products. This is about our tenth year to take part in Operation Christmas Child. Through the years we have developed a plan to make as many boxes as possible for as little expense as possible. We do this by shopping all year long for the shoe boxes. For example, the shirt below I purchased at Children's Place for only $1.00 after summer season was over.

These cute leggings I was able to buy for only $.59 after halloween at Target!!! Needless to say, I stocked up on these!

Brandon and Bryce made a large storage box for all the goodies we gather throughout the year. We keep it in the garage and add to it all year long. We hit the off-season sales, back-to-school sales, etc. By the end of the year we are always surprised at the amount of items we have collected. By doing it this way we are able to fill many more boxes with very nice gifts. If we waited until November, when the boxes are to be turned in, we would not be able to fill very many due to the expense. Also, this keeps my children mindful of those less fortunate all year long!

I must add that I am very thankful and so proud of my daughter, Brooke. She truly has a heart for this program and missions in general! I wanted to include her post that she sent out to her Facebook friends ("encouraging" them to participate in Operation Christmas Child) to my blog today but I couldn't find it. In her writing she made it very black and white about where our priorities are as spoiled Americans. She stated it so well. Brooke was blessed to be able to go on a missions trip to Haiti one summer and it has forever changed her life. The stories she has shared with our family are heart wrenching!

Along with each shoe box that is delivered each child gets a booklet, provided by Operation Christmas Child, in their language of the plan of salvation. My children also include in each box a letter sharing their name and address and telling the child that they are loved and we are praying for them. Sometimes the child will write a thank you letter back, however, we have never received one.

The shoe box collection is over for this year but I hope I have encouraged you to begin collecting now so that next November you will be able to participate in this project as well! For more details go to samaritanspurse.org

Be a Blessing!

Good News!

I am so happy and excited for my niece, Rhonda and her husband, Neal. I got a phone call a few weeks ago from Rhonda. It was a phone call I have been waiting to receive for a long time. Rhonda has been very patient in waiting on the Lord to bring the right man into her life and her dreams have come true. I have not had the privilege of meeting Neal yet but I hope to get to see both of them during the Christmas holidays! And now for the long awaited news....they are having a baby!!! We are so very happy for the newlyweds!!

And more good news from the Castleberry family. My nephew, John and his sweet wife, Veronica are also having a baby!!! This is such exciting news as well!! I know my brother and sister-in-law are just as excited as these two couples. They will be blessed with not one but two precious grandbabies to hold in just a few short months!

Children are a blessing and gift from the Lord!

The Best Birthday!

Wow, is it already the second week in November???? My days have been extremely busy lately and I don't "do" busy if you know what I mean. Also, my family has been taking turns with a stomach virus for over a week now. Just about the time traffic slows down to the bathroom and I breathe a sigh of relief....someone else darts by me headed to the bathroom. It has been a couple of days now with no "incidents" - dare I breathe that sigh of relief? Ahhh, such is life in a large family.


My birthday was the last week in October and I was fortunate to spend it in my favorite place ever, the Appalachian Mountains!!!! Monroe and I sort of had a trade-off. You see, he was invited to go to Texas on a hunting trip with a friend. As a matter of fact, he has been gone this week on his hunting trip (he missed out on the sharing of the stomach bug...lucky). So when my dear friend, Kay, mentioned that she had a trip planned to the mountains to see the gorgeous fall leaves it was a done deal ;-) I think we hit the autumn show at the peak time too.


This time Bran and Bryce were able to go along as well. We had such a good time just being out in nature enjoying God's creation. We went on long drives every day we were there. I know the pictures don't really capture the true beauty we saw but here are a few of my favorite shots.

This red tree just stood out all alone. Isn't it beautiful!




I don't know if you can see it but there is a farm down in the valley in this picture. Ummm....what was that tenth commandment?....something about coveting?....ah geeez!

One day we went for a drive on the Cherohala Parkway. You could hear the ooooo's and aaahhhh's as we climbed higher and higher. The contrast in the colors of the leaves was just amazing. Then we began to notice bare trees. When we made it to the highest point it was a completely bare forest as you can see in this picture with Bryce.

We enjoyed delicious picnic lunches each day. Kay baked a turkey breast before we left Georgia and it was so good. We dined on cheese and crackers, sandwiches, hummus and chips. I think it tasted even better because of the atmosphere and chilly weather!! Yummy!

Another picnic spot by the river. This was another day, I promise! We did do more than eat!!

Even on a rainy day Tallualah Falls Gorge was breath taking!!

Another shot by falls. I can't remember the name of these falls.

A highlight of the trip was our visit to Foxfire. The boys and I are studying American History this year and this was a perfect field trip to add to our school year. How about that for creativity. I was able to add in a day of school on our vacation. Shhh, don't tell the boys.

This is a picture of the gorge at Tallulah Falls. It is out of order with the other pictures. I can no longer move my pictures around with blogspot. I'm not sure why. Anyway, views like this one always make me stand in awe of my Creator. He is so big and powerful and yet he takes notice of ME?

"When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers,

The moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained;

What is man, that Thou dost take thought of him?

And the son of man, that Thou dost care for him?

Oh Lord, our Lord,

How majestic is Thy name in all the earth!"

Psalm 8: 3-4 &9