And The Wall Came Tumbling Down

My college guys were off for spring break last week and their dad took advantage of having them home for a few days and put them to work. I must say that this was not their idea of spring break!! However, the weather was too cold for a day at the beach, or camping or any other outdoor activity we could come up with. It even rained for two days!

So, off they go to accomplish the task at hand. Don't they look excited? In reality, the only thing that would be exciting to them about now would be that they got to drive and use this beautiful tractor. It just happened that Monroe was making a repair on the tractor for a friend and he allowed us to use it while we had it

Their job was to tear down a brick wall at the end of our drive. This wall had been an eye-sore since we moved here. It is/was white brick, to match our house, but it was made of a type of sand. It was very dingy looking from years of neglect and when we tried to pressure wash it we noticed it began to come apart. Taking down the wall got put on the bottom of the "to-do" list around here. That is until now!!
The wall came down very easily. Brandon is standing where the wall once was. The chain link fence belongs to the neighbor in the background. It was behind the wall. Now for the large corner post. Here Brent tried to chain the post and pull with the tractor. That didn't work so......

Brandon a.k.a. "Mighty Man" gave it a try! Unbelievable strength but still no luck ;-) One more idea...push it over with the bucket of the tractor. (Notice the county putting in water pipes down the highway. We are not too happy about it! So much for country living, huh?)

Finally!!

And here is the reason it was so hard to tear down! It was buried in the ground with concrete and rebar. We have noticed that with the many repairs and updates we have had to do with this house that it was built extremely well. We have seen that the builders did not cut corners with the materials. We had only lived in this house about a year when our area of Florida was hit with three huge hurricanes. The eye of all three storms went directly over us. We were very concerned about our home since we had not been able to complete alot of the repairs needed. However, the only harmful damage done was that we lost about 20% of the shingles on our roof. After making it through those three hurricanes we felt very confident that this house was well built!

God is good!

Thinking Outside Of The Box

I watched my college son trying to accomplish his Life Of Christ homework assignment one weekend recently. The assignment was to draw or trace a map of Israel. Bradley tried tirelessly to come up with an acceptable copy of Israel. He had the colored pencils out and everything. After finding the correct map of Israel he tried drawing it freehand. Ummmm....not so much. So he attempted to trace the map but the problem was that he couldn't see through his piece of paper well enough.

I was trying to be a supportive mother and give him some ideas but I wasn't much help. I thought to myself, "I am just going to sit back and see how he solves this one". I left the room for a little while. When I came back in this is what I saw...


Now that was a pretty clever idea! I have to admit that I was a little surprised. I don't know if I would have ever came up with this plan. Then I was reminded of some of my goals for home schooling. I wanted my children to be able to think "outside of the box" of education. I wanted them to be thinkers/problem solvers. I wanted them to discover for themselves who they are and know their passion in life believing that our Creator has a blueprint for everyone's life and we are all unique. Not all children fit into the "cookie cutter" mold that our public education system tends to rely on.

So, watching this little scenario play out in the dining room on a Sunday afternoon was amusing and rewarding at the same time. I realize his solution is not complicated. In fact, it is rather simple but he didn't give up and produce a sloppy product. Just look at how accurately he traced this map. Yep, it made this Mamma smile.
Bradley was literally thinking Outside Of The Box.....get it???? Ha! Ha!

Okay, Okay, I know. Reese has NOTHING to do with this blog topic today but I just couldn't help myself. I just had to share this picture of my little baby doll!! Do you recognize this outfit, Kay? It was from you! It looks adorable on doesn't it!

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!

Dativus/Comarada BBQ

My two college boys are in a club at their school called Dativus. It has been a great experience for them! The girls' club is called Comrada. These clubs are service clubs. They volunteer many hours each year to the Care Center in town. They have helped out with building houses for those in need through Habitat for Humanity. They also work in the community helping the needy or elderly with yard work or other chores around their homes that they can not do.

Last Thursday night we hosted the 2nd annual BBQ for these guys and gals. Below is a picture of the first arrival of club members. They slowly came in groups of 3 or 4 until we had about 40 kids in our home. Of course we loved every minute of it!

After the chaplain of the club Blessed the food the line quickly formed. Everyone LOVED the food but then we all know how starving college kids are! We were told time and again how delicious everything was. I laughed and told them they were just happy to not be eating cafeteria food as the majority of them live on campus ;-)

The menu consisted of Monroe's smoked chicken, smoked pulled pork, baked macaroni and cheese, cole slaw, baked beans, corn casserole and cherry delight for dessert. Monroe and I watched as the guys kept going back for thirds and fourths! As for the girls, well... we ladies would never divulge information like that on each other. My lips are sealed! However, when all was said and done the only thing left was a few pieces of chicken and a little bit of beans. As you can see, we had to squeeze everyone in the house. It was in the high 90's outside!

After supper, the original plan was to roast marshmallows outside over an open fire. However, the mosquitoes were horrible not to mention the heat wave we are currently experiencing in Florida! (Hurry up Fall!) So, on to plan B. Pull out the board games! This great group of kids didn't appear to mind at all. They were such good sports. They seemed to enjoy just fellow shipping with each other.

If you look closely in the circle below you can see Brandon and Bryce. How sweet they were to even include the two younger brothers in a game of Apples to Apples!

Bryce even got to watch a game of chess. Pay attention Bryce, watch and learn! Later on in the evening a game of Spades was started. Four guys remained playing this game until 11:30 or so. As they gathered their belongings to leave, one of the four commented that next time he would have to teach Monroe and me to play. He went on to explain that when he was growing up his Mother didn't think there was anything worth watching on tv so they didn't have one. I told him she was my kind of woman!

I must say we were very impressed by this group of young people! The entire night we heard no bad language and no negative or bad comments. I felt very comfortable letting my younger boys mingle with the older guys. We received many, many "thank-yous" and hugs. What a pleasure it was to be able to have them in our home. I am already looking forward to the 3rd annual BBQ!! As a matter of fact, I think I overheard Monroe making plans with them for some kind of get together in a couple of months when it cools off and we can actually enjoy a bonfire. Sounds great to me!

A New Favorite Hobby

With summer coming rapidly to an end, I began to reflect on the activities our family didn't get an opportunity to enjoy during our summer vacation. Honestly, I don't know when the long summers days slipped by me! It seems like it was just last week we started summer break! So, the last couple of weeks around our house has been crammed with last minute fun.


This school year Brad will start college which means I will have two of my guys attending college. This is a bittersweet feeling for me. I am excited for them as they take another step into their independence and future. It is certainly keeping this mom on her knees!

With all this in mind it sounded like a good time to have a fun day at the beach. We decided the night before to pack our lunch and head for the coast the next morning. It was a decision we didn't regret.
We had so much fun. The guys rented surf boards and spent the WHOLE day in the water. They came out only to grab a sandwich and headed right back for the waves. In all our years of going to the beach I don't know why we never thought to rent surfboards before this trip.

Here is Bradley "catching a wave".

Then we have surfer dude Brent.

All four of my beach bums enjoying the beautiful day.

The boys really amazed me at how easily it was for them to master the surfboard. They said it was from all the practice they have had at home. At home? Huh? Then they reminded me of the times they had taken the four-wheeler out in the back pasture and pulled each other in the canal on a skimboard!! The four-wheeler ran along the bank of the canal. They are hilarious!

I'll save that material for another post as I recall that I do have some pictures of them skimboarding in the canal! You just gotta love boys!!

Here comes my baby. Can I still call him that?

And here is my baby too. I guess they will always be my baby!

Brandon lending Bryceton a helping hand. I loved watching them. Brandon was very patient with his little brother and let him borrow his surfboard for a very long time considering the surfboard rental was coming out of his own money!

Bryce tried and tried but never quite got up on the board. Maybe next time.

The long ride back home. Can you tell they had an awesome day?

This picture is a rare sight. Brandon goes full speed every day until bedtime. Not this day!!

I am overhearing plans being made for the next break from school. I have a feeling we will be packing our lunch once again and heading for the beach. I love going to the beach too. However, as some of you may already know, I am an umbrella hugger and I still manage to get sunburned :-( Yes, even with sunscreen!

It doesn't stop me. I always have a great time when we go because it is so relaxing and I love watching my kids just being kids!

Brent's Basket of Love and Prayers

This past week has been Finals Week at the college where Brent attends. The school sent out order forms for Stress Baskets and Energy Baskets that parents could purchase and the school would put them together and deliver them to the students during Finals Week. Well, I decided to make my own and make a family project out of it, I like to think of it as brotherly love. Hey, this needs to be encouraged whenever and wherever possible!!

The brothers and I went shopping for Brent's favorite goodies. There was bubble gum, Boston Baked Beans (candy), lollipops, vitaminwaters, apples, bananas, sunflower seeds and lots more. We also included his "special someone," Natalie, when making up this basket. Half of the basket was for Brent and half of the basket was for Natalie. The boys even added a stress ball and a water worm for fun.

Of course the gift wouldn't be complete without some homemade snacks! We made banana nut muffins and a special caramel-coated cereal that I normally only make at Christmas time.

I think the project was a success. Bradley and Brandon delivered the basket to Brent at the school on Monday. He was surprised to see them and even more surprised that they had a special delivery for him. Now if there were only someway I could bake up something to get all those correct answers to the tests into his brain!! Best Wishes to you Brent and Natalie!