OUR GROWING FAMILY

10 year Anniversary Trip!!!

On December 13th Jeremy and I celebrated our 10th wedding Anniversary!! If it weren't for all these kids I wouldn't believe it has been that long!! Wow - so crazy how life just flies on by. We had been talking about taking a special trip for this anniversary for years but with J starting his own business this year we weren't really sure we were going to be able to do it but God totally provided and allowed a way! God is soooo good!!!

Jeremy pretty much planned the entire trip for us. He picked the Florida Keys as our destination. He has always talked about how beautiful it is and I had never been so it was a great destination. Of course, the difficulty in us taking any sort of trip like this (and the reason it hasn't happened since having kids) is childcare. For any one person to take all 5 kids for several days is asking A LOT! Thankfully Jeremy's mom and husband graciously welcomed their grand babies in to their home for 5 whole days! So, the first part of our trip was driving the crew 10 hours to south Fl and stopping off at Nana and Papa Rich's for a few days. While there we got to visit with some great friends of Jeremy's from growing up and he even got to get in a little fishing - I don't think his smile in this pic really tells how giddy he was about A) getting to fish with one of his best buddies (who is a Charter fisherman and often super busy when we visit so they don't always get a trip in, and B) catching some awesome fish (I have no idea what this fish is but it's a big deal :)

Nanna and Papa Rich put in a pool complete with a little sandy beach so the kids enjoyed lots of fun in the sun :)

Who doesn't love swimming in December. The pool was about 78' during the day which is still a bit cool for adults but perfect swimming temp for kids :)
On Sunday we had the absolute pleasure of visiting with some great friends that J grew up with and started a church about 11 years ago. We hadn't been to the church since those early years and were so blessed to see what the Lord is doing. Let me just say how much I really LOVE Facebook! I know there are lots of reasons not to but its because of FB that I feel like I really know what is going on with all these lifelong friends of Jeremys, that have adopted me as well and we are able to stay connected even though we are 10 hours away! Love it! Anyhoo - after church and lunch with great friends talking about what the Lord is doing we kissed all the babies good bye, wished Nanna and Pappa Rich good luck :) and we were on our way to 5 days sans kids in the Florida Keys!! WHAT!?!

We got a late start Sunday so we didn't get to our first stop, Marathon Key until late Sunday night but when I woke up early Monday morning this was the view from the deck of our bedroom!!

Can I tell you what an exhale of thankfulness I breathed. Honestly I didn't even realize how much J and I needed some time away, alone, until we did it... and it was glorious! Just the two of us - no schedules, sleep til' whenever, eat whenever, glorious I tell you :)

I literally sat under this palm tree reading/napping much of our first day there.

Why are the sunsets so much more beautiful on the water?

I must confess that my body did not get the "we're on vacation" memo but it was ok. I so enjoyed getting up early, sitting by the water, reading my Bible, reflecting on God's unbelievable creation and not feeling rushed :)

I love Nicole Nordeman and the lyrics from one of her songs stayed in my head our entire trip, "Your mercies are new with the morning, so let me wake with the dawn..."

Our little bungalow in Marathon

The original railroad that connected all the islands in the keys

Later this day we went on a party cruise and fished for 4 hours. It was pretty fun at first and I actually caught several small fish (which was a first for me) but then I got seasick which wasn't pretty fun at all. By the time we got back to land I was feeling much better and STARVING so it was off t0 find more yummy seafood!

Another gorgeous sunset

Our resort had two pools - this one was for families and there was another "tranquility" pool that was only for 18 and up :) Any time I sat at this pool all I could think about was how much by babies would love it - but I knew they were having a blast with their grandparents so I didn't feel too bad to be enjoying it without them :)

Our back porch in Marathon

After 3 days in Marathon we headed to the Key West for the last 2 days of our trip. Where Marathon was pretty laid back and lazy, Key West is much more active and on the go. I didn't take very many pics of our time there but it was just as much fun! Once again J did a great job of booking us an awesome hotel right on the water with breathtaking views. We are both totally nerds and spent the first day visiting many of the great museums in Key West. We went to Mel Fisher's Museum and learned all about all the sunken treasures found on the Atocia and the El Cazador (um, learned a TON about The Shipwreck that Changed America). We also visited Earnest Hemingway's Key West home and what is called "The Little Whitehouse" which was the home Harry Truman used several times during his Presidency and several other Presidents have used as well.

Our hotel was literally right next to Mallory Square which is where everyone goes to watch the sunset. LOTS of crazy street performers to entertain you while waiting on the sun to set :) It was pretty crazy there so we didn't stay for too long. We were off to eat a yummy Cuban dinner :)

Oh, the people in Key West are quite the characters, haha. We ran in to "Spider Man" several times on our trip. I sent this pic to the kids and John-Mark said, "who is in there?" ha! He wasn't convinced we saw the "real" Spider Man. Much later this night we went to a Dessert Bar that was A MAZING!! We spent nearly $40 on 2 desserts and two drinks but it was so worth it!!

Our second day in Key West we did more sight seeing and checked out the beaches on the Atlantic side of the island. Also did lots more good eating :) J has a highschool friend that lives there and is a charter fisherman and he and his wife took us to probably our favorite restaurant of our trip, Blue Heaven. As my hubby would say, "two words, de lish" :)

Our last day we got up an drove over to the east side of the island and I saw my first sunrise over the Atlantic - Ya'll, if I didn't believe in an amazing Creator before this trip I sure would now. Just amazing to think that one little shift in the earth or our proximity to the sun and everything would be in upheaval! Truly unbelievable to comprehend!

On our way out of town we stopped by the "Southern Most Point" to have our picture taken like millions of other people that visit Key West every year. I love being a tourist :)

The tree in our hotel :) Smelled awesome every time we walked in the lobby!

Took this pic of me and the "pirate" for the kids :)

That night we made it back to J's moms and more family came over to visit - fun time with Florida cousins :)

Saturday morning we started our trek back home but not before taking the kids for a quick trip to the beach :)

It's hard to believe this trip we've been talking about for years has already come and gone but so thankful we got to actually do it!! Praying it won't be another 10 years before we get to do it again!!

2013 Family Pictures

This year we had a family friend take our Christmas Card pictures. She's been doing wedding and family photos for years but was finally able to quit her "day" job and make this her full time gig! We're so happy for her and love her work!! Check her out www.benzaiaphoto.com

Here are lots of my favorites :)

This was the year of John-Mark's kind of awkward forced smile but this one was pretty good. I think I was bribing him with ice cream :)

Picture perfect :)

His monster growling face :)

Finally got all 10 feet!!

All my babies and my babies daddy :)

There's that smile of John-Mark's I was talking about. Can you tell James is the big brother holding everyone together (literally:)

Our beautiful girl :)

love how these two love each other!!

Fall 2013 Field Trips and other Fun!

So this year I'm homeschooling a 1st grader and kindergartner! John-Mark is already pretty much on the same page with James in most subjects - not because he's so much smarter but just because he's been exposed to so much more than James was at his age. Praying it gets easier with each child we add to the mix :) This is the first year we've really done "field trips" (although I would say our homeschooling up to this point has just been lots and lots of field trips actually:).

Earlier in the fall we met up with some of our other homeschool friends and went to an awesome trip to Jones Valley Farms - an urban farm in the middle of downtown Birmingham. We learned all about the different parts of a plant - the root, stem, flowers, fruit, seed - and what each of the vegetables we eat are. I must admit there were a few that I didn't know! After a quick science lesson we got to go out in the garden and pick lots of yummy veggies to use later in a salad we all made together. We also got to see some chickens and one even laid an egg right in the lap of one of our helpers! She was as shocked as we were!!

Can you find the egg in her lap!!

It was a great hands on field trip and I look forward to going back again next year and learning more!

Mohawks - still works every time! My boys love them!!

The boys have been working a lot on reading this year. James has really come a long way. I signed both boys up for Pizza Huts Book It "Read your heart out" program. If James completes 20 books a month and John-Mark 10 they each get a free personal pan pizza for the month. They LOVE getting their own little mini pizzas :)

This year James is doing a Bible Study on Romans in his Community Bible Study class right along with me. It has been so special to sit down with him and study the scriptures. While he's not reading the Bible on a daily basis on his own he is trying to read a little bit here in there. One day he came out and read Romans 5:8 to me all on his own - can you say proud momma!! This year in our Classical Conversations memory work we memorized "In 1517 Martin Luther began the Protestant Reformation by printing the 95 Theses that made Pope Leo X excommunicate him. Later, John Calvin joined the Reformation". Since he's been studying Romans with me and learning that we are saved by faith in Jesus Christ ALONE and nothing we can do of our own works he totally understood why Martin Luther wrote the 95 Theses in response to the corruption taking place in the Catholic church at the time. Um, I can't tell you how many times I have teared up having these types of conversations with him. For a girl that did not grow up in a Christian home and probably didn't even know about the Reformation until I was in college I am blown away at what God is doing in our little family. Can you talk about changing our family heritage right here and now! I continue to identify with Ephesians 3:20, "To Him who is able to do immeasurable more than we can ask, think, dream, or imagine!"

Another fun field trip we did this year was taking the whole crew to see a true to actual size replica of Columbus' Nina and Pinta. We learned a lot about Columbus a few years ago when we did US History with Classical Conversations so the three older kids were super excited! We learned lots of new stuff too and both boys are now like little mini Nina and Pinta experts (they can also tell you all about how the Santa Maria partially sank and why :)

I can not even tell you how much I am learning just in these first few years of homeschooling with my kids. It is like my education is totally being redeemed in this process. God is so cool!!!

Ben has learned that if he wants to play with his toys with out his little brother "bugging" him he has to sneak away and climb in his crib. Self enforced "time-out" :)