A Weekend Away...

"Opposites attract"...so the saying goes. That has never been truer than in our family. Jason and I are complete opposites and while it drives me crazy at times, often I am so thankful. You see, I am not a spontaneous person in the least. I like to wake up already knowing my plans for the day and stick to them until I say goodnight. However, I can always count on my husband to burst into my plans with plans of his own...and usually because his plans are more fun, he wins over!
This is sort of what happened on a recent weekend. It all started on a Friday around lunch. We were sitting at the table eating and talking about the beautiful weather when all of a sudden one of the boys spoke up, "I wish we could go to the mountains today." That was it!!! The wheels quickly began to turn and by 2:00 we were picking our oldest son up from school early and had the car packed to head to Blue Ridge. Whew...a whirlwind!
It took about 2 hours to get there, but it was like an entrance into another world as we stepped out of our van (more like tumbled out)and instantly breathed in the cool, crisp mountain air. The boys, of course, were excited and quickly began lugging our things into the cabin.
Upon entering we all took our own quick tours through the house claiming rooms and ooohhhhing and aaahhhhing over the things we each liked best. The view, the pool table, hot tub, huge jacuzzi tub, and on and on we went. (Thankfully the place belongs to a friend and we were able to use it for the small price of the cleaning fee!)
We spent the rest of the evening being lazy, enjoying much needed rest and refreshment and drinking hot cocoa and coffee together while we played Apples to Apples. It was alot of fun.
When morning came we knew we had to go hiking...that is my favorite thing to do in the mountains, so we ate a large breakfast and packed up our things since we would have to be heading home afterwards. We set out into the town to ask about and find the best trails for the day. We were directed to the Ocoee River area where the Olympic kayaking took place years ago. The hiking itself was fun...we didn't see a whole lot of amazing things, but we did enjoy the exercise and the fresh air. I think the only natural thing that captured my attention was the various types of mosses and lichens. I always love to take pictures of the soft, fuzzy mosses that cover large areas of the woods, and this day was no different. However, the mosses I came across were so different and very beautiful! Not only did we see the lush green, but so many other colors as well. It was like little "forests" of green and pink or green and white tips...absolutely interesting and I could not stop taking pictures and admiring their beauty. It was a great opportunity to discuss the amazing creativity of our God and how He takes pleasure in creating even the tiniest things into something beautiful! No matter where we go or what we do, if our eyes are open we can find all sorts of beautiful, often intricate, things that He has made and we have the privilege to enjoy. That always gets me excited and so we had some great conversations and truly an enjoyable time!
Next, we drove over to the Ocoee River and had a really fun time exploring and climbing on the rocks and so forth. There is nothing better for our family than time together outdoors. It is a guarantee that when we go hiking together, our children get along better, they are kinder and more helpful, and everyone feels closer to one another and to our Creator.
It is through experiences like these that I learn to appreciate the spontaneity of my husband and I feel very contented in my soul that we are a family heading in the right direction. Although problems and issues come and go and there are times when we feel very overwhelmed and inadequate at this parent/marriage thing...it is on days like these that I say to myself, "slow and steady...keep on going...God is faithful" and so forth. I am always so humbled and encouraged at the same time. So, the next time my husband has some great idea, I have learned to say, "maybe..."!

Happy Birthday Caleb!!!

Caleb is nine - Wow! It seems like just yesterday we were bringing this chubby little baby home from the hospital and transitioning into having three children. Now we have five and he is no longer a baby, but instead a maturing young man with beautiful blue eyes and a smile that you can't help but enjoy!
He truly is such a blessing to our family and a natural encourager. Before I had Caleb, I still had some of the shyness of my youth, but not now! He is the official spokesperson for our family and has introduced me to hundreds of people, literally! I remember when we first moved to Georgia and Jason began serving on staff at our rather large church...I felt so overwhelmed by all of the new faces and people I thought I would never get to know! But one by one, I would meet them...men, women, teenagers...it didn't matter, they would come up to me and say something like this, "I met one of your sons the other day...the blond one..." Yes, it was Caleb - and now 4 years later, I feel like I know the whole church! Thanks, Caleb!
Not only is Caleb our little socialite, he also happens to be a very good worker and will do any job with a good attitude. Many times I have heard my husband bragging to others about how quickly Caleb can have our garage in perfect order and all the while with a spring in his step! Any time I have a job that needs to be done that my other children would hate, I can always call on Caleb and hear, "sure...anything else?" You gotta love a kid who says that!
I think one of my favorite things about Caleb is his compassion for others and sensitivity to the Lord and His Word. Often times I will see Caleb with a little child right beside him and Caleb will have his arm around him/her or even be carrying them around. All of the little kids we know love Caleb and look up to him because he makes them feel special and takes time to play with them even when friends his age are waiting on him. He is willing to give up his seat or run an errand or anything else because he loves people and he knows Jesus wants others to be first. How sweet he can be!
Of course, Caleb is not perfect and with all of his abundant energy there are times when I feel a little overwhelmed trying to keep up with him, but I have to admit that his life has changed mine so much for the better! He is a source of encouragement, laughter, and all sorts of exciting adventures for our family and I give God all the praise for His workmanship in creating Caleb and placing him in our family. Happy Birthday, Caleb!

Pictures

Our Latest Adventures

It sure seems like our family has been on the go lately! I am looking forward to spending the weekend at home catching up on some housecleaning and organizizing.
Anyways, we spent most of the day Thursday at Stone Mountain. We attended the Big Apple Circus at 11:00 and then headed over to the playground afterwards to hang out with friends and let the kids burn off a little energy before driving home.
We really enjoyed our family day. The circus was alot of fun, especially for Nathan, who had not been to a circus before. I enjoyed watching his reaction to the different acts and seeing how mesmerized he was by everything. Of course, we took lots of pictures, so I thought I would share a few here:

Happy Valentines Day!!!

Sadly, in years past we have not celebrated Valentines Day as an entire family. Though Jason would usually buy me a gift and I would get him a card, we did not make it family-wide. This year, however, we decided to change that and make a new tradition.
We started off by planning a treasure hunt, in which the boys were given 10 clues to solve, before finding their Valentines "treasure":

1.Valentines is a day of love, clue #2 is behind our love spot - the "cuddle place". (our big chair where we cuddle each day with our children.)

2. After a kiss for Mom and Dad, you will find clue #3 in a place where your clothes get warm. (the dryer)

3. Give each other a high-five! Clue #4 will be found in a place that rhymes with lovin - a hot place! (the oven)

4. Now it's time to get it going! Clue #5 will be in the "upper deck" right on top of the world books. (upstairs in our "library" on the World Book Encyclopedia set.)

5. Mom & Dad like to snuggle, too. Every night we snuggle here - find clue #6 in a comfy place. (our bed)

6. Sometimes, love gets cold...so does this place and it keeps our veggies nice & crisp. (veggie drawer - refrigerator)

7. Hug a brother that is standing close to you! Because you're getting close as well...Clue #8 will be found where we find our daily bills. (mailbox)

8. Are we having fun yet? If not, let's go for a drive! Clue #9 will be found in the family "go-mobile". (our van)

9. Good job so far - only one more clue to go! Give out a big "yee-haw"! Clue #10 will be found where we keep our "living bread" - the words of life! (Bible basket)

10. You found clue #10 - Now you've got to think! You'll find your treasures on the path to yesterdays study spot - or was it just a fun place to be? Think hard! (in the attic on the way to the roof - the thinking spot our children like to go to.)

Oh how fun to watch the boys run around and read each new clue as if it was the most exciting thing they had ever done! Also to see them follow the directions and give high-fives or hugs...it was priceless. All of their efforts paid off with each of them finding a valentine bag filled with candy and a toy and a personal note from Mom & Dad...I may have spent $10.00 on all of it, but it was worth thousands!

After the treasure hunt, we had breakfast. I decided to make heart-shaped pancakes and sausage. I cooked the pancakes from a new recipe and then Caleb & Ben took cookie cutters and cut them into hearts. We set the table with crystal goblets, our best dishes, and lit candles to make it the special occasion it was. As we ate, each person shared what their favorite thing about our family is. We heard, "family vacations", "we have fun together", and "cuddling" as some of the answers. It was a sweet time - literally as I looked at all of the syrup on their plates! Oh well, it's valentines day, right?
We finished off the afternoon with cuddling and playing...we really just hung out together and had fun as a family. I think we all agreed with Nathan's sentiments:
"This is the greatest Valentin's Day I ever did before!" Amen!!!

1920's Mystery Dinner

Last night Jason and I attended a 25th wedding celebration for our friends, Dave & Karen Channell. Instead of the same old party, they chose instead to do a 1920's mystery dinner. Everyone was assigned a character and given certain secret information for the evening and were to come dressed for their part. At first we weren't sure about this! Both Jason and I were a little nervous about being "out of character" per se, but it was nice to know that we were not the only ones!
As we got to the party, it was fun to see many of our friends dressed in their costumes and then to begin playing the parts we were assigned. Although we are not natural "actors", we did our best to accomplish the goals we were given. (Two of which were ackward: 1. confronting my husband's possible mistress and 2. confronting my husband - who was really not my husband at all - about the situation.)
Some of the characters really got into it, like Sandy a.k.a Carrie Crooner - the singer for the evening who ran around calling for her "Pookie!", her new husband of a week, who was actually "killed" during the event.
Once the evening came to an end and we headed home, me in my feathered headband and Jason in his felt hat, we came to the conclusion that it was a really fun night and we enjoyed it immensely! Just goes to show that we should never pre-judge an occasion and it is good to step out of our comfort zone once in awhile.

Natural Beauty

Oh, how wonderful to see the beautiful sun shining and feel it's warmth on our faces today! After all of the cold weather we have had, I could not have asked for anything better than an afternoon outside with my boys looking at all of the interesting things God has placed before us to admire, study, & enjoy!
Although I do not have alot of land of my own, I am blessed to know others who do and who are gracious enough to share it! So after placing a call to our friends, we all headed out to "go exploring".
We started out at the small pond where we took deep breaths of fresh air and forgot all about the cold weather. We noticed the water levels had dropped since we last visited and we toyed with the idea of kayaking, but we decided against it since we wanted to stay dry. Instead we all agreed to take a hike and see how many signs we could find that would prove to us there had been mammals of some sort around the area. I told the boys to look for clues, such as tufts of hair, half-eaten nuts or pinecones, tracks, or "droppings". Of course they were humored by the last clue and were ready to set off!
Our oldest son, who has camped (and worked) on this land before, wanted to take us on a trail he was familiar with, so we all allowed him to be our guide and followed happily behind him. We spotted alot of natural beauty, such as green moss and wild ferns. We did not initially see any wildlife, but we still enjoyed our trek up to the big pond. There we sat and admired the water and the boys made little "boats" out of tree bark and had fun seeing which ones would float. We did see some geese on the water and found a really neat hollow tree that some animal was probably using for shelter. Nathan was the only one who ended up in the water and he only to his knees. As he was trying to get a stick out of the water, it "pulled him in" (as he says) and he had a short scare. Boy, did he jump out of that water quickly! It was hard not to laugh, but thankfully he did not allow it to ruin his day. I think it helped that Ben offered him his jacket to wrap up in until he was a little drier.
We decided to head back to the smaller pond and as we rounded the corner to it we were greeted by three beautiful horses who had wandered over to munch on the greener grass around the pond. We were so excited to be able to go over and pet them and feed them some grass from our hands. I was a little unnerved at times with all of the children around the horses, but they did a good job of following the instructions I gave them so that noone would get kicked or stepped on.
We spent alot of our time with the horses because they were so gentle and beautiful and we could not pull ourselves away to go on. However, we did notice that the sun was lowering and we knew our time was getting short. Lately, I have been taking some time to admire the silouettes of the trees in the sunrise/sunset, so I took a couple of pictures and pointed this out to the boys. I'm not sure that they caught my enthusiasm, but one day they may.
Finally, it was time to go home, but much to our delight we were given one more gift of beauty as we headed down the driveway...deer in the pastures peacefully grazing. We could not have asked for anything more! How refreshed we were when we got back home and how much more we admire the Creation around us!