It has been almost a full month since my last post!! Our vacation in Florida could not have gone any better, and we came home about four days ago. We did so much over the 3 weeks we were there and this post would be way to long if I wrote about everything, so i will just go over some highlights.
One highlight: Spending time with my sister and her family. This year we got to spend more time together than usual and i actually got used to going, going, going every day ;). My sister does not like to waste her day by sitting around, and going out and doing something every day was a refreshing treat for me. I am more likely to waste my summer days by lounging around the house and getting not much accomplished. I like Kathy's way better. Always something to do and somewhere to go. That way, by the time the sun would go down each day, it felt really good to just sit, relax after a hot, busy day, and talk. Being able to talk with my sister in this way was one of my favorite parts of my vacation. I love her so much and am so grateful that the Lord has given me such a wonderful sister and best friend. We went to the beach twice, and i am now a beach lover!! The beaches down in Destin are just beautiful. Very much like to beaches in the Virgin Islands, with white sand that looks like sugar and clear water in which you can go up to your waist and still see your toes. Beautiful!!! It also helped that Kathy and her husband Don are experienced beach goers and know how to pack for a fun-filled day. Thank you, Don, for lugging that heavy cooler full of yummy food and drink (and of course thank you Kathy for making that food). Another thing we did was go to Big Kahuna, a water park in Destin. The kids look foward to that all year and we almost did not get to go, but once again, Kathy and Don came to the rescue--we were very spoiled by them both and i am so thankful and appreciative for all the things they did for us. We also spent a couple of days shopping at various malls and outlets, which was a load of fun and very tiring. But, my sister can always smell a good deal, so we were able to save much money (don't ask how much we SPENT, but we did SAVE alot ;))
Another highlight: spending time with my parents. This year i think we spent less time with my parents than usual (at least it seemed that way), but the time we were together was wonderful. Being able to relax in their screened in porch, watching the kids play in the pool for hours, sitting together at the dinner table eating mom's yummy cooking, sitting outside at night having a wonderful talk with Dad, staying up late to hang out and talk and laugh with Mom, knowing that i could see them whenever i wanted, watching my children laugh with pop-pop and talk with grammy. Well, these are all highlights that i will miss. Makes me want to just pick up and move right now. I have been blessed with a mother who knows me so well (mostly because I am JUST like her) that i don't have to explain myself to her. She just knows. I have been blessed with a dad who I can always count on to lovingly tell me exactly what i need to hear and is such a great example of how i want to live my life. My goal is to be like them when i get to be their age. I miss them already.
Another highlight: I got to spend time with both my cousins--which is a rare treat. Shannon lives in GA and came down for a few days. I got to spend time with her and her adorable son. I got to see what a wonderful mom she is and was able to spend some quality time talking, laughing, shopping, eating, and relaxing with her. After all these years she is still like my little sister (aka-cister) and i love her and miss her so much.
I also got to spend quality time with my cousin Beth. Beth and I have also been like sisters and i love talking with her, laughing with her, driving through deadly storms with her (which we did last week. It was like a hurricane and i could barely see a thing--i was so scared, but Beth talked and laughed and cheerleaded me through it, all while she was "strapping things in" just in case we rolled the car-she made a scary situation into something i will always laugh about when i think about it), sitting outside in her backyard hanging out with her while all her animals roam about and all the kids coming in and out of the house is one of my favorite things to do with her. She is just fun. She has alot of things on her plate, but she doesn't complain. She just does what has to be done and tries to laugh about it. She is the ultimate cheerleader and i love her very much.
Well, this post is getting really long and there is more i want to say, but it's time for bed. Tomorrow is another day. All in all, we had a GREAT vacation, but it is time to come back to the daily grind and deal with all that life has to offer here in DE. I'll post about the various things we have been getting hit over the head with next time, but for now, it's time to sleep.
Today i am thankful for:
1. My family
2. My hearing (which i lost for a couple days, but is now back)
3. Summer
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Thursday, June 11, 2009
God's Hand in our Lives
Well, it has been a while since i posted anything and i figured i should post one more time before i go on vacation. We are leaving in about 4 and 1/2 hours to the airport to fly to Florida. I am so excited. It is 10:30 at night, and i have to be awake at 2:30. I don't even know if i should go to sleep for a few hours or just stay up.
Alot has happened in the past few days and i have been so blessed to see the hand of God working in our lives, so i thought i would share before we go away.
Tuesday was Erin's next to last day of school, so i decided to give her a treat and let her drive to school for her last two days. She had just gotten over having a really bad week because she got her hair all chopped off (the hairdresser messed up!) and had been overwhelmed with all the finals she had to study for and had been studying soooo hard for the past 2 weeks in order to make her dream of becoming valedictorian come true. So, she was all excited to drive to school on tuesday morning. I had gotten up early with her to help her do her hair nice for school and sent her on her way with a kiss, hug and a good luck. I was just laying back down in bed when the phone rang about 20 minutes later.
Erin had gotten into an accident!!! She was pulling out of a gas station and misjudged how far away the truck was and he plowed into her. I could barely understand her, as she was so upset on the phone and did not know what to do next.
I asked her if she was hurt and THANK YOU JESUS she said no, just really shook up and scared. By this time, Steve heard me on the phone and was racing around getting his shoes on and finding his keys and waking Rachel up so we could GO TO MY BABY. Thank you Jesus that Steve was home and we coud race up to where Erin was within five minutes. I stayed on the phone with her long enough to calm her down (a bit) and told her to call 911.
Needless to say, i was in a panic. I did not know what to expect, but i figured if Erin was ok enough to be yelling in panic and sorrow, she could not be really physically hurt.
We got to the scene of the accident and the police were already there. The truck that hit her had pulled over and nobody in there was hurt either. THANK GOD. My car, however, was not so lucky. It turnes out that the pick-up truck was towing a trailer, and when he swerved to avoid hitting Erin, the trailer sideswiped my car and ripped it open like a tuna can. There was no damage to the truck and the trailor only suffered a flat tire.
I hugged all over Erin, took a look at the damage, was told by steve to go sit in the van and he would handle the logistics with the police. By this time it was raining. Erin could not stop crying and saying how sorry she was. At this point, i did not care about anything, as long as my baby was ok, we could deal with anything.
So, the police gave Erin a ticket for inattentive driving :( and told us she would have to go to court because of her age. We got the car towed and brought Erin home.
Well, we were supposed to drive to florida on Thursday and now there was no way for that to happen, so i called the family to let them know what was going on. My sister suggested we look into renting a car. We tried that, but now days you can not rent a car without a credit card, and Steven and I don't have one. So my generous father called and said that he would put the rental car on his credit card. Yay, we were excited because that meant we could still go on our vacation. But, the rental companies won't let one person rent and another drive, so that didn't work out. I was getting really down by the time we finally figured out that we would not be able to rent a car. Steve and I also went to go look at my car at the shop and i saw that there was much more damage to my car than i had originally thought. The insurance company may find that it is totalled and not be able to fix it. So, by the time i saw my car and heard that it may not be fixable, i was VERY down. If you know me at all, you know that before i got my car, i had to stay all alone in the house all day and i lived a very lonely life. So, i started welling up. And i started Praying. I don't know what is gonna happen with the car, but i know that all things work together for the good of those who love the Lord. And i love the Lord. So, i am trusting that, in the end, it will all be for the good. I am also praying that the Lord will show me what the good is, and also that the Lord will help me to deal with whatever happens in a way that would make Him proud. And show His glory.
So, my dad told us to fly down and put the tickets on his credit. It was a bit more than i would have spent if we drove down, but it will all work out. AND, daddy called yesturday and told me that we would have our own transportation when we get down there so we won't have to rely on others to get us around. YAY. Thank you daddy, and thank you heavenly daddy.
We also were able to see the hand of God when we went to court yesturday. Erin was very nervous and none of us knew what was going to happen. We prayed for comfort and a nice judge:). We got both. The judge basically told Erin that he would dismiss the case if we paid the court fees that day. We were like "of course we'll pay the court fees". She did not get a ticket, nor did she get any points taked off her license, nor will this go on her driving record. The judge told Erin that it was an ACCIDENT, not on purpose. He was very nice and gentle. Thank you Lord! Of course, Erin does have consequences because of this. She will have to pay the court fees and the deductible for the car insurance to fix the car. That means that she will not be able to buy her own car for quite a while. BUT, if she did not have the money saved, we would have had to cancel our vacation to pay for the deductibe. I feel really bad for my baby, because she was so excited about getting her own car, and now she doesn't ever want to drive again. I don't blame her, but she will have to get over it.
This will also effect her senior year because she was going to co-op half a day and do school half a day, but she wont be able to now, unless she makes alot of money this summer pretty quickly.
All-in-all, the main thing is that she is fine. We will still be going to florida (in a couple hours) and life will be waiting for us when we get back from our vacation. But, thank the Lord that we all are going to be together and able to have a great 3 weeks TOGETHER. In the end, being together and healthy is all that really matters.
Today i am thankful for:
1. Erin's safety during her accident
2. My family who spoils me ;)
3. My God, who never ceases to amaze me and show me his involvement in our lives.
Alot has happened in the past few days and i have been so blessed to see the hand of God working in our lives, so i thought i would share before we go away.
Tuesday was Erin's next to last day of school, so i decided to give her a treat and let her drive to school for her last two days. She had just gotten over having a really bad week because she got her hair all chopped off (the hairdresser messed up!) and had been overwhelmed with all the finals she had to study for and had been studying soooo hard for the past 2 weeks in order to make her dream of becoming valedictorian come true. So, she was all excited to drive to school on tuesday morning. I had gotten up early with her to help her do her hair nice for school and sent her on her way with a kiss, hug and a good luck. I was just laying back down in bed when the phone rang about 20 minutes later.
Erin had gotten into an accident!!! She was pulling out of a gas station and misjudged how far away the truck was and he plowed into her. I could barely understand her, as she was so upset on the phone and did not know what to do next.
I asked her if she was hurt and THANK YOU JESUS she said no, just really shook up and scared. By this time, Steve heard me on the phone and was racing around getting his shoes on and finding his keys and waking Rachel up so we could GO TO MY BABY. Thank you Jesus that Steve was home and we coud race up to where Erin was within five minutes. I stayed on the phone with her long enough to calm her down (a bit) and told her to call 911.
Needless to say, i was in a panic. I did not know what to expect, but i figured if Erin was ok enough to be yelling in panic and sorrow, she could not be really physically hurt.
We got to the scene of the accident and the police were already there. The truck that hit her had pulled over and nobody in there was hurt either. THANK GOD. My car, however, was not so lucky. It turnes out that the pick-up truck was towing a trailer, and when he swerved to avoid hitting Erin, the trailer sideswiped my car and ripped it open like a tuna can. There was no damage to the truck and the trailor only suffered a flat tire.
I hugged all over Erin, took a look at the damage, was told by steve to go sit in the van and he would handle the logistics with the police. By this time it was raining. Erin could not stop crying and saying how sorry she was. At this point, i did not care about anything, as long as my baby was ok, we could deal with anything.
So, the police gave Erin a ticket for inattentive driving :( and told us she would have to go to court because of her age. We got the car towed and brought Erin home.
Well, we were supposed to drive to florida on Thursday and now there was no way for that to happen, so i called the family to let them know what was going on. My sister suggested we look into renting a car. We tried that, but now days you can not rent a car without a credit card, and Steven and I don't have one. So my generous father called and said that he would put the rental car on his credit card. Yay, we were excited because that meant we could still go on our vacation. But, the rental companies won't let one person rent and another drive, so that didn't work out. I was getting really down by the time we finally figured out that we would not be able to rent a car. Steve and I also went to go look at my car at the shop and i saw that there was much more damage to my car than i had originally thought. The insurance company may find that it is totalled and not be able to fix it. So, by the time i saw my car and heard that it may not be fixable, i was VERY down. If you know me at all, you know that before i got my car, i had to stay all alone in the house all day and i lived a very lonely life. So, i started welling up. And i started Praying. I don't know what is gonna happen with the car, but i know that all things work together for the good of those who love the Lord. And i love the Lord. So, i am trusting that, in the end, it will all be for the good. I am also praying that the Lord will show me what the good is, and also that the Lord will help me to deal with whatever happens in a way that would make Him proud. And show His glory.
So, my dad told us to fly down and put the tickets on his credit. It was a bit more than i would have spent if we drove down, but it will all work out. AND, daddy called yesturday and told me that we would have our own transportation when we get down there so we won't have to rely on others to get us around. YAY. Thank you daddy, and thank you heavenly daddy.
We also were able to see the hand of God when we went to court yesturday. Erin was very nervous and none of us knew what was going to happen. We prayed for comfort and a nice judge:). We got both. The judge basically told Erin that he would dismiss the case if we paid the court fees that day. We were like "of course we'll pay the court fees". She did not get a ticket, nor did she get any points taked off her license, nor will this go on her driving record. The judge told Erin that it was an ACCIDENT, not on purpose. He was very nice and gentle. Thank you Lord! Of course, Erin does have consequences because of this. She will have to pay the court fees and the deductible for the car insurance to fix the car. That means that she will not be able to buy her own car for quite a while. BUT, if she did not have the money saved, we would have had to cancel our vacation to pay for the deductibe. I feel really bad for my baby, because she was so excited about getting her own car, and now she doesn't ever want to drive again. I don't blame her, but she will have to get over it.
This will also effect her senior year because she was going to co-op half a day and do school half a day, but she wont be able to now, unless she makes alot of money this summer pretty quickly.
All-in-all, the main thing is that she is fine. We will still be going to florida (in a couple hours) and life will be waiting for us when we get back from our vacation. But, thank the Lord that we all are going to be together and able to have a great 3 weeks TOGETHER. In the end, being together and healthy is all that really matters.
Today i am thankful for:
1. Erin's safety during her accident
2. My family who spoils me ;)
3. My God, who never ceases to amaze me and show me his involvement in our lives.
Monday, June 1, 2009
The Simple Woman's Daybook for June 1
FOR TODAY Monday, June 1
Outside my window...A beautiful, mid-spring day in the 70's. Clear, blue sky.
I am thinking...I hope I do well at my first Honor Society meeting as its president tomorrow. I am so not sure of myself and do not want to appear foolish.
I am thankful for...I am thankful for so many things, right now it is hard to choose just one, but if i have to choose, i would say that i am thankful that we were able to fix my car--again.
From the learning rooms...Four more days to go. We have a light schedule for the rest of the week. We need to finish our study of Ancient Greece, finish the math book, two more writing lessons, we scrapped the volcano lap book and are just doing fun things for science(today we worked in the garded and launched a rocket) We registered Rachel for a science class and karate class once a week at a church that holds once a week classes for homeschoolers. I am looking foward to being more active with the homeschool community next year and getting Rachel out to mingle with more people. I am looking foward to a break and time to gather recources for next years schooling
From the kitchen...I just finished making dinner--pork roast, mashed potatoes and corn on the cob. YUM
I am wearing...capri's, sleeveless shirt.
I am creating...A plan and agenda for tomorrow's meeting
I am going...To a couple of meetings for both honor societies i am in, one of which i will run, both tomorrow. In 10 days......FLORIDA!!!!! for 2 1/2 weeks. Can..... not....... wait;)
I am reading...Lies Woman Believe, Praying God's Word Day by Day and a Christian fiction book that i do not remember the title of.
I am hoping...That we will have enough money for our vacation now that i have had to fix my car. As a side note, the mechanic did not even fix what he was supposed to, so now we have to spend ANOTHER 600 dollars to completely get it fixed!! UGH
I am hearing...Erin talking, and talking, and talking, and talking.LOL.:)
Around the house...Lots of laughter
One of my favorite things...My family
A few plans for the rest of the week: finish schooling Rachel, meetings, plan our vacation road-trip!!!!
Here is picture thought I am sharing...
My neices, me and Matt in Florida last year on July 4th
Today, i am thankful for:
1. My car
2. My children
3. My husband
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Lord, You're Holy
Yesturday Rachel and I went to Winterthur Gardens with my friend Debbie and her family. It was the home and grounds of the Duponts who bought it from William Penn. There is a huge mansion surrounded by beautiful natural gardens. I have to say, i have been on this planet for 38 years, and i have never seen so much beauty in one place. It was actually overwhelming for me to see God's creativity and the beauty of His handiwork. It was a great day. I took some pictures below, but the pictures do not even do it justice. Please press play to hear this beautiful song while you look at the pictures to see what just may be the closest thing i have ever seen to what Heaven may look like. Try to listen to the words of the song all the way to the end. It makes me think of how it will sound in Heaven when we will all bow to worship our Lord. Rejoice in the Lord!
Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord. Let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation! Let us come before Him with thanksgiving and extol Him with music and song.
Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord. Let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation! Let us come before Him with thanksgiving and extol Him with music and song.
For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods. In His hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him.
The sea is his, for He made it, and His hands formed the dry land.
Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for He is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care
Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as you did.....
Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
For Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise
Give to the Lord the glory due his name
Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness, tremble before Him, all the earth.......Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad, let the sea resound and all that it is in it;
Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy; they will sing before the Lord, for he comes.....Psalm 96 and 97
It fills my heart with love for my Creator and makes me so excited to go to see Him in Heaven when my time on earth is over. I am definately going back there(to Winterthur, not Heaven ;)) with my i-pod full of Christian music and a good book to just rest in the Lord. Thank you Father for this glimpse of who You are and what I have to look foward to.
I hope this song, these pictures and bible verses also give you a glimpse of your Creator as it did for me.
Today, I am thankful for:
1. My Creator
2. His Creation
3. The peace of God that passes all understanding!!
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