Panama City Beach 2009

We meet Nana and PawPaw, Aunt Kris and the boys in PCB. It has been several years since we saw the Gulf . I forgot how blue and clear it was . And the sand....oh the sand... Did I ever tell you that I HATE sand. I do . I can not stand it. I do not mind putting my feet in it but I do not like the feel of it on my body! IT gets everywhere and is just gross.
But, that gulf sand is so gorgeous. So white.
We had a great time there....but do have to say that I prefer our beaches on the Atlantic..all nice and packed :)

Nate diving into a wave

Kids playing on the beach

My girls


Sweet LanieLou

The boys playing putt putt

Three Amigos

The mermaid loves the water!!

The summer started with Rosie wearing floatings and being a bit whiny when water splashed her face. Then one day she decides to swim without floaties. She had no fear. She started in the shallow then cruised to the deep end. Rosie was so proud of herself , as where Pat and I.
Then one day I come home from a run to find that she can swim to the bottom of the pool and touch the bottom...gasp...thank goodness her daddy was right with her or I would have freaked out. She loved it. And now she is the meraid :)

One of their many talents

Core 1 arrives

After much prayer and discussions with Pat, we decided that Nathan needed to be in Core 1 of Sonlight. Nate was having the hardest time keeping up the pace along with Jon Tyler. The decision was a hard one as schooling two from one core would be much easier, saves money and saves me time. But it was not worth knowing that Nathan was falling behind . He was so lost in the stories and questions etc that he was left with his mind wandering (not a good thing for Nate LOL).

Core 1 came on Saturday but we had our family here. We opened it last night. My neighbor girls (who Pat warmly calls his second daughters ) were here. I am not sure who was most delighted, Nate or the girls.

First---I love the new binders. They are so cool!!!!!!

some pics

He carried this book to the table to read at supper. He didn't put the book down til bedtime.

Nate and Ashley discussing a book

Jon Tyler was caught in the box getting books and taking to the living room to read them :). I think he is as excited to get new books in the house as Nate is lol

I know it was the right decision. It might mean more time from me, but that is ok. Thanks goodness we all love Sonlight in this house.

Warms my heart

How do you make your teen daughter happy? Let her get her hair colored. She has been wanting to get her hair colored in a couple of thick strips for a long time. I was nervous as to bleaching such a long piece of virgin hair. My neighbor (our hairstylist) said we could do the under part of her hair and it would be less noticable to grow out etc. So, Sunday night Michelle made Delanie a very happy teenage girl. It looks really good :)

I made her take her glasses off for the pic. She was not happy LOL

AS if the hair color was not the most wonderful thing in the world..............

A friend , whose mom is a high school teacher, brought over two boxes of books for Delanie. The books have NEVER been opened...no creases....brand new .............

Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyer, Great Expectations,Othello and A Tale of Two Cities to name a few. 23 books in total.

I can declare that right now my daughter is the happiest teen on earth!

Mom and Bea and the Kids came

What a great visit!!!!!! Our agenda was pretty easy . Just hang out and swim. And that is what we did. No Down Town Disney . No big shopping trips. Just hanging out with the kids.
I love watching all the cousins play and interact. IT is so neat to see how much they have changed in the past months. Jeb is talking A LOT and is so funny. He is quite demanding but is so hysterical. Emma is turning into a sweet little soul ...but she still has her moments lol. And Hannah is transforming into a nice young lady.

Jon Tyler(mine) , Delanie (mine) , Hannah (Bea's), Mammie, Emma (Bea's) Nathan (mine)

Jeb (Bea's) and Rosie (mine)

Momma and Me

This was the second time that I had a difficult time with saying good-bye. The first time was when we moved to FL (Aug 2007). Mom and Dad came to help us move then left after a week. IT was so hard . It is much easier for me to leave AL and come back here. I am usually so sick and tired of being pulled from family to family when in AL, that I am so ready to leave. But to have them here with me is a different story.

I really enjoy seeing the 'pleased' look in my moms eyes when she is with my kids. She sees Bea's every day, several times a day. But seeing mine is different. She may go months before seeing them again. They change so much each time she is with them. I enjoy being able to have these moments when she is so happy and pleased with how they are growing up.

Mom lost her mother to breast cancer when she was in her early 20s. My grandmother didn't get to see us grow up. I know this is one reason why mom loves being with the kids.

New Smyrna with PawPaw and Nana

My gorgeous daughter.She is the sweetest child in the world. I am so blessed that we have her as our daughter.

I have no idea what he is doing. My handsome big boy.

What would my life be without this one? God has taught us so much with the birth of him! It might have been hard but I thank God for it all!

What words can I use to describe this world-wind ? LOL Pat and I say that if she would have been child #1, that she would have been the only child :).

We took PawPaw and Nana and Kris and Jimmy and their boys to New Smyrna.

We love the beach there. We can drive onto the beach, park, and have a fun day of playing in the waves and sun. The public beach is so nice there. Granted it is not perfect or clean but one of the nicest I have seen.

They all had a great time. PawPaw swam in the ocean most the day playing with the kids. The kids (well mine at least) loved it. We don't get to see the grandparents much so it is nice when we are with them.

The boys caught fish in their nets all day.

What a fun day !

I love this picture! The purple really pops against the black sky.

I love living in a little town. They always make big deals about holidays and really focus on the family.

9-10 Allstars!!!!

Anyone who knows us KNOWS that my dh and boys LOVE and ADORE ball!!!!

We were thrilled that Jon Tyler made Allstars this year. We had a blast !!! Those games were INTENSE!! I do not think I have screamed that loud EVER .

Freedom and Liberty ,again

I just can not get enough viewing pleasure of these two. They are truly remarkable. Freedom is the male and Liberty is the female. Now, how do I know which is which? WEll, I don't honestly but this is my story.

Freedom was on a top limb and suddenly showed us his wing span. Automatically we thought thought that he was showing off a bit..."see how big my hug is "..... Then we noticed that when he brought his wings in that the sun was shining in Liberty's eyes. AND, he spread his wings AGAIN and this time for several several several minutes.Talk about love......

The love of my life

look , we coordinate lol.

I am always the one taking pics . Pat and I rarely have any pics taken. Glad Delanie snapped this shot of us.

Three protected nest were in the ocean front of our hotel. A park ranger does turtle walks at night but you had to make reservations.

The turtles should hatch the end of June to the first of July.

Yep, you are seeing right. A seahorse. Nathan, who spends most of time looking for animals and insects and amphibians found this seahorse on Saturday. Unfortunately, the sweet thing was dead but non-the -less it was cool to see one this up close.

I am so thankful......

When the kids were little I hated Pat to travel. It was so hard on me having so many little ones to care for by myself, some with medical issues and a very demanding baby.
Now Pat travelling is such a blessing since that the kids are older. The boys have been to numerous job sites and seen so many interesting things that they would never see at home(example- when they had to relocate 100 yr old cyprus trees that were protected).
Jon Tyler has walked on roofs of more Walmarts than he can count. And Nathan has taken in all the big rigs and how they work. Plus, they each have there own hard hats. How cool is that?
Our weekend in Vero Beach was a work related trip. On Friday Pat went to several meetings while the kids and I played at the beach. On Saturday both Pat and Jon Tyler went to job sites and the kids and I played by ourselves.
The positive....when Pat got back he had the kids ALL TO HIMSELF as I rested on the blanket soaking in the rays.
Moral of the story....it gets easier :)

Now, the nitty gritty......
Vero is not a big city. There is only 3 resturants (that we saw) and NO tourist shops etc. It is a VERY WEALTHY town...very very very wealthy.....you just would not believe.
We ate at Mulligans both nights and it was great. Nothing spells relaxation for us than eating on a backporch , overlooking the ocean while listening to Buffett:)
And now, we are home.....

Vero Beach

My sweet Delanie. She loves the beach! I told her that when she is looking out into the ocean I know she is developing new poems and stories.

How in the world can one child love the sand as much as she does. And, it doesn't bother her in the least!?!?!?

Just like brothers should be...side by side. The fearless duo.

Off to the beach we GO!!!!

89 degrees, low humidity and sunny with a few clouds .
Burb is packed with boogy boards, bathing suits, towels and sunscreen(and a few other essential things lol).Rosie is watching a DVD, Lanie has ear-buds in listening to her tunes, the boys in the back taking in the sites and Pat and I up front posting too much on Sonlight . Listening to good country music. ALL is WELL in my heart! See it smiling?
I SPY WITH MY LITTLE EYES:
Green grass and little lakes and ponds.
Gators swimming lazily and sunning on the banks.
Herons ducking heads like little oil refiners gathering bugs.
Tall pines scaterred on the roadside with little palm trees at they roots ,surrounding the pines like skirts, just enough to remind one that they are not in mountains but grasslands.
Small white birds riding the backs of cows as they graze.
Hawks swooping down in pastures looking for a snack.
Vulture on a post keeping watch .

Life is GOOD!

Does it matter where you sleep?

My mil and fil used to tell people that Pat never knew where he would wake in the morning. That the bed he would go to sleep in was never the bed he would wake in. And it was the truth.

Nathan was such a sick baby that he stayed in the room with us, esp when he got his feeding tube and was recieving 10 hr feedings at night etc. Delanie would get scared and need to come to our bed and Pat would take hers. Or Jon Tyler would get in our bed at night and Pat would go to his etc. Never a rhyme or reason..I literally never knew who would I would wake with. Sweet Baby Rose always stayed in our bed and just recently got her own bed :) still in our room lol

Well, Nathan has a fondness for our couch. He had rather sleep on it any night. I really could care less besides the fact that it is not close to me to check on him at night (yes, I still check on him at night as habits don't die easily).

Thank you , Father, for my sweet boy. Thank you for allowing me and Pat be his parents.

Are we really through with China????

Rosie decided spearing food is better

delighted with his accomplishment

Core 5 users...Did you feel like China was NEVER going to end????I did . BUT, we LOVED every minute!!!!!

The books are awesome, the information in the EHE is great and the movies we watched were LOVED! Side note......almost all the readers etc do not have happy endings. And come to think of it, neither does the movies.

Movies we watched...Chariots of Fire, Seven Years in Tibet and Children of Ha Shaung (not spelled correctly..will fix in a bit) and tried The Long Road Home but reading all the subtiltes to my youngest son sounded too time consuming so we took that bugger out of the dvd lol.

Being a festive gal that I am , I decided tonight would be chinese for supper. Ok, it wasn't that far fetch of an idea. We did not finish school til 3:30 and I had not thought of what to do for dinner . Chinese seemed like the only alternative lol.

May freedom fly...

In AL, one true joy was in January to go to Guntersville State Park (in the freezing temps) and see the bald eagles. That was about the only time an Alabamian could see one in the wild.

So, imagine how excited I was when I realized that bald eagles were very popular in population here in central Florida.

Now, I will warn you.. I am a huge nature freak. I love all things in nature. I enjoy teaching my children about bugs, snakes, critters and birds. EVEN, if I am not sure about a critter, I still have great joy just watching with my kids. Since being here I have seen dozen of bald eagles, turkeys, deer, coral snakes (another story about stinky husband mowing grass and capturing one...), a plethera of frogs and amphibians and the list goes on.

My 16 yr old neighbor informed me that the 2 bald eagles have returned to our trees, in....my.....back...yard.....HOLEY SMOLEY!!!! Bald eagles in my pine trees????? This is a dream come true!!!!

Just look at those talons....unbelievable.

AM I the only one who gets teary eyed seeing an eagle? Bald eagle, american flag, military and FREEDOM all run hand in hand in my book!

Summer must be renamed

According to my oldest son, we should just rename summer since he is not going to be able to enjoy it........
His friends are getting out of school this week and they are so exicted ( as I used to be ). They have all told JT that summer begins this week and they are FREE!. Actually they are not all free , as they think, as most will be in summer camps and programs.

Well, JT thinks he should not have to do ANY school this summer as that is what summer means, no school.
Needless to say, he was not happy with me when I told him that he would be having his school during the week of summer(just lighter loads of school).

His response "WELL, just rename summer since I won't get it!".

Gee, what a mean mom I am lol

Spending time with Nana and PawPaw

Nana and PawPaw came last week for a week long visit. It was so nice to have them here that long. Nana needed to "get away" for some change of scenery after the death our of Mimi.

We all had a blast. They were able to see the boys play ball, go on a field trip and just hang with us. It will be awhile before we see them again so we enjoyed every minute we had.

This picture is at The Boardwalk in town. We took them there to see all the wildlife aka gators :)

Field trip to Gillispie Museum at Stetson Univeristy

Digging for crystals.







Jon Tyler examing crystals.

The field trip was so great. It was only 2 other families so it was not crowded. Our tour guide was AWESOME!. I assume she was a geology student at the university. She told us all interesting facts , and just enough for the kids to understand.

After she finished with the teaching, the kids got to dig for crystals, look through the microscopes and play games .

I highly recomment this tour! And it was CHEAP!