The Quickest 30 Days

"The world's favorite season is the spring. All things seem possible in May." - Edwin Way Teale 

I cannot believe the Month of May is over (well tomorrow it will be). Then I look at that picture and think how time has flown since last year. I remember when my parents use to tell me how time flies when you get older. Were they ever right about that. I really wanted to summarize our month of May, but God has been teaching me so much too...I may have to save my lessons from the Lord for another post or two. I use this blog to do several things (besides distract me from writing and publishing my book), primarily it is a place for me to journal my life, but it is also a place for me to sort my thoughts and record my lessons. Today...I'm simply going to journal our journey this past May!

 I love my life with boys. I really do! I grew up with sisters...this is so much more fun!! Typical day at our home! Little brothers just have a way of forcing you to post signs on your bedroom door!

 We had so many field trips in the month of May. We started at DeBary Hall. One of the best trips ever! So educational, so fun...for a museum!

 We went with other friends...which always makes it more exciting.

 Every Wednesday we try to focus on Missions, local or foreign. This particular day was very local, and very personal. We have a friend who is a teacher in the public school (her mission field) and she has just had a very difficult year. When my children woke up that morning, the white board greeted them with "Operation Spread Joy!" We were going to be purposeful in spreading joy to one of our dear friends. We prayed for her, made her cards, wrote her letters and finally picked up 3 of the most beautiful sunflowers and marched over to her school in the middle of the day to surprise her. She was indeed surprised. Mission accomplished!

 I continue to give guitar lessons to my 4 students. I love doing this...it combines two of my passions...teaching and guitar!

 On the music note, I had to give in to the fact that my children we're not all going to love the same kind of music as me. My youngest son has a "rock" sense that I never had. I could try to force him to listen to my kind of praise and worship, or let music minister to him...the way it it ministers to him!

 Took my dog out for a really long run one day...it was too long for him. Had to call for Dad to come and rescue him...he clearly needs a 10K app! Speaking of 10K...I have completed that goal (check) and can run 6 miles in 61 minutes.

 Dentist appointments! Not Shane's favorite thing to do by any means!

This was so much fun! My great friend Tammy and I and the "girls"...she lets me hang with them because this is the only "girl" time I get...went to see Jamie Grace, Mandisa and Laura Story in concert!!!  What a blast!! Unforgettable night really!!

 Here we are on our way to the DeLand Courthouse to participate in the National Day of Prayer! What an honor to stand before God and man, to pray for our nation and to read God's word out loud! His Word never comes back void. Here are my children reading through the book of John..in front of anyone and everyone passing by.

 To hear the prayers of children...there is nothing quite like it! You can read more about this particular event here.

 Our future leaders of America!

 We went out to this really great spot in DeLand!! YUM! Oh and we brought our best buddy Jacob with us too!!!

 More guitar lessons. I love this girl! We have totally formed a precious relationship that I'm ever so thankful for! She makes my heart smile. We'll be making more summer memories together this summer! Can't wait!!

 Fun times with girl friends!! Shoe shopping with my best friend! She makes me move out of my comfort zone..and I'm so thankful for her! NO I did not buy those shoes...I could barely walk or stand up for that matter!!

 One of the best days ever...at Gemini Springs! Jacob came along...but the focus was for my sweet dog Dodger! There is the best Dog park here. Tons of property where dogs can run leash free!! OH we tuckered him out that day!!

Absolute beauty all around!! We took trails, got lost and just had a great time. Kyle did inform me that he was not a fan of summer, spring, winter or fall. (He doesn't like getting a little lost...and it was hot that day!)

We saw two alligators...nice and close up! I love see gators in the wild!

 Trips to Dairy Queen!

 Watching the super moon from the beach! Beautiful night!

Still baking...I think these were sweet potato muffins. 

 This was something you don't see everyday...a ringed neck snake in my washing machine. (I love snakes too)...I find them fascinating!

 Great great time at the Holland Family Farm. We went blueberry picking! What a great adventure!!

 We ate until we were stuffed. They said..they weigh the buckets..not the people..so feel free to eat!

 6 1/2 pounds later...we had such a great time!

 Then there was my trip to Kentucky with these two! We had such a great time traveling together!

 My sweet friend Karen's house! OH so much went on here...I'm gonna save the details for another post! On the way home...we sat right next to each other! So much laughing!!

Came home in time for Mother's Day! Which was just perfect! Of course this was the first year Mr. Incredible didn't have his Mom...so we had a special memorial to her on that day. 

There were Downtown Disney trips in May like every month. Another field trip to the Florida Agricultural Museum (my husband took the boys on this one...so the pictures are still on his camera.) I might be able to get him to write a little entry about this trip. ;)

Here we are on Memorial Day. We getting ready to go out the door and visit our Pop's burial spot. He was a veteran...we miss him every day. Life is totally different without him...but we remember him in our hearts and thank God for the opportunity to be with him and make tons of memories with him while he was alive!

Memorial Day...let's remember our service men and women...let's also remember to make memories with the ones we love.

I'm Not An Unfit Mother!

Did that title get ya? Well, what I mean is, if I ate everything I baked or made..well, I might be unfit. So, in case you follow my weight loss journey, please fear not..I may take a tiny bite, but I'm not gonna blow it! I'm still losing weight..have 30 pounds to go. Once I'm through with fighting this anemia I will have my energy back and we'll be back to running 4 miles a day. So, doing the cookie baking and the candy creations...well, that is more for memory making with my superheros than anything else..oh and blessing others (practicing hospitality). So here is what we did today.

We always do caramel apples, every fall. This was my test bunch..I've never allow for such creativity before! Boy did my superheros love it! Not sure today was the best day, we went to the dentist today...Shane had a cavity filled and Brendan had two extractions and Kyle..he had a cleaning and absolutely no cavities! Should we really be making these today? Who know..it felt right when we sorted through all the sugar!

 Not exactly sure why I only got Kyle in on the pictures. He was just a ham today!

 It took some time to separate all of those lovely colors -- Teamwork!  Reeces Pieces, mini M&Ms, candy corn sprinkles...

So here they are. Really this was experimental. Some tips I learned (from trial and error)...you must scrub those apples, especially if they are store bought and not fresh picked..must get that wax off. Then I probably should have let them set for just a tiny bit longer..that is why there is some slippage on the Reeces Pieces Caramel Apple. Kyle made a Boba Fett Apple there with the green and brown (I don't see it, but Kyle does..that is all that matters). Then below is my personal favorite.

Doesn't that look decadent. Caramel apple..I cooled that off in the refrigerator, then melted some white chocolate chips (had those left over in my cupboard from the cherry vanilla chip cookies). Spread the white chocolate over the caramel and sprinkled it with cinnamon sugar (also left over from making snikerdoodles). I think it is called Caramel Apple Pie Apple or something like that..it is all over the Internet this fall!

Well, my children loved doing this "art" project. That is what we're calling it! Homeschoolers have the ability to stretch outside the box for subject matter. Our favorite art teacher returns to us from Michigan in just another week! Thanks for peeking into my art class today.

Harvesting Happiness

When you cannot leave your house together as family for more than 3 hours at a time, you forget what it is like to be spontaneous. Caring for our Pop required many sacrifices, one being that we were unable to leave him for more than a few hours a week, and if we left him, we had to arrange care for him. So much work for a few hours of alone time. There is a blog forthcoming regarding our decision to place Pop in a facility that is able to care for him better than we could, but for now, it has been difficult to write. It is coming however.

So I find myself trying to literally harvest some of these happy times because my superheros are so much in need of some quality family time (and so are their parents). The challenge of course is doing this all on a very restricted budget, but as you can see we manage just fine!

Last Friday, we took a field trip to a zoo (also a blog upcoming this week). It was in lieu of science class so we considered it a field trip. After our fantastic day together, we decided to spend the rest of the daylight over in Downtown Disney. Since we had the ability to do this (nothing keeping us from staring at our watches and a backpack full of sandwiches...we just spur-of-the-moment decided to go)! The best part was that we called Mr. Incredible to join us...and that was just the icing on the cake! Oh how we all love just being together outside of our home!! Mike joined us (he too is just getting use to this spontaneous mindset) after he finished his clinicals, and when we spotted him in the parking lot, it was as if we hadn't seen each other in years (even though we had just seen him 9 hours earlier). So cute, it almost made me get choked up, all the boys and myself just ran up to him and embraced him.

Yes, still in his scrubs, but that is a constant reminder of the amazing story of how God blessed our family by providing a way for him to go to school this year! (another blog...I have some serious catching up to do!)

Here we are with one of the living statues! So fun!

This picture makes me happy. My son Brendan has had the most difficult time this year. Because of his caregiver personality and his sensitive heart, he took on so much during the past few years of caring for Pop. We had no idea just how much his little heart was carrying. Being so close to Pop's room, Brendan could not sleep well at all, always awake and waiting for Pop to get up and call for Mike (Pop would get up all hours of the night and come wake us up on a regular basis--he even woke up the boys on occasion). Brendan was fearful that Pop would burn the house down, or have to call for Mike and Mike not hear him, so his sleep was fretful. Then right before we chose to place Pop in a home, my husband's Mom passed away from a 9 year battle with cancer and we had to say our "goodbyes"--so much for a little boy to handle. Needless to say, he has developed some coping mechanisms that have debilitated him in his everyday life. As of a few weeks ago, Brendan was diagnosed with Anxiety and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. He has struggled so much..just crying about his fears and anxieties..wanting this to be over.

So this is why this picture makes me happy. Throughout the evening at Downtown Disney, Brendan couldn't help but tell me, "Mom, I think I'm doing so much better! Mom, I think that God is really healing me! I'm so happy Mom!!!" He had so much fun. Three months ago we came to Downtown Disney and he had such a hard time being there! So here we are harvesting happiness.

Shane has struggled with everything that has gone on too, but he exhibits in different ways. Not so much debilitating like Brendan but you could tell once we placed Pop in a home everyone seemed to be shell shocked, as if we were living with post traumatic stress or something. Shane springs back quickly and here he is being the entertainer that he thrives on being. You know, he wants to be a missionary that sings!

Speaking of singing--our friend Dominic Gaudious he plays at Downtown Disney five days a week and since we frequent so often he actually remembered us. My boys love his music. No singing, just instrumental, but so much fun...the bamboo didgeridoo is loads of fun! We had a blast just dancing to the music, laughing and walking around all night long.

Then there is Kyle (very red lips from his Italian Ice), I think somewhat protected by his specialness, he too has struggled, but we can always see the hand of God in this boy. Don't they just make you smile? My superheros...overcomers in every way! Throughout all that we've been through the Lord was faithful to give us joy in the midst of our circumstances. Now that our circumstances have changed, we are having a wonderful time harvesting happy moments to cherish and meaningful memories! More to come!

Felt My Eyes Start To Smile

It is no big surprise that I've been tired lately. For a little over a year now. It started back in April of 2009...I'm not going to go into the details, but trust me when I tell you that the Enemy of my soul has sought to eat me alive several times since then. There have been moments when I could smell his breath...and wanted to vomit (not literally, I'm being poetic here...but you get the idea!) However, I know, and have been confirmed by Godly people in my life that when you serve God, love people, try hard to follow His Word, and proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ to others...well, as my pastor just put it very plainly to me a few weeks ago..."Lisa, you have a bright big red target painted right on your head and heart!"

Needless to say, I noticed at the end of 2010 that in every picture of myself for that entire year...my eyes looked weary. Along with all that "spiritual warfare" going on, I also have the Pop factor in my life...which leaves me physically exhausted and sleep deprived, not to mention homeschooling 3 different levels of children and being a Mom and wife. Ok...I better move on before I need some coffee. So, I prayed that 2011 you would start to see a change in my eyes.

I really believe that time away with my family is vitally important. I get about 31 phone calls a week regarding just church or ministry. (I know this because my husband kept track one week) ;P I would say that I meet one on one with people about 10 times a week...some consistently, others randomly. So you see, I need to learn how to balance all of this. Time away from my home is important. Time away with my family is extra special...their love rejuvenates me I think. (I kow I need some time with just my man too...that will happen one of these days)

So that is why we are trying to make a priority of "Making Moments for Memories." Here is what we did last week. (Our time is very limited as Pop is only in respite for a few hours 2 times a week.)

Here is my husband at our destination....Riverbreeze Park in Oak Hill, FL. This man is one of my biggest heroes of all time! He is an absolutely amazing man and I am eternally grateful for the gift he is to me and my boys. What an example!

We started our morning off at Bob Evans for breakfast! It was a blast...and it was under $20 (fit right into our budget!) My boys were so polite and well behaved and just precious...they really blessed the waitress. She said she had been doing this job for almost 30 years and have never met more well behaved boys in all of her waiting tables. She couldn't say enough. I was so glad because we don't get to go out to eat..(hardly ever)..very often at all. So you just never know!

However, they were as precious as ever...we just laughed and shared a simple breakfast together!
Here is Kyle spinning at the playground at Riverbreeze. I wonder how long that will last? Boys playing on the playground equipment. I cherish those moments.

Of course we brought Dodger..because we want to include him as much as we can on our family days. He is so used to us being around....and we..just love him! Every time we go on a hike/walk we find interesting stuff to talk about. Nature is one of my husband's loves...so it has rubbed off on all of us.

But, then we got a huge surprise...our adopted Grandma from Michigan Carla Sellars rode her bike over and played with the boys for a little...then we ended up at her home for a quick ride on her golf cart around her development. The boys absolutely adore her...and she them..as you can tell.

You see, I think my eyes are starting to smile in this picture. A little bit. They still look somewhat tired, but it is an improvement. It helps to be around those you love and those who love you back. Totally grateful for friends like family, and the 4 most precious men in my life!

So that is it...until our next adventure...I wonder what we'll do the next time we catch a moment for making memories?