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swimming with friends at the local pool..

Written by Joy
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swimming with friends at the local pool..


 

In keeping with our theme of spending as much time as we can with our friends before we head west, the kids chose swimming with friends at the local pool.  Not only did we get to do this once, but we have gotten to do it twice!  We are working on meeting up with some friends again for a third time before we pull out the last week of July.

The first pool time came with our church friends.  It just so happened that they had scheduled a cookout and pool party to celebrate the end of the school year for all the kids, plus a celebration of those who have graduated from their school.  We even got to play a game of softball with  kids and adults.  Everyone had a wonderful time!

Our next pool party was a going away party for the kids, put on by our homeschool support group.  They have been a part of our family for the last 7 years and it was a pool party we just couldn’t miss.  The kids and I truly had a wonderful time and will definitely remember that evening for a very long time.  One of the moms even thought to buy the kids each a notebook and had all the kids there sign each book for each of the kids.  Some of the comments had me in tears.  Yes, we will truly miss our 2nd family, the homeschool group.

We do plan on getting together again with some of the homeschoolers for another pool party.  I do hope I remember to bring my camera this time!

Do you have a local pool you can meet up with friends at?  I am thankful that there will be a local pool near us when we move west to make more memories!

Be sure to stop by the others who are participating in the Summer Bucket List series to see what fun they have been up to!

Honey @ Sunflower Schoolhouse

Tonya @ The Traveling Praters

Jeniffer & Melissa @ Sisters ‘N Cloth

Lisa @ Creativlei

Nancy @ Proverbs 31 Jewels

Jennifer @ Teaching Boys

Kelli @ Adventurez In Child’rearing

2012, family, , ,

Summer Bucket List fun!

Written by Joy
6 Comments
Summer Bucket List fun!


At the beginning of summer, I started noticing how a lot of families were making Summer Bucket lists.  It looked like a lot of fun, so I thought my kids and I would sit down and write one as well.  Then Honey, from Sunflower Schoolhouse asked if I would like to be a part of a Summer Bucket list series.  So a group of bloggers will be posting about what all is on our list, hopefully to  give you a little inspiration and extra ideas!  I hope you will join in with our fun!

After Honey had asked if I would join in this series, we got some news that we would be moving cross country away from family and friends.  So I thought I would add a little twist to some of the activities we would do.  Why not see how many activities we could do with our friends before we moved?  Needless to say, the kids have been having a blast and making memories with friends they won’t see for a while.

Our first activity that we had was a sleepover with a friend.  They had been asking for a long time if their friend, Jacob could come spend the night.  My kids had the whole visit planned!  The biggest highlight of the sleepover, was getting to play some video games.  They played several different games on the XBox and the Wii. My favorite was watching them play the Just Dance games.  It is so funny watching them dance to the songs.  What they don’t know is they are getting exercise when dancing AND was wearing themselves out for bedtime! 😉

The kids did go outside to play when it cooled off a little.  They had fun jumping on the trampoline and playing hide and seek.  During the hottest time of the day, they cooled off with popsicles and even watched a couple of movies with bowls of popcorn and kool-aid to wash it down with.

Jacob has been my son’s best friend for several years and I am so glad that we finally had a chance to have him over for a sleepover.  I know my son is going to miss him a lot, but we will always have the memory of this fun and fantastic sleepover for years to come.

Have you ever made a Bucket list before?  Do your children have sleepovers?

Be sure to stop by these other bloggers to see what fun they are having this summer!

Honey @ Sunflower Schoolhouse

Tonya @ The Traveling Praters

Jeniffer & Melissa @ Sisters ‘N Cloth

Tara @ Feels Like Home Blog

Lisa @ Creativlei

Nancy @ Proverbs 31 Jewels

Jennifer @ Teaching Boys

Kelli @ Adventurez In Child’rearing

2012, family, ,

5 years ago today…

Written by Joy
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5 years ago today…

Five years ago today, June 22nd, my family lost a very special person.  My dad.  He was a wonderful man of God.  He did his best to raise his family in a loving Christian home.  He wasn’t a perfect man, but he did do his best to live for God daily.

There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think about him.  Especially around the holidays and birthdays.  He was always the first one to call me early in the morning.  He was always there for all 4 of us kids.  If we ever needed anything, all we had to do was call him.  There are still some things that I will ask myself, “what would daddy do in this situation.”

Cancer is an evil disease.  It took my dad way too soon in my opinion.  However, I know God took him home when we wanted him.  My dad had done his job on this earth and it was time to go on to his heavenly home.  I am thankful for all the memories that I have of my dad.  However, the best part is knowing that he is in Heaven with God and I will be there with him one day singing and rejoicing and praising God right along with him.

2012, family, , ,

a season for everything..

Written by Joy
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a season for everything..

Even though I am not writing for Seeds of Faith anymore, I will plan on taking part of their iFellowship day.  In the past, for iFellowship, I have always shared scripture that has spoken to me during the previous week.  I would love to continue to do that.

What scripture is on my heart now?

Ecclesiastes 3

1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

2 a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
3 a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6 a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7 a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8 a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.

Yes, there is a season for everything.  Lately, God has been telling me it is time for me to move on from a few things.  For example, I will no longer be writing for Seeds of Faith.  It was a hard decision, but I must obey.  Another position I am moving on from is being the leader of a local homeschool support group.  I helped start the group and have been the leader for 5 years.  Again, this is a hard thing that I am doing, but it is time for me to move on.

God has been speaking to my heart and I must obey and keep glorifying God with all my might, even if I don’t like what He is saying.  I know that if I obey God, He will open other doors for me. The key is to listen and obey.  There will always be seasons and changes.  The good thing about that?  God will always be there with us as well.  I am learning to embrace and enjoy each and every season that God is allowing us to experience.

Are you leaving one season and entering another?  I would be more than happy to pray and even encourage you on your new season of life!

2012, God, iFellowship, , ,

saying yes to the little things..

Written by Joy
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saying yes to the little things..

My kids.  I love them with all my heart.  Will do most anything for them.  Lately though, I have caught myself saying no to them a lot.  You can tell by the looks on their faces, that hurts them.  This week though, I have tried my best to be more of a yes mom.  I want my kids to remember that I closed my laptop, put my phone down and that they did have my undivided attention.  I only have them a short amount of time and I want I to make the most of it.

So what did we do this week?  My daughter made me some jewelry (with a little help from me).  I now have this awesome red diamond bracelet, as well as a white diamond ring.  And yes, I did wear it all day!

 

Next, I got a little pampering from my kids.  They begged to paint my fingernails and toenails.  I even got a little lip gloss on my lips.  In fact, they have done this 2 days in a row! (fingernail polish washes off very easily)

Next up was a game of Battleship with my youngest son.  This was a Christmas present that he had asked for.  We have started games before but had never finished one until the other day.  Guess what?  I LOST!!  My 7 year old son beat me!  (N0, I didn’t let him win either!)  I told him we were going to have to have a rematch soon.  I have to redeem myself!  {grin}

Not to be outdone by brother, the Care Bear checker board was brought out.  We had a great match going back and forth, but in the end, I won.  Not by much though!  I only had 2 Care Bears left on the board!

Do you play any board games with your children?  I would love to get some more ideas for games for our family!

2012, family, ,