Hello, Friends!

What a busy month this has been! Praise the Lord that such a beautiful season is here. I am so enjoying Autumn decorations and the anticipation of the changing of leaves. The downfall is that Winter follows Fall....and in Maine that means everyone becomes much more housebound. But we will talk about that later....when we have to deal with it! ;)

I have always thrilled when my children pick flowers for me. I have already oohed and aahed over more Dandelions than most people will even see in a lifetime...but how it delights my heart when these humble offerings come through my door. To be loved by my children is such a priceless blessing. I am often reminded how frail and humble my gifts of service to God must appear to Him...yet it makes Him feel loved and special because it is a gift from His child...me!

With that said, Joshua brought me the very first flowers he had ever picked of his own accord. He was pleased with himself and these were clasped tightly in one hand with his other hand in Rachel's. Rachel had taken him out for a walk and he felt like such a big boy! I quickly took a picture of this sweet love offering as my baby's "gentleness" assured these plants a very short life ahead...



And speaking of flowers, one of the precious children from our church, Connie, brought me these lovely blooms. The children of the church certainly love and spoil me! I can hardly walk through the door without getting a note, candy, gift, flowers or hug. God is so very good to allow me to be a teacher. What an amazing honor!



We have been so very busy with so many wonderful things! And we have been getting school up and running. It has been a rough start. We ordered our curriculum later then normal....we switched parts of our curriculum which requires study and adapting on the part of the teacher....and I have 5 different grades to teach. All of this has required a great deal of my time. I know many of my blog friends home school more than 5 different grades in their home, but this has proved challenging to me. God is requiring growth out of me...and the stretching can be painful! LOL So, blogging becomes a low priority during those times. I have missed reading every one's blogs, but I am hoping to have our routines all smooth and happy by October. I sooooo love schedule, routine and organization!

A few random pictures of our recent days....

Joshua fresh from a bath...and I mistakenly asked Daddy to please comb his hair! (I should know better than that by now!) :)



Joshua with "his Hana." He adores her and is missing her very much! (Can you hear him all the way over there in India, Hana??? He keeps asking for you!)



Patch Club sang on the Bickfords last Sunday here...



Some of my children have outgrown their Club shirts, so we purchased some new ones. One of the out grown ones has been given to Joshua. He is still too young to join Club, but he was thrilled to be like his older siblings. He jumped up and down in excitement and was proud to wear Patch the Pirate shirt to nursery! How cute!



Our football party was last week and the boys had a good time. I was so busy hostessing the event I did not get many pictures....but here is one shot. Not all the boys are in it though...



One of our church buses needed painting....so that has been an ongoing project this last week. What hard working church folk we have! I have learned that painting a bus is no easy chore! We are excited that it is near completion...



Now off I go to do computer projects for people I love! I am looking forward to going out to breakfast with Nicole this week(I am so glad she is home!!!) and am anxious to see Mandy. I am so glad she gets to come to Maine for a visit. What a great week ahead! Hope to chat with all of you in blog land sometime again soon!

Until the next time....

Thanks for stopping by,

Happy Wednesday!

Ahoy, Mates!

It is Wednesday! That means it is Club Time! I am looking forward to spending time with my sailors tonight.

Rachel is looking forward to passing out invitations to our Second Annual American Girl Tea this weekend. We are late passing out the invitations but the girls already know about it. We are looking forward to this "girly" event.

I just wanted to wish all of you a good night in church. God knew we would need fellowship and encouragement and that is one of the many reasons that He gave us church. I love it and am so thankful for God putting Victory Baptist Church in His plan for my life!

Happy Sailing!



P.S. Please pray for my friend, Briana. She is having surgery tomorrow. She is special to me. She used to be one of my secretaries when I worked on staff at college. I would personally appreciate you praying for my friend.

Thanks so much!

Random Conversation and Pictures...

Usually when I start a post I have an idea of what I want to say, but today I have so many random thoughts I am not sure where I am going. (Quiet! I hear your comments from here!) :) If you enjoy random conversation then this may be the post for you!

We had a super busy, extremely wonderful weekend! I am still playing "catch-up" from recent events. By the time I catch up it will be time to prepare for the even busier weekend ahead. With that said, I will try to catch up some things here on the blog that I have wanted to write and/or do...

We, too, are enjoying all the fresh fruits of summer. Ricky was so excited to make a colorful fruit plate for lunch. Each child makes their own favorite combination. God makes such beautiful colors!



Bramma, look at what I found!! Ahhh, such fun memories....



Bramma, Thank you so much for telling me about the little yellow duck! How precious and comforting to know that!

And in my most recent post I talked about my doll party. If I made it sound like my Mom was unenthusiastic, that is not the impression I meant to give. I just meant that I really remember Grandma jumping on the band wagon. (Sorry about that, Mom!) ;)

One of our wonderful college young men goes back to college this next week. :( We are sad but are so thankful for the time we had with him these past three months. He came over tonight for games and dinner. In preparation, Rachel wanted to make the brownies all by herself. She has always helped, but she did not want any help today. Drum roll, please for the finished product!!!!!





Our washing machine is not working and we do not expect to see a repairman until Thursday. With no money for the laundromat temporary panic set in....until I remembered about Jaynee! Her inspiration and "can-do" attitude saved our day! We took her idea and used it in our bath tub. My children laughed so much and are begging to do more laundry tomorrow. It was especially fun as the weather here is hot. Thank you, wonderful Lockwoods, for sharing your ideas and positive spirit!





This past Sunday we had our annual Patch the Pirate Awards Party. I love kids and I love parties! We had a great time! One of the highlights of this annual event is the appearance of "Pastor Pirate." He has a great "piratey" accent. He helps give out awards and he tells the children a Bible story with a pirate twist. This year's Bible story was Jonah. I am so thankful for my husband and how he not only allows me to have a ministry, but goes out of his way to support it and make it successful. And I must say that I LOVE working with my ter-Rick-fic man!





The kids (and some of the Dads!) love getting their picture taken. Here are some of the best...

Bro. Joe...



Rachel, my little lady....



Hana, Rachel's best friend and another little lady....



Cheri...



Kemuel...



Nahzel...



Jesse...



Jonathan...




Bro. Chris, the guy who does amazing flips (I am sorry I did not get video, Amy!! LOL)...




I made a lot of pirate balloon swords!! Here is one of the last ones of the day...



And one cute dog "just because"....



This is our Treasure Chest! It has treasure inside. We had a Treasure Hunt to find the key. This is a highlight for the kids! Inside were pirate party favor bags filled with snacks and small pirate toys...




I loved the pirate paperware we found at the Dollar Tree! God cares even about pirate details...







Some of our sailors...





Joshua had a great time taking in the day....



And speaking of my Joshua...He is adding words almost daily now! Yeah!! He now uses the words toast, horse, hot and 'cuz all on his own. Even the kids cheer and laugh each time he expands his vocabulary. We have waited a long time to hear him talk and we are thrilled that he is finally choosing to do so.


One of the awards given. The children who earned these crosses will be turning them in at a local ice cream parlor for free ice cream! Yummy!



There are so many pictures I wanted to take, but couldn't because I was running the program. Our oldest five children are all in Patch Club and earned a lot of awards. I was very proud of each of them and the hard work represented from the last year. Ricky and Rachel took the top honors and each won the "Sailor of the Year" medal. This is something they earned themselves. I refuse to "push" a child into winning with constant reminding and helps. (Maybe a future blog post subject?) I am proud of their character and diligence. Way to go!

And one sweet blessing of the day was that the children and some of the parents had put together a scrapbook for me. What a precious surprise and keepsake! What an honor to serve these wonderful people! As I led the children Sunday night during the service for their monthly special I was overwhelmed once again that I have the opportunity to serve the Lord and invest my life in others. I pray that the songs the children sing and the verses they learn will bury themselves deep in their hearts and help keep them close to the Lord throughout the course of their lives.


This is the game that has currently taken over my kitchen. I am in charge of keeping the snacks coming! ;) The nice thing is that no one is rushing me off of the computer. :)




Happy Anniversary to this cute couple! I love my sister and am so grateful for the wonderful man that God has given her. Sarah, I hope your day was super special! And in honor of this great ocassion I am hoping that Sarah does a new blog post! (Hint! Hint!) If you would like to wish Paul & Sarah a happy anninversary and/or if you would like to encourage her in her blogging endeavors you may do that here. (I love you, Sarah!!)



If you want to try something fun for your kids, check this out here and here. It is called Flubber. I cannot wait to try it! I also added the links to my sidebar.


My "little guys" asked if they could eat in the living room since the kitchen was overrun. When I said "yes" Jonathan went running through the house in unbridled excitement yelling, "Mommy said yes! Mommy said yes!" I remember Mrs. Marlene Evans teaching that Mommys often have to say "no" to things, but that we should strive to say "yes" as much as possible.

May we all strive to show love to those in our lives by saying "yes" as much as possible. Even if it is inconvenient. We only have one chance to live today. Make it count!


Thanks for stopping by,



Special Notes:

Mandy, I hope your second day of work was more exciting than the first!

Marisa, I am glad you are back in "Bloggerland" as I had missed your posts. I missed seeing you while you were in Maine...

Amy, I am dreaming of Parmesan Chicken! I hope a recipe is coming soon! Or you could send Elisabeth to visit....

And finally, a pet peeve of mine is when I go to post a comment on a friend's blog and I have to do that word verification. Would someone please tell me why it is so great so I will no longer be iriitated with it? And, yes, I already know all about Psalm 119:165! ;)

I am finished with my "randomness." Thanks for listening....and feel free to "chat" back!