Girlfriends

I have been so very blessed with the greatest of girlfriends as I have journeyed through life.

I truly feel like I have been blessed with true friends....more than one person deserves to have.

Here are my three favorite girlfriends-my sister, my daughter and my Mom.



I have always been a bit social and I enjoy meeting new people. I feel like I have always made friends easily and I tend to talk a lot. I also ask lots of questions which can drive some people crazy. ;)

But it is just because I tend to find people fascinating and I want to know them better.

I have moved around some in my lifetime and made friends wherever I have lived. It is so fun to have friends now literally around the world.

And now I watch my own daughter make her own girlfriends. She had several shy years where making friends did not come easily, but now she is blossoming into a young lady and her social skills are improving-which is a good thing as her friendships have become very dear to her. She loves and adores her brothers. They play a unique and special role in her life. But she also craves feminine interaction. More than what I alone can provide. We have started having girls over every Sunday afternoon. It is a time Rachel eagerly anticipates. She loves the girl time and the girls love talking her Dad into getting ice cream every week. ;) (He never seems to mind!)

As a teenage girl I had heart-to-heart talks with my Mom who has always been my number one girlfriend. She understood my need for close girlfriends who were my age and helped me seek out good, godly girls to spend time with. She never acted hurt that I needed more friendships in my life. She diligently prayed with me through a lonely time in my life and rejoiced with me when God provided a particularly special friend after that season of prayer.

All this rambling is because of a picture I took this last month. I took a picture of Rachel with some of her girlfriends at church. It reminded me of a picture I have of myself with my church girlfriends years ago.

This was taken in May, 1990. What a long time ago!





And this was taken in December, 2010. Some of the girls in this picture are related to one of my friends in the previous picture. Both pictures are taken in the same room. :)



I am so thankful for the special friendships God is already blessing my Rachel with.



This "friend"helped her through her "shy" years. (Shy...what is shy? I have never experienced that!)



Special memories....



I love it when Rachel makes a friend with a daughter of one of my long time friends.



Damsels in distress...



American Girl party...



Hana and Rachel...forever giggling...




Sometimes your best friends are cousins...



I am so thankful that my Mom is more than Rachel's Grandma....she is Rachel's friend, too. What a godly influence.



They obviously enjoy each others company!



We LOVE this girlfriend! I truly have the greatest sister in the world. And, yes, I really believe that. She is the greatest. Period. End of story.



My Mom used to tell me over and over again that one of her greatest joys was that her daughters grew up to be her best friends. I believed her.....

....but now I think I understand what she was trying to tell me.




To all my girlfriends wherever you are....I appreciate your part in my life. I love you!


Thanks for stopping by,

Changes At Our House...

It is hard to believe that September is here! We are enjoying some changes as we go into this month of change. Fall is a beautiful season and I look forward to the changing of leaves. We have done some decorating for Autumn. We also made some changes in our school curriculum for the year and we are anxiously awaiting for everything to arrive. We are doing school review while we wait which is always a good way to get back on track in the first few weeks of school.

We also rearranged a room. If you know me then you know that is big news. This picture is not the best, but will be appreciated by those who have visited my home as they will see a big difference. The posters on the couch are waiting to be hung, but I wanted to get a picture while the room was clean. (Translated: kids are in bed.). I am anxious to get our school things on the walls and make it look fun and educational. The kids are excited, too.



And the biggest change in our home....(Drum roll, please!!)....Rachel has bangs!

This decision has been a long time in coming, but today at the home of our favorite hairdresser Rachel took the plunge.




It makes her look older...(Daddy has mixed emotions about that!) (And thank you, Jaynee, as your blog post about your girls was very much enjoyed by my daughter.)







I actually teared up as this was snipped. Is that normal?



And that is all for now...



And now I must needs be on my way! ;) My sister said I could not do something that I want to do tonight until she saw pictures of her niece. (Who looks so much like Sarah did at this age!)

Thanks for stopping by,

American Girl Tea

We had a lovely time at our American Girl Tea last Sunday! So much laughter and giggles! Here are some pictures of our lovely ladies...



The dolls that were represented were: Nellie, Samantha, Josefina, Rebecca, Kaya, Mia and Felicity. Some of the dolls are not in their original clothes as the girls were trying to find matching outfits for their dolls and themselves.

Hana and Rachel...



Leeann and Cheri...



Marilyn and Alyssa...



Connie...






Game Time...




Ryan kept hanging around to "help." But let's face it, where there are girls there is Ryan! ;) (The girls didn't seem to mind, either!)



And Hana turning her popcorn chicken into Tinker Toys...




Lots more pictures of our week are coming soon. I am thrilled to be online again, but we are due for a storm again tomorrow so my internet availability might be down again. But, hopefully not...

So with this lovely smile I will sign off for now...


Thanks for stopping by,

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!