WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

AKA - Clearing out the camera!!
















Green Bean Casserole is in your future!! :o)









Herbs

Antiques & Warbirds

by Robin

My youngest, Andrew, and I had a wonderful time last weekend with visiting the TICO Warbird Museum in Titusville. We are so blessed to have "free" days to Brevard County residents. We go every 6 months to see what is new.







We were blessed to see Lt. Col Hiram Mann for the 2nd time. If you get a chance to meet him, pull up a chair and let him tell you some wonderful stories of his days as a Tuskeegee Airman. We happened to be reading a short story about the Tuskeegee Airman the same week, so it made the story that much more real to Andrew.


I saw these great treasures in the museum.




I love patriotic prints.



They had bi-plane rides for $75. I wish I had had $150 to blow on a ride for the two of us. Of course, I would have been petrified the whole time with the open cockpit.



And we saw some pitiful antique mannequins with various ailments...



Missing hand


Painted over mustache


Missing eye. He needs a patch like the guys above.


And here are a bunch of antiques, including me. LOL.



I hope you enjoyed sharing in our day together.
Blessings,
Robin

CHILEAN MINER'S SHIRTS

.... give Thanks to God!!!

1 SAMUEL 30:12

"And they gave him a piece of a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins. So when he had eaten, his strength came back to him; for he had eaten no bread nor drunk water for three days and three nights."

My friend, Tanya, is very, very sick for 6 weeks now. It is affecting her whole body even though the infection is in the kidneys and bladder. So, we decided to ( http://www.takethemameal.com/ ) take her a meal.

I have several bags of blueberries frozen back from May, so I thought we'd send her a pie as well.





Here is a 2nd pie for our family, vented in the shape of a palm tree.



I was so happy with how pretty the pie turned out. (Not only pretty, but it was delicious!)



We're still praying for Tanya to feel well enough to come back to church.

EXODUS 34:6

"Then they rose early on the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. "


We were so blessed the other day when Jack's coworker brought us 2 lobster tails from his diving from several weeks ago. While it wasn't a burnt or peace offering, it certainly was a generous gift.



Jack did a wonderful job grilling it.



Andrew taking his first bite of lobster. Jack grew up eating Florida lobster and I had Maine lobster on our summer vacations. This is one of the best ways to raise kids. Train them up to eat fish & shellfish and then they won't depart from it. LOL



Oh and yes, afterwards, he did rise up and go play.

GENESIS 3:13b, 14

The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this,
"Cursed are you above all the livestock
and all the wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
and you will eat dust
all the days of your life.


Our Captain, giant chihuahua extraordinaire, and his brother Tiki found a snake in the yard. Captain would grab it, shake and fling it a few feet. It was obviously hurt by the time I got out there and took this picture.


The boys shot it so it would not suffer further and were going to dispose of it into the woods, but Captain decided it was his kill and it was his. This dog is so loving and yet, so extremely protective of us. We had a hard time convincing him it was dead and to let go.



Captain was not going to let the 'Deceiver' free. You know, we should treat Satan the same way. He is a beast to be slain, not a pet to be tamed.

GENESIS 2:2

"By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. "

This is what Tiki does when he rests.

My other guys obviously wish God would have made a second day of rest during the school week. (Literature is so exciting, right guys??)

GENESIS 1:20-23 - DAY 5

"And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.... And there was evening, and there was morning - the fifth day."




Andrew is studying birds in his Abeka Science book, Chapter 4. I'm glad that he took art last year, too. Look how nicely he is drawing his birds.



Thank you God for the beautiful creatures you have put on the earth. They're all so beautiful and each is unique.

Proverbs 15:13

"A happy heart makes a face cheerful."

by Robin

(My boys going down the Lazy River with my cousin, Courtney.)


Two Thursdays ago, a few of my relatives from New York came down to vacation, inviting another set of Aunt & Uncles on the trip. It has been a few years since I've seen some of them.

God has blessed us to be near, but not in Themepark land. It is a pleasant trip over to see friends & family and yet, I don't have to house everyone nor feel the occasional burden of entertaining guests.

Here are most of us after getting out of the Lazy River at the Resort. What a relaxing way to catch-up and share stories. I absolutely love and miss all my extended family. It has taken me a long time adjusting to the lack of constant family get-togethers and kissing 50 people hello and good-bye every time we meet. Of course, church is a great substitute for that.

(Below is my Aunt & Uncle from NY and 2 adult cousins - their daughters.)


Here is my Aunt & Uncle from Georgia (below). They're transplants from New York, as well. I was born up there. Aunt Jean gets the credit for teaching me piano for many years.

They're looking at my boys who are really making me proud at this point. (They're sick of the camera. Can you tell?)


Next month, I get to see my s-daughter, at heart. It has also been years since we've seen her in person, but I pray it will feel like no time has passed thanks to social-networking and computer technology.

Be blessed!

ECCLESIASTES 3:11

"God has made everything beautiful in its time."

by Robin

Tis the season for braces for Simon Peter. He is a delightful child to parent. Very obedient. Very honest. Trust-worthy. Diligent if not distracted. Hard-working. It's only fitting that we give him a beautiful smile to go with all that charm.

We've already been cranking his appliance for a month on his upper mouth. His poor tongue has suffered much abuse from playing with that bar. Last week, he was allowed to get his upper braces. I *think* the plan is for him to get a retainer in October to hold the upper teeth in place until healing takes place in the upper palate. Then, we should be in upper braces before winter.



It's a mess between crowding, cross-overs and mal-alignments BUT, God will make it beautiful in its time. That's a promise we can count on.

Matthew 13:23

"The one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it."

Jesus explains in this Scripture that not everybody who hears the gospel will understand it and follow him, but I am thankful that the Holy Spirit prepared my heart to be good soil for when I heard His Word, I was able to come to a saving knowledge of Christ. I do not take credit for this. It is the great and mighty work of the Holy Spirit.



I only merely opened the door and let Him into my life. I have not ever regretted my walk with Jesus inspite of the attacks from evil in this world. Much like my sweet bell pepper in my garden, it is very happy in the soil that it has dug roots into. However, the snails try their best every day to attack the fruit on its branches. The start at the stem. If they can't break that off, they will gnaw at the skin until there is a blemish there. If I have done my job of protecting them with Seven dust, the snails are kept away and the fruit is able to grow.



Child of God, if you have received God's Word and are growing fruit, don't forget to put on your spiritual protection of prayer, studying the Bible, taking time to Worship Him and sometimes fasting.

2 Chronicles 25:2

"And he did that which is right in the sight of the LORD, but not with a perfect heart."

A friend gave me a clipping last year of a bleeding heart plant. For a long time I waited and waited for it to bud. I was amazed at how it looked like a bud being held out by its petals. In other words, the heart is in sight. Only God knows our heart even when our deeds may look righteous on the outside. I think this relates to why we do not enter the Kingdom of God by works alone. The heart is deceitful. It is impure. But it is made righteous by the atonement and sanctification of Jesus Christ being invited into our lives. Only He can make all things beautiful.




Dear friend, please stop and take a moment to acknowledge that there is nothing we can do to earn our way into heaven. Jesus is the sinless lamb that died for our sins. Only He can be the perfect substitution for us to be allowed in heaven, for the wages of sin would be death.

Repent of your wrong-doings, acknowledge Him as LORD and invite Him to be a part of your life.

Proverbs 22:7

"The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender."


by Robin

Wow, I've sadly neglected my blog so I will try to remedy that now that made a little bit of room on the plate called my life.

Jack and I are still following Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University for 8 months now and we're down several thousands of dollars in debt. Our goal is to have another debt paid off in a couple/few more months. I'm so thankful that we took this class through our church because this economy is crazy.

Anyhow, it's been beans & rice, rice & beans for us. One of our family's favorite is 15 bean soup. Yummy!! My pressure cooker has reinvented the bean for me.

Pressure Cooking Beans & Grains




In the garden, my fall sunflowers have bloomed. I wish it felt like fall outside.

PLEASE WATCH

Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Justin Bieber, Hurricane Earl, Katrina, Obama, American Idol, Survivor, Lost, Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Mosque, 9/11.

Have I tagged enough popular items? Now that you're here, watch this powerful, video. If you have any questions, please comment and I'll reply.

Kamal Saleem

VALEDICTORIAN SPEECH like you've never heard before

I wish I knew her name so I could write her a thank-you note.

Try not to choke on your coffee or bagel.

Oh FEDORA, Where have you been all my life???

by Robin

My boys have & had birthdays this month. When given the opportunity to have a shopping spree, what do you think my Andrew picked out?? A Fedora hat. Two. It seemed like such a strange request for a soon-to-be 11 yr old. I thought about talking him out of it but reassured myself that the price of one would change his mind. Afterall, that would take away from toy money. Toys are what a tweenager wants.

But........ it didn't discourage him one bit.

When doing my routine shopping trip, he asked to look for a hat in one store. BINGO! We found the mother-load. He absolutely had to have the black pin-stripe hat. I saw the plaid one and thought that may dress up a casual jeans-type of outfit. Oh goodness, we had a dilemma. Two hats? A few minutes before, I didn't even want to pursue this and now, I wanted two, three, ....one for every day of the week.



And by golly, if he didn't wear it out of the store and home all day long. It's absolutely adorable. And then big brother gets his hands on the plaid one. And he wears it all day long.



Oh my........ what in the world did we ever do without a Fedora on our heads? It increases coolness. It increases the ability to detect a crime. It even helped Alabama's Bear Bryant win football games. Ok, maybe that's an exaggeration.

Daddy even came home from work and seemed very impressed with such a cool, and mature, way to spend birthday money. I have to say that I'm impressed, too.

Have a blessed day.

LUCKIEST DOGS in the WORLD

by Robin

I think that the dogs of homeschoolers have quite the wonderful life. They have multiple people to let them in & out the door. Multiple people feeding them. Multiple opportunities for pets & butt scratches. Multiple opportunities for car rides.

And multiple opportunities to find somebody, still, reading a book. If a lap is not available, a back or thigh will do.

TOMATO THIEF!!!! - caught in action

by Robin

This is working out so much better for me to think of blogging as photo sharing instead of trying to write something thought-provoking. LOL. By the end of the day from homeschooling, running errands, putting out fires, feeding the fam, cut the grass, etc, I'm too tired these days to be creative. Maybe I'll have more energy when these dog days of summer are over.

Anyhow, this thief had the nerve to continue stealing tomatoes even while the camera was on him. What a naughty boy! See that cherry tomato, center-stage??






He's got it.....






To balance out his healthy eating habits, I've been feeding him Chex Mix while blogging.