Lilla Rose Sale!

I haven't posted in awhile about Lilla Rose, but I just had to share this GREAT Sale! Check it out at www.lillarose.biz/cantinacamp If you order $50 or more you get a free mini Flexi Clip! 

Our Oldest is Driving!!

It has come quicker than I ever imagined, we have a child that can drive! In August we celebrated Isaac's 16th birthday! He is growing into a young man and I am excited to see what God has planned for him.

 Here he is with a deer he killed at the beginning of hunting season this year. Isaac enjoys hunting and fishing.

 We celebrated with grandparents at the river. We had lots of fun!

Here he is in his truck. This was my dad's truck and now it belongs to Isaac. He is a very responsible young man and it has been a blessing for him to be able to drive to places he needs to get to.

I really had no idea that he would grow up so fast. Isaac is a blessing, fun, and full of laughter. We love him more than he will ever know! 

Fun With the Younger Three Children

Back in June while Isaac, Sarah, and Bryan were at Youth Camp the rest of us had our own "Camp". The younger children and I decided to do some fun and interesting things. Each day we went over some of the verses that the others were learning at Youth Camp, The book of Philippians. Then one day we made these delicious oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. 

The cookies were very yummy!

Timothy and Joanna cleaned up their John Deere gator ride. Looks like she is being bossy but I really believe she is waiting her turn to wash. :)

We made this Tic-Tac-Toe board out of a cut of stump and rocks. I let them paint the wood and rocks. Lots of fun to make and play!

Then our last activity was to make Tye Die shirts. We picked out the colors they wanted, purple for Joanna, green for Timothy, and blue for Elijah. It was exciting to watch their faces light up as they unrolled those shirts and saw the patterns. I thought they did a great job!

I always enjoy spending time with just these three. They are lots of fun and love doing new things! I am a very blessed mother!

A Visit With The Roughton Family

A couple of weeks ago we had the opportunity to stop by and see some family and visit with them for a couple of hours. It has been too long since we have seen them. In January of 2015 they came up for a visit to our home. Below is a picture of the children in 2015 and a picture of me and my cousin Dodey.

 I just can't believe its been two and a half years since we have gotten to see each other.

Now here is a picture of the children in July 2017...wow! They grow up so fast! One of the things Sarah asked for her birthday was to visit with these cousins, Ella and Leah. God worked it out and we were actually able to visit them on Sarah's birthday! The children had lots of fun playing together and Isaac was able to love on their fur baby. :)

 Don't you agree that these children have really grown up? I also had to get a picture of me and Dodey. :) Love this girl!

We agreed that it didn't need to be so long before we got together again. We always have a great time together and talking about the memories we have...there are lots of those! 

Sarah is 14!!

Happy birthday to our oldest daughter! Sarah has grown into a young lady way faster than I ever imagined! We traveled to AL to celebrate her precious life with grandparents.

Sarah wanted to make her own birthday cake and here it is! Her cake was a 4 layer carrot cake drip cake. Very delicious! 

 On her birthday we traveled through the town she was born in, so we thought it was a great opportunity to drive by the hospital she was born at. This was a God opportunity because we don't normally go through that town any more but some circumstances caused us to be traveling that direction ON her birthday...of all days! Brought tears to my eyes!

Here is Sarah standing in front of the hospital. She is such a joy and delight to our family and to all who meet her. Sarah is a huge blessing to me and I can't thank God enough for the gift that she is. Sarah's heart is HUGE! I know this young lady will be used by God to serve others one day because she has such a servants heart. Our prayer is that as God lives through her, she would glorify Him by denying herself, taking up her cross, and following Jesus (Matthew 16:24). We love you Sarah!!

What Is In The Pond?

Isaac went to the pond and came back with something to show us. He called us outside and dipped his hand in the bucket, he pulled out a handful of frog eggs! Talk about science in the backyard!

All the children thought the frog eggs were neat and now know first hand what they look like. The boys love finding frogs and now they know what those frogs look like in the egg stage.

Such A Beautiful Day

Back in March while Isaac was at 4-H Congress the other children and I had a fun spring day! It was such a beautiful day that we ventured out for a walk in the woods, a picnic, and lots of sunshine!

 The three younger children always enjoy playing in the woods. During our hike through the woods they would stop and show me where they play. The dogs enjoyed going on our adventure too!

 Sarah and I stop for a selfie. She is such a blessing!!

 Here we are on our picnic. Yummy sandwiches and chips.

 Another picture of our picnic. Our children enjoy picnics, they are lots of fun!

Joanna found a flower and wanted to show me. She loves finding flowers!

Those days we just do something different and are together makes for such a great day! The only things that would have made it better is if Bryan and Isaac would have been able to join us!

Culinary Camp

Last week Sarah had the privilege of attending a 4-H Culinary Camp in Murfreesboro! She loves to cook and bake so this was just perfect for her! The camp was from Tuesday morning til Thursday afternoon. Sarah did some baking and sold her baked goods to raise the funds needed to attend this camp. I was very proud of her for working hard to raise the money herself to attend camp!

 On Tuesday they visited the Farmers Market, participated in Food Fear Factor, cooked super and baked a dessert (the above strawberry shortcake), visited the Avenues, and got their room assignments.

 On Wednesday they were able to go to Kroger and Publix to get a "behind the scenes" tour, had a cupcake decorating war, and packed bags at the salvation army. During the cupcake time they were able to decorate several cupcakes with different techniques (above is three of Sarah's cupcakes).

This was one excited girl! On Thursday they had a "Chef challenge" and had to make a meal with egg plant in it. The only thing that upset her is that she will be too old to go again next year. She had a great time! It was hard for me to leave her but I know this was a great experience for her. We will be keeping an eye out for other opportunities like this. Sarah would really enjoy having a job at a bakery for the experience. We feel blessed and very thankful that God provided this opportunity for her!

Elijah Is Now In The Double Digits!

Happy 10th birthday to this little man! He is our builder and fixer! Elijah loves to build things with his Legos or anything he can get his hands on. If it is broke he wants to try fixing it. 

 Elijah is definitely Dangerous, just like his shirt says, on and off the field! Never a dull moment with this boy around!

 We took him out to eat for his birthday and he enjoyed every bite of his meal and dessert! He chose to go to Golden Corral, he picked up his plate and headed to the buffets, looked around and said to Bryan "I don't know where to begin!".

Such a blessed mom to call this boy my son! He is a joy and blessing to me in many ways. I know that God has great plans for Elijah and I can't wait to see how all that unfolds. I could see Elijah being a builder on a mission team and sharing with others God's love and goodness! Praying for his little man to be a man after God's own heart and to be a blessing to everyone that crosses his path. Love you Elijah, more than you will ever know!

No Bake Energy Bites

As I have said before Sarah is our baker and she loves trying new things. One of the things she has made are these energy bites. We Mommy really likes them! 😀 They don't last long at this house. She used this recipe and changed a few things to make it with the items we had on hand. These are very easy to make. I wanted to share "our recipe" with you. If you make these please leave a comment and let us know what you think. Enjoy!!

Energy Bites

2 cups of rolled oats

1/3 cup of mini chocolate chips

½ cup of ground flaxseed

½ cup of nuts (peacans)

1 tsp of cinnamon

2/3 cup of honey

1 cup peanut butter

1 TBSP Chia seeds

Combine dry ingredients and mix together. Add in honey and peanut butter and mix together well (may have to use your hands). Scoop onto silicone baking sheet (on cookie sheet) using cookie scoop. Freeze for one hour and enjoy! Store in air tight container in refrigerator.

My Dad

I actually started this post on Father's Day 2014...just couldn't find all the right words to say. Not sure I have the right words now but I really wanted to share how I feel.

We have some amazing Father's in our family! Bryan is a great dad and I am so blessed that God chose him to be the father of my children. My Father-n-law is a great father and grandfather. He likes to take the grandkids riding on the farm and spending time with them. My dad is the best dad I could ask for! 

I love this picture of my dad and Joanna! She looks so little and this is a true picture of my dad...he LOVES playing whatever the grandkids want to play, even if it is Minnie Mouse! He has always been this way. I remember as a little girl he would play with me for hours and it was always whatever I wanted to play. Barbies, baby dolls, dress up, or dancing to a silly song...you name it and my dad would spend some quality time with me. Those are memories that I hold dear! 

This time last year I thought we would loose my dad, he had two heart attacks. We were completely surprised and very unexpected. I thank God every day that he has given us more time to make lots more memories with dad! He is a very special man and he loves my mother more now than ever before. He would do anything for anyone, a very kind hearted man. Dad is very crazy about his grandkids and I know he wishes we lived closer and he could spend more time with them. Because we don't see them all the time it makes the visits we do have very special. He still calls me doodlebug and he would still drop whatever he is doing to be right there for me if I ever need him. My dad has been a great father-in-law to Bryan. Dad thinks of Bryan as a son and treats him like one too. I have seen God do great things in dads life and I can truly see that God has changed my dad's heart spiritually.

Dad, I love you more than words can say and we look forward to spending lots of time with you and mom. I am so thankful that God has given us these times to make more memories that will last a lifetime! Love you Dad!!  

What is Elijah up to?

I wanted to post some pictures of Elijah and what he has been up to. Of coarse Elijah is always busy doing something. If he isn't doing school he is building something. He has been taking piano lessons since September 2016 and has done really well. He enjoys practicing each day and even making up his own songs. :)

 Here is a picture of him and Joanna at the piano. He was trying to teach her a song.

 This was Elijah's first year in 4-H and he was able to do the speech competition. His speech was on courage. He won second place in the county contest. Very proud of him!

Elijah likes having a snack! Here he is eating bananas and strawberries. He is such a adventurous child! Never know what he will be up to next. Very thankful God gave us Elijah and we get to celebrate his birthday next month!!

Timothy Turns 8!

Yes I wrote that correctly...he is 8!! This little man will steal your heart! He is always melting my heart! We had the best time celebrating his birthday with grandparents. This past weekend both sets of grandparents were able to come up on Friday. We had supper Friday night and then had cake and ice cream followed by presents from grandparents. Saturday morning Timothy and Joanna had a soccer game that we were able to watch, then we took Timothy out to eat to his restaurant choice. We spent the afternoon riding around to see the Amish and then back to our house for supper and presents from us. The weather was so nice that we were able to spend the evening outside watching the kids play. 

 Here is a picture of Timothy driving the gator around Pop and Gigi's pasture.

Here is Timothy helping with the dishes. He is a huge help around the house.

We are very blessed that God has given Timothy to us! He is a joy to our family! Timothy has a special bond with each of his siblings. Him and Joanna love to play together in her little kitchen. Timothy and Elijah have a great time playing Legos together or having an adventure outside together. Sarah and Timothy enjoy being silly together. Him and Isaac enjoy picking on each other. It is a blessing to watch each of the kids interact with one another and enjoy their siblings! Praying God will change Timothy's heart and that he will be the man of God that God has created him to be. May Timothy's life bring glory to God and cause others to glorify Him. We love you Timothy!!

Sarah Has Been Baking!

If you know Sarah (our oldest daughter) very well then you know she LOVES to bake! She really enjoys it and has lots of fun! I wanted to share two of her recent creations! 

 Chocolate cupcake, strawberry preserve filling, strawberry buttercream icing, chocolate ganache drizzle, and topped with a chocolate dipped strawberry! She made these for her basketball team and she was kind enough to make enough for our family too. :) These were supper yummy!!

Pineapple upside down cake in a heart shaped pan. I love anything pineapple and Sarah did a great job on this cake! Have to say this is one of my favorites that she has made! So delicious!! Actually just seeing that picture makes me want another piece right now! :)

What do you think of Sarah's baking? Which one would you like to try?

State Bound!

When Isaac was in the 7th grade we got involved in 4-H. One of the things I wanted my kids to do is the Public Speaking in 4-H. Being homeschooled our kids don't get the opportunities to stand in front of a class and give speeches or presentations, so I thought this would be good for Isaac and Sarah. The first speech Isaac gave was in front of our 4-H homeschool group, then he went to the county competition and won! In 7th grade the next competition is sub-regionals and guess what...he won 7th grade sub-regionals! Then we did the speech again in 8th grade and he won sub-regionals that year too! 

This year he is in 9th grade and instead of competing in sub-regionals it is competing in Regionals. We had a tough start this year with his speech and was really just wanting to make it through county competition. We really didn't think he would do well enough at county to advance to Regionals, but ended up he was able to advance to Regionals. Because his speech got off to a rough start we had told ourselves that we were proud of him no matter what and it was a great accomplishment to make it to Regionals. 

The night of the Regionals competition Sarah got sick so Bryan took him and I stayed home with the rest of the crew. We prayed that he would just do his best and that was all we could ask. It seemed like forever before I heard from them, but when I text Bryan and ask how Isaac did Bryan sent me a picture of a plaque that read 9th Grade Regional Winner!! WHAT!!!!???? We were so excited! This meant that he would now be competing in the state competition! Below is a picture of him with his Regional plaque and ribbon.

 Going to state meant that he would be going to 4-H Congress in Nashville for 4 nights and 4 days! He was very nervous and even asked several times could he back out. Bryan and I knew that this was an opportunity that God had given Isaac and it would be a great experience for him. Isaac began preparing for Congress. He arrived in Nashville on Saturday and his speech competition was Sunday morning at the Music City Sheraton. We all took him up there and would be there the next morning to hear him give his speech. We were very blessed that my parents were able to go with us! The picture below is of Isaac and my dad right before speech time. Isaac placed 3rd in State of Tennessee 9th grade 4-H public speaking! Very proud of him!!

Because he was a regional winner he was able to participate in things that the other students (4-Her's ) didn't get to. He met lots of new friends! On Monday they got to tour the capitol and he had some educational sessions to attend. Tuesday they took a trip on the General Jackson and that night had a formal dinner. Isaac arrived back home on Wednesday morning around 10, he was exhausted but full of all kinds of stories to share. Very thankful for him and all of his accomplishments!
Love you much Big Man! :)

Joanna Looses Two Teeth

One night while Joanna was playing a basketball game she got knocked in the mouth. One of her front top teeth became really loose and she got a busted lip. Both top teeth were a little loose but this made one of them get pushed back and was really uncomfortable for her. We knew she would end up loosing it but didn't know when.

 On Monday this week she finally asked me to see if I could pull her tooth. It came right out! That afternoon she was playing with Elijah and Timothy, Elijah came to me and said "Mom, we playing and Joanna's tooth came out." He handed me her tooth. Then she came to me and sure enough that other top tooth came out. She lost two teeth in one day!

Here is our girl with her new "toothless" smile. :)

Two Deer, One Happy Young Man

Isaac is our hunter around here. He has killed a deer each year that we have lived here, but this hunting season he killed three! He got one in November, you can read about that here, and then he killed these two in January, the weekend it snowed. You really need to hear him tell the story of shooting these two and then tracking them down. The ending of the story is that it was a family effort to drag in that second one. Isaac is delighted that he has put meat in the freezer for our family. :)

Day 3, 2, and 1 of Our Countdown to Christmas

Day 3 Bryan and I gave the kids one of their gifts to go ahead and open. Each of them received their own personal photo book that I had created online. In the house fire three years ago we lost ALL of our pictures and scrapbooks. I wanted the kids to have some pictures so I went online to a website that I had been storing pictures since 2009. It was so much fun watching them enjoy looking at their own books and then looking through each other's books.

Day 2 we made gingerbread houses! Lots of fun! Bryan, my parents, and I helped the kids and each of them made their own house. It was cute!

 Elijah's gingerbread house

 Joanna's gingerbread house

 Timothy's gingerbread house

 Sarah's gingerbread house

Isaac's gingerbread house

Lastly on Day 1 we drank hot chocolate and told our favorite Christmas memories. It is fun to hear the kids tell what they remember about Christmas' past, but they also like to hear about my parents and mine and Bryan's Christmas' as children. Lots of memories!