Fall Soccer Season

This weekend we finished up our fall soccer season with games on Saturday. Grandparents were able to come up and spend some time with us.

 My parents came up on Wednesday evening and were able to be here for soccer games on Thursday night. Elijah, Timothy, and Joanna had games on Thursday night while Isaac and Sarah refereed a game.

 Bryan's parents arrived on Friday afternoon and Gigi (Bryan's mother) brought supper for all of us. She is an amazing cook. She made chicken and dumplings and red beans and rice. Elijah, Timothy, and Joanna helped make the banana pudding, and they enjoyed licking the spoons and bowls.

 Soccer games started early on Saturday. Isaac and Sarah had the first game at 9 and then the other children played games after that with the last game at 1:30. It was a hot and exhausting day. Sarah and Isaac had two games and in between their two games they refereed three games (they were busy and tired).

 Do you recognize these two soccer players? This was one of our first soccer seasons when they were younger... much younger. They began playing Upward soccer when they were 5 and 7 years old.

Here they are all grown up! (Makes my heart melt!) In the fall of 2014 they began playing soccer at the local recreational league. It was a whole different game than Upwards. We had to get use to the rules and plays of soccer at this level. They have had some great times playing soccer. Our family is very blessed to have the physical ability to play a sport and we often remind the children that we never should take that for granted. Thank you Lord!!

Creation Museum and The Ark

We were blessed to be able to travel up and see the Creation Museum and The Ark. Back in January we made the trip and had a great time! Bryan's parents had went last fall and talked about how great it was and they thought we would really enjoy it too. Usually when we go somewhere as a family we have to have two hotel rooms and that can get very expensive, this time we rented a house in Petersburg, KY. We have never rented a house before but we all agree that we enjoyed it and would do it again! 

Here we are walking up to the Ark. It was very cold that day but once we got inside it was nice and warm.

Here is the crew all bundled up as we entered the Ark. We all enjoy going on adventures together!

Bryan and I stop for a picture together. Love this man! Joanna, Bryan, and I have birthdays in the same week and this trip was around our birthdays.

Here is little brother standing tall!

Middle Brother makes a funny face!

Little sister is one crazy girl!

Big sister smiles for the camera while little sister is the photo bomber. LOL!

All the brothers lend a hand in holding up the Ark. LOL!

Here we are just coming out of the Ark. It was great! When reading through Genesis now it puts a whole new perspective on it.

Waiting for the bus to pick us up and take us back to our vehicles. Did I mention that it was cold???

We are outside the creation museum. Lots to see and do in there!

YES... it was cold!! 5 degrees!! We decided to spend one day at the Perfect North in Indiana, right across the river from where we were staying.

Because they weren't busy they let our passes be good for all day! We got there that morning and did a few laps on the tubes then for lunch we rode back to our rental house and had taco soup (put it on in the crock pot before we left). After lunch and warming up we headed back to snow tubing.

Riding back up to the top to snow tube again! As fast as we could get back up the hill we could go again! It was lots of fun and very thankful that God provided this opportunity for our family.

Kids Camp 2018

June 22-25 was our kids camp days! We left on Friday morning and headed to Linden Valley Conference Center. We arrived around lunch and had a picnic under the pavilion. God is good, we were all able to attend Kids Camp (just like we were all able to attend Youth Camp). Bryan was the Kids Camp pastor. Isaac, Sarah, and I were some of the leaders. 

 Isaac and Sarah were the only youth that went as leaders and these two did an amazing job!! Not just saying that because they are mine but that is what the other adults that were there said too. Very proud of them! Isaac was the sound man and a leader in his cabin of boys. Sarah was one of the leaders in her cabin and she helped with the musical that the kids were working on.

 Here is Timothy with a couple of his buddies. He had a great time!

 Here is Elijah with his friend. He enjoyed being at camp and being one of the older children there.

 During one of our breaks Joanna went to the store at the camp and got an ice cream treat.

 Had to get a picture with my girl! She was in my cabin and was one of the younger children. She did really well. One day she did get tired and I had to pull her out and take her to the cabin for a 30 minute nap...she was good to go after that.

 Timothy bought these sunglasses at the camp store and we had to have a picture of us in our shades!

Here we are...love this man more than he will ever know! Very thankful for such a godly man to lead me and our children closer to the Lord! His teachings during kids camp were great! He does a great job at getting on their level and teaching in a way to help them understand God's Word.

Youth Camp 2018

Our full month started off with our family attending Youth Camp the first week of June. This was the first time we all were able to attend and it was a blessing to be together. The week started by leaving our church early Monday morning and traveling by bus to east Tennessee. Bryan and our youth minister have been doing this youth camp together for 9 years! Isaac and Sarah have been attending for a few years and always look forward to camp! There were a total of 8 worship services, a breakout session each day, games, devotions, and much more! The theme for the week was "He in Me", we learned that its about daily denying ourselves and allowing Jesus to live in and through us. Galatians 2:20 Wanted to share a few pictures from our week.

 Here is a picture of Sarah with one of her friends from another youth group. These two were excited to see each other and had a hard time leaving each other at the end of the week. On the day I took this picture they decided to dress alike. Love these two godly young ladies and can't wait to see all that God has planned for them.

 Elijah and Timothy actually got sick on Tuesday and ran a fever for a couple of days. They both were troopers and I was able to take them and rest most of those days they felt bad.

 Timothy thought this rock was cool! It was right outside the chapel and it had a place in the rock that looked just like a sit. Just had to get a picture of him sitting on this special rock.

There was another family at youth camp and Joanna was able to play with their little girls. They really enjoyed the play ground. It was also great to have another family there and we could help with each others kids. 

 Here is Isaac with a buddy from church. Isaac had a great time at camp and did a great job of making the younger youth boys (first year at camp) feel welcome and apart. I can see this young man maturing.

 On Friday morning the group hiked up the mountain. It was a big hike and these two did a great job of keeping up and trucking along. Proud of how well our three younger children did at youth camp.

 Here is the view from the top of the mountain we hiked up. When everyone arrived at the top we had biscuits and then our final worship service. It was amazing!

Bryan and I start the hike back down the mountain. I think our family would enjoy hiking together often. Makes us remember all the missionaries that have hiked up and down many mountains to get the gospel message to those who have never heard of Jesus. Praising the Lord that we are healthy enough to make hikes like this.

Enjoying the Beautiful Weather and Flowers

 Not sure where our spring went or did we even have that season this year?. LOL! Really, I feel like we went from super cold weather right into summer hot weather! Anyway...the trees are in bloom and the flowers are blooming with color! Here is a few of our pretties in the yard. The plants in the front did bloom not long after I took this picture and are beautiful yellow lilies!

Joanna likes the honey suckles. These are growing along our driveway and she has enjoyed picking them and having a "taste". Can't believe this girl is growing up so fast!

Mother's Day 2018

I took this picture one day about a month ago. The weather was beautiful and Timothy asked if we could eat lunch on the picnic table out back. We enjoyed it so much! This is me...M-O-M! I wouldn't want to be doing anything else! I know that most people probably think I am crazy for being a "stay at home mom" and especially crazy for having five children. I have never for one minute wanted to do anything else! This is a special calling from God and making an impact on eternity! Yes, we have those days that are very challenging but God gets us through those days too!

Here we are at the soccer fields! The children have just finished up their spring soccer season. They like playing and sometimes they all have a game so we are at the fields a lot! I took this picture while we were waiting for Isaac and Sarah's game to start. These two had a game later that evening. I am one blessed woman! Mother's Day is every day for me! I did enjoy my Mother's Day...

We traveled to Alabama and was able to visit with Bryan's mother on Saturday and attend church with my mother on Sunday. Then we were able to spend some time with my parents before heading back to Tennessee Sunday evening. Made lots of memories and had a great time! We are blessed with great mothers and our children are blessed with some awesome grandmothers!

2018 Tennessee 4-H Congress (Part 1)

On Wednesday Isaac, Sarah and I returned from a 4-H Congress trip. It was a great experience! I have lots of pictures! I will do my best to recap each day and all that we got to do. I will start by telling that Isaac was a regional speech winner, so that means he would be one of six 10th graders competing at the State level. Being a finalist meant he had to go up a day earlier than everyone else. He had to arrive at 1:00 on Saturday afternoon. The rest of us along with grandparents packed up and headed to our destination. We dropped him off and did some sight seeing. We went to the Stones River National Battlefield in Murfreesboro, TN. If you know anything about our family you know we really enjoy this kind of stuff! We enjoyed our visit there.

 We were able to see them shoot off the cannon! Pretty loud!

 Here is Elijah with my dad waiting for the cannon to fire. Not the one they are standing in front of
:-). LOL!

 Then we walked through the grave yard. There was around 24,000 soldiers either injured or killed during this battle.

 Checking out one of the cannons that were on display.

 Here is Sarah posing with my parents and being a silly girl. :)

 Timothy gets a ride from his dad. Bryan wearing Timothy's hat. Love these two!

Actually I love this whole crew!! After checking into our hotel we went to eat dinner. It was great to spend some time together!

Vine and Olive Plants

I recently came across a few pictures that I has glad to know I have. Let me remind you that 4 1/2 years ago we lost our home to a fire... which means we lost all of our belongings except what we were wearing at the time. The items we lost that upset us the most is our pictures and home videos. The other items can be replaced but those are things we will never get back. I say all that to let you know that when I come across pictures from years ago I get so excited! Get ready, I will be sharing some of those pictures in upcoming post.

The first picture I wanted to share is this one of the kids and I in January 2013.

Here we are in April of 2017. Four years later!

I am sure you are wondering where did I get the title for this post... I am so glad you asked. In Psalm 128 verse 3 the Bible tells us:

"Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
In the very heart of your house,
Your children like olive plants
All around your table."

Why We Homeschool

It would probably be good for me to talk about "Why We Homeschool" once a year. Because its always good to remind ourselves why we do what we do. These pictures were taken a couple of years ago. When Timothy and Joanna are done with school work they have some of the best times together. Even the other children enjoy taking a few minutes in between subjects to have fun together. They are only little once. One day the older ones may be off at college and won't have this time with their younger siblings. Very thankful they get to enjoy this time now!

Our first and biggest reason is because that is what God has called us to. Bryan and I made the decision to homeschool after much prayer and seeking the Lord. It sure wasn't the popular thing to do. Matter of fact we have been the "odd" family in all of our places we have served in the ministry because we homeschool. When people first began to find out that we felt lead to homeschool their first question was usually "How long will you homeschool?". To be honest when we started homeschooling our oldest we thought we would homeschool until each child was in the 3rd or 4th grade. That oldest child is a Sophomore this year and not once has God released us from homeschooling. God has reminded us often that we are doing exactly what He wants us to do.

Another reason we homeschool is for the spiritual foundation we desire for our children to have. There are days that we struggle and it is a joy and blessing to be able to stop and pray with that child or children that is struggling. We can plant scripture in every part of their day. The curriculum we have chosen to use is biblically based and the children are even learning scripture while completing school assignments.

(Elijah, Joanna, and Sarah)

There are many more reasons why we homeschool but I will only share one more. We homeschool for the relationships it gives. How awesome it is to see our children be able to build a relationship with each other and when there is an opportunity they get to build relationship with grandparents. If for some reason we need to take off and be with family we have that flexibility.

(Isaac spending time with my dad while he was in the hospital)