Mowering

JB and Daddy - ready for 'mowering' (JB's word for mowing)! Doesn't a mower 'mower' the grass? That's a logical thought process to me. Ready for work!
And they're off.....

Two hard working guys!! Our guys!!! JB and his hero - Dad!

Faith Builder Friday

We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28

For Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:10

Our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. Romans 8:18

Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him. James 1:12

In the book "Laughter for a Woman's Soul" Thelma Wells shares the following: "Praising God in song lifts our spirits, clears our heads, and opens a place for the Holy Spirit to speak to us. She shared how her 1 year old grand-daughter would sing throughout the day. Revealing how secure and loved she felt. God offers the same to us. He extends care to us by meeting our every need and comforting us when we go through trials. Sing to the Lord. When praises go up, blessings come down!"

What a great way to start the day - with praise!

Our First Fireworks

OK - it is hard to believe that we haven't brought the kids to see fireworks until now but... it's true. I am not a fan of crowds and I am less of a fan of the after events traffic. This year we decided to meet our friends for a fun night. Our church decided to have a big celebration on the church grounds. Even with all the chaos of the crowds - I am so glad we finally took the kids for some fireworks fun! They LOVED it!
Here is HC once her chair was set! She was so excited! JB was not happy. He sat in his chair and felt like it was a baby chair. This set the mood for him to let off some steam (I really hate to point this out but I must - in the pic above you can see JB's croc that he threw b/c he was so humiliated that he had a baby chair. his chair is the light blue on HC's right side - see how little it is!). He was not so thrilled to pose for me. To be honest - his chair is too small for him now but we rarely use it and didn't realize this fact - until it was too late!
Cheese!
JB recovered and sat with Dad while he watched the lights!
HC and her friends LOVED it! They would squeal and giggle after every boom!
Here are a few of our fireworks! This first one is turned the wrong way but.. it is still neat.

We hope everyone had a fun time celebrating with family and friends!

Dealing with the Burdens of Life

My sweet friend Hope sent this list to me via an email and it immediately seemed blog worthy! I hope you enjoy this list as much as I did!

Here are some great ways of dealing with the burdens of life:
1. Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue.
2. Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.
3. Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.
4. Drive carefully. It's not only cars that can be recalled by their maker.
5. If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.
6. If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.
7. It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.
8. Never buy a car you can't push.
9. Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won't have a leg to stand on.
10. Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.
11. Since it's the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late.
12. The second mouse gets the cheese.
13. When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.
14. Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.
15. You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person.
16. Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.
17. We could learn a lot from crayons:
a. Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull.
b. Some have weird names,
c. All are different colors,
d. but they all have to live in the same box.

Insects! Eww!

Last Wednesday we went to our local library for books and learning! They had a local science group come by with some icky guests!!! First we saw a millipede! This was OK. HC let it crawl on her hand, and so did JB and I. No problem. You could barely feel the feet at all. It was not SO bad! Next... the 'teacher' asked for volunteers. HC had her hand up so high that she couldn't miss our girl. She asked HC (with doubt in her voice) "Are you really really brave??" HC giggled and nodded.
As she described the insect she was placing in HC's hand.. I gasped thinking there is NO way HC will hold THAT! EWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!
It was a hissing cock roach! EWWWWWWWW!!
My HC carried this little guy around the whole room for everyone to see. She didn't even want to let the 'teacher' take this icky guy! They were not hissing because they only hiss when they are afraid. Since they are around people so much the one HC toted didn't move an inch! JB did touch this icky insect too - but not me! NO WAY WHATSOEVER!! I was a bit creeped out that my kids touched/held it! EWWWWWW!!!
HC touched this unsightly spider but not me nor JB! That's my boy! hee hee
Careepy!! When it was question time HC had her little hand up and asked her FABULOUS question! HC: "Why does a spider make webs?" The 'teacher' explained that this spider does not make webs, although it can, but it uses the hair on its legs to attract bugs for food. Pretty neat huh? My baby girl had a great question for an almost 5 year old! (The teacher also explained they use the web to catch food and to live.)
Then the last thing was this rat! The kids pet the rat and we were out of there!!! The kids LOVED it! They really had a great time - to my surprise! I thought we were going to make something - and when they mentioned it was a show and tell I was worried my 2 wouldn't last - they didn't have their nap before this event!
HC and JB wanted to hold the rat but... no holdsies! I was worried that she would let someone hold that rat or spider and it would be on the loose! I was glad she had total control of both 'pets'! {smile} THANKS Science Center! My kids loved the event!

We used a bit of the disinfectant lotion on our way out of the door and we hopped in the van for our ride home! Some of those little guys still make me shiver when I think about them!!!

Puerto Rico Farewell!

On our last night the company threw a big party/dinner on the island. We all loaded up on boats for one last trip to the beach. The view of the island from the boat.
This was made of sand! Pretty neat huh?
Hubby and I were in line to have our picture drawn. The theme was pirates - can you tell? We took home the pirate hat and sword for JB. Pirate Daddy found a little treasure to give HC - a pink jeweled ring and some gold coins!! We were ready for any battle that ensued to steal our treasure!
Here is the drawing of us. I was expecting more of a caricature but... it was pretty good. I can see the resemblance in Steve but I don't see it exactly in me. I guess that is the way life goes - I also do not think I sound the way I seem on tape either! :) We said our farewells to Palomino Island and headed back to the resort. We walked the grounds and tried to see anything we may have missed thus far. And finally it was off to bed and early rise to the airport, with prayers that we would get through security once more without a bag check. I was dreading that happening - the bag check! No real reason - I just thought it was bound to happen these days! Anyway... I am already looking forward to my trip next year! Fun times!

Winnings and More Sights

I will say that usually hubby and I will play a little nickel slots when we are out on a special trip .. but usually is once on our Honeymoon and then while we were in Puerto Rico. So... I guess when we go places for vacation and the machines are around - we are willing to play with about $20. There have been other times we've played (now that I think about it) - on a few trips to New Orleans and such. OK. So my normal instinct is "No, I could find other fun things to do with $20." But I always want to give the game a try anyway.

This time was the same. Hubby asked if I wanted to throw $20 away and I (out of boredom - in the early evening) agreed. We took the money to the machine of my choice and I did my usual. I pushed the proper button (some have levers to pull) and I don't know what happened but within about 5 minutes - I won. I walked with $81.80 - that is a win of $61.80!!!! I normally win at least $40 when I play but I hate the risk of it all. I think I am one of the weird ones who sees the $81.80 and I am satisfied. It isn't fun for me to push the button when I could walk away with guaranteed winnings. I have even gotten back up to my initial $20 before and cashed out! But this was my first BIG win! It was enough for me!!! Translation = all my spending money for the trip (gifts for the kids and things we wanted) were now on the winnings! I had more money for the things I wanted! WOOHOO!! I do not condone gambling people - unless you have self control and want to live on the edge a teensy bit! So here is my cha ching moment - I have no idea how I won! I am not gambling savvy I tell you, but I do like to win!
Here are hubby and I on top of a tower in the rain forest! We walked up 98 steps to see this view.

Here was a bridge in the rain forest!
We took a mini-hike through the local rain forest, about 30 minutes. We drove through about 3 hours.


A waterfall!
Look at the size of this leaf!
Trees on the resort grounds!
Rarely have I seen a coconut tree with coconuts on it (I am so deprived)! This was the golf course on the resort.

I think there will be one more post of our time in Puerto Rico. We had fun - I still wish I had one more day of leisure!! :) It was so nice to have peace and quiet!

Happy 4th of July

LET FREEDOM RING!!!!!!!!!!

Puerto Rico Part 2

The resort we stayed in did not have a beach you could just walk to.. we had to take a 10 minute boat ride to an island for that! It was a nice little ride - here is a view of the island from the boat.
Steve said "WOW! Look at that lizard!" I assumed it would be a gecko but I was wrong. It is hard to tell in this picture but this iguana was the size of my foot at least (not counting it's tail). Can you believe these things roam around like this??
In the little restaurant on the island there were a few unusual critters that visited for freebies. I actually watched a grown up woman reach down to pet this wild rabbit!! I can't believe a rational person would do that! It wasn't a pet - it was a WILD animal that wanted to be fed!!!
People offered the animals fruit and they refused the fruit but quickly snatched and fought over french fries! Can you believe???
Here is the view of our hotel from the marina.
Another beautiful nook at the hotel.
The view from our hotel room minus the rain! {BIG smiles!}

It was definitely a beautiful place! There were these noises we would hear at night that were SO loud. We later found out the noise was from local frogs. They sounded like LOUD birds. They are coquoi (sp?) frogs. At night they sound like a recording - they are so loud, it was there mating call. It became a pleasant thing to hear in the evening after we were used to it. You could hear a rhythm like music from all the noises when you would sit and listen. With the beach, the frogs and the breeze - it was nice!