Wednesday Walk ~ Cruising to the Bahamas

My friend asked a question in her Wednesday Walk today. I got me thinking of the places tropical I have been, not many I am afraid to say. I have already written about Jamaica here and Mexico (does that count?) here.



I was thinking and remembered one of my other places I have been. I shutter to say it but 16 years ago (Yikes really 16) for my senior class trip we went on a cruise. Yep, I said it a cruise. Most people usually moan about there class trip when I talk about mine. I went to a Christian school so my class was pretty small and we raised a lot of money and we got a pretty great price on the trip.



So our cruise took us to two ports Key West and Nassau Bahamas.



There I am on that rock! You can not see it real well but there are waves crashing behind me.


I went snorkeling for the first time. It was not a great experience though. It started ok but a storm was coming in and the water got real choppy real fast. It was hard to see stuff and it was really hard to swim back to the boat and I am a good swimmer. I got a little scared. I will just have to try it again some other time. But I thought Jenilee would appreciate the picture. I told her recently her hubby, John and I would be good friends. : )

Charlotte, few other friends and I rented a limo for a day on Nassau. We toured the island and got to see some fun things. There is our driver in the picture below. He offered us Bahama Mama's a few times and took us to a casino. Don't worry I didn't drink any or gamble. : )

I loved being able to dress up every night for dinner. Oh, and dinner was always fantastic. I think I love food way tooo much hahaha. I tried lobster tail for the first time. It was so good but when I went to take the meat out of the tail the lobster meat slipped out unto my lap of the borrowed dress I was wearing. Butter was everywhere. I wasn't going to waste the lobster so I just put back on my plate and ate it. LOL

I think you could have eaten all day on that boat. The food was always so beautifully displayed, far tooooo tempting to stay on the boat. It was a good thing Charlotte and I went exploring a lot or I probably would have eaten myself into a coma. (Look at my braids...hahahaha)

With all this cool weather here in Michigan, this last picture is looking real good right now. They took us over to this island off of Nassau. I think they taped some of Gilligan's Island here or something. You could swim with dolphins here, lay in a hammock, explore the island or go swimming. It was a great time. I love this picture. I will dream of it today!

I really want to take my family on a cruise sometime, it was a great vacation. Remembering good times always helps me......





Jenilee at The Goodwin Family is hosting Wednesday's Walk.

Dinners Outside!

One of my favorite summer things to do is eat outside! We are couped up all winter long here in the north so it's nice to be able to be outdoors as much as we can. So while dad was playing tennis across the school yard from us...we ate our dinner. It was a little chilly tonight and we ended up getting our jackets....gotta love Michigan!

Like my swing? My neighbor was throwing it away...What?! I am gonna paint it and get some new cushions and it will be like new. I love getting stuff like that and the swing is awesome!

Everyone should have a glass pitcher! I got this one at an antique mall for like three bucks or something. I love it and drinks just taste better from glass things....why is that???? : )

He loves eating outside sometimes it is just hard to focus on eating and not the twenty million other things going on around us....tooo much fun!

I kept it simple hot dogs, green beans and french fries I already ate; but there is the leftover ketchup. : )

Guarantee that there are going to be some messy faces and some tears when I wipe off that mess.

My grandmother who has passed away loved geraniums. I try to get some in honor of her every summer. I love them with my flag, so patriotic!


Oh, I tried something new today. I made freezer jam. It wasn't all that hard at all. A friend at church gave me a huge bag of strawberries from her garden...this is what I decided to do with them.....

Oh my, this jam is sooooooo good and I think it is gonna last me the whole year.....all I can say is AWESOME!

31 Virtues for Our Kids ~ Faith

Over the next few months we will be praying for 31 Virtues for our Kids maybe even for ourselves too!

Luke 17:5-6 (New International Version)
5 The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!"
6 He replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you.

Hebrews 11:1-40

Sometimes, faith is one of the very hardest of virtues to really grasp. It is an act of stepping out and believing in something you can't see, hear or feel. It is one of the biggest hurdles for many people and is the very thing that keeps them from knowing God. Faith is one of the biggest pieces of becoming a Christian. It is the biggest act of love from us toward God. Faith is saying, "I trust in You and Your Word even though I do not understand all that you have for me. But, I know you are True and You are who You say You are!"

We see in Luke 17:5-6 how far even a little faith can take us; and the faith that we have albeit small is more than efficient. True faith is enough to carry us. The only factor that can be an obstacle is implementing that faith. I find that doing as the apostles always helps....asking, "Lord, increase My Faith!" In Hebrews 11 we see the Heroes of Faith. Take some time to read these examples of faith. Keep in mind their humanity; but notice God's sufficiency!

I find that when I doubt I seek God more. My faith is my own based on a relationship with my God. My children's faith must also be their own. They must come to Christ on their own terms. As much as I would like to MAKE them be Christians...I can not, nor would I want that. Christ does not make us love Him...why would I ever consider making my children have to serve Christ. Christ does not treat us like puppets on strings. We always have a choice to love Him. I can not deny it is my hearts desire for them to serve Christ. I will give them as many opportunities and be an example of His love for them. I will then have faith in His promises that if I do my part He will do His.

Pr 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.
(I blogged about this verse before...check it out!)

*"I pray that faith will find root and grow in my children's hearts, that by faith they may gain what has been promised to them."



*by Bob Hostetler, it is excerpted from Pray! magazine issue #4, 31 Biblical Virtues to Pray for Your Kids

Finding Me

So, I have always maintained that my kids look just like their dad. They have his big brown eyes...all three of them. For the last 10 years I have looked and looked for myself in them, to no avail.

Until just recently...I found me.....

Had to be in an angry face...hahahahahaha!

Love it!

Of Summer and Things

So here is what the my family's summer break is looking like so far.....

Hanging out with family!

Going to the movies....Toy Story 3 a must see this summer....bring the kleenex!

Visiting dear friends!


Making new friends!



Soaking in the sun!

Enjoying sweet new babies...love you Elijah Kol!

Eating the best cookies in the world....Thank you Tom's Mom!

Messy faces!

Monday night church softball games! Go daddy, GO!

And of course lots swimming!!!!

Ooooo, this summer is giving me such joy and it just started....

Wednesday Walk Through My Garden!

There is nothing I like more than hanging out in my garden. I have been working on it for years and it is starting to come together. I have a lot more work to do and it is a friendship garden. Many of my flowers have been given to me from my friends gardens; trust me there is not much money invested in this garden.
I love working in it. I think of memories from long ago, reflecting on stories of my grandma's garden and praying to God as I spend time weeding. It has become a very calming place for me. I love picking flowers from it and it was part of my design to let my girls pick flowers from it. So today, I will let you walk through my garden and see the beauty of God's creation. It is God's living art in my backyard.

Jenilee at The Goodwin Family is hosting Wednesday's Walk.

Girly Summer Craft Ideas!

I love craft ideas for the summer here are a few....

Tye Dye
Okay so this is a "Must Do" project. I was always afraid to do this because of the mess and it seemed hard. Well, just wear nasty clothes and do it outside on a nice sunny day and who cares about the mess. It is so much fun and it is not hard at all. To do this project, go to your local craft store and buy a kit and some white t-shirts. Apparently one kit makes a ton of shirts. This picture is of my very first shirt. I love this project and I want to do it with my girls very soon!!! Isn't the shirt toooo cute! Love this!

Hanky Purses
This handkerchief purse turned out really cute. You need to two handkerchiefs.

1. Put the handkerchiefs good sides of patter facing out.

2. Cut off an inch on three sides (leave the top uncut this is the opening of your purse and you need the nice sewn part so it doesn't fray) Set aside those inch strips.

3. Cut 1/2 inch strips, as far in as you want your size purse to be, on the sides and bottom. The bottom corners just cut off the square on each side (you will know what I mean as you do it).

4. Tie the coordinating strips together so that the back of the purse is tied to the front of the purse.

5. Use the left over strips from step two and braid three of them together. This will be the handle of your purse. Hand stitch handle to your purse.

Now all you savvy seamstresses I sewed the three edges so there will be no little holes in the purse. You don't have to do that but my little girls always just throw tiny treasures in their purse and if you don't sew it there small things may fall out

Funky Hair Ties

Hair ties are so fun. These were made out of various fun ribbons tied (double knot) to a chunky rubber band. The key to these fun ones is keep it to one color of various shades or three colors that are found within the ribbon (the green and yellow is a good example in the pic) All the ribbons in a pony tail look really cute. A little girl can do this project...it is super easy!

Barrettes & Earrings
Make fun barrettes and earrings. The barrettes are made out of paper chains...maybe you made them as a kid out of bubble gum wrappers. I love Ehow go here and they show you how! The Gerber daisy barrettes are made out of the petals of the flower and a giant rhinestone glued to a Barrett. Earrings can be really easy and you can have a lot of fun picking out beads with your girl. It doesn't have to be expensive either. The earrings in the picture are three things...the part that goes in your ear, a long wire with an end on it (kinda looks like a pin for sewing), and beads. I used one tool with these earrings needle nose pliers that are rounded. I am sure there are technical terms for all these things but I don't know them off hand. Oh, for fun I used glow in the dark beads, the girls loved those.

Bracelets

Teach your daughter how to make friendship bracelets (call em BFF bracelets now : ) ) There are so many different ways of making them. Here is one kind you could make here.

Too Cute Hat

I found this bucket hat at a local craft store; it was like less than 2 bucks. Sew on a cute bow and Gerber daisy (take a part to just the petals). Glue on giant rhinestone!

Flippy Floppies
We love flip flops at our house. I made two kinds and they were easy, easy, easy to make....
Material Flip Flops
1. Cut one strips of really cute material.
2. Tie (double knot) onto your flip flop.
Gerber Daisy Flip Flop 1. Glue daisy top to the flip flop (our on a clip that you clip to your flip flop)
2. Glue a giant rhinestone to the center

Pretty Pillows

Sewing is becoming a lost art... sad : ( . So, if you know how teach your daughter how. It really is a fun and creative experience. My daughter designed this idea for a competition at our girl’s ministry retreat, Powette. She got a blue ribbon. She was really proud of her creation!

Side note Glue is very important so you want to make sure you find the right kind....sorry Elmer’s and glue sticks are just not gonna get the job done. Sometimes hot glue isn't going to be that great either. I did find some great glue at my local craft store, it is a tacky glue that adheres to metal and plastic which is exactly what I needed for the flip flops and barrettes.

Have fun being creative this summer and




I made of these things to sell at our girls ministry retreat. They all turned out really cute!