Leah's Big Day

Leah got her ears pierced today.  She was super excited and wanted me to make sure and post her picture on the blog :)

Beach Trip 2012

We took a much needed family vacation to the beach a couple of weeks ago.  We had a cozy little condo directly on the gulf in Fort Morgan.  Monday and Tuesday could not have been more perfect.  Wednesday it rained all day ~ of course, on the day my Mom and Sammy came to visit :(  It stopped by 4pm but the gulf was so rough that afternoon as well as the rest of the week we couldn't let the girls back in to play on their boogie boards and so they were quite disappointed about that.  Overall, though, it was a wonderful trip.  I always enjoy our time on the beach!!!

Crabbin'

Sea Monkeys :)

Girls with Mawmaw and Papa

The family :)  A true blessing :)

Boogie Boarding ~ their favorite part (Charles and I got in on the action too, and it was fun)

Star gazing.  We have been studying about the Milky Way, the moon , stars and constellations, so this was a great way to reinforce all of that.

The girls slept on bunk beds built into the wall.....they thought this was great!

Ella feeding the sea gulls bread

Leah dug so deep she reached water beneath the sand!

Ella's sand castle

Leah all geared up with her "sea goggles and floaties"

Mawmaw teaching Ella to float on her back in the indoor pool

Me and my babies

Leah cross made of sand

Ella posing with something I can't make out ;)

A beautiful sunset

A Friend turns 50 !

Our friend, Bryan, just celebrated his 50th birthday.  There was a party for him on Saturday and then another celebration in Sunday School the next morning.  For his party, I made german chocolate cupcakes and a chocolate cake.  For Sunday, I made a german chocolate cake.  He loves my chocolate cake and he loves german chocolate cake, so I used the recipe for my regular chocolate cake and just added the coconut pecan icing. 

Chocolate cupcakes with regular chocolate icing around the perimeter and coconut pecan icing in the middle

Chocolate cake with an chocolate almond buttercream icing, chocolate ganache, and strawberries

Chocolate cake, chocolate buttercream and coconut pecan icing

Happy Fall, Y'all !!!!

This is very out of character for me, but I am excited about fall.  Normally, summer is my favorite time of year.  Yes, it's hot, but I LOVE summer.  Well, today is the last day of my favorite season, but surprisingly, I'm not sad.  Normally I pout, but not today.  I think I am really beginning to enjoy the uniqueness of every season.  Is this a sign of aging maturity?  :)  Either way, in anticipation of fall's arrival tomorrow, I have changed out my table centerpiece of one with sand and seashells to one with candy corn;  I have put up the ocean breeze candle and replaced it with Paula Dean's mystery pecan pie candle; I have replaced the floral air fresheners with cinnamon spice;  and, I made a new wreath for the front door!  It definitely feels like fall in our home now.  And the scents make me excited about the baking and cooking of the holidays.  Here is a picture of the new wreath I made.  It is not exactly what my mind had envisioned, but it's pretty close :)

Hope you are excited about fall too!!

Jesus is the Light of the World

One thing that is so great about My Father's World curriculum is that even though Ella is in 2nd grade and Leah is in kindergarten, their lessons match up so great!  Right now, Ella is learning the names of Jesus for Bible.  This weeks name is "Light of the World."  Leah is learning the letter 'Ss'.  With each letter she learns a biblical truth.  The letter 'Ss' is for "sun" and her biblical truth is "Jesus is the Light of the World." 

The recommended project for Ella worked out to be perfectly appropriate for Leah too!  We took small candles and I printed out a text box oval that said "Jesus is the Light of the World."  They used glue to attach the paper to the candle.  Then, they spread glue over the rest of the candle and sprinkled it with gold glitter.  We will burn them at dinner each night this week.

Ella putting the label on her candle

Leah spreading glitter on her candle

Their finished projects

 In addition to the Bible lesson, Ella's science lessons for this week and next are the sun, planets, gallexies, and stars.  Leah's letter this week is 'Ss' for sun and next week is 'Mm' for moon.  So needless to say, we have a field trip planned to the planetarium :)