Bubbles!

So thankful that our girls enjoy the simple things in life! Being outdoors. Great weather. And, a bottle of bubbles. God's blessings!

Sweet sisters!

Pure delight! :)

Even Dad joined in on the fun!

The BIG Bike Ride - Part Two

Second day of the ride started early and was quite chilly, but our champions had a great ride and even shaved an hour of the previous days ride time. Go Brian and Madison! Now the rest of the story ...

Breakfast of champions!

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE these three little people!
So thankful God gave me the amazing privelege of being their mommy!

Starting line up.

I did mention it was chilly? right?



Our main man coming in! Hooray!



Anticipation! I was on pins and needles looking for her.
Here she comes around the bend.

Almost in!

She did it! 150 miles! So proud. And, did I mention she was the youngest rider on the whole ride? The announcer made quite a deal out of that when she rode in.
So cool!

The time sheet. Madison beat her Daddy's time from last year on both days by an hour, which also means Brian beat his time from last year by an hour both days. Amazing!

The BIG Bike Ride - Part One

At the beginning of October 2012, Brian rode in his 3rd MS150 Bike Ride from Louisiana to Mississippi and back again (75 miles each way). What made this ride so special, however, is MADISON rode it with him!! Yes, our 12-year old rode her bicycle 150 miles over two days to raise money from those struggling with MS. So proud of her and her Daddy. They are warriors for those who cannot fight for themselves! Isn't that just what God calls us to be? Here is the story ...

The world's greatest cheerleader sisters!



The riders checking in their things.




Not to be left out! :)



Always time for a donut!

A little sister-to-sister exchange. Precious!

The BP Riders!

Getting lined up.



Awwww ... I heart them so much!



And, they're off!

Being it's his third ride, I'm saying he's not struggling so much.



That's our girl peddling through the pain in an uphill!



Almost to the end for the day! There were tons of these signs
and balloons for encouraging the weary riders.

First day's finish line! Whoop!

 

A well-deserved massage. Yes, please!



Yep, pretty proud of our girl!

Science Experiment #5

Our science project today focused on taste, smell and sight. Several of the senses the good Lord has blessed us with. It was interesting and exciting for our scientist as she loved the "faking them out" aspect of it! :)

Our supplies ... lemon jello and food coloring.

Studying up and prepping for our experiment. Very diligent!

Jello divided. Our samplers were to smell the jello first and give their impressions followed by tasting and impressions. The jello was all lemon and the responses were never lemon. Ah, how the eye and mind can trick us.

Taste tester #1.

Taste tester #2.

There are so many spiritual lessons to be learned from this experiment. One of the most important is this: things are not always as our natural eyes see them, or our nose smells them, or our minds imagine them. Satan's job is to trick us into believing God is not with us, that God is a liar, the He will not do what He says, and that God is not the one in charge of all things. Just like the lemon jello parading as strawberry. Didn't matter that it looked like strawberry and didn't necessarily smell like lemon. it was lemon. Same with God, His will WILL be done. What He says will happen. Take Him at His Word because God is not a liar, cannot lie and is always faithful! Praise His name! 

Eating Out on the Coast

On my parents last visit to the coast, we went with (for the last time) to eat at a couple of our favorites ... Shaggy's and Tony's Brick Oven Pizzeria! Shaggy's is right on the beach in Biloxi and all open-air and Tony's all home-made pizzeria is in downtown Gulfport.

Paw-Paw and the big girls.

Three generations!

The gang (minus Daddy, sadly, who was in New Orleans).
Perfect weather. Awesome view.

At Tony's, the peeps get to play with pizza dough.

Attempt at imitating the chefs twirling the dough.

A wee more successful.

One of the best pictures I've taken of Paw-Paw, hands down. He is a smiling, joyful person but it doesn't always come across on camera. This time, I caught it! :)

Bible in 90 Days: Halfway

We are a bit over the halfway mark reading through the Word. And, what an amazing journey! (Day 51, midway through Isaiah) There is much I could write and share, however, we are in the midst of moving and settling, so I'll write a few highlights ...

• One of the things I am loving about this is reading 12 pages at a time. It makes the Old Testament "story-like," for lack of a better way to describe it, which means, there is more noticing what the whole picture is. And, my what an amazing picture!
• When reading Psalms, it is consistent that the writer and the people knew how BIG and MIRACULOUS and STRONG and MIGHTY and what a RESCUER and FORGIVER and LOVER that the Lord is. That really struck me. And, the other thing that really struck me is you can read that TRUTH and not eternalize it. You can hear it and know it and not really, really believe it and live in it. It is the truth. God is all those things and more and it motivated me to call out for those things, those rescues, that love and have a greater expectation as a Daughter of the King. Amen!
• It is clear, man cannot save you, only God can. Why even bother to look anywhere else? 

More observations and revelation to come when I get a minute to write it out. Love reading His Word. Love Him!

Ice Cream!!

Just one of the many awesome things about our season at Majestic Oaks was ice cream! Ice cream is free for kids every day. Yes, every day! :) Not that ice cream was had every day, but, it was ALWAYS had after swimming! And, it doesn't even matter if your freezing because who could possibly resist ice cream! Thank you Mr. Sammy for that sweet treat and blessing!