Don’t cry because it is over,

May 2, 2014 | Stacy

Smile because it happened.

That is what I have been telling ~~the kids~~ myself since we got off the Disney Cruise Line’s cruise ship, The Magic, on Friday, May 9th.

The cruise was, quite literally, a dream come true for me. In 2001, John and I took Stewart on a three-night cruise on the DCL Wonder. When we got off the ship we enthusiastically stated we would do it again. And… 13 years later, we did. We never dreamt it would take that many years to embark on such an adventure; but as our family grew and other things took precedence the cruise just kept getting pushed off.

In the fall of 2006, I was all but ready to make the down-payment for a cruise for the six of us. Late one night after I had reviewed the numbers and headed to bed I prayed a prayer that scared me. It was something like, “LORD, if it is not of Your will, please take the longing out of my heart for this trip.” I am not exaggerating when I say I did not think longingly about the vacation for YEARS afterward. In fact, a few weeks after that prayer the LORD led us to purchasing our new home – something that would have been exceedingly difficult to do if we’d had money tied up in a vacation.

I hope to share a number of vacation stories as time allows. With our school year all-but-done, I hope to blog a bit each day to both share our trip with folks who stop by the blog, and also to record it for our family’s memories.

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The old adage that getting there is half the fun is only party right. For me, the planning and packing IS fun. but it is far from HALF the fun. This time around it posed more work than normal as we were essentially preparing for a vacation (the cruise) within a vacation (the trip to Florida as a whole). We needed dress clothes (and pirate costumes) for the dinners on the ship, AND we needed ample ambling-around-clothing for the parks we planned to visit.

Thirty-six outfits for the kids.

A panorama of all that we needed to somehow get into the van.

We got it into five suitcases, one tote, one bag, one small box, and a very large cooler. My sister also had two bags to bring with her. (My mom flew to Florida.)

We realized three days before we were slated to leave that we just were NOT going to be able to fit everything we needed to IN the van. We could not find a store in town with a hitch hauler available for sale. Amazon couldn’t get one here in time. Thankfully, friends had one they were more than willing to lend. John had the adventure of getting it hooked into our hitch. Two files and two trips to Lowes and we were in business.

At 6:00 P.M. Friday, May 2nd we climbed in the van and headed out.

Johanna was also with us; she’s just too short for the photo.

Our travel plans were as follows. From 6 P.M. – 9 P.M. John drove and the kids just entertained themselves with stuff they’d packed in their back packs. From 9 P.M. – 4 A.M. it was “lights out.” I drove while John tried to sleep in the back row. The kids tried to sleep, and my sister sat up front to keep me company. Sadly, neither Johanna, nor Katriel slept well. Subsequently, John did not sleep well. But he slept some, and was able to take over at 4 A.M. while I went to the back row. I logged in about one hour of sleep between 4 A.M. – 6 A.M. We stopped at a Waffle House at 6:30 A.M. and then didn’t really stop again except for brief bathroom stops the rest of the day. We snacked on muffins, chips, and bottles of water. We made ridiculously excellent time all the way down. From 7:30 A.M. until we got there the older 5 kids watched movies…

Check out the set-up I’d made before we left…

Along the way we played the license plate game…

scared the baby…

found places to eat…

Entertained the baby…

And didn’t fear at all when RAIN welcomed us to Florida at 4:00 P.M. on Saturday, May 3rd.

We were grateful for God’s protection over us as we navigated the almost 1,300 miles, and for all the loved ones who kept us in prayer.

Psalm 121:8 – The Lord will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and for evermore.

Easter 2014

April 26, 2014 | Stacy

Easter 2014 was a Good day.
Easter 2014 was a Full day.
Easter 2014 was a Good, Full day.

One of the kids said it was the best Easter ever. I’ve gotten used to these proclamations, however. The current *event* always seems to be recalled as the best. To me this doesn’t dismiss previous experiences as much as it means they felt joyful at this time.

My alarm rang at 5AM to remind me to start the crock pots. With a smallish oven and two 10 lb hams to cook, I resorted to doing my two potatoes dishes in crock pots. [I won’t keep you in suspense; they turned out fantastically.]

Some of the kids were up by 7AM itching to look for their baskets. I had a lot of pressure with this, let me tell you. Last year’s hiding places were superb and they remembered that. No pressure.

The girls donned their dresses, despite the fact some had to take baths AFTER the basket hunt…
It was fun to have them matching. ♥

They hunted high and low…

Johanna found hers in the hamper.

Tabitha found hers in the Play-Doh cupboard. (Doesn’t every one have a Play-Doh cupboard?]

Marie found hers in the bathroom vanity under a pile of towels. She was elated to receive a clip-the-clothes-on Princess. (Tab has 6 and Hanny has 4 already!) She hasn’t played with it a ton, but she was so pleased to get a princess the other girls didn’t have. They love to mix and match the clothing.

Stewart found his in the pantry. Eventually. Nigel found his in a dress that I had hanging in Daddy’s closet.

Swim goggles, a protractor, and a puzzle book. We are a fun crowd, aren’t we?

It was off to church for 10:30 AM. The kids couldn’t believe how packed the parking lot was. Just moments before someone had suggested that church would be empty because people were out of town, or busy, etc. Nope. The church smelled fantastic. Our friend snapped this picture.

After church we tried to grab some photos.
You know the old saying: “You can dress them up; but you can’t make them smile, tilt their heads just so, and look in the lens.”
Or something like that.

We had a lovely dinner; and although the food was delicious, it paled in comparison to the awesome fellowship. John’s parents, my mom and sister, and our dear friends the F’s joined us for the afternoon. [I did not make the adorable hatching chicks.]

Sunday was also John’s birthday. We opened gifts in the early afternoon.

Our family then left and we headed outside for an egg hunt. Stewart offered to help Daddy hide the eggs this year.

Johanna had a particularly awesome time finding eggs with J’s on them.

Katriel was super-cute. We’ve never had a baby at quite this age at Easter. She was tickled to find out the eggs weren’t just fun to hold, but you could open them up at eat a Teddy Graham. 🙂

She doesn’t like getting herself up from the grass!
And can you imagine how fantastic this picture would have been… if I didn’t have princess stickers on me? Good Grief.

And – the BEST photo of the kids I have had in years… in play clothes. *sigh* Of COURSE they took off their church clothes as soon as we said they could (after the mid-day meal). So when I spontaneously asked them all to sit in the yard I never could have anticipated that I was about to capture the first photo ever with all six of them smiling and looking at the camera. Smiling AND looking. No eyes closed, no hair in the eyes, no stray toy or cup in the corner. Best picture ever… orca whale shirt and all. ♥

The day ended with us watching a movie together. It was such a sweet, full day.

As I lay in bed that night I was reflecting on all the goodness we’d enjoyed. We aren’t a family that has a standing Easter tradition. We’ve celebrated it differently almost every year – different guests, different activities, different food. We even once were guests elsewhere. I’m not sure things will line up for us to replicate such a great day in Easters to come. But it was SUCH a wonderful, wonderful day, I just basked in the joy we all had felt.

And as I drifted off to sleep I startled awake as I remembered what we had done LAST Easter.
If you want a good laugh – check it out. http://dayspringdisciples122.blogspot.com/2013/04/easter-2013.html
Um, last year was R.O.U.G.H! – A day at the DMV would look like fun compared to LAST Easter.

Tab’s 8th birthday

April 16, 2014 | Stacy

It started with the kids and I waking the birthday girl with song.

Then at lunchtime we had a Frozen birthday party! We made the basement into a winter wonderland (as if we hadn’t had enough of that this year!). Some friends from church and CBS were able to join us. We did some crafts, played some games, and ate. They dined on pizza, blue Jell-O squares and marshmallows, bottles of melted snow (water), carrots, and more popcorn than you can shake a stick at.

At dinnertime we had Tabitha’s favorite – pasta Alfredo and then she opened her gifts from her family.

The boys had Daddy take them to the Lego Store where they made her four characters of the “Cheesy Pirates.” That is the group of pirates the kids pretend to be as they make many a movie for the pleasure of their family. It is really cool to see the kids brought to life as Legos. (Or something like that.)

Mama and Daddy were delighted to bless her with a beautiful rainbow dress that was lovingly purchased and shipped from Washington state by Mama’s friend Mrs. Stein. After Mama missed out on the internet sale, Mrs. Stein drove to the store near here (none in our area) and secured the pretty rainbow for my rainbow girl.

She then was clearly W.O.W.E.D. by a set of princess dolls, and a paint-it-yourself little house I’d picked up 12/26.

We enjoyed more cake, and then called it a day.

Happy Birthday, Sweet Love.

Overnight accommodations

April 15, 2014 | Stacy

I made a cake for Tabitha’s birthday. It featured Anna, Elsa, and Olaf from the Disney movie Frozen. I had to store it overnight in the refrigerator in the garage. I was a little worried about Anna being out there all night. I wasn’t so worried about Elsa…

the cold never bothered her anyway.

Rainbow baby!

April 13, 2014 | Stacy

It FINALLY warmed up in these parts!!! It was time to open up that part of the closet we had not seen since October and wear some warm-weather-dresses.

The bow didn’t last. But the warm weather did. Um, you know. For two days, anyway…

Late night snack…

April 5, 2014 | Stacy

Mommy went out to dinner with Mrs. Brooks and ordered too big a dessert. This worked out really well for some girlies and their daddy. Shhhhh – this wasn’t a family-wide chocolate opportunity. It was a sneak-the-big-girls-out-of-bed-to-have-some-Longhorn Steak House-Chocolate Stampede.

Mmmmmmmmmm.

I don’t know how I caught Marie withOUT a smile. Maybe she takes her chocolate as seriously as her Mama? Or maybe she doesn’t share my eagerness to capture all things on camera?

Kids’ CBS play

April 1, 2014 | Stacy

Each year the school-aged kids at CBS are involved in a spring production. This year the director of the Children’s Program asked Stewart to write the script. He was asked to base it on a principle gleaned from this year’s study. (We’ve done Ephesians, Philippians, James, and 1 John.) It ended up being about… well… watch the video. 🙂
Nigel had a starring role, Marie was a narrator, and Tabitha had a supporting role.

On stage!

March 31, 2014 | Stacy

Not us… This time anyway. 😉

We’ve been blessed with TWO opportunities to see musicals this month.

First one was Les Miserables in Bath, NY.

It was just SO beautiful. The orchestra was splendid and the chorus was excellent. Jean Valjean’s story of redemption was so moving. We’d never seen it before & it did not disappoint.

The set was static, though, and the kids did not care for that. There was a lot of imagery though. I thought it was heavenly.

The actors & their singing abilities were amazing. I’m so delighted to see people using their gifts to honor God.

Our second opportunity came on the stage of the Charles Finney school. We loved Annie. The kids were enthusiastic & MY kids enjoyed every second.

We ordered the 1982 movie from Amazon during the intermission.

I’ll do another post from the computer highlighting the kids’ CBS play from last Wednesday.

If I don’t take a photo, I cry…

March 24, 2014 | Stacy

It seemed innocent enough. Breakfast was over. Johanna was still hungry, she said. She brought over the box of BRAND NAME CHEERIOS a friend had given us and asked for some. I dipped my hand in and scooped her out some. Her little three-year-old hand only holds about 13 O’s so she was back a few minutes later. I was doing school with Tabitha at the time. I gave her a second handful as she informed me she was SHARING with Katriel, and wasn’t that nice? Um, yes, VERY nice. Good girl, Hanny. Then she was back for ANOTHER handful. And that is where I made my mistake. I just kept the clip off and handed her the bag. After all, she was just sitting there on the floor next to me with Katriel SHARING her Cheerios.

I heard one get crunched behind me and just started to turn around to advise her to pick up any strays off the floor JUST as IT was occurring. It was like a bad slow-motion movie edit as I started to say, “NooooOoOOoooooo,” as Katriel picked the bag up off the floor in from the bottom end.

See how she didn’t want to put the bag down? She knew she’d found something good. Mama never had jumped that fast before!

Oh yes… I did let them eat as many as they could off the floor. I just mopped Friday. I even invited the older kids and asked if they were hungry. (Did you read the part about them being BRAND NAME CHEERIOS?)

*sigh*

Thankfully, it was only about 1/3 of a bag. The other box is firmly sealed as yet. Winking smile