Not only did I get to meet a fellow homeschool blogger on my trip to the coast but we also had a wonderful time visiting my friend Sandy.  It's so nice when there are friends you keep up with regardless of where the two of you live.  I originally met Sandy and her husband when we lived in Hopkinsville, KY about 7 years ago.  We've been great friends ever since. 

We found a crab on the beach and I rescued him from certain death by finding another crab that was dead for us to pry out of his shell and let my kids see what it looked like.

The Alive Crab…we took him back to the house in a bag of water so we could watch him for a few days.  And to be honest, I'm not sure what happened to him after that.

Our dead jellyfish we fished out of the sand.  It's the reddish thing in the middle.  We had a blast messing around with it.

Nothing is sweeter than a child's wild abandon on the beach.

My boys!!

Sifting through our discoveries from the beach/ocean

This is me and my friend Sandy when we went on a walk with the boys on their bikes.

I tried to Photoshop 20 pounds off of myself but it didn't work.  Oh well.  Guess I'll eventually have to exercise.
IN HIM
julie

We went to see Eight Below today and it was wonderful.  Have any of you seen it?  My kids loved it.  My friend Sandy and I cried.  It's an awesome story about our love for animals and their dedication to us.  If you've seen it, let me know!

Julie

The wonderful Bellsouth man showed up today to restore our DSL. Yea.  Now I've got to go and figure out how to reset my password.  Fun.  Fun. 

Here's baby girl digging into my birthday cake.  Yum Yum Chocolate!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Altomommy didn't need her kids to be awake to guess correctly:

Uhhhhhh…

A snow man???

It's a SNOWMAN!!!  Congratulations!!!!  and thanks to everyone for playing along with us!  My four year old will love all the answers!  And if I guess correctly there will be more playdoh guessing!!!

………at least that's what my dad used to say.

We're home.  Boy, is home good.  The visits were nice.  I enjoyed seeing everyone but I'm also really glad to be home.

I get to sleep in my own bed tonight beside MY husband who happens to be in town all this week.  YEA!!

I'm going to sleep good tonight.
Julie

I think I may have told some of you that someone got into my Paypal account and paid themselves about $1000….
WELL….
Dell called to day and asked if I charged about $6000 in computer stuff.

“Ah, NO”

So off we go again.  I called the credit bureau guys and put a restriction on my credit and then I called all the people I have had credit with to let them know (per the credit guys suggestion).

UGH!

Of course we got no school work done today but we did go to Bible Study this morning.  I guess I can check off “Bible” for the day and it's been pretty enough to play outside so check by PE. 

Then we went to the grocery store for store bought pizza and cupcakes since today is middle son's REAL birthday day.  Now they are outside running off the sugar.  All except baby girl who is climbing on my head as I type.

So guess I better go.
Pray the guys who have my credit info. would be caught.
IN HIM
Julie

Photos from California….

My hubbie on our bike ride today

A really cool picture of a palm tree

One of the local flowers….so pretty

My hubbie as we waited for someone to get bikes for us

One of the beautiful local orange trees.  Don't tell anyone but we picked one and tasted it.  It was a little sour but juicy.

Hopefully a few more tomorrow.
IN HIM
Julie

Oh, thank God the flight from Greenville to Atlanta was very uneventful.  I sat beside a very nice woman from Seattle, Washington.  She has four boys ranging from 13 to 21.  Her family owns a car dealership in Seattle.  Two of her boys are going to college on baseball scholarships.  Isn’t that great?  There was a man across the aisle from me reading Wild at Heart by John Eldridge.  I asked him if he was enjoying the book.  He told me that his wife had died about a year ago and it was very timely.  “How sad”, I thought.  He seemed like the nicest man.  As we landed I waited for him to tell him I was sorry about his wife.  He thanked me and said, “God Bless.”  And it struck me.  That’s the second time someone has said that to me today.  As a Christian it really means something to me.  And today I really needed it since I was nervous about the flight. 

“God Bless”

I wonder what God thinks when he hears that.  We use it so freely in our culture.   I would imagine that He looks at our heart and He knows if we mean it or not.  Today, whether the people who said it meant it or not it helped me a lot. 

“God Bless”

Yes indeed~

I’m now on the flight to Palm Springs where it’s a wonderful 79 degrees, or so the pilot says.  So far so good.  I was hoping for three open seats to stretch my 6’2” frame out and nap but it didn’t happen.  Oh well.  It will be after midnight EST when I get there so I’ll be a tired puppy.  It’s hard to imagine getting to sleep without anyone coming and waking me up.  Last night I ended up with all four in the bedroom again.  Baby girl slept with me.  She kept waking and crying in her room.  I’m amazed at how much room a 26 pound little girl can take up in a king size bed.  She likes to sleep horizontal.  I end up on the edge of that huge bed. 

Will I get a bed all by myself in heaven?

I hope so!!

Tomorrow…..photos from Palm Springs CA.

IN HIM,

Julie     added:  Photos from our first morning (click here)

Well I guess it's time to tell the story of the psycho male cardinal, God rest his soul. (Sorry dear hubbie….just had to add it that it wasn't a female.) 
 
I'm not sure exactly how long ago it was.  It's been 4 or 5 months I guess.  Each morning I would awaken to:

“Tweet”
Blam
The ruffle of feathers
then again…….
“Tweet”
Blam
The ruffle of feathers

There was this insane cardinal who would sit on the railing of the deck outside my bedroom window.  When the curtains were closed he would belt out this kamikaze “TWEET”, throw his body into the glass door, fall onto the deck and then do it all over again.  Over and over again. 

For months I prayed about this bird…..”Lord, what are you trying to teach me with this silly bird?”  On lazy Sunday afternoons when I was trying to nap the pscho cardinal would arrive again.  I'd lay in bed thinking….this guy is crazy. 

A month or so ago the cardinal disappeared and so we haven't heard from him in a while.  Then last week I was standing in the cul-de-sac, glanced over at my neighbor's house and what do I see on the window seal of their garage?  Our cardinal!!  I just died laughing.  “So, he's terrorizing the neighbors now!  At least it's their garage window and not the bedroom window.”

Then my very SC redneck 15 YO neighbor pops in night before last.  What does he say?  “You'll never believe what this bird's been doing over at my house.”  Well, I laugh and say….”Let me guess” and begin telling him about the cardinal.  As he's looking at me all wide-eyed he says, “Well he'll never do it again.  I just turned him into a red puff of feathers.”

As much anguish as this silly ole bird caused me I actually felt sad.  Our kamikaze pscho bird is no more.  Gone to the testosterone of a 15 year old with a shot gun.

Well for all you who read my Christmas decorating blog entry (see
below) we have recovered nicely.  Things really haven't slowed
down much but at least the decorations are up and now I can enjoy
them.  The kids love looking at all the greenery and lights in the
house.  Do you think the house looks naked after Christmas? 
I do. 

The church middle school group had their last
“get together” here last night.  They ate downstairs, sat by the
campfire and did the middle school thing.  Some of those girls can
talk faster than I can think.  They left my head spinning. 
With only one other female in the family (18 months old) I've got a a
lot to look forward to.

But, anyway, onto the reason for my
blog today…I thought after all the hussle and bussle of decorating
Sparky lying underneath the tree reminded me of sitting at the feet of
Jesus.  Which is where I should be this time of year, basking in
the light of my Savior.  I must constantly remind myself of Mary
and Martha, remembering that busyness is not where I draw my
strength.  It is only in my desperateness that find my Savior.

“So let's all go lie underneath our trees and drink in Jesus.”  All the other stuff can wait.

Merry Christmas
Julie