A live sand dollar. I had no idea they were so fuzzy. It's little bristles were scratcy. 

The end of the beach and last day at Lover's Key state park. 

Sunrise over the bay outside our hotel balcony. It was breathtaking! Nice way to start off our last full day here. 

We decided to take a deep sea fishing tour on our last day. This is a big commercial fishing boat we saw while on our way to the fishing grounds. Took about 2 hours to get to the fishing spots. Didn't like the ride so much, but loved the fishing. 

One of the dolphins that followed our boat the entire trip. There was a mom and baby--not sure which this was. We threw fish to them, and they had a feast! 

One of our fellow passengers accidentally caught a sea turtle. They managed to get him cut out of the line though, so he's ok. I think that's the first wild sea turtle I ever saw! 

I LOVED this guy. For the life of me, I can't remember his name, but he was the classic, scruffy old seafarer. I almost expected him to have a peg leg and eye patch! He was one of the staff, had a hunchback, and had a great scratchy voice. He knew a lot about the different fish species however. Wish I could have spent more time talking to him. 

Our fish--I think we caught about 10-12. We donated them to the other folks on the boat. We didn't want to fly home with them, though I bet they would have fried up tasty! 

The only pic we managed to get of us together, but I like it. We wrapped up our last day in Florida with some deep sea fishing, followed by a frenzied rush back to the hotel, and a shower to get the fish stink off--then a trip to the local dinner theater. They were performing "Godspell", which I would recommend if you don't mind a musical, secular version of the book of Matthew. 

Bible school is over.

Our last night went well. The hardest part was dividing up the artwork and getting it to each class. We seemed to have a lot of kids with the same names! Would be a good strategy next time to write which class each child is in, but I probably won't be on board for it next year. Not that it was too hard for me, and it was pretty hard, but we may be expecting number three this time next year, so I'm putting off volunteering for anything for next year.

Sorry if I sounded too complainy in yesterday's post. I was just a bit overwhelmed with all the childcare and activity. Kids all day long from 6:30 am until 9:30 or so was tiring, but I'm glad Bible school went so well. I have fond memories of going to Bible school when I was a kid. Lots of popsicle stick crafts and volleyball, hot dogs, and "If you're happy and you know it".

I failed to get pics of our crafts, because I kept forgetting my camera. Had enough to pack in and out anyway. Just take my word for it, they were cute. Now, my next biggest project for the summer is swimming lessons for Meg. 5 days, 5-6 pm at the city pool. Hopefully, she'll do well and we'll have a little swimmer on our hands. We want our kids to know how to swim early. Bryan can't swim a lick and I'm not much better, so we want our kids to be able to at least save themselves if they fall in water--or get us if we fall in! :)

When I get back downstairs, I'll post more vacation pics. I think we have two days left. And I'm searching for a new laptop. Looking at the Dell XPS M1710--found some on the Dell Outlet, and they're good for gaming too :) This poor old laptop is on it's last leg, so anything will be better at this point!

Ehhhhh, I'm bored.....

Oh, man, last night of Bible School. It's kicked my behind this week. The kids have seemed to enjoy the projects, but 5 nights in a row with groups of children, and having 3 of them at home all day has just gotten me down. Zoe and I have both caught little colds with terrible runny noses this week from those little petri dishes, I mean precious children. I'm feeling so anti-child-caring right now. Totally unsure why I end up doing these things. I have little patience, though some keep telling me, "You're so patient with them". I'm like, "What?! Who are you comparing me to?!" Ok, so I don't bonk them in the head or choke them or throw things at them, but it's not like I haven't thought about it. Honestly, does anybody really enjoy working with little ones all day? They cry, they whine, they break the crayons, they won't participate, they hit each other over the head with their crafts--they're little monsters! Ok, ok, I do love them, and I know they must be raised and taught with love, but dog-gone it, I am hoarse from yelling over them to get them to hear. I'm tired--tired of teaching, tired of mothering, tired of GLUE!!!
"Lord, I pray that what I'm doing and all the other workers at VBS and the work of all the mothers I know will pay off--that the kids will come away with some deeper longing to know more of you, to keep asking, learning, leaning toward a relationship with their heavenly father. And I ask for utmost patience for us all and unconditional love all around. Amen."

And I want a new laptop, and a new computer game, and another vacation.... :)

Surviving Bible School!

Yay! 2 nights down, and no craft shortages, and everyone is doing well. The kids seemed to enjoy last night's crafts a lot, though they were a little more complicated. We made kayak paddles for the 2/3's and 4's and king's scepter's for the 5's and Kindergardeners. I failed to anticipate that the kiddos would use these objects for "swords" and kept whacking each other with them, but no one lost an eye, and I was even able to remind them of their Bible stories and verses. I'll try to get a pic or two on here when the week is over.

You can guess which class was the rowdiest---my child's class, of course. The 4 year olds, and they're the smallest class ths year too. Something about that age, I guess. I think they are learning a bigger vocabulary and have more dexterity, but just don't quite know how to control either one yet. But I love em. Tonight--"Jesus loves people" murals for the little ones, and arctic "flowers" for the bigger ones.

You can see our theme, the "Arctic Edge", at http://www.lifeway.com.

I'm kinda bummed...

Just need some prayer over a few issues going on.

Bible school--never have been the preschool craft director before, and I'm responsible for getting all the supplies and preparing them. It's stressed me out a bit, because what if we end up with more kids than I've bought for? I'm already a bit over budget, which the pastor said was fine, but if we--God be praised--have an overflow of kids? I've bought some extra, but is it enough? Anyway, so I'm stressin, hoping I have enough, hoping I'll have time to prepare it all.

I have a dear friend too, who is going through some serious stress right now. She has a physical challenge too, and now two jobs, and trying for a child...not really sure about the specifics, but she needs some prayer to pull her along.

And, a stranger request, but one that's bothered me this week a lot. I used to frequent a parenting message board last year, and haven't been on there for several months, but the other day, I got the urge to check it out, see any updates on babies, etc, and i found that one of the mothers on there just lost her husband a month ago in a car accident. She has a daughter my Zoe's age and is expecting their son next month. She's not working, and not financially stable and wondering how they will make it. Now the kicker--she's an ex porn star and an athiest. Not real sure what her husband's beliefs were, but nonethe less, the news bothered me. I didn't know her personally, but she was just one of the other moms on the boards, sharing baby pics and news, and just like that, her world is turned upside down in an instant, and she doesn't even have the Lord to fall back on. So, just sad, and praying that God will reveal himself to her in a miraculous way through this.

That's all for now. More vacation pics soon!

Our third day of vacation

Lots of pics here, and they're kinda self-explanatory, so no use adding more detail here. Enjoy!

Our first outing of the third day here--Everglades Wonder Gardens in Bonita Springs. A family run park since the 60's, it smelled strongly of the sulfur water that permeated the exhibits. But, lots of variety in wildlife and a natural history museum too. Worth a quick visit. 

This is "Big Joe", the largest American crocodile. Unfortunately, he died back in 2003 of stomach cancer, so we only saw him stuffed. The advertisements didn't mention that... 

Our less than enthusiastic tour gude showing us a baby alligator. She must have been doing this tour a long time--she sounded like a robot. 

A beautiful banyan tree, native to India, I believe, here in the Wonder Gardens. 

A little river otter--I think his name was Oscar, doing a slide trick. 

A cute little lizard just hanging out. 

The swinging bridge over the alligators--a little nervewracking to walk across. 

Feeding time!! Look at those chompers! 

Not a great pic because of the fencing, but this is one of the rarest big cats in the world--a Florida panther--critically endangered. I felt priveleged to see one up close. 

A baby deer hiding OUTSIDE the enclosure--somehow it gets out a crack in the fence, we were told, to hide in the bushes and comes back in at night to nurse from mom. 

One of the residential areas we drove around in. Very opulent houses here. 

Our first time canoeing in the state park, or ever. No, I'm not naked under there, but I wish I was--it was HOT out there!! We saw lots of birds, a couple of manatees, fish jumping out of the water, and a few bubbles that I thought sure were alligators. 

A pretty white egret resting in the mangroves during our canoe trip. 

One of the many species of gulls on Lover's Key State Park beach. So nice here. 

Hubby's feet from his comfy beach lounge. 

A view of the shoreline on Lover's Key State Resort Park beach. A quiet, pretty natural beach, except they had to haul in sand after Hurricane Charlie. 

I love my family...really I do...really

I'm taking a break from the vacation pics to describe my weekend trip. We traveled to attend my niece's 4th birthday party this past Saturday. Good party. Barbequed food, lots of kids playing and laughing. Had fun. But let me tell you why I choose to even elaborate on this seemingly normal, common event.

My family is not conventional. No Cleavers here. My husband never fails to be surprised at the family dynamics--his family was more conventional than mine. Oh, they have their own foibles, but you wouldn't necessarily find the interesting turnout at a birthday party on his side of the family that you would have found at mine.

Here's a rundown of the party guests: my half-brother(different dads), sister-in-law, my youngest niece turning 4; half-brother's other half-sister (different moms) and her daughter and son; sister-in-law's mother and mother's boyfriend; sister-in-law's dad and dad's girlfriend; my stepfather; half-brother's ex-wife, ex-wife's husband and their son; my oldest niece (from half-brother's ex-wife), next youngest niece (from half-brother's ex-girlfriend); a couple that work with half-brother and sister-in-law.....and the kicker...an ex-convict that is one of half-brother's best friends. I won't mention what he was in prison for, but let's say it was disturbing to learn that he is living right next door in the duplex by my half-brother and his family. Not that he didn't seem nice--I've kinda known him for a long time too, but anyway.....

So, if you read over the guest list a few times, you'll see why it's a bit confusing and unconventional. But, I'm used to it..doesn't really surprise or confuse me anymore. Mainly because they're all ok with each other. No fights, no guns, no drinking, no cops. If there was tension there, it would bother me, but everyone is comfortable with each other, and we just had fun. Highlight of the day--didn't bring swimsuits for my girls, and when they broke out a Slip n Slide, my oldest daughter quick as lightning, before anyone could notice, stripped naked and stood in line waiting for her turn. My youngest, slipping and sliding on and off in the mud and grass, diaper drooping down to her knees.

It was a great day. I love my family....really.