Relaxin' with the Ricci's

Maria and Brianna were so sweet with Liberty.

Brianna made me laugh so hard I ALMOST fell off the raft. Whenever Chad would start the engine she would start yelling, "OH DEAR...OH DEAR..." constantly. It was SO cute! Brianna is such a "DEAR."

The clouds were absolutely breath taking . This one was the most interesting to us. If you look closely you can see a little hole in the middle left side. It looked like a little hole leading to Heaven...SO BEAUTIFUL!

Here's Mike and Maria chillaxing.

 

Our dear friends the Riccis came out to visit us on Labor Day weekend. They blessed us by bringing a freezer full of yummy, fresh meat. We went to Leonesse Winery and spent a full Saturday on the lake. It was so nice and relaxing to spend time with our dear ol' friends.

Becoming a Homemaker

Celebrating the girls cookin' with a picnic in the den.

When Tiffany found out Hannah was cooking again she wanted to join in the fun. She decided to make sweet tea to go with our yummy dinner. I told her to pose with her achievement and this is what she did...gotta love her spunk!

One of Hannah's goals for this year is to learn how to cook. She makes the same casserole every Wed. night for a month. (Casseroles are great because she only needs to add a salad and she's made a complete meal). By the time she's cooked it four times she really KNOWS how to make it. She chooses her own casseroles and I help her the first time, then she cooks it by herself the other weeks. This month she chose to make a Mexican Casserole. Last week was her first time to make it. She was so proud of herself that she kept asking all of us if we liked it. It was good, but a little bit runny. When we were about half way done eating Hannah said, "Ya know mom, I can't even taste the rice." All of a sudden we looked at each other and started cracking up...we had forgotten to add the rice!! Once the rice was added, it wasn't runny anymore and tasted even better. It really WAS good too! Liberty ate hers so fast we were laughing at her! :0) O' the blessings of raising young ladies...I just love it!

My gift of UN-organization

One of my goals this year is to be more organized and take advantage of every moment during the day. Last year I bought the book, "Managers of Their Homes," by The Maxwell Family. This book is a true God-send if you are organizationally challenged, like me. I read it cover to cover and took LOTS of notes. Well, FINALLY I made the time to sit down for a day and plan out a schedule for my precious Homeschoolin' family. This has worked amazingly for us and I can't believe how much peace is in our home and how much responsibility my girls have assumed. My only problem is that sometime this past weekend I LOST MY SCHEDULE!! Today was horrible without it! Chad thinks this is funny but I'm losin' my mind! What is wrong with me??? I'm too unorganized to be unorganized!! UGGHHH!

Funny Girl

Liberty has coined some phrases since coming to the states. A few months ago she and I were kidding around and she said, "No way, Jose!!" I asked her where she heard that phrase and she threw her hands on her hips and said, "Mom, in CHINA!!"

New Friends

Tonight was our first night with our new D-Group. It's a couples D-Group and we're hosting it at our home. This is the first time that Chad and I have been discipled together. We absolutely LOVE it! The folks are so sincere and really want to grow and the study is so deep and challenging. We are so thankful for this opportunity to really get into the Word with awesome believers!

Cousin Fun

Back to Bloggin"

For a late birthday gift, my 2 friends Kathy and Carri spoiled me today. We went to Leonesse Winery for a picnic and then to see the chick flick, "Julie and Julia." It was a sweet movie. It was about the life of the chef, Julia Childs and a young woman named, Julie who was so inspired by Julia Childs life that she cooked and Blogged about all of her recipes in one year. This movie inspired me in 2 ways...one~ to try some new fun recipes, and 2~ to get back to blogging!

Our day was so fun and relaxing we decided that our winery/movie date will be a monthly tradition. Yeah!

If ONLY we had pictures of the day...