I have decided to follow Jesus;

I have decided to follow Jesus;

I have decided to follow Jesus;

No turning back, no turning back.

Though I may wonder, I still will follow;

Though I may wonder, I still will follow;

Though I may wonder, I still will follow;

No turning back, no turning back.

The world behind me, the cross before me;

The world behind me, the cross before me;

The world behind me, the cross before me;

No turning back, no turning back.

Though none go with me, still I will follow;

Though none go with me, still I will follow;

Though none go with me, still I will follow;

No turning back, no turning back.

Will you decide now to follow Jesus?

Will you decide now to follow Jesus?

Will you decide now to follow Jesus;

No turning back, no turning back.

We watched the saddest movie last night. I cried through out the entire movie. It is called "Though None Go With Me". The movie tells of a woman's life starting when she was in her early twenties in the 1950's. She made the decision to follow Jesus in her life no matter what. No matter how many hardships God threw her way, there would be no turning back. It reminded me of how greatly blessed I am in many different aspects of my life.

Thank you Lord!!!

Henricus Park

Today we went to a park that is set up very much like Jamestown only smaller. The park is separated into 2 sections: Indians and English settlers. We went with another family of 3 girls. Here are a few of the photos from today.

In the photo above, we are in the Indian village. In order to make their canoes, they would cut a tree down, slowly burn the part to be dug out and then proceed to scrape it with shells and bones. This was a tiresome and messy job!
Here are the girls scraping off the fur to make hide with seashells. A little tid-bit I learned today, what they would do with the animal after killing it and skinning it is crack the skull without injuring the antlers. Then they would split the heard open with a rock and save the brains. With the brains, they would make a type of pudding, spread it on the hide after it is cleaned and all the fur is off. After the hide has been spread with brains (EW!), they would let it sit for a couple days. Then it would be very soft and they could use it for clothing.
Above is a photo taken inside of a hut. I forget the name of it as it is an Indian name. Pretty interesting.

This was taken on the English Settlers' side. The girls learned interesting facts such as what they ate, what they did with their waste (bodily waste), fighting tactics, and life saving tactics when in battle.

The girls got to imitate loading a cannon. They had 30 seconds to do it and had to stay behind a certain line of they were considered blown up. Rebecca had the hardest job and she did well.

Here she is with one of those home made hula hoop things that children played with back then. Instead of rolling it on the ground, pushing it with a stick, she decided to hula.

This photo is of the model of the first American hospital, Mt. Milady. It was said to be in the Citie of Henricus, which is where we were. The girls said that they wouldn't want to be sick here! The beds were very uncomfortable and everything smelled of wood burning. Becca seriously asked where the air condition was. So hard it is to grasp the concept that there were no modern conviences back in the 1600's.

Emily was a bit disappointed because she thought we were going to a park with slides, swings, etc. Sorry chickie, this was a park to exercise the mind!

This is just a group picture of all the girls.

I had a few pictures that I wanted to share but just haven't taken the time to upload the photos.

This first picture is of the girls a few Sunday's ago before church. The girls were singing in church with jr. choir. Becca had a solo and of course she wanted a new dress. They both ended up with new dresses and looked so grown up! They did a great job singing too, by the way. Becca sang her song first and was doing great. Midway through her song, she looked around at the 300 people watching her and started to get nervous but didn't falter. Did I already post about that without the pictures?

The girls have AWANA on Sunday evenings. They usually have some kind of theme for each night. Two Sundays ago, the theme was Old Fogey night. It was funny walking down the halls seeing a bunch of children (and adults) dressed like old people. I didn't get creative with Becca but she wanted to show her picture for all to see.

Below is from last night! Rebecca was eating an apple and pulled out her other top tooth! She was so unbelievably excited! Now she has 3 holes in her mouth! It's too cute. Atleast I think so anyways!
Here's a picture of the culprit- the tooth pulling apple.

My 7 year old daughter is growing up way too fast! It's amazing watch her grow up physically, spiritually, and mentally. Emily is too. Makes me feel old... Emily is now reading 3 letter words and tries very hard at bigger words. She amazes me with her eagerness to learn.

Upcoming plans for this week: Revival all week at church, gymnastics, Children's Museum, Henricus Park, co-op, visit to Grandma, 2 soccer games, and ends with Bible Character night at AWANA on Sunday.

Pumpkin Patch

We went on a field trip to the pumpkin patch with our Thurs. co-op. The weather was perfect and we had a great time. Here are a couple pictures of the girls and Brysen.

The photo above is taken on the hayride to the field where we got to pick our pumpkins.

This is a group photo of all the children who were able to attend on the hayride. Emily is on the left side with her elbow hanging down and Rebecca is beside her.
Here is my trio standing by the tractor.

Everyone split up and found their pumpkins fast. We had a great selection to chose from. Rebecca had her large one in the bag and was back on the wagon before I could take her picture. I took a few pictures with their pumpkins after we got home but I accidentally erased them off my camera :o(

Magic Kingdom

A few recent pictures of us

Our weekend

Just wanted to share a quick recap of our weekend.

Emily and Rebecca had soccer games Sat. morning. Emily is so funny to watch. She really spends the time on the field running back and forth. She's not aggressive enough to get the ball from the other team. I was reminded of Becca when she played at the age of 5. Rebecca was just like Emily! So, there is hope yet.

Emily isn't competitive or have the athletic drive that her sister bestows so we shall see what the future holds for her in that area. Right now, our main focus is exercise, teamwork and of course, fun.

My sister surprised us and came to Rebecca's game. She came for a great one. Those children were on fire! They were very aggressive and I loved it!

Saturday evening was spent at a Brunswick stew/ chili cook-off at church. It was chilly and we had a bonfire to warm us up. It was a fun evening full of food, fellowship, music, preaching and more fellowship. I didn't think to bring my camera so I snagged a photo off the church website to share with you.

In this picture, Diana's face is a bit distorted because of the smoke. Beside Diana is Derricka, Rebecca, Lauren (??) and Lilly. There were tons of children there but these just happened to be a small group warming up in front of the bonfire. The photographer took a cute one of Emily so I'll post that one if I can get her to e-mail it to me.

After church this morning, Rebecca spent the afternoon with sisters, Diana and Derricka. It was Diana's birthday today. This was the first time Rebecca was invited to spend the afternoon with friends since coming to Calvary. She was so excited! The girls also had jr. choir practice and AWANA this evening. Both girls have moved up in AWANA. Emily is a sparky and Rebecca is a T &T er. Emily earned her first jewel tonight and was so excited. It's amazing how many verses their little minds soak up.

Plans for this coming week include, gymnastics, soccer practices, dental appointment, basketball try outs (Rebecca), church, Christmas play practice, co-op, and hopefully some warmer weather! Have a great one!

I apologize for being so quiet on here lately. School is in full swing and with 2 of them, it eats up a big chunk of my time. I love it.

Emily still has a bit of trouble with her numbers but is doing great with her phonics. She is very eager to read and is going to great lengths to accomplish her goal. We were working on flashcards the other day of numbers in the teen family. She just isn't getting it. She then resorted to crying and said, "Don't they know I'm only 5? Five year olds aren't supposed to know that!"

Rebecca was on a roll this week. She finished her school in record time each day with very little probing from me to concentrate. Yesterday, she went ahead and did all of her weekly quizzes all on her own.

So, today, after sleeping in, lounging around for a bit, and running a couple errands, we went to the Children's Museum. The girls always have a blast in their art area. We came home with another brown bag full of crafts and paintings. After that, Emily had soccer practice. The girls (and me) had a full fun day.

This week was pretty slack and I loved it. We had no appointments, no co-op,no field trips. Just 4 days at home with my family. It was great. My house is clean. Laundry is done. Lots of one on one time spent with the girls. I fixed dinner each night ( a big accomplishment since vacation back in May). Too bad next week goes back to the normal rat race.

Wow, I didn't realize it was so late! We have 2 soccer games in the morning so I guess I should go get everything together so we aren't running around crazy in the a.m. Until next time...

The Disney Cruise

I just can't wait!!! Doesn't it look so awesome?!?! Counting down the days...379 to go

WAHOO!

I thought I'd go ahead and post these (since I said I would) before I forget!

Here are a few of the pictures from VA Beach.

Below is a pic of Jay and Emily. Jay is inspecting whatever he caught in the net. If you look above Emily's head in the water, you'll see a dolphin's face!

The girls got their face painted. Here is Rebecca's.
Jay playing in the sand.

Rebecca drawing crosses in the sand.

"Kneeling at the cross" as I like to call it.

Crab walk races: Emily got tired and ran to the finish line.

The girls working together for a sand castle

Below is a video of the dolphins. Sorry it's not that great. I'm still learning!

September

September was a wild month! Soccer games for both girls, Walt Disney World trip, my sister's birthday, Emily started kindergarten, trip to Daytona Beach, trip to Va Beach, visiting family, trip to Kings Dominion... and it all ended with Emily sick with a sinus infection.

I am still trying to find the time to upload and post more photos. I WILL get to it.. eventually! I am about to leave and Becca still has school to do. The girls have gymnastics and afterwards, I'm going to a ladies meeting at church. I'm riding with a friend and am so excited to get away for a few hours. Being with family so much this month is great but a short break is greatly needed. I will post more later.