Ponce Deleon Lighthouse

We took the day to go fill out Volunteer paperwork at the New Smyrna Beach Ponce Deleon Lighthouse and visit the Beach.

We had a great day and as I write this we are sitting on the couch relaxing since we got too much Sun!

We all made it to the top...all 203 steps going up, even Daddy!

We walked around the top twice 

A rather shaky look as we all make our way down

This is the very first lens that was used in the Lighthouse, it was so interesting to see the wick and how much Kerosene it took to keep it lite.

After the Lighthouse we visited New Smyrna Beach for about an hour, We saw a few jellyfish and caught Sunburns..lol..

We will be visiting the Lighthouse again August 16-17 for International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend..We are setting up a few Ham Radios and will see how many different Lighthouses we can reach in 2 days!

Weekend ReCap

What a Weekend.

All 3 kids had Friday off due to Rodeo Day, Crystal was able to go along with a group of her friends and their Grandmother. The other 2 youngest stayed home with us, Abby was over at a friends playing and Tank was staying busy. Then we had 2 of Crystals friends staying over and they stayed up late watching every scary movie they could that was not rated R on Netflicks. I tried to watch one of the movies but I simply got tired..plus I found the movie boring.

Saturday we started the day off with Chocolate pancakes that Richard made, he makes the best pancakes! We all stayed busy doing things around the house but really just relaxed. The 2 girls went home and we ended the night with the new movie "Turkeys". It was a cute movie, the 2 youngest really liked it.

Sunday, today, was a crazy day as Crystal's 2 friends came back over to work on schoolwork and eat dinner with us. I'll not say too much here but I'm saddened by the state of some families out there. Today has opened my eyes to how lucky my family is even though we are still struggling in so many ways. We will continue to do whatever we can for Crystal's friends. Thank goodness I have continued to coupon and stockpile, these girls can eat! We made homemade pizza tonight and Abigail loved helping out so much, I will def. keep her interest up in the kitchen and show her how to bake cookies next weekend!

Life is such a Journey!

Weekend Recap

Best deal from Papa Johns Pizza ever! 3 large pizzas plus 16 piece wings for $30.00, 2 large pizzas FREE with coupon codes!!

We ate Dinner on Sat. and then Sunday we had Lunch.

 Friday Richard came home from work with a Cold. We believe he got the cold on the plane while traveling for work. He has alot of traveling coming up for work after Thanksgiving so I'm hoping he remembers to take his vitamins now. Friday night we snuggled in and watched "Turbo", it was a very cute kids movie!

Saturday I took Abigail and Tank to Saddle Club, Crystal stayed home with Richard. She didn't have any Birthday parties to help out with. The 2 youngest are learning so much at Saddle Club! The we ordered Pizza and Abigail spent the night with her friend across the street so while Tank played "Mine Craft", the 3 of us watched "FootLoose" and some other really stupid movie.

Here we are Sunday, We haven't done a thing today other than run out for a paper so I can fill up my Coupon binder. Now it's  night and we are heading to bed early, Crystal is now feeling down and Abby is saying she's cold so I believe we have caught Richard's cold..We shall see what tomorrow brings. 

I'm off to sip some hot tea and relax!

Fall Fun Days

Today at the stables was FALL FUN DAYS were there were hayrides, pony rides, pumpkin patch and yummy treats. Crystal was asked to help out all day with the Pony rides which she loves doing and has fun doing it! Abigail and Tank had Saddle Club for about an hour and are going to be able to earn badges after they pass tests and follow thru on activities. They both are learning alot about the different body parts of the Horse and how to act around Horses, ect. 6 weeks of learning the basics and then they will move on to Riding. Here are some pics of our long, fun filled day..I'm still learning my camera and enjoying it!

So many Stalls to be filled

Crystal waiting for another little rider

Fun water game

Learning at Saddle Club

FL Grass Maze

Ribbons earned and a Lunch break

Here is a video of our day if you would like to see more of the Horses.

I Hope your Saturday was just as Much Fun as Ours!!

Lake Lizzie Nature Preserve Date

Today Richard had the day off from work and we took this time to go for a Date Hike...all 3 kids were in school. We did take his Ham radio with the plan to hook it up and see who was able to chat.

Many, Many moths ago I was given a new camera, the Canon EOS Rebel XS. It did not come with the instructions so to be honest, it scares me..I know next to nothing about this camera but today I took it out of it's bag and with a full battery, took it on the hike with us. I'll learn as I go and play around with the features but I WILL learn how to use this camera!! 

You may click on the pic. to enlarge them for detail viewing

Tiny Woodpecker of some sort

Shrub/marsh looking out to Lake

Random Wildflowers swaying in breeze

Loved this Path, this pic doesn't do it Justice

Huge Banana Spider between 2 trees

Just a fun shot

Huge drainage pipe as we were exiting Lake Lizzie

After hiking around Lake Lizzie only to find out there are no tables to set up Richard's Ham radio, We drove over to another park that we have been to before and set up his radio there. We didn't get to actually talk to anyone this trip due to a silly little Sun Flare and an annoying call from the Elementary School. 

That was our Friday Date and we are ending it with Cookies and Milk.

Hummingbird Watch

Last week we saw 1 Hummingbird around our bird feeder and I kept meaning to put out Hummingbird juice for the little guy but kept forgetting due to work.

Tonight I made some and now we are on Hummingbird watch.

Do you think the little guy will come back and visit us?

I am going to run to the store and replace some Flowers but I'm not sure which Flowers enjoy full FL sun and I'm researching tonight.

Linking up to these Parties~

No Minimalist Here

Exploring Ham

My Husband has had his Ham Radio License for some time now and today he finished his "Go Kit". Throw it in the back of his truck, head for the woods and throw a line up a tree and talk to people from all over. Just tonight in our backyard alone we talked to a gentleman across the pond, as they say!

As for house hunting we have put it on hold since Husband has to travel for work in July and we do keep getting disappointed in every house we look at. 

Husband had a nice Father's Day, he finished his project and I cooked a big dinner and we just relaxed outside, the simple relaxing day was good for us.

Have a Great Week my Friends!

Summer Time Fun!

School is out and so far no one has started to complain about how bored they are.

We had fun the other night with a Red Colander, a Flashlight and our ceiling in the living room. It was Abigail's idea and we danced!

So that's what we are doing so far, having fun and trying to enjoy this Summer while working full time, not an easy feat considering how tired I am when I get home.

This wekend was a good one, haven't had such a nice relaxing weekend in many months. I puttered and organized and have a huge pile to drop off at Goodwill. Richard was on-call so we could't travel far from the house which turned out to ne a Blessing since I got alot done. The kids played and had friends over and we had a small bonfire with S'mores...It was so hot outside but fun.

Still searching for another House but I'm decorating and organizing this one to make it more Cozy while we are still here, who knows at this point we might stay.

Have a Great week my Friends!

Back in the Saddle!

Crystal is Back in the Saddle!

We found such a nice lady that gives horse back riding lessons and even though we have had a horse, it's been over a year since we rode so this is a great way to brush up on horse riding and get our horsey fix in at the same time!

My iphone has decided that it doesn't like to take good pics anymore, I'm looking for a good camera, Any ideas? What do you use?

This One Bites the Dust

My Husband has gotten back into flying remote control airplanes since moving back to FL. I don't mind, I like to go and watch him fly, the kids like to watch him fly, we take snacks and make a day of it out at the field.

Except for this past Sat.  Hubby went with a couple of his co-workers very early in the morning and the kids were just blinking their eyes awake so he went by himself.

This is an older plane and he did buy it used so he knew of only a few of the issues with this plane, turns out the receiver went bad mid-flight.

Poor thing is totally dead!

I should have went with him..lol...This doesn't happen when I'm there..

This Evening We Were BOO'D

The doorbell rang as we were eating dinner......

and we found this, How Fun!!

Sharing on:
Between Naps On The Porch

Pictures Hung on Stairs and a Few Easter Decorations

Good Friday!

 

This is the only Easter I have right now because most of my Holiday decorations are still in OH at the Farmhouse. Love how this table has come together, those books under our picture are from my Dad when he was in Elem. School. 

We are going to try a new Church here close to us on Sunday morning and then come home to a nice Ham dinner. I have set up 3 small Easter Baskets for the kids that they will find on the kitchen table when they wake up in the morning. Nice easy Easter Weekend!

Today after watching HGTV and acouple cups of coffee I hung these pictures on the stairs. I think the arrangement turned out cute, I hand-stitched "The Graves est. 1997" in the black frame last year.

Still lots to do but the pictures really make a statement when you enter via the front door.

Have a Very Happy Easter Weekend!

~A Give-Away from a Sweet Blogger~

Maple Syrup Yumminess!!! Please visit http://ajoyfulchaos.blogspot.com/   for the chance to win.

Pancakes here we come!!

Army Dudes 6th Birthday

Our first Birthday Party in the new house was last weekend, we celebrated it early so G'ma could partake since she was leaving for OH to finish packing up her Condo now that she living with us. His real Birthday is tomorrow and we have a little surprise planned. Here are some fun pics of our get together.

It was a small family get together since we haven't really met anyone with kids as of yet. Both G'mas were able to come and my Sister which was so nice!

The rule is NOT to throw anything over the balcany but we let the kids throw his Army parachute guys just this once...

Look at all this wall space I have to decorate...I'm so excited to get started!

Enjoy your Weekend!

2 Gooseberry Patch Goodies

On Tues. I was alone as all 3 kids were in school so I ran with my Mom to Cracker Barrel for lunch and afterwards we went to browse Kindred Spirits Crafts Mall in Pickerington. While in Cracker Barrel I was able to grab these 2 new goodies....

and did you know that Yankee Candle has come out with hand sanitizer? Where have I been?? I grabbed the yummy Apple one to keep in my car for fast clean-ups.

I also grabbed this very cute note pad for my purse, it has our last initial on it and is so pretty sparkly with blue stones and gold swirls...

Gosh, the flash just about blinds ya...Sorry 

So that what I've been up to, Tuesday I got out of the house for a bit and the rest of the week I've been in and catching up on Netflicks, I was able to watch "It's Complicated" which was a great movie and then some odd Horror movies that I can't watch while the kids are home. Oh and laundry :)

Hope ya'll have a great Holiday weekend!!

Happy Father's Day!!

Happy Father's Day!

We are sitting here cooling off watching "Factory Made" with Daddy, he loves this show! He just finished mowing the grass and the kids helped me weed our flower garden.
Tomorrow we will give Daddy our gifties and have some ice cream cake from DQ, my new all time fav. dessert!! Ya'll should have told me along time ago how terribly yummy this was, so not good for my diet!!

Enjoy your Daddy this Holiday, sadly mine(and Richards)  are no longer with us but we will be thinking about our Daddies this weekend.

5 Days No School due to TOO MUCH SNOW!!

What do you do with 5 days (Monday is the 5th day) no school? You play alot!!! You clean if your a Mom too and that's just what we did. I started with Abigail's room and moved her desk to under her window and went thru her toys again..they must multiply at night under the bed!! I need to finish spray painting her dresser knobs purple. We are making do with what we have right now until we find the perfect furniture (i.e. AFFORDABLE) for this little princess. She was proud of her clean room and she loves to pose. Monday is Crystal and Tankers turn, I'm dreading Tankers room cuse of all his little cars!

I ran to Krogers before the snow moved back in and they were Tripling the coupons so I grabbed some fun stuff and some items that I rarely buy but was a good price with the coupon special. I had already put away the fridge items when I snapped this pic, I even received a 4.00 off coupon on my next shopping trip! It's a learning process for me but I do enjoy the challenge of saving every penny I can.

 

We had a little Birthday Party for Crystal, she turned 11!! She only wanted to invite her best friend over to sled down our hill so we had a little cake/ice cream and they played outside the rest of the time. It was a great Saturday!

The news says school is cancelled again for tomorrow, more cleaning and playing for us! Not sure if DH is going to try to make it in to work, We are at a level 2 snow emergency already and the snow is supposed to continue till 6am Tues.

Hope you are Safe and Warm Tonight Friends!