CJ and Family

Sunday, October 6, 2013

365 Project | Weeks 39–40

Resuming our regularly scheduled broadcast ... ;)

Day 265. We returned from our camping adventures and launched into HUGE preparations for a new ministry. We have the privilege of being involved in our church's first year of a "Good News Club" in a local public school. It's held Tuesday afternoons after school, and a friend is watching Matthew so that I can go and help with the club and Hannah and Peter can participate. My official title is "coordinator" and that boiled down to LOTS of paperwork for the first day of club. :) My hubby was incredible! Not only did he and the kids help with name tags and various other things, he also covered multiple dinners and loads of laundry and who knows what else as I spent the better part of four days trying to get my head wrapped around what needed to be done. Thanks, honey!

Day 266. Monday, 9:54 p.m. "Ready" for the first day of club! It was pretty crazy, but the Lord blessed. By His grace, the next week went much smoother logistically, and we had nearly 100 children attend for both of the first two clubs!

Day 268. We've enjoyed beautiful fall weather! It's been fun to hold classes outside. :)

Day 269. My littlest big helper! :) Matthew LOVES bringing in the cans after grocery shopping. He gleefully shouts, "THANK YOU, MOMMY, FOR BUYING CANS!!!!" when he sees a bag of them in the back of the van. (And yes, he is that loud.) ;) He carefully carries them in, 1 or 2 at a time, and lines them up neatly on the counter. He's quite protective of his responsibility and gets rather distressed if you try to lend him any assistance. ;)

Day 270. My scholars taking their spelling tests. :)

Day 271. Daddy has been giving Peter "challenges" for the last couple months. One of his most recent was to build a K-nex tower that reached the ceiling ...

Day 273. And Matthew was quite delighted when Peter figured out how to design a Duplo version of the articulated steam locomotive "Big Boy." It was pretty cool! :)

Day 274. Matthew's scissor skills are developing ...

Day 275. Hannah gives a pretty good under-dog! :)

Day 276. Mommy got a new hair cut ...

Day 277. Grandma and Grandpa arrived! :) And we had a blast ... and were too busy making memories to pull out the camera. ;) But ... if we had taken out the camera, we could have taken pictures of lots of good fellowship over paper and scissors, hot glue guns and jute. Delicious homemade apple crisp. Wonderful conversation over freshly brewed cups of coffee. Yummy lunches eaten at favorite eateries. Lots of hugs. More coffee. Huge piles of brush cleared out from the creek. Fun shopping trips. The ladies beating the men at euchre. And stuff like that. ;) We know how to pack a lot into a few days. Sigh. ♥ I am not fond of good-byes.

Day 278. Grandma, Hannah, and Mommy had so much fun decorating for fall!!! Yay! (And the added bonus??? Along with enjoying the decorations for the next couple months, we can remember the fun times we had making them together!) ♥

Day 279. And a Sunday morning picture just to prove that G&G were here!!! ♥ We love you, G&G! Thanks for coming down to visit. ♥

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Camping Adventures

So where did we plant ourselves for our first camping adventure?

The Ocean

Specifically, Hunting Island.

And it was incredible!

The big kids LOVED the water!

Peter declared that first day at the beach to be "the best day of my life!!!"

Matthew? Not so much.

He eyed the ocean with suspicion most of the time he was on the beach. He enjoyed his shovels and the sand, IF the water was a good long ways away. He literally cried in fear that the ocean was going to get him the night we went down to the beach at high-tide to see the full moon. However, ever since returning he's been asking when we can go back, so he obviously wasn't too traumatized. ;)

We enjoyed our picnic meals ...

And we LOVED riding our bikes on the beach!!

The bike seat Matthew's in was a huge blessing! I stopped at a thrift store a few days before we left and "just happened" to spot this seat up on a corner shelf. With a coupon I had, it was only $10. We had planned to have Matthew use the seat attached to my bicycle, but he's pretty close to outgrowing it (and he's HEAVY!), so I decided to give this one a try. Well, my hubby had to do a bit of re-engineering, but he was able to make it work on a his bike, and I am so thankful! I wasn't looking for the seat, and didn't know we would need it, but the Lord did--Hunting Island + Matthew would have been a bit much for this biking Mommy. So thankful to see the Lord meet every need!

Ahhh! Matthew found his kind of place ... and old train car parked at the lighthouse. :)

The big kids and Daddy enjoyed climbing the lighthouse ... Matthew needs about two more inches. :) (Which of course means we'll have to go back sometime.) ;)

What a roller coaster this first biking expedition proved to be ... biking down the deserted beach with the wind at our backs was i.n.c.r.e.d.i.b.l.e. However, we came very close to getting stuck on the beach at high-tide because we couldn't find the trail head for the trail we planned to use to get back to camp! As we turned around and biked against the stiff breeze, Mommy was praying hard! Praise the Lord, Daddy finally spotted the trail head amidst tangled undergrowth and fallen trees. We then followed a lovely, smooth ADA compliant trail to the lighthouse. A very nice ride.

However. The trail from the lighthouse back to the campground was definitely not ADA compliant. At. All.

Matthew didn't mind. He just kept studying the map to let Daddy know which way to go.

And Peter loved mountain biking.

Hannah? Not so much.
(And Mommy isn't real keen on it either, to be honest.)
But, we got back to camp with no major injuries or equipment failures, and more than a few lessons learned. :)

It was a very windy night. VERY windy. We ended up stringing up a couple tarps as a wind break.

I enjoyed a beautiful sunrise walk the second morning ... my crew was still sleeping when I left, and I must admit that I thoroughly enjoyed the solitude.

More biking on day #2 :)

Not sure why, but the northern beach had some rather quick-sandish sections ...

Peter thoroughly delighted in exploring it. :)

And the next day it was time to head home ... wind-blown, a touch sun-burnt, and loaded up with shells. :)

My big kids joined me for a sunrise walk that last morning ... and both walks were special. ♥

I captured one of my favorite pictures this morning though. ♥

One last photo-op by the Marsh ♥

And the hitch hiker we found when we got home ...

hopefully he's been able to acclimate to our creek ...

We're so thankful for the Lord's provision every step of the way ... from the camper to a portable fridge to Matthew's bike seat to safety on the beach and trails. We were also hugely blessed by friends who graciously shared their camping wisdom gleaned from MANY years of experience. As my hubby puts it, we've been bit by the camping bug and are looking forward to many future adventures ...

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Life Marches On

Whether I blog about it or not. :)
And while I really am wanting to get back into my 365 Project, a complete recovery is simply not feasible. So, please enjoy some highlights ...

In the last month or so, we have ...

Enjoyed the beauty of our blooming vine ...