handsful

Today, I added “hair colorist” to the many hats I wear around here…

Blonde…

Brunette.  With a touch of auburn for good measure.

Mom did good.  And, she luvs it…

Someone decided she wanted bangs.  I think she made a good decision :)

The lemon cheesecake, took literally hours of preparation on Saturday.  And, on a scale of 1-10 for taste, it’s easily a 20.

Bravo to the chefs!

Head chef, D’Qota…

and, one of his trusty sous chefs, Dylan…shown here, working very hard!

Payton couldn’t be reached for a photo, he left early for a friend’s house.

However, before that, the boys had an experiment to try out.

Anyone know what happens to an egg when you put it in a microwave?

Yeah, that.  Instant scrambled eggs.  All over the microwave.  How many moms would allow their boys to do this?!?  I’m so cool.  Heh.

Good thing the guys were good at cooking AND cleaning…

Now, please excuse us while we eat.

I thought I’d speed through our last week here on the blog.  Just for kicks.  Life is never dull.

** Randy spent the early part of the week in NYC.  He and his engineer were working a big vendor fair right in downtown…in fact, his hotel was 1 block from Times Square.  Yes, I was jealous.  I’ve never been to NY, and it’s definitely on my bucket list.  I love visiting big cities (San Fran is a favorite), but I most certainly prefer to live in the country.  As far as scenery goes, cows over cars I always say…

** Like I did last year, I’m participating in our church’s 21 day fast.  It’s a time to put aside the things we view as “necessities” and remember where our blessings come from.  I’m taking a Facebook break for 20 days…gotta sign in one day early for my mom’s birthday wish, I knew she’d be mad if I missed THAT!  I also did what’s called the “Daniel Fast” again, but this time 5 days instead of 3.  I know many people who do this the entire 21 days….No sugar, processed foods, dairy, meat, butter, breads, and only water to drink.  It’s not exactly easy, but that’s not the point.  Yesterday was my last day, so today I enjoyed this…

Hot tea is my friend in the morning.  And, I’ve got a pint of frozen chocolate yogurt for later.  Thank you Jesus for the sweet things in life.

** For the first time, Lainey and Dylan have their very own outside homeschool class.  Our friend Sandi (Hollyn’s mom) told us about it, suggesting it would be an awesome way to get them active AND give them time together on a regular basis.  They are in heaven with this class.  It’s through our town’s parks and rec, and involves one hour learning about a certain sport (so far, they’ve done basketball and volleyball), and then one hour on a health/safety topic (the last two were bus and fire safety).  We’re giving the kids some extra playtime afterwards, too.  Last week at our house, the coming week at Hollyn’s.  I’ll try and get some pics next time they go!

** My northern friends are laughing right now.  It’s okay.  This is the only snow we’ve had so far this year, and the kids loved feeling it on their faces.  It didn’t stick so well, since we’d had rain, rain, and more rain for days before.  But, the dusting was very pretty in the morning.

** One thing about homeschooling that I find interesting is that you’re always making changes.   Early on, I assumed there’d be this time when I would have it ALL figured out.  Ha.  This is our 12th year.  I think I forgot to factor in the changing ages of our kids, along with the increasing difficulty of their classes.  We’re always changing.  This semester, Payton switched to an online math class that, so far, is going very well.  We also tweaked how we manage the kid’s accountability,  as far as getting their work done and turned in.  Last, after having a family meeting with the kids, we agreed on what’s expected of them and gave them the incentive of allowance in return.  Teens love a little spending money in their pocket.

** Payton has always wanted to learn to cook…I tell him to SHOW UP in the kitchen when I’m cooking, but so far he’s not done that.  Enter Abbey’s friend D’Qota who’s been spending some time with us lately.  He LOVES to cook, and yesterday I found him going through my spice cabinet.  That was a first, as far as my kid’s friends go!  Turns out they were inventing a recipe for a spiced-up philly cheesesteak sandwich.  They even named it… the B Shooks Philly.  Not sure how they came up with that.  I tried it…very flavorful, I was impressed.

While they were cooking, they flipped through my Southern L*ving magazine and decided to try the lemon cheesecake today.  This recipe is involved…you have to make lemon curd!  I’ve never even done that.  The curd is chilling in the fridge as I type.  I’ll get back to you on how that worked out.

Here they are making those sandwiches…

** Lainey has been looking forward to today for about a week.  She was invited to her friend Anna’s birthday party!  But, that’s not the best part.  She was invited to spend the night, just her and Anna.  Deliriously happy would describe her response to that last part.

I asked her if she was excited, she said yes.  I asked her if she was nervous, she said no.  I do wonder how she’ll be at bedtime, this is only her 2nd friend sleepover.  I’m sure Anna’s mom will let her call to say goodnight.

We’ll pick Lainey up at church tomorrow.  Marley is at her friend Kylie’s house until Sunday.  D’Qota is here till tonight.  Payton and Ethan are going to their friend Jason’s house tonight, with Payton sleeping over.  Ethan and his friend Trevor are leaving Jason’s early and coming here to spend the night (since they both have to be at church super early for worship team).  Confusing?  This is quite common for weekends around here!

So, that was last week.  Tomorrow is church and two Testify practices, as usual.  Randy leaves for Atlanta for 2 days/1 night on Tuesday.  Life is busy, but great.

Last Saturday, we invited teens to our house for the day.  Not to just hang out…course, they did some of that.

But, to work.

We’re still in the process of getting the building  on our property renovated for Randy’s bi-weekly “Shop” meetings.  We want the kids to be fully involved in getting THEIR building ready.

The plan:  build acoustic panel frames and get the stage installed.  And, gather wood for a bonfire.

Done.

Next up, lots of pizza.  Nine in fact, and by the end of the night, only ONE piece was left.  At least they brought the snacks and sodas!

Fed and happy, it was time for the Shop meeting…a little worship first, and then Randy taught the lesson.

Bonfire time…

We love opening our home to teens…yes, it’s loud and crazy.  But, we feel blessed to have a place that they can hang out, have fun, worship, and grow in their Christian walk.

Welcome, 2013.  We stayed home and took advantage of the fact we have land…

While Randy played pyrotechnic, the kids lit sparkler after sparkler.

We played by the rules, and purchased our fireworks here in NC.  There are some folks who wander over to SC, where the BIG stuff is legal and then bring it back over.  Not us.  Well, at least not this year.

These were fun, even though on a small scale.  Bright, lots of colors, and some were LOUD!

After our mini display, we ran inside with about 2 minutes to spare.  Quickly turned on the TV and counted down with the rest of the US…Happy New Year!!

But, we weren’t done yet.  We had a Christmas tree to ceremonially dispose of.  In a blaze of fire.

We dragged it down our drive, to the spot we usually use for a fire pit.  Randy lit a small firework and threw it in.  Almost immediately…

It crackled and literally swallowed up the tree in less than a minute.  The heat coming off that tree was intense, and we all had to move back.

About this time, I’m thinking “I hope we got all the ornaments off…”

I guess we’ll never know for sure ;)

Cloud of sparks

That tree was quickly turned into a charred main trunk with short, spindly branches.  Amazing.  I guess it’s true what they say…Christmas trees DO burn quickly!

These shots were taken on my phone, by the way….too lazy and tired to drag out the big camera!  I’m not exactly a night-owl like most of my family.  Yawn.

It was a great, family-fun way to begin 2013.  We pray that this year brings God’s blessings, whatever they may be, to us and to our friends and family :)

Get your motor running…

Head out on the…field?

Looking for adventure…

in whatever comes our way.

BORN TO BE….Wait.  I don’t like where this song is going.

Born to have fun on dirt bikes!!  Without any concussions or broken bones!

Not a very catchy song, huh?