Monday, July 26, 2010

Childlike Faith

We were driving home one night and the boys saw the Angel Moroni on top of the Mormon Temple in Gardendale

Carter: Hey, is that the Vulcan?
Ben & I: No son, that is a Mormon Temple and that is the Angel Moroni on top
Carter: Can we go inside (I'm assuming he's thinking it's like the Vulcan museum which they love)
Ben & I: No, we don't want to go worship there, they don't believe in the same God we do
Carter: They don't believe in God?!?!
Ben & I: Well, they believe in God but they don't believe that Jesus is God
Carter: We need to go tell them!!
Ben & I: People have son, a lot of times
Carter: But they need to know! We need to tell them!

My prayer is that I would have the faith and boldness like a child. Those who don't know Christ, we should go and tell them. Plain and simple.

Not Me Monday

Mckmama- Not Me Monday

One thing about myself that I have been reminded of since we have been sleeping at different places lately (cruise, beach, my parents house, living with in-laws). I DO NOT have to sleep on the side of the bed that is closest to the door. Something that took Ben a little bit to get used to when we first got married. Which in all honesty I don't think was a problem for him after we had kids because who are the kids going to wake up first...the parent closest to the door!

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Love of school supplies

Every fall I start feeling all giddy inside and this year is no different. Target, Wal-mart, the Dollar Tree have all put out the new school supplies and I am floating in mid air as I walk down the asiles....new boxes of crayons, markers, pencils, the crisp pages of the notebooks. A huge smile comes upon my face.

This year is a little different however, I have no supply list from a school - this could get dangerous! Since I am homeschooling I can pick out the different kind of notebooks I want the kids to use and I can let them pick out the cute folders instead of the solid color ones. To my wallet this is not a good thing. I have bought a few things here and a few things there so I decided to lay it all out and just see what all I have gotten so far.



I think we have a good start. Now all I need is a house to set everything up and we are ready to go :)

I do have my curriculum picked out, but haven't received all of my books yet. For those of you who are curious as to what we will be teaching/learning at the DeLoach homeschool here you go:

Bible: Jesus Storybook Bible with CD
Big Picture Bible Time Line
Catechism's & Memory Verses - Teaching Truths, Training Hearts by Tom Nettles

Reading: Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading
Five In A Row - Volume 1

Math: Math-U-See

Handwriting: A Reason for Handwriting

Spelling: A Reason for Spelling

History: History for Little Pilgrims

Not sure how our days are going to play out just yet, but we are going to make it as fun as possible!

Side Note *We are set to close around Aug. 5th. - all depending on inspection, appraisal, and when the windows are finished. All the windows in the house are having to be replaced with energy efficient ones.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Not me Monday

Mckmama- Not Me Monday

We all go potty, get bathing suits on, find enough towels, look under the couch and on counter tops trying to find 6 little flip flops, grab a couple bottles of water & maybe a few snacks to take down to the pool. After 30 min. we finally arrive. Three little splashes and 2 min. later I hear, mom I have to go potty! To those of you with boys I'm sure the bush or tree has been used to go potty in your backyard (ours have at least, lots of times) but they are boys, that's just something they do, right? But I absolutely would NOT EVEN think about letting my sweet little girl go potty off the deck like her brothers!



Nope, not me :)


Friday, July 16, 2010

Getting the kids involved

Even though we are still living in Gardendale this past week the 5 of us DeLoach's have been in East Lake serving during the day. I am always looking for ways to take the kids with us to serve and this week was a great opportunity. World Changers had brought three groups of kids in from Georgia to fix a house in East Lake, so we had the honor of feeding lunch to around 40 teenagers each day.

We took one trip to Costco and were pretty much set for the week. 5 boxes of chips, 5 cases of bottled water, 2 boxes of cookies / rice crispy squares, 4 containers of powdered Gatorade, hamburger meat, turkey & ham as well as a box full of hamburger buns and a box of bread. As well as all the condiments, baby wipes & hand sanitizer. For some reason I absolutely love to buy in bulk - I guess I think I'm getting a better deal, so this shopping trip made my heart jump for joy.

We kept the menu simple with hamburgers, sandwiches and per the teenagers request pizza. I couldn't believe they wanted pizza as hot as it was outside, but they are teenagers.



Carter was great help tearing the lettuce for the burgers & sandwiches.



Unfortunately I forgot my camera every day. I had every good intention of taking pictures of the teenagers from GA, our kids interacting with the teens, the work they were doing and just how miserably hot everyone was from being outside all day. In the mornings I was so concerned with forgetting something for the kids (teens and my own) that I would always forget to get my camera from upstairs.
It was very encouraging (and a great witness to my three kiddos) to see how thankful & happy all the teenagers were even though they were miserably hot. The week started out with my three complaining that it was oh SO hot outside and they were ready to go as quickly as we got there, but as they saw the teens working on the roof and around the house and not complaining, my three stopped as well. So here's a shout out to all you teens who did an excellent job this week!

Monday, July 12, 2010

When you let God be in control

Update on our East Lake house.

We have a contract on a house, but no it's not the same one we had a contract on two weeks ago! I have to admit I was a little sadden by the fact that the 1930's brick house on the corner with plaster walls, arched doorways, and just loads of character was not going to be where I called home. We had both prayed about where to move, but we both knew that we were going to be paying more than we should for that house. It was still less than we had paid for our Chelsea house and realistically I guess we were just justifying the cost because we loved that street and Ben knew how much I loved the house. We had a signed contract, the inspection went great, then came the appraisal. That was the deal breaker. The appraisal came back $15,000 less than the contract price. We couldn't bring the difference to the table and she couldn't come down on the price due to what she still owed on the house. Side note: She is now renting to another couple from BrookHills, which was a blessing to both.

So we started the house looking yet again. We quickly found another for sale by owner on the same street! This house is 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, and a bonus room that is perfect to serve as a school room and the best part is we have a contract that is about $50,ooo less than the first house. It's like God had it planned out all along :) Amazing how that happens isn't it. It doesn't have the character that the other one did, it's just not as old. We do have some construction that will have to be done, we'll need to replace the windows, redo the pink tile bathroom, maybe expand the shower in the blue tile bath and add an island or bar area in the kitchen. Then of course there is some, scratch that, lots of yard work to be done. I think the house will be just fine, we'll add our own character, but I'm honestly more excited about the neighbors than I am the house. Goes back to one of the main reasons we are moving to East Lake, it's not for our wants of a big, nice comfortable house, it's to minister to the neighbors. Right next door is an 80 year old widow, across the street is a lady who is home bound, next to her is a cop & his wife is a nurse who have lived in that house for 10 plus years. We obviously haven't meet everyone, but I am ready to go! We are set to close on July 23rd....assuming inspection and appraisal give us the green light.

874 77th Way Birmingham AL 35206 - MLS Listing Info

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Not Me Monday

Mckmama- Not Me Monday


I do not LOVE car tags. I know it sounds silly, but I do not absolutely love to find a personalized car tag and try to figure it out. The more challenging the better. I do not wish I could figure out one to put on my van and I have not tried for years to think of one I love that isn't corny.
I also do not pride myself in knowing what county an AL car is from by looking at the number on the license plate (some anyway). I do not love to see new ones that stump me and do not go home and look them up immediately.

I'm a geek I know :)

4 vs 6

This past week we took a family vacation to the beach with another family. If we stay in one condo and split the cost we're being radical right? :) We had four adults and six kids and had a blast!
We went down on the 4th so we were able to watch fireworks from our balcony. Unfortunately the next few days were filled with rain, but not thunder or lighting so it didn't stop us from going and playing in the outside pools, lazy river, and we had a plus side of indoor pools as well. There was no way this vacation was going to be a flop.



We had one day that was absolutely beautiful so we went to the beach to play.



The boys may have loved getting their feet wet in the ocean, but this little gal wasn't going anywhere near that "dirty water" as she called it.



The water was brown gulf water with lots of seaweed, but after you had been in it for just a little while your feet started to turn a nice shade of sticky brown thanks to the oil. It was double red flag so no one was supposed to be in the water. We let the kids get in just enough to get their feet wet, but after about an hour and one alligator sand shape (can't really call it a sand castle) later we were back at the pools.



One of the fondest memories was walking around The Wharf and riding the Ferris Wheel. Little fact: It is the largest Ferris Wheel in the southeast.



Most meals we ate at the condo. We also got to noticing that in taking pictures of all six kids at one time we had at least one that wasn't happy. By the way the kids ages are 2,3,4,5,6 & 6.



Balloon animals at The Hangout.



Catching rolls at Lambert's.



I absolutely LOVE creating memories for my kids!