Candle By Night

From the Thomas Nelson website : What does it mean to think, believe, and act like an American? Too often reduced to a mythic set of lofty ideals, the soul of America is far more than a concept—it is a people. Even the most sacred principles mean very little unless lived out passionately by an informed citizenry. In The Portable Patriot, you’ll find a carefully assembled sampling of American history’s most formative words, written by the people who were making that extraordinary history. Speeches and sermons, essays and extracts, poems and proclamations illumine such values as independence, virtue, humility, thrift, prayer, and reliance on God. While peering back to the cradle of America’s national identity, The Portable Patriot also points a way forward, compelling us to heed poet John Dickenson’s plea to “rouse your bold hearts at fair Liberty’s call.” Crack open The Portable Patriot, and you’ll discover. . . Puritan Pastor John Cotton’s warning on the dangers of exces...

My Mom came up yesterday to drop a few things off for us. Since it was so warm we decided to go to DQ to cool off. :-) But first, the children opened up their gifts. I had asked my sister to find shirts for the children that said "Brooklyn" (That is where she lives). Anyway, I don't have a picture of them on my camera, but the girls got pink shirts with a red star. In the middle of the star it says Brooklyn. Little E has a shirt of the Brooklyn Bridge arches with a giant gorilla and Big T has a large "F" on his shirt. It stands for the F train that we took a lot while there last month. The children love their shirts. (*Added to say: I just realized that in the pictures of the waterfall...if you look closely you can see the shirts.) Anyway, after we ate at DQ we decided to head to the waterfall to dip our toes in and cool off. It was very pleasant day. Felt so bad though...a young lady took a fall and landed square on her back. I bet she isn't moving around ...

The children love it when we give them the chance to play at the castle. That's what they like to call it. Here is a quick link to the parks in the area. The Wildwood Park is at the bottom and has a link for directions. This park isn't in our town, but when we get down to Granville the children have a wonderful time. There are so many nooks and crannies to hide in and plenty of places to spy on your opponent. :-) Beloved usually is the dragon, Big T is the knight and Sweet E is the princess. Little E does his own thing. So here are a few pictures from out last trip there. Hope you enjoyed all of the pictures. And I am just giving a heads up. There will be more reviews than usual this next month. I have been given the opportunity to review a number of products. So just fair warning that more reviews will be in the mix. :-) Hope you are having a great week and try to stay cool. :-)

Happy Father's Day to all the Fathers out there. May you have a blessed, God-Filled Day! To my Wonderful Hubby- God has blessed me so much by giving you to me. You are such a wonderful father and a wonderful Husband. I couldn't ask for anything more. You are the leader of our home and I know our children will be raised in a home that loves the Lord with all of their hearts. We love you and we thank the Lord everyday for you. WE LOVE YOU PAPA! To my Father: I pray that you have a wonderful day. We are sorry we could not see you. We miss seeing you. You are a wonderful father and grandpa! We Love you! To my Father-In-Law: You are a wonderful man! Thank you for all that you do for us. We love you! :) To My BIL- You are a wonderful father to your girls and a great uncle. God has blessed you so much and we pray that you will continue to strengthen your walk with him. To my other BIL- Your family has been such a blessing to us. We pray that you will have a wond...

It's hard to believe that our oldest niece, Miss B, graduated last Saturday. But here she is...leading the class (she was valedictorian!) It wasn't too long ago that she was a junior bridesmaid in our wedding. She made sure to have perfect posture and a big smile through the whole ceremony. :-D I did not attend the graduation ceremony. I stayed at the house with Little E and Special K. I wish I could have been there, but Beloved did a good job at getting lots of pictures for me. :-) Big T and Sweet E behaved well at the graduation and seemed to enjoy themselves. Beloved did record her speech for me, but for some reason the sound is off on it. Not sure why, but I get the idea. :-) Congratulations on your graduation Sweetie. We love you and are so proud of you. You are such a blessing to us. May God bless you and keep you as you prepare for college in the fall.

Last Friday we finally got to chance to head out to Honey Run with no chance of rain! The water was ice cold, but it was so much fun! Here I am telling Big T where to step so he doesn't fall (which had already happened once by this time) Yes, her eyes are a closed, but she did enjoy watching everyone. Next time we will make sure to get her in the water too. It's so nice to have so many parks in our county. Gives the children a lot of opportunities to run some energy off. And the waterfall is beautiful. (Sadly I would recommend wearing water shoes or sandals. There was trash and some broken glass. It's too bad others have to ruin it.) The children were fascinated by this tree that was growing out of the rocks. It's safe to say that Little E was very scared. He did not like crossing the water. Oh well. I almost fell because he wouldn't walk across, but we came out okay. We hope to be back very soon!