Today is a Good Day...

Today...

I am humbled by the Lord's faithfulness and goodness to me - "I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever; with my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness to all generations." Ps. 89:1

I am thankful that God has filled my cup with the portion He has determined best for me - "Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; You have made my lot secure." Ps. 16:5

I am content in God's sovereign control over all my circumstances - "God...is the blessed controller of all things, the King over all kings and the Master of all masters." I Tim. 6:15

I am comforted to know that God has a plan, a purpose for my life - "Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be." Ps. 139:16

I am fortunate to have the God given assignment of wife, mother, daughter, student, and friend - "Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful." I Cor. 4:2

Rejoicing in all things! :)

Teachable Moments...

Today and last Tuesday was sewing day here at the Ranch...my neighbor, Nicole and a woman from church, Patty wanted to learn how to make a quilted tote. A class had been offered at church a few months ago but these two were unable to attend. So, I told them we would have our own class while I was on break from school. :)

Below is Nicole stitching her VERY FIRST stitch EVER!! Her first strip...
The front of the bag complete...

And Tadaaaaa...her finished tote! She did a great job and was so cute to repeat, "This is so fun!" all throughout both days. :)

I really enjoyed teaching these ladies and they are so very excited to start making Christmas gifts!

I loved seeing the satisfied look of accomplishment on their faces...it is truly so exciting to learn something new and I was privileged to be the one able to teach them!

How could I...

After I posted about our amazing weekend (below), it occurred to me that I forgot to include one of my favorite pictures! Nick took this when the boys were at the 17th hole...great memories :)

A Blessed Time...

Last weekend we were privileged to spend three days in Nipomo with some of my favorite people :) It has taken me a while to post about it because I have reflected and basked in our time there...an incredible blessed time of refreshment for our family, as well as a time of inspiration for me as I shared and received counsel from my godly mentor of 30 years (wow, DeAnn, can you believe it's been that long?) Their home there was amazing and this picture is taken in their "backyard" which happens to be the 17th hole of the golf course...loved the fountain!! The Onaindia Family spent some quality time together in SLO on Saturday afternoon...we loved spending quality time them...thank you for being good examples to our boys :)
Kristen said that June's favorite toy is this Similac lid...ha! I think she'd make a perfect spokesbaby...don't you? :)

Me and June...5th cousins :)

Derek...the baby magnet! He had June really laughing...sooooo cute!

June has begun to eat cereal and she inhaled it :) She is growing so fast and it is fun to see Kristen with her...she is such a great mom!

After cereal time it was definitely bath time and who can resist taking a picture of a baby right after a bath? Is there anything better? Nope!

On Saturday morning we headed off to the Clubhouse for some pool time, work-out time, and golf time. Us girls walked there (loved it!) while the boys drove...

Amazing facility...

There is where DeAnn and I parked ourselves while Nick & Kristen went to SLO and the boys went golfing...

June and her mommy...

June and her grammy...

June's sweet baby feet with "too-cute" sandals...

June swimming with grandpa...

June and Dalton...the boys just loved being with her!

Sweetness...

Golf course at Nipomo...

Derek and the boys sure enjoyed their time with Mike as they golfed and hot-tubbed afterwards on Saturday...

Great job, Mike!... It was fun to see the boys with June...they were wonderful with her and will definitely make great dads someday :)

DeAnn introduced and got me hooked on Green Tea from Starbucks...we succeeded in making our own at the house by brewing the green tea and adding crystal light lemonade! Now, we will be able to save ourselves $2.10 per Venti :)

Derek and Nick grilling for dinner...I must say that Mike totally spoiled us with great food all weekend. Thank you so much for your generosity and love for us!

A silly moment between DeAnn and Nick....they cracked me up! :)

To commemorate their golf date, I purchased matching Big Dog shirts for Mike and Derek...

Each night the boys played poker...how fun is that? Our boys were in all their glory...such great memories!

Here are some shots of this beautiful house...

Here is where Derek and I stayed...

View from the entry way...

Do we look refreshed or what?!? Thank you Sampleys and Onaindias for an absolute amazing time. We love you so very much and thank God for your influence in our lives.

p.s. The only thing missing from this perfect weekend was Nicole and Nathan...we missed/miss you!! Hope to see you at Christmastime :)

Feels good...

Well, it's been a couple of weeks already of having NO schoolwork, however, it isn't until this week that I really feel like I am on a break :)

• We've gone to the beach...
• Attended swim day with our church family...
• Took care of Dalton's yearly sports physical...
• Got my hair done...
• Ran errands and had lunch with a dear friend...
• Organized the office by getting rid of the old curriculum and preparing for the new stuff which I ordered last night :)...
• Prepared all paperwork necessary for next week's school meeting...which included planning out the rest of Dalton's High School years...
• Began studying for the CSET test (consisting of 3 tests that I HAVE TO pass in order to be accepted into the Credential Program) which is on Sept. 12th (need ALL prayers, please!)
• Now I'm off to tackle our Master Closet...which I have conveniently saved for last...ugh!

My motivation for getting these things all done is that we're heading off tomorrow morning for a mini-vacation to Nipomo Beach with the Sampleys and Onaindias...I can hardly wait to have some quality time with them! Us girls will be sunning while the boys will be golfing...

Oh and there is also the fact that I am scheduled for Jury Duty on Monday and have NO IDEA what will come of it...I am prepared to tell them that I am a conservative, Christian woman who is married to a Cop and believes in the death penalty. Do you think it will work?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Update*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I finished the closet and have 5 big black garbage bags to take to the Salvation Army...can you believe that I had clothes in there from when the boys were little?...disgraceful! I feel so great about this accomplishment; I will be tackling ALL my drawers next week :) yippeee....

It's a Wrap...

To conclude our great week with the kids, we decided to go to the beach after church. We travelled to Silver Strand Beach in Oxnard and it was beautiful - a high of 67 degrees!! I feel so relaxed at the beach and could have stayed there until evening!

Sweet face, Kaylynn...
Ethan really enjoyed the lacrosse set I bought...

Only a few were brave enough to get into the water...Ethan, Dillon and Bitsy!

The teenage bathing beauties...

The boys and their friends...such a good group of kids! Derek and I really enjoy their company :)

Dick brought his HUGE fishing pole and I was really hoping that he would have caught something, but alas, not a bite.

Larry, Ang and Maxine enjoying the cool weather :)

I love this picture of Dillon and Brooke...

Ang and I... (I didn't realize that I had brought all my 'lifeguard apparel')...

Can you see the LONG path behind Derek? The ice chest has wheels but they did not work at all in the sand so he dragged it from our 'site' to the car. He said his quads were burning and let the other teenage boys try this unexpected work-out :) They, however, weren't breathing as hard as Derek...ha!

We had a great time! I especially enjoyed Derek being with us. He is really not a huge fan of the beach but was very willing to go and truly enjoyed himself :)

Penny visits...

Brooke brought Penny to the Ranch to visit with the hounds and Ethan and Kaylynn :) The kids, of course, loved her and Kaylynn walked Penny around the property about 7 times!! Our dogs are getting used to this playful pup and we love it when she visits!! She is so stinkin' cute...I just love her little face! Settling down on E&K's bed...Penny was non-stop for many hours :)
Crashed...she had an exhausting and exciting night at the Ranch!

Penny is such a good pup!