Cruising

About 2 years ago, our twins came to us and asked for a cruise to celebrate their 18th birthday.  They turned 18 this past February but we waited until November due to hurricane season and our oldest daughter who works at the local Supervisor of Elections office.

November 10th found our family along with my mom boarding ship for our first cruise.  We started off enjoying our first meal and quickly learned how much food was going to be available for the next 3 days.  Overall the food was very good on the ship and we enjoyed having the opportunity to try unusual foods like escargot and roasted duck that we normally would not purchase or make.  We chose the earlier evening meal time which usually worked well as we would be hungry and ready for lots of food.  I was disappointed that Carnival apparently just started putting a surcharge on things like lobster and other more expensive meats so I wasn't able to have the lobster I was looking forward to.   Our wait staff was wonderful and quickly learned that coffee was a standard with dessert.

We were able to get into our cabins right away although we didn't get all our luggage until later in the day.  The 5 girls were in one cabin with 2 twin beds, 2 bunk beds that were folded up against the wall during the day and a trundle bed.  My mom shared a cabin with my husband and I.  We had 2 twin beds pushed together and a trundle bed.  The beds were actually very comfortable and while there wasn't much walking room, we had plenty of storage.  The one thing we would definitely do different on our next cruise is get a room with at least a window!  Our room was very dark so there was no way to know if the sun was up or not.  That was not easy for me as my habit is to look out a window shortly after getting up in the mornings.

When we went up for breakfast Friday morning, I was amazed at the color of the ocean!  I had heard how pretty the Caribbean was but to see it in person is breathtaking. After breakfast, we headed up top to watch as we pulled into our first stop, Freeport.  While I found the water to be beautiful, I was not overly impressed with the port itself.  It was very industrial looking.  Since this was our first cruise and because they are expensive, we didn't arrange to do any excursions so everyone but my husband and I chose to get off at Freeport.  There was a small shopping area that we walked through. It was mostly the same things like your standard souvenirs but we also saw some different things like a turtle made from coconut shells.  Cruise elegant was dinner that evening and you can believe it was much looked forwarded to with our boatload of girls.

Saturday morning, we awoke to find that we were in port at Nassau.  This was more the look I was expecting.  We all got off after breakfast and headed into the town.  We had to walk past the other 4 ships that were also there and made our ship look like the runt of the bunch.  There were quite a few locals trying to get us to take their tour or taxi or carriage ride or get our hair braided.  Thanks to advice of friends, the girls had their hair up or under hats.  We then headed down the street where there were shops of all kinds and offering everything you could imagine.  We went to the closest beach where we put our feet in the water - cold water that is!  We then headed back to do some shopping and enjoy some activities on the ship.  We pulled out right around sunset so we had some opportunities for some beautiful pictures.

Sunday was our day at sea so we enjoyed many of the activities on board like trivia. We actually played trivia every day and I, along with my husband and mom, won a trophy or ship on a stick the first day.  We also took in the pg rated comedy shows and the Hasbro family show.  I was able to get on stage for the Hasbro show Saturday night and my team won so I had a shot at the grand prize.  I ended up in 2nd but I received a new game for the family to enjoy.

We were ready to be home on Monday but hubby and I are already thinking and talking about future cruises.

Happy 20th birthday!

20 years ago, my life changed once again.  I was already a mother but there were now 2 of you.  You entered the world making sure we knew you were there.  You showed yourself to be a different person than your sister from the start.  You kept us on our toes with your health from being hospitalized at 8 weeks, having a bad burn at age 2, multiple chest and bronchial infections leading to an asthma diagnosis, and stitches in your chin.  You have shown the talents God has given you from art to writing to swimming to music.  You are a lover of animals and a giving heart to all.

I have had the pleasure to know you as a daughter.  I have watched God grow you and work in your heart so I am thankful to also call you sister.  I pray as you start to spread your wings and fly that I might call you friend.  These 20 years have flown and I'm not sure how we got here but I wouldn't change anything in them.

I love you and look forward to seeing what God has in store for you in the next 20 years!  Happy 20th birthday, Victoria!!

One Has Flown the Nest

If you asked me last week how many lived in my household, I would have replied 7.  Now my answer would be 6.  I knew this day would come, actually it is what my role has been, to help prepare the children God has blessed me with to leave and make their mark on the world.

It isn't easy though.  I will miss the few minutes in the morning to chat before she heads out to work.  I will miss planning enough food so she might also have some leftovers for lunch.  I will miss her asking if I need help with dinner or something else.  I will miss the late night talks over something on her mind or heart.  Most of all, I will miss her texts saying "Imacominhome".  I'm thankful God has allowed me to build a relationship that causes a little sadness in her leaving the nest.  She hasn't gone too far so we can still enjoy times together and see each other at church.

There are 4 more to leave the nest so I will go through these emotions again but each time I will be thankful for the time I have had preparing them to spread their wings and fly.  I can't wait to see where her wings take her!

First Recital

 

Gretchen had her first recital yesterday afternoon.  We signed her up for Baton Twirling at a local dance center.  Mama had enjoyed learning the baton some when she was younger and was happy to see Gretchen enjoy it also.  She did a fantastic job with their routine and only dropped her baton once.  They had a section where they performed in the dark with colored glow sticks on the end of the batons.  It looked really neat!  Next year, they don't have baton so we are going to give tumbling a try.  Gretchen is kind of glad she doesn't have to worry about a recital next year.

Wait...it's May?!?

Ok, someone tell me how it has gotten to be May already?  I was just taking down Christmas and now I'm sweating like it is already August.  Wait, wasn't that how it was in December?  Seriously though, I have lost a few months here on the blog and I was doing so much better about posting.  So what has been going on you ask?  Speech tournaments, of course.  We had a tournament every 2-3 weeks from the middle of February to the beginning of May and working as Logistics Coordinator means I am actually working on things 1.5 to 2 weeks before a tournament so it was all I could do to try and keep the household going while doing tournament prep.

The girls had a great season with each of them taking 3 speeches to the Regional tournament - their duo on coffee, Hannah's Original Interp and her Open Interp on "The Day the Crayons Came Home" and Abigail's Open Interp on "Who Pushed Humpty Dumpty and Other Notorious Nursery Tale Mysteries" along with her Bio Narrative on Fred Rogers.   We had high hopes for Regionals and 2 speeches made it to the elimination rounds which was Abigail's Open Interp and the Duo but both of them only made it to semi-finals.  No invitations to Nationals were earned.

So you are finished and free for the summer, you say?  Well, no, actually not because the Monday after Regionals, we found an e-mail offering Hannah an At-Large slot for Nationals with her Open Interp.  Now I know you must be wondering why Hannah got the slot and not Abigail since Abigail was the one who advanced at Regionals.  The reason is At-Large slots are based on how you do with a speech throughout the season which accumulates points.  We were hoping for the same thing for the Duo but our points were not high enough.

Now we are planning a trip to Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee, OK in the middle of June.   We have decided to drive for mainly financial reasons but also for the fun.  This means Gretchen and my mom can join us too!  So stay tuned and I will try to post as we travel.  Of course, I will hopefully do some more posts in between that time.  In the meantime, enjoy some pictures from our great tournament season!

Breaks

We climbed in the car to leave Florida and headed northward, our minds wondering if there would still be some of the snow they had gotten over the weekend.  When we arrived, cheers erupted as we saw white all over the ground.  My youngest quickly donned on her gloves and coat to begin making snowballs and snowmen.  That night was freezing temperatures so the next morning there was some ice around.  I left the room first and quickly found out just how slippery ice was on a road.  Thankfully, the injury was only found with bruises on my hip, elbow and wrist.  Later that morning, as I sat with ice on my arm, I find out that one of my girls had also fallen on the ice, my youngest who had been enjoying the snow with friends but then found herself on some ice.  Down she went with thump and an arm hitting the curb.  Yep, Daddy took her off to the urgent care to confirm what was suspected - a broken bone.  This was a first for our family but she was full of smiles as she returned with a sling and wrapped up arm.

We were at the NC National Open tournament when all this happened so her sisters, Hannah and Abigail, who were timing and competing, didn't have a clue about the drama until later that day when people started asking them how their little sister was.  I did try to reach them earlier!

Other than the falls on the ice, the tournament was a good one.  Hannah and Abigail were very excited to find out they advanced with their Duo to semi-finals and Hannah also advanced with her Open.  They also received some good feedback on their ballots which was very encouraging for all of their speeches.

The youngest has decided it might be awhile before she wants to be in snow again so it is a good thing we are back in Florida where the only ice is in the freezer.  She went to get her permanent cast today so she will be styling for a few weeks.  Mama will also be getting lots of practice with her writing because school must go on.

Holiday Craziness

Well, I don't know about you but the end of 2015 into 2016 has been crazy.  I didn't even get my Christmas decorations taken down and put up until this week!  The week between Christmas and New Years was taken up with preparing for our first speech/debate tournament and our annual New Years Eve party where we had about 20-25 young adults enjoy ringing in 2016 and 5 of them stayed the night for breakfast and another round of games.  The first Saturday of the new year found us celebrating a marriage and a new baby for 2 (different :-)) family friends.  On the 5th I celebrated another year of life that the Lord granted me although I had to do it in between packing as we left for Boca Raton early on the morning of the 6th.

The 6th-9th of January found the twins, G and I at our first tournament of the year.  It was quite a tiring one as we had later nights than normal and just as early days.  It didn't help that it was 1/2 a mile walk to get from where I was to where the girls were at on the campus.  Florida Atlantic University is enormous so be sure to pack a lunch, map and walking shoes if you ever go.

This week found me trying to stay home as much as possible and getting caught up on laundry, school, housework and anything else that needed my attention like putting up the christmas decorations.  Thankfully, my hubby had taken down the outside lights while I was gone because winter finally arrived in Florida, (low of 25 degrees one morning!) so it wasn't the best weather to be outside for long periods of time.

Enjoy some pictures from our holidays and tournament and have a great weekend!

 Christmas eve before going to see lights

 Annual Christmas morning picture

Getting her ready to move out on her own! 

 This was the first of 3.

 Too true around here.  He also thought it was funny I bought him Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Did you get me what I think you did?

 Yay!  I can store all my oils in one place!

 This is true of all my girls! 

                   

 New Years Eve

Waiting for speech breaks.  They both advanced with their Open Interpretation.

Doing their Duo on coffee