Shark Attack and A Penguins Scorn

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I Snagged this photo at 

Ripley's Aquarium 

in Tennessee.

*

Talk about fun!!

Have you gone to this Aquarium?

We saw a whole bunch of cool things.

I will have to post more photos later.

They had a few "spy" tunnels that the kids

and adults could climb in to observe the

animals closely.

We ended up in the Penguin room.

Phew! Their "Spy" Tunnel was

a little stinky.

My guess is 

that they don't clean it all that often.

And those grubby 

fingerprints on the glass....

(I cringe at the thought...

grubby little hand-prints, everywhere!

Who knows what and where those hands

have been!
 
I hoped after this experience that there was 

some heavy duty sanitizer,

 somewhere in that building)

ANYWAYS....

The hardest part for me

was getting in the tunnel 

and touching the nasty floor.  

You see..

I was scheduled for knee surgery, 


and I hadn't had it just yet.

So "crawling" through the smelly; make you 

gag tunnel, was a little difficult.

I had to scooch down the tube 

on my  derriere.

Course the trip back feet first was harder 

than the trip up.

On may way back out-I had caught the 

attention of one of the penguins.

He was staring me down, and watching every

move I made.

I felt ridiculous...


I could just feel him mocking me...

in that penguin type tone...

If he could talk;

I am sure he was dying to tell me:

"Don't scooch, slide on your belly!!"

"Slide lady, slide!!!"

It felt like it took me 20 minutes

to get out of that smelly tunnel.

And I did feel embarrassed.

How can a little penguin make me

feel so embarrassed?!

  
Was it worth every inch I dragged myself?  

I don't know!

 I still haven't seen my

"better up close" photos yet.




Life happens and it creates stories.

Mine just happen to be different, and usually

a challenge,

 

and it is always interesting

 

(to my family)

 

to see what is going to happen to me 

 

next...

 

like the time I went fishing and sunk my reel

 

but that is a story for another time.



Do you have a funny story that happened at 

an aquarium?  I would love to hear about it!

Our Family

It was fun to set up the camera the other day to try to get a family photo.

My kiddos are so funny!! 

Who would of thought my 6 month old daughter

would have as much spunk at her age, as my 6 year old?!

Here she is loving on him....

She adores him!!

She loves to play with his hair, which she did after this photo was taken.

Then things get out of hand in her hand is more like it....

 and she yanked his hair really hard and we ended up with him crying.

Poor guy-he inherited sensitive hair from me.

I feel bad for him-seriously-he HATES getting his hair brushed because it hurts!!!

We finally got him calmed down and got our family shot.

You can still kinda tell he was upset-but he forgave her as I am sure you can see...

Those two really love each other! 

I am so blessed!!!

Over 1,000 Pictures in two days!!

Hahhahaha-I took over 1,000 pictures yesterday and today!!

1,131 pictures total to be exact!

That is so funny.....I said that I was going to take tons

guess I didn't let anyone down!

I can not wait to show you some of the photos.

Even

my guys were nice enough to pose for a few photos!!

{of course, it included a little eye rolling and a moan or two}

Hubby said that he must REALLY love me since he let me take his photo!

{I might have "broken" a few Photography Rules but, I really enjoyed being in Manual Mode!!}

♥♥♥♥

Tonight is our Winter Banquet at church

so I will be very busy today getting ready for the long weekend

and a few things that need some special attention.

I will try to post pictures very soon-I still have to post my assignments for my photography class....

sigh-how time flies!

Suit of Armor and a Pillowcase

My Mother sent this set of armor for our little man

It is the Armor Of God-it even has the Belt of Truth!

He liked it so much he wanted to take it to the store with us on Friday

Now that I am looking at the picture-I think the sword is a little on the bent side..unless it is

a trick with the camera hmmm...

anyways-This gift is so super-he Loves it!

******

I said the other day that I was gonna share what I got at IKEA

 this beautiful pillowcase for .49 cents!!

It has 4 buttons too

Greg asked why I wanted it

I thought that it might make a really cute skirt and his reply?

"My wife is wearing a pillowcase....."

I laughed so hard-he is so funny-I told him that it wouldn't look homely!

That's a guy for you-they need visual-he will like it once he sees it:)

ONLY ONE WEEK LEFT

TO ENTER THE $35 CSN GIVEAWAY!

Longest Post for Me I think-but it is all good!

I know 10:38a.m.

and 

I'm just posting for the say?

What can I say?

It's been a long busy week

 and I was sooooooooo

very tired this morning so,

I slept in

 {*gasp*}

 I know-but I'm usually up at 6a.m.

so I am gonna say that this is okay for today

 ; )

{wink with me}

*********

Today is

Family Fun Filled Friday

and I am so excited

Remember last week when I said that we had some

issues?

Well, our transmission was not working right on our car

we were thinking that we would be looking at rebuilding our

trans; not a pretty picture for finances!

I have yet to find anyone that has woke up one morning and said:

"Ahhhhh....what  a beautiful morning

I hope that my transmission in my car goes today

so that I can spend $1,500-$2,000 dollars in my

savings account to pay to fix it.

That would be so exciting!!!!"

So we were not too happy but knew that the Lord had a purpose and a plan.

We took it to our "favorite" automotive shop

they looked at it

and found out that the computer in the car had gone bad.

WE WERE SO THANKFUL THAT

THAT WAS THE ONLY PROBLEM!!!

So instead of look to spend 1,000-2,000 dollars it cost around $400.00!

The Lord is just too good to us!!

We should be going to pick up the car today

I've missed my car.....a lot

but having the larger car for the week was a benefit yesterday

especially with the groceries I picked up!

I got 30-2liter bottles of diet soda

30 boxes of Pillsbury "bake me" sugar cookie's

2 Gallons of Milk

for

FREE!!!

{One of my favorite words!!}

I still have $6 in Catalina's to spend on anything I want at the store as well:)

The Lord is just too good!!

***

If you have an Acme by you-their A&W brand is on sale 5/$4.00-makes it 80 cents apiece.

On the bottles I found $1.00 off 2 making it 30 cents apiece!

I had $12.00 in Catalina's to spend so I used $9.00 of it to get me enough soda to last through most of the year until next time they have the sale : )

If you know me

you know I buy enough for 6-12 months worth

because it is smarter to have it when it is on sale

then to buy it when it is full price!

{and that is my saving tip for the day}

Be sure to enter in the $35 CSN giveaway!
Have  a wonderful Family Fun Day!!

I know I will : )

I am linkin up to a few places for today...
{I am not sure how to hyperlink these}

 

We went to Longwood Gardens Yesterday for our

Family Fun Filled Friday

{try to say that 10 times fast! Haha}

I brought my tripod that

I Reviewed from CSN

{Check out the CSN review here}

so that I can finally join in the fun of family

photos

And this is what I accomplished:)

This is the SOOC version

{Straight Out Of Camera}

Then I cropped it differently each time and add a few filter effects

I ♥ my family!!!

Here is another take on the photo:

{I am so happy and pleased with my tripod!!!

Thank you again CSN!!!}

*♥*

Do you see Mr. Squirrel?

{Behind Caleb and off to the right by the hedges}

We were feeding him peanuts

and he was waiting for us to get done

with our photo so that he could have another peanut....

I didn't realize he was going to pose for our photo shoot

One time he almost

came right up to Caleb to take the

peanut right out of his hand!

&

Oh, boy do I have a story for you as well as to how

our day went!

Hahahha

it wasn't the easiest

but still the Lord is good

no matter what trouble comes our way!

MIA and another giveaway extra entry!!

Sorry for being MIA yesterday

I know no posts at all......what was I thinking?! 

I just 

know

 that you will forgive me

I was enjoying my most important people in my life

♥my precious family♥

Heehehehehe

Like this photo?

It made me laugh so hard!!!

Greg took off yesterday to spend the day with us!!! 

It was wonderful!!

********

Have I got news for you!!!

I woke up to a message from the blog girl

PHOTO FREAK

and I am made to be in her top 5 favorite heart pictures!!!!

I couldn't believe it!!! 

I entered in my sew "in" love picture

so for today's entry for the giveaway go

{HERE}

and vote for my

Sew "in" love  

photo:

it is at the top of her blog

then

{one one day of voting-sew please do hurry!}

Come back

{HERE}

and comment that you voted for me;)

Easy Peasy way to enter the giveaway!!!

My Wonderful Husband!!!!

Since I have started working at Caleb's School as the full time Elementary Music Teacher, my dear husband has been helping out with getting the things done around the house!  He is just so wonderful-I don't think he realizes how much this really helps me and eases my stress!  He folded the laundry the other day and put away the dishes one morning and put the dirty dinner dishes in the dishwasher.  It is so sweet that he is helping me out so much!!  I really really appreciate it-so this post is just for him to say thank you and how much I really love you!!!

Family Filled Friday's

Random photo from today : )

I am always expecting the unexpected every step of the way!

We had a wonderful day together as a family-we went to Longwood Gardens again-then a bike ride-and Little Ceasars pizza for "lupper" (lunch and supper put together;)

I have a You Paid What?! to post for you maybe tommorrow. I wil be having a giveaway soon-getting together the details:) Aren't you excited?!!

Until tommorrow

Hope your Friday was as fun and funny as mine!

♥Our Anniversary Day♥

We had a fun 7th Anniversary today.

We made a campfire and played with sparklers.

Needless to say-we enjoyed the Sparklers:)

This is Caleb playing with his sparkler

He was spinning around and around....

This poor guy had 3 Mid-Life Crisis' today.....

Break Down #1

The first one he was getting ready for us to go out-he had mastered getting buttons in the holes.  I told him that it was so sad that he was growing up so much..and he told me that it would be okay he would come and visit me at my house; and then I kinda got tears in my eyes.  He looked up and saw them and then he worked on getting his last button done.  All of a sudden he broke down crying.  I asked him what was wrong:  "But Mommy!  I'm not gonna be able tosee and kiss you every night..." he finally was sobbing-I did my best to calm him down and tell him it would be okay and that he had a while before he needed to worry about it.

Break Down #2

Then later on he broke down in tears when he was praying..."And Lord help my mommy and daddy when I get big and I am (*sob*) no longer at their house..Amen..."  Talk number two-he didn't have to worry he had a long time before he left our house.  He would be in school for 13 years..."Aw man!!  I was thinking only 3 years!" was his reply; hehehe-he is so funny!

 

Break down #3

He wanted to pray again..." Lord help my Mommy to not forget about me and that I will be able to get her that cup of water that she will need so that she will remember about me."  Had to explain that because he was going to school didn't mean that I would forget all about him.

This really gave us a look at what anxiety he is "secretly" dealing with right now-he is really excited about starting school-but apprehensive and nervous about being away from us. I keep telling him that all will be okay-I will be there teaching both days and I will pick him up on Tuesday...if you think about him-could you pray for him that his little heart will be peaceful and calm?.  Thank you!

We had our Bible time around the fire tonight-it was so nice and peaceful-we didn't even have a train go by while we were reading!! That is amazing!

Thy Word Is A Lamp Unto My Feet, And A Light Unto My Path!!Psalm 119:105

We had a wonderful time celebrating our seven years of marriage....Caleb asked this morning if he was gonna have to get all dressed up in his suit since it was our Anniversary-he is so funny!!

Thank you Lord so much!!!!

Guess What?! So Sad But Yet So Happy...

Caleb road his bike without the use of his training wheels today!!!

They got all bent up and he was riding all over the church parking lot....it was so cute!

Then Greg took off his training wheels and he was riding his bike all by himself!!!!!

So BitterSweet!!  Snif*  My Little Boy Wonder is growing up so quickly!

Boy they grow up so quickly!!! He starts Kindergarten next week!

Do Something Special For My Family Day

Today we made a lot of things-I spend a lot of time helping others that I took today off to help show my family how much I love them:

Caleb and I

Made Peanut Butter Chip Peanut Butter Cookies-so very good!!

Greg said that it was the best he had ever tasted:)

Thumbs up for me-cuz this is the first time I ever made them:)

Boy Wonder....

He helped until he got bored...

I was on a roll so I also made homemade pretzel dough

 and homemade tortilla dough

of course you have to have meat for your tacos too:)

so I browned up a pound of ground beef

It was hot outside and very hot in my kitchen-but my family deserved this:)

And I couldn't find my soap to wash my dishes...then I opened up the cupboard.....duh!!!

Here is the Pretzels all finished:

My family had a wonderful all homemade and homecooked meal-it was so nice:)

My total homemade list for the day is:

#1. One pound of ground beef made two crock pots full of yummy stuffing for my tacos

#2.  Crust for a chicken pot pie

#3.Pretzels for family

#4Iced Tea:) (The Good Kind-for those in the Cole Family)

#5. Dough for homemade tortillas

#6. Two batches of PB cookies

#7. Heart biscuits

#8.Two chicken breast for the ingredients inside the pot pie

#9 Four other chicken breast for a meal later on

#10Cornbread like Chi Chi's- I made up my own recipe for this one:)

(Dear Mom Cole-if you would like this recipe just send me an email and I will send it too you-since you like the Chi-Chi's cornbread so much:)

#11. Vegt to go with tonight's dinner

So all in all it has been a very productive made by me on Wednesday for my Wonderful Family.

So one pound of beef can go a long ways-you just have to know how to divide it up....I will probably get 6 meals to feed my family of 3 on from the taco stuffing:)

And 2 chicken breast will give us probably 4-5 meals.

We also have the 4 other chicken I cut up and put in the freezer-one of them will end up being soup-the others I am not sure-but I "rubber" chicken them all the time-you can feed your family well and with less-to help make your money go further.  Any questions? feel free to ask-if your interested in some recipes that I used I would be glad to share them-just leave a comment telling me what you would like:)

Longwood Gardens and Made By Competition:)

Here is some pictures from our trip to Longwood Gardens:

I played around with the compostition of this one:

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And last but not least:

Yeah!!!!The Votes are in and We won first place again!!!

Here is my Mother Gooses Memo Board

that I entered into the competition:

This is such an honor!!!  I was worried because we were on vacation so I was limited with what I could do:) If you voted, thank you so much for voting!!!!

A Stippling Foot& A Few Other Odds and Ends:)

Hubby bought me a Stippling Foot for my sewing machine!!!!I am so excited!!! I can't wait to use it-well,after things start settling down-I can't wait.....eeeee!

OOOO-I also found a dilly of a deal at Joann's-instead of doing ruffles by hand..they have the proper sewing foot for my machine and it will do the ruffles for me:)  BIG BIG BIG GRIN-can't wait to pick up the Ruffler Foot!!!I am gonna try to get it Labor Day weekend when they have 40%off and 10% off:)  it is only $14.99-not to bad a price!!!!  If I can talk hubby into stopping by Joanns:)

Tomorrow we are going to Longwood Gardens for a family outing-can't wait to take some pictures:)  It will be nice.

Still two more projects for the competition-I am gonna try to finish my one for this week today or Saturday.  Then one more week-and then break!!!  My dear friends and family are doing so well at voting!!! I didn't exactly expect such a turn out of votes-just goes to show how many friend you have:) 

Oh- I got the job as Music Teacher at Woodlyn Christian School.  So I am in charge of the Elem. grades and I will be helping with the Middle and High School classes.  I am humbled-because I am nervous-but God wouldn't lead me where His grace can't keep me.  I also will be the pianist for the opening chapel on Mondays-and might be doing flute lessons!!!  Busy busy busy-add all that to being a full time wife(going on 7 years), mom( 5 years), Assistant Pastor's Wife(going on 7 years), Church Pianist( going on 2 years), Seamstress(?years), Flautist(for 19 years!!) etc.....the list goes on and on.

I am really amazed at the opportunities that the Lord has given to me in the past few months-it almost makes me feel like I have grown so much Spiritually.  I have had so many folks older than me to ask my counsel and guidance-as well as a few that are younger.  I give counsel bathed in prayer for sure-I want the wisdom to be God's wisdom given in due season.

All in all the Lord is just so good to us!!!  No matter how many things we don't have-he has given us more than what we deserve let alone need.  I love the Lord with all of my heart-he is a true Best Friend to me!! 

Just remember even if your prayers are not what you are asking for-God still answers every single one of them whether it be yes or no or wait.

Until then In His Service,

I ♥ Face Photo

I entered our photo from this week at the beach in at:

If a picture says 1,000 words......then this one should at least have 3,000:)

Did you notice the Caleb sized handprint on my shirt?:)

More Pictures from NY City

 Notice something out of the ordinary?Caught me by surprise too!

NY City At Night-So pretty isn't it?!

*****************

I have a story to share with you on this one 

This is Ventnor City Area 

 The Lord gave us such a beautiful day!!!

 

My how "God ♥'s Me" some will understand this one;) 

************************

I know so random!

But isn't that neat!! Blue Claw-red tip...poor guy is missing an arm-somewhere out there

or maybe his arm is missing his body...

All Photos are taken by me with the help of my favorite camera;) 

Pictures From Ventnor City

Yes! I did take all of these photos:)

It was a beautiful night that night...this is the moon in these pictures..not the sun.

I ♥ my Canon Powershot SX20 Camera!!

Greg wanted to hold the moon in his hands:)

Atlantic City All A Glow