Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. What has been the highlight of your summer so far? (It's still summer people!)
It was a very busy summer for us so there were lots of great memories. We started with a wedding on our anniversary in June (my husband's youngest brother) and ended with using our RV at the state park.  The highlight was our vacation to DC and the memories we made together. We were thankful to be able to do this as a family. We were in PA and WV part of the time too.

2. What do you wish you'd done more of this summer? Less of?
It would have been nice if we could have taken our camper out to use more.  We only did one time.  We just had a really full summer and that was the only time we could.

I thought "less" on the calendar but I'm not sure which of it I would want to take off so that isn't a good answer. 

3. Something you're looking forward to on your September calendar?
Watching my big boy play football. He is a high school freshman.

4. Best/favorite book you've read this summer?

I really enjoyed and appreciated Choosing Marriage by Debra Fileta.  I just reviewed it here.  Excellent book for couples or singles.  

5. Share something positive, encouraging, or uplifting here.

I posted here about this verse recently.

6. Insert your own random thought here.
We are getting into the new routine of high school. Caleb has football practice until 6.  He is really enjoying football and the coaches.  His classes are okay so far, he has three pre AP ones this year.  He had a 3 page paper due today for his biology class and has geometry homework most nights.  So it is long days and a busy time.  I am remembering to enjoy this time as he is growing up. 

Have a day of blessings!
   Bethany

Thankful Thursday

We had a great time at the end of last week as we went camping in our new to us RV.  It was our first time to get to use it and we all had a wonderful time!  It was so relaxing.  We had a good spot near the water.  The boys rented a kayak to use one day.  Caleb went fishing some too while we were there.  We are glad to have the RV and look forward to using it again!

On Saturday we invited the family over to celebrate Caleb's birthday.  He didn't really want a "party" or theme this year.  We had lunch and cake for him.  He will be 14 on Sunday! 

This week I am thankful for...
~ the ways my husband makes me laugh and smile. 

~ our 13 year old boy and the ways he has blessed our life and family as a teenager this past year.  Also, he started high school "two a days" this week! 

~ our little guy's excitement over doing "lessons" with Mommy!  We started the letter W.

~ seeing family as they came to celebrate our boy with us.

~ finishing up another set of 150 continuing ed hours.  The boys stayed a while with my Mom so I could complete some "homework" from a class I attended to finish up the hours. 

~ watermelon!  We had some at church gathering this week and also bought one on sale at the grocery store.  My Mom has some in her garden I'm excited to try a bite of when they are ready.

Have a day of blessings!
   Bethany

Our Family Vacation....Part 3!

As I checked my emails Tuesday night I had one from Tuesday morning that said it was the confirmation for our White House tour at 9 a.m. on Wednesday morning.  I was not expecting that!  We had applied for a White House tour in April and the information said we'd hear back 2-3 weeks prior to our trip if we were approved for it. (That's how I understood it!)  We started looking at the information about visiting the White House and there was a lot of rules and regulations.  I asked if my husband and Caleb wanted to go, and Titus and I could just stay at the hotel.  (I wasn't sure how we would do it without his stroller or any bags and such because there isn't a place to store that stuff and you can't take it inside with you.)  They both wanted to see it and this worked out great!  Titus and I slept in and that was just what I needed.  We had a late breakfast, and then the boys came back.  They had a great time at the White House and enjoyed their tour! 

After they got back we went to do our tour at Arlington Cemetery.  I'm so glad we got to go back.  It was very beautiful and moving. 

We watched the changing of the guard ceremony again and saw the gravesites of President Kennedy and family.

We went for a late lunch at the USDA Headquarters building.  It is a huge building! 

Then we went to the Air and Space Museum.  There was lots of fun things to see in here.

Thursday morning we had tickets for a Washington by Water monuments river cruise.  We took our first Uber ride to go there to Alexandria to get on the boat.  It took us to Georgetown and we had lunch there before riding back. 

We stopped for (expensive) ice cream on the way back. 

That night we had supper and got some souvenirs. 

We headed to the airport with the hotel shuttle.  It was supposed to leave at 11:55, but there was a delay. It was a maintenance issue they were fixing.  Then they had to get a new crew. I don't know what time it was when we finally left but it was near 6 when we got back to Texas.

We walked outside and knew we were back in Texas with the suffocating heat!  It was 109 when we got back I think.

We stopped for delicious supper at El Fenix (with the sweetest waitress) before driving home.  It was nearly midnight when we got home. 

We had a travel agent who helped us plan this trip.  She did a fabulous job and I would recommend her if you need help planning any trip.  Please send me a message if you would like her contact information. 

Our hotel in DC was the Hampton Inn and Suites.  It was very nice and not too far from a metro station.  The only negative was that the swimming pool was under renovation so we didn't get to use that and I know the boys would have enjoyed that in the evenings.

We used the Metro a lot when we were there.  My husband figured it out pretty quickly as he had been there before. 

We are glad to be home and really enjoyed all we got to see and do on our vacation.  It was a special trip we've dreamed about for a long time and fun to get to actually do it!

Have a day of blessings! 
   Bethany

Our Family Vacation....Part 2!

Monday morning (July 16) we got up and headed to take back our rental car in DC.  It was a long stressful day.  We barely made it back to return the car in time.  We were supposed to go to tour Arlington Cemetery but we got lost to get over there so we didn't have enough time.  The man told us to come back another day to do the tour.  We walked to see the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Funny story:  As we were walking over, Titus said,  "I need to go tee tee."  He started to pull down his pants, and we said noooooo.  He said, "I can here on this grass!"  Daddy picked him up, and they walked quickly to find a restroom!

If you have not visited Arlington National Cemetery, I recommend that you do.

I knew Tuesday was going to be a full day.  It was our day to see the monuments and museums.  We walked A LOT this day.  And it was HOT.

We saw the Lincoln Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Washington Monument, and World War II Memorial.

We stopped at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History and had lunch there.

It was raining slightly after this as we were walking to the National Museum of Natural History.

I really would have liked to spend more time here.  But we had an appointment to tour the Capitol at 2:15 so we had to get on our way.  It was raining still and I was SO thankful when a $1 trolley came by called the Circulator and took us part of the way to the Capitol.  Then we still had quite a ways to walk when it dropped us off.

The tour was nice, and we all enjoyed it.  Titus fell asleep during the tour.  It started raining when we were in there.  They suggested we use a tunnel to go to the Library of Congress.  We were going to do that, but the tunnel was flooding!  So we didn't get to do that.  It was pouring, coming down in sheets, so we had to wait around a little while for the rain to slow down.

After this we got some supper and went back to our room. I took a bath and that helped me feel so much better.

Continued tomorrow for Part 3!

Have a day of blessings! 
   Bethany

Our Family Vacation....Part 1!

We left home on Wednesday, July 11 and spent the night near DFW.  We got up at 3 am to go to the airport for our flight which left at 6.

Our flight went great.  We had tried to prepare Titus for flying and he did super too. We landed, got our luggage and went to pick up the car rental.  As soon as we got on the road he was asleep.

We drove to Ronks, PA where we stayed the night in a caboose!  It was a fun place we all enjoyed!  They had a little petting zoo and playground.

We visited a place called The Amish Village before riding on the Strasburg Railroad. This is one of the quilts that was displayed in the Amish home we toured at The Amish Village.

We enjoyed the beautiful farmland.

The train ride was very peaceful and relaxing.  It was a great way to end our day of travel.

Friday we got up and went to the highlight of the trip for me......meeting my pen pal!  It was so very special to me to meet her and listen to her share her stories and wisdom.  It was a dream come true to meet her in person.

We left, had lunch, and drove to Hershey!  Note the little kisses on the light posts.

Oh it smelled so good when we walked in!!

We spent the night in Martinsburg, WV that night.

On Saturday morning we drove to another part of WV to visit my husband's youngest brother and his new wife.  It was so nice to have a place to relax.  We were able to do some laundry and enjoyed home cooked meals!

We also went with them to see this bridge. It was a pretty little trail to see it.

Continued in Part 2 tomorrow!!

Have a day of blessings!
   Bethany

Thankful Thursday

I hope you had a nice holiday yesterday!  We spent the day over at my Mom's. They made some yummy ribs and chicken on the grill.  Plus some homemade ice cream.  Then in the evening we went to watch fire works.

This week I am thankful for...
~ my husband getting up to go to work every day to provide for our family. After our late night last night watching fire works I'm sure it was hard to get up!

~ hearing my boy talk and laugh again.  He is doing much better after his tonsillectomy. He's eating more now too.  He made a little progress each day.  He goes to his follow up next Tuesday.

~ my funny little guy and the things he repeats.  This week I had told him not to drink too much water and showed him on his bottle to drink to this line.  He was telling me how he wanted to drink more and I said but you don't need to drink too much.  He said so what's the solution?  It made me laugh because I say this to him often. 

~ viewing the beautiful wedding pictures from the wedding day of my husband's youngest brother.  The photographer did a wonderful job!  You can tell she loves what she does and is so good at it. 

~ strawberries, cherries, cantaloupe, and watermelon.  Yummy things we've had this week!

~ living in this country and celebrating our freedom!

Have a day of blessings! 

Bethany

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. Summer is upon us this week in the Northern hemisphere. Tell us three things on your summer bucket list.
     * Enjoy our upcoming vacation which will be the first time flying with the boys and my first flight in MANY years.  We are going to the DC area.
     * Complete a Shutterfly book before my coupons expire!! LOL
     * Use our new to us camper at some point.  We got it last week and don't know when we will be able to use it yet.  We are excited to use it.

2. Something fun you used to do as a kid in the summertime?
Our school would pass out "summer survival kits."  They were an envelope with coupons and discounts to local businesses.  The bowling alley would put one in every summer that entitled you to one free game of bowling all summer long.  My cousin and I would go bowling and then we would go to the snow cone stand!  

Another thing I loved doing in the summer was being a "junior volunteer" at our local hospital.

3. Rooftop or backyard? Why?  I'll say backyard because I would not get on our roof.  Ha!  I have a dream of what our backyard could look like, who knows if it ever will.

4. Do you read food labels? Place importance on them? Make an effort to find out/care about where your food comes from? 
I do now more than I used to.  I have taken "red 40" out of my youngest son's diet just based on personal observations of how he reacted (meltdowns, etc.) after having it.  So now I check things and he asks me "does this have red in it?"  

My husband has listened to an audio book from our library called Plant Paradox and it has been interesting to hear him share what he is learning in it regarding our food and food supply and agriculture in our country.

5. A song you'll have on repeat this summer?
None come to mind.  We like to listen to Pandora....my son likes 90s country songs and try to guess what they are as they come on. I like a kid's praise song channel.

6. Insert your own random thought here.
Our oldest is at church camp this week.  On Monday he will go in for surgery to remove his tonsils and adenoids.  Say a prayer for him that all will go smoothly for his surgery as well as his recovery.

Have a day of blessings!
  Bethany

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. Did you watch the solar eclipse? Your thoughts? Sun Chips, Moon Pies, Starburst candies, a Blue Moon beer, a Sunkist orange, or a Milky Way candy bar...what's your favorite eclipse related snack on this list?  We watched some of the coverage provided by NASA and did briefly go outside to see it with our glasses we were given at our local library.  Caleb first checked to make sure the number on the glasses matched the number on the approved list on the NASA website.

I'll pick Moon Pies....it's been a long time since I've had one though!  

2. What are you 'over the moon' about these days? What's something you enjoy doing every 'once in a blue moon'?  
Well I'm NOT  'over the moon' for it to be our last week of summer. I like having my son home with us. But I am excited for him to begin 8th grade and to get to watch him play football again. 

I like to take a nap 'once in a blue moon.'  It's a treat for sure. 

3. Tell us about something in the realm of science that interests you. How do you feed that interest? I will say hummingbirds right now. I always feel amazed as I sit and watch them at my Mom's new place. 

4. What are a few things you remember about going back to school as a child? I was always excited to go check the signs posted on the door to find out my new teacher. I always got new school clothes. I loved (and still do) school supply shopping!  

5. I've seen several versions of this around the net so let's make one of our own...share with us five words that touch your soul and briefly tell us why.
thankful--It is important to have a grateful heart no matter what you are facing. 
sons-- I am so happy that I am a "boy mom."  My life is so wonderful with them both. 
husband--There is so much wrapped up in this word for me.  When I think of my husband and all he means to me, I am so so grateful.
forgiveness-- We all need to be forgiven and to know that I have been given this gift is something I don't fully understand.
joy--Certain people bring joy to my life just with their presence.

6.  Insert your own random thought here.
Today would have been my Peepaw's 88th birthday.  He was 50 years older than me so the "ones digit" of our age was always the same.  When I would have my birthday in February, he would tell me every year "look what you started" because the next month my Mom would be 20 years older than me and then in August he'd be 50 years older. I continue to miss him and am so thankful for his love for me.

Have a day of blessings!

    Bethany

Thankful Thursday

Is today Thursday?  I feel confused by which day of the week it is after our traveling!  We went to my high school reunion on Saturday and then Sunday came home and loaded back up to go out of town with my husband for a business trip until Wednesday.

This week I am thankful for...
~ my husband being so compassionate and caring towards me.  I appreciate so much that he cares for me and my feelings and physical well being.

~ my big boy being okay after feeling sick after working out.  At the hotel Tuesday night, the boys went swimming and then when Titus was going to sleep Caleb and Dad went to the hotel gym to work out.  He came back and got ready for bed but didn't feel well and thought his heart was racing.  He felt bad for a while but then improved.  We thought about going to the ER but then he started feeling better.

~ my baby boy telling me "I love you Momma" when I picked him up.  It made me smile that he said it so unexpectedly!

~ having a successful 20 year reunion.  I organized the reunion and it turned out well.  I was pleased with how it all came together.  Everyone seemed to have a good time.

~ receiving books to review.  It is always fun to get new ones in the mail to review....some I know that are coming and others are unexpected and just show up.  I finished Heart on the Line by Karen Witemeyer on our trip home (review coming soon) and then started Church of the Small Things by Melanie Shankle.  I love having good books to read!  I've read some good ones from the library too lately.

~ safe travel in all our travels the past week and now being H O M E!!!



Have a day of blessings!

     Bethany

Day 7 and HOME!

(Continuing on with pictures from our vacation after taking a break from posts this week!)

Day 7 (Thursday)

Today we had to pack up and head back to Texas. The man at the cabin recommended a scenic drive for us before we left so we went there and to a visitors center. We saw a pretty waterfall  and took some pictures. I remembered last night how we took a family picture in our Colorado shirts when we went there on vacation, and I wanted to do the same in our new Tennessee shirts.

We drove until we got to the Financial Peace Plaza.

When we got there Dave Ramsey was recording a show. We looked at the store and watched the show through the window. A lady came up and asked us if we'd just arrived. We told her we were passing through on our way home from vacation. She told us the plan of the show for the next 30 minutes and said at the break we could talk to Dave. We watched a couple scream "We're debt free" and then he came out. Apparently he'd already talked to the others. He talked with the couple and then shook our hands and took a picture with us. Then he gave us his autograph. I got him to sign the coupon book I use for our cash following his cash envelope system. It was very fun and exciting to meet him. We weren't really expecting that!

 

Then we drove.  And drove some more to stay the night in Little Rock.

Oh and on the way before we got to Memphis, TN we were stopped in the left lane as the right lane was closed ahead. A truck pulled over right in front of us to cut into traffic on the left lane before traffic started moving. We thought he was going to run into us with the back of his trailer. Thankfully he did not.

Day 8 (Friday)We did not have a restful night of sleep which was disappointing.  We'd used our points for a "free night" so I guess that is a good thing that we weren't paying for it! ha!  We were at a La Quinta and heard loud banging that woke us up at about 3:45 and again after 4:00.  It went on for some time and was shaking the pictures on the walls in our room.  We called the front desk and they couldn't get an answer in that room or do anything about it.  It eventually stopped.  It was hard to rest after that though. 

We got up and got Krispy Kreme before heading on our way.  We were so glad to see the Texas state line!  We got out at the Texas welcome center and took pictures with the Texas shape before driving on towards home.

We got home and unloaded so I could start on the laundry on Saturday. 

I'm so thankful for our vacation and the memories we made.


Have a day of blessings!

Days 5 and 6

Day 5 (Tuesday)
For our days here I didn't really plan activities. We knew of a few places we wanted to visit so we just went exploring.  My husband fixed us breakfast burritos to have before we headed out.

Tuesday morning we went to Cade's Cove. We spent several hours driving and looking around. On one stop it started sprinkling. We walked under the trees out to a cabin. We got a little bit wet but not soaked.

The drive was beautiful, and we enjoyed driving with the windows down. We saw several deer as we drove. Also a turkey crossed the road right in front of us. We heard some other people who were stopped say they saw a bear but by the time we got there we could only see it moving around in the distance.

 

 

Here are some other pictures we took there.

 

 

 

When we left we got some pizza. Then we drove over to Gatlinburg. We could not believe how busy it was as we passed through Pigeon Forge. We were not expecting it to be like it was!  Then when we got to Gatlinburg we were surprised there too at the people and how busy it was. We found Cooter's which is a Dukes of Hazzard museum. They also had go karts and putt putt so we did that.

We headed back to the cabin and were disappointed the ice cream shop did not have ice cream as they were defrosting their freezers. So we fixed our hot dogs and had that for supper. We felt like we are still on Texas time.

Day 6 (Wednesday)
Today we went to Seiverville. We went to a ham radio store for the boys (they are both licensed ham radio operators).  We also stopped at The Apple Barn. It was nice to walk through here. We enjoyed some delicious ice cream...wow was it yummy!  We got turtle caramel fudge, almond joy, and chocolate. We picked up fried apple pie to go too.

 

As we drove back we stopped at various souvenir shops and The Christmas Place.  You can't believe all the Christmas decorations here!  I did have a moment where I almost cried too.  The door we entered was the room where you could get your ornament personalized.  On the walls it had big words above each section to describe that set of ornaments, like sports, careers, wedding, etc.  Well one wall said "Family of...." and then each number was a section of ornaments.  It made me feel teary when I saw "Family of 4," thinking of the baby that we lost last year. 

We also went to the Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum.  I'd looked for a set of S&P shakers for my Mom that said Tennessee or Smoky Mountains on them and couldn't find any.  We went to this museum.  I thought my mom had a lot of shakers!  This display had 20,000.  Here is a picture of one of the cases. 

We ate supper at this delicious BBQ place called Bennett's BBQ. I had a BBQ sandwich, and the boys both got the all you can eat salad bar. The service was great and fast, and the food was wonderful. This is a place we would like to eat at again.

When we got back to Townsend we stopped at this little bridge we had seen.  It was a swinging bridge and we all walked across it. 

Then we headed back to the cabin. It started raining. We packed up some stuff and spent more time in the hot tub.

to be continued.....

Have a day of blessings!