Where The Orange Blossoms Grow...

Hey Hey Hay!

2012-02-28T18:44:00.001-08:00

Now that's what I call "buying in bulk!" ;)

Gotta love having the right equipment for the job!

This little boy means business, y'all! ;)

My handsome daddy ;)

My buddy Wrangler :)

Somebody's excited!

The State Fair!

2012-02-22T13:30:00.001-08:00

So excited about going to the Florida State Fair! ;)

Handsome lil cowboy ;)

In the cattle barn

Watching the dairy demonstrations

Fancy meeting y'all here! ;)

Ahh yes. Lawnmower races...:P

Strawberry shortcake! :)

Looks pretty gross to me....needless to say, I didn't try one. :P

Beautiful American Indian/Peruvian panpipes

Cracker Country--our favorite part of the fair. :)

That's all for now, folks! :)

We Start 'em Young.....

2012-01-25T14:02:00.000-08:00

It's a New Year!

2012-01-14T13:30:00.000-08:00

It's a new year, y'all! Yep, 2012 has come at last. I figure it's about time I updated this rather neglected family blog. So. Um. Yeah. Updates?

It's 2012!!

I already said that? Ah. Erm....well, this isn't going too well. Sorry, y'all. Updates are being postponed until a later date when there are some. Until then, here are a few pictures from New Year's Eve, a random bonfire we had the other night, and....some carrots we harvested....
Anyways, until we meet again, Goodbye! Au revoir! Despedida! Adios! Valete! 告別 (obviously having fun with Google translate) Slán a fhágáil! Addio! Adieu!

Can you say ham??

New Year's Resolution: Fix the remote control helicopter :P

Yum! Cheerwine, a Southern favorite ;)

Um...nope. Don't ask me.

Matthew being >cutee< ;) :P

...but not the cutest. ;)

Hmm...more competition. (they can kill me later)

Cal, the tea lady :)

Yours truly :p

The messy music-making room. :P

We just harvested all of our carrots--now all packed away in the basement!

MmmMmm. :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Us+6 Christmas trees=?

This. :)

Yes, I enjoy taking pictures of fire.....

The very best part :D

Well, that's all for right now, folks! :)

Christmas Tea 2011!

2011-12-10T15:06:00.001-08:00

Mama's delicious Steamed Cranberry Pudding

The hostesses :)

My BEAUTIFUL Grandmother!

...and my other BEAUTIFUL Grandmother!

In which Manda and Cal pose by the Christmas tree...

...as do Sadie and I

...and Margaret and Emilie! :)

"Brazen hussies!" ;)

Chelsea looking gorgeous

The beautiful Waldman ladies...

Franklin ladies...

Mahoney ladies...

Pollock ladies...

...and the Stricklen ladies :)

Margie Anne :)

Christi...so cute :)

Mrs. Stoksies enjoys Caraline's company! :)

So pretty, Liv :)

Uh-oh, we have an intruder! ;)

~Musical Chairs~

We have a winner! Good job Miss Mary!

{Christmas Tea 2011}

Merry Christmas, All! May the Lord richly bless you!

Thanksgiving Day

2011-11-30T17:25:00.001-08:00

We had a blessed Thanksgiving with the Franklin family this year.

My lovely mother, who has taught me so much. :)

Cal making some of her delicious homemade rolls :)

Abby makin' the gravy. :)

Mama and Mrs Franklin

Sweet lil friends :)

Just can't beat a Southern Thanksgiving dinner...;)

Turkey (obviously) :P

Cornbread stuffing (No soggy bread for me, thanks) ;)

Mashed potatoes

Tomato and cucumber salad

(Since, thank the Lord, we can grow them in November...) :D

Sweet potato casserole

Collard greens

Green beans

Lots of gravy!

Chocolate pie

Sweet potato pie

Blueberry pie

Pecan pie

Sweeet Tea :)

Sweet times :)

It just wouldn't be a holiday without some shootin sports;)

The manual clay-shooter :P

<3 <3 <3

Well, HAPPY THANKSGIVING, Y'ALL!

May the Lord bless you and keep you!

2011-11-24T14:33:00.001-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving from the Stricklen Household!

I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD.

Psalm 116:17

Sing a Song of Seasons!

2011-11-09T06:16:00.000-08:00

In the other gardens

And all up the vale,
From the autumn bonfires
See the smoke trail!

Pleasant summer over
And all the summer flowers,
The red fire blazes,
The grey smoke towers.

Sing a song of seasons!
Something bright in all!
Flowers in the summer,
Fires in the fall!

Robert Lewis Stevenson

Fall has finally landed in Florida! Yay for bonfires, hayrides, pumpkin muffins and apple cider! ;)
It's not too obvious in pictures, but the weather is divine! It's been in the 70's for a couple of weeks.....I could take this year round!!
Here are a few pictures for your viewing pleasure. :) Enjoy!

My hard-workin little bros ;)

Ahh so pretty. The Lord has certainly been more good to us than we deserve.

We always love it when the Waldmans visit. :)

Greyson and Will would rather watch Roy Rogers... ;)

While Mariah and Abby make brownies....

...and I do dishes. Yay! :P

Isaac demonstrates his great talent for baseball... ;)

Hmmm....King Haybail?

Go Cowboy Will!

Yeehaw! ;)

Ranch hand CJ will show em how it's really done.....;)

Well, you know what they say, "catch two dogies with one rope" ;)

My Florida-foliage Fall bouquet ;)

Can't beat little people's imaginations :) Even Nate knew what was going on! He sat down in one of the "seats" and started making airplane noises before anyone even told him it was an airplane! I guess it's a boy thing, huh? ;)

With Fall comes Missouri apples from the Dischers, and that means applesauce, apple butter, apple pies and all kinds of yummy apple stuff! :)

Our re-furbished flowerbed--now an herb garden!
Our Fall garden is coming along nicely as well.

Lima beans

Collard greens! (my fave!) ;)

One of the beds of green beans. We have three this time--hopefully it'll be enough!

Green bean blossoms are sooo pretty :)

Lovely little cukes climbing up the trellis. :)

Life will find a way!

Look what I found growing in our garden! ;)

Yay for tomaters! :)

Carrots...

Widdle onions ;)

Turnip greens!
We also have asparagus, squash, zucchini, cantaloupe, cabbage, and broccoli planted. Just no pictures! ;)
I guess that about sums it up, then! Thank y'all for stopping by and taking a little peek into our life...:)
May the Lord receive all the honor and glory for everything we do!
Happy Fall, y'all!

As of Late....

2011-10-16T13:25:00.000-07:00

Happy Sunday, people! So thankful for another gorgeous Lord's day. I thought I'd share a few pictures of "home life" for your viewing pleasure. ;)

Have a wonderful day, y'all!

Walked outside the other day, to this! {JESUS LOVES U LOTS} Pretty cool!

Our friendly neighborhood bull. :P

Callie's delicious pecan pie made with Florida grown, fresh-squeezed cane syrup and local, raw orange blossom honey. :P ;) {adjectives much?}

Enjoying one of these amazing Fall days! :)

Can't beat those expressions ;)

Maybe I'm biased, but I'm inclined to believe that it

just doesn't get much cuter that that right there. :P

Happy Birthday, Grandma Sue!!

Us-uns :)

Now, maybe you think there are more pictures of a certain young man on this post than of anyone else...

Well, you're right. :D

The sunset last night was just TOO gorgeous. It was almost unreal!

Well, that's all, folks! Y'all come back and see us real soon! :)

Disney!

2011-10-07T19:44:00.000-07:00

Will thought the Monorail was as cool as any ride! ;)

Enjoying the Dumbo ride, y'all? ;)

"It's a world of laughter...."

"It's a small, small world!"

I love the variety of expressions....Caption, anyone??

Here ducky, ducky ;)

The little people... :)

Margie :)

"Deep in the Hundred Acre Woods, where Christopher Robin plays...." :P

Space Mountain...the best ride ever! :D

Us-uns :P :)

Umm....foots! ;)

Well, it looks like another caption-less picture...

Jessyca :D

Must have the corny Mickey Mouse {Goofy} {Donald Duck} picture. :P

Our favorite Disney characters ;)

Lovin that ice cream there, Ceej? ;)

William and I didn't give the greatest reaction.....

Callie, Daddy, Abby, and Margaret, however....

{awww}

Well, it's been a long day, and we're ready to EAT!

Goodnight and may the good Lord richly bless you and yours! :)

A Boy and His Dog :)

2011-09-02T13:24:00.000-07:00

A Boy and His Dog

A boy and his dog make a glorious pair:
No better friendship is found anywhere,
For they talk and they walk and they run and they play,
And they have their deep secrets for many a day;
And that boy has a comrade who thinks and who feels,
Who walks down the road with a dog at his heels.

He may go where he will and his dog will be there,
May revel in mud and his dog will not care;
Faithful he'll stay for the slightest command
And bark with delight at the touch of his hand;
Oh, he owns a treasure which nobody steals,
Who walks down the road with a dog at his heels.

No other can lure him away from his side;
He's proof against riches and station and pride;
Fine dress does not charm him, and flattery's breath
Is lost on the dog, for he's faithful to death;
He sees the great soul which the body conceals--

Oh, it's great to be young with a dog at your heels!

Edgar Guest

La torre!

2011-08-19T09:17:00.000-07:00

"La torre? What is that supposed to mean? I mean, even if one did go to Google Translate

{which is where I went}, "The tower" still doesn't do much self-explaining."

Well, to be quite honest, dear friends, the only reason I decided on "La torre" instead of "Bok Tower" for the title of my post is this:
If you--the visitor--were to see, "The Stricklens have updated their blog," and the post title was "Bok Tower," your response, {mentally of course, because I know none of my dear friends would actually be so rude as to moan such atrocities out loud} most likely, would be something like this:

"BOK TOWER??? Again??? How many times a year are those Florida freaks gonna go to Bok Tower? I mean, they act like walking around in the scorching heat looking at gardens and swans is fun or something!!

I mean c'mon, guys. We're sick and tired of all your pink and purple flower pictures, and the swans are really getting old!"

See, if I had decided to put "Bok Tower" as the title of my post, YOU may not be reading this right now.

Anyhow, I suppose since I have put a false notion into your head,
I must seek to restore the honor of my Bok Tower pictures. :)
Besides, this is only like the 5th or 6th time we've been this year! {Bwahaha!} :D
Y'all do try to enjoy the pictures. I promise they aren't that bad.
By the end of the post, you may actually want to go yourself! ;);)

The Lord certainly doesn't do anything halfway! His Creation never ceases to amaze me. :)

When we come to Bok Tower, we love visiting Pinewood Estate--a beautiful old Spanish-style home with gorgeous lawns and gardens.

Mama is always inspired when she comes here. ;)

They really should make a movie here. :D

The best picture I could get from the window. :) I love the old Spanish style!

'Ello!

Nate thought the frog was the funniest thing he'd seen all day. :P ;)

Hmm...this looks like a good place for taking pictures. :D

Us-uns. :)

Chilluns. :)

Abby... :)

Margie... :)

Cal Sue... :)

Yours truly.... ;)

{You can fly, you can fly, you can fly!!}

In which we attempt to get a picture of Mama and the boys.... :P

...and are eventually fairly successful :)

Mama and us girlies. :)

Margaret, being the only one willing to pose for the obnoxious camera person, is enjoying viewing the wildlife.
{Which you can see just as well outside of the little building, but why ruin the nostalgia?}

We're off to see the toweeeeer....the wonderful tower of....Bok!!?

Yummy! {Mwahaha} ;)

In which I find another friend! :)

We eventually managed to get a fairly decent group shot with the camera sitting on top of a stack of shoes and purses on the bench....:P

LA TORRE!!! ;)

The golden door, which I will actually touch one of these days. ;)

The giant lily pads which I always dreamed of floating on.....

Well, it's been a lovely day! My friend wishes you all a good day and invites you to visit him sometime. :)
It's not all just flowers and swans...there are frogs too!!

The Lord bless and keep you till we meet again! :)

Summer Garden

2011-07-18T18:38:00.000-07:00

Here's a little bit of what we've been growing this summer!

Lots of 'maters! We got them in sort of late, so we picked alot of them green and they're ripening beautifully in the windowsill. :)

We pickled these little, yellow pear tomatoes. :)

The pears are doing beautifully! Mama has already made one batch of Pear Butter from the ones that have fallen to the ground! They should all be ripe in a few weeks. We found a huge pear tree down the road and got permission to pick it as well!

Little birdie nest in the pear tree. :) :P

Callie cans these Cubanelle and Banana peppers in vinegar for Daddy.

The bell peppers are doing wonderfully! We use so many of them it's nice to have them on hand all the time!

We enjoyed these little Cherry Red hot peppers on homemade pizza tonight! :)

Personally, I love eggplant, but the rest of my family doesn't favor it. ;) I've soaked slices from 3 eggplant in salt in order to purge the liquid out and I'm gonna deep fry them tomorrow. They're supposed to be really good that way...we'll see. :)

I love their royal purple color. :)

Obviously a posed picture...but pretty all the same. ;) The Lord certainly provides for us. :)
{and it helps if your mother is a master gardener!}

Having fun editing. ;)

Italian pole beans obediently climbing up the trellis. :)

Y'all have a blessed day!

"And the land shall yield her fruit, and ye shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety."

Leviticus 25:19

Buon compleanno 15th, Abby!

2011-07-14T20:33:00.000-07:00

Happy 15th Birthday, Abby!

We love you!!!
{Well, her birthday was actually the 8th, but...well, let's just say I slacked off....again.} ;)

On each of our birthdays, Mama takes us girls out to lunch and antique shopping. It's always so much fun. :)

Abby chose the Lavender and Lace tearoom. :)

Abby and the wee tag-along. ;)

Pretty :)

{Monkeyface?}

Happy happy birthday, Goober! We love you and don't know what we'd do without your.....
{help me out here, y'all. Words that describe Abby....?} Eccentric...whimsical...outgoing....sweet....genial....sociable....slightly moody....
au courant....chic....generous....
{Oh boy. I'm running out here...} SELF! Anyways, y'all get the point!

Love you, Abby, and can't wait to see what the Lord will do through you this year! You're always such a blessing to all of us!

Love,
Daddy, Mama, Callie, Mary, Margaret,
CJ, Will, and Nate

Picnic and Ice Cream Social!

2011-06-28T12:07:00.000-07:00

It's Summertime! Let the fun begin!

The event is an old fashioned picnic and Ice Cream Social! This is Margaret's lovely contribution to the cake and ice cream table. :)

Mmm! Need some good sweet tea in this heat!

...or in William's case, water from the mister. :P

"Come on, y'all! Let's get this show on the road!" :P

The lady behind it all :)

In which guests start arriving...

Mrs Pam and Matt join the party!

Deeda dons her new summer dress. :)

Manda and I looking...hot. :P

Cal Cal. :D

The men adjust the tents so they're in the shade. ;)

Lots of happy faces :)

A happy Chelsea :)

The ladies retire to the house for a bit of cooling off before the picnic. :)

...and more guests arrive! (and Sam looks as if he's having second thoughts about arriving) ;)

In which 4 girls gang up on Jessica and steal her diet coke. :P

Men solve the world's problems...

...and Grandma Sue sits placidly and looks on. :)

Lemonade? :)

People fellowshipping...

...more people and more sweet fellowship. :)

Sweet friends. :)

Our little party

Me and my beautiful Grandmother

I love all their expressions. :)

Cousins. :)

The Waldman picnic...

and the Franklin picnic!

And the rivalry begins.....;)

The cutest pie ever ain't got nothin on ths un! ;)

More conversing...

Time for some cake and ice cream!

Umm...vanilla, please?

Our favorite game. ;)

Hmmm. methinks he's up to something. :P

More sweet friends. :)

In which the second set of guests arrive.......AND the second party begins!!!!!

:o)

In which Christiana, Mariah, and I go to get ice and Mariah insists on pulling the cooler. :P

Music is a must! :)

The Three Amigos and their guitars. It's a boy thing :P

Um, Nate? A little backwards there I think, Bud. :P

Phew!!! What a day.

Thank the Lord for good friends, good food, and good fellowship. :)

Deep Sea Fishing!

2011-06-19T14:12:00.000-07:00

Headed out to the Gulf on the Miss Virginia

Christi and I :)

Not too much to take pictures of on a crowded boat.....sooo let's try some...interesting angles? :P

Y'all excited yet???

Hannah :)

NOW we're gettin' excited. ;)

We gettin' close, Josh??

NO MORE CAMERAS!!

(Haha, yeah right. I don't thin that's what Jonathan Ham Pollock is saying here) :P

"So far I've caught 2 stinkin fish....." "HAHA! I've caught ten and the trip's only half over!"

CJ caught his weight in fish...I, however, must have been coated in some sort of fish repellant....

Margaret and Ariana, my fishing buddies. ;)

Fishin' hard or hardly fishin'? ;)

Um, something CJ caught. A Red Snapper or a Red Grouper. I don't remember which. :P

Lots of yummy grunt that we grilled the next day! So good!

Johnny: "CJ, you look happy, and I'll look sad."
Alrighty then.....Johnny must be sad cause it's almost time to leave, and CJ must be thinking about all those tasty fish. :P ;) Anyways, hope y'all enjoyed the pictures. Until next time, the Lord bless you! :D

Rodeeodeeo! ;)

2011-06-08T18:38:00.000-07:00

We're goin to a rodeeeo! ;)

Silver Spurs Rodeo bound!

Thass what I'm talkin about. Oh yeeah. :D ;)

Miah, Chelsea, and Abby enjoying the show!

Mr. Cutiepie :P

Mrs. Waldman and Mama :)

Cowboys and rodeos....Wills' favorite things. ;)

Sweet little Caraline :)

So...they said for children between 5 and 10 to come to the arena for a contest...Well, they came...all of em! Those poor calves were probably scared outta their wits. :P

A British woman behind us: "Oh my! That is the shiniest truck I have evah seen!" :P

Love his horse. :)

The retarded clown is inside the barrel. To quote Papaw, "That boy ain't right."

Time to head out!

Dairy Queen!

The cutest little 5 yr old this side of the Mason Dixon....:)

Helloooo :)

"HAPPY BIIIIIIIRTHDAY, DEAR AMANDA!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOOOOOO YOU!!!!!"

A bunch of handsome boys! :P

Um. That's all I have to say...

Uh.....Um again??

"....Them girls ain't right." ;)

Hope y'all enjoyed. Come back and see us soon!

Random

2011-05-29T20:43:00.000-07:00

Since life has been rather uneventful as of late, I think I shall take this opportunity to step back a few months and do a brief review. Enjoy the pictures, y'all, and thanks for stopping by. :)

We enjoyed a great visit with the Pollocks a few weeks back! Let the camera wars begin! ;)

Goofies. :P

Okay, we're sick of the camera thing...How about we do something else?

...Like maybe tearing apart a red cup and twisting up the shreds for no apparent reason...

Yeah, this is lots of fun!

Thomas patiently listens to William's many long tales of "his past life," such as...

"When I was a cowboy on the range..."

"When I was attacked by a bear and it almost ate me until I killed it with my sword..."

"When I was a fighter pilot and flew a jet very, very high in the sky and crash landed on a lake. Then I almost died..." and other such things....

The girls treated us with a lovely song--beautiful harmony! :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We love it when Grandmama and Granddaddy come over for a visit. :)

Little chunker. :P

Cal-Sue :o)

Little Nate got his first haircut! I guess he needed it, huh? :)

Alright, y'all! Guess what we're doing next??!

That's right...we're making laundry soap!! Exciting, huh? ;)

Julia came over and we learned together! :)

Um...yeah. :)

Time to feed the moo-moos. :) Or give them a treat, rather. ;)

"Yes, I've just come up for a visit. Don't mind me." :)

Our Science Exhibit for State Competition, which I forgot to post earlier...

"Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home..." :o)

The greenhouse-windowsill :P

Gorgeous Hollyhocks. :)

The steamy ground after the rain. :)

Lovely Resurrection Day Bouquet

We all enjoy the Keepers of the Faith meetings and projects after Church. :)

Picking blackberries in the "Enchanted Forest." :)

When Grandmama and Granddaddy leave for MO a couple times a year, we enjoy looking after their little farm :)

Here we go a-searching for the little newborn calf...

We spy the Mama...Baby must be near.

Here's a grapefruit...Please don't kill me when I go take a picture of your baby. :P

Sweet little guy. :)

Little birdies in the windowbox are still there. :)

Lad and Gina--the vicious grove dogs. ;)

Well, that's all folks! Until next time,

"Goodbye, good luck, and my the good Lord take a likin' to ya!" ;)

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream! :P

2011-05-10T13:14:00.000-07:00

We've come to love this little downtown ice cream shop, the Cool Shop. Mama takes the boys there for their birthday every year. (She takes us to a tea room and antique shopping) ;o) I tagged along this year for Wills' 4th birthday to take pictures. :)

Happy Birthday, Wills!

2011-05-04T12:34:00.000-07:00

HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY!!!

William Pearce Stricklen

Blessings on thee, little man,

Barefoot boy, with cheek of tan!

With thy turned-up pantaloons,

And thy merry whistled tunes;

With thy red lip, redder still

Kissed by strawberries on the hill;

With the sunshine on thy face,

Through thy torn brim’s jaunty grace;

From my heart I give thee joy,—

I was once a barefoot boy!

Prince thou art,—the grown-up man

Only is republican.

Let the million-dollared ride!

Barefoot, trudging at his side,

Thou hast more than he can buy

In the reach of ear and eye,—

Outward sunshine, inward joy:

Blessings on thee, barefoot boy!

From John Greenleaf Whittier's "The Barefoot Boy"

Cowboy Will...

"Roy Rogers" :P

Hambone... :)

Cutiepie... :)

Happy Birthday, Wills! You make us laugh and amaze us
every day with the stuff you come up with!
We love you, Cowboy Will!

Love,
Daddy, Mama, Callie, Mary, Abby, Margaret, C.J., and Nate

Bountifully Blessed

2011-05-02T16:52:00.000-07:00

It's lovely when you can go out to the garden every day and pick fresh fruit and vegetables. We are so blessed. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

We plow the fields, and scatter the good seed on the land,
But it is fed and watered by God’s almighty hand;
He sends the snow in winter, the warmth to swell the grain,
The breezes and the sunshine, and soft refreshing rain.

He only is the Maker of all things near and far;
He paints the wayside flower, He lights the evening star;
The winds and waves obey Him, by Him the birds are fed;
Much more to us, His children, He gives our daily bread.

We thank Thee, then, O Father, for all things bright and good,
The seed time and the harvest, our life, our health, and food;
No gifts have we to offer, for all Thy love imparts,
But that which Thou desirest, our humble, thankful hearts.

Matthias Claudius--1782

A.C.E. Regional Convention

2011-04-25T14:42:00.000-07:00

This year, Abby, Sadie, and I competed at the A.C.E. Regional Student Convention, or "State." We had 5 days packed with fun, competition, learning, and...lots of exercise! Here are some pictures from our week.

It was weird going without our cousins. We've never done it without them!

We missed reminiscing with them. :(

But oh well. It was a blessed week. Thank you to everyone who made it happen for us! Grandmama, Granddaddy, Mama, Daddy, all of the A.C.E. and Word of Life staff, and many other people!

We had the pleasure of spending time with the Boggess' who brought Ben and Sam along as well!

"The Suncoast Regional Student Convention is now officially open!" :)

My random brother...:oP

:oD

It is way too early to be walking a mile to get breakfast. :oP

Little buddies. :)

The sunrise on our way back from breakfast.

Beautiful Florida scenery--even if I was half asleep. I'm never too tired to take a picture. :oD

The long-awaited day--the day of music competition...Our hearts are in our throats and our stomachs are sick. Why does this happen every year??

Sadie's solo--"Blessed Assurance." Lovely! :o)

Abby's solo was "No More Night." A powerful song! Maybe I'll figure out how to post a couple videos. :)

Sam concentrating on his chess game....

Matt's ready for lunch! :)

Abby being...random. :oP

Watchit, sistah. :oP

Archery, obviously...:)

Rachel's violin solo

Abby and I tuning for our instrumental duet...

"Canon in D/As the Deer"

My violin solo was "The King of Love My Shepherd Is"

One of the evening rallys.

Ben...throwing the beach ball. :oP There was a race. Our side of the auditorium was supposed to get the ball to the back of the room, and back again without it touching the ground. That was interesting....

Will wasted no time in rooting for his team.....;o)

Mr. Ballanger giving an excellent message

Mrs. Stevens and Margaret trying out Mr. Smith's Co2 cannons. ;o)

Ping pong after the rally. :)

Haha! I love this one....Everyone's expressions are priceless. :oP

Mr. Smith

Um...Ben.

:oD

(Okay, okay. I know...excessive amount of little brother pictures...) :oP

Determined treasure-hunters. :)

Matthew giving out the awards for the day's treasure hunt.

An exceptional command performance. The quartet from West Meadows.

PACE bowl

Mr Ivey!!! :oD

Some of the Graves came up for a day. :)

Stacy and Abby :)

Ben's oratory--"One of America's Greatest Heroes." It was about Peter Francisco. He was asked to do a command performance that night!

Abby's Expressive Reading presentation--"Isaiah 53"

More Table Tennis competition...

Ummm....Hello, Timothy. :oP

Mrs. Armstrong and Abby. :)

Ceeeuteness. :D

Gooooo Semminoles!!
(Not for real....That's just what they named our team for the week) :oP

Our exceptional speaker--Mr. Ballanger.

Game for the night--An eating relay race. You have to eat whatever is in the bag....Sam got M&M's. Some people weren't so fortunate...

He got sardines....and threw them up later. :o/

Checking out the exhibits...

Sadie was asked to do a command performance for her poetry recitation of "Jonah and the Whale." She did a great job--even though she was extremely nervous!

The awards ceremony on the last day--
Sam did very well.
He won 1st in archery
3rd in table tennis,
5th in chess, and I'm probably missing something. :)

I got 1st in my violin solo,
and 1st place in poetry writing.

Abby and I got 2nd in our science exhibit,
1st in our instrumental duet, and
3rd in our vocal duet,

Abby got 2nd place in her vocal solo, which is absolutely amazing, especially for her first year!
There are usually about 50 or 60 soloists!
1st place in expressive reading,
3rd place in her photography,
1st place in essay writing,
and 1st place in CAP--in other words, she had the overall highest score at the convention!

Abby, Sadie, and I got 1st place in Bible Bowl!

Ben got 1st place in his oratory,
4th in his photography,
and I don't remember what he placed in archery and chess. (Sorry, Ben!!)

Sadie got 1st place in poetry recitation,
and 4th in her photography!

All of us contestants!

...and us with all of our wonderful friends who came up to the awards ceremony!

CJ and Margaret got a medal for being such good "staff." Mr. Smith put them to work all week, so they were the "important people on campus." ;o)

Well y'all. I hope I haven't completely bored you with all of my pictures and lists of awards! Also, if I forgot any awards anyone got, let me know!

Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

Psalm 107:8

Homeland Good Ol' Days Festival

2011-04-14T18:41:00.000-07:00

Our 4-H club (Stevens, Stricklens, Waldmans, and Amanda) volunteered to help out at the Good Ol' days festival at the Homeland park. (Our favorite park!!) :o) We took turns helping with the Victorian tea, old fashioned games, ice cream churning, whip popping, and then...we all danced the Virginia Reel and some old fashioned square dances!

Some little 4-H-ers. :)

Amanda and Abby--the first shift at the toy table...

The "hoops and dowels" game (I don't know what it's really called) is really, really fun. :oD

I think I played it for at least a couple of hours with ten or fifteen little kids...
Simple amusement is an amazing thing. :)

Chelsea, Callie, and I--the first shift at the Victorian tea...

Callie and I on our toy-table shift...

Is all we had to do is play with the toys. :oD We can handle that. ;o)

The Jackson Creek String Band. A talented group of people!

Andrew churns the ice cream..

Mmmm. :o)

Miah. :o)

The little squirt. :o)

Authentic, y'all....fo' real. :oP

Tug o' War. :oP

The Virginia Reel in the old schoolhouse!
I love all the costumes and the wood floor and the old building and...well, just the old-fashioned-ness. :oP

Tired yet, Deeda?

Sweet lil sissies . :o)

Onlookers... :o)

Hmmm....I think someone's about to end up in the dunce hat...:oP

What does the teacher say???

Learning the waltz... (I'm not sure why....) :oP

Bow and courtesy. :)

(Not sure what William is thinking...)

Well, y'all...We had a wonderfully blessed day. Fun was had by all, and we were all thoroughly worn out by the end of the day! Thank you, Mrs Stevens for making it all happen!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Thanks for stopping by, y'all. Sorry about the excessive amount of pictures. :oD As you can tell, I L-O-V-E pictures. :):):) Hope it wasn't too boring. ;o) Have a blessed day, everyone.

In Christ,

Finally!

2011-04-11T21:34:00.000-07:00

Here {finally} :o/ are the rest of the pictures from our trip to NC. :oD
Sunday after the conference, the Charleston Tea Plantation, and a few stops in between. :)

People dispersing after the Church service

(which was wonderful by the way--especially the singing--just beautiful with all those voices!)

Mrs. Hope engaged in lively conversation... {I love your hat!}

The beautiful church...

Lunch and sweet fellowship after Church. :)

I love the pink flowers against the bright blue sky. :)

The little stinker. :oP

Mr. and Mrs. Higgenbotham :o)

Daffodils...something we don't see in FL very often!

Well, we're on the road again, y'all! Headed back South!

CJ and Will entertain themselves by making paper airplanes...:oP

Ummm....This picture I have no explanation for...

CJ, having lost his shirt in some unknown phenomenon, is reading a book while sucking on a peppermint stick with all his might, and William is...looking perplexed?? Perturbed?? Astonished?? No, wait. I think he's choking on his peppermint stick.

Or maybe not. Maybe he's just dying of a heat stroke...or something... {?}
(Obviously, I'm totally joking...) :oP

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On our way home, we stopped at a wonderful, Southern, family-owned restaurant called Clark's. We had stopped there once before, about 4 or 5 yrs ago and remembered how wonderful it was...and we weren't disappointed! MmmMmm! You just can't beat that good ol' Southern cookin!

The restaurant has a really neat history!

A little Southern lady. :o)

...and here we have William, a true Southern gentleman. :)

That night, we stayed in a hotel owned by the same family, and had breakfast in the morning at Clark's!

It was wonderful! (and very inexpensive!!)

Time to head out!

Next stop--The Charleston Tea Plantation, Wadmalaw Island, SC.

"America's Only Tea Garden"
Mama has wanted to go here forever, and finally we made it! :o)

My lovely Grandmother, a picture of Southern gentility...

Wave, y'all!!!

The big green tractor...thingy. Specially made for harvesting tea!

Sweeeet Tea! :):)

Unsweeeet Tea! :oP

Well, we were planning on stopping by another tea plantation, if there was one on the way, but we figured 8 or 10 thousand miles was a little bit out of the way...

Oh well. Maybe on one of your world-travels, Abby???

Well, thank y'all for stopping by!

Aww! Is it over...already?? :o(

Yep! But we we'll be back--Have no fear! :oP

Lil Nate :)

2011-04-06T18:00:00.000-07:00

I realize I am TERRIBLY late getting this up, (Thanks to AT&T, our wonderful internet service provider) but, better late than never I guess. March 20th (I bow my head in shame) was Lil Nate's 1st Birthday. We had a party for him Sunday after Church. :) Sooo.... here are some pictures of the little munchkin on his 1st birthday. Hope y'all enjoy them and express your adoration with a sufficient amount of "awwws." ;o)

Happy Birthday, Little Boo!

"What's this I see?? Fire? Cake? What a delightful combination..."

"Is it all for me??"

We celebrated Grandmama's birthday along with Nate's because hers was just a few days earlier. :)

{Yum Yum Yum}

Little Boo wif his Mommy and Daddy ;o)

His mind (or mouth) seems to be preoccupied with something other than my photo shoot...

With Sissy and Great G'ma. :)

Well, y'all...I will, Lord willing, finish posting the pictures of our trip to NC and the Charleston Tea Plantation. (I know you're all just moaning and groaning over the agonizing wait...)
Like I said, I'm trying to catch up--just bear with me :o)

Y'all have a blessed day!

Family Economics Conference!

2011-03-18T18:09:00.000-07:00

Gettin' an early start...Watching the sun rise. :o)

Nate is ready to go! :)

"Well I come from Alabamy with a banjo on my knee..." :oP

Can't have a trip without gum!!! :oD

Finally made it to the Family Economics Conference in Raleigh, NC!!

Mr Beck speaking on "What the Bible says about Finance and Debt."

My wonderful Grandmama and Granddaddy. :oD

Making lunch in Grandmama and Granddaddy's RV. :oD

Take Charge Marge. :oP

People...

...And more people!

Oh yeah, here are some more people. I like people. :oD

Mommies and their little people. :o)

Well, we had a w-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l time at the Family Economics Conference, learned TONS and enjoyed fellowship with like-minded believers!

Eating a lovely meal at an Italian restaurant on Grandmama's birthday. :)

More pictures later, y'all!

Until then, "Good bye, good luck, and may the Good Lord take a likin' to ya!"

2nd Annual Highlands Festival!

2011-03-08T16:09:00.000-08:00

Preparations...

Sweeeet Tea...:o)

Fire ant patrol. :oD

Lil redneck bro. ;o)

Sweet Mama :o)

Guest start arriving...
Uncle Ron and Aunt Sue came out and joined us!

Granddaddy and Lil man. :o)

(Yes, I was having fun editing pictures...)

Us bonnie lassies. :o)

Mama and the wee laddie. ;o)

Cuteness personified....For real :oD

He's cute, too. ;o)

How many pictures does it take to get a good one of these three???
Well, a lot more than this....;o)

My sweet Daddy, who makes all of our dreams come true. :o)

Tattie Sack Races!!!

The wee lassies give it their best and Deeda hits the finish line first!

CJ takes the prize for the Lad's race! Tons of great competition!

Y'all havin' fun?? :o)

The Lassies (and Granddaddy) give it a try...:o)

Cal Sue. :o)

Ready to throw the Stone Put!

Way to go!!

A lot of different techniques, but Ryan wowed us all and took the prize for the Stone Put with Josh just a few inches behind!!! Great job, y'all!

Go, Andrew!!!

Good game, y'all!

Sam gives the fencepost a manly heave!

...and so does Daddy!

Matthew puts his back into it!

Michael takes the prize for the Fencepost tossing!

(How do y'all like all these corny captions??) ;o)

About time for dinner! :o)

Mama and Mrs. Stevens serve Peebleshire meat pie, roasted chicken, Scotch crusty bread and lots more tasty vittles!

The lads and Lassies put on a skit (written by Abby) called "Who Stole Me Haggis??"

Scene #1

Actors take their places on stage. Ryan walks out in front of them all. He raises his fist high in the air and shouts in a gruff voice:

R: Who stole me haggis?!!

He stomps over to Margaret, points at her and shouts:

"'Twas it you??"

Margaret: "'Twas not I, sir!"

Ryan stomps over to Emilie

"'Twas it you??"

Emilie: 'Twas not I, sir!

Next, to Daniel:

'Twas it you?

Daniel: 'Twas not I, sir!!!

Ryan swings around, faces the audience, points, and with an angry face and voice shouts:

'Twas it YOU???

(Response from audience, hopefully they'll answer "no")

He raises his hands in frustration and says:

Then who was it???

The "'Twas Nots" answer together and point at CJ at the same time.

It 'twas HIM, sir!!!

Ryan: (Turns sideways to face CJ who is beside him) You? 'Twas it really you??

CJ: (Arrogantly with hands on his hips) 'Twas what me?

Ryan: 'Twas it you who stole me haggis?

CJ: No, 'twas not I, sir!

Ryan: Then what is all that nasty lookin' gunk on yer face?

CJ: (Quickly wiping his face with the back of his hand) What gunk?

Ryan: The gunk that was on yer face a moment ago.
'Twas it my haggis?

CJ: There 'twas no gunk on me face!

Ryan: Oh yes there was! And it was MY haggis!!

CJ: (Drops to his knees and pleads with Ryan) Oh please sir!! It 'twas yer haggis, but it t'was the best haggis I had ever tasted in me whole life!

Ryan: (points at CJ) This is the man that stole me haggis! Hang him from the tallest tree! Executioner!!

Grayson comes to the front (He will have been standing behind the other actors until Ryan calls "Executioner". That is his sign to come to the front) with a black mask over his face and throws a rope around CJ's neck and leads a very dejected looking CJ away off the stage.

Actors all stand in a row and bow.
Actors exit the stage as audience applauds

THE END

{Applause}

'Twas a pleasant day full of fun, games, fellowship, food, entertainment, and singing of great hymns of the Faith! The Lord is so faithful!

In His Service,

Hallelujah, praise Jehovah,
O my soul, Jehovah praise;
I will sing the glorious praises
Of my God through all my days.
Put no confidence in princes,
Nor for help on man depend;
He shall die, to dust returning,
And his purposes shall end.

Happy is the man that chooses
Israel’s God to be his aid;
He is blest whose hope of blessing
On the Lord his God is stayed.
Heaven and earth the Lord created,
Seas and all that they contain;
He delivers from oppression,
Righteousness He will maintain.

Food He daily gives the hungry,
Sets the mourning prisoner free,
Raises those bowed down with anguish,
Makes the sightless eyes to see.
Well Jehovah loves the righteous,
And the stranger He befriends,
Helps the fatherless and the widow,
Judgment on the wicked sends.

Hallelujah, praise Jehovah,
O my soul, Jehovah praise;
I will sing the glorious praises
Of my God through all my days.
Over all God reigns forever,
Through all ages He is King;
Unto Him, thy God, O Zion,
Joyful hallelujahs sing.