Mission Camp continues. . .

The kiddos are working on the Labyrinth during Mission camp this year.  Sprat is working in the morning and then going to football camp in the evening, then back to Church for the evening.  He is going to be so tired when all this settles down and so am I.  
They have created a time capsule for future  congregations.   The kids wrote a letter to the future congregation and the adults also wrote one.  They included several pictures of our youth  on a cell phone along with selfies of each  kid that was a part of this Mission camp.  It was then sealed under a concrete pad where our Labyrinth will be completed.  I get chills every time I think about this.  I am so excited that my kids could be a part of this. 

Mission Camp Begins

The boys are off to  Mission camp today.  Dear hubby and I helped fix lunch for the send off at Church.   We served breakfast for lunch.  We had bacon, fixed by dear hubby, eggs, pancakes, sausage, biscuits, and grits an gravey by me.  We also had some fresh strawberries.   Great lunch!
The kids will be staying at the Church and working on the Labyrinth.   They are straightening the stones and weeding.  They also mentioned putting together a time capsule.  I think they are going to have lots of fun.   Will post more of what they are doing later this week. 

Going home early. . .

As we are leaving Fort Macon beach it starts to rain.  We were all soaked to the bone by the time we reached the car.  Normally I over pack for everything but, today I only brought one towel.  I knew we would not be getting in the ocean because of the rip current so, I thought we only need one towel.  I decided since we were drenched we would go by a local drive in for a quick bite. 
We finally dried out and cleaned up and dear hubby sent us a text, he had arrived home safely.  He then sent me a picture of sweet Basil.  I showed the picture to the boys.  They both decided they wanted to go home.  They missed their dad and sweet B.  So we packed up and headed home a day early.  
I thought we would surprise my dear hubby with our early arrival.  We were about 2 hours from home when he called us to check in.  There goes our surprise.   He was glad though.  We made it home safe and sound and, there is no place like home.

Last Day at the Beach

Dear hubby was going to be heading back to the house to pick up sweet Basil yesterday,  so we all went for breakfast.   I decided after my hubby headed home the boys and I would go shelling for our final adventure.  I met a nice lady on the beach the day before and she told me where she had found some unique shells. 
The tide was going to be low at 10:30 so after breakfast we packed a cooler and headed to Fort Macon.  The beach in front of the Fort has great shells.  It also has a very strong rip current, so we only went in the water shin deep.   We had a good walk around the dunes to get to the water but it was worth it.  We walked and looked for shells and for sharks teeth.  Sprat has quite a collection of teeth from our vacations.  Big T is starting his collection of shells.  We had such a great time walking, talking, and looking for those little treasures. 

Thank you and stuff

I have always tried to teach my kids to say thank you and to use good manners.  Some days my boys drive me to the brink and I think, where did I go wrong.  Some days they truly surprise me and I get a small glimpse that I am doing something right.
We do not eat a lot of fast food, we never have.  If we are going to spend that kind of money it is going to be on good food.   We went to eat last night at a Japanese buffet and they had a tip jar beside the Hibachi grill.  Sprat fixed what he wanted from the Hibachi and the chef went to work.  Sprat was impressed and he said the food was great.  He asked me for $3, and I said why?  He said,  mom, the food was good and that guy deserves a tip.  So I gave him the money and he put it in the chef's tip jar.  The other thing I have noticed is that every time they are given refills for their drinks or when a waiter or waitress bring their food they always say, thank you.   I am so glad they have learned those words. 
It is nice to know that they believe good service and hard work deserve a little extra.  I hope they both remember that when they go out in the work force. 

Live Cannon Fire

The coolest thing of our vacation so far.  Went to Fort Macon today to check out the museum.   We saw the Fort last year when we were here.  To our delight and surprise they were having a reenactment of the siege of Fort Macon.  They had people dressed in costume all around the grounds.
We did not know they were doing the historic reenactment.   We got there as they were finishing up.  The end was punctuated by the firing of the cannon.  I did not think they were really going to fire it.  We watched as they loaded and tamped the cannon, they sighted it in.  Then when the solider standing beside the cannon put his hands over his ears, I told Big T to cover his and I covered mine.  Sure enough, they fired that cannon, and it was loud.  I felt it in my chest.  I jumped, it was loud.  Unfortunately,  that was the end for today.  Wow! So glad we got to see and hear  that.  After the took down the Confederate flag and put up the American flag.   Awesome Day!!

Crazy at the Beach

We have enjoyed the beach this week.  Today we spent an overcast day playing mini golf and driving gocarts.   We also visited the Aquarium.   Always love the Aquarium and seeing all the exhibits.  We did come back to the beach and play  in the waves.  The boys rode waves and played in the ocean the rest of the evening.
It has been nice and relaxing time but we all miss the Sweet B.  We must find a place here so next time she can go with us.  I think she would love the beach.  

School Time Getting Closer. . .

I cannot believe  we only have a month left of Summer vacation.   Sprat has been consumed by high school football work outs and I have had Big T consumed by math.  I hope I have done enough to keep their brains alive through the summer break.  I had such big plans for them and feel I have only completed half of what was on my wish list. 
I always try to make summer fun and educational.   I want them to have fond memories of our summers together.  I have great memories of my family vacations and summer time fun.  We always went to Florida for vacation.   We had a boat there so we went deep sea fishing  and snorkeling.   It was a lot of  fun.  I remember one day my dad and brother dropped my sister, mom, and I off and we rode the raft to the beach.  Dad and my brother went on to do some diving.  They got fussed at  for bringing the boat to close to shore.
I hope my kids will have fun times they can tell their kids about.

Shopping with the Boys

Shopping with your kids should be considered vigorous aerobic exercise.   I love my boys but I hate having to take both of them shopping for anything.  One on one they are easy and I have no problem shopping.   Together should be outlawed.
Sprat needed a new bathing suit, the boy is growing out of his clothes like crazy.  Everytime I turn around he has grown out of something else.  
I guess Sprat is in that phase of teenager where they don't want to try things  on and if it is not about them, they don't care.  Ughhh, teenagers.   These two crazy boys cannot keep their hands to themselves and must aggravate each other every chance they get. 
I love them dearly but they do make me crazy.

Nature Science Center

Spent the morning at the Nature Science Center with the boys.  Sprat did not want to go but once he got there he had fun.  They have some new interactive things fir older kids.  That is where he found his joy. 
They got to experience 78 mph winds in the hurricane simulator and that was cool.  They got to experience the frustration of using a robot to retrieve treasure from the ocean floor.  It was very frustrating.   We saw some cool reptiles and some African Penguins.  I did not know some Penguins lived in warmer climates.  I always thought they lived in the ice and snow.  Mom can learn things too  on these educational trips. 

Evil Credit Cards. . .

I have posted numerous times about how much I love Dave Ramsey.   I am not paid by him so this not an advertisement but a testament to his program. 
I read his books and semi followed his plan for several years before I got serious.  It has been two years since I took his Financial Peace University class,  I loved it.  It brought all of my reading together and wow.  We are on our way to being debt free.  I am not saying you have to do everything he says, you can pick and choose how you want to approach each thing.  We don't do everything he recommends but we do most. 
The item that rings so true is the; do not use credit card part.   When I was in college I was a credit card queen.  I had them all and they all had a balance.   I wish I had known about Dave in college.   When my hubby and I decided to have the plastic surgery, as Dave puts it, we started keeping the free credit advertisements that we got in the mail.  I kept them for each of us for a month.   I totalled up how much credit or debt we could have if we had signed up for them all.  Hubby had a total well over $500, 000 and I had over $300, 000.   Now imagine, we have two boys we hope will go to college one day and we would like to retire before we die.  Thank goodness after I totalled everything up I shreded those nasty little papers.  I must say having Dave's plastic surgery  was the best thing we ever did and I highly recommend it.
We use the envelope system which is like how your grandmother or great grandmother kept up with their money.   We give,  save, and spend in that order.  If you want a risk free look into Dave's program go to your library and check out one of his books.  That is how I got started.  Then I went to a used bookstore and bought his book.  Do your own reaearch and see what you think.  As always, I would love to hear from you and your thoughts on Dave. 

Army Surplus Trip

Big T is all in to military stuff.  He can name all the military weapons and in what war they were used.  He takes after his daddy on that one.  We have an army surplus store not to far from us and they have all kinds of neat stuff.
Sprat had football work outs so this was a perfect chance for Big T and I to do some running.   This store had everything.  Every other word out of Big T's mouth was "look."   They had antique weapons and amo, vintage uniforms from different wars.  They also had dog tags that they would imprint with your information.  Naturally Big T had to get a set of those.  I have to admit that was cool.  He also picked out another pocket knife.  I see a lot of my daddy in him these days.     When hubby called to check in his first words were, "when is the tank going to be delivered?"   He knows what a war buff he is and what a sucker I can be.  No tank this time.  But, you never know.

Evening on the Lake

Spent a wonderful evening on the Lake last night.  We took sweet Basil.  She had never been in the boat before.  We kept her on the leash just in case she tried to jump out.  She got to see an Egret,  Heron, and some  fish.  
Dear hubby loves to fish but doesn't get to as often as he would like.   He took Big T fishing the other day  and Big T came home telling how he drove the boat.  I don't get to drive the boat.  What?  I always joke that is was my fishing prowess that hooked my hubby.   Before we had the boys we used to fish quite a bit.    I prefer deep sea fishing to fresh water though. 
So last night Big T got to show us how he drove the boat.  He did a good job.  
It was a beautiful evening to be on the water.   Don't dare tell my hubby but, I think we need a bigger boat.  Shhhhhhh

Happy Fourth of July

I hope everyone has a happy and safe Fourth if July weekend.  Be aware of others when shooting fireworks.   Keep your kids and animals safe.  Many animals run away during the fireworks because of all the noise and smoke so don't forget about them. 
John Hancock was the only one to sign the Deceleration of Independence on July fourth, everyone else signed it later.  One more bit of trivia.  The song "Yankee Doodle" was sung by the British to make fun of the American soldiers.  
Enjoy your day and remember to thank a veteran for your freedom. 
We are flying our flag today.   This was my dear husbands father's day present.

Digging Gems. . .

The boys and I went to visit my folks this week.  Dear hubby stayed at home to tend the garden, work, and take care of the sweet Basil.  We headed up to Little Switzerland to go gem mining.  There are several places you can pan for gems on the way but we were headed for the Emerald Village.   We toured the old feldspar mine, and I learned feldspar was used to make porcelain (toilets), a scrubbing agent called Bon- Ami, and the coolest of all Wedgewood porcelain china.  They had examples of these set up as we made our way through the tour.  
We then went down the road to go panning.   We picked our buckets and headed for the trough.  It took us a good 45 minutes to go through our buckets.  We found lots of goodies.  Sprat found a couple emeralds and we found a lot of pink quartz.  Big T found Hyalite Opal which is black and fluoresces under certain light.  It is beautiful.   We also found some amethyst,  garnet, and rubby.  This was a cool trip.  I think we will be taking some more mining trips around to different areas.