Got a minute? A million beach pictures:

Sun setting on the beach. Ah, how beautiful! I love the warm glow of the last moments of the day. It is so pretty and makes for great photos!

Our friends Angela and Joe invited us and another family to go to the beach with them! We had a fabulous time at the there. Expecting rain, we pulled into Destin just as the clouds parted and the sun came out! We all ran down to the public beach when we first arrived and soaked up some sun. Ahh, it felt good!We actually only stayed one night in Destin. After that we moved down the coast just a little while and stayed in the 'cabins' at Grayton Beach National Park. The 'cabins' were actually more like condos. And while the basic hotel rooms without views were over $160+ with priceline, our condo (still no view) which had room for all of us and a full kitchen, back screened in porch and a grill was only $110/night! We would have needed two hotel rooms, too!

Another plus of staying at the state park was that we had a section of the beach that was practically clear of other people, relatively speaking. Maybe ten other families stretched out this beach within our sight range. It was beatiful and we could easily keep track of everyone. Even when someone wandered (which a couple of mine did)!See in this blurry picture of me, there is no one else there on the beach except Joe and he was with us! Nice!

The kids had a blast:

We even stopped to see the alligators since they eluded our view the rest of the time. We had to go to a special place to see them. The kids were happy to even be able to pet them!
Our final stop on the way home was an overnight in Montgomery (which my good little home-schooled girls recognized as the capital). We couldn't get any adjoining rooms so we split up, girls in one room, boys in the other. I think that I got the better deal! :-) We watched some TV and nobody tried jumping on the beds or yelling or anything. I called over to Steve's room at one point. Different story. ha! ha! Boys!
More pictures in the posts below this one. I told you: a MILLION!

Trouble in Paradise.

See Vitali?
See Vitali jump in the waves?

See Vitali laughing and having a good time?
That is proof.

Next, you see what happens when he decides that he is a bit tired and overwhelmed and wants to test our resolve. Do mom and Dad still stand their ground in the sand? Leave it to Vitali to wonder....

No. We are not allowed to throw sand. We do mean it! Vitali loves to throw and whack stuff. All that sand was a HUGE temptation for him. Finally, we made him a time-out island. This inspired the other kids to make a patch of islands as well:

(Jane and Sarah, two of Angela's girls.)

Then it was, I don't like to go in the water. This was really more of a game of "make-everyone-feel sorry for Vitali" It worked pretty well but remember the "proof" above. :-)
Steve and I would hold him and quietly remind him that he was always safe with us. He cried anyway. Didn't want to have to depend on us. That was the real issue there, I believe.
(and, by the way, some of my pictures are blasted with light. I am blaming it on the fact that I had my polarizer on the lens. I don't know if that was it or not)

Throwing sand again! Vitali threw sand again so Steve filled two buckets with sand and sent Vitali to the water's edge to throw all that sand into the ocean. Turns out that wasn't as fun as whipping it at his friends.
He said things like, " I don't want to throw sand!" the whole time.

Vitali, not wanting to throw sand. Really, after this, he didn't anymore.
And, for the record, most of the time he was this happy little guy!

Painting beach scenes. This is Ivy and Neil. Neil is Five and Ivy is four but everyone loves Ivy and these two have always enjoyed playing together. Now Vitali and Neil are partners in crime as well. (Just not in this picture)

Ah, here are all three amigos. Fake sleeping for naptime. Looks like Ivy could use some acting lessons. But those boys--they are ominously good. Should I be worried?!

Hannah being a modest mermaid.

Filling the wading pool where they will keep their captured sea life for the day.

Another shot of the first moments on the beach. Jane is Angela's oldest daughter and she is the Pied piper. All the kids love her!
This is the main public beach in Destin. The beach we actually stayed at was a semi-private beach where it was blessedly easy to keep track of all 12 kiddos with one sweep of the eye. We even left our stuff there on the beach after our morning visits and came back later in the day to play again. I was glad to be able to set my camera with our bags and fearlessly hang out at the water rather than feeling the need to babysit my equipment.
Hmm, looks like Ivy's dress is holding a little water.

More pictures of the beach.

My handsome man.

My friend Angela: the ringleader. She is the one who invited us all to go together.

First moments of our arrival. At this point there were ten kids to keep track of.

Finding seashells. Ivy is holding several well-worn sand dollar fragments.
We lost our only whole one.

My friend Marie and her daughter Rachel, who is one of Hannah's best friends. It wasn't a great shelling beach and Marie is showing off one of her finest...

some teaser pics of our beach vacation(ammended to add captions):

Six adults, Twelve kids! We had a great time! More pictures later...time for bed right now!

Here are a few to prove that I wasn't lyin':

Filling a little inflatable wading pool with water. This is where they kept the fish and sea creatures that they caught. Angela's idea. They really worked at it all day.

Ivy lounging in the "swimming pool" they made out of seaweed. Lovely.

The final eight kids left at the beach. Plus parents (excluding me, the camera "man").
This was our last trip to the beach before the drive home. The kids really enjoyed riding in the back of Marie and Dayakar's pickup.

I think I need a whole separate post about this one....

A little blurry.

Volleyball at sunset.

Our Anniversary was that week. Thirteen years! Lucky Steve. :-)
And, Heather, that might be tan but it is more likely the effects of the sunset lighting and a rosy sunburn that you see. Haha!

Moving diary #26

Richard pointed out that my posts have been reduced to one-liners. Yes, they have gotten shorter. In fact, yesterday I didn't post at all. I figure that I am probably pretty boring with my did-this-didn't-do-that monologue. That, combined with the guilt of sitting at the computer when I have work to do has had an effect on my writing the last few days.

But I have been up to something. I have been spray painting things. We have some furniture that we have gotten at yard sales or that we have had since we were married 13 years ago this Monday. I have, in the past, refinished several pieces of furniture, mostly with the help of my friend Heather, but there are a few things that I know I will never refinish but that were still sturdy and functional. One was our night stands. They look great now all in black with their drawer pulls painted silver. Another is a dresser we just bought through craigslist.com a couple of weeks ago. I also painted a side table that I got for $2 at a yard sale up the street. I painted all these things black. Steve is joking that I am going to spray our whole house black but I won't; I promise. ;-)

Want to see the dresser? It was brown but even though the wood is real (all except the insides of the drawers) there is some kind of strange faux stain on it that is more like paper than actual paint. That, combined with brass pulls in fancy shapes, was a mixture of cheap and dressy that bothered my eye.

I removed all the drawer pulls, rubbed them with steel wool and sprayed them with aluminum colored spray paint like I had done with the nightstands. I sprayed the whole dresser shiny black. And, with the pulls re-installed, it looks great! I love the sleek, crisp look of the black and silver. I also realized that the lines of the dresser are decorative enough for it not to be stark but simple enough for my plain, not frilly taste.

It looks so small in the pictures but it is really quite tall.


Makes me want to paint something else black....

Moving diary #25

Steve's repainting the porch spindles...

Moving diary #24

Alright. So...What to do today?????

I suppose just catch this house up after the weekend. How does it manage to be messier the less time we spend at home?! I need to catch up on my laundry and paint trim. Begin the final surge of schoolwork before the end of the year and sort out my laundry closet. (My! Does stuff ever collect there!) Oh, yes. And I need to get groceries.

Does anyone have a cup of get-up-and-go? I need it...

moving diary #23

We painted. Steve, the railings on the front porch; me, the end tables from our bedroom.

It rained. The porch paint is washing away but the tables are safely tucked inside. Now we'll have to do the porch again. Ugh.

Publish Post

Anyway, the tables look good. When will we be done with all this work?!

moving diary #22

My list is shrinking into something I can picture myself finishing. Don't get me wrong; it will take days. But it will get done. Of that I am sure!

Now, for a house....

Moving diary # 21

Well, unsurprisingly, our offer was rejected on the house yesterday. So, we are still looking. Ugh!

The house is almost ready and it will be good to be back to a semi-normal state around here. Of course, that will include acting normally but with the small differences that we don't bump any walls (Keep that paint nice!) and we make strict good habits of keeping the house practically show-able all the time. I think that will be a downside that could also be called a perk--that is, if the habits stick... It's not on the market quite yet, though.

My list today is long. Let's see what I get done!

Moving diary # 20

(Vitali "helping" Steve work on the back porch.)

We are going this morning to sign paperwork on a long-shot offer we are putting in on a house. While the house is awesome, I have some reservations (the lake touching the property, distance from where we shop) so, even though it would be a great move for us, I won't be sad if we don't get it! This is not the first one we have offered on but we are looking for steals. That makes us pretty likely to be rejected. Haha! good thing we can take it!

Also, here is a picture of our current house on the outside:
I wanted to get a picture while the roses are blooming.

Moving diary # 19

I skipped yesterday's post which would have mentioned my porch painting from the day before. I am going to try and keep today's post shorter than usual. Think I can do it?

What did I do yesterday? I took a picture of the outside of the house while my climbing roses are blooming, the sky had swept aside it's clouds for the moment, and everything had a sparkle thanks to the nonstop rain we had been working around lately. Then, we took a break and the kids and I went to Grandma's house. We haven't been for a visit in weeks--only brief "Hellos" and "goodbyes" at church. It was time. Grandma made scones (Annette calls them crones) and had a tea party for the kids which they always cheer about. She read books and they watched a couple of Gene Autry episodes with Grandpa.

I did get one other thing done yesterday, I guess. I bought the paint for today's project: Neutral colors for the living room and hallway. They are currently blue. I like the color but I recognize that not everyone will envision themselves in a blue living space so, Neutral it is! I matched the paint to my bedroom color which means that I can just paint the one wall in my room that has dings and not paint the whole room over. I would like to take this moment to thank myself for the mommy's-room-is-not-a-playroom-for-kids rule: Thank you, self. You have shown great foresight and for this I am grateful.

So, that tells you what I am doing today. Taping. Painting. Painting. Painting....

Ivy and our pet chicken, Indiana Jones.

Indiana is getting bigger. So is Ivy! But she's not growing feathers....

Moving Diary # 18

Number eighteen, huh?! Please tell me the number of entries on this topic won't break 100!

Must.

find .

House.

Sooon!

And, as for what I got done yesterday? I finished the mudding in the bathroom. It's really just a small spot but needed several layers. It's been so humid here--raining for days on end--that my mud has been taking forever to dry! But now I think I can sand it and tell Steve to paint it. Well, I may end up painting but I can try, can't I?

I did it again. Made myself a list for today. Paint the front porch. It's not that big but a lengthy job. and it needs to get done so that I can take a picture of the front of the house while the roses are blooming. Today is the only day in 10 (counting the next couple of days too) no rain in the forecast, so this is it! Really, we should get the front yard mowed too. So, a busy day. Steve thinks he will get home early and that will help.

And, in other news, Richard thinks I didn't have a good time last Saturday when his wife took me up to Cookville to a writing seminar. ;-) He thinks that because I didn't mention it on here. Actually, weirdly, other than this never-ending moving diary, I don't normally detail much about things I didn't take pictures of. But anyway, I did have a good time and got a couple of good hints that should help my writing improve.

One hint that took me by surprise was to avoid the use of adverbs. This should really help my writing dramatically. Especially since I often find my self solidly stuck in the proverial rut. I type slowly along, deftly popping in adverb after adverb and now I surprisingly find out that this is actually not the best writing strategy! In fact, as I carefully go over my old writings I find that I liberally use adverbs all the tme. And for those of you who are gramatically-challenged, I am sorry that you will have completely missed my attempts at humor here.

I also enjoyed the speaker. She and her husband adopted a little girl whose birth mother had not wanted to take care of a little blind girl and had caused her to be burned severely. This little girl, who has no physical beauty was beauiful to her adoptive mother and a blessing in their lives.

How much are we like that little girl? We have no apparent value, except to ourselves, but God loved us anyway. He saw us as valuable. He truly loved us, and proved it! Praise Him!

I wanted to put a link here to her story but I don't know where my paperwork or the book Steve borrowed from Ginger is. Later, I guess..

I especially enjoyed the drive. It was good to just sit, drink my coffee, and have good company to visit with for the long ride there and back! How relaxing and refreshing. :-)

And now Richard knows that I, indeed, did have a great time! And you all do too! Even if you don't have pictures. :-) Thanks (AGAIN), Ginger!

Moving Diary # 17

It is beginning to look like lists are my downfall...I make them...they discourage me. I should go back to my favorite list-making method which is to write down everything I have gotten done today and then cross things off. So satisfying. Cheating, but strangely satisfying.

Reminds me of Vitali, who couldn't seem to win at memory the other night. He was complaining about his inadequacy and Steve took mock-pity on him. Steve turned all the cards the right-way-up and told Vitali that he could go first. Vitali didn't say, "Daddy...that would be cheating!" Nope. He dove right in and beamed as he kept exclaiming to us, "Look! I have O' Loss (a lot) of matches!" And he did. Over half. Then, he messed up (to his credit, three were left upside down) and Ivy got to go next. Of course, she cleaned up the rest and was also unaffected by sportsmanship's call. The next morning Vitali spent the better part of an hour on the floor playing cheater-memory (which, ironically, requires no memory whatsoever)! Ah, to find a game you are good at. That is the stuff of life...

And back to my moving to-do list for yesterday:

Feed the kids check.

morning chores check.

laundry check

wash rags for Steve check

Feed the kids again check

put another layer of mud on bedroom ceiling. Check.

schoolwork check

Make dinner to go so we can meet the Realtor after the boys' horse riding class. check

Meet the Realtor; look at houses check

hang up clothes check

pack a couple of boxes, tape and label check.

clean up before bed. check

flop into bed, tired but having gotten so much done! Check.

See how well that works? And, now, rather than jinxing myself by telling you my plans for today, I will just surprise you (and myself) tomorrow!

Moving diary # 16

I had two things on my list yesterday and I got them both started. That should count for something, right?! The front door had a drip and I was going to sand and paint it but I only got it sanded. And our ceiling in our bathroom had an air bubble that came loose so I was repairing that but only got the first half of that project done. I guess, "type diary entry" should have been on there too since, as it happened, I forgot to check in.

Today, I am planning on finishing the bathroom ceiling and hopefully packing up my computer area, most of which is junk that has accumulated here. We'll see if I get this far.

We went last night with a house to look at in mind, we drove around a while before we realized that the house in question was not built yet! Haha! Just when we thought we might have found a good one!

Oh well!

Ivy's haircut.

I cut eight inches off of Ivy's hair the other day!
She was very proud to have "short" hair.
:-)

Picnic fun!

(The kids enjoyed playing in the over-zealous water fountain at the park!)

Just over a week ago we went for a weekend picnic with Heather and Martha, my friend and her mother, who were visiting our springtime while they waited for NY to get moving!

The weather that evening was perfect and we had a nice time at the lake-park near our home. Good food and a relaxing evening. Their whole visit was good but that was my first time to just sit and enjoy Heather's visit for any extended time. (ugh, moving stuff was stealing my time, of course)

Heather and my mom playing corn hole. I beat Heather every time! (in my dreams....)

My Dad

Heather's mom, Martha, models the perfect looking hot dog.
I know Bethany will say that the perfect hot dog wouldn't have onions-- but who asked her?!

An example of Heather showing that she is not bound by conventional ideas of beauty. This may be my submission into What Not To Wear. I figure when they find out that Heather wears an apple slice instead of lipstick, she'll be a shoo-in!

More water fountain fun

Moving diary # 15

Took a picture of the kids yesterday evening. I like it except for Hannah's slightly annoyed expression...Oh well, can't win em all! And, yes, I got the whole yard mowed!

We got our storage room cleaned out almost entirely today. Steve was home due to rain. A trip to the dump, another to the storage unit, and one to the Goodwill. Ahhh... Feels good to have so much more stuff gone!

It's late and I am off for a ladies' thing all day tomorrow. :-) Leaving early so, goodnight!