Our Home...

Our home decor was featured in a style blog today & it made me realize that many family & friends who haven't got to visit our home might be interested in what our house actually looks like....well, here is a tour of our home (contrary to the last post, our house was actually clean the day I took these photos).

Living Room:

Dining Room:

Kitchen:

Boys Room:

Our Room:

Hope you enjoyed the tour!

Encouraged in the Midst of Chaos. . .

Today is just one of "those days" again! We are blessed that these sort of days don't come often; but when they do come, they sure pack a punch.

The dishes are out of control...

so is the laundry!

The pool turned green.
The "grey" is really showing, meaning I'm in desperate need of a bottle of L'Oreal Preference.

& last but not least, JJ is sick!

Rich took Harry and Eddie to the beach, while I literally carried JJ to the Dr. He had been vommiting since early morning & was so weak he couldn't even walk. ---They tested him for SWINE FLU & thankfully it came back negative. He basically has a 24 hour stomach flu, which when dealing with JJ could be way more than 24 hours. ---So off to the store we headed to get crackers & popscicles (he picked the superhero kind). ---When we arrived home Rich already had the other 2 down for a nap & was ready for a nap himself, so he snuggled with JJ in our bed.---Looking around at all the chaos around the house I began to take pictures (not sure why, but it's sort of a therapy for me), so that I wouldn't ever forget these CRAZY days we have every so often.---Soon Harry & Eddie were up & at FULL speed. Wondering how JJ was & if he was feeling better, Harry asked how the Dr. visit went, & Eddie proceeded to ask if JJ had died and gone to heaven (probably since he was in our room asleep & it seemed he had been gone all day). After hearing of the days events & JJ's current condition, Harry suggested that we pray for JJ. So I led us in a prayer for JJ & Harry followed with the sweetest, concerned prayer for his sick brother (Eddie didn't want to, probably because he was still confused about where JJ really was). We are SO blessed when our boys unsolicitedly come up with something profound, thoughtful & sweet!---Needless to say, JJ is already feeling better & has been able to keep 2 superhero popscicle down so far! Rich just finished cleaning & treating the pool, so it should be back to it's blue self soon. The first load in the dishwasher is done; ready to be put away & reloaded. The laundry, well I better get to that now. Last & definitely least, my "grey" can WAIT until another day.....I like wearing hats anyway!

Breakfast!?!

It seems that everyday we fight the "battle" of contstant snacking with our boys. They are ALWAYS hungry, but refuse to eat big meals to hold them over. So this morning Rich decided to make them a BIG braekfast of eggs & toast and make them sit at the table until it was completely gone. I must admit that I was amazed after about 10 minutes that they were actually still sitting at the table and eating together, until I came around the corner to discover the reason why!!!
Just to clarify, this is NOT the kinda BIG breakfast we had in mind. JJ had found my "stash" & decided to add it to his plate!

Random FUN, CUTE &/or FUNNY Moments. . .

Here is JJ, a few months back, on the way to our first official BEACH TRIP this season.

(That night Rich made me cut his hair....SO sad!)

JJ & Eddie playing "PUNCH the wave"....a beach favorite of theirs!

Harry with his "new" computer that Boppa gave him.
My 3 "SONS": HarriSON, JefferSON & EdiSON!

Who can resist these eyes......not to mention the freckles!

TWINS???

Harry got a "How to Draw Sharks" book from the library, he drew the shark on the bottom free-hand (daddy drew the other one)!

Harry invented these outfits in case the economy ever gets so bad that we have to sell all of our clothes!

Eddie decided to paint his toes too!

You Must Be A Redneck If. . . .

. . . .You make a downhill (or down-ditch) Slip-N-Slide out of black tarp, a blow up mattress & SoftSoap!

Yes, it is true...we are officially accepted in our neighborhood now!

You'd of thought we had taken the kids (& us) to Disney World or something....they (we) were having a BLAST!

By the end of the day it transformed into a "Muddin' Slide"!.........YeeHaw!!!......... Bring on the beat-up old trucks & the chickens (heehee), we are a regular REDNECK Floridian family now!
Check out Rich joining in on the action!!!

FLASHBACK: Amah & Anthony Visit For Harry's 6th Birthday

In late April Rich's mom (Amah) & his nephew Anthony came to visit for Harry's 6th birthday! It was a VERY fun visit, the boys ALWAYS love when Amah comes & spending time with Anthony was a BLAST for them!

........While they were here the boys had MANY lizard & frog hunts!

We went to the beach a few times that week & one of those times we went on a nature trail.

"Uncle Richie" got to teach Anthony how to surf for the first time!


Harry showing off his "moves"!

Fun Times!

A man gave Anthony a fish........boy, did they LOVE it!!!

We went to Memorial Island one evening to watch the dolphins; we just couldn't seem to snap a shot of them though.

We had friends over on Harry's birthday; we ate cheeseburgers, cheeseballs, green punch & cupcakes with blue icing all at Harry's request.


Even after trying to block them, his brothers still managed to help Harry blow out his candles!

Harry & Brendan trying out his new TRANSFORMERS walkie talkies!


One day the boys caught a frog & wanted to set him free in the canal......

It is to steep to climb down to the shore of the canal, so the boys put the frog in a bottle & threw him in.....hmmmm, I didn't think of littering until I saw the bottle floating in the canal, whoops!

What a FUN week we had! We are looking forward to the next time Amah visits & excited to see who she'll bring with her next!

FLASHBACK: Rebecca's Birthday

Needless to say...we have been VERY busy lately. And one of the things that seems to get neglected during the "busyiness" is our blog. So I will be attempting to "catch up" here in the next few posts; starting with my birthday: April 19th.......

Let me preface this post by saying that Rich REALLY out did himself this year; if this was for my 25th, I can't imagine what 30 or 50 will be like!

.......On my actual birthday we headed down to the beach for a picnic.

Then we headed home for cake & presents!!! Rich had made the cake the night before, giving Eddie plenty of time to get his fingers into it.
The highlight of the night was my "boys" singing to me!!!

Harry picked these flowers out for me when he and Rich went shopping, he was SO excited to give them to me!The next morning Rich took all 3 kids to meet my mom, giving me the day to myself. And then swept me off to the Lakesied Inn in Mt. Dora for 2 nights!!! It was kind of a birthday/anniversary get-a-way since we were going to be in Honduras on our 7th anniversary. One of the days we spent off-roading on dune buggies & atv's......SOOOOOOO fun!

This gator hung out on the dock at the Inn.

We met my parents at the Cheescake Factory in Brandon to pick up the boys.....& I was surprised to find my family & many friends there to celebrate my birthday!!!

Here is my brother Joel showing of his muscle skills with Marcus & Jason (my sisters boys)!My sister Elizabeth & I.

My DEAR friend Maranatha & I.

I am SO blessed to have a husband who goes ABOVE & BEYOND to make me feel SO special each year! It was such a FUN weekend, one I will NEVER forget!

GO

This is an AMAZING video that challenges us to "Go into ALL the World".(double click the screen for a FULL window to pop up)

Honduras

We got home last Monday from a week long trip to Honduras. While we were there we visited many different places and ministered to the children of Honduras. Our kids sang songs, we told a Bible story & made animal puppets with the children. Many of them were orphans or left to themselves each day as their parents head off to work. They were SO starving for affection. We were told that since hurricane Mitch in the late 90's, Honduras has had many missions groups come down and help with medical needs and rebuilding the country, but not many that have come and focused on ministering to the children.

Below is a video/slideshow of our trip...ENJOY!

Easter in the Park 2009

Every year our church hosts: "EASTER in the PARK"...it has become such a FUN tradition for us! Rich and the boys camped out the night before to help "protect" the stuff.---Our boys don't ever dress up, so it was SO fun to dress them up fancy! Harry especially liked it.

The park is right on the river, so before the service began we went on a family walk

(so mama could take pictures).

You can't have a photo shoot without a silly photo!!!

Brendan & Harry waiting for the service to begin.

Sarah, Kim & I (& someone's fingers....hmmmm?)

It was a GREAT turn out & we had BEAUTIFUL weather....best of all people responded to the Gospel message!!!! God is SO good & we are looking forward to next years "EASTER in the PARK"!!!

"something SO sweet". . .

Harry came in the house today and said:

"close your eyes mama and walk with me, I have something SO sweet to show you"

He walked me outside and showed me this ADORABLE chalk picture and said:
"this is you and daddy. . .you guys are SO sweet. I like drawing sweet things for you mama because i love you"

In my opinion, HE is what is SO sweet. . .I LOVE moments like this!

(Rich looks GOOD in this picture. . .I think it is the GREEN hair)

"No turning Bad, No turning Bad"

We've been trying to teach the boys to sing LOUD, so that when we visit the nursing home each week the people can actually hear them (JJ has picked it up quite well); so this morning I decided to video them so that they could hear and see the difference.---It was SOOO cute that I had to share one of the clips.---I help them get started, but they are mostly singing the on their own.---At the end of the song, the words are supposed to: "No turning back, No turning back", but JJ sings: "No turning bad, no turning BAD". Hmmmm......interesting interpretation.

a SERIOUS addiction!

Last night Rich stopped by CVS & got me my "fix". I have a SERIOUS addiction to peanut butter M&M's, my body literally BEGS for them. This medium size bag was gone before the night was over & Rich didn't even have one!---Thanks Rich! Once again you "saved the day".

(this picture is a DRAMATIZATION, I don't actually eat them like this...well, maybe sometimes I do!)

a MULTIPLYING family!

My family 7 years ago. . .

(before any of us were married)

My family now.

I came across this fun website that you can enter all kinds of words (or names) in and it will jumble them in a fun way to make a collage.---So I decided to use the names of my immediate family, needless to say I have a BIG & growing family! My parents names are ALL CAPS, my siblings and I and our spouses all start with CAPS & all of our kids are all lower case.---I think that this is as close to a 'family picture' that we are going to get for a LONG time.--- Kinda FUN!

the CUTEST kids ever. . .

. . .well in my opinion!

I know alot of parents think that their kids are the cutest ever. . .I am DEFINITELY one of those parents!

I thought that this picture captured their personalities AMAZINGLY!!!----We've got the sweet, thoughtful & cuddly Harry; JJ who is bored & SO over the camera & Eddie who is as SILLY as can be!---I seriously could stare at these pictures all day. . . I LOVE MY BOYS!!!

the CHURCH foundation...

Tonight we met at our new church building and wrote verses on the floor before they lay the carpet. It was SOOOO awesome to watch the kids & see what they wrote! What an great first gathering in the new building!

Mug Shots?!?

No, they are Passport Pictures, but they sure look like mug shots!---We are planning to take the whole family to Honduras in mid May. Our goal is to teach our children, while they are still young, the importance of sharing the Gospel of Jesus with the whole WORLD.....in the next few months we will be teaching them songs in Spanish so that they can share Jesus in their own special way!---Our good friends the Williams family (of 5), will be joining us. Please keep us in your prayers as we work out the details of this trip.

Our 1st Tooth-Loosing

The other day we noticed that Harry had a new tooth growing behind one of his front bottom teeth. We knew it was loose, but didn't realize that it was being "pushed" out; Harry said he had thought the new tooth was a piece of popcorn stuck in there.

After hearing about the "tooth-fairy", Harry REALLY wanted his tooth to come out! I suggested that he bite REALLY hard into an apple; which I have to mention that Rich REALLY did not think this would work. The video at the bottom of this post documents the experience.

Harry put his tooth in an envelope, addressed it to "Tooth Fairy", and put it under his pillow. He was SOOO excited the next day when he discovered $3 in the envelope. He started asking lots of questions about the tooth fairy, so I had to explain to him that I was his tooth fairy; and that every little kid has their OWN special tooth fairy...their mommy! I think he was relieved by this news, the thought of some strange woman in his room, reaching under his pillow kinda weirded him out!---This was an exciting event in "theBLUNTtribe", our first tooth loosing. I must admit it was kinda emotional for me...they are growing up SO fast now!

At first we couldn't find the tooth. . .Rich ended up finding it INSIDE the apple!

JJ's 4th Birthday!

Saturday was JJ's 4th birthday! He wanted chocolate

cupcakes with GREEN frosting (his favorite color).

He recieved a few Transformers, which he was SO excited about! Harry made sure to give him all the 'Stats' on each character.

Here is a hilarious video of JJ freaking-out because one of his 3 balloons, that daddy got him, floated away.

Bird Watching in Our Backyard

The other evening while in the backyard and the boys kept hearing a "noise", they asked Rich what it was & he spotted a woodpecker on our telephone pole. It was AMAZING to see him so close & to get to explain to the boys what he was up to. As you can hear in the video, we have a variety of birds that visit our backyard, needless to say, we LOVE our house!