Living In The Country

Snow!

2012-01-05T00:31:00.001-05:00

My precious nephew!

2012-01-05T00:13:00.000-05:00

Last week I was blessed with being able to travel to Colorado to meet my (first!) nephew, Graeson Ryan McAuley. He is quite adored...as if you couldn't tell. ;) <3

I had a ball taking pictures of him. And editing them, so bear with me here. =D

Santa Baby ;)

"Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward."

Birthdays :)

2011-07-30T21:09:00.000-04:00

Pics from Callie's and Granny's Birthday Celebrations. And a few random ones thrown in the mix. :o)

Up to something :)

Nate sharing his snack with the dog. ;)

Let's get this party started!

Caraline and Caroline :)

Silliness. Taken and arranged by Mrs. Stricklen ;)

pickin and grinnin

Your team is counting on you. ;o)

GET ITTTT!!!!!!!

Poor Ari had a headache. :( She was a good sport!

I can't find any action shots of you, Sadie! You'll have to pose for some next time. ;)

That awkward moment.....

....when everyone is singing "Happy Birthday" and you don't know what to do....

Too much cake perhaps? :P

Little cuz

Daddy and Uncle Randall share a laugh outside of Fred's after Granny's b-day dinner.

Granny and Katie

Aunt Susie

Well, my peeps, this appears to be the end. Come back any time! ;)
Amanda

Cousins reunited!

2011-07-26T15:46:00.004-04:00

Wow! Summer sure is flying by! I guess I'd better get caught up! :0) Well, my dear cousins the Rowells came down to Florida for their yearly trip/visit and I finally had the opportunity to go home to North Carolina with them! What a shame that they've lived there 5 years and I just now got around to it! It was so wonderful to spend that time with them and I will not soon forget it. Here are the pics that are pretty much all on Facebook, but I'm gonna post them here anyway. ;)
*View at your own risk*

Mmmm. 10 hour car ride. Small SUV. 5 people. 3 dogs. = FUN

We'll make it fun! ;)

Larry jammin'. ;)

Friends ;D

It was a long day....

Lex serenading us ;D

Best Mexican food ever. True story. :D

Aaron and his sweet girlfriend Laura

Amanda: soooo full. Alexis: mmm tea

Aaron: MINE

This is my uncle Carlos.

(Not really)

Hugging herself??

Consignment shops are the best ;)

SEATBELTS EVERYONE!

Congrats on getting your permit!

He's a leprechaun! ;)

A failed jumping pic.

A failed normal pic...

Playing Just Dance on the Wii

Twins :P

Webcam ;)

Heading to Church :)

After church...Tate posing!

Being mature....

Going to Cookout

Amanda: "You know we're basically eating each others spit, right?" *Alexis shrugs* "Eh, we're all family here."

Uncle Wayne!!!

Dad.....there to pick me up. :'(

Yeah, we take too many pictures. But that's what happens when you only see someone once a year. :P

My dear Aunt Dawn whom I was named after. :D

Getting ready to catch lightning bugs!

Pretty night :)

NC/SC state line. Going back to FL. :(

Thanks for stopping by. ;)

Just....Life!

2011-07-03T16:00:00.002-04:00

The Bingo Queen!

Sweet friends--Granny and Mrs. Watson

:)

A common sight this time of year.

Sure is good for the garden though! My cukes are finally starting to bloom. Okra: Good to eat, evil to cut.
One day the Stricklens and I happened to come upon a canteloupe spill....there were hundreds! We collected plenty to eat and share and it hardly put a dint in the pile! What a blessing!

Sudsy at church ;o)

Don't ask me.... I'm just here for the tea. ;)

Another cloudy day

Had a fun day taking pics and acting immature at the park with Taylor. :P

Gotta love it.
A-Town cuteness!

William is such a character! You never know what he will say or think of next. ;)

Determination.

Excitement.
Perseverance.

Help.

Sharing.

Maybe? ;)

Finally!

When Rat-Dogs Attack :P

I hope y'all are having a safe, God-honouring, fire-filled Independence day weekend! :)
Till next time! -Mandie

Way down upon the Swaneee riverrrrr

2011-04-20T10:28:00.006-04:00

Just some pics from hangin' out in Dixie County (the best named county ever, in my opinion). ;)

p.s. The spacing is driving me crazy but I can't seem to fix it. :/

Airboat ride :D
Aaaand then a belt broke or something and we had to stop at some random old lady's dock to fix it.

They caught a shark out in the gulf. It was sooo good! :D

Sum a dat good ole Flawda sunshine

Um. Yeah. We had fish for supper.

Some of my Pawpaw's friends were a few acres over one night, just sittin' in their treestand....When all of a sudden they heard the boys' bagpipes. They said it was most definitely the most interesting thing they'd ever heard in the woods. ;)

Irony?You get 3 guesses on what we did with that--and the first 2 don't count. ;)

Sun & Fun

2011-04-05T19:09:00.006-04:00

Back in March I went to Sun & Fun with my brother, Adam, and his buddy, Jesse. If you have never been, and happen to be in Florida in the Spring, I recommend going! I am not exactly an airplane enthusiast.... but it is pretty neat! Especially the air show! ;)

See?

I mean, how cool is that?

Thass a big plane.

Mr. History was loving all the old planes. ;)

Doubt there's any relation, but we thought this McCauley propeller was cool.

See y'all later. We're gonna go eat at Sonny's now! ;) Thanks for stoppin' by!

Love the Church

2011-01-06T11:30:00.000-05:00

In early December, several families from our local congregation were blessed with being able to attend the "Love the Church" conference. Two words: information overload. :) Before this, I cannot remember ever learning so much at once. It was an awesome time of growing in Christ and learning about the Church. I trust that everyone that went was blessed by the excellent speakers and wonderful Christian fellowship as much as I was. Here are a few snapshots from the weekend. :)

Abby, Matt, Andy and Cal are pretty excited!

Yay! A break! Taking the opportunity to get some fresh air and sunshine. :o)

Wish I could've spent more time with y'all!

Mallory and their fancy shmancy camera ;o)
Meanwhile, random folks look confused and partake in conversation....

Deny it all you want, Mike. We know you enjoyed the song. :P

See what I mean about the great fellowship? :)

"We are not the thing that primarily moved God to save us. If God were to search all the hearts of all the men, take all the virtue, and combine it together it would not be enough to move Him to save us." "The only thing we could ever motivate a Holy God to do is to condemn us." -Paul Washer

Panel discussion

My buddy, Take Charge Marg!

Sounds good to me too!!!

Emilie loves Nate :o)

Yeah, I think she's ready to go back to Florida now...

Enjoying the snow ;o)

Mr. Stevens has no mercy on by standing photographers... ;-)

Like father like son? :P

Polk County style sleds! :D

Cafeteria trays are awesome....

So long! Thanks for stoppin' by!

"I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever.
Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever.
Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable." Psalm 145: 1-3

(Insert witty blog title here)

2010-08-21T21:11:00.000-04:00

Life has slowed down long enough for me to upload some pictures.

So here we go... :)

*warning*

You have probably seen identical pictures on at least three other blogs covering the graduation by now, but since I am "catching up" I will not feel accomplished without posting some. So please, bear with me here! ;)

The Dischers are here!!!! That's exciting in itself, but this was a special day.... A graduation ceremony after church, for Grace, Callie and Matthew!

~~~~~~~Virginia Grace Discher~~~~~~
"Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established."

Proverbs 16:3

*~*~*~*Caroline Susannah Stricklen~*~*~*~*

"By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, and honor and life."
Proverbs 22:4

- - - - - - Matthew Ryan Stevens - - - - - -
"For I am convinced...that he who began a good work
in you will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ."
Philippians 1:6
The graduates, relieved that their speeches are done and over with! :)

Moving right along here....

American Vision Conference

Mr. Swanson is very enthusiastic to say the least... :) He was one of many great speakers we were blessed to hear at the conference.

Nathaniel is learning the ways of the South :-D

Larry came along too...

Havin' a grand ole time at "Bugaboos Steak House" (I think?)

CUTE!!! :o)

The Carrol Family band playing bluegrass during one of the breaks. They were excellent! :)

My adopted family for the week... :)

"Peeps" ;)

On the way home...fun with hats at Cracker Barrel!

A quick trip...

Dad called and said he wanted to get out of town for a couple days, so next thing ya know we were looking at this. :)
Picking wild blackberries, they were delicious!

Well y'all, that's all for now. Hope you enjoyed the pictures. Lord bless and keep you!

Update

2010-05-06T12:00:00.000-04:00

Anyone still out there?

It's me, the unfaithful blogger. :)

Returning for just a little while to share some pictures from the month of April.

Resurrection Sunday
After church we did some target practice

Ryan and Charity came over. Chae loved the goats!

Visiting the Dischers

I was SO excited when the Frodges invited me to go up to Misery...I mean...Missouri, with them! I love trips, especially when I get to see my "cousins" that abandoned us....um...moved! Thank you Dr. and Mrs. Frodge for taking me along with y'all! Thank you Dischers for opening up your home to us! Thank you Jess and Abby for not kicking me out on the side of the road in Mississippi. ;) Thank you LORD for keeping us safe as we traveled so many miles!

Heading into the woods to do some exploring.We had a blast that week!

Fishing
The Millers came over one night, it was so nice to visit with them again.Music was involved (of course)
As you can see, Daniel was thrilled to see us!
This couch is plenty big enough, why are y'all sitting on ME?!?!
Kitty's work-out?

Markie is cheerfully digging up dirt for the garden.We collected rocks to help level out the new raised beds...There is absolutely NOT a shortage of rocks in the ozarks! :) Time to cool off in the creek. (Wish I was there now!)Rachel's self portrait with the sourdough
I finally got to meet Clay! He's such a cute little (okay, big) baby!

I thought this was kinda neat...I miss my little buddy, Paul!!

Reading the Scriptures

Enjoying a beautiful Sunday, at a park in Arkansas.

Andrew with his turtle...perhaps he was pondering the best way to cook this one?

Gracie befriends the little reptile :)

"Ooh, let me chew on that camera!!"

That's all blogger will allow me to upload for now, so I guess this is the end. I'll try to post more later.

-Amanda-

December In Review...Part II

2010-02-02T13:35:00.000-05:00

Yes, I'm posting "December In Review Part 2" In FEBRUARY. Pathetic, I know. I did have a good excuse. It was the old "My computer is not cooperating." After two weeks of procrastinating, and 10 or 15 minutes of talking to "Umar" from Dell's tech support it is working again! Okay! Here we go...

We attended a very small War of Northern Aggression reenactment, nearby. It was a beautiful day and we had a blast!

The good ol' boys

and the not-so-good Yankees... ;)

Emma looks frightened. Probably because she just watched her brother "die" for the 6th time.

Happy people! :)Another happy person!

Yup. You guessed it, they were HAPPY!

Happy little people!

Well, he doesn't look so happy. But we'll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that he is.

Mama and Mrs. Waldman looking lovely :)

Us gals

Everyone that dressed up:)

Christmas Day

Adam, Daddy and Ryan :)

Chae and Katie holding her little robotic rat/hampster thing..

Granny and her daughters

Group shot

I almost forgot...
the day before....
*this is an actual event that actually happened*

It's Christmas Eve...and all is quiet in Alturas until...

Dying cow pipes start blasting from the back yard!!!!

I walk outside to see my slightly deranged brother standing on top of my truck (as shown above)... and the conversation goes as follows:

Amanda: WHAT are you doing?!

Adam: What does it look like?! I've conquered your truck!

Amanda: Oooookay then. Um... Why?

Adam: I dunno. But isn't that cool?! You know something's been conquered when it's had bagpipes played from it!

Amanda: (somewhat amused at this point) Right...

...Adam continues playing pipes...

I then look over to see our neighbors gathering in their yard, looking rather disturbed. At which point I go back inside to avoid further embarrassment. And that my friends, is why you should be thankful if you don't have a bagpiper in your family. (We love you, Adam-and we enjoy listening to you play, but sometimes you are a bit extreme:)

Fun times with the Graves Family!

So nice to see Julia again! :)

Rach, Jess, and me :D

Mr. & Mrs. Graves invited me to go bowling with them! I gladly accepted! :)
Why yes, we do like bright colors!

Mrs. Stokesies, Jordan and Ben

Sooo...we kinda lost...but it's ok, we had fun. Right, Jess? ;)

Steven wondering if it's his turn yet...

Sweet friends! :)

Alright Bill, this is getting old. Stop following us or you're dead meat!

Thanks for stoppin' by! God Bless y'all!
-Mandy-

December in Review...Part I

2010-01-04T10:44:00.000-05:00

Charity's Nurses Pinning

We're proud of you, Chae!

The graduate with Aunt Janet & Uncle Billy.

Mr. & Mrs. Harris with Charity and Ryan

Me, Charity, Ryan, and Daddy.

Mary's 16th Birthday Tea!

The Stricklen ladies

Molly Gibson and Molly Gibson ;)

Laura Ingalls

Lady Helen

Caroline Bingley

Rebel Rose

Queen Margaret of Scotland

Amy March

Heidi

Christiana

Sorry, Stacy and Sadie! I don't recall who y'all were!

Miss Scarlet

The Little Match Girl was placed next to me, at the table. Coincidence? I think not...

Anne with her best friend Diana

The March sisters

Mrs. Franklin with an interesting mix of characters. ;)

Good friends having a fun time!

Anne Shirley and Katherine Nemo :)

Everyone say CHEESE! Well, except you, Paul. You can just scream....

Isaac

Nina holding lil Paul. :)

The Whiddon Family singing...

The Waldman Family singing...

The Graves Family singing...

The Doolin family being creative and hilarious...

The Frodge Family singing...

The Country Cousins playing some bluegrass

That's all for now....check back soon for another post:)

God bless you and yours!

-Mandy-

Douglas Reunion

2009-11-04T19:30:00.000-05:00

This years Douglas Family Reunion (My Mom's Dad's side of the family).

Guessing games :)

Mimi, Myself, & Mom.
Pawpaw, hosting the traditional auction. Everyone brings stuff to sell, from pound cakes to power tools. All the money raised goes to the upkeep of the cemetery where many of our loved ones are buried.

Libby and I walking around the boardwalk at the park.

What'd you say?

Aunt Carolyn recently had knee surgery. She said she'll be out of that wheel chair in no time! :)

"Is this still your number?"

something was funny...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

catching up :o)

volleyball time!

Ricky-probably about to get into some kind of mischief :) :)
I think.....Rebecca was excited to see me? :)

Loretta and Aunt Nor

Mama and cousin Danny

You find the funniest/strangest things when you let kids use your camera... :)

~Brothers~

Fire...and a birthday party.

2009-11-01T22:39:00.000-05:00

In Florida, sometimes we get a few cool/cold days during the year. When one of those days FINALLY comes along you should properly celebrate with fire, apple cider, volleyball, and fellowship in general. I present you with-an example:).

You call that a fire?

If only we had a way to make it bigger....

Yeah! Like that! :)

We're meeeeeeeellllltiiing!

Hey...it's Callie!

Marshmallow time!

Having fun!

The next day-we head on over to the Waldman's for a triple birthday celebration! :)

Birthday girl #1-Chelsea

Birthday girl # 2-Meriah (sorry if I spelled that wrong)
and CJ the little redneck ;)

Me holding the birthday boy-baby Isaac :)

~games~ The Dischers won the Chili cook-off! Here's Sarah with their prize (homeade apple pie I believe).

Well, that's all folks!

Come back soon for an exciting post on our family reunion... ;)

Graduation

2009-10-21T17:01:00.000-04:00

Here are a few pictures from Sam Graves' and Sarah Discher's graduation ceremony/party. Enjoy!

The Fathers speak...

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The Homeschool Class of 2009

Sarah, enjoying the slideshow that Kitty put together :)

Guess who?! :-D
Torturing everyone.....

Ben....that is not how you are supposed to wear a tie...

Dr. Frodge enlightens them with a (much needed) tie tying lesson!

Mrs. Graves and Mrs. Stokes having a good time :)

It's....it's.... A STEVEN!!! :o)

Congratulations y'all! We are proud of you both. :)

The End.

Up next.....FIRE!

A truck and a pig...

2009-09-28T22:30:00.000-04:00

Hey y'all! Sorry for not posting for so long. I'm back now.

:o)

THIS

is my "new" truck! It's a 1995 F150, that Mama says I'm obsessed with...I'm not... :D

My Pawpaw bought this for me. He said a while back that he wanted to get his grandchildren vehicles. (3 down, 1 to go. ;) It's been a huge blessing! I'm able to go to my dad's more often without having to interrupt his or mom's days by asking them to transfer me back and forth.

Not for the county fair this time... ;)

More coming soon!

Trip to North Carolina

2009-08-14T18:00:00.000-04:00

Last month my dad and I went to North Carolina for a few days, just to get out of Florida. We've got a tiny bit of property up there and some dear friends we love fellowshiping with (camera was dead for most of the visiting :( ). I had a great time and hope y'all enjoy the pictures.

~At My Grandparents River House~

A humming bird coming to eat, I am fascinated by these little things!

It would have been a great day to be on the water, but we got there kinda late...

The awaiting hog trap in their woods, they've caught about 25 hogs since putting it up.

swamp :P

Mimi

Mmm! Pawpaw grills some great steak!

~North Carolina~

Now that is SO much better than 90 something! Don't y'all agree?!?

Nothin like chatting with friends in the middle of the road.. :)

Dad and Me after we went rafting....tons of fun!!

Random people getting a facefull of that refreshing water ;)

At the zoo in Cherokee

"feed me"

Daddy looooveees the mountains!

Sing unto the LORD with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God.
Who covereth the heaven with clouds, who prepareth rain for the earth, who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains.

beautiful :)

We were about to leave, I had to at least walk in it.

Dad-again

me-again ;)

Visiting with the Gunters! Always lovely :)

I love their front yard!!

The house dad lived in when he was about 8 years old.

From shade to sunshine. I got to experience driving on some curvy, steep, narrow, mountain roads....really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. :) :)

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Hope I didn't bore y'all too much!

God Bless,

-Amanda

Smiling!

2009-08-03T11:00:00.000-04:00

Posed picture of Mom, Adam and myself.

~no comment necessary~

Aaron :)

Katie!

Sweet Granny at her 80th birthday party!
Chase and Granny

Charity and Me!

Aaron, Aunt Dawn, and Alexis!
Fishing :)

Pawpaw Me & Alexis

I'm still trying to decide who's expression is the funniest. :)

This is what happens to survivors of "driving with Amanda"!

And this.....is Alexis....on one of those late nights with too much chocolate :) ;)

advertising stale crackers and unsalted peanuts :)

?????

?????????

We're totally old fashion, check out our lawn mower. Hey, that might come in handy in "coming times". Does Anyone else think that Adam had a wardrobe malfunction that day? Just curious....

I just HAD to add a picture of baby Paul!! He's so precious! :)

art :)

Independence Day

2009-07-28T11:00:00.000-04:00

I am late with this post, I realize that. Here are my pictures from July the 4th, you will notice they are very similar to the Dischers (http://thedischerfamily.blogspot.com/) because, well... we spent it with them!

Nothing like a good swim to cool off during a HOT and MUGGY day of Florida summer!

Sarah cutting watermelon

(I don't know if y'all need me to state the obvious but this IS a blog so that is what I am supposed to do!)
Playing settlers of catan. "Does anyone wanna trade grain for wood?"

The moms get violent!!

ahh! it appears someone has locked Kitty out! haha! who could it have been?!

Jess and Me! :o)

Is it time for fireworks yet??

Yup yup!

Emma loved them so much she couldn't look away :-)

You don't have to close your eyes Rach, they kept the "big mama" under control this time!

watching the fireworks

(again with the obvious)

oooooohh
aaaaahhhhh!

sparklers for the little kids

volleyball for the big kids!

It has come time to end this spectacular adventure!

visiting and what-not....

2009-07-01T18:00:00.000-04:00

I am trying to get caught up on all the pictures that have been taken recently.

A couple of weeks ago some friends of ours brought their kids out to learn about chickens, gardening, horses, etc...

They weren't so sure about the chickens at first.

But they came around... Noah was determined to hold one. ;-)

Collecting eggs

yup, those are eggs.

Maya and Carrie petting one of the goats.

Cupid and Sherlock loved all that extra attention!

Sarah and her new friend..

Time to cool off. :)

harvesting tomatoes....

Our next door neighbors were gone for a while and asked us to pick from their garden, we were more than happy to! We were blessed with an abundance of...

beans, tomatoes,

and tons of banana peppers!

That's all for now!

Birthday Happenings

2009-06-30T13:49:00.000-04:00

I really do not like being center of attention....(unlike one of my brothers, hehe....) so I'm glad I've passed this milestone! But since everyone went to so much trouble I thought I could at least post a few pics.

My family and I went to "Shogun" and had supper for my birthday. Here you can see our chef making a volcano with onions. ;-)

Charity and Ryan

This was a timed shot, hence the bad quality.

Daddy and Me :)

The next day the Discher girls and I went thrift shopping and had a picnic by a lake. I had a great time...even if we did get rained on! :) (Kitty and I show off our sweet tea, Sarah and Grace in the back with their boring water :-P )

My hope chest from Mom.

Thanks to everyone who made my birthday wonderful! I am so blessed! :)

-Amanda-

(who would post some pics of the surprise party if she had some)

Happy Sweet Sixteen Amanda!

2009-06-04T08:00:00.000-04:00

Happy 16th Birthday Amanda!!
(This blog has been hijacked by Mama. Don't expect the usual humor/wit you find here.)

My sister & I comparing our big bellies in the spring of 1993

We welcomed Amanda on June 4th, just eight short weeks after Aaron was born.

I'll probably get slayed for posting this one, but I just LOVE seeing a baby in cloth diapers!

Amanda was laying on the quilt her Mimi made for her.

Posing for the camera ( 8 months old)

I loved teaching my baby girl about God's beautiful world.

We spent a lot of time on Anna Maria Island when she was a baby.

The first year went by so very quickly!

Amanda LIVED in her cowgirl boots from about age 2 thru 5!
(ok....she still wears them, WHEN she wears shoes!!)

Amanda & her first bike

Brocolli has always been one of her favorite foods.

"Mixie" & her daddy
Protective big brother

Here's 'Lil Annie Oakley, but where are those boots?!

Oh! There they are!

With "Sherlock" who was born on the coldest morning of 1999

Ten years ago, at her "Pooh Bear"Party
(Sigh.... Seems like that party was only last week)

My own little "Southern Belle"

This is Amanda with "Sugar"

Picking strawberries, what fun!

Peeking out over Casey's head
She goes to great lengths to keep our animals happy.

Reverting to her childhood??

Participating in the Bartow Tea Party

Having fun with friends!
Have a wonderful day baby girl! I am very proud of the young lady you are becoming.
Love, Mama

Webcam Fun....

2009-05-29T23:11:00.000-04:00

Two Mandys? This can't be good.

ummm...Adam, are you feeling alright?

Woa..this is weird.

"I am not a knob and I am not going to brace"

Well...I hadn't posted in a while so I thought that I'd amuse, and or disturb you, and confirm any ideas you might have had about us being.....odd.

There will be a serious post coming soon...maybe :)

I also recommend that you stop viewing this blog if you don't like awkward posts like this. ;)

Praise The Lord!!

2009-05-12T19:25:00.000-04:00

It's raining!

and we are thrilled. :)

Spring!

2009-05-03T22:31:00.000-04:00

Bits and pieces of what we've been up to. Enjoy! :)

Ryan, installing floor

I completely forgot to get a before picture...well...plywood..you can imagine... Thanks bro! :)

Watering the freshly planted corn and pumpkins

"I just planted pumpkins! :D"

~Radishes~

fat dog

you can do it!

These would be why she wants in. I have been very tempted to let the roosters out while having target practice! But I haven't! yet

~Every good tree bringeth forth good fruit~

Mom-who is feeling much better lately! Thanks for everyone's prayers :)

Getting a little too excited about chocolate cake? :o)

I found this really sweet card.....with a train on it... :o)

Feeding puppies while their owners are out of town :)

They misplaced themselves for a little while....but I found them, safe and sound!

..........Always keeping an eye out for them..........

climbing trees, all the while being a dork :D (can I multitask or what!?) ;)

Q-Tip wars with BB guns :-D

(I assure you this is perfectly safe :P)

recycling candles

Watching a wildfire, that was WAY too close for comfort.
(Before you ask, or assume, NO I didn't!)

Pawp, reading the latest news

Mimi, fixing dinner :)

Awww

--------------------------

-------------------------

I am depressed about having all that wood and being on a burn ban :(

Dad drags another one off the trailer as I think up my cover story. "Really officer, It just spontaneously combusted in this nice big pile...What empty gas cans? Oh, those! Well you see..." =D

Miss Sarah Discher at their lovely lawn party :)

Gracie looks like she's having a good time!

Cal and Abby

Musical chairs anyone?

I think she's out :)

Sunset pics are nice to end with?

May the Lord deeply bless you this-- May :)

-Amanda-

TEA

2009-04-17T22:30:00.000-04:00

Are you TEA'D?
T.E.A. = Taxed Enough Already
If your answer is "no" then you aren't paying taxes or attention!
We attended a Tea Party in Bartow to protest the wasteful spending of our hard earned tax dollars.

Big government has got to go!

Sweet Tea =D

Just so everyone knows....Mr. Doolin's flag was made in America!!!

James

Mama, Mrs. Baird, and Mrs. Discher :)

CJ the sign theif. :]

Mr. Pollock speaking

Kitty and Christiana

Smile Mary!

Adorable protesters :)

I didn't like her sign. So we made her turn it around. :P :)

William having fun with the FBI agent :)

"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths" -Prov 3: 5-6

A short lesson in economics...

2009-04-07T22:36:00.000-04:00

Got this in an e-mail. Thought I'd share it with y'all.

An economics professor at Texas Tech said he had never failed a
single student before but had, once, failed an entire class.

That class had insisted that socialism worked; and that no one would be
poor and no one would be rich - a great equalizer.

The professor then said ok, we will have an experiment in this class on socialism.
All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same
grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A.

After the first test the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The
students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied
little were happy.

But, as the second test rolled around, the
students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who
studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too; so they studied
little.. The second test average was a D!

No one was happy.

When the 3rd test rolled around the average was an F.
The scores never increased as bickering, blame, name calling all
resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of
anyone else.

All failed, to their great surprise, and the professor
told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the
reward is great, the effort to succeed is great; but when government
takes all the reward away; no one will try or want to succeed.

Could it be any simpler than that...?

Happy Birthday Adam!

2009-03-31T21:26:00.000-04:00

Adam William

Turns 20 today.
So here's a post
for his special day.
Happy Birthday!
We love you!

Always has, and always will smile for the camera! :)

Mama and Adam (and me)

It's possible that I will get killed for this one :o)

Adam and Daddy fishing (wow dad, what a face!)

and again more recently

Adam and his wheels ;)

a tad faster set of wheels

Gee Adam you really haven't changed much.

with Granny and Granddaddy

with Granny

Here he is with his big bro...

and little sis

we still love each other....really! :)

No comment :P

Cousins

Food = one of his favorite subjects

Some things never change

He clings to his guns...quite literally.

terrorist control ;)

He didn't shoot the "dog" if you can even call it that but it makes for a great pic. :)

I think he got a little too close that time..

I couldn't find an old one to match this

Aye!

Here he is soaking in the beauty of God's handiwork in Montana

I should get some earplugs.

Aww

Graduation.

Well, that's all folks!

-Amanda-

Fun with the Stricklens

2009-03-28T23:47:00.000-04:00

A couple weeks ago, was it that long? nah... the other day, wait, this could imply any day that wasn't today couldn't it? Uhh, On March 17th at 6:44 pm (ET) the Stricklens kidnapped me, well kinda. I voluntarily went to their house but they treated me as a slave. Made me wash the windows, scrub the floors with my toothbrush, do all the laundry, paint the house, and cook their supper, all while singing zippideedoodah. Just kidding about all that. Please excuse the silliness found on this blog. We went for pizza and had a nice evening. (:

Callie, showing us the incredible job she has done of putting the pizza in the take out box.

Abby is fascinated with the eating utensil ;)

We are cool

You'll see in the next few pictures why I was tempted to press call....

Exhibit A

B... Disturbed yet?

The doors were locked! There was no escaping!!!=O
I somehow managed to survive.

We went back to their house and had some home-made chocolate chip cookies. Mmm!

Margaret is enjoying talking, or the movie, whatever was going on at the time. :)

Chipmunk :) Sorry CJ, the name has stuck

He likes interesting socks too!! I knew I wasn't alone. ;)

~Amanda~

We Surround Them

2009-03-18T22:01:00.000-04:00

Friday we (Mom, Adam, and I) went to a "we surround them" meeting. Glenn Beck called his viewers/listeners to join together as he unveiled his new website http://the912project.com/ . It was an attempt to bring Americans together who are concerned about the rapid loss of our freedoms and who want to see our country go back to what our founding fathers intended. We met some very nice, like minded, Christian people. I enjoyed the fellowship and discussion.

Here are a few pics from the meet up.

About 25 people came

We're looking forward to the next one :)

Remember, WE surround THEM!

-Amanda-

Hello!

2009-03-18T18:01:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone! This is my new blog. I had been using one of Adam's e-mail addresses for my blog and finally decided to make a new one under mine. I'll post soon. :)

-Amanda