Wilderness Lodge Again

Just last Friday we got back from another great time at Wilderness Lodge water park.  I have lost count of how many times we have been there, so it feels like I am saying the same thing each year I post about it.  But there were a couple new things.. mainly a couple new slides:

The red one is a practically straight drop of five stories while the other is a loop (which is cut off to the right of the photo).  I was planning on going on both of them - just to say that I did - but the lifegaurd said that people wearing skirted swimsuits have more troubles making it over the loop:

And as I had already seen people make it up to the top of the loop and then slide back down to where they came from, I opted out!  But with the red one there was no chance of going to slow! :)  Probably the scariest part was standing at the top on the platform and then having the floor drop out from under me as I go zipping downward!



Over all it was a fabulous vacation, the weather was just wonderful!  Oh, and I had fun going in the hot tub only for adults (18+), just because I could. ;)

Day at the Zoo

Last week my Grandparents took my six year old cousin, sister, and I to the zoo and amusement park.  It was so much fun to spend a day with family exploring the things to see!



Seeing the animals up close and riding the rides was lots of fun, but the main part was spending good, quality, time with family!  Christian (our cousin) always keeps us laughing and very entertained, and even though we only have one cousin, I don't see how we could have more fun with any more! <3  He kept us smiling and it was fun to see what it would be like to have a little brother.

 We were also able to ride the old carousel and go paddle boating for the first time!  Sadly, I didn't get any pictures of boating - I wasn't sure if I should chance taking my camera out on the water or not, but I wish I did.  Both were fun experiences though!  And you can be sure that after eight hours of fun, we were ready to spend a relaxing evening at home!

Many blessings on the rest of your summer, friends!

Vacation Bible School

A couple weeks back Anna and I were privileged to help out at our church's VBS, which in years past has been so special and fun, and this year was no exception at all!  I led a small group of four and five year olds, two of them being in Cubbies (Anna and I lead Awana Cubbies) last year and will be back again this fall and one looking much forward to joining this fall!  They were so sweet, obedient, and made me very proud with their memorizing ability!  I was really blessed to be able to spend a week with their exuberance!

Two of the three in my group and I (one little boy wasn't able to come every day).

The morning was spent in Bible lesson, craft, snack, learning about missionaries, and games, and song time.  It was really neat to see video from the African church we were raising money to translate verses into their language for.  They are people that really love the Lord and are used by Him, but probably haven't been able to read much of the Bible! 

Bible Lesson

On Thursday the focus is on Jesus' death on the cross, and even though, as far as I know, no one accepted Jesus as their Saviour, I think, at least for my group, they understood well and had some things to think about.

Anna and and couple of her kids

Many friends we have met over Bible Quizzing through Teens For Christ also came to help out through the week.  It was so nice to visit with them again now that we only get to see them about twice a year.

VBS 2012 will be a special memory for a long time, and now I am really starting to look forward to AWANA Cubbies!!

~Amber

The Swing

The Swing

How do you like to go up in a swing,
Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do!


Up in the air and over the wall,
Till I can see so wide,
River and trees and cattle and all
Over the countryside--


Till I look down on the garden green,
Down on the roof so brown--
Up in the air I go flying again,
Up in the air and down!
      

Robert Louis Stevenson

Ever since I was a baby I have loved to swing!  Back then I swang right to sleep, and even though I don't do that any more, it's not often that a day goes by when I don't swing!

Our set is nicely positioned in our backyard so that while swinging I can look out over our ten acre horse pasture!  It is a perfect place to still enjoy the outdoors while keeping those misquitoes off and look out over the field, pray, sing praises to our Lord, think, or even read.  It is a perfect spot during sunset, but during the quietness even the friendly squeak of the swing seems to loud and should be hushed in the splendor of God's creation.

~Amber Nicole 

Homemade Poptarts

As I was browsing Pinterest I ran across a recipe for mini homemade poptarts and I thought they were a sweet idea, but then didn't think much about them afterwards.  But then more recently I again saw on Pinterest a recipe for the full sized ones, it was nearing Father's Day, and so I thought it would be a fun thing to make.  Daddy loves poptarts but I thought by making it myself it could have less sugar and no nasty additives and preservatives!

So without further to do here is the link to the sight for..

Homemade Poptarts

I thought they laid it out so well that there was no need for me to rewrite it!  It does take a little time, but I think it's worth it!  I made strawberry poptarts, but they also give the recipe for making the cinnamon kind and also suggest filling them with Nutella, if you like that sort of thing (I have never tried it)!  Anna and I were also talking that it would be fun to experiment with marshmallow cream and chocolate to make the S'more kind.

Here are the ones I made (sorry about the bad quality of picture).

Thank you for reading!  Let me know if you try them!

~Amber Nicole

My Graduation Open House

It has now been almost two weeks since my graduation open house (I know, I have been neglecting my blog of late!) and I am finally here to post about it.

The week before was very busy doing pretty much a top to bottom spring cleaning, and we were busy to the end, but I think all was finished in good order.  Family and friends were very helpful in baking cookies to bring our count to over 600!  Even though we had never experienced planning for a party like this our figure of how much food to prepare wasn't to off (leftovers isn't a bad thing, right!?). 

The sign in table: we kept thinking of fun ways for people to leave a note, so we went with all three; typing on the typewriter, writing in the book or on a sticky note to post on the board.



Picture and display table complete with home sewn pendants.  I really enjoyed the decorating part!

Menu

Ham and Turkey with Swiss Sliders

Fruit under palm tree (made from pineapple and palm leaves - pinterest idea!)

Chocolate and Carrot cake

12 different kinds of cookies from Lavender Shortbread and Ruhbarb to bear shaped cookies for the little ones

"One Smart Cookie buffet"

Cutting the Carrot cake.

A good game of volley ball!

I was so very blessed by all the friends and family that came - it was SUCH a special day for me!!  I can easily say that it went better than I imagined and we were already talking about Anna's open house now that we enjoyed this one so much!

Now this past week I went to old time school, and celebrated my tenth time going; six years as a student and four years as a teacher's assistant!  It was another fabulous week!

One young lady rode her pony to school for show and tell and then used it for the game Annie, Annie Over.  She was so fun to watch!

Thank you for paying a visit!  Blessings on your summer!

~Amber Nicole

I Am Graduated!!

I am graduated!  Which is news that is a week old now.. I graduated on May 11th and that evening we had our own little ceremony with presenting of my diploma and wonderful note from my Mom.

My tassel (I have no idea what side it is suppose to hang from ;).  We didn't think there was a real need to get a cap and gown, but that it would be fun to have a tassel for a fun memento.

And after our home ceremony we went to celebrate at Leann Chin's and Cold Stone Creamery - yum!

                         

I had a wonderful homeschool education and really enjoyed it, but now I am excited about focusing on my true interest!  I dream about starting my own shop on Etsy.com and although it hasn't happened yet it will be a huge dream come true soon!  I enjoy sewing (aprons, pillow cases, dish towels), card making, and I am also thinking about making up party favor boxes.  I had bought some berry boxes for my birthday party, but of course, they only came large quantities, so now I need to find a use for the rest of them!  At the beginning of this shop starting up it will take some experimenting of what will sell for me.

But in the mean time, I have found out that Etsy can be a great place for learning too!  The Online Labs have all kinds of videos done by the experts to help figure out how to do these sometimes foriegn things.  There is also teams & forums to find people with like-minded interests and learn or share with them!  This is what has been getting me excited lately! <3

Other things going on:

For Mother's Day Anna and I hosted our 3rd annual Mother's Day tea.  This year our Grandma was also able to join us and the weather turned out perfect for an outdoor tea complete with chandelier hanging above.

Back on the graduation theme: our main focus is on preparing for my open house - only twelve days away!  Yesterday we ordered my cakes, Mom has been very busy with my school scrapbook and I have been working on decorations and other little things.  Some great friends and family have also been baking cookies to supplement the cake - there could be 400+ people here, although we are expecting a lot less.

It has been a very busy but exciting time for me!

~Amber