They're off to China and we're at the beach!!

The next time you see a Fahy family portrait, it will include their new little China doll. We bid the three farewell with hugs, kisses, and prayers this morning. The rest of us are here at the beach...waiting for it to stop raining.

My heart was full and my eyes were, too, with tears as I hugged BeachMama good bye. I could feel her heart breaking to leave 4 of her children for two weeks, but I could also feel her anxious anticipation of holding her new daughter in her arms.

Please continue to pray...they are in the air right now.

Back to my duties....

China, More Beach, and Cantaloupes

Well, folks. We're headed for a week at the beach again....but to a different coast, same state. We'll be keeping Beachmama and Beachdaddy's kids while they and their oldest Beachboy go to China to bring home their new daughter! You can follow their exciting journey here. Please pray for them...for travel safety, for every detail to be worked out perfectly, and that their Chinadoll will bond to them quickly and feel their deep love for her.

My sweet friend and her little boy will be joining us on our journey to the coast. The Daddies and one little 18 month old angel will be joining us for the weekend. Talk about a house FULL! It will be GREAT!

Now...what does this have to do with cantaloupes, you ask?

I had the dreaded "female" dr appointment today. Surprisingly, I found out that I'm expecting a little baby cantaloupe, 12 cm in diameter, in the form of a fibroid. Thankfully, I haven't had any of the severe symptoms. We are weighing our options and praying about the best course to take, if any.

A cantaloupe...I do love cantaloupes...

Green Belt

Here are the guys in their tkd duds. The Hero has just started back tkd after being out two months with his back injury. Even so, he's still being very careful and taking it slow and easy....no bending, no kicking, etc.

The Butter kept on plugging away at it, though, and is now one belt up on his daddy. See his green belt!?!?!

Do you know what that means? It means his Daddy has to stand behind him during practice AND the Daddy has to BOW to the son.

I think that's kinda funny.....

Impromptu Girls Night

This.....

plus this...

Equals a fun, impromptu girls night
with C-10
while the guys are at tkd!!

Cocoa Beach

My darling Aunt Ro invited us to join her and her family for a week at their favorite vacation spot....Cocoa Beach, Florida....home of beautiful beaches on the Atlantic and the all-famous Ron Jon's Surf Shop. (Yes, we went to Ron Jon's.) It's also where NASA/Cape Canaveral is and we spent one day there. Did I mention there was a nice Dunkin Donuts near our place?? We played at the beach, ate, swam at the pool, ate, relaxed in our condo...But most of all, we enjoyed being with Aunt Ro and my cousins and their kids. Enjoy the slide show....

Breathtaking

Bless the Lord, O my soul!

O Lord my God, you are very great.

You lay the beams of your chambers

on the oceans;

You make the clouds your chariot

With trumpets and the sound of the horn

make a joyful noise before the Lord;

Let the ocean roar

and all that fills it!

The heavens declare the glory of God

and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

As high as the heavens are above the earth,

so great is his steadfast love

toward those who fear Him;

And as far as

sunrise is from sunset,

He has separated us from our sins.

Bloggy Beachy Break

I'm taking a blogging break while we go on a beach vacation for a week!!

Y'all behave now, ya hear?

I Wanna Hold Your Hand

As we were walking into the local Walmart last night, my sweet dd reached out and took my hand.

No big deal, huh? Little girls like to hold their mommy's hands, right?

Well, this was not our 5 year old.

This was our 12 1/2 year old young lady, Rayray, who is within a few inches of being taller than me.

The one who has had a wild-weed growth spurt in the last few months.....

The one who has decided that if it has sparkles or glitter on it, it's not going to be worn by her......

The one who babysits her siblings while I run errands...

The one who likes to stay up late and watch tivo'd Next Food Network Star with me....

The one whose blossoming into a beautiful young lady.

But still little girl enough to hold her mama's hand every once in awhile.

Soap! Soap! Soap!

Flint River Soap Factory was open for business today! Look at all the pretty soaps we made.

In the picture above we have, clockwise from the top:

Caramel Vanilla Latte Massage (with goat milk and fresh ground coffee)

Peppermint Oatmeal Massage (with goat milk)

Kitchen Smell Dispel (honey, lemon essential oil, dried lemon peel and fresh ground coffee)

Lavender Dreams (with dried lavender buds and lavender essential oil)

Strawberry Milkshake (with goat milk and dried tiny strawberry seeds)

Gardenia and Shea Butter

Once packaged and tied with a pretty bow, some of these soaps are headed to a bridal shower at the beach and some will go in a basket, headed to a silent auction at a conference at the Ritz Carlton on Amelia Island.

SWEET!!!

Name That Soap!

I spent part of today making soap for the first time in months. Let me tell you...it felt so good. I so enjoy creating soap. It's such a fun, therapeutic hobby. And knowing that 14 of these bars will be going to CHINA made the project even more fun!

Our friends will be traveling to China in a few weeks to bring home their new daughter and my soap will be handed out as thank you gifts. How cool is that?

I play around with a new "flavor" today. I thought it turned out great...and the yellow and pink look fun together. I don't know what to name the soap though. The name of the fragrance is either Rafiki or....get ready for this...Monkey Farts. I know. Sounds disgusting but it's funny.

The fragrance is a combo of bananas, strawberries, kiwi, grapefruit, bubblegum and a tad of vanilla.

I thought about Monkey Around. Or Monkey Nose. Or Goin' Ape. Or Goin' Bananas.

Any suggestions?? Leave a comment.

Bella

"If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans."

Thus begins the movie Bella, a story of how one broken person can offer hope to another...and experience healing themselves in the process.

Two thumbs up here.

Confession Time

Ok...It's confession time.

The Butter requested mashed potatoes with his birthday dinner. I'm all about convenience...especially if it's on sale and still quality.

On a whim, I bought two containers of Simply Potatoes. It SAID they are made from fresh potatoes which I took to mean NOT from instant flakes.

If three pounds of pre prepared mashed potatoes that taste decent will save me the hour of peeling and dicing and cooking and smashing only to have a lumpy mess in the end...then BRING IT ON!

I dumped both containers of potatoes in a pretty dish and put them in the oven to warm up.

At dinner, Papa took one bite of the potatoes and declared them to be some of the best mashed potatoes he had had in a long time. (!)

He then proceded to go on about them....how they tasted like the mashed potatoes he remembered as a boy. He asked if I made them and I said "yes" while kicking Memaw under the table and giggling. It wasn't really a big fat lie bc I did open the carton and dump them in the bowl and warm them......

Then he said, "I think you've found your calling!!"

I told him I'd be in charge of bringing the mashed potatoes to dinner from now on. All the while Memaw and I were giggling.

Papa, I just can't bear the guilt any longer. They came from the fridgy section at Winn-Dixie next to the cookie dough.

But I think I got my $4.00 worth!

The Significance of 9

The Turning of 9 may seem insignificant to some. Why, you ask? Just go to any children's clothing department. You'll find clothes in sizes 4T, 4-5, 5-6, 6-6x, 6-7, 7-8.....and then 10-12. No 9's. Surely you've noticed! It's like they skipped the whole year...like 9 yr olds don't need clothes that fit or something!

Well, in this household, The Turning of 9 is very significant and the Boy Who Turned 9 is most significant....and to be honest, size 9 clothes would probably swallow his bony self whole.

How did we celebrate the ever-significant Turning of Nine in our home?
We began with a special breakfast menu chosen by the Birthday Boy:
PBJ sandwiches, chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, chocolate milk.
You know...our normal fare. Heehee.

Then, we went swimming per his request.
I have a picture of his daddy floating lazily
on a twin sized air mattress in the pool...
but you'll never see that one.

After swimming, he and his big sister played his new Star Wars game.
May the force be with us.

He also picked his very own dinner menu.
Pizza, right?
NOPE! He's a southern boy, born and bred, y'all.

Here it is:
fried chicken, mashed potatoes, yams, cooked carrots,
steamed broccoli, mac and cheese, green beans,
and I added some fried okra to complete the meal. Yummm!

After dinner, normally comes birthday cake, right? NOT HERE!
We rang in the 9's with Mema's Famous Chess Pie.
One for The Butter and one for the rest of us!

You know it MUST be one amazing culinary creation for a 9 year old boy
to choose a PIE over cake and icecream!!
This pie (pic above) is her signature dish.
Honestly, it should be in some Pie Hall of Fame.
She should have the recipe patented, it's THAT good.

After we sang a rousing "Happy Birthday to You"
and killed one entire pie,
he opened his gifts,
fainted over his gifts,
hollered over his gifts,
and played.
Until after midnight I kid you not.
He just couldn't turn off his little motor!!
He slept until 11:30 this morning!!

But it's OK. He's 9. And he's significant. And not just to his family.
But to his Jesus, too.