Be anxious for nothing

We have poly pipe in our house....apparently that is bad.  About three years ago, we had a slow leak behind our hot water heater, minimal damage, and about $400 in repair.  They told us at that point that we needed to get our house repiped.  That seems so overwhelming!  Apparently back in the 80's during the big mobile home boom, builders and contractors started using poly pipe in mobile homes and in regular homes...underneath slabs.  The houses in our neighborhood were mostly built with poly pipe.  So they told us we would continue to have problems.  So about two weeks ago, John heard a drip and found another leak.  This time it was on the other side and again, the plumbers fixed it but told us that we would continue to have problems....and we have! 

Last night I walked into my kitchen and the wood floor squished beneath my feet....water was found under the fridge and all up under the flooring...and in our closet.  Once the plumber got here, he confirmed what John had already figured out that we now have a leak under the foundation and to fix it....he needs to drill beneath the foundation....and through the wall in the living room.  I guess we knew it was coming and I guess we could have repiped the house three years ago but we really don't have the money to do that.....

Now we have some damage that would need to be fixed.  I have no idea if we did the right thing or not...hindsite 20/20 as they say.  It's frustrating...we have no water and probably won't for at least a week even if we do get a repipe.  The insurance company has to come out, Mr. White (owner) of the plumbing company is scheduled to come on Monday and there are issues with going into our walls, our floors, etc (which would have had to be done anyway with having a repipe)...

Yesterday when we found the leak we had 9 kids at the house....our three and six family friends....we are keeping three because mom and dad are on their first alone out of town trip in 4 years without kids and we were keeping the other three because their mom's grandmother died, had to leave for California suddenly and their Dad (friends of ours) needed help watching them while he worked for several hours....we needed to fix dinner, there were 11 prospective potty issues, washing hands, etc....I almost flipped but John doesn't appreciate flipping out...he is so calm and collective.  I stayed calm and the kids I had here were amazing!  They all just went with the flow and listened when I told them where and how to wash hands, how to use the potty.....

I kept asking John questions about major issues like how they would fix it, how much money, how we would pay for it, how long without water, will they replace our floor, etc....things he couldn't possibly know in such a short time....he told me very calmly..".be anxious for nothing, Kathryn.  Stop worrying and let's deal with one issue at a time....Now go pull everything out of your closet floor so it doesn't get ruined.  I'm going to fill up buckets from the neighbor's hose to use in our potty."  He said on his way out the door to ask the neighbors if we could have their water, "Look, this is a mere inconvenience in the grand scheme of life...God will be with us and how we react in this situation is a challenge and a picture of how we will deal with other maybe bigger issues as they come our way in life.  We are healthy, we have food to eat, our neighbors, friends, and family are very gracious, we don't have a child dying of cancer in a hospital bed, we have air conditioning, we have so many things to be thankful for... now go tell the kids to let it mellow if it's yellow..."  Oh, I'm so thankful that my husband is such a wise man...I'm trying really really hard to just take it one day at a time...realizing that the Bible says not to be anxious...

We all took showers in the yard last night with bathing suits on....the cool water from the hose, shampoo, a bar of soap wasn't so bad.  I'm so thankful that the kids that are staying with us go camping and are good with change and "roughing it" and I'm super thankful for the leader my husband is.....

Beach fun! Fort Pickens

We started June with a trip to Fort Pickens National Park in Pensacola Beach, Fl.  We were a little nervous about camping at the beach in the middle of summer but it turned out very nice.  It was VERY hot when standing at the campground during the middle of the day so we just avoided that...we tried to be at the beach during that hot part of the day where we could get wet and had a breeze.  The campground wasn't so bad in the morning and evening. 

The kids had a blast playing at the beach.  We saw dolphin, birds, sand fleas, sand dollars, a shark, jellyfish, fish, and more. 

my new sun shade that my hubby bought

Sun setting over the water

finding shells and crab

Riding the waves were a big deal for the kids....they all had boogie boards and were busy catching the waves for hours.

surfing girls!

Spend Awhile on the Nile

Way back in April the kids were in a kid's musical, Spend Awhile on the Nile.  They practiced every Wednesday Night at church.  The musical was about the stories from the Old Testament along the Nile River.  This funny "tour guide" was trying to trivialize the stories and make money off of them and the kids on the boat were on a Mission Trip and kept having to correct his misuse and exaggeration of the stories.  It was a funny yet sweet story about how some kids on a mission trip witnessed to a crazy tour guide and his daughter while having a little fun telling the REAL Bible Stories of Abraham, Moses, etc. 

Emily played "Grace" (one of the main characters on the boat) and John Daniel played Moses.  They both have speaking parts and solos which is so bizarre to me seeing as though their mother would NEVER do anything like that!!!!

John Daniel was the youngest member of the choir to have a large role.  He did so fabulous in my not so humble opinion.  He had to "rap" a song about Moses and the burning bush..."What if they don't listen, what if they don't care, I'm just a common man, What if they just stare!"  all while wearing a beard...

Emily was so calm and spoke so confidently....she LOVED being an actress!

Emily and Mr. Keith (the Tour Guide)

Homeschool Conference 2012

This year we invited my parents to go with us to the Annual Florida Parent Educators Association Homescool Conference in Orlando at the Gaylord Palms Hotel.  Not sure what they said yes to, they were at least excited to stay in a really nice hotel for a few days at a conference price.  It was John's idea to take the kids and I'm so glad we did!  They had a blast!  The hotel is of course gorgeous....we never left!  It is so big and has so many restaurants, shops, and things to do that there really isn't a need to go anywhere.  Since the year before, they had remodeled the entire outdoor area with a huge play pool park area for kids, a huge turf field, and adult pools.  The kids swam until their skin was prunny.  I think Pop Pop swam more in two days than he has swam in 10 years! 

When we first got there we did a little exploring around the hotel...

Real alligators in the hotel pond..

My mom super excited about her first homeschool conference...the badge was great...it had "Grandparent" on it! 

I don't remember all the "kid-friendly" stuff from the year before (maybe because I didnt' have kids with me the first year) but there were characters everywhere, fun music playing and games.

Turf field where they had games, football, and soccer

Walking around the hotel

They had a big display on the constitution and American History in the hotel.  The kids found 5 of their memorized history sentences from our CC co-op that they could read, relate to, and place on a timeline of historical events.  John Daniel was super excited to recite to me the history sentence about George Washington being granted the full powers of the presidency by the US constitution when he saw it on the display! 

Each night the hotel threw a "Crack-a-lackin" pool party where there was dancing, characters, games, beads, BIG HUGE beach balls, etc.  It was a kid's paradise.  After the pool party they played a family friendly movie on the big screen so you could watch while in the pool!  How cool is that!!!!

 We saw friends from Tallahassee

So fun!  And cold!  I went on the slide too!!!!

All snuggled up in the hotel...

And last but not least the actual reason we went (or at least I went) was the huge book store...and the speakers.  John went to a talk about restoring the constitution and we both attended a talk about getting to the heart of your kid.  I heard the author of some great science books that we use, Jennie Fulbright, talk about things to do so you don't have homeschool burn out.  I also heard a great talk on homeschooling with preschoolers.  My favorite, although a little different in content, was the talk by the president of Vision Forum, about the Family Table.  He discussed all the things you can do around the table, how they use their table, how the table and food was used in the Bible and what it meant, how we can minister around our table.  It was just different and refreshing and I like his approach of bringing the entire family around the table and food to do lots of different things and not just eat.  Mom and I browsed the book store several times and I got some good deals on books I needed.  Great three days at the Gaylord!