Three Hearts & The Walls of Jericho

Ok - can I be honest with ya'll ? I think my husband tried to kill me on our anniversary!! Can we talk about The Walls of Jericho?? OH MY WORD!!! That was by far the most physically challenging day of my life ! 7 miles + 1000 ft. elevation drop + 43 yrs. old & out of shape = ouch!!!

In all seriousness, we had a wonderful day but it was exhausting !! We found a great spot for our letterbox and got it planted and yesterday I got it posted online for all perspective finders. So here was the plan - The Principal carved a stamp which we chose to call "Three Hearts" in honor of our 3rd anniversary. We had fun putting this box together and have decided that we will find a new spot to adventure and plant a letterbox for as many anniversaries as The Lord allows us. We hiked all the way in to the end of the trail before deciding where the box was going to be planted. We chose a spot about 2 miles that I think will be a great hike for those who are interested. This is what it looked like for those of you that may be interested.

Wonder Boy was with us and did a fantastic job of "Hanging with the Big Dogs" for the day. There had been some light sonwfall in the area the day before and a light dusting remained on the ground so Wonder Boy was able to make a few small snowballs and have some fun - he seems to be a pretty good aim by the way ;-)

It was cold when we started out and here is a little evidence of just how cold it can get in the sunny south..... Wonder Boy loved this - kinda pitiful really that a child of a Canadian should be so worked up about a little snow & ice - but alas - Wonder Boy is Southern born and raised....a taste of his roots was in order I suppose - literally!! I ate many icicles in my youth in the Great White North !

The hike itself was beautiful - it truly is a gorgeous tract of land and we were not disappointed for our efforts - the views were spectacular and really even though it was a little on the chilly side it was a perfect temperature to accomodate our efforts - easy to cool off when we got overheated!!

There were a few pretty cool adventures that we can add to the memory book fo r the day as well as eating icicles, Wonder Boy & Co. were able to drink from a mountain stream and swing from a huge vine over an open gulley - Wonder Boy & The Principal were the vine swingers - someone had to be able to go for help if need be after all - so I of course felt led to sacrifice for the greater good - that's what Mothers' do right?

The last thing that I want to share with you my bloggy friends is this - God gave us an anniversary gift that day - as we strolled along at one point in one of the few level areas, The Principal looked down and saw this "Heart Rock" , which we have brought home with us as a keepsake of a beautiful, wonderful, God given day filled with love, learning and God's beauty and abundance - Thanks for taking a few minutes so that I could share it with you - God is good - all the time!!

And to you Sweetheart........I look forward to the adventures that The Lord has for us in the years to come - I love you so much - Thanks for Three Hearts of Love!!!

Basking in His Goodness,

Leisha

Happy Anniversary Sweetheart

My Husband aka The Principal is truly my Prince......tomorrow is our 3rd anniversary and we have quite the day planned - we are planting our 2nd letterbox at The Walls of Jericho and spending the day hiking - I think it is a 7 mile (pray for me) hike so it will be a full day! Of course there will be pictures and a post to follow, but today while I am home I wanted to take this opportunity to honor my wonderful Husband publically and thank him for the last 3 fantastic years - who knew marriage could be so great??

He has taught me so much about love and friendship over the last three years - and even before that I am forever grateful to God for blessing me with such a precious gift. We have grown into a very solid little family unit over the past three years and I am often reminded of Ecclesiastes 4:12 Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. This has been so true for me and our life.

I have spent much time in sweet thoughts of where we were 3 years ago and remembering the cherished memories of that day barefoot on the beach in Ocho Rios, Jamaica when we made our covenant before the Lord - Thank You Honey for taking Wonder Boy and I under your wing, for being such a fine example of what a man is to our son and for loving me like Christ loves the church - you are one of life's greatest blessings and I pray that this is one of many many more Happy Anniversaries to come - I Love You Deeply........

SHMILY

Meatball Alert

Before I go any further I just want to know - has anyone ever been warned that making meatballs could be dangerous ? I have been racking my brain and accessing the "meaty" file on kitchen rules - do's and don'ts and have not been able to locate any meatball information whatsoever!! I guess this should make me feel better that I did not blatantly disregard any long standing kitchen wisdom - however let me officially enter this one into to record books for the generations of young women to come - never make meatballs while talking on the phone.

Ok - now - let me tell you what happened - yesterday after Wonder Boy and I finished lunch I began preparation for dinner - I was trying a new recipe from this amazing cookbook that I have made about 10 or so recipes from and every single one of them has been great - but I digress - rabbit trail be gone - ooh no - the ADHD is contagious??!! SO I was prepping the meatballs to load them up in the crock pot when the phone rang. Wonder Boy was taking a break upstairs while I got dinner going so I actually has a few minutes to catch up with a friend. We were chatting and I had the phone cradled on my shoulder and held in place with my ear and head crooked to the side - you know the position. I was happily giggling, chatting and rolling out cute little porcupine meatballs, when all of a sudden I must have put a little too much twist in my rolling and I wrenched my back!! The pain was instant and awful!! I could not take a deep breath or move very easily at all - I set the phone down and tried to stretch it out - nothing. Needless to say I got off the phone and finished the rolling process with much more care and attention. I was in pain!! After an hour or so things had not improved at all and I called the woman I teach with at church on Wednesday nights to let her know I was not going to be there. I got a long hot shower and that felt better while I was in it but it really didn't provide any lasting affects. So I stayed home and took it easy last night while the men folk went to church - I watched bad tv (I have to remember to repent for that today - wife swap!! puhleeze!!) and lounged on the sofa. When the boys got home I made us a mug of hot chocolate and we went outside to watch the lunar eclispe - sadly there were too many clouds for us to see much. I was not able to get much comfort in bed and this morning although it feels a little better I still am in some discomfort and pain if I am not cautious in how I move.

Ladies, in the spirit of Titus 2 I feel it my duty to encourage you in one of the little know facets of kitchen safety - meatballs are serious business!! Give them your full attention and range of motion - unless of course you are equipped with a Blue Tooth........;-)

By the way - the Porcupines were pretty good.

One last thought - nothing normal ever happens to me by the way - stay tuned !!

In His Care,

Leisha

Letterboxing Lessons 101

I love how God can take a simple day and turn it around into an extraordinary one without warning don't you ? We had a field trip with our homeschool group last week to the Hands On Science Center in Tullahoma, TN (which was a wonderful surprise that the kids really really enjoyed by the way).

At the conclusion of the field trip we said our goodbyes to head off in search of hidden treasures ;-) The Principal had plotted out 3 letterboxes hidden relatively close to where we were going to be - the first 2 boxes were hidden in the same wooded area on two separate hiking trails. It was a beautiful crisp winter day and we hiked along talking, laughing, sometimes having to get on to Wonder Boy for attacking an innocent tree - you know what I'm talking about. Toward the end of the hike, after successfully adding 2 more stamps in our logbook, we were on our way back to the trial head, I was in the lead and everyone was quite - I was thinking about how blessed I was to be here doing what I was doing. Hard as it is for me to imagine, it had only been a little over 3 years ago that I was a single Mom, working full time and doing the best that I could to keep things together from day to day.......and now.....hiking on a beautiful winter afternoon - a Friday - a work day no less and with my wonderful heaven sent Husband and Son, whom I am now blessed to be homeschooling.
God has been so faithful in my life even in the times I did not honor Him as I should have because I was caught up in my own "stuff". Moments later Wonder Boy whizzed past challenging the Principal to a foot race - I smiled and gave Thanks for the bond that has been established between Father & Son as the two of them raced past me and the silence dissolved into laughter and testosterone.
Back in the car we warmed up and made our way to the last site for the day as we followed the clues in hand. We were on a back country road and could not imagine much of anything being where we were - the above picture was taken at the trail head where we parked and look at what we found as we followed the clues that led us to the final box of the day......

There she stood at the edge of the cliff overlooking the water below - we approached from behind her and had to climb around her to see what she looked like. She seemed to welcome us and watch over us as we climbed down the incline to the hidden treasure below. This was such a beautiful place and I can only imagine how pretty it much be when things are green and lush - we will likely visit her again - she just made me happy ;-)










So, what started out as an ordinary day doing the "field trip thing" turned into a small glimpse of God's Hand in my life and a precious reminder of all the wonders He put here on this earth for us to enjoy and behold each day - and the best part of all is that He orchestrated it just for me because He loves me so much - I can't think of any reason it could get any better than that!!

Wrapped in His Blessings,
Leisha

100th Day of School

We recently celebrated our 100th day of 1st Grade !! Wonder Boy had really been looking forward to it and since this was my first time dealing with it I was a little unsure of what to do. I over planned and probably won't have to prepare anything else until he starts High School now, but we had such a wonderful day that I wanted to share it.......

The day began with Opening Ceremonies - what kind of "Whiteboard Mom" would I be without a little opening whiteboard ceremony........Wonder Boy awoke to the annoucement bright and early that this was the 100th day of school !We started the day off with Science by putting 1oo ice cubes in a dish and "guesstimating" where the water line would be when they melted. It took until dinner to get that mystery solved but Wonder Boy was not too far off ;-)

The we moved on to Art with The Great Paper Chain Event - this was good fun - took a little longer than I had anticipated and it was certainly much longer than I had thought it would be - from the bottom of the stairs all the way up and halfway into one of the bedrooms!! What a chain it was - we liked it so much I have it hung up in the office until it gets too faded or dusty to continue to bring any pleasure ;-)

By this point in time we were a little peckish and decided it was time for Math with The 100 Day Trail Mix Extrodinaire Project - we built ourselves a bag of yummies with ten each of ten items - quite nice - all healthy too except for the chocolate chips and there were only 10 afterall!!
We geared down for the day with a History lesson about what was taking place in Alabama 100 years ago. Our final subject of the day was P.E. when we headed out of the house to see how far 100 steps took us from our home both by walking, running and just counting to 100 and walking.

And that was our day - great fun and a nice change of pace - I can't imagine not being able to homeschool - the Lord is blessing us so much in our efforts and we are continuing to celebrate wonderful successes as we journey with Him.

The Lord Bless You & Keep You,

Leisha

Letterboxing Season 2008 Begins

In September of last year, I was flipping thru a magazine and came across an ad for a SUV that mentioned Letterboxing and gave a web address. I had no idea what that was but was curious and so I looked it up. That was the beginning of what was to become a wonderful family hobby. We have had adventures like you can't imagine!! First of all, for those who have not heard about it, Letterboxing is best described as a "treasure hunt" type of activity. There are a few websites where Letterboxers (LB's) can post the clues and let others know that they have "planted" a box to be found. As the seeker you choose the boxes you wish to find, print the clues and set out on the path of adventure - it's great fun!! We have 59 boxes stamped in our "Logbook" and have had a fantastic time in the process of finding them. The planters create a hand carved stamps (which by the way can be incredibly intricate and beautiful artwork) and each seeker has a "trail name" and a signature stamp which they use to record their visit to the box. When the box is found it must be done discreetly so that passersby are not aware of it, lest any harm come to the box and it's contents. Once found and safely out of sight you stamp your logbook with the stamp located in the box and leave your stamp in the box's logbook to record your visit. When stamping is completed, the box is re-hidden as it was found and left for the next seeker.

Before I go any further, let me say that Letterboxing has not only been great family time and wonderful fitness (many boxes are hidden on beautiful hiking trails), but it has been an awesome addition to our homeschool curriculum. We have studied Lewis & Clark, walked the Natchez Trace, given Wonder Boy an incredible opportunity to learn about those who have served our country in war by visiting one the most amazing war memorials that I have ever seen off the beaten path in Birmingham, AL. We have visited 2 Civil War Battlegrounds, some of our areas most beautiful views and camping areas that we would not have known about had it not been for our Letterboxing adventures. It has given us a hands on classroom, to teach nature, science, chemistry, history, geography and life skills. Letterboxing has opened doors to things we may not have otherwise encountered and it has definitely led us to places which would be otherwise undiscovered in our day to day lives. God shows up on our adventures regularly and allows us to sow seeds into Wonder Boy's life in ways that would not be possible around the family meal table. We take regular field trips with our homeschool covering around AL & TN and always try to squeeze a Letterbox or two into these outings. We are going to Tullahoma, TN this week to visit the Hands On Science Museum and have located 3-4 boxes near by - guess what we will be doing when the field trip portion of our day is done??

These pictures were taken at the 270 foot long Clarkson Covered Bridge in Cullman, AL where a box was hidden. This bridge was constructed in 1904 and is 1 of 11 covered bridges still remaining in Alabama. This was out in the country and we would never have known about it had it not been for our Letterboxing adventures - one more item to add to that list ;-)

If I have intrigued you to find out more please visit http://www.atlasquest.com/ or http://www.letterboxing.org/ to get more information on getting started. Please let me know if you pursue anything - we would love to hear your stories!! Get out there and adventure and enjoy God's beautiful world ;-)

In His Grace,

Leisha

White Board Wisdom

In Wonder Boy's room is a white board which I write on every night after he falls asleep - I don't remember now exactly how this grew into what it has, but I think it started when we were teaching him to read and write and we ended our evenings with a game of hangman on his white board right before lights out and prayers. Many of you may have heard some of the white board stories - they are really gathering a following of sorts it would seem. A friend from church came by our home for the first time the other day to pick up her daughter and said "so this is the famous white board" when getting the tour of Wonder Boy's room. In any case, this has really become a fantastic Mommy tool as well. I use the white board to reward and acknowledge good behavior and jobs well done, to leave gentle loving Mommy reminders in areas where we are praying for success, to count down to big events, to announce surprises, to help encourage A's on spelling tests, to allow God to speak thru scripture and of course to let Wonder Boy know how much he is loved.

SO....the other night I was doing laundry and folding socks and Wonder Boy was asking me one of the many million questions that he typically asks in a day when we got on the topic of prayer - I am a little fuzzy on the starting point of the conversation to be honest as it was probably only at this point that I fully tuned in. In any case I was explaining to him that you did not have to pray only for the "usual things in the usual ways" that you could pray in the shower, when you are washing dishes and I started giving him some examples of some of the not so usual times and places that I pray. I told him that I pray over food when I am preparing it especially if it is for someone in need or ill. I told him that I pray for people in the grocery store when they look tired and in need of a lift. I told him that I pray over laundry all the time, when I am hanging shirts on a hanger, I will pray that the wearer will be blessed with energy to do God's work each day, I told him that I pray over his socks, that God will bless his comings and goings and that he will walk with God throughout his life. Well this just tickled him that I would pray over his socks....so that night when it came time to do the white board here is what I did.

God gives each of us many opportunities each day in the midst of the ordinary and mundane to make a difference in the lives of those we love through prayer. I have found a calling with a white board and a package of dry erase markers - I invite you to look at what you do each day and be encouraged that God has a white board for you to use. Wonder Boy got up the next morning and came running downstairs giggling and gave me the biggest hug and said "Mommy I LOVE my board today".

It doesn't get much better than that !

Leisha