An amazing experience

This weekend the boys had an amazing opportunity to honor those that have given their lives for our freedom. The Scouts met at the Veterans Memorial and placed flags on all of the graves for Memorial Day weekend. I have always wanted to take my kids to see this.. so it was really cool that they were able to be a part of the process. I was out of town during this event but just had chills looking at the photos and video footage John took. IT is amazing to look at the number of flags out their and to equate that to people and families....I am truly grateful for the men who died for our freedom...words can never say enough!

Honoring those who gave us our freedom

My Cute Little Cubs

Cub Scouts.. this year's new endeavor

This year we added cub scouts and boy scouts to our list of things we do. I must say I love it. The things they get to do and the things Devin has learned, especially, have been amazing. We have set our family's goal at four Eagle Scouts by the time it is all said and done. When I look through the badges and look at their goals I just marvel at all they will have learned and experienced while on this journey. We are very excited to continue on this path through the summer and in years to come.

Cub Scout Blue and Gold Banquet

Making men who can cook

Cooking is one of my hobbies. I love to cook and bake. I love to try new things out on my family. This does not excite them all of the time. Every morning they will ask me what is on the menu for the night. I feel sometimes they are trying to mentally prepare themselves for what is to come. Sometimes they breathe a sigh of relief when I say something like "tacos". So as I love cooking I want my children to experience it as well. Obviously this experience may help them in the future. All this leads up to the point that they will each cook with LITTLE assistance from mom one night of the week for the summer. They seem pretty excited with the freedom of choice. We have one rule in that they can not cook the same thing twice. Devin kicked us off with a beef and broccoli stirfry that we all agreed was really good. So far success!! (I forgot...the other rule is everything is made from scratch..no box help!) I will update on the menus chosen by my "Little Chefs" later on this summer. Until next time!

Devin's First Dinner Solo

End of Year Spring Piano Recital

The journey of Life

Well this past week I felt a jolt of reality buzzing in my ear telling me to enjoy every moment because things never remain the same and sometimes change in an instant. We said goodbye to the boy's tennis coach this week. This may seem insignificant to some, but he came into our life two years ago and became a constant in the boy's lives for that period of time. He trained them 2-3 hours a day for two years. He made them sweat, he made them laugh, they did cry (not so much because of him), he made them believe in their abilities, and he made them strive to be better players even when they wanted to give up or give in to lazy thoughts. Mike's love of the sport was reflected on the court and reflects in my boys every day whether on the court, in a match, or playing short court in the driveway. I am so thankful that Mike was a part of their lives and we are all sad to see him go. But we do believe he needed to make different choices to fulfill his goals as well. Our family will miss Mike all the way down to Nicholas who has spent time with Mike as well. But this whole post circles back to just enjoying each and every moment....never take any moment for granted. So it is, we say goodbye to Mike and thank him for the wonderful memories the boys will always have... along with the fabulous technique he gave them.
Until next time...

Saying Goodbye can be so hard to do!

Birthdays are more fun with our cousins!!

Sweet Kathryn and Mitchell

Celebrating Mitchell and Preston's Birthday with the family

Trying out new birthday skimboards!

Hydroponic Picking with the Hackney's

Tag...I am it and so bad at these things!!!

I have now been tagged by my friends Amanda and Angela to do the "eight things" list. Probably to everyone's surprise I am going to complete it. I do not know how to link things so I will have to contact those tagged individually!! Here it goes!!

8 things I look forward:
1)Meeting my Lord one day
2)Celebrating 15 years of marriage in a couple months
3)My husband arriving home from work each evening
4)Completing a 1/2 ironman in a few months
5)Lazy days with my kids at the beach
6)Vacation
7)Looking into my kids eyes every day as they discover the world
8)The hugsand kisses the "boys" in my life dole out each day at random

8 things I did yesterday:
1)Sat outside and smelled the blooming gardenias
2)Went to the gym and ran 5 miles
3)Pushed Nicholas on the swing
4)Taught my children about the Monroe Doctrine
5)Enjoyed the cloudy breezy day
6)Did laundry
7)Listened to the kids practice piano
8)Prayed

8 things I wish I could do
1)Participate in a bible study
2)Read more books
3)Have more hours in the day
4)Run faster and farther without the pain of training
5)Spend more time with my husband (less work for him)
6)Take more family vacations
7)Have a second home in the mountains and live there 1/2 the year
8)Tour the country a few months at a time in a motorhome with my family enjoying the beauty of God's earth.

8 shows I watch:
1) American Idol
2) Old Christine
3) Dancing with the Stars
4) Tennis tournaments
5) Golf Tournaments
6) Into the Motherhood
7) Movies
8) I really prefer books to TV

I tag the following people:
Dana
Jolie
Tina
Jill
Tammi
Jen

Our beautiful kiddos on Easter!!!!

EASTER with our FAMILY!!!

Preston lost his First Tooth...He is so Excited!!!!

Dyeing Easter Egg Fun

Happy Birthday Baby!

Well, as any sentimental mother reacts....my baby turned three recently. As there is joy in his development there was also a bit of sadness in my heart in that my last has exited the "toddler age." I would love to bottle them up and keep them young forever, but obviously I can not so I know that I must cherish every moment that I have every day with them. As I ponder these thoughts I am so glad I homeschool them because the time I have with them is so dear to me. As my house enters the "chaos" stage at certain times of the day...and it seems to be out of control with young boy energy...I will continue to remember how short time is and maybe join in with the chaos instead of trying to control it!! For Nicholas's birthday we enjoyed a day of Chuck E Cheese with the cousins and Uncle Scott. We then went to "open gym" and had fun with Nick's BFF Jaxon and his sister Jillian. It was a fun filled day topped off with presents and birthday cake. Of course the family celebration was yet to come on Easter...It was the birthday that kept on giving...but he loved it!!

Nicholas's Birthday fun!!

Radfords and Palms hit the beach in 2009!

Family Visit

My Aunt and Uncle from the far Northwest came to visit the family. We were able to have a fun time visiting, celebrating birthdays, and just hanging out. They visit usually every year and the boys look forward to their arrival. We are hoping to visit them later on in 2009. We are so excited at the thought of this and hope it will come to fruition for our family! But until then..we do so look forward to them coming each year!!

Visiting with Aunt Joy and Uncle Bill

First beach and swim of 2009!!!

Our Storm

Our family has been in the midst of a storm. At times it has been drizzling and then some times it seems to rain a little harder. All have seemed annoying or dreary but bearable. This week we were hoping for sunshine...but weather being unpredictable as life is.. This week was an all out thunderstorm for our family. The kind of storm where the sky turns pitch black and the winds begin to blow. A storm where standing seems difficult where you possibly think you can be blown over at any moment. And if you are blown over you would ask yourself, "Can I get back up?" I have asked myself several times this week, "Is the sun going to come back out" in more literal terms...Is God really here? Or maybe better said, "Where is he?? Just as I don't understand the weather, I do not understand God's plan for my family at this moment. But after feeling the wind blow and the rain trying to strip me of all I have believed to be true my whole life...I know some things to be true...God does have a plan and that he is bigger than the storms of life. I know that despite the winds that are threatening to blow us over or are making it impossible to stand..that we will grab on to the hand of the Lord through his Word and hang on for dear life...only through him can we fight and stand in this storm.. only through him can we see a light beneath those pitch black clouds. In closing, I happened to be listening to some Christian music and a Casting Crowns song which I have heard a million times was playing...but the words were so appropriate for the week we have walked through...I have removed the other happier songs from my blog for the week so that if nothing else when I look at my blog it will remind me. The sun is not shining and it is cloudy out but one thing I know for sure....the sun will return!! Until next time...

Tri-camp

I decided to post on this topic because many of you have called to inquire "how it went?" I am sorry to not have answered some so I thought this might be a more effective way to do so. In answer, it was exhilirating, hard and overall a true to heart gut check! To sum it up, we ran track in the wee hours of the morning, continued on to bike in the hills and up Sugarloaf mountain, muscled out a weightlifting session, swam what seemed like a million laps and then worked on mental toughness. We did eat and then went to bed to rise for a simulated duathlon the next morning. I will say...the duathlon (22 mile bike...6 mile run all in hills) was where my personal gut check occurred. The first 15 miles of bike and four miles of run went great...then I hit a very big wall...muscled out the last seven of bike and went into transition thinking....I truly do not know if I can run the last two miles of hills. But I did...one step at a time! The funny thing is...as I watch my children play tennis matches on the weekend and get into 2-3 hour battles with opponents, I always tell them they can do it, to focus, one point at a time....needless to say..that is what pulled me up those hills (not wanting to be a hypocrite) but I was not loving my own words of inspiration. So I learned from that weekend that I have alot of work to do over the coming months before I compete in the 1/2 ironman (not only physically but mentally) BUT ....at the end of the day I am glad I finished everything that weekend...quitting just never feels good when you assess at the end of the day! Until next time!

Our Weekend

This weekend could not have been better. We had very few committments which was unusual but so refreshing. There is nothing I love more than a weekend at home with my family. We spent alot of time outside enjoying bikes, ripsticks, swings, cookouts and each other. On an exciting note, Preston mastered his bike with no training wheels...Pinellas Trail here we come! Developmentally it finally clicked for him! I hope you enjoy the photos...next week I hope to play with some different settings on the camera...so hopefully the photos will be great. We hope you all have a safe and great week. Until next time..

Outdoor spots in the beautiful Florida weather