Moving Again!!!

As many of you may have already heard, the Starling's are moving again...this time back to Bowling Green. Just over 18 months ago we left Bowling Green and moved to Ocala with Phillip's job. At that time we were excited for the move, looking forward to being back in Florida after being away for 7 years, looking forward to being back close to family and friends that we left years ago. But what we did not realize was the wonderful friends and close church family that we were leaving behind in Ky. What we did not realize,was that all our children had ever truly known was Ky. We knew within a few months of our move that we wanted to be back in BG and started praying then, that if it was the Lord's will, he would open a door and now he has. Unless something changes (date wise) we look to be moving around the first of April back to the Bluegrass state. We are still trying to sell our house in Ocala...so if anyone out there knows someone who needs a house in Ocala for purchase or to rent...... Anyway, please remember the Starling's in your prayers, that this move will go smoothly and our house will find a new owner, SOON!!!

Blessings to all~
Carla

Mother of a Teenager

Where does the time go? It seem like just yesterday I was holding this little precious guy and now he is a TEENAGER!!! Yes...it is true Jonah celebrated the big 13 about a week ago. He's growing up! The Lord has certainly blessed us with one amazing son. I am so proud of all that he does. Thank you God for a wonderful son!!

Our Christmas

I can honestly say that this year during the holiday season, we took it easy.... that is on the gift buying, the running around, and the "we have to do this because" and when everything was unwrapped and the Christmas decorations was taken down and put away for another year...Honestly, there was nothing that we missed out on and we truly enjoyed the season more as a family.

The fun activity during the month of December around our house was the traditional Advent calendar that we do every year, but this year there was an added twist. I turned the advent calendar into a daily scavenger hunt. Some days the clues led the kids to a treat hidden among a Christmas decoration or in the tree, or in a Christmas movie. Whatever it was, always brought excitement to the kids and was a treat that they looked forward to. On Christmas Eve, I sent them on a "wild goose" chase, they had ten different clues which ended them back under the tree to look for a present with their name on it and a green bow. They were allowed to open that gift. Jonah got new shoes and Courtney received Pj's along with matching ones for her American Girl Doll.

We spent Christmas Eve with Phillip's family and Christmas night with my family. This year was the first year ever that we were home on Christmas morning without needing to rush off to go to family, which was nice. We slept in...7:30, that's sleeping in on Christmas morning for us. It was enjoyable to be at home Christmas morning with the kids, we were not in a rush to open gifts or go anywhere. After lunch, the four of us headed to the movies to see Marley and Me...Loved it...I did cry. Then after the movie we enjoy Christmas dinner with my dad and my siblings. It was a great Christmas. Even with a few changes to traditions.

Jonah's big gift...PSP


Courtney received...the American Girl Doll Kit, along with the movie, which if you haven't seen it, you need to and many accessories.

Courtney and her matching pj's.

Our family...Christmas Eve night at Phillip's moms

My dad, sister, brother and me

My sister and her family

My Brother and his boys

Merry Christmas

Well, as some may know, I had issues with our Christmas card this year. The one you see here, was my pride and joy however long story short, it was very pixelated (sp? if a word). This was card number 1, card number 2 which I ordered online and returned, I was displeased with...after three attempts, the third one I was happy with and a Christmas card finally made the mail and hopefully arrived before today. If you were over looked I apologized, there is a story behind the addressing of the cards also but I'll save that for another day, maybe.

Anyway, to all my friends, family and fellow bloggers, I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy 2009

Blessings to all-
Carla

Halloween Goo and Costume Mania

What a face!!

(from left to right) Phillip's creation, Jonah's, mine and Courtney's

Courtney and Rascal, our little pumpkin


The fun of carving pumpkins...cleaning out the pumpkin goo!

Jonah and Carla

Lots of Goo!!


Costume Mania

This year Jonah was Father Time and Courntey was Pinocchio.

Thirteen Thanksgiving's Blessings

As Thanksgiving Day 2008 is coming to an end and my house that was full of noise early today is now quiet. I thought that I would surprise everyone with a post at the end of this Blessed Day.
So what better way then to share with you thirteen ways that I am blessed...

1. God's grace... He died for me and then saved me!


2. I have a husband that loves and supports me (married 15 years!).


3. I am blessed with 2 beautiful children that I adore.


4. I have great friends and family that I love.


5. I was raised by godly parents that loved me no matter what!


6. I have the choice to homeschool my kids (and I am loving it!).


7. I have the freedom to worship the One and Only God!


8. God has provided for all my needs.


9. God has also provided for some of my wants.


10. I have a roof over my head.


11. I am able to stay home with my kids.


12. My husband has a job that provides for all our needs.


13. God loves me and will never forsake me!

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!! Many Blessings to everyone who visits and reads my blog.
Blessings to all,
Carla

Blog Award

I have been nominated by Beth for an "I Love (Heart) Your Blog Award." Thanks! Due to this honor, I must answer the following questions with one word answers and nominate 10 other blogs for the "I heart your blog" award.

1. Where is your cell phone? purse
2. Where is your significant other? office
3. Your hair color? Blonde
4. Your mother? heaven
5. Your father? strong
6. Your favorite thing? family
7. Your dream last night? none
8. Your dream/goal? debt-free
9. The room you're in? family
10. Your hobby? scrapbooking
11. Your fear? Loss
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Kentucky
13. Where were you last night? church
14. What you're not? single
15. One of your wish-list items? Jeans
16. Where you grew up? Starke
17. The last thing you did? Facebook
18. What are you wearing? clothes
19. Your TV? off
20. Your pet? dog
21. Your computer? laptop
22. Your mood? sleepy
23. Missing someone? mother
24. Your car? mini-van
25. Something you're not wearing? shorts
26. Favorite store? Target
27. Your summer? short
28. Love someone? Phillip
29. Your favorite color? pink
30. When is the last time you laughed? today
31. Last time you cried? Tuesday

Whew - that's a challenge to only do one word!

It's Been a While

It's been a while since I have blogged...I kinda felt that there was nothing exciting to write about, but then I realized that I was just going through a time when I have tried to stay focus on what the Lord has in store for me and my family. Truth be known, I have been searching...asking God for direction as to where our life needs to take us. We have now been in Ocala for a year and even though I do not hate living here, I am ready to move tomorrow if we could. If I could only turn back time and Phillip and I knew then what we know now, we would have fought to stay in BG. With this said, I have been going through some personal issues and knew that I needed to rely on God with my whole heart. You know, saying that phrase seems easy, right? I mean, for those who call ourselves Christians, we are suppose to lean on him with everything that we have, but how often do we give it to him and then take it right back? That is sooooo my problem, I want to handle everything myself, I want to be in control, I am sooooo guilty of this. Just because it is not in OUR timing, I feel God is not aware of our situation when in reality he is aware of all and has a plan for all. With that in mind, I have memorized Philippians 4:6 " Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God." I would appreciate any prayers that God would give me direction and peace at this time.

Blessings to all~
Carla

Catch a Wave

Since we live just an hour from the beach, an afternoon spent at the beach is not hard to do, just load up the cooler, make sure we have everything and head in that direction. This past weekend that is exactly what we did. We spent an afternoon at the beach, soaking up the rays, splashing in the waves, and enjoying our time together as a family. The waves were awesome, the kids enjoyed riding their boogie boards and playing in the sand. The weather was beautiful not one cloud, which this time of year it can be unpredictable.

Here are a few pictures that I thought I would share.



What a pose!
I like the sailboat in the background.
I am surprised that I captured this one on camera.

Courtney crossed right over the back over Jonah, he barely felt her.

Our 15th Anniversary

On this day, fifteen years ago, Phillip and I said, "I Do." Where does the time go? And how the styles changes? I think there was more dress there, then there was me.

A Week in Review

This week has flew by and I am ready for the three day weekend. Here’s a few things that has been going on around our house…..

• Last Saturday my Cricut died - I was heartbroken until I found out that luckily it was still under warranty. So, I am waiting for a replacement to arrive any day now. Okay for any non-scrapbookers, it is not a bug or a critter, it is the most cleaver die cutting tool around and mine kicked the bucket last weekend. :(

• Monday night was Jonah’s Court of Honor for Boy Scouts and he did it again, he advanced in rank to First Class Scout. Way to go!!! He totally surprised me on this one.

• I have fallen back into the routine of having weekly migraines this week I think a small piece of banana caused it. It lasted a little over two days.

• I turned 35 this week. It is soooo hard to believe that I am 35. I started the day out battling the remains of a migraine and ended the day with no migraine so HBTM. Over all it was a great day. I received a large number of calls, went out for dinner and tonight I am enjoying the house to myself. So guess what I am doing? SCRAPBOOKING!!!

• Phillip and Courtney is heading out for dinner and a movie tonight.

• Jonah is heading to Sonquest in Orlando, this weekend, with the youth group from our church. So, I pray that the youth group has a safe trip and a wonderful time.

I hope everyone has a great Labor Day weekend!! Enjoy the three day weekend, I sure plan on it!!!
Blessings to all~
Carla

You Gotta Love Them!!

Saturday and Sunday was again rainy days for us even though Fay had departed from our area. On Staurday, the kids were outside playing with their friends in between the rain showers, which I was aware of. Just like I was aware of the fact that Fay had turned the lot next to our house into a large mud pit but I never expected this when Phillip called me to the door after the kids rang the doorbell. Needless to say I stayed calm, I hosed them off in the backyard and into the showers they went. What a muddy mess!!!!

Fay, Fay, Go Away

It has been a long week. Over a week now we have been dealing with Tropical Storm Fay. Wondering.... where and when she would hit, it has been crazy. The schools has been out all week except for Monday, church was cancelled Wednesday night, the stores has been busy. Tropical Storm Fay never made hurricane status but she sure left a wet mess and has hung around the state for a long time and is still here. Never did I imagine that she would drop so much ran and last sooooooo long and chose to mark its path through our county, days after she was initially suppose to hit the state. Luckily, all we have seen is just some down tree limbs and heavy rains, no major flooding, known in our area as of right now. Praise God! As of this post, the wind is still whipping around outside and the bands of rain are still very strong, but there has not been any power outages or lightening. With all that said the kids have enjoyed this afternoon outside playing in the rain.........

Singing and dancing in the rain

Heavy rains can come really quick, but that does not stop the kids.

Courtney shows how strong the wind is!

Courtney gave up on the umbrella and decided to tube down our street, not really, but she tried. The water was not quite deep enough.

Jonah and Courtney
My two wet kiddos

Back to School

It's official....yesterday was the Starling's first day of school for the 2008-2009 school year, which seems odd since most of my friend's children have already been in school for almost two weeks. But since Florida passed a "save our summer" bill a couple of years a ago, schools do not start now until around the 20th of August, so we chose to do the same.

Where does time go? It seems like just yesterday, Jonah was starting kindergarten and now he is starting the 7th grade. Four of his classes he is taking online this year through Florida Virtual, which has him sooooo excited that he is already working ahead in his classes, let's hope he keeps it up! The program is a really neat program and will help him in many ways, plus he thinks it cool that he gets to work on a laptop. I can not believe that this year marks the 5th year that we have been home schooling, WOW, which means that my little girl is now in the 5th grade. She is growing up so fast. We had an awesome first day. Everyone woke up on time, the four of us had a nice breakfast together and by 8 we had started school. Monday is usually Phillip's office day so he was home all day and since most kids do not get to wear pj's to school on the first day, I did not insist that the kids get dress at a certain time like I had in the past. There will be plenty of other days for that. Courtney, in her pj's, reading Anne of Green Gables
My favorite 5th grader
Teacher's pet!

Courtney's Trip to Tn

A little late but I thought that I would share a few of the pictures from Courtney's trip to Tn with her friend Ashley. Yes, my wonderful friend Minta gave me a CD full of pictures to document Courtney's first trip without mom and dad. She had a blast and I really think she would have stayed longer if that was an option. The week was full of exciting things including a trip to Dollywood, the Fun Factory, Flyaway (an indoor skydiving), the Applebarn, a day of horseback riding, and tubing down a river, not to mention the things that they did around Ashley's grandparent's house. Overall, she had an awesome time. Courtney and Ashely - Like "Two Peas in a Pod"
This creek runs beside Ashley's Grandparents place.

It is where the kids waded, fished and just were able to be kids.

Ashley's grandfather took the girls riding through the mountains in his Jeep
Tubing down deep creek
Courtney and Ashley posing in front of a bear

in downtown Cherokee on the way to Dollywood.
Courtney and her horse Savannah