 To my sweet Destiny Joy on her sweet 16! Yesterday at 8 am we were induced in what would be the longest, hardest, 32 hours of my life. But finally, at 7:11 pm tonight, you came into my world a fighter, pink & beautiful from the start, and you took my breath away.  You were such an easy baby and just cute as a button. You know, being the first born is a tough gig. Everyone is trying to figure out their roles, parenting practices, rules, belief systems.  You were just as sweet as can be. "I'll get that for you, mom." "How can I help?" "We should ask Jesus about this!"  I must have binked...because suddenly, we had our first teenager. First cell phone. First curfew. First besties. First big blow up with daddy & I. Tears & hugs. Failures & wins. Laughing until we cry. High fiving over small victories & big ones too.  Today you turn 16. Such a grown up, yet still a kid trying to figure out where you fit in this life, this opinionated world.  Destiny, it is my utmost desire that year 16 is the year of awakening and stirring inside you. New boldness in Christ and using your beautiful gift for His glory. Outloud. On purpose. In big and mighty ways!  It is my prayer that sweet 16 is as sweet as you are, and as strong in purpose as your stubborn will, and that tenacity that I know will take you far.  You are more beautiful inside & out than you yet recognize. Walk in boldness & in truth that you are created in the image of the most High One and He calls you His Beloved......  Happy birthday, little one, all grown up!  You are loved! Momma 
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It's been ages since we have spent a summer in Kansas, probably 4 whole years. It's hot and some days the kids are super antsy and bored, but it's been nice to be at our home sweet hub and spread out a bit. Makes us miss and appreciate our home on wheels! We play a lot of board games, go out to the lake to fish and boat, or just let the kids use their imaginations and play to pass the time. I also have been trying to take them out on mommy dates when the other kids are busy or occupied at a friends house. Avery and I went shopping and had a sushi date! Mmmmm. I am obsessed with jumpsuits and overalls at the moment. I hit the clearance rack JACK POT! The kids still LOVE to read. I am always happy when they can get REAL books, not just kindle downloads. Being home has allowed us to go get stacks and stacks of books and read the afternoons away. EVEN momma! Eeeek! Guilty pleasure. 
Did you all have a safe and happy 4th?  We made a yummy trifle to take and share at the family function. Here is the recipe: Independence Day Trifle  I felt like I was coming down with something, so I stayed home and sent Dale and the kids to his uncles. GOOD THING, by nightfall I had a roaring fever and the infamous "camp cough" I had been treating the kids for. I oiled like crazy and was down 4 days. Thank goodness, its a viral cough they are saying takes 2 weeks to move through. Look at who came and took care of me one day, my very own butler! My sweet momma also came over and did an aromatouch (think raindrop therapy) on me and now coughing Paxton.
I got sick right after my hair appointment. We parted my hair back on the original side so the top part of my side shave can grow out. I am going for a long bob and am letting my natural curl come back out since it just showed up again! Hormones are weird. ;) I finally sent a shot of my new do to my BFF on day 4 of my sickness. Not looking too hot, but see the hair?! I have had the side shave and opposite part long enough my hair was starting to rebel against it. Love trying new things! Side note, I wear ONE contact. See how it bounced light differently than the other?! Crazy!  Back on the mend and enjoying a nice soak in the tub, I noticed how AWFUL the mineral stain on our white shower curtain had gotten and set out to make it white again.
 I dumped generous amounts of each in my HOT load and let it soak overnight. Not great. Round 2 of the same!  TA DA! Good as almost new. LOVE a NATURAL laundry room of great tools to use!!!!! Ready to make over your home and green up your cleaners?! I am your girl!!!! :D 
Looking for an easy summer salad recipe? Check out this Just Like Applebee's Oriental Salad from our old blog. We made it again and it was JUST as good as I remembered, if not better!  Out of all my children, Avery and Paxton like to be in the kitchen the most. Although, Destiny the other day announced she was making cookies and did. And Ty announced he wanted meatloaf for dinner, and did! Avery and Paxton whipped out 6 loaves of banana bread and a Texas sheet cake and it. was. fabulous.
 Destiny Joy was due like July 15. Her Grandma Eileen was born on the 14th, her Nana was born on the 16th and she picked her OWN birthday, the 17th. My mom turns 60 this year & Destiny turns 16, so we decided to have a girls date to lunch at the Airport Steakhouse in town to celebrate.
We headed to Nana's to help her pick out an outfit for an upcoming event and then headed to our house for a girlie movie and some Texas sheet cake! HAPPY day for Dale, somebody is excited about his new fishing boat! Hoping to access some fish again, cause wading isn't cutting it! Dale has been trying to restore his dad's boat but alas the cost was going to be too high. We found this sparkly beauty instead for a steal of a deal......even matches the RV colors! It's the little things & God is so good.  Already paying off! ;)  I wanted to try out our new oven, so I decided to make one my favorite meal when I was a little girl.....Italian Beef & Cheese Buns! I SPECIFICALLY recall that for my kindergarten birthday, this is what I chose for family supper that night. I also remember that I got 2 SUPER cool pair of leather high tops that night, in both black AND pink! Oh, I was in 1980’s heaven! 🤣   Cheers to the rest of July & a bit of August before it's back to school time again. We have a Colorado & Michigan trip planned yet this summer and lots of little projects to get done between now and then. Hope you are having a great summer! Until next time.... Hugs, T  Well July is off with a BANG, literally. Did you have a nice 4th of July? I cannot believe the month is almost half over! I use this blog as a travel journal and a highlight reel of our kids' lives, so hang on to your hats, I haven't blogged for a bit and it's time to catch up. When we last left off, Ty had headed to camp. Since then, Avery has gone to camp too. She had an amazing time, despite a bit of homesickness, she stuck the week out and is already begging to go back.  While we were there dropping off Avery, we got to see Destiny! She was greeting and helping around camp. We snuck into her dorm and left her an I heart U note on her pillow. The candy box you see in the photo is what we sent Avery, along with friendship bracelets to hand out to her dorm. When you get mail at camp, you have to sing for it! :) Paxton is the only not not staying at overnight camp this year, so we made sure he had some extra fun like a date with mom, slumber party with his buddy Joel. Ice cream Sundaes and more! Destiny has stayed her 3 weeks to work. She has a couple weeks off, which is good because she came home super sick with what we loving call "camp cough".  I am so grateful for essential oils to help fight and win! We did symphony of the cells treatments to help the body fight and win. Steam cup, hot on guard honey drink to soothe the throat and more. She felt better in no time! Father's Day came and went, with a whole lot of FISH. I wish real fish, although Dale was catching somes good ones when the weather was bad. It's hard to wade and get out to the fish now that it's nice. They all are out where it takes a boat to reach them. The kids and I spent FOREVER, drawing, cutting and hanging some fish for a fun garland while he was gone. He loved it!  Want an easy summer supper? Steak Gyros will hit the spot! Simply grill steak with mediterranean seasonings and slice thin. Chop baby tomatoes, seeded cucs & red onion for the relish. Mix a batch of homemade ranch with some high quality dill. Layer on flat out bread and use organic feta crumbles to finish it off. ENJOY! It has been nice to be home and offer essential oil classes at our local library each month! I love seeing our local team and their new oilers come to learn more. I had 2 sweet surprises, a little love note from Avery in my class bag. And a gift from one of the builders on our team! Look at that cute RV bird feeder! She gave me a little RV too, its out in my home on wheels. You know I LOOOOVE my orange retro kitchen, right?! It makes our house so happy and fun, but alas......... One of the old girls had to go. Hated to break up a darling 1952 pair, but I NEED one of my homes to have a legit cooking experience.😂 Haha, RV convection microwave doesn't count! We will save this darling orange stove for freezer pizzas or queso nights in a future rec room. Boys thought the packaging from the new stove made for a cool car ramp and set to work creating it on the staircase! What we are learning about Kansas is how HOT and boring it is without a pool. There is so much standing water from the floods at our house, that we can barely step outdoors without being eaten alive by mosquitoes. Thankfully, Uncle Mike has a cool pontoon! He let us take it out one day and joined us a week later to go again. It's for sale and we want it SO SO BAD, but the ol Papa truck just cannot pull it. We are not prepared to buy a boat AND a truck, so we had to let it go. Waaah! Maybe someday! To be continued.....
The blog is starting to get cranky with how photo heavy this post is. Hee hee, weakling! ;) Hugs, T www.rvoilers.com/blog |
Tonya Ferguson
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