Oh, dear. I am so blessed. Too blessed I fear.

1) My husband spoils me. I don’t know why he loves me when I’m such a meanie some times.

2) God has chosen me. I’m now able to look at everything and see God’s amazing hand in it all (actually I had that ability before being regenerated but utterly ignored that. Romans 1)

3) I live in the most perfect place. The weather is so much better here than north Texas, south Texas, the coast and west Texas.   The views are breathtaking. The natural “attractions” will keep any homeschool family busy for years!

4) My kids are the cutest in the world. Not sure how that happened but God was gracious.

So, on to the meat of my post.  *snort* I totally didn’t mean to make that joke! Meat = hamburger = Alamo Springs Cafe = #3 on the Top 50 Best Hamburgers in Texas voted by Texas Monthly magazine.

My friend Grateful for Grace took me on a date there a couple of months ago and it was fabulous.  Tonight when Michael saw that I was cooking chicken breasts (the “I’ll-just-throw-something-together” meal that he so loves) he eagerly suggested eating out.

You can’t really go wrong with a jalepeno bun, avocados, grilled onions, tomato, jalepenos, lettuce, mustard and a slab of beef.  Even if the road is extremely windy (food for thought- are windy and windy homonyms or did I spell it wrong?)

BUT! That was not the highlight of the night. Next to Alamo Springs Cafe is the Old Tunnel Natural Management Area. Essentially, the “bat cave“.

Here are a few facts bat man taught us:

• Mexican Free Tail bats (the ones present in this area) have 1 baby a year. Adults weigh 3 oz. and their babies 1 oz. Basically, that’s like me giving birth to a 40lb baby.
• On an 8 1/2″ x 11″ piece of paper you can fit 500 pups (baby bats).
• Their favorite meal is the corn moth. The moths produce the corn weevil that attacks the midwest corn fields. As the moths migrate from Mexico to Kansas/Iowa/Nebraska the bats feast.  1 bat eats 40 moths a night.
• In the Old Tunnel there are b/w 1.5 million (right now as the females travel to a different location to have their babies) to 3 million (in the next couple of weeks as the moms and babies return).  Considering the fact above that’s 60 million moths eaten each night. Excellent insect control.

Oh, and one more thing before I overwhelm you with pictures (which btw, I did not have time to meticulously edit. sooc). Tonight is the night that Mercury, Mars and Venus all line up in a triangle of sorts. The pictures I have of the bats and Venus together are great at 2800 width , when I resized them Venus disappears.

Why a Baby Conference?

In 2010, as the focus of much media attention centers on the victory of selfishness and the defeat of the biblical family through the introduction of “the pill” fifty years ago, Vision Forum Ministries is committed to defending and celebrating life — in particular, the blessing of children and their role in building healthy cultures and vibrant households.

As the world lauds barrenness for economic and personal convenience and marginalizes the value of our aging populace, we purpose to celebrate life and to explore a myriad of practical and theological issues that are pertinent to Christian families of the twenty-first century, such as: adoption, home birth, the coming cry for euthanasia on the horizon as our elderly generation increases, and the many blessings that come from raising children in the fear of the Lord.

Who’d want to miss that?!  This was our first conference of any kind outside of chiropractic.  Despite my nerves over how my children would behave, I had an extremely blessed time.  San Antonio, although only an hour away from our home, is very humid! That would be my main complaint

My Top 10 Favorite Moments

As is common with any great event, it was difficult pinpointing 10 aspects that really stuck with me.

10) Electronic Polling.  I am so impressed with Vision Forum’s foresight to arrange a time to poll their audience.  What better opportunity to get some valuable statistics?! There were approximately 1700 people in attendance and after the polling I can tell you:

• They were homeschoolers (>90%)
• They had/would consider a homebirth
• They wanted as many children as God gave them
• Most had not used birth control in the last year

9) Large Family Logistics Panel.  I loved getting to hear from mom’s with large families (3 w/ 10 children, 2 w/ 8 ) and how it all worked out logistically.  They discussed pregnancy (how to delegate from the couch when you’re sick), birth, laundry, dad’s involvement, schedule, chores and cooking.  Completely silly but my favorite “tip” came from Kim Coughlin who said that each kid had their own bath towel and it didn’t get washed until it needed it. In our family of 6 we have a towel problem.

Modesty Abounds.  What a sight for sore eyes! I loved the variety of modest clothing I was able to see.  Some families wore very traditional neck to ankle dresses while others wore more modern skirts.  All of it was beautiful and I never felt uncomfortable with anyone’s choice of clothing.  I also cherished that my daughter’s were able to see hundreds of other girls wearing skirts.  They don’t often see others dressed like them.

7) Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar.  If there was a family today that truly lived out humility, gratefulness and love it would be them.  I’m sure that each one of the hundreds that spoke with them would all say they felt special.  Michelle Duggar was overwhelmed by the outpouring of love as she received the Mother of the Year award from Vision Forum.  Even my husband cried a bit from the show of gratefulness.

6) Meeting a blogger.  I was blessed to meet Kelly of Generation Cedar!! I am not good at introducing myself to people but I stepped out of my comfort zone and spoke with her.  I enjoyed our conversation and now I can say “I know her!”

5) Biomedical Ethics Panel.  I thought this would be a snore.  Far from it. I’m not sure I want to be completely controversial but I will say my eyes were opened about organ donation, termination of life and eugenics.

4) Kevin Swanson.  How could you not love a speaker that jumps around on stage and makes every point relevant and personal?  His topic was biblical discipline.  The illustration that impacted me the most was his use of a Texas Highway Patrolman.  When you get pulled over you are scared (if you’re me VERY scared).  They come to the window in a cool, calm and matter of fact manner.  There’s no “I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU JUST DID THAT! DON’T YOU KNOW THE RULES!?”  He just simply says, “Ma’am, do you realize you were breaking the law?”  Hmmmm…which one are you when your children break the rules?    I will pledge to be a Texas Highway Patrol from now on.

3) New Friends.  Might seem silly to be my #3 but I’ve always desired to meet families similar to ours no matter where they live.  I’ve read of families visiting friends across the U.S. that they met through events like these and I always thought that was a blessing.  Who knows if our friendships will endure.  At least the next time I attend a conference similar to this I will recognize some faces!  Hi, Amy, Melanie, Lisa and Sharon!!

2) Tea with Michelle Duggar. I’ll sum up my experience with my take home lesson: “The joy of the Lord is my strength.” That is how she deals with frustration and being overwhelmed.  I’ve taken it to heart and it’s really began to change me.  Not because she said it but because the joy of the Lord really is my strength!

1) Commonality.  Hands down my favorite part of the Baby Conference was being around hundreds of families that trust the Lord with their family size. What a true testament of faith.  I believe the average number of children per family in attendance was 6 or 7.  We were a small family with 4 1/2 but if the Lord wills it we’ll be there someday!

To read my husband’s perspective head on over to Theological Thoughts.

You might wonder what there is to do and see at the South Llano River State Park in Junction, TX.  Here are just a few activities:

Birds

Black Throated Sparrow. Focus is a bit off but I love this picture.

Cardinal. I know they’re everywhere but he is beautiful!

Lesser Goldfinch. My 2nd favorite bird sighting.

Painted Bunting (male). I could not believe I saw one!! Gorgeous birds.

Vireo (forgot which species) nest.  She diligently sat on her precious eggs.

Forgot to look this guy up. He’s a Vireo of some kind.

Summer Tanager. Not a full red adult yet.

Inca Dove.  At first I wasn’t impressed then they grew on me.

Hiking

2nd time Michael has picked out a trail that is insanely hard! He is so not choosing anymore trails.

So sweaty and tired. But, finally going downhill.

Fishing

Michael caught a small bass.  It’s always fun to watch someone catch a fish.  I’m content to just sit and cast.

Eat Watermelon

LOVE this picture! Paisley is so photogenic.

Sterling just never stops eating.

Haven with his “war paint” (Burt’s Bees sunscreen).

Tubing

“Everyone kept telling me to go tubing, but I kept saying no. Then I decided to say yes and I’m so glad I did! It was SO fun!” -Haven

Paisley loved tubing.

Haley is part fish.

Creepy Crawlers

Six striped lizards. They were EVERYWHERE at the camp.

Katydid saying hi as you entered the bathroom.

I couldn’t resist a creepy effect for this tarantula photo. It was neat to see one close-up.

Dung beetle picture?? I was impressed to see one in real life, not just on Discovery Channel

I love birds!

This year has been the start of our real interest in birds.  Everywhere we go I’ve got my camera ready to capture any bird.

Naturally, I had my camera in focus constantly at the Birds of Prey show at Scarborough Faire.  Amazing creatures!

Here are some of my favorite photos…

Here is a slideshow from our most recent camping trip.  We camped again at Garner State Park.  This trip was my favorite because of all the hiking we did.

The Beck’s don’t start out simple We didn’t intend on hiking one of the most difficult trails with 4 children and a dog but it’s kind of hard to decipher easy from hard on the trails map.  Once we were about 1/5 of the way up I panicked a little.  But, we made it over the straight up rocks and I breathed a bit easier… for a while.

In the end, I was so excited that we had pushed through and finished the hike.  The fact that me and the girls were wearing skirts led some old people to think we were unprepared– that was funny.  I’m sure they were freaking out a bit that we were taking kids and a dog down a difficult part that they had just barely made it up.

The whole trip was fun and we only had 2 traumas.  Poor Sterling had the pad of his index finger torn off (it was attached on one end and has since healed crooked) and Haven busted it big time on the asphalt OUCH! He was fine though.

Every time we camp, I can’t help but wish we could share it with our family.  There’s no doubt that my parents and siblings (and nephews and niece) would love it as much as we do.

Oh and the s’mores this time were AMAZING!! No sub-par ingredients for this family–well, except for marshmallows.  We opted for German butter cookies instead of graham crackers and 70% Ghiardelli chocolate instead of a Hershey’s bar.  I can’t even begin to tell you how good they were.  I ate at least 6.

Haley’s homeschool assignment while we camped was to take notice of the birds.  I would photograph them and when we returned she would identify them.  This proved to be a difficult task and required that I join a bird forum to figure some out!  We got most of them identified and now we feel like “official” bird watchers.

Here’s a question for my fellow homeschoolers, when you travel and see a 12/15 passenger van with 6 kids do you automatically think, “homeschoolers!”?  We saw a family on Friday with a well-established campsite (meaning they had been there a day or more) and couldn’t help but feel so drawn to this family.  We said hi as we drove by but I’m praying for that encounter someday where I actually step out of my comfort zone and converse with someone.

I think it is funny that I assume that any family with many children homeschools even though I know this is far from true.  I went to school with a Mormon family of 6 kids and there are 7 children in my family

On to the good part.  There are 100 pictures in the slideshow so grab some popcorn.

Birthday party on a farm. Can’t wait to have our own goats, horses and land someday!

The last time I went camping was atleast 8 years ago.  Ya, I’ve camped in a cabin or a pop-up right next my in-laws, but that’s not camping.  Camping is when you have to cook all the meals yourself and there’s no one to watch the kids for a bit while you go off with your husband to watch the river in silence.  No, real camping is actual work.

Last week we, all 6 of us + 2 dogs, went real camping to Garner State Park (Tx).  We recently bought a very nice pop-up camper and this was the maiden voyage.  I was completely nervous about the first trip.  There was no doubt in my mind I’d forget about 1/4 of the things that would be considered necessities.

Yes, I did forget bowls (plastic cups make great cereal bowls), pan to cook inside on the mini-stove if it rains and cooking on the fire is out (huge cast iron skillet will fit on a tiny stove) and flip flops.  But, let’s look at the positives.  I remembered tooth brushes, towels (which came in handy when dog #2 was sprayed by a skunk and needed a bath), change of underwear and a camera.

We’ve already got a list going of things we’ll need for the next trip.  The first trip is out of the way, now we’re “experienced”.

While we were camping we made sure use the new environment as a classroom.  While delicately stepping across stones in the Frio River, we pointed out the amazingly H.U.G.E. cypress trees.  Unbelievable.

Haley also used the new bird book we bought for the trip to identify the “white water bird”.  Not a tricky one but a lesson none-the-less. (whooping crane)

I think the biggest lessons the kids learned is that a) they don’t need toys, b) they don’t need snacks 12 times a day, c) you can “sleep” in a tiny pop-up with a skunk dog and winds that rock the camper incessantly.

We can’t wait to go on our next adventure!  We are now Texas State Park pass owners and I tell ya, the brochure of state parks is overwhelming.  I don’t think I have enough time to visit all of them!

Look how tiny Sterling is! My little munchkin just wanted to eat every stick he could get his hands on.

This picture of Paisley cracks me up! She’s such a toot.  She LOVES the camera, except when she’s just not interested

There are just some places in the United States that I have ZERO…some even less than zero…desire to go see and “experience”.

1) San Francisco
2) Chicago
3) New York City
4) Las Vegas…I’ve been but don’t want to go back.
5) Miami

Now tell me, why would I want to visit any of those places when there are so many AMAZING destinations??

My top 5 places I can’t wait to visit/revisit:

1) Jamestown Settlement in Virginia
2) Branson
3) Renaissance Festival (we go every year and L.O.V.E. it!)
4) Yellowstone
5) toss up between the cities of American history (sites of civil war battles, Philly, Boston, etc)

Honestly, there are only so many “field trips” that one family can feasible go on. We must discern between mediocrity and greatness. Sure all of my “no-go” cities have great food and picturesque sites (well maybe not Chicago) but who wants that when you get so much garbage with it?

One of the many benefits of homeschooling is protecting your children’s young eyes from the glaring sin in the world today. It’s not possible, nor advisable, to shelter your children from all evil all the time. Certainly one would agree though that explaining practical nudity (Las Vegas, Miami) and homosexuality (San Francisco) to a 3 year old is ridiculous.

A former pastor of ours said something that has always remained in the forefront of my mind:
“Sometimes you have to say no to the good things, so you can say yes to the really good.”

Of course, we don’t know at the time we choose to say no that right around the corner is something spectacular. God is always testing our faithfulness to his Word.

EDIT: Einstein just reminded me that I have been to Chicago…not even 3 years ago. Wow. That is really sad that I couldn’t remember that. Oh well, he also reminded me that I did in fact enjoy the food and shopping.

Recently we started drinking goat’s milk after we finally faced the fact that Haven is sensitive to pasteurized cow’s milk.  We had a feeling but when it got worse the more he had, we knew.

Thankfully, we found a sweet young family with 2 extra gallons of goat milk we could buy each week.  The kids loved the tour of the “farm”: mingling with goats, petting an hours old chick, visiting a whole bunch of chickens and riding a horse.

It was definitely a day to remember for them.

The next day we drove 1 1/2 hours to a ranch to purchase a 1/4 cow.  Sort of a sample pack to see if we like their meat.  Really though there isn’t any chance we won’t like meat from 100% grass fed, no antibiotic, no hormone cows!

While visiting the Shudde Ranch the kids got to feed the chickens and horse while sweating profusely in the 100+ heat.  Ugh! It was miserable and fun at the same time.

We took the scenic route home from Shudde Ranch and saw the most amazing views! We are truly blessed to live in the Hill Country!!

This is the first time to use the program FlippingBook so bear with the imperfectness

[book id='2' /]