Florida – Page 3 – Nancy Tart: Writing for Life

The Exuberance of Life

“Look Mom!” and what else is Lucas excited about?

October 6, 2018

The Exuberance of Life

Today we had impromptu tennis. Christina and Becky rode their bikes to the park, Louis, the younger children, and I drove. It was a lovely day and since the “cooler than 90 degree” weather has them all excited, we have been outside most of the day.

Lucas was shouting songs in the backseat; periodically announcing “Stasia loves this one” or “Stasia said her Mommy has this!” or “this is one I like!” (Since Anastasia is not there to announce such things, Lucas must in her absence!)

We claim an open tennis court (okay, two, but that’s just because not all eight members of our team are great with their aim yet). Lucas has his own special racket and claims every ball that hits the net – the inaccuracies of learning kept Lucas entertained for over an hour!

At home, we’re now enjoying outside. Christina is texting the UCC team, Kimberly is running her scooter (kid powered), Jaquline is on her bike, and Jillian has a chicken – no, it’s a guinea pig. Lucas is driving his “Green car” (a 2^nd birthday gift from Grandma Joanne that has seen daily use except for one six-week stint while we waited for the replacement charger).

“Look, Mom, the pig-pig is driving!” Lucas has Custard contentedly chewing on grasses in his lap! (Custard is one of the 4-week-old Guinea Pigs.)

A few moments later…

“Look, Mom! The chicken is driving!” And Jillian is sitting next to Lucas with a different chicken (this one is the biggest of the young cockerels we have for sale) sitting on her lap.

A few moments later…

“Look out below!” followed by giggles. Lucas is driving the car under a rain of pinecones Jillian tossed in the air. He catches one in the empty passenger seat, laughs, picks it up, and throws in into the little tykes car (human-powered) as he passes it.

A second later…

“Mom! A train!” And Lucas is pushing his car, in reverse, with the little tykes car centered behind it, rolling along like it is the engine of a two-unit train.

Then he tries to join Kimberly and Jaquline’s soccer game while driving the car! “Kim! My car wants to play!”

He jumped out of the car when Jillian and Kimberly started with the foam football… “I love football!”

We should have such energy and exuberance toward everything in life! Lucas looks at everything as an adventure, challenge, or treat; as a gift. Life is a gift. Thank you, Jesus, for this amazing life and all the fun moments we experience in it!

Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart

Upcoming Show!

Come join us for some craft show fun! Sunday, October 14, 2018 between 1pm & 4pm

September 30, 2018

Upcoming Show!

The girls are ecstatic about October 14^th.

It isn’t someone’s birthday (although it’s two days after Becky turns thirteen!).

It isn’t an anniversary.

It’s the day of the Shores Fall Craft Fair at the Shores Clubhouse in Saint Augustine! For the girls, this is a chance to meet people, show off their wares (they like to make various crafts), talk about illustrating Mommy’s books, and enjoy looking at all the amazing crafts for sale. (Usually, they pick up Christmas gifts here, too.) One of Rebeccah’s favorite crafts (she gave a bunch out as Christmas gifts one year) is her glittery ornaments.

Just after church, we’ll drive to the clubhouse to set up, and enjoy the day! The show starts at 1pm and runs until 4pm. (My mom will be there too, as she’ll be there presenting some of the most amazing photo artwork I’ve ever seen – she takes photos and my Daddy paints on them to turn them into realistic, fantastic creations.)

Of course, my only real craft is writing. I am very proud of my artsy offspring but it’s hard to duplicate what they do! I will have my printed books for sale.

And the Audio CDs and the girls’ favorite DVDBook, “Long Tail and Red Hawk,” which although it was the second in the “Long Tail” books, it is the first one my Dad created an educational DVD for! (The girls love it because their Grandmother is narrating it and the comic-book-style artwork is theirs!)

But most of the table will be covered in beaded jewelry like these because even Jillian has crafted some of those pieces.

Or, to see a giant room full of beautiful and unique crafts, join us from 1pm to 4pm on Sunday, October 14^th at the Riverview Club in Saint Augustine Shores – we’ll be at one of the round tables!

Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart

Oceans of Praise

One night of de-stressing by taking the kids to experience the beauty of the moonlit beach!

September 26, 2018

Oceans of Praise

It was a long, tired, stressful day. It was the kind of day when as I’m driving home, the “Mandisa Fun” Pandora station (Christian Rock with catchy tunes and uplifting lyrics) was blaring out the speakers, windows down, and I’m trying to drum the day out of my head.

It was also nearing the full moon. There were very few clouds, a refreshing warm-cool wind (I knew this would be “blustery” at the beach), and it was 86 degrees at almost 7:30pm.

I decided we’d go to the beach.

I got home to find Eddie and Louis watching football – only into the first quarter. They do so little father-and-son stuff because Louis is always busy that I announced, “I’m headed to the beach,” knowing that would be cool for them to have father-and-son time.

“You’re taking the kids to go shark fishing?” Louis laughed. “It’ll be dark by the time you get there.”

“No, we’re going to walk along the shore and play in the shallows,” I smiled, “don’t worry, they’ll all be back in one piece. There’s a beautiful moon out and it looks amazing.”

Lucas almost stayed to watch football, but then realized all of the girls, including Anastasia, were going with Mommy, and this meant Mommy would be gone a long time.

We showed up to see this:

And this:

And that:

God had an amazing light show for us! It was so bright they could see to build a tribal village with walls, huts, and fields.

Rebeccah took most of the pictures and her selfie:

She tried to get pictures of us, but really we look like black blobs amid the darkness.

This one was a little better:

We raced up and down the shoreline. The water and wind was warm, so Anastasia lay down in the surf to get covered in water. Jillian, Jaquline, Kimberly, and Lucas followed her. Each was completely soaked in the first fifteen minutes. I think it took Rebeccah a half-hour before she let her hair get wet. Our long walk ended up being over two and a half miles! (1.3 miles one way, 1.3 miles back.) We sang praise songs because the majesty of the night looked like it was praising God.

We had to leave when Becca texted saying she was almost done with work. Anastasia was giddy at the prospect of “beating Mommy home” so we trouped back to the van, cleaned up at Aunt Becca’s, and spent a few minutes after Becca got home chatting before my crew made our way home. (Sister time for us Mommies!)

Thank you, Jesus, for a wonderful, exhilarating night.

And yes, my devious plan worked… all of them got back on their good sleep schedule.

Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart

Additions to the Squad

Welcoming our newest little farm members: the Guinea Pig Triplets!

September 10, 2018

Additions to the Squad

If you’ve read my blogs, you know my oldest three girls saved and bought Guinea Pigs. Each thought she was getting a female, but since Ginger was discovered to be TobyMac, this amazing trio of little animals became a part of our farm. They appear to have new little ones every six months or so. They are now called “the squad.”

Toby and Taylor’s first little angel, whom we called “Sweet Potato,” found a home with some lovely ladies and an animal-loving girl. (Picture is TobyMac & Sweet Potato)

Sunday, we came home to discover that Taylor had done it again! She had birthed triplets!

One is a mottled gray-brown color. This one looks just like a squirrel (she’s not, I promise, we watched Taylor birth her!)

One is multicolor (black, brown, orange, and white), this was the youngest. Jaquline is holding this one.

One is pure tan just like TobyMac.

These beautiful babies haven’t been named just yet as they are brand new and smaller than Sweet Potato was at birth. (Guinea Pigs usually have twins, but their offspring are larger if single and smaller if triplets.) These tiny babies were about 1/10^th of mama’s size. Taylor is a very good mama, and has burrows in the nest for all three of them to hide and snuggle. Baby Guinea Pigs are super curious as soon as all their adult Guinea Pig elders lick and groom them clean. (Even Avery, our second adult female, was helping Toby and Taylor groom these three adorable fluffy balls!)

Now we get the joy and privilege of raising these little animals. Three little Guinea Pigs. Kimberly (Avery’s official owner) plans on saving some money to make another Guinea Pig run and if one of these littles are a male, she’ll keep him for Avery to pair up with. Of course, Jillian has claimed ownership and caretaking of the next one they keep. Kimberly and Jillian are now mapping out money-saving goals to have $80 for materials in six weeks. I see lots of lawn-mowing and car-cleaning in their near future.

Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart

Grill Smell

How excited I get when I smell the grill – aka Louis cooking!

July 14, 2018

Grill Smell

Oh. My. Goodness!

I smell… I smell… (no, it’s not Ducky) I smell charcoal and lighter fluid!

This means Louis is on the grill. AKA we are getting the most awesome lunch/dinner today!

Louis’ Dad cooked for a restaurant as a young man, his Grandma taught his mom who taught the boys how to make amazing Florida foods, and he cooked for a busy buffet and a 4-star restaurant. His food is good.

It’s like when Becky (my 12 year old) says, “Mom, I’m doing lunch,” and everyone is like “awesome, so how can I help?” or we just get out of the way and let her magic happen. She throws junk together without a recipe and comes up with delectable food.

Louis does this on the grill.

So, I’m like, beans, potatoes? What sides do you want?

Louis doesn’t care; it’s all about the meat for him. (Is that just a guy thing? Nope, Becky doesn’t care too much about sides either, she focuses on the meat and lets creativity flow when it comes to “the sauce.”)

So, baked sweet potatoes, potato salad, and peas make up today’s yummy sides. (Canned peas were only 2.12 for a 6lb can from Sams, Aldi had sweet potatoes 6lbs for $2.00, and Currie’s local Sebago potatoes were $0.50/lb – I cook based on what’s on sale.)

Lighter fluid smell is extinguished – by looking at the coals you’d think they are dead. Nope. Just right to start.

T minus 10 minutes! My stomach is aching! I practically live outside now because of the mold/breathing issue, so I make up sides, set them out (peas on the stove, salad in the fridge, and sweeties hang out in the microwave), and go outside to wait on the best part. I’m pretending to trim my elephant ears but this smell is exciting my palate!

I think every dog in the county can smell the meat cooking – do I care what it is? Nope. It will be yummy.

Is there any kitchen smell that is better than the grill? Nope. Okay, maybe a wood-fire camp circle with egg casserole cooked on a cold morning in a cast iron skillet with the hot chocolate tureen on the side – Yes, that might top grilled everyday meat, but just maybe…

Thanks for reading! (Hope you have good eating!)

Type at you later…

~Nancy Tart

Relax and Rest

June 13, 2018

Relax and Rest

Sometimes I just feel overwhelmed with thoughts. I feel like my mind is going to blow a fuse (or already has blown through a few and I’m on the last one, staring at an empty box and praying this one holds).

I’ve taught myself that when I start to feel concerned for the future, I stop, hand it to God, and refocus on the present. Usually that involves song. Sometimes, it just involves quiet.

In nature is my quiet place. At a beach, at a park, walking through a forest, or just sitting in my backyard watching the dragonflies dance around in their pursuit of mosquitoes while birdsongs, crickets, chicken noises, and guinea pig squeals form a nature symphony. (Okay, maybe more like a rock concert or a three-year-old on the kazoo, but still, it’s relaxing to me.)

I think that’s why God tells us to rest in Him and cast your cares (aka worries) on Him.

He knows we have to recharge (relax) our minds in order to have good mental health. (Interesting, isn’t it, how God mentions lots of things in the Bible about health that science later proves is true?)

When I observe nature, I can’t help but notice how perfectly God made everything to work together cohesively in its environment. We are made with a unique purpose in our environment. We can’t be our best in our purpose if we are super stressed and worried.

Relaxing can be different for each person and each time. I can relax laughing with Becky while playing a video game, writing a blog in the backyard, reading my Bible on the front porch, singing along to music, baby-surfing with Lucas, or walking through a Florida trail trying to spy different wildlife. Just reminding myself that the problems of the future are in God’s hands and if I can’t fix it now, I just need to rest from worry and trust Him: that is relaxing.

God understands my mind, my heart, and my desires. He knows what relaxes me, what stresses me, and why my triggers get set off. He is the quiet voice reminding me that I need to lay a train track with Lucas, help Becky name the new hens, watch lizards with Jillian, or just sit on the ground and look up. I constantly remind myself that I need to live in the present – pay attention to today because I won’t get another one. Once the day is gone, it is yesterday; while it is here, it is a present God has given us to enjoy.

Enjoy your present and rest in God’s love.

Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart

Elephant Ears

May 24, 2018

Elephant Ears

One of my favorite garden bulbs is what we call “Elephant Ears.”

These are from three bulbs that we dug up in some weeds when we first moved in. They were tiny, neglected, and crowded. With good fertilizer and plenty of water, (we didn’t have to water them, God did it with the rain!) those three multiplied into fifteen by January when we replanted them in this nice half-shady strip between the carport and the side of the house.

We also leave the wild flowers that don’t crowd out our bulbs. Tiny white flowers that spread like ground cover are some of Jillian’s favorite because they look like “stars on green sky.” (Those are under the star lily in the above picture, but their blooms look like dots in the picture.)

These are the smallest ones. The elephant ears are now growing alongside a few lilies, six pineapples, tomatoes, and squash. (The clump of bushy leaves on the right corner are tomatoes.) The plants are called elephant ears because their leaves get to be the size of African Elephant’s ears. I’ve grown some before, which by their third year, had leaves that were five feet wide! (Since you have to clip the ears off at the stalk when the ears fall to help encourage new growth, the girls would save the clipped stalks for umbrellas!)

These are some of the “wild” tomatoes. This means we didn’t sow them there, they just came from our fertilizer/compost and we tended the plants as they sprouted. Jillian has the worm-picking job because we don’t use pesticides.

I love Florida bulbs, they are easy to grow and propagate quickly. I can give the many extras away and cover my yard in little groves of them within just a couple of years. Now if I can just get fruit trees like fig, citrus, kumquat, pineapple, and bananas to grow as well!

Thanks for reading!

Type at you later…

~Nancy Tart

Daytona Beach Boardwalk

May 17, 2018

Daytona Beach Pier & Boardwalk

We’ve been to Daytona Beach’s park a few times. We like to park at the top of the parking garage (level 6, but today, that one was closed so we had to settle for level 5) and go down the echoing steps to the huge colorful crossover walkway to the shops and restaurants! This walkway is a covered bridge over the six lanes of traffic. It always has a strong ocean breeze whistling through the glass panels. Lucas loves the pretty pictures of fish, turtles, dolphins, and other sea life on the floor. He likes seeing the cars go under him!

Lucas and Jaquline rode all the dolphins!

But Lucas wouldn’t do the turtle – just the girls in age order.

Our Mother’s Day picture was taken at the stone fountain on the far end of the Daytona plaza. Louis took a burst shot of us (new camera function, I think) and we managed one nice picture!

We like to wander up and down the plaza where Lucas stopped three times, mesmerized by the drones. A golf cart came down the beach collecting beach umbrellas and Lucas squealed, “a tiny truck in the sand!” This made one of the teenage boys driving it turn his face red. Jillian calls out, “why is your face all burnt now?”

A helicopter completed the aerial show. Kimberly spotted it and showed Lucas and Jillian. “Can it land, Mommy?” Lucas asks. Since the Family Fun Fest and the landing of the Police helicopter, Lucas thinks all helicopters are going to land next to him!

We went back over the walkway and down the elevator to the ground floor. (These elevators are amazing, they have a window!) After playing on the stone critters, taking some pictures, walking around the city for about three miles, climbing the stairs again, going over the walkway again, and down then up in the elevator, we made it to our van.

The sun was setting on a beautiful day of family adventure!

Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart

Fort Matanzas

May 15, 2018

Fort Matanzas

If you’ve read anything else I’ve written on this blog, you probably know by now that my family is an outdoor loving brood. This adventure is one of our latest: a trip to Fort Matanzas.

Fort Matanzas is a nice place to wander around and walk the half mile covered boardwalk. It feels like you are in the old Florida jungle – except the snakes and gators are going under the boardwalk and you are on top.

Fort Matanzas has the most amazing trees! They are windswept toward the intercoastal from all of the fierce ocean winds they’ve endured. You can picnic right under them (exactly what we did!) and walk through them. You are even allowed to climb them as long as you don’t mess with the hurt limbs or the really small ones.

Lucas loved climbing them – with a little help.

We tried for a good picture… (I love digital cameras, because I can delete the hundreds that look like this and keep the one or two that might have almost everyone looking!)

The ferry was closed but they said it will reopen soon.

Lucas found some beautiful flowers at the base of the building. He said, “Mommy, take my picture with the pretty flowers for you!” If you look closely, there are two orange lilies to his right!

Days like these linger like warm sunshine in my memory and I hope the kids remember them as fondly as I do.

Thanks for reading!

Type at you later…

~Nancy Tart

Family Fun Fest 2018

May 4, 2018

Family Fun Fest 2018!

We spent all day on April 28, 2018, a beautiful Saturday in Saint Augustine, at the Family Fun Fest. This annual event at Francis Field supports the community work of Alpha Omega Maternity Home and their related outreaches.

Alpha Omega has been a vital community resource in Saint Augustine for a long time. They are a wonderful organization to support – and we love the all-day fun!

I set up a vendor booth to sell my printed books, DVD books, audio CDs, some of the girls’ assorted crafts, and my mom and dad’s beautiful prints. We had a spot for children to make free bookmarks with fun yarn tassels. (This was on the bright teal table & was Kimberly and Jaquline’s idea. Lots of kids stopped to color!)

Christina and Rebeccah volunteered all day! Didn’t they look sharp in their aprons?

Kimberly, Jaquline, Jillian, and Anastasia were ambassadors for the face painting booth. The artist did such an amazing job transforming their faces into bright works of art!

Lucas wanted to be a tiger, but after watching his sisters and cousin sit still, he decided running was the life for him and no face paint was needed. Notice the big blow-up fun things behind the sister-cousins? Once those went up, Lucas didn’t want to sit still!

Kimberly’s face paint scared some little ones. (It almost scared me when she closed her eyes and had snake eyes on her eyelids!)

Lucas almost never stopped dancing. But then, the DJ was great so there was fun non-stop music.

We bought wristbands for the kiddies and they became “pros” at the various obstacles by the end of the day. (The lady at the Boy Scout’s obstacle said Anastasia and Jillian kept challenging each other to “new heights” like “tightroping with eyes closed” or “doing ballet across the bar.”)

This event started at 10am and ended at 8pm. We were there setting up at 7:30am and left the field just before 9pm. (I did have to wait on my volunteers to finish assisting with some break-downs and you know; we like to chat!)

Local performers from dance schools to martial arts schools to youth groups and bands filled up the stage. (Christina’s vantage point for this was perfect: she saw every act and relayed amazing reviews to our booth later.) There were plenty of games for little ones. Rebeccah got to play with them for hours!

Jillian and Anastasia were so excited to meet Princess Cinderella! Lucas was beside himself – he came back repeating, “Mommy, Cinderella is here!”

The team obstacle course was fun to watch! We clapped and encouraged each one – Kimberly’s commentary should have been shared over a loudspeaker for everyone else to laugh at! (She has some Aunt Katy & Aunt Becca MC skills in there.)

Lucas finally took a 30 minute nap under my table (the “campout zone”) about 5pm. He came to get a banana, but didn’t quite finish it!

None of the little girls wanted a break – but they all fell asleep in the van on the way home!

Although it wasn’t a great “sale” day (we sold one book, one bracelet, and one set of clips), it was an amazing “fun” day and we’ll definitely be there again next year!

Come join us! Follow Alpha Omega for updates and opportunities to volunteer at this event or at the campus. Together, we can help our community grow stronger! And, yes, have some amazing fun along the way!

Oh yes, just this last picture of Anastasia snuggling with Grandma. (No, she wans’t asleep, she was pretending so she could snuggle!)

Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart

Tag: Florida

The Exuberance of Life

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Upcoming Show!

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Oceans of Praise

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Additions to the Squad

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Grill Smell

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Relax and Rest

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Elephant Ears

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Daytona Beach Boardwalk

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Fort Matanzas

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Family Fun Fest 2018

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