Cruise- Formal Night Fun

Our formal night deserves a post all of it's own.  We had fun dressing up, taking pictures, and trying new food.

 I love these two guys!

 Dinner tonight was fancy.  We were so proud of Nicole, she tried several new food.  This was her cold strawberry soup.  She loved it!

 AND....this is her Roasted Duck.  She Devoured it!  She loved, loved, loved eating duck.

 This was the first night the wait staff sang and danced for us.  The girls had fun waving their napkins in the air.

 Of course, we got up and danced too.  There was lots of dancing on this trip.

Oh look...more dancing, this time in a hallway

 The night finished with Hannah and Nicole each getting a date with their daddy.  I believe Jeremy got extra ice cream that night ;)

2015 Cruise- day 1 & 2

It's been a few years since our family took a normal vacation.  After all the craziness of this past year....a few days away from the busyness of life was in order.  We went on a 5 day Cruise with a small group of homeschoolers.  This was the kids' first time on a cruise ship.  You should click on the picture below for a close up of the kid's reaction to our stateroom ;)

 We were excited to be away from it all and indulge in fun and food.  This is our first lunch once we boarded the ship ;)

 As soon as we set sail, the music started pumping and the kids started dancing...well, most of them!  Nate just stood there the whole time.  I couldn't get him to move at all.  Everyone else had fun!

Their first view from the front of the ship

 The kids were really excited about their towel creatures every night.

One of our only family pictures on this trip!

 Me and my hunny!

 After dinner we decided to check out the first set of games and dancing.  We all (except Nate again) joined in on a quick dance class.  The girls led the way.

 Then we volunteered Jeremy to be the "father" in a version of Family Feud.    Nicole volunteered to be the youngest daughter, Hannah was the "buzzer", and Nathan and I watched.

 Of course, after dinner, we had to hit up the 24 hour ice cream again.  This might be time number 3.

We woke up early the first morning to go running and catch the sunrise.  It's one of my favorite parts of the day.

 The third day found us outside of Grand Caymen.  Rough seas made it impossible to dock close to the city, so we came up to a different harbor with a rocky beach and three sales stands.  The kids weren't as discouraged as the rest of the travelers and made the best of it.  They had a great time looking for crabs and shells.

 Carnival Paradise

 Nathan and I had our date.  We played putt putt on the top deck for about an hour

 And then we played a bit of ping pong.  It was fun.

Lilla Rose- our new business

www.lillarose.biz/GulfCoast 

A year ago, Jeremy and his friend decided they wanted to start an Audio Video company.  All of the entrepreneurial talk in our home has bred similar desires in the children.  Both girls have been trying to think of businesses for the past year....most not making it past the cut of mommy's approval.

However, last month a friend introduced us to Lilla Rose, a direct sales company that creates these beautiful, strong hair clips.  We like to call them "Hair Jewelry".  After hosting our own party and listening to the business opportunity, we decided to pursue it.

Although I am technically the representative, we did this as an opportunity to teach Nicole what it is like to own and run a business.  This business is hers with my heavy hand of guidance.

We decided the best way to do this business was through community garage sales, farmer's markets, and vendor events.  So, we bought the big kit.  It's called the Fast Start.  It required an additional $500 investment....but provided us with instant inventory of 75 items to sell at a booth.

Nicole and I sat down and learned about the business and she created an flyer to give to potential investors, because she had to find a way to buy the initial kit.  After a few hours, she started calling grandparents, gave her sales pitch about why she wanted to start a business, why Lilla Rose was a good fit for her, what she needed from them, and when she would pay them back.

A few hours later, she had raised the needed money and we bought the package.

We immediately got to work at a church garage sale and booked a few parties.

She started making some videos, and we took a lot of pictures.

She has had to sit with me as we enter orders, organize excel spreadsheets, and work on understanding our money.  She has created really fun and engaging games for parties, geared towards children, designed our display table, and shares why Lilla Rose is so great to those passing by.

I am really proud of her effort this past month.

It's been fun to watch my self proclaimed 'tom boy' do something a little girly ;)

We are waiting for our monthly commission check to hit soon, but I think she has made enough to pay back her investors (and that's after using her initial sales money to buy business products like catalogs, banners, etc.)  I can't wait to start teaching her how to tithe, save, give, and set some aside for fun :)  Ultimately, she'd like to save enough money to go on a missions trip.

You can order at www.lillarose.biz/GulfCoast