Zoo, Mother Nature, and the Park

We went to the zoo a couple weeks ago. The kids love going there!

I attempted a picture of me and the kids before we went in, but didn't quite get Joanna in it.

Here's one with Joanna

Isaac dancing? No, just jumping off the bench. :)

This bear was right up to the window. The kids had fun looking face to face with it.

The Bear

Hannah

Isaac

Joanna

Abigail - silly face!

Mommy too

The kids reluctantly posing for Mommy. :)

Mommy and Isaac waiting for the girls to finish in the bathroom.

Waiting for Abby still.....

Whenever we passed a drinking fountain, of course we had to stop and take a drink. :) The water bottles we brought just weren't as good!

Isaac

Abby

Hungry Hippo

We went on further on the nature walk this time. There was a really pretty "lane". Here's a video of the kids running down it.

Beautiful nature walk

We have at least 10 really nice parks here in our town, so we decided to try one we haven't been to before.

The kids playing

Joanna taking a turn on this zipline thing.

Group pic :)

Mommy decided to take a turn on the zipline. The kids had fun pushing me back and forth. :)

Mommy being silly :)

Kids

I found some fairy wings at the Dollar store the other day and bought some for Joanna. Of course, she wants to wear them all the time now! She had to try them out right away and did not want to wear a shirt with them. :)

Our little Joanna fairy

"See my pretty wings."

Big smiles!

Isaac got this football and a new backpack for traveling. He was excited. One of his love languages seems to be gifts. Lately, he has been asking anytime I go somewhere, "Did you get any boy things, Mommy?"

"Thanks, Mommy!!"

He can be such a poser.

Goofy boy! :P

On Fridays our home school group has coop classes. Hannah, Abigail, and Isaac took an Arts & Crafts class, then Hannah and Abby have a science class and P.E. So, the other day I let Isaac and Joanna use my camera and take pictures to keep them busy. I deleted a lot, but here are some random shots from a little kid's point of view. :)

The kids are playing Red Rover. (Hannah is in the jeans and black shirt on the left side of the pic.)

Waiting for someone to "come over". (Abby is in the pink shirt.)

Waiting for something....

Isaac entertaining himself with a toy car.

I have no idea? Boys!

Our friends Anjie, Garrett, and Marcus

Marcus playing

I was looking at a magazine and this is the top of my head looking down.

I suppose somewhere this might be considered "artistic." :)

More to come soon.....

Pictures

Well, I finally downloaded a bunch of pictures from my camera, so now to organizing and uploading them. We had a trip to the zoo, another nature walk, a park day, home school coop classes, a visit to a pumpkin patch and more! Hopefully a few new posts to come soon......

Mommy Moment

The other night I said something that I never would have imagined saying in my life. I asked Joanna how she got toothpaste on her bottom. She replied "I was brushing my teeth." Because, you know, that completely explains it! :)


Also, today was payday for Daniel which means budget balancing time. (Always fun. ;) It does give great opportunity to really see God at work as our Jehovah Jireh - Provider. He has in numerous ways proven Himself to be ever faithful in this area. Oftentimes we don't know quite how it all balances out. Don't get me wrong, we do have to shave things from the budget sometimes and tighten our belts, but we've never been unable to pay our bills.

We are big believers in tithing. I was raised with a dad that always wrote our tithe check first and somehow everything else would work out. Daniel also is a big giver, usually more than me. He likes to go above and beyond. :) Oh, sometimes it can look so tempting to skip it or lessen it, but honestly my conscience can not do that. We have never regretted our tithing decisions. We have only experienced blessings from it, and I'm not talking just monetary.

In this current economy the idea of tithing can sound a bit ridiculous, when you are feeling squeezed from all sides, but I would encourage you, if you're a believer and not tithing, just try it for a month. I believe tithing is the only thing mentioned in the Bible where God specifically tells us to test Him. (Malachi 3:10) You will reap great blessings!

Enough

So, I had to try this Cutest Blog on the Block thing. They have TONS of cute, free backgrounds. If you have a blog, check them out. Also, super easy to use too. You can't beat that!

On a different note, my couple of local girlfriends that I have "Girls Night Out" evenings with, have been really busy and got a lot going on in their lives these days. I have been feeling pretty neglected and needy for some time away from the kiddos and I have a more than willing husband. I recharge by spending time with other people. I need people, adults specifically. :) I would happily go out with Daniel, but that means needing a babysitter, etc. So, I've been having various pity parties for myself and lamenting that I don't have more friend options for this area, you get the point. :) Well, today in church I felt like God was asking me, aren't I enough? Do you need more than ME? Obviously not, but my gosh darn flesh is being "fleshly," and I'm really quite good at pity parties. (Just ask my husband and sisters!) So, I am trying to get some perspective and when the whining starts, I am going to remind myself that Jesus IS enough. I know He is, I just need to live it. Which is easier said, than done.

Nature Walk

On Saturday we decided to go on a nature walk at our local college They made a very nice trail through some of the school property. It runs near the local Sand Creek.

Walking to the trail.

The beginning of Sandcreek trail.

Joanna - "Try to catch me!"

Abigail - she wanted me to read every sign we passed!

I was there, too. :)

Check out Hannah and Abigail's travel gear.

Hannah - our excited poser :)

Suppertime - We stopped and got Subway to take with us.

Isaac and Joanna - she's telling me that the sign says "bench" right, Mommy?

We attempted a family picture, using the timer mode for the first time. It worked out pretty well, though Jo's head is blocking some of Hannah's face.

I know this is blurry, but I was walking and taking pictures at the same time! :)

Daniel and I

We followed a smaller trail and came out on a dirt road near this farm.

Hannah and Joanna running down the bike path back to the car. (I don't know how they still had energy to run. Maybe because there were cookies at the car!)

They had so much fun! We'll definitely come back here often.

I took a little bit of video on my camera when we first started the trail.

"Fireproof" Date Night

We went to go see the movie Fireproof last night. It's a really great movie and we would definitely recommend it to all couples! So, try to make an opportunity to go see it. :) It is just a wonderful reminder of getting your priorities straight concerning your marriage relationship. It also has some great comic relief!!

We attempted a couple of self portraits in the theater. :)