We love going to the Lincoln Children's Zoo! It isn't as overwhelming as the Omaha Zoo and you can walk through it in less than 2 hours. The girls have been wanting to ride the horses for quiet some time. I kept reminding them that they can ride horses for free down in Missouri, however they didn't think they could wait until this summer. They enjoyed their ride! Here are the pictures of our visit!The girls holding meal worms...their favorite part of the zoo are the bugs...gross!
Have you ever paid attention to the “rich and the famous” on television.The cameras catch them while they are shopping at fancy stores spending thousands of dollars in one shopping trip on fancy things…clothes, jewelry, cars, toys.It seems like money makes them happy and is the answer to everything.Maybe you have a friend or an acquaintance that boasts about how they are living their life just like the “rich and famous.”Well many of these people that are “idolized” on television or we know in real life probably don’t know what the BIBLE says about the preoccupation with material things and loving money.There are quite a few bible verses—way too many to mention on this topic, so I will only mention a few.
Mark 4:19:But the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.
Many people think that we will be happy or fulfilled or content if only we had more of whatever it is we are chasing. This is a lie from the father of all lies, Satan. He wants us to be chasing after something he knows will never satisfy us so we will be kept from pursuing that which is the only thing that can satisfy—God Himself.
Luke 12:15:Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
Ever watched those late night infomercials that try to convince you that they can teach you to become rich-quick—even some tele-evangelists have jumped on this bandwagon—give to us and your wealth will be multiplied.As this verse in Luke says—Watch out—don’t fall into the deceitfulness of others and what others have. In the book of 1st Timothy we can read:
1 Timothy 6:9-10:But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.
If materialism was ever to satisfy anyone, it would have been Solomon, the richest king the world has ever known. He had absolutely everything and had more of it than anyone, and yet he found it was all worthless and futile. It did not produce happiness or the satisfaction our souls long for. He declared,
Ecclesiastes 5:10:“Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income”
In the end, Solomon came to the conclusion that we are to “fear God, and keep His commandments. For this is the whole duty of man” Ecclesiastes 12:13
And one more verse worth noting:
Romans 12:2:Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
So the next time you start to think that you do not have enough or you wish you could have more money like so and so—feel blessed that you maybe haven’t fallen into the “love of money” trap like they have.
Easton: Well Easton has passed the 13 month mark and has started taking a few steps here and there during the past few weeks. His preferred mode of transportation is still crawling, but here is a video of him walking a bit! (Videotaped Sunday, May 2nd, 2010)
Katelyn: Katelyn can be sweet when she wants to be. Today we thought that she was at our neighbors house with her sissy....she came in about 20 minutes after she was supposed to be gone telling me she made a mess. I was thinking she had an accident or pulled all of our plants up..no.. worse...she had cleaned her trike and Jocelyn's bike with some of Sean's silicone based tire cleaning stuff. Lovely! She did a good job with cleaning them, but yikes, what a mess. She was sweet about it though-- apologized and asked her daddy if he could buy her some cleaning stuff so she can clean her bike.
Jocelyn: Wants to be 9 years old really bad. Really, really bad. Sometimes I really think she thinks she is 9. She has some older friends that she hangs out with here at the house. They play with her, but since she is younger they don't include her in everything. Both of their houses are up for sale, so we are praying that someone will move in with some nice kids that are the same ages as ours.
Sean: So before Sean and I met, Sean was an advid cyclist. He invested quiet a bit of time and money getting his bike all geared up for riding. He would ride 15-20 miles every night....then he met me--well that is at least the excuse he gives:) I guess he wanted to spend time with me...and then we got married...he had a personal chef...then we had kids...then we moved away from nice bike paths...and the rest is history. Today however is a new day! He got his bike out and dusted it off. Cleaned out his water bottles--filled with 5 year old water--yuck! He ordered new tires and will soon be good to go-- biking on some Lincoln trails. I am so excited for him!
Me: Nothing new to report. Just getting fatter and fatter....ok I have a good reason. I am 11 weeks along...I think that since this is my 4th baby I am gaining more weight earlier...or maybe it is because I am eating more. My first Dr.'s appointment isn't until May 21st. I am always a little nervous about the first appointment as he will try to find the heartbeat. When I got pregnant after Jocelyn he couldn't find a heartbeat on that baby--total devastation. I just pray that everything is going well this time around. Other than that....our school year has been winding down slowly. We have been enjoying the outdoors! Since I won't have a newborn this summer my goal is to spend more time with friends! We are always up for play dates and having people over!
When I talk about making May Day baskets growing up...I get a lot of confused responses. Apparently making May Day baskets was not something everyone did growing up. My understanding was that on May 1st, you make a basket-- supposed to be filled with flowers-- but candy is more fun for kids-- you leave it at someone's door, ring the bell and run away. Well that is at least what my sister and I did. Maybe we made up this holiday?? Well regardless, I am having some friends over and I thought it would be a fun craft for my girls if we made all of the kids May Day baskets. I had this wonderful idea in my head. Didn't quiet turn out as I had planned, but I think they are pretty cute. The kids will decorate the baskets with stickers if they want. Did you celebrate May Day by making baskets growing up?
If you are into scavenger hunts and figuring out puzzles (sort of)....consider going geocaching. I first heard about it last year when some friends from church started going out looking for caches. People hide caches all over-- there was one down the street at our park and there are several less than a mile from our house! You can go onto this website to see if you have any hidden around your area: http://www.geocaching.com/
Caches come in different shapes and sizes-- some in small altoid containers, mint containers, or even big metal boxes. So today my friend Nancy and I loaded up our kiddos and set out to find 4 different caches in Pleasant Dale. The first one was at our park and we found it right away. The second one was at a cemetery. I had a picture of where the cache was supposed to be. We matched up the picture and the GPS coordinates and looked forever-- but we gave up and didn't not find our second one. So we moved on to cache number #3 on our list. We thought we were in the right area...we looked...we looked some more and couldn't find it, so we moved on. We went to the 4th and final one on our list. This one was supposed to be a fun one for the kids because there was supposed to be Tinkerbell things for girls in there. We parked where we thought it was--according to our GPS finder. We looked and looked and couldn't find it. Ok...here is my blonde moment...make fun of me now....I totally was not reading the GPS coordinates right! I was only reading the West minutes and not the North...duh! No wonder why were not having any luck! So we finally figured out this GPS thing and found the Tinkerbell one. The girls were excited about getting a prize. We went back to our #3 spot, found that right away and didn't make it back to the cemetery. Such a fun, fun activity and I can not wait to do it again! Some tips-- probably wouldn't take my kids out in the country by myself-- not fun getting them in and out of car seats. I think next time I will find a park that has several hidden so they can run around more. They got kind of bored and ancy at times. Nancy and I had a good time though!:)
***Also thanks to my dear husband who set the coordinates in his handy GPS thing so I wouldn't have to worry about it and for teaching me how to use it ahead of time....apparently I wasn't paying attention when he was teaching me!**
Here are some pictures of the girls at our finds!
We found this right away at the park--Jocelyn is holding it
This one was under a bush on someone's private property-- we had permission to be there--filled with lots of kids goodies-- it was a large metal box chained to the bush!We left the kids in the car for this one as it was on a bridge overlooking railroad tracks-- Nancy found this one right away after we figured out our GPS thing.
I have traveled quiet a bit...I love traveling and going on vacations. As a kid we would take two weeks-- and drive for what seemed like forever to get to Disney World, Washington DC, and Niagara Falls. During my teaching days I took my students to Nashville (love that place), Orlando, Anaheim, Louisville, KY, Minneapolis and so on. My hands down favorite place that I have visited (and keep visiting) is Branson, Missouri! Yes you read that right Branson, Missouri! You might be thinking oh my goodness isn't that a place where old people hang out? Well yes, there is a bit of that, but I LOVE THAT PLACE!!! My grandma and grandpa used to live down there so I have quiet a few childhood memories from there. Now my husband's family lives in that direction, so we have chosen it a few times for our vacation destination. Here are the top 5 reasons why you should choose to go to Branson for your next family vacation: (word of warning-- the town virtually shuts down-- January-March and is a ghost town--so don't go during that time) 1. Silver Dollar City: http://www.silverdollarcity.com/ There are several amusements parks in Branson, however this is by far my favorite. It is great, great place for the family. Depending on the time of year there are different themes that run through out the park. There are lots of rides for kids--and if they are tall of enough they can go on the adult rides (Jocelyn went for the first time before her 3rd birthday and passed the height requirements!). They also have a really neat culinary school that I have yet to visit. I would choose to go to this park any day over Disney World. If you plan on visiting more than once, it is well worth it to buy a season pass for the family.2. Shopping!! I love to shop! I love outlet shopping even more! They have a wonderful Tangier outlet mall that features some of my favorite stores-- Gymboree Outlet, Old Navy Outlet, and the GAP outlet-- (just to name a few). I could spend all day there and probably spend way too much money! But this is by far my favorite place to shop. They also have a downtown area called the Landing. This is on Lake Taneycomo. This is a little more upscale area, but there are some good restaurants, a great kids area, and a really cool fire and water show in the summer time.3. Table Rock Lake!! One of our favorite family activities is spending time on the lake. We like to park our boat in a cove and get away from the lake crowd. The water is not filthy green (like here in Nebraska). You will not come out smelling like algae! If you don't have a boat, you can enjoy the lake by Riding the Ducks or taking a dinner cruise on the Branson Belle. There are also a few public beaches, but the best one we have found is Moonshine Beach. There is a small fee to enter, but it is really clean and has a nice picnic shelter.4. The people!! Ok yes there are some old people that visit Branson, but it is really a family place. The people are by far some of the most pleasant people to be around. Especially at Silver Dollar City. Everyone is respectful and they always put you number one when you are visiting. 5. The scenery!! If you travel down what is called "the strip" you will spend a lot of time sitting in traffic staring at pools and hotels and little gift shops. If you go outside of the main drag, you can see great views of the tree lined hills and the lakes. There are some absolutely breathtaking scenes.
I am sure I am missing quiet a few aspects of what makes Branson, Missouri my number one pick for a vacation spot.(shows, food, and lots of other activities)..but it is only a days drive away from Omaha/Lincoln area...consider making that your next vacation spot!
The kids and I have been taking advantage of this beautiful weather. I decided it was time to go for a walk in the woods and do an activity focusing on a few of the senses. We talked about the different sounds that we were hearing--mostly birds and our neighbor yelling at their dog, because it almost got hit by a truck. Not really what I was expecting. We talked about our sense of sight. I gave each of the girls a bag and I would call off things in nature and they would find these things. Katelyn struggled with a few of the items, but did ok with most of them. We then talked about the sense of smell. Some things--especially the flowers smelled a lot better than others. We then laid out all of our findings on a table and talked about each one and their textures. I had them put each item into a bucket and close their eyes. I called off an item to see if they could use their sense of touch to find the item. Katelyn didn't do so well as she had problems not keeping her eyes closed. Jocelyn enjoyed the activity. I chose to skip the sense of taste--we focus on that probably way too much as both of my girls still have a tendency to put everything in their mouths! It is getting better though-- I now have Easton for that!:)
The girls getting ready to go out in the woods
Jocelyn running ahead to get some flowers off the treeThe girls focusing on the sense of touch
The girls holding meal worms...their favorite part of the zoo are the bugs...gross!
The girls holding meal worms...their favorite part of the zoo are the bugs...gross!
