S Club Mama

Moose is on to his 2nd year of preschool. I'm already getting the question, "so will he go on to kindergarten next year?" Um...well, I don't know less than 2 weeks into the year. I'm thankful he is a July birthday so we really could go either way. So far, everyone who has asked has been very supportive about 'if there's any doubts, hold him back.' Apparently that's a common thing to do here, which is good! There is just a lot we don't know yet: how he'll progress this year, being the biggest thing! I know how far he came with one semester of school under his belt; who knows how far he'll come this year! Part of my hesitation already "holding him back" (because it's not really holding him back) is his build. He's a big kid and if we held him another year, he'd be even bigger! That may seem silly to some of you to be concerned about, but with his gentle little soul, I would really hate for his size to be the...

I don't normally (or haven't for awhile) post about other giveaways on-line. BUT I would really like the extra entries over at Two of a Kind Working on a Full House's blog. Dee is a friend of mine and she has a Chuggington train set to give away. My boys have only seen one episode of Chugggington about a million times, but they absolutely love it. And I do too; it's super cute! So if you want to enter the giveaway, cool, but if you enter and don't want to win it - send it our way! ha!

This is your last chance to enter to win the Gruffalo DVD! Think of it as an investment in an early Christmas gift. If you win, you could get the DVD and then go buy the book. That's a nice little bundle for under the tree. Giveaway ends 8/31 at 11:59pm CST. Please click the link on "Gruffalo" to enter entry comment there.

The penguins have always been our largest stop at the zoo. I adore the penguins - standing around, watching for something. They always look like they're having fun swimming. Then I also think of Happy Feet and am kind of sad that they are so clueless as to where they are (and possibly disoriented). I love how close you can get to them! I found old pictures of Moose at the zoo by these very penguins! Mother's Day 2008 - very first trip to the zoo - not even as tall as a Gentoo May 2010 - almost as tall as that Emperor what tall little boys I have! Do you like the zoo? What's your favorite exhibit? Mine is the pandas - the one thing Omaha doesn't have!

Recently at the Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo, they put in a ski-lift type contraption called the Sky-Fari. We convinced Moose to go on it (he wanted to ride the train, of course) by telling him he would be flying! He bought that hook.line.sinker. and we all enjoyed the ride! Plus it was cheaper than the train - woohoo! me and my Moose kiddo! we were above giraffes - how amazing! to show how high up we were I made Big A ride with our squirmy Squirt thank goodness our shoes didn't fall off Squirt kept raising his arms, saying "wee!" rhinos - wow! sleepy Moose (not sleepING but sleepY) cheetahs were sleeping!  Also, thank goodness we didn't fall into their pit!

Moose Mama Squirt Big A I knew I married a gorilla!

We happen to live 2 hours from the world class zoo: Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, NE. I have always enjoyed my visits to the zoo, but more so since having kids. Each year is more and more fun! This year was no exception. I wanted to share my pictures with you. getting ready to see the animals! giraffes are always a favorite of mine! the boys did pretty well holding hands these birds scared Squirt so badly running - they are my children after all! black swans are so beautiful More zoo pictures to come!

Brand new from Aurora , creator of soft and cuddly plush toys (like Moose's fox from the Henry Doorly Zoo), is a new line of toys: Softy Soakers ! Softy Soakers are plush and super colorful sea life pals that, when soaked in the water for just a few seconds, will grow from a 2D animal to a 3D animal! We got the shark to soak and play with. Moose caught on right away when I dipped Shark in the tub with them. The website says that you should towel off the soaker after soaking it for 40 seconds in water. I toweled ours off but it wasn't completely dry so I had the boys wait to play with it.  A day or two later when the shark was drying out and getting flat again, Moose asked to put it back in water. It's so cool how fast he caught on to how the shark works. Squirt only likes it because it's Moose's, but I think he would enjoy an animal of his own - perhaps the turtle. I love that this is something you can do over and over again - we've soaked and re-soaked ...

"God has so many promises for us. But one thing He didn't promise. Nowhere in Scripture did He promise me a baby. He has not let me down. It's good to desire a baby. But I cannot demand it of Him. Children are a blessing, but they are not promised to us individually. You do not receive blessings because you're a good person or because you earn them. They just come." I got this quote from an article, "The Bible and the Pain of Infertility" by Kimberly Monroe and Philip Monroe out of The Journal of Biblical Counseling (Winter 2005). A friend gave me this article and it's really good! I have personally learned some of the insight about the grieving process of infertility through another friend who experiences it. But that's not what I gleaned from this article. No, this quote resonated with me because of my desire to buy a house. God has promises for me, but He has never promised me a house individually. And you can put whatever your heart desi...

I've been putting off this post. Not because I don't WANT to share everything about Women of Faith with you all, but because I don't know how to put it into words. I love conferences, let me just say that. I love women's conferences! I love being around crowds of people - and even more so when they are all worshiping God with me. So,  needless to say, this was a great weekend for me! I had never heard of 90% of the Women of Faith team - excluding Amy Grant and Lisa Whelchel (which I didn't know was her name). However, was I in for a treat! Speakers Andy Andrews, Patsy Clairmont, Marilyn Meberg, Lisa Whelchel; entertainers Sandi Patty, Katherine Everrett, Mandisa, and Amy Grant all had wonderful truths planted in to my heart over the weekend. I wanted to share some of those tidbits of truth with you (sorry this may be a long post and these are not necessarily direct quotes). Patsy Clairmont - That mystery (the mysteriousness of God) is so nice when we run in to...

Today, I finally convinced my sons to watch The Gruffalo with me. They are little creatures of habit and love to watch the same things over and over again. I can gladly say that I now The Gruffalo will be added to their "List of Most Watched" shows.  I had never heard of the book "The Gruffalo" except through a blog post by my friend, Erin. So I was unsure of how I'd like this movie, having never read the book (and books are generally better than any movie!). But oh, this was precious. I really loved the animation - I don't know what kind it was but almost a claymation type. The story was so fun; here's a synopsis from NCircle Entertainment: Synopsis Based on the best-selling children’s book, The Gruffalo is a magical tale of a mouse who takes a stroll through the woods.  Encountering three predators who all wish to eat him, the adorable and confident mouse has to use his wits to survive.  He tells his predators that he is meeting a monster, ...

I'm a bit belated on birthday party posts (only a month), but I wanted to share some of my favorite pictures with you! The theme was Trains, Planes, and Automobiles! Mostly because I couldn't decide between Thomas the Tank Engine and Cars 2. family & friends hanging out on our porch slip n' slide! more of the gang Big A giving the kids a push just noticed M's face behind Moose - hilarious! Grandma Pam playing with the grandkids I loved the transportation items my mom got us for the cake! one of these things is not like the other... It was such a fun day...doesn't feel like almost a month ago! But I'm off to Women of Faith this weekend so enjoy the pictures!