S Club Mama

I am not Catholic nor was I raised so, but I've been studying church history off and on for a few years now. It's amazing what the Catholic church was able to do for missions and God's kingdom while the Protestant movement was beginning and not focused on missions for 200+ years (yikes). Much of that is to the credit of the Pope. CNN has a new series titled  POPE: The Most Powerful Man in History  that explores the truth about the one world leader who is neither politician nor general – but commands the attention of both. For more than 2000 years, the head of the Roman Catholic Church has wielded unimaginable influence – shaping the world and our daily lives in surprising ways. Now, combining never-before-seen footage, exclusive interviews, and dramatic recreations, this upcoming six-part television series focuses on the men who have held this unique and complicated position, and reveals the unexpected true stories from the Vatican’s past.   The series also delves into th...

Nebraska has a forest - who knew?  OK I knew but only because I went to 4-H camp and an overnight field trip there when I was younger. Halsey is a pretty cool place so we took a day to take the boys up there with my parents. Going up the Lookout Tower wasn't as stressful and scary as I remember (thankfully!). Happy 7 year anniversary, sweetheart! 7 years, 2 kids, 1 blessed life. Squirt loved the tower!! Locust/Cicadas shells (Big A said they aren't really locusts because locusts are really a large grasshopper). Whatever.  Moose still liked hiking but not as much as he did last year - it was cooler then. :) 30 minute hike and no pain in my foot - woohoo! Squirt wanted to go up the tower again.  Cheese, Moose! Cheese, Grandpa! Moose's photography skills! Great angle on his brother! Squirt found an awesome climbing tree. So in his element. Moose ...

Big A and our friend Nick took their big boys camping before school started. This is the second year they've done this and I believe this one was a success, too. So thankful to have great friends nearby! While we spent the majority of our vacation with my parents, we took a night to visit some friends from college. It was fun to get all the kids together - getting a picture of them together was something else. :) It was really a joy to see their families growing! We also hit up a local splash pad. The boys absolutely LOVED this!!! They still ask to go back. I'll have to share our Halsey pictures again soon. Did you do anything fun this summer??

Up until early last week, I would have said I was ready for the boys to go back to school. They'd been fighting, being disobedient more than normal, just small things that made me want to pull my hair out. And then we went on vacation, got away from the same four (wonderful) walls we'd been staring at all summer. Now we're back home and I'm not ready to send them back. I'm not ready to be a drill sergeant in the mornings: get dressed, brush your teeth, eat (faster!), shoes on, go go go go go! I'm not ready to be completely alone (no marathon training plan to keep me company) 3 hours of the day (although that's not completely true once story time starts up in September). I'm not ready for the "can we watch {insert kid show}?" to be immediately asked at the end of each day. I'm not ready for early bedtimes. I'm just not ready... ...and yet, there's not much I can do about it. They're enrolled in school already. I could home sc...

If we're Facebook friends, you recently saw this status update from me: home from vacation! Exciting times with the boys: Grandma & Grandpa's house, picnic by Chimney Rock, Jump Street, hanging out with Uncle Nate,  Cheyenne's Children's Village (wading in the water), hiking at Estes Park with Tristan leading us (cool), Isaac pulling the fire alarm at the hotel, beautiful wedding, Isaac hitting himself in the head with a horseshoe & getting two staples, bridal shower for Auntie Amber ...whew! How did all of that fit into a week? Oh goodness, vacation was amazing. Top 5 vacations ever! We started out over Labor Day weekend at my parents' house. We went to an old fort nearby - I even got to wear a prairie dress & bonnet (always wanted to be Laura Ingalls Wilder growing up). Then we headed to visit college friends and see their little boys - they showed us some wonderful hospitality! We had a supper picnic by Chimney Rock - how amazing. I mean, pioneers p...

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!

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!