Omaha Zoo

This weekend we zoo-med off to Omaha and met up with Lola at aunt LeeAnn and Lonnie's for a day at the zoo. The girls had a super fun time and loved seeing all there is to see at the zoo. Their favorite attraction was the butterflies (although Olivia was obsessed with seeing a Jaguar and it was the last place we stopped! She was less than impressed when she finally saw one.) The weather was great for a day of walking around (although I was under the weather for the trip, it was still fun).

That evening we were also treated to some cool night air and some live music. The girls managed to find enough energy to dance and dance! What a treat. Thanks again LeeAnn and Lonnie for letting us invade your home for a short getaway! Click here for all of the pictures.

So few hours, so many thoughts and feelings!

Olivia is showing off her preschool artwork and Sylvia's checking it out too. (picture taken last week)

Olivia: "Look, Joey's listening." I thought he was just practicing his Heisman Trophy pose. Okay, it does look more like jazz hands, but I'm not predicting anything!

• Joey was officially initiated as a daycare attending child today. While I watched Pam change his diaper for the ride home, one of the other little darlings that was undeniably enamored with the "new baby" aka "her Joey", a sneeze must have snuck up on her. As she oggled and hovered over him, she achooed right in his face-I'm talking point blank range. I couldn't hide the grimace on my face, even with my hands cupped over it in immpuisance. Now we just wait for the symptoms to come upon him. Not that we are germ free in our home or anything, it's just that our germs seem less germy than other kids'. What can I say, I'm just partial to our own filth:)
• I'm sure I will laugh about it someday, but the chain of events that unfolded as we attempted to get settled back home was anything but funny at the time. Olivia unbuckled, just out, and ran solely from the van to the house, letting herself in and shutting the door behind her. I unbuckled Sylvia and sent her on her way to the house while I loaded up my arms with 4 bags (literally: large purse, diaper bag, breast pump, and milk bag) and Joey in his infant carrier (that he probably grew out of last month). Thank goodness Olivia was helpful enough to carry her own school bag to the house. Locking us all out of the house was less than helpful though. Picture me, weighed down with all the bags and baby carrier, trying to protect Sylvia from the rain that poured down, knocking on the back door and firmly instructing Olivia to open the door while she explained to me, through the glass window in the door, why she couldn't do so! Ugh! Once we did get in the house, both the girls proceeded to throw fits; Sylvia because her shoes got knotted when she tried to untie them, and Olivia because...well, that's just what Olivia does after a long day at preschool. I put down my bags and my baby and went straight to the bathroom to try to find solice for a moment of personal business. Even my bathroom duties were rushed, as one child cheerfully followed me into the restroom, apparently done crabbing for now, and the other one continued to wail, which in turn alarmed the baby to the point of frightful cries. Once everyone had calmed down, undoubtedly not without some stern words from myself, I had a plan to get the baby down for a final, quick nap, snack the girls, and attend to other personal duties. It was going well until, mid-pumping, the girls whiningly reminded me that they "WANTED SNACKS". Oh jeesh, I had forgotten to snack them ...and uh-oh, Sylvia's "gotta potty"...uh, too late...she's wet now. I guess there could be worse things:)
• I got to read the girls 3 whole books while Joey napped. I had been missing them and wanting to read to them all day and they seemed like they had looked forward to time with me too. It was a few minutes of snuggling, story time bliss.
• I am able to blog this long-winded account of the last hour or two thanks in part to Veggie Tales:)
  
  

Sometimes Sweet

Don't the girls look angelic here? Looks can be so deceiving.

All joking aside, they did do something that hit red on the "sweetometer". While I was showering, I thought Joey was drifting happily into dreamland. I had left him, his pacifier in place, and his stuffed monkey alone in his crib. When I emerged from my hygienic oasis, I found him playing with all his sisters' stuffed animals. There were a couple of clues pointing me to the guilty parties (by guilty, I mean interrupting my strategic nap time process). Even if they weren't the only ones who could have possibly gifted him with the extra lovies, the little footstools placed right next to the crib rail gave them up as the ultimate culprits.

10,000 and Counting

Today our blog reached 10,000 hits! Thanks everyone for sticking with us!

(By the way, it was someone from the "Maytag Corporation" that was our lucky 10,000th visit. Who could that be!? I think I know.)

And So It Begins....

What a frantic week it has been preparing for the new school year. Expectations are high and so is the optimism. Tomorrow is the first day of school and I still get a little nervous. It's like the feeling you get as you are about to the top of the first big drop on a rollercoaster....tick tick tick tick.....the calm before the storm. I always worry that I have overlooked something important or I could have prepared more. Once the first day comes it's usually full speed ahead and it's May before you know it! What adventures lie ahead for the next 9 months? We shall see.

Please say a prayer for all of the teachers, students, and staff that are heading back to school across the state and nation this week. Here is one that I pray:

Lord, I thank you for blessing me with the ministry of teaching and for the opportunity to serve You through the children to whom You have brought me.

Lord, fill my heart today with the joy, compassion, patience, wisdom, and understanding that I will need to do Your will.

Lord, grant me the strength to always do what is right and to be an example of Your grace and glory.

Lord, remind me of Your words:

“Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men,” –Ephesians 6:7

“whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” –Matthew 25:40


Amen

First Day as a Grasshopper

Typical pose in front of the door:)


Sylvia looks nervous. I think she thought I was going to leave her there too. Psych!!

I'm being "schooled"

Things that I've learned (or just been reminded of) so far this week:
1. Special Agent OSO is smarter than me, according to Olivia. Several times since she started doing her 24-100 piece puzzles (about a year ago), I've been trying to get her to sort the pieces according to color & shape. She has much preferred the "willy-nilly, shot-in-the-dark" approach to placing the pieces together...until today. While working on a tough puzzle today, she directed me to put the pieces in two piles, like OSO. One pile for straight-sides, the other no-straight-sides. Thanks OSO...it's all part of the plan.



2. Clear to white spit-up is much more pleasant than green spit-up. You know, that green hue of pureed green beans and peas. And no matter how many times I see green spit-up, it's always alarming. "Oh my, why is that stuff green? Is he sick or something? Oh yeah, I fed him green mush for lunch. Whew!"



3. A two-year old's bladder is VERY small. Accidents can happen if the potty-call is not responded to promptly, even is the child had a good share of output only five mintues prior.

Hanging Around

"Photogenic, not me!"


See, Sylvia's not that shy.


"Look Mom, no hands!"

LifeChurch.tv

Recently a good friend of mine introduced me to Pastor Craig Groeschel and his online ministry called LifeChurch.tv (Thanks Tess!) I can't even explain all of the cool things about this ministry. Abbey and I LOVE Pastor Craig's message and enthusiasm, it is not your typical TV sermon! For those times you can't make it to church or you just want another source for worship, we recommend checking it out! There are many ways to connect with LifeChurch.tv:

Watch him on YouTube.

Go directly to the site.

Or you can subscribe to LifeChurch's podcast for FREE on iTunes. (Click HERE if you have iTunes)

Keep On Rollin'

Joey has discovered that he can roll over and does it non-stop! Here's a couple clips of him rolling.

Need A Laugh?

There have been quite a few of my friends on Facebook using the website yearbookyourself.com to make funny pictures of what they may have looked liked in different eras. I thought I'd give it a try.....oh my, how funny! Some of the pictures that you come up with are just plain hilarious.....or scary! Here's an example:

If you need a good laugh, check out the rest of my pictures here and check out Abbey's pics here. Or go to the website and yearbook yourself!! Enjoy!

Oooh Baby!

The theme of the night was "baby." Today I cooked up some sweet baby back ribs (along with some sweet corn and fresh melon) for a nice summer treat. Also, Olivia managed to find our baby's funny bone. Just as we were to begin supper, Olivia made a sneezing sound "AH-CHOO!" and Joe immediately started to crack up! Every time Olivia made the noise Joseph responded with giggles.....so cute. It reminded me of the fascination Olivia had with the empty peanut butter jar when she was that age! (Olivia used to giggle loudly at the sound of a spoon tapping an empty peanut butter jar)

Here is the video we captured of the event:

Crackin' Jokes

The girls and I had a tea party the other day and part of our conversation centered around telling jokes. Since the girls don't know many jokes, I asked them to make some up. It was quite entertaining. I think their made up jokes were funnier than some real jokes I've heard! Here is a couple of the jokes they made up:

Translations:

Sylvia: Why did the people run away from the monster?

Because they didn't have any shirts!

Olivia: Why didn't the people run away with their shirts?

Because they ran away with their shirts!

(I'm not sure where the "shirts" theme came from)

This may be an existing joke already, but here's one I made up:

Did you hear about the rabbit that was brought back from the dead?

It was a real "hare" raising experience!!

C'mon, you laughed.