ZOO fun!

Ok, this isn’t from the Zoo, but it’s such a cute photo of Lydia and her friend Abby doing a puppet show for us.  (the puppet show was a Mary Kay prize that I got and gave to Lydia for Christmas—score!) Ok, now on to the zoo photos!!! :)

Lydia in the garden at the Children’s Zoo

Briggs, Lydia and Kai at the Children’s Zoo garden

Briggs and all the boys from his class that were in our group.  They were really great kids and we had a fun time.  By the way---the tram is the ONLY way to see the zoo!  Love it!

Cute little Miss Lydi!

Briggs and Kai!

This is the ostrich….named Sadie!  (oh yeah…Sadie LOVED hearing that!)  Briggs thought that was pretty, dang cool!

Cute kiddos! It was a fun day at the zoo! (although to be honest, I don’t love going on field trip days…it’s INSANITY! But I do love that Briggs still wants me to come---and so we go! )

Sadie’s first dance!

Ah, the day has come…Miss Sadie has turned 14 and can now go to the church dances….seriously, when did this happen?  She was quite nervous to go, in fact she was finding all sorts of funny excuses as to why she didn’t need to go or couldn’t go.  Unfortunately, Daddy was a chaperone this time so she had to go!  And I had him hide the camera from her so he could take pictures for the blog….yes, I’m obsessed!   (Hey, it’s journaling, scrapbooking AND keeping our family history all at once!  Now that’s multi-tasking!)

Here she is before the dance…so nervous, but still absolutely beautiful!

And here she is---FIRST DANCE!  Thanks to our good friend David Milligan for helping her through it.

Zandi and Sadie taking a little break….so….how did things go?  She loved it!!!  She came home excited and danced with 6 boys! (one of them being Daddy, of course!) She was extra excited about one in particular but he’ll remain un-named (or else she’ll strangle me!)  So glad it was fun, sweetie!

Your opinion is needed!

Ok so I’ve been noticing everyone’s cute tights…love the patterned ones, so I got me some! (great english, right?)

Well the first time I wore them Sadie laughed at me!  That was to a MK event so I fit right in though.  (MK loves their bling and fashion fun!) Then I put them on this morning for church and got the following responses:

Sadie---“Mom, you look “goth” in those…they just aren’t you!”

Briggs---“Huh?  What are those?

Liam---“Those are weird…not you”

Lydia---“Whoa! Those are sooooo CUTE!” (of course)

Chuck---“Those are a little loud for church, don’t you think?” Ahhh….that’s my conservative, straight-laced, don’t-step-out-of-the-fashion-box husband!

So…here’s where you come in…I want to know what YOU think.  So….in the comments, put who YOU agree with from the above unsolicited opinions.    Just curious and just for fun…..Thanks!

Tornado Party…we’re ready!

 

As you probably know, yesterday was a day full of “severe weather” here in Oklahoma.  The weathermen predicted that we’d have historic tornadoes.  It was a little scary, but luckily we were  not in the path of the tornadoes!  You never know though, so we have our 72 Hour kits ready to go! Here’s what we have in them....water bottles, books, blanket, snack bags (filled with crackers, fruit leather, choc. ensure shakes, protein bars, candy, granola bars, graham crackers) change of clothes, cash, MRE meal, (not excited about that!) family information sheet with our address, contact numbers (mine has copies of our utility bill for proof of residence as well as copies of our birth certificates) flashlights, bag of games (uno, sudoku, crossword puzzles, pit, old maid, go fish) We also have our jackets and umbrellas ready to go, just in case. We don't have a shelter but our friends do and we have our spot reserved! READY FOR THE TORNADO PARTY!!! :)

Lydia asked me while we were in the middle of the “watch”, "Isn't the tornado coming so we can go to the Hammer's house?' I told her hopefully not because our house could be hit and where would we live? Her answer..."We could live in a Tent! Let's go to the Hammer's!" :)  She has asked me several times today too, if the Tornado was coming so we could go to Sara’s house!  My goal last year was NOT to freak my kids out so we made it a “Tornado Party!” and now they’re excited when it happens.  I guess that’s ok if you’re prepared which we finally are…it only took us 10 years!

And they take flight!

Here’s the photo of the cute birds today, around 2…and then…

They’ve left the nest!

What a fun miracle to watch every day for the past few weeks.  Good luck to our sweet little baby birds!!!

Easter Cookies

I am not sure where I got this recipe…probably from one of my awesome sisters or sisters-in-law, but this was a GREAT Easter treat…but even more, a perfect visual for the kids. Each of the ingredients and steps of the recipe represent a part of the Easter Story and also come with the corresponding scripture from the Bible….for example:

pecans---that you beat to represent how He was beaten by the Roman soldiers (John 19:1-3)

Egg Whites—represent life…Jesus gave his life. You beat them and they become white, representing purity and that we can be cleansed of our sins by Jesus

Salt---salty tears shed by His disciples

Vinegar—the Savior was given vinegar to drink

Sugar---sweet part of the story is that He died for us and He loves us

Now here’s the cool part….you warm the oven to 300 degrees, put the cookies in the oven and TURN IT OFF.  Then you “tape” the oven to signify that the “tomb” was sealed.  In the morning, everyone gets a cookie and when they bite into it, they find that they are hollow!!!  Just like on Easter Morn, Christ’s followers were amazed to find the tomb empty!!! HE HAS RISEN!!!

I didn’t include all the scriptures, but if you want a copy of it, let me know….I want to finish this beautiful Easter Day with sharing this video of the Savior. How I love Him and his suffering, atonement and resurrection...that we can be with HIM again and our families forever!

http://youtu.be/bAuaSpJ7zGs

 

 

Easter Egg Hunts…fun!

 

Our baby chicks! :)

Here’s a fun photo timeline of our sweet little spring surprise by our front door!

This is our first peek at the nest…how fun!

A few days later there was one more!

Here’s the mama finch…hard to get her photo.

Here she is being a good little mom!

And we have babies!

Aren't they sweet?

And they’re growing…..

…and growing….

…now they have fuzz….

…and you can see their cute little beaks and their eyes!

This is today’s picture. There isn’t even enough room in that nest for both of them! (and yes…that’s bird poop all around the edge of the nest. It smells….lovely! ) We’re not seeing the mom much…she just comes to feed them but obviously she can’t fit in there either. Looking forward to seeing them leave the nest…hope we get to see it. The kids have enjoyed watching this---but who are we kidding….I HAVE LOVED IT! I’m a little obsessed with my little nest…the kids call me the Bird Stalker. Guilty, but simply amazed with nature, life and all of God’s creations. Love it!

Sadie’s 14th BDAY and other fun family things…

Yes…Sadie is 14 and yes…she got her phone!  She’s THRILLED!  And it was a fun, fun, bday for her filled with our traditional German Pancakes for breakfast, checking her out from school for manicures and ice cream, dinner and Hunger Games movie with her friend Cass and her favorite part of the day?  She didn’t have to do ANY work!   Happy BDay sweetie!

Other fun pictures include:

Briggs catching frogs---yes, there are 7 of them in that net!      Liam at the State Archery tournament and at the Midevil Fair---yes we rode camels AND an Elephant!                                                Briggs in his school program as a Tiger---how cute is he?!   Time with cousins at GMA’s house last weekend.                               The clematis that I’m coveting…I’m going to grow some of this in my yard!

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