Fort Worth Zoo (May 19)

Last Wednesday we went to the Fort Worth zoo. We had been wanting to go, but life was so busy with Matt taking classes and getting ready for Comps that we put it off. But once Comps were over, we were ready to go!

Some of the wildlife.......

The crocodile in the window to the tank next to where we ate our lunch. It was fun to see such a big animal swimming around so close to us!

Of course, we had to ride the train!

The Taylor Crocodile Wrestlers.....

and Komodo Dragon tamer


Feeding the birds and having them land on the seed sticks was probably the biggest hit!

After a long day at the zoo, the kids came home and immediately crashed on the couch with books.

Of course, Julianne was not content to relax after a fun day outside. She immediately went and started pulling things out of bathroom drawers and making a mess.

Randomness

Here's a synopsis of the last couple of weeks:

Pillbugs! The kids are fascinated with Pillbugs (or roly polys). They spend endless hours collecting them and making homes for them. Julianne has discovered them as well and LOVES to play with them. Luckily for her, she discovered that they are in abundance in the crack under our back screen door. Ahhh, kids and bugs!

I've got you!

Bugs!!!

Cuteness (no bugs in this one!)

Who says Polly Pocket is just for girls???

Swim Lessons!

Today is the last day of swim lessons for the kids. They've really improved in the time they've been going. Granted, neither Justin nor Nathan are swimming laps, but both are not afraid of the water anymore. Justin will get in and hang onto the side, and Nathan will run all over (he's not swimming per say, but doesn't panic when his face gets wet anymore). So all in all a successful time. I only wish we had longer for them to be able to learn more. I guess I'll just work with them when I can.

Ahhhh.... =)

Sisters on our family walk the evening that Matt finished Comps

Texas Fun: Joe Pool Lake

I've been very bad at getting any blogging done recently. So now I'm going to attempt to catch up a bit, amid a crying baby, fussy boys (who just had shots), cookie baking for the swimming lesson-end party, and homeschooling. Hmm... wonder why there hasn't been much blogging lately?

Anyway, I'll start with the trip to Joe Pool Lake with the McEvoy's a couple weekends ago.

All the kids!

We had a lot of fun at Joe Pool Lake. The kids went fishing (no one caught anything though) and it was great because Kaitlyn and Nathan had been talking about going fishing for forever, but neither Matt nor I have any interest in fishing, so we weren't planning on ever taking them. But the McEvoy boys love it and were kind enough to share their poles. =)

We took a picnic lunch, and after fishing went for a swim. It was a nice, relaxing day. Too bad Matt was so busy with studying for Comps and couldn't be there with us.

Thankful

As I was reflecting on this weekend, I was thinking of the many things that happened, and all that I have to be thankful for. There are lots:

I'm thankful for our incredible church in Arlington.

I'm thankful for Melissa, who encouraged me to go on the Ladies' retreat, and that the church paid my way.

I'm thankful for the group of women at GCC, that even though I don't know many of them really well, I totally felt at home with them all at the retreat.

I'm thankful for a baby who loves people and was very good, despite being the only toddler at the retreat.

I'm thankful for Leighann, whose talks were both convicting and inspiring, and I'm so glad she shared with us.

I'm thankful for a great husband, who took good care of the other kids while I was away.

I'm thankful that Julianne actually stayed in the nursery today (for the first time in weeks) so that I could listen to an entire sermon.

I'm thankful for a pastor who is great at teaching from God's word, and does it in an honest, clear and humorous way!

I'm thankful for our time back in the US, that even though it is flying by way too fast, we are able to enjoy things like stopping by McDonald's for lunch, so I don't have to cook, and the kids can play.

Growing..... or Not

I think it's fascinating to see where my kids are compared to others on growth charts and such. I know very well that all kids grow at their own rates, and learn new things and such at their own speeds. But it's so interesting to me to see where my kids lie on the "Growth Chart". So I was weighing and measuring (not 100% accurate, but close, I'm sure) to see where they fit. I wasn't too surprised by the results.

Kaitlyn, who is currently only 1 foot (12 inches!) shorter than me at 7, not quite 8 years old falls into the 91% for her height. But, she has her Daddy's fantastic metabolism, so she is just the 51% for her weight.

Nathan started life tiny (barely on, and even below the charts for his first 2 years), but now he's catching up. He falls into the 44% for his weight but just the 28% for his height.

Justin is my little guy yet. He is in just the 14% for his weight (no wonder that he can still wear some 24 mo/2T stuff at 3 1/2 years old!) and the 21% for his height.

Julianne... well, I love having my petite little gal. At 14 months and 19 lbs, she is right about the 6-7% for weight, and about the 8% for her height. Maybe her hair growth and physical growth are tied... once she starts to grow hair the rest of her will grow as well?

So I don't know where Kaitlyn came from! All my other three kids are well below average when it comes to height, and she's at the top. No wonder that kid is out-eating me daily!

Hanging Out at the Ranch

This past Saturday, we were able to spend the day at a ranch belonging to a family in our church in Arlington. We had a fun, relaxing time. We started off with a tour of the old buildings (barn, house, granary/storage building), met the horses and then had a picnic lunch. Then it was down to the river for hours of playing on the shore and tubing down the river.

The original log barn,(which has been restored) built probably in the 1880's, with NO nails... just notched logs put together.

The ranch house, which was built probably later in the 1800's. Restored now and oh, so cool!

Throwing rocks into the river is great fun!


Damming up the river

Floating down the river

So tired out after hours of play

Feeding carrots to Azucar

Being Thankful for the Little Things....

Definitely something I need to work on. It's so easy to get caught up in the "what I don't have" mentality. I see it in my kids daily: instead of being thankful for a cookie, they complain because they didn't get two. Or rather than enjoy the beautiful sunny day outside, they whine because their friends aren't around to play with.
I think (or at least, I hope) that I am a bit more mature and don't just whine and complain because I don't have more, or better. But I do see that it's an area that I do need to be aware of, and continue to work on. This morning is the perfect example.
After juggling 40 minutes of aerobics between helping K and N with their school, I was good and ready for a shower. But, by the time I got out, I was feeling rather self-pitying as my shower had consisted of: attempting to keep the baby from diving into the tub (water goes on, and she wants IN!), breaking up fights between the boys, helping Kaitlyn spell words as she wrote her journal entry and explaining grammar to Nathan. So much for a simple 5 minute, peaceful shower. =( Can't I just have a few uninterrupted moments to myself??? Why can't the kids leave me alone for just a very short time??? These, and more thoughts were running around in my head. I was quickly heading down the complaining path that so annoys me in my kids.
So I decided I need to focus on what I can be thankful for: I'm clean. The water was hot. Julianne didn't unroll the roll of TP while I was wet and couldn't do anything about it. She managed to not completely throw herself into the tub (though she was rather soggy by the end of my shower).
The kid's verse that is now taped to our dining room wall (Phil 2:14 Do everything without complaining or arguing) is there just as much for me as for them.