Raleigh Mom

Go Duke Go!

2012-01-29T10:04:00.004-05:00

Yesterday we had an opportunity to take the girls to their first Duke basketball game at Cameron Indoor Stadium. I grew up going to the games with my dad so it was fun to be able to take the girls along. Maddie kept asking "What are they saying?" whenever the students would start a chant. The Cameron Crazies seemed to have toned things down a little (or at least for this game) so thankfully we escaped without learning any new words. Anna was fascinated with the score board and thought watching the game was fun but long. The girls did a great job cheering on Duke.

On our jaunt through campus to get to the stadium:

Getting ready:

Anna enjoying the popcorn:

Maddie doing her many faces:

Learning to Sew

2012-01-19T10:53:00.001-05:00

For Christmas my toy was a sewing machine! Growing up my mom would make my Halloween costumes and some dresses and today she owns an embroidery business, so I've always been around sewing machines but never had I tried to use one. Mom got me a Brother CS 6000i and I quickly read through the manual. My sister-in-law was visiting after Christmas and she got me started by showing me how to thread the machine - sometimes reading the directions is not quite enough. After I practiced a little on an old sheet, the first project was a sock monkey which quickly turned into 3 since all of the cousins wanted one. They turned out much cuter than I anticipated.

It was nice having a beginning project that only took some old socks; there was no worry about messing up. The pattern came from here.

My next project was a hobo bag that I purchased as a complete kit from Michael's. The pattern itself isn't the best purse ever since it is a little flimsy but it was fun to sew and I even added some of my own embellishments with a metal snap and decorative stitching.

Then I moved on to skirts for the girls using a basic rectangle as a pattern. I have a ways to go to perfect the best way to put these together for this go around it involved taking my sewing machine apart since I locked up the motor :). But I hope by summertime to have some cute outfits made for the girls.

Christmas Wrap-up

2012-01-13T08:54:00.008-05:00

I haven't done a great job of updating my blog, but my scrapbook for the year is done thanks to digital scrapbooking! So here's our Christmas in pictures.

The girls had a great time at Disney on Ice with Mimi watching Tiana, Cinderella and Rapunzel. We also made our yearly chocolates and had the annual Burckart/Horton dinner.

For months Maddie had been asking for a Jessie doll, from Toy Story, so her Christmas Eve morning (the way our current schedule works, its just easier to open our family presents Christmas Eve morning) was filled with Jessie items including a doll, shirt, pajamas and a hat of her own. Anna enjoyed opening some Barbies, Marble Run and a jewelry box she could decorate herself. Christmas morning the girls woke up to a giant cardboard box in the form of a house, it has since been beautifully painted.

On Christmas Eve we traveled to Burlington to have lunch with Pop & Divi, Uncle Kevin, Uncle David & Aunt Stephanie and cousins, Marley, Rainey and Henry.

Christmas Eve night we went to Danville, Virginia to spend some time with my mom's side of the family. Great Aunt Velner (in the Santa hat :)) is always entertaining and it is nice to catchup with those family members we only see once a year.

Christmas Day we traveled back to Burlington to open presents with Mimi (forgot my camera :( ) and have lunch with Divi's family.

It's interesting to go back and look at the pictures we took this year; I feel like so much is missing. I wish I had pictures of the family reading of the Christmas story (this year in the Jesus Storybook Bible), our nativity on the mantle, the Christmas tree overflowing with items for the food bank (thanks to generous co-workers), the daily advent time spent with the girls via the Jesse Tree as we daily anticipated Christ's birth. Hopefully next year :).

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T07:00:00.000-05:00

from our family to yours...

Family Photo Session

2011-12-20T09:05:00.001-05:00

Making Chocolates

2011-12-19T20:55:00.003-05:00

Kid Day at NC Food Bank

2011-11-16T07:27:00.007-05:00

As we continue our month of trying to be intentional in our thanks --- giving, we had the opportunity to participate in Kid Day at the Food Bank of Central and Eastern NC (located off Falls of Neuse near I440). Kid Day is the 2nd and 4th Saturday of each month and runs from 2-4pm. It is intended for kids ages 5-12 though we did take Maddie with us since she is fairly well behaved. I had been told about Kid Day from a friend but I still wasn't exactly sure what to expect. We arrived a little early and hung out outside. The girls enjoyed this painted wall mural of fruits and veggies.

Once inside we had to fill out some paperwork and wait for everyone else to get settled. On this particular day there were at least 50 volunteers including a boy scout troop and indian princess tribe. Some kids were there for community service hours and others just to help out. It was neat to go on a tour of the warehouse and to hear a little more about how their programs work.

Our job for the day was to sort the canned goods from can day at the NC Fair which was 18,000 pounds of food. We were particularly looking for "pop top" meals. These would be items such as beef-aroni, chunky soups or other chef boyardee meals. These items are very important to the food bank because of their backpack program which is "intended to meet the nutritional needs of children during non-school hours, specifically weekends". It was pointed out that meals are best that the kids can open and heat by themselves since the kids may not otherwise get a meal.

Here are the girls sorting the cans and putting them in the right bins.

Maddie wore out about 30 minutes into running around and so we sat on the side for a little while but within an hour and a half all 18,000 pounds of food had been sorted. There was lots of corn and beans which are very important for other ministries they supply but we didn't even fill a box with pop-top items for the kids. The guy coordinating said they do this particular activity with kids to show how hard it is for them to get items for their backpack program.

So... if you are participating in a food drive this holiday season please consider helping the backpack program by donating some of their most needed items (list also available on their website).

Grains: Graham and/or animal crackers, light popcorn, whole grain cereal/granola bars, individual cereal boxes

Protein: Spaghetti & meatballs, raviolo, beefaroni, lasagna (pop top or microwave cups preferred)

Fruit: Canned fruit/fruit cups in light syrup, dried fruit (raisins, plums, cranberries), applesauce

Miscallaneous: Fat-free sugar free pudding cups, 100% juice

Also, for those local, our family will be collecting these items as well to take to the food bank in December so feel free to drop them by and we will deliver them for you.

This was valuable time spent for us this past weekend, not just in serving but also in educating us more about the needs of those in our community. May we not just hear and learn of the needs but also work toward meeting them.

Halloween

2011-11-01T13:47:00.002-04:00

It was a cold and wet Halloween, but I guess it could be worse since our family up north got "dusted" with 16 inches of snow. We layered the girls clothes, added the rainboots and raincoat and off we went to a few neighbors houses. After about 20 minutes we were soaked, the girls little hands were freezing so we finished the night giving out candy on the porch while sipping hot cocoa.

Thanks

2011-10-31T07:00:00.001-04:00

I put a picture of a tree up on our wall yesterday, something that I had found online sometime ago. The idea is for the girls to add a leaf daily in November of what they are thankful for. The girls LOVE when we put things on the wall and couldn't wait to stick a leaf on the tree (my first reaction was "but we have to wait until November 1st", how silly! we should be thankful everyday!). The first three things the girls came up with were family, friends and sickness gone (AMEN!).

I thought the tree could be a way for the girls to remember and reflect on God's blessings. And then my heart remembers again.... how many times have I too felt compelled to count my gifts; to remember how God is at work in my life. And so I begin counting as well.

#1 Grace

#2 simple things that make little ones (literally) jump for joy

#3 a consistent scripture put before my eyes (Colossians 3:1-2)

#4 a sermon that pushes me forward in my walk with Christ

#5 the smiles on the girls' faces when we do a craft project

#6 a warm cup of tea

#7 a friend's safe return home from mission work

Pumpkin Carving

2011-10-28T07:40:00.000-04:00

After all of the trips to the pumpkin patch, we had lots of pumpkins for decorating. The smaller ones got stick on faces while the larger ones we carved.

Anna was a little nervous about sticking her hand inside of the pumpkin:

And I don't think Maddie ever did:

The results (left to right). My 'B', Maddie's chipmunk (we tried to use the shapes that came with the $1.50 carving kit but they were really small; then Maddie decided she wanted it to have teeth; so we ended up with a chipmunk), Erik's steeler symbol and Anna's happy pumpkin

Now all the pumpkins are on the front porch ready for visitors:

Maddie's New Bike

2011-10-27T07:30:00.000-04:00

It has long been past time to trade in Maddie's tricycle for a bike. She was doing well on Anna's so we got her a 16" as well.

Posing

Riding down the alley

An intense "cheese face" but looks like an agressive bike ride, watch out!

5 Year Checkup

2011-10-26T08:30:00.000-04:00

Here's Anna in her paper gown at her 5 year checkup yesterday. She just looked too cute in the hand and footprints that I had to take a picture. Once again, I felt ill-prepared - I forgot to check which screenings or shots were to be expected and so we walked back to our room without a clue what to expect. Anna was measured (43.5 inches) and weighed (43 pounds); they did the usual blood pressure monitoring and eye test. A new screening for us was the hearing test. I'm not sure that Anna understood exactly what she was suppose to do (point to her ear when she heard a beep on the headphones) and so whenever the nurse would ask if she heard something she would say yes :). It was good enough to pass this go around. We went back to our room where Anna was asked her colors, to identify "which is longer" and to draw a few shapes. The nurse pricked her finger for some blood work which took Anna little while to calm down from. Then, she was asked to pee in a cup which greatly confused her; she later told me she though the toilet was a cup :). We ended up having to bring the cup home to try again later. There were no shots this visit.

Anna was such a big girl through it all and I kept thinking to myself that she already looked older in just 2 days of being 5 :). There was one panic point for me though - the nurse asked if I needed a kindergarten form, aaaggh, it will be here before we know it.

Hillridge Farms

2011-10-25T07:00:00.000-04:00

I love fall and there are so many great seasonal things to do as a family! On Sunday we went to Hillridge Farms with our church smallgroup. The girls ran through the maze

Had a blast in the hay jump,

(here's the hay jump aftermath, we took baths and Maddie still has some hay in her hair)

At this point the camera died, but we also ran through the fort, played in the corn, went down the huge tunnel slide and took a hayride over to the pumpkins.

It was nice to go back to Hillridge after visiting Vollmer Farms earlier in the month. Both farms are a lot of fun and have many similarities but I think my allegiance lies with Hilridge. With small kids I found it better that all of the activities were closer together (which could probably be a negative on really busy days). The girls were able to jump from one activity to the next and it was easy to keep up with the group. It was also nice to run through a pumpkin patch of real size pumpkins versus little pie pumpkins that are hard to see through the grass. A great trip with a great group of friends!

Happy 5th Birthday Anna!

2011-10-24T09:56:00.002-04:00

We will be spending the day doing any and every craft project we can find in the house followed by an outing for snowcones! This girls brings so much joy to our lives!

NC State Fair

2011-10-18T07:37:00.002-04:00

(view from the top of the ferris wheel)

We have skipped the fair the past few years and so this year as soon as we had a free afternoon we headed straight there. Anna's request was to ride the ferris wheel and mine was to get some candy apples. We ventured out to the free public parking and put the girls in the double stroller which we haven't used in some time.

(this is Maddie's "cheese" face)

The line to buy tickets took awhile and of course the whole time I was in it I was thinking to myself - we should have bought tickets beforehand... hopefully next time I'll remember. We made our way through the chaos to some of the younger kids rides and the girls jumped right on the hot air balloons. It was a little weird turning the girls loose to get on the ride by themselves; they are growing up. Of course, as soon as they got off they wanted to ride something else so they did the Wirly Worm and eventually the twirly pirate ship ride.

As Anna requested, we had to ride to ferris wheel and so this was our longest line by far. The girls and I rode as Erik took pictures from below. The girls loved it!

And of course, we had to partake of some of the fair food - though we were not very adventurous. We had our usual corn dog, funnel cake, apple fritters, candy apples and the girls enjoyed an ice cream cone.

It was a great day at the fair!

A Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-17T08:30:00.000-04:00

Anna's preschool class took a trip to Vollmer Farms last week. I signed up as a chaperone and Maddie tagged along. The girls were super excited! (And Anna was especially excited to wear her preschool tshirt to match her friends).

When we arrived, we split up into groups. We learned about chickens and sunflowers and then took a tractor ride (which was Maddie's favorite part) through the fields and around the farm. Then we had free time to play on the playground, jump on the giant in-ground trampoline and "swim" in the corn kernels. Maddie thought it was fun to try to make "snow" angels.

It was a great day that ended with a picnic lunch and the girls picking out a pumpkin (after going to Hillridge in past years I was a little surprised the pumpkins were so small; they were pie pumpkins). On the ride home Anna told me her favorite part of the day was just being with her friends :).

Pajama Day at Preschool

2011-09-26T08:47:00.002-04:00

Last week was Pajama Day at Anna's preschool. All the kids came dressed in their pj's and brought their favorite stuffed animal for a parade. Anna brought "ballet bear" that she had made at Build a Bear with Mimi.

The teachers also made waffles for the class and parents. Maddie sat right down and ate with the rest of the class.

Such a fun day at preschool!

Maddie Time

2011-09-21T11:22:00.003-04:00

Maddie and I miss Anna while she is at preschool but we're also having a lot of fun (when we're not sick!). Maddie's favorite thing to do has been to go to playgrounds which she describes to me in the car by telling me how many slides they have. I have still yet to find the "2 slide" playground that she so desperately wants to go to. It has been nice to pack a lunch and just hang out together.

Another fun "find" that we made today was an entrance to the Upper Neuse Greenway Trail with a parking lot. I've been talking about wanting to go find the trail but although it is only .5 mile from our house, such a walk would wear out the kids before we got there. Then today as we were riding down the road I saw the parking lot, which is not hidden at all from view (why I have not noticed it before I have no clue). So Maddie and I parked and went for a little adventure walk.

I look forward to exploring more and taking some bikes over to let the girls ride around.

First day of preschool

2011-09-06T15:14:00.002-04:00

Anna had her first day of preschool today! She has been telling me all week how excited she is and at last the day arrived! She went right in and never looked back, I am so proud of her.

sigh, they grow up so fast!

Fun with Sock Puppets

2011-09-02T13:26:00.002-04:00

These were lots of work but also lots of fun. Anna has a giraffe and Maddie a princess.

Mornings

2011-08-30T15:25:00.003-04:00

I've been trying to make our morning time at home a little more intentional so the girls and I have started doing a bible reading plan called Through the Bible with My Child. It is a rather expansive reading plan (taking 4 years to cover most of the bible) but the texts are broken down into chunks that are just right for the attention span of my girls. I have been reading the text from my ESV bible while the girls have a blank sheet of paper that they draw some semblance of what I am reading. The reading plan then has a few questions to go with the text that we discuss.

Maddie is drawing the creation story (we are using heavy sheet protectors and drawing on them with dry erase crayons to save paper; just wipe off each day)

Anna "follows along" while I read by looking at the pictures in the Jesus storybook bible.

I know this will be a work in progress and there will be some books of the bible that we will skip for now but I love that each morning I can sit at the kitchen table and there is a plan and it is all contained in this cute flower binder :).

Also in the binder lives a prayer sheet for the day where we write down prayer requests as well as some school skills I want to work on with the girls. I hope that as school and other activities gear up for the fall that we would be consistent and start our day hearing God's Word.

Preschool Open House

2011-08-29T15:29:00.003-04:00

This is my Anna in the car before going into her preschool open house; she kept saying "mommy, I'm so excited!!". Knowing her excitement makes me so happy that she will be attending preschool and I look forward to taking her for her first day next week.

Easy Lunchboxes

2011-08-19T14:32:00.004-04:00

Lunchtime is not my strong suit. Many days the girls and I get home from wherever we have spent the morning and we are all starving (and pretty whiny). My temper is then short as I try to figure out what we are going to eat. This summer I was introduced to Easy Lunchboxes and they have been fabulous. These have the same concept as other "bento box" style lunches in that it is a container with compartments (these have 3). Most days, I fill these up with fruits, veggies, sandwiches, etc and then either put them in the refrigerator for a quick grab lunch when we come home or I'll pack them to take a park or friend's house. I've even been known to give them to the girls in the car when leaving a playdate (it keeps us out of the Chickfila drive thru!). These containers are also BPA free.

I look forward to using these for Anna's lunch this year at preschool.

Diver Ed

2011-08-17T07:10:00.000-04:00

During our stay in Maine we spent a day in Bar Harbor and went out on a boat with Diver Ed for some "dive-in theater". It was great! Diver Ed was funny and entertaining as well as informative. He took us out on a boat and dove down to collect lobsters, starfish and anything else he could find. He then took a high quality camera down so that we could see what it looked like on the ocean floor. During out cruise around we also saw seals and a bald eagle.

Hanging out on the boat with our blue painter's tape nametags.

Diver Ed put all of the sea creatures he found into touch tanks for the kids to hold. Maddie loved it all, except for the lobsters. She even held the squishy sea cucumber.

Anna was a little more timid and preferred to let daddy hold the tiny lobster.

Out on the Water

2011-08-16T07:03:00.000-04:00

Most of our vacation was spent in some sort of water.... whether that be out on the lake or in the rain. Here the girls are with their fabulous cousin on our first day there having fun in the rain.

We did some kayaking

Made an attempt at paddle boating...

About 10 minutes after this picture was taken it began raining, the waves in the lake started getting bigger and coming into the paddleboat and our back end started going under. We then couldn't get the paddleboat to head towards shore but instead we kept going in circles. Erik quickly came out in the kayak to rescue Maddie and then Uncle Chris returned with a rope and pulled us back to shore. Definitely the most entertaining trip I've taken in a paddle boat!

We also spent some time in the boat riding over to a public beach and taking sunset cruises.

Captain Anna

The girls also went tubing for the first time. Aunt Kristal was so gracious to take them for a great ride.

On the last day I decided to take my turn at tubing which I haven't done in probably 12 years... my shoulders are still sore!

What a fabulous way to spend a vacation!!

Blueberries

2011-08-15T08:00:00.000-04:00

Blueberries in Maine are very different from here, rather than growing on tall bushes, they grow in low clusters in fields. My brother-in-law's family had a friend with blueberries to pick so one day we drove up the road to a piece of land that was covered in blueberry bushes.

One of Anna and Maddie's favorite books these days is Blueberries for Sal which was given to our family by my brother-in-laws family whose house we were staying at in Maine. In the book, little Sal walks around eating as many blueberries as he puts in his pail. Here's Maddie doing her little Sal impression. From time to time she would even say "Kerplink, kerplank, kerplunk" just like little Sal, it was cute.

Anna surveying the scene to see which patch she was going to pick next.

Getting advice from daddy.

Welcome to Maine

2011-08-14T20:18:00.004-04:00

Our family spent this past week in Otis, Maine in a cute A-frame on Beech Hill Pond about 950 miles from home. We flew from Raleigh to Boston on JetBlue airline. The girls did fabulous on the flight and spent most of the hour and forty-five minutes in the air watching cartoons since JetBlue has personal TV's for every seat. We had bought the girls kid-sized headphone prior to the trip. JetBlue also gave us drinks and snacks. Add that to the lollipops (one for up and one for down) and the girls were well entertained.

Once we arrived in Boson we rented a car and drove another 4.5 hours. Thankfully the girls fell asleep a few hours into the trip since it was getting late. At last, welcome to Maine.

More to come....

Basketball

2011-07-27T21:58:00.002-04:00

This morning we met some friends at the MVP Sports Factory in Wake Forest where we got to run around on one of the soccer fields and basketball court. Here are the girls learning about basketball.

Figure Eight Island Vacation

2011-07-26T21:05:00.003-04:00

This year for our annual June beach vacation with my dad we headed to Figure Eight Island. Figure Eight is a small private island north of Wrightsville beach that you can only access by going through a guard post. The place we stayed was situated on the marsh side and was absolutely fabulous. This was our evening view

We spent a few days on the beach (I failed to take a camera any day) and the girls experienced a few firsts (which I also failed to take pictures of). The girls went on their first ever go-cart ride and saw their first movie theater movie, Cars 2.

One day we decided to stay out of the heat so we headed for the Fort Fisher Aquarium. It is a smaller aquarium and there were lots of other people trying to stay out of the heat so we did a quick tour of the exhibits.

The touch tank:

Making "scared" faces in the Megladon mouth (that eery looking person in the background is my brother :)):

It was a fabulous trip!

Summer Bowling

2011-07-21T08:15:00.003-04:00

A few weeks ago, the girls and I had a fabulous free bowling experience at Sparians. I had never been to a "bowling boutique and bistro" so I was in for a pleasant surprise when we walked in to what almost seemed like an upscale nightclub. The lighting was dim, the music was rocking and rather than the hard benches at the regular bowling alley, the lanes were lined with leather couches.

We were there for the Thursday Kids Club during which kids under 6 can bowl free from 9am to 11am. The kids were allowed to wear there own shoes so there wasn't even the few dollars needed for a shoe rental. We arrived at 9:30 and our group of 6 (the max # of kids for a lane) was taken to the last remaining lane. It is first come, first serve basis. The staff was super friendly and checked on us frequently to see if we needed anything. On the big screens they had Nick Jr playing which occupied the kids while they waited for their turn.

This was the girls' first time bowling and they really enjoyed it. We started out using the bowling ramps but by the end Anna was throwing the ball (7 pounds) down the lane and even getting a strike or two! Here's Anna loading up her ball:

And waiting in anticipation to see how many pins she knocked over:

And Maddie doing as big sister does:

At 11:00am the lanes shut off and we headed over to the restaurant where also on Thursdays you can get a free kids meal with each paying adult. Another pleasant surprise was that instead of the typical hamburger/hotdog bowling alley menu there was an assortment of fresh salads, veggie options and much more.

I highly recommend checking it out! Here's the link to the Kid's Club.

Happy July 4th!

2011-07-07T08:43:00.003-04:00

This July 4th our neighborhood had a parade for the kids to walk/ride on decorated bikes and wagons and then end it all at the clubhouse for ice cream. The girls had a great time despite the heat and every time I would say 'Look, you're riding in a parade' they would get the biggest smiles on their faces.

2010 Scrapbook Review: December

2011-07-01T15:26:00.003-04:00

2010 Scrapbook Review: Oct-Nov

2011-06-20T14:12:00.002-04:00

OCTOBER:

NOVEMBER:

2010 Scrapbook Review: June-September

2011-06-19T13:53:00.000-04:00

JUNE:

JULY:

AUGUST:

SEPTEMBER:

2010 Scrapook Review: Jan-May

2011-06-18T13:22:00.004-04:00

JANUARY:

FEBRUARY:

MARCH:

APRIL:

MAY:

A First Step

2011-06-17T15:00:00.007-04:00

'Mommy, read the bible to me', Maddie asks as she walks past. This bible that I placed on the dinner table just days before for the very purpose to be read and for truth to be spoken into our family's lives. I had been chewing on this blog article I read recently from Ann Voskamp entitled One Habit that Radically Changes a Family about their tradition of reading the bible after every meal feeling inspired to take a first step.

Our first step has been to simply put the bible on the table where we eat three meals a day. It is there and so we read. And when we stop reading, the girls want more and I can say at the next meal we will continue, and we do. It is a simple first step. And now the hard part that follows is the will to do it. When life gets busy, when we're rushing to the next thing, when we don't land at that dinner table.

Today is Friday, and every Friday we have lunch out with daddy and so we found ourselves at a different table today. But when Maddie came home, she saw the bible on the table and remembered, so we sat down and read. I am thankful for first steps that prayerfully lead to tradition.

Ready for the Ball

2011-05-20T14:51:00.002-04:00

For Maddie's 3rd birthday she got some great princess outfits, so here she is posing as Cinderella.

But then the typical Maddie sillies came out and this is how we concluded our photo session :)

Anna told me told that Maddie is the silliest and she likes to make people laugh, I would agree!

Spring Photo Session

2011-05-02T10:32:00.001-04:00

The girls are getting so big!

Anna and her Soccer Medal

2011-05-01T20:12:00.003-04:00

At her final class at Turf Tikes, Anna received this cute medal. She is super proud and was even holding onto it as she fell asleep tonight. I am sure we will be signing up for another round.

Maddie Turns 3!

2011-05-01T16:04:00.003-04:00

Maddie turned 3 on April 29th. Here she is in her adorable ladybug outfit from Mimi.

Our Family this Easter

2011-04-28T07:20:00.002-04:00

We spent another wonderful Easter weekend in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida with family (28 of us this year). The weather was beautiful so were able to spend a lot of time on the beach. There was also the annual egg hunt, cousins trip to Target and of course lots and lots of yummy food.

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T07:23:00.000-04:00

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead... 1 Peter 1:3

More Soccer

2011-04-11T07:52:00.000-04:00

Maddie has been doing a fabulous job at soccer these past two weeks so I wanted to post some pics of her now that she is getting in the groove :).

One of my favorite parts of the hour is when the coach gathers all of the kids in a circle and takes turns asking them their name and their favorite movie/food/etc. I always love to hear what Maddie is going to say since she comes up with her answers without any prompting. Some of her favorites so far have been:

Move: Christmas movie
Food: Carrots
Breakfast food: Carrots
Animal: Elephant

Now onto the pictures:

On your mark, get set...

Helping out the coach:

Hanging with big sis afterward:

BedTime

2011-04-10T20:44:00.004-04:00

Through the ages and stages of the girls there have been some ups and downs when it comes to bedtime of course, but tonight as I put them to bed I couldn't help but smile (and then sneak in to take pictures of their sweetness).

Anna has always been the one to not want to go to bed. I can remember at a few months old rocking her until she fell asleep only to creep across the carpet, gently lay her into her crib where she would instantly wake and the process would begin again. As she got a little older she was that child that was left in her room to cry herself to sleep with her mom sitting in the hallway outside her door crying too in hopes that she would "learn" how to go sleep. As Anna has gotten older, rather than tears, it's endless questions, lots of tossing and turning and many nights that I am going to bed late and find her still awake. She just lays in bed and thinks and some nights I like to lay there with her and just listen. We have talked about our days, planned birthday parties that are months away (Anna and I are two peas in a pod) and often that is when she tells me things that have scared her or hurt her feelings that day. It is precious time.

One great addition to Anna's bedtime has been God's Little Princess Devotional Bible by Sheila Walsh. It gives us a structured nightly reading of scripture with a few questions on Anna's level. I love the consistency it has brought to us reading the bible with her at night.

Maddie had sleep issues of her own in the beginning BUT she eventually became one of those kids that you could lay down in the crib and she would fall asleep on her own (after having Anna and reading all those sleep books, I never would have thought they worked until Maddie came along!). As she got older and moved into a big girl bed she would happily get in her bed with a puzzle and work it until she was tired and lay down to sleep. Even now she doesn't want me to lay down with her and cuddle but would rather be left with her bible to look at. It is sweet to walk into her room at night and see her asleep with her bible open beside her, I pray it would always be so.

Sweet dream!

Soccer

2011-03-26T10:50:00.002-04:00

For months now Anna has been talking about playing soccer again so now that we are settled in our house, it was time to sign her up again (the last time she played was last year). We decided to try the Turf Tikes program at the Factory in Wake Forest again, this time with Anna being in a group without us and she is loving it!

Anna is often the only girl in the group and she is always smiling and skipping as she listens to her coach and kicks the soccer ball. At home, she always wants to kick her soccer ball and pretend that we are goals. I am so proud at how well she is doing listening and I love that she seems to be getting so much enjoyment out of it.

We have also learned that Maddie is not a huge fan of soccer :). She did well the first time, listening and participating but it was rather obvious that she wasn't overly interested in soccer and it lost her attention rather quickly. Today there was a total unwillingness to listen to her coach and so we left - she was content just to watch Anna. I asked her what she didn't like about soccer, she said the ball :). So we'll have to see what really catches Maddie's attention - I'm guessing something with music.

A New House, Our Home

2011-03-14T18:15:00.001-04:00

At the end of December Erik and I started discussing a new home for our family. We loved our neighborhood, greatly enjoyed our home that we had put much time and money into remodeling but as we started thinking about wanting to grow our family while continuing to have a place for Erik to work at home (which adds to his job satisfaction) we began to look around. Actually... we began to look at one house in particular. Erik found a house just 2 miles from our house in a beautiful neighborhood that connected to the one we currently loved and it was perfect except that it was a foreclosure. By the time we had the appointment with our realtor we had already driven by several times, peeked in the windows and had imagined what the floor plan would look like (foreclosures don't give you much info). We knew that we would instantly know when we walked through the house if it was the one for us. We had looked at our budget and we knew what we could offer and what we couldn't. And so, after one visit to the house (which apparently most people go 3 times) we put in an offer - I like to say we are decisive :).

I previously didn't know a lot about foreclosures. Yes, the are an opportunity to get a good deal but the banks that own them seem to play by a whole different set of rules. The offer process was a nail biter and through most of it I had little confidence we would end up with the house. Then of course there were the documents removing the bank from almost all responsibilities and waiting for an inspection. Being sold in an "as is" condition, we knew the items identified on the inspection would not be fixed by the seller but if there were any major things wrong with the house we could bow out of the contract. Thankfully, the inspector found little more than a rusty garbage disposal and a few other odds and ends. Praise God!

And so, we moved. We have now been in our new house for a little over 2 weeks and it already feels like home. I feel like we have had visitors almost daily which is exactly what we love. We are loving our new house, our home.

Resolved

2011-01-25T14:19:00.003-05:00

Resolve, to decide firmly on a course of action. The theme for our church for 2010-2011 is Resolved, All in and Pressing Forward. Each week we've been looking at different areas of our lives that we need to be resolved about, this past Sunday was our kids.

I was challenged by this question, is making Anna and Maddie a disciple of Christ a top priority in my life? Do I pray for them with diligence for their present and their future? Am I spending quality time with them? Is my life (not just my lips) showing them who I worship?

On Monday I opened up a book entitled Disciple Like Jesus for Parents: Following Jesus' Method and Enjoying the Blessings of Children that I received for Christmas that was the perfect companion to the Sunday sermon. It too challenged me:

Most of us do a great job of providing adequate food, clothing, shelter, and protection. But do you provide the protection, teaching, and nurture required of a faithful shepherd? Do you personally take your children out into the world and show them how to live the Christian life? Do you lead them to places of solitude from a dangerous and busy world? Do you personally deliver words of life to your children?

The writers go on to say

Teaching your children to obey the commands of Christ is more than teaching doctrine. It is more than the transfer of information. This teaching involves applying doctrine to their hearts that they might obey.

I tend to be one that often focuses on merely the transfer of information rather than the transformation of the heart. SO much to contemplate here and I'm clinging hold of James 1:5,

"If any of you lacks wisdom let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him"

But while I'm still learning I can still be resolved, DECIDING what path I am going to take; using my might and not settle to life's excuses. May we all be resolved for our kids.

You can listen to the sermon here.

Big Girl Maddie

2011-01-13T08:02:00.004-05:00

Lately many friends have been commenting on how Maddie is looking older and more like a big girl and I too feel like she is coming out of the two's and preparing to be three. One of the biggest pieces of progress on that front is potty training. Over Christmas Erik was off of work and so he began what we are referring to as "daddy bootcamp". I must admit I was not overly motivated to potty train Maddie and my patience with her strong will was severely lacking and so daddy taking over was exactly what we needed.

It began as most potty training experiences do, the first day or two involve lots of clothes washing and floor scrubbing but by day three Maddie was showing signs of progress. By the middle of week 2 we were taking her out to the grocery store in big girl panties! And this weekend she even told her Sunday school teacher that she had to go potty, so I'm calling her potty-trained :).

Finishing up 2010

2011-01-04T07:15:00.002-05:00

Today is back to 'normal' - the Christmas decor has been put back into its boxes, the snow has melted and Erik has returned to work. But before moving on here are some pics from the end of 2010:

The girls sitting by the fire in their Christmas pj's awaiting daddy's reading of the Christmas Story:

Maddie in her cute reindeer dress from Mimi:

The girls styling Anna's new 'Jenny' doll's hair:

Our pup, Cassie, enjoying her Christmas toy:

Snow!!! It started snowing on Christmas Day and covered Raleigh:

A Visit from St. Nick

2010-12-23T21:51:00.002-05:00

What a fun treat at our neighborhood friends Christmas party!

Making Chocolates

2010-12-23T21:42:00.003-05:00

While I am still trying to figure out how to make a decent cookie, my husband's family tradition has been much perfected... making chocolates. Chocolate covered pretzels, cherries and coconut (which we call haystacks).

Anna making pretzel rods...

Maddie enjoying her chocolate pretzel covered in sprinkles...

... and her fork!

Making Traditions

2010-12-19T13:35:00.000-05:00

Every year, about this time, as Christmas cards flow in I become a little nostalgic. I miss those that are no longer here on this earth and I fondly remember traditions that were held. I tend to scramble to "find" new family traditions for our own family in hopes that one would stick. I am slowly learning that a tradition isn't just about what you do, for sometimes doing becomes an obligation instead of a joy, it isn't just about who, for as loved ones pass their memory can still hold strong in traditions such as these, but it is also about being.

Being present, being engaged and being a part of a memory in the making.

I received a wonderful gift from my godmother from whom I "inherited" the love for organization and planning. To some the gift may have looked like a bag full of 'cooking stuff' for inside were muffin pans and sprinkles and a cookie press (gasp, she knows me so well!) but to me it was so much more. Tucked inside was a recipe from her family and accompanying the bag was a letter about family traditions and memories.

Our first attempt at cookie making was far from perfect and many cookies hit the trash that day. But I love that tradition isn't instant perfection but a refinement through the years - and that no matter how it turns out, the joy is in the making.

And, of course we got some really cute pics of Anna :) (Maddie decided to take a nap on this day).

Opa and Snow!

2010-12-07T07:24:00.004-05:00

Opa, Erik's dad, came to visit this weekend and we celebrated an early Christmas together. We had a nice family dinner, the girls opened presents and it even snowed!!

The girls dressed in their snowgear
(at least what we wear down here in the south :))

Anna was determined to catch the snow in her mouth.

Daddy and his girls. This picture was within an hour of the snow falling so nothing was staying on the ground; eventually the grass did get covered.

Disney: Animal Kingdom

2010-12-04T09:49:00.000-05:00

For Thanksgiving we decided to go to Animal Kingdom after hearing rumors of Thanksgiving being the busiest day of the year at most of the parks. The hotel staff predicted Magic Kingdom would close by 11am due to hitting maximum capacity. Thankfully we had made dinner reservations at Animal Kingdom's Tusker House a few months in advance for when we inquired about changing our dinner reservation, there was a not a reservation in all of Disney available!!

This was the first time I had ever been to Animal Kingdom and I must admit my expectations were a little low after hearing from some friends but it ended up being a highlight of the trip! We arrived shortly after the park opened (8am) and one of our family members rushed to the Safari to get a FastPass (a great addition to Disney parks that tells you a time to come back that cuts your wait time). The girls spotted some characters near the entrance so that was our first stop: Meeko (Pocahontas), Thumper (Bambi) and Flik (Bug's Life)

Then we went over to theKilimanjaro Safari which was so good we rode it twice. Big jeeps take people through a path where you get an upfront view of African animals including elephants, giraffes, hippos, rhinos, lions, and much much more.

A few other highlights of Animal Kingdom included

TriceratopSpin: A newer version of Dumbo at Magic Kingdom and a much smaller line :).

Festival of the Lion King: A indoor musical number which was fantastic. I'm partial to the music of the Lion King anyway, but it was colorful and well done.

Greeting Trail: At last we got to see Mickey and Goofy!! Minnie and Donald were there as well but the girls were done waiting in line.

Rafiki Planet Watch : We took a train ride out to Rafiki Planet Watch which was well worth it. They had an 'Affection Section' where the girls got to brush goats and sheep. There were other conservation related things to do but the girls were distracted by the characters of course. Rafiki (Lion King), Pocahontas, and Jimitny Cricket (Pinocchio)

Parade: Disney sure knows how to organize people for a parade with the use of tape. We found a nice spot behind the tape to sit and watch the Christmas Parade, he girls loved it!!

We probably could have spent another whole day at Animal Kingdom for there was much more to see.

Getting Ready for Christmas

2010-12-03T14:30:00.004-05:00

Yesterday Anna and I were hanging out in the family room where the stockings are hung and the tree is fully decorated and she exclaimed - "Mommy I can't wait for Christmas"! "Why is that", I asked already knowing the answer. Anna responded "We get to open our presents!"

I love that Anna is excited about presents, what little 4 year old isn't? But it was also a reminder of how much the world pushes that Christmas is about shopping and presents and how much harder I need to make sure that Anna knows that true meaning of Christmas. So here are a few resources I found online that I plan to incorporate into our December days.

Symbols of Christmas Minibook: A cute one-page printable that shows pictures of different things we see at Christmas time such as a wreath and tree and how we can relate them to God.

Christmas Wordwall Cards: These are similar to what I did last Christmas where everyday we will talk about a different word that relates to Christmas.

We also pulled out our Christmas books last night including God Gave Us Christmas, A is for Angel, Christmas in the Manger and Baby Jesus is Born

We will also be doing a Tub of Love through Raleigh Rescue Mission where we will be collecting items to be donated to the mission.

Disney: Magic Kingdom

2010-12-03T06:56:00.000-05:00

Day 2 we headed to Magic Kingdom where we arrived prior to the park opening and waited with the crowd. The park opening ceremony was great with Mickey and friends arriving by train. Upon entering we immediately raced for the Dumbo ride (we were following on of those tourist books with park plans some of which were titled 'Dumbo or Die' :). There was a line but the girls did awesome waiting to get on and after about 45 minutes we were aboard Dumbo the Flying Elephant.

Then we rode the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

followed by Mickey's PhilharMagic which proved tragic for Maddie. The PhilharMagic was a 4D movie with scenes from many of the older famous Disney movies but Maddie and Anna were both frightened of the things flying at them, water squirting and air blowing. Anna made it through in Oma's lap but Maddie cuddled as close as she could to me and whimpered, it was so sad. We then marked any 3D/4D movies off of our list.

Next we tried Peter Pan's Flight but Maddie was still a little skiddish and so she cried to get out of line and so she and Oma waited while the rest of us rode it. We then got Maddie to ride the Mad Tea Party and It's a Small World - she loved them both.

Later we went in Monsters Inc Laugh Lab which Maddie also had to exit - I think she had a fear of any dark place we took her after the PhilharMagic.

Next we found a spot to eat our packed lunch, explored Frontierland and Toontown but were soon worn out by all of the people. I must say at this point I was a little disappointed - it was hard to enjoy many of the sights because there were so many people EVERYWHERE and all of the rides had at least an hour wait. We headed back toward the front of the park to get some ice cream and discovered there was a castle show going on. The girls loved watched the show and got their first glance at Cinderella. In typical Disney fashion there was a scary witch (I think from Sleeping Beauty) that came out during the show which frightened the girls.

We then found a spot to watch the parade which the girls loved. All of the princesses were on floats and there was lots of music and dancing. I am glad we stayed to watch it.

We did return to Magic Kingdom one afternoon and decided to take it at a slower pace to take in our surroundings a little more.

This was our attempt at getting a family picture amongst all the craziness.

The lines were still long but we rode Dumbo one more time, the Prince Charmings Carousel, BuzzLight Year's Space Ranger Spin and I got to go on Space Mountain. We later heard from a lifeguard that Thanksgiving is the busies time of the year!!

Disney: Epcot

2010-12-02T07:24:00.002-05:00

On Day 1 we headed to Epcot while waiting for the rest of the family to arrive. It quickly became apparent to us that the girls LOVED the characters which was a surprise to me - I thought Maddie would be a little frightened just as she is with the Chikfila cow, but that was no so. The countries in Epcot were the perfect place to see the princesses and other characters. The park provides times that each character will be out to take pictures with and so we never had to wait long in line.

Sleeping Beauty and Belle in France

Alice, Pooh and Tigger, Mary Poppins in England (along with great Fish & Chips for lunch). Alice is Anna's favorite so she had to wear her own Alice shirt and bow :).

Jasmine in Morocco

Mulan in China

Snow White in Germany (we also ate at the Biergarden here which was a buffet of German foods along with a performance of German songs and instruments)

A few other favorites were Chip and Dale, which Maddie insisted on called squirrels, and Duffy the Disney bear, who is apparently Mickey's bear.

Rides/sites we enjoyed were:

The Seas with Nemo & Friends - in this ride you are sitting in a clam shell and go on a search for Nemo. Maddie was a little scared when a giant scorpion type thing started thrashing about in the dark. Because it is a continuously moving ride there was never a wait. We did it twice, the second time Maddie's body was trembling :(.

Journey into Imagination with Figment - Figment was one of my husbands favorite things as a kid and so that ride was a must. It was another inside continuously moving ride and Maddie was absolutely terrified when a puff of air blew at her (it was so powerful my glasses fell off my head!). There was a play area after the ride that the girls loved.

Living with the Land - this was a boat ride that explained some of the things scientists at Epcot are doing to help improve man's relationship with the land through food growing techniques.

Gran Fiesta Tour - another boat ride with the 3 Caballeros in Mexico.

Innoventions - there were 2 Innoventions areas which are a great balance of learning and play for the kids. We did a family game by Waste Management teaching about recycling, made a video game sponsored by IBM, made cute froggies out of Velcro, learned about saving money with a piggy bank game, and practiced making a family survival kit in case of a fire, flood, etc.

We had such a great time at Epcot that we decided to go back and spend another half day later in the week.

Disney: The Overview

2010-12-01T10:58:00.008-05:00

We spent this Thanksgiving at Disney with family and had a blast! Thanks to Oma, we were able to stay at the Villas at Disney's Wilderness Lodge Resort. The place was inspired by the national park lodges of the northwest and every attention to detail was made just as expected from Disney. There was even a geyser fashioned after Old Faithful that went off every hour.

For our week's stay we purchased a 5-day Park Hopper Pass which allowed us to visit multiple parks in a day including Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom. Being under 3, Maddie was still free.

When visiting the parks we would take the park buses or boat (to Magic Kingdom only) and the girls found this to be part of the fun as well. It was wonderful not having to drive home from the parks in traffic after a long day and also not to have to pay parking each day.

One piece of advice we had read before going was not to bring big strollers since they are hard to maneuver on park transportation and so we originally planned to rent a stroller there. A few days before the trip we decided to borrow a second single umbrella from a friend (thanks friends!!) which was a great decision. Having 2 singles made maneuvering through the park much easier than if we had a double, they were easy to handle on the park transportation and we didn't have to stand in line as the parks opened to get a rented stroller - PLUS renting a double stroller is $27-31 per day. Here are the girls in their cool strollers waiting for Magic Kingdom to open.

Pics and info from the parks to come...

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T06:57:00.000-05:00

(Ignore that they are in Christmas outfits :))

Family Photos

2010-11-18T08:02:00.001-05:00

Here are some of the pics from a recent photo shoot with Jessica Porter.

The girls loving on their daddy

A cool black and white family shot

Normally hand to mouth wouldn't make the best photo, but I think this captures Anna perfectly

Me and my love

And my joys

'Tis the Season for Entertaining

2010-11-15T13:21:00.005-05:00

Erik and I love opening our home to people - he is the entertainer who makes conversation easily; I am the planner who gets excited about serving dishes and punch recipes. It is a joy to us and not surprising that hospitality scores high on both of our spiritual gifts inventories. We have hit the season for entertaining and so it has been nice to read several articles and books lately that help me keep perspective on what is truly important about hospitality. One article I read on the Raising Homemakers blog urged me to "think about the difference in 'entertaining' guests and showing biblical hospitality". It went on to say:

Entertaining is all about the hostess–how perfect my house is, how nice the food is, how perfectly the setting, and on and on. Hospitality focuses on your guest–meeting his/her needs, drawing your guest out by listening and asking questions.

Entertaining obviously causes the hostess a great deal of stress in preparations, thereby making her guests feel stressed out too. Hospitality focuses on making your guest feel comfortable by having a welcoming spirit.

Entertaining must always be a planned event, whereas hospitality can happen very spontaneously, gasp, even with a messy house or unmade bed!

Likewise, in Max Lucado's book Outlive Your Life I was drawn to a chapter entitled Open Your Door; Open Your Heart. Lucado writes

Long before the church had pulpits and baptisteries, she had kitchens and dinner tables. "The believers met together in the Temple every day. They ate together in their homes, happy to share their food with joyful hearts" (Acts 2:46 NCV). "Every day in the Temple and in people's homes they continued teaching the people and telling the Good News - that Jesus is the Christ" (Acts 5:42 NCV).

And then continues

Hospitality opens the door to uncommon community. It's no accident that hospitality and hospital come from the same Latin word, for they both lead to the same result: healing. When you open your door to someone, you are sending this message: "You matter to me and to God". You may think you are saying, "Come over for a visit." But what your guest hears is, "I'm worth the effort".

This season of entertaining may I remember that it is about the guests, not the centerpieces; that it is about sharing God's love, not about sharing the finest culinary delights. May I commit all of my plans to the Lord and may those who enter my house know that they matter to me and they matter to God.

4 Year and 2.5 Year Appointments

2010-11-10T12:24:00.003-05:00

I have a sad Anna who had to get 5 shots today :( .

Anna -
Weight: 40 pounds
40.5 inches

Maddie -
Weight: 32.5 pounds
37.5 inches

Trust!

2010-11-08T21:06:00.001-05:00

I know I am always praising CBS (Community Bible Study) but I must say there is a lot to praise :). This past week both Anna and Maddie came home saying the Pledge of Allegiance and today Maddie started singing a new song for me. It was so cute we had to get it on video...

I trust in your word. Psalm 119:42. Trust!

Apparently they call Maddie "Happy Feet" at CBS because she is always dancing and singing. This girl loves music!

Happy Halloween

2010-10-31T22:12:00.002-04:00

from Alice in Wonderland

and the Busy Buzzy Bee

Sisters in Orange

2010-10-27T08:08:00.000-04:00

It really stood out to me in this picture how different Anna and Maddie look, even when you dress them alike :)

And more pumpkins

2010-10-26T07:42:00.001-04:00

Anna also picked pumpkins as the "theme" for her fourth birthday. Some of the pumpkin yummies - pumpkin roll, pumpkin dip and pumpkin decorated cupcakes. (As a side note, one of my crafty friends helped me make this flower arrangement out of clippings from her yard and a bouquet from the grocery store!)

Pumpkin shirts

Painting pumpkins - we used washable paints as well as these cute face stickers from Oriental Trading

The kids also kept busy making a fall scene with these cute sticker scenes also from Oriental Trading.

Pumpkins, Pumpkins, Pumpkins

2010-10-25T07:57:00.000-04:00

It is fall, nearing Halloween and so pumpkins are everywhere. We've been eating pumpkin muffins, pumpkin roll and of course been doing pumpkin crafts.
Here are a few of our favorite pumpkin things - -

Recipe:

Pumpkin Muffins
1 box spice cake
1 can pumpkin
1/4 cup water

Combine all ingredients and place in lined muffin pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 18 minutes.

Book:

The Pumpkin Patch Parable by Liz Curtis Higgs is a great book that goes through a simple version of a farmer growing a pumpkin and then carving it. During each part of the process, the author has included a scripture verse. I love how the pumpkin all carved with a candle inside is a symbol of how we should let our light shine before others. There are several sites that have materials to go along with the book including 1+1+1=1 and Creative Bible Study.

Crafts:

Gospel pumpkins

Marble Painted pumpkins

Happy 4th Birthday Anna!

2010-10-24T20:43:00.003-04:00

We had a wonderful weekend of celebration for my darling Anna Grace. It is hard to believe she is already 4. I have loved every minute of it!

Sing Yourself Silly

2010-10-14T08:19:00.000-04:00

Tuesday night we went to the Veggie Tales Live, Sing Yourself Silly and the girls LOVED it. This was the first time we have taken the girls to anything like this, including a movie theater but they did great. We arrived at the church early to get seats (and parking) and were delighted that they were showing clips of Veggie Tale movies which entertained the girls while waiting for the show to begin. The music started with the Veggie Tale theme song and here came Bob...

Ok, so I am not sure what I expected but he was huge! I guess I was thinking more along the lines of a person in a costume with hands and legs sticking out which doesn't make any sense considering they don't even have hands and feet! So Bob starts singing "If you like to talk to tomatoes..." and the sounds goes out. After several tries to start the show we at last made it all the way through.

The show itself was cute and they did a silly song countdown and so the girls knew most of the songs. Maddie enjoyed dancing in the aisle with the other kids. It was a long night for us with it ending at 9:00 and Anna asking to go home and go to bed. Both girls fell asleep on the way home in the car.

A Weekend Refresher

2010-10-13T15:02:00.003-04:00

This past weekend I had a wonderful opportunity to get away with some mom friends to Myrtle Beach. The weather was beautiful, we had nice dinners out and of course shopping at the outlets is always fun but what marked the weekend for me was not the surroundings, it was the conversations.

For 3 days we simply talked - we talked about our kids, our relationships with our husbands, our churches, our passions. We were real and open and I truly felt spurred on. Being surrounded by other moms who desire to grow their children up in the Lord was motivating and I gleaned many ideas that I too want to try with my girls.

I am so grateful to my wonderful husband who watched the girls for me to take such a weekend away. And I am thankful for wonderful mommy friends.

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. - Hebrews 10:24

Back to the NC Zoo

2010-10-11T15:50:00.000-04:00

Last Saturday was BEAUTIFUL and so we met another family at the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro to spend the day. It was a day full of walking since we started around 10:30 and finally sat down in the car around 4:30 - our longest trip yet to the zoo. Here are a few of my favorite pics:

Moses

2010-10-06T00:13:00.000-04:00

This week we are talking about Moses. We started out talking about Moses as a baby being put into a basket and then set in the river and did this cute craft using handprints for the reeds. I don't have a picture though because Anna decided that the handprints should go on the wall in her room rather than the paper :).

Then we colored pages about the plagues and the parting of the red sea that I found in the "Bible ABC's" section of Christian Preschool Printables (M for Moses and P for Plague).

This is the third fall that we have talked about Moses and there have been various times throughout the year that Anna and Maddie have been taught about Moses in Sunday School and Community Bible Study and so we have had LOTS of conversations about Moses. And you now what? I am learning too. As I read our bible story and prepare our crafts for the week, I am being spurred on in my relationship with Christ. I want to read the story we are talking about in my "mommy bible" too so that I can talk even more about what Anna is reading in her toddler bible. I want to hide God's word in my heart so that when the girls ask me a question I can give an answer or at least have an idea of where in the bible to find one. I desire for the girls to know God and to know what His Word says and it makes me want to know God better too.

My Home as a Haven

2010-09-30T15:30:00.004-04:00

I read an article on the Raising Homemakers blog last week entitled "Making Our Homes Havens" and I have been thinking through what I want our home as a "haven" to look like.

Just like the blog writer, I want my home to be "a place of rest, creating a home environment that welcomes a weary worker at the end of the day." I want Erik to come home and know he is wanted, he is appreciated and he is loved. I want him to come home and rest (and enjoy time with the girls!) knowing that the details of our home like having food for dinner and a shirt to wear tomorrow are taken care of.

I want my home to be a haven for Anna and Maddie. A place where they can express their ideas and desires and talents. I want them to know that our home is a place of shelter and that they are loved even when they are disciplined. I desire to be that mom that the girls run to for advice or prayer or just to talk.

I want my home to be a haven for friends, a safe place to talk and find comfort over a cup of coffee and God's word. A place where encouragement flows and "secrets" stay.

I desire for my home to be a haven, a place of safety and refuge.

Hershey, PA - Hershey Gardens

2010-09-29T20:47:00.002-04:00

On Saturday we decided to walk through the Hershey Gardens to get some fresh air and exercise after being in a car all day on Friday. The Hershey Gardens consists of 23 acres of beautiful roses, seasonal plants, trees, a small butterfly house (which was closed when we were there) and a children's garden.

Much of our time was spent in the Children's Garden where the girls followed a map through Hershey Kiss fountains and pretzel mazes to learn more about gardening.

Here are the girls taking a break during all the walking on these adorable "chairs".

The girls even got to leave with their own gardening tool. It was a beautiful day at Hershey Gardens.

Hershey, PA - Chocolate World

2010-09-27T14:19:00.002-04:00

This past weekend we drove up to Hershey, Pennsylvania to spend time with family. It would not be a trip to Hershey without a tour of Hershey's Chocolate World - we went twice :).

There are a few things at Chocolate World that you can pay to do such as make your own chocolate bar or watch a 3-D movie, we decided just to do the free things. First, the girls pretended they were factory workers and filled Hershey Kiss containers with Hershey Kisses off of an assembly belt.

Here are the girls doing a little dance with their Hershey Kiss containers before putting them on the assembly belt (to keep them you have to pay).

Then we went on the Chocolate Tour Ride which is a sit-down ride that takes you through a mock factory explaining the process of making chocolate. Anna enjoyed it, but Maddie was a little scared and insisted on holding my hands over her eyes the entire time.

After the ride, they give you a mini Hershey bar which the girls enjoyed. And then of course there is an entire gift shop and food court devoted to yummy chocolates. What is there not to love???

Take a Child Outside Week

2010-09-24T07:37:00.001-04:00

Today kicks-off the fourth annual Take a Child Outside Week which is a "program designed to help break down obstacles that keep children from discovering the natural world. By arming parents, teachers and other caregivers with resources on outdoor activities, our goal is to help children across the country develop a better understanding and appreciation of the environment in which they live, and a burgeoning enthusiasm for its exploration."

And of course, what could be better than taking your children outside and telling them of God's creation!

Here are a few of the local resources/activities to spur ideas on things to do outside:

List of nature programs going on in Raleigh this week.

Activities you can do in your backyard.

List of City of Raleigh playgrounds.

J is for Joseph

2010-09-23T09:55:00.000-04:00

Here is Anna sitting in front of her craft wall one morning. We now probably need to take everything down and start afresh or else soon our entire kitchen will be filled with crafts.

We are going out of alphabetical order a little bit since we were reading the story of Joseph and his brothers (we'll come back to D with Daniel) - it was just easier this way. I found two cute printable activities to make Joseph a colorful coat.

The first was on Christian Crafts and involved the girls glueing tissue paper into a square and then laying another sheet of paper on top, simple!

The second activity was a little more complicated and I let daddy do that with them on Saturday morning. It involved cutting out pieces of Josephs coat and pasting them on a sheet of paper to make the passage from Genesis 37:3, so it was a little advanced for the girls but they still enjoyed using their glue sticks.

C is for Caterpillar

2010-09-09T08:40:00.005-04:00

I could just as easily say C is for neverending crafts. Anna continues to love to do crafts and when I'm not keeping up she comes up with crafts of her own. Yesterday I received a piece of paper that had notebook paper balled up and glued to it. Today during her quiet time I walked in to ask her a question and she told me her little people were pretending to make crafts. I'm guessing tonight she is even dreaming of crafts :).

We made these caterpillars out of cardboard and pompom balls and the girls especially enjoyed using the glue.

We are reviewing one of our memory verses to go with it, 2 Corinthians 5:17 - Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation.

Our bible story for this week is about Abraham and Sarah and we are doing these cute little coloring pages from Raising Rockstars

Ocean Isle Beach

2010-09-08T12:48:00.005-04:00

What do you get when you put 10 adults and 8 kids under the age of 3 in a house for 4 nights? A little bit of craziness, but a whole lot of fun. We had the privilege of spending Labor Day weekend with some good friends at Ocean Isle Beach. We were a little worried about the arrival of Hurricane Earl to the NC coast, but the weather was actually perfect.

We rented a house two blocks from the ocean on one of the canals at Ocean Isle Beach. It was a great location that allowed us to walk almost everywhere.

We had a little dock that made a great place for morning coffee and launching the kayaks

The kids also enjoyed splashing around in the pool.

The Museum of Coastal Carolina was practically in our backyard so we also spent a morning there. The museum itself was very small and a little pricey but it was a perfect indoor spot for the kids with lots of hands-on activities. Friday night there was also live music in the parking lot of the museum which we enjoyed up until the swingset accident.

And of course there was the beach. For some reason I never had my camera during our day trips to the beach but here is one when Anna and Erik were out collecting shells at sunset.

Despite the accident, it was a wonderful trip and lots of memories were made.

Accidents Happen

2010-09-07T15:38:00.004-04:00

We spent the holiday weekend at Ocean Isle Beach (which I will share more about in a later post) with some fabulous friends. While on the trip we had our first family trip to the urgent care. On Friday night Anna was swinging on the swingset of the place we were staying and flipped out, landing forehead first onto a piece of wood holding in the sand for the play area. A policeman directed us toward the urgent care in the neighboring town and thankfully we made it there 10 minutes before they closed.

I am not so good with injuries, in fact, I get a little woozy myself but Anna was so brave. Her forehead was cracked down to the skull and so she got a little scared when they tried to numb the area but through the stitches she closed her eyes and didn't make a sound. The nurse made her a balloon out of a rubber glove which made her smile and all the nurses commented that she was one of their best patients.

As Anna hopped down from the table after the stitches were done she said "I've had a great day!". Her comment was totally God reassuring Erik and I; it was what our hearts needed to hear. The whole way home we told Anna how proud we were of her and she smiled so big. She even requested to go back and see that doctor again. I am constantly amazed at the heart of my sweet Anna.

Storybook Cottage

2010-09-06T17:00:00.000-04:00

I am really excited about our first Craig's List purchase, this Storybook Cottage from Step2. I had been eyeing this playhouse for awhile but the price tag on it new was discouraging. What I really like about this house is that it is taller than most of the other houses at 56.25 inches tall. Inside there is a little table (after posting this I realized we put the side of the house with the table on backwards, so now the table is on the inside :)) and a little play kitchen. There is also a little "doggie door" that Cassie uses from time to time. I am hoping this will be a big hit this fall so that we can spend some more time outdoors.

B is for Boat

2010-09-01T08:41:00.000-04:00

As soon as we finished our 'A' craft last week Anna was asking me to move on to 'B', so here we are. This week's bible story is about Noah and so we built a boat/ark out of the letter 'B' (you have to imagine it laying on it's humps).

Our memory verse has been to review Joshua 1:8 - Be strong and brave for God is with you.

And we also colored a fun Noah's Ark picture from here and found some fun Ark activities at Christian Preschool Printables.

Chore Chart

2010-08-31T20:07:00.001-04:00

A few nights ago Anna and I were reading God's Wisdom for Little Girls and there was a page on being diligent. The little girl in the picture had a chore chart and Anna noticed it and asked what it was. I remembered the chore chart I had been working on for her was in the next room so I ran and got it and introduced Anna to her chore chart. We finished reading, said our prayers and went to bed.

The next morning I woke up to "Mommy, come see I made my bed". We went downstairs and Anna immediately went to feed our dog. We came back upstairs and Anna asked if she could brush her teeth; she was working her way through the chart quite diligently.

Here's Anna with her chore chart (she had added a few of her bible memory cards in as well). The chart itself is something I found in the $1 bin at Target and the cards I simply made with clipart, printed out and laminated.

The items on Anna's chart include basic things such as make her bed, clean up her room, brush her teeth, say her memory verses - - so not necessarily "chores" for now but I think this chart will be good for our daily routine.

Riding Horses

2010-08-29T21:37:00.002-04:00

Over the weekend Anna went to a birthday party at J&H Stables and rode a HUGE horse. I have to admit I was nervous as Anna was put on top of the horse and was told to hold on as they led the horse down the path but Anna had a wonderful time.

Here's Anna brushing Ernie before his saddle was put on:

And Anna riding Ernie:

Anna is ready to go back and ride again!

What's in the Bible

2010-08-28T08:15:00.004-04:00

Our bible story to go along with our 'A' lessons has been Adam and Eve. There were some great crafts to go along with the lesson on Lapbook Lessons that include everything from writing sheets to finger puppets. I also decided to introduce the girls to the first of the new Phil Vischer (creator of Veggie Tales) video What's in the Bible.

I had assumed the first DVD was mainly about creation and Adam and Eve but I was happily surprised that this first DVD focused on "What is the Bible" and "Who wrote the Bible" as well as had a brief summary of the first 11 chapters of Genesis. In this first video Phil Vischer is the narrator and he and his puppet friends use their witty humor to teach the kids about the bible. There is lots of teaching about church history "from Jesus to Billy Graham" and even talks about the Apocrypha (books that can be found in some catholic bibles but not in the protestant bible) which I did not even hear about until college. Vischer attempts to explain why some Christians believe the earth is 6,000 years old and some believe it is billions of years old and how that answer doesn't matter as much as the fact that God created the earth. With concepts such as these, I thought for sure the girls were going to lose interest but when it was over Anna said "I love the bible!".

There was one section of the video that made me cringe. To navigate from the first section of the video to the second, they use a little boy who is riding in the car with his mom. I find his comments to his mom very belittling - he even tells her the DVD doesn't go into the air conditioning vent, it goes in the slot marked DVD. I thought in these few minute the humor went over on the rude side and I certainly didn't want my 2 and 3 year old picking up any ideas.

Everything else about the video I enjoyed. I want Erik to take a look at it to see if there's anything else he doesn't like about it and then hopefully we'll be able to watch the second one, "Let My People Go", as we talk about Moses in a few weeks.

A is for Apple

2010-08-23T22:28:00.003-04:00

It's time to start the alphabet again and hopefully this year make it past 'N'. The girls have a good grasp of the letters and their sounds thanks to LeapFrog but I thought going through the alphabet would be an easy way to plan crafts and lessons. So here we start with A.

Our theme for 'A' has been apples. Here the girls are making their apple craft that I found on the fabulous Totally Tots website.

In preparation for our field trip we read through the book How do Apples Grow by Betsy Maestro. This book is very detailed and a little advanced for Anna and Maddie but we still enjoyed looking at the pictures and seeing how an apple tree grows. On Saturday we went to our friend's house to pick apples. Mr. Scott would shake the tree and the girls would gather the apple off the ground into their baskets.

Tomorrow we will be talking about apples in the context of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden with some resources from Lapbook Lessons.

Sense of Style

2010-08-17T11:33:00.002-04:00

Anna has never been overly opinionated about the clothes I put her in but lately she has been very opinionated about which shoes to wear. This is what she calls "mix matched feet". She never wants to wear watching shoes anymore!

Maddie wanted to share her cool sense of style too. Here she is sporting her shades and silly bands (all of them!)

My Sound Box

2010-08-17T08:08:00.005-04:00

Everytime we go to the library to check out books the girls run to the section with the Sound Box books by Jane Belk Moncure. I first starting using these books with the girls last fall when we were working our way through learning the alphabet and we have since checked out each letter book multiple times. The concept is simple - the child in the story (Little A, Little B, etc) finds items that begin with their letter and put them into their sound box.

Last night when I came home from my aerobics class I found pictures of the girls making their own sound boxes. Anna had an 'a' sound box and guess what she put into her box, herself!

Sweetpea Beauty

2010-08-11T14:03:00.003-04:00

The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart - 1 Samuel 16:7

My girls, just as most 2 and 3 year old girls, are into princess stuff. Princess movies, princess dolls, princess dress-up clothes, etc. and sometimes I wonder what message they are taking away. My girls may be a little young to notice but as a mom I'm very aware of the messages of the world that you have to be pretty and thin and popular to "be somebody".

VeggieTales recently released a movie Sweetpea Beauty which does a great job explaining that it is what is on the inside of one's heart that matters, not their outward beauty. It is a takeoff of many of the well-known princess movies so it is entertaining as well.

I pray that I can teach my girls that they are beautiful and perfect just as God made them. I want them to know where their true beauty lies.

Here is the song by Nicole Nordeman that was recorded for the movie. The chorus is a reminder of how God sees us. It says:

Has anybody told you you’re beautiful?
You might agree if you could see what I see
Oh
‘Cuz everything about you is incredible
You should have seen me smile the day that I made you beautiful for me

MOPS 2010

2010-08-09T08:13:00.004-04:00

This past weekend I spent some time at a planning retreat for our local MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group. This is my first year in the "inner circle" and with that has come new information and a new perspective. Stories of moms who were sitting at home riddled with depression and came to MOPS and found new friends and hope. Moms who felt a longing in their hearts for something more and came and responded to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Moms who just wanted to know they were not alone on this motherhood journey.

I first started attending MOPS after Maddie was born and I was desperate to find other moms who desired to raise their kids in a way that pleased God... and to get out of the house. For that first year I just soaked everything in - the speakers and most importantly the fellowship with other moms. It has been a wonderful, encouraging experience for me and so I urge every mom-of-a-preschooler to come check it out. Feel free to leave me a comment or check out our local MOPS website for more information. I hope to see you on September 14th!

Writing

2010-08-02T07:39:00.002-04:00

Anna's favorite thing to do these days is to write letters and make cards for her friends. While she can write many letters well, there are a few that give her problems and usually end up in a meltdown. So I've gotten a few resources to help her work on her writing skills.

First I made laminated writing practice cards that I printed off of the Confessions of the Homeschooler blog. Anna enjoys tracing over the letters on the card with a dry erase marker (I prefer the washable ones since the marker inevitably ends up on clothing).

Then I saw a Leapfrog toy on another friends blog that looked like fun. It is the Leapfrog Scribble and Write. The toy displays shapes, upper and lower case letters in red lights and the child then traces over the shape. I especially like that it tells the child where to start writing the letter and then where to put the pen next. We bought this for Anna but we have found that Maddie loves it as well and the only problem for us is that we only have one :).

Friday Tradition

2010-07-30T13:32:00.003-04:00

It's the little things.... I tend to think big when I think of family traditions. Some ideas come and I quickly let them leave thinking of all the work that would need to be done to "keep up" the tradition. But yet there are other "things" that just simply start and morph into a tradition of their own. For our family, Friday lunches is one of those.

I am not exactly sure when it started but from as long as I can remember Erik has worked at home most Fridays. He has a little desk in our guest bedroom and so he can close himself off from the chaos of squealing girls and sisterly fights and actually get some work done. And then around 11:30 he emerges and screams LUNCHTIME and off we go. Lunch out on Fridays with Erik is one of the highlights for the girls and myself -it is usually the first meal eaten out since the previous weekend and it is just fun. We rarely venture past the three restaurants at the front of our neighborhood and so the people know us well and we have "our" table. Uncle John joins us often and so it is also time to catch up with our friend.

Friday Lunch is our little family tradition.

Playing Games

2010-07-30T13:23:00.000-04:00

As I've mentioned before, we are a game playing family. Anna likes to play games before going to bed, Erik and I enjoy playing games with friends and now Maddie is getting old enough to participate as well. Game playing teaches the girls to take turns and I feel has lengthened their attention span (it can take forever to match all the Memory cards!). Here are a few of our favorites -

Family games-

- Snail's Pace Race: works on color skills; you work together to get a snail to the finish line, no one person wins
- Colorama: works on matching, colors and shapes
- Chutes and Ladders: Anna has a hard time following the board and Maddie is not quite ready for this game yet
- Candyland: works on colors and matching
- Leapfrog Go Fish: works on matching and alphabet skills
- Memory: matching and memorization; both of the girls are really good at this

Hubby and my favs- (Erik and I tend to go for "serious" games, so they may not be enjoyed by everyone :))

- Carcassonne: the Castle
- Catan Card Game
- Scrabble
- Sequence

Group games-

- Why did the chicken: hilarious
- For Sale: bidding game
- Pickomino: easy to learn dice rolling game
- Don't Cook a Pooping Chicken: a group favorite, we enjoyed it so much we gave it a new name which actually made it online; all you need is paper and pen

Joyful Noise

2010-07-21T14:37:00.003-04:00

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise." Psalms 98:4
My girls love music, especially Maddie. For the past 2 weeks we have enjoyed going to "music class", also known as Musical Munchkins whose purpose is to "Offer a structured, Christian environment for children between the ages of 0-5 to create joyful noise through music and movement. " How perfect!

Maddie joined right in with the group and preferred to sit with the teacher while Anna quietly observed from my lap in between activities. The girls sang songs, played with drumsticks, shook bean bags, bells, played musical instruments and danced all around with ribbons. There was even a story and coloring page.

It makes me smile to see the girls having so much fun!

Kids Exchange

2010-07-14T12:57:00.003-04:00

I would not be a very good Raleigh Mom if I did not mention the Kids Exchange that is taking place this week at the NC State Fair Grounds. The website covers everything in full detail and it can get rather complicated but the idea is that people drop off their slightly used kids items tagged with prices and then others come in and buy the items. What a fabulous idea!

Last year was my first year selling at the Kids Exchange and when I went to drop off my items I was in shock. It is hard to explain the scale of this sale. Racks and tables, very well organized by item and size were overflowing with items like I had never seen.

For some Kids Exchange is a huge source of income for them, shopping yard sales and tagging hundreds of items to bring in some extra money for their family. For others, it is the place they go to buy their kids entire wardrobe for the upcoming season at a great price. For me, it is a great opportunity to purge and clean out my girls closets to make a little extra money - the money from this sale is going to be used to buy some organization stuff for Maddie's closet :).

Colors

2010-07-12T07:37:00.001-04:00

For the past few months Erik, Anna and I have been working with Maddie on her colors and at last she has learned them! A few fabulous resources that have helped:

Color Matching cards from

A variation on the Color puzzles from

Color Matching games from File Folder Fun

And the most fun learning tool, playing I Spy. We've been playing I Spy as we walked around the neighborhood at night and Maddie really caught on. We now play in the car or whenever we need a distratction.

More July 4th Weekend Fun

2010-07-08T07:38:00.003-04:00

Our weekend was full of two fabulous things - friends and food! Besides the fun time with Mimi picking blueberries we also enjoyed some cookout and swim time with great friends. Here are a few of my favorite pics from the weekend:

Watermelon

Staying cool in the pool

And the sprinkler

And just being cool (check out those shades!)

We did not make it to any of the firework shows this year but opted to watch them on TV :-)

Millbrook Exchange Spraygrounds

2010-07-07T09:24:00.005-04:00

I am a planner and I like to be prepared for everything - it keeps my anxiety at bay :-). Unfortunately it makes me hesitant to try out new activities with the kids by myself so its nice to have friends who explore Raleigh and know the coolest things to do. Today we met some friends at the Millbrook Exchange Pool which has a wading pool and sprayground that opens in the summer. I had heard lots of positive reviews on the place by friends but surprisingly I found very little information online about it. Due to swimming lessons taking place in the lap pool we did not get a chance to swim in there but here's some info about the wading pool and sprayground we visited.

Location: 1905 Spring Forest Rd, Raleigh; it is located in the Millbrook Exchange Park that also has baseball fields, basketball courts, off-leash dog park, tennis center, playground and probably a few other things I've missed.

Hours: The wading pool and spraygrounds are seasonal but during the summer they are open:
M-F 9am to 8pm
Sat 10am to 8pm
Sun 1pm to 6pm

Price: The price for admission at all of the City of Raleigh aquatic centers is the same. Residents pay $1.00 for those age 1-12, $3.00 for ages 13-54 and $2.00 for ages 55 and up. They accept cash, check and credit cards.

Wading Pool: The pool ranges in depth from 10 inches to 18 inches of water which makes it perfect for little ones. The pool was easy for my girls to get in and out of and the entire area was fenced in. I felt at ease as a parent knowing that my children were not going to go too deep and not be able to touch, were not going to get out of the fenced in area and that there was a lifeguard on duty. Inside of the wading pool area there were limited chairs and no tables - this was fine for us since it was HOT and I wanted to sit along the edge of the pool; there is also no food or drink permitted in the area.

Sprayground: As I've recently learned, Maddie is not a big fan of sprinklers and so as we entered this area she held onto me for dear life. The sprayground area has its own fencing and has areas where water comes shooting up from the ground, water cannons, buckets that dump water and other "sprays". The area was large enough that you could avoid getting wet if you weren't in the mood. I stayed close to the water to keep my feet from burning on the concrete, next time I'll wear shoes!

Overall it was fun but I think the heat did us in and prevented us from having a fabulous experience (high of 103 today!).

Blueberries

2010-07-06T15:12:00.002-04:00

On Saturday we met my mom at Herndon Hills Farms to pick blueberries and blackberries. The farm had several varieties of blueberries and all of the bushes were tall enough that you didn't have to bend over (for some reason I had envisioned the bushes being much lower to the ground). Both of the girls were fabulous at only picking the dark berries and in half an hour we had a pound and a half. The blueberries are delicious and at $2.75/pound, definitely worth the time spent. Most of the blackberries had already been picked when we got there so we only left with a few.

Beach Trip to Nags Head

2010-06-28T15:21:00.000-04:00

We just returned from a wonderful family vacation to Nags Head with my family. As I wrote back in 2008, our family has vacationed every summer in Virginia Beach since my dad was little and so this was a big change for us. As sad as it is to take a break in a tradition, it was exciting to explore somewhere new and most importantly be together.

Food is key to us for having a good vacation. We enjoy meals out as a family but with all the little ones, we also enjoy good takeout. You can also count on my dad firing up the charcoal grill every year for steak night. A few of our favorite spots included: Basnights Lone Cedar Cafe, Mama Kwans for fish tacos, Austin's Seafood Market for takout, Black Pelican, American Pie for ice cream, Duck Donut for made to order donuts and Front Porch Cafe for that afternoon iced coffee pick-me-up.

Maddie with her sprinkle donut from Duck Donuts

There were so many things to explore in the Outer Banks but a few things we did this trip included

Driving out on the beach early in Corolla in search of wild horses. We did see one before having to turn around due to the Pilot not being overly equipped for the sand.

Visiting the Currituck Beach Lighthouse and Wildlife Museum. For some reason I thought all the NC lighthouses were black and white so I had prepared Anna for something different than the red brick lighthouse but it was still really cool.

Visiting the NC Aquarium in Manteo. The aquarium was a little smaller than I had thought but it turned out to be the perfect size considering the kids were 3 yrs, 2 yrs, 1 yr and then a 6 week old :). It was shark Thursday so Anna got to make a shark hand puppet, got a shark tattoo and was given a sharks tooth. The highlight to Anna was seeing the Otters!

And of course we spent time on the beach.

It was a wonderful vacation!!