Pre-school Homeschool begins

   Last week was so very busy. Monday was labor day and Shea was home. Tuesday we spent the day playing outside and did a little science experiment with baking soda, food coloring and vinegar. Wednesday we started home school officially and I quickly learned how much information and how long my little monkey's attention span is now. I pull from the website ABCJesuslovesme.com. I really enjoy using the ideas from their site because it has curriculum geared towards 2 to 5 year old children. Since my boys fall with in that age range, it focus on using scripture, and is free, its the perfect place for me to start as I learn to school my boys. Thursday we had an appointment with WIC. My boys stayed with a friend in the afternoon while I went to the OB. So school did not happen on Thursday. Friday we did what we could, but it was not as much as I wanted to make up for missing Thursday's lessons. We went to the library, ran a few other errands, took care of the bills, and did the laundry I would have done on Thursday (Mondays and Thursdays have become my designated laundry days, and I make it appoint to finish it from start to end. So far this technique is working better with our lifestyle than trying to do a load everyday, or just one day). We did get a lot of the school work done on Friday, even with all the other stuff going on. I pretty much hit the ground running Friday. I proved to myself that I can care for an infant and a household with out killing myself.

   Now we are in our second week of home school. I know you maybe thinking, what is the big deal? It's just preschool. It IS a big deal for me because it is a time to train myself how to work with a curriculum, how to schedule our day, and learn more about home school. I figured if I miss something, or make a mistake, it is not the end of the world, because the lesson plans ultimately take up one hour total of the day and can be added to another day easily. We began our day in prayer and in God's word. I have been trying to put this in our day for a long time, and today went really well. It has put a peace on the household and guided our day in a very positive way.
  
   In other news, Zeph has been scooting on his belly. He can push himself by putting his head on the floor and pushing his body with just his legs. He is only 5 months old and is trying to crawl. Jo is talking with more and more clarity. Mo is becoming quite the leader and I do not have him to as much because he knows the routine. So if I say it is bed time, he knows to pick up his toys, get his jammys on and brush his teeth. It is bitter sweet they are all growing so much. I am so blessed to be apart of their journey.

MK1615 / family vacation

Tuesday July 31st, 2012 we returned from our trip to Texas. We left on Thursday July 19th and drove 20 hours straight till we ended at Oma's house in Arlington. Shea and I took 5 hour shifts, rotating turns and only stopped a few times for gas, food or potty breaks. Just a couple hours before we finished packing the van for the trip, our kitchen faucet, only a year old, started to leak and break. Woo. We turned the water main off just in case and said that we would deal with it when we return. Devil tried to distract us, take our money for the trip, but we just punched him in the throat and went to Texas. Going to Texas was a big deal. It had been 15 months since I had been back, and I had not seen my in laws or my sister since I left. Also, our home church was holding it's yearly conference and we knew that we needed to go to that and get refreshed and renewed for the work at hand here in Detroit. We had grown weary and shrunk back. So the distraction of the kitchen faucet was just that, a distraction.

My brother and sister in law live in LA, and they were planning a trip to Texas for the conference as well. No sooner did they have their tickets booked, their car suddenly needed repair. Again, distraction from the enemy trying to keep us away from what God is doing in Texas and us taking it home.

The kids had a hard time settling into the car for sleep and were very excited to go to Oma's house. Since they are still small, it was hard for them to understand that Oma was not just down the street any more. Mo keep saying, "I want to be at Oma's house in Texas." He said it often and at every stop, it was the equivalent of "are we there yet?" Zeph did great, and slept the whole night. I had bottles prepared and my breast pump, so either one of us could feed him and we could keep driving. I had the third shift, 12 am to 5 am driving. After the first 30 minutes, Shea was asleep and I was starting to fade. Then it started to rain. Then we were in the hills of Kentucky. Then there was construction that kept you in a single lane and no shoulder. The rain came down so hard I could barely see ten feet in front of me, but there was no where to pull over. I had to keep driving. For four hours I had to keep driving this way. I was wide awake the whole time, mostly from the adrenaline of the circumstance.
I had made sandwiches and zucchini bread for the trip. Plus we bought yogurt, bananas, trail mixes, and a couple gallons of water to fill sippy cups. In the morning we stopped at a rest area for breakfast and another rest area for lunch. By lunch time we were in Texas and by 4 pm we were unpacked and relaxing on Oma's couch. Through the night with three little ones was definitely the way to go to Texas. We had dinner at Oma's house and then met up with my parents, sister and cousin Danny for frozen yogurt. We did not get to stay long because Zeph had a poopy diaper that Shea did not notice till Zeph was really squirmy. He tried to hand Zeph to me, but I saw the poo trail up his back, seeping through his white onesie. I did not bring extra clothes, so we changed him and just left.
The next day was Saturday and we made plans to hang out with my parents, especially since it was the one of the few days that they were available while we were in town. Papa wanted to get some fresh fruit from a peach orchard he stumbled upon, and so we came with him. We had yummy hamburgers and hot dogs as big as the baby.  It was busy, and after tasting the peaches, I knew why it was full of people. We picked up a half bushel for Oma and shared the most delicious peach soft serve. Then we went to the boat show in Dallas. Papa loves going to these kind of things, and took Jo last year. It was a little chaotic at first with the boys running around trying out each boat, but we were able to real them in (pun intended) and we all had fun. The best part of the time there was the kids bumper boat rides. Mo went first but quickly decided that he was not comfortable surrounded by water and wanted out. He was so distraught by the water that he did not steer his boat but just let it go in circles. I was laughing, a lot. It was really cute and sad. So we helped him out and asked the worker if Jo could finish out Mo's turn. He accepted and Jo was a pro in the boat. He steered that thing like he had been driving his whole life.  I was impressed. Then we had dinner at Oma's house. Salmon with shrimp, stir fry vegetables, quinoa, and salad. She made so much salmon that there was left overs for days and she kept trying to sell us all on eating it, but no one was biting. Ha, get it. Okay enough with the fishy puns.
Sunday we enjoyed the company of fellow DBC (deliverance bible church) church planters, Pastor Clay and Mari Warren. They pastor DBC Dallas along with my dear friend Michelle and her husband Timmy. It was so nice to talk with them and see how they run their service as they are in a transition stage. We stayed a few hours after the service to chat. Michelle has a little girl about the same age as Zeph and so we shared birthing stories. Mari's home is very well styled but still very welcoming. We spent a good amount of time getting to know each other more. Her best friend, Amber, lives in Michigan, and Mari is from Michigan too.

Monday, I met up with a couple of girlfriends and their kids for a play date lunch. One of the ladies just had her little boy only a month prior, so I was very proud of her to get out of the house and hang out with us. The other friend has two boys, one only a month older than Jo. It was great to laugh and talk with them. At one point, while in the mall play area, a little girl came up to me and Zeph, said "baby!" and proceeded to slap Zeph on the belly! I brushed her hand away and said sweetly to not do that, and before the words finished coming out of my mouth she grabbed my phone and started to walk away. Fortunately, I have cat like reflexes and grabbed it from her before she was very far. Then while I was in the bathroom, she came and drank my drink. She was rowdy to say the least. That night we went to another friend's house for dinner and a tattoo. My new ink, Romans 6:11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 

Tuesday, we hung around the house, did some laundry and watched some TV. Then we stole Mikalah, Shea's little sister, and went to bible study at DBC Hurst. I loved that we got a few extra hours with the people of DBC Hurst before the conference that weekend. The message was awesome. DBC Spokane was there, represented by Pastor Mike and Jewel Holmesmith.

Wednesday, we met up with my sister, Sarah, at the Dallas World Aquarium. It was Shea, Oma, Mikalah, Mo, Jo, Zeph, Sarah, and me. We slowly made our way through the aquarium. Mo wanted to see every little detail, Jo was excited and pulled Sarah every where, while I just strolled around with my camera. Because of the extra adults, Shea and I got to enjoy the aquarium too. We had a very late lunch there, and I was so proud of my little guys holding up so well even though they were hungry and tired. Dinner that night was relaxed and leftovers. Dylan and Carrah with their little boy, Aeden, arrived into town and were waiting at the house when we got home from the aquarium. Aeden was so cute doing a little dance for each person and saying their name. He expressed what we all were feeling, joy, in abundance to be reunited with family after so many months. 


Thursday, we had made big plans to do all kinds of things as one big O'Riley family, but classic O'Riley, everything planned was thrown out. It took Oma four hours to get ready for the day because she kept getting distracted by us being there and talking. In the end we were all happy that all we did was talk and hang out, because that was all we really wanted to do anyway. I had plans for dinner with my parents, not knowing that they had a prior engagement. So we ate and they left rather quickly, we were only gone from Oma's house for exactly one hour. I was disappointed because I wanted more time and if I had known they did not have that time, then I would of pushed for Wednesday night dinner. I was so excited to see Carrah, Aeden and Dylan, I had my parents dinner plans changed. At least I did get to see them even though it was very short. 


Friday, was the pastor's wives breakfast meeting, where we were rebuked, encouraged and downloaded with wisdom from our spiritual momma, Lady Nicole Adrian. We also had a short time of fellowship. It was so awesome to see all the ladies of DBC. One gentlemen stopped Carrah on her away to get her coffee to ask why we were meeting. He said he was in town to speak at another conference going on. We were kind of a sight to see. There was blue, purple, orange, pink and black hair, and tattoos on a group of 30 somethings that were praising Jesus. That night Shea and I moved into a hotel room leaving Mo and Jo at Oma's house, then we went to the first night of MK1615 conference. How I missed DBC Hurst worship. Holy Spirit is so free to move in that house. I also realized how hungry I was for Jesus that night. The word was awesome and I look forward to getting the recording since I missed the very end because I had Zeph in the nursery and another baby was crying. By the end of the night we were already feeling refreshed and refilled but also exhausted from the day. 

The next morning we met up with the DBC Dallas pastors for breakfast and fellowship. Then back to the hotel to rest, and I napped with Zeph. It was so quiet with only one baby. We grabbed lunch on the run and back to DBC Hurst for the after noon session. Again, awesome worship, awesome word. Then to a group dinner at Dickey's BBQ for DBC pastors and guest. More food and fellowship. We still had a few hours before the evening session and the pastors meeting. So Shea and I went back to the hotel, more rest and quiet, then to the church for a quick meeting just for pastors and then the night time session. More awesome worship, more amazing word from the Lord. Straight to bed afterwards, and we all slept very hard.




Sunday morning, we packed and checked out of the hotel, and headed to Oma's house to pick up our other babies. They were very happy to see us, which is always a joy. We had brunch and got the kids ready for church. At the church, my parents were there waiting for us, because we were going to dedicate Zeph to the Lord during service. Just before worship began, Lady Nicole called us up onto stage, and Pastor Cleetus and Nicole prayed for us and Zeph. Then we were presented with a certificate and a bible with his name on it. I love my pastors, and it was a very special moment. Zeph looked at Pastor Cleetus as he spoke with such awe, and Cleetus honored Oma and my parents for giving up generations, literally, for the gospel's sake. Moments like those make me realize what a big deal it is that we are in Detroit planting a church and raising up fiery, prophetic, preachers of the Gospel, not only in our church but in our home too. I was a weeping mess. It was awesome.


That night after everyone went to bed, Shea, Dylan, Carrah and I went on an adventure. We went to see a late night movie and came home at 2:30 am. It was fun, but probably would not do it again. 


Monday morning, I slept in with Zeph by my side, while the kids played with their cousin and Oma. We slowly packed, did laundry and loaded the van. My parents and my in laws piled a few more things they thought the kids needed in the car too. Surprisingly it did not over flow. Then we ate dinner and hit the road. The kids and I were asleep by 10 pm and then I was up and driving at midnight. This time no storms, but I did have Holy Spirit to keep me up and math. Yep, I did math in my head to keep me awake the last hour, nerd. 


Tuesday we stopped in Ohio for late lunch, early dinner and the lady at the check out was a new convert to Christianity. We had a good little talk and I prayed for her. It was awesome to get to spread some of the fire I received in Texas so soon. Shea drove the rest of the way home, but somehow got lost in Detroit. I was asleep, so I do not know what happened, but we were in Detroit in an area not close to home. Eventually we found our way back to the highway, and home. It was still standing, with all our stuff intact. Now we have been challenged and changed by what we heard in Texas. It is not time to shrink back, but to push forward with the vision for Detroit.

MeMaw and PaPa visit 4 of 5

Ok, Lets see if I can finally finish this series of my parents visit. Tuesday, May 15, 2012 my parents, Shea, my boys and I went to Greenfield Village. We decided to go on a separate day from when we went to the Ford Museum because we knew that we would miss most of both places if we tried to squeeze it all into one day. We left a little later than we wanted. The kids were sleeping in because we had worn them out doing so much for three days straight. After paying the entrance fee and buying a all day ride pass, I suggested that my dad, Shea, Mo and Jo go to the farm area so the kids could look at the animals while my mom and I went to the crafts area to enjoy the artistry of old techniques. Then men folk met up with us about half an hour later and headed for the restaurant. After lunch we stopped at the carousel where everyone but MeMaw rode around and around. Even little Zeph and I found a suitable seat for the ride.  It was a very cool carousel made 99 years ago!

Then we went on a hunt for the model T rides. As we were waiting in line, MeMaw became very excited at one of the cars pulling into the loading area. The car had a wooden frame and that was the one she was hoping to get. It worked out that she got to ride in the one she wanted, but there was not enough room for our whole group. My dad, baby Zeph and I rode in a separate car that was a black convertible. It was very cool.  Even though it does not sound like we did very much thus far, time was passing quickly. We looked into a few of the old houses but my dad did not want to leave that day with out seeing Edison's lab.
We came to the conclusion that riding the train all the way to the back of the park and walking to the lab would be the fastest route. Mo was over joyed at this choice, but Jo had his doubts. Jo did not like the sound of the train. Too loud and big for his taste. He did get on the train with out any tears, but stayed in Shea's lap for half the trip. Then he was brave enough to sit next to daddy. I was so proud that he was conquering the fear of the train.

The whole day, if Jo was near the train when it whistled or blew steam, he would run to Shea or my dad and wanted to be picked up.  After riding it he was not as afraid. Through out the day we would stop so I could nurse Zeph or change his diaper. These were very welcomed moments of rest for my parents as well. We found Edison's lab. It was in a very small building and only one room was available to stand in to look around. The rest of the lab was behind glass. It was very underwhelming. As I took another pit stop for Zeph, the rest of the family went into near by homes. It was unusually warm that day, and Zeph was too young to ride anywhere else but my sling. To give myself a break from his body heat, I laid him down on the sling in the grass. Shea, Mo and Jo joined him a few feet away. It was very nice in the shade, with a light breeze.

We made our way back to the front gate, and stopped in the hat shop and Wright brother's bike shop. The bike shop is one of my favorites with the hat shop in a close second. Next was dinner out at Big Boy and then some good conversation at my house. It was a long day, but so much fun to experience Greenfield village together as a family.

MK1615

My family and I will going to this conference, and will be in Texas visiting family the last two weeks of July. So I will not be posting for those two weeks.
If you do not know, please go to MK1615.org for more information. Its an awesome conference, and life changing. Limited seating so act fast.

Eat yo veggies!

I used to think that kids only liked bland food, or that they could only handle bland. When I had Jo, I started making my own baby food, and one mom mentioned that her baby loved hummus. I love Arabic food, and had hummus on hand often, so I tried it with my little one and he loved it! Then I thought, I bet kids in Asia eat spicy, interesting and a variety of foods that are more nutritional than pizza and french fries (not that we had those a lot). I make lunches relatively simple since its just me and the boys all day, but dinners I take chances and my kids are always willing to try. This is amazing since my boys are 2 and 4 (peak picky eater season). Jo has a longer list of foods he will eat than Mo who was raised on bland food. When we go out to eat, I tend to buy off the sides menu for the kids and I have fun watching the waitress's surprised face that my boys are eating broccoli with gusto!
Another thing I have learned to getting the kids to eat more veggies, is to offer more veggies. A few nights ago I made a meal where the main dish had lots and lots of vegetables, so there were less sides because the main was so awesome. Jo asked, where are my veggies? My 2 year old was concerned that his plate did not have enough vegetables on it. Awesome. It must be working. I also put out some chopped raw vegetables, like carrots or cucumbers, etc in a bowl on the table while I am working on dinner. This cuts down on hungry visitors hovering while I try to finish making the meal, and adds more vegetables to the kids daily intake. They tend to have fruit for snacks and dessert, so I try to keep the bowl full of vegetables. On occasion, if its the day before shopping day, and we are low on vegetables, I will put out peanuts. They do not eat very many, and the little bit of protein helps keep the whine away. I have always offered a few vegetables, but as my tastes have grown, so has my offering to my children. They will eat a variety of veggies now, but a couple years ago it was slim pickings on what Mo would eat at all. I just kept trying, and offered often. Now he does not even think twice when he sees a pile of broccoli or beans. In fact, for a long time, Mo would not eat pizza, but eat a very leafy green salad instead. We would have to almost beg him to eat one small slice. I make the pizza we eat most often from scratch, and I found out recently he really likes whole wheat dough. I still have to offer a lot of side veggies when we have pizza, otherwise he does not get enough to eat. I guess that is not a bad thing. Just inconvenient and awkward when others want to bless our family with pizza and Mo refuses to eat it. This may not be a very interesting or entertaining post, but its something I want to remember about my boys. They love vegetables and fruit.

A year ago

A year ago this week, was a busy and exciting time for our family. After a few weeks of meeting at Five Guys Burgers and Fries in downtown Detroit for bible study, we rented our first space to meet as Deliverance Bible Church Detroit. Our first service was just Shea, me and the kids, but we did not mind. We knew that Detroit was where we were meant to be, planting this church was part of the vision and we planted ourselves on the third floor. Yeah, stairs. Besides the stairs, our first challenge was to tackle the interesting paint job the previous tenant left behind. The room was a lovely shade of red, yellow, orange, green, purple and grey with maroon carpet. So in one kid free night we primed the entire room and one coat of paint on the walls. It was a very long night and I think we went to bed at 4 am. Shea went back to the space a couple more times to finish the job while I stayed home with the kids. Shea played guitar while Manoah, Jaelon and I danced around the room worshiping the Most High. Shea preached, shared scripture and then we went down to the river walk to pass out invites.

 

 Jaelon's imagination blossomed at the play ground. He was only 18 months old but already learning how to run and jump. On one of these jumping days, he caught his foot and face planted on the hard wood floor of our friends home. His lip began to bleed and it was difficult to get it to stop long enough to see the damage. Since it felt like forever that his lip was gushing blood, I took him to the nearest ER. There the security guard gave Jaelon a peek-a-boo book that had characters hidden behind flaps for him to enjoy while we waited to see the doctor. His lip was still going strong but something in me started to say, "he will not need stitches, so just leave." I did not listen, and we went through the whole process only to hear the doctor say that he will be fine, and does not need stitches. Wasted time, wasted money. Grrr. The doctor prescribed antibiotics, because it was an open wound and remain wide open for a while. Jo was fighting what I think was an ear infection that week, so I guess it worked out that we got some medicine.  

 I gave Manoah a hair cut, and I thought he looked so very handsome. Shea did not like it, and prefers Manoah's hair long. Which is ironic since Shea shaved Mo's hair every month for over a year when he was a baby. Oh well. Manoah's imagination blossomed as well that year. Pictured below is Mo's very thirsty horse. I fear if that was a real horse, it would have been in trouble. Mo successfully led that horse to water and made it drink. Ha!
  Both the boys became more daring on the playground. Lapeer is full of really nice, newly renovated playgrounds, all within a short distance from the house. Jaelon would take on equipment that was designed for 5 and 6 year old children, and very successfully conquering them. I could not bare to watch my 18 month old climb ladders to great heights. I was always very close with my arms out stretched, sweat beads forming on my brow and heart racing. After numerous times of triumphal climbing, I began to relax, but still stayed close just in case. The slide pictured was a feat that Manoah took on that took my breath away.  The shadow at the top of the slide is Mo's excited body about to fling it's self down the 12 foot high tube. He went down this slide many times, and was the youngest one at the park to go down it. The little girl in pink at the bottom, 2 years his elder, was afraid to go down it, and she did not try while we were there. Jaelon did not go down the slide, the stairs leading up were too narrow and too steep for his taste. I was a happy momma at Jo's choice.

 

 Last year was a very busy, life changing year, but more on that later.

Blessed times three

Zephaniah discovered his hand recently. A few days ago, I heard him wake from sleep but he was not crying. I stood at the side of his crib and watched as he attempted to suckle his fist. This new activity kept him appeased but I knew it would be temporary since the fist is not a good source of milk. Hehe. Today, while I was holding him and we were engaged in a conversation of coos and awes, his fist past before his face. He stopped talking to me and followed this "new" object. I could not stop myself from giggling as his eyes crossed many times and his lips pursed, like Ben Stiller as "blue steel" from the movie "Zoolander." To say it was cute, is an understatement, it was awesomely cute. There is something so fun and rewarding to witness a baby discovering their world and every baby is unique in this adventure. As I write this, Zephaniah is asleep in his bouncer and he is sleep suckling the air. Yet another favorite thing babies do.

Life with kids is ever changing, and entertaining. This morning being no exception and slightly more than most mornings. Manoah spent the whole morning as a super hero with no name, seeking out villains using his cup as an evil-scope. Its like a telescope but it only sees evil. Patient pending. I'm just kidding.  Most of his super hero work consisted of standing in a corner or standing on the couch and staring in a really awkward manner, flinging his cape every now and again. He was a rather quiet hero, and his epic battles kept locked with in his mind. The only outward evidence of a win was when he would swoop across the room, cape flying heading to another area in need of rescue. Unfortunately to capture all the awesomeness on camera was near impossible and almost too hard to describe. This weak attempt will have to suffice as documentation of how delightful my first born's imagination is in my life.

 Tonight, after dinner, Jaelon did the dishes. I had left one side of the sink full of soapy water in preparation to clean dishes after nursing Zephaniah, only to find Jaelon had almost finished them all! At the ripe young age of 2, he had successfully washed the dishes from dinner along with all the dirty flatware and placed in the second basin to be rinsed. I have never taught him how to hand wash, and I think Shea played a game with him once while cleaning. I have filled the sink with soapy water and played sink or swim games. Mo likes to race "boats" (my measuring cups) in the water. I was so impressed that he did this with out anyone asking him to help and he was actually really good at washing things. I finished out the process, but it was so nice to have the kitchen clean in what felt like half the time. I can not help but think he notices daddy serving in the home and realizes that we all help to make the home work. I am blessed beyond words.

MeMaw and PaPa visit part 3 of 5

May 14, 2012 MeMaw and Papa come over early and we head out to the Detroit Zoo. Expecting the cafes to be open, we plan to see all the exhibits on one side of the zoo leading to the cafe on the farthest side from the entrance. This plan leads us first through the penguin exhibit, and since it was a warm day, the smell of fish was overwhelming and my Memaw left with in seconds of entering the facility. Next we visited the new play ground available at the zoo.

 It was awesome. A nice stop for Zeph to nurse, me and Memaw to chat and the boys to blow off some crazy.
Then there was the fountain with the bear statues, and many a "bear butt" jokes ensued. Then the ever favorite amphibian exhibit, where the boys enjoyed spying on snakes, frogs, crocodiles, and the like. One lizard looked asleep and wedged in a crack in an awkward way that looked similar to how I find my boys in their cages, I mean beds, in the morning. Yet on closer inspection, it appeared to not be breathing! Either that thing had a ridiculously shallow breathing or it's keeper had not noticed yet that it's been "asleep" in the same position for a little too long. It's a good thing my boys did not notice, because they would not have been able to keep themselves contained.
 So we get past most of the exhibits, the boys loving every minute of seeing the animals and funny looking people. Once we arrive to the cafe, tired and hungry, we learn that during the week the zoo only keeps one cafe open. That cafe is in the middle of the zoo, just past the polar bears. Just past where we were. 15 minutes ago. Where the hungry really started to hurt. Where the attitudes started to flare. Where my mom spent 10 minutes trying to get the perfect shot of an iris just like the one she has at home.

 We took a bathroom break, and headed toward the middle of the zoo, opting out of seeing the bears until our bellies were satisfied. After a yummy meal, it was time for yet another bathroom break. Jo consistently puts his glasses on upside down, so this made for a little entertainment while waiting for Memaw in the potty. Memaw was gracious enough to hold Zeph for me while I went potty. Zeph spent the whole day very comfortably wrapped up in the sling, only taking breaks for diaper changes and nursing. Lets just say, I got my very first day of serious work out since Zeph was born, and I felt the burn. I was very proud of myself. I burnt almost a thousand calories carrying that boy for 5 hours. I rewarded myself with a giant hamburger.

 Bellies full, bladders empty, we heading into the polar bear exhibit. It was getting very warm, sun was shinning and so was everyone's foreheads. Most of the animals were hiding in shade to take naps, except the polar bears. One was walking around, and the other was playing in the pool. There were two more polar bears, but we did not see them until we went to the underwater tunnel part of the exhibit. When you first walk in, the pool for the seals is on display. Mo caught, literally, the tail end of large seal swimming by the glass. Then we went down the tunnel, not much was going on, and we were quickly heading through. Shea told me to sit and wait since my parents were lagging behind. Then the coolest thing happened. It was snack time. Little fish started falling in the water and soon after you saw four large paws walking just above your head, then a dive, and snatch! The bear caught his treat in mid swim. More and more fish fell, plunk, plunk, plunk and the bear followed to each location. This was causing quite a stir. The more laughed and pointed in delight. Jo staying close to me, while Mo running around like a mad man follow the bear to each catch. I had a big dumb grin on my face, but I did not care, it was cool. It was such a great moment and I got to share it with my parents.

     Bears were the best part of the day, at least for me, but Mo kept on insisting to see the giraffes. Mo had fed giraffes at the zoo in Dallas when he stayed with friends, and another time at Fossil Rim. I feared he expected to do the same that day. Usually one can purchase tickets to feed the giraffes, but it was sold out. Fortunately, he was satisfied with just looking. We went up the other side of the zoo heading toward the back again, and this time our goal was the train. The train that takes you from the back to the front for a small fee. This was very appealing to everyone. The kids loved the idea because it was a train. I loved it because I was exhausted from carrying Zeph all day, and my parents loved it because, well they are old. (love you mom and dad!) Checking all the animals along the way, we got closer and closer to our destination, then there was a bathroom. Potty stop. The very last thing for us to look at were the kangaroos, but there was one problem. We had chosen to go a way that put us at the end of the exhibit and there was no going in the exit. The entrance to the kangas was near the train. The train that was coming. The train that would take 20 minutes to come back around. The train that would get us home sooner than later. It was getting close to dinner and our bellies were becoming the boss again. Since you could see the kangaroos from the outside, just not close up like you can when you walk through. We decided that the outside look was good enough and high tailed it to the train station. We barely made it, and we relaxed as the choo choo took us to the front. We opted out for leaving through the gift shop, loaded up into the car and headed toward the closest Big Boy.

Family worship time

A little clip of the boys giving God praise.

MeeMaw and Papa visit part 2 of 5

 Mother's day, Sunday May 13th, 2012, my parents were still in town, and we took the whole family to our church plant in Detroit. We showed them around our space and did a bible study. I was a little nervous how all this would play out, but it went really well and I think they even had fun.

  We had received a package the day before from Oma (Shea's mom) that was full of stuff for all the boys, including a couple clear boxes for capturing bugs.

 Since this is something Mo loved to do with Oma when he visited her, he knew immediately what those boxes were for and insisted we start hunting asap.

  My mom and I left all the boys at home to bug hunt in the backyard, and we went to JoAnn Fabrics for their Mother's day sale. It was the perfect way for us to celebrate mother's day, away from the men and doing really girly, crafty sort of things. We made a pit stop at Sally's beauty supply, and the Dollar tree. My mom and I bought a handful of trinkets, a nail file and new blue dye for my hair.



There was so much at JoAnn's that we wanted and I had a stack of coupons. Narrowing our purchases down to fit our cash budget took some time, and more effort than expected. We knew that dinner was drawing near and the men folk would be hungry soon, so planned our answer to the "what's for   dinner?" question. Texas Roadhouse.

 Our waiter told us that Mother's day was their busiest day of the year, and they were prepared. Outside while you wait was lots of seating, big barrels of peanuts, and even a play area for the kids with bubbles, hula hoops and games. It was very yummy, very busy, and very fun meal. A little bit of home, while a little bit of home was visiting. Just what I really wanted for Mother's day.