Imagination

It’s a funny thing, imagination.  It can be wonderful, and sometimes it can be absolutely horrible.  It can make us       carefree, or trapped by fears, doubts and worry.  Unfortunately, my imagination got away from me this afternoon and I was feeling trapped by fear.  I was letting fear win.  Well, in these situations, there are two easy things to do.  Prayer, and Scripture reading.  So, while I sat down to feed Hud, I opened up my ‘Jesus’ folder on my iPod.

Hmm, where to go?  I couldn’t think of anything off the top of my head regarding fear.  I was thinking about doing a topical search.  But then, I saw the notification for my Fighter Verse app.  I hadn’t looked at the verse yet today.  I opened it up and remembered that we’re just starting to memorize a whole Psalm.  So, why not read that?  And guess what?  There couldn’t be a more perfect Psalm for the way I was feeling. It was crazy!  Even little details and things that were concerning me were answered in this Psalm.  Amazing!  God’s Word is so good, so beautiful, and so fulfilling.  It can give us answers to all our doubts and fears.  Next time you’re struggling, don’t waste time in asking God for answers.  He will inevitably lead you to His Word and timeless answers that can help.  We serve a mighty, wonderful, and really really cool God.

And without any further adieu, Psalm 91.

He who dwells in  the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My  refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”  For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence.  He will  cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will  find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.    You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.   You will only look with your eyes and  see the recompense of the wicked.

 Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place — the Most High, who is my  refuge—  no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent.  For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.   On their hands they will bear you up, lest you dfstrike your foot against a stone.   You will tread on  the lion and the adder;  the young lion and  the serpent you will  trample underfoot.

 “Because he  holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name.   When he  calls to me, I will answer him;  I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and  honor him.   With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

Here we go…

…to New Zealand and Fiji!  Yup!  You read that right, we are headed to New Zealand and Fiji in September.  We are beyond excited!  One of my best friends, Brittany, moved to New Zealand last summer and we’ve really been wanting to visit her.  After lots of praying and planning, we finally worked out all the details! 

We are all going, AKA, we are taking both kids.  While I’m a little apprehensive about hours and hours in the plane, that’s not reason enough to not go on the trip of a lifetime!  We want our kids to be able to travel and see the world.  We want them to know that the way we (Americans) do things is not the only right way to do things.  We want them to see and interact with people from other cultures.  We want them to see what it looks like in other countries, what different languages sound like, what different foods taste like.  God has created the most amazing world and we want to see it with our kids, and through their eyes!

While in NZ we plan on helping Britt out at her YWAM campus for part of the time, and then traveling around the rest of the time.  We’ll only be visiting the North Island this time.  Fiji really came about simply because we had a layover there with our flight and it didn’t really cost anymore to stay over for awhile…so why not?!?!  We probably won’t be around Fiji anytime soon, so now is the time.  Carpe Diem, right?  Or I guess the more modern term is YOLO.  Either way, we are living it up people!

I pray that this trip is a great time for family bonding.  I pray it’s a chance to bless Brittany and all her co-workers at YWAM.  I pray it’s an eye-opener for the kids (Ada really, Hud’s just along for the ride at this age) and that she walks away changed.  And I pray the same for us.  You can’t encounter other cultures and not have it affect you and the way you live.  I know God will do awesome things through this trip.  I can’t wait!!!

Homeschooling Thoughts

Well, it looks like Ada and I will be starting school a little bit earlier than anticipated!  I assumed that we wouldn’t do anything formal until she was around 4, and even then it would be preschool and would be very lax.  But, oh, Miss Ada has ideas of her own.

We have a couple Kumon workbooks, but we never did them a lot.  Then, a few weeks ago I found this Gaffen book at Costco.  A lot of Preschool books seemed too advanced for her to really enjoy and/or grasp.  (Although now that I’m working with her daily, I think I just assumed she didn’t know a lot of the stuff, but she actually did. Oops!)  Anyway, these seemed perfect.  There was a good balance of learning your letters and numbers, along with working on all those fine motor skills.  I picked up all three (ranging from ages 3-6).  Even since I got them, she has been so excited to do school everyday.  She begs me.  On days we have friends coming over and I know we won’t be able to do it, she pleads until we get out her books out and squeeze in at least a few pages.  Now, she is begging me to learn her letters so she can read.  Oh my!  This girl of mine is certainly ambitious!

So, we’re starting a very relaxed program. My plans for summer are:

Kumon First Step Workbooks:  I bought a pack of these at Costco over a year ago.  They are for ages 2 and up, so Ada flies through a lot of it.  But she still enjoys them.  We have 4 books and are working our way through each one.  They’re great as I can see what she’s really good at (cutting) and what she needs work on (folding).  I might try and find a few more of these just to cement some of the skills she’s learning here.

Kumon Matching Workbook:  Again, we bought these at Costco (they are currently there).  I cut out all the pages and put them in sheet protectors and put the whole thing in a binder.  Then, we work on it with a Dry Erase Marker so we can use them more than once.  (Clever, or cheap?  Both?)  The drawings are all amazing and they’re teaching her all kinds of different plants, animals, bugs, food.  I really love Kumon products.  And when they’re at Costco they’re usually about half off.  Score!

Brain Quest:  Lindsey at Passionate Homemaking had talked about these and how they were fun and good for car rides.  And guess what I found at Costco this weekend?  (Can you tell I love Costco?  A lot? )  That’s right!  Brain Quest cards.  They have one specifically for kids age 3.  We picked up that one, not knowing what they were like.  It’s cute, and a good way to reinforce information and facts that Ada should know.  But she knows almost all the answers already.  We definitely should have bought the preschool one (ages 3-4.  Hmmm, maybe even the 4-5 one…).  (Funny story, the pictures for these cards were drawn awhile ago [read: 15+ years] and in one of them Molly Mouse is vacuuming and you ask the kids what machine she’s using.  Let me tell you, that thing was a beast!  Ada had no clue what it was since it looked so different from ours!   She had just helped Daddy vacuum the day before, too!  When I told her it was a vacuum, she looked at me like I was a little nuts. ) 🙂

Gakken Let’s Create Workbook:  I really love this book.  It’s my favorite by far.  As I said before, it’s the perfect blend of everything she needs to learn and be working on at this point.  Each page has a spot for a good job sticker, which Ada thinks is so fun to pick out and put on each time!  I think anyone wanting to do any sort of schooling with their kids, whether it’s in an attempt to be formal, or if it’s just to keep a younger one involved while you’re working with the older one, this is a great series.  I’m excited to work our way through the next two in the series as well.

I also have the Starfall app on my iPod and she plays it every once in awhile.  Because of this she actually knows a lot of her letters and sounds.  I need to let her play it on the computer as well since there’s a lot more to do there.   Also, my mom bought Ada a bunch of Bob books so we are reading those, as well.

So, that’s our plan for the summer.  I actually think we won’t even make it all the way through summer with what I have, but that’s the plan for the next month.  In the meantime, I’m researching tons of different home school curriculum and seeing what I like, along with what I think will be best for Ada.  I’ll do another blog about that soon.  In the meantime, what are your favorite home school products for little kids?  Anything you loved?  Or hated?   Let me know in the comments!  I love learning from more experienced mamas!  (Also, this is a weird question.  I want homeschool to be one word, but it keeps telling me on here that’s not a word.  Am I crazy?  It’s one word, right?!?!?)

Working on ‘The Challenge’…

I have realized in the past 10 days that we are constantly bombarded. Bombarded by materialism. By philosophies (good or bad). By noise and opinions and everyone pushing in on you with their own thoughts. It’s in books, TV, movies, music. It’s everywhere.

I knew this. In my head this was a fact. (One of many that floats around but doesn’t get acted on too often. Sad but true.)

But once you’re away from all of it, it’s so apparent. Just because of what my daily life looks like, I don’t watch too much TV (besides Disney Pixar movies and Veggie Tales). Most of the music I listen to is KLOVE. (Although I will mention here how much I adore John Mayer’s new album. So good.) Cutting out reading has really been breaking the last link to ‘the world’.

It’s a lot easier to hear God when there isn’t a ton of other stuff yelling in your ear and fighting for your attention.

I have absolutely loved my Bible reading this past 10 days. Normally, I’m struggling to read a few chapters a day. This last week? I read Acts and Romans. What?!?!? For real? Yes!!! I was always wanting to get back into it and read just a little more. See a little more. Understand a little more. (Also, I don’t think I’ve ever read Acts so quickly. It was really neat to read it swiftly and see the continuous storyline. I saw things in it that I’d never seen before).

Also, here’s a dumb confession. I always feel a little guilty when I don’t read my Bible everyday. Like I’m going to be punished or something. But, hello! We serve the wonderful, compassionate, merciful and kind, loving and patient God that has forgiven our sins through Christ and what He did on Calvary. This has nothing to do with me! This is about what He did! So when I get the focus off of me and put it where it should be, then I don’t feel guilty when I don’t read or whatever. Nothing I do or don’t do can change the fact that God loves me! I am His child through my faith in Christ. When I get this perspective, it changes everything. I don’t feel guilty, and guess what? It just makes me want to read more! It’s a great cycle…

These are my thoughts through the first part of the challenge. I’m excited to see what else God teaches me.

One!

One year old?!? Already?!? I honestly have no clue how that happened, but happen it did. We have gone from this…

to this…

So really, we just moved from squishy baby cute to little man cute.

Hudson, you are quite the character!  You are such a happy guy!  You have the best laugh.  You also love getting us to laugh, so you then laugh even harder just because you know we like it.  And while you are happy most of the time, there’s still that 10% of the time when you’re not.  This is usually when you’re not getting your way; then you aren’t so happy, and you definitely let everyone know.  Your shrieks can be hair raising.  But it’s just that determined spirit of yours.  So, while it may cause me grief now,  I’m praying that the Lord uses it later for His glory.

You love our little family.  It’s common knowledge that you are a mama’s boy…no question about that!  I’m so happy that you are though.  I always get the best cuddles and smiles.  But even though you love time spent with me, you also love to be with Daddy and Sissy.  You adore them!  You and Ada are definitely the dynamic duo.  You love to play together.  And while you pull out a little too much of her hair, she has a blast with you.  Your smile when Daddy gets home is charming, you’re always so happy to get some time with him.  You’re not too fond of when you have to get babysit-you definitely prefer time with the family.  But you’ve finally warmed up to the nursery at church, and you can now handle a little time away from us so we can get out for dates and what not.  And even when you’re crying, as soon as you’re in mama’s arms all is well again.  My favorite is when you rest your head on my shoulder and snuggle in.  It’s the best.  You’re quite the cuddle bug!

Anytime you see something you like, you reach one of your arms out and exclaim, ‘Oh!’.  It’s super cute.  This movement is mainly reserved for family, and animals.  You love animals so much!  We have big plans to head to the pet store today and wander around aimlessly looking at animals.  I know you will love it!

You also have the cutest smile.  Your nose scrunches up and your eyes twinkle and my heart just melts!  One big puddle I tell ya’.

You’re very vocal, although ‘Dada’ is your only real word.  But ‘ducka-ducka-ducka-ducka’ is another favorite.  Everytime we ask you to say ‘Mama’ you just do your cute smile and laugh.  It’s adorable.

You love music.  Singing can always calm you down.  You love banging on things and making lots of noise.  On your play table you know exactly what to press to make the Alphabet Song play.  You sit there and just hit it over and over again, putting it on repeat.

You are obsessed with your ‘Peekabo What?’ book.  Seriously.  If we try to read you any other story while this one is around you will do anything and everything in your power to get to that book.  You smile on every page and laugh and laugh and laugh!  You love having it read multiple times.

You are walking like a pro now!  You’re very stable for being on your feet only a week plus. Crawling is a thing of the past.  You love watching other kids run and I know you’re desperate to join them.  I’m sure it won’t be long!

Hudson, you are determined.  You are passionate.  You’re sweet and loving and loyal. You have such a little personality and I can’t wait to see all you will do in this lifetime.  Your blue eyes, sweet smile and snuggles melt my heart into puddles each and everyday.  I’m so thankful for this year we have had with you!  Everyday is a gift and I hope that I treat each day as such.  We’re so blessed that God deemed us as the lucky ones that get to be your parents.  I hope all we do points and guides you to God and all He has done for us in Christ.  He is so kind and loving and I hope Daddy and I show you that in the way we parent you and your sister.  We can’t wait to see what is in store for you next Hud-Bud!  And we can’t wait to join you on that journey.  We love you, Hudson!

Insta-Friday

I just discovered Jeannett’s blog, Life Rearranged, and I love it!  I’m linking up with her for her Insta-Friday, the whole idea being to show your week with, what else but our fuzzy wonderful Instagram-ed photos.  So, here we go!

On Wednesday I was awake for less than 5 minutes when I realized that we absolutely needed to get out of the house.  So, we drove north.  Hudson feel asleep just as we were reaching our destination (why does that always happen?) so we did a detour and headed to the beach.  We parked right next to it and Ada and I rolled down the windows, stared at God’s wonderful creation and had an early lunch.  Such a treat…

Once Hud woke up we headed to our destination.  It’s a wonderful little farm.  They have so many things to do there.  But we were there to see and feed all the animals.  Again, these photos are pretty bad since it was noon and there’s tons of trees everywhere.  I love Hud’s face in the background.  He absolutely loves animals.  He usually wants to run around and be free, but he was so content to just sit and stare at all of them.  It was really fun.

Ada had SO much fun feeding the animals!  This was the 1st time she’s ever done it I think and I can’t believe how great it was!  We actually ended up and getting another bag of food and making the rounds again.  We weren’t in a rush and the kids were so happy.  I will definitely be doing this again this summer!

Feeding the goats…

After the farm we headed to get this mama a special treat…The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf!  We don’t have one in town so I don’t get it very often.  Their Ice Blended Chai’s are soooooo good, my favorite! Happy happy.

And, so wonderful, they had toys there!  The kids entertained themselves long enough for me to sit and relax for a bit.  It was a great treat.

Well, on a different note (from Coffee Bean to Starbucks.  What a traitor I am…)  Guess what I got this week?  MY STARBUCKS GOLD CARD!  I’m pretty excited.  Here’s my little confession.  I feel a little silly about having this card.  Really, it means that I spend a lot of money at Starbucks.  And there are so many other things that I could be spending my money on; things that have eternal significance.  I mean, there are people all over the world that don’t have WATER.  And here I am with Starbucks?  Argh.  However, I had lots of gift cards.  I can’t feel too bad about that (trust me, I don’t…).  I try to limit my Starbucks consumption as well, but, well…there’s my confession.  It’s something I struggle with.  (On a side note, when I put this picture on Instagram my BFF Becks said ‘Congratulations my friend!  It’s like a AA chip…but for the opposite reason :P’.  Is that not the best comment ever?  I know.  That’s why she’s my BFF.)

Okay, enough confessions.  Well, actually, here’s one more.  THIS KID IS GOING TO CONSTANTLY TERRIFY ME.  See him just pull himself up on the stool like its nobodies business?  Sigh…

But honestly?  Look how cute he is?!?!?  Most days I don’t think I can handle it.  This is his scrunchy nose face…it’s the cutest ever.  Trust me.

So, here we are at Starbucks. (Not surprised, are you?)  Hudson does not transfer from sleeping in the car to sleeping, well, anywhere else.  At all.  So we often hang out in the car.  This week when Hud feel asleep just as we were headed home I decided to detour to Starbucks.  They have a drive through, free wifi, coffee, and cake pops.  What else do you need?!?!  (Besides Jesus.  We all need Him!)  Luckily, Ada loves cake pops just as much as her mama.

Sunggles with my little man…

Friday afternoon we decided to have an impromptu picnic in the living room for lunch.  This girl is always up for an adventure and she is so sweet.  I’m a truly blessed mama.  I hope you all had as wonderful of a week as I did!

Lazy Day

Today was a lazy day.  I didn’t do anything.

Didn’t unload the dishwasher.  Didn’t load it back up.  Didn’t fold up the clean diapers.  Didn’t vacuum.

Did I need to do these things?  Yes.  But did I?  No.

And guess what!  It was awesome!

I am a do-er by nature.  A bit of a legalist.  As a wife, I know my job is to keep a clean orderly house for my husband.  And I like doing that.  But sometimes, we just need to rest.  And that’s what I did today.  I woke up feeling lousy (stinking allergies) and decided to take the day to bum around.  We had a Cars marathon.  Hudson napped.  So did I.  We all cuddled.

Ada and I hung out in my bed with tons of books.  We read lots of stories.  We also went through a bunch of her baby pictures for her baby book.  Jon took a long lunch and bummed around with us for awhile.  (The allergies were attacking him, too.)  The kids played together wondefully. They even entertained themselves with no complaints. Tthat doesn’t happen often.  I drank lots of homemade Iced Coffee. (Recipe found here.  It is the best stuff.  Ever.)

Dinner was as simple as can be.  Our favorite salad.  Fresh cherries from Farmers Market.

Clam Chowder from our favorite place that I have in the freezer for days like today.  Toasted and buttered bread.

Bathtime for the kiddos.  More stories.  Both kids down to bed.  And at the moment, a movie with my love (The Adventures of TinTin) while I paint my nails and chill in my pj’s.  Which I have been in all day.

I call it a perfect day.

Now, don’t get me wrong.  I definitely couldn’t do this everyday.  For one, I’m pretty sure I’d get bored.  I can get pretty stir crazy.  Also, if I did this everyday my house would be a disaster.  And that would drive me crazy.  And probably Jon. (Although he is the most understanding guy ever and I am way more OCD about the house than he is).  So yeah, not an everyday activity.  I have a job to do as wife and the manager of our home.   And I really do enjoy doing it.  But ya’ know what?  Sometimes we need a break from our jobs.  (Probably why God planned a day of rest every week. Crazy, right?)

So today was my break and it was wonderful.

So, moms of the world, don’t feel bad to take a break.  It might just do you wonders.

Adventures in Potty Training

This past week was quite exciting…Ada potty trained! A couple friends have been asking about our plan of attack. I figured I’d write it out in case anything can be of help to other moms out there!

Before H was born, A constantly asked to be potty trained. However, we heard so many stories of regression that we didn’t even attempt it. We had to discourage her a bit. However, once H was born A didn’t mention potty training at all, so I knew we did the right thing.

Around the age of 2.5, we thought she might be ready. We bought underwear and treats (for successes) and spent the next few days at home. However, it was apparent after about a day that she wasn’t ready. There weren’t any successes, she got easily frusterated, and while she would constantly attempt to go potty, the only time she would actually go was when she wasn’t on the potty! No problem. We put away the underwear, went back to diapers, and waited.

Fast forward to the last few weeks. She was slowly wanting to wear underwear more, was trying to go on the potty, and showed a lot of interest. We had a little toilet for her that sat in the bathroom and she could ‘use’ it anytime she wanted. There were a few days where she wore her underwear a ton. And while she didn’t have many accidents, the only time she would go was when she was in a diaper again (to run errands, etc…). Finally, on Sunday the magic happened! We were getting ready to play a game and I asked her to go to the bathroom before we started. She was reluctant, but after about 30 seconds she ran back out telling us she went potty…and she had! She was super pleased with herself, and we were as well. We rewarded her with a piece of candy and let her know how proud we were. After this, I went to take a nap. When I got up, Jon told me that A went twice, both times were her idea and she did it no problem!!! I couldn’t believe it. It seems like we were actually going to be potty training.

The next day we had her go as soon as she got up. Success again! From this point on, it was only underwear for her. This was going to prove a little difficult since I had some errands to run, but we would work that out. (Jon came with us on his lunch so he could stay with H while I ran to the bathroom with her when necessary). She did great all day! At the end of the day she had a few accidents; I think she was just tired and got a little lazy. However, she had done so well all day! I would reminder to go every once in awhile, but most of the time she knew when she had to go, and would just go!

Hanging out in a bathroom. Everywhere we go she always asks, ‘Do they have a bathroom here?’ And then, ‘They do?!? They have a potty too!’ She’s in constant amazement. Ha!

The next few days were the same. On Wednesday, she didn’t have any accidents! By Friday, I knew that she had this in the bag…potty trained in less than a week! Here’s a few reasons why I think it was a success.

• We had our supplies ready. Underwear (that she was excited to wear since she picked them out) was always in her drawer and we would let her wear them when she really wanted to. We had a potty just for her that sang songs and said encouraging phrases. She thought it was the best! All these things made it exciting for her.
• We were patient. When she wasn’t quite ready, we never pushed it. When she finally was ready, even though there were accidents we never got annoyed. (Well, we never expressed it. 🙂 ) Sure, it is frusterating when they pee on the carpet, but getting annoyed wasn’t going to help keep her at it. We always let her know that it was fine and that she was doing a great job!
• We rewarded. A lot. For the first few days everytime she successfully used the potty we gave her a little treat. The first day at night she was a little frusterated. She had done well all day, but in the late evening she had a few accidents and got really sad. So we all went out for ice cream for a fun treat and we kept telling her how proud we were! It really helped to encourage her. After her first successful day with no accidents, we went to Starbucks to get her a little treat! (She has only had her own drink at Starbucks 3 times. We try to keep it only for special occassions, so that it’s actually special.) We met up with our friend Whitney and her boys. It was so fun and it was once again a good encouragement to A. (Ummm, she may have used the bathroom a lot at Starbucks. I lost count after 5 times. Oh the joys of bathrooms everywhere that you can use!) We also had bigger prizes for her once she was completly trained. She knew about them and it was always a good incentive for her. (Below: (1) Ice Cream Fun.  (2) Ada with her new Merida doll from ‘Brave’! Gotta represent the Scottish pride!)

• I believe this is the most important reason: We waited until she was absolutely ready. I know there’s a lot of pressure to potty train your kids early. And I get it. It would be wonderful to not have to change diapers after the age of 2. But I also know that trying to get your kids to go to the bathroom when they don’t yet understand ‘that feeling’ is really hard. I didn’t want to deal with that. I wanted to wait until she got it because I thought it would be easier. And it was! In less than one week she was completly potty trained and I hardly had to do any work. There were a few issues, but we worked through them and here we are on the other side! So don’t feel the pressure to train your kids. You’ll know when they’re ready. Maybe that’s 2, maybe that’s 3. Whenever it is, they will let you know!

Hopefully this blog will help some of you as you prepare to potty train your kids! I promise you, it can be a really rewarding experience, and fun for you too if you treat yourself to ice cream and Starbucks along with your kids. Hee hee.

Another bathroom. Yet again.  Aren’t you so glad I took all these  photos?  Ha!

The Challenge

The universe is made of stories, not atoms.

Muriel Rukeyser

I love reading.  Lots.  If I could only have one activity that I could do, reading would beat out sewing and knitting in a second.

Besides my Bible, the only thing I read is fiction.  I’m absolutely horrible about reading non-fiction.  While I have heaps of John Piper books, it’s really hard for me to get through them.  Even in the Bible, all my favorite books are the stories.  I love reading the stories of the early church and what the Holy Spirit did through them; how Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt and through the desert; the creation of the world; Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, healing and changing lives with his love.  Stories.

But, I have to admit, I read a lot more ‘other’ books than I do the Bible.  But recently, I was convicted by this picture from Voice of the Martyrs.  (If you haven’t check them out, you absolutely should).

Do you see that Bible she is holding?  It’s destroyed.  And yet there she sits, reading it, lovingly.  I’m sure that any of us here would simply throw that away.  (After all, how many Bibles do you own?  Off the top of my head I can think of five in our house…)  But it’s her only Bible.  I’m sure she is more that thankful that she still has it, even though parts of it are burned.  That’s passion, people.  She told VOM “My  villagers still hate me and mock me, like they mocked Jesus on the  cross.  It is the world’s right to hate us or to love  us. But for me, I will follow Jesus.”

I want her passion.

So, for the month of June, I’m taking a fast from reading.  Fiction books at least.  The month of June is going to be a focus on God’s Word.  I want to hunger and thirst for God and His righteousness.  I want to be able to say, ‘Yes!  God’s Word is sweeter than honey.  It’s so much more precious than jewels!’

I have some ideas of things I want to implement during this month, but I’ll blog more about those later.  This is just the initial idea.  (And BTW, this doesn’t mean I’m not reading any stories to the kids.  Obviously, this isn’t about a rigid legality that deprives my kids of stories.  It’s simply about encouraging my heart to run after God more, and a way for ME to do that.  I’ll still read lots of stories this month, they’ll just be board and picture books.  Ha!)

So, anyone with me?  If you are, let me know!  We can keep each other accountable and encourage each other along this road.

Road Trip:Vegas!

We headed to Arizona last month for Jon’s cousins wedding. We made a big road trip of it and had such a blast! This is the beginning of the trip; Vegas!

One of our favorite places to eat, The Mad Greek Cafe in Baker, CA!  This place has a.m.a.z.i.n.g. gyros.  For real, people.  They also claim to have invented fried zucchini.  That’s reason enough to eat there.  The decor is ridiculous (think My Big Fat Greek Wedding) and it’s always a good time.

Once in Vegas, we hit up Hot ‘N Juicy Crawfish which we had seen on Man v. Food.  Oh.My.Goodness.  Neither Jon nor I had ever had crawfish.  It was delicious!  This place was hopping, too!  They actually have two about a mile from each other and the hostesses text each other to keep you totally informed on times for both.  It’s pretty awesome.  Our hostess also had a few Hello Kitty tattoos, and Ada was quite impressed. Anyway, I highly recommend this place.  Add sausage, and make sure you get corn and potatoes in each bag you get.  And, uh, their mild is hot.  Like, super spicy hot and way too hot for kids.  Just a warning.

Over at Ceaser’s they recently added a Serendipity (like the one from New York).  We always hear about how great their Frozen Hot Chocolates are, so we had to go check it out for ourselves.  Oh my goodness, talk about tasty!  We got the Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate, and it was great.  They are huge and it was a really fun treat.  We ate it while watching the fountains at the Bellagio, which both kids were enamored with.  I think throughout the few hours we hung out downtown we saw 5 shows.  It was a blast!

One of our favorite restaurants from the South is Steak ‘n Shake.  We often check to see if there’s one that is semi-close to us.  Luckily, Jon had checked and there was one in Vegas now.  Woo hoo!  It was so fun to eat at one.  They have great service, they are super kid friendly and the food is great! (It was St. Patrick’s Day, and Hud was rocking his ‘I’m a McCutie’ bib.  Hee hee!)

Outtakes from the Vegas sign.  We are a wreck.  But cute.

So, all this to say that Vegas was a blast!  I know what you’re thinking.  “Vegas?  With kids?”  But it was actually great!  There is so much fun stuff to do there.  Hotels always have pools since it’s so hot in the summer.  The Bellagio fountains is hours of entertainment, especially at night when shows are every 15 minutes.  There’s tons of good food.  The architecture is great and it’s so fun to walk around in.  Ada loves ‘traveling’ to different countries just by visiting the different casinos.  Also, so many of the casinos have animals you can see. (MGM has the lions, one of them has tigers…which one?).  There’s a really great Aquarium at Mandalay Bay (so we hear, we haven’t been there yet but want to go next time).  Also, since Jon is carrying/holding hands with the kids he doesn’t get as many people trying to hand him scandalous call cards.  Whoop!  We really had a blast in the short time we were there.

 One last funny picture.  We were out late, and on the short drive to the hotel both kids completly crashed out.  We were staying in a tiny hotel, and while there was room for Hud’s crib, there wasn’t really room anywhere for Ada.  However, we moved the chair from under the desk (that was attached to the wall) and set up a ‘bed’ for her.  It worked great!  However, when I woke up in the middle of the night with Hud, I found her face down on the dirty floor.  So gross!  Ha!  She’s such a trooper.  She didn’t even notice.  We definitely have a traveler on our hands.