Sunday, June 21, 2009

Father's Day!

I am so blessed to have two great fathers in my life . . . my own dad--and Brad, the father of my children. Both are excellent examples of Godly men and men who love their children well. I love you both bunches & bunches! Thanks for all you do for me and for our kids. :)



Monday, June 15, 2009

Itsy Bitsy Spider . . .

So I have a completely irrational (or so I'm told) fear of ANTS and going to the dentist. (Which, by the way, I have to do tomorrow . . . ugh!!!) But let it be known that spiders do NOT bother me!

Case in point:

(This is the point where you should look away if you suffer from arachnophobia!! You've been warned!)

Look! They really are as big as your palm! :)

Yes, that is really MY arm and a real, live tarantula. It started in my palm and then started crawling up my arm!! I had the privilege of holding one last week when we went to a presentation by Mark's Ark. Mark takes his small-ish animals around to libraries, birthday parties, schools, etc. so that kids (and parents) can learn about animals. Quinn also held an alligator! Mark also brought doves, frogs, rats, snakes, and more to the library program.

Not only did I get to hold a tarantula, but I also had my hair brushed by a hedgehog. :) Ahhh . . . the things we do for our kids! None of our kids volunteered to hold the animals or have their hair brushed by a hedgehog, so I volunteered! The tarantula was actually kind of cool, except that his (her?) hairs were very bristle-y. Not at all what I expected (but really, who has many expectations when holding a tarantula??).

Lest you think my ANT phobia is overrated (and it's not a fear of them in public, just in my house-ick!), tarantulas FEAR ants. Tarantulas don't even like to eat ants. If a tarantula's burrow is invaded by ants, the tarantula will leave! So see, my ant phobia isn't so overrated after all! :)

Monday, June 8, 2009

School's Out!

Friday was our last day of the school year--yay!! We finished our schoolwork in the morning, and told the kids we would take them out in the evening to celebrate!

We started with a round of miniature golf at Putt-Putt . . . lots of fun! Quinn has been taking golf lessons for the past month or so, and you can really tell. He even got two holes-in-one! :) Next, we headed to Build-A-Bear to let the kids make new stuffed animals. Riley has a new dog (Lulu), Quinn chose a different dog (Coco), and Owen made a frog (Zippy). They could have stayed in
the store for hours(!), but we finally pried them away to enjoy pizza at Pizza King!

We're proud of how hard they have worked this year and how much they have learned. They both finished another year of school work and are moving up to the next grade (their sweet teacher didn't hold them back!). :)

Saturday morning the kids enjoyed dressing their Build-A-Bear animals and putting them all on display! So here they are--from left to right: Lulu, Smiley, Lovey, Zippy, Aaliyah, Coco, Brownie, Rufus, Molly, Spikey, Thomas, and Adam. And if you've ever been to Build-A-Bear, you know that there is a little "name" book the kids can look through to choose names. That, and Riley being impatient, is how she ended up naming her bunny "Aaliyah!" It was right smack-dab at the beginning of the book! :) And you can't tell in this picture, but Lulu is wearing a great Steelers cheerleading outfit! Spikey came from the Build-A-Dino store at Disney World . . . lots of fun!


But I have to say that this one (Molly!) is my personal fave because it is the first one Riley made . . . isn't she cute???

Saturday, June 6, 2009

African Journey!

The zoo in our city is fantastic! If you are ever in Fort Wayne, you definitely don't want to miss it! Most of it is arranged by country/continent--there is the Indonesian Rain Forest, the Australian Adventure, and now the African Journey! The African Journey opened today to the general public, but we were fortunate enjoy to enjoy a "sneak peek" on Wednesday evening!

This exhibit has been a few years in the making, and cost over $9 million dollars to create. It was well worth the wait! The zoo used to have an African area prior to this exhibit, but nothing like what there is now!! The exhibit boasts lions, zebras, wildebeests, hyenas, servals, and more. (I just wish there were African elephants, too!)

We went to the sneak peek reception as guests of my parents, who donated to the exhibit. I'm not sure, but I think they have contributed to all of the new exhibits that have been built over the past 20+ years! They are very generous, and the giving to the zoo is certainly an excellent way to give back to the community!

We enjoyed this special time at the zoo as it was not open to the public, so we had lots of space and time to roam through "Africa." We also enjoyed the free drinks and hors d'oeuvres! The kids were also able to ride the "Sky Safari" for free and make cool African bead necklaces. It was fun to spend the time with my parents and all enjoy it together.

One of the neat things about the new exhibit is that you can hand-feed the giraffes! They seemed to be very hungry for lettuce when we were there! I need to add the video of our kids feeding the giraffe--it has a LONG tongue!

All in all, it was a great evening at the zoo and we are looking forward to many return trips to the new African Journey!










Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Today . . .

Owen was being difficult today. Eh--what's new?? He's absolutely adorable, and absolutely challenging! As I picked him up this morning (after he finishing throwing a fit), I exasperatingly said "Owen, you are a really difficult child!" He looked at me and very slowly and clearly said:

"Mommy, you are really a spider."

I kid you not! I burst out laughing and from that moment on, we had a much better day! And I'm not sure why he thinks I'm a spider? I don't have eight legs and I don't think I'm that hairy! :)