Cinco de Mayo Celebration!

Today we had the privilege of being invited over to a fellow homeschooler's Cinco de Mayo lesson. We learned about the origin of this holiday and then the kids were busy coloring their color pages.
We followed this by a fun time of dancing to the music. Don't you just love how you have access to so many varieties of music via your cable carrier!? We really had fun playing freeze to the music and listening too. It really set the mood for us!
After we danced our tails off, the kids made ponchos! They had a blast coloring, gluing and sticking all sorts of goodies on their ponchos.
The kids enjoyed playing outside for 'recess'. hee hee And then it was lunch time!! Quesadilla's (sp?) were on the menu! Along with Mexican rice and of course we ate chips and salsa!! :)
Overall the day was GREAT!! What a fun idea! I was glad to celebrate this fun day with friends. HC and JB enjoyed themselves too! Thanks friends for inviting us! It was one of our best school days all year long!

Mystery Solved

On Saturday morning we had a mystery to solve. It was "The Mystery of the Missing Headband". I couldn't find the headband I wear when I am home. It wasn't in any of my usual places. We looked high and low and the kids really enjoyed the hunt of it all! HC really was motivated. She was so motivated that she wanted to make a sign declaring our sudden mystery.

I helped her spell the words and she went to making her sign! It was fun to see her want to write without any provocation. We do our normal handwriting each day but this was fun because she was inspired! I love when they get into learning. This clearly proves the point that learning is sweeter when the kids are interested. I think she did SUCH a great job with her sign! I am so proud of her!

We had fun, but most of all I enjoyed seeing HC want to use her new skill. We did find the headband after a short while. Daddy found it for us. I had placed it somewhere out of the norm and the kids were elated that our mystery was solved. I clearly have a couple of eager detectives on my hands!

Faith Builder Friday

The Parable of the Talents

Matthew 25:14-30 - This is the parable of the man who entrusted his property to his servants. To one he gave 5 talents of money, to another he gave 2 talents, and to another he gave 1 talent, each according to his ability. When he returned from his journey - the one who received 5 talents had gained 5 more. The one who received 2 talents also gained 2 more. The one who received 1 talent dug a hole and buried his talent and returned the 1 talent.

The one with 5, who doubled his talents, was told "Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!" The man who had 2 talents and doubled his talents, he heard the same praise. The man who was given 1 talent was told "You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has 10 talents. For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him."

This parable has often puzzled me. Many times I have read this passage and felt the results and response was rather cruel. Then this past Sunday, while I was getting ready for church, I was listening to Jentezen Franklin and he brought a new understanding to this scripture for me. The talent - consider it your children. If you share the gifts and talents God has given with you then God will multiply your gift. Our gifts are for the next generation. It is up to us to pass them on. The one who buried his talent, buried his gifts/talents and did not pass them on. They died with him.

We are responsible for the next generation. We need to pass on the things God has shown us. We need to pass on the things God has done for us. The next generation needs what we have! Do not let your gifts and talents die by keeping them to yourself! The key part of the scripture to me is verse 15 - the talents were given "each according to his own ability"! They were each able to manage the talents they were given. One was unwilling to apply his ability while the other two were highly motivated to make the most of what they were given.

WOW! That really makes sense to me! When you put it into perspective of generations - I can completely understand the anger of God to want to take from the one with 1 talent and give it to the one with 10. The one with 10 WILL make a difference, God can't waste any time with those of us who will hide because of our fear or whatever. There is too much at risk! Generations are depending on us! He NEEDS us to be willing to pass it on! This explanation of this scripture really clicks with me! What about you? What is God showing you? Any thoughts on this passage?

They All Asked For You - Audubon Zoo

Anytime I go to the zoo - this song is in my head! It has been YEARS since I've last been to the Audubon Zoo! In fact, as a child I went to the Audubon Zoo and remember going on my first, and only, Elephant ride. This song brings me back to my childhood in New Orleans!! I hope you enjoy!

Family Fun Day 2008

We decided we were way over due for some family fun! Although HC, JB and I have seen many different fun spots around town, Daddy is always left out. He has to work. We decided that since Daddy's schedule could now allow for some fun - we should take the kids to the zoo. It is half price on Tuesday's so that is what led our plans! (The zoo is WAY more expensive here than it is in BR!)

We've never made it to the sea lion show and we finally had that first with Daddy! It was fun watching all of the tricks this sea lion could do! Here are JB and Daddy near the sleeping crock... SHHH. Be very quiet! No sudden movements!
A look at JB now and then - he slept through his first trip to the zoo with Daddy. We saw a spotted owl.
A resting Rhino, the kids were disappointed that the Elephants were not around. They were renovating their home.
Can you guess what HC and I are doing?? I will give you a hint - we are riding something...
It is this cool Camel - DUDE. Yep, we were told his name is Dude.
JB and Dad with the giraffes.
HC and Daddy 3 years ago at the zoo - giraffes must be our family animal! :) HC and I re-creating a pose we took when she was not even 2 years old. Here we are yesterday:

And here we are 3 years ago! Not an exact reproduction - but it seems to be a silly tradition we now have. I believe this was Daddy's last zoo trip with us too. Butterflies everywhere!!
HC asked if she could bring her baby stroller and Sydney along and we obliged. The only rule was she could not complain about having to push the stroller.
Ducks and ducklings resting in the shade!! It was such a beautiful day! The highs were in the upper 60's - perfect zoo weather.
HC and JB HAD to splash their feet in the water. We've been to the zoo on scorching hot days and have had to leave, due to tantrums/general meltdowns, before they've gotten their tootsie's wet. So they ran and played without getting soaked! Quite an accomplishment!
Turtle swimming!
As many times as we've been to this zoo, I never went past the food court to this other area. I never found the petting zoo - not that I'm complaining. But this part was fun to see! The kids loved posing with this ginormous tractor!!
JB didn't want to get down!
At some point HC could not bear to push Sydney another minute. I was proud of her, she made it the whole day - until the last 10 minutes without a bit of complaining. JB was glad to help her. He was pretending to be daddy for a little bit. He had fun crashing Sydney into many things.
Here is HC explaining to me that we should spend $100 by eating at the zoo rather than the $20 outside of the zoo (Of course my sarcasm is inserting the $ figures. HC just wanted to eat!). She was TOO tired to go any further and we needed to listen to her. She was quite convincing. :) But not enough!
We left and Daddy and I came up with a better idea!
Chuck E Cheese anyone?? We never do things like this. If we go to Chuck E Cheese, it is usually with a birthday party and Daddy is at work. The kids wanted pizza and we were passing Chuck's and we decided to make today the most super family fun day ever! I must say that when Daddy's along for the fun we collect WAY more tickets with our tokens! Another rare event was that Chuck E Cheese was there in person. Usually he is not seen walking around, so I took a shot of him with some random people I do not know.
Here is Daddy winning some tickets and having some fun too! :)
HC and JB didn't do too bad collecting tickets on this machine themselves.
All in all, I think our day was a blast! The kids traded their 100 tickets in for 2 fun dips and 2 tootsie roll suckers. I would say this was the best family fun day ever, and the first of many more to come I hope!

Coupon Suggestion

After speaking to my sweet friend Hope the other day, I realized I left out a great bit of advice on coupons. If you do buy multiple papers - layer your coupons so you are cutting each page of coupons once. So if you have two papers - layer two pages of each coupon on top of one another so you are not cutting coupons ALL THE LIVE LONG DAY! One week I bought 4 papers because the coupons were good and I cut coupons for hours! If you put all the page 1's together and all the page 2's, etc then you will only be cutting once on every coupon. I hope this makes sense! :) Happy cutting and even happier saving!

Riddle Me This!

At any random moment around my house you will hear "Hey MOM! Wook at dis! Come take a picture of my lines!" So proud of his work!


Last night, I came home after the kids were fast asleep and found this:


Anyone have insight as to what this could mean for JB's future in the job market?? It isn't clear to us! :) He cracks me up with his lines and piles though! He loves to do this ALL the time! We love you JB!

My Hubby Caught the Savings Fever

I wasn't interested in getting out of the house last night but I had a few coupons that expired and if we were going to use them... that meant I had to go. One specific coupon was $10 reward bucks from Walgreens. That one alone motivated Hubby to go for me. I gave him his list and I showed him what he was going to buy and I gave him his coupons. He went without much enthusiasm. He brought the products on our list to the register, and he also found a coupon stuck to the tapes. The lady scanned his products, he handed her his coupons and he said he almost busted out laughing when she told him what he owed. He was smiling from ear to ear in amazement as he looked for a dollar. He spent seventy cents.

NOW he has experienced the fun of savings! It is so exhilarating!!!! He's been bitten by the bug for himself now. He is still amazed at his accomplishment! :) YAY Hubby! See the receipt below: Saved $27.04 and spent 70 cents. His total, before tax, was negative 10 cents. haha

Faith Builder Friday

I have been looking for a more meaningful way to use my blog and I have found a couple of new ideas. My blog will not change. It will be the same, except I wanted to be more intentional about either worshipping or sharing nuggets of God moments on a regular basis.

I noticed the new CWO icon on someone's blog and decided to update mine and found some great ideas people have for sharing the things of God. I do not know which direction I am being drawn yet but here are two ideas that I've found that look pretty interesting: One is God Stop Fridays and the other is Psalm Friday. After I found both these ideas, I did have something jump out at me during my Bible time. I do not know which avenue suits me yet but I think I will figure that out over time.

Here is what God stirred in me this week:

Judges 2:10 - 3:31 - This passage mentions how after Joshua and his generation died - another generation grew up who did not acknowledge the Lord or remember the mighty things HE had done for Israel.
WOW! I feel like in many ways that could describe America now. Many do not acknowledge the Lord nor do they remember the mighty things HE did for the UNITED States of America many many years ago. Today, they want God to be removed from so many avenues of our world. They think the God factor is optional. They think it is weak to love and serve a Saviour.

Judges 2:17 "...How quickly they turned away from the path of their ancestors, who had walked in obedience to the Lord's commands."

Judges 3:1-2 "The Lord left certain nations in the land to test those Israelites who had not participated in the wars of Canaan. He did this to teach warfare to generations of Israelites who had no experience in battle."

Verse 4 "These people were left to test the Israelites - to see whether they would obey the commands the Lord had given to their ancestors through Moses."

Verse 7 "The Israelites did what was evil in the Lord's sight."

verse 8-9 "...And the Israelites were subject to Cushan for eight years. But when Israel cried out to the LORD for help, the LORD raised up a man to rescue them."

Verse 11 - 12 "So there was peace in the land for forty years. Once again the Israelites did what was evil in the LORD's sight, so the LORD gave Moab control over Israel."

Verse 14-15 "And the Israelites were subject to Moab for 18 years. But when Israel cried out to the LORD for help, the LORD raised up a man to rescue them.:

Verse 30 "So Moab was conquered by Israel that day, and the land was at peace for 80 years."

WOW. Does that amaze you like it does me?? God cares so much about us that He wants to be sure we are strong enough for warfare. He doesn't want us to be limited in our walk. He lets us choose our own way and when we cry out - even if it is over and over - He rescues us AGAIN! He used one man to do the job of setting the people free - one willing vessel was all that was needed to start the freedom track!!!

Do you see the numbers?? They were oppressed for 8 years, free for 40, oppressed again for 18 and then freed for another 80 years. God gave them such grace. They were free longer than they suffered. He wants the best for us, we often reject ALL the goodness HE has set aside for us! Thankfully He is our Saviour, because I know there are times I find I have no more grace left to give when I feel pulled upon by someone repeatedly. I am so glad He doesn't refuse to give grace again and again and again!

That is what God showed me this week. Any thoughts?? I would love to hear from you too!