Zoo & the Beach

Jeremy's parents came down for a visit a couple of weeks ago.  The kids were really excited to see Grammy and Gramps.  They enjoyed just chillin with them in the garage.

 Wednesday, we decided to take them to the Lowry Park Zoo.  It was a beautiful day.  A lot of the animals were out and pretty visible.  We happened to walk past the orangutan exhibit as they were getting a mid day snack.  Isn't this guy cool?

 The zoo keeper was throwing fruits and vegetables at the Orangutans.  This dude had good eye/hand coordination.

 There's big poppy again, with his feet and mouth full.

 Nathan and I went on the super fun kids roller coaster.  He is a great riding partner

 We did a behinds the scenes tour that was new to us.  It was a tram ride into some special exhibits.

Hannah wanted to take pictures on the tram ride.  So, the following photos are courtesy of Hannah

 Did you notice a pattern?  She was able to capture the rear end of each animal. Poor thing, haha!

We had another special treat, the baby hippo was out.  It was only 4 days old!  You can kind of see it in this picture, smooshed between the glass and its momma.

 I've never seen their Florida Panther active.  He was running all over the exhibit today.

 The kids always love to touch the sting rays.  Even Nathan got his fingers down in the water that day.

 They had some special one on one time with one of the zoo keepers.

After the zoo, we headed to Madeira Beach to meet Jeremy for dinner. 

 Silly boy and I took funny photos.

 I really like this beach.  It is huge.  It has sugar sand.  It has a draw bridge.  It has food and shopping.  It has a bathroom.  And it has beautiful sunsets.

 There is almost nothing more pure than a little boy playing in the sand.

 Trying to hold the sun up.

 My absolute favorite picture.  Click on it to make it bigger.  I love that I caught him in mid jump.

 Of course, we had to finish the night off in a typical family style.  Jeremy remembered that he had to take his truck somewhere to have a bed liner put in, so Greg following in my van.  We crammed that van (already full with 7 people, including three sleeping children, with tools, boxes, etc, and even strapped a truck topper and ladder to my van top.  Straight up hillybilly here ya'll.

Jeremy had a Birthday

We have had a super busy, but super fun weekend.  It all started last week when Jeremy's mom and dad came down to visit.  We were excited to see them, because it had been since May!  Those pictures will come later this week.  

Then we had a fun time celebrating Granny's 75th birthday and visiting with more family....yep...those pictures will come later as well. 

I wanted to make sure I got Jeremy's birthday posted first.  You see, he is the man of our house, and we are so very thankful for him!

After a really great church service, we took off for Ybor City.  I'm still a little nervous down there, and will probably never show my face at night, or much after 2 in the afternoon.  However, I have learned to appreciate the history of this once booming area of Tampa.

 Jeremy decided he wanted to eat at Tampa Bay Brewing Company for his birthday lunch.  We visited this restaurant a month or two ago, and we thought his parents would enjoy it.

 The boys enjoyed looking at the....um...tanks?  I don't know.  What are those big things called that they make beer in?  Distilleries?  Vats? Big metal cylinders?  Either way...even for a non-beer drinker like me, it's kind of cool to look at and learn about.

 One of their favorite things about this restaurant is that they can sample any and all of house made beers.  It's a cool concept.  I would prefer a chocolate tasting, but hey...it's not my birthday!  Jeremy actually said he liked the seasonal pumpkin brew the best.

 The second best thing about this restaurant is their variety of food.  They have a cool menu with the best cheese dip in town, and lots of interesting variety.  Last time we got Shepherd's Pie...it was delicious.  This time, Jeremy ordered "The Bomb"

 "The Bomb" is a colossal burger covered in bacon, fried onions, cheese, and wrapped in their house made pizza dough.  It was a thing of beauty, and quiet delicious.  I could only hold in one bite, but it was a good one!

Nicole loves this restaurant because she can order a nutella sandwich.  

 We finished off the day with a much needed nap (how else can you begin to digest "The Bomb"), ball toss in the street, and yummy cheesecake and gifts.

 Our annual tradition is for the kids to make scrapbook pages of pictures with just them and their daddy and give it to him for Father's Day.  Well, we missed it this year...so that became him birthday gift.  It is always fun to go through that album, and the kids did 100% of the work this year.

 To top off a wonderful birthday, Jeremy's "Best Friend" Peyton Manning made NFL history and broke the record for most Touchdown passes thrown in a career.

Jeremy, we love you!  Thank you for celebrating another birthday with us.  We'll go hiking soon ;)

Why we pray (Nate's point of view)

Conversations with Nathan:

N: Hey mom, wanna know what I know about God?

M: yeah buddy, what do you know?"

N: I know that he loves all people. But I don't know what he looks like and I've never talked to him.

M: Buddy, you talk to God.  Every time you pray, you are talking to God.

N: I aaaaam???

(Thinking) mommy, I thought that if we don't pray, the rocks will.

M: well, um, kind of

N: hey mom- how do rocks cry out if they don't have mouths?

(Then he runs off)

Fire safety

IThe girls have two wonderful AHG leaders.  They make their meetings SO fun!  Last night, they worked on their Fire Safety badge.

They talked about proper clothing, behavior, and supplies needed when working around a fire.

They also made a snack in the fire.  They hallowed out an orange, poured brownie batter, and covered in foil.  These foul balls cooked in the coals while the lesson continued.

And, here us go!  An orange brownie!

I am not sure the taste fully met their expectations.

It was quite fun nonetheless.

Let the Little Children Come

Hannah has been wanting to earn the "Kid Care" badge for AHG.  This is the first badge she has asked to earn on her own.  We have spent much time this week talking about taking care of toddlers.  What kind of rules should they have?  What types of toys are safe for them to play with.  Do you know of any songs you can sing with them?  What is difficult when watching a toddler?  What is fun?

Part of her badge requirements were to be a "mom's helper" for an hour.  We thought it would be fun to let her help in nursery this week.  She took this to heart and spent the rest of the week planning her class. She wanted to teach the children a Bible story, do songs with them, lead a craft, prepare snack, and also have a signal to get their attention.

During our regular fellowship break, Hannah went into the nursery and set it up to prepare for her little students

This was a task taken with MUCH seriousness!

Hannah's friends Esther and Noelle volunteered to help her today

Let the class begin.  She is explaining her "rules".  Two claps mean to sit down.  And (with finger going across your lips) Ziiiiiiiiiip, means to stop talking.

 One of my favorite pictures.  She is leading the boys in "Jesus Love You", and she is pointing to our friend Henry.  Henry...Jesus loves you!

 Now it is Bible story time.  Hannah chose to teach them about the first two days of creation.  She is using her Bible reader from My Father's World

 It was very important to her to hold the book so the kids could see the pictures.  She also said she wanted to keep her lesson short because, "they might get bored and start walking around and playing".

 She is showing Isaiah the picture and explaining darkness and light to him.

 I love the interaction she chose to have with the boys (thankfully there were only two today!)

 For craft time, she chose to help them make a lion using a paper plate.  She showed them, step by step, on her little board how to make a lion.  She exhibited much patience!

 Realizing that part of her job as the teacher is clean up, she dutifully swept the floor and wiped down the tables.  She even "washed" the boys' hands with wet wipes.

 The boys were allowed to pick their favorite color, and she marked a sticker to show they were here today.

I am so proud of this girl!  She put a lot of thought into this class (and even told them that she would teach about days 3 & 4 next time!).  She had the parents sign a sign in/out sheet so she could keep track of the children.  She kept their attention, led a lesson, crafts, and cleaned up snacks.  I saw one moment of "me" when she covered her ears and said, "Ahem....you guys are getting to loud and my head is starting to hurt, please be more quiet".  Hand to face!  That statement had me all over it.

For the most part though, she did a wonderful job earning this badge.  I am pretty sure I will now always have a nursery helper by my side :)

Pioneer Woman

The kids recently discovered cooking shows.  Nicole, in particular, likes The Pioneer Woman.  

Last week, I was sick and spent a large portion of the day in bed.  We watched a number of cooking shows, including one called Cedars by PW.  

Once I felt better, we had to make it for dinner.

Nicole is making the yummy garlic cheese bread.

We also made a salad bar salad.

And our main dish... Chicken marinara over pasta.

Hannah finished off the meal with peanut butter cup cookies.

It was a fun night, and a delicious dinner.