The Most Fun/Most Awful Day: Part 1 - Most Fun

We had a wonderful time with "Grandpa and Grandma from Colorado." We miss them so much already! One of the highlights of the visit was a trip to the Indianapolis Zoo (otherwise known as "the big zoo"). Both sets of grandparents went, making it very nice for us - every set of extra hands helps! The weather was beautiful - warm and sunny. We got to see almost everything - there were a few exhibits that were closed for maintenance (lions, tigers, AND bears - oh my!), and some rides that were not running, but it was still a fantastic time.

One of my favorite things of the day was having the boys feed the giraffes. They were SO excited. Here's George giving the giraffe a tasty snack:


And then it was Joshua's turn:

And now for some photos:

The last two pictures were of the boys signing "Rhino." Aren't they smart? There were a LOT more pictures - it was tough to choose which ones to post. We had such a blast that day, and then that night, tragedy struck. Stay tuned for part two. And for some reason I can't figure out why this formatting is so weird. I've spent over an hour trying to arrange things properly to no avail. So I'm leaving it as is and going to bed. At least I posted!

Blogging Backlog

Where do I begin after such an extended absence (at least in blogging terms)? There are so many things I want to blog about, but it will take some time to get caught up. And as this was supposed to be meant as a do-it-as-I-go kind of thing, I will likely never get to everything I *had* wanted to post about.

Having said that, I realize that I need to put more substance up that reflects the true purpose of this blog - life with the kiddos. I will still muse about various topics here and there, but hopefully with a more thought-out plan rather than just rambling (but I'm prone to rambling, so I'm sure a fair amount of that is unavoidable - and I am now proving my point). As I'm sitting here, George & Joshua are playing with their (second-hand, which we love) Tinker Toys, building lots of creative structures (like rocket ships). The baby is in the swing, and he just said "ma-ma." I know he wasn't referring to me, but it was still really nice to hear those particular babbling consonants.

These boys are starting to require a lot more stimulation and energy (from me), so I will be setting some goals for myself and them: regular exercise, back to more wholesome nutrition, and starting pre-school (at home). It is becoming increasingly obvious that the time I have left to really be the primary influence is going to be gone in a flash. The first 3 years have flown, and exponentially so since adding Blake. He will be 8 months old in a week!

I am hoping to also include some regular picture posting on here for those who need their fix. Now to finish my tea with coconut oil (something new I'm trying out, and hopefully an explanation will follow at some point) and interact with my brood. I am blessed.

Are You Adventurous?

As I am zooming through my own adventure, I have to make this quick. But it was on my mind, and since I have been SOOO absent from posting lately, I just had to jot something down.

We kicked off our MOPS year this morning, and I am really excited about it. I am serving on the Steering Team (heading up Publicity), and I get to see a lot of behind the scenes stuff that I was blissfully unaware of last year as "just a mom." It is a LOT of work!

Our theme this year is "Adventures in Mothering," and one of our discussion questions this morning was "What Makes Something Adventurous?" My answer sounded good (I'm good at discussions, but questionable at applying what I say - I'm a good-on-paper kind of person sometimes), but after I dropped the kids off I had a chance to reflect a bit more on the discussion.

How would you answer that question? Is it the fun places you go? Is it the exciting things you plan to do?

I believe that it is the attitude we have when things come our way that we aren't prepared for. Our response could be to get stressed out about the situation, or we could accept it and go with the flow. Or we could even see it as an adventure (which is not usually my response, I'll admit). How we respond to life's challenges speaks volumes to our children. Are we teaching them to keep moving forward and see life as an adventure?

I know this is not fun updates of the kids, or pictures or videos (which I will put up here soon, I promise!), but thanks for reading anyway. Sometimes I like to expound on my thoughts. This is why I have a blog, right?