A busy day full of fun!

We had such a nice day on Thursday! The weather was B-E-A-U-tiful and we decided we should spend as much time as we could outside.

So we planned a zoo trip. It was a great day for it. The kids had an awesome time. I mean we spent 4 hours there for goodness sake! Nolan was amazing and the kids got to see the baby giraffe, the baby elephant and sadly though the new baby camel was a no show. However we did get to see the new leopard taking a siesta in the sun!

I don't take my camera to the zoo every trip anymore because I have so many pictures from the zoo so i decided to skip it this trip!

After we finished our time at the zoo we had a picnic lunch with our friends at Turtle Park. It was lots of fun too. I did snag my camera out of the car this time to snap a few pictures....







After we finished up at Turtle Park we headed over to my parent's house for an impromptu BBQ. It was delicious and a good time was had by all. I took my NEW (more on that later!) camera out a took a few pictures of the bigger kids!






We are so thankful for the few nice days we had before the stinky/cold weather set in! We had a wonderful time and are looking forward to some great time outside today.

St. Patty's Day Fun!

Leanna decided she wanted to really "celebrate" St. Patrick's Day. So we decided to have a St. Patrick's Day party.

I am part Irish and we (as a kid) lived in the dogtown area which is dominately Irish/Italian/German area. We really did St. Patrick's Day when I was growing up.

So like I said we decided it would be fun so we did. We invited and then we made a plan. While we were trying to figure out what we would serve as snacks and things we could do for our friends. Leanna and Hudson really learned alot.

One of the snacks we decided to make was rainbow jello! It was fun and it took two days to make it (because of having to let each color set before layering the next color) and since it did Leanna really learned alot about rainbows and colors. Oh and of course how to make Jello!



We also learned about how the shamrock became such a big part of St. Patrick's Day. So we made our own shamrocks. We cut out hearts and put the points together it was a fun time with glue and stickers! (Be prepared for A LOT of green in this photo)



Because some of our friends aren't at the "cutting" age just yet we had some fun coloring pages with a leprachaun, rainbow and pot of gold.



A group photo of all the small people that were there with us that day.



And if you want to know what St. Patrick did with all the snakes in Ireland you should ask Hudson ;)

A sweet moment... Captured

The other night. Nolan was laying on his play mat and having a blast. Leanna crawled down there with him and started singing him a song. It was a sweet moment. They played there for about 10-15 minutes. Before Josh noticed it. He decided to try and get a picture.

Josh managed to grab the camera and snap a few pictures... before she saw the camera that is (she is such a ham).





and of course an after she saw the camera :)



*Shay B*

The boys

Oh the boys, the boys, the boys,they bring me so much joy.

Hudson can make Nolan light up like a bright day of sunshine. He can make Nolan laugh and laugh and laugh. It is amazing to watch the two of them together.

I am thankful my boys love each other. Hudson lights up every time he gets a smile from Nolan. "He smiled at me Momma", with an equally as impressive smile on his own face. He always wants to hold him. Only for a minute or two cause then of course he has important big boy things to do. Which usually get him trouble. I captured some pictures of them together the other day...



and then Leanna asked to take a picture... so I though what the heck. I don't have any of me with the boys so...

You must

"You must do the things you think you cannot do." - Eleanor Roosevelt

I feel like lately that is all I have been doing.

They say that God won't give you more than you can handle. There is a bible verse even about it.

I am having a hard time believing that lately. I am struggling this month, heck to be honest this year. It isn't happening the way it was supposed to. They way I thought it was supposed to happen. My plans have been changed and destroyed and altered and I am having trouble seeing it His way. I know that it is never for me to control. I know that it isn't MINE. I know this. In my head and my heart and everywhere I am supposed to. So why is it so HARD?

Man I know I said I was trying to lighten things up a little but.. this is a journal of all things good and bad. Lord knows it hasn't been a well kept one lately. I am trying to fix that too. I want to remember the struggles as much as I want to remember that greatness and the awesome sauce that our lives are. I do. So I am trying to find time to "do the things I think I cannot do". The stuff I am always running out of time, patience, energy to do take care of handle facilitate. There are a million and one words I could fill that sentence with.

Kick in the face?

The chapter I am doing on the bible study this month...

The lies we believe about PRIORITIES... yeah that has been soooo much fun. Okay God I am getting it... Slowly, stubbornly... I am getting it. Getting it is COMPLETELY different from figuring it all out though. That I am beginning to fear I may never do.

*Shay B*

Whispers

“Does God hear us when we whisper?”

My answer should have been easy. I should have been able to answer so quickly.

I stuttered and I danced. I told her we could talk about it later.

I still haven't answered that question.

I don't know if I have the heart to answer her. I don't feel like giving the answer lately because more questions will be asked more that I can't answer just now.
I don't feel like he does. I feel like I have been shouting lately and I am not being heard. I feel like I have been begging and pleading. Maybe whispering is what I should be doing.

Maybe it is. Cause if I had answered her...

"Sometimes He hears us best when we whisper baby."

*Shay B*