Saturday, March 27, 2010

florida

At 3:30 am on Friday, March 5 we left for Florida with the girls. We were hoping that they would sleep for a good portion that morning while we drove but they didn't fall asleep until 6. We drove until 5 pm to Atlanta, GA and we spent the night there. The next morning, we went to the Georgia Aquarium (the nation's largest). We had a good time there. They had everything you could imagine an aquarium having, including 4 huge sharks in HUGE aquariums. It was the best aquarium we'll ever go to but I think we just decided that aquariums aren't our thing. Nowadays, the discovery channel is top dog! But if you like Shedd's Aquarium in Chicago, this one will blow your mind (we never liked Shedd's much!)

After the aquarium, we headed on to Florida to stay with our good friends, Brian and Dorothy. We got to their house around 7. We were there for 6 days and had so much fun. We went to Daytona Beach one day, St. Augustine, shopping in Orlando, and Gemini Springs which is an awesome park in Orange City where Brian and Dorothy live. We also volunteered a day for Disney through Habitat for Humanity. What a joke! We were supposed to work for 4 hours. We were at this house for 2 hours and probably only accomplished a half an hour of work. It was very unorganized. And after 2 hours, the guy in charge said we could just go home since there wasn't anything left to do. And we got 2 free Disney tickets for it! So with those tickets, we decided to go to Disney Hollywood Studios. We were very thankful that we didn't pay to go there. There was just a lot of shopping and only 2 good rides to go on (which I didn't go on since I'm pregnant). We had had enough of the park after 4 1/2 hours. Wow, I sound like a downer!

We had 4 warm and sunny days and 2 rainy days. We left on Friday night and drove through the night. We got home 22 hours later on Saturday. The ride there and back could not have gone better with the girls. We had invested in tv/dvd players for the girls which was a big help. We had a great time! Brian and Dorothy were so good to us and there could not be a better couple to live with!

And here our some boring pictures. Our camera needed new batteries and we kept forgetting to pick some more up, so these are pretty much the only ones we got! They are in no particular order...










Tuesday, March 2, 2010

a children's bible

Looking through Ruby's children's Bible the other day, I came across the story when Jesus teaches us how we are to pray. I love this children's Bible because it's so easy for young children to understand and for myself! This is how The Lord's Prayer is worded in this children's Bible:

Hello Daddy!
We want to know you. And be close to you.
Please show us how.
Make everything in the world right again.
And in our hearts, too.
Do what is best - just like you do in heaven,
And please do it down here, too.
Please give us everything we need today.
Forgive us for doing wrong, for hurting you.
Forgive us just as we forgive other people when they hurt us.
Rescue us! We need you.
We don't want to keep running away and hiding from you.
Keep us safe from our enemies. You're strong, God.
You can do whatever you want. You are in charge.
Now and forever and for always!
We think you're great!
Amen!

I thought this was a refreshing way to look at this prayer.

And this is another excerpt from the story of Jesus being tempted by the devil in the dessert. Jesus had just been baptized and went to the dessert to 'be with his father to get ready for his new life' (which is similar to how I should make time to be with my Father since I am new creation). The devil tempts Him but Jesus refuses to be tempted. This bible says,
"Jesus wasn't like Adam. Jesus was a new kind of man. He would not believe the terrible lie that the enemy spoke. Jesus knew God loved him. And he would trust God. No matter what. It was just as God had promised to Adam and Eve all those years before. Jesus had come to do battle against the snake's work. He would get rid of the sin and the darkness and the tears. And He would suffer - but He would win."

Isn't that a great way to word what Jesus was all about?! And if we are a new creation in Christ, we should go to war with the devil just like Jesus.

This is from 'The Jesus Storybook Bible' by Sally Lloyd-Jones and I would highly recommend it for children. The stories are laid out in black and white that makes it easy for kids and adults to understand. It's brought some further realization into my own thoughts. Just thought I'd share :)

patience, anyone?!

I've heard that you shouldn't ask God to give you patience because He will give you the occasions to practice patience. That being said....

My girls have been making me laugh and rip out my hair all at the same time lately. I have been losing my patience with them lately and I don't know if it's because I'm slightly more irritable since I'm pregnant (I'm only irritable when I'm pregnant :)) or if they are just acting up more. Natalie verbally abuses me and Ruby quietly gets in and destroys everything. You'd never know that this silly little girl can scream her lungs off at me:

And don't be fooled by this innocent face:

Look what she accomplished in 5 seconds right behind my back while I was busy at the stove:
That's RICE all over the kitchen floor! Do you know what a pain it is to try to get every last grain of that swept/vacuumed up?!
Natalie doesn't get into things that she shouldn't too quick and Ruby hasn't been talking back... until today. She said 'no' for the first time and she will do a single scream while staring me down when she is upset with me. It's been quite a week! But then Jordan comes home, and they put on their sweet innocence and he can't understand what I'm talking about!

ahh, but I love them! I'm trying to remind myself while in the chaos, to enjoy it and find humor in it. They are growing so fast and I am going to miss even these bad days.