Parents Visit

Over the kids' spring break my parents were able to sneak away for three days and come out to visit us.

 The kids were so excited.

 They even brought some Easter basket gifts.  Galina got this dancing ribbon and had fun twirling with it.

 Treyton enjoyed his pirate accessories.

 He got the eye flap thing down real fast.  Like the sword down the pants?

 Grandpa sure enjoyed cuddling with Brielle.

 Grandpa likes to cuddle with anyone.

 See what I mean?  He's been that way his whole life!

 Grandma even got some cuddle time in with our star cuddler.

We had a low key but very enjoyable visit.  Missing you already!

Chicken Tacos

I've been really nauseas since getting pregnant with our fourth (and final) baby.  One thing that has been appetizing is chicken tacos.  Here is a delicious yet simple way to make them.

Crock Pot Chicken Tacos
1 envelope taco seasoning
6 pieces chicken breasts
1 (16 oz) jar salsa

Put in crock pot and cook low for 6-8 hrs OR high for 4-6 hrs.  I usually shred chicken and let it cook a little longer to get the flavors to marry.  Enjoy!

Review - Booga Booga Land

Booga Booga Land is a silly video which name and concept caught my attention right away.  It's a DVD series which is supposed to follow the same plots as parables from the Bible.  This particular DVD is broken into three episodes which follow the parables of the lost pearl (Squid Sushi Loses His Marbles), the soil and the seeds (Wally the Waiter), and the wedding banquet (The Flaming Monkey).  The main characters are silly animals including Marty the Monkey and Gerard the Giraffe.

I couldn't help but think of Sponge Bob Square Pants while watching the video with my kids.  Same sort of funny humor and pace of story.  But with a Christian twist, loosely.  Unfortunately, I couldn't grasp the message of the three episodes even when looking for it.  For kids, I think it would be extremely hard to learn anything from these stories.  It was a stretch, unlike Hermie and Friends, Veggie Tales, or Gigi videos.  As an adult, I love the idea of using parables and changing them to teach the same lesson but in a different way.  But this video series just didn't do that as I had expected.  But I must say, my kids did enjoy them for the silly humor, fun characters, and humorous events.

I was given this DVD from Tommy Nelson Publishers to watch and review.  All opinions are my own.  I was not paid to do this review.

Church Sign

Gotta chuckle at this one...

Elliot Quote Explained

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."
Faith is being ready to give up all your own desires for God. And it is in giving them up, that you will truly have your desires fulfilled. God is not a spoilsport. He doesn't want you to give up your dream, and have it replaced by something lousy. God wants you to give up your puny little dream, and look up, and see his dream for your life. His dream for your life is the most exciting, most fulfilling, most exciting thing you will ever do. That's because God's dream for your life perfectly matches exactly who you are. God wants your best. He wants the best from you, and He wants to give the best to you.

by Graeme Codrington @ Youth Talks

Elliot Quote

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." -Jim Elliot

Valentine's Parties

I really love Valentine's Day.  And not just because of the candy.  I just love...love!  It's a fun thing to celebrate. 

This year we were invited to Galina's friend Violet's house for a tea party.  Sallina, Violet's mom, is blessed with the gift of hospitality beyond belief.  She loves having people over and we love going there so it works well.

Here's what the spread looked like.  So cute!

Here's Treyton, Elias, and Brielle along with Sallina.

And Miss Violet with her tea.

Boy did Galina get a kick out of all the fancy things!

Brielle enjoyed the food.

Even Treyton got into it!

Mommy even swiped some candy from her baby.

What a fun tea party.

The kids also had parties at their school which I had to miss most of due to Brielle's nap. Thankfully there were a couple moms in each class who were willing and able to volunteer to make it happen. But I showed up at the end. Here are a few shots from those.

Don't you just love celebrating love?

Phone Number Tip

Teaching kids their phone number can be tedious.  But it's important for them to know.  Especially if you are Galina and like to run off and get lost. I read a clever tip somewhere: teach them through song.  Use the tune of "Camptown Races Sing This Song, Do Dah, Do Dah".  I tried it and after two trips in the car they almost had it.  And you'll have it in your head for at least 8 hours, guaranteed.

Penguin

Galina brought home this cute penguin craft from preschool after their penguin unit was over.

 They used a paper bag for the belly stuffed with newspaper.

With added feathers, feet, beak, and eyes, this penguin is easy and fun.

New Digs From Grandma

A fun thing that Bryce's parents do is send a care package for each holiday.  I have no idea how Sharon does it.  I can't even get a thank you sent in the mail let alone a little gift for each grandkid!  (She has 6._  Anyways, this time the kids received, along with candy, a book and new clothes.

Brielle was fascinated with her new skirt.  She's recently gotten into accessories.

 She really loved it!

 And Galina's new skirt was darling.  I had the perfect shirt to match too.

 Galina wore this outfit for three days in a row before I forced her (literally) to wear something else.

 She twirled a lot in those three days.

 And Mr. T looked dapper in his new shirt.  Sporty and fun! 

Thanks to Grandma Sharon for her time and effort!  Happy Valentine's Day right back at ya!

Matching

Brent (my brother) and June (his wife) gave us their son Marat's old flag sweater a while a go.  When I was in MN I found a matching one and simply had to get it.  So here we are, just my boy and me. 

Knight and Shining...Hippo?

Most little princesses have a knight an shining armor.

 But not Galina. She dances to a different drummer.  Her favorite animal is the hippo.  So she devised this....a knight and shining hippo.

 I love that she keeps her expectations in check.

Accessorizing

Brielle's been learning from her older sister on how to accessorize.

 Except she's not got it down yet.

 But she tries hard!

 Headbands become necklaces. This old stuffed Santa Bear hat and scarf work well to finish off this outfit.

And we can't forget that every girl with an older brother should have a turn with the cowboy hat.

Oh, sweet Brielle!

Book Review - iShine Bible

This compact size Bible published by Tyndale is a great looking, good quality Bible for "tweens".  Those kids who are not quite children but also are not teenagers yet are often overlooked by publishers.  Not so with this Bible.  It's cover is "cool" and the size makes it handy to stick in a backpack or purse (there's a girl and guy version).  It's the New Living Translation which is extremely easy to understand and yet is faithful to the original text. 

The Bible contains three distinct sections which follows the acronym VIP.  V stands for value, something preteens often struggle with. This section discusses how you are valuable to God.   The I stands for identity, another thing tweens struggle with as they seek to discover who they are.  Finding their identity in Christ is the key to successful teen years, in my opinion.  The P section goes into purpose, the reason for their lives.  Since they are valued in God's eyes and have an identity in Him, they have a purpose in this life.  That is encouraging and motivating.

I liked the Bible and the sections a lot, but what I would have liked better would have been having the information more throughout the Bible rather than in just three sections.  It would've been neat to see more quotes or articles relating to the VIP scattered her and there, but they just placed the sections in three distinct inserts in the Bible.  I guess that's helpful to refer to, but I was thinking it would be even better to have a sort of devotional type Bible with correlating insights, quotes, or stories throughout.

I received a copy of this Bible from Tyndale for review.  All opinions are my own. I was not paid to do this review.

Griping About the Snow

Sometimes living in Colorado makes me shake my head.  Like today.  This is what it looks like out my front door. 

 And we've had snow there for several weeks so it's not like this happened over night.

But schools were delayed today.  Last week there were two snow days.  And another the week before that!  What is with these people?

Growing up in Minnesota, I think I could count the  number of snow days we had on one hand.  In thirteen years of education (K-12).  And once in college they closed all schools since the windchill was -40 degrees.  They don't close schools in Minnesota unless there has been over 3 ft of snow fallen in one night.  And that's not even certain as the snowplow system is so unbelievable there.

So I'm griping today because I had to take Galina to gymnastics.  I got the kids up, dressed, fed, and loaded.  Scraped the car and headed out.  I got there in time to find no one else there.  Since the schools were delayed, gymnastics was canceled.

Since I was out I decided to go to the library.  Drove over and found a sign on the door (after unloading everyone and trudging through the snowy parking lot).  They were going to open late as well.

For Pete's sakes!

I headed back, loading up the kids again. 

I hate car seats in the winter.

Luckily we headed to a grocery store that WAS open.  So my trip was not a total waste.  But come on, Coloradoans!  You have no idea.  You'd never stand a chance living in Minnesota!

This is a picture of Grandpa Don, Galina, and Daisy in Minnesota over Christmas break.  It's in the cul-de-sac out in the front of their house.  Notice the ROOF of the house across the street.  Now THAT is snow!  I rest my case.