Last Zoo Trip for 2012

We've had an annual pass to the Dallas Zoo off and on since we moved here.  We skipped a year after getting a little "burnt out" on it.  Then, we got it again last spring when my dad and stepmom were in town for a visit.

I decided that I would take the kiddos for one last zoo visit before our pass expired.  There was a new koala exhibit that we didn't make it to see the previous time we were there.

Unfortunately, the new exhibit was lame.  But, the koalas were cute!

And, we enjoyed some really neat keeper encounters this time.

We watched the SOAR bird show, which first debuted last spring.  They've made it even nicer and it's a really good addition to the zoo.

We also saw the tiger up much closer than ever before.

 Jett usually naps twice a day, so he finally gave up and snoozed a bit after we ate some lunch.

I even shelled out the $5 for crackers to feed the giraffe.  You can't really tell, but that's our friend Kimberly, Asa and Rylee feeding the pretty animal.

 I got some sweet shots of the boys while we were waiting for the girls.

 Jenna and Asa learned about chimpanzees and Jane Goodall in kindergarten.  They told me all about the animals and this amazing woman.  We missed the keeper encounter because their mom can't read the times correctly, but we didn't miss the gorilla encounter.  It was awesome!

 We changed the kids into their swim suits and let them splash around in the kids area water feature.  Jett was fascinated with the water pouring from a rock.  The big kids were just happy to cool off and run around.

I tried to get a picture of all four kiddos, but we couldn't get Jett to look at me at the right moment.  The others were getting restless from crouching and smiling.  I still think it's a cute shot!

Friendly Visits

So sad that I never blogged this.  But, it came in a period of craziness for me....a 5K run, 2 field trips, 1 birthday, a Business Day at school...it was just too much all at once!  So, here we are...two months later.

Our friends Ross and Nancy came to visit us at the end of March.  Ross is the senior pastor at the church where Joel served on staff in Pennsylvania from 2002-2007.  We love Ross and Nancy dearly and thoroughly enjoyed our visit with them.

They arrived on a Tuesday evening.  We hit the ground running on Wednesday.  We took them to Ft. Worth.  We visited the Stockyards, watched the cattle drive (walk), ate yummy barbecue, toured a few museums, watched a presentation about the wild west, then drove into the downtown area.

We visited the Ft. Worth Water Gardens, and then headed home...wiped out!

The water gardens have 4 different water features.  The biggest one has steps you can walk down.
It's a little daunting.  So, some stayed up top!

Water runs down the walls in another feature.
That was a favorite of the boys who couldn't keep their hands out.

On Thursday we drove through Turtle Creek (beautiful homes) after driving around the campus of Southern Methodist University.  Then, we rode the trolley on McKinney Street, grabbed some lunch, and did a picnic in Pioneer Park, where there are bronze statues of cattle.

We sent Ross and Nancy home ready for a vacation from their vacation.
But, it was lots of fun!

One of our favorite things was watching Rylee take pictures like Pastor Ross.
Isn't this just the cutest thing ever?

Home Organization :: Paper Clutter

The amount of paper that comes into this house is outrageous. 

While filing cabinets are pretty essential for keeping up with bills and important documents, sometimes you need just a few "hot files" at your fingertips.  This hanging file bin is by my desk and houses folders for the weekly school newsletter, bills to pay, and a few other things I want to have handy but not on my desk.

A cubby for each kid.  The papers they want to keep have to fit in these.  When they get too full, they get purged.  Looks like one is due!

By the way, I also have a shoebox sized plastic bin WITH LID for each kiddo.  They put their "treasures" in it (aka: annoyed McDonald's toys and trinkets from friends).  The lid must snap on it.  When it's full, something must go.  It has helped immensely to control the little trinket population in our house.