Can you guess what we are up to this week?

With salty snacks...

...special drinks...

The candy drawer is a little low, but these are some of his favorites anyways.

...sweet rewards...

...and an almost two year old on hand?


Yep, I pulled out the potty chair and the training pants.  We're giving potty training a go for the next couple of weeks.  Mr. K has been showing many signs of being ready, and I wouldn't mind a short break from diapers, so it's time.  He is just on the edge of being ready though.  We will give it two weeks and see where we are then.

Check out this post for some tips, tricks, and advice on potty training.

Happy Doughnut Day!

The first Friday in June is officially National Doughnut day.  My kids have been asking me to make doughnuts for a few months now.  I think it's been about 2 years since I've made them.  I figured this was as good an excuse as any to make some up.

The kids were busy with a major clean up project (their rooms) and worked very hard knowing there was a great reward when they were done.  Miss E helped put the finishing touches on the doughnuts for me.  We made chocolate covered, squirrel tails (twists with glaze and covered with cinnamon sugar, glazed, and cinnamon sugar doughnut holes.  YUM!  Everyone got one of each.

This little guy fell asleep eating.  He put up a good fight, but in the end he just could not win.  He didn't need those doughnuts anyways.  None of us did.  Ugh!

The big ultrasound!

Just a few short days after arriving home from our road trip we had our appointment for the big ultrasound.  The one where we find out who will be joining our family.  It was at 8:00 am.  Did I mention we had just come home from a 3 week road trip?  We were all so very tired, but so excited to be there.  Most of us didn't have an opinion on who we hoped was coming, we just wanted to know.

Baby cooperated well for all of the medical shots.  Posing just right for every measurement.  Brain, face, heart, kidneys, liver, belly, hands, legs and feet; all looked perfect in the words of the tech and doctor. We even got to see some great profile shots, thumb/finger sucking, and sweet feet.  Then it was time to peek for the gender.  The wiggling started. And the turning.  Still the tech managed to get the shot.

*The Doctor did her best to get a good 3D shot, but by then baby was wiggling and turning too much to get a really good one, it was fun to see though.

Its a GIRL!!!!!  Miss C gets her wish.  Miss C seemed to be glowing after the news was announced.  Her eyes were big and the grin on her face was about the biggest I've ever seen it.

Happy Birthday Mr. M!

We were on the road (driving day) for Mr. M's birthday.  That may seem like a bummer of a birthday for turning 10, but we made up for it.  He asked for McDonald's pancakes for breakfast, but Miss E pointed out that at the next exit (close by) Burger King had one of their special drink machines.  He opted for that.

*He had already been promised a mocha/coffee, then was allowed to get Dr. Pepper.  You can imagine the potty stops we had to make.

Uncle D told us about a great Bass Pro store along the way.  Mr. M wanted to stop.  We spent 4 hours there (including lunch and the in-store restaurant)!

*Mr. M wasn't the only one who thought this place was intended for him.  Mr. K had a great time playing here!

We pulled into OKC just in time to drop off the trailer and head to Texas Road House for the birthday boy's requested dinner.

Happy Birthday Mr. M!!!!
*We headed out the next morning narrowly missing the storms that brought the damaging tornadoes.

Visiting the K family

After hitting the Eastern most point in our journey it was time to turn around and head back out West.  We took another route so that we could visit Rob's sister and her family.

The kids had a great time having tea parties...

Decorating cupcakes and cakes (we celebrated some birthdays while there)...

and Uncle L even made balloon animals!

Thanks for the fun visit!

The Boonshoft Museum (Ken Kinetic)

While we were in the area we took the opportunity to visit The Boonshoft Museum which has a piece of my Dad's art on display.  We were in no way dissappointed to have taken the effort to get there.

Dad's piece was to the right, just as we walked in.  All of the kids enjoyed getting to move it around and just to see it on display in a museum.

It was a special moment for me to get to see one of Dad's pieces in a place he would have loved so much.  He used to take me and my brothers to OMSI when we were little, and took my kids there as well.  The Boonshoft Museum reminded me of OMSI in many ways.  Our visit was made all the more enjoyable by the staff who welcomed us so warmly (I had made contact ahead of time; they were expecting us).

We took a couple of hours to explore the museum.  We could have stayed all day (but time did not permit).  My kids soaked in every bit that they saw.  Each and every one of them enjoyed their time there, from the 12 year old Miss E right down to nearly 2 year old Mr. K.

Creation Museum! (part 2)

Part 1 can be found here.

One morning before heading to the museum we were ready quite early and decided to surprise the kids with doughnuts.  While there I asked Mr. K where my kisses were?  He likes to pretend he does not know.

Then he gives me big hugs and kisses!

One of the favorite parts of the museum was exploring the gardens outside as well as going to the petting zoo.

Miss E had studied up on what animals we could expect to see there and told us about all of them.  She was especially looking forward to seeing the Zonkey and the Zorse.  (crosses between zebras and donkeys/horses)

I loved seeing Mr. K interact with the animals.  I was impressed by how well he did at feeding the goats.

Miss C loved feeding the animals, but the fish and ducks seemed to be her favorites.  

Camel rides were a big hit.  Miss C and Mr. K skipped them, but everyone else got to go!

Why would we go so far to take our family to the creation museum?  Why would we teach our kids about creation when many think that science proves evolution?  Why is it even important?

We believe the Bible to be the inerrant Word Of God that we can trust from cover to cover.  We see through the consistency of scripture (though written by 40 or so men over the course of 1500 years), the archaeological verification, and the amazing preservation that we can indeed trust His Word.

We believe that it takes more faith to believe in evolution and life happening by chance than to believe that our all powerful God and creator could speak this world we live in into being.  There exists much scientific proof to contradict evolution and much evidence glaringly lacking that might support evolution, but facing that requires admitting that there is indeed a God to whom we owe our very being and are accountable to, so we are not surprised that such considerations are ignored out of hand. 

^{Romans 1:18-20.} For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.

It is important to us to teach this to our children because if they cannot believe the first words and chapter of the Bible what other parts will they doubt?  We desire to show them through logical thinking and science that they can indeed trust His Word, live by it, and obey Him.  How can they find salvation in a God they do not trust?  How can they obey His whole word if they doubt it?  The Christian walk is not a life of ease, but it is a blessed one.  We desire to equip our children to walk this walk.

If you have never heard a coherent argument explaining the scientific basis for a rational belief in a Creator, we recommend you visit Answers in Genesis and the Institute for Creation Research. As you study critically, you may see how low some scientific fields have sunk since Darwin. It saddens us to see what constitutes "proof" nowadays; it doesn't bode well for the future of our courtrooms if the standards for evolutionary "proof" find their way into popular thinking!