Lately

It has been hard to blog the last couple of months!

I mean, when you have a new niece to drop by and hold...

Spring baseball practice for an excited little boy...

And all the extra spring events and trips that come with church and school!

Plus, to be honest, every time I get near a computer right now, I don't want to blog. I want to look at houses. Triangle Home Finder, Zillow, and Zip are my new best friends! That's because we're supposed to close on our house at the end of June.

So it's find a house or pitch a tent in someone's backyard. Or maybe a pop-up camper. You know, it IS warm in June....

No, really. I'm not worried. Excited, but not worried! I'm excited to see what God has in store.

But even still....

I hope that in a couple months I won't be blogging about squatter's rights. Or which air mattresses are most comfortable.

No, I hope to be blogging about something nice and boring like.... paint colors.

NOT pop-up campers.

A Day at Legoland

What better place to take two lego-lovin' little boys than... Legoland?!

We weren't sure what to expect since the only reviews we'd gotten were from TripAdvisor. (Love TripAdvisor! And I have to say most of the reviews were right on.)

It was unlike any amusement park I've ever visited. I guess theme park really is the best description. It does not have huge, scary rides and would not appeal to most teenagers (unless they absolutely love legos). As a mom, I LOVED the fact that it does not appeal to teenagers. That meant that the park was full of FAMILIES, not teenagers making out in line. It also means that the music playing on the speakers is kiddie music, not the latest rock song. I am officially (and proudly, I might add) an old fuddy-duddy mom!

My kids absolutely loved the park and were amazed by all the Lego statues and, especially, Miniland - an area that contains lego replicas of several cities AND a pirate harbor. Even I was impressed! They were both very proud of the fact that they rode the roller coasters, too! The shows were really cute for kids, as well. The pirate show includes a water show on the lake, and the kids thought the 4D racing show was a lot of fun.

If you ever consider going, check out the Mousesavers website for ticket deals. And make sure you plan to stop by the Big Shop on the way out. My boys thought they were in Lego Paradise!

Loved this idea at the restaurant! A Lego buffet for the kids to play around while the parents finish eating!

In case you can't tell, Addie is WAVING at Darth Vader. Daniel got very tickled over that one!

We had to drag the boys out of Miniland!

Thomas participating in the Ford Driving School. We got a kick out of watching all those little kids waving each other on at stop signs and almost rear-end each other! After he watched an instructional video and drove the course, he got his driver's license. :)

So Far in April....

We have had the best month so far!

A trip to Florida...

Stopping in to see good friends...

A nice visit with Travis's Grandpa...

Legoland (which deserves a post of its own)...

And a new little niece!

Here's a picture story of what we've done so far.

the Huff and Moots kids

So glad I got to see Kim! She and Jeff gave us the tour of Hope Children's Home.

We celebrated with cake and ice cream on Grandpa's 82nd birthday. I chose this particular picture of him because it captures his personality so well (sarcastically saying something about my camera and me reminding him of his daughter-in-law!).

This little stinker jumped in the picture at the last second. She is a camera hog!

At Jungle Gardens in Sarasota

Addie meets Aubrey

A baby and bagel dip

Several weeks ago, my mom and I hosted a baby shower for my sister Kelly.


We are VERY excited about all the pink things that are entering her life.


And we were also excited that her mother-in-law Sharon (who lives very far away) could share in the excitement over all the little pink things.

Kelly and I were also very excited about the Cranberry-Citrus Spread my mom made for the shower. This particular spread holds some sentimental value to Kelly - mom got the recipe after she tasted this DELICIOUS dip at the wedding of Kelly's high school friend, Elizabeth. But it's really good even if it doesn't hold a special memory for you personally. My mother served it with crackers, which was good, but it would be EXTRA good on a bagel. Even my kids loved it! So here's some food for thought....

Cranberry-Citrus Spread
1 block cream cheese
1/2 C chopped pecans
1/2 C dried cranberries
1/4 C frozen concentrate orange juice

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Then add other ingredients. Refrigerate overnight before serving.

This would also make a good snack while waiting on a baby at the hospital. I should probably keep some in the fridge just in case!

Sundays

I didn't used to like Sundays.

Things to do at church, dinner to be made, choir practice, and lesson plans and papers to grade.


Sundays involved so much... work. And, the Lord knows, I could have a hard time putting work down. Even at one of my summer jobs in college, one of my higher-ups would tell me after most others had left the office, "Go home! It'll be here tomorrow!" Chuck's words still come back to me at times - especially when I'm so tired and I stand in the dark kitchen staring at the crumbs on the floor! (If I can see them in the dark, then I must need to sweep them NOW!)

It will be here tomorrow.

Well, not that any Sunday is perfect. It doesn't have to be. But during my last year or two of teaching, God convicted me of saving my schoolwork until Sundays. Bringing home schoolwork and purposely putting it off until Sunday afternoon had become the norm. And because of that, I had begun to resent Sundays.

Wouldn't you?

So I had to do things differently. It required planning a little better. But in doing so, the Lord gave me freedom to enjoy my Sunday afternoon with my family.

He also has given me freedom to worship Him with other believers. Freedom doesn't mean that I do whatever I feel like doing. It means realizing that true joy and freedom stem from obeying God. And that means devoting time on His Day to worship Him with other believers.

He has also given me freedom to lay aside my fleshly cares and worries. This is probably the area that is most difficult, because it involves such mental discipline - at least for me! If I will choose to think on the words I'm singing, and think on WHO I'm singing about, how can I do anything but worship? If I will choose to stop and listen to the sermon, and to be sensitive to listen to His Spirit, rather than thinking about my list of to-do's - it is then that I can experience the freedom to worship Him in spirit and in truth. It's an inward focus that praises Him for WHO HE IS and, as a result, longs for the "mind of Christ." Because ALL is focused on Him.

I, like so many other women, and like that woman long ago, tend to be "cumbered about with much serving" - all those things I need to do. But I have to choose that one thing that is "needful." Worshiping Jesus. He offers me such freedom if I will choose to take it!

Take the freedom of the Lord's Day. Trust Him to take care of the details.

All those other things will be there tomorrow.