Spreading the Geo-bug

Today, since the warm sunshine was in Branson and Des Moines was just recovering from snow and cold temps, Amanda and I decided to make the most of it and do some last minute geocaching.  We left the husbands and the preschoolers at the condo to nap, grabbed some GeoSwag (small items to trade) and our smart phones, and headed out with the older two (and Elliot) on an adventure.

Laila and Everett, enjoying cartoons at the condo in Branson

Our first stop was near the dam.  It was a great view and a crazy sight seeing all the turkey vultures flying around.  That is the beauty of Geocaching, you go places where you might not normally stop.

Ethan and Emma posing near the overlook.
The steps made me nervous, it was a straight drop down over the edge of the wall.

The warning in the notes of the Geocache said to hold on to your kids during
the hike to the cache.  They weren't kidding!

 The search for the cache took us along the edge of this bluff along a footpath.  Once we got close to the trees I started hearing a rustling in the leaves.  I worried about snakes, so I stopped and motioned to everyone else to stop.  Then, out of the grass scurried an armadillo.  The kids couldn't see it, as the camouflage was pretty good and it didn't hang around long, but Amanda and I thought it was pretty cool!



Elliot, Ethan and I with a view of Lake Tannycomo in the background

Once we got close to the geolocation, it didn't take long to find the hide.

Ethan can't go on a hike without carrying a walking stick.

Found it!!

After signing the log, exchanging trinkets and placing the container back where we found it, we decided to do some more exploring and look for some more.  Elliot fell asleep in the van along the way so we decided to let the kids swing a little at the park and find a cache that was close to the road so he could stay sleeping.

From our condo you could see the road that ran along the bluff, so we decided to drive along there.  At the scenic overlook was a geocache!!

 

After pulling up and getting out we spotted our condo with Amanda's white vehicle parked outside. We pointed that out to the kids and Ethan said "Where's our van Mom?" We all paused and I replied, "Where is our van Ethan?", then laughed as he realized we drove it.

It was a pretty cool view, so we called Derrick and convinced him go outside and wave to us. He did and the kids were impressed at how small he looked.

Amanda and Emma at the overlook

You can barely see Amanda's white SUV infront of our condo. 

We found the geocache and then headed back to the condo since it was getting cold.

Emma, grabbing the geocache from behind the pole

I hate to admit it, but I think Amanda and I enjoy the hunt more than the kids, and now that she is addicted I have even more excuse to get out and find some caches!



 

Baby E is 7 Months Old

Elliot is 7 months old today!  He is growing up so fast and I can't get over his sweet laugh!  It makes all the sleepless nights worth it.

Today he was playing on the floor with a few of the musical instruments the boys had out.  I couldn't resist grabbing a few cute smiles from our favorite baby boy!  He is teething like crazy (he has two bottom teeth and is working on the top one), so things are constantly in his mouth, and if it is on the floor, it is fair game! 

He is into everything and I can't seem to keep him still, or sitting for that matter.  Standing at whatever he can put his hands on is his preferred position, so it is amazing that he sat here long enough to get these shots.  Enjoy!

 

Here he is working on that upper left tooth.

 

 

He cracks himself up too!

Art Class: Camouflage Hands

Once a month, a good friend and I teach an art class together for a local group of homeschooling families.  Today the kids got to paint more than just their paper... they painted their hands too! 

Ethan had a great time and the result turned out amazing.

All the kids were to pick an upclose photo of a pattern or something in nature to paint.
Ethan decided to paint tiger stripes.



Ethan's finished painting

Below area few of the other student's paintings.  Some of the students were able to paint their own hands while others were painted by us, the teachers.



Do you notice the zebra eye in this one?

 

Defeat is just the beginning

The Proverbs 31 devotion from yesterday is an awesome reminder for me and very adaptable to a variety of situations in my everyday life.

I have been here, or close to here, many times, feeling completely defeated, like I have nothing left in me to give. Not just with relationships, but mostly with the everyday tasks that pile up and leave me feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, and stranded, without direction.

Defeated by housework, a fussy baby, the struggle with a child that chooses not to follow directions, mental exhaustion over the events in the news, dog vomit, the stalemate in a debate, the never ending pile of laundry, deadlines, menu planning, illnesses, gloomy winter days, time management, nap schedules, or even the simple responsibility of being the one to make decisions and feeling like there is no one to counsel with. The list goes on and on.

I know I am not alone in experiencing these feelings, actually they seem to be topics of conversation. It is amazing how quickly we can become exhausted by the pressures, tasks and daily struggles of this world; we alone, become quickly defeated.

This all seems so grey and doomish, but sometimes we forget the key, the trump card, the never ending fountain of life, that can change everything. This devotion helped remind me of that.

Yes, I might be defeated, but the Spirit of God is not, and because He lives in me, He will become my everything and together we will overcome!! But this doesnt happen automatically... I have to open up and receive this help, allow the Spirit to fill me up, give me strength and courage to press on. I have to come to realize that the way I have been doing it might not be His way, and accept His way, even if it hurts, for the plan and power of God is perfect.

http://www.proverbs31.org/devotions/when-you-dont-have-it-you-1-2013-01/

What are you playing with?



After lunch today, the boys were nicely playing with Elliot's new toy.  Ethan was sitting behind him to make sure he didn't fall backwards, and Everett was building something for him.  

 

 

 

Everything was going great until Everett turned his back and started playing by himself. 

Elliot instantly wanted to know what was going on!

 

"Hey??  What are you playing with?"

 

"I want to play with that too!"

Everett was pretty surprised by the fact that Elliot was coming over to pull him
away from his toy!  I put my foot up in the event Elliot took a tumble backwards.

Cute and Curious Crawler

 

Elliot started up on hands an knees right about the time we returned from Tennessee, and a few days later he started crawling on his own!  Most of the time he prefers his army crawl (on his belly) to be the quickest way acroos the house, but when he sees something up-out-of-reach, he instantly goes up to his hands and knees and slowly "robot" crawls to reach the item.   

 

 

 

 

Concentration + skill perfection is often indicated by the tongue hanging out of the mouth.
His Daddy does this too... just watch him playing video games sometime!

 

The last few days he has been pulling up to his knees, balancing himself against the furniture or table so he can reach even higher. This is scary for me, as sometimes he falls backwards and hits his head on the floor (which startles him), and I fear he could fall forward and smack his face on the table. So far we have been lucky, no major bumps.

 

This morning I thought he was going to pull up to standing.  You can see in the following pictures his progression towards standing.

 

See his foot! He was so close to pulling all the way up!

 

Should I do it?

Since he has a different view of things, he has been more courious about how things work.  One of his favorite things to do, besides play with the shells we collected from Florida, is to pull open the coffee table drawers.  Luckly he hasn't started pulling things out of them yet.





 

This afternoon he put it all together and actually stood up at the couch.  It only lasted a few seconds though, becuase he scared himself, let go and then fell backwards to the floor.  Ethan and I cheered him on and then comforted him, but I don't know if he will be trying it again today or not with the cry he let out as he tumbled backwards.  With the way he is progressing, we might have another early walker!