A Trip to the Zoo

2012

2011

     This year and last the kids earned tickets to the Kansas City Zoo for our library's summer reading program.  Last year we were only able to take Grandma, and this year just Ducky - and we had a blast both times! :)
      No trip would be complete without "Map Boy".  Bubby insists on being our tour guide each time.  Map in hand, he leads us through where ever we are going.

Bubby aka Map Boy

     Highlights included the train ride, and the tram ride which took us up in the air to view some of the animals.

     It even featured growing moments where Bubby actually fed a sheep!

     We were even able to take in the sea lion show which we all loved.

     Shorty's favorite part was the kangaroos.  He was fascinated by them.  He would just stare and then hop like a kangaroo!

Hop, hop, hop

      Shorty did an amazing job through the day.  He walked, he rode, he got carried.  Eventually he melted down, but we had made it thru the entire zoo by then.

Shorty in the huge climbing tree

It was a wonderful and wonderfully exhausting day and they already have plans to make a trip next year too!

Mookie and Shorty zoo explorers!

Everyone needs to take a break

While hubby was out of town, the kiddos and I took a break from school and went off to visit my folks at some property they own on a gravel bar.  First stop was a local nursery to pick up some pumpkins.  On the way in, Mookie was bemoaning the fact we were not at a "real" pumpkin patch and this was not going to be any fun.  Wrong!  First thing we saw was their grass maze, to which I lost them right away...

On the other side of the grass maze was a huge checkerboard which they loved because they've been chess fanatics over the past weeks (you can't move a muscle with out a query of  "do you want to play chess?" ).

Playing checkers and climbing a mountain

There was also a "mountain" to climb, where we found some swallowtail caterpillars.  Then on we went to our gravel bar where we explored nature with our family and even enjoyed some time with my aunt and uncle who came down too. What a wonderful way to spend a beautiful fall day in Kansas!

Shorty exploring at the gravel bar

A New Scout Experience

  A couple of years ago, Mookie was a part of an American Heritage Girls troop in Topeka but the cost was a little more than our limited budget could handle, not to mention the gas & time it took for the hour round trip.  So, we sat out a year and prayed that we would find something similar that was more of a fit for us as a family.  Well, we found it!  A homeschooling friend of ours turned us on to a Christian based scouting program that can be done independently or as a group - what a blessing!  It's through Keepers of the Faith with their Keepers at Home program.  Several other homeschooling families were also interested so we created our own group that is going to meet once a month.

  We had our first meeting Friday and had a blast!  The subject was tree identification.  We met at a friend's house who has several acres and an ample amount of trees and gathered examples of 10 specimens as we hiked around her lake. 
  The girls (and moms) had a blast!  The weather was a perfect fall day and the fall colors were just beautiful!  Mookie and her friend pretended that they were Indian princesses on the trip, "you can be Pocahontas, and I'll be Sacagawea".  Of course it wasn't all work, the girls took time out to pet the local "wildlife"...
We then retired back to the house for some excellent hot cocoa and trail mix provided by our leaders for the day.
  It is such an answer to prayer to have this opportunity to do scouting with our friends!  Next month, I'm helping lead the meeting and we're going to have tea parties as our topic!

A Love For The Lost

Having previously read published accounts of David Brainerd's life, including that edited by Jonathan Edwards, I was familiar with Brainerd's compelling life story. The chance to review this Kindle formatted work made availble courtesy of Christian Focus 4 Kids and Brian H. Cosby's rendition, published as part of their tremendous Trailblazer Series of Christian biographies, provided the opportunity to share his life story with our children (ages 8 and 9). Both are avid readers and enjoyed the digital format of this publication. While our oldest was certainly able to dig into the book on his own, both he and his younger sister preferred to sit down in the quiet time before bed and have Dad read a portion to them. Supplementing our discussions were topics for further thinking provided at the back of the book, broken down by chapter in a topical format. These offered points of discussion during devotional time or as starters for discussing a chapter we were either reading or had just finished.

The difficulties young Brainerd faced offered opportunities to talk as a family about God's sovereign plans for each person and the fact that as Christians we are not to expect a life of ease and comfort, but rather a life of faithfulness and obedience that will ultimately glorify our Creator, even through times of trial and suffering. The life and ministry of David Brainerd was short and often filled with physical pain and self-doubt about his own worth and abilities. Despite this however, in his short life David exhibited the fullness of God's grace, mercy, and a Spirit-filled life that accomplished much for the kingdom of God through sharing the Word with the natives living in mid-18th century colonial America. Pillars of the Christian faith such as John Wesley, William Carey, Robert Murray McCheyne, and Jim Elliot all acknowledge the personal effect David Brainerd's life story had on them, and it's doubtless that countless others have likewise been drawn to his life witness.

The chance to review this work is timely. Some 265 years ago this week, David Brainerd passed into eternity (October 9, 1747) at the age of 29. His witness however is as strong today as it ever has been, calling on this generation, as those who came before and those to come, to remain faithful to God's call and persevere through any circumstance in the service of our King.

Our Summer Project

This summer our family along with some of our buds embarked on an adventure to document Civil War vets across our county.  It is part of a larger project being led by the State Historical Society called the Sleeping Heroes Project.  Bubby and I started in April with some prep work by doing our own town cemetery.  In May we had our first group project where we tackled a local country cemetery.  We had a huge turn out from our homeschool group, a majority of them showed up which was awesome! We documented 25 soldiers, most having served with Kansas regiments.

Bubby and his friends taking notes at Ridgeway (notice the GAR star on the left)

  Our next project was a huge one, Burlingame Cemetery.  Burlingame was pre-statehood settlement started by abolitionists, so I was expecting to find a bunch of vets there.  It did not disappoint!  Even though we had a much smaller crew once summer kicked into full swing, they were a super dedicated group who faithfully showed up each month, even in the hottest part of summer to honor these guys!  
  We did our last day of documenting this week, and ended up with a total of 150 vets.  There were two Confederate veterans, one of which was given a military burial by his Union vet buddies:)  There were 6 (2 black, 4 white) who served with different regiments of the Colored Troops (just a side note, the white soldiers, serving as officers in the Colored Troops, all came from the 11th Kansas, Co. I, which is going to require further research as to why that was).  One of the things that stands out with what we have found out so far is that a large amount of the soldiers at Burlingame who served with Kansas units served with 11th Kansas, a fair number of which were either wounded or killed at Prairie Grove, Arkansas. One of the soldiers from Burlingame that was killed at Prairie Grove had Rooks County, Kansas named after him in memorial. 

an oddity for Kansas, an 1812 vet!

  Our family also stopped on the way home from a family gathering this summer to walk a very small cemetery.  We found 6 vets there, one of which may have participated in the Sand Creek Massacre in Colorado.
   I must say, prior to this project, the Civil War was just a bunch of battles and dates to me, I never got too excited about it.  Now, however, give me half a chance, and I may talk your leg off! :)

The Civil War Monument at Burlingame

What is a Princess?

Mookie, my little princess

  Living with a girly girl, we're all about princesses in our household.  When Mookie was smaller we had a Disney easy reader called What is a Princess? It asked the question over and over and answered with "a princess is kind...gentle...smart", etc...   Well, the book I received from Christian Focus 4 Kids to review, How to Be a Bible Princess by Catherine Mackenzie, takes the basic qualities of a good princess to a different level.  Ms. Mackenzie takes major or minor women (some I had to look up and read the story again) from the Bible & highlights the characteristics that God used for his purposes, using both good and bad princesses as examples.  For each chapter she lays out the story of that particular character, uses some humorous quizzing to see how the reader may react to the situation, and discusses the character trait displayed in the story and how girls can find that within themselves.  The really cool thing that the author does though, is at the end of each chapter she turns it back to Jesus and how he showed those valuable traits.  Throughout the chapter she is constantly citing scripture to back up what she is laying out there for the reader.

   The book's cover automatically draws your little princess in, when we opened the package containing my copy, my little princess took one look at it's glittery cover and ran away with it to her room:) At 125 pages it is the perfect length for my soon to be 8 year old who is starting to read chapter books (there were a couple of longer chapters, but hey, one was Esther & Mookie loves Esther, so we let that pass).  However, I think it would be best read as a read-aloud devotional to do with your daughter.  Ms. Mackenzie puts forth some really thought provoking ideas and I think that it would be best served as a discussion tool. 
  With all the secular princess media out there, some with questionable subplots, it is so refreshing to find a book that draws a girl's interest to the Biblical princesses and does it in a fun and engaging way.  I loved the quote at the end that says, "a woman who loves God and his Word is to be praised.  She is worth more than rubies and she is worth more than princesses that wear rubies.  She is worth this because of her great God - and He is worthy!"

Thank you to Christian Focus 4 Kids for providing me with a free copy to review, it was a pleasure.  The opinions were my own:) 

The John Stott: The Humble Leader

This past year John R. W. Stott, "old and full of days", entered his final rest and eternal reward. His lifelong ministry and personal relationships with folks young and old alike promises to continue to yield good fruit, ushering future generations into the Kingdom by taking people to the foot of the Cross.

Over the past couple of weeks I've had the chance to learn more about this great man of God while reading the book, John Stott- The Humble Leader, with our young ones (ages 7 & 9). Affectionately known as "Uncle John" to his friends, John Stott is known world-wide for his ministry and written works such as The Cross of Christ and Basic Christianity among over 50 others.

This offering from the Trailblazers series at Christian Focus Publications weaves a brilliant tapestry depicting John's life from his early years as a perfect little heathen while attending All Souls church with his family where he was banned from Sunday School, to his turning point at university where he encountered the Living God and eventually answered his calling that led him back to All Souls as curate and rector among other Godly endeavors over a long and fruitful life. Each chapter ends with "Fact Files", short side-bar commentaries about topics or events mentioned in the chapter. We found these particularly good for focusing in on specific events of Uncle John's life and ministry. Sections titled "Thinking Further" and "Ideas For Things To Do" at the end of the book can help parents engage their young ones in Parts of Stott's life, preaching, and places he worked and visited and ultimately to better know, as I think Uncle John would want, "Jesus Christ, and him crucified" (1 Corinthians 2:2).

Thank you to Christian Focus 4 Kids for sending me a free copy of this book to review:)