Leap Day!

February 29:

Today we decided to celebrate thus day that only comes around once every 4 years. :) We added Leap Day Olympics to our school agenda, and had a blast seeing how well we could do at such activities as Leap Frog, Long Jump, Jump Rope, Obstacle Course, and High Jump!

Here are the kids, leaping for Leap Day! :)

Rice Krispy Astronomy

February 27:

Our Astronomy book gave us a fun--and yummy--assignment today. :) We were instructed to make Rice Krispy Earths! We used a piece of a fruit roll for the center "core", wrapped it with a thick layer of Rice Krispy treat for the "mantle", and topped it off with a thin layer of Nutella "crust"! We ended up with quite a bit of the Rice Krispy mixture, so we ended up making several more planets, and one large sun. (However, the "sun" was also covered in Nutella, so it must've been an eclipse...) ;)

Here's our mini solar system and our Earths:

Dallas Zoo

February 26:
Family Fun Day again! :) This was the last Sunday that the Zoo had winter prices, and since it was not at all winter weather (mid to high 60's), we decided to take the opportunity! It was a huge place, with a great carousel and children's zoo, and a good variety of neat animals. But the best part was how up-close-and-personal you could get with some of them! The trainers had taught the male lions to stand up against the glass and say hello. That was neat! And it was also fun to see the elephants reaching their trunks within feet of us to grab pieces of apple. But my favorite part was the giraffes. Wow. Take a look at some of our pics...

Like I said--AWESOME giraffes! Here are some more pics of our fun day!

Sharing Music and New Friends

Once again, I forgot all about taking pictures... One of these days, I'll learn! Anyway, today after church and potluck, we went on the Nursing Home Ministry. They've been visiting this facility for 30 years, and everyone in the place treats them like family! We had such fun going around to the rooms and singing the residents' favorite songs! Aile started asking if we could come back next month after only about 20 minutes! :) And bonus: the church volunteers also run a small ice cream parlor on the weekends they visit, so we all got free ice cream too! :)

Celebration!

February 24:

So someone at church told us about a park in Allen, TX, about 15 minutes away, that is so big you can "lose your child in it." I can't say that statement really made me want to go there, but... it sure sounded fun to the kids! :) So, picnic in hand, we ventured out to find it today.

Oh yeah. It's true. It's the hugest park I've ever seen. And I've seen a lot of parks. We pretty much had a blast. And the fun will only be doubled come May 1--that's when the splash pad part opens. :)

Here are some pics of the monstrosity that is Celebration Park:

Trusting in God

Tuesday, February 21:
Today was a whirlwind. We spent pretty much the whole day on the phone trying not to have our identities stolen and to track down proof that we owned the truck, since all our paperwork was in it. Sean made calls while working with patients, while on breaks, and at every possible free moment. I made calls while my children homeschooled themselves and while trying to keep them happy and occupied and not stressed.

Then our first miracle came... A man named Steven Johnson called Sean. He said that on his way home from work, he drove by a field next to the highway and saw tons of papers littering the area, so he decided to pick them up. He noticed that the papers were personal information and they all had our name on them. He knew they were important. He picked his son up from school, and they went back to pick up every paper they could find!!! When we got to his house that evening, he had a file box and another bag full of our papers! What a blessing! What an angel of a man!

THEN... about 2 minutes after we walked in the door, the Dallas Police called. The truck was found!!! The thieves abandoned it in a neighborhood about 40 miles from us, in south Dallas. AND... The 5th wheel hitch is still there!!! AND... The engine is still in tact!!! Those were the two most important items on the truck. However, the inside has been completely gutted, and the tailgate is gone. Seats, speakers, door panels, consoles, etc... It's an empty box on the interior. In fact, that's what was in there-- an empty box. That's what the thieves sat on to drive it to the neighborhood to dump it!

We are feeling very blessed though... The interior is replaceable, and the most important things to us have been recovered. God has surely taken care of us! He is worth trusting!!!

Passport to Adventure--With a Whole New Twist

Monday, February 20:
Today was mostly great, at least 3/4 of the day. After we finished our school work, we headed to the library for a special program they have called Passport to Adventure. Each month, they teach the kids all about a country. This month we learned about all things Australia. The kids had a great time! Then we continued our search for awesome parks, and found a unique and fun one! This was actually an outdoor play area at an outdoor mall. It had a maze (in the shape of Texas, of course!), 4 mini buildings making up a play town, and a real train caboose with activities and seats inside. If it weren't so blasted windy in this place, we would've stayed much longer! :)

Good thing we didn't stay though, because as soon as we got home, we got a text message from Sean: "My truck is stolen. Calling police now." WHAT?!?!

Sadly, it was not a joke. Sean had stopped at Lowe's for some supplies, and came out to find his truck gone. I quickly sent out a request for prayers and went to pick up Sean and meet the police. We began to recount all the things that were in the truck... 5th wheel hitch...a few empty boxes we had wanted...some random candy (including Sean's beloved chocolate covered coffee beans he brought back from Hawaii)...Sean's keepsake box...Sean's suits that he had planned to take to the cleaners... OH!!! And our file bin! With ALL of our personal information-- birth certificates, social security cards, vehicle titles, tax paperwork, sales documents from large purchases...everything. Great...

This evening has been very sober. We are trying to figure out what the next step is, and all the steps after that. We are asking everyone who is willing to pray-- for the truck, for the hitch (it's very expensive), and especially for the threat of identity theft! However, my heart was touched at Aile's prayer: "Dear Jesus, please help the thief to learn about You and how much You love him, and to turn away from his sin."

Time to file a fraud alert with the credit reporting companies and try to get some sleep...