Category Archives: Family Fun
Cache a Zoo
Cache a Zoo
January 8, 2012
I was looking around on the map for some place to go geocaching and I spotted that the local zoo had a handful of them placed strategically around it’s property. The kids always love going to the zoo so it was a double blessing to have caches there. I was somewhat worried that maybe it would be hard to hunt them without being noticed with so many people around but I was ready with my geocaching pamphlet in hand if questioned.
Group pics are a must where ever we go… well most of the group. We parents are not to keen on being in the pictures.
Belated New Years Caching
Belated New Years Caching
1-2-2012
My hubby went to the E.R. on December 30th with bad stomach pain, after some meds and getting him hydrated he was feeling better so we begged and pleaded for them to let us go home for New Years Eve. Thankfully they released him and we spent the years transitional moments snuggled up happily in our own bed, happy to be home. He was still not 100% on New Years Day so we gave him another day to “recoop” and then headed out caching on January 2nd. We decided to do some roadside caches so hubby didn’t have to do any trekking and so the kids could get in some logs.
We drove out toward Broaddus and turned onto a farm to market road to begin our caching! I am posting my logs under the appropriate picture to give you an idea of how it goes.
LOG: (((treehugger)) and I found it at the same time but the log was to wet to sign and I didn’t have any spare paper guess I will have to take some supplies with me form now one to fix any problems I find for the next person.
Hanukkah 2011
Hanukkah 2011
December 20-28, 2011
I believe this year Hanukkah spoke to me in a different way than ever before. This year I felt connected to the holiday by the similarity of circumstance. Back in the time of Judah Maccabee, they lived in a country that did not worship YHWH (the God of Israel) in spirit and in truth. Many assimilated to the beliefs of the people with which they lived, even though the many times the word of YHWH says specifically not to do such. However, there were a few brave souls who did not just “go with the flow” and go along with the crowd. They stood strong in their beliefs of following YHWH’s “instructions to live by”, called the Torah. The would NOT defile themselves with the worldly pagan things. They suffered persecution and ridicule and even death for standing strong against the oppression of the enemy, but they did not back down. I felt the strength of the story of Hanukkah for the first time this year. I too have been bashed for my beliefs to follow Torah, nowhere near to the extent of the Jewish people but enough to understand that if you walk (or attempt to walk) a path to righteousness, expect to be fought by the enemy. The story of Hanukkah inspired me to stand strong in the face of opposition.
Last year, Hanukkah was more of a “fun-filled week” but this year I just felt differently about it so we studied more and played less. I try my best to just follow where the Holy Spirit leads me but I have a tendency to try to plan everything too, which usually gets a divine “rewrite” before the day is over. That is just how HE works sometimes.
Each year I decorate with blue, silver, and white because it reminds me of winter. I love it because in Texas we rarely get any snow or any real “feel” of winter so the best I can do is recreate the “feel” inside my home by the decor.
We did do a few fun things like bake cookies. I borrowed this “tradition” from my childhood holidays. We love making and decorating (not to mention eating) these cookies!
Three Way Birthday Party
Three Way Birthday Party
October 29, 2011
I learned that with having all my children in the fall within two weeks of each other it is just easier to have the family birthday party all together. We don’t go “all out” like we used to on their party, just a simple cake and gifts with family. We do take them and do something special for them on their actual birthday but for the family to come over we one have one simple party. We usually just serve hotdogs and nachos so that it is quick and easy and a homemade cake. My cakes may not be as pretty as the store bought ones, but I promise they taste better!
Adam has been so excited all week about the party!
Austin’s “bar Mitzvah”
Austin’s “Bar Mitzvah”
October 15, 2011
Turning 16 is a pretty big deal. I wanted to do something for Austin to honor this “rite of passage.” We had all heard of a Bar Mitzvah from TV and so I looked into it a bit more. The word “Bar” means “son of” and “Mitzvah” means “commandments”. Now I am not big on following rituals and traditions from any culture but I kind of just took the idea and went my own way with it. In a nut shell, for Jews this is the celebration of a Jewish boy becoming a man and therefore responsible to keep God’s law and he is no longer under the covering of his parents spiritually. This usually happens around 12-13 years old. I would not have thought of my child as a man at 12-13 but at 16, I do. Austin is a very wise and responsible young man. I am extremely proud of who he has become and I do consider him mature enough to start making decisions for himself. What better way to tell him that… throw him a party!
I wanted him to be clueless to the fact that the party had anything to do with him. Just so happens this year Feast of Tabernacles fell on his birthday week. I just had him thinking everyone was coming over to join in the feast day with us. His birthday is the 12th but Saturday worked out better for everyone to be able to make it.
We barbequed and all ate our fill outside by our “Sukkot”, then while I had Austin taking in some of the leftovers, I snuck his gifts out.
Oh Happy Daze 