• Book: “The Dragon and the Turtle Go On Safari” by Donita K. Paul & Evangeline Denmark

    I was really excited to get The Dragon and the Turtle Go on Safari by Donita K. Paul and Evangeline Denmark to read to the girls.  It is a story about two friends Padraig (the dragon) and Roger (the turtle) on a camping adventure together at the base of “Mount Sillymanborrow” (their backyard).   They have a camp fire, toast marshmallows, eat baked bugs, sleep in a tent, and let their creative imaginations send them on several fun Safari adventures.  Throughout the night they encountered a variety of “jungle” beasts – they heard noises from a howler monkey (owl), giraffes (squirrel), elephants (raccoon), fed a rhinoceros (dog), and rescued a baby leopard (kitten).

    The two friends shared in the adventure together, supporting and encouraging each other when they were frightened.  Roger even nicknamed his friend Professor Padraig since he was an “expert” on jungle animals.  They chose to do activities that both friends wanted to do which also distracted them from thinking about the scary noises around them.  I liked how both friends encouraged each other throughout the night and never made fun of the other one even when they were scared.  If one friend did not want to do an activity (such as listen to a scary story) they just picked another safari activity to do together.  Even though they were scared they still were brave enough to help another animal in distress, the kitten.

    Although the authors had a several wonderful underlying points in the story I was disappointed in the flow of the book.  It came across a little choppy in areas; the words didn’t flow together smoothly and the girls didn’t get some of the jokes.  The story at the end of the book “The Legend of Mount Sillymanborrow” didn’t seem to fit well with the story and I had to explain it to my girls.  With that being said,  I really enjoyed the very last page – “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid… God goes with you; he will never leave you.” – Deuteronomy 3:16   The authors did provide some really good discussion questions for kids and I liked how they encouraged our girls to think of positive ways to help a friend when they are scared.  Overall I think the book had some really good points and brought out some teachable moments for the kids, however, I would suggest checking the book out at the library first to make sure it is a good fit for your family prior to purchasing it.

    Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book for review purposes from the publisher through the Waterhouse Multnomah.  The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

  • Life Simplified: Hosting in Our Home

    One of my goals in 2011 is to simplify my life more by enjoying the blessings and not wasting what God has given us.  I have been sharing with you the successes and challenges on those specific areas in my life as I go through them.  One of the areas I am working on is making the best use of my time.  While spending time hosting family and friends in our home is important to me I must also make sure there is time on the schedule to spend with my immediate family.  The girls are growing up fast and the times we have together are precious.  In order to make sure I don’t go overboard I am setting a goal for myself and asking for your help to keep me in line.

    Here are the current challenges I am working on:

    Explanation of the Goal: As a family of four we LOVE hosting people in our home!  We are blessed to have a home to share with family and friends  whether it is for a party, game night or just to hang out together.  I would probably host a get together several times a week if we had the time, money, and energy to do it.  Part of learning how to simplify my life is making decisions on what to do with my time.  Hosting typically requires time for cleaning, cooking, prepping, and/or decorating for guests.  It is my goal to host at least one other family in our home once a month but no more than four.  When I spend time hosting that means I must give up some for something else.  Having up to 4 hosting events in our home means that there will be time to spend together as a family of four.  I want my girls to have the experience of hosting even at a young age.  Sharing our home and their toys is a valuable skill they can learn at an early age, but they like anyone, need a time to relax and refresh.

    We have already started working on this goal.  We had 3 families of three over in the month of January.   February is a busier month in our household not because of Valentine’s day but because we will be hosting the girls birthday party.  One of the many benefits to having twins or higher multiples is their birthday parties hit at the same time.  Brina and Karlie’s birthday party will be our major event this month and we have at least one other hosting event already on the schedule.

    I will share with you the challenges, successes, and updates as I go through this journey so you can keep me accountable or even go through it with me by participating  and sharing your story. Taking the extra time to invest in the lives of others is important to our family.  I hope that we have been able to host many people in our home without going over board.  It is important to me to make time for my family on the weekends as well as the people around us!

    Life Simplified is a series on getting rid of the extras in our life while learning how to enjoy what God has given us so we can continue to be a blessing to others.  Our homes can quickly start are bursting with “stuff”  and if you are like us we just have too much.  I am doing a series on ways we are learning to simplifying our food, homes, and lives.  When our hearts, lives, and homes get too cluttered we may start missing out on opportunities to serve and bless the people around us.

    Photo by MaryTClark

  • Getting My Attention

    Do you ever have those wild stressful days?  Recently I had one of those days when I had a lot going on and the girls were trying to help but they were slowing down the process.  Since we had to get going soon I told them to relax quietly together so I could finish up the last few items then we could leave.  It was one of those rushed days that are more stressful than usual and I had over committed myself.

    After completing the necessary tasks I went to find the girls,  they had been quiet the past fifteen minutes so I was interested in finding out what had captivated their attention.  My heart about burst when I went into the dining room.  They were standing at the table taking turns reading The Big Picture Story Bible by David Helm together.  As I stood there listening to them share story after story and point out the pictures on the pages I was so happy that they were  sharing this time together.  It was amazing how much they remembered from going through the book with them even though it was several devotional books ago.

    However, at the same time I was convicted because it was a fast paced day and I hadn’t taken the time that morning to do my devotions.  God used my sweet girls to grab my attention and gently remind me of the importance of having quiet time each day.  How I chose to live my life has a ripple effect on my family and the people around me.  I am thankful for these quiet reminders.  I trust that God will continue to do a work in my life.

    We do devotions with the girls in the evenings before bed (most nights).  They always look forward to reading together.  Typically,  Jake will read them a chapter from a book we are going through together then I will do the devotional book with them.  If time is tight we just do the devotional book.  During the Holidays we were staying up too late so we would just pray with them before tucking them into bed at night.  We are excited to get back into the routine and see all the neat things that they will learn this year.

  • Starting off with a BANG….

    Neat pictures - parts of airplanes at the Marriott.

    We left for our exciting cruise vacation late on a Friday afternoon.  We were all packed, loaded in the van, and ready to go only to discover the van would not start.  Oh BOY!  Not again, the van has already been in the shop two times in the last couple of months.  After a quick call to Jake I tried to explain the situation to the girls.  They were in tears because they were super excited about starting their vacation together with friends while we were on the cruise.

    We decided to all head back inside and have fun while waiting for Daddy to come home.  We read a couple books together as we were waiting.  Brina picked out a book about a Ballerina and Karlie picked out “The Empire’s New Clothes”.  After reading the books we took a few minutes to snuggle and talk.  We did a few extra chores around the house then Jake was home.  Looking back it was nice to have a few moments of quiet and relaxing time together before leaving.  He was able to jump start the van and away we went only a little over an hour off schedule.

    We got the girls settled into their new home for the week.  They were excited about spending their vacation with friends and had been looking forward to it for a long time.  Jake and I started our first leg of our trip together as a couple.  The van was a little quiet without the girls giggling and talking in the back but we enjoyed our time together.

    On the way we stopped at Flying J for a potty break and to pick up a snack for breakfast the next morning at the airport.  We were flying out early and getting checked in and through the security could take up any extra time so we wanted to be prepared.  We had a quick but nice supper at Arby’s.  It is always smart to bring coupons on vacation with you because you never know where you might stop to eat.  It is amazing how much you can save over the course of a trip by using coupons.

    The roads under the bridges were still icy from the snow storm earlier that week but we made it safely to Atlanta and checked into Atlanta Airport Marriott for the night.  They have a wonderful program we have used several times where you park your vehicle at the hotel and they drive you to the airport which costs less then parking even in the long term parking at the airport.  You can park even if you are not planning on spending the night at the hotel.  This was the first time we used it and spent the night.  Since we spent the night our parking was free for a week and it was still less then parking at the airport.  Plus with the flight leaving early in the morning we wanted to make sure we were at the airport on time.  Marriott had a shuttle going to and from the airport every 15 minutes making it convenient to catch a ride when you wanted to leave for the airport.   We did all the planning for this ahead of time and reserved the room and parking online.  Love being able to get things done before ever leaving on vacation.  Many other cities provide this service as well so it may be worth checking into before you fly the next time if you cannot have someone drive you, it really has saved us a lot of money over the last few years.

    Jake and I had a wonderful couple hours to relax before getting a good nights sleep.  We don’t have a TV in our room at home so we surfed the channels for a few minutes and ended up watching “Bill Cosby’s Himself”.  I had never seen it before, for an example of the show click here.  It was nice to relax together and just laugh listening to Bill Cosby.  We had no where to be until the morning so we relaxed!

    A Vacation To Remember series is a reflection on our recent trip and ways we relaxed.  Life is short and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to build memories with family and explore of of the most amazing places during our time away.  Go with a good attitude and looking for fun and it will be an awesome trip jammed packed with positive memories.  It is refreshing having some time away from the regular routine.  Make it a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet new people and learn.  You just might see or try something new that takes your breath away!