Nature Sanctuary

 Yesterday was a short day and the kids got out at noon. I decided to take the crew to a nature museum. It was AWESOME. I had A, R and Nico with me. They would have been happy to just hang out at the entrance and watch the butterflies.

 As I was looking at the Woodlands diorama I looked down and noticed a large hairy spider. Perhaps it is a misplaced gift shop toy? No, it was a female tarantula. It hadn't escaped from any displays; it had just wandered in from outside. The Nature scientist that collected the spider said that the females usually do not leave their burrows and this is the second one she has seen. There is a mystery afoot...

 Inside were lots of cool displays including rocks, live animals, dioramas and even dinosaur bones. Here the boys are doing a dino dig.

 Outside was a large, fabulous butterfly garden. Ryan is posing in hopes of one landing on him.

 Um, our second encounter with a very large spider. This one a garden spider right where it should be.

 A viceroy butterfly. There were many varieties of butterflies. The boys' favorite was the large yellow swallow tail.

 Just as we were going towards the exit the snake feeder came in with a cage of mice. The boys were thrilled to fine out that they, THEY could watch him feed the snakes. I wasn't nearly as excited, but it is nature and science so I couldn't deny them that opportunity.

If you click on this picture and zoom in, you will see the mice's toes hanging out of this snake's mouth. We saw a rattlesnake eat a rat. I didn't realize how loud their rattles are. We also saw water snakes eat some fish. A very cool trip. I will have to go back and do some birding and wild life watching when those boys are not with me. They tend to have their own sound barrier!

Sept update

 Ryan earned his purple belt this month. This is his 3rd rank change. He is a great martial artist.

 Playing bubbles in the backyard.

 Sometimes the kids can all find common ground!

After school we have 2 friends over everyday while they wait for their mom to get home from work. It is a temporary arrangement that the boys are happy about. Here they are building a fort. This is the 4th grader fort. The 1st graders were in the office (which has had an arrangement make-over that I'll need to document).

Here are some 'Super Saturday' crafts that I've been asked to take charge of.  You can see how awesome my house is right now! I'll show more about the crafts after our event.

Sliding into September

Most of you who follow this blog are aware that I have had a tremendous battle with bronchitis. It is still winning as of today. I feel good for a day, get my hopes up and then I'm tired again. It is humbling when I think about all the Great and Glorious Things I was going to do 'once school started' but instead I'm still in survival mode (do I HAVE to grocery shop today?) and spend most of my time reading books or watching TV with Macey. I'm not Super Efficient Mom and my boys love it! They have yet to come home to their usual list of chores/homework. They are feeling free even though they are shackeled down at school. :)

While Dan was out of town the boys talked me into taking them to spend ALL of their allowance money on Legos. I tried to dissuade them, but we give them an allowance to teach them many things, so I let them in the end. It was a dramatic experience... I'll just say, if you want something at Wal-Mart, use the online shopping. The items will be ready in about in hour without you having to look for it. And, it might be cheaper with online pricing.

 

One of the things I have had on my to do list is to get Macey girl's hair cut. But Dan ended up doing it. I'm sure he prefers to take his princess than to let me. I don't take enough pictures (if any) when I go! This is a before the haircut picture. Macey is standing in front of the D's house, and in the corner you can see the tree stump grinder at work. Those fellows also ground up the two stumps at our house later in the morning.

 Baby cakes at the salon.

 This is such a Macey face to strangers. Classic. I wonder if the stylist tried to talk to her...

 Finished product. They didn't take off too much, but it looks better than it did.

 

There are many things I want to do this month but I just don't have enough energy. Do you realize that Halloween is coming?! Ahh, I've got to get those costumes started. Hopefully this will be the week that I'm back to being ME!

Building Faith in Christ

I read this article this morning I wanted to share it. I realize that this would be more affective in a social media outlet, but my goodreads account is as social as I get!

Anyway, in the September Ensign there is an article by Elder D. Todd Christofferson titled, 'Building Faith in Christ.' It was a talk given to new mission presidents and gives a beautiful and thorough account of faith. I refer you to the article (it is a short one) for your pleasure, but here are some key points that stuck out to me as a teacher to children just growing their faith and trying to figure out what it is. (And as a tool to teach about the 4th Article of Faith.) I couldn't use his terminology, but these are his words.

'The word that we declare, the word that generates faith in Christ, is the gospel, or good news, of Jesus Christ. Simply put, the good news is that death is not the end of existence and our separation from God is temporary. We have a Savior, Jesus Christ, the divine Son of God, who by His Atonement has overcome death and hell so that all will be resurrected and all who will repent and be baptized in His name may have place in the heavenly kingdom of God forever.'

'Repentance plays a prominent role in building faith in Christ. Receiving the word of Christ generates the faith needed for repentance, and repentance, in turn, nourishes a growing faith.'

'These phrases recognize the doctrine that the baptism of water is the final or crowning step in the process of repentance. The renunciation of sin, coupled with our covenant of obedience, completes our repentance; indeed, repentance remains unfinished without that covenant. With it we qualify for a remission of sins by the grace of Jesus Christ through the baptism of the Spirit (see 2 Nephi 31:17).'

A lesson on faith in a little nugget, love this...

'What I have said about building faith in Christ among those taught by missionaries applies to all of us. Our faith in Christ is born of the Spirit as we hear the word of God taught by those who are His commissioned servants, both living and dead. As we build upon that foundation, our faith is strengthened by prayers of faith that have become a part of our daily life—and sometimes a part of our hourly life.

Continuing to feast upon the words of Christ in the Book of Mormon and other scripture adds to and deepens the faith that had its origins in the word. Repentance rooted in faith further nourishes our faith as obedience is perfected. Repentance invigorates our own baptism of water and of the Spirit to produce a remission of sins committed not only before baptism but also after baptism. Christlike service to our neighbor is a critical part of the covenant keeping that nurtures faith in Christ. Over time we find that the blessings promised for obedience to God are in fact realized in our lives and that our faith is confirmed and strengthened.'