Daddy/Daughter Day

Morgan came home from his business trip around midnight on Friday. The girls were so ecstatic to see him in the morning. As soon as they heard him, they went running into our bedroom screaming, "Daddy's home!!! Daddy's home!!!" By 7:30, they were all out the door and headed to the Men's breakfast, a monthly gathering, held our at our church. Saturday happened to be bring your kids day so they enjoyed a pancake breakfast and a sermon from our pastors. Afterwards, they had fun playing on the church playground.

I, on the other hand, got to treat myself to a much needed pedicure!

On their way in the morning...

Daddy & his girls.

Another great dad- Derek brought Levi... I love his little face back there. :)

Saturday became all about "Daddy/Daughter Day"
After everyone came home for a long nap, Morgan also took the girls to the Circus!

I got some great tips on facebook from friends who had already been. Since the "big top" was just down the street from us (at the mall parking lot),

we thought it might be fun!

I had originally planned to go too but instead, Morgan was kind enough to give me some more time on my own. So nice! I enjoyed shopping at the mall, kid free. When I was done, I managed to catch the last act before the show was over and then we all went to dinner at Island's.

They really enjoyed the show and did very well, considering it was a bit long. And Morgan did a fabulous job of being in charge of the camera all day.

3 Tips for the Circus:

*Don't pay for expensive seats. We bought the bleacher seats and they were just fine. It's smaller than you think in there.
*Go 30 mins. before the show. The kids were welcome to come into the ring and learn some cool tricks.
*Pack some healthy snacks for the 2.5 hours (I packed an apple and some whole grain goldfish). Esp. if you have a hubby who has a sweet tooth. :)

Enjoy the pics!

Learning to juggle with handkerchiefs.

Learning some tricks before the show...

Trying to balance a peacock father on their chins...

Faith gets some help.

A funny (and sweet) picture.

Acrobats...

Man with a ladder on his chin...

Man running around the spinning sphere...

Just cuz she's cute...

Face paint during the intermission...

Trapeze acts!

Oh, the wonder and excitement!

One awesome dad.

Finale!

Clowin' around. :O)

Toss Out 25 Things

A bin full of junk... 2 children... 10 minutes...

I follow a blog called Raising Homemakers and today's guest blogger was Darlene Schacht. I've read some of her articles in the past but I never knew she had her own blog. It's called the Time-Warp Wife and I absolutely love it! Anyway, today she wrote something that inspired and challenged me called, Toss Out 25 Things.

Now, by all accounts, anyone who knows me well, knows that we don't have a lot of toys in our home. Don't get me wrong... we do have toys. In fact, in our humble opinion, we have plenty. I'm also the kind of person who doesn't like clutter. I'm not a pack rat and I enjoy purging every once in a while. It's been wonderful since we moved because we got rid of so much (by way of garage sale and simply during the packing and moving process). There's something very cathartic about having 'just what you need.' Darlene refers to it as "living lean" rather than "lifestyle obesity". I don't know about you, but in my sometimes hectic world, the 'less is more' theory brings me peace.

I know we just purged a bunch of stuff before our move but I was challenged to do even more. I sat the girls down and explained how some kids don't have any dolls or toys to play with and if we aren't playing with them, we should cheerfully bless someone who would love to have it. They quickly agreed and we started going through their toys once again. The girls chose the items themselves. I asked them for 25 things but it quickly became over 40. It also turned into a counting game. :) Just imagine if we did this in every room of our house (at least once in a while)?

I've also been challenged recently to spend more time engaging with my children, rather than letting them use toys as a means to pacify themselves. This of course, is nothing new, but it is a challenge for me because one of the greatest benefits of having twins is the fact that they can so easily entertain each other! I've also been trying to let them spend lots of time in the great outdoors. This could mean the park, on hikes, or simply playing with dirt on our back patio. I think being out in nature promotes imagination, creativity, and wonder. It also produces a healthy respect for creation as well as our Creator. When I think about all the time I spent outside as a kid... some great memories, too!

All challenging, inspirational, and very GOOD STUFF!