Johnson City Science Mill

I totally recommend this children's museum. True, it does not look like much from the outside, but you should give it a chance. After you create a digital robot avatar-which will teach you about certain things in the museum- You just need to start exploring. There is a model of Romanesco Broccoli (Which you can see Read with in this picture), Animated Texas animals, which you can control, Makey Makey, and much more than I can explain or remember.

Little House in the Big Woods projects

We finally finished our first book in the Laura Ingalls Wilder series, Little House in the Big Woods.  It took longer than I anticipated, but I am all about stress free or at least trying to be this summer.  I highly recommend the series, the girls really seemed to enjoy it.  Along the way, I have tried to plan projects for each day's reading.
Chapter 1 - try beef jerky, Laura's Pa smokes their own meats for the winter
Chapter 2 - make corn cob dolls like Laura's or make homemade butter
Chapter 3 - make an owl craft
Chapter 4 - make stockings out of old unmatched socks, fill with candies and treats
Chapter 5- make paper dolls
Chapter 6 - ride to church and home again without talking
Chapter 7 -make maple candy 
Chapter 8 - look up square dancing and play music from time period, learn to dance a jig
Chapter 9 - draw a map from Laura's house to town
Chapter 10 - make cheese or taste a variety of cheeses
Chapter 11 - make thumbprint bees
Chapter 12 - taste different kinds of nuts, walnuts, hazelnuts and hickory nuts or make Johnny cakes (cornbread)
Chapter 13 - learn the song Auld Lang syne

machine gun preacher

Have you seen the Gerard Butler film, Machine Gun Preacher based on the true story of Sam Childers?  I have been wanting to see this movie for months and finally rented it this weekend at redbox.  It is not for the faint of heart.  It is not a feel good movie, it is a heavy movie, but I hope you will watch it.  And I hope it stirs something in you.  Our family was so privileged to host the Watoto Children a couple years back.  Some of them are orphaned children and even rescued child soldiers b/c of the Sudanese Civil Wars.  Sam is involved in trying to save children from this same war.
I ordered Ben the book this morning, so will let you know how that turns out too.

book review - The Princess and the Kiss

A friend of mine recently loaned me this book to read to the girls.  It is about saving your first kiss for your husband.  Many impressive suitors came for the princess' hand in marriage, but she knew her kiss was far to valuable to just give away.  The girls seemed to enjoy it and I hope it resonated with them.  I plan to order the book on Amazon and reread it to them over the years.

Bringing up Girls excerpt

My friend Cari posted this and it was so good I could not wait another day to share.  If you are a mom to girls (or even sons interested in girls) you need to read.  Ordering this book right now.
The Charm Bracelet

Sweet sixteen had finally come! I never thought I'd make it. But I did. And it was amazing. My parents threw the birthday party of the century, and I had more people over than I could count. The whole day had been awesome. But as I watched the sun begin to set, I knew the best part was soon to come.
It was late in the evening. Confetti had been swept up, helium balloons had started to sag, and gift wrapping had been folded neatly and tucked away for my mom's later use. As I sat at my window studying the dusky sky, Dad peeked into my room with a smile.
"Ready to go, Sweetie?" he asked.
Was that a trick question? I wondered as I scrambled to my feet. I'd been waiting for this night for five long years, and it was finally here! I was now officially allowed to date!
The plan was for my parents and me to go to my favorite restaurant on the night of my sixteenth birthday and officiate the agreement, go over standards, and discuss rules and such. And now we were finally on the way.
I sat across from my parents in a quiet corner booth. Having just placed our orders, I figured it was time to get on with it. "So, I can go out with any guy I want to, right?" I squealed, hardly able to contain my excitement.
Mom and Dad chuckled. Dad answered, "Well, we agreed to that, didn't we?"
"Sweet!" I exclaimed, doing a little victory dance in my seat. My parents had held me off for years, but now that the time had come, they would let me date any guy I wanted! Of course, they knew I had a good relationship with God and wasn't too short on common sense, either.
"Now wait just a second," Mom interrupted with a smile. "You have to agree to a little something yourself."
I was expecting a lecture of some sort, so I was already prepared. "So what do I have to do now?" I asked, leaning forward on my elbows.
"Just open this," Dad answered, producing a small white box. He gave a mysterious smile.
I hesitated a moment before removing the curly pink ribbon. I slowly opened the lid and saw a beautiful silver bracelet. But not just any bracelet. It was a charm bracelet. And they weren't just any charms. They were gemstones, small but gorgeous. A dozen dainty charms dangled gently. "Wow." I didn't know what else to say. I wasn't expecting this at all.
"Now you have to understand this isn't just any bracelet," Mom informed me.
"I know," I said. "It is so beautiful!" I studied it closer. There were six small charms alternating with six tinier ones. The smaller ones were a deep blue. Sapphires, I guessed. And the other six were each different. One appeared to be just a rock, one was pink, a white one, a red one, green, and.....was that a diamond?
"This charm bracelet is symbolic," Dad explained, leaning in closer to study it with me. "It represents you and your purity. This is what will guide you through your dating relationships. Your mother and I can only tell you what's right. We can't make you believe it yourself. Hopefully, this will."
I looked up solemnly, "I'm listening."
"This represents the first time you hold a guy's hand," Mom said, pointing to the gray one. "It's just a piece of polished granite. Seemingly cheap, yes, but it's still a part of your bracelet. This is pink quartz."
Then she gently rubbed the next one between her fingers. "It represents your first kiss."
"This green one is an emerald," Dad continued. "This is your first boyfriend. The pearl is the first time you say 'I love you' to a man other than me."
I giggled. This was so amazing.
"The ruby stands for your engagement. And the diamond represents the time you say 'I do,'" Mom finished.
After letting it all sink in, I cleared my emotion-clogged throat. "What are the six tiny sapphires for?" I asked.
"Those are to remind you how beautiful and valuable you are to us and to God," Dad replied. "Now, here's the hitch in all this, the one and only rule you'll ever have to follow when it comes to dating."
Only one rule. Sounded good. But little did I know.......
"Whenever you give one of these actions of love - a kiss, an 'I love you,' a hand to hold - you also have to give the recipient the gem to match."
I must've misunderstood. "I have to give him the gem?"
"You have to give it to him," Mom restated.
I was silent for a moment. I thought they must be joking. But they weren't even thinking of cracking a smile.
"But Daddy!" I suddenly shrieked. "These are insanely expensive! I can't just give them away!"
He gave a soft, loving chuckle. "Did you hear what you just said?"
I thought about it.
"Baby, your purity, your heart, they're far more valuable than a few little rocks. If you can't find it in your heart to give away your little charms, I don't think you would be giving away the things they represent."
I could feel my insides melting, ready to gush out my tear ducts. On the one hand, it made me feel valuable and precious. But on the other, it made me furious. It made no sense. But it would.
A few weeks after that night, I was hanging out with my friends at the beach. Chad wouldn't swim because I wouldn't swim. I was more interested in reading than getting caked with sand, and he was more interested in sitting with me than swimming with his buddies. He was sweet. He was cute. He tried to hold my hand.
I was thrilled for a nanosecond when a certain piece of ugly granite flashed through my mind and made me move out of his reach. I was severely annoyed - annoyed at my parents, annoyed at my bracelet-turned-handcuffs, but most of all, annoyed at myself. I was letting a little rock dominate my romantic life.
I furiously glared at it during the whole embarrassing walk to the bathhouse. But then God hit me upside the head with a shocking epiphany. I couldn't give up my little chunk of granite. It was part of my bracelet, which in a sense made it a part of me. I wouldn't be whole without it. It wasn't a priceless gem, yet it was still valuable. It made sense after that.
Kevin came along eventually. We had fun. We hung out a lot. I thought I might love him. I thought I might tell him so.
I thought of my pearl.
It turned out I didn't love him as much as I thought I did.
So my parents had been right. They couldn't make me believe the things they wanted me to believe. So they let God and my bracelet do the work instead. Among the four of them, I figured out how valuable I was. How valuable my purity was. How not valuable guys were who were just wasting my time and emotions. If they weren't in it for the whole bracelet, why should they get one part of it.
Nate. He thought my bracelet was awesome. So he never tried to hold my hand. He never tried to kiss me. But he asked me to marry him
I never knew that so many years of torture could amount to so much happiness. I'd thought it was silly. I'd thought it was overrated. But now, I have never been more glad of anything in my life.
As I gave my husband the charm bracelet in it's entirety, i wondered why I had found it so hard to hang on to those little rocks when it was so amazing to give them all to the man I truly loved.
But it didn't end there. Now our daughter wears it.  - Raising Up by Dr. James Dobson

rachel ray magazine

I recently subscribed to Everyday with Rachel Ray.  I actually got a free subscription through a blog I follow.  This past month, I decided I was going to try a new recipe every day and found almost all of them in her September issue.  One afternoon I sat down with my magazine, tablet and pen and planned the entire month of grocery shopping out of her magazine.  We enjoyed it so much, well today is my day to plan November.  I actually lost weight this month - only 1/2 pound, but at 8 months preggo that is kind of cool (dr. was ok with it too).  We had meals including Shepherd's Pie, Minestrone Soup, Cheese steak Kebabs, Bacon-Cantaloupe Wraps, & Picatta-style Tilapia. For the most part all recipes came from Rachel Ray, I ended up making a couple of meals that are RFF faves; LE insisted on and dumplings one Sunday after church, we had tortilla soup one night.  Ben loved that we had more meals as opposed to one-dish wonders, which is usually the norm.   She has a section for 30-minute meals from her show, $10 bucks or less meals (for family of 4), and one week of meals planned including grocery shopping.  The website has a lot of great ideas too.

a few of my favorite things

I follow several blogs and I find it interesting how many things I have in common with my friends, guess that's why we are friends.   I have found several new recipes that have quickly become favorites, new things that I would have never purchased, & decorating ideas.  I wanted to share a couple of my favorites. 
My new favorite recipe is from Erica at Haphazard Happenstances.  (This is a link to the recipe.)  It is for her shredded pork.  I have had this amazing craving for BBQ this pregnancy and this satisifes it.  I put Head Country BBQ sauce over it and serve it on Hawaiaan style Bread Buns. 
My favorite pregnancy soother is from my cousin, Anna at Your Little Birdie.  These are the most comfortable flipflops ever!  I know flipflop season is wrapping up, but these do not come off my feet when I am in the kitchen.  I got the yoga mat style in hot pink.  They were a birthday present from my mom.    

blackout

"I had a blackout at Gourdough's last night", wanted that to be my facebook status, but knew being preggo that might freak some non-Austinites out.  My cousin, Anna has blogged about Gourdough's a couple of times, so if you read her blog please pardon the repeats, but OH MY GOSH if you live in Austin - get there!  Forget the gym, half an hour on the eliptical did not work off the first bite. Even Ben, the food critique was oohing and ahhing over this Big. Fat. Donut.  He had a scoop of ice cream, I had a glass of milk.  We could not finish one donut between the two of us, so either come hungry or bring a couple of friends.

my new fave iced tea

I have been on a hot tea kick for weeks. When I was stocking up last week I found Celestial Seasonings cool brew tea and I must say I am hooked!!

I have been hooked on Sonic Dr. Pepper since moving to Austin and it is my own vice that I just cannot seem to give up. Since New Years, I have only had one soft drink and two glasses of tea, both with half sweet/half unsweet. Then, the heavens opened and brought me to this yummy tea (reminds me of Cheesecake Factory tea). I still sweeten slightly with sweet and low, but I am trying to wean myself off of artificial sweeteners too.

I found it at Sprouts, but other retailers may carry it.

a must read

My friend, Melanie gave me a new book Tuesday. During naptime, I picked it up at 3:30 and began reading until 4:30-time to cook dinner. Picked up again at 7:30 and soaked in tub for about 30 minutes. Put girls down for bed, picked it up again around 8:30 and could not put it down until 2:40 a.m. when I finished it. Make sure you have a fresh box of kleenex.

http://www.samekindofdifferentasme.com/video.aspx

Same Kind of Different as Me by Denver Moore and Ron Hall

It begins outside a burning plantation hut in Louisiana... and an East Texas honky-tonk... and, without a doubt, in the heart of God. It unfolds in a Hollywood hacienda... an upscale New York Gallery... a downtown dumpster... a Texas ranch.
Gritty with pain and betrayal and brutality, it also shines with an unexpected, life-changing love.

Love of a Lifetime Conference

This weekend, Ben and I went to a marriage conference at the church.  Dr. Gary Chapman, author of the 5 Love Languages, Dr. Gary and Barb Rosberg and Shaunti Feldhahn were the guest speakers.  We had a really great time and got a refresher on the 5 love languages.   One very interesting thing, really interesting in my opinion was a comment Ben made.  He said Shaunti Feldhahn was the first speaker whoever "read his mind" like that, "she knew me better than I knew me."  Ok, those are big words coming from Ben. 

So, at the break Saturday we bought her books, For Women Only, For Men Only, and For Parents Only.  I had actually read For Women Only last year, but decided if it meant that much to Ben I would read it again.  She suggested giving each other the opposite book and highlighting what was really important to you personally and then switching the books.  Last night, as we were reading Ben commented I was sure highlighting alot.  So, I guess, Shaunti knows me pretty well too!  

The Shack

I finished The Shack last night around 11:30. I could not put it down, but I did not want it to end. I read everything from the intro to the acknowledgements to the info on the Missy Project. The book was so enlightening. It was so much more than entertaining. It was eye-opening kind of literature. I just hung on every word and thought. It really helped me to get that life is about the relationship and not the rules that religion puts on everyone/everything. So much so that I had to wake Ben up and pray with him b/c my heart was racing when I alone was trying to get some thoughts straight in my head. So, it is not for everyone, but I think it is another one of those reads for every believer. You will walk away wondering, is it really fiction or not?

Voices of the Faithful & The Shack

I told you that I had received 6 books for Christmas, and I have finally created my bookmark for what we are reading in my gadget list (far right).  I am reading The Shack by William P. Young, oh my gosh.  I am about 1/3 through, oh wow!  Someone told me it is not for the weak, um no! Get it, you will not be disappointed.  Just curious, who has already read it?

My 2nd recommnedation - Voices of the Faithful by Beth Moore - I got a daily devotional from my sister-in-law, Marissa and at first thought - Is it going to be like the other devotionals that get read for about a week and then shelved?  Once again - umm, no!  Each day is written by a different missionary - my new found love if you had not noticed.  The thing I love about it is what I am learning more and more as I read the Bible - Christians are not perfect, the disciples were not perfect, missionaries still get scared, still question what they are doing in the middle of nowhere, did you really send me here, Lord?  In the opening of January Beth Moore states--- Sometimes difficulty comes to us smack-dab in the center of God's will.  

Are you serious, Lord?  Here for the past month I have been wondering God, what have I done?  Where are you?  What do I need to do to  hear you?  What do I need to get things fresh/alive again?  He is still there, still holding my family, still has a purpose for my life.   Thank you Lord for great Christian authors-  Father, please continue to send words to Ben and I even if they are not audible or written across the sky, we will still listen~

must be God...

I just finished an awesome incredible book that was recommended to me while in Africa, Bait of Satan by John Bevere. In the recommendation, my friend said; "there are two books every believer should read - The Bait of Satan and Hind's Feet on High Places." I put this on my C-mas list to my mom-in-law, but in a matter of 24 hours, the book came up again based on some issues Ben and I have faced (not towards each other). So, drove myself to Family Christian Bookstore and bought it. Let me say - this is a book every believer should not only read, but own to drag out every time they are hurt or offended. This book has changed everything in the past 2 weeks. Then, tonight as I am sitting down to blog about it, I have a notice that Erica over Haphazard Happenstances has recommended a book by the same author. He is a great author, easy read, but be ready to have your world changed. I will be heading over to Amazon to look for the next read soon. I did get 6 books for C-mas, so I am creating a new feature on my blog for what we're reading.

These are a few of my favorite things...

I just wanted to share some things that I really am thankful for...

My dentist, Dr. Chuck Harger, incredible dentist, incredible man 0f God, friend. I love this man, I don't mind going to the dentist any more. He is 70+ years old and only does referrals, so if you need a dentist in the Round Rock, please go see "my" Dr. Chuck.

This is strange I know, but I really like my laundry detergent. I purchase it from Laurie Winckel and it is so worth it. I write the date on the box when I purchase it, and the last time I bought detergent was in October, $35 and I just replaced it yesterday. It smells so great & works too! It is a great deal b/c of the amount you actually use.

I love my gym! My girls love going to play, I love the stress relief, I love my instructors, I love that I have muscles and can do more push-ups than my brothers (pause for response).

I am into blogging. Anna reminded me today how much I enjoy glimpsing into your lives. People are busy, we are busy and it is nice to slow down and see what my loved-ones are doing. The bad thing is I think we forget to keep in touch in real time b/c we know what each other is doing through our blogs.

I LOVE MY CHURCH and my friends. I had so much fun today at the water park with my girlfriends and I am so thankful Madeline (teen) was there to keep the kids occupied so we could chat. It was some much needed adult time (especially since LE never napped).

I love my God! He is so good to us. Every time, all of the time. We are walking through uncertain times in the RFF and not knowing where we are going to be in a year, six months, six weeks can be stressful, but he always sustains us. He always provides, protects, comforts and sends those words and support when we need it most. Wow, this turned into a long, mushy post. I just wanted to tell you about my dentist!!

Num Num

All I can say is (in the words of our 20-month old) num, num.

Ben and I were treated last week to an amazing date night courtesy of the Jarzabeck's, J.J. and Aimee. Aimee invited Ben and I to the mock service (night before the grand opening to make sure everything is running smoothly) dinner. We were told to order anything we wanted on the menu, and truth be told- we ordered WHATEVER we wanted off the menu, a lot more than we would normally and a lot better too!

We started off with the lump crab cakes, OK these were not your ordinary crab cakes, they were huge and covered with a Tomatillo-Serrano Salsa and Jicama Tortilla Slaw (cost - $14). Then Ben ordered the Sink Salad (Greek salad- $10) and I ordered the Jasper's Greens Salad with bleu cheese and caramelized pecans ($9). Then, for the main dish Ben ordered the Pan Seared Salmon, Grilled Asparagus and Mascarpone Polenta ($22) and I got the Hickory Grilled Black Angus Filet with Portobello Whippers and Red Wine Butter, something I have always wanted to try ($37). We also tried the Gouda Mac and Cheese and aged Ham ($8). For dessert, Ben had the Butterfinger Creme Brulee and I had the Cherry Limeade Pie - voted the best dessert in Dallas, and now sure to be the best dessert in Austin. Oh my goodness-great recommendation, Aimee! This food was amazing, I included the prices, so you did not just decide to pop in for a casual dinner. For us this is in one of those "special anniversary" dinners or "Honey, my great-grandmother left us an inheritance " dinner. The lunch menu prices were more reasonable for us the common folk- just make sure you get the Cherry Limeade pie.

All of this was a gift to Ben and I, Jasper's sent out invites to a select number of people and Aimee and J.J. invited Ben and I. We had an absolute awesome time, we relaxed (the girls were with "their" Marcus and Anna, being tortured by Tech paraphernalia.), ate one of the best meals of our lives, did I mention the Nectarine Jasmine Black Tea, oh my goodness - Aimee, please sneak me a tea bag!?, and absolutely enjoyed ourselves - like we used to when we both had paying jobs. Thank you Aimee, J.J., waitstaff, Marcus and Anna for an amazing date night. It was an absolute blessing, that we will remember for a long time! (total bill - $116, knowing J.J. and Aimee = priceless, for some things there Master card, for other's, there's great friends.) We love you guys and cannot wait to see James Bradley!