Florida Fun

How to survive flying across an ocean and a continent with three kiddos: much energy and creativity (Here Nathan is building a tent), snacks galore (more for me than the kiddos), and a bottomless bag of cheap toys (a bag of $0.99 plastic frogs saved my sanity for half an hour...)

The Cousins!!! Way too much cuteness here, it was just one long precious moment that lasted two weeks! 

Bonita Beach, awesome shells!

Naples Zoo with the family. You can tell they're brothers a mile away! I got stung by a bee here, but I have no hard feelings against the Zoo, it was gorgeous there. :)

The Southernmost Point of the USA! Key West was absolutely packed full of a fabulous eccentric vibe. The history there is intriguing, and the photo opps are plentiful! Nathan is totally holding Sam in the butterfly pic, I was super impressed.)

Going on a baby alligator hunt!

Super fun trip!!! Thank you for letting me share it with you! :)

Love, Jess

November 18th... and counting...

Confession: I'm counting the days until November 18th, when The Twilight Saga's 4th movie, "Breaking Dawn" (part 1), comes out in Theatres. I even put it on my husband's calendar, and every once an awhile I bring up the date and he's like, "I know, I know..." (I love that he likes me even though I'm a goof.) 

Hmmm, this--->      .)      

looks like a one-eyed smiley face, no?

Anyway, I'm not in too much of a hurry to meet up with November 18th, as I have an awesome family vacation coming up, and I cannot wait to see the East Coast gang! Yippee! :)

(FYI--Found this card on a pinterest site, they found it on etsy.)

Princess Wall Decor

 I made this for under $10 to decorate the wall above my kiddo's twin bed (didn't want to hang anything heavy there, ya know?).

I found clearance material and clearance flowers, and instead of doing something difficult and crafty with the Snow White panels, I just hemmed the thing and stuck it to the wall with thumb tacs. 

To hang the roses, I tied a knot in some ribbon and tacked it to the wall, then stuck he flowers in. My girls are all about princesses. As I write this they are playing dress up as the "Kitty Cat Queen," and "Cinderella." :)

Pajama Preschool: Sink or Float?

For "B" is for Boat week, we did a little sink or float experiment. First, I had the girls make their own boats out of tinfoil (I helped my 2-year-old a bit). 

    Then they loaded the boats up with objects to see if they would capsize. 

All of our boats held up outstandingly well. :)

Next, we dropped items in one at a time to see what floated and what sank. We made lots of guesses, like, "Oh sure, the metal spoon will float!"

 Afterwards the girls got to just play and soak the kitchen floor. Good clean fun!

Fall Fun

This is what happens when I can't sleep...and since I finally got glue sticks for my first ever glue gun, I went a little crazy. I made these on Sunday night, adding a bit of fall to our little apt. 

 I gathered these at the pumpkin patch this past weekend on our way back to the car. It's a bunch of old corn stalks. Fun and free!

A silly little frame...should have let the kids help with this the next morning, it looks like they did it anyway :)

Practicing my roses...my DIY Designs Hawaii buddy Janean taught me how to make these. Addictive. I will probably turn them into hair things for my kiddos at some point in their lives. :)

Can't Judge a Book by it's Name (not all the time anyway...)

Recently, I started going to a weekly Mom's group. I went for the first time excited to hang out with Christian moms, and glad for my homeschooling kiddos to have friends to play with in the next room while we met. Then I saw the book: Lord, Help Me Grow Spiritually Strong in 28 Days (but we're doing 3 chapters a week--what rebels!). Judging the book by the name, I went into it thinking it was going to be some emotion-driven, sort of watered-down spiritual checklist of a text. (What a terrible pessimist I sound like!) Anyway, I couldn't be happier to have been wrong about the book! 

It is not touchy-feely at all, each day there is a foundational Christian principle discussed, with the Biblical passages all written in the book (Good for mom's who are reading while holding a sleeping baby and can't easily flip between the book and a Bible! Yippee!). There are questions about the passage with space to write your answer, but the authors ask you to answer using words from the text so as not to take the scripture out of context. I honestly felt silly doing this, but it makes you think and reflect and lets truths sink in deeper than usual speed reading allows.

Well, these past few weeks have seriously been super encouraging and challenging for me. I have really appreciated getting to know these women, and have loved this opportunity to pray for them and their families. In reading this book so far, I have realized that I have become someone who tries to survive the day, instead of someone who is focused on glorifying God in my life. Ouch! I hope it keeps hurting, and continues to make any part of my life that is not aligned with God's will uncomfortable, as He molds me bit by bit into someone who loves and lives like Jesus.