Rochester Children's Museum

Since 2006, plans have been in the works for building a Children's Museum in Rochester, and just a little over two weeks ago, it opened! Amaya and I went last Friday to check it out and my expectations were pretty low. It's in a strange location - sandwiched between a Pub and Little Caesar's, but as it grows and expands I'm sure this won't be a permanent location.

Right away when we walked in, all the walls were brightly colored and it was quite an inviting atmosphere. And fortunately, it wasn't too busy - I overheard one of the staff say that nearly 1000 visitors came through their doors the opening week!

I gave Amaya full reign of where she wanted to go and what she wanted to do first. We spent over 30 minutes at the first exhibit - building a race car.

She worked so hard getting her car built!

After she built the car, there was a track to race cars. This was a very popular exhibit!

The theme for the next couple of months is Balls in Motion... Located along one wall were several different ramps and tracks to roll the balls. Roll them down...

...and see if you make "a basket."

Amaya practiced her golf swing...

...did the ball toss...

... amd created a bunch of bugs with different shaped blocks.

There was an area full of huge lego blocks and foam blocks to create towers, houses, and bridges etc.



Amaya's favorite activities were located in the craft room.

Here she's working on a Mother's Day card for a local nursing home resident.

There was also an area to do face painting. Amaya has NEVER wanted to do any type of face painting... until that day! I colored a little heart on her cheek.

Then, she wanted to do her own painting!

Her finished product!

The museum is geared for ages 6 months - 10 years old. Amaya is the PERFECT age for the museum... we spent nearly 3 hours there and she probably could have spent more time if it wasn't nearing closing time. We had such a great time and had room in our budget, so we bought a family membership. While I had low expectations at first, it was definitely worth it! Rochester has needed a Children's Museum for a long time and I hope it continues to grow and expand!

Quotes on Anxiety

Read this a couple of days ago and jotted it down because I knew that I would look back on it often and/or need to share it with someone...

The Lord is my peace. I shall not live in anxiety. He puts me under His wing of comfort and calms my spirit within me. He takes all my anxieties on Himself and helps me to focus on Him. Yes, though I walk through a time of grave uncertainties, I will not fret - for You are my peace. Your Word and Your presence calm me now. You hold my uncertainties in the palm of Your hand. You soothe my anxious mind. You smooth my wrinkled brow. Surely serenity and trust in You shall fill me all the days of my life. And I shall keep my mind stayed on You forever.

Written by Judy Booth, excerpt from the book, Calm my Anxious Heart, by Linda Dillow.

Another quote I refer back to often that offers me peace: "The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith; and the beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety." George Muller.

Easter - Part 2

This year, we celebrated Easter with my parents and once again, my mom outdid herself. We had a scrumptious ham dinner with twice baked potatoes, corn, rolls, and fruit salad. Yummy! After dinner, Annika and I hid Easter eggs outside for the remainder of the kids to find.

Lydia, Miles, Amaya, and Annika in the back prior to the start of the Egg Hunt.

We gave Miles and Amaya a 30 second head start before Lydia and Ben.

Lydia was pretty sneaky and started in the front yard while the others were out back and scored a lot of candy!! Ben and Lydia going through the eggs.

Miles scoping out his loot.

And Amaya - each kiddo got 10 dollars in an egg! (Too bad the adults couldn't participate!)

Sweet Lydia

Family pictures.... Ben, Arwen, Miles, Mike, Lydia, Annika and somehow Amaya slipped in there!

and us...

We had a wonderful day celebrating and loved the special family time together.

Weekend Gone!

I was hoping that I would have a chance to get the remainder of our Easter pictures posted today, but it's just not going to happen. The weekend flew by so quickly and our weekend was packed of activities and with our 7th Anniversary tomorrow... it may not happen for a few days. On Friday, Amaya and I spent 3 hours at the new Children's Musuem here in Rochester... we had Family Fun night and watched Dolphin Tale... then on Saturday, brought my mom and Steve's mom along to do the Showcase of Homes... then church... the date night for the two of us. Sunday... we had the Kick Off Event for the Crohn's and Colitis Walk at the Art Center and then spent the remainder of the evening with my parents. A very full weekend and lots of blogging material for the week... Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Menu Planning

Ever since Amaya was born, I've wanted to develop some type of easy monthly menu plan, but nothing has ever seemed to really work. And starting from scratch every week seems like reinventing the wheel. Until... pinterest --- seriously, for those of you who enjoy food, recipes, crafts, DIY, gardening, exercise, traveling, books, movies, home decorating and improvement, organizing, gift ideas, clothes, etc. Check out pinterest - it will change your life and suck up your precious time - but from my perspective - it's been a great way to organize what I like and am interested in on the web. Anyway... each weekvaries with my work schedule so a monthly planner didn't fit our needs and because I get home around 5:30, making a meal from scratch and eating at a reasonable hour just isn't feasible. Until.... My Menu Board!

Amaya and I had a blast at Hobby Lobby picking out the frame, papers, and stickers. It was a lot of fun to make, but even more fun to start planning meals. So, I went through all my recipes and now have over 50 different options for meals. I got out my beloved label maker, made labels of our recipes, and put them on paper. On the flipside are ideas for side dishes, etc.

I didn't take a picture of the back of the frame, but I glued an envelope on the back that stores all of the recipe cards I'll be using for the week. Genius! Now, every weekend, Ijust sit down pull out a few little cards with side dishes already thought out and jot down the ingredients I need. It's a lot of fun because Amaya and Steve can pick out what they'd like to have too and we rotate the cards around so I'm not making the same thing over and over again. I also made little cards that have "Eat-Out" and "Left-overs." So on those days where I work, I can plan ahead a little bit and schedule left-overs for the night or prepare enough in advance and have Steve put something in the oven before I get home. Plus, it's been awesome on our budget because I'm prepared for those days when I don't feel like cooking. Menu planning made simple - and best yet - It works for us!!!

Easter - Part 1

Pinterest has made our lives much more creative, crafty, and festive! Especially around the holidays! We found several Easter crafts, but Amaya chose this one as her favorite. We ran out of cotton balls and pink construction paper, but we're all set now with googly eyes and pipecleaners!!!

I also volunteered to bring dessert for Easter dinner at my parents. Amaya helped me make these cupcakes - also inspired by Pinterest.

And they were so easy to make! Just your regular cupcake mix - green frosting - and Cadbury Mini-Eggs!

Delicious!

I also made Berry Lover's Pie... I've made this on a few different occasions and it's been a big hit. Next time I'll need to add a bit more cornstarch to hold it all together when it's cut. But, beautiful nonetheless.

Later that evening, we decorated Easter eggs... Boil, boil, boil

We had just the right amount of colors for the eggs that I boiled.

Pretty...

Ta-da!

Amaya, with our finished eggs

Sunday morning, Amaya got her Easter basket and hopped on our bed to open her presents.

Can you tell that she's super excited!

First present... what could it be?

A Barbie!

Five little eggs... with quarters in them!

Pink bubbles and Twizzlers!

Amaya and I gave Steve a bunch of candy earlier in the week.

And Amaya picked out some flowers at Trader Joe's for Grandma and me.

And Steve gave me my favorite... white roses...

Part 2 continues to tomorrow...

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter celebrating our risen Lord!

Fundraising is Fun!!

Woot Woot! I'm so thrilled that we've just surpassed our donation total from the Crohn's and Colitis Walk last year!! We raised 748 dollars last year, and now we're up to 760 dollars!! Thank you to everyone who has already donated or signed up to walk with us! Formal thank you cards will be mailed out after the walk with pictures of our team, but for now - thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your support!

I'm not very good at asking for donations and/or support and it's certainly not my one my strengths. Leave it to a bright little 4 year old to encourage me to stretch myself a little. While we were sending out support letters, Amaya helped put on all the stamps and address labels and said to me, "Fun-raising is FUN!" And honestly, it is pretty exciting to track our progress at home and receive e-mails that a donation has been made on our team's website. And in that respect, it is fun. My only hesitation is that I understand what it's like to be on a tight budget. There are so many wonderful organizations that I would love to support financially! It's just that sometimes... the money isn't there to give what my heart WANTS to give!

Just today... my co-worker's son is participating in a bowling tournament for the Big Brother and Big Sister's club and asked for a donation. I wrote out my check and was embarrassed that it couldn't be more. But... Every little bit DOES help... and although it feels good to receive... it feels a lot better to give! So... lesson learned... Fundraising is Fun - and giving of money and/or TIME is even more fun!

Minnesota Zoo

A couple weeks ago, we took advantage of the beautiful weather and invited Grandma Horning to go to the Minnesota Zoo with us. Unfortunately, the weatherman missed the mark and instead of mid-60 degree weather, it was a little on the chilly side. Oh, well... we had a great time and with the weather being cool, the animals were much more active.

All three bears were out and about. We were mesmerized by this bear walking and balancing on this branch and this was one of our favorite exhibits of the day.

The Amur Leopard...

It was the opening weekend for the Farm Babies exhibit, so we spent quite a bit of time at the farm.

Amaya's favorite part of the zoo was brushing and feeding the goats.

"Feed me!"

Amaya said the goat's tongue felt, "tickly."

Pure joy!

After the goats, we looked at the cows.

And we were just in time for a Cow Milking show.

Newborn piglets.

Queen of the Pig?

After the farm, we finished the remainder of the Northern Trail and saw the Tiger up close. We then headed inside to get warmed up and have a little snack.


Then, we caught the bird show in the new auditorium. Along with the bears, this was one of our favorite shows! Steve grabbed us a great spot in the FRONT ROW! Close enough that the Snowy Owl flew down and touched my hair!

The zoo was closing soon, so we literally raced through the Tropics and Minnesota Trail. I think we've taken a picture of Amaya on this turtle every time we've been to the zoo.

Close up view of the White Wolf.

Grandma Horning and Miss Amaya

Steve, Grandma Horning, and Amaya in front of the turkeys.

We had a great time at the zoo! And we must have been tuckered out because all of us girls took naps on the way home. Thanks Grandma for a fun day!

Back Again

Where have we been? Obviously not blogging... We've been busy working, playing, and enjoying spring! We experienced a brief taste of summer a few weeks ago, and just last night I was praying for my plants to survive the hard freeze. Crazy weather!

Steve started a new job at Opportunity Services on February 1st working with the developmentally disabled and continues to love it! And all three of us love his schedule much better! No evenings, no weekends, no holidays. He's typically home between 3:30-4pm everyday so Amaya and I get a lot more time with him! All of his clients love working with Steve greet him with big smiles! It's been a great fit for Steve and we're thankful that God has once again provided for the needs of our family.

Amaya continues to enjoy school and from her conferences in March, she is gaining more self confidence and is becoming much more social. She's one smart little girl and picks up new skills quickly, but is often too shy to share her knowledge. Needless to say, we're so proud of her in that she's actively participating more in school. On Wednesday evenings, she continues to go to Awana at our church and keeps earning more and more patches for learning her Bible verses. (I've become an expert in sewing patches! Thanks Mom for teaching me!) Since the weather has been so warm lately, she's spent a lot of time playing outside. Amaya especially enjoys riding her bike and scooter around the cul-de-sac with the neighborhood kids.

It's been a very busy time of the year for me at work - with the early start of spring and pollens in the air, allergy symptoms and asthma have been worse for our patients. Me included! Perhaps this allergy nurse should take her own advice and have a formal consultation! Anyway, once again God offered an opportunity for me to increase my hours at work on a permanent basis. I struggled and wavered back and forth with this decision mostly because I've always wanted to be a stay at home mom. I feel guilty enough being away from Amaya. I've experienced enough criticism and judgement for being a working mom which only adds to my guilt. However, in reality... lay offs happen... we know this from experience... illness happens... we know this from experience... the economy fluctuates... we know this from experience... Pushing the "mommy guilt" aside and putting the needs of our family first, Steve and I decided that I'd thank and praise God for His provision and work an extra two days during the month. I haven't really noticed much of a difference in our schedule, however I LOVE pay day even more now! Plus, when you love your job so much, an extra two days really isn't that big of a deal. Dave Ramsey would be proud!