Summer Adventure {Brookfield Zoo}

As the summer was winding down we decided to go on one last adventure to the Brookfield Zoo. The kids were so excited and it ended up being a wonderful day.

We started out by going into the butterfly house.

It was beautiful! All the butterflies reminded me of when I was a child in England and visited the butterfly houses there. Mostly I remember the woman over the loud speaker saying "Don't touch the butterflies" in her gorgeous English accent.

One butterfly loved Matthew and just sat on his hand for almost the whole time.

After the butterfly house we went on to see the other animals.

Of course we got pictures of the kids too!!

It was a wonderfully fantastic way to end the summer adventures. Now it is time to add school year adventures.

It is Me from A to Z!

A. age :: thirty

B. bed size ::queen

C. chore you hate :: putting the laundry away

D. dogs :: none but 2 cats (Charlie & Fiona)

E. essential start to your day :: Coffee!

F. favorite color :: teal

G. gold or silver ::silver

H. height :: five feet & eight inches

 
I. instruments you play :: does Guitar Hero count?

J. job title :: mother & student

K. kids :: Jacob

L. live :: Chicago, IL

M. maiden name :: not married

N. nicknames ::Mindy Moo

O. overnight hospital stays :: once when I had little man.

P. pet peeve :: dirty dishes in the sink

Q. quote :: "Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take but by the moments that take your breath away"

R. righty or lefty :: right

S. siblings :: three younger brothers ; Michael, Mark, and Matthew

T. time you wake up :: Starting Monday 6:30

U. university attended :: Benedictine University

V. vegetables you dislike: zucchini 

 
W. what makes you run late :: over sleeping or assuming that it only takes 15 minutes to get anywhere

X. x-rays you’ve had :: my wrist in junior high

Y. yummy food :: pasta, rice, mexican food, grapes

Z. zoo animal favorite :: giraffes and penguins

Summer Adventure {Santa’s Village}

I love my friend Donna and Donna loves coupons and groupons! She is always on the lookout for fun things to do with the kids. When she saw a groupon for Santa’s Village she purchased it right away and we scheduled a day to take the kids. We just went last week and had a blast.

Jacob rode on his first roller coaster!

We fed the animals!

They rode the horses!

They rode the hand carts!

They rode the semi-trucks!

All in all we had a great day!

Out Live Your Life by Max Lucado {Book Review}

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 :

From the moment I saw the cover of this book I knew I wanted to read it. As you can see the cover shows a little boy with a towel wrapped around his neck like a cape. It looks as if he can take on the world. It reminded me of my son who does the same thing and then rides his bike around the block pretending he is a super hero. I used to be like that as a child and I long to be like that today. A super hero of sorts who can solve world problems while cooking dinner and cleaning the house at the same time.

I knew I was “made to make a difference” and this book was going to help to show me how.

This book is separated into chapters. Each chapter gives you a life lesson to help you make the differences you so long to do. At the end of each chapter you will find a prayer. Not just any prayer but a prayer to set your heart right with God to fulfill your dreams. Also, you will find a scripture to go along with your prayer.

At the end of the book you will find discussion questions and an action plan separated out by chapter.

Such action plans are …

“Pray for five friends, relatives, or acquaintances whom you think may be far from God. (If you simply do not know whether God is most important in a person’s life, then he or she could be on this list.) For each five names, think of the next time you are likely to see that person. Make a personal commitment to pray daily for your “Five For God” list.”

The action plans are things that you can do today. You do not need extra funds. You just need a willing heart.

I love this book and highly recommend it for people like me who want to make a difference in this world.

Prepare your heart, give it to God, and see all the differences you can make.

Summer Adventure {Photo Shoot}

Jacob loves having his photo taken!

What can I say he takes after his Mom!

So one day this summer we had no plans and we both thought it would be fun to go to the local equestrian center to take pictures and see the horses.

The day was gorgeous and we had such a good time.

I love spending time with my little man!

Do you want to see some photos???

Here you go …

 

I love this photo!

 

 

The clouds were to pretty that day! and a little windy … hence the crazy hair.

 

I love the old fence  and the look in Jacob’s eyes!

Of course we had to have a picture of his muscles!!

It was super fun to do this and we made such great memories!