At The Playground

The Arboretum has installed a new playground and the kids love going there for an hour or two now that the weather's nice. They have these cool child swings that let the parent (or sibling) swing with their little one. The Littles love it. :)

 The bravery of our Littles often surprises me. :)

 The kids got new (to them) soccer cleats, so we brought them along for them to try out.

 It only took about 2 seconds for some other kids to jump in and kick the ball around.

 We're hoping to find (or start) a soccer team/league that meets on days other than Saturday so that the kids can participate.

Hagan Stone Playground

Playground Fun

 We spent a day at Triad Park last weekend and the kids had a great time, as they always do.

Olivia's getting quite adept at the climbing wall. We are considering doing a summer camp in it for her.

The boys love to swing higher and higher. :)

Big Brother pushing. :)

 After playing for a while, we walked down to the fishing pond and ate lunch on the grass.

We got to see some wildlife in the pond. A turtle swam by looking for a place to sun himself.

and a dragonfly landed right next to us.

All the excitement tuckered Emma right out.

A Breakthough for Olivia!

For quite some time now, I've been trying to get O to do the monkey bars at the playground, but she's always been too scared. This time, though, she was willing to try and, though she panicked a little, did great!



Fun at the Park

We took the kids across the street when we had a really nice day last week.

O and Gabe took a break and played I Spy with the clouds.

The kids loved rolling down the hill.

Had to chase Ezra down a couple of times when he wanted to run off by himself.



Gabe just loves investigating new things.



Shavuot Sameach

We are learning more and more about our Hebrew roots. In the Torah, God commanded that the people keeps certain feasts and festivals to remember his mighty acts. Understanding the Torah, and specifically keeping the feasts and festivals can enrich our understanding of our Hebrew God, Messiah, our Hebrew scriptures and the process of redemption. So starting last night, we are celebrating Shavuot. Shavuot is fifty days after the Passover and is part of the spring holidays celebrating freedom from bondage (salvation). Shavuot is when God gave the Ten Commandments to the Hebrew people. He made covenant with them, declaring them his people. And he took a people that were wandering aimlessly in the desert and gave them the Torah so that they could find their way to God, to the promise land. Then years later, Messiah was given as the fullfillment or culmination of this law. He is the way to God. And as the believers were gathered on Shavuot, the gift of the Helper, the Holy Spirit, came down on these men. God, living in us, writing Torah on our hearts, showing us the way, helping us know the Torah made flesh. God made a convenant with us, declaring us his people. I am blessed to be grafted in this covenant.


When there was a temple, two of the priestly rituals were to wave two loaves of bread (representing Jew and Gentile) and offering peace sacrifices, both fullfilled in the Messiah Yeshua. What a beautiful picture! Also among the Jewish traditions for this celebration, is the reading of the book of Ruth. This book took place during the spring harvest time and is a beautiful picture of God's acceptance of a Gentile and her willingness to make "your people my people". She was not only accepted into the people of God but became part of the Messianic line. There is lots more wonderful information out there. Here is just one of the places I found helpful, http://www.shalomnyc.org/feasts/shavous.htm and http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Holidays/Spring_Holidays/Shavuot/shavuot.html


We enjoyed fellowship and a potluck at the park with some friends last night. For the kids, we talked about the meaning of Shavuot, went over the Ten Commandents, and the blessings listed in Leviticus for following Torah. The kids also enjoyed a general good time at the park. :)
 

Ezra is most happy being worn these days. He is crawling and will play on his own well, but in an environment like this park, he is just apt to get into mischief or beg to be held. The Ergo is wonderful for carrying him but it can be really hot too. JR took a turn at carrying him for me in the heat last evening.

We went a little early and enjoyed the last few minutes of the sprayground before our gathering. Olivia loved it.

Gabe did not think too highly of the sprayground.

Christmas Play

Our church did a Christmas play this year and Rebecca and Olivia were the stars! They did such a fantastic job! Rebecca and Miana (our music coordinator, fantastic babysitter and pastor's daughter) put together a 30-minute play based on a video from a while back called "The Greatest Present of All" which featured the Donut Man. Olivia begged and begged me to do the play, but I'll admit, I was too chicken. Rebecca stepped in and did a wonderful job.

Rebecca as "Donut Woman." She actually sewed those donuts for her costume. I have to admit, I was impressed with how great they looked.

Olivia speaking her lines. She knew exactly how to hold the microphone with no coaching! That's my girl! :)

For those who don't know the "donut" illustration, our hearts are like donuts: they each have a big hole in the middle of them. But Jesus acts like a pastry "donut hole", filling that empty space up perfectly.

Amazingly, nothing caught fire!

Did I mention that this isn't the first time Rebecca's had a run in with donuts? Seems to me that history does repeat itself. :)

Fun time at the Playground