"Let me count your teeth, Mr. Goat. Wow, you have as many as I do!" 

Ready for the zoo? Looks like they're still sacked out :) 

Meg getting a good look at the view from our room on the 15th floor. 

Holiday World

The family traveled to Holiday World together this past Saturday. It's a great theme park in Santa Claus, Indiana. Really my favorite one. It is super clean, they offer free soft drinks and sunscreen, and have stuff that all ages enjoy, including an awesome water park. I definitely recommend it. Just don't go on a Saturday in August. Everyone and their brother was there that day. Crowds make me nervous anyway, so I was tense all day, and we had to wait in line too long for most of the rides. But the girls had a great time, especially in the water park. Megan is so adventurous--she was sad she wasn't big enough to ride the big coasters. So, enjoy the pics. We'll be traveling to Cincinnati Wed and Thurs, so hoping to take the girls to the zoo there, and I'll share more pics there.

Ready to head out to Holiday World. But first, breakfast at Mc'D's! 

Zoe and Meg's first ride together. Zoe wanted to get out and splash in the water, but sissy kept her arms around her. 

Daddy and Megan on the Scrambler. You can barely see Meg's head. That was a hard shot to get. 

Sharing with a friend. There were plenty of balls to share :) 

Zoe taking it teasy in the bouncy balls. She had a blast in there. 

Megan in the bouncy balls. 

Megan on an airplane ride. 

Mommy and Megan on Eagle's Flight. The wait in line was not worth the wait. 

Zoe heading into the water park. Didn't take the camera in there, so no wet pics. 

Did you know....??

Did you know.....I once sold hotdogs in front of the Weinermobile when I was a student at the University of Kentucky? They happened to come by the cafeteria where I worked and I had the privelege of going inside and selling hotdogs, chips, and drinks for their promotion.

Do you have any interesting tidbits about you that not everyone knows? Send em my way--within reason, of course!

Meerkat Manor

Are you watching? If you're not, you're missing the best reality show on TV. Besides being cute as can be, the drama unfolding in the little "Whiskers" clan is comparable to that on any human reality series. There are fights with rival clans, kidnappings, secret rendezvous, unwanted pregancies, near-death encounters, and the list goes on and on.

This series chronicles the life of the "Whiskers" clan of meerkats in South Africa. They are part of a 10-year study by Cambridge University, who have set up cameras all around their territory and film them night and day. Tune in to Animal Planet on Friday nights at 8 EST/7 CST. Follow the link in the title for more info. You will fall in love!

My techno girl. Got this pic last week of Meg playing "Same or Different"--one of her preschool games. She's really good at using the computer. 

Team Kid--Fall 2006 first night

Oh, my. I had forgotten how loud those kids can be. There were nine of them. 4 and 5 year olds. I had 3 helpers last night, and they still wore me out. I had to be a bit more of a drill sargeant than I usually am. I hate yelling over children. I hate yelling, period. But, I had to so they would hear me. How do you get young kids that age to listen? None of our activities took longer than 5 minutes each, but they can't even sit still for that long. I don't know if I'm just not very effective or if it's just the way they are at this age, or if this particular group of kids is just rowdier together. I think I'll watch them as they progress in the church and see if that's the case. I'm curious. Having not been in the child-care industry, I've got a lot of learning to do. I'm hoping that some of our lessons will remain with the kids, and that I'll learn how to be more patient and effective as a teacher. We'll see. Glad it's just once a week :)

Edit: My kid was one of the loudest. Meg kept trying to tell me things and yelled over everyone to do so--"MOOOOMMMMMM!!!"

Biggest panda born in captivity

Giant panda gives birth to giant cub
Tue Aug 8, 9:10 AM ET
BEIJING (Reuters) - A giant panda in China has given birth to the heaviest cub born in captivity after the longest period in labor and elsewhere twin pandas each gave birth to twins, Xinhua news agency reported.

Six-year-old Zhang Ka delivered the baby on Monday at the Wolong Giant Panda Research Center in the mountainous southwest, Xinhua said.
The cub weighed just 218 grams (half a pound), but was still the heaviest panda ever born in captivity, where most cubs are born at between 83 and 190 grams, Xinhua said.
"It is very rare for them to be even near 200 grams," it said in a report late on Monday.
But the size and the fact that it was Zhang Ka's first meant a "painstaking and eventful" birth for the mother, who was born in the wild.
"The whole process lasted about 34 hours and was the longest in the history of panda reproduction," Xinhua quoted Zhang Hemin, head of the Wolong center, as saying.
Both mother and baby were doing well, the agency said.

Read the rest here: Yahoo news

My character, Mystique, sitting on a throne. Just borrowing it while the countess is sleeping :) That's the closest I'll ever get to sitting on a throne that doesn't flush. 

Let your light shine.

Matthew 5:14-16 says:

14"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

This was the first message in our new multi-ministry center. Appropriate for a new facility, with new ministries. How easy it would be to just let the new building shine. The new smelling paint, the new carpets, the new preschool rooms, the new parking lot. But, Jesus wants US to shine. WE must be the light of the world. We must shine in our new facility. We must make the community comment on how effective our church body is, not how great our building is. Can we accept and tackle the challenge? It is yet to be seen.

How does YOUR light shine? Are you hiding it away? What ministry can you get involved in? Please don't over-commit, like so many of us do, but get involved in something. Any ministry, however small and unappreciated it may seem, is essential to the church.

Team Kid starts up again tomorrow. I'm teaching the first class. I have two helpers, thank you Lord! I'm gonna let my little light shine. Pray that I can keep it lit.