Superhero Video

Here is the video of Chris stint with the superheroes...I tried to post a direct video link but couldn't figure out how. Enjoy:)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSmg14-XvX8

FAMILY

What does catching frogs, fire, roasting marshmallows, chasing lightening bugs and Joshua 24:15b have in common?

Answer: Our Family

We usually have Family Devo on Monday nights. For this particular family devo, we decided to talk about our family and the different responsibilities that we each have in our family. We read Joshua 24:15b "But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." We then talked about our decision to serve God in our family. Then we discussed what kind of responsibilities we each have in our family. We decided that Ryan's responsibility will be feeding the dogs and Ari's responsibilities are keeping her room clean, feeding the fish and setting the table. Ari wants so bad to be a Mommy so we talked about this is how we are helping to teach her to one day be a good Mommy. We had a great time roasting marshmallows. The kids were so excited to be able to eat the sugar:) We chased lightening bugs and found a large frog. We had a great time as a family.

Yummy!!

Check out the lightening bug

Check out the large frog

Gatlinburg Adventure

I recently went to Gatlinburg with one of my dear friends. It was just us Moms and our kids (2 two year olds and 2 four year olds). We stayed at Westgate Smoky Mountain Resort. We had such a great time exploring Gatlinburg. It is such an amazingly beautiful place!

We spent more time off the beaten path than in the mainstream Gatlinburg. I have been twice before but always to downtown. I LOVE this part of Gatlinburg and can't wait to go back! On our way the kids and I talked about what we wanted to see and then prayed to God about our desires. I wanted to see a waterfall, Ryan wanted to see a bear, and Arianna wanted to see Karissa. We saw all three:)

We saw a Momma bear and her 2 cubs out in the woods at Cades Cove. I wasn't able to get a good picture of the bears but you can see the deer that we saw on our hike through Wet Bottom Trail at Cades Cove. They were all around us!

We ate at Bubba Gumps twice. Yummy, Yummy, Yummy!!!!
We went to a Deer and Exotic Animal Petting Zoo. They had kangaroos, deer, goats, baby goats that ranged from 1 week to 3 weeks old, camels, zebra, peacocks, zonkeys and much more.

Ari with the Nanny Goat and her 2 kids




We also hiked 1.3 miles up hill to Laurel Falls and had a picnic. The kids walked the hike which totalled 2.6 miles there and back. Wow! Arianna didn't complain a single time which was amazing! Ryan ended up being carried for a short part of the down hill hike. He fell asleep on my shoulder and then woke up and walked the rest. The waterfall was breathtaking! I wish we had time to see more of the waterfalls!

We thought this sign was funny (though we took it very serious). Ryan as soon after we take the picture starts running up the path with his arms in front of him saying "I Superman". He got really upset when Mommy wouldn't let him do that. The path was definately dangerous if one was not careful. One side was rock and the other side was just a giant drop off with trees.

Almost everyday, we went swimming at the Wild Bear Falls Indoor Water Park. By the end of the week, the kids were like little fish! In Gatlinburg, we saw the creativity of God in the flowers and trees, the gentleness of God through His creatures, the power of God in the waterfall and the love of God through our answered prayers.

"Nature is the art of God - LA NATURA E L'ARTE DI DIO" Dante Alighieri

The Impossible

I have decided to do something that I find near impossible. I signed up for a half marathon. Two of my friends are on this adventure with me. I am very excited and yet so nervous.

Our hero

Is that Spider Man or Daddy?

Inner Mom vs Inner Child

A difficult thing for me as a Mom is to balance being overprotective and allowing my children to do the things that I enjoyed as a child! I dread the age when they can really climb a tree. Today we went to Lake Johnson with friends. My kids wanted to put their feet in the lake. Which I was fine with since they had their crocs on. But a small putting your feet in the water turned into a swimming adventure. Before I know it they are both wet up to their waste and having a blast. The ducks that we were feeding had split since Ryan was chasing them deeper and deeper into the water. I tried not to think of the poop infested water and the distant threat of "bird flu". I don't know how my parents did it. How do you let them experience childhood and yet not worry about their safety and wellbeing? Oh well, I try to trust God and let them be kids. Ringworm is treatable:)

They enjoyed feeding the ducks and geese.

Tired kids enjoying ice pops!

Teachable Moments

I love the curiousity of children. Yesterday we were outside playing and Ari found a bug on the wall. She starts by counting the legs, then she checked to see if it had antennas, a segmented body and wings. She then declares "That's an insect Mommy. It has six legs, 2 antenna, a 3 body parts and wings. What kind of insect is it". I had no idea what kind it was so we grabbed the 2 field guides that I checked out from the library. We started comparing the different insects to the one on the wall. We discovered that it was a Crane Fly. It was cool using so many different critical thinking skills to discover that it was an insect and what kind of insect it was. This led into many more discoveries. We found a fire ant, 4 tent caterpillars and the crane fly.

The caterpillars quickly became the kids' friends. Ari actually kissed her caterpillar goodbye. She named it Daniella and Ryan named his Ryan. Ryan gathered leaves to feed to his caterpillar since we learned that they love to eat. He didn't understand why it didn't goble down the leaf. I was amazed that he thought of the leaf all on his own. They both put their caterpillars on the Diego truck and gave them rides down the driveway. They spent over an hour playing with the caterpillars.

NCSU Farm Days

This made me laugh...they see the cow, they hug and give the cow high fives and then they both turn around in unison and say cheese...all without any prompting. That's two kids who know the routine. I guess the 20+ character greetings at Disney taught them something!

Ryan loves animals (much like his Mommy). He seems to "feel" them. I love watching him look them in the eyes and just observe them. He was so excited to get to hold the chicks at Farm Days. I think he could stay there all day and just pet the chicks.

Joseph, Arianna and Ryan petting the calf.

Ryan again looking into the eyes of the goat

My two adorable kids!

Arianna is my intense thinker. She wants to know why they have tags in their ears, why there is a stamp on the cows behind with the numbers 203, why why why. She also loves animals though not with the same intensity as Ryan. I guess she has no choice with me as her Mommy!

I think I enjoy going to Farm Days as much as the kids. I want to be there petting the animals as much as they do. Though I try to control my impulses to push past the gazillion school kids pushing past me to get to the animals. I'm bigger and stronger and I want to pet them MORE than them. But I don't, I just try to be patient and keep them from pushing my kids out of the way. Nothing like pushing my kids out of the way to make me have a VERY difficult time controlling those impulses:)

Arianna was a pro at holding the chicks. This chick curled up in her hand and went to sleep.

I am so grateful that NCSU has this activity every year. I grew up on the farm and really want my kids to have those experiences. I remember sitting in the small pen with all of the chicks. That was the best feeling with all of those little soft chicks peeping all around me. They would crawl in my lap and we would snuggle. I remember going in the cow pasture and petting the cows. Those are some of my favorite childhood memories. I wish my kids could have the same kind of experiences without the crowds and gates but unfortunately my grandparents and Chris' no longer have the large farms. So we go and enjoy what we can get thanks to NCSU!

Window on Our World

This is our first documentation panel! Ari and I worked on it while Ryan was napping. We have been discussing insects and they have been very interested in the Life Cycle of the Butterfly. So we made a poster for the school room. I think it is important to reflect on what they are learning and this is one way to do that. We also make books of our experiences so that they can go back through them and reflect on their experiences. Just yesterday we were reading a book we made exactly one year ago of our trip last year to Farm Days. Ari said "Can we make another book from our time tomorrow at Farm Days" My reply was "I would love to!" I am so excited that Ari and Ryan love to learn and get excited about these things as well!

Best Buddies

Daniella and Arianna have known each other since they were 3 months old. They were born one day apart. They love to spend time with one another. Today we went to Pullen Park and as always when it was time to go home, Ari didn't want to leave her buddy.

Because the girls are such great friends, the boys have no choice but to be friends:) Funny thing is that the girls favor each other and the boys favor each other. Steph and I could trade kids and it would be like having 2 sets of fraternal twins. Ari's expression below sums up how I feel about the Pereras:)

Life Cycle of a Butterfly

We have been discussing Insects the last couple of weeks in school. Today we talked about the life cycle of a butterfly. We read one of my favorite books "Charlie the Caterpillar" by Dom Deluise. The kids enjoyed pretending to be first caterpillars... Then they entered their cocoons...

Then they were beautiful butterflies: