Dolphin Show

My fave part of our trip to the Indy Zoo yesterday was the dolphin show and I captured a few minutes on video for ya!! Yes, I am WOOOO'ing a lil too much in the video!! lol

Enjoy!!

xoxo

S

Day Trip :)

SPRING BREAK!!!!

We have spent our Spring Break at home, in mostly undesireable weather. We have plenty of things for the kids to do at our house, so they havent really gotten bored. I did have to establish a movie time each day so that they had some sort of structure in the afternoon which was typically the time when they started to annoy one another. We made popcorn and watched Disney movies that they havent seen since they were small, so it was like watching them for the first time.

We decided that we wanted to take one day and go somewhere and do something FUN as a family!! I began researching things online. We went down quite the path before we finally landed on what we did for our day trip.

At first we wanted to go into Chicago and do something there. (I am not so much a fan of Chicago but this is still where our planning process began!! lol) I looked into Field, Shedd, Science and Industry, Brookfield, all the normal things to do there. Then I discovered Lincoln Park Zoo. I had heard of it but never thought about it much because of the big bad Brookfield Zoo always overshadowing it. We had been to Brookfield Zoo before (and wasnt really impressed, by the way, way too much walking for my taste), so Lincoln Park Zoo would be something new!! I looked into it more and found out it was......................hold on to your seats for this one...................FREE!!!!! Are you freakin kiddin me??? A free zoo?!?!?! GASP!!!! That was a major bonus!!! I looked into it more and found that it was within Lincoln Park, which held many great statues for us to walk around and look at. There was also a Conservatory in the park. All FREE!!! Nearby, but not free, was a Nature Museum. So.........a whole days worth of fun for FREE!!!! I was sold and so were the kids!!! I had let them choose between this Lincoln Park adventure, Field, or Science and Industry. They all chose Lincoln Park. We were set!!!

Until the weather decided to screw our plans over!!! Snow in Chicago, 9 inches Im told, the day before we were to go!! Ummm.....

Ok onto a backup plan!!!!

Since it was looking like Chicago was going to be too cold for outsideness, I began planning for alternative ideas to propose to the kids. I gave them Shedd, Indy Childrens Museum, or Indy Zoo. They all unanimously agreed on the Indy Zoo. Plus side, it was going to be 60 and sunny that day down in Indy!!! Ten degrees warmer than our hometown. YAY!!!

Heres where I just want to insert how proud I am of my kids and their ability to make decisions based on the research I presented to them. I asked them all their choice seperately so there was not any persuasion by others onto their choice. Although our options changed quite a bit because of the unexpected weather, they were still able to agree on something (unbeknownst to them at the time) and they were all happy to be going somewhere. I also let them take an old digital camera of mine so that they could take their own pictures and put them on their computer when we got home.

Ok, so onto the pics from our day trip!!! Taken by me ala Fuji.

First things first, we got there and the lady at the window asked us if we wanted FREE Dolphin Show tickets!! Um, yeah!! lol The last time we were there, the Dolphin Show was a seperate charge and the Butterfly area was another seperate charge. That has changed and its all included in one price, just for your knowledge!! The zoo was pretty busy. Others had taken advantage of the very sunny and sorta warm day!!! We got there with about an hour before our show was to begin. We got to go check out the baby walrus, who was so adorable!! The next pic is of the kids favorite thing to do yesterday, we went TWICE, to pet the sharks!! My favorite thing was the dolphin show!!! I swear, if I didnt have to wear a wetsuit and touch nasty fish, Id so be a dolphin trainer!! :) The next big hit of the day was the Scottish Cow, he was just too dang cute!! Then we have the typical family pics and the ZEBRA pic in honor of our Z's!!! :)

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Ok so now for the unexpected chaos we encoutered because.....well, thats just how things happen with us lol. First, we stopped at the cafe on zoo grounds to get a snack and the guy behind the cash register swindled hubby out of 3 bucks. He didnt realize it until we were away from the register. Then, when we were in the Butterfly area, we got yelled at for trying to let a butterfly land on our hand. Uh, last time we were here, this was allowed. Then, on the way home, after eating a yummy meal at Hacienda (which doesnt have frisbees as plates for the kids meals anymore, by the way), we stopped at Starbucks and I ordered what I always order and the guy says they "are out of coffee based drinks". Um, I lost it!! I freaked out!! Was he freakin kiddin me? Was this an April Fools joke? Dont mess with a lady and her caffeine, buddy!!! Luckily there was a new Starbucks down the road, in the opposite direction we were heading, but hubby went back and we ordered, and thankfully, "Steph" had what I wanted!!!! YAY!! :)
That about wraps it up!!
All in all a fun day!! The kids were beat when we got home!! We went and fed the horses and then relaxed and watched our shows. By the way, rumor has it that both Lucas and Peyton are leaving One Tree Hill, which has just been renewed for a 7th season. That really ticks me off!! The show is centered around Lucas and Peyton is his wife, and they really think it can survive without those two, are you freakin kiddin me??
Ok, thats off topic, my bad!!
Til next blog...
xoxo
S

Update

I just had a very nice phone call and everything regarding my decision (redecision) from a few days ago is okie dokie and things are back on track!! :) Just thought you would like to know!!

xoxo
S

Happy sunny days of horse training!!!!! :)

Hubby and I were so excited to have a nice sunny day today!!! We spent the whole afternoon out with our horses. They are both young, 3 and 4 years old, and they both had training last summer (done by hubby and myself), but we wanted to go over it again this year before we rode them again. They have had the winter to be free and do as they please, but now its time for them to again know when they are working and supposed to be listening. We were very pleased with both of their performances today!! They remembered everything and once they had their tack on they knew it was time to listen and not be goofing around. Of course I took many pics with my handy dandy awesome Fuji!!! Here ya go!!! :)
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Thats all for now!! Enjoy this nice weather and beautiful sunshine!! :)

xoxo

S

Wondering

Im thinking that maybe Im trying to fit a square peg into a round hole........and I just dont know if I can make it work, if its supposed to work.

Faith and time.

For the record though, the square peg really REALLY likes the round hole and wants to fit in the round hole. If only the square peg knew this back in the early 90s then it could have been a round hole instead of a square peg. But then I wonder, if things were done differently back in the early 90s, would the square peg still be the same square peg??

xoxo
S


UPDATE: Ive decided that I will keep chuggin along on this same path. Im not a quitter. However, if I continue encountering this brick wall.....

Ups & Downs

It feels like whenever I reach a point in my life where things are awesome and going great, that something happens and I have to claw my way out of a hole. Whats up with that?
It feels like whenever I write a happy blog, that something happens and I have to write a blog where I am once again searching for answers. Whats up with that?
Im all about learning and growing, but I also enjoy consistency and unchangingness.
Im left confused. Its not like this happened all on its own, I had a choice in the matter for one detail. Since the day of that one detail, things have spiraled toward Negativeville. Maybe its just a coincidence. I dont really believe in coincidences though. These things could be the product of my overanalyzing, overactive imagination. Maybe they arent really happening at all.
It seems like they are though.
I made a choice one day recently, for myself. It wasnt an entirely selfish choice. It was more a choice of knowing myself and having been in a similar circumstance in the past and knowing how that circumstance affected myself and those closest to me. Now, I feel like because of that choice, the thing that has brought me great joy and happiness lately is fading away.
I dont know what to do or if there is even anything I can do. Its been tearing me apart the past few days. I feel like in the blink of an eye, I have worn out my welcome. I feel like the foot I had in the door just got slammed in the door and then pushed out.
Ive been giving it time, time to see whether or not its a fluke or if it has any validity. It could be a fluke simply because the choice I made also narrowed things down. I could just ask and find out for sure but I am scared of what I might hear. If I am right in my feelings, I dont want to hear what I would hear.
So...
Here I sit. Waiting. Wondering.
Was the choice I made the right choice?
How do we know what we are supposed to do with our lives? It seems to me that if something makes you happy, and that thing also helps other people, then thats what you should do. But what if it makes you happy and then things happen and as a result you cant do what makes you happy?
Im sure this makes no sense to anyone but me. Im just trying to sort it all out in my head and writing it down helps sometimes. So hopefully it will help. We will see.
Thanks for listening.

xoxo
S


UPDATE: I have decided to redecide my previous decision and make a completely new decision. The call has been made and I have a new plan in place (as a result of the events that occurred which prompted me to make my first decision in the first place), and thats that. Dunno why I didnt think of this sooner.......darn me and my having to think things through instead of just knowing automatically!!!!!

Maxs Music Program, "Barnyard Moosical"

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It was a very cute program with some very cute songs and dances!! They all did a great job and everyone seemed to really enjoy it!!! Thank you to music teacher, Mrs. Cole!! She does a fantastic job of pulling it all together and getting the lil guys and gals all ready to perform!!! :)

xoxo

S

Cheeto Update!!!

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Cheeto has really been wanting to try her wings at flying. Being in that small pretzel jar with the slippery plastic walls was not a very good match for a butterfly!! She couldnt walk on the walls, she didnt have room to fly around. I found some net houses online but they would take days to get here, so.........I made my own!!! She will only be with us until it is nice enough to release her outside, so in the meantime, this house will work nicely!!! She has already been scaling the net walls of her new house, but hasnt made any flying attempts just yet!!! :)
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xoxo
S

(Just read that an adult butterfly only lives 4-5 days. Thats just sad and wrong!!)

Meet Cheeto!!

Last August, we found a caterpillar that was getting ready to spin its cocoon on our fence. In this state, he was vulnerable and a spider was trying to capture him as his treat. This is what prompted us to bring him inside and place him in a small bug container that Max had gotten for his birthday. We then named him Cheeto and took his picture because we knew that soon he would be inside his cocoon!! Its easy to tell why we named him Cheeto!! We did some research on the computer to see what kind of butterfly he would turn into. We were happy to find out that he would be a Spicebush Swallowtail!!! Normally the only caterpillars we find are the ones that turn into moths, so this was exciting!!!! Here is Cheeto when we found him August 25, 2008:
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If you notice the two "eyes" on the back of his head. They are used as a defense against predators, it makes them look like a SNAKE. That very night, he did, in fact turn into his cocoon!!! The research we did told us that because he was the orange color, that was the indicator that he was ready to make his cocoon. They are a green color the rest of their caterpillar life. We also found out that because his cocoon was brown and not green, that he would be staying with us all winter long!!! Here is a really good webpage for reading about our butterfly: http://www.butterflygardeningandconservation.com/butterfly/st/spicebush.php

Here are our pictures of Cheeto in his new and pretty butterfly form:

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In these pictures you can see the cocoon, the front of the butterfly after it emerged, the underside of the butterfly, my husband and Max feeding the butterfly, and the new bigger home for the butterfly!!!!

These butterflies live in and feed on the leaves of Sassafras and Spicebush trees, and they also feed on the nectar of azalea, honeysuckle, milkweed, and thistle. We fed Cheeto some of my hummingbird nectar last night when he emerged. It has been raining like crazy out and there are no leaves on the trees and no flowers yet, so were researching to see what we should do until Spring is officially here and he has food outside.

You know what I just found out?? Cheeto is a SHE!!!!! Female butterflies have iridescent blue hind-wings, which Cheeto has, and males have bright green.

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Pretty cool stuff, huh!! :)

xoxo

S

Happy Bee :)

Warmer temps are just around the corner. We are supposed to get close to 60 tomorrow WITH sunshine!! :) This makes me happy!!

We started training with our horses yesterday. They are still young, and they have had the winter to play and be free, but now its time to work again and remember what we taught them last summer/fall. This makes me happy!!

My wonderful hubby has finally started picking up work!! This makes me happy!!

My kids are just really great kids!! They are smart and they are sweet!! This makes me happy!!

I have some wonderful awesome super fantastic friends!! This makes me happy!!

My substitute teaching is going wonderfully!!! I honestly never knew I would enjoy teaching!! I love it!! I love being in a different class, a different grade and seeing how things operate in each classroom that Im a Substitute in. I love the teachers that I work alongside, I love the atmosphere!!! I know in previous blogs I have expressed wanting a full time position and how being a Substitute was a stepping stone towards that goal. WELL......as of right this minute, I am totally and completely at peace and in love with doing what Im doing and thats is being a Substitute Teacher!!!!! I have weighed the pros and cons, as I do and although my mind may change again at some point, right now I am perfectly content. THIS MAKES ME HAPPY!!!

I actually have to get ready to head to school now. I am doing a half day today and tomorrow.

The sun just came out!! :)

Enjoy the onset of Spring and do whatever you can to find peace and happiness within your own lives!!!

xoxo

S

Spring Fever!!!

I GOT THE FEVER!!!

I just got done reading Aimees latest blog post and now she has me wanting Spring even more than I already was!! I noticed the other day while checking the weather that we were going to be in the 50s and mid 50s later this week!!! :) I am so ready for it!!! I get bored with winter so fast. I dont like cold, I dont like snow, the only reason I can tolerate winter is because of my winter clothes, lol. But then I get bored with that and want to wear my spring stuff!! Its time!!! Cmon Spring!!!

My main reasons for loving spring, other than the warmth and sunshine, and the fact that it leads to summer are:

1. My flowers sprouting up because I always forget what I planted!!

2. Warm weather so that I can ride my horse again!!

3. Warm weather so we can put up the trampoline that Santa brought the kids!!

4. Our pool to be put back up!!

5. The walks that the kids and I take around the housing addition.

6. The sound of those super loud frogs in the ponds!!

7. My birds come back!!

8. Sitting out on our deck and enjoying our wooded back yard!!

9. The zoos open!!

10. SPRING BREAK!!!

Spring, Spring, Spring!!! :)

xoxo

S