The La Brea Tar Pits

This past week was Sky and Ken's spring break and we have had lots of fun together. We spent one day at the beach and lots of time just catching up on tasks like doctor's appointments and hair cuts. But today we went to the La Brea Tar Pits and it was amazing. They have found soooo many fossils of prehistoric mammals. The wooly mammoth (above) was robotic and actually moves and roars.

There was an area for kids to see what it would feel like to be stuck in a tar pit.

There are bubbling tar pits outside and so much to still be excavated.

These mammoths are seriously HUGE! Even Brad looks small next to it.

Lila had fun playing with the prehistoric stuffed animals.

Saber-toothed cats were plentiful.







Another robotic scene. Brad was totally into this display. He just kept looking at it. I think it was a little scary for him but he also really liked it.

This display (below) was the most impressive for me. There were 404 wolf skulls on display. At the La Brea Tar Pits, they have found over 1,600 of these wolves. The theory is that some of the larger mammals got stuck in the pits, the wolves came in packs to feast on the dying mammals and they too ended up dying. They said that there have been entire food chains found together in these tar pits (all the way down to microorganisms).

Easter Happenings

Easter is such a wonderful time of year as we get to celebrate Christ's death and resurrection and all that it means to our family! Sky was invited to a Resurrection tea party by one of the women at our church. She had a wonderful time having treats with friends and discussing the resurrection story. The woman gave them each an Easter hat which Lila took to as soon as she saw it.

I was painting Sky's nails for Easter and Lila wanted to get in on that too so she had her first manicure.

We went to the Good Friday service at our church where the speaker was an African who had escaped the genocide in Rwanda. It was a very powerful testimony. On Easter Sunday, Sky was in a kid's choir that sung for both services. Ken greeted, I had nursery duty, and there was a potluck in between. Then we hosted another BIOLA professor and his family at our house for Easter dinner. So, it was definitely a very full and very wonderful day.

Sky singing "My Redeemer Lives"!

Resurrection Rolls

This was a really neat cooking project that I tried with the kids in order for them to understand the death and resurrection of Christ better. Here are the instructions:
Preheat over to 350
Read Matt. 27:57-61
You'll need crescent rolls, melted butter, cinnamon and sugar mixture, and large marshmallows.
1. Give each child a marshmallow. This represents Jesus.
2. Have him/her dip the marshmallow in melted butter. This represents the oils of embalming.
3. Now dip the buttered marshmallow in the cinnamon/sugar mixture which represents the spices used to annoint the body.
4. Give each child a triangle of crescent rolls. The crescent roll represents the cloth that Jesus was wrapped in. Then wrap up the coated marshmallow tightly in the crescent roll, bringing the sides up and sealing the marshmallow inside. This represents the wrapping of Jesus' body after death.
5. Place in a 350 oven for 10-12 minutes. The oven represents the tomb-pretend like it was 3 days.
6. Let the rolls cool slightly. The children can open their rolls (cloth) and discover that Jesus is no longer there-He is risen! (The marshmallow melts and the crescent roll is puffed up, but empty)
Read Matt. 28:5-8



Brad was very intriqued about the whole thing. This is also the first year that he is really starting to understand the resurrection eggs that I have.

The Annual Carnival

I bought some discounted presale tickets to the local carnival that comes around once a year. I used the tickets as behavior incentive, awarding a ticket to Sky and/or Brad each day that they had a good day. I have a chart with different colors: blue (at the top is the best), green (good), yellow (warning), orange (not good), and black (very very bad). Any day that they ended on blue they were awarded a ticket to use at the upcoming carnival.

The day finally came on Saturday and they had a fun time using their tickets for the rides. Above Sky is enjoying the swings.

I even shelled out for a snack for each of them. Sky chose a rootbeer float and Brad chose a cupcake which he only ate the frosting off of. I also shelled out for a few games and I won Sky the giant pink bear and Sky won Brad the space monkey. Brad calls the monkey, "Professor Monkey" and the pink bear has been named "Bubblegum".

Brad LOVED this motorcycle ride. So cute!

It was such a hot day, probably low 90s!

Sky LOVED the alligator roller coaster (above) and used lots of her tickets on it.

When we went, there were very few people there so we practically had the place to ourselves. It was a nice afternoon with 2 of my favorite people.

Welcome Baby Kathleen!

My friend Jolene just had her 4th baby, but her first GIRL!!! I am so happy for her and am looking forward to hosting her baby shower on May 14th. If you have any fun, girly ideas for her shower, I'd love to hear them!

Upcoming Wedding

Sky went for a fitting for her flower girl dress for my cousin Jamie's wedding in CT this summer. The dress is really pretty and she had fun looking at all of the beautiful dresses in David's Bridal. Brad will be the ring bearer. Should be fun times!

The Other So Cal Mouse

We celebrated one of Brad's friend's 3rd birthday last week. She was able to choose 1 friend to come to her party and she chose Brad. So sweet!

The kids went crazy when Chuck E. came out to meet them. He threw a bunch of tickets in the air so it was raining tickets.

Uncle Bob and Aunt Ruth Visit

Uncle Bob and Aunt Ruth (Ken's mom's sister) were in town attending a church conference this past week and we had the opportunity to spend a bit of time with them. We had dinner with them on Monday night and then went to the Aquarium with them on Friday. They slept over here on Friday night and Ken brought them to the airport on Saturday morning.

Sky didn't want to have her picture taken. Everyone had a great time at the aquarium and we were even able to get in on a special deal and get a pass for the rest of the year. Yeah!

Our Guest Elizabeth

Brad's friend Elizabeth has been here staying with us for the past 3 nights since her parents had the wonderful opportunity to get away for a few days in Vegas. We have been having lots of fun with her!

Here you see Brad and Elizabeth makng bunny sugar cookies.

We went to the Children's Museum and Brad and Elizabeth enjoyed digging for fossils.

It was exciting to investigate the animals there.

They played store and Lila was the cashier.

The next American Idol???

They had a blast getting dressed up in the costumes.

And they worked the sound booth too!

We even got to participate in a young Picassos class and do some painting.

We played at the park for a while too.

Today Elizabeth's brother and her grandparents came over for a playdate.

Sky and Elizabeth are very similar in a lot of ways. They enjoyed doing their nails together.

Then we painted with pudding. Actually, we were practicing our letters and spelling words.

After this activity, everyone needed a bath!

Elizabeth's mom sent some glow in the dark glasses and so we had fun with those at bedtime.

The minivan was at capacity.

Elizabeth, Sky and went to see Tangled at the dollar theater and when we got out, we were greeted by a gorgeous rainbow. It has certainly been a fun week!