Beautiful Day to go to the Park

Wichita has a wonderful wildlife park called Tanganyika, it's really much different from any zoo around here, so we decided to take Erin and the gang over there (since it's literally 5 miles away from our home!) to hang out, watch and feed some wild animals! We got to feed the Lemurs a snack, provide a tasty treat for the Rainbow Lorikeets, and spent some time hanging out with the Kangaroos as their Joeys hopped in and out of their pouches. The weather got up to about 87 degrees and it was a gorgeous day. I recommend visiting Tanganyika to anyone visiting Wichita.

Hitting the Ice!

76 degrees outside today - absolutely gorgeous - and we decide to go to the ice skating rink for some fun! Patrick has been before, but this was a first time for Katie, and at first she wanted to just hang on everyone and use them as her balancing mechanism, but the got off the ice and rested a bit, then when she got back on, she did FANTASTIC! She was going around without holding onto anyone, and she fell, of course, but she would get right back up and go again! It was a lot of fun!

Family Visit

Erin, Mike, Emily & Megan arrived and I'm so happy to have them here, and so are the kiddos. We are going to have a great week with them here. The weather here in Kansas is going to be perfect! In the mid-70's and low to mid 80's all week with a light breeze - perfect for Spring Break for our Connecticut family. Mike is looking forward to starting his tan! Jay & Mike are going to help me plan some new climbing Climatis. We will be going to the mall today while Mike and Jay go to the gun range, and then ice skating tonight; to Tanganyika Wildlife part tomorrow as well as rock wall climbing that night at the Y, and from there we'll see what else we can do. Here are some pictures of their first day. Patrick is completely thrilled that Megan brought her Nintendo DS with her - and she is being so gracious in letting him play it!

Electronic Gremlins Part II

Seriously! I'm not kidding - I wouldn't kid about stuff like this... but you are NOT going to believe this! Yup, it's happened again, and not once, but twice! March, our dishwasher went ka-poot, fortunately we were able to get it fixed in about a week, just a valve... but then last week, my laptop computer stopped working. Yup, right in the middle of updating the website for the day care, it just froze up, and died right there and then. I've got great IT friends here in Wichita, and they took it in and confirmed my suspicions... It's dead Jim! I'm so upset that the data can not be recovered. Fortunately, all my family pictures are saved on our desktop at home, and I print out our pictures every year, so even last years pictures are in albums for the kids to see, so even if I lose the data, I've got a print, and so it wouldn't make the lose that terrible. But nonetheless, I've lost all the work I've done for the day care for the last 18 months, including all my lesson plans for the last year, all the pictures of the children for the last 18 months, and any graphics or files I had created are gone.

We are going to be able to get a new hard drive, but I've got to reinstall the operating system, and any programs I had on there. I'm trying to weight it right now if we should just purchase a new laptop or try to fix this one, and use it, like you would replace an engine in an old car, just for the sake that you've already paid for the car, in hopes you can get another 100,000 miles out of it.

Let my pain be a lesson to EVERYONE! Please, go spend $100 and get a good external back-up system. We will be purchasing one for the desktop at home, as well as a new one for the new/rebuild laptop.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Happy Easter!

I would first like to wish everyone a very Happy Easter! I truly love this time of year, it's like Christmas, when everyone has their eyes and hearts set on our Savior. The past couple of months, well, like most in our home, have been really busy. I'm taking 2 classes, both with demands on my time with reading and the Geography course demands coloring, which I love to do, but it takes so much time. March was busy with Jay and I taking a course with the church we have decided to become members of. The class was very good, extremely enlightening, and I'm so glad we did, it helps me to understand how and where I want to walk in this life.

With Easter upon us, and the weather in Kansas getting warmer, I can see the changes in my family, the large changes and the small ones. The kids are getting bigger, I can't see it physically, but I can see it in the fact that I've got to purchase new pants, because the old ones are getting shorter, and tighter. I'm facing a dilemma, do I purchase new pants, or just wait for shorts season, which, in Kansas, could be next month. But, do they look like nerds with pants that could be considered high-waters? I mean, boys don't wear capries!

Kansas has less than a month to go with the school year, and I can't believe that my little boy will be finished with Kindergarten - and summer vacation will be here. Before that, we are expecting a visit from Auntie Erin and Mike, Emily & Megan. It's a special Christmas gift from Mom to Erin and I and it's going to be a lot of fun. Don't know what we are going to do yet, since none of the pools or water parks will be open at that time, but there will be something, I'm sure, and to have a week off from work, and be able to stay home is always a refreshing thing.

I started listening to KLOVE every day in my classroom, and there are a couple of songs I've come to love, one is REVELATION by Third Day - and the other is HERE I AM by Downhere. The lyrics in these songs touch me and cause me to fall to my knees. I'd like to share the lyrics with you, and hopefully, you can sense the place I've been in the past few months, just by what they are saying.

"Here I Am"
When setbacks and failures, and upset plans,
Test my faith and leave me with empty hands,
Are you not the closest when it's hardest to stand?
I know that you will finish what you began.

These broken parts you redeem,
Become the song, that I can sing

Here I am, Lord send me,
All of my life, I make an offering,
Here I am, Lord send me,
Somehow my story, Is part of your plan

"Revelation" by Third Day
My life,
Has led me down the road that's so uncertain
And now I am left alone and I am broken,
Trying to find my way,
Trying to find the faith that's gone
This time,
I know that you are holding all the answers
I'm tired of losing hope and taking chances,
On roads that never seem,
To be the ones that bring me home

Give me a revelation,
Show me what to do
Cause I've been trying to find my way,
I haven't got a clue
Tell me should I stay here,
Or do I need to move
Give me a revelation
I've got nothing without You