Our Family Camping Trip!!!

We are very blessed to live within 40 minutes of two really nice State Parks.  So we decided to take our first camping trip this weekend.

It was a GREAT trip!

DAY ONE:
While I was setting up our temporary "home"...SJ was curious to see what I was doing :)


First thing, T-Man found a toad he named "Beans"

After setting up camp, we went
HIKING!!!
...through the "Ancient Trees" of Cross Timbers...



There were some parts of the trail that were flooded...

Taking "a little rest"

SJ had it easy!

The boys liked reading the signs




We came to a point where our path was flooded, so we had to make our own path...

It was kinda scary, I'll admit!

But WE DID IT!

The boys were EXHAUSTED, but we made it!

We got back to camp and started getting ready for dinner

Enjoying the peace and quiet!

T-Man loves his new toad!

Precious Boo

SJ went to bed before the sun even went down! He was tired!

Ryan making sticks for marshmallows...yummy smores!

The boys loved playing in the dark!





We stayed up playing hide and seek in the dark
And once it was bed-time, they went to sleep in about 5 seconds once we got into the tent!

DAY TWO:

waking up...


Boo waking up...


And sweet little SJ did SO good!

This playground was right by our tent site, so the boys spent lots of time here too!



We had a blast! These were some of our BEST family memories yet!!!

New Life at the Wheeler's Farm

There's lots of new life to talk about at Nina & Papa Wheeler's farm!

One of the most exciting new arrivals is the new horse "Maggie"!

In these pics, she's less than 24 hours old! Her mom (Missy) is a miniature horse and we were shocked at how big Maggie was (for how little Missy is!)

T-Man loves the horses!

And the hay stacks :)

Boo isn't quite the animal-lover that T-Man is, so he was not too excited about the new horse!

SJ just loves to explore...

The other new life at the farm are the kitty cats that were born recently!

And last, but not least (but tiniest), Nina recently bought a little dog named "Riley".

The big dog pictured here is Samson--that's Papa's dog!


I think Samson wants to eat Riley!

T-Man (again, Mr. Animal-lover) loves to care of Riley...

SJ just likes to boss Samson around!

And Boo was just excited to get to mow with daddy!

But when the mower got old, he enjoyed the slide too!

And our "newest arrival" will soon be 17 months and in just another 2 months he'll be a big brother!

Managers Of Their Homes

1 Timothy 5:14, "So I counsel younger widows to marry, to have children, to manage their homes and to give the enemy no opportunity for slander."

The idea of a M.O.T.H. binder comes from Steve and Teri Maxwell's website. I haven't read the book itself, but I have read a lot about the book...if that makes any sense!

My M.O.T.H. binder is pretty simple right now because my kids are still young, so there is not a whole lot of scheduling and planning. I'm sure, though, as the years go on, I'll be adding much to it!

The basic idea of my binder is to keep all my affairs of our home together in the same place.

-If there is an emergency and Ryan or I (or both of us) have to leave the boys under someone's care, our MOTH binder will also provide them guidance on how our home works (including allergies, weekly commitments, chores, etc).

-Instead of having several drawers with different papers, I keep a record of everything important (pertaining to each family member and our basic home maintenance) in the binder.

-It keeps keeps things simple for me-I always know where to find my many lists I love to write!

So far my binder consists of:

-"Day to Day" which is:

• to-do lists
• house rules
• daily reminders
• morning and evening "chores" for each boy
• addresses/numbers we use often
• our school learning objectives
• my cleaning schedule
• our daily and weekly schedules
• etc

-"Meals" which is:

• meals I want to try
• our monthly meal planner
• grocery lists
• meals rotation list
• quick meals to feed a big group that comes by unexpectedly (!)
• cooking tips
• coupons
• etc

-"Home-Made and Money Savings" which is:

• info on my cloth diapers (washing, stripping, etc)
• money saving tips
• comparison charts for shopping
• my home recipes (like laundry soap, dishwasher detergent, diaper creme, baby wipes, hand soap...)
• etc

-"Faith and Encouragement" which is:

• our family mission statement
• family vision
• verses I'm memorizing
• verses the boys are (or will) memorize
• encouraging articles, quotes, e-mails, threads on M.O.M.Y.S.
• etc
  

In the future I hope to add:

-Education: curriculum samples, deals on books, recommended curriculum, etc.

-Wheeler 200 year plan: this is something personal we're working on...so generations to come will know what their great-great grandparents prayed and desired for them. This is family goals, family beliefs, etc.

-Health: doctor info, family medical histories, allergies, etc.

-Sewing projects

For more info, my good friend, Mandy, has an excellent post on her blog about her M.O.T.H. binder here.

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things...

Throughout my day, I have a lot of "things" that make my life a lot easier!

I'm sure there are more, but this is my list so far...


My "Managers of their Home" (MOTH) binder:

I just recently put mine together and I already rely on it SO much! It is my brain!!!!  (Read more about my MOTH binder HERE)

My crock-pot (which I named: Catalina)

Makes dinner simple and easy!

My "All-purpose" Cutter!

Yes, it's dirty in this pic :) ! But I use it for any kind of cutting...

Sandwiches, pancakes, quesadillas, burritos, and, of course, pizza!

The timer

I use it for morning chores, quiet time, school, potty training, time out...the list goes on!

My authentic Guatamala Hip Sling!

My sweet Kindred Spirit, Sara (full-time missionary to Guatemala), got me this when I was pregnant with SJ and he is finally old enough now to use it! (when he was an infant, I used my Baby Hawk which some dear friends got for me!)

With my sling, I get to have my hands totally free to push a cart, cook, do laundry, put dishes away...you get the point!