Da Bronx.... zoo

The Bronx Zoo.

It is wonderful.

Magical.

&  free on Wednesday's.

YUP!  That is correct. 

FREE.

(well, suggested donation)

Plus, if you park on Boston Road you don't have to pay for parking and 

you can go in the back entrance , which there is 

NO LINE.

(better then waiting 90 minutes with all those people to get in) 

We went with our friends, Jen & Aubrey,

to celebrate Aubrey's upcoming 3rd birthday.

What a beautiful day we had. 

I even let Sara play hooky and come with us.

(she only missed a 1/2 day.. don't call the truancy police on me.)

We saw so many amazing animals.

Every-time I go to the zoo,

I am reminded what a wonderful imagination

God had when  created all of them.

ONWARD! 

 Here is Aubrey reading the ''KEEP OFF GRASS" sign to Maddie... 

Maddie is paying close attention to Aubrey's instruction....

 Here is another shining example of my strong-willed child 

cooperating for a picture.

Where is Maddie? 

Oh there she is....

P.S. 

Oh, Spring how I love you. 

but by the end of the day my eyes were swollen I couldn't stop sneezing and

my nose was running. 

I forgot to start my day with some Claritan... oops. 

but the Cherry Blossoms were lovely. 

Space Farm Zoo and Museum.

While the kids had Spring Break 

my Mom took us to Space Farms. 

The kids love it! 

Especially Emily. 

An Oriole was just sitting on this fence... Lovely.

  

Bears... playing in this tree. They were chasing each other up and down.

So cute. Maddie loved to watch them.

  

It was a beautiful day but windy! 

Sara also took my camera... 

I am not in many photos... but Sara got this one of me holding Maddie. 

I ADORE it.

Here is Emily feeding this Scottish Cow...

He got me with his horns...

This is so Emily. 

She has always always LOVED all creatures.

What a fun, windy day. 

Children....

God gave me 2 very strong willed girls. 

 the middle one, Sara, Is not. 

I believe God knows and gives us just what we need... 

I would have liked Him to give me only 1.... but we usually don't get what we want. Do we?

So I thought that Emily our first born was strong willed... 

which she is but, Madelyne has her beat by a mile. 

Let me give you an example of what I am now dealing with and trying to correct. 

It all started Easter Morning with her lovely Easter dress.

She had been so excited to wear this dress in the coming days before Easter. 

When Easter Sunday came and I was getting her dressed for church... 

she decided that she only wanted to wear her cupcake shirt...

I explained that we wear dresses to church and that 

this was an extra special day to look our best for Jesus.  

Apparently Maddie didn't get like my gentle way of telling her she was going to 

wear that dress.

And so it began... 

she was a grump at church... until she came home and was able to put on her cupcake shirt.

I told her that after her nap she would be getting back into her dress for pictures and to go to her

grandma's for supper. 

"Okay, Mommy"

back into the dress... struggle.

pictures outside...

hmmm. Lovely. 

(notice her crocs... I gave in to that battle...)

Onto Grandma &  Grandpa's

Notice one little curly haired girl is MIA

Oh here she is... 

Lovely.... 

 

Even Better... 

Ahh that's my girl! 

and here she is after she was allowed to change for the Easter 

Egg hunt... into the cupcake shirt....

Seriously??? 

And thus brings us to the oldest strong willed child. 

Emily. 

The child that at 10 months old one day refused to nurse...

At about 11 months old decided to begin climbing out of 

her crib... I am not even sure how I survived her as a toddler...

and here they are together... 

17 and 3... 

Lord, I know you know best. 

Boy, do I love my girls.

I love that God believed in me enough to 

give me 2 very strong willed

girls. 

I am also very thankful for the one in the middle. 

Eggbert or that's what I named him.

So I have come to realize something about myself.

I am not a good multi tasker. 

In fact, I am awful at it. 

Now, I  know some people are going to say,

"Amy, You are to hard on yourself.." 

But it is the down right truth.

And I am going to work on this... flaw.

Let me explain where this is coming from.

This is my Day 1 of Week 5 for P90X. 

(Holy Moly. 

I am very proud of myself.)

Since I started that... everything else has come to a crashing halt.

Okay, not everything just my blog. 

Because I took the hour and a half that I was sitting on the couch in the morning 

drinking my coffee and replaced it with P90X. 

Oh well..

So back to the name of my post.... 

Eggbert. 

On Easter between baking some pies for my Mom's house and Maddie's nap The Creative Bug HIT me.

I was browsing Sew 4 Home and saw the cutest little stuffed animals. 

(wish i had seen them before Easter Sunday to give to my girls...) oh well. 

I thought... hmm I could whip that up & so I did. 

I used scraps. 

I also replaced the button eyes with a french knot. 

ADORABLE.

his feet dangle.... awww.

  

Day Trip

Crayola Factory Trip
Easton, PA

my husband told me to write this on this cool wall that the kids could write all over.
he is so cute.

Here we are all 5 of us. I am the one over on the side bent sideways... taking the picture.
It was my husbands idea... GOOD one! 

We decided to take a day trip and headed to the Crayola Factory yesterday.

It is about an hour and 15 minutes from us. 

I guess that everyone had the same idea. 

It was really crowded. 

The kids had a good time. 

It was fun to get away.

I also saw in my planning that about 5 miles from Crayola Factory 

was a Chic-fil-a

and 

Hobby Lobby.

WOW! 

I convinced my husband that we should visit both these places.

I have read a ton about Hobby Lobby but I have never been.

It did not disappoint. 

It had me when my husband read the sign  on the door.

Closed Sunday for family and worship.

I love that.

 Chic Fil A for dinner...

Diet went right out that window. 

MMM MMM MMM.

IT happened to be family night and the giant cow was walking around.

Madelyne did not like that cow one bit.

She was still talking about that cow when she went to bed last night.

It was a fun trip. 

Nice to spend the day all together.

Cool display where you paint with wax.

Maddie painting with the wax.

Model Magic Time.
Did you know that if you buy a giant tub of white you can
color it any color by putting a tiny bit of marker on it and kneading it.

Emily made this pencil topper. 

Maddie writing on the walls.

Dom and Sara writing. 

Painting.

Painting.

You put your painting in a dryer and wait for it to come out the other end. Maddie was obsessed with this.