Fri Jan 30 , 2015

Nick took the afternoon off and we let Ella stay home from school to spend time with daddy. We tried to go to the science museum but they were having some kind of stock yard Texasy event and they wouldn't let us use our Oklahoma science museum passes (we got the OK ones bc we happened to be there once and the people at the museum assured us that it would work exactly like the ft worth one...it's been terrible...no free parking and they hassle me each time I go, but at least it's it's always worked until today). I almost cried. Nick had done some work early that took longer than expected. I'd given up a run to instead spend the morning getting the kids ready to go. It takes 30 mins to get there. Then nick of course wanted to stop for lunch. So by the time we got there it was after 12:30 and Nick had to leave for a recruiting event at 2:30. I wasn't about to spend $32 for 2 hours....especially when it should have been free. I felt sunk. 

Nick was good about trying to make the best of things and having a good attitude, but I just felt like crying. I guess the more time and effort you invest in something the more it hurts when it doesn't work out. 

But it did work out. We ended up going to the botanical gardens down the street and it was very fun. There were some beautiful fountains and flowers and I saw the first green grass in months. It felt very peaceful there and great to be with the whole family. 

Nick and the kids running and wrestling on the green green grass. 

There is beauty all around, when there's love at home ☺️. The cool waterfall and scenery were so peaceful. 

Ella wanted me to take a pic of her pretending to lift that huge metal disk statue. Nick was just using it to make music. Ella was afraid to climb that tree but she did it. It's nice for kids to have time to be free in a safe environment. They can practice making choices on their own and doing hard things. Then later on in life when I'm not there to help they'll know they can do it and hopefully make good choices like they practiced. 

The time flew by and then it was time to go. Nick went into to work and the kids and I went to Stephanie's house for a movie night. We ordered dominoes pizza and these delicious cinnamon sugar sticks for dessert. The kids had a blast. We watched the new Tinker bell movie about how Captain Hook came to be. It was great hanging out with friends, especially when both our husbands are working on Friday night. 

Stephanie is such a great friend. It's going to break both our hearts when we move to Utah. I haven't told her we're thinking about it yet... If it ends up being for the best to move I sure am going to miss Texas. I've really liked living here. 

On yeah one other cool part of the day. Lisey bit Ella in the car on the way to the museum (that's not the cool part). When I was a kid the rule was that if you bit someone they got to bite you back twice. Nick and I had discussed having that rule in our family as well. We told Ella about that and she said "just because she hurt me doesn't mean I want to hurt her back." Oh dear sweet Ella. We were trying to teach her to follow the law of Moses when she was already following Christ.  Thank you Ella for setting such a good example for our family.

Just having a little fun with my phone 😉