...I am seriously loving these weekends off. It has definitely been a change. We are used to having one day off a week. There are times that NOT having a day off has been hard. However, having an entire weekend off is fabulous. For me, it is just sooo good to get away. If I stay home (even though I am off), I never feel like I am off. I know the girls are just down the hall. I see the clothes they wear, I hear their conversations, I get their phone calls. I love them dearly but when I want to unwind, it is very hard for me to do with them here. So, being able to get away recharges me in a way that other things don't. So I am thankful.
We had a great weekend. We headed for Lincoln at about 10 on Friday morning. When we got to Lincoln, we stopped to find out where Fazoli's was. No real Phillips family outing is complete without a Fazoli's search. I know there are other good restaurants, but for our family, you just can't beat it. First of all, the food is fabulous. Second of all, all you can eat breadsticks that taste like heaven are hard to pass up. Third, we can eat for less than $12. And for people on a limited budget, this is great. Thanks to the enormous portion sizes in America our family actually just orders two meals and we split it. They have a pizza/spaghetti combo and we order two. I like pizza, Alaina like spaghetti (without sauce), Jason goes back and forth and Caleb will eat whatever Jason doesn't want. So, it works out great. Okay, that was probably much more than you ever wanted to know about our Fazoli's obsession.
So, after lunch we headed the the children's museum. We walked inside and the kids faces just lit up as they looked around at the massive three story fun place. This place was truly amazing. It was a miniature little town...they had everything. A hospital, a vet, a grocery store, a post office, a football field (hey, it's Nebraska), a pizza shop, a police station, a working ATM, etc. etc. The kids can go around to each of the places and dress up in the appropriate apparel and then do the job of whatever place they are in. Soooo cute seeing them dressed up in firefighter suits, chef hats, lab coats, etc. Alaina made me lie down on the doctor's table while she made me "all better" and Caleb kept insisting that Jason sit in the back of the patrol car while he "drove" around the bad guy. There were lots of other fun things to do too...a stage with tons of costumes back stage, a cool water play area, a do-it-yourself-face painting station, etc. All in all, it was great! And the best part of it was that we bought a membership (because after two times of going you have already paid as much as a year-long membership) so we didn't have to do it all in one day. We did two of the floors on Friday and then went back Saturday to finish up. Here are some of the highlights:
After the museum we did a little shopping (somehow in all my winter clothes shopping for the kids I ended up with ZERO full-length long pants for Alaina and it is getting much too cold for Capri's!) We then had a fabulous dinner at Outback Steakhouse (well, mine would have been better if Alaina hadn't eaten half my prime rib!) We haven't been to Outback in over two years! Jason and I used to go before we had kids. Amazing, though, how our eating habits have changed...now that there are four of us eating we spent $15 LESS than we did when it was just the two of us!
On Sunday we went to church and heard another amazing message. Our pastor is just so good. I can't tell you how much I appreciate finally being at a church where I really like the pastor and the messages are inspiring and challenging. It has been a LONG time. The message yesterday was on living a ONE-CATEGORY life. Meaning, as Christians we often separate the spiritual from the secular -- we separate things like praying, Bible study, and ministry into the "spiritual" category and things like going to work, eating, and mowing the lawn as "secular" or just not "spiritual." That separation leads to either feeling guilty for having to do day-today activities like cooking and cleaning or self-righteousness for doing "spiritual work." The heart behind the activities is what God cares about. Scripture says that WHATEVER we do, do it ALL for the glory of God. It's just a good reminded that one those days when my Bible reading or prayer time gets cut short due to diaper changes and cereal refills that I can still be involved in spiritual things. God knows my life, my responsibilities, my challenges. And He knows my heart and my longings. I can glorify Him by changing a diaper with a pure and delighted heart and I can NOT glorify Him by reading my Bible with a self-righteous holier-than-thou attitude. Refreshing stuff.
After church I took Alaina to a gymnastics meet so she could see what it is she was working towards. Every time a girl did a flip Alaina would say, "Wow, that is SO cool!" I am glad she enjoyed it!
*******
In other news, I am thrilled with the response so far in my little contest. The entries are starting to come in and am I excited to see what else people do with it! It is just such a fun little template and I am glad that people are enjoying it! You have until October 23 to get your entry in...just $1.50 for the two templates, then, when you send me a link to your LO in an online gallery and you will receive a FREE three-pack of templates and a chance to win a $20 gift card to the scrapping store of your choice! Can't beat that!
*******
Okay, needless to say, I didn't scrap much this weekend. However, I did do one page yesterday when I saw MandaBean's new goodies at Sweet Shoppe Designs. For this one I used her new SERRANO CHILI SALSA paper pack and her SCRAPPERWARE elements. Also, a date stamp by Katie Perteit.
Have a GREAT Monday!
Love the pictures of your kiddos at the children's Museum!!! Looks like you guys had a great time! Can't beat these family memories! I struggle with the One-Category life thing! It is so hard to find the balance - what is going too far. Isn't it great though to be a church that you enjoy and "get" stuff from?!
Love that LO - the title is so cute and Alaina looks beautiful.
Posted by: MandaKay | October 17, 2006 at 09:17 PM
Sounds like a fabulous weekend! That children's museum looks AWESOME!!
Posted by: Jennifer | October 18, 2006 at 02:29 AM