We Live in a Zoo

My kids minds never cease to amaze me. This morning when we got up for breakfast my son decided they were going to take all the stuffed animals in the house and make a zoo. Now this is not a ordinary zoo it was complete. He got on my cell phone and pretended to call all different countries and ordered animals. He called Africa to order elephants and giraffe. We then called Antarctica and asked for penguins, seals and walrus. Australia for kangaroos. We had nine different countries and every animal came for the correct county. We then stated that we needed to ask the state of Illinois to help us fund the zoo. I suggested that the zoo needed insurance in case a animal got out of control. We than had to deiced how much we were going to charge for admission. (It was $5.00) We needed cages and food for all the animals. We needed to interview and hire zoo keepers and maintenance men and security guards. I then asked my son to take out the garbage and he returned with a notice the the animal were beginning to arrive and informed his sister to start cleaning lion cages. We hung up signs giving people directions on how to get to the zoo. We stocked the concession stands with hot dogs and popcorn. The last thing my son said to me before we started school this morning was "OK mom call the radio and tell them to tell everyone about the zoo. We will give them free passes to give away. Also call Pastor Fink and tell him his family can have life times passes. His grandparents and family were given passes as well. I think that is so cute. What a imagination. I love home schooling and I love my kids.

A Busy Weekend

The Todd family has a very busy weekend. Tuesday is my husband's birthday so his family is coming over for dinner on Saturday night, dinner for thirteen is a lot of fun. Tonight we are cleaning the house and getting ready to plan dinner. There is also cooking to do and gifts to wrap. The kids are so excited and FUN is in the air. We also have packing to do and lots of laundry. Ashley is going back to Providence for her second semester in Bible college (we are so proud of her). I will post more as the week end progresses. We are also excited because my SECOND favorite preacher is coming to church this weekend. We love pastor Fink but we really like pastor Gray too. A busy weekend a head and a whole lot of FUN.

Kids Are Amazing

This morning durning school my son was singing a Patch the Pirate song in math class. I of course, being the teacher told him to get his work done. I said that if he knew his times tables as well as he did the music he would be a lot better off. His answer to my comment was a riot. Quinten proceed to say "Mom this is how it works, Your mind is like a computer when the hard drive gets to full you have to delete some information when I got my new CD I had to delete some of my times tables. That is a riot!

Merry Christmas

It has been a very nice day at the Todd household. Last night we spent the evening with my husband's side of the family. It was complete with the Christmas story, birthday cake for Jesus, and a nice time with gifts and fellowship. Today we are at my mom's house with more great food and gifts. I'm very thankful that we are having our second birthday cake for Jesus. I 'm thankful the Lord for a goodly heritage from both sides of the family and that my children know the true meaning of Christmas. It has been a relaxing day and a blessing to everyone in the family. I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. God Bless you during this season.

Christmas is Coming

I just love Christmas. I can honestly say it is my favorite holiday. We have wonderful family traditions. Every year we go into the city and see the Christmas lights. We will eat dinner at the Walnut Room at Macy's around the Christmas tree. We will eat Garrets popcorn and walk State Street and look at the windows. There is a sweet little German Village in Daily Center with the Nativity, apple strudel, and the huge Christmas tree. We have to go see the light in Aurora and my kids have to shop for each other. This truly is the most wonderful time of the year. I want to make sure that my children know that Christ was born on Christmas and it's His birthday. Even though we have a lot of wonderful Christmas traditions I never want to forget the TRUE meaning of Christmas. Have a very Merry Christmas.

Getting Ready for Christmas

We have had quite a week. It just seems like life has been a whirlwind since Thanksgiving. We have had baking to do, and a tree to trim, and all the other preparations that all of us have to prepare for this time of the year.

Mrs. Kuipers is doing better and is going into a new facility and we are looking forward to her recovery. Please pray for Ashley. Last Tuesday her childhood friend passed away at 17 years old. This has been a rough time for her as a new christian. She is very strong but can use our prayers.

Since my last post our son has turned 9 years old. I have to share the cutest thing he most recently said. Having a kid like Quinten in the house we are always laughing at something he says. Yesterday I asked him to take out more garbage than usual and it involved some heavy lifting. He went into the go fish game pulled out a card and handed it to me and said "Quinten's Disposal Service thank you for calling" He than proceeded to inform me that he charges $10.00 an hour for this service. I told him that I simply could not afford that rate and that I would have to hire someone else. He then said "since you cook for me and you teach and don't forget my laundry i guess I'll give you a discount and only charge you a hug" I then let him know that was a wise decision so that I didn't charge him with disobedience. Is he not the cutest thing you have ever seen. Last night we had Christmas program practice and we had not eaten. I stopped at McDonald's and we decided to go in and eat (we never go inside at McDonald's). I could not believe how excited he was to be alone with me in a restaurant. It just thrills my heart that my son wants to be with me. What a blessing. After last night we decided that we are going to out with just the two of us every month. Well I need to go wrap gifts before my kids wake up. Have a great day.

Christmas Coffee

Last night was our annual Christmas coffee at the Grace Baptist Church. This is one of the most exciting events of the year. My little daughter Paige was so excited. She has been talking about the "cookie party" all week. She talks about when she gets to be a "Lady of Grace." This is a life time goal for her. Anyway, this year was a lot of fun. I had my mom with me and my dear friend Edith. I had a GREAT team of ladies in the kitchen. A BIG thank you to all that helped serve all that wonderful food. Kina makes the best coffee and the fellowship was great. I had the privilege to give my personal testimony. I never realized what a blessing that I can be by telling people what the Lord has done in my life. I had never done anything like that before. We had Donna Stanley as guest speaker. It was a lot of fun to see the First Baptist girls again as well. The whole evening was great. The food the fellowship and the fun. Thank You to Mrs. Fink for all the hard work that you put into the Ladies of Grace. Last night was such a blessing to so many and it was an extra special blessing to me. I'm sorry I don't have a camera to capture some of the highlight moments. I'll have to talk to Santa about that one. (just kidding we don't believe in Santa).