Spring Break

After my previous post, I thought I would lighten things up a bit and talk about our spring break. We are on spring break this week and it's been so refreshing to take a break from homeschooling and enjoy some family together time. The goal of the week: Have fun without spending money. Easier said than done I might add, but we are accomplishing that goal.

Monday we hung out around the house, Anna and I took a trip to the library (one of our favorite places), the kids got some extra time on electronics (x-box, computer, TV time, etc...), we got some chores done around the house, and we enjoyed the nice weather by spending as much time outside when all the above wasn't going on.

Tuesday we packed up a picnic lunch and headed to Tempe Beach Park and found ourselves a nice little spot near the lake and had fun watching the people out on the water. It was a beautiful day outside! We then went to Pet's Inc. a family favorite pet store. It's like going to the aquarium and zoo all at the same time but it's free. They have some of the coolest looking fish you ever will see, and the reptiles are very rare and exciting. We even got an up close look at an emperor scorpion. And I have to add in here that the employees are almost as interesting as the pets. One particular employee was telling us how he is 37 years old and has had 4 heart attacks. His last one was in October and happened after he ate 40 chicken mcnuggets and smoked cigarettes. I asked him what he was doing to prevent further heart attacks and that's when he told me he was eating healthier. Did I mention he was holding a dunkin donuts iced coffee in one hand and an orange crush soda in the other? If anything, it was a good lesson for the kids on what not to eat. Their eyes were as big as saucers as he was telling us the story. After that adventure we came home and made dinner then headed to Poston's track for some exercise. This allows me to get my workout in while the kids ride their bikes around the track. I will mention here that Michael was imitating my aerobic walk and he embarrassed me, I love how he doesn't really care what others think even when he looks ridiculous. While we were walking, Anna rode 2 miles around the track, 8 laps all together and this isn't the first time she has done that. In the past two weeks I think she has clocked about 12 miles around that track. She loves the wind on her face and giggles every time she passes me with a "Hi mom (giggle, giggle)". Yes, she is much faster that me, there is no way my short legs could keep up with her on her bike. After our family walk/exercise we came home and Michael made his banana/strawberry/chocolate milk shakes (gotta balance it out) and we settled in for a movie, Bedtime Stories, a great movie! Total cost for this day: $0

Next up, Wednesday: The plan for Wednesday was to grab some culture passes at the library so we could get into the museum of natural history for free. I had tried to get the passes on Tuesday, but didn't get in line early enough to get them. To get culture passes, it takes some strategic planning. The library doesn't open until 10 but in order to secure your place in line to be the first one in the door, you have to be there at least by 9. I pulled into the library at 9 and there were already two people in line. Luckily they wanted the culture passes for the zoo so my spot was secure and the museum passes would soon be mine, that is after waiting for an entire hour. The two men in line were, well, how should I put this...... they were domestic partners and proud of it. They were both very talkative, and not one bit ashamed of their relationship. Did I mention I spent one entire hour in line with them? You can get to know a lot about a person in one hours time, and that I did. Probably more than I ever wanted but at least it helped the time go by fast. 10:00 finally came and I secured my museum passes. The only problem was that I thought I was getting 4 passes, but I only got 2. The dilemma, I had already called home and told Michael to have the kids get ready because I was getting the passes and would be back home to pick them up. This call happened before I knew I was only getting 2. What was supposed to be a free trip to the museum ended up costing $12, bummer. But we had a nice visit at the museum, some great talks about creation vs. evolution (this museum is very much under the mind set of evolution), and the best part was panning for gold.

 After the museum, we headed home for lunch and a movie. Our neighbors had bought Tangled but didn't need the blu-ray copy of it so they gave it to us! We all love the movie and had a great time watching it! The rest of day included some grocery shopping followed my American Idol. Total cost for Wednesday (not including grocery shopping), $12.

Thursday:
We had planned at the beginning of the week to spend Thursday at the zoo. My mother in law blesses us every year with annual passes to the zoo. Our passes also come with free admission to ride the train at the zoo. We had such a great time! We packed a pic nic lunch and ate in Mexico. There is part of the zoo that has a Mexican theme, you really do feel like you are in another country. We also enjoyed churros, they are the best! Before we left this morning, we gathered all the coins we could find in the house and that was our spending money at the zoo. Who says you can't have fun on a limited budget. We also got to see the adorable koala bears, it was their last day on display at the zoo before heading off for another zoo. I'm so glad we got to see them, they are too cute for words. 

Total cost for Thursday: $6

That brings me to the weekend, tomorrow we are heading up north for a weekend at our friends cabin. They are so gracious and generous to let our family use their cabin. We love everything about it and are really looking forward to some time away. It will be a great way to close out our spring break. Total weekend cost: 1 tank of gas and lifetime full of memories. 

You can't beat a great spring break for $12 + $6 + one tank of gas = memories that will last us a lifetime. 

for such a time as this...

I have faith in my Jesus, for such a time as this.
I trust Jesus in such a time as this.
God's love gets me through such a time as this.
God carries my burden's through such a time as this.
I surrender to Him in such a time as this.

You may be asking, what "time" are you talking of?

Well, for the first time in our almost 16 years of marriage, Michael is out of work. He was let go from his job last week and in an instant our income was cut in half. Thankfully we still get Michael's monthly medical retirement from the police department but this only adds into 50% of our monthly budget and the job he had made up the other 50%. We lead a very simple life, our monthly expenses are not extravagant whatsoever, but when you are without the other half of your income, it feels like a very big loss.

We have been soaking all this in since it happened last week and since I take the slow road to processing I'm just getting to a point where I can get it out of my head and into words. More than the financial aches this may cause, my heart is aching more for my husband. He is coming face to face with mourning the loss of his career he had to leave three years ago, a career he loved and found much satisfaction in. The joy he felt serving the community as a Police Officer has been a void he hasn't been able to fill since leaving the department. The past three years he has been on a journey of finding a new career, one that he will find rewarding. That hasn't happened yet, but we serve a God that fills us with hope and we are holding on to that hope.

So what's next? Well, Michael has probably applied for 30 jobs since August, a handful of them he was REALLY excited about and those ones came with a closed door or a "no" answer. The applications are still going out, interviews are happening, and we are being brought to a new place in our faith. Faith that GOD KNOWS the bigger picture and we don't. Faith that God will open doors for a job according to HIS perfect will and time and not according to our own will and timeline. Faith that our financial needs will be provided for even when it doesn't seem to work itself out on paper.

We are certainly on a journey, much of this Michael's journey that I can't go on for him, but since he is my husband and I'm deeply in love with this amazing man, it becomes my journey too. And since we have been given three amazing kids who are in tune with their mom and dad, it's also a family journey. They are learning all about trusting in God, making sacrifices, and growing in their personal prayer life as they pray for a job for daddy. Michael's journey, Michael and Korri's journey, the Ray family journey; a journey we could never do without Jesus Christ!

We have faith in our Jesus, for such a time as this.

We trust Jesus during such a time as this.

God's love gets us through such a time as this.

God carries our burden's through such a time as this.

We surrender to Him in such a time as this.

MOON

Tonight the moon is the closest to the earth as it has been in over 20 years. I was really hoping to get some pictures, especially since I had a telephoto lens at my disposal. However, without a tripod I knew it would be a challenge. And a challenge it was. I used my ladder with a make shift tripod at the top but it still wasn't steady enough. Out of 30 pictures I took, I had a few keepers. I shot on manual with an ISO of 1600, my f-stop was at 5.6 and and my shutter speed was between 0"5 and 1/10, thus the need for a tripod. It will be another 20 years before I get to practice taking pictures of the moon this close to the earth, so I will settle for these and call it a success.

B-ball, girlie girl tom boy, and Cityfest

WARNING: this is a long post, you've been warned, that's all I need to say.
First up, Basketball. Our family rediscovered a new pasttime. We all enjoy a friendly game of around the world. However the rules are ever changing thanks the the kids but we just go along with it. Funny story behind this picture. Shortly after it was taken, I went inside and put my sneakers on, which did improve my game by the way. Right after our game of b-ball ended Michael and I left to go on our date. It wasn't until we were at the sushi place when I realized I had not changed my shoes into my cute little green sandals, but instead I had on my old sneakers. But it didn't spoil our fun, we had a great time and my feet were nice and comfy.

 Most things come easily for Anna, but not this game. She is so competitive and became very frustrated when her ball didn't make it in the basket. There were tears, and lots of them but she persevered and eventually made a few baskets.

 this picture just cracks me up because of Pepper. He is always in the mix. He certainly is part of the family, there is no denying it.

 Michael shooting hoops.

 Jadon making some baskets.

 Camden is very good at the game, he made more baskets than the rest of us.

 Next up, girlie girl tom boy. Or is it girly girl tom boy. I'm not sure the correct spelling of girly/girlie. Anyhow, Anna is our adventerous, fearless, willing to try anything, thrill seaker type of girl. She likes boy things and does not proclaim to be a girlie girl, but then I see something like this and it makes me smile. Notice the glitter gloss sticking out of her pocket and the fingernails that she painted all by herself. I do believe she has some girlie girl in her, she just doesn't want to admit it.

 Her new favorite color is black, it used to be pink, then purple, and now black. Not sure how I feel about that one.

 She may have had glitter gloss in her pocket, and fingernail polish on her nails, and her hair pulled back all pretty but she was playing her brother's car racing game on the x-box. The wilder the better with this one.

And last but not least, Cityfest! We have been looking forward to Cityfest for several weeks now and today was the big day! It took place at Tempe town lake right off of Mill avenue. The part we were most excited about was the skateboarding/BMX bikers/motorcross demos. Camden was most excited and could hardly contain his excitment. Here we are waiting for the show to begin.

 Practice runs.

 While waiting, Anna got to make a gospel bracelet.

Almost time Camden, almost time.

 Free giveaways, we got a free skateboarding DVD.

Then the show finally began. First up, skateboarding. My dad let me borrow his telephoto lens and it came in handy for the skateboarding pictures since they were kind of far away from where we were standing.

Next up, BMX bikers. They were even farther away, thank goodness for the telephoto.

And last up, the crowd pleasing motorcross!

Notice the baby Ava sticker on the bike. It got me thinking that if I had a loved one who did motorcross, there is no way I could even watch them perform. It almost gave me an anxiety attack and I don't even know them. I am assuming by the baby ava sticker, that this biker is a dad. 

 Had some fun with photo editing on this one and I like it!

 My heart just sinks when I see these ones. I took these on my normal lens because they were literally right in front of us and above us, super close. A little too close for my comfort.

And that's all folks. If you stuck with this long post and read the whole thing, pat yourself on the back. What a good reader you are!

Amococo

say what? You read it right, Am-o-coco. This was a traveling Luminarium that made it's way to Mesa and we got to explore it at the Mesa Arts Center.

 It may not look like much from the outside. (this is only one side of it)

 But once you enter, you look up and see this....

 There is tunnel after tunnel of bright lights, neat designs, and fun shapes.

 You may need to stop for a minute and do this.

 As you walk through it, it's as if you are in a dream. It's so hard to explain, but the lights, the shapes, the layout of it all makes it feel like you are on a different planet.

 Taking pictures was tricky, I didn't use my flash because it would have changed the colors. I wanted to keep it as natural as possible. This one might be my favorite picture.

 I also like this one of Anna's silouette.

 Her shirt is actually turquoise, and the lights made it look purple.

 Here we are in the RED room.

 It was so soothing that it made you almost want to sit and take a nap.

 Another ceiling, it reminds me of an Easter egg.

 We went with our great friends, who will be moving out of the country this summer. :(. We are very happy for them but sad to see them go.

 As we were walking out of the Arts Center to get some lunch, they were creating a quilt like design around the fences. The kids got to help out.

We had a great time! If you are reading this and live in the Valley, I would highly recommend going to Amococo. It is only here until Sunday and it's open daily from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. It was a bit warm in there so I would suggest going first thing in the morning or later at night. We are thinking about going back at night because I guess it has a new feel at night. It is $5 per ticket and you have to choose a time when you get your tickets. The times are available every 20 minutes (10:00, 10:20, 10:40, etc...) It takes about 20 minutes to see it all. I hope you can make it!