Camden Aquarium

Since the week of Thanksgiving is a short school week, we decided to do a field trip to the Camden Aquarium. We are learning about ocean animals in science so I thought this would be a good way to bring it all together for the kids. It was fantastic! We went in the morning & there was hardly anyone there! It took us 2 and a half hours to see and do everything. The kids touched sharks, stingrays, and jellyfish. They watched a seal & walrus show, saw the penguins, and even met Bumble from the Rudolf Christmas show. Here are some shots of our day.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The kids REALLY wanted me to make another fun video with our faces in it for Thanksgiving. But It wasn't free anymore so I chose this one instead. The really grumpy cranberries cracked us up...(although I had to warn the kids that this kind of language was not appropriate, and that a "tart" is a sweet dessert :). We will be spending Thanksgiving at Nana & Poppy's home in Lancaster. Wishing all my friends & family a Happy Thanksgiving & my brother in Iraq. Wishing we could all be together! Enjoy the video...eating cranberries may never be as enjoyable anymore!

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Praying for Amanda

This weekend was quite busy for the Roths. Bill's sister Jennifer arrived with her daughter Taleah & son Efrem from Florida so yesterday we went to get family pictures taken...but one family was missing. Amanda was admitted to the hospital with a fever and belly pain to rule out appendicitis. Hopefully all the tests will show that it is just a UTI. We all went to visit her in the hospital since she was pretty upset she couldn't be with all her cousins. After that we went to Nana and Poppy's house to have a party for Taleah who turned 6 on the 16th and Efrem who will turn 4 on Dec 1st. The kids had a blast...but we missed you Amanda! We pray you feel better today!
UPDATE**Amanda was released from the Hospital just in time to celebrate Thanksgiving with us! God answers prayers! Wednesday night we prayed before dinner that her fever would end & the doctors would release her...and that is what happened! Praise God!**

Lessons From the Soccer Field

Soccer season for the girls seems never ending as they have had to reschedule games and reschedule the rescheduled games due to rain every Saturday morning. I have enjoyed seeing Madison and Adrienne improve with each game. Adrienne's team especially. The girls have learned how to play their positions instead of running all over the field exhausted. This made me think of the book I am reading by Mark Chanski called "Womanly Dominion". He talks about the importance of women playing their positions.
On p.21 he says, "everyday, women, unlike men, face an additional fierce life challenge. Due to high-powered feminist social pressures, they've got to keep telling themselves, 'Play your position!' On the field of life, women hear constant shouts from unprincipled sideline voices telling them to leave their God-assigned posts. These voices are much like the voices of misguided parents telling their goalie daughter to 'Get the ball, honey, and try to dribble down the field and score!'" Then he goes on to say..."She's been assigned a glorious and important position in this world. But the sideline voices attempt to drown out her Lord's words of instruction."
Could this be a reason why women are less happy these days? TIME magazine reported that "Among the most confounding changes of all is the evidence, tracked by numerous surveys, that as women have gained more freedom, more education and more economic power, they have become less happy". Today, as traditional, conservative values are mocked as being old fashioned, irrelevent, ancient and not "progressive" enough...it surely makes you think...maybe many "old fashioned" views and values weren't so wrong or "ancient" after all. Could it be that many women are finding a fulfilling life right at home, caring for their families...I think so. I am one of them.

3 Little Dolls

So we did a little shopping this weekend and while at a furniture store, we found these 3 cute little dolls sitting on a chair. Would anyone like to have them as a Christmas gift? Any takers??

Fun With Boxes

I recently downloaded this video onto my computer and thought I would share it. Our neighboors must think we are absolutely crazy!! Enjoy!!!

Bye Bye Facebook

After a difficult discussion with Bill last night, I decided to deactivate my Facebook account. This was a very hard decision for me. I loved seeing old friends, pictures of new babies, and reading friends comments & status. The problem was...I loved it too much. I have to confess, I was not a casual facebooker like many I know who check it once a week or so or post a picture every now and then. I checked facebook atleast 3 times a day, and maybe twice on weekends. It began to take time away from teaching the kids, correcting the kids, enjoying the kids, talking with Bill, greeting him at the door, making phone calls, cleaning the house...you get the point. If I had more self control (the Lord knows I have been praying for more for some time now), I could keep my account and just not be on the computer so much. So I thought this would be a good way to guard my time better...just get rid of the temptation all together. I am a bit bummed I won't be able to check up on all my friends and family...I guess I will just start using the telephone and email again!!!

Change of Heart

Here is a good article about a director of Planned Parenthood who quits her job and joins a pro-life group after seeing an abortion performed on an ultrasound. Check it out...Here.

Halloween Pics

Well, despite the rain, the kids had fun trick-or-treating in their costumes. Earlier we went to Olive Garden for soup & salad for my birthday...so as soon as we got home we ran around putting costumes on & getting dressed. Hip-Hop even joined us for a bit which was a real treat. During the day we carved and painted pumpkins, toasted the seeds and had a great time. Here are some pictures...enjoy!