BOO! Sick-sick-sick! & a Quote

BOO at the ZOO! was last weekend.
I got to spend a beautiful fall Saturday with lions, tigers & Cinderella.Hay ride.
(Highlight of the day: we saw the PINK PANTHER!!!)

How real princesses travel.

Alternate travel arrangements.

This was really brave.
Grace knows these are not real but generally avoids anything like this.
Her idea to stand by the spider, but no too close!

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H1N1 as well as strep have hit the Wilson household. We should have purchased stock in Nyquil, ThermaFlu, Tylenol & various thermometers... hindsight is 20/20... Micah came home sick late Friday night from a youth group retreat, has been out of school since Monday and I already told the school he won't be there tomorrow. Hubby came down with it on Monday, Grace has had a low fever off & on since Monday, but was hit with the full blown sick last night. I'm still trying to decide how I feel. Micah was planning to be baptized on Sunday followed by a luncheon/reception with family and friends at our house - postponed until February. By then we should be immune to this crud - right?

However, there has been one bright spot in our week. Micah, who has slept in a loft hubby built since he was 4, has outgrown most toys and no longer needs the extra storage/play area a loft offers. We bought a futon for Micah, paid extra for the better mattress, and now his room is a more grown up space, when the bed is made. Grace is a prime toy-hoarding age with many 'sets' of toys that need organization, and as the youngest, she's in the smallest room. Micheal and Micah took the loft down and put the futon together Sunday night before the full force of little piggies hit. The loft was in pieces in the living room, but in a burst of energy the loft went up in Grace's room on Tuesday. She's so excited! And I am excited to have a place for everything (and hope to have everything in it's place, soon). I will have to tackle the stuffed animal issue soon, possibly in the dead of night when no one can see what I dispose of... I do remember taking every stuffed animal I owned to bed with me every night for a while when I was young, I didn't want any of them to have hurt feelings! So I can hardly blame Grace for the stuffed animal stampede. Here's a shot of the loft in her room:

No picture of Micah's grown-up space yet.

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A quote I really like:

"Only a powerful soul can offer love. Only a powerful soul can afford to be humble. If we are weak, then we become selfish. If we are empty, we take; but if we are filled, we automatically give to all. That is our nature."
~Dadi Prakashmani, Indian Peace Activist and Spiritual Leader

But here's how I read it:

"Only a friend of God (powerful soul) can offer true love. Only a Christ follower (powerful soul) can afford to be humble. If we are without God (weak), then we become selfish. If we are empty, we take; but if we are filled with God's Holy Spirit, we automatically give to all. That is God's (our) nature, to show His love through His people."
~ Dadi Prakashmani, Indian Peace Activist and Spiritual Leader

I continue to pray:

You alone sustain me. Fill me up, Papa, pour me out for You.
So be it!