Girl Scout Field Trip

Girl Scouts has become really fun for me.  I love watching the girls interact and learn and grow.  I am so glad Annabelle asked to do this.  The program has so many extras that you can pay to do and like the art badge we did in the summer, we did a bugs one last night at the Natural History Museum in SLC.  Six of my brownie were able to come and they all had a blast.  They got to learn about the difference between insects and bugs, look at x-rays of bugs, make a habitat for an actual meal worm and even learn about preserving bugs.  It was a long evening, I didn't get home until 9pm, but the girls loved it.  I am so thankful that I have a great co-leader who came and some parents who also came to be with their daughter.  Girl Scouts is a great program, and now that I am released from all my cub scout callings I look forward to having more time to do this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Geocaching

Nathan has become really obsessed with geocaching. 
A lot of people have asked me what that is so here is my short and simple explanation.  You look on the website geocaching.com and find places near you.  It gives you coordinates that you can plug into a GPS or phone.  Then you go to those coordinates and find the cache.  A cache it a small container.  The one in the picture was the biggest I've seen, usually they are medicine bottles or film canisters.  Inside the cache there is usually a roll of paper to sign your name and then sometimes little trinkets that you can take if you brought something to replace it.  In the above cache there was even a $10 gift card to a bowling alley.  But my boys only had little things like bouncy balls so we couldn't take it since it was an equivalent trade.  I hope that explains things a little.
Nathan did a merit badge about it in October but even before that, he was looking into geocaching with his buddies.  He has taught a few of them about it and they all have profiles on geocaching.com.  Nathan is always asking to go geocaching and so I have started to let him venture a little further from home then usual.  All of those times he has been unsuccessful in finding one and he and his friends come back disappointed.  The other day he asked if I could take him and some boys out to some a little further away.  I had no reason to say no so off we went.  We looked for 6 and found 5 of them! The boys were SO excited.  At the first cache they were cheering, I wish I had a picture of it.  It made me so happy that I took the time to help them and be a part of something that meant a lot to him.  I even found one of the caches.  Nathan is going to LOVE his Christmas present:)

Being Thankful

We have our thankful tree up and it is full of colorful leaves.  I love this tradition and love hearing all the specific things the kids come up with that they are thankful for.  I especially like their handwriting or pictures that let me know who wrote what.

We had a Family Home Evening lesson on politeness a 2 Monday's ago.  Greg did awesome and it was a topic that really needed to be addressed in our home.  On Wednesday of that week I was out Christmas shopping at Deseret Book and saw The Clicker and knew I needed to buy it.  I had been to Time Out For Women and heard Hillary Weeks talk a little about her clicker and counting positive thoughts and I felt it was something I should start doing as well.  It remained in the box until lunch when i pulled it out and was looking at it better and then it hit me, the clicker wouldn't be just for me, it would be for our family.  And we wouldn't be clicking about thoughts, we would be clicking about our polite words and kind deeds in our home.  I told Callie about it and she caught on right away.  She kept coming up with things to be thankful for.  She would say, "I'm thankful for..[thinking]..that you let me have friends come over."  Then she'd do it again, "I'm thankful for...you making me macaroni and cheese."  She kept going and going.  When the other kids got home they loved the idea of it and they all especially love clicking it.  After the first day we had 255 and now, a week later we have over 1100!  It helps me be more positive and helps me remind my kids to be more positive, and catch them when they remember.  If I am by myself and out shopping I will leave it in the car but I have noticed that I am a lot more pleasant to people and then when I get back in the car I give myself a couple clicks.  It may just be because I don't have any kids with me, but I know that we are all doing better because we can get more clicks.  The kids love to know how many clicks we are and can't wait until I add them to a website that Hillary Weeks started.  I love how their friends have gotten used to it as well and enjoy clicking it when they are polite.This has really been a blessing in our home and I know that I was inspired to grab it last week.  The Lord really is in our lives, even when we don't realize it, and even about silly things like a clicker.

What a View

A week or so ago I went to the temple while Callie was at preschool.  I was worried about timing, but I had just the right amount of time.  It was so calming, so beautiful and so peaceful.  My spiritual view that day was great and as I was driving to the Draper Temple the physical view was pretty breathtaking as well.  I live in a beautiful place that God created for you and me.  I take it for granted sometimes, but I do love it here.

Sunday Mornings: The Epic Fort & Science Experiments

Sunday Mornings are great at our home.  The kids sleep in a little and then Greg and I get to sleep in a little more.  We don't go to church until 11 and while Greg and I are sleeping in, or even when we are getting ready for church, the kids are up and playing together.  I love listening to them play together.  I love how they help each other and work together towards a goal.  2 Sunday's ago they made this fort.  It was VERY impressive.  Greg and I did not help one bit.  They were SO proud of their work.  The boys begged to sleep in it all day long and finally we allowed it.  But after an hour of it being REALLY dark, they caved and went to bed.  But they wouldn't let me take it down until all their friends had seen it.  I have even heard from some of their friends' moms that they have since made forts at their homes. 

 

 Sometimes they will just all be reading books.  Here they are looking at a set of Value Tales.  Books from my family that I remember reading when I was little.  Stories about Jackie Robinson, Helen Keller, Nellie Bly and more.  I love seeing them all with a good book.

 This last Sunday I woke up and peeked over the ledge to see what adventure they were embarking on, and I saw the science experiments out all over.  The boys each had a sister that they were working with.  It was messy and a little loud, but they had a blast.  In both cases the kids had no problem cleaning up their messes.  I really do love Sunday mornings.

Spring Cleaning??

 I know.  I know.  It is Fall.  Actually, here in Utah it is winter.  BUT, I have been doing some projects around the house and with that comes cleaning out and organizing.  It has been great (for me).  I love getting rid of things.  I love organizing things and making sure we don't have 3 bottles of half opened dill or 2 containers of beads.  It is liberating for me to make a trash pile and a donation pile.  It means that my house gets a little messier for a short period of time and then I have less things to keep organized. 

 Cleaning out closets and drawers means that we find games and crafts that we had previously forgot about.  It also means we remember about painting our nails and how fun that can be.

 Here is proof that I know it is fall.  Callie missed the big cousin leaf pile so we made her her very own.  Once I had raked all the leaves Callie really wasn't sure what to do next.  She sat there looking at the leaves.  I had to show her a little and eventually she walked in them and after some persuasion she laid down in them.  She didn't love it.  I think it would have helped to have her siblings there.  Throwing them just at me wasn't as exciting.  Before I could put all the leaves in a bag or garbage pail they all blew away.  So sorry to my neighbors that have all these gorgeous red leaves all over your yard.

Field Trip with Annabelle

 I love being able to go on field trips with my kids.  It gives them a little one on one time (sort of since the rest of the 2nd grade is with us), and it makes them feel special.  Every kid wants their parent to go on field trips and I am so thankful that I am available to go and I have great friends willing to watch Callie so I can go without her.  We went to the Discovery Gateway Museum in SLC.  The bus ride is pretty crazy, but we survived and had a great time.  I only had 3 kiddos to keep track of while there and that made things a lot easier. 

 

 

 

Nathan's Accomplishments

Not only did Nathan bring home a straight A report card yesterday but last Sunday he cooked himself two fried eggs, and one for his brother.  This kid is getting so old.  I have mixed feelings about if of course.  First, I can't believe that I am old enough to have an almost 12 year old (less than 3 months!).  But on the other hand, it is SO fun watching him grow up and be confident with his friends and in front of the school for student council.  Every week Nathan has to be a greeter at the school for 15 minutes as the later-gators come in.  Every month they do an assembly where they make videos about being kind or bullying.  They do the flag ceremony at these assemblies and I was so impressed the last time I went in when the student council were the ones who were quieting down the students.  And not going on until it was quiet.  He is also my new favorite baby-sitter.  We had a couple trial runs and then I had to teach him some things.  But now the kids love him and he loves the responsibility and doesn't mind being paid way less than a real baby-sitter.  Nathan is learning so many wonderful things and I LOVE watching him progress. 

And I love that he is still goofy enough to put on my high heels and then smile for a picture.  He is going to hate this picture someday but here it is, and it make me love my 11 year old even more.

 

Reflections

Every year my kids do Reflections, and every year at least one of them gets a medal or trophy.  This year no one on the PTA volunteered to be in charge of Reflections so there was no advertising and only a couple emails about it without a lot of explanation.  There were only 12-15 entries for the whole school.  I thought all kids would have gotten a trophy, but no such luck.  Annabelle got the trophy this year, but both boys did get a medal and they all advanced.  They also got a bunch of candy and a soda, for which Nathan thanked me for making him (encouraging:) do Reflections again.  He said he was glad that this was his last year but I burst his bubble when I told him that you can do reflections all the way through high school.  Congrats to my kiddos!  I am so proud of them for thinking outside of the norm and working so hard.
Annabelle:

 Ryan:

Nathan:

Disney On Ice

 We took the kids to Disney on Ice last weekend.  Callie has been asking to go back to Disneyland ever since we got back last September so I thought this would lessen the asking a bit.  She wondered how all the characters got here from Disneyland.  She thought they walked.  I told her it would take too long so they probably flew in an airplane.  She loved seeing Minnie Mouse and Pumba the pig.  Annabelle loved Peter Pan and Tinkerbell.  The boys, I probably could have saved some money and left them at home, but I think they were entertained enough.  During the intermission they walked around the whole arena, just for kicks.  We parked at City Creek and then took Trax over to the arena so that was a fun adventure, too. 

 Good-bye, Minnie!

Halloween

 All ready for the day.  I had an "I don't know," the Hulk, Little Red Riding Hood, and a little piggy.

 Callie and I found Genevieve and Candace to sit by.  Thankfully Gen gave me her seat since we were running late that morning.

 We all went to Greg's office for some trick-or-treating and we were really quick so we came home and played.  The boys went off with their friends for the night.  Nathan without any adults and Ryan with a friend's dad.  It was hard letting my Nathan go but it was time to trust him a little more.  He told me he'd be gone until 10.  I told him no one would want him ringing their door bells at 10 so he reduced it to 9.  He was home right at 8 saying his feet hurt a ton. 
When the boys left the girls and I played outside in the beautiful weather.   I love fall!

 When Greg got home we had a neighbor take a picture of our little fairy tale family: The big bad wolf, a little pig, Grandma and Little Red Riding Hood. Greg took the girls around the block and Callie started coughing so he brought her home and took Annie all over the neighborhood.  They got home right before the boys. 

 Callie and I had lots of fun answering the door.  We would be reading or "collecting" her candy (sorting) and the door bell would ring.  She would jump up and grab some candy saying, "Time to do our job."  She loved it.  I got lots of comments about my web. 

 

 It was a fun night, we ended earlier than I thought we would, and Greg and I even got rid of all the candy we bought.  We put the kids to bed and turned out the lights by 9:00 and then Greg and I watched a movie together.