Spontaneous Fun

I'm so glad we made no plans for this weekend because it couldn't have been as fun and cheap.

Friday night we found ourselves with free time (whoa!) so we decided to make popcorn and watch an episode of "My Three Sons".  It's our favorite show.  Actually it's our only 'show', but that's another story.  Anyway, after one 20 min. episode I looked at Jim and said, "I'm not tired yet," which was his cue to turn on another.  The kids picked up on that quick.  After the second one Logan said with mischief all over his face, "I'm not tired."  After the third Annie let us know that she still wasn't tired, and after the fourth they both said it.  High fives ensued when Jim started the fifth (and FINAL) one.  They thought they were so clever, but we were enjoying it as much as they were.  Call us weird, but that was a great tv series.  After our five episodes (which were as long as a short movie) Jim and the kids had their usual Friday night sleep together downstairs. 

Saturday we all slept in.  Once we finally convinced ourselves to get into motion, we decided to fly kites.  That lasted for a while, and then we decided to try a different park where we thought we might have better wind.  However, Jim heard some music nearby, so we drove over to investigate.  One thing led to another and we found ourselves at a classic car show.  We looked at the cars for about an hour, the kids participated in a coloring contest, Elway (who was with us all day) had the time of his life with new smells and tons of people adoring him, and eventually Logan and Alex participated in a Hot Wheels race there.  That took another hour and was very fun.  Alex was the smallest participant and everyone loved him.  He was so eager for his turn and so serious whenever he put his car on the track.  Logan unexpectedly chose a fast car and won 3rd place.  I was really wishing I'd brought my camera!  His prize was a trophy!  After the car show, we grabbed lunch (from home) and headed to a different park.  The wind had died down and it was HOT outside, so we forgot about the kites and headed to the splash pad.  Luckily, I just so happened to have left swimsuits in the car (totally an accident) so the kids were set.  It was 4:30pm before we came home, tired and sunburned.

I did take a few pictures to document our day before baths.

Saturday evening we babysat for some friends so they could have a date, so the kids had lots of play time.

On Sunday we met a new family at church who had moved here just the day before.  After questioning them about the state of their boxes and determining that they didn't have a functional kitchen yet, I impulsively invited them over to dinner (it was already nearly dinnertime).  They were probably surprised and Jim gave me the smile that said he wasn't surprised.  Anyway, we had such a nice visit.  I'm really excited they've moved here and hope they stay nearby.  The kids had a fun time together, and since it was such a hot day (100 degrees in May..seriously?!!!) they got quite sweaty just from playing in the house.  Annie's hair was hilarious afterward, so we took these pictures.

No post would be complete without an Alex pose.

Yesterday Jim was home, but needed to catch up on work, so we left him alone and did our regular thing.  We're probably the only people who had school yesterday, but we all enjoyed it so it was worth it.  I also caught up on laundry and gave the dog a haircut.  It was an unpleasant experience, but so satisfying afterward.  Elway and I were locked in the bathroom together for two sweaty hours.  He's uneven again, but considering I was working with a wiggly, nervous dog I think he looks fine.  I can tell he feels a lot cooler, and I'm happy that this means he'll stay cleaner longer.

We did play some yesterday, too.  Some friends invited us over for a barbecue in the evening, and we had a really fun time complete with good food.  The weather even cooled down for us! 

Weekend stats:
Fun: 100%
Cost: 0
 Yes!

Color and Cake

 I have really enjoyed the beautiful colors this spring, so I took a few pictures the other day.  These are all in our front yard.

Last Wednesday I was feeling quite tired for some reason, so I made a deal with the kids that they could make a treat of their choosing if they let me nap uninterrupted.  It turned out that my nap was interrupted for another reason about 25min. later and I never got back to it, but they had kept up their part of the bargain.  They wanted to make chocolate cake with pink frosting.  I helped them bake the cake and got them started with the frosting before leaving that evening.  Jim supervised the rest.  

He took a picture of their creation for me; I thought it was pretty fun.

 

Kids Say

Today Logan made what he called a 'model key' out of a paperclip.  Then he informed me that I didn't need to grab my keys for the car when we were going to the store; his 'model key' would work on the car.  Later he was so anxious to use it on something that he locked the bathroom door and pulled it shut.  He then tried to pick the lock without any success.  I let him stew over his newly created problem for quite a while.  Eventually, he told me that we needed to call the fire department so they could 'axe down the door'. 

Logan, "The United States is the greatest country I've ever been to.  So is America."  (He's never been to another country.)

Annie, "Too bad I washed my face today."

Logan chose a ridiculously easy baby book to read out loud one day and said to me, "I'm reading.  Just so you know.  I'm not guessing."

Annie when I expressed some frustration, "Mom did you make a mistake again?  Maybe you're a teenager or something."

Annie, "Mom you're a REALLY old lady!"

Logan when I'd asked Annie what she just said, "It was a four letter word with three letters."

Logan knocked on his head and proclaimed, "Wow!  My brain is hard!"

Logan explaining how they were putting on a show, "My job is to tell what is random after the show.  Annie is an actor."

Logan to the tune of 'Teach Me to Walk in the Light', "...we follow Him in every way, we have His works to do, we thank thee, we thank thee, for Him...(chorus) to live like Him, we love Him, for He is your Son..."

Logan, "Oo oo ee ee.  That means mom.  So whenever you hear that you respond, okay?"

Logan, "All I do is talk!  I just talk talk talk all day long!"  (Yes, you do my boy.)

Annie while on a date with Jim, "Let's go to Sam's!"  Jim, "I don't have a Sam's card Anne."  Annie, "Do you have a Wal-mart card?"  (Meaning a gift card...she loves to shop.)

Annie, "Mom, I have a pain in my neck."

While giving haircuts, Jim requested that I not trim the back of his neck like so and so that we know.  Logan then reasoned why, "Oh!  He has a big circle hole in the middle!"  We then laughed and commented that Logan thought the baldness of this person was there on purpose to which Logan said, "So it was cut on accident?"

Logan after helping someone move, "I worked harder than a pigeon!"

 

Look What I Made!

This week I made a gift for a friend who is ready to have her fourth baby.  I knew she didn't need anything, but suddenly wanted to make her a personalized gift.  This will be the baby's first name.  I embroidered it by hand, and then sewed the blanket together.  I wish I'd done a darker thread because the name didn't pop out as much as I would have liked, but my biggest challenge in sewing is being unwilling to re-do anything. 

I made some matching pj pants.

I gave it to her today.  :)

I actually made this hairbow back in October, but didn't post it at the time because I'd made several others and was giving them to my niece for Christmas.  I didn't want to spoil the surprise and then I forgot to post them later.  :)  Anyway, I let Annie wear it just for fun today.  It's too big for her head and doesn't really match, but she feels pretty. 

I made the same purple one for my niece, plus these others.  They were made entirely from scrap fabric/ ribbon so they didn't cost anything.  Plus they were really easy.  Each one can be attached to a headband, hair clip, or pin.  They're versatile.  :)

The kids also did some sewing this week; look at that on our school blog.

Some Pictures

Alex is a bit of a camera hog.  Every time he sees me getting it out he wants me to take his picture.

Like father like daughter.  We were cracking up when we realized she'd fallen asleep looking at this book.

Just like her daddy.

Another 'smiling because mom has the camera out' shot.

Logan wanted to dress like his dad again today.  Annie was totally cracking me up with it, though.  Logan says he's dressing like an engineer, but Annie says that he's wearing 'a John Deere shirt!' because that's where Jim works. 

Mini Engineer, Dog Traps, and More

Last week Logan decided he wanted to dress like an engineer.  He sure loves his dad.  Here is his business casual.  He wanted a pen in his pocket to be complete, but I was mean and said 'no'.  He even kept his shirt tucked in all day. 

Elway has claimed a slinky as one of his toys.  It was smarter than him, though.  He got trapped in it.  At one point, he even caught one end on a chair and was effectively leashed.  :)

Jim was oh so wonderful and built me these boxes for our vegetable garden over the course of the last week.  I didn't even ask him to do it.  He needs to add one piece of wood yet, but otherwise they are finished.  Yesterday I went to the dump three times to get free compost.  It was quite the adventure with three kids, two garbage cans, a mini-van, and wimpy me.  Those garbage cans got heavy really fast, but they were the only containers I had!  I had a very difficult time getting them (only half full) into the van, and then was amazed at how little they filled the boxes when we got home.  Hence, I made three trips.  I was smart the third time; I put them in the van 1/3 full (much easier to lift) and then shoveled more compost until they were TOTALLY full.  Jim unloaded them for me that time.  :)  We planted last night and I'm very excited now.  Already, we're trying to figure out where we want to put more garden space.  These filled up way too quickly!

Today we made our usual trip to the library.  Annie had won 2nd place in a coloring contest and there was a prize waiting for her.  She's definitely my little artist!  This is what the kids are doing now: playing library.  They are reading to their dolls and animals.

P.S. More and more of our life is centering around what we are learning, so again I direct you to my latest posts on that blog.  The link is on our sidebar.

Haircut

I have a love/hate relationship with my hair.  So does Jim.  We both love how it looks long, but I detest fixing it.  I actually dread brushing it when it's long.  It's such a job!  So every 12-18 months I chop it short.  Then I let it grow until I can't stand it anymore.  I get all giddy and excited before going to get it cut, and then I feel so free afterward!

Before

After: It is definitely not as pretty, but it is SO easy.  Therefore I love it.  My curls really bounced up with this haircut.  I think my hair is officially more curly than straight now.  I'm even getting used to curls.  Wow.  The best part is that I can fix it in under a minute. Yeah!

After: I've straightened it twice, and it's okay.  So I won't be doing this a lot.  I can live with that; curly is way less work.

Outdoor Fun

I've posted some of our outdoor happenings on our school blog.  Check that out too:

http://1-2-3-school.blogspot.com/

One Thing I Love About the Midwest

Backyard campfires!  Eat your heart out my dry climate friends.  This is SO illegal for you and SO legal for me.  (Though the humidity in the middle of the summer is miserable.)

The fire wasn't going very well when I took the picture because Jim had just put a pile of branches on it, but it burned nicely.  We sat around eating popcorn, burning our big pile of cut branches from our yardwork, and telling the kids stories.  It was so fun.  Then we slept in our beds instead of a tent.  :)

Just Because

These pictures are just for the sake of pictures.

In commemoration of the hair I'm cutting off tomorrow...

These kids like to lay in my bed after breakfast and sometimes they fall asleep again.

Alex wanted to sit on the potty after his bath.  I had to fight him to get dressed...

Logan's Talk

On Sunday, Logan gave a talk in Primary.  We'd worked on it a few days before and he wrote it entirely himself.  I typed what he said, but it was all in his own words and his own thoughts.  His rough draft was pretty long (considering he wanted to read his talk all by himself) and disjointed.  He did NOT want to edit it!  I convinced him it was necessary and that it could still be a three page talk (another of his requirements).  So we shortened it, and put things that he'd said in a more relevant order.  It was still sort of humorous, especially since we kept the part about not hitting others.  I blew up the font so it was three pages and he practiced it several times before Sunday.  In Primary, he didn't want any help.  It was a very long talk considering it was in Primary, and after his talk he shared a long testimony.  This was all with his mouth ON the microphone.  We heard him loud and clear!  I was so pleased, though.  It was a great experience for both of us.

Here's his rough draft:

Prompted with the question: How does Jesus help you choose the right?

To stop hitting each other and to love one another. Jesus has taught me how to learn the gospel and teach people ...the gospel and be a missionary and He's taught me so much that He's given me a little power to read the scriptures every day, each day to learn more about the gospel and Nephi and his family. I've been doing that for days that I have time. I say my prayers every day that I feel the gospel. I get more than 260,00 blessings! I get more than that many blessings that I know that Heavenly Father is letting me know that the gospel is true and that the church is true. That He's just taught me that He's there and that the Holy Ghost is there. I just believe in Him. I believe Him. I believe in Joseph Smith and the prophets.

Prompted with the question: How can you be like Jesus?

By helping others with their stuff. By helping others feel better. By helping others move better and helping them do their laundry and helping them read the scriptures and learn how to read someday. I just know so many important things that I can know that the gospel is true in every single way. God is there!

I would like to bury my testimony. I know that the church is true. And I know that the gospel is true too. I know that Joseph Smith really lived and I know the prophets live today. The prophets teach us in each way.

I want to tell a story about Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ can also help us to learn the church is true. Jesus Christ when He was on the earth He talked with his disciples. When He was born an angel came to the shepherds and says, "Come follow me, Jesus Christ has been born." Then they saw a star that they followed. So they followed the new star and it led to a stable. They went inside and saw a babe. It was Christ our Savior. Amen.