2014
Sunday, June 01, 2014
Memorable May
I almost forgot to take a picture - I started wiping off the "May" title and then remembered. :)
And, no, "Get Minecraft" was not a scheduled event that I put on the calendar. The boys wasted spent their lemonade-stand money on buying Minecraft for our PC. They love it - yet they still only get 20 minutes each Saturday (not day) of computer time. What do Ben and I think about it - let's just say it was a loooooong day hearing all about minecraft, watching them play for a bit, still not understanding it quite, totally not understanding why kids LOVE it, threatening to take it off the computer at least once if not twice, etc. :)
Friday, May 30, 2014
The First Lemonade Stand of Summer 2014
* I did it nice and early so the kids can't tell me all summer how I never let them do this . . .
* My kids all stand out there and wave to most of the cars that drive by.
* A policeman stopped by and bought some lemonade.
* A nice lady came, told the kids she was on a diet and so didn't buy anything, but gave my kids $5 anyways because her daughter used to do this.
* So far 2 people from school have stopped by - the computers teacher and Miles' Quest teacher. Totally exciting for my kids!
* I sit back on the porch and let the kids do it all.
* Miles made the cookies. Emmy and Lucy helped with the lemonade (We just had to go and make more!). Jonas wrote the sign, helped carry out the tables, and helped a tiny bit on the cookies.
* One man asked the boys if they were in Cub Scouts.
* I think this is the busiest they've ever been - we'll have to see what the final amount-made is when they are all done.
* Miles wanted to make a "grand cookie," (i.e., a really big one). At first, I was like, no. But then I didn't have any reason to say that, so I told him to go ahead. It sold within the first 10 or so minutes.
* When you sell things for cheap, most people give a "tip."
Fun stuff!
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
The Summer (so far) Report
Well it has almost been exactly 1 week since school got out for my kids - about 8 more minutes then it will be exactly 1 week. :)
So far, we have all survived! Maybe we've even had some fun. :)
I thought Miles would be the most challenging to deal with all day long, every day. While he definitely presents his challenges, I think Emmy wins, thus far, for being the most challenging. I've dealt with screaming fits (twice she's had to walk Lily home so she could have a time-out and relax and chill-out), drawing with pens on my desk and the toilet, stuffing construction paper down the toilet (luckily Ben had to deal with that one). Seriously! What is up with her?! I'm hoping it's just a "transition phase" and we'll be done with it ASAP. I've realized I have 3 really strong personalities - and that can be a challenge. Jonas is the easy-going one. At least I got one! I like strong personalities, but mixing them all together - not my favorite thing.
Anyways, we've done some fun stuff like:
We went bowling one day. I've signed the kids up at kidsbowlfree.com and each kid gets 2 free games a day during the summer! We'll never go that much, but I've already gone more (once!) this summer than I did last summer. The kids really liked it - though Jonas got a little mopey when Emmy started killing him the last game. :)
Another day we rode our bikes to the skate park. It's a 30-minute ride, one way, so it's a good one! Emmy complained (probably yelled) about having to ride her bike and not sit in the trailer with/like Lucy. Growing up is tough, kid! But we had fun at the park - we played at the playground, ate our lunch (plus 2 popsicles for dessert - I'm the coolest!), then went to the skate park and had a great time there before heading back home. Lucy really got in to riding her little pedal-less bike down a ramp there - she would ride down, go up, ride down, go up, over and over and over again. The boys found a circle area that they just rode around and around and around in . . . circles, of course. :) We made it back home right before it started raining. Perfect timing.
Saturday late afternoon we met another family at the bike bumps. Remember this? I had a feeling Lucy would love it on her bike and whoa did she! She was all over that place riding her bike on her own. It was the cutest and coolest. The other kids had a great time with their friends and so it was a really great outing.
Today there was a "water safety" event offered at the pool/rec. center. It was free and another friend was going and encouraged us to come and so I reluctantly agreed - because I do love my kids and knew they would love going. It turned out to be pretty great. The kids got passports and had to go to 6 stations - where they learned some water safety tips, played a game, and got a prize. At each station you had to get a signature and then when all 6 signatures were there you could go and swim. There wasn't too many kids and so that was perfect. Plus, 2 of our friends (friends = a whole family of friends) were there, too, and so my kids were loving it. I was able to handle it well since the outside pool is pretty shallow and the boys are fine all alone - even going down the water-slide themselves. Lucy is getting taller and wore a life-jacket and so that really helped, too. It was already a hot morning, so it actually felt good to be in the pool (though my kids did get out for a good 15+ minutes to warm up - they get so cold in the pool!). There were "drawings" were the kids won prizes. Our entire group of friends (12 total) each won a prize. My boys won some nice goggles and swimming caps. Lucy won a beach ball. And Emmy won a free swim pass for one day. Then Emmy won the "grand prize" as Miles called it. It's this big inflatable Thing - a lizard? I don't know. How did Emmy win it? By asking! I had gone to take Lucy on the slide and Emmy was with my friend Patty. I guess Emmy went and asked one of the lifeguards that was helping out with the event whose it was and then she gave it to Emmy. So fun. We'll take it to my parents' house and hopefully have fun on it! So it was a good day. Of course it still wasn't/isn't without the little battles and struggles that happen each hour or so. :)
Anyways, that's summer so far.
So far, we have all survived! Maybe we've even had some fun. :)
I thought Miles would be the most challenging to deal with all day long, every day. While he definitely presents his challenges, I think Emmy wins, thus far, for being the most challenging. I've dealt with screaming fits (twice she's had to walk Lily home so she could have a time-out and relax and chill-out), drawing with pens on my desk and the toilet, stuffing construction paper down the toilet (luckily Ben had to deal with that one). Seriously! What is up with her?! I'm hoping it's just a "transition phase" and we'll be done with it ASAP. I've realized I have 3 really strong personalities - and that can be a challenge. Jonas is the easy-going one. At least I got one! I like strong personalities, but mixing them all together - not my favorite thing.
Anyways, we've done some fun stuff like:
We went bowling one day. I've signed the kids up at kidsbowlfree.com and each kid gets 2 free games a day during the summer! We'll never go that much, but I've already gone more (once!) this summer than I did last summer. The kids really liked it - though Jonas got a little mopey when Emmy started killing him the last game. :)
Another day we rode our bikes to the skate park. It's a 30-minute ride, one way, so it's a good one! Emmy complained (probably yelled) about having to ride her bike and not sit in the trailer with/like Lucy. Growing up is tough, kid! But we had fun at the park - we played at the playground, ate our lunch (plus 2 popsicles for dessert - I'm the coolest!), then went to the skate park and had a great time there before heading back home. Lucy really got in to riding her little pedal-less bike down a ramp there - she would ride down, go up, ride down, go up, over and over and over again. The boys found a circle area that they just rode around and around and around in . . . circles, of course. :) We made it back home right before it started raining. Perfect timing.
Saturday late afternoon we met another family at the bike bumps. Remember this? I had a feeling Lucy would love it on her bike and whoa did she! She was all over that place riding her bike on her own. It was the cutest and coolest. The other kids had a great time with their friends and so it was a really great outing.
Today there was a "water safety" event offered at the pool/rec. center. It was free and another friend was going and encouraged us to come and so I reluctantly agreed - because I do love my kids and knew they would love going. It turned out to be pretty great. The kids got passports and had to go to 6 stations - where they learned some water safety tips, played a game, and got a prize. At each station you had to get a signature and then when all 6 signatures were there you could go and swim. There wasn't too many kids and so that was perfect. Plus, 2 of our friends (friends = a whole family of friends) were there, too, and so my kids were loving it. I was able to handle it well since the outside pool is pretty shallow and the boys are fine all alone - even going down the water-slide themselves. Lucy is getting taller and wore a life-jacket and so that really helped, too. It was already a hot morning, so it actually felt good to be in the pool (though my kids did get out for a good 15+ minutes to warm up - they get so cold in the pool!). There were "drawings" were the kids won prizes. Our entire group of friends (12 total) each won a prize. My boys won some nice goggles and swimming caps. Lucy won a beach ball. And Emmy won a free swim pass for one day. Then Emmy won the "grand prize" as Miles called it. It's this big inflatable Thing - a lizard? I don't know. How did Emmy win it? By asking! I had gone to take Lucy on the slide and Emmy was with my friend Patty. I guess Emmy went and asked one of the lifeguards that was helping out with the event whose it was and then she gave it to Emmy. So fun. We'll take it to my parents' house and hopefully have fun on it! So it was a good day. Of course it still wasn't/isn't without the little battles and struggles that happen each hour or so. :)
Anyways, that's summer so far.
Monday, May 26, 2014
Let the hiking begin
I'm not sure how excited Emmy and Lucy are about hiking, but it felt good to get out today. :) We went not to the forest - where Ben and I would prefer, but due to probable snow in most forest-areas, we stayed low and desert-ish. Ben's friend Randy loves Dominguez Canyon and so we get some ideas from him of where to go and headed out this morning.
We hiked/walked about 3.4 miles in to some Indian Petroglyphs. We only had a minute to spare before we were just going to stop and break for lunch and head back. So luckily we made it to the rock just in time. :) It was a pretty cool hike and a definite good outing for the day. Emmy sure complained A LOT on the way up, but did great on the way down. Jonas did pretty good, too, with just some very minimal complaints on the way. Miles is quite a hiker and just has the desire and stamina to go and explore and see everything. Lucy was good, too - held lots and put in the backpack, too. Here are some pics:
What cute hiking sistas!
The hike starts out along a railroad track. Too bad no trains came by while we were there!
Jonas caught a grasshopper - he's pretty good at catching things!
A pretty flowering cactus plant.
Cute girls and their handsome dad.
Some hikers in front of us spotted this guy. He was the biggest and most colorful of all the lizards we saw - most were brownish/grayish. Pretty cool!
The rock! Finally!
Lunch! Finally!
This pictures just gives an idea of the area we were in.
Lucy just couldn't really get comfortable to fall asleep for too long. Even though her tired self so wanted to!
For the last mile (we did about 7 miles total) Emmy got to ride on Ben's shoulder. Lucky girl.
And here is one video of Miles and his Echo:
We hiked/walked about 3.4 miles in to some Indian Petroglyphs. We only had a minute to spare before we were just going to stop and break for lunch and head back. So luckily we made it to the rock just in time. :) It was a pretty cool hike and a definite good outing for the day. Emmy sure complained A LOT on the way up, but did great on the way down. Jonas did pretty good, too, with just some very minimal complaints on the way. Miles is quite a hiker and just has the desire and stamina to go and explore and see everything. Lucy was good, too - held lots and put in the backpack, too. Here are some pics:
And here is one video of Miles and his Echo:
Wasabi Yucks
It had been a while since we had played the flour-game; so when one of my kids suggested we play it last Friday night, we did. It's definitely fun! Here is a video shot afterwards:
Awesome.
Thursday, May 22, 2014
Last Day of School, 2014
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Wiser, perhaps, but not necessarily a better speller . . .
I saw a cute and simple teacher-gift on Pinterest and so I had the kids make one for their teachers. We stuffed them with some chocolate.
(To understand my title, check out Miles' - on the right.)
(To understand my title, check out Miles' - on the right.)
Post-library Syndrome
This is what happens when the kids come home from school and see that Lucy and I have been to the library and checked out new books:
Oldie
Wilson turned 12 last Saturday. It was quite a busy day and so nothing was done to celebrate. Wilson was highly offended. So we promised to make it up to him on Monday night. We took Wilson on a walk for our FHE and had cake. Well, people had cake - Wilson had gross dog treats that he seemed to love.
His cake. Well, our cake to honor him. :)
Not a super great picture, but I couldn't keep him from moving and licking up all the milk that Emmy had spilled. . .
A video:
Wilson is a great dog, really. We're lucky we've had him for 12 years!
A video:
Wilson is a great dog, really. We're lucky we've had him for 12 years!
The Elder who started it all . . .
We were oh so privileged on Sunday afternoon to have Elder Koyle and Elder Merrill stop by our home. They are both APs in Grand Junction and were passing through on official mission business. :) Both Elders served in our ward - but not at the same time. They are super fantastic young men and we truly love them - some in probably a different way than others. . . :) Elder Koyle was my girls' first missionary-crush. Big-time. Remember how Emmy was telling him why she loved him so? "Go look in the mirror and you'll know." Pure awesomeness.
When they came over the boys were all out doing some home-teaching. So we chatted for quite a while on the porch. Finally the boys came back. Miles invited them for dinner and they accepted so it was a great evening.
What a bunch of handsome men surrounding two beautiful girls. :)
When they came over the boys were all out doing some home-teaching. So we chatted for quite a while on the porch. Finally the boys came back. Miles invited them for dinner and they accepted so it was a great evening.
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