Quinceanera and Zoo

Stephen and I went to a Quinceanera Fiesta on Friday.  This is a very typical celebration in South America, where they celebrate the coming out of a young woman.  The food was incredible.  The decorations were beautiful.  Pamela was gorgeous.  The program was fun.  And best of all, I got a ROSE!

There is a part where the young woman presents her 15 roses to 15 special people in her life.  As she gave one to each person, she had the DJ read the little write up about why she selected that person.  I was excited to have been there.  She is such a sweetheart.  (I also kinda felt like I was on the “Bachelor” being selected to receive a rose)

Then on Saturday we went to the zoo AGAIN!  Stephen hadn’t been for awhile and wanted to see the Rocky Mountain addition and chair lift ride.  As soon as he said, “chair lift ride” the kids were ready to go.  Actually just saying the zoo, the kids were excited.  We had a fun day hanging out together.

Rebecca and Jerrica kept us on course.

 

Giraffes stuck their tongues out at the boys.

We rode the lift and saw an amazing view.

 

Stood next to a bear and giraffe.

Looked like a zebra and tiger.

And just had a wonderfully, relaxing day at the zoo!!!!

Roasted Garlic Chicken

Remember me talking about the freezer group that I’m in? Well, I have gotten some amazing recipes and thought that I would share one. My family absolutely loves this recipe. The gravy from the broth is DIVINE. It’s nice to buy whole fryers on sale, follow the recipe and then have a delicious dinner in the freezer. This is a MUST try because it’s so easy and yummy. You will probably have to click on it to bring it up. Here it is:

School is OUT!!!

I can’t believe how fast this year just flew by!!!  My kids have been sad that school is almost over, which made me sad that they were sad to be with me for the summer.  So for their last day of school I had a little sand pail waiting for them when they got home from school to get them excited for summer.  I filled them with a new flashlight for our camping trips, water balloons for the many water fights, movie coupons, candy, pop…and other fun things.  I also gave them a special card that Stephen and I had both signed that recapped their year of what made us proud of them.

And do you know what got the most comments from the kids … the cards.  They kept reading them and talking about different things that we had written to them.  Alesha had given me the idea last year to get these cards.  She had pointed out how you can order free cards from Shutterfly.  I was like great, but why would I want cards.  Then she showed me the beauty of putting pictures of the kids on them to give to them.  I couldn’t pass up that cute idea along with them being free.  So, every time I get the free cards email from Shutterfly I get them to have for special occasions like this. 

Now to keep them busy and excited about summer!

Sweet Memo Board

I had noticed this little note squeezed in a small space a few weeks ago, “I love my famly”.  We have a huge dry erase board in our mud room that keeps us all organized with my charts and agendas.  I left this message up because I thought it was so sweet.  Then today as I was cleaning in the mud room I noticed another note written above the first one, “We love you”.

I almost cried seeing the thoughtfulness of two family members expressing their feelings.  Can I just say that I LOVE my family!!!!!  I want them to keep doing this when they are teenagers, they will won’t they?!?

Slab Project

My parents came up this last weekend.  Mom can never sit still and loves to work outside. SO, we did quite a few yard projects.  She had brought up seven more tomato plants.  I already had 10 planted, so that brings us to a total of 17 plants!  Last year we had a lot of tomatoes with just six plants, but not enough to can any salsa or spaghetti sauce.  Hopefully with this many I will have plenty to can with.  Anyway, we planted the extra ones she brought up and then a few other plants here and there.

Dad rotatilled, Jacob weeded, I mowed the lawn, mom just stayed busy raking, and then we were done and it was only noon.  That’s when we decided to put in a walking path with those giant stone slabs from Pioneer.  Yes I mean “giant”.  It took all three of us to lift them.  Stephen arrived home from Denver just in time to help us do the LAST one.  We still need to fill in the sand/rock filler in between each slab and on the sides of them.  Maybe I’ll have Steve do that.  No, I enjoy working outside too much.  I better finish off the project. 

I’m just excited to have a nice pathway to the sand/swings and then off to the trampoline.  No more stickers in little girls bare feet! 

We are the CHAMPIONS

I have so much I want to post.  My parents came up and we did a fun project, and so many other things but they will have to wait because I’m way too tired.  However, I had to post the results of today’s final.  Nathan’s team played in the Steinger tournament in Arvada (North of Denver).  The tournament started Saturday.  Stephen took Nathan up for the day.  The boys won 6-0 and then 3-1.  Sunday Nathan didn’t play, but the team continued winning.  And sooooo today they played in the final this morning.  We had to leave by 6:45am to get up there.  That’s hard when there are four girls heads of hair to do.  Nathan had us all up by 6:00am so that we wouldn’t be late.  The boys were awesome and won again making them the champions!  All of us parents had a ball chatting and cheering.

Yeah Flyers!!!  You guys were awesome!!!

The Best Toy

I would have to say hands down that the best toy for kids is…… a PET!

They spend hours playing with them.

They learn responsibility.

They exercise as they chase after them.

They feel emotions of joy, happiness and sorrow.

They are able to teach them.

And they make pictures extra cute!

Free Manure, I mean EXPENSIVE Manure

Llama manure is perfect for compost on gardens. You can put it directly on little plants and it won’t burn them. I decided that I needed to put a little here and there in our yard. Well, there was a place in the forest that had FREE llama manure. Free is always a key word with Stephen. So he took a break and we went and got some. It was fun for the two little girls to see the llamas. The lady also had a four day old baby goat that the girls got to hold. All was good, right?!?

NOT!!! On our way home Stephen got stopped by a cop for speeding. AUGGGG!!! I told the cop that I had made Stephen come with me to pick up free manure and now it was turning out to be very expensive. He came back and told us he made the manure as cheap as he could reducing the ticket from $150 to $60. Uh, couldn’t he have just given us a warning and let the manure be free again!!!!

Oh life! I spent the rest of the day digging and mixing it around all of our trees and bushes. As I was doing it I thought of this manure analogy and have to share it on my manure post because chances are I probably won’t have another manure post.

“On my way to visit the Jameses the other evening, I saw a wheat field that appeared to be greener and taller than the others. Thinking about it for awhile, I concluded that occasionally some loving farmer drives over the field with his tractor and pumps manure all over it. I thought, ‘My, it’s just like life. Here we are minding our own business, growing our little hearts out. We’re really quite green somewhat productive and very sincere. When out of the blue, life deals us a dirty one, and we’re up to our eyebrows in manure. We, of course, conclude that life as we have known it has just ended and will never be the same again. But one day, when the smell and the shock are gone, we find ourselves greener and more productive than we have been.’ Unfortunately, no matter how often we go through these growing experiences, we are never able to appreciate the sound of the tractor or the smell of the manure.”

Harold W. Wood

Learn a lesson from me, when you are going to get free manure, make sure it is free by driving slowly!

Bodies

For family home evening last night we talked about our bodies. We discussed the separation of our spirits and bodies at death. We also talked about how we are only given one body and need to take care of it here and now. We then went out into our driveway and had each other trace around our bodies with chalk. It was a fun evening together and hopefully the kids will appreciate and take care of their bodies!

The Prodigy Cup

Last weekend was a big tournament for my soccer kids.  All three were in it with their teams.  We had six games on Saturday, they each played two.  It would have been so much nicer if the weather would have cooperated.  We had to be there at 7:30am.  It was raining hard.  Needless to say, we got wet and then had to sit in the cold wind the rest of the day.  At 5:00pm, was our last game of the day and the sun finally came out to shine.  You know when you get cold, it’s just so hard to get warmed up again!  Aunt Tanya came down and watched a few games with us.  Here are some fun shots:

The next two pictures of Rebecca and Kaylee remind me of each other.  Don’t you think they are both trying a similar move on their opponent?!?

We were going to take a canopy for the sun, but after finding out that it would be windy we took our tent.  Does that just scream white trash!!!  It was perfect though because the kids stayed warm out of the wind.  I couldn’t believe how many kids were in it.  Another friend had brought Little Pet Shop and Polly Pocket so the girls would have something to play with.  Nathan’s team party was held at our tent and Kaylee’s team came inside just before their game.  I had bought a ton of snacks for the day, but they were pretty much depleted by noon because of all the kids in and out.

Back to Nathan’s team party, the coach brought a soccer ball for each boy and let them sign each other’s soccer balls.  He also gave them a team picture and wrote a personal note to them on the back.  I thought that it was neat that he wrote something about their character instead of soccer skills on the note.  On Nathan’s he wrote, “You are one of the nicest kids I know.  You are willing to work and partner up with anyone!”

Rebecca’s team took 2nd in the tournament.  She was selected by her coach to break a tie in a shoot-out.  He had to choose three girls.  He immediately picked Rebecca and told her she would go last in case they would have to seal the deal.  She did have to, and kicked a perfect goal.  Nathan’s team had to do a shoot out too and he was picked.  Sadly though, he hit the top cross bar.  He was not happy about that and kept reliving it the rest of the day.  Kaylee was incredible as usual.  She plays so tough and is like a little brick wall that the girls come up to.  I love seeing her little sly smile as she moves in for her kill on the opponent.  Anyway, a fun tournament!  We did have quite a few sunburns and sore muscles, but a lot of fun memories with teammates.

My Bloom Time is Up

I LOVE tulips and daffodils and all the other fun Spring bulbs. Here is a picture of one of my tulip groupings that is blooming right now. I have 8 groupings scattered around the front flower beds.

The bulbs withstand the cold of Colorado’s winters and come up every year. They even bloom with snow all around them. Though, I find it interesting how short their bloom time is. The Dutch bulb company states:

Depending on the weather, they should bloom for 1 to 4 weeks. If it is a dry hot spring they may bloom and wilt in say 7 days. If the spring is wet and cold or cool, the bloom could last for up to a month.

Isn’t that a short bloom time! Here they are hibernating, waiting and then only have a week to shine sometimes. (Even less if there are toddlers ready to pick them). Then they die and use their own leaves and other organic matter in the soil to replenish them and give them the nutrients that the bulbs need. That’s why you should never pick the leaves, but instead let them mulch down into the ground.

ANYWAY, I feel like the tulip. I was released today as YW President. Although my bloom time was a little longer than a week, three years to be exact! My time to shine and bloom is over. I now need to nourish myself and prepare for the next time I’m needed to bloom. I remember a talk once where a sister had brought in a gorgeous flower basket with a variety of colors and flowers. She had talked on how each flower blooms in it’s own time and then when it’s done, the foilage from it is used to accentuate the next flower that is blooming. The basket was beautiful because of the variety. She compared that to each one of us how we have our turns to shine and bloom and then we have to stand back and let others add their variety and uniqueness. Each of us has such special talents to share and give, that’s what makes life so fun learning from sooo many different people.

Anyway, my bloom time is up. I love my young women and sure will miss working with them. Each of them are special to me in their own way!

And can I close by saying one more time how much I love Spring. I had so much fun this evening walking around taking these pictures of all the beauty blooming right outside my door! And that apple blossom picture, better turn into an apple picture by this Fall!!!

On Your Mark, Get Set, GO!

 

Bring it On…

We are Ready!

Today was field day and to say that the kids were excited was an understatement.  Each class had their own color of T-shirt for field day.  I thought that would be easy to keep track of them at the 50 different events.  NOT!  It was cold and windy and so all the kids had on jackets making it very hard to keep track of the kids moving to the various stations. 

Here are some of the shots I took to capture the day.  We sure had fun as you can see!

 

 

 

There were a ton of events!  Jumping, running, parachute, face painting, tug of war, bobbing for apples, waterballoon toss, shuttle runs, football toss, relays, caterpillar, sharks and minnows, duck duck drench, jump rope … I kept asking the kids what their favorite event was and all I got was “all of them”.  Ribbons will be handed out tomorrow.  Kaylee placed 2nd in the girls 50 yard dash, not bad considering there were 30 girls she competed against (all with much longer legs).  Nathan placed 3rd in the 1/4 mile.  He was so close to second and I think that frustrated him.  I’m not sure what other ribbons the kids won, we will see tomorrow!

Thompson Memorizing Book

I found a fun picture for the cover of our “Memorization Book”. I had this idea back here http://mymixofsix.blogspot.com/2009/04/memorizing.html . It has been fun for our family to memorize together. I loved all of your ideas. I put them into the back section of the book that is “Things to Memorize” and then I have a front section of the “Things we HAVE memorized” Please send me any more ideas, quotes or poems to add to my book. Here is what we are working on right now:

Jake’s Doing Color

Jacob is now working with colors and shading.  His teacher has a dowel with different colors of ribbon on it.  Jacob says that it is very tedious and is excited to move on to comics.  As we drove home tonight Jacob said, “Thank you mom for letting me do this art class.  I really look forward to it each Tuesday.”  That made all the money and time running him to the class worth while, knowing how much he enjoys it and seeing his talent develop even more!