Love this List!

These kids are my full time job all day every day -

As with any job, you are always looking for ways to become better and improve.  Most jobs have check lists and special procedures to follow.

Tonight I found this list on Clover Lane.  I tweaked it a little to apply to MY family, and thought that I would share it.

1. I took the time to step back and react like a mature adult in charge of the situation.  I educated and taught instead of getting angry.
2. I looked into the eyes of each child with a smile on my face. Not always, but often. 
3. I took the time to search out a little piece of goodness in each one and let them know it. 
4. I went outside with them, in any kind of weather, for a walk, or to play.
5. I shared my testimony in either action or word.
6. I got down on my hands and knees to play,  and read books with the little ones.
7. I was "ready" for the older ones when they got home from school.
8. I fed us all healthy food and we ate together as a family.
9. I kept our house relatively cleaned and straightened, supplied with good music and good things to do... books, creative toys.
10. I tucked freshly scrubbed, shampoo-smelling children into bed...and spent a little time reading or talking about their day before lights-out.
11. I prayed for each of my children.



I think I need to print up a little check list to review each night.  Reminders are always good for me.  I know that I can never do ALL these perfectly everyday, but I can always try.  Some days I might only be able to do a few on the list, but it's good to remember them.

I'm sure my kids would tell you that I need some kind of check list to be a better mom.  On Monday I freaked out at Jacob wanting to play Othello with me because the Final Four championship was on. "Why would I want to play that with you, when this game is on?..." Not a stellar moment.  Also on Monday another freak out when Ashley was in the gym watching me play basketball.  I told her she couldn't leave the gym, nor cross the line on to the court to talk with me.  Well after an hour of sitting there, she proceeded to pee on my friend's basketball that she was sitting on.  She didn't leave the gym nor bother me, but hello why pee on the ball?!?!?  When I saw what she had done, another freak out. 
So you see this is why I need a list to help me along a bit.
What would make your list?

Pinewood Derby

You take these three

They come up with this

And then it hits the finish line like this

Way to go guys!  First place in the Weblos division!

Tomatoes

I have had this little tomato routine for quite a few years now.  I plant my seeds inside around Valentine's Day.  Then the first weekend of April I plant them outside in wall of waters.  Yes, April is very early to plant outside.  We still have blizzards that come through.  Snow piles up.  Yet, with the wall of waters they just keep growing away and aren't even phased by the cold.  Then when we hit mid-May, and it's time to start buying seedlings in the store for $4, I don't need to because mine are just as big if not BiGGeR!!!

It saves money, which is always a plus with Stephen.  AND is fun for me to plant and start growing a little earlier than May.

My parents are here right now and mom helped me plant a few more outside today.  The others that I planted last Friday have already braved two snow falls.  Take a look at one inside the wall of water ...

I'm already imagining the tomatoes that are soon to come.  I just can't wait to start planting more things.  Hurry Spring, Hurry Spring!

Random

I am so random!  My blog is such a hodge podge of things.  I post a few recipes here, a craft there, some photography, then add a little family journaling.  The problem is that I have extended family checking to see what my family is up to and end up getting a craft post.  Then I have crafters checking for a new idea and end up reading about my family's trip somewhere.  Throw in my FHE's, holiday traditions and stories, and it is just such a blog of randomness.

I think that's just me though!  I am interested in a variety of things and not really a master in any ONE thing.  So I just post all the things that I enjoy and that I'm doing.  This blog really serves the purpose of journaling my family and sharing with others.
And since this is a hodge podge blog, here is a photo of my  niece from yesterday ...
 
And here is one of my favorite cakes that I made yesterday... And probably have made a few too many times according to my girth.


So yes I do recognize that this is a random blog.  Just bare with the posts of what you aren't interested in because sooner or later I'm sure I will post something that you are interested in!

Easter

We had a very busy, but fun Easter weekend.  On Friday the kids and I went and "Egged" a few families.  We hid plastic Easter eggs with candies all over their yards and then left this note on the doorsteps as we rung the doorbells and ran.

The Webb family came and got us first this year.  Thanks for doing us, the kids always love to get egged as well as egg others.

That afternoon the girls worked on a little nest project.  Ashley was LOVING the wet glue.


You drape the gluey yarn all over and then let it dry overnight.  In the morning you have a fun little nest.  You can see the project HERE.  Of course as soon as they saw their nests they wanted to make little birds to go into them, always a project! 

Also, I wanted to post who is in the picture for our holiday shelf.  It is....  Nathan in the coveted frame this month.  I thought it was a cute picture of him. 
I will have to post the holiday shelf and a few other favorite decorations this week.
We also dyed Easter eggs, which is always fun to see the color combinations.

Jerrica was quite on the blue side ... check out her blue freckles.
Take a look at how stained and "wrinkled" her fingers are from "soaking" her hands in the dye with her eggs.
 
She did start out nice and clean

Someone was cheesy ...

 
 
 
We had a yummy Easter dinner.  For some reason I always eat too much when there is ham AND funeral potatoes.  They just go so well together.  We set the table with a Christ centerpiece.  I had a different picture on the back so that each side of the table had something to look at.  I wish that I would've picked up some daffodils yesterday to go along with it.

I loved hearing Jerrica say, "There's Jesus!"  And Ashley explain, "Ya, Jerrica this is Jesus' holiday.  This is His special day."  I just loved the conversation as we ate because Christ was the center of it.

Here is another one of our Easter Decorations that is Christ centered.  It is ceramic and reminds me of a nativity except that it symbolizes Christ's resurrection.  I have loved seeing Ashley and Jerrica looking and talking about it. 
 
Mix in General Conference, soccer games, the final four games, a little gardening and it was a great weekend!  I'm just sad that Easter is over.  It seems like it comes too quickly to fully enjoy!

Kaylee's Pep Talk

Saturday morning Kaylee was helping Ashley get her shin guards and soccer shoes on.  I was folding clothes and listening in on their conversation.  Kaylee told Ashley, "Ash you have to play really hard.  Then it doesn't matter if you win or lose, YOU will feel good because you played your hardest"  I thought that was so cute.  She has probably heard that from her coach and liked it, so she was passing it on to her little sister.

Kaylee's game was two hours away up close to Cheyenne, Wyoming, and she ended up going with a friend.  As I was talking to the friend's mom she said, "If everyone would have hustled as much as Kaylee, we would have won the game."  Then another mom from Kaylee's team caught me later on that night and told me how hard Kaylee works in her games.

As I drove home I thought about what Kaylee was telling Ashley.  I think that it IS her little motto.  And yes she does always feel good whether they win or lose because of all she gives of herself during the game.

One Last Prank Post

This April Fool's prank was a classic that my Grandma Jackie used to do.  I remember when I was a little girl and tasted the first one.  I couldn't resist sharing Grandma's little prank with my kids today.  The little girls were once again my accomplices. 

Yes they may appear like Easter nest cupcakes, but oh do appearances lie on April Fools.  We stuck cotton balls into the cupcake papers before we poured the batter into the cups.  By doing this you have perfect little cupcakes with quite a surprise center.   You won't lose teeth on these.

You will however feel like you have bitten into a hair ball.  I wish I could've taken a picture of the kids eating them afterschool, but that would have given it away to have my camera out.  "Mom, there's HAIR in my cupcake, like a lot of hair"  "Mom I don't like your Easter cupcakes....."  HA that's because they aren't Easter cupcakes, they are April Fool's cupcakes!

April Fool's

Stephen got home from playing basketball at midnight.  He proceeds to get me up away from the laptop to go Saran Wrap the kids' doorways to their bedrooms.  I thought "Oh boy here we start the trickery".  The sad part of the trick was that Kaylee woke up in the middle of the night from a bad dream and walked right through the Saran Wrap freaking her out even more.

This morning I made the lunches. 

Ash was quite excited yesterday to switch out the chips and water bottles with me.  She kept doing her wild laugh as we were doing it.  My favorite part of the lunch was this cute little ant on the lunchmeat.

Rebecca said, "Oh mom, I just can't wait for lunch today!"  I love that they have something to look forward to.  You could even tell that the boys were excited.  I just LOVE holidays!  They give us a break from the same old same old.

I best get busy for the day.  My laundry and house are waiting for me to start working on them.

I do have a few more pranks up my sleeve for the day.  Do you have any good pranks?

Mom Video

This afternoon after I picked up the kids from school, I started going through the agenda of the rest of our Wednesday.  As I reminded Jacob that he had his art class and Nathan of soccer practice, they were both so stoked to be going to their different places.  I smiled to myself, excited that they each have a talent that they LOVE to do.  Now to find what each of the four girls REALLY enjoy doing.
Then tonight I came across this video and it reminded me of chasing around kids this afternoon.  I don't know how I missed this commercial during the Olympics, but I did.  Just in case YOU missed it, here it is.

Tom the Beetle

Would you like to meet Tom?

He is Ashley's new pet.

She loves having him walk on her hands and legs tickling her.  Today she kept him in a little zip-loc container and took him into every store that we went to.  If you stopped to talk with us at the store, she would be quick to bring Tom out to introduce him.  She is quite proud of her beetle.

The sad part of Ashley's pet is that Jerrica is petrified of bugs.  When she sees one she screams bloody murder.  I usually go running thinking that she is hurt, to only find a small bug crawling on the dirt.

We will see how long Tom lasts.  I'm hoping that we can part ways tomorrow.  I think Tom needs to go find his home outside tomorrow.

Take the Bite

Last week we were at my mom's on Monday night for FHE.  I had brought the following story and thought that it would be fun for my mom to act it out.  She LOVES to work outside and has plenty of props for the story AND she is always good to ham it up.  I really wanted my kids to hear this story and wanted them to remember it.  I knew that if they had the visual image of Grandma acting this out, they wouldn't forget it.
Here is the story that I narrated as mom performed-

People will tell you that if you leave wasps alone, they will leave you alone.  Those people have never spent much time in a garden.  I have been stung countless times when I was just minding my own business.  The wasp sting teaches an important life lesson.

One day while working in my garden, a wasp landed on my shoulder.  When I tried to brush him aside, I flicked him onto my neck where he promptly stung me.  I'd been stung before but this was one sting too many.  Angry, I went to the shed and I grabbed a can of spray and a fly swatter.  I covered my face with cheesecloth and put on a hat to cover my head.  I pulled on a thick, long-sleeved shirt and snatched a pair of gloves.  I was headed to the garden for a war.  My mission was to eliminate any wasp that buzzed within fifty yards of my garden.

Two hours later, the potatoes were still full of weeds that hadn't been hoed, the water hadn't been turned on, and I hadn't thinned the carrots.  It didn't matter, I was going to kill all the wasps God ever created.  I had killed dozens of them.  The problem was that they never seemed to go away.  I'm sure I looked ridiculous waving and swatting and spraying and jumping around.  It took me half a day to realize how crazy I was being.  There would always be more wasps than I could kill.

Life is the same.  There will be times when you are minding your own business, hurting no one.  Then someone will come along and sting you.  You have two choices.  One is to get angry and waste days of your life swatting away; if you do you will find that you've accomplished nothing.  The better path is to protect yourself the best you can and enjoy your garden.  When you do get stung, it will hurt, you may cry and wonder what you did to deserve this.  Let it end there, take a deep breath, place a dab of mud on the sting, wipe your tears, and put a smile back on your face.  Turn back to your garden and enjoy it.  Take the Bite and Move ON!

We ended the evening talking about "taking the Bite and moving on"  I feel like so many times we consume ourselves, being upset about something that we can't change.  It could be a test score, an encounter with someone, a loss at a game, a negative comment ... it goes on and on in this life.  I am notorious for analyzing things and thinking way too much about them, instead of taking the bite and moving on.

I love being able to say to my kids "Take the Bite and Move On" and know that they understand what that means.  I don't want them to spend all their time swatting, when in the end it does no good.

Thanks for being such a great actress mom!!!

Spring Break Recap

Of course it wouldn't be Spring Break without going to Uncle Warren's Dairy -

We had quite a bit of snow come through during the break.  The night we came home from my parents the roads were horrible and Colorado Springs being so hilly didn't help.  There were sooo many cars off the roads.  One of our main roads had such a pile up that it was closed down.  We tried taking back roads to avoid the accidents, but couldn't make it to the crest of this hill.  Stephen and the boys got out and kept pushing other cars and vans up the hill.  I was so scared that they were going to slip and get run over.  Finally, we made it home and it felt sooo good to be inside our warm home as the wind howled.

Because of the snow, we had a lot of snow play.  There were forts built with stashes of snowballs, snow caves made in the ditch bank drifts, and of course a big snowman was created.

 

The kids also did their artwork for the Aaron Brother's "Green Earth" contest.  They finished them off and we turned them in.  It was fun to see their different ideas and creativity. 

A bike ride with Grandpa AND rides on the go cart.

We switched two brothers for two sisters one night.  Always when the Mason sisters come over we have to get out the hot wax and do manicures. 

We also ended the week with a basketball tournament for Kaylee.  She is sooo aggressive and quick.  I love to watch her, but just wish that she would grow.  She is in the third grade and they played in the 4th and 5th grade division.  Some of those girls were VERY tall.

Throw in the Horn guy, home theater, alligator farm and lots of cleaning AND that's what we did for Spring Break 2010!

Black and White Photos

I remember years ago when I would buy black and white film because I loved the look and that's what you had to do to get black and white pictures.  I would fill up an entire roll and then only like a couple of the pictures.  It seems like some pictures look really good in black and white whereas others, not so much.  I LOVE this day and age that we live in where we don't have to use black and white film to get black and white pictures.  I LOVE that I can run different actions creating a different feel to each picture.

Today I had my camera out studying something and Ashley and Rebecca came in fighting.  Ashley was claiming that she was Hannah Montana with her guitar and the mean older sister was right there in her face reminding her that she was 'just' Ashley Thompson and NOT Hannah Montana.  Of course there were tears and drama, until Rebecca left and I let Ashley pretend that she really was Hannah Montana.

I loved these two pictures.  But I loved even more that I could change them into black and white.

 

I am amazed at how cheap photos are now.  With digital cameras we don't have to buy film, we don't have to process pictures that are duds and won't turn out, and processing is even cheaper than it used to be.  I took a lot of pictures during those film years, but I dare say that I take a TON more now in this digital era.

One more quick photography thing.  I just found this site and LOVED the textures.  It is Shadow House Creations.  Go check it out and download some of his fun textures - they're FREE!

Home Theater

I LOVE doing this because the kids clean like crazy trying to earn tickets AND we don't spend a bundle at the theater on tickets and treats (Believe me EIGHT people at the theater adds up).  I bought generic tickets at Wal-Mart for $2 which have lasted and will last forever.  The morning of our theater I start handing out tickets for various completed jobs.  It amazes me how quickly things get cleaned and done.

I then set out my theater concessions.  They have to have so many tickets to actually see the movie.  Then pay for various treats AND for pillows and blankets to snuggle in and on. 
It's fun to see how the kids spend their tickets. 

At any rate the kids sure enjoy this, AND I LOVE having the house all clean.  What do you do for your family movie nights?

I Love that Horny Guy

I was going to post all of our Spring Break activities in one post, BUT couldn't resist slipping this one in.

We went to see Dave the Horn Guy today.  He has 25 different toned horns strapped all around him.  He then does this little act where he plays various songs using them.  He was hyper and fun. 

What I kept laughing at was Ashley.  She kept turning around and telling me, "I LOVE that Horny Guy".  I would smile and correct her that he was the HORN guy.  5 minutes wouldn't pass by before she would repeat how she loves the horny guy. 

Isn't is funny how just one letter in the English language can change the context of a sentence.

When it was over and I was trying to take a picture, Ashley wouldn't get in the picture because according to her, "He is too horny!"  With that comment I literally WAS laughing!

Check him out in action.

The Winner

I was excited to be able to do the giveaway.  BUT I think that I was even MORE excited to read each of your sweet comments.  I wish that I had 44 puppets to giveaway.

I ran the numbers through the Random Generator.  Tried to copy the page with the winning number, but couldn't figure out how to do it.  The winning number was five and the fifth comment was from ...

Dana - Chandler, Arizona

Congratulations!  I hope you enjoy your new addition.  Please email me your address so that CSN Stores can ship him out!  Thanks again CSN Stores for your generosity AND thanks again to all of you for your sweet comments!

Alligator Farm

Down by my parents house there is a hot springs where this man decided to raise Tilapia Fish to sell.  They needed some way to dispose of the garbage and fish that die SO they got an alligator, AND now they have 300 alligators and crocodiles (mainly alligators)!  He has been doing this for 23 years now.

 

The sex of the offspring is determined by the temperature in the nest, and is fixed within 7 to 21 days of the start of incubation.

Another favorite part was the HUGE swings that they had by the parking lot.  You could go soooo high.  Kaylee went with Stephen once and was screaming to get off because they were going so high.  I LOVE the beautiful background of Mount Blanca in the back.

Kaylee wasn't only scared on the swings ... holding the baby alligator was a little terrifying for her as well.

They have tortoises crawling around the walk ways.  Jerrica was all eyes and LOVED touching their shells.

My mom kept running her finger up the back of my leg scaring me that an alligator was out.  I'm just always a little nervous around them.  They look so slow and lazy, yet sure can move fast when they want to.

Alligators are born black, but the sun then bleaches their color.

I HAVE to write all these little facts down because I know that I will soon forget them all.  Thanks for coming with us Mom!

We will see you in a while Mr. Crocodile ...