Fall Campout

Every year we go camping in October for Grant's birthday.  Every year we like to try out a different camp ground.  For a few weeks leading up to our campout, Spencer would ask me everyday if it was time.  Finally when the day arrived he was so excited that he had to share the good news with his teacher.  I am so glad our kids love going camping, it sure makes the experience easier.  This time we went to Cleburne State Park.  We picked it because of the close proximity to our house.  With the kids in school it is hard to go anywhere far.  When we arrived we were shocked to see how small the camp spots were.  It was pretty tricky to get our big tent sent up in our spot, but we managed.  Because the campsite was so small the water to our camp site was inside the porch area to our tent.  We had to keep a close watch on Spencer as he could easily flood our campsite with his love of water.  After we set up camp we went and explored the playground, during our exploration we discovered two black cats that were obviously use to people and not scared one bit to walk into a camp site meowing for food.  We had to leave camp to get ice (there is always something we forget) and while we were out, we decided to rough it by getting some hamburgers to make dinner a little easier.  We brought our DVD player to watch a movie, I know we are sure rough campers.  Our kids are not really into the whole sit by the firer and talk, so instead we gather in the tent cuddle up in our sleeping bags and watch a movie with lots of junk food.  We crashed around 10:00 only to woken up by flashing red lights and lots of vehicles.  We later found out that one of the campers next to us got bitten by insect and had an allergic reaction.  After breakfast the next day we enjoyed a good hike to several scenic overlooks.  The scenic views were pretty, but for someone who is scared of heights the view was great from a distance. I might be scared of heights, but my kids aren't; which makes mom's heart race.  I start to play these silly what if scenarios in my head and then I start to visualize my kids tripping and falling down the cliff.  It is just best that I don't look, sure glad their Dad doesn't have that problem.  Spencer did good for most of the hike, but on our way back he sure let us know how tired he was and how much he wanted to go home.  After our hike we checked out and on our way home we all enjoyed a yummy treat from Dairy Queen.  It was another successful camping experience!

Grant had a very nice birthday, with lots of treats along the way.  Madeline and I took him out for lunch, the kids had fun wrapping his presents, decorating the kitchen, and making a super yummy cake.  Grant asked for a Dark Chocolate Cake and that is what we delivered.  It was a Dark Chocolate cake mix, with Dark Chocolate chunks mixed in.  The frosting was dark chocolate sprinkled with dark chocolate m&m's.  It was rich and Grant was the only one able to eat his whole piece, after one bite the kids and I were out.  It was definitely a rich cake.  A few days before Grant's birthday I took the kids to the store to let them pick out what they wanted to give their Daddy.  Madeline wanted to get him some mechanical pencils for work, Anthony chose jammie pants, and Spencer thought his dad would love every Angry Bird toy they had.  Spencer felt that since he liked Angry Birds, then everyone liked Angry Birds.  I had to keep steering Spencer away from the angry birds with my suggestions of other gifts that Daddy might like.  I won the battle with the angry birds, but finally gave in with Perry the Platypus (Spencer's second great love).  Grant loved all of his gifts and really enjoyed his Perry the Platypus shirt, though I think Spencer was even more excited then his Daddy.  We are sure lucky and blessed to have Grant as a Daddy and Husband.

Back To School

2012-2013 School Year

Anthony:  Fifth Grade.  Mrs. Breunig, same teacher he had in 3rd Grade.

Spencer:  Kindergarten.  Mrs. Briggs, same teacher Anthony had in Kindergarten.

I thought it would be nice while the boys were at school to decorate their room and to leave them a nice note.  The boys loved the decorations and insisted they stay up until the last piece of streamer fell off.  Madeline and I also made some cookies for us all to enjoy while we heard about the exciting things that happened on the first day.  I like being able to do things to let them know they are special and that they are loved at home.

Madeline started school a week after the boys did.  I wanted to do a surprise for her too, but knew that decorating her room was out.  Grant and I decided that he could bring home a treat for Madeline when he came home from work.  Madeline loves Lemonade and pink, so we decided a small bottle of Lemonade tied to a pink balloon would be the perfect Back to School treat!

Back To School Feast

I know Halloween is right around the corner and I am just now getting to Back to School fun, but sometimes life happens.

We have a tradition in our family where we have a Back to School feast Sunday night before school starts.  We decorate our kitchen, make a (semi) fancy dinner, and introduce our theme for the year.  The kids love it and they love the special attention that they receive.  This year we combined another tradition we have and that is using the current General Conference talks for our FHE lessons.  This time we did Elder Perry's talk about the power of Deliverance.  We focused our lesson on the part of where Abraham and the People of King Benjamin had the doors of their tents facing.  From Elder Perry's talk we learned that their doors faced the temple.  We applied this to us that if we have our doors (mind, eyes, and actions) facing towards the temple then we will be able to resist any temptation that might come our way.  Furthermore, we will have the spirit as well as the influence of the Holy Ghost to lead and guide us.  To help illustrate this we made tents (King Benjamin) style and we had the door of the tent facing our Temple picture hanging on the wall.  It was neat to be able to bear testimony to our kids of the importance of the Temple, the blessings that come from the Temple, and joy that comes when we keep our eye on the Temple.  To help them visualize this goal, I displayed pictures of the kids I took of them in front of the Kansas City Temple.  On the picture I printed the words I am going inside someday.  

After our feast and after our Back to School message/FHE it was time for Father's Blessings.  I love this about our tradition.  The mood is already set, the spirit is already felt which leads nicely into their blessings.  After the blessings were given it was time to get ready for bed to rest up for the new school year.

I love that our kids look forward to this every year.  I like that they ask what the message is going to be.  I like that Grant and I are striving to make Back to School not only a fun and exciting experience, but a spiritual one as well.  I know the kids are faced with temptations and decisions to make, and I like to think that we are fortifying them to face the battles that our out there.  I cherish the spiritual moments we have in our home and the testimony building experiences we experience as a family.  I know these moments are building blocks to their own testimony and to their own spiritual foundation.  I love to be able to share with my children those things that I hold true and the things that are of most worth to me.  I am grateful for the blessings of the Temple and for my Eternal Family.  To know the blessings, the joy, and the happiness that we experience here on earth will only continue with us in the next life and the moments that we experience here will only add to what we will experience in Heaven.  I am grateful that the Temple is a bridge between here and our Heavenly Father.  The Temple has been a huge blessing in my life and I hope our children will not only see the blessing but feel the blessings of the Temple in their own life.

Glow in the Dark Fun

One of the last things we did from our Summertime board was Glow in the Dark night.  I spent some time gathering glow in the dark ideas in preparation for our night of fun.  The kids really enjoyed building pyramids from plastic cups, adding glow in the dark bracelets to them and sprinkling their Lego figures throughout their pyramids.  Once the lights were off, an epic, glow in the dark Nerf gun battle ensue.  Once our pyramids and Lego figures were knocked over, the lights came back on and we again built imaginative pyramid creations and started the battle over again.  Spencer had more fun building the pyramids, he did get frustrated over the fact that his legs or arms would bump up against his pyramid and knock it over.  He just couldn't understand why his pyramids kept knocking over and he having to keep building.  Once we did a few rounds of glow in the dark Nerf gun fun, we gathered up our rings for glow in the dark ring toss.  This was fun for everyone, and kept our attention as we tried to get our rings around our glow stick pole-pretty tricky in the dark.  To end our glow in the dark fun, we had glow in the dark sprite, which is easy to make.  The kids really liked the fact that their drink lit up in the dark.  Our glow in the dark fun was a popular hit in our family, that we are planning our next fun.  This time we want to do glow in the dark bowling, Frisbee, balloon toss, and we will probably have fun with the Nerf bullets.  I am grateful that Target has the glow sticks in the dollar section, and with it being Halloween it is a prefect time to stock up.