Fun Fridays

This summer I wanted to try and work with the boys on doing some daily school work each morning to help them not feel to behind when school came back around in Aug. 

So this summer in addition to our county study on Sundays we added daily reading, writing and math work. For the most part they did okay doing their school, and it kept us in a good routine for the week. When we started I told them if they did a good job durning the week getting their school work done we would do some fun things on Fridays.  

They were very excited about this deal and the first full they completed their work I took them out to Chik-fli-A for lunch. I was a pretty warm day and they all love this place, so they were excited to go for lunch. After getting there meals I told them they could play in the play place for a little bit when they were done. 

It was nice that we had a little later lunch so we pretty much had the play area to ourselves. Olivia didn't eat quite as fast as the boys did and had fun watching them through the window. After she finished up the boys came down and played with her in the little toddler area. She had a lot of fun as well and was able to take a nice nap when we got home : ) 

Creating a dinosaur

When Thomas turned eight he officially become a cub scout. He was actually really excited about this as well. We were able to go to the scout office shortly after his birthday and get all the stuff he needed to get started. 

Since I grew up with sisters and this is my first boy my scout knowledge is pretty limited. As I get more involved I am slowly learning. I guess this year as well the scouts revamped the whole program so there has also been a lot of changes. 

These changes didn't affect me at all because I didn't have anything to compare it to so that was nice. When we looked at the new book for a wolf we were able to see what kinds of things he needed to work on to get his badges and the belt loop. There are 6 required sections and you can pick 1 elective to earn your wolf badge. The elective he picked was digging in the past. One of the activities was to create your own dinosaur and give it a name. 

He was really excited about this project. So this is what he created out of the recycled products he had. He named it volcanoasaurs. It took him a few days to create it but he thought it was pretty cool and had a lot of fun making it. 

Learning about England

For the summer Eric and I wanted to do some fun learning stuff with the kids. One of the things that we settled on was learning about different counties. On Sundays after church we had country days. 

Thomas was really excited about this sup was a little more hesitant. We wanted to start out with something not too crazy so Eric and I settled on England. After doing a little research we thought it would be fun to try badminton with them. This was and interesting event. Our sweet Liva loved the birdie so it ended up being a little bit of a keep away. Even though we had two birdies she wanted the one that was being played with. 

While I was getting things ready for dinner Eric sat down with the kids to tell them a few fun facts about England. We got out our art box and the kids made an England flag. 

For dinner we had the traditional fish and chips. It was hard to find a non beer battered fish and chips but I was successful and they turned out great. I had gotten these baskets a few years ago and was able to pull them out for a fun presentation.

The boys were super excited about having fish. We do not have it very often so it was nice for me to cook something a little different. Looking for a fun drink was also challenging but we were able to find an English apple cider drink with a cinnamon sticks. This had mixed reviews. It seems that apple pie is a popular dessert so we had that for dessert. Overall it went well with just a little bit of complaining ; )

Thomas gets baptized

I think at this age all kids are excited about their birthdays, but turning 8 in our church is extra special because it is the age of accountability. This means you can get baptized to be a member of the church and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 

 Since Thomas is my first born it was a little bit of a learning curve to make sure we had everything we needed for him to get baptized on the 24th. We decided to go with a verily simple baptism program and would have a fun dinner with treats after the baptism. 

We had several family members come into town to see the baptism. After church we came home and got a quick snack and head back up to church to get things ready. Eric and Thomas changed into the jumpsuits and they were ready to go. I also realized how low much easier it is to have a boy in this respect. All we wanted him to have was a nice suit for after the program, and no worries about a dress of hair : )

 We had set up a simple table with a few pictures and some note cards people could write a little note Thomas. He had a lot of fun reading these when he got home. It will be nice to save these for him to read when he gets older as well : ) Thomas was a little nervous to go all the way under but they successfully did it the first time around. Which was nice because I heard the water was a little cold ; ) 

 We had a nice little program after with some talks and the confirmation. It was a beautiful day so we were able to get some nice pictures outside of the chapel. I think the whole thing lasted just under a hour and we were home making our special dinner. 

For dinner we had a nice spread of cheese, bread and meat fondu with some vegetables and fruit to go along with it. For his special treat Thomas wanted to have a big ice cream bar. This was fun for me as we were able to have all kinds of fun toppings! It was a fun and exciting day for everyone evolved : ) 

Health Day

The last day of school the elementary school holds its annual health day. It's nice because all parents and friends are invited to come and watch the events. 

Since the last day of school was moved from Thursday to Friday for make-up days, the last day of school once again fell on Thomas' birthday. He actually really likes having his birthday being the last day of school, he says its because everyone is happy and it is a fun day of school ;) 

This year we were able to have Gramma, Papa and Aunt Sara come and watch the events for both Thomas and Sup. Each grade goes at at different time. This year Thomas's events were at the beginning of the day. He was actually able to participate in all three of the events. 

The first event was the running. It was a false start the first time around and it was nice to see that Thomas was one of the three kids who didn't run. He is a very polite runner so even though he didn't place he seemed to have a good time with having the chance to run in the event. 

The next event was the tug-of-war. Thomas told us that it was the event he liked least but he was willing to do his part. With each class they get to compete with each other and the first go around they won. When it came to the knock out round they came in second and were happy with that result. Next was the ballon toss. Everyone gets to play this event and are partnered with one of their classmates. Thomas and his partner did really well this time around. And his class ended up taking first place for the overall events. 

Kindergaten was the last of the day so his events were not until the afternoon. So when they came out all these little kindergartners were all ready to go and had a lot of energy to play in the events. Sup was disappointed that he wasn't able to do the run. He was an alternate and everyone in his class showed so he was just in the cheer section. Although he is more of my social butterfly and was also happy that he could sit and chitchat to his friend next to him. 

His next event was the tug of war. Even though Phillip has a lot of energy he is on the small side for his age. It didn't seemed to stop him and he was going to try and pull the rope as hard as he could. After a bit his class ended up being pulled across the line. At first he was disappointed that they lost and then was okay that they didn't have to go again because he had used all his energy for the first pull ; ) 

Next was the ballon toss. He didn't get splashed in the face so that was good, and he was able to get in three tosses before his hit the ground and splashed. I was amazed that the kindergarten did just as well as the 2nd graders and I think even a few made it after farther. It was a fun day and the boys loved having everyone come and watch : )

Teacher gifts

The boys and I like to give their teachers and and their assistants a little gift each year at the end of school. After looking at some ideas we decided to go with these cute little "gum ball" machines. The originals ones we seen were painted for valentines day but we came up with some different ideas to make them look more for a school or teacher.  

They were really excited to make them. After I got the clay pots I had the boys paint them red. The first paint we got didn't really work, so we had to go back and try a different type of paint. This second paint worked great and we got the bright red color we were looking for. We glued on the glass bowls and the wooded balls next and were able to fill them with the hershey kisses. We found some fun scrapbook stickers and the boys were able to decorate the pots and put on a little note and this was the end results. We had to wait to the beginning of the school year this year to give Thomas' teachers hers because she was gone on the last day. But it was nice to be able to carry just the two into Phillip's class. They were a big hit and all of the teachers really liked them : )

Celebrating Thomas turning 8

With Thomas' birthday falling on a Friday and being the last day of school and with the arrival of our family members coming into town for his baptism we had his birthday celebration the day before. 

At first he wasn't too keen on this idea but we were able to talk him into by letting him know that he could open his present a day earlier. That Thursday we also needed to pick up Gramma and Papa up from the airport so it was a busy day. 

After the boys got home from school we loaded up in Aunt Sara's car and our truck so we could fit everyone and all the luggage Gramma and Papa brought. When we got home from the airport it was time to make dinner. 

Thomas decided to go with steak for him and we had grilled chicken for everyone else. For the rest of his dinner we had steak fries, crescents rolls, strawberries, and blueberries. After all the stress of the day dinner was delicious and we were all able to have a nice dinner and a nice visit. 

Thomas went with a minion cake this year. I was a little surprised by this and he went back and forth with what kind of cake he wanted. He didn't actually pin point what we wanted until about two days before his birthday. He was thinking about a halo helmet so when he went with the minion head I was much more excited about the minion because it was a lot easier to decorate. 

Neither Sup or Thomas picked a chocolate flavored which was disappointing to Daddy but Thomas went with a strawberry flavored cake and mint chocolate ice cream. He was very excited about his birthday and after we had cake it was time to open his gifts. With his birthday he said that he wanted some kind of video game. 

 As we were looking for something that he would enjoy and not to complicated to play we went with the Disney Infinity game. We were able to get him the game a some of the game pieces to go with it. It worked out really well and loved his gift. Because both of the boys still had school the next day after gifts it was time for bed : )

Field trip to the zoo

May is a busy month for us. With the both boys having birthdays and the end of school and this year we were preparing for Thomas' baptism, it was nice to be able to have some fun with Phillip at the zoo. 

Each year the kindergarten goes to the zoo for their last field trip at the end of the year. This is a fun one because all the parents are invited to go and you are able to take your child with you and usually take another classmate with you. 

This year on the original day it was suppose to be on May 18th, but it was raining so they had to move it to the following day the 19th. Sup was disappointed he wasn't able to go on the original day but I was able to let him know that he would be able to hopefully go the next day if it was not raining. 

Thankfully the 19th was a beautiful day! Nice and sunny and not too warm. It was nice I was able to meet up with a friend from church so we were able to take our two group of kids around together. It was nice because all the kids were interested in see and watching the animals so we were able to take our time. 

Because Aunt Sara was down for the week she was watching Livvy for me so I could go with Sup. We were hoping to meet up with them so we could see the zoo with them as well, but we ended up going different directions and were never able to meet up with them. But they both had a fun time too and Livyy loved seeing all the animals : ) 

In one spot in the zoo there are a bunch of peacocks that are freely walking around. Sup was fascinated with them and kept trying to follow them and chase them. I was amazed to see how close he was able to it! It looked like they were staring one another down ; )

They also had this fun play place with slides and ropes to climb in the middle of the zoo. All the kids were interested in this and we were able to spend a good amount of time there. About half way back to the front of the park there were complaints that they weren't going to be able to make it but we were able to make it back to the meeting spot and their teachers. It was was fun morning and I was glad to be apart of it : )

Sup turns 6!

This year Sup's birthday fell on a Sunday. He was very excited about his birthday this year, although like a typical 6 year old he wanted to stay home to celebrate and not go to church. 

With some persuasion we told him that when we got home and he was good at church he could open his presents. This seemed to work and when we got home just after 2 from church he was ready to see what fun things he got for his birthday. 

He was pretty excited about his all the gifts he received. Last year shortly after his birthday he said he wanted a pet toad. We had asked him if that was something he still wanted and he said yes. So for one of his gifts we got him a terrarium to put some toads in it. 

Like every birthday they get to pick everything on the menu. Sups menu was very random but he enjoyed it. We had sausage patties, hot dogs, blue pancakes, strawberries, and marconi and cheese. He was also excited because Aunt Sara came down for the week and was able to enjoy his birthday dinner with us as well. 

Aunt Sara also was able to bring him some toads that some of our our family members found for him to put in his terrarium. Once he got his toads in, he was much more excited about his terrarium gift. Aunt Sara was able to successfully bring him two toads. He named them Hobbley Wobbly and Standy. 

After getting his toads all set I was able to finish decorating his cake. This year he requested a ninja turtle cake. His favorite is Michelangelo. I figured the two circle cake pan would be perfect for this. There was one mistake that I made with is face, I put the dots on the wrong side. But thankfully he didn't notice and was excited to see his cake. 

During his "Happy Birthday" song he was thinking really hard on what one wish he wanted to make when he blew out his candle. We thought it was pretty cute ; )

After much thought and thinking about it really hard he blew out his candle and we were able to cut his cake. This year he went with a blue raspberry cake. It wasn't too bad and he loved having a blue cake for his 6th birthday!

Spring soccer 2015

When spring rolls around it was time to talk about soccer again. Both of the boys were interested in still doing it and after spring break their season started up. Both of the boys enjoyed there teams and it was nice to see them progress even from just doing fall soccer for Sup. 

Again this spring season the boys had practices on different days and Thomas had a majority of his games on Fridays and Sup's games on Saturday. So I was still going up to the soccer fields 3 to four times a week. Although I am not a fan at all for doing this in the evenings, I am able to get through it.

Sup had really improved his game from the fall. He is starting to get the understanding of the different positions and what each of the rolls are. His favorite position is offense, and he became pretty good at it. He was able to score 4 goals this spring and one game he had 2 scores. He was really pumped about this. Thomas on the other hand who had been playing longer had not scored in any game and was not very happy about this fact. 

Even though he didn't score he had the same coach he did in the fall and really became good at understanding the game. The last game where he got his metal here and he is looking all pouty was the best picture I could get at the time. His last game was the day after Phillip's and they had to call it early because there was lightening in the area. So he was mad that he couldn't finish his game and Sup did…… It was a long drive home for him and me too ; ) 

Daddy's helper

After all the tear down was done in the bathroom it was time to start putting it back together with new materials/wall/floors. 

One of the big reasons we wanted to redo this bathroom first is when the previous owners "redid" this bathroom they did it to look nice but didn't do it right. They did use the right drywall and the put the tiles up they did have any moisture barrier. So everything had to be taken out to the studs and done the right way to prevent moisture and mold issues. 

After we got the walls back up and the drywall put up it was time to put down the floor. With the cement bored after it was cut it was time to screw it down. Livvy loves to help with jobs, and we hope she will keep this excitement, so she was in charge of handing Daddy the screws. 

She thought this was the best thing and was sad when they got the floor all in. It was nice to start seeing some of the project come together : )

Dutch Oven Saturdays

For my birthday Eric and the kids got me a dutch oven. I have talked about getting one for a long time and is something I wanted to try and learn how to cook with successfully. Since we were away on my birthday we celebrated the next weekend with our Easter. 

When I was looking at them I had done quite a bit of research on them but I wasn't totally confident on how to use them to cook something that looked and tasted good. Also I wanted to make sure I knew how to store them and take care of them because they are pricey but if I knew how to store them it would be something you only have to buy once. 

We had to pick up a few more things like the charcoal and and chimney starter and we both decided that our saturdays would become dutch oven Saturdays.  After some thought I really wanted to start with something simple to see if I could figure out how it cooked without undercooking or burning anything. So I started with what are called dump cakes. 

Which is basically dumping all the ingredients in and letting it cook. This was a raspberry dump cake, and with the fact that it took a little longer to cook then the recipe stated (which I figured out was because I had a deep dutch oven so I needed to add a few more coals) We added some whipped cream and it was a successful first time go around. The next meal I tried out was a smothered bbq chicken. This was the first time that I tried meat and was a little nervous about it. But I it turned out really good! It is said that meat done well in a d.o. is really good and I would have to agree : )

Even though it was getting warmer though out the summer I was finding it was nice to use the d.o. outside. This way I could cook longer oven type meals without heating up the house, so it was another advantage I didn't think about. This one is a chili and corn bread baked on top. At this point I was becoming more comfortable with the d.o. and more willing experiment. I did just use a jiffy mix for the corn bread but I added some of my dad's maple syrup in the bread and it added a nice sweetness to the chili dish. It turned out yummy but it made a lot so this was a good one to keep in mind when we have a bigger group of people : )