Hammond Family Blog

Valentines

2012-01-21T16:55:00.001-07:00

If you get sick of all the candy for Valentines Day, you could always mold "old" crayons with candy molds and make a valentine.

You can even give your kids a science lesson on liquids and solids and how heat can change a solid into a liquid. I cut off some crayon wrappers with an exacto knife. Grabbed some Jello molds that were given to me. Washed out a tin to throw the crayons in. Baked them @ 190 degrees until melted, and then poured them into my sprayed (with Pam) molds.

These molds happen to be race cars. So I could attach a card that says."You make my heart race"

OR I could let my boys color with them and find some candy for their classmates. Anyway the old crayons get used more than they did before!!!!

HAPPY MOLDING

Cheap Fleece Mittens for Naughty Kittens

2012-01-18T09:03:00.000-07:00

My sons kindergarten teacher has many pairs of fleece mittens in case children don't bring gloves or if they loose them. I asked her if she had a pattern. She laughed and said to have the kids place their hands down with thumbs out on fleece. Trace around them giving them enough room to sew. Zig zag around the edges. Voila!!! That is something I can do!!!! The boys love them, they have worn them to bed too!!! Of course the girls wanted some too. I guess I should enjoy it when my kids like home made items. They might grow out of that.

Sesha

Bella Mini Pie Maker

2011-12-29T17:39:00.000-07:00

I bought me a mini pie maker after Christmas from Kohls. I figured it would be great to use to make pot pies from leftover turkey and ham. I tried a ham and egg quiche and my kids loved it!!! I totally am loving this small electric appliance. I have canned apple pie filling I made this year and it is a cinch and easy to make four little pies. In about 10 minutes the pies are done. We have experimented on apple pie, ham and egg quiche, and on vegetable and meat pot pies. So far the family has devoured them. I have plans to try chili pie with a cornmeal crust and strawberry rhubarb pies. I love this little gadget, you should invest in one too. You can follow my ideas for it on my mini pie board on pinterest!!!
Sesha

Husband's Christmas Advent Calendar

2011-11-23T14:44:00.001-07:00

Here is my Christmas Advent calendar for my husband. It has 24 days with fun filled messages on the tags. Ways I can show appreciation for all the things he does. I can't think of a better way to count down to Christmas by serving and showing your husband how much you care and appreciate him.
I don't want to give all the surprises away but here are some ideas: movie date night watching his favorite Christmas movie, foot massage, favorite dessert, etc.

Sesha

Bedtime stories

2011-10-23T21:27:00.000-06:00

I heard our youngest talking when it was bedtime. As I walked down the hall I said, "I hope you are in bed." Matt our 3 year old replied, "I am reading to Kolter." Kolter is his five year old brother. I rounded the corner to see this. Matt "reading" in the rocking chair and Kolter in the top bunk answering Matt's questions about the book. "Where's the duck?", etc. Kolter would answer. Matt would then say yep, you're right, and then talk about the page.

So CUTE to listen to and watch without them noticing!! I watched Matt read a few books to Kolter before Matt went to bed.

Sesha

Christmas Storybox Gift

2011-10-11T12:10:00.002-06:00

The Princess and the Pea

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

I decided for our camper it would be fun to have activities that went along with books. I wanted it small and altogether so it would not take up too much space. I came upon the box and decided I would try to fill it with activities. I found finger puppets at Zurchers to go along with some of the stories. Little paints to go with books, and I printed off activities from
www.makinglearningfun.com. I reduced them on the copy machine to fit in the box. The kids have enjoyed getting to play with the stories they are familiar with. This might be fun for a Christmas gift for young children.

Sesha

Cricket Hollow Swamp

2011-10-09T16:09:00.001-06:00

Our family went on a ride to see the witches where they live at Cricket Hollow Swamp. We had a real ball, looking at their home where they keep childrens ears, frog toes, bat eyes, monkey feet, pigs feet (the secret ingredient moms put in casserole), etc. They heard Mother Goose Witch give mixed up nursery rhymes like "Jack and Jill raced up the hill to fetch a pail of water. Jill got there first and had such a thirst she drank the pail and burst." I think their favorite witch was Disco Die-ana. Here we learned the dance moves of the werewolf, the vampire sweep, the broom brew, the spider roll, the mummy walk,the melting witch, and the cockroach spit slime, the bat flap. After al the moves were learned then they combined them and danced to the disco music. Jerimiah was disco challenged.

Picture of Kathy's aunt Crystal (who gave her the quilt) and Uncle George

2011-10-07T22:35:00.002-06:00

Pineapple quilt

2011-10-07T19:13:00.000-06:00

Here the kids are with their grandparents, Cliff and Kathy Hammond. The quilt was given to her from her Aunt Crystal, her dad's sister. It was made by a pre civil war slave named Bessy. It is in remarkable shape especially since it is over 150 years old.

BONNEVILLE HIGH SCHOOL CHEER CAMP

2011-10-05T16:11:00.001-06:00

McKinley and Rachel did the BHS cheer camp with Jerimiah's cousin Kelsey and his cousin's daughter Brooklyn also did the cheer camp. Thanks for the fun gals.

Sesha

Cookie Club

2011-10-05T16:11:00.000-06:00

McKinley and her friends started a cookie club. They go to each others homes and bake cookies or other recipes. Sister Murphy said she wanted to join and she helps drive them around and they deliver the goodies they have made to neighbors. They have been getting copies of their recipes and compiling them for themselves. It has been a lot of fun during spud harvest, esp. since it has been rainy this week.

General Conference Pom Pom scarves

2011-10-02T15:53:00.005-06:00

My daughters' favorite talks: Sister Dalton's how to raise a girl (McKinley's title for it), President Monson's talk on prayer and praying for his five dollar bill, and the talk about praying for a quarter for a piece of chicken though they couldn't remember the speakers name (Elder Cornish). Rachel tells me it as the second to the last talk before President Monson though. I guess they listened pretty well for their ages. I always remember trying to listen at their ages but alas I would fall asleep. You can go here to listen to their favorite talks and all the others.
http://lds.org/general-conference/sessions/2011/10?lang=eng

Keeping kids alert while watching: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints General Conference

2011-10-01T22:44:00.001-06:00

The girls made pom poms for a scarf while watching the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints general conference. This was a quiet activity that they were able to do to keep their little hands busy while listening. I think tomorrow while they are listening I'll let them sculpt with koolaid playdough what the speakers are talking about. Do you have any good ideas to keep your kids alert and listening?

Link to General Conference talks http://lds.org/general-conference/watch?lang=eng

BTW-I think I will add a family history station in our Sunday stations when we do them next.

Tye May and the Magic Paintbrush Book Week

2011-09-26T15:25:00.000-06:00

We read Tye May And the Magic Paintbrush. I then gave my kids a small set of paints to paint pictures for the greedy landlord but they must leave a detail out. A garden without veggies, a butterfly without designs, a fish without eyes, a house without a door, etc. They had fun expressing their creativity.

Sesha

Summer Harvest

2011-09-24T11:03:00.000-06:00

I just finished anothet 20 quarts of salsa. Just in time to because Jerimiah brought a deer home last night.

Sesha

We Think You Are Spooktacular

2011-09-22T10:36:00.002-06:00

I like the individual smores kit with the small bars, but I already had big bars in storage so I made double smores kits for people. I also added a spider ring to hold my bag together. There is also a cookie mix in a jar that looks adorable. Have fun "spooking" your neighbors this year.

Ingredients needed for spooky bags
clear bags
Halloween rings
Peeps ghost marshmallows
graham crackers
hershey chocolate bars (small ones for individuals)
I saw this adorable idea here:
http://www.southernvogue.com/2011/08/halloween-peeps-in-jar.html

Halloween Jack O' Lantern eggs

2011-09-22T07:35:00.001-06:00

I saw this in the family fun magazine and I figured the kids would have fun making them for their Dad's breakfast. Love the characters they drew. Kolter said his is saying, "I full."
Check out my other Halloween posts because this would also be fun to do with the book BIG PUMPKIN.

Wapiti

2011-09-18T01:15:00.000-06:00

For those who know my husband hunting season is almost everything to him. He has four weekends to capture his elk. Well, Spud day lands on one of those weekends and our daughter begged him to come watch her in the parade. He did. Lovingly. Then after the parade and lunch with the family he went out for a chance at hunting. A very slim chance because of little time. Well he came home with this!!! Congrats it was a GREAT day for both Jerimiah and McKinley.

Spud Day

2011-09-17T17:26:00.002-06:00

Shelley spud day is full of fun activities. It happens right before potato harvest. The morning starts out with a fun run and a morning breakfast funraiser for the QRU. A parade is then held with kids biking in it first I think all kids who participate get a quarter or something like that. Then it is followed by the regular parade. There is always a ton of candy. My three kids came home with a gallon sized baggie full (1 of my children was in the parade so no candy catching for her). During this years parade a crop duster dropped ping pong balls ith discounts and prizes from businesses. After the parade the community goes to a park where there are free baked potatoes for all and booths set up like a fair. Then there is the potato tug of war. The HS Miss Russet (jr. Miss) winner tastes a spoonful of mashed potatoes (which has been dumped by a cement truck into a pit on the sbaseball diamonds). The adult team wins 100 bucks, a large trophy, and bragging rights. There are various other activities throughout the week leading up to and after the day.

After spud day!

Before the spud day activities.

During the spud day parade, McKinley playing on the orchestra float.

You have to love traditions like Shelley Spud Day. The kids had fun playing in the pit of mashed potatoes after the spud tug.

Canning Tip

2011-09-14T14:25:00.000-06:00

I like putting ascorbic acid in my peaches and pears. I used to use Fruit Fresh, but lately it is expensive. This year I used vitamin c tablets. They worked great and the home economist said not to worry about the added ingredients of the tablets that it would be fine. SO if you are canning fruit this year use cheaper ascorbic acid.

Cammo party

2011-09-03T16:54:00.000-06:00

You have to love Rachel's creativity!!! She used washable markers on herself.
The rest of them loved the idea and joined in!

We had McKinley's birthday party a cammo theme since she finished hunters ed. We decided to go with military. (which was nice with 16 girls) They totally got into character which allowed crowd control quite easy. You say ATTENTION and all talking would cease.
GAMES: Relay race with push ups, sit ups, jumping jacks, crab walk, and running. GPS find (they went from coordinate tocoordinate until they found an ammo can filled with party favors (camoflauge bouncy balls, paddles, camoflauge lipgloss, dog tags).
SHOOTING RANGE: this got squeals of joy, we made rubberband guns and pistols and gave each girl one. They then shot rubberbands at pop cans.
DINNER: They all had KP kitchen patrol. They assembled their mess kits (cup with name, fork,spoon, and knife) and they were responsible for assembling their own tinfoil dinner (I already had veggies cut they just added what they wanted).
After the games we opened presents then ate our tinfoil dinners. Cupcakes were served with toy army men on top.
INVITES: We delivered invites that were cammo notepads. On them we said ATTENTION YOU HAVE BEEN DRAFTED. Inside we wrote the details of the party. Your mission if you choose to accept is to attend McKinley's birthday party. Boot Camp or Basic training begins Fri. Sept. 2nd at 5:30 (17:30) and ends at 8:30 (20:30). RSVP to recruitment officer. Dinner will be served.

2011-09-03T16:53:00.002-06:00

Sesha

2011-09-03T16:53:00.000-06:00

Sesha

2011-09-03T16:52:00.001-06:00

Sesha

Cammo party

2011-09-03T07:50:00.000-06:00

Mckinley's target practice at her cammo bday party.

New School Year and End of Summer Camping Trip

2011-08-21T19:02:00.000-06:00

The new school has begun and as you can tell Matt is not happy. He did not like being the only one not going to school. He wears his emotions on his sleeve!!!!

Notice Matthew. He is a little grumpy that he did not get to attend school.

After school let out Friday we loaded our camper and when to meadowlake. We loved that place about ten years ago. Now the trees have died, they charge to camp there and it is packed with people. Jerimiah and I loved going there when we were first married. It was secluded, quiet, and enjoyable. We did not stay in the campground and found a very secluded spot by a creek to camp. We loved it and then went up later to the lake.

Practicing writing with burnt sticks!

Nothing is more entertaining for boys than playing with fire. So if they are going to play in the fire we might as well make it educational! Notice our "rock writing".

Kolt's Big Catch

We just had to keep it and eat it. It is a good thing Jerimiah fried this up immediately for Kolter to take one bite and decide that the other food we had tasted better.

Super Suds

2011-08-12T12:34:00.001-06:00

A mess on the kitchen floor was averted. Rachel was loading the dishwasher and had "hand washed" a few items before putting them in the dishwasher. She however neglected to rinse out the large amount (about 1/4 of the bottle) of soap residue on the dishes before loading them. I went in to check on the dish progress (because she was taking her own sweet time to do them in the first place). I got after her for only putting the dishes in the sink in the dishwasher and not making sure the dishes on the counter behind her were also put in. I then opened the dishwasher to see the beginning of soap suds galore. Upon quizzing her about what she had done she told me she had hand washed a few items before putting them in. I praised her for making sure the dishes would get cleaned but told her if she "hand washed" items they needed to be TOTALLY rinsed off before putting them in the dishwasher. I had her clean out the soapy water as best as she could and then we added vinegar. I decided I might as well get a snap shot. I told her to smile and say OOPSY, but instead she looks like she is on the verge of tears. That's our Rachel, she doesn't get into trouble, but when she makes a mistake her tears come easily. CHEER UP RACHEL!!!! It's Okay! At least we caught it before it was all over the floor!!!

Rachel upset about not understanding the effects of hand soap in a dishwasher!

She cheered up after I showed her on YouTube all the adults that had made the same error.

Annie

2011-08-06T17:42:00.000-06:00

Today is our anniversary. We have been married for 12 years. The last few months Jerimiah has been saying he wanted a lab for goose hunting. He has always loved chocolate labs. Today the opportunity presented itself and what could I say? Happy Anniversary. I hope you enjoy cleaning up Annie for the next 12 years!

Kolter trying to give her "bunny" ears.

Who wouldn't want an extra $4,000?

2011-08-04T19:22:00.000-06:00

Hey I figure I have a messy son at times why not enter his picture in a contest! So, if you would be so willing please go vote for him. Cause who really wouldn't want to win an extra $4,000?
http://family.go.com/dirty-duds-showdown-contest/dirty_kids/chim-chim-cher-ee-75451/

Mandermander (as said by Matt)

2011-08-01T09:42:00.001-06:00

Matt intrigued with the creepy crawly amphibian.

Yep we found another creepy crawly in our yard. This time it was at 11:00 at night by our garage door and Matt was the only child awake (he had a long nap during the day and wasn't about to go to sleep).

Matt enjoyed checking it out for a little while.

We released it back by our ditch.

Continued Shiver Me Timbers

2011-07-14T18:06:00.000-06:00

Thanks Matey's for coming to Kolter's PAARRRTY. We had a blast!!! Here are some pics from the party!!!

Ready for the games to begin!!!

Madysen was dressed in her pirate garb from
the beginning and walking the plank was easy for her!!!

Kolter was a little worried about walking the plank!

Following the treasure map

Yo Ho!!! Treasure found!

Tic toc they found the croc!!! Nice hiding Mates!

Nothing like hot dog boats for those hearty appetites!

Shiver Me Timbers

2011-07-13T18:27:00.009-06:00

Can ye tell th' boys be excited fer Kolter's swashbuckler's party?
I forget t' take pictures durin' th' paarrty so I thought I would take a wee snap shots before!!
Kolter delivered the invitations to his friends dressed similar to the picture above and asked, "AAARRRRR you ready to pAAARRRty?" He had a blast delivering the invites!!!

Okay if you want to hear this all in pirate language copy this link http://jerisesh.blogspot.com/2011/07/shiver-me-timbers.html and put it in the website section of this site http://www.syddware.com/cgi-bin/pirate.pl. I strongly suggest you do this before you move on it makes this post so dang cute!!!

Okay so here is the run down on activities we are doing on this birthday party. I would give credit to the great idea founders if I could remember where on the web I found them. Some I made up myself, but a lot I took from other sites. I do remember a lot of the ideas were found at the talk like a pirate day website found here http://www.talklikeapirate.com/piratehome.html. By the way talk like a pirate day is always September 19. I guess you could do these activities on this day too!!!

Pirate Music: We will be playing this while getting the kids into their pirate costumes. We have eye patches, bandannas, hook hands (made from cut up cereal boxes with tinfoil over them and Styrofoam cups) and eye liner to make mustaches and beards for each child.

We purchased downloaded the Pirates of the Caribbean-Swashbuckling Sea Songs from amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Pirates-Caribbean-Swashbuckling-Sea-Songs/dp/B00138HAI8/ref=sr_1_1_digr?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1310604062&sr=1-1

Pirate Games:

Walk the plank: Kids are going to walk across the wading pool on a piece of lumber suspended by tires.

Defeat the two Headed Octopus: This is going to be a take off game from our Toy Story Defeat Zurg game. We are going to tie Kolter's older sisters together (that way there will be eight tentacles) and they will try to dodge wet sponges thrown by the children in their boats (really just totes for storing items).

Swab the Deck: This is going to be a relay race trying to sweep 5 ping pong balls to the other side of the team. Before you can pass off the broom.

Treasure hunt: I have a mapped out map of our backyard written on a paper bag from the grocery store that has been crumpled up for the real pirate map look.

Tic Toc Find the Croc: Here I am hiding a kitchen timer that is set and they have to find it by listening before it rings. Also if they find it they will find the crocodile dentist game (http://www.amazon.com/Winning-Moves-1146-Crocodile-Dentist/dp/B004L62WS2/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1310605367&sr=1-2). They will play it and the person that makes the crocodiles teeth go down will be the next person to hide the timer!

Pirate Lunch:

Served on a blue plate (high ocean water): Hot dog schooners (used bamboo skewers to poke through a triangle piece of white paper for a sail),chips (for beach sand), and shark bleeding water to drink (Okay really just fruit punch ice cubes in Sprite pop).

Party favors: Compasses, costumes, gold coins, glow in the dark necklaces (my daughter's told me they could be pearl necklaces in the treasure find), and other pirate goodies we found at the party store Zurchers.

I'll try to get more pictures of the games but I won't promise. I get to busy having fun too!!!

Eventful Week

2011-07-04T09:23:00.003-06:00

Wednesday June 29. 2011. Matthew turned 3. Jerimiah said he had the perfect idea for a gift. He said Matt needed a football. A few weeks earlier Jerimiah took his sons on the father and sons campout our church does yearly. Matt took a teenagers football and carried it around all day long. Jerimiah said Matt would be thrilled to have a football. So I went and purchased one. Jerimiah was right. Matt woke up saw the football on the table and went outside and opened the package by himself. I went out to see Matt still in p.j.'s hugging his football. He has carried it around since. Taking it wherever we go. Sleeping with it each night. We even found him Saturday asleep on our lawn using the football as a pillow. What a kid!!!

On Saturday July 2, 2011 Rachel was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints in the Shelley Idaho Stake. She was baptized and confirmed by her father. We had 4 sets of grandparents in attendance. Aunts, uncles, and friends. Rachel's primary teacher was there along with one child who was in her primary class. Our Bishop, Bishop Dial conducted, Sister Neilson played prelude music, Sister Carolyn Arave played the piano, Darby Rogers led the music, Bronwyn Hammond gave the opening prayer, I gave a talk on baptism, Grandma Hammond gave a talk on the Holy Ghost, Uncle Dave and Grandpa Hammond were witnesses, Bishop Dial gave some remarks and a story about hiding a cattail under his bed that exploded and how it is easier admit to making mistakes sooner then letting a problem drag on and Grandma Rogers gave the closing prayer. We are happy with her wise decision. She is a sweetheart!!!

It Takes a Village to Raise a Child

2011-06-27T05:40:00.003-06:00

We decided that Matthew needed a bike to ride. We found one on craigslist that would be great for Kolter. It looked a little bigger than the one he had and it was decorated like a motorcycle. Perfect since he loves to pretend he is on a motorcycle when he rides his bike. Jerimiah went and bought it and brought it home. Kolter was more than happy to give his little brother his bike and take the new one.
One slight Problem: Kolter is too short. Jerimiah used a cinder block to try to teach him how to get on and ride. In our driveway it works great. Kolter gets on and rides and then drives on the grass and slows down and jumps off his bike before he crashes it to the ground.
Matthew took to riding the small bike with training wheels so we couldn't just let Kolter ride his old bike until he grew a couple of inches.
I decided I was going to take Matt on a bike ride to the elementary school a block away from our house. Kolter also wanted to go. Because of his predicament I didn't want to take him. He begged, pleaded, and persuaded me to let him go.
I told him okay, but when he got to the school he needed to crash. Kolter said okay and off we went.
It took only a few minutes to see Kolt was going to be a lot faster than Matt.
We went off at a sluggish pace by Matt to keep him safe from traffic. Kolt was off racing his motobike! Kolter dangerously crossed the road without looking and I was shaking my head grateful there was no traffic. He got to the school quick! We were still 1/2 of the block behind.
Kolter didn't stop. Off he raced on his motobike down the bike path we have here in Shelley. I had no clue where he was going.
I couldn't just really bike fast and stop him. Here I have an almost 3 year old on his bike for the first time and a canal and a semi busy road where I cannot leave him! We keep pedaling at a snail's pace and try in vain to yell at Kolter to stop (he is out of earshot and the wind is blowing in the wrong direction)!
What can I do? Well here I am fervently praying as we are biking. I am pleading with the Lord to keep traffic away. I am pleading that he will crash his bike and wait for us. As I am pleading a couple comes biking towards Kolter and they pedal past him towards me, but Kolt keeps going. He is now 2 1/2 blocks ahead. We are on the bike path. I know a home where I would trust to leave Matt, but alas their kids are not outside like they are on every other day. I keep biking and trying to push Matt to ride faster. I know we will not make it. Quietly I am told I need to ask these strangers to help me. As we meet the couple that passed Kolter. I stop them and quickly explain that my son has gotten too far ahead. That he hasn't stopped to cross intersections and I am afraid that when he gets to the corner he will not stop to cross the road. I tell them his bike is a little big for him so he stops by slowing down and then crashing. The man asks his name. Turns his bike around and is off in a flash. The woman looks at me like I am a terrible mother and then turns her bike around to follow her guy friend. Matt and I drudge along. I watch from a distance seeing that Kolt is getting close to the intersection. The man all of the sudden kicks it into high gear and turns the corner. I cannot see them and I do not know if Kolter crossed the street or if he has been hit by a car. He is in a blind spot. I am worried. I finally see them walking Kolt and his bike to the corner. They wait there until we catch up. Finally with Matt behind me we get to the corner. Where I ask the man if he crossed the street. He told me no that he just turned the corner and was heading up the next block. I look down at Kolter and ask, "Where were you going? Why didn't you stop?"
Kolter: "To my school!"
It dawns on me when I said we were riding to the school, in Kolts mind he was thinking Sunrise about 1 1/2 miles away not McKinley's school that was a block away. I tell him I didn't mean that school.
I tell him I prayed that he could be stopped safe and that these strangers answered my prayers and blessed us. I then yell thanks to the couple as they are off on there way. I then get down and tell Kolt how we need to stop and walk our bikes across intersections and he can't get out of earshot from me. If he can't hear me talking to him then he needs to stop and crash.
We turn around to go home and he obediently stays in earshot. Crashes before each intersection and walks his bike across the intersection. We get home safe and at Matthew's pace. Overall we have biked 1 1/2 miles instead of 2/10 of a mile. I ask him if he wants to tell Dad what happened. He says yes.
Kolter: "Dad we went on a bike ride to my school. I almost made it there, but some strangers stopped me."
I can't help but laugh. We go into his room to get him ready for bed. I tell him we were watched over and he was protected tonight. We say a prayer and thank our Heavenly Father for sending us a couple to help stop Kolter. We ask that they might be blessed for being an answer to my prayer.
I hug him and we tucked him into bed, safe, and sound.
I realize it takes a village to raise a child. I am grateful I live in a good one!

Scripture Activity

2011-06-25T08:15:00.004-06:00

We had a scripture activity during the week last week to try to engage the children in their scriptures while school is out. My friend thought that they would be good for family home evening activities so I am writing them down in case any of you would like to try them! We had fun doing the activities and my children liked them too! They might be fun in Sunday stations too.

We gave each child a sand timer to "Take Time to Read the Scriptures". We then had 6 stations that they rotated to.
1) Ether Chapters 2-3 Brother of Jared Glow Rocks. Here they listened to the story of the brother of Jared and then they received a "prayer" rock (spray painted glow in the dark rock) to remind them to have Faith and pray and read their scriptures.
2) Alma 32 Faith is like a little seed. Here they read in the scriptures how faith is like a seed and planted a seed to watch it grow and remind them to have Faith.
3) Noah's Ark Animal Walk (like a cake walk). Here they were told the story of Noah and the ark and walked on pictures of animals to the song "Follow the Prophet" and talked about obedience. They all won animal crackers and animal fruit snacks!!!
4) 1 Nephi 3:7 Here we once again talked about obedience and "built" origami boats and talked about how hard it would be to build a real boat, but by obedience, faith, and relying on the Lord you can accomplish more than you think!
5) 1 Nephi 3 Here we talked about Nephi getting the brass plates and Lehi learning the geneology of his fathers. We filled out a family tree and gave the children a picture of the temple and bore testimony of temple work.
6) Alma 37:37-47 Here we had a GPS hunt and talked about the Liahona. The GPS led to a cache with a picture of Christ and the articles of Faith. We talked about how Nephi had the Liahona and how we have the scriptures, the Holy Ghost, and a living prophet to lead us and guide us.

Rachel's Wizarding Birthday Party

2011-06-23T14:00:00.000-06:00

Jerimiah has been reading Harry Potter to Rachel so this year we had a wizards birthday party.

1) wizard hat. We took regular plain hats and let the children decorate their own.

2) Wizard Bracelets: Dragon scales (green glitter), frog hearts (confetti hearts), etc. All great ways to be creative.

http://familyfun.go.com/how-to-videos/familyfun-water-bracelets-762414-v/

3) Fizzbombs.

Baking soda balls baked with bracelets in the center and then put in a bowl of vinegar. The directions are on this link!

http://www.escapadedirect.com/fizzysnowballs.html

4) Potions: Making their own "potion" to drink for lunch.

5) Magic Bean hunt (bert's every flavor jellybean)-I had clues throughout the house with different puzzles for the kids to figure out. (mirror image writing-that when placed up to a mirror you could read. white writing on white paper when scribbled with a marker you could read the clue, code writing with a key to see if they could figure out the next place a=1 b=2, riddles: I am warm in the winter and cold in the summer (fireplace) etc.)

6) Wand freeze tag: I gave them glow in the dark bracelet sticks and they were the "wands" for kids. They had to play tag but instead of touching each other they had to tap each other with their wands. When another player tapped them they would be unfrozen.

The Kolter and the Motorcycle

2011-05-31T21:03:00.002-06:00

Kolter LOVES the Mouse and the Motorcycle movie. (here is a link to it on amazon if you don't know what movie I am talking about. http://www.amazon.com/Mouse-Motorcycle-Scholastic-Storybook-Treasures/dp/B0013XZ6G6)

Kolter is always revving his engine and squeaking to a stop like Ralph S. Mouse. Today he is finally riding a two wheeler just like Ralph. (His words not mine)!!!

Congrats Kolter on learning to ride your bike without training wheels!!!

P.S. You have to love the moonboots!!!

Flushed Out

2011-05-28T17:40:00.007-06:00

Jerimiah turned the water down our ditch and then left to go to town. I was outside with our kids turning the jump rope, when Kolter and I had dialogue similar to the following:

Kolter: "Wow, guys come look at this."
Me: "I know, Dad, turned the water down the ditch and it is coming out."
Kolter: "No, this is not water, this is an animal."
Me: "What is dead today?" (last week was a dead cat)
Kolter: "It is not dead, it is still alive"

About that time I was over by the ditch in time to see a drenched porcupine climbing up the ditch bank.

I sent McKinley in for the camera and this is the footage we were able to get.

Matthew couldn't be prouder of his Father! It is a good thing we live in the country where we can still shoot our guns! Jerimiah came home and decided he would shoot it and skin it and possibly use it for a mount. The porcupine weighed probably over 30 lbs. It was big!

I am grateful there is not a 30 lb. porcupine in my yard anymore for my kids to chase. Look at all of those quills.

Sunday Stations

2011-05-28T10:09:00.004-06:00

I saw an article in the Friend magazine (http://lds.org/friend/2009/03/sunday-stations?lang=eng&query=sunday+stations) by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints. It was on Sunday Stations. We tried it with our children when we had church @ 1:00. We did it two hours before church while I was preparing lunch. Our children LOVED them. I haven't worked it into our schedule this year, but was thinking about preparing some stations for this upcoming Sunday. So, I decided to share my work if you want to participate in it too!

Station One: Music
Sing a Story #5 http://lds.org/friend/2001/07/sharing-time-joseph-smith-prophet-of-the-restoration?lang=eng&query=sharing+time+restoration

I copied the pictures from this month's (May week 2) sharing time onto magnetic paper (http://lds.org/pa/primary/pdf/PR_2011_SharingTime_08635_000_eng.pdf?lang=eng ). The children will listen to an burned cd with songs that correspond with the pictures and put the pictures in order of the cd. (example-Search ponder and pray-Joseph Smith reading the scriptures)

Station Two: Computer Station/Friend Station
Memorizing the Articles of Faith: Play the article of Faith memory quest game here: http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=21bc9fbee98db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=40a09d7d0e67d210VgnVCM100000176f620a____
OR put a game on the Friend website for younger kids.
OR let your kids read articles or play the games in The Friend. If you do not have the magazine or if your kids can't read, go online and have the stories read to them. http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?locale=0&vgnextoid=ae20e975d2a2b010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD

Station Three: Scripture Stories
Younger Children Watch on the T.V. the scripture reader stories (http://store.lds.org/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product3_715839595_10557_21008_-1__195849) OR have the older children read their scriptures. You can have a picture of the story for them to read about with the scriptural passages or just let them read!!!

Station Four: Journal Station
Have children write or draw pictures about what they did this week. Have crayons, markers, stickers, etc. for them to really embellish their journal.

Station Five: Snack Station
Set out a veggie tray so kids can snack until dinner!!!

Station Six: Creativity Station
I love making koolaid play dough. I put it in the fridge and it keeps pretty well. Recipe (http://www.food.com/recipe/kool-aid-play-dough-14788) Let the kids create a play dough sculpture of their favorite creation, a scripture item (Liahona, Nephi's boat, on animal an Noah's ark, etc.).
You could also have them color a picture, make a bean shaker, etc.

The End of The School Year

2011-05-23T13:32:00.004-06:00

This year has been a busy and productive year for all of us. Rachel received hearing aides and has blossomed now that she can hear more of the conversation around her. Kolter is primed and ready for school next year. Matt has been going to speech to improve his pronunciation of words. McKinley has once again read enough to be the top ten of her school, she has been in her yearly school play, and she played the violin for the first half of the school year. Next year we will have 3 children in 3 different schools. UGGH! I am glad that Rachel will "hopefully" get the same opportunities that McKinley has in her school and we are excited for a summer break!!! The house needs organized, spring cleaned, and then hopefully the weather will allow us to be outside!!! Here are some pictures of this year:

Matt brought me this toy, the screwdriver, and batteries and asked me to put new batteries in it.

Happy Mother's Day

2011-05-07T21:24:00.002-06:00

I signed Kolt up for a ready to read library class on Wednesday nights. The first couple of weeks I could not take him because of conflicts with church meetings I was asked to attend. So the trooper that my husband is, he has taken all of the kids to the library for the last couple of weeks.
I was so excited that I would be able to take Kolt to the library FINALLY. We drove into I.F. and were totally enjoying our little date. We were in the class and it was fun to watch my son participating and enjoying the music, stories, etc. We went to go do the "spider" craft when he sat down and I tried to engage him into coloring.
He told me his stomach hurt and he wanted to go home. I was 1/2 way through coloring his 2 inch toilet paper roll. I asked him if he needed to go to the bathroom. He said yes. I thought his tummy might hurt because he needed to use the John. I told him let me finish coloring this t.p. roll and we will go. It wasn't 30 seconds later that he was puking.
Luckily the majority of it hit his paper. The lady and daughter across from us shot out of there faster than the puke. Next to us was a father (who used to be in our old ward) and his kids. They watched the action, nonchalantly.
I threw the puke away, tied the bag, and wiped up the mess (with disinfectant the librarian gave me). Apologized if their kids got sick, etc. The Dad looked at me and basically said no worries (I think because if his kids got sick his wife would have to take care of it!)
After I got it all cleaned up and was ready to take Kolt home, Kolter sniffed the air and said, "That smells good. Now I want to color my spider." He was ready to color his papers again!!!
Yep, he did not want to leave. I took him home anyway. Yep, that is all that happened. No more sickness, etc. I think he got a little motion sickness from going around in circles during the music time.
But why does this happen when Mom is on watch. Couldn't he have done it when Jerimiah took him to the library???
Well, Happy Mother's Day!!! Truly for the times of joy and the times of well not so much joy!

Mini Vacation

2011-04-25T07:14:00.003-06:00

I was recently called as Primary President in our ward. I have been trying to figure out all of my responsibilities, attending a lot of meetings lately, and constantly thinking of the primary teachers and children. I felt that our family was totally on the go the last couple of weeks. I think Jerimiah had to put the kids to bed 4 out of the 5 days last week and I was out until 10:30 or so each of those nights, so seeing the family together hasn't happened much lately. This weekend I decided I needed a break and we needed to be together. So....I took them on a road trip!!! That way we are all bound together in Leap (our green minivan). We went to SLC, UT with our kiddos. Lounged in a motel and just relaxed. We didn't do any Easter egg hunts, huge crowds, etc. We laughed, slept, talked, shopped, played in water, and walked. It was exactly what I needed. It was only 24 hours all together but it was really a great break. I love taking little mini vacations where we can just relax as a family!!!

Dinosaur Egg Day

2011-04-10T19:53:00.005-06:00

Here is another twist on book week's Dinosaur Romp (http://jerisesh.blogspot.com/2010/10/book-week-17-dinosaur-romp.html).

I saw these on a friend's blog and thought they would go great with the dino dig cupcakes I have made previously. My kids loved making these too!!! Here is a link for directions. http://www.ourbestbites.com/2011/04/dinosaur-eggs/

So once again grab all of your dinosaur books and enjoy making and eating dinosaur eggs.

For a fun science project let your kids mix different colors with only using red, blue, and yellow food coloring. Talk about primary colors and secondary colors.

What 5:30 in the morning brings...

2011-04-04T06:07:00.006-06:00

The alarm goes off @5:00 a.m. and usually soon after a child is awake...So for a good quick, easy, breakfast we were introduced to hootenanny pancakes by Jerimiah's uncle Dave. Some of you might know these as pannekoeken or german pancakes. I made these in the oven using a 9X13 pan until my friend told me to use jumbo muffin tins. These were even more exciting for my children so now I use the jumbo muffin tins. (I also don't have to worry about my glass pan breaking when I make these now!!!)

Recipe for Hootenanny pancakes

1 cube butter

6 eggs

1/4 tsp. salt

1 1/2 cups milk

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Recipe for Fruit Filling:

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup water

2 T. cornstarch

Fruit (we have used strawberries, Dole frozen mixed berries, raspberries, blueberries, etc.)

Directions:

1) Cut butter evenly into 12 jumbo muffin cups.

2) Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Put muffin tins into oven until oven is at 250 degrees. (This should melt your butter.)

3) In a blender combine eggs, milk, salt, and flour. Blend until smooth.

4) Pour batter evenly into muffin tins.

5) Place muffin tins into preheated oven and cook for 15 minutes.

Fruit Sauce directions:

1) combine sugar and water and cook until sugar is dissolved. Add cornstarch mixed with a little water and add to sugar mixture. Cook until you get a clear thickened glaze. Add to fruit and mix well. I add plenty of fruit and have just a small amount of glaze. Sometimes I don't use all of the glaze!!!

Fill pancake with fruit glaze and top with a dollop of whipped cream.

Hints: I make the batter up the night before and stick it in the fridge for the next morning. I use the delayed cooking time on my oven and preheat my oven before I get up. I then stick my pans in to melt the butter @ 425 degrees it doesn't take that long. I then pour my batter in the cups and cook the pancakes it takes about 17 minutes tops to fix it. I also have my fruit mixed and in the fridge. (my husband microwaves the fruit to be warm, but I prefer it to be cool)

I take my pancakes out of the pan while they are still hot. I use a silicone spatula and scrape in a circle.

Another fruit glaze I like is Dole's recipe http://www.dole.com/EatRightLanding/EatRightRecipe/RecipeDetail/tabid/596/Default.aspx?contentid=1782. This one uses more fruit juice and less sugar. This one is citrus one and is good on strawberries.

I don't necessarily like using a whole cube of butter either. I usually don't only about 3/4 of the cube and if I see butter on top when done I drain it into a cup before I add the fruit.

This To Will Pass

2011-03-23T10:59:00.003-06:00

Rachel's note reads: Dear Tooth fairy, I lost my tooth then I screamed then I accidentally swallowed it. I am so sorry. Can you still leave me a dollar? From Rachel

The tooth fairy was a pushover and left her a dollar.

My Husband is NOT a car thief!!!

2011-03-11T22:10:00.002-07:00

Tonight we went to get new tires on our van. We payed for the set of four and ordered a pizza for dinner while they were getting put on. Instead of getting 4 new tires, we left the tire shop without tires and with a job ahead of us.

Our van has locking lugnuts. Yep. That is right. Locking lugnuts. I guess these lugnuts are placed on to make it harder to steal tires. We live in IDAHO. This really doesn't happen that much. With out the lugnut key (which we do not have because we bought this van used!!!) You can not get your tires rotated, new tires put on, etc. I am glad we found this out at the tire store and not on the side of the road with a FLAT!!! UGHHH.

So Jerimiah came home ready to use the great remedies to remove them. Use vice grips and a hammer. Weld another lugnut on top and then remove it. Use a chisel and a hammer, etc. Well every single one has failed. He welded the lugnut and the lugnut (the locked one) just partially broke off, not enough to have the whole lugnut off. Just partially so it makes it difficult to totally remove now.

So whoever invented locking lugnuts. I hate this invention!!! I truly do. I compare locking lugnuts to child proof medication bottles. Everyone who is supposed to not open them do and the rest of us suffer.

My husband is not a tire thief obviously because he would have had them off by now. Instead he has topped the frustration level. So does anyone know a thief who might want to make some legit money buy breaking my locked lugnuts off. I am willing to pay!

Independent

2011-02-23T09:17:00.003-07:00

Matt has been my very active toddler. He has been able to open doors (house and car) from a very early age (18 months). Sunday I watched as he opened our freezer door in the kitchen. He grabbed a package of toaster strudels. He brought them to me and I said that they needed to be put in the toaster. I watched him go back into the kitchen. I then heard him get out the toaster from the appliance cupboard. (Out of curiosity I watched and listened from a distance). He plugged the toaster in. Popped his toaster strudel into the toaster and pushed the handle down. He waited until the strudel popped up and then he exclaimed, "I deed (did) it!" That is when I walked into the kitchen and asked him what he was up to. Excitedly he told me how he made his own toaster strudel. Yep he is only 2 1/2 years old but he certainly has learned a lot from observation.

A Puke A Day Keeps Grandpa At Bay

2011-02-11T21:20:00.004-07:00

I totally LOVE my father in law. He is the kindest guy anyone could meet (though some sheet metal guys might disagree). Speaking of sheet metal. He has worked in sheet metal for many years, which unfortunately puts him at a couple of disadvantages. First: He can't hear that well. In fact he might only get about 5% of the conversation. Second: He has had two knee replacements so he doesn't sprint too well.

Cliff is a grandpa who really loves his grandchildren. Both of the previous disadvantages comes into play with grandkids. Tonight was a perfect example.

Problem with the First disadvantage: We went out tonight with Cliff and Kathy. At dinner he was M&M trapped (squashed between McKinley and Matt). Cliff was graciously sharing his clam chowder with Matt, when Matt sneezed. (Remember Cliff can't hear well) Matt's sneeze would rank an 8 on a scale of 1-10 on slimy. Yes, A big old stream of snot came bursting out of Matt's nose landing inches away from the bowl of clam chowder. The rest of us are grossed out, but we laugh at the site of "sticky" situations. Cliff who didn't hear the sneeze and certainly wasn't in the position to see it, wonders out loud, "Why are you all laughing?" Through catching our words and lip reading he finally understands that Matt sneezed fairly close to his chowder. Yes his facial reaction was priceless. Kathy commences to tell him that at least we told him before he took another bite. Jerimiah adds no we didn't. Cliff unfortunately has to take the joke and really wonder what happened since he is at a hearing disadvantage. (Yes off and on through dinner he was teased about his salty clam chowder)

Problem with the Second disadvantage: At the same dinner and after Grandpa has been so kind to give Matt 2 glasses of chocolate milk, Matt starts gagging on his dinner. He quickly regurgitates his 2 glasses of chocolate milk right to the his side and on Cliff's sleeve. Grandpa (who can't hear because of disadvantage one) suddenly looks down at his arm to realize what is going on. His sense of smell still works though!!! He stands up (gingerly because of weak knees) and can't even run for the exit because of disadvantage 2. So he stands there looking at what had happened until his gag reflex kicks in. (Yes, it still works too!!!) So we are watching, laughing because that is what the rest of us do in "sticky" situations. Unfortunately, we did not have a camera again. Jerimiah finally after getting control over his laughing reflex goes to the van where I have conveniently kept spare clothes and Cliff staggers, slowly, and dry heaving to take off his puked on sweater. Jerimiah returns from the van and takes Matthew to get him changed. I have the duty of cleaning up the regurgitated milk (my legs work, but I have a pretty good gag reflex too. Cliff and I have this in common!!). The mess is cleaned up by me and all return new and refreshed to the table.

Now remember when I said Cliff was a grandpa who loves his grandkids. With all that has happened so far at dinner. Cliff still stays M&M squashed. He even finished his dinner and shared his cheesecake with all of the grandkids. While getting up to do his final act of kindness (paying the HUGE dinner ticket), he finds Matt has decorated his shoes in bacon. He picks the bacon off of his foot puts it on the plate and laughing goes and treats us to dinner. So if the sheet metal workers don't agree with my statement on Cliff is the kindest guy anyone could meet, they should see him with his grandkids at dinner during cold and flu season!!!

Thanks Cliff!!! Really. Next time instead of M&M squashing you, maybe we should just bring you a bag of M&M's and let you enjoy your dinner.

Waffle Cookies

2011-02-09T17:07:00.004-07:00

This is a fun recipe that you don't have to heat up your whole oven for. I have a heart waffle maker and so I am making them this month for a dessert and adding strawberry and vanilla swirled ice cream on top!!! Happy Valentines!!!

Melt and Cool: 1/2 cup + 1 Tablespoon Cocoa with 2 cubes of butter.
Add: 4 eggs, 1 1/2 cups white sugar, Mix well.
Add: 2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1/2 teaspoon salt

Bake in a preheated waffle iron for 1 minute. Can be served with ice-cream and fudge on top, with frosting on top, or sprinkled powdered sugar.

Inspiration

2011-02-09T06:24:00.002-07:00

We get loan applications all of the time in the mail, just like the rest of the U.S. I usually take them and burn them. One month I got a letter about refinancing. I didn't think much of it and threw it in the fire. The next month I got another letter about refinancing, as I was about to throw it into the fire, I had the thought "what does a phone call hurt."

I knew rates were low, I knew we could refinance, but two things had kept us from refinancing. 1) There are relatively no comparable sales around our area for an appraisal.
2) We didn't want to start over with 3 more years.

I called the loan officer and he said what type of refinance are you looking for. I told him rate and term. (Meaning lower the interest rate and/or lower the term of the loan). He asked what I wanted to lower the term or the rate. I told him Both!!! He looked at credit scores, etc. and said I can do that. It would be an in house loan and we didn't need to get an appraisal since we already had a loan through them.

Jerimiah was laid off from his job two weeks later. Uggh. I really wanted the loan to go through. I called and talked to them and said we knew he would be back to work, but it might take up to a month. They said that would be too long, but if he could get back in a couple of days we should be okay. Miraculously he did!!!

The loan continued and our house was refinanced. Interest rates haven't been lower since. My point of the story is: I know I was inspired to refinance at the right time for us. I am glad I listened to the prompting I received that day to make a phone call. I am glad I received that prompting. I know I receive promptings, sometimes I act on those, sometimes I fail to act on them. I wish I always acted on them, I know I should. I know that whenever I do act on a prompting the Lord has always blessed me or I have been able to help bless another person.

So my challenge for today is: Lets try to 1) be worthy to receive promptings of the Holy Ghost and 2) when we feel the Spirit prompt us, lets act on it!!!

Valentines Meatballs/Meatloaf

2011-01-31T10:29:00.003-07:00

I decided to make some heart meatballs for Valentine's Day. I like this recipe because I can make it ahead of time and freeze them.

2 lbs. ground beef
1 cup Italian bread crumbs
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese
2 eggs
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all dry ingredients together then mix with meat and eggs. Form into a large cookie cutter. Bake for 20 mins. or until done in the center. You can flip hearts 1/2 through baking. Cool. When done cooling cut again with smaller cookie cutter. You could use the excess for your spaghetti meal tonight or freeze it for later to use in spaghetti later!!! Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and flash freeze in freezer. Then put heart meatballs in freezer bags.

When ready to use heat up with spaghetti sauce or place in microwave.

Ideas to use them with on Valentines Day:

Spaghetti

Mashed Potatoes (cover the heart with ketchup and serve on the side). You could have a note that read, "Sweetheart, you still have me on cloud nine!"

You could do the same thing with breakfast sausage and serve it for breakfast!!!

Cheering On From A Distance

2011-01-28T08:04:00.002-07:00

I don't know if everyone feels this way, but I know I do. In the many church callings I have served I have come across many people. It doesn't matter if the children were in nursery (18 months old -3 years) or young womens (12 years-18 years) or if they were adults in Relief Society (18 years or older), I still think of many of these people and hope and wish that they are doing well and know of their worth. I also think of the many devoted leaders and teachers that were involved in my life, I think of them too and hope all is well for them.

The other day I ran into a Lady who was once a 12 year old in young women's. She wasn't in the best relationship, and was struggling in life. I talked to her, told her I still think of her and wish her the best. I know some of the reason she was in the situation she was in was because of her poor choices. When looking at her though I still cared for her. I hoped for her to change her life. I have no stewardship for her now, but I care for her still.

I wish through our talking that she could understand that I do want the best for her still.

As I sat pondering about this, I wondered how many people watched or still watch me wondering if I am going to make the right choices. How many people really do care for each of us. I think we all would be amazed at the many people who we have come in contact with that hope for the best of us.

I had the sweetest grandmother for a 8 year old primary class teacher. I remember that she prepared her lessons well. She prepared goodies too! When I chose to be baptized she gave me a little pearl necklace. It was a little fake pearl necklace that was perfect for an eight year old. About three of four years later we moved from the ward and I no longer saw this great lady. Ten years after being in her primary class I was graduating from High School. As I came home one day before graduation there was a gift for me at our door. I opened it to see a beautiful handmade baby quilt. It was from this primary teacher. I went to her house to specifically thank her for it.

She said she knew I didn't have any kids yet, but that she didn't know if she would be around when I started having my children. She said she didn't know what gender of child I would have if I ever had any, but that I gave her a note wrapped in pink once and so she wanted to make me a pink blanket. My first two children were girls! She said she had been following me through the years through her own grandkids that I attended school with and through news she read about me in the paper. I was really flabbergasted as a teenager that some one would care about me for so long when she had only taught me for a little while.

Now that I have taught children, I know how she feels. You feel an overwhelming love for those you teach. You care for them when you're teaching and working with them, your calling may stop, but that love for them never ends.

So if you are reading this and I have been your teacher, leader, neighbor, ward member, or friend etc. I want you to realize something. Though I might not talk to you or see you. When I see a picture, note, or anything that recalls you to my mind, I wonder how you are. I hope you are doing well and realize I really do care for you and I am cheering you on from a distance!!!

Parenting the Next Generation

2011-01-27T22:50:00.005-07:00

My husband and I went on a date tonight. We went to dinner and the movies. As we sat down to the PG-13 action film we watched others come to the movies too. I watched as a mother brought her young son into the film. I guessed his age around 6 or 7. He was acting up and the moved seats a few times. They ended up sitting right behind us. As the previews began, I overheard the boy whimpering, "Mom, this is scary." "Mom, I don't want to watch this, please take me home." "Mom, I am scared." "Mom, this is scary."

My thoughts as a Mother were take this young boy to a cartoon that he can enjoy. I looked back to see the kid with his hands over his ears pleading for her to take him home. My heart reached out to this young boy. She tried reassuring him saying, "Oh, it is not scary." "You will be okay.", etc. Soon the boys Father held him. The boy asked his father, "Is this a bad movie?" The father said no. The previews were over and the movie started. The first sentences had swear words. The boy said, "I knew this was a bad movie, please take me home."

I thought I should turn around and say, "You know this is PG-13!!!" My heart ached for a young child being "forced" to watch something he deemed inappropriate. I prayed for the right words to come to my mouth that I might say something to these parents. I couldn't think what to say. So I prayed silently for the child.

The child fell asleep quickly. He didn't make it through the movie. For this I was greatly relieved. The movie was pretty cheesy. In a child's eye I could see how it could be really scary though. As we were walking out of the movie, I saw 2 other children about the boys age that had watched the show too.

I was not happy with the whole situation. I know kids are exposed to way too many things that they shouldn't have to see at such early ages. The words didn't come to me tonight, but as I lay trying to go to sleep I felt I should at least write about my thoughts and concerns.

I had the thought of what a blessing the Gospel of Jesus Christ is to me. Not only do I understand more about why we are on this earth, it also helps me to teach my children the most important things. Topics such as charity, service, peace, love, righteousness, and that they can walk away from things they don't want to see or watch. I admit, I am not always the best at teaching the correct things, sometimes I also falter in teaching them incorrect principles, but I am trying to teach them the things I should. I don't always set the best example. Tonight is ample proof of that. Inviting the family to watch a different movie with us would have been better than to sit idly by doing nothing. Maybe that is why it bothered me so much tonight is because I did nothing and I do know better.

The Ironic thing about the whole situation was the movie was about the same thing. Don't let fear keep you from speaking out. I should have spoken out to the parents. I should have said your son shouldn't have to be exposed to this. This movie is too real to him, It is scaring him, lets go watch a different one. Or, Take him home, read him a children's book, and love him.

So the next best thing I can do is learn from this experience. I have made up my mind to speak out next time I see something like this. I also had the idea to write it on this blog for any parent that reads it. Please we need to help each other in raising this next generation. If you see something that is dramatically influencing our kids in a negative light don't be like me and cower. Have the courage to speak up and be a voice for these beautiful children!!! They need all the support they can get, especially in a world that is getting as desensitized as ours is. Maybe with enough voices we can change things for the better for the next generation.

I know what I will do next time. Too bad sometimes we have to learn from experience.

Jalapeno Corn Muffins

2011-01-18T17:19:00.002-07:00

I bought a jumbo muffin pan from Rush's and on the back it had a recipe for Jalapeno Corn Muffins. Jerimiah and I really like jalapenos. We eat them stuffed, love them in our salsa, eat them on our hamburgers, etc. Our kids wont' touch the stuff. I read through the recipe and thought I would give them a try. I doubled the batch and figured I would freeze them for later.

The kids came home from school and were all begging for a muffin. I told them they were for dinner. Matt our 2 year old grabbed one and ate 1/2 of it. I relented and figured I would let my daughters share the other half. They looked at it and said, "What is the green stuff?" I told them peppers and they should at least try it. They took a bite and one said, "Hey, It's actually pretty good. If you want kids to try peppers tell their mothers to fix these." They even ate the onions and didn't even fuss about onions being in the muffins.

Needless to say I am glad I made a double batch. The whole family surprising devoured them.

Jalapeno Corn Muffins from the Wilton Jumbo Muffin Box
2 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
5 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. salt
4 Tablespoons Sugar
2 cups milk
3 Tablespoons Canola oil
3 Tablespoons Bacon Fat
2 eggs
1/2 lb. cooked bacon, crumbled
1 large yellow onion
6 jalapeno peppers, rinsed, seeded, and chopped
3/4 cup shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line muffin tins or grease them. Sift cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. In a separate bowl mix the eggs, add oil, bacon grease, and milk. Mix. Add chopped onion and jalapenos. Mix. Make well in dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients in the well and combine until dry ingredients are moistened. Pour into muffin cups. Sprinkle grated cheese and bacon on top of batter. Bake for 25 minutes until top is browned and knife comes out clean. Makes 9 3" muffins. Serve with Chili or Taco salad.

Exercise With Kids

2011-01-11T12:51:00.004-07:00

With our crazy schedule I haven't joined a gym. Jerimiah goes to work @ 5:30 am and by the time I get up feed him breakfast and pack his lunch, I would have to get up @ 4:00 am to exercise. My body refuses to do that. He doesn't get home until 6:00 so going after would be a possibility, but really who wants to do that when you have put a full day in already. So my options are to do it during the day. Which during the day can be tricky when I still have two little ones at home.

I really like to get the kids out the door with breakfast, scriptures, and well groomed. I also like to get my house cleaned up first thing in the morning. Then, I like to do activities with the boys. So then I usually put off exercising until the next day. LOL

Today was different. I watched my boys playing with legos and then the oldest wanted to watch PBS kids. Not that this is bad, but sometimes I think a little activity would be best for him. It is COLD here most mornings and really hard to get aerobic exercise in for all of us. I had the thought of my elementary dance class cd. So I spent a few minutes trying to find it.

I turned off the t.v. and placed "All-Time Favorite Dances" http://www.kimboed.com/browseproducts/ALL-TIME-FAVORITE-DANCES-CD.html cd in and told to my mumbling child that we were going to do an activity. He sat there pouting, but the music and my ridiculous dance moves to "The Twist" finally won him over. He started twisting and turning. The next song we went to was the ever famous "chicken" dance, followed by the Hokey Pokey, and the bunny hop. Yes we got movin and groovin. Laughing we accomplished a quick 15 minute workout and had a blast doing it. My legs haven't jumped that much for forever (I now just need to brush up on some of the line dances that I totally have forgotten, I have instructions for them somewhere)!!!

So any friends out there that want to come Dance and get a workout with their kiddos and get out of the bleh of winter! Come join us. Give us a call!!! Maybe putting a few of our heads together we can remember how to do the Rocky Top, Limbo Rock, Cotton eyed Joe, The Hora, Mexican Hat Dance, the Conga, The alley cat, and the Virginia Reel.

Rock On!!!

2011-01-08T14:12:00.010-07:00

Yep, that is right, rock climbing holds instead of a ladder. Use with caution. I am sure falling will happen, but right now the boys are climbing it and giggling the whole way!!!

The parts came in for the boys beds so I thought I would show you Jerimiah's creativity in finishing them!!!

Keeping My Boys Busy

2011-01-07T17:01:00.008-07:00

This winter I have kept Jerimiah busier than he wants to be I'm sure. Here are some projects, that I had him make for me in December.

Bunk Beds for the boys. As you can see there is no way to get on the top bunk yet. He has ordered the parts for it and they are coming, but in the meantime Kolt just acts like a monkey and climbs up it without any help. I am way EXCITED for the way Jerimiah plans on finishing it!!! I'll post pics when the parts come in and Jerimiah is done.
The next piece of furniture I had him make was a lego table. I LOVE it because the kids keep the legos in one place and clean up is a breeze. We got the plans for this from ana white's site (which I LOVE too). Here is the link for the plans of the lego table http://ana-white.com/2010/12/moms-lego-table.html.

Here is how I keep Kolt and Matt busy during the winter too. Not too bad for a 2 and 4 year old eh???

Lasagne Dinner from start to Finish under 1 hour

2011-01-05T18:24:00.004-07:00

My husband requested lasagne for dinner at 5:00 today. At 5:45 we were sitting down ready to eat. I love this recipe. I found the original one in Family Fun years ago. I found this one later this year and loved the substitutions that were made. If you need an easy dinner, here it is http://www.skiptomylou.org/2010/05/14/easy-skillet-lasagna/

BTW-if you don't have zucchini you can substitute other veggies. Carrots or celery works great!

Last minute Frugal Holiday Gift Idea-Quilt of the month Jean Quilt

2010-12-21T10:03:00.006-07:00

Are you out of cash and still don't have all your Christmas shopping done? Here is an idea that might take you a little bit of time, but still is attainable and cheap on the pocketbook too!

Make a 12 block quilt of the month sewing kit out of all of those jeans you no longer fit in (especially because it's holiday time!).

choose the blocks you want to make: http://www.quilterscache.com/AlphabetizedListPageA_F.html Make sure if you use her site that you are using it like she would like you too, she allows many patterns for free. This site is very helpful. Print out list of webpages for each block and put them into a ziplock gallon size bag with the jean cut outs!

Then the person you give it to can make their own quilt blocks!!!

The picture I posted of a completed block is a star variation. The website above has many variations of the star block and it would be easy to make 12 block kits for them!

Santa Sight Word Cookies

2010-12-13T16:37:00.003-07:00

I saw secret decodable cookies on family funs website and thought they would be great to make for Christmas with a Santa cookie cutter and would make the belly be the decoder spot. They turned out except it looked like Santa had been shot so instead of haunting looking Christmas cookies I think I will stick to shapes next time. Like they made at family fun. Still loved the idea though!

http://family.go.com/valentine-recipes-contest/sweet-treats/secret-message-decoder-cookies-3506/

Make your decodable cookies and then write sight words all over a paper with light blue pen and with red, pink, and orange markers doodle all over the sight words. Then take the Sight word decoder and let your kid practice reading his sight words in a fun unique way.

*HINT: If you don't have time to make sugar cookies, you might want to buy some, melt jolly ranchers in the microwave and pour them in already made cookies. Haven't tried it but it just might work and be faster.

Penny Chores

2010-12-09T10:47:00.003-07:00

My kids have always helped out with the house from a very young age. Today, quite accidentally, we stumbled upon PENNY CHORES. While my son was switching the laundry (wet clothes into the dryer) he was elated to find a penny (I really thought all pockets were empty). I received the inspiration to make today a penny chore day. I quickly gathered all the loose pennies I could find and hid them in areas that my 4 year old would find while completing his chores.
Example: washing machine, in the utensil holder in the dishwasher, in the bottom of the laundry basket with his clothes to put away, etc.

Today while doing chores he has happily and eagerly been waiting for the next chore and penny find. Right now he is totally happy to just be finding the pennies, but another cute thing to do is at the end have a penny store with real penny candies (Swedish fish, raspberries, sour patch kids, etc.) where he can "buy" his penny candies and then you have the pennies for next time!!!

We won't do this everyday, but every once in awhile I will love surprising him with Penny Chore Day!!!

Christmas Bucket Scripture Advent, Frugal Holiday Tips

2010-12-07T17:45:00.004-07:00

Pottery Barn has an adorable bucket calendar. I don't have $300 to spend on it though so I ordered this off of the Garnet Hill site (http://www.garnethill.com/) and loved the idea of the little buckets that you put a surprise in each day to countdown to Christmas. (With a sale code I got it shipped for under $15.00 I think)

I didn't want candy, toys, etc. because you get overloaded with them at this time of year, but a friend of mine dropped off a candle with 25 Scriptures to read by candlelight to understand the character and attributes of Christ. PERFECT!

So each bucket has a scripture to get to know the character and attributes of Christ. Which we will gather to read each day including Christmas!

For some scripture advent ideas you could also go the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Children's Friend magazine.

I will include some links for you here they all are a little different, in fact it might be fun to copy one each year and have a new advent to do! This bucket advent is really easy. It just has buckets tied to ribbon that are all sewed together and then a vinyl number 1-25 on each one you could make one if you like it!! My railings paint was so chipped that I added greenery to try to help.

Scripture Ornaments

http://lds.org/friend/2010/12/scripture-ornaments?lang=eng

Christmas Advent

http://lds.org/friend/1998/12/christmas-advent-calendar?lang=eng

New Testament Advent

http://lds.org/liahona/1992/12/new-testament-advent-calendar?lang=eng

Oh Come All Ye Faithful Advent

http://lds.org/new-era/1998/12/oh-come-all-ye-faithful-an-advent-calendar?lang=eng

Oh Come Let Us Adore Him Advent

http://lds.org/new-era/1989/12/come-let-us-adore-him-an-advent-calendar?lang=eng

Here is another example of a bucket advent and the directions to make it!

http://www.infarrantlycreative.net/2010/11/dollar-store-advent-calendar.html

Christmas Book Week Countdown repost

2010-11-30T08:18:00.002-07:00

http://jerisesh.blogspot.com/2009/12/christmas-book-countdown-book-week.html
I am busy wrapping and getting my craft ornament supplies ready so I am giving you the link to the Christmas book Advent. I have updated some of the links to make it easier for you. Hope you have a great Christmas!!!

The Little Red Hen-Jerimiah, Kolter style

2010-11-29T09:58:00.002-07:00

Jerimiah came into the dining room yesterday morning when I was trying to finish getting the kids ready for church and tried to plead his case that he was like the Little Red Hen.
Jerimiah,"I am like the Little Red Hen here. I shoot the geese. I clean the geese. I cut the goose meat into jerky strips. I season the meat strips. I smoke the meat strips. I bag the jerky when it is finished. And all of you (wife and 4 kids) just want to eat the jerky. I am the Little Red Hen."

The girls started arguing over why he wasn't the little red hen.

Our 4 year old son's face lit up. He smirked his mischievous smile. Pointed directly at his dad and said, "You are a chicken?!" and then he started laughing!!!

All of us (Dad included) started laughing. I surely love the humor of that child. He should be a stand up comedian.

Reading Fun

2010-11-27T08:37:00.003-07:00

Today I was looking at websites to elp my son in connecting sounds together when reading. I found a fun game on Reading Rockets called "snail talk". This is where you say a word slowly like a snail and try to have your child or you guess the word. I pulled up some pictures on clipart and we "snail talked" what we saw. F-L-ow-er, S-K-Y, C-ow-B-oy, etc. My son thought this game was kinda fun and I could see him working to put the sounds together to make words. It was perfect for what I was trying to help him with.

I think this site has many other great ideas so here is the link to it!!!!
http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies

Thanksgiving Holiday

2010-11-26T14:30:00.003-07:00

I wish I had time to take out the camera and document some of the fun we had on Thanksgiving. We had a lot of yummy food and a lot of entertainment. Karaoke, card games, snow tunnelling, and dancing of the "Virginia Reel". We missed the family members who couldn't make it this year (Blake we certainly missed you and your family), but hope next year we can have another great get together with all the aunts, uncles, and cousins who would have liked to come.

I did pull out my camera to take pictures of the snow tunnels that Jerimiah, Gavin, Clint, and the kiddos made. My kids are going to have a blast in them until the sun melts them. Hopefully they will last all winter!!!

Uncle Dave and Jerimiah I guess were too busy helping us get ready for Thanksgiving that they postponed their goose hunting until today. Which I believe they had a blast (pun intended).

Thanks for the great Holiday weekend ya' all!!!

Frugal Holiday Tips-Science Kits

2010-11-26T08:52:00.002-07:00

I love science books where kids can experiment. I have purchased quite a few. The problem is...that I never want to get out all of the stuff to make the experiment or I am out of one of the items that is needed to do it, so we usually find something else to do. (It's kinda like the easybake oven). You can buy kits for making slime, etc. but it should be cheaper to make your own.

SO...I got together with a couple of my friends. We googled science experiments and copied them down to gather 30 science experiments together. We printed them in a little folder and went to work gathering the supplies. We then split up the cost of gathering the supplies like (borax) We could buy 1 box for all of our experiments. My friends are really excited.

I will post a picture later on. The idea though is it might be more cost efficient when doing Christmas gifts to buy in bulk and divide between friends who might also want to participate.

It only took 11 1/2 years!!!

2010-11-23T17:38:00.005-07:00

My husband loves pavlova (Australian or New Zealand dessert). He has told me I should learn to make it since we first got married. He also told me it took all day. Finally I decided if he works so hard for our family (like goes to work for 10 hours then comes home and snowblows our HUGE driveway just so he can get back to the house) the least I could do was at least try to make one of his favorite desserts.

So I googled it. I made it. He liked it. I didn't mind making it. It didn't take all day, in fact it took probably less than 15 minutes!!! Cooking it took longer, but you don't need to do anything while it cooks or cools down. It was really easier than I had dreaded for 11 1/2 years. I would rate it as simple and a beginner could make it!!! So if you want to try to make this dessert here's a link for the recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Easy-Pavlova/Detail.aspx. I did substitute white vinegar for lemon juice (since I didn't have any lemon on hand) and I only used 1 cup of sugar (which I put in my magic bullet to make it finer before adding it) and I preheated my oven to 300 degrees but as soon as I put it in I lowered it to 250 degrees.

I have decided I will make pavlova more often for him because as you can see he really deserves it! Thanks Honey, I love ya!

Frugal Holiday Tips-Too Much Turkey

2010-11-23T10:55:00.003-07:00

Last night when I woke up in the wee hours and couldn't go back to sleep, I started googling for Freezable turkey recipes. We always have left over turkey and instead of getting sick of turkey, I figured I could whip up some freezer meals and enjoy it on a busy day when I don't want to cook. Here are the links I found with some turkey freezer meals:(Wild Rice and Turkey Casserole) http://busycooks.about.com/od/precookedpoultryrecipes/r/wildriceturkey.htm OR (Turkey Pot Pie) http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/345857 OR (Turkey, Broccoli, Cheese Bake & others)http://www.ideasthatspark.com/idribble/blog/leftover_turkey_recipes/index.html

Frugal Holiday Tips-What to buy a 2 year old???

2010-11-20T06:42:00.007-07:00

This post is just so I can have this all documented for when my 2 year old turns into teenager. When he is being disrespectful I will just open the family blog and show them his preferred "toys"!

A Box of Tampons Looks like the perfect gift.

Of course I could always buy a pair of safety goggles.

Or a Kitchen Aide Mixer?

Frugal Holiday Tips-Homemade Easy Bake Oven Kit

2010-11-19T12:43:00.007-07:00

A few years ago I googled easy bake oven recipes and found adorable recipes on the internet. I compiled those on 4X5 cards. Gathered all the essential cooking utensils and made up easy bake kits for my kids with all of the ingredients.

Seriously who wants to spend a fortune on the premade packages and who wants to grab all of their ingredients out for a little cake. A kit like this allows my child to make their own goodie, practice reading and following directions (for my kids before they could read I made recipe cards up with pictures and dots of color coordinating with the measuring spoons), and allows for more independence!!!

I found that I could take out these little shoe boxes full of ingredients and dishes and let my kids bake to their little hearts content. (They just had to put all of "their" stuff away)

I would suggest finding the recipes you think your kids would like and typing or pasting those on a Word application to fit a 4x6 card. Then you can just print them and if they get wet or dirty you can reprint it. Then find little containers to fit in a tote to carry all of the dry ingredients needed for the recipes.
Places you can look @ recipes: http://www.childrensrecipes.com/easybakerecipes.htm OR http://www.budget101.com/frugal/easy-bake-oven-mixes-187/

Baking Dishes includes a small plastic squeeze bottle (which I fill with liquid when they begin ex. milk, water) it is easier for them to measure out of then the milk jug or faucet, a travel size plastic spray bottle (to put small amount of oil in so they can spray their pans, I also fill this up just before they begin), measuring spoons, metal plates and other dishes (that come with easy bake oven), mini cookie cutters, and their own printed out 4x5 recipe booklet.

Ingredients box includes flour, sugar, cocoa, cake mix, powdered sugar, mini chocolate chips, etc.

Frugal Holiday Tips-Too Much Pumpkin

2010-11-19T11:38:00.004-07:00

When my friend and I were walking she mentioned that she opened a large can of pumpkin and would freeze the remaining amount for later. I wish I would have thought about doing that years ago!!!

A large can of pumpkin 29 oz. is the same price as the small 15 oz can. I purchased a lot of the 29 oz cans although my recipes sometimes only call for 4 Tablespoons of pumpkin. I would usually make up many batches in a row and my family would get sick of the same recipe. So today I opened a new can of pumpkin and only had to use 2/3 cup of it for the recipe I was using, so I froze the rest. I proportioned out the remaining pumpkin for recipes I often use. (I don't feel bad using baggies because with couponing I usually get them free or close to it and I can reuse them if I want too!)

I spreaded the pumpkin out so it would be easy to thaw when I needed the pumpkin. I now have enough pumpkin to make 2 more pumpkin rolls and 3 batches of Pumpkin Pancakes.

Book Week 18, A Turkey For Thanksgiving, by Eve Bunting

2010-11-09T09:29:00.005-07:00

This book is a fun tale for a Turkey who thinks his invitation to Thanksgiving dinner means he is going to be on the table. Mr. Moose goes to great lengths to capture a turkey for Mrs. Moose.

Here are two of my little turkeys with the cookie turkeys they made. Check out my 2 year olds. Love the arrangement of eyes, beak, and waddle and his pose for the camera. Where are his eyes???

We wrote on the Turkey feathers (Thanks for being a "souper" Teacher and teaching this silly turkey) or (Dad, thanks for taking "souper" care of this little Turkey), etc and let them sign their names.

I think I saw this idea years ago in the Familyfun magazine, but I am not sure.

Supplies needed: scissors, tape, glue stick, googly eyes, construction paper, and little debbie oatmeal pies.

The Turkey in the book is worried about Mr. Moose's actions and is thinking he is going to do something else than invite him to dinner. Turkey thinks he is dinner. So, Other fun activities I would do with this book are things that look one way, but can be taken another. Of course it will depend on the age of children what they can understand.

Activities for things that are not what they seem:

1) Looks like a blank paper but really a secret message: Baking soda writing. add water and baking soda together. Mix well. With a q tip let children write on a paper and let it dry. Later let them go over the paper with lemon juice or grape juice to reveal what was written on the "blank" paper.

2) Categorizing game: You say things like spoon, fork, knife...and the kids have to think of a category you are thinking of like utensils. OR shirt, socks, shorts...and the kids say clothes (or if they are older you could trick them and say no and then say snakes, shaving cream, and see if they figure it is words that start with S).
OR spoon, antennae, car...answer: things that have metal. OR duck, dog...What would you answer????

Book Week 17, Dinosaur Romp

2010-10-26T10:58:00.002-06:00

I know this is the 2nd book this week, but I have been working on getting this ready for some time now.

We didn't choose just one book this week. We chose to read many dinosaur books. Examples: Danny and the Dinosaur, Dinosaur Train, Dinosailors, Harry and the Bucketful of Dinosaurs, Harry and the Dinosaurs go to school, Dinosaur Dream, etc.

Well I saw this adorable activity to pretend you were a paleontologist on http://partiesandholidays.blogspot.com/2009/03/dinosaur-themed-storytime.html! So of course I had to do it with my boys.

I thought I would have some other fun too. I went and bought 4 dinosaurs. I then went into my husbands taxidermy shop and made molds of the footprints of the dinosaurs so I could cast their footprints. I put these casts in sand and let them explore for footprints in sand. They then had to match the footprints to the dinosaur.

We had dino nuggets and dino sandwiches (you can use a cookie cutter).

Of course we read. We checked out all the books we could about dinosaurs!!!

Our Library also has a program called Tumble books where kids can watch books being read to them online, even from home. We added the dinosaur stories to our playlist and they watched them. (I absolutely love this for when I am busy making lunch or dinner and my kids want to hear stories, they have over 200 books they can listen to and its FREE!!!) I would check to see if your library has this too, it is a great resource!!!

We had friends who came and participated too!!! Both the boys and the girls loved it.

Sorry about the sideways pic., but you get the idea!!

Book Week 16, Gregory, the Terrible Eater By Mitchell Sharmat

2010-10-25T15:09:00.006-06:00

This book is a great book for teaching to eat healthy. With Halloween and other holidays right around the corner we can teach our kids to go lightly on all of the homemade goodies and read them this story to introduce healthy eating habits.

You could also talk about recycling from this book since a lot of the goat's food is garbage.

Goats are supposed to eat everything from car tires to tin cans. Gregory is a TERRIBLE eater and likes fruits, vegetables, eggs, fish, etc. Gregory's parents are tricky and start feeding him a little bit better at a time like a shoelace in his spaghetti. Eventually they compromise with the picky eater and Gregory eats a balanced meal!

Activities:

1) Have your kids help you plan a balanced meal. Cook it. Then make a weeks healthy menu.

2) Talk about recycling and find projects to make using recycled cartons, bags, cups, etc.

Here is a fun "recycled" craft for hairbows out of all those candy wrappers that you might get on Halloween http://craftedition.blogspot.com/2010/10/candy-wrapper-flowers.html!!!

3) Have a garage sale reject invention day! What is that you may say? Take all of the things that wouldn't sale at a garage sale and put them in a tote. Then out of the things in the tote the kids have to invent something using everything in the tote. (We did this in High School @ Idaho business Week-It was a blast!!!) Once their invention is complete they then have to make a commercial with it and make up a jingle. This could be a fun group date idea or a youth activity idea too.

4) Have a picky eaters palate plate: Take a chance to purchase new food and let your kids try things you might not otherwise try. Who knows they might find they like something new!!!

Do you have any activities that would go well with this book?

Jack O Lantern Pancakes

2010-10-22T07:51:00.008-06:00

I first saw these on Skip to My Lou's site http://www.skiptomylou.org/2010/10/21/spooky-pancakes/but I believe they originated on Notmartha.org. If you go to this link it has the recipes for the pancakes and syrup I made. My kids LOVED making them this morning. I made them yesterday and took them to my husband for lunch. He liked the pancakes and thought the recipe tasted great and I think his co workers enjoyed watching our little boys decorate them. It takes very little effort and the whole family enjoys them.

As a side note for those who saw my book week on Big Pumpkin, I think these would be great to make after reading the book too!!! http://jerisesh.blogspot.com/2010/09/book-week-15-big-pumpkin-by-erica.html
Do you have any fun recipes that are great and creative to do with kids????? I would love you to post them.

Family Fun November 2010 edition

2010-10-14T20:32:00.000-06:00

I wrote in to the Family Fun magazine to tell them how much I LOVE their magazine. In the letter I told them how I tweaked one of their ideas for Kolters birthday. They published the tweaking I did in the November magazine and included a picture of Jerimiah and Kolter. So if you don't get the magazine pick it up and look at the mailbox section of the magazine.

If you are on this blog because you wanted to see the video. Here is the link http://jerisesh.blogspot.com/2010/07/kolters-birthday-party.html

Aunt Meldeane

2010-10-06T19:04:00.000-06:00

Today I went to a funeral for Jerimiah's grandma's sister-in-law. Her name was Meldeane. She lived in Shelley not to far from our house. I have seen relatives of Jerimiah's family here and there but the extended family I really don't know that well. I feel very fortunate to have met Aunt Meldeane though. Our first year in Shelley we were blessed with the harvest of Uncle Boyd's garden (which is HUGE). Aunt Meldeane shared canning recipes with me and treated our children with all the love of a Grandma. She told McKinley that when she was old enough to go to Hobbs Middle School that she would go over and have lunch with her. Unfortunately she passed away before she could share those lunch time memories with McKinley. Though she has passed away her spunk will always keep me smiling. Like the choir seats that they acquired and listening to the radio in the backyard. Her telling us that she told her Bishop she liked her church calling and don't ever think of changing it. I loved looking for her very "official" looking reserved for Whitmills cloth that she would place in the back bench of the stake center during stake conference so she would have her place saved and she never had to come early to get that seat (Hopefully Uncle Boyd will keep that tradition up for himself). Making sure that Jerimiah and her son in law met since they were both taxidermists. Her funeral was filled with emotions. They expressed her and her life very well. As I listened to her life sketch I laughed and cried with the family members that knew her longer and well. I guess that in itself shows what kind of person she was. I only knew her for a short 3 years, but her kindness, graciousness, spunkiness, and sense of humor left me feeling as though I had known her for a lifetime. Goodbye Aunt Meldeane. Thanks for all the great memories in the short time I was able to know you.

Fun in the Mail Today

2010-09-30T10:49:00.002-06:00

We were excited to get all of the fun learning games in the mail today!!! I ordered all of these from http://www.learningresources.com/. They were on clearance and I figured they would go great with some of the book weeks I have already posted.

The clock and stamps will go with The Grouchy Ladybug. I will post the time on the clock and say, "Grouchy ladybug what time is it." The kids will then have to use the time stamp with the digital clock and write their time. Or I can have a buzzer go off throughout the day and the kids can come stamp a paper write the time that the buzzer went off and write what they were doing!!! I love the clock stamps and they were only $1.11!!!

Grouchy Ladybug Book Week Link

http://jerisesh.blogspot.com/2010/05/book-week-11-grouchy-ladybug-by-eric.html

The sight word pop game is for the Book Week The popcorn shop. The kids will play this game and have a BLAST learning sight words too. I also found some printables on http://www.makinglearningfun.com/ for popcorn sight word sheets that kids can use a highlighter as they read them to put "butter" on the popcorn!!!

Book week The Popcorn Shop link

http://jerisesh.blogspot.com/2010/08/book-week-14-popcorn-shop-by-alice-low.html

Love it!!!

Book Week 15, Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman

2010-09-30T10:05:00.005-06:00

Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman is one of my favorite Halloween books. I have it recorded and the music that scholastic put with it is sooo fun. My kids love listening to this story.

A witch plants a seed to grow pumpkin to make pumpkin pie. It grows to large that she can't harvest it. Other characters such as a vampire, mummy, and bat try to help her harvest the pumpkin. The pumpkin is finally harvested with a big idea from a small character. Cooperation and teamwork is taught!

I centered a classroom Halloween party around this book. We listened to the story and then had the following stations.

1) Mummy the principal. We had a good natured principal and we took toilet paper and wrapped him up in t.p. The teachers enjoyed the kindergarten childrens faces so much they even joined in to be "mummied" We timed them and encouraged them to go faster with each roll.

2) Witch Race-We found cheap broomsticks for decoration and blew up balloons and had a witches relay race. They had to use the brooms to sweep the balloon to the other side and back. (It was more difficult than we thought) You could just have them "fly from one side of the room to the other and back on the broom. We timed the team and encouraged them to do the best out of three tries.

3) Ghost pops-We did the ghost tootsie pop suckers. We cut out white fabric and with permanent marker they made ghost faces on it when it was wrapped and tied around a tootsie pop sucker.

4) Pin the teeth on a Vampire-Pinned the teeth on the vampire and awarded the kids plastic bat rings.

If you are having fun at night you could play Vampire tag. Give each person a flashlight and since vampires hate light if they are touched with a beam of light from anothers flashlight they have to turn off their flashlight. Keep playing until all but one person is left with their flashlight on.

5) These pumpkin pancakes are a great alternative to pumpkin pie!!! You could let your kids create their own jack o lantern with the syrup too!!! http://www.skiptomylou.org/2010/10/21/spooky-pancakes/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+skiptomyloublog+%28Skip+To+My+Lou%29

These games could certainly be done with a family too!!! I think we are going to invite some families over during our harvest break and have a "Big Pumpkin" party!!! I might even make pumpkin pie as a dessert!!!

I saw adorable little finger puppets on Oriental Trading. They have a witch, vampire, and mummy. It would be really easy to use a bat ring as a finger puppet and make a ghost finger puppet out a ring too! Kids could then use them to retell the story.

Here is the link to Oriental Trading's finger puppets.

http://www.orientaltrading.com/ui/browse/processRequest.do?demandPrefix=12&sku=25/4984&prodCatId=388921&mode=Browsing&erec=5&Ntx=mode%2bmatchallpartial&sp=true&Ntk=all&cm_sp=HALLOWEENTOYS-_-main-_-feature2&requestURI=processProductsCatalog&tabId=7&N=388921+1237&sd=Halloween+Character+Finger+Puppets

Not Eggsactly What I Had Planned For Today

2010-09-13T10:43:00.000-06:00

Matt had different ideas of what to do with a bakers dozen of eggs today. He had different ideas of mopping the floor too. Well, now I really do need to mop my floor and clean out my fridge. What a Boy! BTW -blogging this is helping me count to 10 minutes!!!

Just Because (Photos)

2010-09-09T07:06:00.001-06:00

Voice of the Spirit

2010-09-02T13:16:00.000-06:00

Voice of the Spirit

Hearing Aides

2010-09-01T23:42:00.000-06:00

As many of you know our 2nd child Rachel had to get a hearing aid. I have totally been reflecting on this for many weeks now. Rachel came home from school last year in 1st grade and didn't have her work done. I asked her why not and she told me she couldn't hear rhyming words. I watched her in her class and she would have to ask "What" many times to her friends. I watched her during the summer and took mental notes on words she was mispronouncing. I talked to a hearing impaired mom who suggested I test her ears once again because hearing can get worse over time.

Rachel failed her hearing tests at the hospital at 2 1/2 weeks. We had her tested and the audiologist told us then she had hearing loss. He said to make sure she sat close to where her teacher was sitting, etc. He also said if there comes a time when you think she would benefit from hearing aides to bring her in.

Jerimiah prayerfully thought about switching jobs. One day he knew it was time to switch. Because of that switch we added different insurance. With that insurance I noticed hearing aides were covered where they were not covered before. What a blessing this insurance is!!! The Lord in his infinite wisdom gave us the resources to cover the medical costs associated with her hearing loss.

I took Rachel before school started to be tested to see if it was worse. I also had more knowledge on what she could and couldn't hear. I discussed this with the hearing clinic. They tested her again. Consulted with one another and fit her for a hearing aide that day.

Do I feel bad that I didn't get this sooner??? No, I feel that for whatever reason now was the time to get this done. I do feel that the Lord has always made me aware of Rachel's needs. He has always blessed us to take care of those needs too. With technology I was aware to tell teachers she had hearing loss. I made sure she could pronounce the alphabet correctly. I made sure she could read before school. I don't anticipate being in her classroom this year as much as the first two years she has been in school. She will be learning new math facts, science, etc. that she hasn't been previously exposed to now. I now am not playing as much as a role in her life as I did before and now she needs to be able to hear better on her own.

I feel it is the same with the Holy Ghost. When our children are younger we guide them. We teach them right and wrong it is our responsibility! We have a lot of help. The Lord is always there to help us and has given us many resources to teach them. As our children get older they take the Lord's teachings, that hopefully we have helped them to learn, and they make their own decisions with the agency they have been given. They need to rely less on us and more on their own. They need to know how to tune into and listen to the Holy Ghost.

I guess I am saying my kids are getting older. They are getting independent. I just hope they really know that I know the Savior loves us. He blesses us. He atoned for us. The Holy Ghost guides us. The Prophet is the Lord's mouthpiece. The scriptures are true. We just need to be tuned in in order to listen and hear what we should do and do it! I hope my children know the Savior lives, loves them, blesses them. That they can rely on the Holy Ghost to help them. I hope they know the Lord has given all of us aides to help us hear him: the scriptures, a living Prophet, church, Holy Ghost, local leaders, parents, etc. He also gives us the resources we need to obey. Hopefully we all will choose to believe and obey the truth he has given us!

Book Week 14 The Popcorn Shop by Alice Low

2010-08-31T12:40:00.000-06:00

This weeks book week is just an activity of FUN!!! and Science of course.

We have the book The Popcorn Shop with a CD reading it. I love the CD because instead of a chime for turning pages it has popcorn popping. My kids LOVE it. (You can find the book on Amazon or ebay, I don't know about the CD)

READING and MUSIC: We listened to the story and then we listened and danced to "The Popcorn" song by newbridge songs for learning. Which I noticed on their website their Cd's are on sale :). Google newbridge songs for learning and look at their movement and fitness CD. (In this song it says to pretend to act like popcorn. Jump up high, jump down low, jump real fast and then jump slow...etc.) It has a really groovy tune and my kids love it!

SCIENCE: We then talked about how heat changes things. Examples: Ice melts with heat, some liquids vaporize or evaporate, popcorn kernels pop into popcorn.

We spread a blanket on the floor and with the popcorn popper's lid off we watched the heat change the kernels into popcorn. It was a BLAST!!!

I hope you can find the book and CD and have fun too!! It is better than popcorn and a movie any day.

A SWAMP??? and hair update

2010-08-30T15:53:00.001-06:00

Thank you Majority of poll voters for agreeing with me. Yes the hair has all been shaved off. Matt has a few months for his hair to grow in before freezing temperatures and snow hit us.
Seriously I am surprised there were some yes votes. I thought I had married a "unique" man. I guess some of the man friends had to take his side whether they liked it or not.

The girls are now in school which leaves me home with the boys. I thought it would be a relief until I was making raspberry jam and canning beans. All of the sudden it hit me that the boys were extremely QUIET!!!

I quickly paused my canning and went to investigate. Yep. Matt had flushed a whole roll of tp down the toilet and was flushing it every time it would fill.

The floor was a SWAMP!!! I was the alligator chomping my jaws. Matt was put in the bathtub until I cleaned up the mess. I have never seen him sit so still in his life (It actually gives me hope in teaching him to sit quiet for awhile). After 2 hours of a drenched shirt (from water and perspiration) and a few dirty looks from both me and Matt, the house was drying out (with fans), beans and jam were canned, and Matt and I could laugh again. As you could tell by our ridiculous haircut poll.

Haircut Poll

2010-08-21T13:51:00.000-06:00

Jerimiah gave the boys haircuts and he wants to leave Matt's the way it is? What do you think? Please vote on our poll.

Okay those that know me, know the inevitable. But what is wrong with a few laughs. I'm sure Matt will get over the trauma right?

BTW-Matt has been wearing hats lately!!!

Book Week 13 The Greedy Python by Richard Buckley and Illustrated by Eric Carle

2010-08-16T08:41:00.000-06:00

The greedy python eats all animals it comes across. He gets sick and coughs all the animals he eats up he then sees his tail and eats it up. The book is in rhyme and my Kolter enjoyed it.

Kolter is getting to the point where he needs to learn his sight words. He knows most of the alphabet sounds. He now can blend the sounds to read a word. There are 220 common words used in English that children should know by sight. They shouldn't need to sound them out. Most of the words Kolter has been reading he knows by sight and doesn't sound them out. With practice he will be able to quickly say them. The words that should be known are called the dolche sight words. If you google dolche sight words there are numerous sites that show what they are. Some are even broken up to preprimer, primer, first grade, etc. Preprimer are the words you want to start with and work up until your child knows all 220 very well.

On the website http://www.makinglearningfun.com/ I saw a greedy python sight word printable. It has you print off the sheets and then feed the sight words to the python (an envelope with a snake on it). The snake eats so many he gets sick and you can "cough" up the words and begin again.

It is a fun way to practice sight words. I helped Kolter color and cut an envelope like a snake and instead of printing all the sight words I just wrote the words on a 3X5 card. I also added some words that he knows already to give him confidence in reading and only will add sight words about 5 new ones at one time.

The other day I knew this was right for Kolter when I sent him to take a nap and instead of hearing silence I heard him in a hissing voice saying sight words. I silently slithered by his room and peeked inside to see him sitting on his bed, sight words out, and reading them one by one and sliding them into his snake.

The following video shows him reading some words. We also talked about rhyme because the book rhymes and we added our own rhyming words so he could get the "ing" sound down.

Book Week 12 Ella Sarah Gets Dressed by Margaret Chodos-Irvine

2010-07-22T18:14:00.001-06:00

When browsing through Skip to My Lou's craft camp I came upon the fabric scrap dolls craft and immediately I thought of this book, "Ella Sarah gets dressed".

In this book there is a persistent young girl who refuses to dress as her family would have her do. She decides to wear her wild fashion just in time to greet her friends who have their own sense of fashion.

1) ART: I figured it would be great to download the templates from the fabric scrap dolls and let your children do their own fashion statements.
www.skiptomylou.org/2010/06/16/fabric-scrap-dolls-from-this-mama-makes-stuff/

2) MATH: You can have children point out patterns in fabrics. You could also have a tea party and introduce fractions. "Can you give me 1/2 of a cookie? Could you fill my cup up 1/3 of the way?"

3) Science: Discuss the color wheel and how colors are formed.

4) Literature: You can make the felt board story from Making Learning fun and have the children retell you the story. www.makinglearningfun.com/themepages/EllaSarahFeltBoard.htm

Have fun being a fashion designer!!!

Fruits of Jerimiah's Labor

2010-07-19T12:41:00.000-06:00

Here is a panoramic view of our garden. It is really starting to produce our fruits and veggies. I owe the majority of it to Jerimiah he puts many hours into growing this garden. The kids and I help a little bit but not as much as he does.

This cabbage however is all of McKinley's work. She weeds it, dusts it, and reads to it to help it grow. This is the bonnie plants cabbage she is growing for school. She hopes it will win a prize but she has done a good job of growing it this summer and it is getting HUGE!!! She has named it Lucy. She tells me reading to it helps it grow!

Kolter's Birthday Party

2010-07-16T15:11:00.000-06:00

Here is all of the stuff ready for the party. Cupcakes with army men on top. Easter eggs filled for the moon rock pick up. Disc throwers and sponges to defeat Zurg.
Kolter at practice. Prepping his Dad to be Zurg.

Pizza Planet: Here are the pizzas they made!

We had fun at the Buzz Lightyear Party.

Here is Jerimiah being the Evil Emperor Zurg and the kids throwing asteroids at him.

settle the argument!!!!

2010-06-24T06:17:00.000-06:00

help this family get over this debate vote for what you would call the color of this bowl.

http://pollyquietandcrazy.blogspot.com/2010/06/poll-what-color-is-the-bowl.html

Good Things to Come

2010-06-17T07:18:00.000-06:00

Good Things to Come Oh how this is TRUE!!!

Rachel's Birthday Party (Mad Scientist Theme)

2010-06-11T16:50:00.000-06:00

Rachel wanted to have a Mad Scientist Theme for her birthday so we invited her friends to come join us in our "Lab" which was really our kitchen. 8 of her great friends joined us for the great occasion.

First before we could enter the lab we had to wear our safety gear. We distributed eyeglasses for eye protection and off we went to the lab. (Sunglasses)

Our First experiment was bubble wand making. We gave each child a pipe cleaner and let them design their own bubble wand. We then went onto the back porch and let them try it out in our homemade bubble solution.

We then washed off the bubble solution and dried our hands. We then went to our 2nd experiment...Koolaid Playdough. We mixed up 4 batches red, pink, orange, and green.

We washed our hands again and went to our 3rd experiment. Acid and Alkaline testing with red cabbage juice (boil red cabbage juice in water until dark purple drain water and cool). We tested baking soda water, Mountain Dew, jalapeno pickle juice, lemon juice, and bleach water. I had previously made the solution and put a sample of each in a cup unlabeled. The kids then guessed which solution made each color. We added the red cabbage juice and let them see what color the water turned. After we added the pH indicator (red cabbage juice) we classified our solutions: Pinks and red were more acidic and yellow and greens were more Alkaline.

Our 4th experiment was slime, flubber, etc. POLYMERS we added water, borax, and glo in the dark powder (zinc sulfide) to a mixture of glue and water. These two mixture combined make a polymer which is fun to play with!!!

The clear glue wasn't perfected but it was still fun. You could add food coloring to make other colors of slime we just didn't have the time we had to go to experiment #5.
But before we did that we opened birthday presents and yes her friends and their parents really spoiled Rachel. Thanks for all the gifts!!!

Experiment #5 was that the children made their own ice-cream to go with their cupcakes!!!
There was a lot of shaking involved (the ice cream bags and the kids because their hands got cold). But they all ended up making some homemade ice cream!!!

Thanks for the fun time Rachel and friends!!!

Paper Dolls

2010-06-10T07:04:00.000-06:00

These are adorable. http://tpettit.best.vwh.net/dolls/pd_scans/scan_index.html
I think they have cute paper dolls even for little guys here. Paper dolls are great for kids to practice cutting.

Brain Lapse

2010-06-06T20:01:00.000-06:00

So we went on a short trip out of town this weekend. I was at an activity when I thought OH NO I forgot diapers. I hate to pay full price for diapers. I have enough diapers until I potty train already purchased. I also knew that where we were at there was probably only one place to get diapers and they would be a marked up price. I went loathing the idea that I would spend so much.

As I was in the isle it hit me...Hey I can get coupons out of the paper and it might save me some cash. So I went back outside and deposited $.50 cents to get a newspaper with the inserts in them. Yes there were two coupons in it for the items I forgot. $2 off of wipes and $1.50 off of diapers. That $.50 cents saved me $2.50 cents even if I would have purchased the generics and cheapest ones there and I bought a brand I liked.

So yes my brain may have had a meltdown and forgot the items, but it was able to recover and not have to pay full price. Yes more than my usual for diapers, but at least not full price.

Book Week 11 The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle

2010-05-29T09:23:00.000-06:00

With School out we don't want to loose all those fun math facts we learned so today's book is to help us with our math retention.

For our printables we went to mathwire ladybug math. http://www.mathwire.com/

We also went to www.vickiblackwell.com/lit/ladybug.html scroll down until you see ladybug clock in bold letters.

For the accordion book we went to KIZCLUB.COM

We got the recipe for ladybug cookies from http://www.almostunschoolers.blogspot.com/. Just sugar cookie dough with red food coloring and bakers cocoa for the brown.

So on to our activity.

1) We read "The Grouchy Ladybug" by Eric Carle.

2) Kolter did the accordion book from Kizclub.

3) McKinley and Rachel did math wrap ups and raced the ladybug timer (kitchen timer).

4) We made ladybug sugar cookies. (that went totally flat)

5) Rachel added the spots on each ladybug while McKinley multiplied the spots on the cookies.

6) Rachel and McKinley played "Grouchy Ladybug what time is it with their Ladybug clocks" Similar to what time is it Mr. Wolf. Except instead of yelling the time the Ladybug puts a time on their ladybug clock (from vicki blackwell site) and the other players (aphids) take that many steps. (we only did hour times). When the Ladybug goes bzzzz to fly off she runs to catch the aphids (because ladybugs eat aphids). I really designed this game for Kolter's sake but he and his dad and Matt went to Harbor Tools. The girls really enjoyed it still though.

7) We would have gone outside to find ladybugs but it was pouring rain.

Hope you can use some ideas and have fun.

Testimony of the Book of Mormon

2010-04-16T22:54:00.000-06:00

Testimony of the Book of Mormon

Book Week 10 Tops and Bottoms

2010-04-16T10:38:00.000-06:00

As spring is here and so is gardening season, I chose Tops and Bottoms for this weeks book week. Maybe it is because I saw Bridgette the master gardener too!!! So Bridgette this book week is for you.

I love this story. I think it is good to teach your children to work and it also is great to let them see how a little seed can turn it to a huge plant with great veggies!!!! I love to read this book and then have a muffin tin meal with veggies. I use a 6 cup muffin tin (though you could use what you have). I then put in a plastic baggie all my veggies: radishes, carrots, celery, broccoli, peas, beans, etc. They can then classify it as a top, middle, or bottom veggie and place it in their tins accordingly: top, middle, bottom cups (two each). This way my kids eat a lot of veggies and have fun while doing it. If you want they could be the "Hare" and eat just the tops first, then the bottoms, then the middles.

I also found the cutest color learning song game on 123 Colors by Jean Martin. You can find this used on Amazon for a pretty decent price and it has some good ideas for teaching and playing with colors.
This one we pretend we are farmers and go out and pick veggies according to the color of the veggie and it has lyrics set to the tune of Down by the Station.

If you want to get very creative do a potato shoe box experiment. At one end of the shoe box place a potato and the other end cut a whole so light can go through. The potato will sprout eyes and the eyes will grow toward the light. To make it funner make a maze between the potato and the opening.

Have fun this spring and remember to let your kids learn while you get spring planting done!!!!

Matt

2010-04-14T15:57:00.001-06:00

Today we rode bikes and went to the park and played with friends. I am so excieted for GOOD weather. While there Matt was my usual brave, undeterred almost 2 year old. He climbs the steps, goes down the slides, climbs the bar cage things, etc. Today he was at the top of a platform and I glance over just in time to see him go down.

Go down he does. He didn't even cry. Just started breathing erratically and dry heaving. This is not Matt. He usually goes down and jumps up and runs to something else. I have seen him get hurt in a lot of instances and just go on as nothing happened.

Needless to say I was worried. So worried that I rushed him to the Dr. (Thanks to my friends car and watching Kolter!!!) Yes they even looked worried since they know how fearless and determined he is. I was rushed into the room and they took his oxygen levels. They were still in the 90's. His breathing was still erratic for about 15 minutes. Seriously it was like he was trying to go to the bathroom. He would breathe and then pause for about 10 secs. Breathe and then pause. Finally the Dr. sent me home with info on nose bleeds (because Matt gets them a lot) and instructions to give him some Motrin. He said he believed he just got the wind knocked out of him, but to watch his behavior and keep an eye on him. He gave me the 411 on swelling on the brain signs and sent me on my way.

We went back to the park and Matt didn't jump back to playing. He stayed on my lap and when he finally ventured off it was on the ground. Eventually he did go slide a little bit. I think his fall slowed him down today. It may have even made him a little cautious. We will just see if it lasts until he gets feeling better or indefinately. My guess is he will be back to climbing tomorrow.

It was quite a scare for all of us there. I am very happy and relieved to see him doing better.