Our First Day Was A HOOT!

Today I now have a 3rd grader and a 1st grader!  Wow.  Time isn't slowing down.  

 Why is he getting so big?!?!?

 T was totally excited to be a big 1st grader and not a baby Kindergartener!

Both boys came out of school all smiles.  (Well that's when we actually found everyone.  T was missing.  W went inside and found him standing in the hall.  Whew.  Both his teacher and me were getting a little panicked outside.  T was embarrassed but now knows to keep up with the group.) Anyway, they both had great days and that makes this momma happy.

In keeping with tradition, we had our own family party after school.   You can read about past years here, here and here.  This year's theme was WISDOM!  I take no credit for this idea.  I stole it from a friend of mine, Holly, who did it for her kids a few years ago.  I loved it so much and remembered it.  So here's my spin on her idea.   It's based off Proverbs 16:16

So what do you think of when you hear "wisdom"??  Why, owls of course.  Here's the setup

We had some owl snacks after school (Thank you Pinterest):

And I made the boys some special reminders to make WISE decisions so they can SHINE like STARS to those around them. (plus a fun joke book I found and printed)

These felt owl ornaments I thought would be perfect to hang on their backpack to serve as a constant reminder while at school.  The tutorial can be found here.

 Then I found these adorable paper pillow boxes and filled them with m&m's for a fun treat.  Instructions found here

 I think we succeeded in an awesome first day!  Love my boys and praying for a great year for them AND their teachers!!

Family Camping

We took our first camping trip as a family this past weekend.  I told S I would go as long as the place we stayed had flushable toilets!  HA!  So, he did the research and found Cave Lake State Park.  It's in the north eastern part of the state near the UT border.  Supposedly you can see the most stars in this area because it's out in the middle of NOWHERE!   (and one night S did see the Milky Way at like 3am!) We decided to rent a pop up camper to make our first trip a little more enjoyable and more cost efficient.  No need in buying tents if we don't like it.  We were completely out of cell phone range and we had no electricity in the camper.  We were truly roughing it.  C was the only one who complained and kept asking to go home and play games.  HA!  (he is Mario obsessed these days!)  As far as our first camping trip goes, it went really smoothly and everyone seemed to have a good time.  I'm just having a hard time catching up on all the dirty laundry that is associated with camping!

Our campsite view:

 Looking back from picnic table to our camper:

  Inside the camper as soon as we popped it up - they thought it was awesome

 This is the only picture you will see me in.  This was right after we got everything set up.  From that point forward I made a point not to be in any photos!

 This is where the boys played most of the time.  The plopped themselves in the dirt and played with matchbox cars.  They were dirty from head to toe everyday.  But that's how boys should be, right???

 We did some hiking and saw some nice scenery.  Not much in terms of animals though.  

My dear friend, Patti, had told me when her family goes camping, she makes light sabers from pool noodles (she has two boys).  I am so glad she gave me this idea because the boys LOVED them and spent the a LOT of the time running around the campsite pretending to be some character from star wars and have light saber fights.

 We made our very own tic-tac-toe board.  I remembered seeing this idea on Pinterest and I had brought along paint for rock painting.  So....I decided this would make a good time killer.

 The boys loved it.  We left the rocks for the next campers to have a fun game.

 We drove up the mountain near our camp sites and saw some magnificent scenery.  Too bad we didn't see any elk....we were really hoping to see some.

 W won the award for most crazy hair on the entire trip.  Here he is doing what he loves most.  

 We painted rocks.  They got to bring one home as a souvenir and the rest we hid around the campsite for future campers to find.

 We went fishing in the lake.  T could have fished all day.  We didn't catch a thing but he enjoyed it regardless.

 We drove through a bit of the Great Basin National Park and saw some pretty scenery.

 And of course, we roasted marshmallows every night and had yummy gooey smores.

This one loved the goodness and yes, he looked like PigPen from The Peanuts the ENTIRE trip!

 Overall, not a bad trip.  Do I want to go again anytime soon?  No.  But ask me in a few months and I would probably go again.  That's if I survive all the laundry!  It was a nice change and the kids really used their imagination the entire time.  Great memories made.

Visitors!

My parents came out for an entire week!  We haven't seen them in a year (unless you include skype).  Last time they came they strictly came to help us move into our house.  No sightseeing.  So, this trip was all about seeing Las Vegas.  So we did what we could.  This picture cracks me up.  Who would have ever thought these two would be in front of the Vegas sign?!?!?  Better yet, who would have ever imagined that I would live here?!?!

The first day of the visit was declared Hoover Dam day.  We drove out to see the sight and every time I am amazed at what could be built back in the day in such little time.  Why does it take 10 years to build a bridge now???  Anyway, Dad bought a book on the construction of the hoover dam and read that all afternoon and then we found a documentary about the construction of the dam and watched it later that night.  My boys probably felt punished having to watch the documentary but they are better for it, right??

Here's dad at the top of the bridge looking back on the dam.  Mom stayed in the car with little C due to 1)her fear of heights and 2)she has a torn ACL so we didn't think it good idea to climb all the stairs for this viewpoint.

 I took the folks out to the strip one night so they could get their full Vegas experience.  We went to the Bellagio and saw the fountains.  THat was my first time to see the fountains - fascinating.  I think my folks got a little bit of culture shock seeing all the people and the huge fancy casinos.  Eye opening experience.  Interesting place Vegas is....

 Then we went off to the Venetian where we enjoyed watching gondola rides, piano music and gelato.

 WE took the boys to the new Children's museum one afternoon.  They just opened the new one this past spring and we had not been to it yet.  It was fun but crowded.  Guess that's the place to be on a hot Vegas day....

We went on an early morning excursion to Red Rock Canyon.  We went before it got too hot.  Sadly we didn't' see the wildlife we had hoped would be out early in the day but nonetheless by parents were taken away by the beauty of the canyon.  It really is picturesque.  And you really don't feel like you are in Las Vegas one bit.

 

  Another perk to having the grandparents for an extended stay was that S and I got a little time away. We haven't had this chance in a few years so it was nice to get away from all the boys.  We went to the M Resort for one night and there I had this pancake the size of my head!  I love pancakes but even I, the pancake queen, couldn't finish this one off.

On our last day, we got to celebrate my dad's 69th birthday.  We made him some snickerdoodle cupcakes.  He said he was old and I told him he still has another year before he's old so live it up.  HA!

We had a great visit and the boys loved the extra attention and less attention from mom and dad.  HA!  They told me the best part was that they had no chores while they were here.  Ahhhh....gotta love their honesty.  Looking forward to their return in December!

Summer Happenings

With only 4 weeks left until school starts, I'm getting to the point in the summer when I'm done.  I love my children, I really do.  But I'm tired.  I'm tired of being the entertainer, teacher and leader of all things fun.  I'm about to the point where my kids can just go back to school dumb because I'm tired of pushing summer reading, math and all forms of education.  (This is why I don't homeschool!)  My system this summer was quite simple and has worked for the most part.  It needs some tweaking for next summer but I really liked the self directed simplicity of it.  I got the idea online and loved it.  

Introducing Summer Academy...

 I basically made a folder for each boy and had dividers for everyday of the week.  First page was a "to-do" list.  This had the chore(s) listed for the day.  I've done chore charts and they simply don't work for me.  THis allowed me to put down what I needed done for that day.  Something new and different everyday.  In the pocket contained a worksheet for the day along with "brain activities".  These ranged from reading 15-20 min to working a word search to practicing cursive.  What I loved was being able to get each folder ready on Sunday nights and not having to think about it all week (besides the chore items)

 We also instituted a behavior chart.  T was used to this in his kindergarten class and since he's the one I tend to have most problems out of, I decided to try it.  It worked great the days I used it.  I will admit I was very quick to make them move down but let the good go unnoticed a lot.  Isn't that always the case?!?!  Next year I would like to do a better job and put in place a reward system for so many orange/red days for the week.  Like maybe an extra dollar in allowance??

Recently we were beginning to notice our kids did not know simple bible story facts like "who built the ark?".  They couldn't remember the details.  Maybe it's because they are taught so much application of the bible??  So I decided to dedicate the summer to simple bible stories.  I purchased this storybook bible.  I bought the audio and print version.  We listen to a bible story while they eat breakfast (that's when they are the quietest - ha!).  If you haven't heard of this bible, it's awesome!  It's told just like a story but the content is true to the bible.  My kids love it and ask for it almost every morning.

So, onto what we've been up to this summer that's fun.  Well, we went to Michael's and did their craft time.  It's $2 for 2 hrs of craft fun.  Not bad.

We did our own crafts with Kiwi crates!  (Kiwi crates are craft box subscriptions and they are awesome.  Go to www.kiwicrate.com)

We've painted our own masterpieces

 WE've done a lot of reading.  Seeing my soon-to-be 1st grader reading simple chapter books makes for such a sweet picture.  

 We've had some treats along the way....  

  And played at the parks around town....

But the biggest winner this summer has been the pool in our backyard.  Have I mentioned how happy I am we went with the house with the pool?!?!  This has been the BEST entertainment for 3 boys with boo-koos of energy!

Well, we still have 4 weeks left.  Stay tuned for what fun we have this last month.