While Mommy's away

The children will play! I got back today from my room mate's wedding in Utah. It was so wonderful to see all the old roomies and have an all out reunion. I will definitely have a big post as soon as I can get my computer to download my pictures (in case you were wondering why I haven't put any on lately).

2 1/2 days away from my kiddos is just about all I can handle, I couldn't wait to hug and kiss hug their little faces. Peter did great being a full time daddy. Yesterday he took all four kids to see the movie Up in 3d. I couldn't believe he braved that, but apparently they did great! I don't think I would have even tried that with the 2 of us and the kids.

Then in the afternoon he broke out the slip and slide. I think it is so funny how Peter runs things slightly different than I do. When he was telling me about it he said "Well, Dallin and Tanner definitely won't have any tan lines." Yep, they were slip and sliding in the buff. I would not complain though because Peter was so nice to cheerfully let me go for the weekend and the kids had a great time.

Then for a slumber party they watched Jurassic Park while playing with dinosaur toys! I was about to hyperventalate when Peter said "Don't worry, we are only watching the happy parts!" Again I remembered that I was the one getting the vacation here.

So tonight we are diligently working on getting the kids to go to bed at their usual time. So far we are 2 hours in. I am thinking that it will probably take a few days to get them back on that one. I am so happy that Peter is such a great daddy even when he does it his way! I actually thought it was really cute to see how he ran things. He said he would have taken the whole bunch to Six Flags if I hadn't had all the passes in my wallet. Wow, is all I can say to that. We lose kids there even when we both go, ha ha. But now I am home and it is back to the structured mommy run household for us.

The Big Results

Even though this is our fifth child, we have been just as anxious to find out what our new dynamic will be. We are pretty boy dominate right now so the big question was if that will continue or if we will even the score a bit...we knew we would be happy either way. So here is a clip of the kids reaction to the news:

Church

I am so happy with how church has been going for us lately! Since January, I can count on one hand how many times I have actually been able to attend 2nd or 3rd hour. I am always on the move between nursery and primary and walking halls with our pre-nursery walker (and fantasizing about a 12-18 month nursery).

At church, I am usually physically worn out after the first hour, like I just finished a wrestling match. Definitely the hardest hour of my whole week. When our yearly meeting time changed, Tanner began one of those phases of not wanting to go to nursery and tantruming if we left him. Dallin has grown a lot in being able to attend primary since we have moved here, but he has continued to struggle to stay in his chair and not be disruptive. Some days he is just not able to function there. Carter started walking a lot in his 10th month and hasn't stopped since, which keeps us in the halls a lot.

When the high councilman gave a talk about keeping your children under control in sacrament meeting, we just assumed he was referring to us. Over the last few years I have watched other families with small children doing way better than us and just couldn't understand why we couldn't seem to get a grip. We came every week, and tried everything we could possibly think of to make things go smoothly. So the last few months, I have been very discouraged because things seemed to be getting worse instead of better. I have dreaded even going a lot because it was just so much work and frustration topped off with morning sickness. One Sunday I was out in the hall with Dallin during primary having such a hard time with him that one of the brothers had to come and take him for me because I couldn't stop crying.

So now on to the happy ending! Last week Peter talked to the kids a lot about staying in their seats during Sacrament meeting. He said they couldn't even turn around and used the bench for coloring, they had to stay seated and color with books on their laps. Something finally got through and amazingly Dallin and Eden were great the whole hour! Carter has been more and more wiggly and loud each week lately so I finally just decided that he was to stay on my lap no matter what and never get down, get passed around, or be too wiggly. I just looked at books with him and restrained him until he no longer fought it. If he got loud I took him out, but never put him down. Tanner fell asleep through the first hour, so that helped us focus on the others for the moment.

Dallin was especially good and never even tried to get up! That has never happened. Then, he did great for the rest of church too! It was his best 3 consecutive hours. It really made my day. I think it was his most well behaved Sunday ever.

It gets better! Yesterday on the way to church, I talked to the kids about how proud of them I was for being so good in church last week. I went on and on about how amazing they were. Then, right on cue, Eden piped up and said "Mommy, we are going to be even better today!" I responded enthusiastically and asked them how they were going to be even better. Dallin and Eden both agreed that they were going to stay in their chairs. I offered a few other suggestions like not talking, being reverent, and singing in primary. I could tell they were determined. Dallin is very proud to be a big 6 year old boy now, but exclaimed "I am going to be 7 year old good!" Too cute.

Even though Tanner was awake this week, Sacrament meeting was even better than last week. I continued to insist that Carter be a lap child and he fought it way less and didn't need to be entertained quite as much. Dallin and Eden were angels. They stayed in their chairs and colored quietly the whole time! Tanner is the hardest at the moment, but he was much better too just from the examples of his siblings. He can't quite figure out how to whisper, so during the opening prayer he noticed that Carter was not folding his arms and kept saying loudly "Carter's not saying his prayers!"

Tanner is finally used to nursery again so he was an easy drop off second hour. It was so nice. Dallin and Eden happily went to primary eager to be really good. I went to Sunday school with Carter and continued keeping him on my lap. He is starting to get used to it so I was actually able to attend the whole thing! I only left once to check on the other kids. When I opened the door to the primary room, I was so pleased to see Dallin not only sitting, but paying attention, and SINGING nicely! I was blown away. He didn't even really need any extra support.

Third hour Carter finally just fell asleep and I enjoyed the whole thing uninterrupted. He hasn't done that since he was about 6 months old. I don't expect everything to be perfect, but I am so happy that everyone seems to be improving and growing. I am an understanding mom and can see when a little child just really needs to take a walk or a break, but let me tell you how nice it is to blend in with the crowd and not feel like the most rowdy bench all the time. And wow, my little Dallin is sure growing up and maturing lately! He is such a happy, sweet child.

So Literal!

There is definitely no fooling our little Tanner. He knows that animals don't really talk so every time we watch a movie, read a book etc, he is quick to point it out. Yesterday we were driving past Chick-fil-a and their cow was out on the sidewalk dancing. The kids thought it was hilarious, but Tanner piped in with his sarcastic tone "Cows don't dance!!!!" . Just this morning as my kids watched Super Readers, when it was time to "fly into a book" Tanner said "We don't fly into books!" Like I said, no fooling that one.

Dallin and Eden had their first day of gymnastics. Wow, this is so right up Dallin's alley!!! Why haven't we been doing this all along??? It was such great exercise, they were moving and doing physically difficult things the whole time. Since gymnastics isn't as popular for boys, his age group ranged from 6-10 years old, and out of the 4 boys Dallin was so tiny. The other boys looked 9 or 10, but I am sure Dallin loved that. He likes to be with big boys. Their coach was amazing and Dallin kept right up with everyone even though it was his first time and he was so much smaller. Afterward, we talked to the coach and he really hinted that he thought Dallin had a lot of potential. He kept saying that he was very strong. Because they stayed busy and it was such a prefferable activity, Dallin listened great, stayed on task and followed directions amazingly well. It is just so physical and that is what Dallin craves. He is just growing up so much.

Eden was on cloud 9 the whole time too! Every time I looked over at her little group she had a smile on her face as she worked. She was doing really physically demanding stuff too and loving it. I think she really liked her group, it was about 7 or 8 girls all about the same age. Dallin and Eden are both eager to go again. I asked Eden later if she would rather go to gymnastics again or do some dance(she loved her ballet class that she took) just out of curiousity and she said gymnastics. I am glad, it is so much easier to take 2 kids to an activity at the same place at the same time. I feel good about picking this as their summer activity, it will be a lot of fun and it really gets all that extra energy out. At this age, we don't even have to buy the kids special clothing, which is also nice.

I want to expose my kids to a lot of different activities. When a child starts to gravitate to something that they have a passion for, then I will support that. I wonder if we may have found that for Dallin. I guess we will see.

Grossest Mommy Moment

I was so grossed out that I almost wasn't going to write it down, but I can't help myself. I have seen a lot of nasty things in the last 6 years. No poop story has ever had me physically sick to my stomach for hours like this though.

On Sunday we were hanging out in the living room with our kids. The back patio door had been left open because the kids had been coming in and out all afternoon. I don't remember the conversation exactly, but I know Peter and I were talking about something that was using most of my concentration. Out of the corner of my eye I saw carter walk in with something in his mouth. He puts EVERYTHING in his mouth still, which drives me crazy. I love it when kids grow out of that. After about 30 seconds my mind finally registered that I should take a closer look at what the kid was chomping on this time. Seriously, I thought I would die.

I saw little pieces of shell in Carter's hands and on his belly. I knew right away that it was a Snail. Not just a small one, but a nice big juicy one! I let out a huge scream to Peter, who had just gotten up to help Dallin with something. It wasn't my "help, someone is really hurt" panicky scream. It was more of the "ewe ewe ewe ewe I can't believe what I am seeing" creeped out scream. Apparently they are very different, yet just as alarming. Peter knows the difference well, but still came running. I continued my high pitched "gonna die" scream while Peter fished the huge slimy thing out of Carters mouth and ran him to the kitchen sink. Carter wasn't wearing a shirt for some reason so his body was covered with slime and shell pieces.

I was left to clean up the grossness on the floor. I ran to the bathroom and got some toilet paper and when I saw that big guy up close(really, he was twice as big as I thought a snail should be) and saw that he was still moving a bit, I started dry heaving. My gag reflex is very high when pregnant. I can barely get through brushing my teeth without gagging. But this time I couldn't stop. I ran the the garbage to dispose of the pieces and continued to heave until my stomach hurt. I was really only one heave away from losing it when I forced myself to take some deep breaths.

Peter washed Carter off really well, inside his mouth too. When Carter was brought to me, I imagined that I could still smell a dirt type smell on him and for the first time in his life, wanted nothing to do with him. So Peter took him to the shower and really soaped him up good. He even washed the inside of his mouth with a little soap somehow. After that I was able to forgive my little one year old of his offense and move on. My stomach still hurt though, and I really didn't feel right the rest of the day. Yeah, never ask me to eat escargo!

Another Good Mom Read

I just finished this book yesterday. I really enjoyed the author's attitude and insights. I could really relate and I think we have similar personalities so that made it very fun to read. There are so many good insights into motherhood as well as humorous stories. I am definitely feeling more inspired and full of concepts that I would like to implement in raising my own children.

I am planning to read more books from this author for sure.

Toilet Paper

Just so you know, if a whole roll of toilet paper gets put in the toilet, it gets really big! I'm not sure who conducted this experiment but my guess would be Carter, who is fascinated with toilets lately. Can't say for sure though, it may have just been an accident because I had an extra roll sitting on the back of the toilet.

Kid Stuff

Carter finally got his first tooth on Sunday, June 7th! He will be 13 months on the 19th. He is our latest teether, but not by a lot. Dallin's came on his first birthday and Tanner and Eden were in their 11th month. Late teething is not a bad thing though, they never get very grouchy since it is such a slow process. The bad part is that they don't get teeth in the back until they are 2 or later so it is hard with their solid food diet. I have to chop things really small for a lot longer than normal. Our dentist seems to think it is for the better though. Less time for cavities. We were going out yester day and I said "Carter, come on, lets go bye bye!" He said "bye bye!" It was so cute.

The Star Wars buzz has been pretty high since Dallin's party. Tanner is so cute, he thinks that Yoda's name is Payoda and can't be convinced otherwise. The day after his party, I asked Dallin was his favorite part of his whole birthday week was and he said "fighting Darth Vader". He didn't really thank me for his party, but he did thank Heavenly Father for his "cool Star Wars party" so that was good for me!

I should write about the rest of Dallin's birthday because he got a full week of super fun activity. A while back we realized that Peter was going to be flying to Oregon for his apprenticeship stuff the night before Dallin's bday. Dallin has always wanted to go on an airplane so we decided that we would send him home with Peter for his birthday present. It isn't very expensive to fly from Sacramento to Porltand. Dallin couldn't stop talking about it for a month in anticipation. When the day FINALLY arrived they left for the airport. On the way Dallin asked Peter "Dad, am I tall enough to ride the airplane?" This was really the ultimate amusement park ride for him! Peter said that Dallin was super excited for the whole ride and never stopped talking and taking it all in.

After they landed Dallin called me and told me that they went so high, they were above the clouds!!! They stayed with Peter's parents that night and Lori gave him a fun birthday party. He felt so special like the whole trip was just for him. The next day Dallin had lots of fun hanging out, especially with Lucy. Before they left they got to spend a couple of hours on the Lake and my dad even came to join them. Dallin sure loved riding on grandpas boat.

Then they got to fly again with just as much excitement. Peter said that Dallin was talking the whole time again in his loud excited voice so everyone around them thought he was so cute. After they landed, the pilot showed Dallin all of the controls for a long time. Dallin was one happy, tired boy when he got home that night.

Tanner is totally potty trained as long as he is naked from the waist down. It has made it really easy, but I am thinking if we ever plan to go out again, he needs to learn to wear clothes again! That is what we are working on this week.

We are starting our summer activities this week. Dallin started piano lessons! I decided that 6 is a good age for that, so Eden is all excited to be 6 some day now. Dallin really liked his lesson and can't wait to do it again. Wouldn't it be nice if that attitude stayed? Also Dallin and Eden are going to start gymnastics on Thursday. I think they will really enjoy it. Dallin started doing front and back flips on the trampoline so I think he will do well. Eden can't wait to start, she is so eager to do new things and to learn. I have started the "How to Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" book with Eden and she loves it. With all of her enthusiasm, I am sure she will be reading well by the fall.

We decided not to pay for swim lessons this year. It costs about $60 for each kid for 2 weeks. Thats with about 10 kids and one instructor! I wanted to do multiple session so it just wasn't adding up. So I requested a video from the library called "How to teach your preschooler to swim in 7 days". Peter is just going to take 2 kids at a time to the public pool and work with them for a couple of hours each week. I think it is so important to teach kids to swim early and I think they will especially like it coming from Daddy. They think he is the coolest guy in the world.

Tanner woke up when Peter was getting ready for work this morning and said "Daddy, don't go to work!" He told Tanner he had to go. After he left, the other kids woke up and Tanner told them that Daddy had to go to work to buy money.

I have had a lot of pregnancy cravings as usual. I can't get enough spicy, sour, salty foods as opposed to my usual sweet tooth when I am not pregnant. My biggest cravings though have been Guacamole, Steak, and Pasta. I am pretty sure that I should stay away from avacados from now on, ha ha.

Star Wars Party Music Video

This was so cute so we are sharing some of the fun. This is a compilation from Dallin's party (see details below) My most favorite part is when Tanner takes Darth out. Enjoy!

Star Wars Birthday Party

We have now officially had our first friend birthday party! I had way too much fun researching our Star Wars theme. There were so many fun ideas on the web that I planned a ton of fun activities. I copied a lot of ideas and put my own twist on a few too. The boys had a great time. Watching their faces was the best, as they received their different missions and became real Jedi.

Food:

I used a lot of food ideas from googling, it was so fun. We had Saber sticks, made with white melting chocolate, food coloring and pretzels. Then there were the Jabba Jello (jigglers recipe), dark side and Light side dip (salsa and guacamole). Jar Jar Dogs (pig in blanket), R2D2 cubes(cheese), Skywalker Salad (chicken ceasar), Wookie Cookies(no bakes), Yoda Soda (sprite) and Vader Juice (root beer). Hovering over the food was the Death star with streamers draping all around.











I printed some Star Wars coloring pages from the web and the kids had a great time decorating with them. It was actually really good for giving them a job to do while I was busy with the other preparations. They really liked being part of the set up.

When the boys arrived, I presented them with Jedi robes. I bought clearance fabric at walmart and cut them into big rectangles with a head hole. It was a knit fabric so it didn't fray. I tied twine around their waist which I already had so the robes only came out to be a dollar each. I got swim noodles at the dollar store, cut them in half and put electrical tape on them for handles. Great no tears sabers for .50 each!

Once they had their gear I told them about our 3 Jedi Trials that we were going to do:





Eden had her feeling hurt at the moment, but was happy the rest of the time.

For the each trial we received a "transmission" that had a picture of who it was from on one side and a message that I would read on the other. I am so not good at the Star Wars lingo so this really saved me. Props to Wikipidea for the background info, I never would have come up with this stuff without that. The first transmission was from Obi Won Kanobi:


Saber Ballon Training:








Jedi Balance Training:

We also did Advanced saber training with bubbles to finish off the first trial. Then we returned to home base (our living room) to read a transmission from Princess Leia:



To restore the Galaxy for Trial 2, they had to destroy Jabba the Hut with water balloons to save Princess Leia and Han Solo.





Transmission for Trial 3 came from Luke Skywalker:


Death Star Pinata:

This is Eden giving a go at it. Peter had a great idea to let them use their non-destructive sabers before the hard stick so they could all get a nice long turn. They each got a good 30 seconds to wack at it and they really let that Death Star have it let me tell you.




Mission accomplished. I made this pinata by using a bopper balloon from the dollar store.

Peter thought it was hilarious that the Death Star was made out of used up Care Bear color book pages.

Dallin got some great Star Wars stuff from his friends and the big hit for him was this tractor set that he got from Amber.

The kids thought that they were done with games since they finished their trials and became Jedi...until we got an emergency transmission from Yoda. Even though they were new at being Jedi, they accepted one more challenge. dun dun dun!!!!


Defeating Vader:

We covered up the windows so that they could not see inside. Then we told Dallin to open the door to see if Vader was in there. He really hesitated for a moment to open the door until his friends started cheering him on. Then they started hearing the breathing from inside.


So Dallin opened the door and there he was!!!


I think the kids were scared but brave. Only one was too scared to attack.










They defeated Vader but then got a chance to have individual duals on the Trampoline: The kids were just so mystified over Vader being there. I think Eden hid in the house the whole time for this part.





Cake:

I found this idea for a light saber cake that was really easy. It is just a 9x13 cake cut into 3 even strips. Dallin thought it was awesome and he kept pushing the M&M button all day.








I love the look on Dallin's face, ready to get that last candle.

Just when they thought the fun was over we got one last transmission from Han Solo:

Outside they had a sort of easter egg hunt to find their astroids. These were their goody bags wrapped in foil. Inside I put a glow stick, sparkly bug, candy, and an foam door hanger with space stickers to decorate it with (all from the dollar store).

The party was a HUGE hit. When the kids were eating cake I heard one of the boys say "This is the best party ever!" Everyone had a great time. This morning I asked Dallin what his favorite part of his birthday was and he said it was fighting Darth Vader.

Since I love to be cheap here was the cost break down. If I had known how many kids were coming from school, I could have saved a lot, but I had to prepare for everyone just in case. Next time, we are only inviting people that I have phone numbers for because people are not good at RSVP:

Robes: $12

Sabers:$6

Goody bags: $9

Pinata: $2 plus $4 for candy

Cake: $6

Decorations and game materials: $7

Food: Not sure because I already had a lot of stuff, but that was the more expensive part.

I feel pretty good about the money saved by making things myself. It is still a lot, but could have been a lot more.

After the party, Peter brought the costume that we had borrowed out again so that the kids would know for sure that it was just Daddy. Eden still wanted nothing to do with it:

















Credit: I got most of my ideas from Peter's brother Larry D, my cousin April and this person I dont know,
so thanks guys!

So, of course I had to make a music video. I couldn't get it to load so stay tuned...

6 Years

That is how long I have been a mother. I can't believe my Dallin is 6 years old! Tomorrow is his last day of Kindergarten and then he will be ready for 1st grade, amazing. Those first few days of being a mother are still so fresh in my mind. Here is a little recap:

I was very ready to give birth and did everything I could to get that little boy out of me. My mother had come to stay with me and we took walks every day. I even went and jogged a mile on the treadmill on my due date, then 3 days later to no avail. I had a lot of false labor so my days were filled with timing contractions just waiting for them to get regular. I was completely obsessed with keeping track because there was so much false labor. Still nothing. I began to get bitter as my due date came and went and I no longer wanted to answer my phone and be asked if the baby came yet. I thought, don't you think we would tell you if it did? I was so frustrated. My doctor agreed to induce me after being a week overdue so at least I knew the that I wouldn't go any farther than that. Then on the afternoon of the 6th overdue day I started getting more regular contractions. I was excited so they must have not been that painful yet. At bed time my mom and Peter and I looked at each other trying to figure out what do do. We decided that we would just go to bed and know soon enough if it was for real this time.

Everyone got a couple of hours of sleep, except for me! As soon as we went to bed, I continued obsessing over the timer and was getting more and more uncomfortable. I wanted Peter to sleep as long as possible so I just kept quiet as long as I could. I was tired of being the boy that cried wolf so I was not going to say I thought it was time again until it really was FOR SURE. Finally, things started really getting intense. One contraction had brought me out of bed onto my knees in tears and so that was when I woke Peter up, no question any longer that it was time. My mom heard me from the next room and was already up and ready to go when we got to the living room.

The hospital was only about at 15 minute drive at 11:30 at night. As we drove down the bumpy Santa Rosa highway I didn't quite know what to do with all of this pain now coming every couple of minutes. I resorted to screaming! I laugh now because now I know that is so the wrong thing to do during contractions. I have since learned to stay still and relaxed as possible so that things don't hurt worse than they need to. I could barely walk into the hospital because that brought contractions even faster.

Since the main hospital entrance was closed we had to go to the ER. That was horrible. I was so embarrassed to show how much pain I was in with all the people in there to see. Luckily it was only 2 or 3 minutes, but it felt like an hour before they took me up to labor and delivery.

They put me in a room as I agonized and begged for the epidural STAT! Then for the next hour or so I would scream for about a minute, then profusely apologize to all that could hear and then start screaming again! I never imagined that I would react to labor that way. The nurses were a little worried about Dallin's heart rate, but eventually felt that he was stable enough for me to have the epidural. What relief when that finally happened. It worked well and I felt no pain. Once everything calmed down they turned down the lights and left so that we could get some rest while my body did its job. Everyone nodded off except for me. I was running on way too much adrenaline for sleep. Now that I was not in pain, I laid there like a little kid on Christmas eve wondering what Santa would bring. I couldn't wait to see the little face of my boy and finally hold him in my arms.

Dallin finally came at around 5:30 the next morning. After 30 minutes of pushing and more concern for his heart rate the doctor pulled him out with the suction vacuum. I was such a happy new mommy. Dallin came out with wide open eyes just looking around trying to figure out what was going on. It was such an amazing moment to see him and feel him and know that he was really ours to keep.

Peter never left my side in the hospital. He loved his little boy and couldn't get enough of him. I spent the next 2 days feeling like I was in a train wreck and learning how to feed him. But I didn't care, I had my baby and I was now a mommy. There was nothing else I ever wanted more.

The adrenaline rush lasted pretty much the whole time in the hospital so I had not slept more than a couple of hours in 3 days by the time we took Dallin home. I don't think I have ever been that tired in my life. Now I have learned to catch up on sleep in the hospital while I have the chance. I make it my my priority after the baby while I am there now.

When we brought our tiny little 7lb, 7oz baby home I remember thinking, I should really get some sleep. I was so tired. However, I was too excited about having this little baby in my house to sleep quite yet. I remember pulling him out of his car seat and lying him on a blanket on the living room floor. He was asleep so I just lied down next to him and watched him for a long time. I couldn't believe how tiny he was, such little fingers and toes. It was nice to have him all to myself with no nurses and doctors around. He was mine and I was his and that is how it has been ever since.

I love you Dallin, you are a very special boy and I am so glad that Heavenly Father gave you to me. I have not always been a perfect mommy, but that has always been what I wanted to be for you. Being your mom has helped me to grow into a better person. I can never express what a priceless gift you are to me. I love to see your happy face and see how much you have grown in the last 6 years. What a big boy you are now. I love it each time you come to me and hug me or when you climb in my bed to say good morning and cuddle for a minute. I love being your comfort when you are sad or hurt and how I can always make it all better. I love giving you lots of fun opportunities and watching your face as you experience the joy of life. You are what makes my life meaningful. Thanks for being such a sweet little boy. I hope you read this some day and know how much your mommy has loved you every second of your life.

Super Saturday, Gardening, Playhouse, Other Projects and More

I finally unloaded my camera so I am going to put the whole shabang on here so I can count it done! I was actually sad that I haven't taken more pictures lately because we have done a lot of great stuff, but sometimes you just can't do it all. Here we go:

Super Saturday Crafts:

We picked crafts and classes to try to go with our theme "Home can be a Heaven on Earth".

FHE BOARDS:

The oh so popular FHE boards were a hit. This was my first time doing vinyl but I found a great site that sells this all in one piece so it was super easy to put on. Here is a link if you are interested, it was a great bargain too click here . I just bought the boards at Home Depot and had them cut to size. I got the shapes at Micheals. This is only a one hour project.

I love how there is one heart just waiting for our little arrival. It makes me smile everytime I walk by it. If we ever outgrow this board, I will just put 2 hearts on a hook to pair people together for a job. We are going to use our board tonight for the first time. I also love the font on this, it is called Papyrus.

GOSPEL STANDARDS QUIET BOOK:

Quiet booksare always good so we created a couple of different ones. This first one I came up with myself. I wanted to make one for primary children so I used the My Gospel Standards and went from there. Isn't this the cutest scrapbook paper?

Each page had a sentence from the Gospel Standards and a scripture to go with it. I downloaded pictures from lds.org Gospel Art Kit that corresponded with the words and had them printed in wallet size at Costco. We also used a sponge and an ink pad to distress the edges of the words to bring it all together. These are just dollar store photo albums but the ribbon through the binding really made it cute. For the last page of the book I printed a 4x6 of the Articles of Faith since primary children are usually memorizing those. I would be happy to email you directions and references if you are interested in making one of these.


NEW ERA QUIET BOOK:

This book was super easy. I didn't come up with this one, just found the idea googling. These are the New Era posters that you can order as postcards from lds.org. If you use the front and back cover you can fit 40 posters, which is 5 of the 7 sets of 8 that are available, so I just picked the sets I liked the most.

PROGRAM TRACKING/FHE BINDER (don't miss this one!)

This is the coolest thing every that EVERY LDS mom should have. It is a tracking binder for all of the programs our church uses including Faith in God, YW, YM, and Scouting programs. Not only is it a way to keep track of all your children's progress in one binder, here is the genious part. Each program has a page of FHE ideas that your children can do with the family to pass off requirments on family night! We had a stake activity and made these so we made them again for those who hadn't had the chance to get one. This one is worth its weight in gold.

We also had a special guest speaker come from our stake to educate us on using Coupons. She has a very popular website at http://www.beingfrugalisfabulous.com/. She was really informative and had lots of stories of walking away with tons of stuff for just pennies. She showed us how she organizes it all and all the basics. Check out her site it is really neat.

Our other class was based on the Mix-A-Meal cookbook. Wow, there is so much you can do with these mixes to use your food storage and save time. We also learned about a really valuable food storage site at http://www.everydayfoodstorage.net/.

Salt Part 2:

Speaking of food storage, here is another salt picture I found on my camera. I guess i can see why this made sense to Tanner. If you have ever seen a Thomas video, there are often materials used like this to look like snow.

Gardening:

We are enjoying our little garden that we planted. There are only 7 or 8 plants, but the kids really liked this project and we love watching it grow. I can't wait for fresh vegetables!




Playhouse:

The kids have really been into this project as well, especially Dallin. Dallin worked hard every day at school for 2 weeks so that he and Daddy could build a little each night. They usually only had a few minutes before bed time. He never missed a second of the process and was very interested in every detail. Even if he couldn't help with a certain part, he never left Peter's side.

Here it is with a roof going up. Tanner is really a great construction superviser here, ha ha!

Here it is all built. We haven't decided what color to paint yet. Dallin really wanted the windows to have the latice crosses.
Dallin and Eden have taken the liberty to do a lot of wall decoration in there already. I didn't oppose it because it is really their space, so I stayed out of it. The inside is stocked with a plastic kitchen, food and table, and a couple of small throw rugs.

Since we know an electrician the house even got a light and a plug in for a radio. There are still many things we plan to do out here, but the kids are loving their house. They even slept in it one night already with Daddy. Next, I am going to get some of that chalkboard paint to put on one of the walls inside.

Other Projects:

Charts are becoming such a part of our lives, it just helps me keep the kids organized. This was a fun one we just made as we are starting to teach our kids a little bit about nutrition. We will be having a lot of Family Night lessons about it so this was to get us started. I bought the board at Walmart and the Letters at the dollar store. I just glued the ribbon on with tacky glue. The magnets are made from .75" magnets using glue stick, hot glue and floral marbles from Michaels. I googled the pictures and made a word document with the right sizes. If you are interested, email me and I will send you the picture pages.

Each child has a space where they have all the nutrition requirements for a balanced diet for a day. Whenever they eat something from a food group, they move the corresponding magnet over from the left to the space on the right. I used the USDA's charts for how many servings each person should get. The first letter of each person's name shows their designated area. The kids are really excited about eating foods for their chart and are already pretty good at figuring out food groups.

These magnets turned out cute, but really ended up being more tedious and expensive than I originally thought. Oh well, I love it now that it is done. There is bread, apple, broccoli, meat, and milk to represent each kind of food. This board is as much for me as it is the kids so that I can track how well they are eating(or how I am feeding them!)

A Take on Flannel Boards:

This is so cool! I found a website where someone had downloaded every flannel board story ever printed in The Friend Magazine and colored them in Paint. Click Here for the site. I just downloaded, printed them and laminated them. (tangent: I love having a home laminating machine! It is cheaper than running to Kinkos and I use it all the time. I have the no heat Xyron version that sells at Office Max for $50 that I love, but I noticed there is a heated one at Walmart that is quite a bit cheaper, something in the $20 range.) You can buy magnet strips for really cheap at Walmart and I just use this beat up magnet board that we had lying around to tell the stories with. It is great for telling scripture stories, the kids always beg for more.

These are just the Book of Mormon stories. I keep each story in a sandwich bag in this dollar store basket.

Fun Snack Idea:

This was something that my roommate used to eat back in my BYU days. I was trying to come up with some fun nutritous snacks for the kids and this came back to me (thanks Heather if you ever read this!) Crumble graham crackers in a little bowl and put sliced peaches on top. Drizzle with honey and oh my it is so good! It is one of my favorites now too!