Mom's and Muffins

This morning was "Mom's and Muffins" at the elementary school.  It is difficult enough trying to get all of my kids ready in the morning and to school  by 8:55,  but to get myself ready too and everyone there by 8:15 is pretty near impossible in this household.  We managed, but not without a fair amount of tension.  Josh and Jenna are still sick, but I brought them anyway, since I didn't want the other kids to miss out.  They probably wouldn't have cared though.  The kids went ahead and got school breakfast while we were there too.

After school today I brought Janika to the Orthodontist. She gets her braces off next month and can hardly wait!!  
 

Egg Drop

Well, Janika's egg survived the science class "egg drop."  It is a good thing, because she and her friend really got attached to their eggs.  They even went to great pains to decorate their eggs in brightly colored nail polish (I guess I should have gotten a picture of the egg before it was all wrapped up.)  Then they wrapped it in bubble wrap and quilt batting and finally a blanket.  I think Jani felt a little jilted that she didn't get to carry around a flour sack baby like the kids in the "teen living" class, so she cut out a picture of a baby to stick on her wrapped up egg before bringing it to school. But don't worry, she took off the baby picture before letting her teacher throw it off to ceiling!   

Busy, Rainy Day!

Today was a busy day!  First we went to Tyler Maxwell's baptism.  We love the Maxwells.  After serving in the Deaf Branch for nine years, they feel it is time to return to their home ward.  They have served so diligently in our branch and we will truly miss them! 

We went over to the Maxwell's house after the baptism for a nice meal and then hurried home so that Rick could take Janika and Madison to their friend's birthday party at Jumpin' Jacks.  Meanwhile, I took the rest of the kids to a local park for James Speed's birthday party.  Unfortunately it was pouring rain and freezing!  Of course the kids still had a great time though!  They all really got into the Pinata.

After an hour at the park, everyone hurried over to the Speeds for birthday cake.  Janelle and Jaiden went (and stayed a loooong time, I hope they didn't wear out their welcome!) and Jared, Josh, and Jenna snuggled by the fire, warming up!  

 

Then we cleaned up the house and fixed a yummy meal of barbecued Salmon and Chicken.  Rick's sister, Julie, and Scott were in town working on their new house in Hurricane, and so they joined us for dinner.   Janika and Madison bathed all of the younger kids and got them to bed.  The middle kids stayed up and watched a Star Wars movie and Janika and Madison worked on making flower clips for their hair.    Then I stayed up and put together a Mexican Dish for our Branch "Break the Fast" potluck for tomorrow.  Busy but good day!  

Cereal Bowl Hat!

Jenna signed: "Hat!"  Actually that um...was your cereal bowl filled with cereal and milk.  And your hair was freshly washed and clean... But you sure are cute!!

Time With Dad

Rick has been reading "The Work and the Glory" to the three oldest kids almost every night for the past month or so.  They are almost finished with the first book.  He has also been reading small chapter books like "Magic Treehouse" to the four youngest in the evenings. What a great dad!

I just tried to go upstairs to take a picture of the scene to add to this post, but it didn't work out. The kids screamed and threw their heads under their pillows.  Janika had a towel wrapped around her newly washed hair, so I can understand her reaction.  And the boys just don't like getting their picture taken.  Then Rick kicked me out of the room saying that I was "ruining the moment..."  So much for trying to capture "a sweet moment" eh?

Rick is taking the two oldest kids on a church history tour this summer for ten days in preparation for next year's "Church History" curriculum in Seminary.   In four more years he will take the next two kids and so on.  He wants them to be at least 12 so that they can go to the temple and do baptisms for the dead while they are there.   Rick thought that reading "The Work and the Glory" would help the kids get excited about going to the places they are reading about. 

Rick is really excited about the trip.  Every day he is pouring over his laptop, planning their itinerary and searching for the best possible deals on hotels, flights, and rental cars.  He would seriously make a great travel agent.  In fact, he was one of the tour guides for a church history tour a few years ago but this time he wants to focus on our kids and do his own thing without having to worry about a tour group.

I am excited for them, but definitely not looking forward to being home alone with five little kids for ten whole days!  That does not sound fun at all.  If anyone wants to come and stay with me during that time, I would welcome the help and the adult company!

Flower Clips

Janika has started making those cute flower clips you see girls wearing in their hair.  She has wanted to make them for quite a while and we finally got around to buying the materials.  She came right home and made 20 the first night.  We had better re-stock on flowers!  They turned out really cute and all of our girls wear them.  Even Janelle, our no-frills-and-bows girl, will wear one each day since her big sister made it!  I will have to remember to get a picture of the girls modeling them...  

Family Home Evening Lesson Idea

We recently had a great family home evening lesson put together by one of our kids (with my husband's help).  This is what they did: 

They had an orange and a big clear picture of water. Our son asked the family if they thought the orange would float or sink.  The family gave their guesses and then they put the orange in the container of water and it floated.  Then our son asked what we thought would happen if the orange was peeled.  Then they peeled
the orange and put it back in the water and it sank.

Then they had us read the bible from Ephesians 6:11-20 about putting on the whole armor (or armour) of God.  Verse 6 reads: "Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil."

The they explained that the orange with its peel on is like having the armour of God on.  With its "armour" the orange is able to rise above the things of the world.  When it is stripped of its armour then it is pulled down by the things of the world. 

They explained what the armour is as listed in Ephesians, and what we can do to protect our own "armour" in order to rise above the things of the world.  Then they challenged us to pick an area where we can improve and work on this throughout the week.  I liked the lesson idea and so I thought I would pass it along!