Our Pre-Easter celebrations started with these really cool Borax crystals. I read about them online and knew I wanted to make them with the kids. We made shapes out of pipe cleaners, tied them to a pencil and soaked them overnight in a mixture of Borax crystals and water. The next morning the pipe cleaners were covered in crystals. We hung them in our window until after Easter. Scott made the coolest shapes (like this amazing frog!). It just made me realize once again that he should definitely be more involved in our craft time - especially if I want the crafts to turn out good!
We had a great time dying eggs! I made my own dye from food coloring this year. I thought it turned out pretty good, and it wasn't much harder than buying the little tablets. I would definitely do it again.
The Friday before Easter Scott's assistant, Marlys, dropped of an Easter basket for the kids. It was HUGE and filled with all kinds of neat stuff. She even remembered to put little things in there for Berlyn. (Like these adorable bunny ears!) It was so thoughtful and the kids really enjoyed it. Thank you, Marlys!
The Saturday before Easter, we went to Scott's parents house for Easter Dinner and, of course, an egg hunt.
The festivities began with a lesson on the true meaning of Easter. There were a dozen eggs and each one had a different object inside to remind us of the story of Christ's atonement and resurrection. Here, Moses opened his egg to find a little cross and a nail.
The Egg Hunt...
Dividing the Spoils ...
Enjoying the treats...
This picture reminded me of how when Kael was little (before he turned one) he crawled over to a cream egg, unwrapped it and had eaten about half before I found him (he was quick!).
Scott's uncle needed a family photo for a family history book he was working on. We hadn't taken one with Berlyn yet, so we did an impromptu one. We actually had a little extra time one Sunday morning. (I think it was Stake Conference so Scott and I didn't have any meetings.) All dressed up, it was the perfect time for a family pic - especially considering the boys only allow me to comb their hair Sunday mornings. A few violent threats to Moses later, andvoilà...
The weekend after our trip to Montana, we met up with Scott's family at a hotel in Calgary for more hotel fun and more waterslides. Can you ever really get enough waterslides? (Scott took these pics on his phone - not bad considering the poor lighting)
Yes - this was one crowded hotel room! Luckily we just ate in here - we slept in separate rooms!
"My hands are messy." (Moses still hates to be dirty)
"My face is messy." (Kael still couldn't care less.)
After staying at the hotel we hurried home to watch conference as a family. We love conference. We stay in our PJs all day and eat lots of Jelly Beans. The boys play conference Bingo with them while Scott and I just eat them. :) This year we also printed the pictures of the First Presidency and the twelve apostles from the friend and the boys found the picture of whoever was speaking. By the end of the last session on Sunday the boys aren't as excited about it. But the first session on Saturday they listen almost the entire time. I feel so grateful to have a living prophet at the head of our church today. And I love the opportunity we have twice a year to listen to our leaders and learn what the Lord wants us to do to become more like him.
I haven't posted in a really long time. I can't say it's because my three children take so much of my time that I can't blog because most of my friends have at least three children, most of them have more, and they all find the time to update their blogs. (Don't stop ladies because I LOVE reading them!) I have been busy, a very happy busy. And I really do want to share what I have been doing with all my family and friends. And I realize it is all about priorities. So this week, my blog will be my priority. And I am going to try and post one post everyday to get caught up. Even if it means watching Berlyn eat cookie crumbs off the dining room floor (like she is doing right now!).
I will start with my birthday trip to Missoula, Montana. Now Missoula, Montana may seem like a random place for me to go to celebrate my birthday. But I wanted to go to Montana to do some shopping in the USA - I know you Americans take Target, Ross, TJ Maxx, and all your other wonderful shopping stores for granted but I miss having them accessible. We knew we wanted to take the kids to do some fun things, so we picked the closest hotel with a waterslide. One Google search later and we were planning a trip to Missoula, Montana!
We had a realy good trip. It was Berlyn's first time swimming and she LOVED it. Even when she started getting so cold she was turning blue she was smiling, giggling, kicking her feet, and splashing. She was actually kinda hard to hold onto in the water. Neither of my boys liked swimming that much their first time. They sure love it now though!
On our first day, the waterslides didn't open until 4pm. We took the kids swimming, then went out and got lunch and did some shopping. We timed it so that we would be back to the hotel with just enough time to get changed and make it down to the waterslides right at 4. We got down to the pool and the slides weren't on. Scott went to ask someone to turn them on, only to be told that we weren't allowed to use the pool, let alone the slides, at all that night since it was rented out for a private function. Needless to say, our boys were really upset. Moses started crying on the spot! We were really angry with the hotel. I'm not sure if they realized that we had picked that hotel specifically for their waterslides! In the end they really did feel bad and gave us one of our nights for free. We went swimming the next day and they turned on the slides a little early just for us. So it all worked out for the best!
We decided to take the kids bowling - anything to not sit in a hotel room with two very disappointed boys! We had a great time at the bowling alley. At this bowling alley, the bumpers moved up and down based on who was bowling. We could all bowl in the same lane, and thanks to the bumpers I got the lowest score! Yes both my boys out bowled their mother! Maybe I should use the bumpers next time....
We had taken Scott's neice, Jaycee with us. She is 12 years old and a great babysitter. I would recommend always traveling with a babysitter. She made it so that Scott and I could go out just by ourselves part of the time. Besides shopping at the above mentioned stores, we went out to watch a musical at the University of Montana. It was really fun! Scott and I both enjoy musicals and we don't go watch them as often as we should. The music and dancing were both great! I actually found a clip on YouTube from the actual show we went to. According to whoever posted it, it was even recorded the night we were there. (In fact, we remember a guy recording the show with a video camera in the row in front of us and thought he was a loser!) Not sure if they were supposed to record it or not, but I just had to post it and let all of you experience the show too. (click here to watch the video on YouTube instead)
Thanks for such a fun birthday trip, family. And that includes you, Jaycee. It wouldn't have been as good without you there!
Moses has been in skating lessons since January. He has learned so much and I am so proud of his effort. Not as proud as he is; if you ask him he will tell you that he is the best skater in his class and that he thinks he should be on TV like Jerome Iginlia (neither of which are true, but you've got to admire his confidence). At the end of the year they do a little performance to all the parents. Moses wasn't too thrilled about having to wear a costume. He was being moody and difficult until Scott showed him how many people were there and told him that they all had paid money to watch him (only stretching the truth slightly as they were in fact going to watch him even if they truly paid money to watch their own children skate). After he told him that he got very excited and put on his best performance! It isn't much, but when you consider he has only been going for half an hour once a week for about 7 weeks and hasn't a drop of natural athletic ability he does pretty good! (He is the last one...yes the one that is carried both ways!)
We had to go in on a special day to have this picture taken. At the time Scott and I were both so, so sick. Trying to be a good mom, I hauled Moses down to the rink to get his picture taken. Moses HATES having his picture taken, doesn't like borrowed costumes, and said his hat was too itchy. I had a fever over 100 F (38 C), a bad cough, and only half my voice. I was in no mode to fight him. The poor photogrpher didn't know what to make of this pouting kid that wouldn't smile no matter what tricks they tried. So this is the picture from his first ever Claresholm Skating Carnival!
Now that Moses is a skater (using the term loosely), Scott can take both boys to the rink at the same time as he did this last Family Day (a holiday here in Alberta on the 3rd Monday in Feburary). It's nice to see a picture with Moses happy!
Berlyn is officially creeping. She loves getting into whatever the boys are playing with at the time. And if they aren't around at the time - any Hot Wheels car will do.
Moses turned five this month. Not only does this mark his half a decade birthday, but it marks half a decade I have spent as a mother. Has it really been 5 years?! 5 years ago I did the hardest thing I have ever done for the first of three times. And we were blessed with a 5 lb 13 oz Moses. I remember when his entire torso would fit in my hand. Now his head doesn't even fit in my hand! Life really is a miracle and it has been amazing to watch Moses grow.
Some of his first admirers.
To celebrate his birthday, we had a dinner the night of his birthday with our family and Grandma and Grandpa. Then we had a birthday party the next Saturday with some of his friends. On his birthday we made him wait until that evening to open his gifts. He was so patient waiting all day that I finally gave in and let him open them before dinner. BIG MISTAKE... HUGE! (to be read in your best Julia Roberts, Pretty Women voice!) He didn't eat a thing. Not even cake. He just wanted to play with his toys. Guess I should have seen that one coming. He got exactly what he wanted - Hot Wheels Trick Tracks. It was fun to watch him open his gifts. He literally screamed!
The cake looked really cool and was a hit with the adults. It was a chocolate cheesecake with candy bars all over it (sooooo good). But Moses and Kael didn't really like it. It was cheesecake after all. I tried to warn him, but he insisted this is what he wanted.
Playing with some of his new tracks!
His party was fun. We set up all of his tracks and let the kids put them together. It was actually a little hard for Moses. He is a little OCD and likes to have specific cars go with specific tracks and he likes them to go together in a specific order and he REALLY likes to be the boss. I was proud of him for finally letting the other kids do what they wanted to do. I know it was hard for him. I think next year we will plan an activity that isn't at our house and doesn't involve using his own toys. It might be less stressful for poor, OCD Moses.
The Pinata was a lot of fun! What little boys doesn't love to hit something:?!
Happy Birthday Moses! I'm so glad we have you in our family. You are a great big brother and a wonderful son. I am so proud of you and all you have learned in these last five years. I can't wait to see what the next five years bring!
Moses loves his hot wheels! In fact, he is a little obsessed with them. When he isn't playing with them he his talking about them. When he isn't talking about them he is thinking about them. And in his free time he loves to watch you tube videos of them. There are videos of kids setting up and playing with their tracks, but there are more videos of hot wheels commercials. Like the one below.
Here is the link for facebook viewers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZ__Jn7H9bA
And here is a video of Moses reciting that exact commercial from memory. When we told him he was watching too much YouTube he said, "No I'm not. I just memorize really quickly." That may be true, but it was a long, slow January!
Once again, here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUyNLr8j-8o
Sunday, February 13, 2011
January always seems like such a "blah" month for me. You take down the Christmas decorations, and then what. Absolutely NOTHING - that's what. I should always plan a vacation for January or something because it is always so uneventful and goes by so slowly. And it is always so, so cold. This January was no exception. It was cold, and seemed to me to drag on for so long. But now it is over and these are the only pictures I have to show for the entire month. At least my kids are cute, that brightens my day and makes the absence of summer sun a bit more bearable!
So Moses is growing up, and he sometimes asks if he can teach the lesson for Family Home Evening. We tried it once and it was a bit of a gong show. So I kept saying no for a long time after that. Finally, I gave in. He planned it all on his own because it had to be a surprise. He gathered the visual aids and even planned the activity. The end result is much less of a gong show, but still pretty funny! And there were a few good points that he made - we should all Choose the Right!
PS. NO IDEA why he named his little toy "playboy".
Our Pre-Easter celebrations started with these really cool Borax crystals. I read about them online and knew I wanted to make them with the kids. We made shapes out of pipe cleaners, tied them to a pencil and soaked them overnight in a mixture of Borax crystals and water. The next morning the pipe cleaners were covered in crystals. We hung them in our window until after Easter. Scott made the coolest shapes (like this amazing frog!). It just made me realize once again that he should definitely be more involved in our craft time - especially if I want the crafts to turn out good!
We had a great time dying eggs! I made my own dye from food coloring this year. I thought it turned out pretty good, and it wasn't much harder than buying the little tablets. I would definitely do it again.
Enjoying the treats...
What a cute, chubby baby he was!
