4th of July

What a busy & fun day!

A very early wake up to go and attend a pancake breakfast at the church...

Ben decided that he and Harmony & Ethan would bike to the church. I took the car...

Ben and the boys google-ing answers to the history quiz

Yum!

After dropping kids off at home, I headed out to grocery shop. It was busy but I got it done :)

Then we headed to the Growing Grounds ( a piece of property owned by a member of our church) for a BBQ and the fireworks show.

The kids had fun hanging out with friends...

 and then sitting for the fireworks show...

I am one tired Mom and am soooo looking forward to taking a nap today!

Hope everyone had a happy and safe 4th of July!

14 days of Love...contd.

Days 5-8

Time has flown by, and while I have shared all my 14 days of Love on Facebook, I haven't done it on here! So I am trying to get caught up and share...

Day 5:

Ben has been needing some new church socks, so I got him a package of socks and a note that said : "You knock my SOCKS off"

The kids all got a Valentine container of Reeses Pieces that say, " I love you to PIECES".

However, Ben was very jealous of the kids, so while at the store I got him a bag as well! Can we say spoiled?!

Day 6:

Ben got a Mt. Dew that said, "I am so glad that 14.5 years ago I said I "DEW".

The kids all got a container of colorful tic tacs that said, "you add so much COLOR to my life!"

Day 7:

The kids had a book fair at their school, so instead of something in their mail box they each got a book from the book fair.

Day 8:

Ben got a box of Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pies that say, "you are the CREAM of the crop"
and the kiddos (thanks to a buy 2 get 2 free candy bar deal at Vons) got a candy bar that said
"my life is SWEETER with you in it".

14 Days

I love February. It is one of my favorite months!

**3 of my favorite people were born in this month
** watching the movie Ground Hogs Day
** Valentines Day
**Presidents Day weekend

I know that not everyone loves Valentines Day. I know that I am a romantic. I know all that. But it is my favorite holiday. My daughter, Harmony tells me it is because I am married and that I wouldn't feel the same if I was single.But its not true! I love that there is a day set aside, just to show & tell people how much we love them.

A few years ago, I started doing the 14 Days of Love. It is a fun tradition and I love it. This is the first time my husband has been home for Valentines Day in 2 years! So I have been including him this year as well.

So here is what I did for Day 1, starting with my kids lunches:

A heart filled with heart shape fruit snacks

Heart shaped pb & j with a heart food pick

Graham cracker pretzels, red apples, pb

 

Their treat was a pudding and so the spoon was wrapped in a napkin & held together with that cute heart shaped clothes pin!

OK, here is the treat in their mail boxes

 

The 4 older kids already had their mailboxes, so I had to come up with something different for Ben & Mason

 



Bens Valentine

For the kids: You have the "WRITE" stuff with a pencil shaped notepad (Target $1 spot) with a Valentine stacker pencil (Target Valentines section 4/$1.50)









Mason isn't old enough to get the whole "write stuff" thing so he gets a notebook & markers..for my lil' pip squeak :)

I will try and let you know where I got all the items. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!



Merry Christmas

I just wanted to take a few minutes to wish all of my readers a very, very...

Merry Christmas!

May your day be full of everything that is good! Family, friends, food...

I am so grateful for the birth of Christ and that he came to this earth to fulfill his divine destiny. It is not easy to keep Christ in Christmas when all my kids are thinking of Santa. But I try.


From our family to yours, a very Merry Christmas.

Car Crazy (pt.1)

Does sitting in a car for 6ish hours sound like fun to you? How about 12ish for the whole round trip?

No? Well, me either. But until our family is able to teleport ourselves wherever we want to go, driving it is.

My other "baby"

Because of our family size, traveling by car is the cheapest option for us. Even considering those crazy California gas prices!

In a week from Wednesday, our family is headed to Arizona to spend Thanksgiving with family and friends. I am so looking forward to spending  time with my family.

This year is our first time traveling with a potty trained 3 year old. Of course it is nice to not have to change diapers anymore, the bladder of a 3 year old is roughly the size of a pea. That means a lot of extra stops on the way.

Every trip is different but I have learned a lot in all of our travels. So I thought I would share some of the things I have learned.

Traveling covers a lot of areas, and so I am going to break this up into subjects (4 pt series)

**Entertainment:

With kids ranging from 13 --->3 we have a wide array of interests.

 *My 4 older kids all put their DS's/ipods on the chargers the day before we leave. Then they go into a ziplock bag with a charger and 2 games that they pick out. The end. No more than 2 or we spend half our time searching for lost games. Seriously, could DS games be any smaller?!

*We bought a power cord that can be plugged into the usb port in our car. We let the children take turns as needed.

* My youngest, basically gets the dvd player to himself, since the olders are busy with their games. However, I do try to pick movies that they ALL like, at least every once in a while.

* Every few hours, I make my kids take a break from their games. It isn't good for them to stare at those tiny screens for a long time...not to mention getting car sick and using up the battery.

* I have a really hard time reading in the car and not getting sick.  Some of my kids are ok with it and others aren't. So books are nice to have but some other ideas are:

** Etch a sketch , Magna Doodles, white boards w/ markers & erasers
** classic car games like: I Spy, License plate game, 20 questions etc

* While I only have Netflix online ( I don't get actual discs anymore) if you do, bring one of your Netflix movies with you for something new. Or...
**borrow from the library,
** borrow from a friend (maybe a swap!)
**stop at a thrift store and see what they have
** Both Target & Wal Mart have inexpensive movie sections ($5 & $7)
**Blockbuster often has dvds that are on sale for really cheap

*Gamestop has inexpensive games without cases. Or trade with friends.

New things can hold a childs attention for long periods of time. However, budgets don't always allow us to do it. Those darn budgets, I tell yah! So borrow from a friend, buy from a thrift store, take a trip to the library...

How do you keep your kids entertained in the car? Any good tricks up your sleeves?

(Look out for Car Crazy pt. 2 tomorrow when I talk about---FOOD!)

Halloween wrap up

Halloween has come and gone. The top of my fridge has about 20 lbs of sugar sitting on top of it.

Not even 24 hours after my kids were home from trick or treating, my husband was packing up all of the Halloween items. He doesn't let any grass grow under his feet!

As you are putting items away, don't forget to weed out!

** Look through your costumes, will they fit anyone next year? We got rid of a couple of two small costumes, a pirate hat that wouldn't fit onto anyones head...etc

**Is anything broken? Ruined? Get rid of it now.

** I also put all Halloween books & movies away for the year. The kids love opening the bins and being able to watch movies they haven't seen for a year!

** Halloween clearance is a great time to pick up costumes for next year, cake decorations, candy, party supplies...think ahead to next year to save money!

**Many items are marked as "Halloween" foods/snacks/supplies. So check out the clearance section for pretzels, Goldfish, fruit snacks, napkins, food storage bags etc.

**Pack some candy away! Put in the freezer to save for Christmas stockings, or even later for Valentines Day...and beyond!

** Send a pkg to troops overseas sharing the candy! They can always use a treat from home!

**Chop up candy and use it in cookies or brownies. Yummo!

Any other ideas for getting Halloween picked up and put away for next year?

Happy Fathers Day

cookies my boys made for their Dad...which they just ate (:

I just wanted to take a little bit to wish a Happy Fathers Day to all the men in mine/my reader lives.

I am a lucky girl to have so many amazing men in my life.

My own Dad, who is an amazing, amazing example to me. He is kind, strong, hardworking, loving, smart...I could go on forever (:



A father in law who welcomed me lovingly into his family. Who always surprises me with the sweetest compliments.

My father in law helping the kids carve pumpkins

Brothers and brothers in law, who are strong, fun, good men who take care of their families.

And last but not least, my sweet husband. He works from sun up until sun down, is frequently deployed in very uncomfortable circumstances, who enables me to be able to stay home. Who sacrifices so much for our family. I love him and am so thankful for who he is.

Easter traditions

Ivan with the EB...and my shadow (:

Like Christmas, the true meaning of Easter often gets overlooked.

Filling those baskets & hunting for eggs seems to be a main priority for a lot of people.

I am not saying these are bad things. They aren't. We participate in quite a few of them.

I admit that it is really hard for me to not get caught up in it also.

But I really, really want to make sure that my kids know the true meaning of Easter.

Since my kids were little there has been one thing that has really helped our family keep our focus.

We celebrate the Easter bunny on the Saturday before. Then it is OVER. They get a basket filled with goodies and little toys. We don't talk about it. The EB is just not a priority.

Sunday morning, we go to church, eat a nice, big traditional dinner and talk about Christ and His resurrection.

However, we can all use good ideas for our kids baskets, right?

Besides candy, I like to put in inexpensive movies (or maybe something I just got a good deal on). Outdoor toys like balls, jump ropes, sidewalk chalk, bubbles...

I also like to look in the dollar section/ $1 stores for stickers, notepads, glow sticks (one of my kids favorite things!) playing cards, crazy straws, crayons, markers...

Things like lip gloss, hair things, fun socks and little items like that usually make it into my daughters basket.

So what about you, what do you do for Easter?

Merry Christmas

The kids are busy playing with toys and awaiting a yummy Christmas dinner. So I just wanted to take a moment to wish all of my readers a very Merry Christmas. I have enjoyed getting to know more of you and look forward to meeting new friends over this next year. I have so many plans and goals for this blog and I hope you will stick with me!

the busiest time of the year...

All of this holiday rushing around is making me tired!!

What a crazy time of year. I have been to concerts, parties, field trips, assembalies, presentations...I could go on and on.

Oh and lets not forget the "great lice invasion" which got every single one of us! Yuck. You never realize how many items your head could possibly touch until you have to wash them all! Pillows, blankets, stuffed animals, couches, chairs, your car, hair brushes, hats. Ugh soooo GROSS.

So all this just to tell you that I am alive and well...just crazy tired and busy!

How about you? Have you had a chance to stop and smell the roses at all this holiday season?