Fall Break 2012

My kids have an abnormally long fall break since their school schedule is modified year round. That meant two weeks to fill with super fun activities. In years past, we've usually spent an extended weekend in San Diego--Sea World, Disneyland, the beach, etc. It's such a fun place. However, Derek just got handed a bunch of work on a new case, so we needed to stay in town. I racked my brain for some fun ideas. I wanted to do one activity every day during the week. Here's what we did (I didn't actually do an activity every day, but pretty close!):

We read The Eleventh Hour by Graeme Base. It's a mystery novel that has everything explained in a sealed portion at the end. There is a story you read and then you go back through trying to put together clues that are revealed on every page. My kids really enjoyed this and I did too. I think my kids are actually more diligent than I am at trying to piece the mystery together. I was ready to cheat and look much sooner than they were.
The next day we sang some songs from a book about the Constitution of the United States. There were some pictures to go along with the songs, but we learned a little bit about George Washington and the flag and some other patriotic stuff. If I had really been a great mom, I would've had us do a red, white and blue craft and had a matching food spread to dine on, but we just sang songs. (Baby steps...)
The next day we went to Peter Piper Pizza. The kids had certificates for free tokens and free pizzas from the summer library program. I was expecting a dirty place with bored teenage workers. It was completely the opposite. The service was amazing, the store was clean and we had a lot of fun. I discovered that I really like to play the Let's Make a Deal videogame. I have a hard time giving in--I'm always hoping my case has a bazillion tickets!

Madi and Owen have been best friends and betrothed for many years now. 

The following day we went to the train park in Scottsdale with our friends the Russells. It is a really cool park with several play areas for the kids not to mention the train that you get to ride. Although there was one wild west structure that I'm certain is not up to code. The kids can play all over the roof and the ledge around the structure is only about a foot high. Being the good mom I am, I let my kids play on it. Following an exhausting train park visit, we went to The Sugar Bowl in Scottsdale. I had never been, but I loved it! Their portions of ice cream were HUGE and it was really yummy too. The kids had a blast.

The apples one week later. Ryanna's got mold, so we had to toss it, I graciously gave her mine. What a great mom!

We had an "apple day" where the kids and I peeled apples and carved faces in them to allow them to age into the wrinkly old witch type faces. That night we made caramel apples to eat.
One day we did a scooter ride through the neighborhood.
We also had a baking day where we made pumpkin and chocolate chip muffins.

We visited the huge Bass Pro Shop and fed the trout and explored the store. The kids loved seeing the huge mounted animals (Elk, deer, bear and small stuff like coyotes and snakes, etc). Caleb loved climbing on the ATV they had on display. Owen found some pop guns that made a great noise when you shot out the attached piece. We also rode the elevator which took us behind the huge fish tank and had a great time. When we left, Owen asked, "Mom, how much did that awesome place cost?" He was shocked that it was free!

Owen's in there...somewhere...

There's Eli in flight!

Owen REALLY wanted to ring that bell. 

We hit a new pumpkin patch called Vertuccio Farms with our friends the Kimballs. They had a train to ride, pumpkins to see, turkeys, ducks, pigs, cow, mules, the largest bouncy structure I've ever seen and one of those huge corn mazes that is a fun pattern from the sky. Ryanna and Quinn went to do the huge corn maze, but it was a bit too hot (90 something degrees), so they quit after a while. The boys did smaller mazes made out of hay bales. There were also strong man bell ringing things and bean bag tosses which my kids liked. And, little go cart things to ride. After we left we went to Bahama Bucks which the kids loved!
We had a park day where we got together with lots of friends from the ward.

He's making his mean face for the camera. 

What? Don't you carve without a shirt on?

My first attempt to carve a pattern on a pumpkin. Let's just say there were some complications.

It looked great for one full day!

Caleb's shirt was actually one we made when Eli was less than a month old. Amazing how fast the time goes.

And, lastly we carved a real pumpkin and we made our annual Halloween shirts--which the decals are falling right off!!! Except Ryanna's. Oh well, it's tradition!

100 Dresses Relief Society Activity

I'm sure several of you have participated in this Relief Society activity for your area, but we just had it for the first time in our ward. I found the idea on line here.
I really liked the idea of getting several copies of this book and circulating it through the ward, so that the sisters could be touched by the story before ever attending the event. We purchased five copies and started circulating them about a month before. The Primary President in our ward had several more copies and she lent hers out as well which helped. The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes is really a beautiful child's book about the idea of inclusion and true charity. It's also a very fast read--a quick reader could do it in ten minutes.
There are several different takes on how to incorporate the story in the book into an activity. I decided I liked the idea of donating our ward's used dresses, skirts, tops and shoes (women's and girl's) to a local shelter. We found one called The Center For Hope which helps women with children who have had substance abuse issues and are now recovering from addiction and ready to enter the workforce. They need dresses to go to interviews and once they have a job. On the posters we asked all of the women to clean out their closets and bring their stuff that night.
I assigned myself to centerpieces and I really hit the jackpot when I found another woman had blogged about how she had done the event. I can't find the link to her blog right now, but she had decided to frame photos of different dresses that she had printed on her silhouette machine. I don't own one of those nor did any of the women in our ward know someone who did, but I had something even better--a neighbor who scrapbooks and is awesome! I asked her to create dresses for me out of scrapbook paper. She hit a home run with it. I can't tell you how many compliments I got on her dresses.
So, our activity went as follows:
We provided dinner for all the women in the ward. After we had all gotten our food, I asked the woman who found our shelter to get up and describe the help our donations would provide to other women (the shelter didn't have someone available to come and speak). We also have a woman who used to work as an attorney with domestic abuse victims and she talked about how much help these women need. We then had a woman in the ward speak about taking hard situations and being positive. I had asked her several weeks before, so she could be prepared. She did a fabulous job.We then had a discussion about the book itself. The women really had a lot to say--who can't relate to this book in some way? We finished it with thoughts from a member of the RS Presidency.

Our ward easily donated over 200 dresses/skirts/tops/shoes. I have to mention that in addition to the sisters who donated, we had a husband whose wife had died last Christmas donate her clothing and shoes (she had over 200 pairs). We filled an entire van with what the sisters brought and the bed of an entire truck from the donations by the brother in our ward. I couldn't believe it. It seemed to me to be the perfect activity--service, socializing, food and discussion. I love it when an idea comes together.

Ryanna Completes Book 3 of Suzuki

To celebrate Ryanna's completion of Suzuki Book 3 violin, we held a small concert in our house. We had friends who live nearby come listen to her play the last five songs from Book 3 and the first concerto from Book 4 all from memory. She did an amazing job. I can't believe how many notes that is to put in memory, but she manages to do it. 

She started when she was just a little older than 3 and it has not been an easy journey all the time. Just like any child, she doesn't want to practice. I actually practice with her and I enjoy it, but our practice sessions usually begin with, "Noooooooo...." and a little bit of groaning. There have been times when I've wanted to quit. The frustration between her and myself was something I worried I would look back on with regret. I didn't want to sacrifice our relationship for the sake of developing a talent. 

It has gotten better as she has gotten older. I look at her musicality and think that if I had not encouraged her, I would feel guilty because I see in her an innate ability to hear and duplicate music. I see a skill that amazes me on a daily basis. She's still working on fine tuning details, but I think that's a never ending journey for all musicians. I'm grateful for her talent and that she and I have had this time to practice together. To look at the notes and shake our heads wondering how in the world to read it sometimes and laughing when we look back at some songs that seemed difficult and now are easy.  

These are two of the songs that she performed. I couldn't be more proud.

Concerto Number 2 in G Major, Opus 13, 3rd Movement by Seitz

Bourree by Bach

Logic Based Thinkers

I dusted the house yesterday. A serious dusting--the kind where you dust your fans and think, "Hmmm..how does all this grossness get on my fan blades when they are always in motion?" It felt good. I also reminded myself of these documents that were created....many, many months ago by Ryanna and Owen. They are worth documenting. They show the serious thought that each child puts into his/her ideas about what he/she believes in. They show creative genius! They ask the reader to sit back and question his/her own beliefs about strength and the value of happiness. And, they are frankly, super cute.
Exhibit #1 is Ryanna's Manifesto. Ryanna loves dogs. She has always loved dogs and if she were to record her memoirs at this point in time, they would probably be titled, "My Life as the Only Girl in a World of Boys Without a Dog to Understand Me" or "How my Parents Didn't Love Me Enough to Buy a Dog or Produce More Female Offspring." Or perhaps, "A Feminist's Life Before She Found Love--Puppy Love".
Why do we deny her the only thing that would bring her happiness--other than piercing her ears--of which we are the only parents in the universe that won't allow her to pierce her ears--or she thought that until last week when she located the other sole survivor of this group of oppressed 9 year olds living in a world without piercings. I'm sure that the Earring Issue will be Manifesto #2 and is part of a trilogy as all good writing is these days.
This document below was strategically left on our pillows every night for an entire week. Each night we would read it and chuckle and place it to the side and each night when we went to bed this document had moved back to our bed. You have to admit she's thought this through. She's willing to give up what she views as the only free time she has (her movie time) to take care of her beloved pet. I also have to appreciate that she's already convincing us that should we buy her argument, the sex of the dog should contribute to the female population in our home ("I'll never let her get run over.").

The next document is actually a collaborative effort. Owen designed the cover, but at the time these thoughts were consuming his mind, he did not yet know how to write, so he enlisted the help of his very able sister. All of the illustrations are also his own. You will note that all of the letters to form his name are on the cover, but not necessarily in the correct order.
It's also important to discuss why this book would have meaning to Owen. He is a bit obsessed with strength. He notices physical strength in humans--he thinks I am strong because he sees me exercise every day and has even done some of it with me and he can't do it all, so he concedes that I may have some physical edge on him. His interest with strength is not confined to muscles alone. He also is always creating scenarios and quizzing me on which item would be stronger. For instance, "Mom, I know that metal is really strong and I know that lava is really hot, so if metal fell into lava, which would last--the metal or the lava?" This explains the origins of the first page. Actually, he used to say, "hot llama" which was really cute and he doesn't do anymore.
The pages which discuss Pokemon and Bakugan are also so typical of his personality. Owen keeps finding books at the library which tell the (much too detailed) history of Pokemons. I am constantly being asked to read words that sound like total gibberish to me--did you know that Pokemons evolve and the main character is named Ash Ketchup? Bakugans are a lot like the Pokemon craze--apparently we have a son who would've enjoyed a childhood in Japan. The Pokemon and Bakugan story lines go back to strength as well as each character has certain characteristics which allow it to be stronger or somehow beat another character, but yet, even the strongest Pokemon/Bakugan can sometimes be defeated in battle. All the time Owen will come up to me and excitedly say, "Mom! Mom! Did you know that El Drago got beaten by Pegasus?!?!?" I just shake my head in disbelief since asking questions usually results in a detailed explanation of the power structure breakdown of each character--and there are LOTS of them!
Really, doesn't the love of these Bakugans and Pokemon really show a precursor to his love of sports? Even as he's telling me all the details, I keep hearing my husband, "Did you see the recruiting class that BYU has this year?"
Last, but not least, rockets. They are strong BUT they can fly. This goes back to the lava vs. metal question. He knows that a serious piece of metal is strong and therefore heavy, but, it can still overcome gravity!!!
I realize my own explanation of this work is longer than the work itself, but I want to remember how these kids came to understand the world around them and break it down into parts that they could compare and contrast. Wouldn't it be fascinating to see how each human mind begins this journey?

Caleb's One Year Photos

My friend Alacey came over and took some pictures of Caleb for me. Isn't he adorable?

 This one (above) is my favorite!