Celebrating Family Home Evening

It's fun when Family Home Evening treat is so easy to figure out because of a holiday.

August 31 is National Trail Mix Day.

Which for the kids means pretzels and M&Ms.

But I got the real stuff.  Yumm.

Joy Is...

having a clean enough floor to play on.

That's My Family

Yep.  That's my family in front of the Great Wall of China.  Pretty cool, huh?

Work Like a Dog Day Again?

Wait.  Wasn't it just Work Like a Dog Day?  Well, August 26 is National Dog Day so I took it as a challenge to work like a dog again.  This time I tackled the kids' room.  I do not have a before picture.  Let's just say it was a MESS.  Now the room is not a mess. 

The living room is.  I had to leave everything in there so I could sort through it.  It took the whole day just to get most everything out of the kids' room.  I didn't get a chance to attack under the bunk bed or on the kids' beds but I did get to vacuum some not so visited places.  I moved both the dresser and Jr. Jr.'s bed.  I was able to vacuum under the crib and even took out the bottom drawer of the crib dresser so I could vacuum under that area.  This was after spending about an hour this morning unclogging the vacuum.  One day while we were vacuuming a toy accidentally got sucked up into the hose.  We didn't realize at the time what a block it caused.  I realized today when I could get no suction.  So I attacked the vacuum and I won.  Now it works so well.  So after I sort through the kids' stuff in the living room and put some back in their room (I really want to get rid of a lot), I'll be able to vacuum the living room and have it go so well.
Anyway, in other news, we also had hot dogs for dinner to celebrate National Dog Day.

The End.

Kiss and Make Up Day

August 25 is Kiss and Make Up Day.  At dinner, Jeremy and I kissed and then Jeremy said something totally random.  Then we kissed again and he said something else totally random.  Then I got it so I kissed him again.  Every time we kissed he would make something up.  Kiss and "make up."  The kids thought it was hilarious and provided quite the entertainment.  Jeremy's really clever with making things up on the spot.
Today was also National Second-hand Wardrobe Day.  To celebrate, Jr. wore some clothes to school that a friend had given him recently.  Thanks, friend, for helping him celebrate.

Vivitrivius Day

The kids knew that August 24 was National Waffle Day and also Vesuvius Day.  Nichole knew that Vesuvius was the volcano that destroyed Pompeii.  She just couldn't remember that it was called Vesuvius.  So several times in the morning and afternoon she would mention that it was Vivitrivius Day.  No.  Vesuvius Day.  It was pretty funny.  Vesuvius seems easier to say or remember than Vivitrivius, but no, that's what she would remember.  It was funny.
So for dinner we had waffles

and Nichole enjoyed pouring the syrup as if it was lava from a volcano.

I have plans to celebrate for after the kids go to bed.  I want to watch the Doctor Who episode about Pompeii.  I guess it all depends on how long it takes to get them to bed tonight.  Sigh.  I know I'm not the only one with bedtime battles.  But I've resolved not to blow like Vesuvius today.  So far I've done well.  I hope I can keep it up.

Love One Another

After church today, Jr. Jr. showed us a picture he colored in his class in Primary.  I've never seen him color so well before.  It was a color by numbers picture and he did a good job putting the colors where they go.

He showed his picture to several people including the mom of friends the kids were going to visit while I was at choir.  He wanted to show the dad, too, so Jr. Jr. and I were trying to figure out how he could show the picture to him when I dropped the kids off, but not keep the picture there where it could get lost.  We were discussing this while trying to get the kids buckled in the van to go home after church.  Jeremy pointed out that the dad of the family was nearby so Jr. Jr. could show him the picture right then.  So Jr. Jr. jumped out of the van and ran over to show him the picture.  He was so proud of his picture and that dad complimented him on it and told him, "You should put that in your journal."
What a great idea.  After he came back to the van I told him that I could put it in a scrapbook... or I could take a picture of it and put it on my blog.  That's like a journal.
So here is that picture that Jr. Jr. did such a good job with and with such a great message. 

And this is family history.  Thanks Dad Friend, for suggesting we document something so special to Jr. Jr.

My Little Boys

 I am so blessed.

Catch of the Day

Exploring

The little boys and I visited Jeremy at the Museum of Ancient Life today.  Then we went for a walk over by the water tower.  A friend had told me about gardens they have there in that area, but I'd never seen them.  So we walked over and found them.  Wow.  I didn't know there was so much.  Obviously nothing like the Gardens, but there was quite a bit to these little gardens.

We had a nice walk and Jr. Jr. and I enjoyed talking with each other and it put Lucky to sleep.

It was very pleasant.

First Day of School

First Day of School!

First Day of School Pancakes

First Day of School Before School Pictures

First Day of School After School Pictures

First Day of School Being Called to the School Office Because Nichole was Having Allergies I'm Guessing From Gunk in the Air from Fires in Other States that are Blowing Smoke This Way (I didn't get pictures of her red eye and stuffy nose)

First Day of School BBQ

With Jugglers

Lots of Jugglers

First Day of School!

Bye, Summer Vacation

The kids and I decided to end Summer vacation the way we started it.  By going to play at a park.
First day of summer vacation:

Last day of summer vacation:

We also had ice cream which we didn't have the first day of vacation.

And since August 18 is Bad Poetry Day, there were bad poems written
by Nichole:
There was a glutton whose name was Ramone,
No doubt 'bout it, he was horrid.
True, the ladies loved him, the old crone.
This is his story, that glutton Ramone.
The thought of him makes me morbid.

by Jr.:
My mind is completely blank
I thought it stank.
I bout a lock picking kit
and that was it.
The End
No time to comprehend
These words I'll smother
in not, so you're my
evil mother!
I like erasers
if not, GIVE ME TAZERS!!!
I will make you morbid,
in not, horrid.
Once upon a time,
I will make you rhyme!

and by Jeremy:
The little green frog
Sat on a log
Eating all the flies that came.
When along came a spider
Which sat down beside her
And ate the frog because it was a big nasty bird eating spider like they have in Australia, the kind that makes you think of Shelob from the Lord of the Rings- Not Lord of the Flies which is a completely different book devoid of spiders. It has flies though. Speaking of flies, they remind me of a poem I once wrote.

The little green frog
Sat on a log
Eating all the flies that came.
When along came a spider
Which sat down beside her
And ate the frog because it was a big nasty bird eating spider like they have in Australia, the kind that makes you think of Shelob from the Lord of the Rings- Not Lord of the Flies which is a completely different book devoid of spiders. It has flies though. Speaking of flies, they remind me of a poem I once wrote.

The little green frog
Sat on a log...

Knight Knight

The KAT's Meow

Jeremy:  Sometimes I'm so clever I pontificate.
Kristin:  What?
Jeremy:  Sometimes I'm so clever I pontificate.  I don't even know what pontificate means.  I hope it's nothing bad.
Kristin:  I know I've heard the word before but I don't know what it means.
Kristin (looks up in the dictionary):  Pontificate.
Jeremy (reading and laughing at the same time):  To speak in a pompous or dogmatic manner.
Kristin (laughing):  Sometimes I'm so clever I pontificate.  So it does fit.
Jeremy and Kristin:  Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha.



Mommy:  Whose green apple is this on the table?
Jr.:  Oh, mine.  I didn't finish it because my stomach started to feel bad.  You know my problem where I eat something healthy or I just drink water, it makes my stomach hurt?



Mommy (talking about needing to get the kids new shoes before the school year):  It's expensive to have children.
Jr.:  At least it's not expensive to have love.
Mommy:  Awwww.
(Hugs)

Relaxation Day 2015

August 15 is Relaxation Day.  So what were Jeremy and I doing until 2 o'clock in the morning (the beginning of Relaxation Day)?  Building small balloon sculptures to go on the Colosseum.
Yeah, this is me standing next to the balloon holder/carrier so you can see how big it is.

This is how full of sculptures it is.

In total (including sculptures that were already built and at the museum), we had to build 80 small sculptures for the Colosseum.  Yeah, it's going to look cool.

Brain Freeze

August 14 is National Creamsicle Day.  The kids and I had a discussion about what a brain freeze is while eating orange dream bars.

Nobody got one (a brain freeze, that is).

Alfred Hitchcock's Birthday

August 13 is Alfred Hitchcock's Birthday.  I told the kids we were going to visit the Wonders, but we were going to do it mysteriously.

Petra looks so cool.

Middle Child's Day 2015

I haven't been letting the kids play video games for a little while because of... circumstances.  Behaviors after playing the games and not getting along during the games, etc.  You know?
So Jr. was quite pleased today, August 12, when he asked to play a Wii game and I said, "Well... it is Middle Child's Day so... O.K."

Star Wars Marathon

I realized one day that my kids don't know Star Wars well enough.  Sure, they play the LEGO game on the Wii, but I don't know that the two youngest have seen the original movies and it's been so long since the older two have seen them that they don't remember a lot.  So I did some planning, the kids helped, and today we had a Star Wars marathon.  Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi.  We had made a list of themed foods to eat throughout the day, knowing that we wouldn't have all of them, but we could have a lot.  We were going to go shopping yesterday for supplies but I wasn't feeling the greatest so we made do with what we had.  A friend of mine let me borrow her Star Wars cookbook which gave me some more ideas.
So this is what we ended up having:

 "Sand"wich People

Princess Leia Buns (Cinnamon Rolls)

Yoda Soda

Cheese "Wedge"s

Pizza the Hutt (nod to the movie, Spaceballs)

Death Star Cheeseball

Blue Milk

Hoth Chocolate

Not bad for using the things we had on hand.  And the kids really enjoyed getting to watch all three movies.