Fall Break 2025

When Jeremy is on trips (quite a few this year), he misses a lot (including us and we miss him, too). One thing we've made sure to do as a family, though, is when Jeremy is traveling, he calls in the morning and night for family prayer over the phone. Sometimes he joins in for family scripture study as well. It's important to keep that gospel foundation strong for our family even when we're separated.

 

Since Jeremy was gone so long on this last trip to South Carolina, he also missed Fall Break.

 

Slumber Party!

When our older children were little we had a tradition of having a slumber party the night before Fall Break or Spring Break. We'd watch movies or play video games then all sleep out in the living room together. Over time, we had less people sleep in the living room after our "party" and eventually the tradition kind of fizzled out.

After many years we brought it back this Fall Break with watching a movie and playing MarioKart while eating muffins. Only a few opted to sleep out in the living room but we did have good bonding time while we were up.

October 15 was National Mushroom Day so I wore my pajamas that have mushrooms on them and Jr. Jr. commented: That's why Jet didn't want me to have mush room on the couch. 

P.S. For dinner earlier we made shawarma for Shawarma Day.

 

The next day, we had leftovers for dinner for World Food Day on October 16.

We got some snuggles in before Nichole and I went to a Relief Society activity to paint pumpkins. 

Normally I'm hands on involved in the activities (remember the sourdough?) but this time I was content to just sit and socialize. I also was able to praise Nichole's pumpkin painting. 

 

I got Kiki's Delivery Service vibes from it and not necessarily the movie. Isn't it so cute?

 

Fall Break Fun!

I hiked up Big Springs area with the kiddos. We'd been wanting to for a while and finally got the chance. We even had sun that day. 

A couple times, Jet and I took pictures of each other. This is how they turned out. 

Jr. Jr. pointed out to me how in Jet's picture the first time, Jr. Jr. was standing by me. In the other picture that I took, Jr. Jr. was standing by Jet. Ha Ha. Clever noticing. 

When we got home we had pasta to celebrate... National Pasta Day.

The mountains were gorgeous at sunset.

I love nature and I love living here and I especially love my children. 

 

The two oldest and I had some bonding time watching a movie one evening. While we watched, Jet watched Kiki's Delivery Service in a different room. I think he heard our conversation about Nichole's pumpkin.

 

Jet requested going to the library during Fall Break so on October 20, he and I went together. He was so well behaved. He followed directions. He stayed with me. We did a children's activity in the children's wing with pumpkin emotions. He got to play in the children's area and when it was time to move on to gather books on my list, he didn't put up a stink about it. He was quiet in the quiet areas, even when we had to get a book from the quietest area in the library. He was very good at whispering. We watched construction on the new courtyard/greenhouse area. He helped me check out our books and did a good job. I am so proud of him.

He did not yell, "Tractor!" in the middle of the library. Once we got out to the van, he was able to. "Tractor! Burninating the countryside..." For those that get the reference, he yells, "Trogdor!" but thinks it's "Tractor!" If you listen to Strong Bad from Homestar Runner, it does kind of sound like "Tractor."

Since October 20 was International Sloth Day, Jet requested a book about koalas. Why not?

I love bonding time with my children. And I love how this Fall Break went.

General Conference Weekend

General Conference Weekend started with a... SLUMBER PARTY!!! Because it also was the beginning of Spring Break! So Friday for after school snack we had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches because April 2 was National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day. Later we ate nachos while watching the new Croods movie. 

For our slumber party, the kids fought. Eventually Nichole and Jr. went to sleep in their own beds. In the morning, we had family prayer together then Nichole went back to bed and Jr. stayed out to sleep in the living room.

A slumber party was also appropriate because Saturday, April 3, was World Party Day and International Pillow Fight Day. The boys rationalized video games because Wii Party fits in with World Party. Sigh.

It was also Handmade Day which was great because Nichole finished decorating her General Conference Journal which she used to take notes during the first two sessions (and the other sessions on Sunday).

During Conference, Sister Joy D. Jones talked about teaching and nurturing children. And guess what. April 3 is Love Our Children Day. I sure love ours.

Jet was so cute when watching us sustain our leaders. He wanted to be involved with that, too.

 

And as we've celebrated many times, April 3 is Fish Fingers and Custard Day. Yes, I made fish sticks and vanilla pudding for us to eat.

Jr. went solo watching the Priesthood session of Conference. He had to eat popcorn all by himself. Jeremy was on his way home so he listened to the session in the car but got to watch the last talk with Jr. when he got home. They both got "chuckles" then.

Sunday, April 4, was Easter. Lots of Conference talks about the Resurrection. Wonderful. 20 new temples announced including one in Burley, Idaho (personal connection) and one in Eugene, Oregon (personal connection). Wow.

Before Conference and between sessions, Jet and I went for a couple drives. Lucky went with us the first time. We drove in the canyon to see if Bridal Veil Falls was still frozen. Not so much.

 

Conference Bingo (actually called Conference Squares) was fun for the kids again this year. The Primary Presidency dropped off activity pages and smarties that the boys were able to use for their Bingo sheets (and get creative with). Jr. used M&Ms.

Since the Smarties were gone by Saturday afternoon, both Jr. Jr. and Lucky requested jelly beans to be used on Sunday (they both had the same idea at the same time- Lucky mentioned it to me while we were on our drive, Jr. Jr. mentioned it to Jeremy while we were gone). Nichole was taking her own notes so she ate M&Ms while she was at it. Jet was given a Bingo sheet and Cheerios. I would put the Cheerios on his sheet and he would take them off and eat them. I was thinking he might copy his brothers as they were putting jelly beans on their sheets but he wasn't interested in that.

 

We got to video call with my parents and a couple of my brothers for Easter and that was so nice. The younger boys enjoyed showing off (sometimes loudly which wasn't so nice). I love family so it was good to have that "face to face" time.

Fall Break- Slumber Party!

We used to have slumber parties the last day of school leading into Fall Break or Spring Break. We had one last Fall Break but last Spring Break was a little unusual as it was a break from online school. I don't think we had a slumber party. We decided to have one this Fall Break.

I was so tired I fell asleep on the couch while Jeremy and the kids started a movie.

I woke in time for popcorn and the end of the movie. Thanks, Jeremy, for making popcorn.

Jet was wearing his "bugs" shirt since it was Chocolate Covered Insect Day. The bugs on the shirt are brown so they look like they could be covered in chocolate. 

The three boys (not baby) slept in sleeping bags in the living room. The rest of us slept in our rooms.

Fall Break 2019

First day of Fall Break Slumber Party! O.K. So it ended up being several days of the kids sleeping out in the living room, but at least they had fun.

We also took a day of Fall Break to go to Thanksgiving Point's Scarecrow Festival. We got a late start but still managed to see everything. We didn't go last year so it was great to get to it this year. We had fun.

The kids had some favorite scarecrows.

Who doesn't love The Nightmare Before Christmas, right? We sure do.

And of course I had to get Jr. Jr. in a picture with Forky since he and I had that bonding time to see the movie this Summer.

And this is for my friend, CoreyD. He knows why.

We also celebrated Jr. Jr.'s birthday during Fall Break. He had a good time.

Well, that was some of what we did for Fall Break this year.

Catching Up- March

Plenty happened in March.

March 1 was National Pig Day. Great excuse for hot dogs with sauerkraut.

It was also Share a Smile Day. And it sure makes me smile when my kids do service.

The kids and I went to a performance at the Orem Library one day. The Woodwind Family Quintet from BYU was showing different woodwind instruments then they did a performance of "Peter and the Wolf." Ah, music.  I love music.
Afterward, the kids and I sat down to some book reading.  Since Jeremy had work during the performance, we brought along "Daddy" so he wouldn't miss it.

Surprise.

For Dr. Seuss' birthday on March 2, we had green eggs and ham.

Jeremy and I got out with a friend and headed up to Alta, not for the skiing, but for the birds. They have bird feeders up there that attract different kids of birds. We got to see some birds there that we hadn't seen other places. It was cold and snowy and worth it.

Jr. registered for junior high classes and got an idea of what it would feel like to play the cello.

March 5 was National Cheese Doodle Day.  Mmmmmm. Queasy puffs.

Nichole delighted us at another orchestra concert at the junior high.

I had a girls' night with some friends from our old ward.  It was so nice to see them. Love those gals.  The person hosting suggested we make treats like an English tea.  I contributed cucumber sandwiches.

Of course I forgot to take a picture of our impossible cheeseburger pie that we had for dinner on Pi Day, March 14, until it was almost gone. Oh, well.

The kids helped make dinner on the Ides of March, March 15. Caesar Salad again.

Since the boys' school was going to be no more (combining with another school to become a brand new school next year), they had a big gala to say goodbye.  They had a red carpet with photo op on the way in, we had refreshments, and we got to watch the kids do dances and see presentations of the school over its last 65 years.

Lucky and I got out for a nice walk on the first day of Spring, which was March 20.

Nichole put a lot of work into a National History Day project about the extinction of the passenger pigeon and we were able to go to see her display.

Great job, Nichole. (Click on the picture to see a bigger version of it)

Some friends came to visit during their Spring Break and the kids put on a show for us.

For Harry Houdini's Birthday on March 24, we ate pigs in a straitjacket.

On International Waffle Day, March 25, we ate... waffles.

March 28 was Something on a Stick Day. I put out different foods and let people go at them with toothpicks. Creativity did come out.

Jr. Jr. competed in his first pinewood derby. He put a lot of work into designing it, and sanding it, after dad helped carve it, and painting it all by himself.  He won an award for best paint job.

Jeremy and I got to go on a date to a local play where we supported some friends in our ward, some of whom got their first acting experience in this.  They did a great job.

We started off our Spring Break with a slumber party in the living room (Mom and Dad slept in our own room).

We went to our ward talent show. We thought about putting a juggling routine together but things were so busy we didn't get around to it. We had fun watching everyone else's acts, though.

March 26 was Make Up Your Own Holiday Day. I chose to celebrate some other actual holidays on that day. So I guess you could call it Celebrate Other Holidays Day.
Here's a list of some of those holidays:
Video Games Day is July 8 and National Video Games Day is September 12.

Walk Around Things Day is April 4.

National Oatmeal Muffin Day is December 19.

National Chocolate Pudding Day is June 26.

National Gumdrop Day is February 15.

YES! I did it! I am done catching up with March. On to April.