Paint Night for Valentine's Day

 

We each painted our own version of a red truck.  We shared treats, watch a youtube video and followed instructions. We were on limited time and had to keep things moving. I am amazed at how well they all turned out.

Baby Fredrick got to come

Milt and I

William and Natalie

John and Elise

Peter and Rachel

Family Christmas parties

We enjoyed a just kids Christmas Party Friday night.  We had Cincinnati chili, original Grinch movie, Christmas stories  of  Snowmen at Night, and Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree. Decorating of mugs with permanent markers (we then bake them to set it), orange julius, and Arthur's Christmas movie.  It was a lot of fun.

The pictures came in an odd order and thats okay.

Gideon

Henry

Samuel

Maddie, Debbie, Thomas

Josh

Sunday we enjoyed a special sacrament meeting and then a progressive dinner where we had appetizers at Peter and Rachel's, salad at Elise and John's, main dish at my house, and dessert at Porter's.  We walked from house to house. The kids had a new experience for dinner.  We then acted out the nativity, had each family do a talent, opened gifts and played games like Don't Break the Ice and Uno Attack.  It was a lot of fun for all.

Live Nativity in Fountain Green

Free time

I love free time.  Some time ago we put away legos, lincoln logs, train sets, nerf guns, doll houses with furniture, and encouraged making your own play, spending time outdoors, being creative with your free time.  It has gone really well.  The kids are so much faster at tidying their room and spending time outside in any kind of weather.  They continue to enjoy the part of our yard that is filled with rocks, logs, weeds, dirt, and junk.  It is here that they feel free to organize this chaos into something they like and look what evolved.

 They use to just stand up logs and skip a roof. This year they discovered flat boards, hammer, nails, and a hand saw.  Ike dug holes for the posts and built this great 2 story play house/hut.

 Chillin' on the front porch

 do upstairs

and even brought in the mud fireplace from last years building.  I am thrilled with the things they are learning as they use real tools, experiment, and then enjoy their creations.

foamerator fun

These were so simple to make and use. Just cut the bottom off of a water bottle, attach a wet piece of terry cloth to the bottom with an elastic band. Dip in dish soap slightly watered down, then gently blow. WARNING: don't inhale, the foam goes either way and doesn't taste very good. All three kids had to try that.