Bonfire Sh'mores & Summer Sledding

We LOVE making Sh'mores over our own firepit in the driveway! It's like a contest to see who can get the "PERFECT" golden marshmellow. AND we give the burnt ones to Liberty! LOL! Tonight the kids and Brett got quite a bonfire going! I love the pictures of the flames. Aren't they pretty?

Then, you gotta LOVE the creativity kids have. Somehow they decided they didn't need snow for some sledding fun! I think they went around the yard in a circle like 20 times. It was fun to see them laugh and play together! Who needs snow to have fun? Not us!!!! (OK maybe Brett does!;)

Giving Back, Going Green

We use SOOO much paper at our home that we decided to give back a little O2 to Mother Earth by planting a couple new trees in our yard. We've been meaning to replace our dying apple tree anyways for several years and today was the day!!! Besides becoming a feeding frenzy for the pesty mosquitos, the kids had a lot of fun! Thanks Honey for getting them in.

Tree # ONE-

We waited to plant the second tree so that Taelyn (our neighbor and the reigning Little Miss North Dakota) could come and help us. It's some good experience for any kid to see what it takes to give back to the Environment and it just happened that her Mom was visiting with me while we were making plans to plant. She asked if they could come over when we did it. I'm glad the timing worked out. Taelyn was so funny because she was totally disgusted that Victoria was picking up worms AND she didn't want to get her sash dirty. LOL! For days after, Victoria kept telling me how much she now doesn't like worms either. The influencal power of peer pressure. You gotta love it! :) Just wait until we go fishing and it'll be all about the worms again.

Tree # TWO-

One last thing to give back to Mother Earth this week is our MOUNTAIN o'cans in our garage. Last year some time, Brett got the kids on a Can-Recycling-Hunt. They found them everywhere! They'd go to the park after a Baseball game, find cans on walks and recruited the heavy pop drinkers at work to donate to their cause. Once the "Mountain" gets out of control, then Brett has the kids help him take them down to earn some money. With the drop in price for aluminum, they get like less than ONE PENNY a can but it's a good experience for them. They get a check written to them and get to go cash it. So here's to cleaning out our garage and earning a little (very little) cash! LOL! You gotta work hard to earn a living 'round here. :)

Recycling the MOUNTAIN o'Cans-

Happy Nature Week!

Scandinavian Festival

My Grandpa, Karl E. Andersen was born in Kvaerndrup, Denmark in 1928. He and my Bestmor, Rayola Hodgkinson met in Norway on their missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. When they completed their missions, they both came to the United States and got married. My Grandpa died when my Mom was 16 years old in a car accident so I never had the opportunity to meet him in this life. My Bestemor did, however, do quite a few Scandinavian traditions during my childhood that made me feel somewhat connected to him. We have even tried to keep some of those traditions going in our little family. Last year, I finally learned to make Krumkaker and have plans for Berliner Kranser & Æbleskiver (eb-bull-ski-ver or A-blah-ski-wah) this year. I'm SOO excited! We also have a Smorrebrod Party (Danish open-faced Sandwich) every year with hot chocolate and candies to choose on the table. I also find it funny that I moved to a place that has Norwegian orgins. We do a lot of "Uffdas" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uff_da) and "Don't ya know?" around here. Funny how small the world seems at times.

Well, every year, the Fargo-Moorhead Hjemkomst Center (Yem-komst) http://www.nordiccultureclubs.org/

puts on a Scandinavian Festival. I decided that I would really like to go. We had a few things to get done today but I waited patiently for things to get done and then I had planned to take the three older kids with me. Turns out, it didn't sound appealing enough so it ended up being just Victoria and me. We went way later than I had planned so we missed the Genealogy part AND the Children's room wasn't the greatest but I am glad we made it over. Victoria got to make a Dala Horse picture. We got to see some dancing and heard the Boy's Choir. We also ate some Krumkaker and Æbleskiver. YUMMY!  I tried to buy a flower wreath for Victoria's hair but she declined. Dang! She looked so cute in it!
Anywho- Thanks little girlfriend for going with me!

Team Jacob

In anticipation for the release of the Twilight Saga: Eclipse & being Team Jacob fans-- Haylie & I decided to make T-shirts & necklaces for the event. We tried our hand at a new Freezer paper/ Spray Paint technique for the shirts. We used huge glass circles and did the Tribal Tatoo for the necklaces. They turned out so cool! Yeah! I'm so excited!!!

I Scream You Scream We All Scream for Ice Cream

You gotta love the extras that come on DVDs these days. Justice found this recipe on a Dora DVD and wouldn't let the day past without us trying it. It turned out really fun! Yeah-- when you have all the ingredients to make your kids happy. LOVE it!

Here's in case, you'd like to try it too.
Ice Cream in Two Bags
Fun and quick summertime treat (from NickJr.com)
• ¾ cup milk (or half and half)
• 4 tsp sugar
• ¼ tsp vanilla extract
• handful of chocolate chips, cut fruit, Hershey syrup, or candies
• ½ cup course kosher salt
• 4 cups ice cubes
• Ice cream cones (each bag makes 2 cones)
• Resealable bags: 1 quart and 1 gallon
• Heavy-duty tape
1. Combine the milk, sugar, vanilla, and flavor ingredients in the 1 quart bag, seal tightly and tape shut. Put this bag into the 1 gallon bag. Fill the bag with ice and sprinkle with salt. Seal this bag completely and tape shut.
2.  Toss bag back and forth or shake for 5 minutes (will want to wear oven mitts or gloves).
3. Cut open the large bag, remove the ice cream bag and wipe it dry. [This is important or your ice cream will taste salty- YUCK!] Snip off a corner of the bag and pipe into two ice cream cones or bowl. Top with sprinkles, nuts, or other toppings.
*Replace milk, sugar, and vanilla with pineapple, mango, or orange juice or lemonade for quick and tasty sorbet.

Bloomin' Seamons: Part Four

Our Garden continues to bloom slowly but surely. I do love watching it grow though.

We have had a few things that we've been able to enjoy. We have begun to see a few "fruits of our labor" you could say. YEAH for us!

One last thing... Back in Utah, my Aunt and Uncle had Hen & Chicks growing in their yard. I always thought they were cool. Well, when we moved here, my neighbor had some in her yard as well. She let me transplant a couple to my yard last year and they have really spread. I didn't know this but Val actually told me that they can bloom in an interesting way. I've never seen them do this but the other day when we were out in our garden, it looks like this is our lucky year!

Here's some info I found on a website: "Hens and chicks plants (Latin-Sempervivum) are mat-forming succulents that produce clusters of rosettes. The parent rosettes are the "hens," and the smaller rosettes that spring from them are the "chicks" or "chickens." This low-growing perennial will quickly spread to 2' or more in width. Although grown for its foliage, hens and chicks do flower on a tall (1') flower stalk. The foliage of hens and chicks plants can be red, green or some mixture thereof.

We'll make sure we take a picture when it blooms but here's the beginnning of our 1' flower stalk! Too funny!

Gotta love how plants grow!

Packer Basketball Camp

Every year, we sign Justice up for the Packer Basketball Camp. It goes Monday through Thursday from 9 to 10:15 at the Junior High gym. They have a bunch of the High School Basketball Players come and help coach. I think it might be a fundraiser for them or something. I asked Justice what he wanted me to say about the Camp. He said: "I didn't learn anything (because he already knew all of it) but I just played basketball. We did Pivots. I defended. I helped people when they got hurt. I shot baskets a long, long, long time. At the end, I got a ribbon, a basketball and a waterbottle. I had fun!"
Brett got to come on the last day. It meant a lot to Justice. (Thanks Honey!) He said Justice was great in defense. Too bad they didn't do an award for that. But it's a lot of fun to watch him get better every year.

Way to go Justice!

The Artist Gene

When Liberty was little, we could NEVER keep enough art supplies at our house. Well, Victoria is following in her footsteps. Not a day goes by that a game of Paper, Markers, Scissors (LOL!) isn't played. She is amazing! Very creative and crafty! BTW-She does custom work if you put in a request. Victoria is also getting very good at writing. She's growing up so fast!

{Interesting fact: Victoria is Right-handed but she writes with her left hand. And she's really good at it! I'm sure it has to do with the fact that she can see better what she's writing and we are working on it but.... for now she tends to write R to L. This info helps because when you see her art most of it is backwards. LOL! :)

Here's my little Artist:

And her latest Masterpiece:

Just AMAZING!!!

ALSO..

Liberty has not lost her flare for the Arts. We found this taped in the Hallway a while back:

She finished a couple of the Portaits but not all. I think they got lost before I could take a picture but, I think her creativity is so much fun!

What a couple of AMAZING artists we have! ;)

Head Injury

Victoria is a magnet for anything hard and sharp that could cause injury to her head. Unfortunately, it seems like she always has been.  LOL! Well, today at Gooseberry Park for Playgroup, she kept up her reputation! She's been getting up early all week for Playground Camp so she's been a little whiny. So, when Alexa brought her to me crying, I almost rolled my eyes. (I know- rotten Mommy!) Alexa said she fell. As I took her from Alexa's arms and turned her towards me---- OH CRAP!!! There was soooo much blood! And it was still gushing. Both her little hands were completely covered along with the right side of her face. AHHHH! Kind of something you'd see on a gory horror movie. My girlfriends all came to the rescue as we poured water across her head to find the wound. It turned out to be just a little cut so I applied pressure while a couple of my friends washed my poor little girl off. It didn't take long for it to stop bleeding. Thank goodness! We put a bandaide on it and called it a day. She had a bit of a headache after that.
Back at home... a little Hydrogen Peroxide, a IBprophen, some Super glue and she's as good as new! (This is a few days later and that gunk is the glue peeling away)

Oh the joys of Injury-Prone Children!

Wild West Jamboree

Howdy Partner!

Tonight, we made our way down to the Wild West Jamboree at Rendevous Park. It's a free event put on by the Parks District. We've gone several of the last 5 years. We had lots of fun LINE dancing!

When we got there the food LINE was humungous! I mean HUMUNGOUS! (Maybe 250 people) Mom waited in LINE while the kids headed for the Archery LINE. Unfortunately, that LINE took forever so by the time they made it to their turn, Justice was the only one that had stuck it out. He looks awesome though! Way to go Buddy! They finished just in time for us to get to the front of the food LINE.

Meanwhile, the girls decided to join me in the food LINE. Along the way we came to the Face Painting LINE. Luckily, it went parallel to my LINE so they hoped in to wait. The Swansons (or part of them) found us and joined us for the rest of the evening. The girls LOVE Kaitlin so it worked great! {After a half an hour, I actually called Heather on he cell to tell her who had stole her daughter. LOL!} Timing was fabulous because as soon as they got to the front of the LINE, Justice got back to get his hand painted and we had just got our food. Gotta love LINE dancing! The kids looked very cute with their faces painted:

As soon as we got our food (hotdogs with no buns, chips but no water. LOL!... They had WAY more people than they had expected but hey- free is free, right?) and the kids were being body-arted, I had Brett stand in LINE for the Horse-y Ride (Wagon Ride to ya'll). We ate dinner while we walked in the LINE. LOL! (In case, you are beginning to wonder--Even with the constant LINE hopping, we were having a great time!)  Heather and Trae met us just before our turn so they joined us for the ride. Glory was so excited for the horseys. She would have rode them all night. The was very short but sweet.

It turns out that LINE standing was not a favorite for the kids but while we aited for our ride, they found the sand and the lake. Did you know that water is magnetic? LOL! Well, it is to kids at least. Before I could even turn around, they had their shoes off and were in the water. With the "NO Swimming" Sign posted on the beach, I had to be the mean Mommy. They resorted to building sand castles. :) But hey, it passed the time. Whatever works, right?

After our horsey adventure, we turned our real Cowboy on and did some Lasso Twirlin' and some Steer Wranglin'. It was way fun! Cowboy Buck showed us how it's done! He actually had a booth setup for Cowboy Buck Engraving. His Laser stuff was so neat! And his prices AT the Jamboree were great. I have so many ideas to take to him. Maybe even some ideas for my Christmas Ornament Exchange. I'm so excited! http://www.cowboybuckengraving.com/

We finished the evening out with a little rock climbing. Less cowboyish but fun nonetheless. We actually even ran into our neigbors, the Alms. Tina & Taelyn visited and played with the Swansons and us until the mosquitos did us in. Gotta love ND in the Summer.

The Wild West Jamboree gets too thumbs up from the Seamons clan. It was a lot of fun!

Big Girl, Big Bed

My babies are growing up!

A few weeks ago, there were some people that were leaving our ward that were getting rid of some twin mattresses. We jumped on the idea that maybe it was time to switch the little ones to big beds. We didn't quite have plans but after a little Craigslist searching, Brett found some Bunk beds. We went and looked at them and liked them. However, they are red which one one hand is totally our family but on the other, doesn't go very well with the pink and purple room decor. Dang! Guess we'll have to redo it all. YEAH for me! Bummer for the pocketbook. I did find some fabric in the To-Do box in my Craft room. If I add a few more things to it, I think I can make 2 matching quilts. Then, when the quilts are finished-- of course, there's the pillowcases and throw pillows, and rug and curtains and wallart and flower basket-- am I leaving anything out? LOL! It will be SOO cute! Stay tuned for the finished products. Hopefully sooner than later. :) I get a little obsessed when it comes to Home-made room themes. Can you tell?

Here's Dad setting up the beds: (of course, the girls had to help)

We left the crib up becuase I was a little worried about how Glory would do. Well, she constantly surprises me with how grown-up she's getting. She slept great! She even did well for naptime. One more night- Awesome! So we took the crib down. :( BooHoo! How did that happen. No more babies at my house. Wowzers! She does look so little in that big bed:

My sweet little (BIG) girl!

Crazy Driver

One title that Mom's are often known for is the Crazy Taxi Cab Driver. Well, today- I earned that title. We signed the kids up for a couple things this Summer and they ALL started to day. Oops! So, no more 10 o'clock sleepins. Dang! Here's my crazy driving schedule for the week:

A. Get people up WAY earlier than normal.

B. Get Liberty to the Native Amercian Art Class at Westside by 8:15 am

C. Then, Justice to Cheney for Packer Basketball Camp by 9:00 am

D. Uptown to the Train Depot to sign Victoria up for Summer Playground Camp

E. Drop Victoria late to Village West Park for Summer Playground Camp that started at 9:00 am

F. Back to Cheney to watch and pick up Brother by 10 am.

G. Back to Westside by 11:15 am to pick up Liberty.

H. Over to Cudneys who luckily picked up Victoria for us since Camp's over at 11:30.

I. Back home to say hi to Dad before he took off out of town.

Whew! I'm exhausted just typing about it! Gotta love the Titles that Mom's get to carry! Luckily it's for only a week. Hopefully, I survive. LOL!

Father's Day Feast

We celebrated all day today!

We started by making breakfast for Brett before Church. Fruit, eggs, toast and bacon. Yummy! Ok-- well it was a Little-Red-Hen morning but the kids were excited for Father's day! (the VeggieTale movie just won out the desire to help make anything LOL!)

After Church and nap, we opened presents! The kids get so excited for gift giving opportunities. Justice made Brett a DryErase board in RW&B, of course. :) Victoria has been making him cards for weeks. Liberty made him a flag out of Bendaroos. They are very thoughtful. We also got him a RWB eagle shirt, some candy and some money for a new Wii game he wants. Happy Father's Day, Honey! We love you so much! XOXO!

We also got to have Matt & Haylie over for the Father's day Feast. And I mean FEAST! We had 2 racks of ribs, humungous T-bone steaks, Potatoes on the grill, corn on the cob, green salad, and the yummiest dessert ever- Eclair cake! OMH! So good! Thanks Honey Haylie! ;) Unfortunately, I got one photo of the last rib and that's it! Oops! You'll just have to trust me how absolutely fabulous everything looked, tasted and smelled. It was SOOOOOO Delicious! [At least Brett and I thought so-- not that everyone else didn't enjoy it but Brett and I were at the table for an extra 45 minutes eating. Too funny. But it was so yummy! And Brett tricked his way into having like 4 or 5 helpings of dessert. I'm surprised we didn't explode.]

The rest of the evening consisted of relaxing in Brett's hamaca (we tested the 1 ton limit by piling as many people as we could fit- it worked by the way!), did the Zipline and of course, took our weekly Sunday walk. Then, there's the Super Mario Wii time whenever Matt's around. He can always get us to the next level. Thanks Matt! Even of you are a "stinker" as Justice says. We luv ya!

We are so grateful for Brett and Matt in our lives. We love you guys! Hope you had an awesome Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day!

There are many men that I am grateful for today.

First, on my list (especially because he was 2 inches from my face this morning :) is my wonderful husband. He is absolutely amazing! I can never say enough of how truly perfect he is. He works so extremely hard to take care of our little family. He is so fabulous with our children. He is so patient with me. He makes me feel so beautiful and loved and safe. He is majorly HOT!!! AND He is such a great example of the Savior- loving, thoughtful, full of charity, hard-working, prayerful, and diligent in his testimony of the Gospel. We love you so much, Honey! We'd be lost without you. XOXOXOXO

Next, are our earthly fathers. My Dad, Randy and Brett's Dad, Garold are amazing men. They are extremely hard workers and great examples to our family. They are constantly sacrificing for their families and always have. They have taught us so much of what hard work really is. They are both so kind to keep in touch with our family even with us so far away. There is hardly a week that goes by that they don't check on us. They'll never know how much that means to us. We love you both so much!

Next is my Uncle Bud. He and his wife took me in at a time in my life that was critical. I never can repay them for saving me from a situation that could have altered my life forever. They also took our little family in before we moved here so that we could make some plans for the future. We really appreciated their sacrifice of part of their home, time and money for us to be there. We have so much fun laughing and joking with their family when we are with them. (although I have learned well to tune Uncle Bud out when he goes too far - Oops! Sorry about that. LOL!:) He is also a great example of a hard worker and making the most out of life. Thank you so much for the influence you have had on me and my fam. Luv you!
I also can't forget those special men here in Fargo that always look out for our little family when Brett's away and are so kind and loving to our children. Thank you so much for being our family away from home. You are men that are teaching our children things that I hope they will continue to do the rest of their lives. We love you!
Finally, but by no means the least, is my gracious Heavenly Father. He has given me everything and I would be very ungrateful if I didn't take the chance to honor Him today. Thank you so much for your Son, Jesus Christ and the sacrifice you both made for me. Thank you for this earth and the beauty that surrounds me every day. Thank you for your watchful hand upon me daily and for your forgiveness in my shortcomings. I am truly blessed because of YOU! Thank you for being my FATHER!

Happy Father's Day

to all those amazing men in our lives!

We love you!!!

Brain Surgery & Flash Floods

When I was growing up, my cousin Tasha had brain surgery. OK... not really! It was just a visit to the dentist. But Uncle Bud videotaped her when she got home. She had no use of one side of her face so needless to say, the video went down in history known as "Tasha's Brain Surgery" So mean! LOL! Today, I had BRAIN SURGERY of my own. When I was finished at Dr. Debates, I came home to this....

While I was being paralyzed on the left side of my face, Brett and the kids were at home battling a FLASH FLOOD that hit our neighborhood. At 4am this morning, we had a crazy Thunderstorm hit right above our house. It drenched everything. Then about 8:30am, another one hit. This time with QUARTER-size hail and way too much water. Brett was hoping out of the shower when things in the basement started dripping. There was a leak in the bathroom and a spilling-over-the-foundation fountain in the back room. The kids came to the rescue with 8 of our brand new bathroom towels. LOL! They're washable, right? Thankfully, they did stop the water from going farther into the house. Outside was an even bigger problem. Within minutes, the backyard was a LAKE.  Luckily, Brett didn't electrocute himself as he hooked up the outdoor sump pump to start pumping the water out to the road while the rain was still coming down hard. The front gutter (which is missing the end piece) was shooting water half way across the driveway at incredible force. We think we got almost 6 inches within that 1/2 hour. CRAZY!!! Our poor little garden!!!! I hope it will survive.

When I came home with my stroke-like face, neighbors were out discussing what disasters had hit their homes. I'm sure I was quite a site chatting with them through the Elvis-style smile. SO embarrassing!

Our next door neighbors, the Rays, got 2 inches of rain water in their basement with 10 minutes. Val said that there was a phone book on the floor that was completely under water. So sad! They spent the entire day trying to clean it up. They lost quite a bit of stuff down there. We feel very blessed our home didn't get any more damage than it did.

Just two houses down, our street had filled completely with water. Liberty waded down through it to say hi to a friend. It was almost up to her calves. It was just amazing how much rain we got in such a small bit of time. Even more amazing was that where I was (at the Dentist) which is only 12 minutes away, we saw the clouds & heard the thunder but only got a few drops of rain. Isn't that crazy??

The kids had a blast playing in the water. They swang, splashed, sat and jumped in puddles all morning. I think we went through 5 different outfits for Glory throughout the day. LOL!
Amazingly, within an hour or two, not much evidence remained of our natural disaster. In fact, if you had been on the other side of town and no pictures were taken, there's a good chance, you wouldn't have even believe us.

Gotta love Mother Nature!!!

Brett's Hamaca

Brett got a new toy that he has been sharing. The whole family LOVES it! We're living the good life. Supposedly, it can hold 10 Brett's. Don't think we'll be trying that though! LOL!

Flag Day Fun

Flag Day, is a day for all Americans to celebrate and show respect for our flag, its designers and makers. Our flag is representative of our independence and our unity as a nation.....one nation, under God, indivisible. Our flag has a proud and glorious history. It was at the lead of every battle fought by Americans. Many people have died protecting it. As Americans, we have every right to be proud of our culture, our nation, and our flag. So raise the flag today and every day with pride. (http://www.holidayinsights.com/other/flagday.htm) 

The American Flag, also known as Old Glory, is loved and respected at the Seamons Home. We are so grateful for the Liberty and Justice it stands for.

We had a great Flag day! We had friends over, enjoyed the sun, shared the tramp with the sprinkler, blew bubbles, did hulahoop tricks, ate popsicles and displayed the flag. What a great way to celebrate!

Brett even pulled the Go-Kart out for a bit!

Happy Flag Day Everyone!!!!

Bloomin' Seamons: Part Three

A little peek at what's bloomin' in our garden:

And a closeup of our 1st Strawberry Harvest! It's amazing to me how these just come back every year without us doing anything! LOVE it! One bag added to our freezer collection for some yummy Home-made strawberry jam! Our favorite! YEAH!!

Attitude Change

I'm sure that part of it was Spring Fever but the last couple months, our household has struggled with grumpy attitudes and failure to follow our Family Rules. We only have 4 so you'd think it would be a piece of cake.
1. Be Respectful
2. Listen the 1st time
3. Be a Peacemaker
4. Clean up after Yourself
That's it. Pretty easy, right? OR.... Yeah, right!!!! Well, with Summer vacation soon approaching Brett & I prayed and discussed our options of how to survive the Summer safely and perferably all alive. LOL!

SO as usaual, a little background info---Something that I've always believed and then it was put even more eloquently by our Prophet is that--- the real PARENT of my children is our Heavenly Father. These special kids are on loan. Well, HE has all the answers so (sometimes easier said than done) if you want to know what to do then where do you go? To HIM!
Just for reference, I went searching for that quote I mentioned. Here it is: “Never forget that these little ones are the sons and daughters of God and that yours is a custodial relationship to them, that He was a parent before you were parents and that He has not relinquished His parental rights or interest in these little ones."
There was some other great info in the talk I found. One of my other favorite quotes was: "Each parent also needs to follow this counsel from President Hinckley: “You need more than your own wisdom in rearing [your children]. You need the help of the Lord. Pray for that help and follow the inspiration which you receive”
You can read the whole thing on the Church website. It's called "Caring for the Souls fo Children" by Patricia P. Pinegar or here's the link:  http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=d726dbdcc370c010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD

OK, so back to the real story--- Well, like I mentioned, Brett & I have been praying and discussing options. One day an idea popped in my head, we combined a few of our ideas and the results have been really awesome. I know it was inspired from our loving Heavenly Father to help His children in our home.
Without further rambling, presenting......

The Seamons Attitude Change

To reinforce our family rules and cut down on endless hours of TV and computer use, the kids now can earn "Attitude Change" to pay to watch TV, movies, play the Wii or play computer games. They also can earn Attitude Change for reading or doing homework or memorizing scriptures or Church songs.

First, I found these awesome colored coins at Hobby Lobby. They even say Jesus Loves Me on them. Just an added bonus for a teaching moment. A happy, peaceful family makes Jesus happy as well. Yeah for little coincidences.

Next, we set up a Point system. Different colored coins equal different amounts of minutes. It's cute because the kids like to focus on getting blue coins because they can count them easier. AND a blue coin (worth 30 minutes) usually means a cartoon or a good amount of time for the Wii. As another little bonus, they are also learning how to add. They like to add their smaller coins and exchange them for the greens and blues. Too cute!!! They are figuring that to watch their shows for Saturday morning cartoons, they need 6 blue coins a piece. They so make me laugh. {They were trying to work it out so that Justice paid for Sonic and Liberty paid for TMNT but sorry guys. You watch, you pay!!!! LOL! We did however, set up the rule that if you are watching someone play the Wii or the Computer, you can pay half of what they paid to play to just watch them. I know changes will come up along the way but we'll see how it all works}

Finally, the Attitude change banks. I found these containers at the Dollar store. They have screw top lids which the kids can open themselves but also keep the change safe and divided. A little Microsoft Word magic and Whoala!! We're on our way to better Atitudes and a happier home.

The kids have really taken off with it. We have talked lots about what our rules mean and you can tell they have listened. For example, I will tell everyone, "get your shoes on". They all run, get their shoes on and run back to say, "I listened the 1st time, can I get a coin?" OR "Mom, can you please help me with this?--Followed by "I talked respectfully, can I have a coin?"  OR "Mom, I put my wrapper in the trash and my clothes in the hamper, can I get 2 coins?"  We LOVE it!!!!  Now it's just about keeping up the excitement. But yeah for inspiration. Thank you, Heavenly Father!!!

(Glory was asleep when I took this picture but she's doing it as well. Obviously, we have to adjust the rules slightly for her but we are trying to help her follow the rules and earn change. She needs her daily Dora, don't ya know!! LOL)

Zip Line's Back

You know it might be Summer when....

Brett puts up the Zip line and everyone's having a blast!

KTuck is up at Girl's Camp this week so we had the Tucker boys (and man:) over for dinner and some fun. I think they went down it a million times. I have to admit sometimes I wish it was strong enough for us adults. No dice but, the kids LOVE it! And it's fun watching them be all excited. Cross fingers though we make it through the year with no broken body parts! :)

Thanks Tuckers boys for pratically living here this week. We have had a lot of fun! Besides, we have to get our fair share of you before you abandon us for a month. LOL! Hope you guys have a great trip.

1st of the Year Dutch Oven

Dutch Oven Partays are a MUST for Summertime fun! Bishop Z offered to have the 1st one for this year. It was delicious and fun and rainy as it always is! LOL! On our way over, Mother Nature decided it would be fun to remind us of last year's Dutch Oven and poured down a few zillion buckets of heavy rain. Her sense of humor just kills me sometimes. It turned out that the weather cleared up as the Eater-guests arrived so it was fabulous. I LOVE Dutch Oven Partays!!! Thanks to the Zees. The next ones at the Cooks on the Pioneer Day. Hurray!

Father & Son Campout AND Girls Night In

Last night was the annual Father & Son's Campout for our Ward. Here's the Collage of all the pictures Brett took of the event:























(Oh! I forgot---He didn't take ANY!!!!! I even reminded him. He's so fired!! LOL!) But they did say they had a great time.

Meanwhile the girls and I had a fun night of our own AND we took pictures! We put the baby to bed and stayed up late painting our nails and watching Enchanted. Then, we made them a tent in the front room to have a campout. They are such great kids! Luv ya girls!

Best Family Vacation Ever: Itasca State Park

For the last day of our fabulous vacation, we made our way to Itasca State Park (http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/itasca/index.html) to see where the Mississippi River has it's humble beginning. It was only like a 40 minute drive so it was great for the kids. Actually except for the 1st initial drive- which was only 3 1/2 hours- all the rest were 2 hours or less. That made the trip ever better for the kids and the mother taking care of them. :) AND the sun began to shine as we got close to the park. So yeah for us!!! An absolutely gorgeous day, I must say!

We made our 1st stop at the Jacob V. Brower Visitor's Center. It was way hands-on kid (or grown-up kid) fun! There were displays and puzzles and stuffed animals and Firemen and poles and bears...... oh my! (Trust me--It was all Haylie! LOL) Oh, I mean dressups and listening stations. Tons and tons of things to do.

Next was the Headwaters. Over a bridge and through the woods, it's off to the headwaters we go... At the end of the trail, there's a marker that reads, "Here 1475 ft above the ocean the mighty Mississippi begins to flow on it's windin way 2552 miles to the Gulf of Mexico". Pretty amazing! We all took a little jont safely across the slippery rocks. Well, not really---first, we lost Victoria to the water. Oops! Oh and there goes Justice. Double oops! Oh and little Glory decided she wanted to do it on her own. Oops! Oh well, right? What's a little wet clothes in the grand skeem of things. Once we got over the initial crying and complaints of wet pants- we had a blast splashing and playing in the river.

This whole trip, we were really amazed at the beauty of this Earth that God has created. Truly remarkable! We got to see an eagle and a family of ducks. More of HIS amazing creation. What a great way to end the trip.

Before we headed home, we stopped in the little cafe for lunch and a Mommy-Only Stop in the gift shop. Yeah for Mommy! I found a few souvenirs along with an awesome "Sh'mores" Game! A little reminder of our vacation. Anyone up for a round of S'mores? We got it if you're up for the challenge. LOL!

Thanks to Matt & Haylie for joining us. We just adore you guys and are so glad that you're a part of our fam. We have to do it again soon. Luv ya!

And thanks to my wonderful husband for forcing his black rain cloud wife out on a very enjoyable vacation. I love you so much, Honey! Thanks for being such a patient and loving head of our household. We would be lost without you!

And last but not least to my AMAZING Heavenly Father and His magnificent creations that we are able to enjoy. Your world is just beautiful!!!

Truly- the Best Family Vacation Ever!! (or at least so far! :)