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! :)