Highlights of Spring Break 2009

During our ice-cream dinner tonight I asked the kids what their favorite part of spring break was. This is what they came up with (in no particular order).

1. Ice cream for dinner!

To celebrate Shea and Shaun memorizing all 13 articles of faith (and saying them in primary) we made a 13 scoop ice-cream sundae with lots of toppings and ate it for dinner. I'm not a total looser of a mom though, we did have salad for dessert.It was a fun way to end spring break too.

2. Crush coming out of hibernation after 4 1/2 months.

3. Dad's work party (Shaun winning the estimation jar for the second year in a row and winning movie tickets).

4. Going camping near Beaver Creek.

5. Shaun scoring big at both of his basketball games and Shane playing great defense at his games.

6. Shea going Roller skating with friends and getting the royal VIP treatment at the air show.

7. Seeing Race to Witch Mountain as a family.

8. Play dates with friends and playing "Lost in the Jungle" in the backyard.

9. Seeing GREEN on St. Patty's Day.

Every year the kids each get their own box of Lucky Charms for breakfast and we consume as much green food as possible. This year's dinner was the traditional corned beef and cabbage, broccoli, green potatoes, green rice crispy treats, green milk, and a green lime sherbet spritzer.

10. Helping the Ensman's move :)

Favorite quote: Shaun: "Mom, can I have some graham crappers and milk?"

Worst thing about spring break: Dad leaving for Indiana!!!!

Sweet Shea

Greg found this sweet note from Shea in his suitcase while packing for a business trip. I had to take a picture. She really is the most thoughtful kid!

It says...

Dad, when you are feeling lonely,

or maybe even sad,

this will put a smile on your face,

and help you feel quite glad.

I hope you have a really good trip.

Love,

Shea

A Heart Charm: Mom, you can think of Mom's love for you and her family.

Silver ballet slipper charm: Shea, you can always think of me and my love for dancing.

A Star Charm: Shaun, you can think of Shaun as an "all star" basketball player.

A smiley face charm: Shane, you can always remember Shane's happy smile.

Camping List

I asked Shaun and Shane to make a list of everything they think we'll need on our camping trip. Here's what they came up with...

(I spelled it the way they did)

human supplies: Fire wood, metal sticks for roasting marshmellows, tent, sleeping bags, plastic bags, lights, newspaper, lighters, matches, D.S., Leapster, TV, D.S. charger, batteries, clothes, underwear, tennis shoes, pajamas, charkol

Food/drinks

orange juce, pop tarts, dog food, water, beef jurkey, juice boxes, potato, carrots, chiken

The Silver Shark

Shaun, Colin, and Parker showing off their super fast cars.

This is the "Silver Shark". Shaun's first Pinewood Derby car.

This is how it looked before the boys worked their magic.

Shaun worked hard sanding, filing, and sawing. (Shane is taking mental notes and can't wait to enter his own car someday)

The scouts are given a bead for placing in a race and a pin to place them on: First-gold bead, Second-silver bead, and Third-white bead. The silver shark turned out to be a pretty fast car and Shaun was jumping up and down with excitement because his beads made a perfect gold and silver pattern.


Our ward owns a pretty high tech track. There are sensors on the track and they're connected to a computer. It not only keeps track of the finishes but also records the speeds of each car. The overall winner is based on fastest time, not necessarily the most wins. Very cool!

I'm such a Mom. I had to take a picture of the screen.

Run Barkley, Run!

I got home late one night and didn't really want to go out walking, so I thought I'd try the treadmill with Barkley. He took to it instantly! I was so excited and proud. I couldn't wait to go for another treadmill run with him in the morning to show Greg and the kids what he could do.

Frbruary 2009 in Review

Well I can't believe that February has come and gone and I didn't make one blog entry. My reasons for blogging were to keep family and friends updated with things that are happening with our family and hopefully to eventually print it out and have a record. I've gotten WAY BEHIND on scrap booking and am not good at journals so this feels like I'm multi-tasking. Here is a brief overview of some of the highlights from the month.

BASKETBALL

Shaun and Shane started playing basketball. So far I have to say it's been my favorite sport to watch. They play full court for an hour and both boys are really great at running from one end of the court to the other. Other than that we have a lot to work on, but they're having fun. Shane's age group is too cute for words and Shaun's team actually has some skills. They tied yesterday's game 28 to 28.

BARKLEY

For those of you that haven't heard...YES, we got a puppy! His name is Barkley and he is a Lab mix. (Dad is a purebred lab and Mom is a Jack Russell Wiener Dog mix) He has filled our home with energy and laughter and Greg is doing really well. He wants me to be clear that he doesn't want a dog but that he loves his family and is willing to deal with him for us. With that said, he has been wonderful and wakes up even earlier to take Barkley outside for potty breaks and stayed up late with him the first few nights to comfort him when he was adjusting to his new home. We're keeping our fingers crossed because so far he's been a fabulous dog. Potty training is going great and we are keeping him well exercised and the pictures will confirm that he is loved:) Barkley is so spoiled he has two beds. He sleeps in his crate, but takes lots of puppy naps on his doggie bed.

BLUE AND GOLD BANQUET

We had our first Blue and Gold banquet for Cub Scouts and Shaun got to present the colors for the first time.

They have a cake contest and Shaun's goal was to make the tallest cake. Congratulations Shaun. He did win the award for tallest cake and thanks to Amy's tips on strawberry cream filling, a few people mentioned his was the yummiest too.

Just in case his wasn't the tallest, he was trying to place with the most frosting too. I thought he was so creative. He stuck a gummy eyeball, a heart sucker, and an American flag in the top for "I Love America"The cake was 7 layers tall.

REFLECTIONS "WOW"

Shea and Shaun entered Reflections again this year. The Theme was "Wow". Shaun wrote and illustrated a story about a turtle named Tail (surprise, a turtle) and Shea took photographs of the Hoover Dam and the Arizona/Nevada time zones. Shea has entered in a different category every year and this year she won a trophy and her photo's were selected to compete at the state level. We haven't heard anything more yet.

MY SWEET DAD SENT ME THESE BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS FOR VALENTINE'S DAY!

NEIL ARMSTRONG

In second grade the kids write a report on an important person in history. They put together a wax museum for their families to attend and dress the part. It's so cute. You walk around and touch their thumbs and they recite a short history of their person. Shaun was Neil Armstrong and fortunately he just read the short card, not the full report. His was 11 1/2 pages because Andrea's was 11 and his had to be longer. Hmmmm where does he get that from?

ENRICHMENT NIGHT

I just had to show off a few of the yummy desserts we enjoyed. We have some amazing talent in our ward!!! Love you Amy!

The final hour for the cauliflower

For those of you that are shoveling driveways and bundling up, I'm sorry. We have had a beautiful week and we're actually hoping that it cools off again before we face another long hot summer. Today was about 80 degrees. I mowed the lawn and dead headed the blooming flowers. This fall the kids decided to plant a bunch of seeds. It's Arizona so we don't expect much to grow and don't pay attention to the rules of the planting season. Well...lets just say we could have carved cantaloupe for Halloween and might be having pumpkin seed spitting contests this summer. We even grew cauliflower for the first time and decided to harvest it on Sunday before the crows move in on it. It was delicious! In fact we had such a great weekend. Shea and I ground wheat and made homemade bread and Jam too. Thanks Mom Tanner, we actually made bread and not bricks :) Our dinner conversation had all of us pondering the idea of moving out to the country and living off of the land.

Ready to eat with yummy melted cheese.

Cong Hei Fat Choi !!!!

That's Happy Chinese New Year for those of you that don't speak Chinese. Yes, we look for any reason to celebrate around here. We started this tradition just last year. We decorate and have to eat yummy Chinese food with chop sticks (even the rice). If anyone is interested, the 99 cent store sells fortune cookies and almond cookies in the cool Chinese take-out boxes. We had a lot of fun ringing in the year of the Ox.

Happy Birthday Pebbles

January 6th marks our 1 year anniversary with Pebbles. We decided to make her adoption date her birthday and throw her a little party. My friend Kim told me about a dog food cake they made for their dog and the kids loved the idea. They shaped canned food and decorated it with cat treats and made a "P" on the top. Got a little scary when her whiskers almost caught fire :} Oops. It was the first time she would ever touch canned food and she totally chowed down.

Wild Kingdom in our own front yard. Check out this video!