Annual Luau

We had our annual Luau on Saturday.  I have to admit I was lacking in enthusiasm for this year.  We have had so much going on and I haven't been able to feel caught up in a long time.  But, the kids wouldn't let me forget and let it pass, reminding me and confirming the importance of our family traditions!   Good, fun activities that remind us that we do love each other and actually enjoy spending time together.

Hawaiian haystacks for dinner with spinach salad and fresh pineapple.  Kids love to drink from the plastic coconut cups!

The kids love to have Hula Hooping contests!  Our neighbor showed us how to make these fun, custom hula hoops out of black funny sprinkler pipe, a connector, and colored duct tape.  We made them on New Year's eve.  Such a fun project.

Jenna was the most improved hula-hooper.  A couple of weeks ago she couldn't hula but now she is a pro.  She can even hula on her knees.

Christian likes to double up.  He even hulas on his knees
like a pro.

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Emma is quite the hula- hooper!  She can hula hoop on her knees and even jump off something and keep going.

Jordan is definitely the fastest Hula hooper!  I have never seen anyone hula that fast!

Not only can he hula, but he looks marvelous doing it!
I love that Paul gets into my crazy ideas!

This is how I hula.  I just can't seem to get the rhythm in my wiggle!☺

Pin the coconut on the palm tree

Limbo!

How low can you go?

Limbo lower now!

Happy Halloween 2011!



Every  Halloween we have our traditional Halloween dinner before going out to trick or treat.  We put a fun halloween tablecloth on, use Halloween paper party plates and napkins (easy clean up), and get out the plastic halloween goblets I bought at the dollar store years ago.  If I can get some dry ice we have smoking rootbeer along with some other fun concoctions before they head out to load up on candy.  We love the fun side of Halloween!

Zombie eyes and monster teeth



Brains complete with roaches






Jack o' Lantern cheeseball




Mummy dogs







A quick glimpse of summer

Remember this? Here are some photos of some of the things we did. These are not all of the things because I am terrible about remembering to take photos.

Climbing at Cherry Hill

Such a cute belly!

 

 Playing in the water @ Cherry Hill

Slip slidin' away the summer

Lagoon!!!

Driver with an attitude

Ferris Wheel @ Lagoon

Jordan wanted time at the skate park

He's getting pretty good!



Hiking on our camping trip by Sundance

We hiked up the back of Mt. Timp to Stewart Falls

Easter Traditions

We are working on making and continuing some family traditions, especially around the holidays.  Check out some of our traditions for Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

We have some fun ones for Easter as well.  Each day this week we have talked about one of the events of the last week of Jesus Christ's life and made a picture time line.

  

We have put in a request to the Easter Bunny for a Saturday delivery and so we have our hunt for baskets and eggs on Saturday mornings. 

Then our neighborhood has a wonderful egg hunt and pot luck breakfast down the street.  This year the Easter Bunny himself made an appearance!

We save Easter Sunday for our celebrations of the true meaning of Easter.  This afternoon, we watched two videos "He is Risen" from Living Scriptures, and "The Testaments" which is produced by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints.  We then had our traditional "Resurrection Eggs" hunt.  The children are blindfolded (3 days of darkness in the Americas) and taken to various parts of the house.  They must then find their way to "Bountiful" (the family room) while overcoming obstacles and destruction (overturned chairs etc) that happened at Jesus' death.  As they make their way to Bountiful, they must also find the 12 eggs and bring them with them.  We then take turns opening the eggs in order and discussing the symbolism.

After dinner we then made "Resurrection Rolls" which the kids love and ask about every year. 

As a final Easter gift, inspired by this talk in General Conference, Paul and I presented the kids with large framed prints of a temple to hang in their rooms.

All in all, it was a wonderful day.  Though we had some squables and consequences as on any other day, it turned out to be special and memorable.

The Leprechauns came again!

Did you know that leprechauns visit us at our house?  They do!  They come during the night.  This year we discovered a new secret... if you draw a picture of a leprechaun and leave it in your shoe outside your door, the leprechauns will take you picture and leave you a treat.  We should have copied our pictures before the leprechaun took them.  We will have to remember next year.   They were really cute!  The leprechauns left us rainbow licorice and Rolo gold.

They also left us a treasure hunt!  The night before, we always leave our little pot out on the kitchen table.  When the leprechauns visit they fill the pot with toys and gold coins and then hide it.  Their footprints lead us to the first clue of our riddle treasure hunt!

The excitement didn't end there!  During our green St. Patrick's Day dinner we had another surprise.  We were busy eating our green linguine, broccoli, asparagus, green grapes, apples and kiwi with sourdough bread, when from the chandelier, one of the light covers and lightbulb fell onto the bread plate in the middle of the table shattering everthing and spreading glass shards over the entire surface of the table!  It seems the ring securing the light cover failed and it all came down.  Needless to say, dinner was over more quickly than anticipated.

14 Days of Valentines

I started a tradition a few years ago that we really enjoy. From the first day of February until Valentines Day, I give the kids a small treat or gift. I just finished putting them together for tomorrow. I try to have all of them ready in advance so I am not scrambling every day. I still have 2 or 3 that I still need to get but the rest are ready! Even though they are almost the same every year, the kids don’t care and they get so excited. One year I even made a giant heart shaped puzzle with a message on it and gave a puzzle piece each day. The kids really had fun using sticky tack and putting it together on the wall. If I get a chance tomorrow before they get home from school, I may do that again this year.  This year I found a cut little mailbox at the Target Dollar Spot that I will put them in and raise the flag. I wish I had one for each child to have their own. I will allow them to open the mailbox as soon as everyone is home from school!  Here is a list of the fun treat and gift ideas that I use. I just print out the little message on colored paper and cut them into hearts to tape onto the item.

I love your little tootsies! (tootsie rolls)

You’ve always “mint” the world to me! (Andes or York mints)

You always help me out when I’m in a (Crunch bar)

You are the greatest - Bar None! (granola gar)

You Warm my heart! (hot chocolate mix)

Let it be posted, you’re the best! (Post-it pad & pencil)

“Soda” you know I love you? (small can of soda)

Kisses, just for you! or Smootches, just for you!(Hershey's Kisses)

You’re so cheesy, you cracker me up! (cheese & cracker pack)

I couldn’t bear to live without you! (cinnamon bears)

You are my sweetart! (Sweettarts)

I don’t mean to be “gushy” but, I love you! (Gushers fruit snacks)

You make me smile! (Walmart fruit snack smiles)

No TWIX, I love you! (Twix candy bar)

You're worth more to me than 100 GRAND (100 Grand candy bar)

You're EXTRA special to me (Extra gum)

Don't SNICKER, because I love you. (Snickers candy bar)

HUGS & KISSES, just for you. (Hershey Hugs and Kisses candies)

I love your BUBBLY personality (bubbles)

Just POPPED by to say Be Mine (bubbles)

Valentine you make my heart float (bubbles)

I’m BUBBLING over with love (bubbles)

The other tradition we have, is that Paul brings home a balloon for each of the kids. They sure love balloons and Paul loves to pick them out! What do you do to make Valentines Day special?

Lights!

We love the lights at Temple Square, but for little ones there is an even more exciting show, and a definitely shorter for short little legs and cold toes, further north.  Layton City Park has a fun light show with tons of fun characters, and animated scenes.  It takes us about 20 min to leisurely walk the path and be able to see everything!  Then we get back in the car and drive slowly through the light tunnel and around the grounds one last time to make sure we didn't miss anything. 




Jordan wanted to look like he was taking everyone for a train ride.



"Look Mom, Santa and his reindeer flying overhead."



Christian and Emma trying to look like the octopus.

Halloween 2010

I can't believe I forgot to take pictures of the kids in their costumes!  How dumb is that?!  I did remember to take pictures of our annual Halloween dinner.  We have a fun, kid friendly dinner before going out to trick-or-treat.



Mummy dogs



Flies in Jell-o
(the kids insist on this every year)



Monster smiles