AWANA Games…

Another year of AWANA Games!

This was Winter Sprout’s first time competing, and he did AWESOME! Summer Rose showed him the ropes and they both were great! Our team was rather large and had to be split up into two units. Unit 1 won 1st and Unit 2 won 2nd. Then Unit 1 competed for grand champions and they WON!!! We got the BANNER! WOOT!

They tried really hard and they were the best at working together for the games. Some of the other teams were faster, but fell apart at the ‘working together’ part. What a blessed experience!

We saw one of Summer Rose’s favorite musical artists!!!!!

TOBY MAC!!!

This was a highly anticipated concert event! Summer Rose was beside herself excited! I took her and her bestest friend. The three of us had a blast! Definitely a day we will NEVER forget!! God is SO good.

We were pretty close to the stage, but the big screen was even closer. He rocked the 100,000 people there and we were all feelin’ Jesus that night!! Whew!

We also got to hear Phil Wickham, another awesome Christian artist.

What a blessed day!!

Spring Blossom turns 6!!

My sweet baby turned 6…. How precious she is. I am so thankful for her sweet spirit. It is such a sweet blessing watching God grow her into such a beautiful and compassionate young lady.

We spent her special day doing some of her favorite things. She has been sick for a bit over a week and simply wanted to do ‘her usual’ (her words). Lol.

When she hopped out of bed we gave her her gift (a new outfit I spotted at Goodwill) and the pair of shoes she has had her eyes on for a year. A year! I spotted them at Ross and snagged those babies right up!  Summer Rose made her special gifts. She gave her a crossed stitched kitty patch, a beaded keychain and a friendship bracelet. How fun!

She choose fresh baked cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Yum

But this year we treated her to a special trip. I took her to a local animal rescue to spend time with ALL the cats and kittens. Seriously, this girl as an obsession with cats. This little shelter is a ‘cage free’ shelter and has various rooms that people can go into to visit the animals. Even the dogs were set up this way. Very sweet. It was a special time. When we left the shelter part we went over to the shelter’s thrift store and Spring Blossom picked out a little purse. I bought it for her and told her that by buying it we have helped those sweet kitties and dogs in the shelter. She really liked that we could help them somehow. Of course I forgot my camera, so I did not get any pictures of her with all her kitty (and a couple of doggy) friends.

But I did snap some photos of her when we went out as a family after Papa Bear got off work. Her ‘usual’ is dinner out, Build-a-Bear, and a Gelato place as a family.

Look at those sneakers! They have BRIGHT LED lights in the toes. I mean SUPER BRIGHT! LOL! Her pretty ‘twirling skirt’ is just her style. And of course her pretty purse from the shelter’s thrift shop. Very pretty indeed.

She is getting ready to put a heart into her new kitty. Yes, she got a kitty. No surprise there.

Papa Bear helping to brush the new ‘friend’.

Stopping for some smiles.

Her dinner of choice….well 2nd choice…some yummy quesadillas. She originally wanted to go to one of those pizza chains with games and whatnot, but we just got over strep that teamed up with a stomach virus (literally two days before her birthday she was on her 6th day of 101 degree fever).

The day ended with her FAVORITE ice cream place! We only go there once a year…on her special day. YUMMY!

We all love you Spring Blossom!! Happy 6th Birthday!!

The Zoo…

We went to visit some family…er…I mean the zoo.

It was a wonderful day. All the animals were very active and actually seemed to ‘want’ us to interact with them. It was VERY neat! Each child brought a notebook and pen to draw/write about some of the animals we saw.

Summer Rose’s favorite zoo animal, the penguin, was very active. However, only when we walked in front of the tank. They all hopped in and swam to the glass. It was a very cool encounter for my Summer Rose.

Winter Sprout’s favorite zoo animal was also out and about, the meerkat.

Sweet Spring Blossom loved EVERYTHING! She was so excited to go on this trip that she actually said it in her sleep.

These goats and deers LOVED chewing on all three kiddos clothes. LOL..the deer actually chased Winter Sprout around when he tried to get away.

She could not be left out….

This crazy turkey was WAY into the camera. I’d say he was a ham…but I’d obviously be wrong….

Tha favorite of the day. This little guy had all three kiddos belly laughing! He chased his mama Gibbon ALL over the cage until she would give him a bite of her orange peel. It was hilarious!

This is Odin. I know this because I read the sign. ;o) But what is funny is that when I read the sign out loud and read his name he got up and came toward me! As he walked toward me he was making little growly/grumble/meowy type noises. It was very neat!

When we walked up to this tank this guy was up at the glass. We could see his blinks very easily. It was rather creepy, but interesting.

You think he is smiling at me?

Now, I am certain he is smiling at me….

What a tongue on Mickey the baby giraffe!

And his mama too! Giraffes are Spring Blossom’s favorite zoo animal, and these were SO close! It was just plain awesome!

We had a lot of awesome experiences and look forward to going back sometime!

National Geography Bee 2011…

This was a very very very last minute decision. But Summer Rose decided to take a risk and sign up anyways. She only had one week to study and prepare. Not an easy task in the least.

This poor girl studied like crazy and learned A LOT in one week.

When competition day came we went in those doors a little nervous, but all in good spirits. Summer Rose did not get eliminated right away. However, she did eventually get eliminated. She was very sad because she had the right answer written down, but the time master made an error and allotted more time. This glitch made Summer Rose second guess herself and she scribbled out her first answer and wrote another (a wrong answer). Poor thing. I felt so bad for her, but after a few tears she was better.

Next year she hopes to compete again, and maybe Winter Sprout will join in, too!

New Years 2011…

A late post, but better late than never.

We did our ‘New Years Bags’ again this year. It was fun!

These were our riddles this year:

2010 is departing fast, lets have fun with these 12 hours last.

Something sweet can not be beat!
Lets enjoy a special treat!

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How’d you do this whole year through?
Did you grow in character and share lots of special memories, too?!
Lets have fun and write goals anew.

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A charm for fun or maybe for Miss Luna girl?

Let’s give our puppy charms a whirl.

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A party on the Wii? How can this be?!
Lets give it a try, will you all join me?

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I can not resist a little cheese and dough.
I think we should make some pizzas don’t you know!

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Before you all start checking the clock and getting bored.
How about we explore a little with our Snap Circuit boards.

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Will I own more or will you buy me out?
Lets put on our banking caps and toss some money about.

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So many pieces that come together for a perfect fit.
Will a bigger one be harder than we think and say “I’m done! That’s it!”?
If so, lets remember to use our new puzzle roll gift.

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A movie filled with so many funnies. Giggle Giggle.
A little “Love Bug” that will make you laugh so hard your whole body will wiggle wiggle.

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Four cookies for walls and a little candy for extra glow.
Don’t forget some icing for snow.

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Lets take our imaginations to a galaxy that is just so cool.
Between the stars, the moons, and toadstools.

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Whoo Hoo! 2011 is here and we are in for some fun!
This new fun will bring smiles for everyone.
Lets light some sparklers that will light up in your hand like the sun!

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We changed our minds at the last minute and decided to sleep in our new big family tent. We scooted the furniture out of the way and put it up in the living room!

And the Answers:

1. Have a special treat
2. Open last year’s letter to self with New Year’s word, thoughts and goals. Write a new letter.
3. Make shrink art pet charms
4. Play Wii Party
5. Make homemade pizzas
6. Make something with new Snap Circuits
7. Play Monopoly Junior
8. Work on one of our big puzzles and use our new puzzle roll
9. Watch a fun movie and have popcorn
10. Make gingerbread houses
11. Play Mario Galaxy 2
12. Ring in the New Year with sparklers (a first in AZ)

HAppY NeW YeaR 2011!!!

A little privacy…

We gave each child a little more privacy and a little more personal touch to ‘their’ bunks. I call it their ‘sailor sized bedrooms’. Lol. It is nothing out of this world, but it is special for my sweet blessings.

Here is what we did with their spaces:

• Each child got to choose their own LED Christmas lights (on clearance and I like that they stay cool). Dd10 got a multi set with larger sized bulbs. Ds got a multi icicle set. And dd5 got a pink set. These lights are all hung on or around their bunk. The girls are on the bottoms so their lights are clipped to the underside of the upper bunks. Ds’s is strung at the head of his bed on the wall. He also has a light strip with black lights above his bed. All the lights are hooked up to a timer.
• We hung sheer curtains for each girl’s bed. Dd10 choose blue and dd5 choose pink. We choose sheer because the small room gets rather hot in the summer. I just bought a normal curtain panel from the store and cut it in half. Then we hung them from a length of pvc (a typical curtain rod would due too) across the entrance of the bunks.
• Between the girl’s bunks we put peg board. This gave them their own ‘wall’ that they can arrange and rearrange at their leisure. We put the peg hooks in the board and hung some pretty little hanging baskets. Dd10 also hung her little dry erase calendar on her side of the peg board.
• My two older kiddos got shelves hung at one end of their bed for their treasures and personal items. Dd10′s shelves are smaller due to being on the bottom bunk, but she is using the window sill and her peg board. Ds’s shelves are normal sized shelves with lots of room for his Lego creations, trophies, etc.

Spring Blossom’s new super girly/kitty space.

Summer Rose’s bright and colorful space with her pretty blue curtains. She really likes having her own zone. We’re thinking of what color to paint each side of the peg board.

Winter Sprout’s cool blue space. He loves having his shelves for his treasures. We have several more little things to get out of the garage and put up there.

Our snuggly ‘tree top’ book nook. I plan on hanging some framed pieces of the kiddo’s art on this more bare wall for fun.

The only open corner. A nice busy little space.

My kiddos are very happy and they really enjoy each others company. They like being able to have their own ‘personal’ space and still be able to chat.

Merry Christmas 2010!

Papa Bear was off of work on Christmas Eve, so we spent the whole day together. In the evening, we went to the candle light service at church. When we got home we finished wrapping our gifts to each other. When that was done, I handed out our special Christmas Eve Jammies. When all were snug as a bug, we sat and read a few favorite Christmas stories together. Then it was off to bed for little children. Papa Bear and I had to finish up a few things and did not get to bed until 1am. Yawn.

We woke up to a beautifully sunny Christmas! We spent it snuggled up in our jammies all day. The children love their new treasures. Thank you Grammy, Aunt H., and Gparents for your wonderful gifts. They are awesome! We hope you all had a special and blessed day, too!

Summer Rose made me a beautiful bracelet.

And the pup with her new Wubba Kong

Merry Christmas everyone!

Winter Sprout turns 8….

My compassionate little guy is growing so fast! He is so tender hearted. It is such a blessing watching him grow in an awesome young man.

For the past several months he has simply wanted his closest buddies to come over and play a racing video game with him. That is all. I LOVE this simple kid! His buddies are the nicest little guys and seemed to have a good time playing yesterday!

A chocolate cake that looks like a a tire…. Well, kind of anyways.. I used strawberry jam as the inner filling. Yum!

Getting them to look at the camera was a lot harder than I thought!!! LOL!

Last hugs with a 7yr old Winter Sprout.

Happy Birthday Winter Sprout! We love you so much!!

Clogging In The Christmas Parade!

This was the first year Summer Rose was able to dance in the Christmas parade! She did awesome! It was a lot of hard work! She had to clog for one mile! She slipped once in front of the judges, but hopped right back up dancing. She is feeling pretty good about dancing in her first parade (last year she held the banner). She is just plain pooped tonight though. We also stopped at a favorite dinner place in the little town. Now, we’re home and are going to watch something on Netflix.

And my other two cuties for good measure.