Liv's Outfit

Liv woke up Tuesday morning and was refusing to get dressed.  Without being prompted, Ethan walked into her room and offered to help.

First, he asked her "where are your stretchy-like pants".  Liv pulled out a pair of gray stretch pants.

Then he told her to get a pair of shorts while he chose a shirt.  Next, he told her to get on her boots.

This was the outfit Ethan and Liv ended up with.

Ethan explained to Liv that this is what all the girls in his class are wearing, except their shorts are shorter :)

Science Fair

The Science Fair was this week and while the boys didn't do an experiment, they eagerly participated in all the fun experiments and fair.  Our school really knows how to have fun and the kids did lots of fun things from creating goop, launching paper rockets, eating popcorn, wearing glow sticks and learning about all kinds of fun/gross science projects.  Here are some pictures from my phone.

This is Liv and her friend, Mia.  They are eating their popcorn on the bleachers.  They went from booth to booth getting as much candy as they could.  It was cute!

Field Trip

I went with Liv and her school class on a field trip this past week to the Tropical Pet Store.  It is pretty much a normal pet store, but without the traditional pets (ex. dogs and cats). It had alligators, tortoises, exotic fish, rats, and other stuff like that.

They kids all got to feed the Poi fish in the giant pond.

Then we sat down in the lunch room around tables while weird animals were passed around.  The kids got to touch a star fish, sea urchin, hedgehog, lizard, rats, turtle, chinchilla, and a snake.  It actually was pretty gross.  The worker pulled two HUGE rats from a cage and just set them on the table for the kids to pet and hold.  Liv wasn't loving it, but she was a good sport.  She wouldn't touch the star fish and sea urchin that was passed around, but she did touch everything else (including snake and rat).  The chinchilla was actually pretty adorable and the hedgehog also, but the rats were just disgusting and the snake was way too creepy.  I will never own a reptile.  One of the rats was named Cole and Liv thought that was really funny.  Here are a few random pictures from my phone.

CRUSH!!!

This conversation took place today while walking home from school.

Ethan:  Mom, how old were you when you first had a crush on Dad?

Mom:  I didn't meet your dad until high school.

.......silence......

Mom:  Why, do you have a crush?

Ethan:  Yes

(he was not embarrassed at all to tell me this, he stated it pretty much like a simple fact)

Mom: Who is it?

Ethan: Amelia

Mom:  I remember her, she is a nice girl.

Ethan:  Remember that necklace that I got out of the candy machine for $0.25 the other day.  

Mom:  Yes

Ethan:  I gave that to her today.

Mom: Wow,  that was kind.

Ethan:  You want to know what's funny. 

Mom: Yes, what?

Ethan:  She has a crush on me too.

Then he got the biggest smile and sparkle in his eye.

It was cute.

Wow, I'm not sure I am ready for this!

Service

At the start of this year Shawn and I sat down and wrote a list of character traits and values that we wanted to teach our kids.  Each month we focus on one area and often we gear our Family Home Evening on this topic.  This past month was Service.  I grew up watching my parents serve diligently in their church callings, families, and neighborhoods.  They never hesitated to stop what they were doing and serve others.  I wanted my kids to see the same examples and provide them with an opportunity to serve in the community.  I still remember my mom dragging me to the nursing homes at Christmas time and how I hated to go, but always ended up feeling so good afterward.

We have been talking with the kids for the past couple of weeks about doing a family service project.  The kids decided that they wanted to do something for the sick kids in Shawn's hospital.  We contacted the hospital and got a list of the things they needed.  One thing that stuck out for the kids was that the Pediatric Cancer unit regularly plays Bingo.  They needed Bingo prizes.  The kids worked hard for two weeks to earn and save their money.  Finally this weekend I took them to the store to pick out prizes.  We had lots of fun.  Ethan was taking FOREVER to choose items and when I tried to rush him along he replied, "I just want to find something so special for them".  It was sweet, he was being so thoughtful and really putting effort into what he was choosing.

After we got everything all picked out, we went and dropped the prizes off.  Because of confidentially we weren't able to give the presents to actual kids, but we just dropped it off at a desk with a hospital employee.  We got a certificate.

 It was a wonderful opportunity and I can't wait to do it again as a family.

Random Black and Whites

I was cleaning off the pictures on my phone the other day.  Liv steals my phone constantly and takes pictures of everything, from her hair to the TV.  Sometimes it is rather funny what I find, but tonight I found a few that were keepers.

This picture is what you will usually find at the end of each day in our house.  The kids all snuggled in my bed reading books.  Sometimes it drives me nuts because they destroy my room and rip apart my bed, but looking at this picture makes it all worth it.

 Lego's have been a long time favorite of ours.  These days it is a rare occasion to see all three playing together.  They have all developed their own interests and talents, it's nice to see they still enjoy a few of the same things.

I found this note outside my bedroom door the other night.  My kids are early risers.  So early in fact, that we had to tell them they can't come out of their rooms until 6:30 in the morning.  Previously they would often get up anywhere between 5-6 and sneak downstairs and play games on the Wii, PS3, watch movies, TV, and/or color.  So I thought the time of the treasure hunt funny.

Geocaching

A friend from work told me about Geocaching.  She said that her kids love to do it and having never heard of it before I asked lots of questions.  I am always up for a fun adventure, and especially one that is FREE.  On Friday the kids got out of school at 11:30, so after picking them up we set off on our very first Geocaching adventure.

For those that aren't familiar, Geocaching is a real-world outdoor treasure hunting game.  You are given clues and GPS coordinates and have to located a treasure box.  Go to www.Geocaching.com to find out more.

I talked with the kids about doing this early on in the week and they were so excited.  They asked several times if it was time to go find the treasure throughout the week.  I'll be honest, it was harder to find the cache than I thought, especially since we chose a micro cache (very small), but we will definitely do it again.  Our first Geocache was called "Troubled Water" and was located in an old run down bridge.  The graffiti underneath ended up being really cool and the kids wanted to keep exploring, but it was cold and starting to snow so we had to be quick.

We looked in every corner and crack that we could find.

But mostly we did a lot of playing around.

Once you find the Geocache there is a log that you sign and date.  Sometimes, in the bigger ones, there are actually items that you can exchange.  Can't wait for the next one :)