Pack Meeting

Last Wednesday we had Pack Meeting at our house and Joey earned his Bear Award.

First he had to face the bear.

 The bear pulled him to the other side of the fence and worked him over but...

 Joey came off conqueror.

 A proud mom.  Peter really should be the one to get the pin because he is really good about working with Joey. 

 The girls enjoyed the evening but Lily was a little freaked out by the bear.

We all enjoyed shaved ice for dessert.

I love being able to open our home for different events. It takes some work on our part but I am so glad to share what we have been blessed with. 

Arabella's Dance Concert 2013

Over the weekend Arabella had her dance concert. She was a beautiful dancer! She was so very excited about performing this year. She begged Peter to come to her dress rehearsal on Thursday afternoon. She was so full of energy as you will see in the pictures below.  She did a really good job remembering her dances or to at least look at her teacher for some hints.  The boys endured both the practice and the performance.  Joey did spend most of the recital reading by the dim light from the stage- at least he was being quiet and still. Jon did enjoy most of the show especially the hip hop piece and the teacher's dance. 

 The two pictures above are from the recital night.  She was so happy to get flowers from her dad.

 Her ballet dance was to Let's Go Fly a Kite from Mary Poppins.

 Her tap dance was to Teddy Bear by Elvis Presley. 

 Both of these pictures make me so happy!

 Such lovely arms!

 Both of the faces captured in these two pictures are so funny! A little sugar and a little sass!

The Finale practice. There was confetti shot across the stage and she thought that was amazing.  We are not sure if she will do dance next year since she will be in Preschool but maybe when she is in Kindergarten we will do it again. She does seem to love it!

The Wise Man and the Foolish Man

So I am not the most creative person so when I have a good moment I feel I should share.

We had a primary teacher (and scout leader and activity day leader) appreciation meeting on Sunday.  We took the teachers during sharing time and singing time and the leaders during sunday school into the kitchen at the church where we served some refreshments and had a little lesson.

We shared a few things from Teaching No Greater Call and then a member of the Bishopric spoke about the importance of good primary teachers.

Then it was my turn.  I had a hard time deciding exactly how I wanted to approach this. But, two talks stood out to me during conference that seemed to help me know what I should focus on as a primary president and a mother for that matter. "A Sure Foundation" by Bishop Davies and "The Home: The School of Life" by Elder Falabella.  They both talk of The Wiseman and the Foolish Man.

Last night for Family Home Evening I repeated my talk/lesson for my family.  If you want to see my handout or what I used to teach from let me know and I will send it to you. 

 First, I believe all men are entitled to the Atonement no matter where our house is built, sand or rock.  Take a moment to talk of the Atonement and how it can help the foolish man to change his sand to stone. 

 These two pictures are of the long logs used to make the house built on rock.  I started with the first principles and ordinances of the gospel (4th article of faith).  Then I quoted from Bishop Davies about the things needed to form a firm foundation.  We then added all of our logs.  

 To build our house on the sand I used the little logs and built up adding an occasional long log to represent when someone occasionally goes to church or reads their scriptures or prays- you get the idea. 

The things written on these are cheap thrills, fortune, fame, bad media, bad music, lying, immodesty, just once. 

 I ended the rock house with endure to the end and discussed what that meant. 

I ended the sand house with pride- this was a bit hard for Arabella to understand but we tried to explain.

 

 The finished sand house.  It was purely coincidental that it ended up taller than the other and open so that it seemed like the great and spacious building.  If you put your hand on it and rock it back and forth it is easy to see that it is not as sturdy.

 The finished rock house.  It is strong.  Lily even picked it up on the sides and it did not fall apart.

I was going for a picture of the two together and tried to slide the sand one over and it fell not a bad way to end the lesson.  I talked to my kids about why it was so important to have a firm foundation.  We talked about how hard things will come in our lives and a firm foundation will make us prepared.  The scriptures I used were Matt. 7:24-27 and Helaman 5:12.  

We of course finished the lesson with singing the Wise Man and the Foolish Man.

I thought I would share. 

Preserving

Yesterday I chopped, parboiled, cooled, and bagged a case of broccoli.

(That is about 20 pounds.)

My house smelled of broccoli.

I did manage to make an apricot pie for desert which helped with the smell and makes the end of any day better.

Today I tackled the case of apricots.

Last time I had apricots I tried fruit leather and it did not go well.  I did jam and it has been yummy. 

This time I decided to bottle it like peaches or pears. 

I am only doing one batch.  They look pretty though.

It is nice to have a few days of domesticity and feeling like I am connecting with pioneer women. I was grateful I was not a pioneer when it was so warm yesterday and I was doing my processing in an air conditioned house.  Oh modern luxuries!

Promise

A perfect way to end the day!

The boys window was open and there was so much light coming from it as we were doing our scriptures, journal and prayer tonight. 

Joey prayed for President Monson and his family that they would find peace.  He also asked that when Jesus comes again that his wife would be resurrected so they could be together again.

Then as I was putting the girls into bed I sang We Thank Thee O God for a Prophet to them.  

Then I went in the boys room and saw this out their window-a beautiful and bright rainbow (my camera does not do it justice).

 I quickly got the girls back out of bad to enjoy the sight as well.

I then asked if the kids knew what a rainbow meant?

Two of them said gold.

 I said No and asked them if they knew why Noah saw a rainbow and Joey said that it was to mark the end of the storm.  I said yes and God was promising to never flood the earth again. 

My heart is full as I reflect on the teaching moments I have had with my children tonight. 

God blessed with prophets long ago and again now in the latter day.

God's promises are sure, then and now.

God has blessed us with eternal families through marriage in the temples.

God gave us a Savior, Jesus Christ, and through his Atonement and resurrection we can be together forever and repent of our sins (the teaching moment that came from questions about our scripture study tonight).

My heart aches for President Monson and his family as they morn the loss of sweet Sister Monson.  

But my heart is so very full too.  When I told my children about it and that we should pray for them they knew immediately that it was okay because of temples, eternal families, and the resurrection. 

There is so much peace and truth in this glorious gospel, it makes my heart rejoice! 

Field Day 2013

Last Friday was Field  Day at the school.

I am not going to be able to make it to Joey's class field trip this year so I went to watch him during field day. 

The girls enjoyed it and  Arabella was even able to participate in a few of the activities. 

 Jon's class did field day in the morning and we missed it.  They did not get to do any of the water games because the weather was not as nice and they did not want wet kids for the whole day.

I am thankful for the school my kids go to. The teachers and other employees do such a great job with the kids.  They love them and it shows in the work they do.

These two girls have the office staff charmed. They are pretty cute if I do say so myself!

Little Philmont

Our stake, the Lewisville Stake worked with the Weatherford Stake to put on a Little Philmont over the weekend. 

It was a wonderful event. 

The weather was beautiful.

All meals were provided for you, so no cooking.

We got to go camping as a family.

The kids were watched all day long while Peter and I attended training meetings. 

I was spiritually uplifted. 

It was a win all the way around (except all of my camera batteries died so there is limited photos).

 Friday night the kids enjoyed throwing rocks into the lake.

 Jon was the hardest child to catch to take a picture of because he was constantly on the move.  He had built a sand volcano and was using the water bottle to pour water on it so it looked like lava pouring out. 

It was a good opportunity for Joey to push himself to try new things and meet new people.  

The only wood fire allowed was on the beach for the evening campfire meal.  

That was not going to stop Peter from using his propane fueled fire in the volcano to roast marshmallows.  

This attracted kids from all around. 

Lily playing nice in the nursery- a good thing since she did not fall asleep until nearly midnight and woke up at 7 am. A disadvantage to camping is that birds and sunrises can not be blocked out by tent walls.

At the end of the event, the kids were in 3 different age breakdowns and had been taught a song during the day while at a music class. They sang them for the parents. It was so touching. It made me tear up. 

This is what happened on the drive home. 

I tried to capture her dirty, sticky hand. Check out the dirt under her nails.

That is one thing we were taught was to not tell our kids to not get dirty. 

They need to get dirty and to make mistakes and to learn from experiences.

I think I would actually love going to the real Philmont- I know my kids and Peter would.

Maybe, someday.

Joey's 3rd Grade Music Program

Joey had his 3rd grade music program last Thursday.

It was great! 

He has been singing the songs over and over around the house.

He has also loved learning to play the recorder.

 Joey did a great job playing the mini marimbas or xylophone type instrument. 

Joey loves music and is getting so much better at playing the piano and learning words to songs. We are proud of you and your hard work!