Arrow of Light

Back when we lived in AF and we were joint Cubmasters, I found this idea somewhere online and had my bestie Jess design it for me.  I have probably made about 15 since then!  The boys could probably care less but the parents LOVE them :)  We had 4 boys receive their Arrow of Light tonight and it was great!

Primary Program

It's always fun when the primary kids do their program.  I always wish I could just sit and watch, but I think I have played piano for every program I can remember!!

The program was wonderful, and the only thing I would change would be that the chorister had a poster for EVERY song, even the ones the kids obviously knew.  I was a little disappointed about that, but the kids did great with their parts and music was great too!

Hungry again

Sorry Ben, you had dinner and 2 cookies, you don't need anything else...

But then I'll be so hungry I'll eat 65 bowls of cereal!

Ok, sounds good!

Wait, that will take forever.  Maybe 6 bowls...

I love his logic :)

Mobile blogging

Today I was talking to my mom on the phone and she said she wished I could do blog posts easily from my phone.  I installed the Blogger app, so here is what you want- a pic and a little text!  Now it's sleepy time!

Health challenge day 2

Now, before you get spoiled thinking I'm going to make a blog post every day for 60 days, think again!  I am also going to start working on a journal of spiritual things for my kids.  I'll be sorting through my journals and seeing if there were any experiences I would want my kids to be sure to read.  I think I'd like my spiritual journal to be left out where my kids can read it all the time...

For today's funny:
After dinner we ran a couple errands and on the way back, Ben said he was hungry.  They hadn't behaved well at the store so I told him he already had dinner and he'd have to just wait until morning.  He said "Ugh!  I'll be SUPER hungry by morning.  I'll have to eat SIX BOWLS of cereal!" in his best 'angry' voice.  Sometimes it's hard not to laugh at the things your kids say.

60 Day Health & Wellness challenge

I just started a 60 day challenge with not only my husband and my best friend, but a whole bunch of other people that she knows.  It's not just about losing weight - it's a point-based system with 10 points per day available:

1. No sweets

2. No junk food (chips, etc - or fast food!)

3. You have to stop eating at least 2 hours before you go to bed

4. You have to get enough sleep - 8 hours recommended but 6.5 is enough for the point

5. Regular exercise

6. Write in your journal, blog, etc 

7. Read something wholesome (scriptures?)

8. Drink enough water (72 oz for women, 96 for men)

9. Eat 2C fruits and 2.5C veggies each day

10. Make your own goal

Today wasn't so bad - Neil and I are already part-way through a 5 day inferno with meal plans and exercise routines that came with my TurboFire DVDs I bought a few years ago.  We've made some substitutions or repeated some of the meals though, because who would honestly have 8 oz cottage cheese and 2 pineapple rings as your breakfast??  Instead, we had 2 pieces of toast, an egg, and a slice of turkey bacon.

So, all I've needed to add in is reading & writing!  So here's today's blog post :)

Other highlights of today: doctor appts with all 3 kids.  Regular checkups on Ruth & Tristan, and Ben "hurt his heart" (tweaked his chest and made some cartilege sore) when we were in OR.  He will just keep feeling better - apparently it's like when you get a bad cough and your chest starts to hurt, but it will fade over time.  He also chose to get a flu SHOT instead of a nose squirt because he REALLY wanted to earn $1 for not crying when getting a shot.  Tristan opted for the nose squirt :P

Lastly - during scriptures tonight, Tristan was reading.  There are some long words, like "according" or "therefore" that we help him sound out.  I didn't even let him try to sound out "Lachoneus", I just said it for him, which prompted him to say "I already KNOW that one!"  My bad...  I suppose we have been reading about Lachoneus for the last couple days so he probably really did recognize the word.  He was able to say it again in a later verse with no parental help.

6 more days!

We have a Christmas countdown, and Ben and Tristan have been vigilant to change it and remind me of how many days I have left to finish up Christmas projects. Lucky for me, I'm almost done now (no thanks to the sewing machine that didn't want to cooperate). Ruth gets a picture frame hairbow/flower clip holder and a floor pillow. I kind of faked it on the pillow but it turned out pretty well. We started using it immediately because for one thing, she had no idea how to open a present. Also, we have a hardwood floor in our main living area so I wanted something comfy to put her on.
The boys get some Angry Birds plush, a pillow shield (for pillow fights) + a dollar store foam sword, some little marble mazes for church, and a geoboard. I even made a couple thing for Neil, as well as a gift for each of his parents, but I can't reveal them yet in case they see this before Christmas.... :)

This cute baby was my first Christmas 'decoration' to get out :)

We make pizza every week (and by we I mean Neil), and since it was Christmas we decided to cut ours in the shape of a tree.  The boys thought it was pretty cool!

Second big snowfall of the season - this time we made a snowman!  Isn't he cute?  Of course, since it's Utah, it rained the next day and melted him down....

And in other news, Ben was accepted into the dual immersion program in our school district.  It means we'll have to drive him to Draper Elementary each day, but he'll love it!  He's going to learn Mandarin Chinese!