Snow Much Fun!...

January 24, 2009

The title of this post is just that - SNOW MUCH FUN!! We got dumped on again with snow and the boys wanted to go out and play in it. They were out there for about 2 hours - just playing and having a great time! Logan was so excited to go out and play in the snow with his snow pants and boots and "glubs" (gloves). He said that he was going to build a snowman and it was going to be Frosty and I'm going to say, "Frosty the snowman (he started singing the song)..." then he got serious and said, "I am gonna say that, mom. And he's going to talk to me." So we went out and they started off by making snow angels in the snow, eating some of the new freshly fallen snow and then started on the snowman. Bryson started making it and the other two helped out. Once Bryson had finished it Dillon and Logan came over to look at it. Logan was giggling all the way over to it and stood in front of it and then in a little voice said, "Hi." He just sat there and then looked at me, "He's not talking mom." "Oh," I told him, "he needs a magic hat, but... we don't have one." "Oh!" He quickly bent down and picked up some snow, patted it together and then put it on the snowman's head. "There!" He was so proud of himself. Well, it still didn't "come to life" so I told him that it had to be a very special magic hat but that we didn't have one so we will just have to look at Frosty. That seemed to do the trick and he was excited to just have a "Frosty" to look at and touch. He normally doesn't like carrots too well but he did want to eat "Frosty's" nose. "But it's good mom." I talked him into leaving it there and we could eat one in the house. He was so cute to watch. He then said that he wanted to give Frosty "hugs and loves". There is a picture below that shows him giving the snowman a kiss. Too cute! They pulled eachother around on the sleds, had a snowball fight (using the sleds as shields), played Fox and Geese, and had a contest of who could make the biggest, giantest snowball!! OK - is giantest a word? I think not. :) Anyways - it was alot of FUN. Then we came in and had hot chocolate and cinnamon rolls. Yummy!!

"Look mom! I'm holdin' his hand!"

1st Ever Pinewood Derby...

January 22, 2009

OK - Bryson had his first Pinewood Derby tonight. He was so excited! David is the Cub Master and I am the Bear den leader so we were kind of over it. Bryson helped his dad make his car. It turned out really cool and shiny! He sanded it - helped spray paint it and then put his stickers on it. He was so proud of his car. The excitement grew as the night progressed - he won 1 and lost 3 other races - which were so close - so he didn't place 1st, 2nd or 3rd but I was so proud of him because of his attitude. He had wanted to win but now was just happy to have been able to participate in it. He got a ribbon for participating, he won the "Shiniest Car" award and a Butterfinger (one of his favorites :) )! All in all it turned out to be a great night. We had hot dogs, chips and popcorn at the "Snack Shack" had judges, officials, registration, inspections and a pit stop for repairs. Turned out that Bryson's cousin Davey won 1st place! Way to go Davey! It seems fitting because this is his last Pinewood Derby - he is a Weblo and goes into Boy Scouts in June. After David and Bryson had gotten done making the car, David said to me, "Boy, I am going to have to make 12 of these in the next few years! I am definitely investing in some tools to make it a little easier." So, we learned a few things and had a lot of fun! :)

The winners: 3rd, Marty Smith (Bryson's friend), 2nd Nathan Westergard, 1st David Searle (Bryson's cousin).

All the Cub Scouts!

The Boys & Basketball...

Bryson and Dillon started up basketball the first of January and they have a practice and a game every week until the end of February. They are loving it. They are doing so well this year - alot more quicker and aggressive than last year. It was kind of funny because last year when they first started out they thought that they were just supposed to run back and forth from one end of the gym to the next. They caught on to the concept of getting the ball and now this year they are applying it and getting rebounds, making baskets and dribbling alot better too. It is fun to watch. I apologize for some of the pictures - our camera takes wonderful pictures outside but not too great inside if the lighting is poor, so some of them might be a little fuzzy or washed out.

Logan just can't seem to get enough of coloring! He loves to draw and color - he drags his stuff out almost everyday and "colors" or draws. The extent of his coloring are mostly scribbles and circles but to him they are works of art! See how he is concentrating so hard! Pretty cute!

Playing with the new Toys...

January 4, 2009

OK - I don't know why it is underlining my text. If anyone can tell me why it would be greatly appreciated. :) It did this to me before too. But below my text isn't underlined - who knows... Sorry - this is a long post!

Dillon got a Bubble Gum Factory Kit from Santa - he just loves gum!! So today he wanted to try and make some. He can make fruity, sour, minty and goo-filled gum! The kit came with this interesting tidbit of information: In North America, kids spend half a billion dollars on bubble gum each year! Now aren't you glad you can make your own? Woo! I'd like to have a piece of that pie. Anyways, he was so excited to get going and making his own creation of bubble gum. For his concoction he chose - Blueberry Mint flavored gum. Interesting flavors? Another tidbit to chew on: According to the Guiness Book of World Records, the biggest bubble gum bubble ever blown was 23 in. in diameter, roughly the size of an extra large pizza. To set this record, Susan Montgomery Williams of Fresno, CA, used three pieces of gum. I thought it was interesting. :)

Ahhh.... the moment he had been waiting for. Savor the taste...

The gum was a success! A little chewy but it tasted OK. He was pretty proud of himself and put the leftovers in the container it came with to save for later. Last tidbit of information on gum: It's true! Gum chewing is good for you! The recently created Wrigley Science Institute is committed to advancing and sharing scientific research that explores the benefits of chewing gum. Its international panel of experts cites several good reasons to glom onto gum: Gum chewing can aid concentration and provide relief from life's little stresses; Chewing sugar-free gum can keep your mouth clean, lessening the risk of cavities and whitening the teeth by reducing stains; As a substitute for high-calorie snacks, chewing gum can help you watch your weight. Huh... who knew? :)

Bryson got a Tasty Treats Activity Kit. What makes cupcakes rise? What makes drinks fizz? He couldn't wait to find out. In this kit he can make soda pop, powder candy that melts in your mouth, cupcakes, rockin' candy crystals, and blue sugar cookies. It even came with test tubes. It was pretty cute. For his first food science experiment he opted for the powder candy that melts in your mouth.

Once he completed the directions he tried it - watermelon flavor. Not bad. Then his dad suggested that he put some citric acid in it to make it a little sour. Ugh.... a little too much citric acid! It was so SOUR!!

He added a little more sugar and...

Yummy!

His next experiment was making soda pop - a little flavor for your fizzy! He wanted to make Raspberry Grape flavored soda pop. He had to set up his laboratory with the test tubes and all.

Ah... the final product. Bryson took the first drink and he didn't make a face, didn't say anything, just kind of sat there. I asked him, "Well, how is it?" "It tastes wierd." David said, "Here, let me try it." Ooh! NASTY!! That is all I can say about it - they made me try it too. A mix between dish soap and baking soda with a trace of grape? Yuck! Bryson said this one was definately going down the drain.

But amazingly enough we found someone in the family who liked it - yep, Logan. He drank about half of it. Yucky! He then tried it again and only added raspberry flavoring and may have altered one other ingredient and it actually wasn't too bad. Ah... the adventures in the kitchen laboratory.

Today I noticed that it was awfully quiet and I didn't know where Logan or his dad were, I walked into the kitchen and there they were. Building something... Logan said he was being Handy Manny. Goggles, tool belt and tools... and boots! Pretty cute!

Oh, and this was too cute. Grandma and Grandpa Gardner gave Logan a little play shopping cart for Christmas (he had seen it in Kings and just LOVED it! He pushed it all through the aisles and did not want to leave it at the store.) So he was so excited when he opened it Christmas morning. Anyways, he came into the kitchen with Curious George and his other animals, Lion and Sonny and said, "We going shopping mom. See..." It was too cute! Then he said that George needed a seat belt and David worked something up for him. He was so excited! He pushed them around the house for almost a 1/2 hour.

Happy New Year...

Happy New Year everyone! As I look back on the things that happened in 2008 I am so grateful for family, good friends and the gospel. I am so blessed to have these things in my life. For New Years, Davids friend invited us up to a party at their house with some other friends to eat and play games. Their were 17 kids there, but it was alot of fun. I had to call it a night at 11:00 p.m. and we were planning on sleeping over at Grandma and Grandpa Cummings (because they live 3 streets over from David's friend and we were getting together with the Cummings on New Years day.) So David took us to his parents house and then decided to go back and finish playing games with everyone - he didn't come home until 3:00 a.m.!! He was paying for it the next day... and the next day. We stayed the day at Cummings and had lots of good food and played games and had a wii tournament. It was fun. Wow! The boys head back to school on the 5th. They say they don't want to go back but I think it's time. Time to get back into a routine - but I hate the early mornings! :)

Christmas Eve & Christmas...

Christmas Eve was busy but fun. I had to work until 2:30 p.m.. When I got home there were a few things to finish up before the big day and before we went over to Grandma and Grandpa Gardners for dinner and a program. ...wrap a few presents, David made the dough for the sugar cookies for Santa, and a few other things and then we were off to Grandma's. It was so nice to be with family and we ate our fill of yummy food! We also sang Christmas songs and the most of the kids shared a talent which has long been a tradition. Jason's was pretty cute - he did a lip sync to the Grinch - rockin' out. It was so funny! We then came home and baked the cookies for Santa.



The boys get to open 1 present on Christmas Eve, and yes, it's always a new pair of jammies! :)

Then the stockings were hung with care - OK, just laid out on the couch for Santa. (Notice the "holy" socks Dillon is wearing. I tell ya, the boys go through socks like sugar through a siv - OK, it's a little late and I am getting a little tired. But really - they do go through socks like crazy!)

Then of course we have to read "Twas the Night Before Christmas" and also do the last link on our chain of the 12 Days of Christmas Scripture Chain.

Then the little ones were finally all "snug in their beds". Woo! Bryson kept saying that he was so excited that he couldn't sleep because his legs wouldn't stop moving. Well, sleep finally won over and they were down for the night.

Christmas morning came early - VERY EARLY. 4:45 a.m. to be exact. Here comes Bryson running in our room and over to my side of the bed. "Mom, can we get up now? Can we?" After I found out what time it was - yep, they were sent back to bed. Then at 5:15 a.m. here comes Bryson, "Mom, now can we get up? Please? Can we?" I knew this time I had to get up - so, we got up to see what Santa had brought. The boys were so excited. Logan didn't get a "jeep" but got a firetruck that he can ride in and a crash and spin race car set. Bryson got some roller skates, king arthur's castle and knights of the round table and other fun things. Dillon got a pogo stick and a hotwheels Speedracer Race Track Set and other fun things. Oh, and yes they got a wii - which they love and love. The boys played with their new toys while Dad fixed our Christmas breakfast (which is tradition of Buttermilk Lemon Pancakes with Blueberry Sauce and sausage, juice and of course an orange from our stockings - YUMMY!! :) It is my favorite and it is to die for!! :) ). We got ready and Grandma and Grandpa Gardner came and the boys opened their presents and then we went to Grandma and Grandpa Cummings house for the rest of the afternoon and the boys opened more presents - we were all really spoiled this year! We had a great Christmas and I was glad to have the boys still out on Christmas break so we could just enjoy the new toys and play our new games together and just be together. We are so blessed to be able to live close to family and enjoy the times when we get together. We hope you all had a Merry Christmas.