Memorial Day Weekend In Kansas

We went to Kansas this weekend. Before we left Lexie had her last dance class of this session. We're glad she enjoyed it so much.

We arrived late Saturday night, but had time for a round of Hand & Foot. Sunday was a lot of fun. Rick's parents, & 4 aunts & uncles were visiting Church History sites so they came to church in my home ward then came over for dinner at my Mom's. After dinner we went to Independence to the Visitor's Center where my little sister, Janae, is serving a mission. She got to give us a tour. The kids enjoyed it-although, as Joseph announced during the tour, "Andrew was acting so crazy!" They especially enjoyed playing in the kids area.

This was also funny-during the tour Janae started to tell us a little about the time the Saints spent in Missouri. She said this film would show us some of the places the Saints were. Joseph announced. "We already saw some parts of Missouri, so we don't need to see those parts again."

Monday was just a fun day of relaxing with the family. My little brother's girlfriend, Stephanie, was out visiting as well. She is a balloon artist & the kids loved all the fun things she made for them.

There was lots of driving, but the trip was worth the car time.

A Hard Bargain

Lexie came home from school & wanted me to look in her backpack right away. She had a note about an upcoming field trip. As we excitedly looked at the form she asked, "Do I have enough monies to go?" And that got me thinking that rather than just paying for it, maybe the field trip would be more meaningful for her if she had to do something for the money. So we came up with the idea that for each book she reads she gets a dime towards her field trip.

She has loved this goal & has been attacking books all week to pay for her field trip. She's always enjoyed reading, but now she is more conscientious about stopping to read throughout the day. Hopefully this doesn't backfire & make her feel like reading is a chore. (Are we mean parents for doing this?)

School Carnival

You're Looking At...

the First Place Cake for the school carnival.

And 3rd place went to one of our friends in Lexie's class. Apparently there was a lot of cheering in that kindergarten classroom when the winners were announced!

Winner! Winner!

So it wasn't the $500,000 prize, but we did manage to win twice with Albertson's Monopoly game.

About 2 months ago we won a $50 gift card. Then last night we won a cash prize of a whopping $2. (You're jealous, we know.) I've decided Rick should shop at Albertson's more-by himself-at night. That has been the only time we've gotten winning game pieces. With one week left to play, we're still hoping for that $500,000.

Happy Mother's Day!

Just a few of the many reasons I love being a mother:

Reason # 1

Reason #2

Reason #3

As a side note: Joseph cracked me up during Sacrament Meeting. The Primary was going up to sing & as he slides off my lap he says, "Oh, I'm so embarrassed!" What?! He is so funny. I didn't think he even knew that word & then I thought-"Oh, Grover!" (From "The Monster at the End of this Book.") He was embarrassed because he doesn't "like to sing in front of lots of people very often."

Also, in Primary they made these little card for the mom's where the kids complete the sentence. (We will probably need to remind Lexie of this in the coming years...) "My mom is smart because...she knows everything." That gave us a good chuckle!

We hope everyone had a lovely Mother's Day. We're so grateful to have been blessed with wonderful mothers. We love them. I have been blessed with many incredible examples of mothers & I hope to be more like them.

Guess Who Wants To Go Camping Again?

This weekend was our ward's annual Fathers & Sons Campout. It was Joseph's first time going camping so we weren't quite sure what to expect from him. But...

he did say this was the best hot dog he'd ever had

& he liked drinking hot chocolate & eating marshmallows around the campfire (just the regular kind-he didn't care for the roasted ones).

He really wanted to take a game along & had fun playing it with Dad.

He was excited to snuggle up in his 2 sleeping bags & didn't get scared at all.

Of course he had to take his dolphins along.

He was constantly asking to go on a hike to look for animals. They didn't find any bears, but he did find...

a fun walking stick.

And they played at the park there.

Joseph said, "This the best camping trip I've ever been on!"

Maybe next year Andrew will get to go-if he's out of diapers.

Lexie can't wait to go camping. All she could say last night was, "It's no use doing (fill in the blank) without Joseph!" She sure missed her brother.

Good Question

I love how kid's minds work. Tonight Lexie had some good, out of the blue questions. She wondered if her spirit was a girl or not. We talked about that one. Then she asked how old her spirit was. She was so excited that her spirit could be older than her Grandpa R's. Then she asked, "When we die and are in heaven, will we still pray to Heavenly Father or will I just go talk to him?" I love it when she asks questions, she's a sweetie!

Fancy Lexie

Lexie has checked out "Fancy Nancy" at least 7 times this year. She loves it & she has to get her fancy scarf on as well to read it.

Colorado Centsibility

I've started a little bargain blog. I can promise it won't have every good deal on it. It's really not that up and running. But I thought I'd throw it out there. There are 2 posts of good deals (one that ends today) if you are interested.
It really is a work in progress. Feel free to post any good deals you see for other people as well.
Here is the link: coloradocentsibility.blogspot.com
Happy Shopping!

The Make Up Game

A few weeks back we had one of our soccer game cancelled. Each Monday we'd prepare for our make up game but alas, those were cancelled as well. So, finally on our 4th attempt we had our game. Hooray! It was funny, for the past few weeks when we'd talk about the make up game, Lexie would ask, "Do we put on make up or something? Do we have to wear a lot of it? I don't think the boys will want to wear make up." Silly girl.

It was a fun game. All of the kids played really well & had fun.

With great teamwork, Lexie even scored her first goal!

This is her telling me all about it!

We're glad she loves playing soccer & so many different things.

Off to Bed

Here's one way of putting kids to bed.