Favorite Things Swap

Dear Swap Buddy,

If you have not received my package in the mail, please stop reading immediately. Contents contained in this post may spoil your surprise...




I just finished participating in a, "Favorite Things Swap".

Rules to the swap:

1. Choose at least 3 objects (or more) that are YOUR favorite things.
2. Be creative
3. Have fun!

Here are the things I sent to my swap buddy...

Post-it note holder- I LOVE to craft.

A magnetic grocery list pad and coupon file -I like to make lists. I have lists of list. I also love a bargain. Couponing is my newest form of getting a great bargain.

"The Office" mouse pad and word magnets -I am a recently admitted t.v. lover. I love to watch t.v. It's my way to wind down after a long day or just be entertained. "The Office" is one of the many t.v. shows Jason and I enjoy.

Cute kitty brads -I love to scrapbook. (The kitty part was for my swap buddy. She loves cats.)

Quick and easy recipes -I don't love to cook, but it's a fact of life. When I do cook, I like recipes with few ingredients and that are quick and easy.

Fabulous paper shoe -Again, I love to craft. I also added "Snickers" candybars because they are my favorite. (The high heel and zebra print, which is hiding under the candy, is for my swap buddy too. She LOVES fabulous high heels.)

Exploding photo cube - Again with the crafting and scrapbooking love.

I hope my buddy enjoys all of MY favorite things. Can't wait to see what comes in the mail to me.

PS- If you were at my Ison Family Reunion, many of these things may look familiar. Just trying to double my efforts and "kill two birds with one stone".

Treyson's Baptism

Last Saturday, was the BIG day for Treyson. He was baptized and confirmed a member of, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I am proud of him for making the choice to be baptized. I am excited to know that the Holy Ghost will be with him, helping him choose right from wrong. I am hoping and praying that he will understand the importance of it all...some day.

The 2 handsome men in my life.

After the baptism, we went to a nearby park for dinner. We ate, played and enjoyed one another's company.

Thank you to all who came and helped make Treyson's day special.

We love you!

FHE

Last Monday, Taylee gave another great FHE lesson. It was on speaking kindly and saying nice things. As part of the lesson, we practiced saying the same sentence in different ways; sad, happy, mad, etc. We learned that it wasn't only the words you were saying, but the way you said it.

To help us work on saying nice things throughout the week, she had a container of rocks and a container of Skittles. Each time we say something nice, we put a Skittle in the jar. Each time we say something not so nice, we put a rock in the jar. At the end of the week, we will review and decide whether we eat the rocks or Skittles. :)

This is a picture of our "treat". It's a "mouth" with a tongue sticking out, reminding us to say kind words. Can you tell?????

Great lesson Taylee!

Robot Party

Monday, we had Treyson's friend birthday party.
Our guests were greeted by Bob the Robot (named by Treyson).

My attempt at making Bob the Robot, in cake.

(I know, it looks like Cookie Monster having a bad day. Not my best cake, but Treyson liked it.)

As we waited for everyone to show up, the boys colored robot pictures.

We had a robot type of lunch...

squeeze juice "motor oil"

fruits and veggies "parts & pieces"

Cheetos "memory cells"

"battery acid" salsa, tortilla "computer chips" and corn dogs.

Boys have the most interesting (ok, gross) conversations. Here are some of the topics discussed at lunch:

-Burping the ABC's, who could and couldn't do it and who knew someone that could do it.

-How to swallow and regurgitate food. YUCK!

-What's the best or grossest mix of food combos. Celery and ketchup anyone?

-A friendly debate on what robots eat.

-Loosing teeth and having gnarly cavities.

-Snot.

-How to best "spark" your Wint-o-green Lifesavers.

-Putting duct tape on your little brothers head and then ripping it off! OUCH!

Then we played a game. Robot pieces were hidden all over the back yard. The boys hunted to find all the hidden pieces.

Next, the boys created edible robots using marshmallows, pretzels, licorice, mini chocolate chips, Lifesavers, straws and toothpicks.

Then it was time for presents. Treyson received Bakugans from everyone! These boys knew what he liked. He was so excited. I think he's up to 13 Bakugans now!

Jonah, Treyson, Houston & Dylan

Then is was cake time.

After cake, we turned up the music and all did our best robot dancing. These boys had some moves! They were break dancing (or something like it), moonwalking and poppin' all over the place. I danced along with them and pretended that I knew what I was doing. (I'm not a big dancer, but they didn't know that.)

We sent our guests home with these party favors. The face parts are stuck on with magnets, so they can be played with and moved around like Mr. Potato Head. They also had goodies inside!

Two parties down.... a baptism and dinner to go.

Annual Neighborhood BBQ

Our neighborhood is so great. They consistently have fun community activities and events.

Saturday was the Annual Heritage Commons BBQ. The food was catered from "Goodwood".

Oh my goodness is was good; BBQ beef sandwiches, baked beans, coleslaw and an amazing potato salad. (It was the best potato salad, I have ever had! Seriously.)

There were bouncy houses for the kids to enjoy.

We were sitting close to the bouncy houses. There were some older boys who were pulling on the top of the house and making it collapse. I became the "Bouncey House Nazi". I asked them to stop and told them they would have to get out if they continued. When they thought I wasn't looking, they would do it again. One time, I jumped up out of my chair and charged over there and asked the offender to please leave the house. I'm sure he wasn't too happy with me, but he did cooperate (busted!). He was the example to all the others... the Bouncy House Nazi means business! (I didn't have any angry parents approach me, so they either didn't care or didn't have any idea whay was going on.)

Rylee and Taylee were asked to help out with the face painting. They were so excited. They came up with several simple designs and really did a good job. They had some "frequent flyer's" who started running out of places to put new paintings; up and down both arms and legs and on both cheeks.

Abree requested a watermelon and crown, by Taylee.

Treyson requested a penguin and bumblebee, by Rylee.

This was such a nice, relaxing evening.

A big Thank You, to the Heritage Commons planning committee.

Treyson Turns 8!

Yesterday, we invited family over to celebrate Treyson's birthday.

Because we've been doing "friend parties", this year, I've asked the kids to pick something other than cake, for their family birthday get together.

Treyson was open to anything sweet and really couldn't make up his mind, so I made him a fruit pizza. It was so yummy and Summery (a word?).

A perfect piece..at least one of every kind of fruit.

Then it was gift time. He receive a whole bag of stuff from Grandpa(including one of his favorites, a Bakugan), a book and M&Ms from Grandma, a Spiderman squirt gun picked out by Kyrick, a Transformer from Audrey and 3 Little Mermaid pictures, colored pink, by Katelyn. Katelyn was SOOO excited to have Treyson open her gift. She kept saying, "Dat my pik-tur. Dat my pik-tur." It was so cute!

He also received a few things from us including; Bakugans, diving rings, cool collapsable ball/frisbee thingy, a DS game, a Sunday suit (we jokingly call it his "birthday suit") and a set of scriptures (an 8 year old/baptism tradition in our home).

Side note: Scriptures are SO expensive! For Rylee's 8th birthday, I was able to purchase a set of scriptures at a discount, because they had previously been name engraved. (They removed the previous name as best they could and then engraved Rylee's name over the top. You can barely tell.) For Taylee, I wasn't as lucky. For Treyson, I know this sounds silly, but I said a little prayer asking that I could again find a discounted set of scriptures. I looked and looked for several months. A day before his birthday, I went to Deseret Book, and there they were, a set of scriptures (previously engraved) for 50% off! I was so excited. They were a different size than I was originally looking for, but I was grateful to find them, whatever size. When I checked out, the cashier told me that she had marked the scriptures down and thought they would go fast. She said that A LOT of people had looked at them, but no one purchased, until today. I told her it was because they were waiting for me... an answered prayer, a small miracle. I belive in miracles. Do you?

Daisylyn was one of our guests. She came with grandma, because her mom and dad were at the temple. She has grown so much. Look at those sweet cheeks!

Kyrick, Jason and Treyson playing his new DS game.

It must be a fun game, if you don't notice the sweaty, hot, boy bodies in close quarters.

One party down... another party and baptism to go.