Father & Sons

Usually I only hear about what happens at the "Father and Son's Outing". This year, I sent a camera and got a glimpse of what went on.

Lots of boy-bonding.
Lots of hiking the hills.

An awesome magic show, great music and a nice hot springs that was soothing on a cold mountain morning.

Because the forecast was rain, Jason decided that they would use the back of the van for their "tent". They took the backseats out before they left and stayed warm and dry throughout the night.

Unfortunately Treyson didn't get much sleep. Jason overheard him talking to his friend the next morning, "I couldn't sleep at ALL last night, because my dad was snoring so LOUD!" and then he proceeded to make loud snoring noises.

Poor guy. He was crabby and had troubles staying awake for the rest of the day.

Talking about it when they got home I said, "Now you know how I feel." He said, "Mom, how can you sleep through that??!" I didn't know what to say. I guess I've (mostly) gotten used to it. :)

Growing Things

Two weeks ago, when we thought the weather was FINALLY going to be nice, we planted a garden (tomatoes, lettuce, radishes, carrots, watermelon and cantaloupe). --The radishes have already come up, but we're still waiting to see any signs of the carrots and lettuce.

We also relocated our strawberries from last year. We were so excited to see that they came back.

We used the containers the trees came in. How "green" is that? And best of all, we planted 3 trees!

Our backyard faces West and gets A LOT of sun in the afternoon/evening. It's not fun to be out there during hot Summer evenings. We decided we needed some trees to shade and hopefully cool things off a bit. We bought "Legacy Sugar Maple" trees. Little did I realize when we bought them, that they are "slow growing". Darn! Well, eventually we'll have shade...... I hope.


Everyone joined the fun of tree planting.
Watch out... Abree's got the shovel!

Our future SHADE!

Ahhhhh, so much better already. :)

Taylee was the most excited about planting. She LOVES getting her hands in the dirt, watching things grow and admiring creation. She said over and over, "I'm SO glad we planted those trees. I feel like we've really accomplished something."

Thanks again Larsen's, for the awesome garden box.

Iowa State Homework

Taylee and I worked late into the night, Tuesday night. She had a state report due Wednesday. She chose to make a State Float, instead of a research paper or poster. (Although all the same information was required.)
Taylee's state was Iowa.
She learned many facts including; average temperature, population, ethnicity, crops, industry, Iowa's flag, state symbols and famous people.
John Wayne and Herbert Hoover rode on our float, both born in Iowa.

I liked the state symbols, seal and flag Taylee illustrated. They were very recognizable and detailed.

Good job Taylee. I hope WE... I mean YOU, get an A.

Fire Station Tour

To pass off a Cub Scout requirement, Treyson and I went to a neighborhood Fire station, along with some friends.

First, we toured the inside of the fire station. Treyson was most interested in where they slept and the weight room. They are required to work out every day.
Next, we toured the garage where the boys got to use the fire hose.

Check out the fire engine and equipment.

And talk about home fire safety.

They mentioned not opening a door if it was hot and if you are on a second floor to open a window and throw something out like a stuffed animal. That way they know there is a child on the second floor they need to rescue. The boys kept saying they could just JUMP out the window. The firefighters kept reassuring them, that it would only take minutes for them to be there and that they SHOULD NOT jump. I hope they listened. :)

At the conclusion of our tour I asked, what were the most important things we needed to remember. This is what they said; 1. have a home evacuation plan, 2. check your smoke detector batteries every 6 months and 3. know the emergency phone number. You know.... 911.

When the firefighters asked Treyson if he knew the number he said, "Yeah, 991." Oops a little more training needed in that area.

As we were finishing our visit with the firefighters, they received a call and had to go. The boys were excited and full of questions as the fire truck turned on it's siren and drove away.

PS- Keri, Thanks for arranging this!

Teacher Appreciation Week

In appreciation of my kid's teachers, I made these.

I love gifts that are cute AND useful.

I wrapped them in a brown lunch bag and stapled these tags to the outside.
We LOVE our teachers!!!

Photo Cube

A wooden cube, a little paint, some Mod Podge, scrapbook paper and B&W pictures, equals a cute Mother's Day gift for my mom.

Happy Mother's Day!

You'll have to imagine what the final product looks like.. I forgot to take a picture. Oops!