Geoff (with Justin's help) made these bird houses a couple of months ago. We painted them today to finish off our exploration and study of birds.
At Pack Meeting Tonight, Justin displayed all the art he has done this past year (which if you know Justin, you know that he does A LOT of art!) His display was so fun! All the scouts and their families LOVED looking at his stuff and marveled at his creativity, the breadth and variety of talent. I wish I had taken a picture of his set up, but it included, pearler beads (1 and 2 dimensional), photography, carvings, moldings (sculpy....including a sculpture of himself, Wallace, an alligator and a tiger), 3-D Paper art (a ship), Wooven basket & indian drum, a dinosaur skeleton, his paintings, and a notebook full of art creations demonstrating art with lines, color, shape, texture, space, etc. Above is the self portrait he did just a few days ago.
Today our little home school group went to GREAT HARVEST BAKERY and had a tour and a bread making lesson. The Owner, Will Wood (A great guy...so good with the kids), is explaining the five ingredients they use for bread...wheat, water, honey, yeast and salt. He says, their secret recipe isn't the ingredients, but rather the process of making it. They control to the very degree the temperature and humidity...and timing is crucial.
They make batches of 86 loaves at a time and weigh each loaf to make sure each is the same amount. 
They hand form and cook many of their loaves.
This is their monster oven which has 13 rotating shelves (each can hold three cookie sheets). That's a big oven! It reminded Justin of a Ferris wheel...a bread Ferris wheel of sorts!
I think Max was thinking this would be a good place for a nice warm bath and most likely Justin was thinking, "this is a great cup to hold my hot chocolate!"
I thought I had the heavy duty Kitchen aide mixer, but I was absolutely wrong. Look at the size of this 40 lb bread kneader that fits snugly on THEIR king of kings Mixer!!!!
And once again, I am out done on my wheat grinder! They grind their grain daily... I forgot how many pounds each day, but it is a lot.
After our tour we played some table games and waited to feast on some fresh made bread.
Thanks to Will and Great Harvest Bakery for a great experience.
Oh boy...the time has come to prove true craftsmanship. Do all boys and their Dad's dream about winning the 1st place trophy for MONTHS before the event? Needless to say, this has been a fun project for both my boys! Only one more month until we see how the cookie falls...or rather how the car flies!
Justin, Max, and I were putting together this puzzle. Justin was explaining the facts to him about horses, "This is a mother and baby horse. The baby horse is called a foal, and a girl horse is called a mare...She's the mother."
Today we walked from the church to the fire station. (It's one of my favorite places to go!) Justin has a great Scout group. Above is his good friend Carter Turnbull.
The boys loved exploring the pumper. The Firemen let them go inside and out. What fun for them.
It's the birthday boy! This morning we asked Max, "How old are you, Max?" He turned to Justin and asked, "Am I three years old?" Justin confirmed his answer, and he proudly turned back to us and said, "THREE YEARS OLD!"
and a little Balloon Volley Ball. Then we opened gifts.
Justin made Max some really special gifts... Bean bags (which he sewed and designed all by himself...amazing work!)
Happy Birthday Max... We love you.
The boys spent the afternoon at the Farm. They were excited to spend time with Geoff and drive the Tractor, although, "it was very loud" says Max! We are in for an adventure...no doubt!
Geoff and his partners, Chancy and Chris, have been dismantling the garage of one of Geoff's clients. They will reassemble it at the farm and use it as a work shed. It's amazing how creative and resourceful you are when you have no money!!! It will be a great shed!
Introducing the newest member of our little family... Thomas the Tractor! I think we are officially farmers now!
Our relief society is currently making these little outfits for preemie's who die. It is so difficult to find burial clothing to fit such tiny babies, so the hospitals plead for homemade donations. We have all fallen in love with the project. The outfits are all unique and SOOO cute. This is just a little sample.
Max still sleeps in his crib (amazing that he doesn't jump out, fly out, repel down, or something of the sort.) What is unique about the way Max sleeps, is just what you see in the picture. He sleeps in 1/4 of his crib, all scrunched up for the entire night. Sometimes he'll lie on his back and put his feet up on the wall, but he never leaves this part of his crib.
Justin has worked really hard to earn his wolf badge. He's a great scout, just like his dad. Tonight he was awarded all 4 yellow beads, his wolf badge, a gold arrow, and two silver arrows. Way to go Justin!
