Saturday, February 27, 2010

Bird Houses

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.

We also put out some nesting materials free for the taking for some lucky bird! I'm thinking these things would make a great Mexican villa with the vibrant colors and all. Do you think they could migrate with it all?

Thursday, February 25, 2010

HIGH Ho HIGH Ho....

It's off to work I go! These should keep the mud out!

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Pack Meeting and Talent Show

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.

Tonight he earned his ART belt loop and ART pin, 2 beads and 6 arrows. He has been so diligent in scouts...we all enjoy working on his projects! Scouting is AWESOME!

Monday, February 22, 2010

Great Harvest Tour

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.

Max's discipline

Max went to Orchards to play with his friend Mia. This was our conversation when he returned home:

Mom: Max, what did you and Mia do together?

Max: I pushed her!

Mom: Why?

Max: Because she cried, and that wasn't an option!

This sent Justin and I into hoots of laughter. How does he know how to use these words?

Friday, February 19, 2010

Pinewood Derby

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!

I would post a picture of the car, but then I would have to kill you. I guess you'll have to wait until AFTER the derby!

Cute Noah

Getting the facts straight

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."

Max looked at me, then at the puzzle, then back to me with a look of TRUE CONFUSION. He said in a tone of total disbelief, "YOU MEAN TO TELL ME YOU USED TO BE A HORSE???"

Justin's Photography


Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Scouts and Firemen

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.

Monday, February 8, 2010

Why we LOVE MAX

We love Max because he...
  • poops and pees in the toilet and not in his shoes.
  • stashes food under his pillow so he can snack at night.
  • paces around the house while talking on his fake cell phone.
  • learns and sings all sorts of songs! He leads the nursery in singing every week (even when we visit other wards), and all look to Max to learn the words. His favorite songs are BY FAR "I am a Child of God" and "Little Einsteins."
  • loves to find and match letters everywhere he goes...on signs, shirts, books...anything!
  • talks with a unique "Max voice"... (people always tell us that they LOVE listening to Max talk. Not only is he FUN and CHARMING in personality, but his voice is so cute!
  • politely and with much emphasis says, "Gank you."
  • loves to put together puzzles. His favorites are 60-piece puzzles that he assembles often by him self. Once Geoff was working with him and said, "I found an edge piece!" Max quickly responded, "NO! that is a PER-I-Mi-TERRRRRRR piece!" He knows the parts!
  • Often tells us, "I LOVE YOU" like he really means it!
  • Exercises with mom in the morning. Max LOVES to come in with me and do my exercises...and actually really seems to enjoy it (where as other children seem to have absolutely NO interest).
  • loves Peter Pan, and loves being defiant and mischievous like him. He can imitate his personality and his stance to a T! He still loves to think happy thoughts and FLY into his crib for nap time!
  • loves to wear his red boots (slippers, but he insists they are boots).

Max's Birthday party

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!"

I asked what he wanted to have for breakfast, and with out hardly a moment to think about it, he replied, "Salmon, couscous, eggs, and grapenuts." Hmmm. So we ate a little bowl of Grapenuts, french toast and a grapefruit. I think he was happy with that serving, except when I asked him what he wanted for his birthday dinner, he said, "Nothing."

When ever we would say "HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAX," Max would respond, "You're Welcome!" What a guy.

For his party, we invited the Orchards over to join us. We love these guys. Our kids love each other, and Annie and Danny have been good friends!

We played some games: Try and get the popcorn into Daddy's mouth...


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!)

and a pencil holder. (I'm hoping he'll make me one for my birthday too!)
Then of course we had the cake... kind of. It wasn't really a cake, but something like a rice crispy treat. Can you guess what it is suppose to be? Good luck!Happy Birthday Max... We love you.

An afternoon at the Farm

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!

Friday, February 5, 2010

Meet Thomas!

Introducing the newest member of our little family... Thomas the Tractor! I think we are officially farmers now!

Humanitarian project

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.

Sleeping Beauty

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.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

A wolf in the family!

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!