Weekend at Lou's

How pathetic a blogger I've become! Only one picture to show for a great trip to Twin Falls. Noah and I met LeiLani and MaKenna at Laura Olsen's home in Twin Falls. Laura is due to have baby #7 anytime, so Lani and I spent the day cleaning, rearranging, rubbing, scrubbing, cooking, etc.

Laura is such a special friend of our family, and I was absolutely giddy with excitement to be able to spend and entire day and night at her home with LeiLani! How fun it was to all be together.

The picture is Noah with Laura's daughter Eliza.

Pinewood Derby

Tonight was the much anticipated PINEWOOD DERBY! What an event! It was a blast to watch all the boys so anxious to see the cars race. It really was very exciting! I don't think I've ever seen Justin have so much fun....especially since he won his first 6 races...and 3rd overall.
My favorite part (in the 2nd video below) was near the end of the races, and Justin's car came up on the line, and all the cub scouts started chanting, "Go Justin! Go Justin! Go Justin!" It was so cute.

LDS.org

My boys love to go onto LDS.org (the friend). It's a great Sunday activity. Max especially loves the site.

The LDS Friend

Justin loves the LDS Friend. He usually reads it cover to cover when it comes, and throughout the month he will do the activities. I am often saying, "That is really cool. What made you think to do that?" And quite often, his ideas come from the friend. I love the church magazines!

I came upstairs to find this great masterpiece of the temple, and then saw the picture of the Friend lying next to it. Cute.

Love at home.

Relief Society Celebration

This Thursday we had our Relief Society Celebration which centered around the Humanitarian Project we've been working on all quarter. The theme was REJOICE EVERMORE...and we did. It was really a neat evening.

I introduced the theme by sharing the account in Mosiah where all the people are gathering to hear King Benjamin's last address. As recorded, they are filled with gratitude for having been brought out of Jerusalem, for having been delivered from their enemies, and for having been SO blessed with righteous leaders who had taught them gospel truths. They were filled with joy and REJOICED in the Lord. As part of their rejoicing they offered sacrifices and burnt offerings.
I shared how I thought that here we have displayed our modern day offerings. Truly, we are able to rejoice in the Lord as we sacrifice our time and talents and serve our fellowmen.
We had a goal to sew 50 dresses, 50 boy outfits, 100 blankets, hats & booties, and we far exceeded all of our goals. It was absolutely miraculous to me how it all came together. What a statement of sacrifice and love from the sisters in our ward and stake.
Each dress and little outfit was so beautiful. The sister (Amber) who will take these to the hospital was so overwhelmed. It is a such a beautiful gift to give our community!

Science Scout

Justin is working on his science belt loop and pin, and so we've been doing some extra science activities. Here he made an atom and molecule models. I love to see how he is able to reproduce what he sees on paper. I had been thinking how I might suggest how to make this, and when the time came, Justin already had his plan and went to work. Of course, his idea was MUCH better than mine!

All in a days work

Kite Flight...or not

Last week we made kites, and took them out this morning for flight. We didn't get much flight out of them, but learned a bit about how NOT to make a kite. We're making adjustments and will try again next week! My little engineers!

The picnic food was a success!

From Justin's Sunday School Teacher

Justin's Sunday School teacher sent us this message...

So there we are in class learning about Abraham and Lot and I said to the class,

Teacher: "OK, nice scripture and all, but what does this mean? How can we apply what Abraham did to what you guys do everyday? Justin, let's say you're at school with your friend. Oh wait...you're home schooled right?"

Justin: "Yes, I am home schooled and no one comes to class."

Teacher: (I had to hold it in...Then I said) "OK, let's pretend you and Max are sharing a cookie...Oh wait..."

And at that point I had realized I picked the wrong kid in class to use as an example..."

Top Secret work

Pinewood Derby is a lot of work (and a lot of mess). Justin has been working hard, and although it's been excited for him to create and build his car, I will be happy to have my kitchen counter back again.... HA! Until the next project at least.

Pinewood Derby is this Friday.....oh boy! Am I the only one feeling nervous?

Finger stamps....

I mean face prints.

Science Wednesday

Today we had a special field trip Science day. We began our adventure with Annie Orchard and her two children Jay and Mia and drove to the Idaho Discovery Center.

We attended the "Young Discoverers" class and learned about the art of puppet making. You can see Max sitting next to "his special friend" Mia.

Then we made some puppets of our own.

Meet Mr. Owl. Maxed talked through Mr. Owl for a good part of the morning. Kids just love puppets...so this was a good start for our little guys!
Then we took a walk through Julia Davis Park (BEAUTIFUL), and spent a couple of hours at the Boise Zoo.

No, Justin didn't drive us there...but he sure can't wait for that experience!

Noah LOVES Annie!

Panda Bear
Lizzard that looks like a snake. Max was the only one brave enough to touch it.

I've really wanted a "Sit-N-Stand" stroller (A double that holds a baby, and a place for a toddler to sit). I discovered a way to transform my single stroller into a double...and didn't spend a dime! (Do you love me Geoff?) Max loved the ride!...

...and so did Noah. He was an angel the entire day!

Bald Eagles were amazing!
The Major attraction... a double headed turtle.

Then we headed BACK to the Discovery Center for SO MUCH Fun!

This was DISCOVERY NEWS STATION. The camera was set to negate anything in green. You can see in the green room was was actually happening on the screen. LOADs of fun!

Table games.

Homograph

Block arch build.

Grocery Shopping.

This was Max's favorite place-- A Grocery Store for kids. We shopped here for a good hour! Max was very thorough. He bought most of the fruits and vegetables, chocolate (red meat piece), potatoes (chicken legs), but NO crabs. He even bought mayonnaise for his artichokes. Kids love to imitate grown up activities. It's so funny to see their impressions of our activities.

All the kids LOVED the CHAIR LIFT.

This is my favorite picture.

How did we ever fit a baby in there?

The entire day was absolutely gorgeous. It felt so good to spend so much time outdoors. We spends a lot of time with Orchards...but this was an extra special day together. Can't imagine how we'll get along with out them!!!

Max's Push-ups

Max loves doing exercises with me. His version of push-ups is my absolute favorite. He's so funny. I love his comment at the end of his push-up interval, "that was a lot harder than I thought!" Then of course he bounds right up as though he were a leapy frog!

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?

HIGH Ho HIGH Ho....

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

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!