Reinvention of the Wheel

With the start of homeschooling my kids I wanted them to get used to doing work around the house.  Before I had divided the chores by days for myself and did the work while the kids were at school, but then what ended up happening is that I was doing ALL the work.  With my kids being exhausted after 8 hrs of sitting in school, piano, sports, Boy and Girl Scouts...we just didn't have time to enforce any chore activities.  So the first thing I wanted to do this summer was get my kids used to doing chores.  I came up with 2 chores to do everyday; dishes and laundry, and then added 2 chores that would alternate; vacuum and kitty litter and then 1 chore that needs to be done only once a week; dusting, windows, bathroom, clean microwave and fridge, and wipe down floor boards.  (Once Charlotte gets old enough to be assigned a chore I'll have to modify it, until then she's my little helper.) 
I had seen these job wheels before, but I wasn't sure at first how to even make it fit all 4 of my kids. The versions I'd seen had the names on the outside and the same chores everyday that would just rotate through the names.  But because of my weekly chores, alternating chores and daily chores I found it harder to get it organized.  Finally I realized that I needed to put the names on the inside on a smaller wheel to go around instead of vice versa. 
I thought I was even pretty clever with the icons I drew on the wheel, this way even my little who can't read yet will know what their chore is, and they are really cute if I do say so myself. 
I have encountered an odd twist to the chores that I wasn't expecting...apparently all the kids prefer the kitty litter chore and will even bargain with one another so they can get it.  I know why they want to do it, it's because it's the fastest chore!  If it's not a kitty litter day they will try to trade and bargain to get what chore they want.  I had to put a stop to that because it was just leading to fights and me referee-ing WAY more than I wanted to.  The whole point to creating this wheel was that I wouldn't have to deal with the whining and bickering over chores.  But now that I have laid down the No Bargaining Law that put a stop to that.
I'd have to say that I'm loving this idea and I just get all giddy when the kids run to the wheel to see their chore just so they can do it and get it over with without any extra thought on my part.  Love it!

Hill Cumorah Pageant, Family Vaca Pt. 2

 So I know it isn't the next day, but I warned you.  I'm kind of just going with the flow of things right now and just post when I can...oh, who am I kidding, I post when I'm feeling it.  I'm finally feeling it, so here is the rest of our trip.

The Pageant was actually the main reason we even stayed with my cousin in Rochester, can you believe Niagara was just a bonus?!  That place was amazing!  But the Pageant was just as awesome, and the site seeing was really fun.  I was afraid that the kids wouldn't do well during the pageant, but they were so mesmerized by the pageant it was never an issue to get them to pay attention, which made it so much more enjoyable for me that I was able to actually watch the show!

Here is the stage right before the show.  The actors were walking around the crowds in costume, which was really neat.  What's even more amazing is that all the actors are volunteers!  The effects had the coolest 'WOW!' factor!  There was a boat that sailed through the ocean, a storm that ripped the sail, lightening, it was unbelievable. 

At the top of the Hill Cumorah.

The Palmyra Temple

 

 

Smith House and Barn

While we were site seeing the Smith property a few storms came through.  We thought it would just blow over and took refuge at the visitors center.  It slacked off a little, but that was just the beginning.  As we walked around the stormy clouds started blowing in with lightening striking very close.  My main goal was to walk through the Sacred Grove, but with the erratic storm we weren't sure we would be able to make it.  We walked down the path to the woods behind the property where a nice couple missionaries were sitting under a tent and told us that they are advising people that it isn't safe to go in at that moment.  No big, we just stood there with them chatting as we waited for the all clear.  Once another guide came over the walkie talkie that it was alright to go we headed in.  It was really neat being in there, the trees created this canopy over head so we couldn't even see the sky.  We couldn't see the sky but we saw the flashing of lightening and according on the thunder that followed it was close!  We picked up the pace and practically ran out of the grove, and just in time, when we got to the exit there were workers that were just coming through to evacuate the grove.  I was super sad that we couldn't spend more time walking around.  We'll just have to go back and make sure that we check the weather before heading out!

We also checked out the Printing Press where the first Book of Mormon was published.  They had the same original floors that the Smith's and Martin Harris would have walked on.

This is a first edition Book of Mormon they had on display.  It was a really nice family vacation and I was so happy that I could take my kids and enjoy history that way.

Niagara Falls, Family Vaca Pt. 1

A week ago we got to take a trip to upper state New York and stay with my 2nd cousin in Rochester.  The awesome thing about where she lives is she is only an hour from Niagara and maybe 30 minutes from Palmyra, which I will be featuring in my Pt. 2 of my Family Vaca hopefully tomorrow, but we'll just have to see how things go...

 There really is no words to describe this view!  I was completely overwhelmed by the vastness of the Falls.  I seriously thought we would drive an hour to get there, site see for a couple of hours and then drive an hour home....4 hours, tops!  But that did not happen, this was an ALL day affair, and so totally worth it!!

 View from the other side of Niagara, you can see Horseshoe Falls in the background, which I personally thought it was cooler looking than Niagara.  But when your comparing which is more awesome-er, there really is no loser here.

 Even the kids were in awe.  This railing took you right up to the waters edge right as it fell over the side.  In the background you can see a green pillar with a bridge that connects it to land, that's where we were standing when I took the previous photo.  It was an extremely windy day, so windy that as we walked across that tall observation deck, every time I picked up my foot to take a step the wind would blow my shoe so that I thought it would blow right off!  In fact, Tobie lost his glasses while we were up there (the screw needs to be tightened on one side, making them very loose on his face), but blew them right up against a bar which stopped them from flying off the edge! Talk about lucky!

 Kids posing...I know they don't look too enthusiastic, but seriously they were.  There is Canada in the background on this pic.  I kept singing "O, Canada!" while we walked around the place, unfortunately the title part of that song is the only part I know.  I'm sure I got some weird looks singing "O, Canada!" over and over as I walked around, but I just couldn't help myself!

 This is from the Cave of the Winds.  Super cool, and a must-do if you head up there.  You take this elevator to the bottom of Niagara, then you hike up these stairs you see behind us to the top deck called the Hurricane Deck, accurately named that because the gushing water falling down on you also packs quite the wind power and it actually feels like Hurricane force winds!  The kids loved it, even Charlotte didn't want to walk away.  And you see those ponchos...yeah...that's just for show.  I think the park has those to give you a false sense of security.  We got soaked!  I recommend wearing swimming suits.

 The other must-do thing is take the Maiden of the Mist boat ride.  These ponchos are a little more sturdier, but let's be honest, Poncho vs. Waterfall....Waterfall is going to win...every. single. time.

 The boat ride takes you right beside Niagara and actually into Horseshoe Falls.  Niagara has a lot of rocks at the bottom, so they can't get too close.  But Horseshoe has nothing at the bottom, they told a story on the boat of a 7 yr. old boy who fell in and went over the falls in nothing but his swim trunks and a life vest and he made completely unharmed!  It is that smooth...but while in there the water at the bottom looks like the water in a washing machine.  It's churning and spinning and you are constantly getting sprayed, which is why we don't have good pics of inside that one, all these pics were taken with our iPhone's and we do not have waterproof covers.

 There were rainbows EVERYWHERE!  There were even double rainbows!  So pretty!  This is right before heading into Horseshoe Falls.  See, no rocks at the bottom.

This is after the boat ride heading back to the dock.  Charlotte loved it, even though she looks like a drowned rat!  In fact all of my kids loved it, including the 2 BIG kids! Ha!  It was so much fun, much more fun than a water park even!  This place really is majestic!  Theo and I talk about going again, but then going on the Canada side.  I really hope we will some day, I need to learn the rest of that song for just in case! ;)

God's Grace is Enough

This is an excellent talk given by Brother Brad Wilcox...I can't even give you highlights because no joke, this whole thing is awesome.  I sincerely hope everyone who visits this blog will watch this short 30 minute clip.  You will not regret it!

Arrow of Light

 I truly am proud of my Tobie and this great accomplishment, he received his Arrow of Light.  It helps that he really enjoys Scouts and it's always an added bonus when you have your Dad as your Scout Master pushing you...ha!

 Here's the incredible good looking Scout Master pinning Tobie...heehee...;)

 And here is Tobie struggling to get my pin on.  I think I took over after a minute or two because I didn't want to get blood on my shirt.

Theo got the idea to build a "bridge" for the boys to walk over to represent their crossing over into Boy Scouts.  He had a boy represent from each of the levels of Cub Scout come up and place a rock on the floor.  After the Tiger, Wolf, Bear and Webelo placed their rock Theo put 2X4's down and had the boys walk across it with the Mother's helping along the way.

It was a nice ceremony, and ended it with eating the Arrow of Light cake. :)  Now Theo and Tobie have been getting ready all week for Scout camp next week.  Tobie will actually be having his birthday while he is at camp.  I don't know how I feel about that...but Theo assures me it is going to be so much fun Tobie won't have time to be homesick.  I hope he's right, Theo has so many fond memories of Scouts that it isn't hard to get him involved in all the activities with Tobie.  I'm a little jealous, but really, with 4 girls I have a LOT of Girls' Camps to look forward to!

A Month of Cake

  I haven't been blogging so much this past month because with all the end of the school stuff and then being just plain ole lazy because I didn't have to get the kids out the door every morning.  And I got to admit, it's been super nice!  But I wanted to share some of my cakes that have also been keeping me busy that I haven't posted them.  This first one is a Mythbusters cake that I did for a friend's son's birthday.  I really loved the logo part, if I do say so myself! ;)

I put caution tape and different types of warning signs around the cake.  I wanted to make the 7 stand up, but couldn't get it just right.  So I came up with the flames coming out of the back of it, which I think looks really awesome anyway.

This is from a Multi-Party that I hosted.  What's a Multi-Party you ask?  That's a great question!  I'm officially pinning this term for parties where you want to have several consultants of different products come and do a party.  Do you have a lot of friends that sell different things, Thirty-One, Scentsy, Pampered Chef....but can't conceive of having an individual party for all of them?  Well, just lump them all together and you have a Multi-Party!!!  Great idea, right?!  I had a Scentsy, Thirty-One, Barefoot Books and Paparazzi consultant come over and set up their stuff in my house AND I made a cake and cupcakes to promote myself!  It's a win-win!  They got the orders, I got the rewards and got to put my  name out there for potential cake buyers.  I also had some Choffy there and got some customers off of that.  Not too shabby!  I highly recommend doing this.

Here is the shot with the cupcakes.  The cake was vanilla with vanilla buttercream and the cupcakes where chocolate with my cookies and cream buttercream in the middle, topped with vanilla buttercream and crushed Oreos for garnish.

 Tobie achieved his Arrow of Light!  I'll have to do another post about the ceremony another time, but Theo asked me to make a cake with the Arrow of Light symbol on it.  I was actually pretty proud of myself for this one, because even though the concept seemed simple I had to get the measurements just right so it looked like the Arrow of Light pin.  I'm so proud of my Tobie, but more on that later since this post is about me.... ;)

For some reason Blogger isn't letting me separate these two pictures so I have to put the caption up here..any who....If you remember from my last post Miriam turned 8 this year, which in my house means BIRTHDAY PARTY!!!  We had it at a bowling alley, which was super cool, but only 3 friends from school were able to make it, not cool.  Still the cake was a big hit, and that's what matters, right? I'm just kidding!  She had a blast and with the fact that she has so many siblings she didn't even seemed phased that not that many kids from her class came.  But more on that later in a posted dedicated to her party...She wanted a My Little Pony cake.  I searched Pinterest and found several, but the one below this picture won the coin toss.  I really loved the clouds and flowers, but I had to "dumb it down" for me in regard to the sculptured ponies and huge sign on the top.  I figured the little figurines were the perfect size and I wasn't going to get anywhere near this so I took the short cut. Also it was special because Miriam got to help me with it.  I put her to work cutting out flowers and leaves and even drawing the vein down the middle of each leaf for more detail.  She did good,  I was proud of it, and was secretly happy that we brought home half of the bottom cake...MORE FOR ME!!  Hopefully I will start to get more orders and begin building on some clientele here.

So that's it for me and bragging about my cakes...now to pin them on Pinterest! Ha!

A Very Special Day

 When I found out I was pregnant with my first little girl I cried for joy.  8 years later and I still swell up with love and pride for this beautiful little girl and that I was blessed with her sweet spirit in my life.  From her inquisitive nature, to her desire to do her best, to her hilarious ability to let loose and make everyone around her laugh, she is definitely a choice daughter of God.

 Posing with Daddy right before the big dunk!

 Isn't that a cute jumpsuit she is wearing?  My good friend Lisa from Mobile came into town and brought it with her so Miriam could borrow it.  It was so pretty I really should consider buying one since I have 3 other girls that are going to be baptized!

 Miriam is the only girl in her Primary class, and her teacher only has boys, so she went all out and volunteered to do the decorating.  She works at a flower shop and does arranging herself so I just handed over the reigns on that one and she did a fabulous job!  I know I couldn't have gotten anywhere near how great she had it looking!

 She came up with all the table decorations.  They are super cute!  My contribution was the pictures on a wooden skewer, which is a step up to my previous idea...just putting pictures on the table.  Needless to say this is the far superior presentation!

 It was on a Saturday, so I was a little worried about a lot of people not being able to make it, but I think we had a fairly good turnout.

 The cultural hall.

 The one thing Miriam has been asking for since her last birthday is Root Beer floats at her next birthday.  So I got the idea to do a Root Beer float bar!  I had all kinds of different flavored Root Beers and people could try something new, stick with their favorite or combine flavors.  The choices were endless!  I thought I was doing so well when I was getting ready the night before. Me and my friend Lisa, (here in the picture) made up a check list to go by in the morning so we wouldn't forget anything.  I kept feeling like I was forgetting something, but when we got to the church I was getting ready to set out the ice cream and realized I forgot the ice cream!  You can't have floats without the ice cream, and I had 2 containers of 2 boxes of ice cream from Costco sitting in my freezer at home. *FAIL!*  Thankfully the missionaries volunteered to go get some ice cream real quick.  They were there and back before opening prayer and disaster was diverted!!

 Here is Miriam with her Primary teaching Sis. Jackson.  She's flower genius and an awesome teacher, Miriam loves being in her class.  Although I told her that she's going to have to do my other girls' baptism now that she has set the bar so high!

And I am so grateful to my friend Lisa who was able to come into town and help with all the preparations and helping me to keep my ducks in a row.  I know I forgot the ice cream, but without her help I would have forgotten so much more!  And as an added bonus she helped me make Pani Popo for the baptism which is heavenly coconut sweet bread, sooooo goooood!

It really was a beautiful service and it wasn't because of me.  I'm so blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life to help me out.  Moving around a lot I worry if I'll fit in or if my kids will feel loved, but the family we create within the church never ceases to amaze me everywhere we go.