Game Night

Decided to play a few games tonight. Something we don't do often enough. 

We played "Cut the Flour" or "Flour Power" or "Tower of Flour."

Mom lost and had to find the coin. Jonah and Finn also decided to try this part, also. That's where the fun comes in!

Too bad Grace has been sick all day. She stayed on the kitchen floor all afternoon and evening.

The second game was the chocolate bar game. Whoever rolls doubles gets to put on oven mitts and use a fork and knife to cut a piece of chocolate from a bar and eat it. But players continue rolling, and might steal the mitts and silverware before you get a chance to take a bite! This one was much more intense! Jonah had to be reminded to take a breath, it's just a game. Finn was near tears a few times before he figured out the rhythm of the game. He soon learned it's all part of the fun. At the end he said, "This is way more fun than just eating a whole candy bar!"

F-I-N-N-E-A-S

Finn is my little buddy, the only one home with me during the day. He goes to preschool M, W, F, for a few hours. The rest of the time is just the two of us! We do letter activities (the ones involving active play work the best), run errands (which he likes because he gets a granola bar and gets to play on my phone), and play legos. That's about all we do. Finn is obsessed with legos.

I took Finn to Walgreens one day. He saw the toy section, and Legos. He said: I would buy theses Legos if I were you.

I replied: When you are old enough to have a job and earn money, you can buy whatever you want.

Finn: Yes, I'd be a grown up and can buy what I want. I'll be a good dad who likes to play Legos.

Later... Mom, when I'm a grown up, will you be dead?

Me: No, I'll be a grandma.

Finn: Oh, ok. So when I'm a grown up and you're a grandma, and you come over to my house, will you show me the way to that store so I can buy the Legos? Cause I might forget.

Later... Wait, when I'm a grown up and a dad, will I work? Like a doctor or something?

Me: Yes, you can choose whatever work you want.

Finn: But I don't want to work. I just want go to stores and buy whatever I want.

Another time Finn asked me to make a list of things he wants to do, so he doesn't forget. And remind him of these things if he's sitting on the couch doing nothing:

• Make a good guy electricity man.
• Make a Shoot through the wall gun.
• Buy a new set of Legos.
• Try to get Jonah to play the Lego guy war.

Valentine's Day 2015

Kids had fun this week signing valentines and decorating boxes. Jonah's box had a chute attached to it. The little girls planned to wear pink or red clothes all week. Finn had to work hard at writing his name on all his valentine's, but he stuck with it until he was done.

Kids celebrated Valentine's Day on Friday at school. After school we loaded into the van. Arne met us halfway and took the kids to his house for the weekend. Ezra had set this up as part of a surprise Valentine weekend. He took me to Brush and Barrel, a group painting session. Matt and Courtney Kidwell joined us, as well as Katherine and Mike Reed. We were given brushes, paints, canvases, and step by step instruction on how to paint a mountain scene. I would never have guessed Ezra would plan a date like this! We had fun.

Snow Days

Snowed all night and all day Sunday. Church was cancelled. Kids spent a few hours working with Perler Beads. They made ice cream out of snow. The girls dressed up and had a tea party. They watched "Legacy." I pulled pages from the Friend magazine to create Sunday booklets and activity dry erase pages. 

School was cancelled the following Monday due to frigid temperatures and bad roads. Annabelle learned how to make snow candy by boiling maple syrup and pouring it over snow. Success! Kids played outside also. Jonah, Grace and Finn made a large snow fort.

Making Perler Bead designs

Making snow candy. Yum!

Family History with Grandma Susan

We made a day trip to Ames. We had asked that Grandma Susan teach us how to do Family History. The RS has focused on Family History recently, and Annabelle's youth group is focusing on bringing your own names to the temple, and Jonah will join the youth in less than a year. So I decided we need to jump in and learn. Grandma Susan spent the day teaching the three of us. First we worked online with Family Search. Jonah found a name right away that we can do temple work for. We downloaded the app, too. She also talked to us about BillionGraves.com. Annabelle put the app on her phone, and we all drove to some nearby cemeteries for her to take pics of headstones. Arne and Jonah were also taking pictures, and Olivia asked if she could, too. So I let her use my phone, even though I don't have the app. I ended up with about 50 pictures of headstones on my phone. I just thought it was cute that she wanted to be involved, too. This is one of the kids' favorite headstones. Olivia took the picture.

Great day with grandparents, learning how to do Family History! Annabelle spent the whole ride home transcribing the info from the gravestone pics. She has a good value project going! She has caught the Family History bug!