I can hardly belive it...

...on the 18th my oldest son turned 7 years old! He had a wonderful day and even extended the celebration to the next day as we celebrated his birthday with a carnival party with his friends!

Click on the picture to make it larger

We had a wonderful time at Big D's Carnival! He greeted his friends at a ticket booth; they enjoyed playing 6 games where they collected tickets; got their faces painted; enjoyed snow cones, hot dogs, popcorn, cotton candy; filled their loot bags with lots of prizes at the prize table; and they all could take their picture as a muscle man! So much fun!

Things that I love about Big D:

- He lights up a room with his smile

- He is kind to his friends and family

- He's a dancing machine

- Math and Science come easily to him

- He loves to put things together

- He can't wait to be baptized next year

- He's very helpful at home

- He likes to try to cook

- He's very athletic

- He loves to play games

- He's a good swimmer

- and so much more.....

We love him so much and are so happy he is in our family! Love you Big D!

As strange as the man was....

...Michael Jackson was absolutely the King of Pop!

I was at Girl's Camp when I was told that Michael Jackson died! My first reaction was shock! Despite the scandals of the last few years, I was taken back to the 80's and the Thriller record! I would play that thing over and over and practice his amazing moves in my bedroom until late in the night! I would open the record cover and just stare at him in the white suit laying there with the tiger! I would watch MTV and wait for his music videos to come on (remember when they played music videos)! As his skin color changed and his nose got smaller, I still thought he was a legend - weird but still pretty amazing!

I wonder if people felt this way when Elvis Presley died? I was a newborn when he passed. He was an icon for his time, but wasn't such a great role model near the end of his life!

So as a way to acknowledge his dancing greatness and his music that brings back fond memories, I have uploaded many of my favorite MJ songs onto my music player! May you be taken back to the days when he looked like a fine young black man! TURN UP THE MUSIC and DANCE!!!!!

"Bare Wall" Summer Challenge

My good friends Jaimee and Valerie, over at ellemenopea, are challenging you to a "Bare Wall" contest! Read the info below (or on their blog) and be sure to check out their website: ellemenopea.com

Let eLLeMeNOPea help you dress up your walls this Summer!

Enter to win! Its our biggest giveaway ever!!

Do you have a bare wall in your home that's glaring at you? Do you have a wall you just want to re-do? eLLeMeNOPea can help, and now's the time - during our 2009 "Bare Wall" SUMMER CHALLENGE. We want to work with you on taking on this challenge.

With small changes to your decor, you can alter the mood of a room and turn a plain wall into a stylish expression of you. Create the space you want without spending a lot of money! That's right, with a few design tips from eLLeMeNOPea, you can transform any room with ease.

CONTEST DETAILS

Contest will run from June 1, 2009 - August 31, 2009.

To enter, send an email to info@ellemenopea.com letting us know that you are entering the contest and if you need any design tips/ideas from us. Please include your contact information.

All entrants will receive a voucher code for 25% off of any online purchases used for their contest entry.

When your entry wall is complete, please email us a photo of your new wall. Photos will be showcased on our blog and on Facebook. Once the contest closes, America will vote for the winner! To cast your vote, visit Facebook or our blog and leave a comment. Tell all your family and friends to vote too!

Voting will take place from Sept. 1, 2009 - Sept. 7, 2009. Winners will be announced on Facebook and on our blog on Sept. 8, 2009. They will also be notified by email.

Grand Prize: 36" custom wall clock - a $120 value!
Second Place: $50 online voucher for eLLeMeNOPea product!

Check our blog often for design tips and tricks, and updates of before and after photos of our own. We want to keep this summer challenge sizzlin'! If you have a blog and would like to share this contest with your readers, please, share the love!! We'd love to send you any pictures or information to post on your blog.

Valarie and I are both choosing a wall in our house to do too. We are going to blog about our progress and work through the design process with you so you can see how fun and easy it is! Don't worry, our walls won't count in the contest! But, we thought it would be fun to do a project of our own along with you. Hopefully it will help motivate you to working on that decorating project you've been wanting to do!

This just makes my life a little easier

Can I share with you something that makes my life just a little bit easier...........

Quilted Washable Underpads (not what you were expecting was it)!

Carson has almost mastered sleeping through the night without any accidents (about 4 months ago he decided he was done wearing diapers) and I tell you these underpads have been a life saver! Instead of having to change the sheets everynight or morning, I simply take off the pad (which is placed on the top of the sheets) and then place a new one on in its place. Then I can wash the soiled one and reuse it the next day. I would highly recommend using them and would even recommend that you get the ones that are tuckable (they have long sides that can tuck under a mattress). This would prevent the pad from moving while the child tosses and turns through the night. I love things that make my job easier!

What is something that makes your life easier?

UPDATE: Jennie asked where did I get the underpads, a family member actually gave them to me, but look for places that sale assisted living or home care products. There are several websites that sell them like: http://www.northshorecare.com and http://www.assistedlivingstore.com .

FHE - Follow In His Footsteps

FHE - Follow In His Footsteps

This is a fun lesson but requires a bit of preparation.

We made our footprint paths about 4 years ago, but we have saved them so that we could reuse them and we have many times! I took several long sheets of butcher paper and laid them on the ground outside (on top of a tarp). I them painted my little one's feet with black paint and had him take a few steps and then I lifted him off and then reapplied more paint to his footsteps and put him back on the paper for him to make more footprints. I even made a few sheets with my own footprints. Let it dry completely and then use or roll up to save for a special lesson.

Setup:

1. Tape down your pathway making one straight and another one that branches off to the side.

2. Place a picture of Jesus at the end of the straight pathway. Place a picture of the world at the end of the crooked pathway (you could also use a tall lego building if you are talking about Lehi's dream).

3. Collect a handful of objects that will help you stay on the straight pathway (scriptures, hymn book, church magazines, a picture of the prophet, church shoes, a picture of your family, a picture of the temple, etc....). Collect a handful of objects that can lead us off the path leading to Jesus (like a remote control, an mp3 player, video game controler, a music cd, some computer gadget, a ball of some sort, etc...). Place the objects in a basket.

4. Obtain the story "Strength to Follow the Lord" from the June 2009 Friend magazine, pg. 8-9. (I will add the link to the article once it is added to lds.org)

Lesson:

Opening Song - "I Will Follow God's Plan" Children's Songbook, #164

Opening Prayer - family choice

Scripture: 2 Nephi 31:12 "...wherefore, follow me, and do the things which ye have seen me do."

Story - read the story mentioned above

Activity:

Have a family member stand at the beginning of the pathway (we will call that person the "walker" for ease of explaination). Have another family member choose an item (the "chooser"), from the basket, that would help the other person get closer to Jesus and have them put it on the straight pathway (just a few steps infront of the family member that is at the beginning of the pathway). After the item has been placed, have the "walker" take a few steps to stand next to the item that was placed. Discuss as a family how that item will help us follow Jesus.

Have the "chooser" pick another item from the basket that will help us follow Jesus and have them place it on the pathway just a few steps past the last item (this should be before the fork in the road). Have the walker move up to that item and again discuss how that item will help us follow Jesus.

Next have the "chooser" pick two items from the basket, one that will help us follow Jesus and one that could pull us towards the things of the world. Have the "chooser" place them at the fork in the path with the objects on the correct sides (the worldly object towards the path leading to the world and the spiritual object that will lead to Jesus).

Have the "walker" decide which pathway they want to follow. Once they have choosen discuss the two objects and how they will lead us down the path that they are on. (NOTE: If your family member should choose the item that leads to the world, don't deter them. Have them follow it for a few more objects and then you can teach them that through the gift of the atonement we can repent and then choose to do good and get back on the path that leads to Jesus).

Keep doing this until all the objects have been taken out of the basket. We were sure to teach our children that there are many things of the world that are good (good music that isn't church related, good tv shows, sports that help us physically etc....) but that too much can pull us from the better things that will lead us to our Savior and our Father in Heaven.

We used the example of baseball. That playing baseball is a good thing (you learn to play with others, grow physically, etc...) but the things that could pull us towards the world like bad sportsmanship, bad language, playing on the Sabbath, etc.... have to be avoided.

Bear your testimony of how following in the Savior's footsteps will lead us to great joy and happiness.

Closing Song: family choice

Closing Prayer: family choice

Refreshments: Build your own Sundae (it's all about the choices). Yummmm!!!!

Sprinkler fun

Oh the joys of youth... this is just a teaser for our summer days ahead!

We CAN'T wait for summer break! Yahooooooo!!!!! Surprise Friday's, movie Tuesday's, summer camps, lego building, tan little bodies, swimming, flip flops, bbq's, etc.... I am getting so excited, just a few more days!

Take Me Out To The Ballgame

Peanut #1's last game was on Saturday and we enjoyed this level of Little League Baseball so much more than t-ball. Big D did real well and was able to continue to develop his baseball skills and love for the game! His favorite position to play was pitcher!

The windup!

The throw

This picture looks real awkward, like his arm is broken or something! He threw with power and hit the strike zone pretty well!