A Fun Weekend

The end of September brought us cooler weather, less humidity, and a fun weekend. The boys went with Justin to the Father and Son camp out, while I took the girls for a Super September Sleepover. This is how the kids viewed their weekend.

Sleepover night
I had a sleep over party when the boys were GONE. The theme was S. Invited Belle,Livvie,Kirsten,Amanda,Britt,Elana,Karly,Hanna,and Kendra.
We danced and played a game called Mafia. Then we made stuffed pizza.
While our tummies were rumbling and the pizza's were cooking we played sticker tag. I was on the midnight dragon team we were against the Edwards we called them the Edwardian's. I only got 4 stickers. Then we ate skittles, starbursts and our stuffed pizza. We drank root bear and Sprite. After that we cooked marshmallows for S'mores and danced til we were tired out. Then we watched labyrinth. Then we all tried to sleep but Karly got sick.(because of too much candy.)In the morning we ate snake cakes. We played with scratch cards and we played with silly string, had a spa, and then they left.




Camp out
I went on a father and son camp out. When we got there we set the tent up first thing. Then we got the blow up mattresses and blew them up. I played with my friends. We took wood to the fire pit then they started the fire using matches and dried up baby wipes. The fire was huge. More and more people came. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. We went hiking and saw a jack rabbit. We saw a cave and a 6 foot deep pit. We went in the cave . We followed the trail and found a 60 foot deep ditch. There were 3 ditches. We kept following the trail and ended up at the camp. My dad told a story with a light up stick. Then we played with the light up sticks. We played hide and go seek tag. It was fun. We went to bed. In the morning we had egg sausage burritos. Then we went on a treasure hunt to find flags. Each flag had a word on it. All the words would make a sentence that would let you have an electrical toothbrush. I loved camping with my dad and I can't wait to go again.--written by E

I had a fun time camping. I went around yelling Mama, mama when it got closer to bed time. Before that I had lots of fun throwing dirt on the fire, it became more fun when others would tell me to stop but I didn't. My fingernails had so much dirt under them, it took mom a long time to wash it out. Dad was really brave to take me and I'm glad he did. (written for I, from reports of other campers)

Some old writings

Some time ago A and E wrote the following, which I just found while cleaning up. We are in the process of getting our food storage and emergency preparedness plan put together. It has involved sorting through items we haven't unpacked since moving into our new home. Although it is a long process of deciding what to keep and where to put it, I am enjoying the feeling of being organized. Even if it only last for a few days. The kids love opening up the closet under the stairs and seeing our food storage. We won't be able to fit a years worth under there but we definitely can get 3-5 months worth, more if we only eat rice for every meal.

I have a camera. It is silver. It is about 1 inch high by 1 inch wide and 2 inches long. On the front is says: Fujifilm digital camera finepix A120.
On December 18th I took it with me to England and back. I took 117 pictures (which by the way is the most it can hold). Oh, and it is battery operated. Today I finally downloaded all 117 pictures.
The pictures I took were about birds, my cousins (Rachel, Emily, Hannah, and Lizzy) and other sites. I love my camera so much.
---written by A

Scout Camp
My favorite thing to do is archery at scout camp. We got to go four times in all. The first time I shot the arrow, I got two bulls eyes. Then the second time I did it I got two more bulls eyes. The third time I shot I got four bulls eyes and the fourth time I got five bulls eyes.
Behind the archery area there were bb guns. They were cool except that mine wasn't working. We also played water wars. It was where you would throw sponges at each other and you are behind a big piece of wood in the shape of a ship. The other team cheated. They walked right up to our ship and threw sponges at us. This was my first time to go to camp and I wish I could go again.
----written by E

How many spelling words can you use in a story about a dolphin?

Flipper the dolphin was in school. She was learning the alphabet for the first time. But her mind wasn't on that. It was on Macy. She was a big bully and she was as tough as an elephant. She promised Flipper that she would squeeze her like a marshmallow. The bell rang. School was out. Flipper swam as fast as she could. Bam! Too Late. Macy and her bud's were waiting at the door. "Come Flipper dipper," said Macy, "We got business." Flipper knew for sure she was dead meat. Suddenly a fishhook landed next to Macy. "Ahhh", screamed everyone. Macy and her buds took off. Flipper splashed once and headed home for some sugar shrimp and some television. The End.----written by A (10 words)

Once upon a time there lived a dolphin. The dolphin was swimming. A school of trout dashed by. The dolphin saw something gray way out there. The dolphin swam closer. The gray thing was swimming closer and closer until it was so close the dolphin saw that it was a shark. The dolphin sway away as fast as it could. She was out of breath. The dolphin said to itself, "I'm sure I lost it." The next day the dolphin forgot all about the shark. The dolphin was eating clams as white as a marshmallow and sea weed as sweet as sugar. A whale swam over: it was as big as an elephant. The dolphin was splashed by the waves. The dolphin was swimming along and the shark sneaked up behind the dolphin. The shark said, "over here!" The dolphin turned around and the shark killed her. The End ----written by a boy, E (6 words)

When are you grouchy?

Here is a story about me being grouchy. We were riding in the car when I asked my mom if I could have a dog. She said, "wait." For weeks I kept asking and then I asked again. We had a little talk about bugging people and she said, "no to getting a dog right now." I was mad and grouchy. I walked slowly and talked quietly. Soon my mom said, "go to your room." I left and played nintendo. After a while I cooled off. I said to myself, "that is so silly to be grouchy!" I got up and left my room. ---written by A

One day I went to my friends house for a sleepover. We ate pizza and drank root beer. We swam in his pool. After swimming we came inside and watched batman and played video games. We also played on the computer. We also stayed up all night long. When it was morning we were all lazy, tired, and grouchy. -----written by E

When do I get grouchy? My grouchiness revolves around sleep. I get grouchy when I am awakened earlier than I want. Having a good nap interrupted can make me grouchy. The worst is when I don't get enough sleep the night before. It is during those times that the smallest, most insignificant things can set me off, such as: toilets not being flushed, cupboard doors being left open and having to repeat myself over again. Unfortunately it is my wonderful children who suffer since they are with me most of the time. (they don't seem so wonderful when I'm grouchy though) I realize this is a problem I have and has nothing to do with my children. Through the years I've trained my body to stay up late at night and sleep in. I've even been able to train my children to do the same. Not really something to brag about. I've realized that it is a bad habit and nothing good comes of it. I would accomplish so much more if I woke before the children in the morning. Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise and not grouchy. I want to be that healthy, wealthy and wise person. I look forward to any ideas or suggestions of how I can make myself a morning person and keep the grouchiness away.

Happy Birthday Dad!

This week we celebrated Justin's birthday. He is such a wonderful husband that I wish his birthday was just as wonderful. Instead of being spoiled with breakfast in bed, he had to awake at 6:00 a.m. for a church meeting and spent the rest of the day feeling sick. It was the most uneventful birthday for him in our thirteen years of being married. I wish it had been better.
I certainly am glad for the woman who gave birth to him. Taught him to put God first. Thankful for her and my parents who allowed me to marry him. He makes life so fun. I tend to get too serious and I love how he can make me laugh at life and myself. He is the best father a kid could want, but an even better husband. I love him so much and hope he has a lot more birthdays better than this one.

Here are some comments from A and E.

My Dad is the best. Do you want to know why? It's because he plays with me. He bikes with me. He helps me and he cares for me. He loves me. Now you can see why he is the best and why I love him. One Christmas he made stilts for us. The next Christmas he gave us Nintendo DS's. For me and my sister's birthday we got a trampoline. Now we live in a home that is two stories high and has a pool in the back yard. He takes good care of us, he works as a dentist. My dad is the funniest person and I love him. ----written by E

My dad is the best!!!!. He plays computer games with me, cards, and board games. He also just plays with me. He also cares for me, he helps me with my work, teaches me, and many other things. He has black hair. (I like black hair, by the way) He has blue eyes. His favorite color is blue. He likes cows and hates ducks. (Give him ducks for Christmas and his birthday) And he likes to hang out with us. I love my Dad.---Bye---written by A

Should I?

Hi, again. It's me, A. Do you want to know what I want? Good.
Well I want a Dog! Yes, a dog. I have waited and waited. I cleaned
up all of Cali's Doo Doo for a week. She is my grandma's dog. I will
clean up my dog's doo doo as well. I even will love it, care for it, and
play with it. I will pay for the brush, dog bowls, and toys, and the leash.
Maybe, I'll even help pay for dog food. I've been wanting a dog forever.
My dad got permission to get an I-phone, so I want permission to get a
dog. Please tell me if you think I should be able to get one. Please say yes.

Baby Dreams?

Last night I awoke to hear Oriah laughing in her sleep. I didn't think it was possible for a 2 month old. I would have thought that I was dreaming but when Justin got up; he mentioned that her laughing woke him. My question is: was she talking to the angels in heaven or was she having a great dream? Anybody else experience this? Is this an early sign that she'll talk in her sleep? Her laugh is beautiful and was a great thing to awaken to. We are so thankful to have her in our family.
written by mom of A,E,I,andO.