Easter FHE

Star gave us a wonderful lesson for family home evening this week. She taught us that Easter is not just about candy but that we need to remember Jesus and the resurrection. She taught us that we are like baskets and we can fill ourselves up with important things or not important things. Which will we do this Easter week? We were challenged to choose things this week to fill our baskets that will strengthen our testimonies. After our lesson I had an activity for the kids. We went around the neighborhood to find things that we could put in our basket that would remind us of Jesus, His sacrifice for us and the Resurrection. I had scriptures that I read and the kids had to find things that those scriptures talked about.

The kids found a thorny stick that symbolized the crown of thorns, they put 2 sticks together for a cross, a rock for the rock in front of the tomb and a stick that looked dead on one side and then had blossoms on the other that reminded us of the Resurrection.

We were surprised to find when we got home from our walk that we had Been Egged. All around our front yard were plastic eggs filled with goodies. The kids thought that was so cool that we decided to do the same thing for one of our neigbors.

not sure what Ean was thinking but he insisted on this pose :)


Thanks Dave, Trish, Gavin & Gabe! We are so blessed to have you so close and for all you do for us. That was such a fun thing!

EMP Attack #2

To answer a few of the comments...
Yes, I know I cheated and used my digital camera but I wanted to document it so we could remember later! SHH, don't tell anyone :)!

An EMP stands for Electromagnetic Pulse. I don't know everything about it, but if a nuclear bomb is set off in high in the air the particles float down and will wipe out all electricity, anything with magnetic chips or computerized and batteries I believe. Any car made after the 1970's would no longer work, cel phones, ipods etc. wouldn't work either, and because all of our running water is pumped electronically we wouldn't have water either (the cities generators would kick on for a while). We don't know that the water would not be contaminated anyway. This sounds unreal but in fact it is very real (you can look it up online) and the scary thing is every country with nuclear weapons knows about it. It would completely devastate our country or others without doing any actual physical damage. They have stuff about it all the time on the military channel, if your bored :)!

EMP Attack!

Braeden came home from school last week with a simulation paper that said we had just had an EMP attack and we were now without running water and electricity for the next 48 hours. We had known that this simulation would be coming up (just not sure exactly when) so we had prepared as best we could, not really knowing what we would end up needing. Needless to say most of us, the older ones, learned quite a bit over the course of those 2 days. For the little ones it was just like camping in our house. We all figured out quickly that everything in your day pretty much needs to be done before the sun goes down if you don't have the luxury of turning on a light. Candles don't light up a room like in the movies :). Dinner, cleaning, pajamas, teeth brushed are all easier with a little light. We were able to use flashlights which the kids thought was great fun. Braeden had made up a list of how much water (2 gallons per person per day) we needed and what we could have for meals and then we had gone to get all of it just in the nick of time, 3 days before it happened. Nothing like waiting til the last minute :). We weren't supposed to go the gas station either (pumps are ran by electricity) so I was glad I had a half tank. I hadn't thought of that. We did use our camp stove to boil water and cook on. We also used the barbeque to grill hot dogs I had taken out of the freezer that morning before I knew we were about to be attacked. We were supposed to refrain from eating out of our refrigerator if we could although technically if this was to happen, that is the food you would want to use first before it spoiled. The hardest things to give up were running water (I'm sorry but it is gross to brush your teeth in a cup and very hard to clean anything) and cel phones. I only add cel phones because it was hard to go all day without calling or texting Scott. We communicate several times a day so that was hard. We did "cheat" a few times with the phone, Bells called and so did Trish and I had to coordinate driving with another mom one day. Overall I think we kept to the rules and really gave it a try. We all actually enjoyed the lack of electricity and appreciated being together in the evenings and aving nothing else to do but read by candlelight or go to bed. One night we did let the kids stay up and play hide-n-go seek in the dark with flashlights.

Some Things We Learned:
*You can not be too prepared
*We don't have near enough water stored
*Having water jugs all over is too tempting for a 3 yr. old
*Don't use too much soap when washing laundry by hand
*It's nice to have friends nearby (I had somehow forgotten bread and mentioned it to 2 people, we had plenty of food and were not lacking but we had 2 loaves of bread by the end of the day. One of our friends who knew we were doing this also brought us brownies one night since we couldn't bake our own :)!)
*EVERYTHING takes longer
*Hard to keep a house clean (no vacumming or mopping, takes too much water to clean bathrooms)
*You can get a lot more reading done without computers, music or TV
*There was a reason they only had 1 or 2 things to wear (it would be hard to wash more than 49 outfits a week)
*3 yr. olds like to sing happy birthday & blow candles out even if it isn't anyone's birthday!

Things We Need:
water purification stuff, gas, propane, survival books, candlestick holders (although Scott was pretty creative and made some), a fire pit & wood, a smaller house (easier to heat), more food storage, guns & ammo (we have no way of providing meat), books on local plants to use for food and medicine.....we are still adding to this list

We are actually really glad we did this simulation. It wasn't as bad as we thought and really there is no other way to learn what you may or may not need.



One of the days was our laundry day and I knew that there was just no way we could do it all but Ean didn't have any clean underwear or socks and we needed some towels, wash cloths etc. and I did want to show the kids that laundry can be done by hand so we did a small load.

This is how we spent our evenings. The flash of the camera makes it look light but wasn't. I read a chapter of our book each night and the kids colored on the floor. It took a while to get my eyes used to reading by candlelight. I'm not sure I could do it for a really long time.

The second night we decided to have a treat, popcorn! Although our stove doesn't cook real evenly it was yummy! (you can see Ean getting ready to blow out the candle)

5 Senses

I have read a few things lately that has made me think about how I use my senses or if I rely solely on my sight and the other day I saw this book at the library. I decided to get it and try a little experiment with the kids. So I had the kids close their eyes as I read it and feel the textures on the pages to see if they could guess what it was. They didn't really like it and said it was hard to imagine and feel with their eyes closed. Afterwards they wrote their names using the Braille alphabet and each chose a color, closed their eyes, pictured it in their mind and then wrote about what they saw. I realize how much we rely on sight for everything and I worry that because of this our other senses are not being used to their fullest. Tuesday at mom school we discussed the chapter in "The Charlotte Mason Companion" summer senses. In it Karen Andreola lists several ways to perk up all five of our senses. I'd like to try each of them with the kids over the next little while and see if it will make a difference in our everyday life. The kids aren't going to mind me experimenting on them are they :)!
Oh, the other book I read that made me first start to think of this is the autobiography of Jacques Lusseyran called "And There Was Light". I highly recommend it!

A Piece of Spring

The other day while I was in the shower Dylan come in to my bathroom and yells, "Mom, look on your counter when you get out, there's a present for you". A few minutes later I hear Cate, "Mom I got you something too" and start to giggle (she has the cutest giggle, you can't help but smile everytime you hear it!). Well I knew they had been outside and I began to worry t hat they brought in bugs or a lizard, something that might be trying to get out of a bucket :). So I hurried and got out and went over to look. They had given me a little piece of Spring. They must have picked off the blossoms from the trees and they had them very neatly tucked in dirt in their buckets. Those little rascals can be so sweet :)!

Spring Hike

We had a great time with Dave, Trish, Gavin & Gabe yesterday. Even though we weren't able to go on the hike we planned we comprimised and found a nice trail with lava rock and beautiful scenery all around us. The kids had fun climbing on the rocks, finding sticks and exploring. We didn't realize how far we had walked until we headed back of course. The little boys were begging for rides but they made it. It was nice to visit with family, we are so blessed to have them so close!

Popcorn Popping!

It is SPRING! and popcorn is popping all around us. Everywhere we go Ean is yelling "Mom look there's more popcorn, mom there's popcorn over there" or singing "Popcorn Popping On The Apricot Tree". We are all thrilled with the sunshine and warmth and we are loving being outside more. We hope it stays for a while.

This is the plum tree in our front yard, isn't it beautiful!

Gavin's Birthday

We were able to watch Gavin & Gabe for a few hours on Gavin's birthday. I wanted to do something fun for him so thought I would take all the kids to lunch. He wanted to go to McDonalds, of course! The kids had a great time and I was so glad we were able to spend a few hours with the cousins.

I was also able to get these cute pictures of Dylan & Gavin.

Super Static!

The other day Ean asked me to go jump on the tramp with him and I just couldn't refuse him any longer. I'm so glad I didn't because we had so much fun together, just the 2 of us. We played all kinds of games, wrestled and played with our teddy graham snacks (he would hold one up and say "hi friend" then we'd bite off a leg, arm or head and say "hey friend I don't have any more legs" he thought that was sooo funny!) His hair was hilarious and I had to run in and grab the camera for these priceless shots. Thanks Ean, I had tons of fun with you!

Discovery of Flight

For Knights Club this month we read a book about the Wright Brothers and their first flight. We didn't have access to this private jet but we did have acess to a helicopter so we took the boys over to the airport and we all got a helicopter ride. It was soooo cool! I have never rode in one and neither had any of the boys except one (his grandpa was our pilot, Mr. Losee). Three of us could go up at a time so we had to wait a bit but no one seemed to mind, the anticipation overiding our impatience.


Dylan was not nervous at all and was lucky enough to go up first. It took quite a while to get the helicopter ready to go and he was able to be in there while the pilot got everything ready. He thought all the buttons and gadgets were really cool and he was most excited, I think, about getting to talk into the head piece.

This was after their ride, a bunch of very happy boys!

Afterwards Mr. Losee pulled the helicopter in and showed us how it worked, how to take care of it and what makes it fly. I was so glad that I could share this day with Dylan. We have now done something that no one else in our family has so it's our special thing. For me, Dylan's excitement was the cake and the ride was the icing. It will be hard to top this for the rest of our club meetings :)!

Championship Strategies for Sustainable Success!

Scott, Braeden and I had the privelege of going to a fireside where Larry Gelwix, coach of the Highland Rugby Club team, was the guest speaker. He has been the coach for 32 years during which time they have had 390 wins, 9 loses and won the National Championship 19 times. They made a movie based on his coaching tactics called Forever Strong. We had watched the movie last year and while definetly low budget, it was good. Braeden and Star (not really a little kid show) really liked it. We were excited when we found out the "real coach" was going to be the speaker. Technically, it was for the youth and leaders which would not include me but I had to invite myself :). He said there were 6 Championship Strategies for Sustainable Success. This would include any area, business, school, sports, family, spirituality etc. He, of course, only had enough time to give us 3 of them. I was a little bummed about that at first but after hearing the 3 I think they will keep me busy for a while :). I wanted to keep a record of this so thought I would post journal them. Here they are....
1. Choose What Team You Are Going To Play For
We can't have divided loyalty. While playing sports, you don't try to help the opposite team win, you help your team win. Pick what jersey you are going to wear and be dang proud of it! He reminded us that we had a life before this one with freinds and family. We spoke to our Heavenly Father and Jesus and we chose what team we would play for, their team. That's who we really are! Joseph F. Smith said "Every great truth we know now, we knew then and are just reawakened to it here." We need to remember who we are and where we came from.
2. Don't Play With Snakes
Sooner or later we will get bit if we are playing with a snake. There is right and wrong in life and it is given to us to know the good from the evil. We know what the snakes are, avoid them, don't for a second think you won't get bit!
3. Don't Go Thirsty
We drink water when we are thirsty, especially when we are working hard. Where can we drink from living water (John 4:13)? The scriptures. Fill yourself up with them! Don't just read the scriptures, ask how they affect you and then apply what you've learned. He challenged us to read from the scriptures 15 minutes a day for 30 days.

In sports you put in the hard work, you show up to the gym, you pay the price. Do the same for your own spirituality, school, business, family. Pay the price!

Remember who you were, it helps to decide who you are going to be! Heavenly Father knows our names, our struggles and trials. He and Christ are our biggest cheerleaders!

"Is it Summer Yet?"

We are so ready for it to warm up! We have been trying very hard to be grateful for all the rain we've been having but we (especially me) would love some hot sunshine. "Is it summer yet?" is a frequent question at our house and I have to sadly answer it isn't even spring yet. We want to be outside, swimming, eating popsicles and going to the splashpads. But it is now March and we are hoping it is just around the corner :)!Anyone who knows me knows I hate the cold and so this winter has been harsh for me. I can't wait to see the trees in bloom and feel the warmth of the sun, take the kids to the park and not freeze while I watch them play, and enjoy some fresh produce. We are quite spoiled here with our mild climate and I know I really don't have anything to complain about (someone sent me some pics of somewhere in Canada that the snow was as high as their rooftops, BRRR!) but if you know me then you also know that I somehow can't always stop myself from complaining, it will probably be that it is "too hot" next :).