Wednesday, March 6, 2019

Field trip with friends

When Thanksgiving Point had their special home school day we made sure to get out of the house and go with our friends. We went to the Museum of Natural Curiosity. Luke wasn't too excited about most of it. But, he really, really, really enjoyed the earthquake table and this mirror table. He was mom's little shadow during the majority of our trip. Peter, on the other hand, wandered around like crazy and rarely came back to find me. He was thrilled with the freedom and loved being their with friends.






Once we were all done the kids were so hungry so I bought them food on location. I hate doing that because it is so expensive. My friend also bought her kiddos french fries (smart idea - go for the thing you know they will love) and we sat and talked while the kids told jokes and laughed with each other. It was such a tender time. I didn't want it to end. Eventually though, we had to part ways. Us back to Springville and Alli back up to Layton.

Dressing up with the hats in the gift shop. How many other kids have done the same thing. Yikes!
Treasured moments like these make my life so happy!

Selfie pictures


My boys love playing with my phone so much. I have to be extra vigilant about deleting their selfies on a regular basis. There are times though when I find myself keeping one or two because they are so darling. I can feel their childhood slipping through my fingers and it's so extremely sad.

Peter Glasses

I finally decided it was time to take Peter in to get glasses. About 5 years ago I took him in and got him glasses, but I was never satisfied with them. Peter always complained that they hurt and they gave him headaches. In preparation for him attending public school in the fall, we took him for a checkup. I let me pick the glasses that he liked best (he thought the ones with the nose supports were so dumb).  I think he looks fabulous! His prescription is only -.25 so that was happy news. Mine is -16.25. Thankfully he takes after Brandon in that regard.



Friday, February 8, 2019

A favorite

Many years ago I bought this grey jacket somewhere. Bless my heart for finding something that would be such a dear companion for so many years. This first picture is me holding Luke when he is 10 months old. I know I bought this jacket at least a few months before we took this picture. 


Fast forward to today when the zipper finally gave up and didn't want to be zipped anymore. I am so sad because I wear this thing every single day. Even in the heat of the summer I wear it inside because we keep the house cold because of Brandon's thyroid/circulatiory problems. As a result I am always cold and this jacket keeps me the perfect temperature. Sometimes saying goodbye to favorite things is so hard. I feel like I've been saying a lot of goodbyes to good things recently. I guess things are wearing out and I'm getting old. 


Friday, February 1, 2019

Luke's 8th Birthday party

Our cute boy finally turned 8. He has been counting down the days to this birthday party for months. Since I only let the boys have a friends party when they are 8, 12, and 16 he really was counting down the days.

Luke is obsessed with Pokemon right now. I remember Peter going through a similar phase with Toy Story and Harry Potter. So, even though I swore we would never have Pokemon in the house, we now have Pokemon stuff taking over every living space in our house.

These are the little gift bags we gave to each friend.

Luke wanted a fancy round Pokeball cake. I couldn't comprehend making one. In the end, he seemed just as happy with this one.

Darling decorations from Party Land

Party Land even had a cute Pokemon birthday sign.

Luke and Peter made up this game where you throw balls at Pokemon. I managed to find the images online and we had them color copied and laminated (so Luke can hang them in his room too)

Cake Time!

Luke and Lincoln

Luke's best friend Seth and his sister Aurora

Luke and his friend Talmadge

Some of Luke's gift. The pickles were given to Luke by Seth. Luke LOVES pickles which Seth knew. I was astounded that he thought of such a perfect gift. The hedgehog also came from Seth. He and Luke play a hilarious made up game with stuffed animals and Luke didn't have a hedgehog yet for that game.

His actual birthday was two days later. He received lots of Pokemon gifts which he loved. Brandon took the day off work and we went up to Boondocks in Sandy so Luke & Peter could play at the Arcade. They both loved it. We took our time coming home, and ended up eating dinner at Pizza Pie Cafe in Prove at 4pm. It was a super lovely day and Luke enjoyed his special day.

Friday, January 25, 2019

Discovery Museum - SLC

Earlier this week the kids and I went up to the Discovery Museum in downtown Salt Lake City. I am proud to say that I was totally comfortable driving us up there. A year ago I would have been a nervous mess. Having Brandon work in Salt Lake County has forced me to conquer my fear of driving on busy roads.

The Discovery Museum hosts a Homeschool Day twice a year (which equates to deeply discounted tickets). We took advantage of it last year, and went again this year with our amazing friends, the Taggarts. The boys played for 2.5 hours and I think we could have gone another hour. Next year I think we'll pack a lunch and so we can spend even more time there without dealing with "hangry" people.






Proof that I won!

Brandon and I play a lot of board games. Like, a lot of board games. We host game nights, play between ourselves, and play with the boys. Brandon's hobby is collecting and playing games. I enjoy playing, but I never care about figure out the strategy needed to win. This past week though the stars aligned and I actually won a game!!! I only won because I was able to build a massive city (the large brow area at the bottom of this picture). I gained 30 points with that city alone. It was an epic night. One that I won't forget anytime soon. This game is called Carcassonne.

Saturday, January 12, 2019

Human Body


For the next two months we will be studying the human body in our science class. The boys and I went and picked up this paper and traced their bodies. I am hoping we will be able to label different body parts as we study them. This first week we learned all about skin. We made fake skin by using Elmers glue and letting it dry. Luke and Peter also learned that there are nerve endings and hair in our skin because it really hurt trying to pull off the glue. Mom was experienced, so she put the glue on the palm of her hand. We also created beautiful pictures of bodies with stamps and our fingerprints.



Scouts - Project Family

1. I sent an email to both of my grandparents. They sent back this information about their childhoods. This first one is from my Grandma Thomas:

Places I have worked:
When I was 16, I got a job at a place called McFadden’s Pies. It wasn’t very far from where I lived. In fact, I could walk there if I didn’t have a car to drive there. I worked as a waitress taking orders for pies and also waiting on tables for lunch or dinner. In the summers, I was able to go in early and help make the pies, tarts, and whip cream. We made fruit pies, cream pies, and meat pies. Yummy stuff! I worked there for about 3 years. I worked with some great people, and made some good friends.

When I was 19, I got a job working in the medical records department of the hospital in Provo.  It was a good job, but I worked every Saturday and Sunday during the days, and then from 3:00 -11:00 pm on week- nights, which I didn’t like very much.

Childhood Hideout:
When I was a child, there was an orchard behind our house. There were lots of apple trees in this orchard. Someone had built a tree-house in one of the big apple trees. Me and my friends loved to hang out in the tree-house. We especially liked eating green apples while in the tree-house. It was fun to hang out there, because there was nothing but apple trees around. We could have lots of fun making up  adventures!

Special things I did with my father:
When I was a teenager, I went to school at Provo High School. My father was a teacher there. He was the band teacher when I was really young. He taught History and Economics when I was a teenager. I really wanted to be a “teacher’s assistant”. But, because of the classes I was taking, there wasn’t any openings for a teacher’s assistant during the times I was free. My dad said I could be his teacher’s assistant, and that I could come help him during lunch. So, I would go to my dad’s class during my lunch. We would sit and have lunch together, and then I would help him grade papers, or help with other things he needed done. I loved this time I had to spend with my dad. It was a very special experience that I will always treasure.

Favorite Vacation:
We always went on a vacation every summer! Some vacations were just day trips where we would go somewhere like hiking to Timp Cave, etc., and then we would go home to sleep. The vacations that I thought were the best, was when we got to stay in a hotel! I loved being able to go swimming in the pool, and before we would check-out of the hotel in the morning, I would get up and go swimming in the pool! I thought it was the best!
Some of my favorite places that we vacationed were Disneyland, Knotts Berry Farm, the Ocean, Yellowstone, and Bryce Canyon.

What I think about Movies:
When I was a little girl, every Sunday evening, there was a program called, “The Wonderful World of Disney.” We watched this every Sunday evening as a family. Walt Disney would start it by talking about the movie they were going to show, and then they would play the movie. We popped popcorn and watched a Disney Movie. It was awesome! That’s how I saw most of the Disney movies as a child. So, of course, my favorite movies are Disney Movies - movies that can be watched together as a family.

This is my Grandpa Davis'.

This is my Grandma Davis'.





2a. This is my family. I wanted to do a 4 generation family tree instead of just three generations. I used familysearch.org. We also talked about my family. One cool thing is that both of my Dad's grandma's are Mary. Then my Grandpa Davis's Dad was Emanuel. We talked about how that is also a name for Jesus. We also have fun family traditions. One of the ones my family does is go to Reams to buy donuts. We always go after 7pm so we can get them for 33 cents each. We also watch fireworks on the 4th of July in Pleasant Grove because my Grandpa Thomas is in charge of them. I also like how we always go to my Grandpa and Grandma Thomas' house for Thanksgiving. We have to eat in their basement now though because there are so many family members.


3. I worked on three of my chores for two weeks. Here is the chart I used:

4. I talked with my mom about all the chores we do in our family. Then I helped Mom with one of her chores. That chore was to make a menu for dinners and help with a grocery list.



5. Worked with my Mom at finding dangerous areas in our house. We found a problem under our kitchen sink.  There were lots of chemicals under there. We were able to find other places to keep those chemicals. We also discovered that one of the pipes was leaking a little bit under there. So, it was a good thing we had to do this assignment.


6. Held a special meeting with my family to talk about a game I made up. We decided to play it  for a family night. Here are the pictures of us playing it.






Thursday, January 3, 2019

Scouts - Fix it

1. My Fit It Toolbox


2a. Looked at the electrical panel, heat source, and how to turn off water
2b. Talked with my Dad about the heat source in our house.
2c. Learned how to shut off the water for a sink, toilet, washing machine, and the water heater. Also learned where the main shut off valve was.
Learning how to shut off water to the washer
3abc. Talked with my Dad about toilet overflowing, sinks getting clogging, and what would cause a circuit breaker to trip.
Learning about clogged toilets

4a. Changed a light bulb in a lamp. Talked about the different types of light bulbs
Learning about lights

4b. Fixed a cabinet hinge.4c. Tightened a loose knob on a kitchen cabinet
4d. Learned how to stop a toilet from running
4e. Replaced the furnace filter

Changing furnace filter
4g. Checked the oil and tire pressure on Mom's car
4o. Fixed the clogged sink in the master bathroom
4q. Changed the battery in a smoke detector and tested it to make sure it worked.