An overdue update

I just looked back at the past several posts and all I've written about is cub scout stuff. Honestly, our life really has been all about scouts recently. For the past three years Peter has wanted to do all the required adventures plus all the extra adventures too. With the Wolf and Bear it wasn't so bad, but in Webelos there are a LOT more extra adventures and it's killing me off. I will be so relieved once he is done with scouts in December.

During the month of April we actually did some really enjoyable other things. For instance, we got to go on a field trip to McCoard's Garden Center in Provo. The boys tolerated the field trip, and I loved it. Going and seeing plants and flowers makes me so happy. After the field trip I wandered around for a little retail therapy. I love going to that store anyway, and they gave us a $10 off $10 coupon. I couldn't help myself. I bought a plant that thrives in rock gardens. It's called Parrot's Beak. Sounds like the perfect plant for a boy house. Can't wait to see what it looks like when it blooms.

The kids were also able to take home a plant of their own. They had the kids transplant the flowers into bigger pots. Luke was not thrilled with having to get his hands dirty. So, I did most of the work for him.

One week for our art class Luke and I painted rocks. I have been looking forward to this lesson all year long (I even purchased a special rock art book for the lesson). I had a blast picking the perfect design and rock for the art project. Luke was less then thrilled and spent maybe 30 seconds on his.  Luke told me that his is a Ender Dragon from Minecraft. I, on the other hand, took over an hour designing mine and then painting it. I really love how it turned out.

At the beginning of April I also decided to cut my hair. And by cut, I mean cut it ALL off. I had over 21" taken off. I was trying to hold out until I turned 40 (next February), but I started feeling so annoyed with my hair. It was too much to manage, especially when it was time to color it. This new style suits me much better and it's SO FAST to do. Five minutes with the blow dryer in the morning and I'm good to go. I have no intention of ever going back and I'm determined to keep it nicely trimmed every two months. So many people have stopped to sincerely tell me that it looks amazing. I really appreciate that. It was a bold move, and I'm so glad it turned out so well.

This month we also got a chance to go with our BFF's to This is the Place Heritage Park. We spent the bulk of a day up there wandering through the pioneer houses and doing crafts.

Brother Brigham; Brother Joseph

Luke got to ride a horse!!! He had no idea how to get on it. That part was hilarious.

Tons of animals to smell and touch. Neither one of the boys would touch any animal.

Eating snacks while waiting for the train.

The train is coming. 

Peter chose to make a arrowhead necklace.

Visiting the Native America area and seeing this type of house that they lived in.

Favorite part of the day - panning for gold.

These three cuties also loved panning for gold together.

Plowing the field.

Eating donuts outside the school house.

Playing checkers in the barbershop.

Visiting the print shop.

We had such a marvelous day with them and none of us wanted to go home. Good friends like this are hard to come by. I'm so glad we were able to get together. This field trip also reminded me of so many good memories I have of being a historic reenactor when I was a teenager. My friend, and her family, have signed up to be volunteers at this park for the next year. I'm thrilled for them. There is something special about reenacting the life of a Mormon pioneer.

Our annual picnic with Uncle Al Bob also happened on April 25th. It was a beautiful day for a picnic. Perfect weather and we were all so cozy (as proven with Peter being still in his pajamas). We loaded up a picnic basket and drove down to Payson. We stopped at Payson Market and bought our lunch food and then headed to visit with Uncle Alex. The time with him is always sacred time. I talk with the boys about his death, how I felt, and how I know I will see him again someday. Although I really wish he was still with us, I also appreciate having an angel brother. I know he helps me when my life becomes harder than I think I can handle. 

Peter also decided this month he wanted to start making a ninja costume. He still loves to dress up, but all his costumes are getting too small. So off to the fabric store we went to purchase a pattern and fabric. The first part of it was very easy and Peter really enjoyed doing the sewing. Step 2 of the costume is proving to be harder and I haven't made the time to pre-figure it out before I let Peter start sewing. Hopefully I'll make that a priority this next week. 

Other April adventures include: making hot cross buns (first time ever), last trip to the zoo as annual pass-holders, last day of our UVU PE class (I love that class so much), Peter making a terrarium, going on a field trip to the Tracy Aviary with our homeschool group, taking a trip to the Provo City Center temple to talk about how awesome temples are, attending a Red Balloon event and playing with Plus Plus toys there, and having the scouts come here to pass off their Cast Iron Chef requirement. It was a wonderful month with many delightful memories and experiences. While it seems like we did a whole lot of things, I also feel like we had a lot of dreadfully boring days too.

Scouts - Into the Wild

2. I was able to build a terrarium. My Mom helped me by getting me special rocks and stuff to put in the bottom. Then, I went to the garden shop and got some plants and fun fairy things to go inside of it.

April 19th

4. I learned about bird flyways. I had never heard of that word before. I found out that the closest flyway to my house is the Pacific one. The birds that use it are hummingbirds, geese, crows, sparrows, robins, and black birds. Sometimes I can see geese flying in a v pattern by my house and I think that is really a neat thing.

5. On our hike to the Payson Grotto I found a few different kinds of wild creatures. The first one was an insect. It was a butterfly. There were actually lots of butterflies zooming all over up there. Those insects live in a lot of different places, but I saw them in a forest.

I also got to go to a park in Provo. While were were there we saw this type of butterfly. I think it was out and about looking for food and just enjoying the nice weather. This area was a wetland, but also a bit of a forest, and a park.

We were also able to discover these small fish in the wetland area. They were so small that you had to look very closely to be able to see them. I think they were looking for food and doing what fish do all day long - which is swimming around. 

Another type of animals that we found here was actually a beetle. It flew onto my Mom's arm. I'm sure it didn't mean to. I wonder if it thought my Mom was food. It was strange to find a beetle in a wetland area, but they probably like to live in the trees and sticks that were nearby.

The last animal we saw is very common to this type of area. They were ducks. They were swimming on the pond and when they saw us they quickly came over. I think they were hoping we had bread to feed them. But, we didn't.

6. One of the animals that can be found in our area is the beaver. We are lucky because we have a river by our house. There is a beaver that lives in this river. It's really cool to have some this amazing animal living nearby. The beaver can live in Utah because we have a lot of streams that they can live in. We also have a lot of mountain areas so the beavers don't get very hot.

7a. We played a fun game called Into the Forest. It helped us to think about Producers, Consumers, and Decomposers. Producers - Plants like tomatoes and carrots. Consumers - Bear and Coyotes. Decomposers - Fungi and Earthworms.

7b. Humans have changed the balance of nature by cutting down trees.

7c We can protect the balance of nature by building birdhouses. 

9. I got to go with some of my friends to the Tracy Aviary. We were able to see a lot of birds there like swans, parrots, ducks, and even some flamingos. 

Scouts - Into the Woods

1. My Mom and I talked about trees. Some trees are coniferous and some deciduous. Coniferous are the ones that drop cones. The other kind loose their leaves in the fall. I took a drive in the car and we found a bunch of different examples. Trees have different parts. They have roots, truck, branches, and some have leaves.

2. Four types of trees that we found nearby. 

This first tree is a willow. This is a great tree because it was in the Harry Potter movie. It helps to house birds and gives them seeds to eat. It can also help humans build houses. It also sends seeds to other areas so more trees can grow. This type of tree is native to Utah.

This next tree is a birch. You can build cabins out of this type of tree. You can also cut it down for firewood and the tree is a great one to climb. Birds build nests in it plus if deer get hungry they can eat the bark. This tree is also native to Utah.

This is a pine tree. Pine trees are very common in Utah. People can use pine to build houses. I have also used pine wood for my pinewood derby car. Squirrels and chipmunks love to eat the seeds.

This last type of tree is a very weird one. It is not common to Utah, and you don't see it very often. One of my neighbors just planted this tree in their yard. It's called a contorted filbert. People wouldn't be able to climb it, but birds could when it is a little bit bigger. Birds can also make their homes out of it. This is the kind of tree that doesn't help people out very much. But people look at it and think that it's so cool.

3. I found a dandelion. The dandelion is green and it looks like a weed. This one had yellow flowers on it. Bees use dandelions to suck up pollen. They also probably move some of the seeds around. Cows, horses, and goats also love to eat dandelion. 

This next one is a three leaf clover. It had only thee leaves on it. The rain gave it a lot of nutrients. One fun thing is that it can trick you into thinking it's a four leaf clover. Cows, sheep, and horses also eat clover.

Then this type of plant is normal grass from my backyard. Grass is a plant. Cows, sheep, and horses love this type too. We use it so our lawn isn't just dirt. I also use it so I can get paid $10 for mowing it. Our type of grass is not native to Utah. I also like to play on grass.

This plant is called moss. It grows in dark, wet places. I found it on our hike to the Grotto. I learned that most animals actually don't eat moss because it doesn't have many nutrients. But, they do like the use it in their dens and nest. One animal that actually does eat moss though it Arctic birds. They don't live here in Utah though. 

4. I got a plant - it's called a fushia. I got it when we went on a fieldtrip. I get to plant it outside after Mother's day. It will help to reduce pollution. My plant will suck up the pollution from cars and spit out healthy air. If you are driving a car and you don't have any plants you should plant a few.  My plant will also give us flowers to look at. The flowers will also make the bees very happy. 

7. I got to go on a visit to a nursery. It's a place where they have a lot of different kinds of plants. The guy we talked to told us a lot about plants that live in the jungles. We even went into this special building that was super hot and wet inside. We got to see some jungle plants. 

Plants are very important for our air because they help to keep the pollution out. They also help our yards and cities to be more beautiful. They also help bees and other animals to have homes and food. 

Scouts - Earth Rocks

1a, Talked about geology. It's the study of the world like water, volcanoes
, earth quakes.
1b. It is important to study so people can plan for volcanoes and earthquakes. We talked about the recent earthquakes in Draper plus the volcanoes that can impact airplanes traveling their normal routes.

2. Collected some rocks on a hike to the Payson Grotto

3. Investigated all the rocks I found on my rock hunt. There were so many kinds. I separated them into bowls depending on the type of rock they were. The ones on the towel are special ones. One of them my cousin found for me. It has crystals on it.

4. Chose six rocks and did the Mohs scale of mineral hardness. My favorite were the ones that I could scrape with my pocketknife. A lot of my rocks were also able to scratch glass.

5. My Mom had me investigate this map of Utah. It's a topographical map. That means you can see super high mountains that are different colors. I was able to find the Uintah Mountains. Plus, I was able to find lots of deserts.

6a. We talked about the materials that our homes has. For example, the foundation of our house is made out of concrete. Also, we have stucco on the outside of our house which is something that is made out of little bits of sand and other stuff. Also, on our fireplace we have some tile.

6b. We talked about some things that are made out of geological materials. My Mom and I looked up pictures of the Provo City Center Temple (made of lots of brick), Salt Lake Temple (made of quartz), rock fences in England, and the Ashton-Driggs house in Pleasant Grove (build out of rock slabs). My Mom also showed me the Lincoln Memorial Building in Washington D.C. That building is made out of marble. I think it must have cost lots and lots and lots of money.