It's Begining to Look a lot Like Christmas

I know it's not even December, but yesterday was Monday and for Family Home Evening we decided to put up the Christmas Tree. I'm not a big decorator (I wish I was, but it is not one of my talents) and our tree is about the only thing that we put up. There is something about the tree that really puts me (and the kids) in the holiday spirit. We listened to music and Jonathan made some cookies for treat then we read the Christmas story from Luke. I look for to all the holiday activities that we will do.

Sunday Drawings: Episode 1 - 11/28/2010

We have tried to help our kids understand the importance of reverence in Sacrament Meeting. Our goal for reverence included a few changes from our early habits. For example, we eliminated snacks from the Sunday meeting routine. We also expect the kids to sit still and quiet until after sacrament, after which they are allowed to draw or read a book reverently. I have been impressed and/or amused recently by the "works of art" that our kids produce and thought it would be fun to start sharing them here regularly. Without further ado...

A Story, by Ephram:

Translation: There once lived a man who lived upon a house. The end. Written by Ephram.

Editor's note: He did this on his own with the sole exception of asking Ashlee how to spell "once."

Ice Cream Machine, by Dyllan:

Editor's note: Apparently the shop is closed, however, the establishment loves you!

Monsters Vs. Alien and Robot, by Corbin:

Editor's note: Poor little birdie. No matter how fast he tries to fly away he still get's shot in the butt. :( Also, what is it with boys and guns!? Ironically, that's one thing we tend not to grow out of.

David and Goliath, by Braedi:

Editor's note: "Those who mock shall mourn!"

A special thanks for actual involvement of scripture. We're not batting 1,000 in regards to spirituality, but I hope you enjoyed it as much as I.

Grandparent's Weekend

The kids got to spend the weekend with their grandma and grandpa Mecham. Usually all 9 grand kids are there, but they had to split things up this time (the other cousins were going on vacation). They spent the afternoon playing with cousins before they left (they created and ran in an obstacle course)


then decorated gingerbread houses that evening. Lola appliqued aprons for all the kids.




I spent the kid-less afternoon shopping. I came to pick them up this morning and we decided to go the park and play. Grandpa took a lot of cute pictures of the kids at the park, and I wish that I had scrapbook factory on this new computer to display them. I've only picked a couple to show.

As always, they had a good time and came home tired. We are lucky to live so close to family and that the kids can build good relationships with their grandparents.

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?

A friend of mine (Ammanda) decided that she wanted to do something more for her kids than just Reading, wRiting and aRithmatic. She thought it would be fun for them to put on a play and asked if my kids would join them. It took a little persuasion on my part, but the 4 oldest agreed to do it. For the past couple of months, the met on Monday afternoons to rehearse. They built the scenery, talked about looking at the audience and all that other theater stuff, made costumes, learned lines and had fun. They decided to put on 2 plays. The first was The Three Pigs. It was from a CD and the kids had to act it out and lip sync. The second was Little Red Riding Hood. For this one they came up with how they wanted to play to look and what lines they wanted to say. Then last week they put on a performance for dads and a few friends. I was super impressed with how cute they looked and how well they performed. Originally Braedi only wanted to help with off stage stuff, but she saw how much fun it looked and decided to take a roll. Their animations were great and they were well prepared. Ammanda did a good job teaching them how to perform. I wish that I could download video, because it would be cute to see. Picture will have to suffice. Enjoy!

Braedi announcing the play

The pigs building their house nice and strong

The wolves after being beaten by the pig Corbin announcing the play
Little Red Riding Hood and her mom Granny Little Red Riding Hood talking to the wolf disguised as her Granny (bad picture)the Hunter coming to the rescue

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays--spending the day with family eating good food-- what's not to like? We usually takes turns as to where we go for dinner. Last year we spent the day with Jonathan's family and this year we hung out with mine. Most years in-laws are on the same page, but this year my sister's in-laws wanted to do thanksgiving together so we had to make some adjustments. They live in Queen Creek and my brother lives in Florence so they decided to host. We also decided to eat late. That way Jennie and her family could do both. We met early, went to the park and played, went back to Riley's house to eat, visited and played some more, had dessert, cleaned up and watched a movie and then made the long drive back home. It was super nice of Stefanie and Riley to host and they had some cute fall/thanksgiving decorations.

Easy Bake Cookin'

Braedi is not one to easily spend money. She will sometimes get money as a present or for doing a special job and will put it in her wallet. Sometimes we will go to the store, but she can rarely find something that she wants to spend her money on. Recently she thought that she would like an Easy Bake Oven so she put it on her Christmas wish list. A few days later we got a Target ad in the mail featuring all the new toys on sale for the holidays and several coupons. In the ad was an Easy Bake Oven. I "convinced" Braedi that she could spend some of her money and get one now. She liked the idea, but wanted to think about it for a couple of days and talk to a friend who had one. After much thought and recounting of her money, she decided to buy one. We went to Target and she purchased it. But we forgot to buy a light bulb. I bought one the next day, but got the wrong kind. A week later, with the correct light bulb, Braedi was able to bake her first cake. It was soooo tiny, but she said it was delicious. She shared a piece with each of her brothers and sisters and can't wait to bake the cookies. She followed the directions so carefully and precisely, that she could probably bake a real cake in a real oven. This is her frosting her cake (with her fingers).

Maori Warriors

For history we traveled down under and learned about some of the first tribes to inhabit Australia and New Zealand. One of those tribes came from the Philippines--the Maori. Maori warriors painted their faces and bodies to frighten enemies. Ammanda painted the kids to look like Maori warriors. Those are supposed to be scary faces.

Free Enterprise Day

Every year our homeschool group puts on a free enterprise day. (I feel weird saying every year because this was only our second year.) It's a chance for the kids to learn about buying and selling. Each kid/family has to MAKE something that they can sell at a booth. They are also given a small amount of money to spend on stuff at the other booths.

The theme this year was "All Things Patriotic" and the items were supposed to correspond with the theme. We decided to continue on with our cooking class and make food to sell. Our booth was called "American as Apple Pie" and the kids made several apple treats. They worked together on the booth and I think I prefer it that way so I can supervise, but I might allow them to venture out on their own next year. There are also some other things that I want to do better/different next year:
*talk about how much money it takes to set-up a booth--whether from a loan or earning the money to start it
*discuss how much they have to sell items for in order to break even or make a profit
*decide how to divide the money earned

Ephram liked to spend his money, but wasn't willing to put in his time at the booth. The other kids saw an item that they wanted, figured out how much money they needed to buy it and worked until they had enough. I think it is a fun activity, but I want to make it more of a learning activity next time.

Happy Birthday, Corbin

Last Wednesday we celebrated Corbin's 7th birthday. He was so excited for this birthday because it means that he is closer to his 8th birthday--he really wants to go to get baptized and join scouts. He picked going to Peter Piper Pizza for his family activity. The kids love playing the games there and winning prizes. He got a bunch of Kung Zhu toys from us and from my parents.
My mom came over Tuesday night and took Corbin shopping and bought him an icecream cake.

Jonathan's parents come over on Tuesday and took Corbin out for dinner and to the book store.

Happy Halloween

Halloween is probably one of my least favorite holidays. There is no point to it and who needs all that candy? But, the kids love to dress up and don't we do everything for our kids?

The week before Halloween, we had an activity at my parent's house. After a yummy dinner, the grand-kids decorated trick or treat bags, put on costumes and trick or treated at a few neighbor's houses. (My mom gave her neighbors some candy to pass out.)

Our ward put on their annual trunk or treat the night before Halloween. The kids got dressed up again, played games, ate dinner and got more candy.
This year Halloween was on a Sunday--a perfect excuse for me to say that we weren't doing any more trick or treating. The kids sorted their candy and didn't complain when I took more than half of it away. We turned off our lights and played games. Weirdly enough, we didn't get any trick or treaters at our house. Even with the lights off we usually get a few.

Primary Program

The 4 older kids participated in our ward's primary program on Sunday. For the first few programs, Braedi and Corbin refused to do speaking parts. They were too scared. Then last year, they agreed to speak and that must have cured them of their stage fright, becuase this year they did it again. Braedi had a speaking part, she sang a group song with her class and participated in a song in sign language. Corbin had a speaking part. Dyllan had a speaking part and sang in a small group. Ephram had a speaking part and sang a song with his class. And Faythe sat on the bench and waved to her brothers and sisters. I love seeing how much my kids learn--through music and lessons--and I love seeing the grow out of fears. They did a great job.


PS My desktop monitor has gone kaput, so I've been forced to use Jonathan's laptop until we get another computer (which is being built and should be here by the end of the week). I don't know how to import pictures onto the laptop so I'm a little behind on posts. I'll catch up next week.