no girls allowed

Nathan was invited to be in a "skills group" this summer with five other neighborhood six year olds. Last week, they made Gak/Goop/Slime and that lovely concoction brought hours of enjoyment to all three of my boys all week. This week was our turn to host. I decided to do some of our favorite experiments. These are standard repertoire around here but they never fail to delight.

We watched the wonderful science of soap with color changing milk.

Pour milk in a plate (the fattier the better). Put a few drop of food coloring into the milk. Dip a Q-tip into liquid dish soap and then into the milk. Enjoy all the beautiful color. It is better to just dip the Q-tip on the surface of the milk and be careful not to swirl.

Then we went to the fabulous go-to: dry ice.

Drop pieces of dry ice into a glass of warm water. Then when you tire of that, drop pieces of dry ice into a glass of warm water with a few drops of liquid dish soap.

Finally we made ice cream in a bag. The boys got a little carried away in the shaking and some bags leaked. Still I think everyone got a bit to enjoy. Anne certainly did.


Ice Cream in a Bag
In a sandwich-sized Ziploc bag, mix:
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 Tbsp. sugar
Seal the bag tight. You could tape it for good measure.

Fill a gallon-sized Ziploc bag about halfway full of ice. Then add 1/2 cup of coarse salt (ice cream salt or kosher salt work best). Stick the smaller bag down into the larger one. Shake the bag for about five minutes or until the cream gets firm (about soft-serve consistency). Pull out the small bag, wipe off with a wet washcloth, open and enjoy.

weekend wrap-up

Emma and Slade participated in their first official swim meet on Saturday. It was my turn to go watch (and take pictures).


This weekend was the Family Festival in our little city. In our fourth summer here, we decided to actually purchase tickets to participate in the festivities. We went swimming last Saturday, ate dinner at the park on Friday, watched a parade and went to the carnival on Saturday. The best part of the festival is the fireworks though. Although we could sit on our front lawn and watch them, we drive over to the golf course and get a front row seat. I don't love everything about living in Utah but I seriously do love my neighborhood!


Sadly, Anne was sick all weekend. She had a fever and just wanted to be held. Of course, she always wants to be held but it is far less annoying when she is sick. I stayed home with her while Dave took the kids over to the park.

The one good thing about her being sick is that she slept a lot. During nap time, I made fondant for the first time to cover a cake. I made lots of mistakes and learned a lot. Now I am really excited to try it again. Cake anyone?


Dave and I also celebrated our 12th anniversary on Saturday. Our celebrating consisted of sitting together on the couch. I held Anne and Dave played with his new smart phone. It was very special. :) I am such a lucky girl to be married to this guy. Seriously. He is amazing.


I made that orange electric guitar cake to celebrate my very best little brother's 25th birthday. He is all grown up and can even rent his own car now! He was gracious about his guitar not having any strings (I never could figure out how to add them) and we all enjoyed a nice evening together with them and Keri's family. Happy Birthday, Francis!

wasatch back

Dave ran another Ragnar Relay. This time it was the Wasatch Back right here in our beautiful mountains. This race is 188 miles, starting in Logan and finishing in Park City. He ran with his dad, all his siblings and a brother in law.

I can't tell you much about his experience. I probably should have him do that. I can only tell you about my Wasatch Back weekend. Because their parents were running, I hosted four nieces and one nephew on Friday night. They came over about 7:30 and everyone played hard the rest of the night. They were all tucked snugly into bed by 9:30 but as you might expect they didn't fall asleep until after 11:30. The next morning, 8 out of 10 children were awake by 6:45. I was not happy about that.

We survived the day though. Actually, they all played really well together. There was hardly any fighting until the end of the day. I even got to leave for a few hours in the afternoon to go the Parade of Homes with my friend. The hardest part was cooking for and cleaning up after that many little people.

Dave came home about 6:30 all scruffy and sweaty. He was however walking normally which was in stark contrast to his near total immobility after the Las Vegas Ragnar. We even went swimming that night. AND he already signed up for next year's race. AND he has said more than once that he really wants to go running. I think its awesome. Just as long as he doesn't ask me to come along.

sweet treats

My children are more interested in having free time traipsing from house to house with their friends than actually doing much with our weekly themed activities. That is okay. I think if we can manage to get one or two in a week then we will have made some great memories by the end of the summer.

This week, we had a bake sale. It was good for me to try and keep my controlling nature from getting out of hand. If it had all been about what I wanted, our bake sale would have looked like this fantastically lovely one from Bird and Berry.


Instead, I really tried to let the kids control the event.

I made the chocolate chip cookies and Emma made everything else. She baked white and chocolate cupcakes, rice krispies treats and brownies.


And look! People came!


Slade rode around carrying a sign on his scooter and yelling, "Bake Sale!" When he came home after his first round, I told him he was doing our advertising. He didn't know what advertising was so I explained, telling him it was essential to a good sale. After the second round of scooter marketing, he came in hot and sweaty and declared, "Advertising is hard work." True. True.


In the end, they collected about $34. The kids were thrilled. I will save the lesson about revenue vs. profit for another time.

12 on 12 | june (late edition)

I completely spaced the date yesterday and did not take one single picture. Not wanting to let this memory lapse ruin this project, I decided to do it today instead. Better late than never. Let's call it 12 on 12 plus 1.

[click to enlarge]

1. Dave had an early priesthood meeting so I got to get up early with Miss Anne. Cereal and banana for breakfast.
2. Sundays are the only day I curl my hair and leave it down. I wear it like that for church and then promptly come home and put it back in a ponytail.
3. It is hard for Slade to get going in the mornings. Even when we don't wake him up.
4. Off to church at 11:00. I was really pleased with how singing time went in Primary. It was one of those last minute ideas that I wasn't sure would work. Both Junior and Senior Primary paid attention and sang well.
5. The kids watched Veggie Tales through Netflix streaming this afternoon. Can I just say how much I love Netflix! Seriously. If you don't have it, you should.
6. I failed again in the picture taking department and forgot to take my camera to the Huddlestons. Katie and Jason invited us over for dinner. All the food was delicious and the kids really enjoyed playing with their cousins.
7. It was raining by the time we came home. The rain made everything look crisp and colorful. I was loving how cool the clouds looked down so low on the mountains. I put a grocery bag over my camera and took pictures.
8. Sawyer and Nathan followed me down the street. Sawyer only had socks on. Silly kid. You can't tell from the pictures but it was raining hard. The boys splashed through the gutters all the way home.
9. Emma can often be heard singing in the bathroom. I like to hear her make music.
10. Slade was really sweet about letting me take some pictures of him this evening. He kept asking if I had 12 pictures yet. He doesn't usually cooperate so its always a thrill when he does.
11. Dave is reading Fablehaven out loud to anyone who will listen. It usually turns out that he is reading to himself but tonight Slade snuggled up next to him and listened.
12. I get five Sunday newspapers for the coupons. There is always a pile of papers and ads by the end of the day after we've all searched for what we want. I really should recycle.

bubbles in the park

First, I made a gallon of bubble solution.
1 gallon water
2/3 cup dish soap
3 Tbsp. glycerin

Then, I filled a big tub with different bubble wands and blowers. Cookie cutters, jar rings, pipe cleaners, fly swatters and water bottles. Then, I met my neighbors at the park and let the kids have at it.


The fly swatters were the most popular tool. They were perfect for blowing bubbles and fighting.


The bubbles snakes never got very long. I am not sure if it was the bubble solution, the wind, or the too-large-for-the-water-bottle washcloths that kept getting in the way. I think we will have revisit bubble snakes again to find out.


Anne thought it was great that I left a huge tub of water and suds sitting on the ground just for her.


I thought it was great that I didn't have to worry about spills or clean up.


The weather was great. Besides bubbles, there were friends to play with, snacks to eat, trails to climb, playgrounds to explore. Indeed it was a lovely outing to the park.

picnic in the park--the plans

This is the first week for our weekly summer themes. The weather is supposed to be nice but not sweltering so I think it will be a perfect week to go park-hopping. We have four different parks in the area that we'll be visiting. Maybe more if we feel like it. Here are a few things I have planned:

-family night at Thanksgiving Point Gardens
-play in the creek
-take a picnic
-blow bubbles and make bubble snakes:

1. Cut the bottom off of a plastic water bottle
   
2. Attach a washcloth with a rubber band
   
3. Wet the washcloth
4. Dip it in bubble solution
   
5. Blow into the bottle

-take books and read while laying on a blanket

I think we will do most of this in the late afternoon/early evening when it isn't so hot. Emma also needs to get in plenty of friend time or she might completely revolt. What are you planning for the week?

swim bike run....or not

Well, I did it. My first triathlon was back on May 22. I should feel a great sense of accomplishment or something, right? I don't really. I have been trying to process through the experience the last two weeks.

On the morning of the triathlon, I woke up to rain and cold. I figured they would have to cancel or modify the event somehow. By the time I made it over to the event, the rain had slowed to a drizzle but it was still cold. They announced that they would be changing the event to a run bike run. My heart sank. The swim is really my only strength. I'm actually rather good at that portion and I had been excited about being able to start with some success before I got passed by everyone on the bike and run. Well, no such luck. Instead, I had to run twice.

I despise running! It hurts my shins a lot and I have yet to get past " the wall" where you don't want to quit with every stride. I always want to quit. To start off with a one-mile run was just not good for me mentally. I switched from thinking I was going to compete to thinking it was just something of a workout. Consequently, I was just never in focus mentally. I raced slower than I wanted, walked more than I should and finished feeling unsatisfied. My thought was, "If I am only competing against myself then I am not winning."

Who knows if getting to do the swim would have really made a difference. I can't be certain but I feel that it would have. Instead, I'm feeling like I didn't really complete a triathlon. I've been asked if I'll do it again and I am not sure. Part of me wants to so that I can have a better experience but part of me wants to be done and move on. I have a feeling life is going to get in the way of doing another one anytime soon. Maybe in two years.

I don't want to be a grump about the whole thing. I'll try to celebrate the small victories.
1. I did it. No matter what the outcome, I did at least finish.
2. I was able to run the whole last mile without walking. I even smiled when I ran by the photographer.
3. I felt lots of love and support from friends and family.
4. Best of all, I lost 20 pounds. I've got plenty more to lose but getting that first twenty off feels great.

at the finish with the other women in my ward who competed

oh, what do you do in the summertime

I've come up with a basic summer plan. Thanks to my dear friend, Internet, I saw an idea to choose weekly themes. This simple idea was just the thing to give our plans some focus. I sat the kids down and we brain stormed activities what they want to do. I added some of my own and then divvied them into a structure. Every week, I plan to take them swimming two or three times. Right now, it does not feel like swimming weather but I'm sure it will soon enough. Also, I want to go to the library every other week. Beyond that, we'll focus our reading, activities, art projects and field trips on each week's theme.

JUNE
Picnic in the Park (picnics, park-hopping, bubbles)
Sweet Treats (have a bake sale, take treats to a friends, host Sunday Sundaes)
Let's Play Ball (play soccer/T-ball/etc., have relay races with our friends)
Sweet Land of Liberty (get ready for the 4th of July with lots of patriotic fun)

JULY
Animal Safari (go to the zoo, watch Animal Planet)
Splish Splash (build a water factory, have a water fight, go to the splash pad)
A-Camping We Will Go (backyard campout, smores at the fire pit, go on a hike)
A Very Merry Unbirthday (have a birthday party)

AUGUST
We are a Happy Family (go to our family reunion, make a family tree, spotlight our ancestors)
Space: the Final Frontier (go to the planetarium, star-gaze)
Make a Rainbow (paint on a sheet, tie-dye socks)

It's gonna be fun! And because I can't do a post without a picture, here is an old storyboard to bring in the season. There is nothing like eating ice cream outside in your swimsuit...