So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehn, Good Bye

My parents left on Friday to go back and help my sister. I think they had a very productive and sometimes tiresome stay. The kids wore them out at times, but thoroughly enjoyed playing hide and go seek, taking a walk with grampa and playing Toy Story Mania among other things. Thanks for the visit. The kids remember and miss you guys.

Blah

Thursday with my family was a total wash and a blah day. I felt really dizzy and gross most of the morning. I tried to recover as quick as possible, but it took a little. While kids slept that day, we were able to play a favorite game of the family which is Acquire. Acquire is a game involving stocks and merger and if you make the most wise decisions and end up with the most money at the end, you win. My family hadn't experienced the game yet so we taught them. I think they really enjoyed it and it was fun seeing how they developed their game strategies.

Peepocks Mommy!

We went to another state park thing and checked it out a little more. We walked around for a bit taking pictures. The kids loved seeing the peacocks and trying to chase them. There was even one all white peacock there. Hadley called them "Peepocks." After a little, we were getting ready to go eat lunch when the groundskeeper lady yelled out, "Would you like to help me feed the peacocks?"

I looked at the kids and my parents and said, "Sure."

We followed her over to her truck and she proceeded to pour tons of cat kibble into a plastic grocery bag. I figured she was just going to give a little bit, but she wasn't kidding when she said help because that bag was full of kibble. She also gave us a green kickball that was found on the grounds. I was excited about that one :0)

She told us that you just need to go sit in the shade and be real quiet and the peacocks will come over and eat the kibble out of our hands. It was a lot of fun. The kids were quiet for the most part, but every once and a while, they would move suddenly in excitement and they would move away. Hayden didn't like them eating out of his hand so he started just throwing the kibble in their general direction. It was real crazy how fine they were with us being right next to them.

It took us a long time to get through the kibble. We asked some nearby kids to join in and help to make it go faster. There was also a mommy with some baby peacocks nearby. We needed to leave her alone since she had already lost some of her babies.

After a little longer, one of the other kids found a feather that had fallen off of one and Hadley began to get excited. She started chasing the peacocks and yelling at them for a feather. For fear of damage to the peacocks and for their own safety, I called her over and we walked over by a pond to eat lunch.

It was a nice breezy day out and I believe the kids thought it was a great adventure outdoors.

Beautiful Butterflies

Going to the park is a favorite activity for the kids so we decided to go to one in town. We went to the library to return and pick new books and then it was off to the park. This one is a lot of fun. Playing in water is always fun though, right?

National Park

We went out in nature and it will be the theme of their visit. We went to a nearby National Park and took a bunch of fun pictures. We walked some of the trails, but I didn't do too much because I felt exhausted really fast from the one I did do. I am way out of shape and need to start walking on a regular basis again. We picked up some Dunkin Donuts for breakfast and ate there. Some beautiful colors all over. By the time we were done, it was into quiet time and the kids started getting cranky and so the car ride home was fun for the first little bit. Not too much to this entry due to the fact that the pictures really speak the right words. We did have some fun racing on the planked trails which was exciting.

Grandme & Grampie

While my parents flew out to help my sister with college things, they swung by to visit us for a little less than a week. They arrived on Sunday and we went to church and then they gave Hayden a birthday present. More legos always excites this boy.

Here's them goofing around a little.

and another cute one

Sometimes, if we don't do a whole lot during visits, it can get boring so we tried to do at least one outing a day. The next entries explain our adventures.

Let's Race!

Hayden turned 6 and the celebration stretched through a couple days worth of fun. When he woke up, we had chocolate donuts for breakfast and he opened his first present of the day which was the much requested new video game, Mario Galaxy 2. We went out for lunch at IN-N-OUT. For dinner, we had calzones and he blew out his candle on top a chocolate cupcake which he later didn't want to eat at the time. After Addison went to sleep, we let him open the rest of his presents.

The next day, we had the birthday party and it was a success. As mentioned before, we had a Hot Wheels Party. Due to the end of school, camps and vacation schedules, we had only 3 show up out of the 15 invited. I kind of felt bad for capping him on his invites, but oh well. It was good that the house wasn't totally swarmed with kids. Just a quaint little party. I had planned for about 10 just in case the maybes and unknowns were to show.

Hayden was adamant that every friend that came was able to get an actual Hot Wheels car of their very own. I worked it into the theme and as friends arrived, I had them register for racing. They would draw a number which was associated by a car from the basket. I wrote their names on the cardboard packaging and the name of car and number next to their name on the race registry. While we waited for arrivals, they played with the many different tracks set up throughout our house. We had a city scape set up to drive on our coffee table, a V-Drop set up on a door and some collision courses for some added fun.

For games, we started with the clothespin drop. I had car pictures on clothespins. Each kid chose a set to drop and they took turns dropping them into old salsa jars. We played a couple rounds and the most points won. Hayden ended up winning that one. Then we had a jumping competition with the V-Drop. Shaina ended up winning by going the greatest distance. I used car pictures with names to label where each landed.

After that, we did the prize ball game. They sat in a circle and then passed the parcel and unwrapped a layer each time you get it. Some had prizes and some didn't. SInce I planned for more kids, when everyone got a prize each, I asked them if they wanted to keep going or make it fair for everyone by stopping. The good kids that they were, they decided to be fair and stop. Lastly, we had a mini derby tournament racing down a raceway we had. We rotated lanes and the results came in with Owen's in first, Hayden's in second, Shaina's in third and Natalya's in fourth.

From there, we went to eat lunch at the pit stop area. I made the tablecloth like a raceway with finishline. We had hot dogs, watermelon, grapes, jello jigglers, doritos, cheetos, and carrot sticks for the healthy conscious kid. Juice was also there. We ran out of time so we didn't end up decorating Twinkie race cars which was sad. We did the cake and singing as parents were arriving and presents real quick afterwards. I think Hayden had a lot of fun. Definitely a cute party and I was so happy when we were done. I survived my first small scale birthday party. Yay for Mommy!

It's been six years and he was a lot of work before we met for the first time, but he is a blessing to have in my life. He's always had a mellow demeanor and the sparkle in his rootbeer eyes have made it hard for me to not smile even during discipline. He's kind and helpful and a considerate older brother to his sisters most of the time. He is so big now and I just want to remind him how much I love him.

Hayden Bayden

Father and Sons

The ward had the Father and Sons camp out last month in the mountains. We weren't sure how Hayden would do and they decided to forgo bringing a tent since it was going to be frigid that weekend. Instead, they slept in the van. I don't know too many details. I do know I heard the wind whipping around hard when I went to bed alone that night and felt really bad for them. Apparently he had fun because he talks about how I should go with Hadley up into the mountains for a couple days. They both were frozen when they arrived home the next day. Totally understandable.

Kinder Program

Hayden's last school performance as a Kindergartener happened a week before school let out. He repeated the songs to us over and over. They recited lines from "All I Ever Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten." Hayden's group said, "Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you. Live a balanced life."

Unfortunately from a photo crazed mom, Hayden's position was not ideal to catch him very well. He was in the back row in between some of the tallest kids in his class. Kinda sad, but I still got some decent shots. This is him during alligator.

At the very end, they showed a slide show to music of pictures from the beginning to the end of the school year. I gave his teacher as many of them as I had and saw a lot of them end up in the slide show. I was glad I could assist them with that and that I had pictures of less covered classes as well.

I like this picture because is shows just how much she cared for her students and how proud of their growth she was and that she'll truly miss them. She was a great teacher that built confidence and taught a lot more than just ABCs and 123s. We look forward to seeing who he gets for a teacher next year.

Increasing Domestic Abilities

I had planned on making Orange chicken for dinner tonight. I usually use a kit to make it. I realized that it was slightly expired and asked my hubby if it was safe to use still. Upon looking over the ingredients, he suggested that it wasn't a good idea and then made me aware of the fact that it had wine as one of the ingredients.

Knowing better, we decided to stop using the kits. Does anyone want to take them off my hands, I have a couple left that aren't expired? Anywho, it was a sad revelation and I was upset because dinner plans were in jeopardy.

Determined to have Chinese food still, I found my copy cat recipe for Panda Express Orange Chicken and decided to finally give it a go. I tried to get everything in order and then dove right in to the process taking no prisoners. This was the recipe.

Panda Express Orange Chicken Recipe

2 lbs. boneless chicken pieces, skinned

1 egg

1 1/2 tsp. salt

white pepper

oil (for frying)

1/2 c. cornstarch plus (plus means this ingredient in addition to the one on the next line, divided)

1 Tbl. cornstarch

1/4 c. flour

1 Tbl. minced ginger root

1 tsp. minced garlic

1 dash crushed hot red chilies

1/4 c. chopped green onions

1 Tbl. rice wine

1/4 c. water

1 tsp. sesame oil

Orange Chicken Sauce:

1 1/2 Tbl. soy sauce

1 1/2 Tbl. water

5 Tbl. sugar

5 Tbl. white vinegar

Cut chicken into 2-inch squares and set aside. Stir egg, salt, pepper and 1 Tbl. oil and mix well in large bowl. Stir cornstarch and flour together. Add chicken pieces to egg mixture, stirring to coat. Sprinkle cornstarch mixture into chicken and mix evenly. Heat oil for deep-frying in wok or deep fryer to 375 degrees F. Add chicken pieces and fry 3-4 minutes or until golden and crisp (Do not overcook or chicken will be tough). Remove chicken form oil with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Set aside.

Clean wok and heat 15 seconds over high heat. Add 1 Tbl. oil. Add ginger and garlic and stir-fry until fragrant. Add and stir-fry crushed chilies and green onions. Add rice wine and stir 3 seconds. Add orange sauce and bring it to boil. Add cooked chicken, stirring until well mixed. Stir water into remaining 1 Tbl. cornstarch until smooth. Add to chicken and heat until sauce is thickened. Stir in 1 Tbl. oil and sesame oil. Serve at once. You may want to add grated zest of 1 orange to sauce for flavor.

In my rapid preparation of this, I did change a few things and it ended up tasting good despite the moments when the smell of soy and vinegar were kinda strong. I only used 1 lb. of chicken (I think, 2 breasts). I had put 5 dashes of pepper in since it didn't specify and would suggest 2-3 next time. Since I used less chicken, I used only 1 Tbl. cornstarch with the flour mixture because I messed up in reading it and it turned out working just fine with fewer chicken involved. I also didn't have ginger root on me so I substituted with 1/8 tsp. ground ginger that I mixed in with the flour mixture before adding it. I also just used whole red chilies and instead of rice wine, I used Sprite. I counted to 3 pouring it in.

Also, with the way I cooked it, I didn't use a wok, I used a large hard anodized skillet. I heated the oil in the skillet at medium high heat and cooked the chicken for about 7 minutes. Then I added the whole chilies in before stirring in the rest of the ingredients.

Believe me, I know what you are thinking. To me, I found this recipe intimidating because I got confused and was afraid I'd mess up. It took me an expired kit to finally attempt and I think with better food prep prior to cooking, it can go smoothly really easily. Having the flour mixture and other things combined before starting the process of cooking would make it a lot easier. Hope this helps and inspires and encourages you to try making chinese food of your own.

Part 2:

I also did some sewing today to get ready for another baby shower.

I decided to make a hooded towel as usual and a nursing cover as well.

Here are the photos of the finished product. I can do a towel within a half hour and the nursing cover about 40 minutes to an hour depending on measurements and ironing.

Arrow of Light

Once again, my calling stresses me out a little when it comes to planning events for Cub Scouts. This passed pack meeting was more significant for a lot of reasons. There were a lot of awards earned due to Day Camps the passed couple months. Also, one boy was finally having his Arrow of Light ceremony. I was excited to find a new way of presenting it this time and felt it went really well. The parents were pleased with the program which was the important part.

This time, we had a bridge for the crossover ceremony to Scouts as well as some electric candles and face paint. Here is the run down of the ceremony in case any one out there is a committee chairperson looking for an arrow of light ceremony to do as well.

Required:

Ceremony Table with awards and pins, 1 each blue, yellow, green, and white candles standing on the table, one simple white candle. small drum, spotlight, blue, yellow, green, white paint, large AoL cardboard sign, crossover bridge.

Preparation:

Participants: Cubmaster, Assistant Cubmaster, Webelos Leader, Scoutmaster, Webelos Den Chief, AoL recipients and their parents.

Script:

At the opening of the ceremony, the simple white candle is lit by the Cubmaster and Assistant Cubmaster at the front of the room.

Parents are on one side of the room and Den Leader in the rear with the Webelos Scouts. The Den Leader should blindfold all scouts and have each put his right hand on the right shoulder of the scout in front of him.

The Scoutmaster for the troop Webelos are crossing to should wait on the far side of the bridge.

The Den Leader leads the Webelos to the parents who each take the hand of their son and guide him to the cermony table.

Cubmaster: (while the Scouts are being guided to the table)

As a Cub Scout, you have been guided through the Cub Scout Trail with the help of many Akelas. Soon, when you become a Boy Scout, you will find that, while there are still many people willing to help, you take on more and more responsibility for blazing your own trail to Eagle.

(Assistant Cubmaster removes blindfolds when in front of table)

Cubmaster: (Call out each AoL recipient name) - you have been called before the Pack because you have satisfied the requirements for Cub Scouting's highest rank: The Arrow of Light.

The first band of color is to remind you of the lessons you learned as a Cub Scout.

(Asst. Cubmaster lights Blue Candle, as the Cubmaster reads)

Blue represents the spirit of Cub Scouting : the spirit of giving goodwill and doing your best. Do you promise to fulfill the Cub Scout Promise and the Cub Scout motto, Do Your Best, when you receive the Arrow of Light badge?

(Webelos Scouts answer, 'We do'. Webelos Den Leader applies Blue Paint to each recipient's face).

Cubmaster: Webelos Scouts have faithfully promised always to keep the spirit of Cub Scouting. As their parents, do you also promise to continue to help your boy in his Scouting adventures.

(Parents answer, 'We do').

Cubmaster: (Asst. Cubmaster lights White Candle, as the Cubmaster reads)

The second band of color, white, represents the Scout Law. Youth and adult leaders will cheerfully show you the skills you need, but it will be up to you to live up to the 12 points of the Scout Law. Daily you will be faced with decisions and, at times, the trail will seem most difficult to follow. Make your choices by always remembering the Scout Law. In all you do, do you promise to be forever Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean and Reverent?

(Webelos answer, 'We do'. Webelos Leader applies white paint)

Cubmaster: (as the Assistant Cubmaster lights the yellow candle)

The third band of color, yellow, stands for the Arrow of Light. Within the teepees of many braves, the Arrow of Light has an honored place. Its shaft is straight and narrow : just as is the path that you Scouts should follow throughout your life. Its tip points the way : the way to success in all that you do. It is pointing to the right : a symbol that nothing should be left undone; if it is within your power to do it, see that it is done. And lastly, this is the symbol of the seven rays of the sun, one for each day of the week; this is to remind you that every day is a new day : a day to Do Your Best in everything:

A day to honor your God and Country,

to do your Good Turn,

a new chance to follow the Scout Law

and to remember these words: On My Honor

Cubmaster: Each boy has blazed his own trail toward the Arrow of Light award, and now the Arrow of Light will help them remember their promise to keep the Spirit of Cub Scouting alive. Do you promise to let its light shine forth from you, to set an example for others to follow in your footsteps, to set your eye on the Eagle and never waiver?

(Webelos reply, 'We promise'. Webelos Leader applies yellow paint).

Cubmaster: Then I, Akela, have the distinct honor to say to you: You are now full-fledged Arrow of Light holders!

(Assistant Cubmaster hands the parents the Arrow of Light awards and asks them to pin them upon the boys).

Cubmaster: Next, we ask the Webelos to pin upon their mom or dad a miniature Arrow of Light.

Cubmaster: You may wear the awards on your Scout uniforms, centered below the left shirt pocket. It is a great honor for me to greet you as a recipient of the Arrow of Light award. (all leaders shake hands of recipients)

Cubmaster: (while assistant Cubmaster lights green candle) The last candle, and the last band of color, is Green; it symbolizes the beginning of your path toward Eagle as a Boy Scout. As your Den Leader applies the paint on each of you, prepare yourselves to no longer be known as a Webelos Scout, but now as a Boy Scout.

Your Den Leader will now lead you to the bridge that connects Cub Scouting with Boy Scouting. As your name is called, cross over the bridge where Boy Scouts will be waiting to welcome you into their troop and present you with the handbooks and neckerchiefs you already have earned through your diligence as Webelos Scouts.

(Webelos den leader leads scouts to bridge. As a name is called, he can shake their hand and wish them well before they cross over.)

Happy planning. We get to do another one in September it looks like.

Mother's Day

Let's just start by saying that I figure between all of the holidays each year, as long as I can have one out of the however many there are, where my kids are sweet and amazing, then I am happy. With that being said, I believe my one holiday this year was on my birthday because they were amazing then, but Mother's Day was a crap shoot essentially.

For those who are in my ward at church, I really enjoyed Heather's talk for Mother's Day because it summed up a couple things for me around the whole essence of Mother's Day. And no, roses did not bloom beneath my feet either :0)

Sweet gestures were my gifts. Hayden made a cute little edible flower in a pot with a picture of him in the middle of another flower. He also had a card for me as well.

Hadley answered some questions from her teacher in church to go fill in blanks on a poem. I got a kick out of the answers and figured I would share them on here. All of her answers have been from observations and words from me. Here is what it read:

My Mom

By: Hadley

My mom has "blue hair and eyes with brown."

Her favorite drink is "water."

Her favorite food is "hamburger and lunch and fish."

Her job is "the boss."

For fun, she likes to "play with toys."

She likes to shop "at the store."

I love to "hug her like Jesus."

My mom likes "to take me to the park."

Also, my husband never really buys me flowers that much and I kind of am okay with it because I realize flowers are expensive and they end up dying on you anyways. Two Mother's Days ago, he bought me strawberry, raspberry and blackberry bushes to plant in our garden and some rose bushes. I appreciate those since they were my favorite berries of which I could enjoy continuously year after year and the roses I enjoy watching bloom in front of our house.

With that being said, my husband managed during his busy schedule to figure out a cute way of celebrating this year. He told me he wanted to try out something new so from his office, he went online to goflowers.com or some such website and ordered 2 DOZEN roses! Crazy! So Saturday before Mother's Day, he ushered me to answer a knock at the door which had a box of roses complete with vase and a small box of chocolates. It was from him and my kids and it was really sweet.

So there you have it. That was my sweet part of Mother's Day this year. I'm not going to go into detail about my kids misbehaving and making it a rough Mother's Day as Heather described in her talk at church. I'll just leave you with the happiness and hope that I can have another good day on another holiday in the near future.

P.S. Our anniversary should be a lot better this year since I won't be nursing an infant ;0) Here's hoping.

Last Day of School

My big man had his last day of school this week. It was a half day as well. I felt bad because I ended up being late for pick up since I was traveling from across town after picking up awards for the Pack Meeting coming up. I ended up making it there two minutes before she was suppose to start her afternoon class.

Since we didn't get to have a proper good-bye, we decided to go play at the park for a little with our friends and then catch her at the end of the rest of school. I put together a little gift last minute besides contributing to the group class gift. I took post it notes and wrote notes on the three different things.

1. lotion - to help heal the hands from all the anti-bacterial soap used this year.

2. Aspen Mulling Spice - a heaping spoonful with hot apple juice in a mug is my favorite after a hard day.

3. Chocolate truffles - to help you relax after a long hard day.

In the group gift, I helped out in writing the verbage to the card. I thought it would be fun to incorporate some memorable sayings form the year into the text. I sat down and brainstormed one morning and this is what the creative juices made.

Thank you Ms. Lee for helping us
To learn what we need to know
We'll all remember you and your sayings
No matter where we go.

With simple phrases like, “I am smart!

I know this! I can do this! It’s a piece of cake!

It’s a snap!” takes a lot of heart

You taught me that it’s easy peasie lemon squeezie

and to always do my part.

When “friends” would get restless,

you’d say, “I’m gonna get my horns out!”

and we’d know right away

to fix the noise and not to shout

so we can have a better day.

Thank you, Ms. Lee, for being
So nice and kind and good;
We like you so much, Ms. Lee,
We'd stay here if we could!

The group

They're First Graders!!!

First Talk

Well, we made it half way through her first year in Primary as a Sunbeam, but last week, Hadley finally had to give a talk during the opening exercises of Primary. I was way nervous because I had no clue how to get her to do it. What was worse was that the topic was rather involved which made it harder to make it short and sweet. She had to talk about how the principles and ordinances of the gospel lead me to Jesus Christ.

I took time to practice it with her only once before church since it took me a little to write what she was going to say. She ended up blaring into the microphone for the bulk of it and she didn't repeat the words as well as when we practiced and the whole time I had to juggle between holding the mic so she wouldn't put her mouth over it, switching the pictures she was holding up and the paper we were reading off of. It was a pretty funny experience all together. THe important thing is we survived and hopefully, the next go around won't be until the end of the year and she'll be more manageable with a less involved topic ;0) Here's what she was saying if you could understand her at all.

-We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the gospel are first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; Second, repentance; Third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; Fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.

-Faith - A commandment is when Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ ask us to do something. When we obey the commandments, we show Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ that we trust them. We show our faith when we obey. Just like Lehi and Nephi and the Liahona. The Liahona showed them where to go, but only worked when they had faith and trusted in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

-Repentance - When we do something wrong, it always hurts us and often hurts others. We may think the hurt will go away if we ignore it. But left alone, the wrong will continue to hurt us and make us sad. Just like when you get a splinter in your hand, if you don’t tell anyone and try to remove it, it gets infected and continues to hurt and make you sad. Heavenly Father wants us to be happy. Jesus makes it possible for us to repent through his Atonement so we can heal and be happy again.

-Baptism - When we are baptized, we make a lifelong covenant with the Lord. A covenant is like a two-way promise to do what is right and become more like Jesus. In return we will be blessed for our good choices. We remember our promise when we take the sacrament at church each week. We remember Christ and his Atonement when taking the bread and water.

-Holy Ghost - After being baptized, we receive the Holy Ghost. It’s like our conscience helping us choose between right and wrong. You could also think of it as the Coach of your baseball team. He tells you what you should do. Sometimes people have a hard time understanding the hand signals that are given by the coach and we make mistakes. You could’ve run when you should’ve stayed. You could’ve swung when you were supposed to bunt. You could’ve pitched a fastball instead of a curve ball. The umpire is Jesus Christ and he wants us to listen to our coach so he doesn’t have to say, “You’re out!”

-Principles are teachings that come from God. Ordinances are things we do when we live God’s principles. We need to remember that if we follow his teachings of Faith and Repentance and be a part of the ordinances like Baptism and the laying on of hands for the Gift of the Holy Ghost, we will be happy and become more like Jesus.

Creative Genius

We finally decided when to have Hayden's birthday party. He also is addiment with the theme being Hot Wheels Racing Party so it was time for me to be creative. I didn't want to do something boring for invites and be a lame mom so after much thought and googling, I came across a cute little diddy to put on the invite along with some modification of my own in verbage. It went something like this:

Start your engines!

Race, Crash and Smash!

You’re invited to Hayden's

Hot Wheels 6th birthday Bash.

A car will be waiting for you to race

or bring your own

if you think it will win first place!

Lunch will be served

in the drivers pit.

We have reserved a place

for you to sit.

The crash overpass and the V-drop

are sure to be cream of the crop

and the other races are guaranteed to take you over the top.

Your car may never want to STOP!

Here is what you need to know

So your car can

GO GO GO.

Racing Date:

Time:

Starters Gate:

RSVP to the Pit Crew

(I took out the private info for posting)

I then had an epiphany to make the invites just like tickets to a big racing event like NASCAR or something, so I looked at how the tickets should look and then edited my design in Photoshop from there. I made them all VIP Admission with their names on it and a couple other cute fun details. I then stuck the two back to back, laminated it with my little machine and went to distribution mode before school got out and I wouldn't be able to track down everyone.

Hayden is just like me when I was little. I always wanted to invite EVERYONE to my party. One year, my mom actually let me and I swear there were 20 or so friends there.

He had a list of about 20 and I made him weedle it down to 15 and from there, hoped we would have some regrets for RSVP. It looks like we'll have around 10 kids or so still, but not too shabby. I will blog about his party in about a week. Hope you enjoy the images :)