Welcome Fall!

Fall starts when I make wassail. The house fills with the wonderful smell of fall spices. The first thing the kids say is "Oh it smells like Christmas is coming."

This year we added gingersnap cookies to our yummy smelling, and tasting, fall tradition. It made everything twice as good so I think we will keep it. I cooked them so they stayed soft.

It was a perfect crisp fall day outside and a warm, cozy day inside. A perfect way to welcome fall.

(I'll add the recipes later :-)

Sensational Summer!

WE HAD A SENSATIONAL SUMMER! 

 We spent it observing............. (This deer came right in our backyard for the whole day!)



Making flower crowns.......

Loving Puppies...............



Shopping with BFF's...............

HIKING!.....................

Jumping in Puddles ...........



Visiting the ZOO....



Watching Baby Zuri - the new baby elephant.........



Picking wildflowers......



Swimming........

Camping with Cousins........

Catching frogs - the little tiny kind.........

Making frog habitats..........

Winning!!!!..............

Laughing..............

Increasing our cultural experience at the Shakespeare Festival and visiting Justin..........



Catering and holding a Magnificent Bunny Wedding.......





Finding Fairy homes and hideouts.............





Receiving awesome blessings.....in the form of an AWESOME new TRACTOR!............

Gathering Sunshine...............

Creating beautiful arrangements.............

ENJOYING LIFE!!!!

The Magic of Birthday's, Life, & the Amazing Butterfly!

My beautiful birthday girl!!! It has been an amazing journey and I am so grateful that she is here with us with her toothless grin :) She is an angel straight from Heaven. She wanted a rainforest party this year. She loves animals and doing good things for the earth. She loved the butterflies from Kaity's party so we decided to do that again. (http://www.insectlore.com/ the school refill kit for painted lady caterpillars) Hope you can get some creative ideas from this and enjoy the magic of birthdays & the amazing butterfly.

Her big brothers decorated the porch posts to look like jungle trees. They really turned out awesome.

Everyone went on a bug hunt! They had little bags and searched the yard for little plastic bugs. I got the bugs & bags from the dollar store and hid them all over the yard.

The bubble machine made everything magical.

For the invitations we copied & enlarged a clipart butterfly and printed the words on the back.

Then we cut the center to make a pencil holder.

Our best party favors were of course the painted ladies. They come in a little jar with food and all you have to do is watch them until they make their chrysalis. They got to go home in this cute little basket.

We made awesome rainforest bug jars. At the party store I found strands of wooden beads for a dollar. Their were lots of beads on a strand. I put all of the beads in a bowl and everyone picked their own "flavors". I got screen door mesh from the hardware store and cut it into small squares and then I had green wire on hand.

I put the wire under the lip of the mason jar and twisted it together leaving a small loop on the opposite side to hook the end of the wire in and then looped it over the top. The jars were ready that way for the party. Then the kids all strung their beads on and then I put the end of the wire in the loop I had made and twisted it together. (I used pliers with the wire so it was nice and tight.)

Kaity & my good friend Kim decorated the cake. The birthday girl loves m&m's, animals & chocolate so it was perfect! What a fabulous day! The funnest thing about the caterpillars is we get to watch them for a couple of weeks, growing, and growing and then finally becoming a chrysalis and then magically hatching into a beautiful butterfly. After that we also get to release them - so this party lasts for a long time!!!

The Magic of Butterflies

It is so amazing to watch the transformation that takes place when a caterpillar magically changes into a butterfly. Everything about it is miraculous, interesting and unique. From the huge daily growth that we can see in the caterpillar, to the gold dots or fringes on the chrysalis, to the way that it emerges and expands into a beautiful winged creature.

This was a long winter but we had spring all around us in our house. We ordered caterpillars and watched them in a fabulous butterfly habitat. We learned so much about them and were able to keep them for about 2 months. We were even able to get them to lay eggs and had a second batch of caterpillars that we released in our yard.

We have been working on a plan for our butterfly garden. We have researched the butterflies that can live in our area and the foods they need to eat as well as the plants they will lay eggs on. This summer we are going to build it. As the girls care for their little garden I want them to think about how things grow, how we can be responsible for that growth and how beautiful each plant is when it blossoms and grows.

We had so much fun watching our caterpillars grow and hatch. We did a lot of talking during and after our butterfly experience. I want my girls to know that in life we, just like the caterpillar, have to work to grow and to then emerge from our chrysalis into things of beauty that are eternal.

She is Heaven Sent!

I am so thankful for my precious children. They inspire me to be a better person and I have an immensely better life because they are in it.

This year for Kaity's birthday she wanted to do something a little different. She said that because we are so blessed she wanted to do something for someone else. It also went along with our family theme this year of creating magic in our own backyard.

We talked about different ideas - first we had to establish whether she wanted to do something for animals or people. Being the animal lover that she is I felt we had better clarify that. I thought her answer was sweet and profound, "I want to do something for people, because if we take care of the people they can take care of the animals."

She decided her project would be for the Women's Shelter in our town. Her cousin, whose birthday is the day before hers, worked together with her to collect donations for the shelter then we had the party and tied felt blankets for the children at the shelter. We tied a stuffed animal on to each blanket. They looked adorable. Most of all the girls felt really good about their service.

Everyone took home a caterpillar and seeds for plants that feed butterflies so that everyone could make a difference for good in our wonderful world. They also received instructions on how to care for the caterpillar and the butterfly when it emerged from it's chrysalis. It was a fabulous party and everyone left a better person because of the time they spent blessing the lives of others.

"No matter what circumstances you sisters experience, your influence can be marvelously far-reaching. I believe some of you have a tendency to underestimate your profound capacity for blessing the lives of others. More often than not, it is not on the stage with some public pronouncement but in your example of righteousness and the countless gentle acts of love and kindness done so willingly, so often on a one-to-one basis."

--James E. Faust, "You Are All Heaven Sent," Ensign, Nov. 2002, 110

A Fabulous Winter Tea

We have always loved having tea parties and have them regularly at our house. Sometimes we invite lots of friends and dress up in our fancy clothes and sometimes we have a tea by ourselves. When I was in about 3rd grade I made a miniature tea set out of salt dough clay, which I still have today. My dolls & bears were served several times during my childhood. Since then I have loved collecting tea pots and unique tea cups with saucers. From the time Kaity was about three we started collecting miniature tea sets and she also loved serving her animals. Karlie is also carrying on this tradition. Both of them love to have a "tea party" when their friends come over.

We have wanted to have a Winter Tea for some time and finally we did this year and plan to every year. It was FABULOUS!!! We served Homemade Hot Cocoa and Apple Juice along with our dainty luncheon dishes. We all dressed up in our tea time best and brought an American Girl Doll or Bear. Each girl and their special guest had a special place setting. It was a wonderful opportunity to dress-up and be lady like. It was also a great opportunity to think about serving others with a fun project, which is one of our goals this year.

A tradition in our town is to go "Valentine kicking." You take valentine treats to special people and kick the door and run away. So after our tea we made Valentine Cookie Kits for each girl to take to someone special. Our kits were filled with the best ever unfrosted Sugar Cookies, a container of frosting and a small baggie of sprinkles. We also included special notes with the kits and for the girls parents.