Drew's Talk

Drew gave a talk on Sunday. When I told him he had a talk, right away he said "Joshu 1:9!" When I explained he had a talk, not a scripture he still wanted to say Joshua 1:9. The topic of the talk was suppose to be "My body is a temple." Here is his talk. He did a great job! 


My favorite scripture is Joshua 1:9. “Be strong and of good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”

I like this scripture because I like being strong. I know Heavenly Father gave me my body and it is really special. If I take good care of it I will be able to be even stronger! I can be really brave and have the courage to say NO to things that are bad for my body. I am thankful for my body.

In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Quality Time

The boys love playing games with Dad. Spencer loves playing chess and is getting good! Drew's favorite game to play with Dad is ABC bingo, but Uno is good too. I am so thankful to have a husband who spends time with the kids!!!

Who says quality time is more important than quantity?
This months Ensign has an article called "T-I-M-E Spells Love."

The Mess and the Happy Helper

Once upon a time, the was a boy who thought he could do anything. One day he decided to open a can of ravioli because he thought "If big brother can do it, so can I!" The can went KABOOM!

The boy decided to be a happy helper. He grabbed a dish rag and started cleaning. When the boy was done cleaning he felt good. He was a good helper and he learned how NOT to open cans.

The End

Slip and Slide

Spencer got a slip and slid for his birthday from Uncle Max. Luke loves it and so he makes is hard for everyone else because by the time they move Luke and back up to get a good running start, Luke is back on the slip and slide and they have to put on the brakes or crash in to him. It's so funny!!! I get to be the bad guy and keep Luke off long enough to let the kids have a turn. 

Swimming Lessons

The kids did a session of swimming lessons this summer. 

Drew was in Sea Otters. He was the most improved of my kids because he went from being terrified of getting his face wet to diving for rings and attempting to touch the bottom of the 12 ft. deep-end as he held on to a pole the instructor had.  

 Bria was in Sea Sprites. She loved the first week, then she decided she didn't like getting her eyes wet. She still had fun singing, "I'm a little pancake round and flat..." and doing all the other fun things they did as long as the teachers respected her wish to not get her eyes wet. And she was firm and unyielding! 

 Spencer was in Swim Stars. He got to learn all about the different strokes and floats. He enjoyed teaching them to Travis and I at Aunt Karen's pool. He probably loved swimming lessons the most. All in all it was lots of fun!

 

Birthdays

We just finished birthday season at our house. Since I'm so far behind I figured I'd put all the recent birthdays in one post.

First, we have beautiful Bria. Bria is our little princess. She lets her personality shine even though she's surrounded by all these boys. She loves dresses that spin and things that are pretty. Bria has a talent for organizing and likes things to be in order. Every night she asks me to make her blankets beautiful. Bria's favorite things are horses and chicken nuggets. 

 Next is daring Drew. Drew has the sprit of an adventurer. He loves to play anything with good guys and bad guys. He dashes around the house with his swords, making as much noise as he can get away with and play-fighting with any one brave enough to take him on. He loves stories and cuddles but NEVER kisses!

Third is loud and lovable Luke. Luke is such a joy. He is so noisy and so busy! Watching Luke at Spencer's baptism my mom commented, "It's like taking a monkey to church!" That is exactly what it's like! He jabbers away as he darts around the room. He even loves bananas. He isn't walking yet, but has taken a few steps and has super balance. His favorite things are his older siblings, Papa Lenny and Papa's music toys.

Fourth is Silly Spencer. Spencer is a great big brother. He has been teaching Drew how to count to 100 recently. He loves silly jokes, drawing, making up games and reading. He catches on to new ideas quickly and loves to have late night conversations about nearly anything. Of course his favorite things are cards (club penguin, pokeman....) and LEGOS!

Spencer is super excited to be a cub scout too!!! 

And finally is nifty Nana. Nana is nifty because she loves us all so much. She loves a good story, especially a good mystery or fantasy, but never anything sad! She loves to help others and most of all she loves the gospel of Jesus Christ and her family.

Well, that does it for birthdays around here for awhile, although Max has one coming up pretty soon....

Crazy Hat Day

Spencer decorated one of Papa Bob's hats for crazy hat day at school.

Of course Drew wanted to wear one too.

How about this one instead?

 

Umm, maybe not!

We'll stick with these!!!

AZ Museum of Youth

Travis and Spencer went to Southern AZ for the big end of year field trip so the other kids and I decided to go on a field trip of our own. We were lucky enough to score a culture pass (free tickets from the library) to the Museum of Youth. We stayed for over four hours, mostly playing dress-up. The theme was "Once upon a time." We went around to all the stations, read fairy tales and dressed up as the characters. There was also a baseball exhibit, several craft centers, and of course Artville. The museum has chairs that spin and these are probably the all time favorite thing to do at the museum. The kids all took turns getting spun and spinning Luke.

Ewan

Drew's friend Ewan came over to play. They had so much fun together. Ewan was a pleasure to have over. Bria wore him out chasing him around the house. Ewan kept saying, "Great, I think she likes me!" It was so funny. His mom says he has lots of little girls at home that do the same thing so he's pretty use to it. Bria still thinks he's the greatest!

And where was Drew during all the girly chasing?

Learning to Read

Drew got the first set of Bob books in his Easter basket.

Of course he wanted to read them right away.

Dad was a great helper.

Drew sounded out each letter.

Drew said he liked the book. It was about Sam and Mat. He likes to read. Reading makes him feel good. When he can read really good he wants to read a Bob the Builder book.

Just as a side note, Drew has been working on his reading list for a long time. He sits with a book and turns each page as he pretends to read. His reading list consisted of the Harry Potter books, our Classic Starts collection, (Call of the Wild, Gulliver's Travels and the like,) a chapter book about Abraham Lincoln, the unabridged Les Miserables, (a personal favorite) and The Princess Bride. We have tons of books you would think he'd choose that look a lot more fun for kids, but he was adamant about this list. That's what I call high class taste!