Creativity

I know I've posted about this before, but I can't help it.  I love the creative things my kids do.  With three boys we do a lot of building with Trio blocks, Legos, sand, sticks, rocks, or whatever else they can get their dirty little hands on.  When we have rainy or cold days and we are stuck inside we almost always get out the building tools in our house. The Trio blocks are my favorite because even Landon can put them together and pull them apart with ease. They are perfect for all ages.  If you're looking for good building blocks check these out.  Dalin and Braden are getting quite good at coming up with awesome things.  Since I'm no good at building and creating things with my hands like they are they have to help me when I'm building.  I think this gives them a great sense of accomplishment.  They take after their dad in this respect.  He is great at building and working with his hands. 

Dalin made a helicopter.

Braden came up with a dinosaur.

Do you see what I'm talking about?  I think it's pretty good for a 7 and a 5-year-old.

School Supplies

I don't normally post about this kind of stuff, but I just had to show off my mad skills.  I got all this stuff for $4.00.  Woot, woot!  Two reams of paper, folder tabs, lined paper, two 3x5 index cards, 2 packages of pink erasers, 2 rulers, and 2 boxes of Crayola markers - FOR $4!  Go coupons.

 

Hail Storm

The end of September brought a freak hail storm.  We had blue skies and hot weather, and then, out of the blue, some patchy dark clouds came rolling in and with them came the hail.  We're talking the kind of hail that dents cars.  We all went and stood under the awning and watched.  The kids, more specifically Dalin, ran out and collected some.  I ran out there with them and it didn't feel too good when one of those suckers hit you on the head.  Dalin loved the stuff and he filled a whole tackle box full of them and stored them in the freezer for a month.  I don't think I've ever seen hail quite that big.  The up side to this freak of nature was the string of rainbows that followed. Once the short storm was over, the clouds vanished and it warmed right back up in a manner of minutes.  It was really weird weather.

I'm So Sexy

Fast forward to today after school.  Dalin came in the door singing to himself "I'm so sexy, I'm so sexy."  What are we talking about?!!?  So as nonchalantly as I could I asked him where he learned that little ditty.  He looked at me with one of those looks that says "oh mom, you are totally old school"  and said "that's what you say to a girl if you want her to chase you."  O.K. People is this normal for a second grader?  I'm so going to be in trouble.  The stuff they come up with....

Then later that day while I was cooking dinner the boys were out back playing.  Dalin and Braden got out two mitts and started playing catch.  So cute.  The lined up clear across the yard from each other and threw it pitch style; wind up, leg in the air, and chuck it as hard you can.  Neither of them actually caught the ball but it was sure fun to watch them play.  Then after dinner while I was cleaning up the boys went back outside.  This time they recruited Landon into their game of two-hand-touch football.  Apparently they've been learning this at school as well and Dalin says he plays it everyday at recess (when he's not being chased by girls).  It was so funny to watch them explain the game to Landon and then keep telling him he was playing wrong.  Braden kept getting frustrated because I guess Landon was on his team and was making them lose....go figure. 

Fun Pictures

I decided the other day that I don't take enough pictures of my kids all together and then we were driving by the temple and Braden wanted to stop and look at the flowers.  I happened to have my camera in the car with me so we stopped and I had them pose a few times.  It was fun and not something I do nearly enough.  Here are some of my favorite ones from that day.       

Pumpkins

I have grown pumpkins almost every year since I had kids.  It's fun and they are easy to grow, with very little maintenance.  The kids enjoy watching them grow and are excited when we get to go out and pick them to put on our front porch.  I also get to save a little money at Halloween time because we don't have to buy pumpkins.  This year we had a fairly good crop.  When we noticed the plants start to die off because it was too cold at night we had to go pick them.  This is always such an exciting day.  It came a little earlier this year because it froze so much sooner than previous years. 

Landon won't be seen without Monster trucks in hand.

Showing off their crop.  For only planting two plants this year, I think we got a pretty good yield.