Primary Activity Day

Today we had our Primary Activity Day. Sadly, I almost forgot about it. I woke up in the middle of the night last night in a panic, barely remembering that I was supposed to be at the church at 9:00 in the morning. Sigh. At least I remembered.

For part of the Faith In God program, one of the things the kids can do to pass off a section is to help with an activity day. Which meant we needed to do something that would be fairly easy for someone as young as 8 years old. As school just got out, we figured we could do a "movie night" sort of deal and show a couple church movies and play games. So, we had the Achievement Day girls make the invitations and decided that the scouts could build a concession stand out of cardboard boxes and "sell" popcorn, juice, and candy to the kids. Each kid got four tickets. One ticket per item. The boys had fun collecting tickets and passing out the treats to the kids.

We showed two different movies. The first one about the 2,000 stripling warriors and the second about Queen Esther. In between movies we played Sister Burnham says (Simon Says) and Red Light, Green Light. All in all, I think it went over pretty well. We did end up with Nerds candy all over the gym floor.....BUT.....easy enough for clean up. Even better...this means we don't have to worry about another Primary Activity until Christmas because we get to count our Saturday practice for the Sacrament Meeting Primary Presentation as one. The presentation takes enough planning on its own. ;0)

(By the way...if I've got your kids in Primary....I LOVE THEM! They are awesome. Seriously... they have such sweet spirits and such unique personalities. I have loved getting to know them)

This is Landon

Hi. This is Landon. I am seven and today is the first day of summer vacation. I am really excited for all the fun things I'm going to do.

Today is my first tennis lesson. I like to hit the ball high. I hope I do good.




On Wednesday nights I get to go take gymnastics with my sister. She has a class before me, and then it's my turn. I have some cousins who are doing it with me. So, it will be fun. I like to walk on the balance beam like Spiderman. I went to gymnastics with my cousins once before and got to jump on the vault and I did really good. I stood up!





I got a skateboard for my seventh birthday and now that it's warm I get to ride on it. I took it to the park once, but it was hard. So I need to practice. My mom said we could go to the skate park, but I have to wear my helmet and elbow and knee pads so I don't get hurt. I want to ride my skateboard like Tony Hawks. He is cool. I play his game on my dad Jeff's X Box and it is way fun. I make him do cool jumps on the game.






My dad said he would take me golfing a lot this summer. I want to play like Tiger Woods because he is really good. I can hit the ball far with my clubs, but I have to practice with my putter. That's hard. Dad says he needs to practice too. And I like it when he lets me drive the golf cart. He has to push the gas pedal though because I might go too fast.

This year my mom is putting me in swimming lessons. I did it before, but still need to practice. I can't go off the diving board unless I know how to swim. It is kind of scary to swim, because I might go under and drown. But mom says she'll make sure I'm safe. And if I take swimming lessons then I'll know how to swim good and not go under the water and I'll be okay.


I am still going to take piano lessons from my Nana this summer too. I like to make cool tunes. I like that my nana teaches me because I get to go to her house and be with her. I love my nana. She gives me apples and string cheese.

I am going to go play outside now. I was on the slip and slide and now I'm warm again. So, I can go play again. So long suckers!

Slip.....Slip and Slide!

Do you remember that little jingle from back in the day? Love the Slip and Slide!

To commemmorate the last day of school, I took Landon to the store and we bought a slip and slide. He and Mackenzee were outside playing on that thing all afternoon. Mackenzee didn't do much sliding, though she did slip a couple of times ;0) She mostly just sat in the puddle of water that formed at the end of the slip and slide.

Landon didn't quite understand the concept of it and so instead of sliding on his stomach down the plastic runway...he would jump on his knees.

Which meant he was only sliding a couple of feet. So....being the good mom that I am, I showed him how it was properly done. Holy cow! Talk about cold water. But it actually felt pretty good. The kids thought it was pretty funny too. ;0) Anyway, after that, Landon got the hang of it and was able to perfect his "slide". He can't get enough of it either. He woke up Saturday morning and the first thing he asked was if he could go out on the slip and slide! I don't think it's going to make it through the summer.....

A couple of big days

So...Landon had his very first piano recital last night. My mom teaches
him piano lessons and so it has been fun for Landon to spend this extra time with his Nana. He played two songs. "Silly Bug Stomp" and then we played a duet together, "Love Is
Spoken Here". He was so nervous too. He begged and begged me to be able to use his music and I told him he didn't need it and he'd do fine. He's had the song memorized for over a month now. But, nerves got the best of him, and on his way up to the piano, he paused at my mom's chair and whispered, "Puh-leeeeeaaase." So, she let him play the song with his music. Silly boy. He did great and it
has been fun for me to be able to play along with him.

And then today was Landon's last day of 1st grade. So it was a pretty big day. He has really enjoyed school this year, mostly thanks to a great teacher, Mrs. Reed. Who put up with his "problems" we were having at the beginning of the school year. She is sadly, leaving Morningside after only one year as she lives in Burley and was offered a position at the elementary in Heyburn. So, closer to home for her. Sniff Sniff...we will miss her though.

So, this means summer vacation has officially started. Argh! I'm hoping it will be a good one. Lots of stuff going on to keep Landon busy. Between tennis, golf, art classes, gymnastics, and swimming lessons....he should be good to go. SHOULD...that's the key word there. Sigh.

Angel Moroni

A friend of mine sent this picture to me. Thanks so much Amy! The Angel Moroni was put on the steeple of the temple yesterday. What a beautiful addition. What is most exciting for me, is that now that they are almost finished with the exterior of the temple, they can begin work on the inside. Which is where the important stuff happens. How lucky we are to be able to have a temple in our own town. Every Sunday Jaysen and I go to Jerome to his parents' home for dinner and on the way back, even from Golf Course Road you can see the large white structure. It's almost like it's glowing white.

Doesn't it give you goosebumps?

Remember Me

Again, I got this great video in an email. A 15 year old girl made this video. A very heartwarming, thought provoking piece. I will admit I shed a tear or two at the end. When I see videos like this, I always seem to think of how it would feel if I was sending Jaysen off to war, or if it was me losing him. You know...the whole wearing someone else's shoes thing. I would be crushed.
What was truly unfortunate, is that the comments made on YouTube concerning this video were horrible. Anti war statements, anti Bush statements, even to the point of bringing up the whole 9-11 controversy. One person was even so harsh as to call this girl a "soldier hater". I'm not sure how any of these people got those ideas from watching this video.
If they would have watched it, they would have seen that to post their comments they were doing exactly what the video tells them not to. Soldiers just want to hear that we are supporting them and that we are proud of them. Not that we think they are wasting their time, putting their lives on the line every day for nothing. That's what these types of comments portray to them. That you don't support them. I just truly found it interesting. They, who argued against the video, only proved the creator's point.

Anyway...my thanks and prayers go out to ALL soldiers and their families. I truly appreciate your sacrifice.

Sunshine

So, you know how my kids are WAY cuter than yours? Well...here's another reason why. I have sung "You are my sunshine" to my Mackenzee since she was an infant. With her reflux, she cried A LOT. And for some reason, if I sang "sunshine" (that's what we call the song in my house) to her, it would calm her down for a bit. I babysat my neice, Savanna, last year and she knew the trick too. When Mackenzee would cry, Savanna would instantly start to sing it. It was cute. Her little four year old voice. ;0) (Not as cute as my kids though) Anyway....I still sing it to Mackenzee at bedtime. It's our little routine. I hold her and we sway as I sing and then I ask her if she is my sunshine and she says yes and then she goes to sleep. It's just what we do. You moms understand. ;0) Anyway....a couple of nights ago I started to sing....and she started to sing along. The actual words.

"uh-shie, o-ee uh-shie.
(You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.)
A-heeee, gay.
(You make me happy, when skies are gray.)
oh- eeeee, wuv ooo.
(You'll never know dear, how much I love you.)
uh-shie way."
(Please don't take my sunshine away.)

See....I told you she was cuter.