Dodge Squirt

This is a game that Jonah came up with the other day. Oh, wait, first I want to apologize to anyone in the neighborhood that might have seen me jumping on the trampoline in my swimsuit, sorry if I scared you! Anyway, this was really fun. My mom was squirting us with the jet spray and we were trying to dodge the water. We had a blast! (excuse the pun) Also, if you notice Jonah's ribs sticking out, do not worry. I feed him alot, but he takes after his dad and continues to be stick slim.

Savannah wasn't really in for the squirting, although she did join us later on the trampoline when we were just jumping to get dry. She had the very important mission of taking this bucket of water somewhere. Unfortunately, she got stuck and realized there was a fence, so she had to turn back around.

Painting with Water

This is one of the things I can remember doing when I was young. We would get all the big paintbrushes and fill a bucket with water and paint everything in sight. It is fun and harmless because it dries really fast. I forgot all about it until my mom reminded me yesterday. So, if you are bored and need something to try-this is a fun one.

Where Have All The Children Gone?

I don't mean to offend or judge anyone by making this observation, but what do kids do all day these days? I have been pondering this the entire summer because there are rarely children outside. Almost everytime I take my kids to the park, it is empty. When we are playing in the backyard, I hardly ever hear other kids voices. When we are on walks, we don't see anyone. When I drive through the neighborhood- nothing. There are hardly ever children in any yard. It is like a ghost town. I know almost every house in this neighborhood has at least 1 child that resides there. What do these kids do all day? That is what I am wondering. I know times have changed since I was little, but I remember being outside all day in the summertime playing. We didn't want to stay inside. We were out in the sun all day long. It is so different now. Maybe it is just because I can still remember the Georgia heat and humidity, so it never seems very hot to me. There is always a nice breeze and if you are in the shade, it is really quite comfortable. Anyway, I was just wondering.

Kids Answering Questions Tag

Ok, I know that you have all seen this tag going around, but it is really funny to ask your kids these questions. Jonah's answers are in RED, Ryanne's are after that, in black or normal, you can figure it out, right?

1. What is something mom always says to you?
she says don't complain about your food


um, obey

2. What makes mom happy?

when you obey and eat what you need to eat

doing stuff that she wants you to

3. What makes mom sad?


when you don't obey and don't eat your dinner



not obeying, that makes mom sad, right?


4. How does mom make you laugh?
when she tells us knock knock jokes or something, stuff like that


from tickling you



5. What was mom like as a child?



ok, now this is the hardest one shes told me- she was a good child that obeyed but had to go to timeout sometimes


Ryanne



6. How old is mom?



come on, that's easy, 30


I don't know how many you are


7. How tall is mom?

about 5 feet

those legs to the top of your head


8. What is mom's favorite thing to do?

make lasagna


cook



9. What does mom do when you're not around?

plays with the girls, at least when I'm in first grade, ha ha ha

comes to get you



11. What is mom really good at?

making yummy foods, that makes us really really happy



um, cooking



12. What is mom not good at?

going on the dino drop (at Lagoon- yeah, I am a scared mom, everyone was laughing at me)


tv



13. What is mom's job?

taking care of us and playing with us
cooking



14. What is mom's favorite food?

the food she always makes, lasagna and tomato sandwiches

um, pasta


15. What makes you proud of mom?

when she plays with us and helps us laugh

cooking us good food



16. What do you and mom do together?

play and have fun

um, go for trips



17. How are you and mom the same?

we, um, are just the same


cuz we have long hair



18. How are you and mom different?

when I have to go to timeout and she doesn't

cuz we have bodies, different bodies



19. How do you know mom loves you?

by how she hugs us and kisses us and plays with us

cuz I'm her child

For anyone who knows me well, you know that I am a stickler for bedtime. It is important and I am strict about it. Well, I think Matt is rubbing off on me, because I am loosening up. Or it might be the fact that it doesn't get dark until 10 pm around here and the summer is the only time we can be outside due to the long, dark winter. Whatever the reason, we decided to take Ryanne and Jonah to the drive-in last night to watch Kung Fu Panda. They took a 2 hour nap before we left, and then we loaded up the popcorn, blankets and pillows and got situated in the back of the car.
It was pretty fun, but the flash on the camera was really bright! Jonah couldn't keep his eyes open for anything. We had a good time and went to bed really late!

This is just for laughs. When we were getting ready to walk out the door for church, Matt came up from the basement, totally serious, and said "Alright, Let's go!" I couldn't stop laughing because he looked so ridiculous, but he does this kind of thing all the time. I love it. Savannah was pretty scared, but I finally got her to give her daddy a kiss!

Do you Remember me Tag

I have seen this on a bunch of blogs lately, so I am trying it out here. Be nice, please!

Do you remember when?

1. Add a comment on my blog, leave a memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you know me a little or a lot, anything you remember! If we're only blogging friends, write about a post that is most memorable.

2. Next, post these instructions on your blog and see how many people have a fun memory of you. It's pretty fun to see the responses.

3. If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all.

Re-enacting our Zoo Trip

The beasts in their cages, awaiting the human visitors
The tiger is too wild to be out in the open, he can only glance out his peepholes and try to claw the visitors

This animal is trying to get OUT!

Then there is the one, who is happy to be trapped
ON NO! Tiger attack! He escaped!
Hurry put him back into his cage! Never to be released again

I Got nominated for Our Secret Ingredients! and won

Okay, so maybe this isn't that exciting, but to me it is. In our weekly Baking group, Tuesdays with Dorie, everyone votes for an outstanding blog, or just one that stuck out. I won for the chocolate pudding! Check out the link HERE if you want to see the other winners and me!

Sweet Jonah

I just have to share how sweet Jonah is. Last night we were having Family Home Evening, a time every monday night when we get together and sing, have a lesson about a gospel principle, treats and games. We were reviewing tithing, a chance that we have to donate 1/10 of our income to the church, to help it pay for the construction of church buildings, temples, and many other things. Jonah had earned 12 dollars at the family reunion by participating in a work project. We gave him coins for 1 of the dollars and then helped him figure out how much 1/10 was. He set it aside and then we were filling out the tithing slip. I was explaining that you can donate to help missionaries, to print Books of Mormon, and also explained that there was a Humanitarian Aid fund, where you could help people who lost their homes and belongings and who needed food, after suffering from some type of disaster. Jonah, is obsessed with learning about floods, volcanoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, etc., so this last fund was interesting to him. He decided that he wanted to donate 10 cents to the missionary fund and 20 cents to the Book of Mormon one and 50 cents to the Humanitarian Aid. He handed the money to me and then thought about it minute. He had a 10 dollar bill left in his hand. Then, he said " I can give my 10 dollars to help the people who were hurt in the floods and earthquakes and lost everything they had." He handed me the 10 dollars and was left with nothing. He was completely penniless. He gave all the money he had earned and didn't even think twice about it. I was sitting across from him and I started to cry. I looked over and Matt was tearing up too. What a lesson to me. What a sweet, sensitive, giving child I have been blessed with in my family and what a lesson he taught me last night. No wonder we are admonished to become as little children for they truly are humble, selfless, and completely filled with love for others.

We Completed Alphabet Days- Trip to Zoo!

We finished up our Alphabet Days, and decided the best way to celebrate was to take a trip to the Zoo, since it starts with Z. We got our animals ready the night before, and I have to admit, I love the new way Savannah smiles in all her pictures! Thanks for teaching her that, Uncle Jake! Anyway, on to our trip. We took gpa, gma, and Andrew and Lar met us there with a friend. They were doing an elephant show right when we arrived, so we decided to check it out.

The elephants could do lots of tricks, that were pretty amazing. Jonah was impressed.

Ryanne was enthralled by the elephants. Also, on the day we went, it was Ice Block day. That meant that all the animals received blocks of ice, some with fruit, or flavors frozen in, and we got to watch what they did with their ice. This guy was trying to grab his!

It looked like the bear was actually posing for a picture. Sorry, it came out a little blurry.
Yippie- an animal that starts with Z- Zebras!

There was the cutest little baby giraffe. I think they might be my favorite.

We had a blast and even remembered our trip to the zoo last year with Grandma Becky on her birthday! It was a so much fun!

The battle with me and The Dark Knight-

*(Note- I love Heath Ledger. When he died, I was sad. I couldn't believe it. He was one of those that I thought was untouchable. I am not celebrity obsessed, I assure you, but this is one guy that I have always loved. Matt knows, he is aware of this, so don't be worried about this. He even crafted a picture of me and Heath together and left it on my dresser. I wouldn't usually blog about this, but I feel like doing it, so here goes)

72 hours later, I am still not sure if I liked it or hated it, so I am going to write my thoughts out. Beware, if you haven't seen it and want to, I am not hiding any secrets here. I had been debating if I wanted to go and see the Dark Knight. I don't love SuperHero movies or Action movies, for that matter, and this was a mix of both.

Maybe it was the mix or maybe it is because we went and watched it at 11:59 Thursday night, but I am still brooding over it.

There was so much hype and since I love Heath Ledger, I gave in and went with my bros and a couple other teenagers. Matt, was smart and slept instead.

But, you see, I like Heath Ledger when he looks like he does in that picture up there. When he is smiling, laughing and well, cute. But, I knew this was the last film he finished and I have to admit, I wanted to see what all the hype was about.

I left the theatre feeling disturbed. Maybe it was because I had just watched 2 hours and 45 minutes of things blowing up. Maybe it was because Batman sounded like he was growling under his suit. Maybe it was because the girl died, yeah. What Superhero can't save the girl? come on! This is a movie, and I expect it to play out as such. SAVE HER! Maybe it was because there was so much going on, I was confused. Maybe it was because the Commisioner was supposed to be dead, but then he wasn't. Maybe it was because the good guy turned bad and started randomly killing people. Maybe it was because everything was happening so fast that I couldn't follow what was going on. Maybe it was because me and this other girl were texting each other and wondering when we were going to break down. Maybe it was because a hospital got blown up or maybe it was because Heath was unrecognizable. I know that is a good thing when someone plays a character and you don't recognize them, but it was truly creepy. The joker was pure evil. I had to cover my eyes. alot. I felt guilty because I wanted the joker to die, but Heath was already dead. I wanted to blame the character.

I was bothered because people in the audience laughed at some of the evil stuff he said. I didn't think it was funny. I wanted to not know that it was him acting. It was amazing in one way, but so sad in another. I know, I know, I am giving this way too much thought, but when people ask me if I liked it, I don't know what to say. I am confused as to how to explain it. It is just so dark.

So, I am still confused, but felt better when I watched this Video on youtube. Now, that is how I want to remember him.

I wasn't really prepared for what I saw. I know it is just a movie, but he was a real person. I know there are alot of other things I should be thinking and pondering about. I know it really doesn't matter in the scheme of things or in my life's big picture, but that's what I am thinking and feeling today. So, yeah, that's it.

Fun Football and Fondant Cakes

I was going to wait a few days to post these cakes that I have made the last 2 days, but I was excited about them, so here they are. My little brother's friend wanted a cake, so this is what I came up with. Yellow Cake with Chocolate Buttercream

This is my first full cake covered in fondant and I am really happy about how it turned out. It was really fun to think of the colors and design and I actually got paid for this one. I went with Bill's Big Carrot Cake because it is a yummy, but sturdy cake and had a blast decorating cakes these past 2 days!

Jacob got the scraps of the carrot cake that I somehow stacked and frosted and made a shape, so I covered it in fondant too and did a little decorating just for fun.