Outdoor Movie Theater

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We have been talking about having a family date night so we decided to do it at home and all outside!
The kids and I put up then tent all by ourselves...that's pretty impressive! Then we got our swing mattress, blankets and pillows and set up our outside bed. After that we dug out the Christmas lights and strung them up around the yard. Of course we couldn't forget the candy and popcorn that Ashtyn put in the little red wagon! And last ... the projector, got it all set up and ready for movie time!

The night started off by our grill out --> yummy stakes and potatoes and of course the kids had to have hot dogs! We ate by our campfire and roasted some s'mores.
Finally it got dark enough to plug in our lights and snuggle up to watch our movie! To my surprise I only saw 1 bat which stayed away and the bugs were scare the entire time! YAHOO!
Once the movie was over we crawled into the tent for a comfy night of sleep.

It is so awesome making memories with our family that will last forever :)

Daisy and Her Babies

I FINALLY got the rest of the Tab "Daisy and her Babies" a little updated! So here you go! :)
This summer on 8.8.11 Daisy had her 1st litter of pups 11 of them (unplanned by us). So it was a big suprise, we did lots of research and being a stay at home mommy and wanting to teach the kids some major responsablity we took extereme care of the pups. I kept track of their growth and what we did with them daily, lots of blogging..along with taking HUNDRES of pictures! To view their development click HERE!
I also finally uploaded a little video we got of the puppy birth! :)
Click HERE to watch it! :)
They were such a joy to all of us. We had so much fun caring for and raising these pups!

We are very happy to report that ALL the puppys went to wonderful homes, most in MN but 1 puppy (Ashtyn's favorite who she called 'Princess') went all the way to Washington!

There are a few puppys that are living locally, it is so much fun for us to be able to go see them.

We would LOVE any pictures or updates of the pups from Daisy's 1st litter if you have them :)

You can email them to Heather

Ashtyn with Momma Daisy and 10 of her pups, this picture was taken

just MINUTES before she had her last pup with Ashtyn sitting right next to her!

Marble Run

I attended a child care conference in Sioux Falls this past weekend and got SO MANY aweseome ideas of things to do and make with the kiddos! So of course as soon as I got home I had to try one of the awesome ideas from Jeff Johnson... the MARBLE RUN!

It can be done indoors or outdoors, we chose to do it outdoors (only because thats the only place you will ever find our kiddos)!

It is so inexpensive, SO EASY and so much fun!

My only advice is to let the kids help you build it, or give them tape and let them build and and invent the way they want to make the run themselves (they will amaze you with what they come up with)!

WHAT YOU NEED:

*Pool Noodles (buy @ the dollar tree)

*Tape (Duct Tape works the best but can use packaging tape as well)

*Knife

*Marbles (I bought ours at Hobby Lobby in a bag of 25 for $1.99)

HOW TO MAKE IT:

*Cut the Pool noodle in half the long way (you can also cut the noodle the short way to make tunnels, ect.)

*Use tape and tape the cut pool noodles together --> then tape the noodles to the steps or whenever you want to make your marble run

*Then let the kiddos play!!

Pool Noodle, Marbles and the top of the noodle cut off!

Make little tunnels by cutting off the top of the noodle

Cut the noodle in half

Tape the ends together

Tape down the noodles!

Let them play, figure it out and invent what to do with it!

And let them fix it!!! They will Be SOOO Excited when they figure out how to make it work on their own!

The exitment of figuring out how to fix it! :)

ENJOY!! :)

Never to young to be a Cowboy

I have been going through and cleaning up files on my computer and came across these pictures of the kids. Their love for our horses just melts my heart. I'm SO THANKFUL that our kids can grow up riding and that they love it so much! It's so fun to watch our 3 year old, he just LOVES LOVES LOVES putting on his cowboy hat and his boots no matter where he is going :)

Ashtyn and her horse Punky

Ashtyn, doing what she loves, Barrel Racing!

The kids and I were watching old videos and I came across this one from last summer. 
Ashtyn (5 years old) barrel racing her horse Punky. He was run in barrels in the PRCA rodeo until he was 6.
I am so proud of my baby girl! Her determination amazes me and he strength and courage just fill me with so much  joy!
Here is a video of her barrel racing at local horse show :)

Menu Board

I have finally found something that works so great for our family with my weekly menu planning!

These menu boards were SO easy to make and a lot of fun too!

I have really enjoyed doing my weekly menu planning (saves me time and money) and the family enjoys seeing what we will have for dinner. The kids love to put the choices up on the board. They think it is so awesome that they are helping out! :)

What You Need:

Cookie Sheet

Chalkboard Spray Paint (I bought mine at Walmart) * You will only need 1 can

Chalk

Ribbon

Drill & Bit (to drill holes through the top of cookie sheet)

White Card Stock Paper

Scrap booking Paper

Lamenting Paper (I bought the self adhesive sheets at Walmart)

Magnets

Scissors

Glue

Permanent Marker

What to do:

1. Spray paint the inside of the cookie sheet (LET DRY)

2. Print your Menu Selections on the Card Stock Paper

3. Cut out card stock menu items

4. Glue to scrap booking paper and cut out

5. Apply lamenting paper

6. Cut out and use hot glue to attach magnets to the back

7. Use a permanent marker and write the ingredients needed to the back of each Menu item

8. Use the chalk to decorate your boards the way you would like!

We hope you and your family enjoy this as much as we do! :)

Resurrection Eggs- The Real Story of Easter!

We LOVE to celebrate Easter! But with all the culture celebrations, eggs, the bunny and candy it becomes confusing to children. I wanted to teach my children the REAL meaning of Easter and when they were asking to do an Easter Egg hunt this seemed like the best way possible.

WHAT YOU NEED:

*Egg Carton

*Plastic Eggs

*Items listed in eggs:

  -Palm Brach or blade of grass

  -Cotton ball with perfume on it

  -Cracker

  - Three Dimes

  - Thorny branch (crown of thorns)

  -Toothpick (cut and glue into the cross)

  -Nail or push pin

  -Dice

  -A q-tip

  -Few whole cloves

  -Small Rock

 *Scissors

*Hot Glue Gun

ASSEMBLE

Egg #1 -Palm Brach (or blade of grass, leaf)
Msg: Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. The people that loved Jesus waved palm branches
Passage: Matthew 21: 1-11

 

Egg #2 Cotton ball with perfume on it
Msg:  Mary poured expensive perfume on Jesus' feet
Passage: John 12:2-8

Egg #3 Cracker- a small cracker to represent the pass over bread
Msg: Jesus ate the Last supper with his friends His Disciples
Passage: Matthew 26: 17-19

Egg #4 Three Dimes
Msg: Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver
Passage:  Matthew 26: 14-15

Egg #5 Crown of thorns. A small thorny branch or a single large thorn
Msg: Soldiers placed a crown of thorns on Jesus' head.
Passage: John 19:2

Egg #6 Cross made from a toothpick
Msg: Jesus carried his cross that he died on
Passage: John 19:17

Egg # 7 Nail or Push Pin
Msg: Jesus was nailed to a cross and pierced in His Side.
Passage: John 19: 18, 34

Egg #8 Dice
Msg: Soldiers parted Jesus' garments and cast lots for His coat.
Passage: John 19:24

Egg #9 A q-tip
Msg: They gave Jesus vinegar mixed with gall on a sponge to drink
 Passage: John 19:29-30

Egg #10 A few whole cloves
Msg: Spices to prepare Jesus for burial.
Passage:  John 19:40

Egg #11 A small rock
Msg: The stone covering Jesus' tomb was rolled away
Passage: John 20:1

Egg #12 NOTHING.
Msg: The tomb is empty . He has risen!
Passage: Luke 24: 6-7

We first read the Easter story before looking at the eggs. Our children are young (6, 3 and 16 months). It really helps if they have the story fresh in their minds! Then we hid the eggs, the kids found them and put them in order 1-12.

They opened the eggs and remembered the parts of the story!! They were SO excited that they could relate to the Easter Story with the items in their eggs.

It just filled my heart with joy watching them and seeing how they remember what we read and even the last egg.. that was empty (I wasn't sure how they would react.. but they were SOOOO EXCITED and they figured it out right away that it was empty because Jesus rose from the dead and went into Heaven for us!!!)

Also you can print bible verses and place them inside each egg, our daughter who is 6 was able to understand but the younger 2 aren't quite there yet so they enjoyed looking inside the eggs and listening to the story! :)

We have hid the eggs and told the story so many times this week in preparation for Easter and it is so awesome to watch the kids be able to tell each other the real meaning of Easter!

I also found a few other neat ideas on Finding Easter in Bunnies and Eggs here!

We hope you enjoy this as much as our family has! :)