Eee-i-ee-i-O... Farm week kick-off!

Hello, hello!!

Things here are just rolling along.  I am a whopping 9 weeks along and pretty much just trying to survive ;)

I did finally get on some medication and it is making a huge difference, so thanks to my new friend Zofran...I actually planned some fun things to do with the kids this week!

And what better way to start off our fun week of all things Farm...then actually going to visit our local farm.

How cute are these little munchkins?!  That's Britton trying to get the goats to talk to him...not too successful ;)

Avrie could NOT get enough of the animals, if she would have been able to climb through the fence and play with them she would have!

 

 One really cool thing we were able to see was a sheep getting its very own haircut!  My kids thought it was so cool, and it gave us the chance to talk about what a sheeps wool is used for.  I also thought I would like one of those head restraints for when I have to cut MY little guys hair ;)

I don't know what it is...but whenever we go anywhere my kids are automatically starving.  As soon as we saw a few animals the kids started asking for snacks...luckily for once I was prepared :)

I thought it would be fun to bring snacks that would grow on a farm, and talk about that with the kids.  We had baby carrots, apples, string cheese and homemade pumpkin bread slices.  It was fun to explain to the kids that string cheese is made from milk, which comes from cows!!  Flour comes from wheat which is used to make bread and is grown by farmers!  These things all seem so obvious, but to a little kid, all they know is you walk into a grocery store and pick things off the shelves.  Its fun to teach them a little bit about how much we need farms and farmers too.

My little jailbirds ;)

Kids favorite part of the farm?  Pony rides of course!!

All in all...a great way to kick off our Farm Week!

Check back tomorrow for some more fun, SIMPLE ways to enjoy and teach your kids about farms.  I may not be at 100%...but I am learning how to make it work ;)

Good Media FHE

 Hello my long lost friends!! :)

I'm starting to feel like a broken record on the subject...but this pregnancy is kicking my trash!  On days I actually feel good enough to do anything, its usually just getting my house back into SOME kind of order from the days I felt crappy.

Needless to say, some things have had to go and blogging was at the top of that list ;)

However!  We did a great FHE last week that really impacted my kids and I wanted to share since I think its something that is really relevant to all of us.

You need a little bit of background to see how this FHE came about.  Over the summer I am ashamed to admit I became VERY lax about the shows I would let my kids watch.  They begged and begged and finally wore me down.  I let them watch shows I previously hadn't.  Now these aren't BAD shows...but they are a little too old for my kids and they had things in them I didn't want my kids watching all the time.

I started slowly noticing a change in my kids, especially my older girls.  They were talking back to me more than they ever had, and had started being incredibly sarcastic.  I could feel a change in our home and I didn't like it one bit!  I knew we had to make a change...but I was dreading it.  I knew they would be upset and there would be a good deal of drama.

And boy was I right! ;)

One morning I just STRONGLY felt it was time, for my family we needed to make the change.  I explained to the kids we would no longer be watching those shows.  It did not go well.  There was screaming and crying.  Begging and pleading.  LOTS of anger.  

Finally I just had to say, it is my job as your mother to protect our home from influences and things that will keep us from being better.  I told them I had felt strongly prompted by Heavenly Father that we needed to do this, and I try in my life to listen to Heavenly Father when He speaks to me.

Although they didn't like it, they accepted my explanation and within a few days they stopped asking to watch those shows.  As I thought about our experience I wanted to do a FHE to try and SHOW them how we really are influenced and changed by the things we watch, listen to, and read. 

To get started I made this printable with the 13th Article of Faith on it.  We spoke about how we need to seek after things that will bring us joy and make us better.

Then came the fun part! :)  I really wanted a visual to help the kids see that we really are changed by the things we surround ourselves with. 

To start off we got a bowl full of dried noodles.  The plain noodles represent each one of us.

Then I mixed up several baggies with each one containing 2 TBSP of rubbing alcohol and a few drops of food coloring.  Each color represented something different.

Green was watching General Conference and Purple was listening to uplifting, happy music.

Blue was Good, clean family movies and Red was listening to the talks and speakers at church.

Finally I mixed up a bag with Black...and that represented ANY inappropriate shows, books or music that bring feelings of contention into our home.

Then I gave each child a bag and had them put a handful of noodles into it.  We talked about how as we listen to all the good things, they can change us and help us become better.  We also talked about how if we listen to bad things, that can change us too!

We swished our noodles around for a few minutes and then dumped them onto a tray...the kids were SHOCKED to see that the noodles had become whatever color bag they had been in.  I explained that is how media effects us in our life.  We are changed by what we watch and listen to every day.

As you can see, we ended up with 4 beautiful colors...and one not so beautiful :)  

Just to make it fun, we decided to string the noodles and make necklaces to help us remember to always choose the best things and that we truly ARE affected by what we watch and listen to.

Overall it was a great night that taught my children the importance of what we let into our lives.  I am thrilled to say a few weeks later there IS a different feeling in our home.  I have pointed it out to my kids...and they can feel it too.

I am always learning about being a better mom...and this really taught me how important it is to have courage to make the changes your family needs.

It may not be popular or simple, but these kids deserve our very best, don't they?  It may be uncomfortable and hard, but that is the very definition of growth.  

Thank you SO very much for coming by and checking us out today!  I know I have pretty much fallen off the face of the bloggy earth...but I will try and check in occasionally when I feel I can :)

Have a fantastic day!!

Kiwi Crate Review!

 

Have you heard of the company called Kiwi Crate?

If not...you MAY want to check it out :)  

If you have looked at this blog at all in the past, you know I am passionate about doing fun activities and crafts with my kids...and I LOVE me a theme!!  This is where Kiwi Crate comes into play.

Here's how it works:  Once you sign up online, the wonderful people at Kiwi Crate get your package all ready to go!  You pay a monthly fee and a package FULL of craft supplies and projects arrives RIGHT to your door!  Oh...and I didn't mention the best part.  It's all tied together with a theme...I LOVE it!

My kids were ecstatic when this beauty arrived in the mail :)

I really loved the special details.  My kids love getting mail, so getting a package personally addressed to them totally made their day.

Once we opened up our Crate we were so excited to see, the theme was all about BUGS!!

I was so impressed with how the crates LITERALLY came with everything you would need for the crafts...even new pairs of scissors.

As you can see, the crates are chock full of crafty goodness.  My kids could not wait to get their hands on it!

Our favorite project we did was definitely the bug stamping.  Included in the kit were these SUPER cool stamps.  They came really flat and hard, and the kids LOVED putting them in the water and seeing them puff up and take shape!

Once our sponge stamps were ready to go, I got out the paint and paintbrushes and the kids went wild!  I loved the cute background papers they sent as well, they had blank ones or leaves and sky scenes.

It was so fun for the kids to use all the different shapes, put them together, and see what kind of creepy crawlies we could come up with!!

The last few weeks have been rough at our house with my morning sickness reaching all time high (or low, more like it! ;)  

I cannot tell you how wonderful it was to have a box FULL of craft supplies that I could pull out at a moment's notice, and spend some quality time with my children.  

Kiwi Crate is a wonderful company passionate about educating children through creative play and helping us parents to do just that.  Make sure you check them out, BECAUSE....

Kiwi Crate is SO awesome...they are offering my wonderful readers $5 off their first month of Kiwi Crate!  All you have to do is enter the code BLUESKIES25 and then stalk the mailman til they deliver that cute green box ;)  This discount is good through Wednesday, so make sure you run over and check out all the fun!

Hello?? Anybody out there?? :)

 I know, I know...its been a while since I posted.

I think my last post was that we were expecting baby #5...and I am feeling it! ;)

Don't get me wrong, I am very, very lucky.  I have many friends and family members that really have HARD pregnancies.  I am sick, pretty much all day...but its manageable.  

These last few weeks have just been all about figuring out how to make things work with a mom that is at WAY less than her best :)  I'm not good at taking it easy, especially when I have SO many things I want to do.  

Luckily for me...I have the best kids and husband on the planet :)  They are all stepping up to help keep our home in order so Mom doesn't lose it.  I feel blessed that so far I am still able to get up early in the morning and get in some kind of exercise.  Even though I am tired, that is MY time to focus on me and get mentally and physically prepared for my day.  

Now that I have had some time to figure out when I feel the yuckiest, and when I actually have a little bit of energy I plan on getting right back into the swing of things.  I REFUSE to let my favorite season pass us by without enjoying it to the max!!  

So, in short, thanks for still checking out this little blog, even though it hasn't been too exciting lately ;)

I do have a lot of fun things planned, some great FHE's on important subjects like media in our lives and modesty, and of course lots of fun with the kids! 

Thanks again for stopping by and have a fantastic day!