The Great Green Jello

The GREAT GREEN JELLO Carnival.

Our stake held a carnival over the weekend. It was FANTASTIC! Definitely the best church party I've been to in a long time. It was well organized and had something for everyone of all ages. Of course there were BBQ sandwiches, corn on the cob and chips for lunch.

A huge air trampoline with a built in slide for the children. They had adults regulate which age group was allowed to play. Under 5 Years old. 5-9 years, 9 and older (occasionally an adult would join it but not for long!) This was another air toy. It was a jungle gym and had a climbing wall in it. The older kids preferred this to the jumping one, but the little kids still wanted a turn to run through the obstacle course.

There were carnival games to play. Bean bag toss. Dart throws. Ball tosses. Horse shoes, and this cute little horse racing course. Anne was a bit short...she just ran right under the course rope and ran through the field with her horse. Grace obviously won the race simply because she stayed in the boundaries! Oh well, candy for everyone!

My barefoot babes running through the grass. Grace made sure Anne was safe from people by holding hands everywhere they went.

Of course a carnival wouldn't be complete without cotton candy and popcorn! The committee did a great job organizing the event. There was plenty of seating for everyone and most of the seating was covered. There was a stage for a talent show and a magic show. I really enjoyed the art table for kids to use paints and make little spin art cards.

It felt like a carnival.

It looked like a carnival.

It WAS a carnival!!!

Oh, and there was a jello contest with hundreds of jello recipes entered. You can't be LDS and not have a little Jello from time to time!

Rafting

We spent the afternoon rafting. It was a great day.

The raft and life jackets were on loan from some of Edwin's co-workers. Thanks everyone! We had a great time. One of the benefits to our little apartment is that we rafted down the river right to our front door! It was perfect! The girls liked the slight rapids and dips we traveled on. No one was injured and our only causality was Grace's shoe. This is the second pair of shoes Anne has sabotaged. Poor Grace misses her shoe and is convinced the fish have eaten all gone.

Oh so sad!

The Birthday Brownies were FABULOUS!

Thanks Edwin for a great day.

Food Storage Ideas

This year we are trying to build our pantry inventory. There are three big problems I have to consider about increasing the amount of food we store in the house.... 1. We will be moving across the country in nine months and need to be able to pack things conveniently. 2. I have had pantry pests and other bugs in every apartment so I need to make sure that all food is protected from bugs, mice, and rats. 3. We are moving to an area where it floods (regularly). This year the city was under 27 ft of water so I need to be prepared for in case we too are flooded! YIKES!!! Oh, and they have tornadoes regularly too.....I'm getting more and more anxious about this move as I think about it.

MY SOLUTIONS?!?!?

PLASTIC STORAGE CONTAINERS!!! Juice Bottles- We drink a significant amount of juice at our house and we prefer to purchase it ready made. I have started cleaning our juice bottles and storing our noodles, dry beans, soup mixes, and some baking items in the bottles. It is a way to recycle the things I use, and they are clear so I can see what I have on hand and how much. I have labeled them and included the cooking times so I don't have to pull out my cookbooks. Edwin likes that they are two deep in the cupboard and they organized the piles of things I had stacked in a box before. Icing Buckets- My sister-in-law Susan suggested I go to the local bakery (I use the bakery at the grocery store) collect their empty icing buckets. I get mine for free, but Susan said some stores charge a little for them, you will have to do your research for your area. The buckets come with a gasket seal on them so they will keep food fresher longer, and they are food grade plastic. They do come sticky (usually rinsed out, but certainly not clean) so it is a bit more work to clean them and dry them so I can use them. They come in 3 gallon and 5 gallon sizes and I have currently stored my flour, rice, and oatmeal in them. Although we are focusing on short-term food storage the buckets can be used for long-term storage too. At http://www.providentliving.org/ under the heading Family Home Storage follow the links to long-term storage to find directions on how to use gasket sealed buckets and dry ice to pack items up to 30 years. Good luck on your food storage endeavors.

Weekend with Family

My parents arrived Friday night. We had dinner and enjoyed a walk by the river.

Grandma and Grace were Queens for the Night

Jaden (9) and Tanner (6) came to visit Saturday. We had a party by the pool.

Bill with his boys. We enjoyed throwing rocks in the river.

Grace picked the flowers.

The weather is cooling down so we were happy to hop in the hot tub.

Anne enjoyed swimming though.

We all ate cake.

Grace licked all the "spider web" frosting off!

Tanner hallowed out the cake!

The rest of us took what we could get! It was to good visit. Hopefully we will do it again soon.

Purple Princess Party

Our favorite local book shop had a Purple Princess Party this week for story time.

We read Fancy Nancy by Jane O'Conner, illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser and Purplicious by Elizabeth Kann, illustrated by Victoria Kann.

The girls and I had a great time.

I'm so glad some smart mother at the craft store showed me how to make princess capes!

It was a great activity!

Love

This week while we were visiting Edwin at the hospital Grace was walking down the hallway and said “I love my daddy.” I then asked, “Do you love your daddy this much (showing an inch or so with my hand). She then said, “No, I love him to forever and ever and back again like you mommy.” Yes, we love daddy that much.

Mommy's Helpers

Edwin made dinner and the girls did the dishes, and mommy took pictures.

It was a great night.

FHE 09/01/08-Fasting

Opening Song: Hymn #140 Did You Think To Pray?

Opening Prayer: Mom

Lesson: Queen Esther saved her people through prayer and fasting. Fasting is a special prayer to Heavenly Father. Heavenly Father wants us to fast the first Sunday of every month. When we fast we give up food and water for one whole day. Grace and Anne are too little to give up food for a day. However, Grace and Anne can give up snacks during sacrament meeting on fast Sundays. This sacrifice will be a good way to show Heavenly Father you are willing to follow his commandments. This Sunday is fast Sunday. Grace and Anne can say a special prayer with mom and dad, and we can fast as a family.

Closing Song: Hymn #140 Did You Think To Pray?

Closing Prayer: Mom

Activity: We danced to Hawaiian Roller coaster- Lilo & Stitch Soundtrack