Halley Ralley

Halley Christmas 2011!

2012-01-07T18:52:00.000-08:00

Here it is! The long-awaited pictures of the stable that we and Grandma & Grandpa Kitty made for Summer for Christmas! Doesn't it look fabulous?!

Christmas morning! Waiting to go up the stairs!

Christmas!!!

The elves worked really hard this year! Look at the cute doll beds they made for Megan and Summer!

Santa came to visit Riley too!

Summer's New Doll

Riley's remote-control helicopter

Dad opening his box of favorite treats

The mini-quilt Grandma made for Megan's doll

Me playing Santa :)

Our Latest Family Pictures

2011-12-18T20:46:00.000-08:00

Our Trip to Disneyland!

2011-12-18T20:23:00.000-08:00

For Thanksgiving we were able to travel to California to visit Grandma and Grandpa Kitty! We had so much fun sharing the holiday with family. Afterwards, we went south to take the kids to spend three fun-filled days in Disneyland and California Adventure. We had so much fun. Everything about the trip was perfect...until I forgot to set my alarm and we slept in the morning we were supposed to go home and knew that we would miss Summer's final dress rehearsal for her big Nutcracker production. So, we did what any parent would do (not). We drove to the Anaheim airport and sent her home on a plane. Aunt Michelle was a lifesaver and picked her up and got her to her rehearsal. THANK YOU! She was able to be in two performances that weekend and she made a very cute sheep. Enjoy the pictures :)

Halloween Party

2011-11-11T09:41:00.000-08:00

I felt bad that all the other kids in the neighborhood were getting to do such fun stuff at school for Halloween, and, I didn't want my kids to feel left out. So, I threw together a Halloween party just for them. Here are the picts!

Our feast: mummy pizzas, bone breadsticks, apple mouths with rotten teeth, and eyeball grapes.

Playing "Don't Eat Frank"

Me giving out samples of chilled dragon hearts (orange jello)

Painting eyeballs

Eating donuts from a string

The kids felt things I had in my witch pantry, like dragon hearts, dried zombie tongue (beef jerky), intestines (spaghetti), eyeballs (peeled grapes, and teeth (candy corn).

Fraction Sundaes

2011-10-19T12:34:00.000-07:00

Here's a sweet way to learn fractions: open your own ice cream parlor. I cut out lots of ice cream scoops and then gave the kids recipes that "customers" ordered, like 1/6 mint, 3/6 chocolate, and 2/6 bubble gum. We also practiced reducing fractions, but I started to lose them at that point. Afterwards we made our own real ice cream sundaes! The kids had so much fun making sundaes. Here they are with their notebook pages they made with their dream recipes.

New Temple!

2011-10-19T12:32:00.000-07:00

Here is our family at the groundbreaking site for the new Payson temple. We are so excited to watch a temple be built right in our own backyard.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas????

2011-10-19T12:20:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago, we studied erosion in homeschool and how the forces of nature shape our earth. So, I scheduled a field trip to see Devil's Kitchen in Payson Canyon. It's basically a mini Bryce Canyon with red, unique rock formations that occurred because of erosion. I thought it would be cool to see some fall color as well and take some cool pictures. We did see a little fall color, but then, as we climbed, our autumn color tour turned into a walk through a winter wonderland.

Aspen grove.

Cool tree trunk

At Devil's Kitchen

Riley chasing me with a snowball. He got my boot :)

Mt. St. Halley Erupts!

2011-10-14T16:09:00.000-07:00

Here's the volcano we made for our volcano study! We had a lot of fun doing this. The kids all loved watching it erupt over and over.

Hee hee. Riley can't smile cuz his mouth is still numb from the dentist.

Riley's TRON Birthday!

2011-10-14T16:01:00.001-07:00

So Brian has gotten Riley and the rest of the boys at our house obsessed with Tron Legacy. I don't use the term obsessed lightly. Tyler watches the movie at least once a day and turns everything he's holding into an identity disk or a light cycle. Brian bought a bunch of the Tron toys for Riley, but then all the boys wanted to play with them and they started getting lost and broken, and that didn't make Brian happy, so I suggested that Brian make the boys a place where they could all play with the toys, but the toys had to stay there. So, the solution became the Tron city. Riley and Brian built it and then Brian and I painted it and unveiled it for Riley on his birthday. Here are the picts.

Riley's Tron identity disk cake that really looks like a tire. Oh well.

Megan's 11th Birthday!

2011-10-14T15:56:00.000-07:00

My Meggo turned 11 in September! I cannot believe how fast the time has gone by. Since we celebrated her birthday with our girls' night out, for her actual birthday we had a small family party. Enjoy the picts!

The Copper Mine

2011-10-14T15:50:00.000-07:00

For our field trip a few weeks ago we took the kids to the Bingham Copper Mine in South Jordan. We were studying rocks and minerals, so the kids really enjoyed seeing how we use these substances that are pulled out of the earth in real life. They also enjoyed the trucks that are as big as a house and looking down into the open pit mine which can fit 3 Sears' Towers stacked on top of each other. Very cool.

My rapidly fraying rope

2011-09-22T15:29:00.000-07:00

Last month (before school started) we wanted to get one last hurrah day trip in for the kids. So, Michelle and I packed up all the munchkins in one car (that's 7 of them), grabbed a picnic lunch at Wal Mart and hit the road to Yuba Lake. After a half hour of driving and a lot of fighting in the back seat, we arrived at the lake to find the water level so high, that it had covered the beach area and it was so windy that the kids had sand in their eyes immediately. So, we packed back up and drove north again to try to find another water source for the kids to play in. There is a reservoir in Mona, that we could see from the freeway, but try as we might, we could not get to it because it was surrounded by farmland. By this point we were pretty desperate, hungry, annoyed at kids, and out of gas. We stopped at The Young Living Farm for a potty break and got some advice to go down the road to Burriston Ponds. So, that's what we did. Took us a while to find it, but we did! The kids spent the afternoon swinging into the water from a rope swing. It was very nice, until we took out the picnic and were swarmed by more flies than we had ever seen combined! We took half of them home with us in the car too. That was fun. Anyway. That was our adventure. We survived. Barely. And we didn't even run out of gas. Yay.

GIRLS' NIGHT OUT!

2011-09-22T15:25:00.001-07:00

Michelle and I didn't want to throw our girls birthday parties this year, so we gave them 3 party packages that they could choose from. The one they chose went like this:
1) Get our hair done
2) Dress up fancy
3) Go out to a nice dinner (Tocanos!)
4) Go to a dance show at BYU
5) Out for ice cream
6) Come home and watch a chick flick

It was so much fun! Can't wait to do it again. Here are the picts!

My Celtic Warriors

2011-09-22T15:22:00.000-07:00

On Monday we talked about the Celts in history class and how they liked to paint themselves blue and fight naked. So, that's what we did (except the naked part).

2011-09-22T15:17:00.000-07:00

We hiked to the Grotto in Payson Canyon a few Sundays ago and took some family pictures. Such a nice evening! I love the cute waterfall at the top of the trail and the shallow pool surrounded by cliffs. So romantic.

Brian's latest book cover

2011-09-18T12:36:00.000-07:00

Brian just sent me the latest version of his current book cover project. He is way excited about this one. Check it out!

Our Art Gallery

2011-09-15T20:30:00.000-07:00

Brian finished up his summer art class in a big way! We threw an art gallery to showcase all the fantastic projects that the kids did during class. It was a lot of fun. We sent out invitations, we had everyone dress up and we served hors d'oeuvres and everything! We cleared all the furniture and pictures out of Michelle's living room and kitchen and put all the art work up on the walls just like a real gallery. Check it out!

Megan pondering a work of art.

Our amazing neighbors came and supported us! Thanks for being so awesome!

African Masks display.

Our renditions of Van Gogh's Starry Night.

Our renditions of Picasso's Punchinello with a Guitar.

Our Jackson Pollock tribute. (This one was fun!)

Watch a video of the kids doing the Jackson Pollock painting and learn why he was nicknamed "Jack the Dripper"

My first attempt at making cake bites!

First Day of School!

2011-09-07T14:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the Halley clan started our 2nd year of homeschool. I am so grateful for the children that I have been blessed with and the opportunity I have to teach them at home. It is amazing to watch them grow and develop before my eyes. I feel a lot more prepared this year. I'm starting to feel like I know what I'm doing (a little). I know I have a long way to go. This year we are studying the Middle Ages, Math, Earth Science and Astronomy, Writing, Grammar, Punctuation, Drawing, Cursive (Summer), Dance (Summer), Italian (Megan), Acting (Megan), and piano (Megan). We are reading a bunch of classics this year, which is a BIG step up from last year.
Some of the things I'm looking forward to are the field trip to the dinosaur museum, the volcano building contest, painting my children blue and spiking their hair to look like Celts and then making them fight a war, making our own books, building some of da Vinci's machines, and going to the Shakespeare festival next summer!
Over the weekend we had our 2nd Annual Family Feast. Our theme for school this year is from Alma 37:6..."by small and simple things are great things brought to pass..." So when I chose this scripture, I thought of an acorn and how it starts out so small and then slowly becomes the mighty oak. I found each of my children an acorn and attached the theme to an oak-leaf-shaped tag. I gave these to them at the Family Feast and talked to them about how they are like acorns now, just beginning to realize the great things they can do, and how if they continue to grow, and learn, and develop their talents, that God will be able to work mighty things through them. We then enjoyed a nice autumn feast of beef stew, rolls, and caramel apple bars (mmmm). Afterwards we took family pictures and the children were each given a blessing from their father. I am so excited for this year and the wonderful experiences that await us!

Summer's Baptism

2011-08-28T22:22:00.000-07:00

Summer got baptized on July 23. I am so proud of her and the beautiful young lady that she is becoming. We were very happy that Grandma and Grandpa Kitty could come and so many of her aunts and uncles. It was a beautiful day.

Our Neighborhood Play

2011-08-28T22:10:00.000-07:00

So I got an insane idea this summer that it would be fun to put on a neighborhood play. Not just one play, but 3 plays! We did "Slurping Beauty", "The Emperor's New Hair," and "Rafunzel." I held auditions, ran rehearsals, did costumes, and built the stage in the backyard. I did have some lovely volunteers that came to help with hair, makeup and costumes during the play. (Thank you Michelle and Shelley!) We had popcorn and drinks and all the neighbors came and it turned out so cute! Here are some picts, hopefully the video will come shortly!
Watch The Emperor's New Hair here.
Watch Slurping Beauty here.
Watch Rafunzel here.

My Little Dancer

2011-08-28T22:08:00.001-07:00

Summer started ballet this summer and quickly advanced two levels because she is an amazing dancer. It makes my cry to see her doing what she loves and excelling. She is going to be in several dance shows this year and I am so excited to see her strut her stuff!

Take me out to the Ball Game

2011-08-28T22:02:00.001-07:00

We got to go to a couple Bee's games this season. It was a lot of fun. Here are the picts!

Summer Shenanigans

2011-08-28T21:43:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I'm not perfect. (I know this comes as a shock to most of you, and I'm sorry). I worked and worked my little fingers off to get my blog all caught up, and then I stopped again. So, here it goes again.

We have had a very fun and eventful summer! First of all, Michelle talked me into helping her create a float for the Elk Ridge Parade. Neither of us had ever attempted such a thing, and it ended up being a lot more work than we thought it would be. But, it was all worth it, because we won the Grand Prize!!!! Oh yeah...a new car, an all-expense paid trip to Hawaii, and a yaught! Ok...it was a gift basket, and once we divided everything up, we got some Domino's Pizza certificates. But, despite the prize let-down, we did have a blast creating a Hawaiian paradise on a trailer complete with hula dancers in coconuts (Summer) and coolers full of Otter Pops that we got to throw at people :)

Art Class

2011-06-13T10:16:00.000-07:00

Here are pictures from Brian's first summer art workshop. He is doing a six-week class on famous works of art in different genres, and the kids get to learn about the artist and the techniques they used, and then create their own similar piece. We all had a lot of fun on Saturday painting like Van Gogh. At the end of the class, we will hold a gallery event, where all the parents can come see the children's work on display. It will be so FUN! Lovin' life.

Suessical!

2011-06-08T09:05:00.000-07:00

Last night we took the family to see Suessical the Musical at the Hale Theater in Orem. It was absolutely incredible, all of it! The kids had never seen anything like it and they were riveted. Even Riley loved it!

Brian's First Book Cover at Press

2011-06-06T12:13:00.001-07:00

Brian's first book cover has gone to press. Isn't it gorgeous? Read the review of the cover by the author here.

Fun Run

2011-06-06T12:04:00.000-07:00

Last week we got up early and participated in the Payson fun run. The kids did really well. Brian is training for a half marathon, so he ran the 5K and Kalani, Michelle and I walked and came in dead last! WooHoo!

Summers Speech

2011-06-05T22:47:00.000-07:00

Summer was in a club called Liberty Girls this last semester. They read the Samantha American Girl books, and they learned all about what life would have been like for a girl their age to live at the turn of the last century. In the last book, Samantha's friend and her sisters are orphaned and are faced with the possibility of being sent west on Orphan Trains to find a new home. At the thought of being separated from each other, the girls run away from the orphanage and end up being adopted by Samantha's aunt and uncle. Summer was very touched by this, and decided to do her final speech on the orphan trains. We were very surprised by what we learned. Enjoy!

Don't Throw Lemons

2011-06-05T19:28:00.000-07:00

My other project this summer is a neighborhood play! We held auditions yesterday, and it was great fun. We now have everyone casted, and we've planned out the stage sets, so now the hard
work begins!

We also had a lemonade stand yesterday, which was very successful. I think we made like $4! Wow!

Mindy Concert

2011-06-05T19:24:00.000-07:00

We have gone to a couple Mindy Gledhill concerts this year, and I'm glad, cuz she announced she's taking some time off to have her baby. So, here we are on the rooftop in Provo square.
We also heard Ryan Innes (who was very good. We bought his CD) and Meaghan Smith.

Botany 101

2011-06-05T19:20:00.000-07:00

I thought it would be fun to do a unit on plants this summer. We teamed up with a neighbor family and we take turns teaching. Here are some picts from this week's class.
Here we are dying carnations to see how plants drink.

Summer is dissecting a lily.

Drawing the lily parts in their nature journals.

Easter

2011-06-05T19:13:00.001-07:00

We took the kids to the annual neighborhood egg hunt the Saturday before Easter. They had roped off the park into areas by age groups, where hundreds of tempting treats and toys waited for the little ones. We all waited in the rain until finally the whistle blew (I think) or maybe someone just started a stampede, I'm not sure. Riley knocked a kid over, but he got his squirt gun, and didn't even go after any candy. He was done. Summer took two toys (naughty), but then saw a little girl crying and gave her one (nice).

Easter morning.

Easter Sunday. (My new birthday dress).

And the best part of the day! PIES! This year's selection included: apple, key lime, and chocolate cream.

Funny Faces!

2011-06-05T19:11:00.000-07:00

Randomness

2011-06-05T19:09:00.001-07:00

Here are some great picts.

Riley really liked his new laundry basket from Ikea. (as you can tell)

The children of Israel crossing the Red Sea. (sort of). Hee hee.

Valentines

2011-06-05T19:05:00.001-07:00

We made a special Valentines Day feast for the kids. Yum! Heart pizza and heart breadsticks!

We spent Valentines weekend in Vegas at "Magic"--a really big clothing trade show. We literally shopped til we dropped.

Drawing Class

2011-06-05T19:03:00.000-07:00

Brian makes a fabulous art teacher. Here we are learning from the master.

Our Amazing Bodies

2011-06-05T18:51:00.000-07:00

We just finished up our unit on the human body a couple weeks ago, so we thought we would share some of our favorite moments with you all.

Here are our edible spinal columns. If you'd like an edible spinal column, you'll need peel apart Twizzlers, gummy lifesavers and hard lifesavers. Click here if you'd like to watch the silly video we made for Aunt Michelle, who was about to have back surgery.

You can tell that Summer is totally enthralled by the nervous system. Her brain just might be ready to explode :)

Here is our edible DNA. As you can tell, we are all about tasty homeschooling.

Here is Megan making her body. This was tough. She is so ticklish, that we had to make a few attempts at tracing before she didn't look deformed. Riley went a little overboard on tracing his body. A permanent body outline was left on the kitchen floor after he picked up the paper, which looked like a police crime scene, until we scrubbed it with a pumice stone before we moved.

Summer put her brain on and we thought it would also make a terrific shower cap design.

Grandma Halley's 60th Birthday Party!

2011-06-04T22:40:00.001-07:00

We celebrated Grandma's 60th birthday in a big way! The theme for her surprise party was travel, so each table was decorated in a different city decor. The invitations were airline tickets, and when guests arrived they were required to "check their baggage" and choose their destination city. They were then seated at the chosen table. During their flight they enjoyed an in-flight meal that would be served in that city (so the San Francisco table had clam chowder in bread bowls, Bali had chicken satay, and New York had big slices of pizza). The granddaughters served drinks as the flight attendants, and the travelers also enjoyed in-flight entertainment.

We built a 4 foot Golden Gate Bridge out of popcicle sticks to decorate the San Francisco table. It was quite the project.

January Escapades

2011-06-04T22:35:00.000-07:00

We made handmade paper beads during our study of ancient Africa.

I helped Brian move a bazillion ton desk and dropped it on my foot! Ouch!

Stating the obvious.

Christmas in June

2011-06-02T10:34:00.000-07:00

Christmas Portraits of my cutie-pies!

Lights at Temple Square

I know that I'm still 6 months behind, but somehow it makes me feel better to at least be finished with 2010. Yea! So, here's Christmas!

Wedding Reception: Emily Style

2011-06-02T09:54:00.001-07:00

So I am continually living vicariously through my sisters, since I was out of the loop with my own wedding. I am so blessed to have so many sisters, if, for no other reason, to have so many weddings to decorate. But I love them for lots of other reasons too. Bonus! I thought it would be fun to post the process of decorating for Lara's reception, so the sheer grandeur of it can last a little longer than a 2 hour party. Not that I'm bitter. But the cultural hall does look better this way. I think they should consider leaving it up permanently.

Memory Lane: Installment #2 (November-December)

2011-02-22T21:16:00.000-08:00

Ok, I'm catching up, slowly but surely. I can't leave my devoted readers (all 8 of them) hanging for the exciting conclusion of 2010 at the Halleys! So, here we go.

Riley being funny. We love our little frogman.

On our way to Grandma's house for Lara's Wedding, we stopped at Brian's old stomping grounds. The Jelly Belly Factory! The kids had a blast seeing how those delightful little morsels are made.

After studying ancient Egypt in homeschool, we "wrapped up" the unit with an amazing field trip to the Rosecrution Egyptian Museum in San Jose. The kids really enjoyed seeing REAL mummies! AHHHHH!

Grandpa teaching his grandson how to use his new mitt! I had to go inside after this picture because Riley was embarrassed that I was watching.

Oh, and Lara got married. That was pretty cool too.

October Fun

2011-02-06T10:43:00.000-08:00

I was looking through my fall pictures today and I was so bummed that I didn't get to blog them, so I'm going to do it now :) So, sit back, relax, pop some popcorn if you'd like, as we take a stroll down memory lane. Does 3 months ago count as memory lane? I don't know. Anyways...

Here are my little cuties making Halloween sugar cookies. They were super yummy!

Summer and her friends decided to throw a little dance/musical concert in the backyard. They collected chairs from multiple garages, invited all the parents and siblings they could round up, and after we were all seated, they realized they had forgotten to decide what it was they were going to perform :)
.
We go to the "spider web" park on warm Sunday afternoons. It's become our little tradition. Brian and I plan our week and sit by the lake while the kids play on the huge web-like structures (how it got it's nickname) and try to catch each other in tag.

We learned about ancient writing in Egypt and Mesopotamia. Our experiment was "What will last longer? Clay tablets or paper?" We left our documents outside for weeks in the sun and rain. Our hypothesis was that the clay would last longer. I thought that theory was sound, but we didn't take into consideration how tempting it would be to little neighbor boys to throw the clay tablet into the street. Oh well. I guess that stuff happened in ancient times as well.

We had lot of fun at the pumpkin patch this year! We picked out our pumpkins and then enjoyed fresh apple cider, freshly made cider donuts, and caramel apples (that we brought from home) while we watched "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" outside on a big screen.

Eeeeewww! Pumpkin guts!
We learned this Halloween that Megan is a very lucky girl. We went to the ward Halloween party where she entered her pumpkin in the carving contest and won first place. She won a gigantic jar of gumballs. Then, she entered a coloring contest at the grocery store and won that. She helped her grandma carve her pumpkin for a contest, which they won. At Aunt Michelle's Halloween party, Megan guessed the right amount of candy corn in the jar and won that too. 4 Contests in 1 week. Not too shabby. I'd bet on her.

Aunt Michelle threw a huge Halloween bash! We had tons of fun eating cupcakes and playing games.

tis the season for PIE!

2010-11-22T21:22:00.000-08:00

Wow. It's been a really long time since I've blogged! And I was doing so well too. Oh well. The reason I haven't blogged in sooooo long, is because we've literally been spending every spare moment working on our new website. Which, by the way is now live, and looks fabulous. You can go see it here! Although it's been pretty hectic around these parts the last few weeks, we are having so much fun! Brian and I are both in our element being creative.

We are excited for our long lost friends the McCammons to come visit us this week. Yea. And, I'm trying to get motivated to make all the Thanksgiving fixings, except the pies, I don't need any motivation to make pies. I love pies. All kinds of pies, pretty much. Yum. Brian's parents and Misty are coming for Thanksgiving. It will be a fabulous feast!

Crazy Week

2010-10-23T20:35:00.000-07:00

This week school took a back seat because we just partnered in a business with some friends. It's an online clothing store called Impel Clothing. We've been working like crazy to get the new website designed and the copy written, along with ordering product, creating a marketing plan, learning how social media works, entering thousands of previous customer email addresses into the computer, etc, etc. We have a November 18 deadline! Ahhh! It's so fun though. Brian and I love this stuff! I'll let everyone know when the site goes up. It looks so great.

I did make homemade pizza for the first time and it turned out awesome! Brian says it tastes just like Round Table. I love watching his face when he eats something he likes. It's hillarious how he savors every bite.

Rivers and Waterfalls

2010-10-10T10:50:00.000-07:00

This week we learned about the Nile River valley and we built a working model of it. We flooded our river to water the seeds we planted. Then the water receded, leaving behind rich soil. The first of our "crops" (sunflower seeds) are already sprouting.

Brian has been busy working some construction jobs while we are still searching for a design position. He's been gone a lot, and we are all in shock since we are so used to him being around all the time. He took me on a date last night to D.I. to hunt for books. We sat there for a long time, running our fingers down the spines, looking carefully for treasures and classics. We found some good ones. Brian was also pleased to find some stylish retro shirts so now he says he looks "cool like Rick." I was able to grab a "new" pair of jeans, a cute black skirt with white polka dots, and my prize of the day... a dark gray Ann Taylor dress for $6! Yea!

Friday night, we celebrated Dad coming home from work with a family camp out. We made popcorn, watched "The Burbs" and then told ghost stories. Then we all slept in the living room. Well, at least until Brian and I thought we would be more comfortable in our own bed (wink).

Saturday morning, we woke up and got ready for our Autumn color tour and family picnic. We drove to Provo canyon and took some family pictures. Then, we walked to Bridal Veil Falls and sketched the falls in our nature journals with our hot cocoa for company. Afterwards, we drove out of the canyon to find a park to have lunch. We ended up across from the Timpanogos Temple with warm autumn stew and rolls, and the best part...yummy Carmel Apple Bars! Everyone has to make them they are SOOOOOOOO good!

Rooftop Concert

2010-10-02T15:18:00.000-07:00

Last night we took the kids to see the Rooftop Concert in Provo Town Square. It was so awesome! It was on the top deck of the parking terrace. We got seats in the third row, brought some yummy treats and enjoyed the music and the beautiful evening. We loved all of the singers, including Cherie Call, Mindy Gledhill, and Libbe Linton. They, and other LDS artists, got together to form a band called "The Lower Lights," to do a hymn revival project. You can listen to the songs here:
http://thelowerlights.bandcamp.com/
http://www.myspace.com/libbielinton

My Hero

2010-10-02T15:09:00.000-07:00

I attended this event with Brian on Thursday evening. I learned of Stephanie Nielson a few months ago when I saw her Mormon Message. I now follow her blog and reading it and getting to know her and the way she looks at her life, despite her trials, has changed the way I look at my own. She inspires me and I want to be like her in every way. The event was recorded and will be rebroadcast online. I will post a link here when it becomes available. Please visit Stephanie Nielson's blog. I know you will find a great treasure.
http://nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHDvxPjsm8E

Puppet Mania!

2010-10-02T13:37:00.000-07:00

The kids have been having fun learning how to make puppets and do puppet shows. They all helped build and paint their own puppet theater. It turned out great.

Surprise for Brian

2010-10-02T13:31:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago, I surprised Brian by taking him to meet his mentor and hero, Elder F. Enzio Busche. An emeritus general authority, Elder Busche was responsible for much of the growth of the Church in Germany. Brian listens to his words on a BYU devotional each morning as he began his day and also reads his book "Yearning for the Living God" often. I found out that Elder Busche lives in Bountiful, Utah, googled his address, and wrote him a letter requesting a meeting. He graciously allowed us to come to his home and spend an hour with him in counsel. It was a wonderful experience.

Nomads and the Titanic

2010-10-02T10:07:00.000-07:00

This week in home school we learned about nomads and the kids made cave paintings on paper grocery bags. They turned out awesome.

Megan is also very interested in the Titanic right now. She checked out a bunch of books on it at the library and can't stop reading about it.

I got all of my books organized today. Now I know where to find everything. Yea. I also cleaned Riley's room and bathed the kids. They smell great!

Party Weekend

2010-09-29T22:03:00.000-07:00

Riley's New Baseball Stuff!

Well, I have officially survived 2 birthday parties this weekend! Megan celebrated her 10th birthday with a sleepover, and Riley threw a shark party for his friends. Both parties went really well. I've almost finished recovering from the aftermath.

Goldfish

2010-09-25T15:46:00.001-07:00

The other day Megan was looking through old magazines for pictures for a poster she was making, and came across an article that said that if you keep a goldfish in a dark room it will eventually turn white. We all thought that was very interesting. About two hours later, Megan came out of the bathroom and bellowed, "Summer! It meant REAL goldfish, not goldfish crackers!" She had come across Summer's experiment of placing goldfish crackers in the dark bathroom. We all had a good laugh. That's my girl!

Nature Journaling

2010-09-16T20:27:00.000-07:00

Meg's Nature Journal

Summer's Nature Journal

Riley's Nature Journal

My Nature Journal

After breakfast this morning and kids and I headed down to a nearby meadow to begin our nature journals. They were super excited because we were supposed to start them yesterday, but we got so into decorating our journal covers that we ran out of time. We plopped down in the tall grass with our newly-decorated journals, and our Spiderman pouch full of colored pencils and started drawing the amazing discoveries we made. The best part of the morning was watching the kids scatter all over the meadow looking for interesting things to draw, and then running back to show me their pictures. We stayed for an hour and I had to drag them back to the house. We saw wildflowers and honeybees and animal tracks and grasshoppers and seedpods. Later on, we even got to rescue a praying mantis from our garage.

We all miss Dad. He is in Boston. He had a job interview this morning. It's hard to imagine moving so far away. He is taking lots of video and pictures to show us our maybe new home. He will be home tomorrow night. Hurry tomorrow night!

Starting Home School

2010-09-14T18:16:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday we officially kicked off our first real year of home schooling. The kick off was very nice. I spent all day preparing a family feast. We made it really fancy with a table cloth and even glasses! (My family thought this was a big deal because I never bring cups to the table. They know they're all on there own for drinks). I decorated the table with the childrens' prized possessions: horses and batmans and dinosaurs and books and such. Brian and I made a paper crown for each of them with magazine cut-outs that describe them. It was so fun to see how different they all came out. I told them how our home school will be different than other schools. This, for all the people that wonder why I am so crazy to attempt such a thing, (and yes, I agree), is what no school or teacher, no matter how great the experience, the curriculum, or the funding, is what I can give my children. I know that they were each sent here to me, to our family, at this moment in time for a special purpose. They will be given the opportunity to seek out that special purpose, to develop their unique gifts and abilities at my side, to guide and mentor them and provide them with the things they need to do so. This is the vision that I see, and I know that if every mother could see it, would want the same thing. I made plaques for each of them as well, with an antique key and the scripture to "seek learning." We talked about how learning is the key to everything. All kinds of learning. After dinner Brian gave each of the kids fathers' blessings. And me. It was a wonderful evening.
Even though the vision sounds glorious and ideal, I know the implementation will be messy and inconsistent. The kids fight through devotional and don't want to do their chores. Summer doesn't want to read. We're waiting for most of our books to get here. They play when they are supposed to be listening. Brian and I spent 4 hours on Saturday building a puppet theater that they still haven't played with. Its the one-day-at-a-time, unplanned teaching moments. Its establishing relationships of love and trust. It's sharing my testimony of the gospel. It's improving myself so my children will look up to me. It's the steady drip, drip, drip of repetition, of family meals, scripture study, chores, reading time, family nights, etc., that lead to the final tapestry. So, for those who keep asking me how home schooling is going...

Ask me when its over :)

Danielson Family Reunion 2010--Big Basin

2010-08-28T21:57:00.001-07:00

We did a game show theme this year and it was absolutely the funnest time we have ever had as a family. Here is the breakdown: Emily & Brian-"Survivor", Mom & Dad-"Jeopardy", Mike & Christen-"Family Fued" and "Good or Gross", Jake and Amber-"Deal or No Deal", The Girls-"The Newlywed Game", and Jenny & Rick-"Minute to Win It". So fun.

Summer's Salon and Spa

2010-08-28T21:49:00.001-07:00

I can't believe I forgot to write about the Spa party! It was fabulous. We decorated the living room just like a spa. When the girls arrived, they exchanged their shoes for luxurious spa socks and were given their very own customized water bottle (see picture). Then, they were rotated through 3 spa treatments: a pedicure, a manicure, and a yogurt facial (complete with chilled cucumbers). We had candlelight and relaxing music playing and the boys were banished upstairs! It was a huge success.

At the Pool

2010-08-28T20:47:00.000-07:00

Announcement!

2010-08-21T22:39:00.000-07:00

I am happy to announce that, after a year of being a "blogger", I officially have enough posts to have an "Older Posts" link on my page. Thank you. Thank you.

Scrapbooking Resumes

2010-08-21T22:28:00.000-07:00

Megan and I went to a scrapbook weekend yesterday and today with Misty and Grandma Halley. Holy Moly! Scrapbooking has gotten a little out of control in the last 6 years, if you ask me. We went to Misty's mother-in-law's house. She used to work for Provo Craft, and her scrapbook "room" was more like a scrapbook store stockroom. After a few hours of learning how to use all the gadgets and looking in the idea books, we were officially intimidated and sat staring at our blank cardstock like we had no hope. But, I was able to work on Riley's baby book a little, since he's almost 5. He came up to me yesterday after looking at all the photos I pulled out of storage and said "Mom, was I born?" I thought, "Yeah. Time to get his book done."

Brian partied it up with Summer and Riley while we were gone. They cleaned the house for me (even the bathrooms! BROWNIE POINTS!), they went to McDonalds and got sundaes and brought the peanuts home for me, and raided a Redbox machine for all it was worth. Then, Brian took me out on the town for a little date. We ended up strolling through the Gateway mall in Salt Lake. It was nice to hold my sweetie's hand.

2010-08-19T22:05:00.000-07:00

I spent most of the day transferring video from our camera onto the computer. We are one year late now getting Misty and Garrett and Mike and Christen's wedding videos done. (Sorry guys). Also, I went through all of my photos and calculated that I am almost 6 years behind in my scrapbooking! Ahhh! How will I ever catch up? I have four years worth of pictures that still need to be printed. This is starting to sound like a nightmarish story problem. (If Emily does 2 scrapbook pages a day, how long will it take her to catch up on her scrapbooking? A: Like 52 years!)

It was so wonderful to look at all those pictures and remember the last 10 years in a day. So many fun times. I swear my kids are cuter and funnier now looking back. Now that I'm not psycho crazy woman anymore. (Well, at least not as much).

Riley made dinner tonight. (Canned chicken noodle soup and rolls). He was very excited when we all had a picnic on the living room floor and said "1,2,3, THANK YOU RILEY!!!"

Yesterday the kids all made forts outside. They formed little gangs and tried to outdo the other kids' forts. It was a royal mess. They used pretty much everything in the garage and some stuff from the house. It rained in the afternoon, so they threw everything into the garage and then tried to set it all back up again. It took Brian and the kids about an hour to put everything away. I sat inside and worked on my hair clips :)

I did go grocery shopping yesterday though, so I wasn't a total bum. Although, I ran out of budget money and couldn't get ice cream. I don't know if there really is a point to life without ice cream. (Even if it is Western Family). Oh well.

Farm Day

2010-08-17T22:31:00.000-07:00

Today we went to the Farm Experience at Thanksgiving Point with Grandma and Grandpa Halley and Michelle and the kids. I love to watch the boys chase each other in the grass with arms outstretched like little airplanes. The kids had fun looking at the farm animals and going on pony rides and learning about farms. I took lots of pictures, but we have still not been able to get them onto our computer :(. Darn card reader. The neatest part of our adventure though, was an art studio across the street from the farm. We got to sit and watch as two artisans blew glass into a beautiful free-form bowl. We were all fascinated. Homeschool for today was glass blowing. Awesome. Then we went and had ice cream cones while the kids got all wet in the water contraption they have there.

On the way home Summer sang a song about how she writes songs from the voices in her head:D. Then, later she had Dad carry her in because her heel was bleeding. I asked her what happened and she said that her "foot accidently kicked her other foot."

Thoughts

2010-08-16T23:39:00.000-07:00

It's funny the way some people, when you meet them, or even read about them, even for a moment, can change you. Make you see the world differently. Make you see yourself differently. I wonder if I will ever influence someone like that. If I will ever be a hero to someone. If not, I wonder if my life would be worth much. I think about my children and all that I want them to know. I want them to be better than I am. I want them to be leaders and follow their purpose in life. I worry that I damage them. Their freshness, their innocence and pure enthusiasm for life. I feel like I could do nothing greater with my life than to influence them for good, to inspire them. But, I also feel so unequal to this monumental task. It is not something that can be done in an hour or a week or a year. It must be built over a lifetime. A lifetime of patience and love and understanding. A lifetime of setting an example of who I truly am. Am I truly who I want to be? I have so many shortcomings, but I hope that my strenths will shine through. That they will remember the strengths.

Today Brian had an interview for a marketing director job in Provo. It sounds perfect for him. I waited anxiously for his call to tell me how it went, and I remembered the time right before we got married, he had a job interview in Logan, his first real design job interview. He was so nervous and I went with him. I sat in the truck in the parking lot and prayed for him. That's how I felt for him today.

I've started making felt flower hair clips to raise money for the kids' homeschool supplies and field trips. I spent a lot of time today making them. They are turning out really cute. While I sat there, Summer came in from outside and I asked her what she was doing. She replied, "Nothing. Just putting my pants on backwards." And when she was finished, she went back outside. I laughed. The kids spent every waking moment outside today. I love that they want to soak up every ray of sunlight before the winter comes again. I love how they explore their world.

I was late making dinner tonight, so Summer and Riley decided to make themselves a picnic and eat it upstairs under my desk. I guess they were hungry :).

Brian's interview went really well. They told him to propose his position and salary. Pretty much create his own job. We went out on the porch and brainstormed ideas for what he could do for the company. Now he is sitting by me in bed with his laptop, putting together his proposal and listening to his instrumental music. Cutie.

2010-07-11T18:50:00.001-07:00

We went to watch The Muppet Movie in the park last night. So fun! Brian and I actually got all the jokes and cameos that went over our heads when we were kids. This morning we shipped our niblets off camping to Lake Tahoe with Grandma and Grandpa and Michelle and Kalani. We will pick them up on Thursday on our way to Big Basin for the Danielson reunion. It sure is quiet around here. It makes me a little nervous. It feels like they're off doing something sneaky. Brian and I are using the time to tackle a huge project for our biz that we've been trying to get done for forever. It will be so great to finally finish it! Yea!

2010-06-06T20:07:00.000-07:00

We have had such a fun weekend! On Friday, I took the kids to our community garden to release thousands of ladybugs into the world. It was so cute to watch Summer carry around a bucket of bugs and watch them all crawl up onto her arms and shirt. On Saturday, we went with Misty and Garrett to the Utah Lake Festival in Provo. Everything was free, which was a BIG plus! We had lunch there and the kids played some fun games and learned how to fish. Unfortunately, they didn't catch any, but they had a lot of fun trying! This evening we embarked on a family bike ride around the lake and got caught in a killer hailstorm! We took shelter under a bridge and waited til the rain calmed down, but we were still pretty soaked. Summer and I got separated from the boys for a while, so we waited in town and danced in the rain until they caught up. There was plenty of cool lightening strikes to watch too. We came home to dry off, munch on some popcorn and make some welcome home signs for Megan. (She's been on vacation with Grandma and Grandpa Halley for the last week). We miss her!

2010-03-24T22:15:00.000-07:00

Megan got her first pair of glasses today. They are so cute! She was amazed when she walked outside and could really see the world. I feel so horrible that she was blind for so long. She just never complained about it. Summer and Riley both had the stomach flu today. Not fun. But still, Summer looked pretty adorable in her pigtails and pajamas singing cute songs to me. And, its always fun to do nothing but drink Sprite and put together puzzles, right?

So, we've all started to eat healthier. We went to the store the other day and only bought healthy stuff, so there are a bunch of us grumpies walking around complaining that there is nothing good to eat. Gotta break my ice cream cravings:( I found some fun healthy snack recipes for the kids online, so each day when they get home from school there is an official "snack of the day" waiting for them. They have totally loved this so far.

We are planning on going to visit grandma and grandpa kitty for Easter! I am so excited! I need a vacation soooooo badly!

I redecorated my bedroom!

2010-03-15T19:27:00.000-07:00

Thanks to fabulous Ikea, I redecorated my bedroom today! It looks so great and feels so good to have some nice things! I'll post a photo when it's all done.

2010-01-11T18:27:00.000-08:00

My greatest joy

2009-08-02T20:39:00.000-07:00

Brian made this beautiful video of the kids over the weekend. He is so talented! Check it out!

Summer's Western Jamboree!

2009-07-13T21:53:00.000-07:00

Yee Haw! Miss Summer went and turned 6 a few days back! So, we had a mind to celebrate with some good ol' fashioned cowgirl flare! Yes, siree, we rustled up some of the best grub on the prairie, roped us some horses, and rounded up some rattlesnakes. Take a look at the pictures, partner!

Los Angeles Trip

2009-07-13T16:52:00.000-07:00

We just got back from sunny LA! We spent a few hours on gorgeous beaches with our team, playing in the surf and sunbathing. We saw dolphins and a sea cucumber! (Don't get too much of that in Utah). Then we headed over to the convention center for some fabulous business training.