Lake Weir Activity

Chad and Mitchell went to Lake Weir today for a Beehive/Deacon Activity. Mitchell came home sore from tubing... I think he held on for dear life!! He said they caught some good air while being pulled by the boat. He also had fun in the pool playing hoops and all the great stuff boys do. They had yummy food, which Mitchell took full advantage of, as well. Though Chad was bummed he didn't get a chance to go out, I think they both had a great time!!

The Undaunted by Gerald N Lund

After reading the Work and the Glory books, I was so excited about Gerald Lund's new book The Undaunted!! For the past 3 days I've been reading the chapters and absolutely love it. I started reading it out loud to my kids and husband... they all thought it was funny hearing me try to speak with an English accent... I have to admit I laughed many times too! Every time I ended a chapter, they asked me to read another and another. I am now halfway through the book and really love it... hoping David figures things out (that be me only clue to the story... you'll have to read it to figure out what I'm talking about)!! It's very good... Chad and I are racing to see who can finish it first... he has a lead right now (only because he stayed up until 6:30am reading)... I feel really good about catching up to him tonight...we'll see!!

Swimming at Sister Coutz's House

Today we went over to Sister Coutz's house and swam in her pool. The kids and I had a great time. Mitchell caused a bit of a challenge as he felt it was his mission to tackle everyone and make swimming a little more... eventful. He tried to body slam me into the side of the pool. Needless to say, I had fun teaching him a lesson... he might be bigger than me now but he sure can't out swim his mama... so much fun!! Emily had fun with Chelsea, Sister Coutz's granddaughter... they tried hard to stay away from the boys... namely Mitchell. Austin had fun with Lizzy in the comfy floating chair. They had their own little setup which they both loved. Tanner had so much fun swimming around with the flippers on. He was so fast... swimming from one side of the pool to the other in seconds... now he wants flippers for Christmas... go figure!! All in all, Sister Coutz was so wonderful for inviting us over... we all had tons of fun!!

Gardening HFPE Night

My Poster
I made a large seed packet out of brown wrapping paper and added all the details for the evening.

My Invitations
I made small seed packets out of brown wrapping paper and added vegetable seeds into the packet before sealing. I then made a sticker with the name of the seed for the back. On the front of the packets, I put all the need to know details.

We had an awesome Enrichment Night tonight. We invited Charles Fedunak from the Lake County Extension Office to come and talk to us about growing fruit & vegetable gardens. He was wonderful... great public speaker... he had the sisters laughing many times. He was able to explain things so simply and answer all of our questions. He spoke for about 45 minutes... answering questions along the way. After his presentation, we had yummy salads brought in by all the sisters. They all made beautiful salads... they looked to good to eat!! It was a wonderful evening... I think everyone who attended was glad that they came.

Aunt Jen's Preschool

Elizabeth started going to Aunt Jen's preschool today. She had a great time learning about turtles and the letter T. She even got to feed a real turtle... aka - Shelly.

Elizabeth's First Haircut

Lizzy got her very first haircut on Monday. She wasn't too excited at the beginning but ended up loving the attention. She listened to her grandma very well... for a 2 year old that is!!

CHA Craft Show

Friday, July 31st

Mom, Jennifer, and I had a blast at the CHA Craft Show. It was so nice to have a break from everyday life and enjoy time with the girls. We got to the Convention Center bright and early... rushing through traffic and pushing our way through the crowd. Actually the traffic was pretty light and we beat most of the crowd... but it was still a thrill... we were women on a mission!! Mom had the whole day mapped out and even met a friend in line with a similar game plan... Chicago (aka... Maria). Jennifer and I laughed at the similarity of schedule plans... we had found someone as crazy as mom... so fun!! Finally the doors opened and we were off to our first stop... PaperTreyInc... mom was star struck!! She was so excited to meet Michelle, Nichole and all the PaperTrey ladies... she was so cute!! Of course we had to get pictures... here are a few:

Jennifer, Heather (Pine), Mom

Jennifer, Mom, Michelle Wooderson

CHA Craft Show - Make & Takes

We had tons of fun at the Craft Show doing all the free Make & Takes. Here are a few of the fun projects we got to do:

At the end of the day, our bags were full and we were ready to go home to show off all of our exciting new treasures!!

We Spoke in Sacrament Meeting

Mitchell, Chad and I got to speak it Sacrament Meeting today. I was so proud of Mitchell. He did a really good job and didn't even seem nervous. This was a huge relief since he promised to pass out when he was first asked to speak. I thought Chad and I did well too. We had many kind ward members come up and comment on our talks... Chad was even threatened to be put on the High Council... not sure if that's a good thing or not. We all are just releaved it's over!! I should be good now for a while... I've had to speak in Sacrament Meeting twice now within the past 3 months... one can hope!

The Skateboard Park

Today we went to the skateboard park in Auburndale, FL. Braden was so excited to show us this fun park after getting a skateboard for his birthday. The kids had fun going up and down all the ramps... they even had fun trying to come up with new tricks.

Tanner, Austin, Braden, Chamberlynn, Stockton, Mitchell and Emily

Elizabeth

Mitchell, Emily and Austin

Scout Camp

Chad and Mitchell spent this past week at scout camp. Mitchell worked on several merit badges while Chad tried to keep the boys pumped up and excited about being at camp... at times not an easy task. Mitchell worked on his swimming as well as the bird watching, pioneering, environmental science and soil and water conservation merit badges.

Fun at the Lake

June 2009

School's finally out!! We celebrated by going to the lake with the Smith family. The kids had a great time with their friends! Lizzy loved the water and didn't want to leave! She kept jumping and splashing... so cute!


Emily was wonderful and kept Liz entertained... they had tons of fun together!


Tanner and Connor had tons of fun on the raft. They had fun taking turns pulling each other around.


Austin and Porter had fun playing on the beach... they built many sand castles and then knocked them down. While they were playing, Teresa and I noticed gator tracks next to them... it's great living in Florida... gotta love Florida lakes... never know what might be lurking nearby!


Mitchell and Wyatt were put to work right away. They helped me and Teresa carry the picnic table from the beach back up to the picnic area... it was so heavy!! They also were put to work BBQ the hot dogs. They did a pretty good job... only 1 or 2 mishaps... or 3!!

Mitchell's Broken Arm

April 16th

This morning Chad and I dropped off the kids at the Smith's house and headed up to Chiefland for the Trek... we were asked to be a Ma & Pa. 10 minutes before we reached the chapel in Chiefland, we got a phone call from Teresa telling us that she thinks Mitchell broke his arm. We had Chad's mom come out and take Mitchell to the ER to get it checked out... sure enough he broke his right arm... both bones right above his wrist... the very first broken bone in the family! Mitchell of course looked to the bright side right away... no writing and he gets to ride the elevator at school. He is bummed about missing the rest of the soccer season though... he's only had one game so far... oh well.

May 22nd

Today Mitchell got his cast taken off... he was so excited!!! His arm healed perfectly according to the x-ray and doctor... but it still looks weird to his mom. His arm is flat and scrawny looking... like there's no muscle there... it's just funny looking!! Hopefully once he is able to use it better it will look more normal.

As for tonight, it was Wyatt's birthday yesterday. All he wanted for his birthday was to have Mitchell come over and spend the night. I warned Mitchell... NO JUMPING ON THE TRAMPOLINE... hopefully he'll listen!!

Mitchell in the Waiting Room

Almost OFF

Mitchell getting his cast cut off - once it was off the doctor hurried and threw it away... it stunk so bad!!!!!

Easter Party

Today after church we went over to Aunt Jen's house for Easter dinner and fun. The kids had a great time decorating cupcakes with Grandma Hales.


We also had fun finding eggs on our Easter Egg Hunt outside.

Mitchell, Tanner, Braden, Liz, Austin and Emily