Invent Iowa

Ashton came home from her TAG class several weeks ago and told me about "Invent Iowa" which is an event (similar to a science fair) where students come up with a new invention. After going through several different ideas, she settled on "Re-Doh". One of the problems we have at our house is that the Play-Doh colors get mixed and no one wants to play with it anymore. So Ashton's solution (with a little help from Dad) was a pill and mixer...you put the Play-Doh in the mixer, drop the pill in and grind it up...then presto, the Play-Doh returns to it's original color. Keep in mind that the invention didn't have to actually work! I thought it was very creative, and she did a great job. On the evening of the event, it was so fun to go and see all the inventions....it may sound corny, but it really did give hope for the future when you saw what these kids were coming up with. Such bright, innovative minds! I was proud of her for all the work she put in, and she did a great job of explaining her ideas to 3 different judges.

Birthday Weekend

We had so much fun celebrating Jordan's birthday last weekend! Our morning started with the opening of a new birthday outfit...then the birthday girl was off to school.

I picked her up after a couple of hours so that she could go get her hair cut....then it was on to Olive Garden to meet up with Dad for lunch.

It's a family tradition that for 8th birthdays, the birthday kid gets to go alone with Mom and Dad to a sit down restaurant. What a rare treat to just be with Jordan and enjoy her great personality. She was so excited for our lunch date and had talked about it for weeks!!! Funny incident...when we were driving back from her hair cut, she asked me if when we took Ashton out for her 8th birthday dinner, did we just sit in awkward silence and stare at each other. Is that was she thinks people do when they go out to eat? After the meal, she told me she was relieved that it wasn't "silent, " and that we had plenty to talk about!!! (I have to thank my amazing friend for coming to the rescue and staying with the 2 little kids who were sick...for some reason, sickness and Jordan's birthday go hand in hand...something about January!)

Another tradition for Jordan's birthday is a present treasure hunt...her gifts are hidden all around the house with clues leading to each one. Her siblings love it too. Of course, she was kind enough to let Cole help out!


As you can see from the pics, this year's gifts kind of had a theme- Jordan is a sporty gal who loves to be active and have her own sports equipment! That works for me since I have always loved sports.

The last gift we gave Beans was her own email account and boy, was she excited. I had sent out an email requesting birthday emails to her new account...she was thrilled to have 30 messages in her inbox when she opened it! I was so grateful to family and friends who took a minute to send a reply....makes me thankful for all the people the kids have in their lives who love them.
Jordan's not a big fan of cake, so she chose ice cream for a birthday treat! And of course, Whitey's is the best!
The next day was her b-day party...sandwiched between 2 basketball games and more sickness...another dear friend helped out at the birthday party since Tod had joined in the fun by getting sick, too! Anyway, Jordan had decided months ago on a bowling party and what a hit that was! She has such a cute group of friends- so calm and well-behaved which is saying a lot for eight 2nd graders, plus two 4th graders and a preschooler! They had a blast and the bowling provided the entertainment with no clean up required. Perfect. It was one of my favorite (and easiest!) birthday parties!!


(We borrowed the doughnut cake idea from a facebook photo of CG on his birthday!!)





So happy birthday to our Jordan Marie. She is quite a girl. Some things to remember about her at age 8:
- She is so funny. She does funny things and says funny things and just makes us all laugh all the time. She's got this goofy, funny side to her that is really great.
-She is a great reader and a great student. She loves art and especially her art class at school.
-Jordan loves sports and really tries to improve...right now she is playing basketball...and waiting anxiously for softball to start up.
-She doesn't love to share and really wishes that she had her own room. She loves to shut her door, listen to her music and make up her own dances. She needs her alone time!
-She is really looking forward to getting baptized. One of her favorite gifts were her scriptures from Grandma and Grandpa. She reads them diligently and she tries to be good. When she makes a mistake, she honestly tries to correct it and move on.

I love her so much! Can't believe she's already eight!

Eight Years Old!

From this

to this

Love you more than words can say! So glad to have you in our family. Happy Birthday Beanie!

A Few Days at the Farm

We weren't going to travel down to Missouri over Christmas break since we've been gone so much, but with the weather being so warm, we just couldn't pass it up! Of course, we couldn't breathe a word of it to our kids until we were absolutely positive we were going because they get SO excited! Ashton had a basketball tournament on Tuesday, but on Wednesday morning we headed out for a few days of fun. The drive was a cinch...5 hours for this family is nothing! And the weather was spectacular...We spend the next few days almost entirely outside which is almost unheard of for December in the Midwest!

A couple of things that made this trip special:

We were able to see the Porter family...they used to live next door and moved away last summer to Missouri. We were glad they were willing to make the drive to the farm (on long winding country roads!). It was so fun to just be together and have time to visit and catch up. After living next door to Sherry for 3 years, I feel like she knows me pretty well...and has seen me through lots of different things...and still likes me!! The girls were so happy to be with their buddies again. They have missed them a ton. We had a great afternoon...remembering the good old days and looking forward to future plans together.

On Friday, we got to go ice skating with the Morse family (Tod's sister). We love spending time with them...we all get a long so well and they are just easy going and fun. The kids absolutely adore cousins Kayla and Leah. Regan has been wanting to go ice skating for almost a year, so it was good to finally do it! And she surprised me by catching on really well. Even Cole got in on the action...although trying to help a 2 year old ice skate was somewhat of a challenge. After ice skating it was on to Baskin Robbins- I love that place and grew up on their Peanut Butter and Chocolate ice cream!



The weather was perfect this time for horse-riding. Getting a private horse riding lesson from Grandpa Steve is such a special privilege. Since Grandpa doesn't love to have his picture taken, I try to take advantage of snapping pics while he is busy with the horses. He is such a natural and so patient when it comes to teaching the grandkids. It is amazing to see the older girls- they are getting to be so much more comfortable around horses and have learned so much about proper riding techniques. I wish I could say the same for myself, but I am still quite fearful of the beasts! Ashton and Jordan are working towards being able to ride alone (with out the lead rope). Regan is still mastering some of the basics. Cole is along for the ride!





I had to include some of these pictures of Cole. This boy is a cowboy through and through. He loves being at the farm. All of his prayers include, "Bless Grandpa and Bless the trucks." He kept begging to go from rides in Uncle Marc's new truck. He is certainly in his element on the farm!




Of course, Ashton loves spending time with her dog Oreo. She misses him so much when they are apart. As soon as she arrived, Oreo became her constant companion and kept laying on his back for his belly rubs. She LOVES dogs.


This is a picture of Ashton and Jordan after returning from a hike with Grandpa and yes, that is mud on their faces. When they told me about their adventure, they mentioned that Grandpa had named a couple of creeks after them...they also tell me little treasures of knowledge he shares with them. So priceless. These girls are blessed with amazing grandparents.


All and in all we had a great time. We took a little detour on the ride back (I may have taken a wrong turn when Tod dozed off), but we eventually made it home just in time to bid 2011 good-bye. We were so tired from our adventures that we didn't even stay up until midnight! Here's to a great 2012!!!