Going for a Dip

We packed up and headed out, needing a break from the mundane.

The first thing the kids wanted to do when we got to Grandma and Grandpas was go swimming!

Tanner refused to get in, saying it was "too cold"....Taylor was very brave and jumped right in!  It was a bit chilly to go for swim, so they went for a dip instead. Keetley and I went for a splash, thanks to Taylor jumping across the pool.  We lasted less than 10 minutes.

I wish fatty rolls looked as cute on me as they do on this little darling!  Poor little thing has some teeth coming in and just didn't feel good.  I think the cool water on her feet felt the best, but it was much to cold for she and I to enjoy it.

I got in a good run down to the mailbox and back, and the boys had a blast on the trampoline.

Grandpa was a trooper and kept the boys so Grandma, Deseret, her fake baby for FCS, Keetley and I attended the General Women's Meeting together at the stake center in Grace.  Then Grandpa met us at the bottom of Fish Creek with kids and we all drove to our respective homes.  While it rained all the way home, and gave me time to reflect on the uplifting meeting, I couldn't help but think that everyone should have gone potty before getting in the car.  Hehehehe!  Good thing it was dark, raining, and I have boys.

The rain, turning into giant white snowflakes wrapped up our warmish and fun week of Spring Break!  Maybe next year we'll plan something extraordinary....like a ski trip up North, or a bike trip down South...or maybe not.

It was nice to just have a week "off".  And just Be.

Pinterest Success....er....not.

It's spring break around here.  It's also in the mid 60's...65 degrees to be precise.  My kids could be playing on a slip-n-slide or with water balloons, but *I* wanted to try this:

It's a newspaper fort, in case you're not well versed in the brains of parents who have nothing better to do, or kids who are super creative!!!

I found it on pinterest last night.  Pinterest is such a time waster, in more ways than one.

I figured that after our AWESOME (and I honestly mean that!) 30 minute piano lessons (they each did a 30 minute practice and we are going places, let me tell ya!), they needed somewhere fun to read.

Why the heck not a newspaper fort?  Our neighbor generously donates his newspapers towards our heating bill (aka, the wood burning monstrosity of a stove we feed every day), and we were getting a bit of a pile-up.

So I stopped at Staples, for....a stapler, since my cute little boys broke mine a few months ago.  We came home and promptly started rolling and rolling and rolling and rolling....

...and rolling till we had a pile of 48 (the recommended amount) rolled and taped paper tubes.

Being the DIY'er that I am, I didn't bother to read the instructions, we just started rolling and taping single sheets of newspaper.  Half-way into stapling them into triangles, I realized we needed to probably do 3-4 sheets per roll.

Oh well.  (Ryan just walked past and said, "Thanks for making it easy for me to start a fire tonight!")

We got one done, and I decided that each boy should have their own little reading space to avoid any FIGHTS....because you KNOW there's going to be a fight in a glass house.

At least one child was enjoying it!  Tanner was having a hay-day with my camera, too.

By the time I (yes....I am the only one left working this circus) finished the second house, there were no rules remaining.  The whole "triangle contraption" went out the window because some kids don't know how to roll corner-to-corner, resulting in very short tubes.

The frustration in the picture above is clearly evident.

What I thought would take us 30 minutes to build, took about 3 hours....and that last 2 hour time frame was just me and the newspaper tubes....and a baby who turned black from newsprint.  Took more than 10 minutes to clean up her shredded mess.  LOL!

Well...now that everyone is outside enjoying the sunshine, I'm going to cozy up in that Newspaper Fort with a good book and read....for as long as it is quiet!

Spring Break {2012}

We started off our break by moving.  Crazy, I know...but it was just downstairs....talk about WAY more work than just packing up our lives and moving across town or the country.  In short, I'm less stressed about the kids being kids, and I don't have wood paneling in my living room anymore...moving was totally worth it, even if it's just for a few months.  *wink*

After taking a grueling 4 days to move NOWHERE, I decided to get outta dodge and headed to my parent's house.

The boys had a blast, and it was fun to relax with my family and listen to the wonderful messages of our church leaders during the Saturday sessions of General Conference.