Gun Safety & Target Practice

This morning we went out with 2 other home schooling families to learn about gun safety and to do a little target practice. I had only shot a gun 1 other time in my entire life so I was pretty hesitant to get out there. But I did it, and {SUPRISE} I was actually a pretty good shot!

The Marshmallow Experiment

I have to give credit where credit is due. Matthew found this experiment on Youtube and came to me asking if we could try it on David. 

Obviously I jumped right on that bandwagon!

It starts off kind of rough. I had a hard time trying to explain it to him what he was supposed to do and after watching it I realized I explained it kind of wrong.

But either way the end result is pretty funny. 

If you don't know what the "marshmallow experiment" is I'll explain it briefly before you watch the video.

You take a child, preferably a young child, and you give them a marshmallow. You tell them they can eat this one now or wait 5 minutes and get another marshmallow. 

Train a camera on them, leave and let the fun begin!!

David's Story

While going through my previous posts I found this draft that I had not finished. So I figured I'd go ahead and upload the whole shebang. 

These were taken at the Armory Christmas party last year.

I'm not really sure what I was going for when I put this together.

 I think I remember that I was going to make up a story to go a long with the pictures. 

This last picture cracks me up. I'm pretty sure this started the whole thing.

Moral of the story: Don't mess with this boy while he's eating or he will give you this face. 

Storytime

I used to read to the kids every night before bed. But we have the same books and I really got tired of reading the same ones over and over and over again. (really need to get some new books)

It was then that I remembered we used to do story time with Matthew when he was little because we would giggle at the adorableness that would come out of his mouth. 

So I've started back up this tradition of storytelling with David. 

We usually do the back and forth storytelling. I tell a little bit until he feels like filling in. 

This was his story the other day. 

A:Once upon a time, there was a little boy named...

D: DAVID!!

A: David and his mommy decided to go into the garden to pick some vegetables for a salad!

D: then they found a worm!!

A: yes, they found a worm and David picked it up and the worm crawled all over his arm.

D:  then David climbed on da worm and they flew away!! (makes flying noises)  Then the worm fell out of the sky!! (AAHHHH!!!) And David broke his foot.

A: So then his mommy picked him up and took him to the doctor to get his foot fixed. The End.

D: Awww....Phank you Mommy.

My Lovely Purple Breakfast

Saturday was my birthday. If you remember my last birthday post, I wasn't too  thrilled on becoming a year older. It was not the case this year. I simply did not mind another birthday had snuck up me.

I was pretty bummed when I found out Matt had drill the day of my birthday (Saturday) and even more bummed when I found out he had to spend the entire day and night in Kansas City and wouldn't be back until Sunday afternoon.

He made it better though.

I received a beautiful bouquet of roses.

He also organized a party with our closest friends. It was nice to sit and talk and watch little ones play.

The next day, my birthday, I got up early to drop Matt off at the armory. Somehow during the night I had developed a nasty head cold. So I came home to still sleeping children and put myself back to bed.

At some point I hear the rustling of wakening children and thought for a moment that maybe I should get up and fix them some breakfast. But I really didn't feel good and felt better knowing there was bread and peanut butter in the house. They would have to fend for themselves until I was able to drag myself out of bed.

Much to my surprise, I was awoken to a platter of food being placed next to my head.

Matthew then very timidly said "I wanted to serve you breakfast in bed."

It was so sweet. He had made a cheese omelette and toast. I was a little unsure about the omelette, it was, well...green.

Come to find out he got out the food coloring and attempted to make me a purple omelette. (Purple is my favorite color)

It was all so sweet I almost couldn't stand it.

So aside from a stuffy AND runny nose (how does that happen!?!) and overall icky feeling, my birthday was absolutely PERFECT!

Lesson Learned

Another awesomely funny story brought to you by my dad. Before I tell it, I'll let you know how the telling of this story came about:

A couple of days ago I went into town to run some errands. On the way home I stopped at the gas station to refuel my car. It was windy so I grabbed my jacket and wallet as I was getting out of the car. I paid for my gas and started fueling. I put my wallet on the top of my car while I put my jacket on and told myself not to forgot it was up there. The fuel stopped pumping at 2 dollars in. I knew that I needed more gas than that so I went to adjust the pump. It was at that point that I completely forgot about my wallet. I drove on home completely oblivious that my wallet was still up there. I didn't even realize until I got home that it was gone. Luckily, just yesterday I got a call that my wallet had been found. 

So Matthew was talking to my dad on the phone the other day, telling him how I had lost my wallet. He then produced this story, which we all thought was pretty funny.

One Sunday morning he was leaving to go to church. He had to strap a toddler Amber into the car seat, so he put his bible on top of the car. He then drove off, heading to church. As he was driving down the freeway he looked at his rear view mirror to see paper flying all over the place. Come to find out his bible was still on top of his car, but the pages were coming out one at a time. 

He spread the gospel all over town that morning.

So now I don't feel too bad about my wallet fiasco. Apparently it's pretty common. A friend even told me she once left an entire cake on top of her car. 

But I will never, ever put my wallet on top of my car ever again. Lesson learned.

Interview with Matthew: Age 11

A: If you were stranded on an island and only had one kind of food to eat, what would it be?

M: Something healthy, probably coconuts cause that's the only thing on islands. But I don't like coconuts.

A: What do you love most about your brother

M: When he's not a pain...

A: What makes you laugh?

M: When dad does funny things and it makes mom laugh.

A:  How old are your grandparents?

M: Uh...85 I guess. (Off by at least 20 years, kid)

A: What do you love most about Pop-Pop, Nana, and Grammy?

M: Pop-Pop- He loves me/ It makes me smile when I look at him and he's still there.

Nana- That whenever I smile at her she smiles back. It lets me know that she loves me.

Grammy: I like that she know how to make her grandchildren smile. 

I wish I could see them more.

A: What is the funniest thing that has ever happened to you?

M: I was riding my bike with some friends and a wagon was in the road. I swerved  and crashed into the weeds and disappeared. My friends asked me if I was ok. I just stuck out my hand and gave them the thumbs up. They started laughing and I started laughing. I'm just glad I didn't get turned into sliced ham. 

A: What's the saddest thing that has ever happened to you?

M: We had a dog named Dax that got hit by a car. 

A: What is the scariest thing that has ever happened to you?

M: When I rode the Tower of Terror at Disney World with my mom. (Really...you should have seen his face. It was hilarious! We just had a good laugh remembering that one.)

A: Tell me about a random memory:

M: This was when I was little, I think I was 5. It was in Arizona. My devilish Uncle Josh and Uncle Steve, we went on a boat together and they decided to throw me into the lake. Terror came to me. Like my favorite balloon being popped.  (dramatic much??) (Also, what he doesn't remember, is that he was taunting his Uncles, saying  "You can't throw me in the water!" He had a life jacket on and the rest is history.)

A: What do you like about being a kid?
M: That I don't have to pay the bills. (Enjoy it while it lasts!)

A:One word to describe you would be _____?

M: Crazy

A: What is the grossest thing you can think of?

M: When I went hunting with my dad. I had to see a deer get it's skin cut off. 

David the Dog Whisperer

Tonight during bedtime David came downstairs to use the bathroom. Our dog Maggie is in her dog crate this time of night and inhabits the bathroom.

This little nugget of awesomeness followed:

{David exiting the bathroom} Mom! (in that whiny little boy voice) Maggie told me to be quiet.

Me: No she didn't, David. Do you know how I know?

David: No.

Me: Because Maggie is a dog. Dogs cannot talk, David.

David: Oh... {runs back into the bathroom} Maggie!! {in a voice seething with attitude} You can't talk!!


We all had to stifle our laughter. He is supposed to be going to bed. Laughing at him only delays the process.

 That kid makes me smile on a daily basis. 

Hats and Scarves

Matthew has been wearing this hat and scarf combo for the past couple of days. I rather like it.

The hat he acquired from his Uncle Bear and I made the scarf especially for him.

 He's been quite camera shy lately so when I suggested we take some pictures and he agreed, I was shocked. 

Not so surprisingly, he totally hammed it up for the camera.

 I had to get David in on the hat/scarf fun. They both pull it off so well!

 I only wish David had been wearing a different shirt. But this was an impromptu photo shoot so I just tried not to let it bother me too much.

 *kissie face!!!

This last one is a Matthew original. He decided he needed a mustache to complete his look. 

Gotta love him!

The Search for Cash

The awesomeness that is Matthew:

Yesterday we received a knock on the door. It was a lady passing out flyers for her missing dog "Cash." He had been missing over 2 weeks and they really wanted to find him. 

Matthew had been standing in the hallways listening to this lady's plea for help. When she finished he pumped his fist into the air and said "a mission!!! This is a job for MATTHEW!!" 

I smiled at his enthusiasm. We then decided to make it a family mission. 

We all piled into the car and drove around town, having Matthew lead the way. He rolled down his window and yelled for Cash. 

When we got back from driving around town he grabbed a friend and they walked around the neighborhood to look some more.

Unfortunately he never did find the dog.

Upon further inspection of the flyer we saw that there was a $200 reward for the safe return of the dog. 

Matt asked Matthew what he would do with all that money. His response: "I would give it to you." 

He knows that things have been tough financially. 

But seeing him so excited to help someone he had never even met before makes me proud beyond words.