"Everything is AWESOME!" in Tie-Dye

For a fun Spring Break activity, the kids and I decided to tie-dye some shirts. Now all we want to do is color things! LOL It was a exciting, long and messy process.

Step 1: Wet your shirt

Step 2: Decide on your pattern and bind it up with elastics

Step 3: Add some dye and make your hands really colorful! ;)

Step 4: Stick it in a bag overnight

Step 5: Rinse out the extra color

Step 6: Check out your awesome design
Then throw it in the washer and dryer

Step 7: Look fabulous!!!

Step 8: Get all dressed up go to the Lego Movie. What a fun date!

Victoria's Baptism Announcement

Victoria wanted me to sew her a Baptism dress. [I made one for Liberty when she was baptized] We went shopping for fabric and a pattern last week. She had some changes she wanted made to the pattern. I'm not a clothes sewer so I wasn't sure I could pull it off and I tried to persuade her in a certain direction. She told me at one point- "Don't be mad, Mom if my idea is not your idea." LOL
I finished the dress this week and she was very happy with it!
We had a lot of fun taking pictures for her announcement. She's such a beautiful girl! She can be silly and has the best laugh ever. We think the picture of the little girl with Jesus looks just like her. It's a painting by David Bowman titled Security. I love how they turned out!

Ears Pierced

Victoria has wanted to get her ears pierced for quite a while now and definitely before her baptism. There's a limited amount of places to have that done here in Helena. And most people recommended going out of town for it. So we figured that when we visited Rexberg that we could do it down there. Victoria was very brave!. 

She picked out some darling little diamonds with sterling silver posts. 

They marked her ears with a pen. 

Then had two ladies come so they could do both ears at the same time.

She cried a bit afterwards because they stung her ears which made her a tiny bit embarrassed. Everyone understood though.

Now that the pain of it is over... she loves them! She's very careful to clean them day and night. And can't wait for 6 weeks to pass so she can try out new ones. LOL 

Way to go, sissy! They look so darling on you. 

Mother/Daughter Date to Rexberg

Victoria and I took a little Mother/ Daughter Day Trip to Rexberg, ID this weekend. We can't even remember the last time we just spent time with the two of us! It was really great.
There were several reasons for our adventure.
Most of them were because Victoria is going to be baptized next month as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
In our family- as a gift at their baptism, we buy the kids their own Quad set of scriptures with their name on it. There's not really a place to get them in Helena so that as the first reason that we decided to go down. I so miss Desert Book!!!
Next was that Victoria has wanted to get her ears pierced before her baptism. There's a limited amount of places to have that done here in Helena. And most people recommended going out of town for it. So we figured we could do it down there as a bonus. Victoria was very brave!. She cried a bit after they did it but now she loves them. Way to go, sissy! They look so darling on her. (See the Ear Pierced Post)
The other reason and probably the most FUN reason was because we have awesome friends that live there. We have known the Hoffmans for years. Victoria was best friends with Halie when we lived in Fargo. And Amber's been one of my most treasured friends for the past 8 years. It was perfect to get our errands done and also see the Hoffman girls. So perfect! Victoria and Halie were a little shy to begin with but they were completely back to normal by the end of the day. So cute!
After getting Victoria's ears pierced, we ate lunch together at Nielsen's Frozen Custard. Yum!!!

After lunch, the girls decided that they wanted to play in the park across the street from Desert Book so we did. That's the joy of being laid back and fancy free. ;)

Then we took a trip up to the Rexberg Temple to take pictures of the girls in their baptism dresses. So stinkin' darling! I love it! The purpose behind them was so I can make an announcement for Victoria's baptism [I'll post that when I get it done] but I absolutely LOVE the ones of both the girls together. Can I put those ones on her announcements? LOL

Silly girls being goofy, photo bombing and hugging.
Amber bought them matching butterfly CTR rings.

And the Moms wanted to be documented too. We are such gorgeous ladies! I luv it!

What a fun, long (drive) day! Thanks Hoffmans for the amazingly awesome Girls Day Out! XOXO

Date with Shay

Need I say anymore about how beautiful, crazy and fun Shay is?? ;)

I forgot my camera in her truck.
She took the liberty to make sure
I would remember our day together! LOL

Thanks lady for the fun GDO today. I had a great time in the bathroom. LOL (We got MEGA-sized drinks at the theater and had to pee most of the movie.) Oh what fun memories! When it's not 14 degrees and snowy- we will definitively have to brave skiing.

Bomb Threats

It's been a scary, crazy week at the schools here in Helena. The Helena Schools received a Bomb Threat on two different days. Luckily for us, the East Helena Schools were NOT targeted. But thedistrict did take precautionary measures anyways.
I'm so relieved that nothing came of them but it makes me sad that there are people out there that feel that threatening innocent children is the answer to their problems. So sad!

Chinese Cook

Glory's School did Career Week. They were to decide what they wanted to be when they grew up and then dress like that at the end of the week.
Glory decided she wanted to be a "Chinese Cook"and she wanted to make cookies for everyone. It was completely her idea. She couldn't wait until Friday!
So we did her hair in a fancy bun, dressed her in a kimono and send her with 25 fortune cookies. She was so stinkin' cute!

Walk a Day in My Shoes- RS Activity

Tonight we had our Relief Society Birthday Dinner activity at the Church.

Invite for the Evening

Our theme for the night was Walk a Day in My Shoes. It was fun to have a few sisters in the ward share some of their fancy shoes for decorations. So cute!

We started out with a prayer and a pasta bar for dinner. We had three different pastas, 3 different sauces, a great spinach salad and bread sticks. Yummy! And I took pictures of our gorgeous sisters. 

Then we had everyone move their chairs into a circle in the middle of the room so we could all see each others beautiful faces. ;)

We showed the sisters this video called Daughters of God. I loved it because it celebrates our differences and strengths as a Relief Society.

I shared a short message-

From President Hinckley- "When Sister Hinckley and I were much younger and less stiff and brittle, we would go to dances. She would tell you that this stopped right after we were married. I must confess that I enjoyed her company more than I enjoyed the dancing.
Back in those days there was a popular song, the opening lines of which were:
Somebody loves you, I want you to know,Longs to be near you, wherever you go.I have interpreted those words differently from the meaning given by the author. I wish you—each of you, wherever you are—to know that you are loved. You are loved by your Father in Heaven, of whose divine nature you have partaken. And He desires that His Holy Spirit will be near you wherever you go if you will invite it and cultivate it.
There is something of divinity within each of you. You have such tremendous potential with that quality as a part of your inherited nature. Every one of you was endowed by your Father in Heaven with a tremendous capacity to do good in the world. Train your minds and your hands that you may be equipped to serve well in the society of which you are a part. Cultivate the art of being kind, of being thoughtful, of being helpful. Refine within you the quality of mercy which comes as a part of the divine attributes you have inherited.
Some of you may feel that you are not as attractive and beautiful and glamorous as you would like to be. Rise above any such feelings, cultivate the light you have within you, and it will shine through as a radiant expression that will be seen by others.
You need never feel inferior. You need never feel that you were born without talents or without opportunities to give them expression. Cultivate whatever talents you have, and they will grow and refine and become an expression of your true self appreciated by others.
To go along with our theme and for those of you who couldn't read the tiny print on the invite. I wanted to share the quote on there in preparation for our next part.
"Shoes are worn for different reasons, and every pair has a story. Just like shoes, women are in different Seasons of their life, and every woman has a story!"
Did you finish a tough race with your running shoes? Did you dance your way into someone’s heart with your dress shoes? Did you have a memorable vacation in your flip flops?
The choice is yours! Be as creative and inventive as you like! This will be a great opportunity to get to know some of our new sisters and find out new things about our old friends.

We had asked each sisters to wear a pair of shoes that they could use to tell a story about themselves. We went around the room by age- Oldest to Youngest or "Most experienced by Least experienced" if you prefer. LOL It was really neat to see how a simple pair of shoes can share so much about a person. I loved all their stories and getting to know them better. So fun!

We ended the night with a prayer and a darling dessert. Elizabeth Inman (she's on the committee) made these darling cupcake high heels. I could just eat them up- they are so cute!!! Oh yah... I did!! 

P.S. We also asked that the sisters bring gentle used shoes they have to donate to a place called The Friendship Center. "The Friendship Center is the only shelter in Lewis and Clark, Jefferson, Broadwater, Meagher, and Powell Counties that provides a safe haven and a broad range of support services at no charge for anyone who as suffered domestic violence and sexual abuse." We had a great response! Thanks ladies!

I think the activity turned out good. I hope the ladies like it as much as I did!

Earth's Perfectly Aligned

Today the world is perfectly balanced.

Brett and Justice tried out the "Egg Stand" to prove it.

Victoria is a FIGG

Since Victoria turned eight this month, she has the opportunity to participate in the Faith in God Program at Church. Here in Helena they call it FIGGs (Faith in God Girls). She was nervous but so excited! We were able to take a couple other girls to the Church so I think that helped her overcome her anxiety. She had a great time!

Glory was so sad she couldn't stay with them.

This time they read scriptures and wrote in their journals and then ate oranges for a treat. I was way impressed by Victoria's insights into the Scriptures. She's one smart cookie!

Each girl has a folder to keep their stuff in. Later in the week, I bought one for her. She was excited to be able to decorate it. She designed her cover all by herself. She is my artist, for sure!

School Class Pictures

The kids got their class pictures back this week. They don't do Yearbooks in the Elementarys like they did in Fargo so this is it for the memories of their classes.

Liberty: Front Row

Justice: From row on right

Victoria: Front Row in middle

Glory: Back row on left. She said "I didn't have to smile". LOL

LUCKY Mom

I am a very lucky Mom. I have some incredibly smart, good-looking, kind, hard-working kids. XOXO

For FHE, we ate Lucky Charms.

Science Circus

Helena High School 30th Annual Science Circus

11:00 AM

Helena High School gymnasium

The Helena High School 30th annual Science Circus will be held on March 14th from 6-9 pm and March 15th from 11 am to 3 pm in the Helena High School gymnasium. Admission is $3.00 per person and is used to benefit Helena High School science students.This is a community event that is concerned with the science education of children of all ages. The entertaining activities range from marshmallow DNA to soda explosions as each branch of science creates its own amazing spectacle. The experience is valued by both the community members that attend and the young adults that teach them the science. This is a great opportunity for our Helena Community to see the educational activities taking place in our public schools. We look forward to displaying the wonders of science to everyone during this one of a kind event. We hope to see you there!

We had a great time at the Science Circus today. There was so much to see and do. We came home with bath salts, flubber, edible playdough, fake snow, nitrogen ice cream, our own chio pets, an appreciation to never be drunk and tons of fun memories!

KidWorks! Art Festival

There was a plethora of activities available for Helena residents today. Being an artist, Victoria wanted to attend the Art Festival. So, our family split up for a bit to allow her the opportunity to express her creative nature.
Victoria, Glory and I went to the Holter Museum of Art for the 23rd Annual KidsWorks! Festival of Arts. We created a lot of things and had a great time!

This year's theme for KidWorks is "Passport to Art" featuring art projects from around the world. Some of the art projects are printmaking from Japan, Australian dot paintings, Cartouches from Egypt, Henna hands from India and Stained Glass windows from France. All of the projects are adapted for children ages 3 and up to be able to complete them by themselves or (in the case of the younger kids) with the help of an adult.There will be face painting and lots of entertainment by local dance, music and theater groups. Cafe Yum offers lots of different food items, all for $1 each.Kids 3 and up are invited to attend with an adult.Tickets are $5 per child and $2 per accompanying adultPlease enter the museum for KidWorks through the Cruse Avenue entrancePlease join us for this wonderful art festival for kids -- the festival is heavily supported by community businesses and individuals who believe in the mission of the Holter educational program. All funds raised go to the Holter Art Museum's Educational program.

Volleyball BooYah!

We stayed after the Pinewood Derby to play a little Volleyball. Not very many were there tonight but man we have a good time together! Even Travis got brave and played tonight. The main jokes from today were thanks to Chad. 1st- Everyone would scream- "From the back row!" when they went for a hard hit. AND it didn't matter if you were in the front row or not. LOL 2nd- there was a lot of chest bumping going on as well. I think Travis was a little scared, ;) "BooYah! Baby"

The kids played so good together. They were creative and all got along. We ended up letting some of  the boys play the last game. They loved it! Then the kids pushed each other around in boxes while we cleaned up. Good kids!

Justice's Final Pinewood Derby

Tonight was Justice's final Pinewood Derby as a Cub Scout. It was a little less "high-tech" than we are used to but we had a good time! We can't reach any tools right now so Justice chose to race a car from last year. In fact, we just brought along all our old cars just in case anyone else didn't have one. Glory ended up letting her friend race her Dora train.
When we got here, Brett and Justice graphited the wheels and checked in his Eagle. It's an awesome looking car!!

Once everyone was there and the rules were gone over- the races began. Brother Jensen is in a different ward but graciously set up his track for us. Way nice of him but it stunk a little because some lanes were faster than others. They drew which lane you raced in. Basically it was just pure luck. Justice ended up winning 2nd Place. Awesome! Perhaps if he hadn't been in the slow lane- he may have taken first. But he tried to be a good sport and was way excited to get a trophy.

They had an Open Race Bracket for anyone of the siblings or Dads that wanted to race. Glory's watermelon car ended up winning 3rd Place. She was so surprised to get a trophy. It was cute! Everyone got a Participant ribbon as well.

For Scout awards, Justice received his Scholar and Handyman pins. He also presented his poster for the Leave No Trace Award. He should finish up some more stuff by next month and get his Arrow of Light. Pretty cool!