Atticus Silliness

We had the chance to have Atticus over for a late night visit. Oh man! Did my older kids have a blast with him. They were so silly! They played bunny soccer, basketball downstairs, crawling chase and what ever else made Atticus happy. Justice was exhausted afterwards.;) I reminded him of all the times that he wished for a little brother. He said he loved it but it was tiring. Nothing like a "past-bedtime" toddler ruling the house. Love it!
This is Atticus "sleeping" on Justice:

Human Copy Machine

I volunteer every Tuesday at the school. I swap weeks between Victoria & Glory's classes. I love being in their classes, seeing their friends, chatting with their teachers and helping out where I can. The girls also LOVE that I get to eat lunch with them each week. I'm enjoying it while it lasts! ;)
On my weeks in the 3rd grade, I have become somewhat of a human copy machine. --In the fact that all the 3rd grade teachers use my services to make their Math and Reading copies for the next couple weeks. I am in the break room for a couple of hours. Holy Moly- I'm sure I kill several trees by the time I am done. There was one time that I was bored so I calculated how many copies I made. That day I made 3906 copies!!!! I'm pretty sure that today I blew that number out of the water! Today, I finished all  the packets for the rest of the year. So my copying days may be complete! Good-bye big black machine!

What? A 14 Year Old?

Our SUPER Teenager is turning 14 today. I can't believe it! Even with the Holiday and Conference, we wanted to make sure she knew how blessed we are to have her as part of our family!
We started with a big ol' pile of presents:

Then treated her to some apple turnovers & BACON!!!

We let her open presents before watching General Conference. She was one happy Avenger with all her SuperHero attire. Also, because it was Easter, we hid some money for her in eggs around her room that she had to hunt for.

She spent the rest of her special day doing teenage stuff.
Playing Minecraft on the Computer:

Watching movies:

 Playing the Wii:

 In the evening, we made her meal of choice---- Tacos. Nothing says Easter dinner like tacos! LOL

After dinner, the little girls had a special surprise for Liberty in her room. Man! We have some super thoughtful people in this home!

For dessert, she requested Blondie Brownie. Where is Jen Neuteboom when you need her? ;) I braved them myself & she was happy so we'll call it a win! Dad serenaded her with her birthday song."Happy Birthday to You!"

And did the classic "HI.......

YAH!!!!!!"

The next day, she had a couple friends over. What's better than Avengers assembling! ;)

What a super weekend we had celebrating one super special girl! XOXO

Holy Bucket o'Easter Candy!!

Brett always hides tons of Easter Eggs around the house for the kids to find on Easter morning. This year, he did NOT disappoint.

I forgot a picture of Brett with the kids and their Bucket o' Candy. Oops! So just imagine this bowl about 4 times fuller! ;) And us a lot less sick! LOL

Because He Lives

Even with the fun Easter traditions we do, we don't want the day to pass without acknowledging the true meaning of Easter. We know the Savior lives. We know He suffered and died for each of us. We know that on the 3rd day, He rose again. Because He lives... all things are possible!

For another really good video- http://www.mormon.org/easter

It was way special that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints had General Conference this Easter weekend. We got to listen/watch to most of the sessions. It's always uplifting to hear the words of the Prophet and Apostles and hear their testimonies of the Savior. What a perfect way to spend our Easter weekend.

Magic Jelly Beans

Brett brought home some "Magic Jelly Beans" yesterday. He told the kids that the instructions said to plant the jelly bean in some dirt and water it. The kids weren't sure what to think but they each grabbed an Easter cup and did what he said.

Here's the kids outside scooping up dirt in their cups.

Sometime in the night- the magic beans sprouted some pretty awesome stuff! {even the dirt transformed into cookie crumbs with a few worms}

Believers of Magic Beans---

Highlights of Being 13

Here's some highlights of what it was like for Liberty being 13:

* Favorite Color: Purple
* Best Friends:
     From EVMS:
        Ann Dodds
        Megan
        Makayla
        Jenna Bingham
        Katelyn Guymon
      From Montana City:
         Mikal Fife
         Amie Wilkerson
         Jayda Pierson
         Hannah Caldwell
* Loves to hang out with friends
* Visited Glacier National Park
* Almost as tall as Mom & wear the same shoe size
* Met Sister Oscarsen- Young Women's General President
* Played in Mrs. Ophelia- EVMS school play
* Visited UT for Alec & Laura's Wedding
* Participated in the Montana Mucker
* Attended Girls Camp
* Started school at Montana City
* Dressed up as Captain America for Halloween
* Loves to read & read & read
* Started Aunt Flo
* Working on YW Personal Progress
* Made a Avenger Monopoly game for a Family Christmas present
* Great artist
* Dad taught you to drive
* LOVES Avengers or any SUPER Hero Stuff
* Totally got into Batman lately
* Lemon Testing for Science
* Tried out for the Missoula Children's Theater- got one of lead roles!
* Loves to Swim @ Fairmont in the freezing cold
* Visited Billings Temple with friend, Katelyn
* Tried out the Minecraft Club
* LOVES to Ski

Dear Sis-
            What a beautiful young woman you are! How in the world did my sweet little baby get as tall as me? You are so smart. You are a hard worker. You are a great friend. Your are a fabulous artist. You amaze us at how talented and brave you are in the theatrical arts. Dad & I love to snuggle with you and chat about your day. This past year has been a little rough adjusting to a new place, new school, new friends. But you are doing a spectacular job at increasing your patience. Way proud of you! Love you lots! XOXO
                                                                                                       - Mom

Hail to the Easter Hunt

We threw our annual Easter Hunt Tradition (started by my Grandma Crump) today. We invited over several families. The Paynes, the Andersons, and the Seedalls were able to make it! {Fifes got sick and had to cancel last minute. But we set them up with some hunting gear for later. And at least Mikal was able to come so our Bday girl had a friend}
Our family spent the morning finishing our rock bed, cleaning the house, making food and hiding all the Easter Loot around our 2 acre yard.
Then just as everyone was arriving, the clouds rolled in and it started to SNOW! What the....!?!!
We decided we better be quick before it really started coming down so we hurried everyone out with their bucket, their list and their crayon. No sooner than the last of the kids made it outside- it started to HAIL! What the....!!!!!!?! Like real hail--- the kind that hurts when it pelts you in the face! We weren't sure if we should laugh or cry. LOL We also just did some excavating this past week so everyone's shoes were covered in MUD! Our driveway, back deck and garage floor are covered in muddy footprints. It was quite the adventure to say the least! Brett, Brian and I did a final sweep to collect all the remaining treasure since most of the crew gave up when they were soaked threw and bruised in the faces from the lovely Easter weather! So funny! That means we should be able to keep those eggs for ourselves, right? LOL

Here's what our backyard looked like as we searched for our Easter Treats. (You can see people trying to protect their faces from the frozen chunks of ice!) :

Back inside- all shoeless, and trying to decide if it was appropriate for us to have an underwear party so we could all throw our pants in the dryer-we enjoyed a yummy dinner together!I love it when everyone brings something and you have this amazing meal! Thanks everyone!

What fun memories! So glad our friends could join us for our special tradition. Love you guys!

Battle of the Eggs

Let the Egg Battles commence!!! 

Seamons' Family Egg fights are always one of the highlights of our Easter season. We decorate and name our eggs and then "battle" for the title of this year's Egg Winner. Our facial expressions crack me up! LOL Get it.... "CRACK" me up! Man- We are so funny!

Easter Bunny & her Eggs

The Easter Bunny delivered some eggs for our family to decorate!

We made many gorgeous, colorful eggs.

P.S. EGGstremely hilarious sidenote:

I bought some "fake" eggs this year to dye. I thought it'd be fun to have some we could keep. Justice picked one up and examined it. He wouldn't believe us that they were fake. He said- "It looks so real". Liberty explained that they were in fact, fake and even showed him how they bounce when you throw them on the ground. She threw hers hard and it sprang back at her. Justice decided to try his out. He lifted his arm high and threw his egg with quite a bit of force towards the ground. But instead of springing back- it splat & cracked on the floor. WHAT??? Instead of grabbing one of the "fake" eggs from the carton, he had grabbed one of the leftover eggs that no one had yet decorated. He felt badly but oh man was it funny to the rest of us!

Front Rock Garden

We've been trying to decide what to do in the front in regards to a flower bed. We finally decided to use all the rocks we've found around the yard and make a Rock Garden with a couple plants. Brett helped add a bit of dirt to raise it up. We covered it with weed control paper. Then the kids helped bring up the largest rock we could find to make a border.

Love how it's coming together:

Brett & the girls helped collect loads of little rocks to fill it in.

TaDa! All finished. Hopefully our plants come back at the end of the Summer. They are gorgeous reds, yellows and whites.

Now onto planting grass?

Easter Decorating

We pulled out our Easter decorations right after St. Patrick's Day. Normally I wait for the first of the month but with Easter being early- Brett wanted to have them up longer. I do love decorating for the Holidays!

Back to Scones

It's been a long time but we are back to Scone Night. We had the Strattons, the Paynes and the Stranges over. I love having people over!!  It's so fun to make scone dough and have everyone help make them. It's a perfect activity while people visit. Then you get to have a treat to end the night. Love it!

Pep Talk & Frozen Moose

I got to spend time with Liberty & Victoria (and some cute friends) tonight as we attended the Women's Broadcast at the Stake Center. The speakers were so uplifting- just like a Mother/Woman Pep Talk. ;) Loved the messages, loved the womanhood and loved that my girls love cold dessert. {I can't stand to eat ice cream/yogurt when it's super cold outside so I just enjoyed the company} At the Frozen Moose, they had a Wii Kinect game up on the TV. The girls were so silly jumping all over the place in that corner. I adore them!

Merit Badge University

Justice got to participate in the MBU at Carroll College today. He was there ALL day. He got to almost pass off 2 Merit Badges. He did GeoCaching in the morning & Citizenship in the Nation in the afternoon with his buddy, Bryson Allen. Way to go, boys!

https://meritbadgeu.wordpress.com/mbu3-2015/

GeoFam2015

In preparation for a Scouting event coming up tomorrow- Justice & I have been doing some research on GEOCACHING! One last step was to actually go find a cache. Victoria & Glory tagged along. We found our 1st one but it was empty. Bummer! So we left a few things in it and logged it on the website- www.geocaching.com. We C.I.T.O-ed and started our search for another one. That one was way cool! Although we were spotted by some muggles. Oops! The girls swapped out some treasure. We signed the logbook and logged it online. We did a little more C.I.T.O- ing and headed home. The kids wanted to keep going but we're gonna save that adventure for this Summer. It should be fun!