When Life Gives You....

Make Electricity

Liberty and her friend Shannon did their Science Fair Project together. They tried to make a Lemon battery to run a light bulb but it never quite worked out. So instead their tested the voltage of different types of lemons. It was interesting and a titch dangerous. LOL {For your own safety, we recommend that you do not FRY a lemon}

Beware of the Dragon

Victoria has been busy doing research and working up an insect report on the Dragonfly. She had to hand-write it all in cursive. She did a great job! (And may have had a bit of help from her mommy as it was super late Saturday night when she finished it up so she could keep the Sabbath Day Holy ;)
She even presented it as an oral report on Monday as well. Mom got to come see her in class. Way to go Sis!
Here's her poster- Beware of the Dragonfly:

No TV/Screen Week

Our family participated in a No TV/Screen week. Monday through Sunday they could only use screened things for basic homework. At first, I thought it would be impossible for us but it turned out to be a really great week! Everyone got along. They had lots of playdates. They played outside. They played card games. They cleaned the house. And the week flew by.

On Monday of the next week- the kids turned in their sheets and got tickets to place in a drawing for prizes. Justice won a Gift Certificate to go bowling. Victoria won some Sand Art. All of them got to pick out a free magnet, bookmark and a new book to read. What a fun way to spend our time!

Primary Scones

January flew by so fast with "Christmas Recovery" mode & then a flu bug that the whole month felt like an anti-social month. [inert sad face] The kids have been buggin' us that we haven't been doing our Sunday Scone night. I have missed having people over. And I'm a little bummed that hardly anyone got to see how cute my house was decorated. Bummer! 

Tonight we got on the ball and invited over the Primary Presidency (including the darling music people) & their families. We see each other every week but it was so great to just hang out! Fun people! I adore them. {The boys went out to play on the tramp and I never got a picture of them. Oops!}

We are almost finished with our Primary Bulletin Board at Church. I have been taking pictures of all of us for weeks. Then making them look like Polaroid photos on my scrapbook program and adding names. It turned out so fun! I love that we get to see all the awesome people we have in our Primary in one place. Plus it is extra helpful as some of my Presidency learns the names of all the kiddos. I love pictures!!!! (Below) Here's the picture we took of our Presidency. We giggle every time we see it because of our drastic height difference. LOL Granted that I had to sink down a bit to hold the door open with my foot but it made for a pretty awesome picture. I love these ladies!!

LOVE-ly Decorations

I cannot believe that February is already here! Where in the world did January go? 

We did get all the January decor put away this week. 

And decorated with our LOVE-ly Valentine decor. 

I LOVE it!!!

Guymon Girlfriend Temple trip

Liberty's good friend, Katelynn just turned 12. For her birthday, she told her mom that she wanted to go do Baptisms for the Dead at the Billings Temple. AND she wanted Liberty to go with her. How special is that!?! Kaysie (Katelynn's mom) invited Liberty and me to make it a Girl's weekend.We had such a fun time!!!!
We got the girls out of school and took off Friday after lunch. Once we got down to Billings, our first stop was the Temple. It worked out perfect because they had a group of youth from Cody there already. The girls just joined them and got in right away. A member of the Temple Presidency took us aside and spoke to the girls about feeling the Spirit in the Temple. It was so kind of him to take an interest in our beautiful girls. It was so fun to watch the girls participate in the Temple. I am one lucky mom to have such a special, sacred opportunity to share moments like this with Liberty. Both girls didn't want to leave because of how peaceful they felt. I hope Liberty always remembers moments like this and continues in her desire to be at the Temple often.

Then, we took the girls to Barnes & Noble. They are both CRAZY readers so they were in heaven! Katelynn almost had her book done by the time we made it to dinner. During the rest of the trip, she read it a total of four times. See? CRAZY readers these girls are!!! Liberty was in a Sherlock Holmes mood and came home with some S.H. books that she's in love with!

We ate dinner... ok we STUFFED ourselves at Texas Roadhouse. It was so delicious!!! The joke for the weekend started here because Liberty confiscated ALLL the sugar packets they had at the table and anywhere else we went this weekend. Sugar Freak!! And Katelynn pretty much opened her mouth in every picture we took. These girls crack us up! They are two peas in a pod!

We headed to our hotel for the night. The girls read, swam, ate popcorn & hot cocoa and stayed up until wee hours of the morning!!! The alarm clock went off way too early for these late sleepers. LOL We did drag them out of bed for some breakfast though. It was yummy even if they were pretty much Zombies and a little short with their manners. ;)  

After packing up and checking out, we went shopping at Kohl's and then dropped the girls off to the Big Horn Waterpark. We were glad there was lifeguards because we weren't exactly sure if the girls would fall asleep and drowned somewhere while we were gone. LOL Despite the lack of sleep they were feeling, they had a blast!! But when we picked them up they were so zoned out we had to laugh. Oh, the price teenagers pay for late night partying! ;)

While the girls swam, Kaysie and I went and did a session at the Temple. It has been a very, very long time since I have done a session so it was extra special. I so needed to be there! How fun to be in the Temple and with good friends. Loved it! When we came out, it had snowed. It made the Temple grounds quite glorious! But it was so freezin' cold! Brrrrrr! Luckily, we picked up the girls and headed out so we could drive most of the way back with some daylight still left. We drove slow but got home safe.

What an amazing weekend! Thanks Guymon girls for including us on your special day. We luv you ladies! Happy Birthday Katelynn!

6th Grade Snowshoeing Trip

Justice got to do a SnowShoe Trip with school today. He said they had a great time. They learned to make a fire and then went on the trails in their snowshoes.

Lone Lady in the Priesthood Meeting

Brett & I were asked to speak at a Priesthood Meeting at the Stake Center tonight. Let's just say-- it was humbling and a bit overwhelming to walk into a room absolutely full of suits & ties and be the ONLY woman in the building. LOL
Some thought it was odd for a woman to speak at a Priesthood Meeting but for the most part- everyone was very complimentary of both of our talks.
Brett said it takes a special kind of lady to make a room full of men do "Head, Shoulder, Knees and Toes" in unison. LOL
{Ok... I didn't make them do the whole thing but it was fun to see them all sit up tall, put their hands high above their heads, smile really big, put their hands on their heads and be ready to sing the song with me. It was quite the sight!}
Brett spoke about Prayer and the personal relationship it can build between an individual and their Father. I spoke about FHE and the power that men can have in making it a strength in their families.
It was super fun to be with Brett and be in the presence of such outstanding men. Fun times!

VIP SKi Night

Before the Flu hit our home, we had plans to take the whole family up for a VIP Ski Night at the Great Divide Ski Resort. The night was hosted by the Andersen's Church so it was going to be a little bit of a "Work Family" Party! Fortunately, Brett still was able to take the older kids up for the evening. They had a fabulous time!!! Liberty even got a friend to be brave enough to go up the mountain with her. No one came home injured. Sucessful, fun-filled night! Maybe next time, we can all make it.

Flu Bug

The little girls and I have spent the week in bed with the achy/fever Flu Bug. So not fun! Pretty much threw off our whole January groove. Bummer!

Make-up 8th Grade Band Concert

Liberty had her 8th grade Make-up Concert for Band tonight. She was a little bummed because they voted to leave out the little acting bit she was going to be a part of and only did a few songs. Mrs. Nelson was sick (and so was Shay & the little girls- the flu is going around here like crazy!) so it was super short. But it was great that they made the time to let the kids show off their hard work. Wish I could have been there, Sis. Dad said you did a great job! 

Percussion Section

One of the songs: 

Once there was a Snowman...

It's supposed to warm up a lot this week. Which means we could lose all the snow. So, even thought the little girls had the flu, the rest of us went outside today to build a couple Snowmen. Beautimus! (or weird & robotic... u choose for yourself)

Hel'z Belles Roller Derby

Brett decided to invite a bunch of couples to join us on a date to see the local Hel'z Belles Roller Derbyat the Lewis and Clark County Fairgrounds. We weren't sure what to expect but it was something new so we braved it. Surprisingly, it was a lot of fun! We got there a little early and scored front row seats down by all the action. [complete with a CAUTION sign about the danger we were in for. ;) Several couples joined us and we had a blast trying to learn the game and cheer for the team. The players names and numbers were a hoot. Bambi Boozled (1111) and Blondeshell (B52) were some of our favorites.  Fun times! Our team won, 195-123. Way to go, Hel'z Belles!

Brett and I took advatnage of the Photo Booth. Oh yah, Baby! We're all 'bout the Roller Derby!! LOL

Thrilling Third Grader

Victoria got to do the Thrilling Third Grader this week. It's the Spolight for her class. We had  a lot of fun making up the poster for her to take. Each day she got to take something different for Show-n-Tell as well. Things like her plants she's been growing, her spy kit and the pot she used to fit in when she was a baby. What a fun time to celebrate the special things about this darling girl. XOXO

Here's what Mrs. Sharbono wrote in her Class Newsletter after her week:

     Miss Victoria Brooke Seamons was our last thrilling third grader.  I am so glad her family decided to join our school this year.  Victoria's marker floated and her rainbow of skittles were delish to divide!  Victoria's mom, Shay, has been very helpful in our class making copies, crafts, correcting and listening to our class read in the mornings.  She is also an excellent organizer!  Victoria has an older brother -Justice, older sister-Liberty, and her younger sister, Glory, is in the first grade.  Victoria brought a really neat spy kit for her show-and-tell that her mom had put together for her!  Victoria's dad, Brett, has been a real live Federal Agent for the treasury department for the last 10 years!  Amazingly enough, he used starburst candy to explain how someone can scam innocent people!  He was fantastic, but the most impressive part for our third graders was when he brought out his safety gear and cuffs and allowed everyone to wear them!  

The Little Mermaid

The Little Mermaid made a visit at our house today.

LOL 

Holy Moly- boys with sisters are super silly!

Mini-Muffy, Junkinater or Mini-Beast

So.......... we can't agree on a name but we did end up adding a new car (if that's what you can call it. LOL) to our families driveway.
With the death of Muffy- we were in desperate need for a 2nd vehicle. Brett's early morning Seminary class ends at 7:50 am at the Church. Basically, if he leaves the second it's over- he still only gets home as the bell for the older kids rings at 8:05 am. Liberty has a Volunteer Program she participates in before school. She's been missing it for the last couple weeks. So, two cars in the morning are almost necessary.
We debated about what we kind of car we should get and the amount of money [which we don't have] that we should spend right now. Brett finally found this hunk of junk for a pretty low price. We call it our "Humble" Car because it is not a vehicle that a certain teenager is way excited about being seen in. ;) {That said certain teenager has been known to quickly jump in the car and hide to avoid not being seen in it. LOL} It has more cracks in the windshield than the van does and it's missing a strip of black on the driver's side. Also, Brett had to change the fan blower and fix the driver's window so it would roll up in order for us to even be able to drive it without freezing to death. Dang! I thought we were pass the junker car stage in our lives. (Obviously not!) But hopefully, it will be a cheap way to get us to all our destinations each morning.
Here's the beauty in all it's glory! LOL