Birthday Month

First a little background...we have had a longstanding joke at our house about how we don't celebrate birth days, we celebrate birth months.  I think it started as a way to rationalize doing more fun things and eating more fun treats.  If we felt like going out to dinner we would say, "Well, it is your birthday month, so lets do it."  We always do a true celebration on the actual birthday, but we try to have some fun all month long. 

This year James and the kids have stepped it up and are making my birthday month amazing.  On March 1st James came home from work and handed me a new novel he had bought for me and said, "Happy Birthday Month!"  I was very surprised and pleased.  I love reading and was excited to read the book he picked out for me. 

The next morning I was greeted in bed by my kids saying "Happy Birthday Month" as they gave me a bag of peanut butter M&Ms and a coupon book Shelby had made.  The Coupons included: love letter, half hour of nice free cuddles, one night of babysitting, a nice hot bath totally free, massage, your choice of movie at movie night, a warm hug with 50 kisses for free, sleep in one hour late, a good morning kiss, as many pictures as you want, a plate of homemade cookies made by Shelby, kid free hour, free car wash, a plate of homemade muffins, clean up the house by Shelby, breakfast in bed, unlimited hugs and kisses, free dish washing, one chore done for one week.  I loved it!

 On day three, I woke up to Darcy bringing me a present with her own coupon book.  This time it was a silver necklace.  Darcy's coupon book included the following items:  fold clothes, good morning kiss for mom and dad, lots of stickers, 50 kisses from Darcy, 50 hugs, unload laundry, good for 1 hug, clean one room in the house.  Super cute!

 Day 4 I discovered this bag of Swedish Fish with a note from Dallin sitting in my closet on top of my shirts. 

Day 5 brought a set of cutting boards and an adjustable measuring cup.

Day 6 they really outdid themselves.  James got up early and went for a run.  When he came in from his run he was carrying a beautiful bouquet of gerber daisies, and my favorite dessert from Kneaders - a fresh fruit tart, and a loaf of honey wheat bread.  While I was ooing and ahhing over the flowers Dallin came walking in and said "Look what I found," as he handed me a handful of stargazer lilies.  Then Shelby walked in with a gerber daisy and said, "Look what I found."  She was followed by Cody who brought in a handful of red roses and said "look what I found."  Then came Darcy with a handful of fire and ice roses and also said, "look what I found."  James had taken the kids to the florist last night and let them pick out their favorite flowers to give to me, in addition to the original bouquet of gerber daisies they got.  He could have just given me the flowers, but he really wanted to include the treats from Kneaders so he went for the run this morning just so he could get the treats too.  Then he carried them home for the rest of his run.  What a great husband! I also loved the little card they picked out...it said "I just wanted to show these flowers how beautiful you are.  We love you! Happy birthdye love, Dallin, Shelby, Cody, Darcy"

Day 7 - Some much needed additions to our kitchen came as the gifts for the 7th of March. I am pretty hard on spatulas and have been known to break more than a few of them.  Hopefully these ones will last a bit longer since they are steel lined with silicone and the handle and top are seamless.  I'm excited to try them out!  I also noticed the other day that my liquid measuring cup was cracked and didn't hold liquid anymore.  So I was super excited for these three kitchen tools!

 Day 8 - This might seem like a strange gift, but I was really excited about it.  Some of my kids have perpetually stinky shoes.  I really don't like smelling stinky sneakers.  So I am excited to use the shoe deodorizers on my kids shoes!

 Day 9 - Love, love, love this present!  James picked out these new shoes for me and I love them.  They are super comfortable too!

 Day 10 - My rollerblades have been due for a tune-up for many years now.  Today's gift was a new set of rollerblade wheels and bearings.  The best part of it was that Dallin not only gave me this gift, but he also spent quite a while installing them perfectly on my rollerblades.  He's going to grow up to be just as handy as his dad!

 Day 11 - I can  now work out in style.  Today's gift was a new Nike Dry Fit exercise shirt.  Darcy picked this one out because it was pink. 

 Day 12 - Over the weekend Cody had a mishap in our partially finished bathroom downstairs.  All the plumbing is there, but the finishing touches like toilet paper holders and towel bars are missing.  Somehow, the entire roll of toilet paper fell into the toilet while he was trying to wipe.  Then other things ended up on him while he tried to solve the problem.   So now that you know the back story you can appreciate how excited I was about todays gift of a toilet paper holder for the bathroom. 

Day 13 - I decided to grow out my hair for a while.  Having the exact same hairstyle for so many years gets a little boring.  So now that my hair is a bit longer I have been wishing for some hairclips to style it with.  Todays gift was perfect.

 Day 14 - We have two partially finished bathrooms downstairs, so I was super excited when I got todays gift.  Now we can have a toilet paper holder in both bathrooms.  They tricked me with the gift today.  Shelby brought in the toilet paper holder and gave it to me first.  Then Darcy ran out and came back in with another gift.  I thought she was getting the one they gave me a couple of days ago.  But when I pulled it out of the bag I saw that it was a towel holder instead.  I thought Darcy had accidentally given me a gift that was ment for another day.  But they just wanted to mix it up and give two at once.  Double score!

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Making Glass Flowers

For Christmas, James gave me a gift certificate to go to Thanksgiving Point to make glass flowers in their glass blowing studio.   This was a very thoughtful gift and was perfect for me.  I really love glass blowing and have been dying to try it again since my first experience with it a few years ago.  So you can imagine that I was super excited to do it again. 

They said anyone 6 years of age or older could do it, so I thought it would be fun to take the kids along and let them each make their own flower.  I knew Darcy would be too young to do her own so I asked her to pick out the colors and then I made her's for her.   We had so much fun!

 Sandra and Jack also came and made some flowers. Stacy joined us for the afternoon and helped take pictures of the fun.  Here are a few pictures...

I made the red and green flower on the far left.  Dallin made the blue and white flower second in line.  Cody made the green and yellow flower in the middle.  Shelby made the purple and blue flower forth in line.  And Darcy picked out the colors for the pink and purple one that is last in line and I made it for her.  What a fun family activity it was!

Near to the heart

Several years ago, when I was pregnant with Cody, I went to a photography seminar.  I wanted to improve myself and thought this was one way to do it.  At the very end of the seminar there was a presentation by an organization named Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep.  This organization is a group of professional photographers who volunteer their time and talents to take pictures for families who suffer the loss of a baby.  The presentation really struck a cord with me and I felt like it was something I needed to do.  However, I knew that the time wasn't right for me and my family. 

Last summer, I started feeling the need to be a part of this organization again.  It came upon me suddenly and strongly, and before I knew it I was submitting my application.  The process to join this organization is quite strict and involves submitting a portfolio of work.  I was nervous that they would turn me down, but I found out not long afterwards that I had been approved.  I was relieved and scared at the same time. 

Since that time I have gone on several sessions and have had some very spiritual experiences.  It is quite unlike any other experience I've ever had.  When I go on these sessions I feel like I am providing a true service to these families and I can feel that Heavenly Father is pleased with the way I am using the talents He gave me. 

Because of the privacy agreements we sign, I am unable to share the pictures I take of these sweet angels.  However, one of the families I photographed earlier in the month posted a slideshow of the pictures I gave them.  They sent me the link and I am able to share that with you here.  I hope you'll take a few moments to view the slideshow. 

http://dyerfamily-est2011.blogspot.com/2013/02/elaine-raquel-dyer_7.html

Experiences like these make me appreciate even more the blessings of eternal families.  

Birthday Parties

November is a busy birthday month for our family.  This year we did some fun birthday parties for the kids.  Cody was excited to have a party with friends and wanted to make it a mini-spartan obstacle course.  I didn't get pictures of all the events because I was running the party by myself for most of the time.  (Dallin and James found a deal they just couldn't pass up and had to drive to SLC to buy a RC car, so they missed most of the party...boys and their toys.) 

We started off with target shooting with nerf guns.  Next they army crawled down the stairs under obstacles set up to make it harder.   They had a RC Car obstacle course they had to navigate.  We had to cross a field of hot lava using only small blocks as stepping stones.  And the final and most difficult obstacle was the gauntlet, or the "goblin" as Darcy kept calling it.  They had to get through an obstacle course between our couches and climb over a ladder then run through the gauntlet where several of us were swinging pillows at them.  They were only safe when they jumped on the bean bag.  The kids had a great time and Cody was happy with how it turned out.  Here are some pictures from his party. 

Shelby wanted to combine an obstacle course party with a craft party.  We divided up all the craft supplies for the turkeys they were going to make and then they had to complete a treasure hunt with challenges to find all the craft supplies.  For one of the challenges we divided the girls into two teams and they each had to put on a bunch of Dallin's clothes, eat two Ritz crackers, blow out a candle and then take off all of Dallin's clothes.  It was fun to watch them having so much fun.  Another challenge was to cross the basement using only 6 blocks.  They had to pass the blocks forward and use teamwork to get everyone across the basement.  They aldo did a puzzle challenge where they had to unscramble two puzzles and put them together. 

There were a couple of other challenges, but I think the favorite activity was called All Aboard. James hooked a rope to the ceiling in the garage and the girls had to swing from the steps over to some cushions and try to get everyone on the cushions at the same time. 

After they completed all the challenges and collected all the craft supplies they painted their turkeys and ate pizza and cake.  Shelby loved her party and the turkeys turned out really cute!

We had Dallin's birthday party yesterday.  He wanted to do a Spartan Challenge birthday party.  We started planning his party right after Cody's party.   The boys started out as recruits and had to pass off several challenges to get Spartan certified and earn their bow.  To become an apprentice they had to cut a 2x4 with a saw.  They did this challenge individually and as a team. Dallin and Canyon were the fastest team and cut through the wood in only 34 seconds. 

 

To become Infantry certified they had to demonstrate strength by seeing how many times they could climb the incline bars (picture below).  This was extra challenging because the some of the bars were able to spin and the entire contraption was swinging from the beam.  They went back and forth as many times as they could.  I was impressed with how well some of them did.  I had a hard time just getting from the first rung to the second, but most of the boys made it all the way across and back. 

To become Soldier certified they needed to demonstrate the ability to use a spear.  They each needed at least two hits to move on to Warrior certification.  Dallin, Canyon and Eli were the best at this event.  But they had an unfair advantage since they were practicing all week. 

 

The Warrior certification was target shooting with paint ball guns.  I think this was one of the favorite events for the kids.  They each had 30 paintballs and shot 10 standing, 10 sitting and 10 prone.  We put about 20 tin cans out for them to aim at.  Most of them got about 5 hits. 

 

 

 

To become Captain certified they had to complete the All Aboard challenge.  James bolted a chain to our roof and hung the rope from the top of our roof for them to swing on.  They started out getting everyone on a board but that was too easy.  So we took away the board and they had to get everyone on two tires.  They were able to do that so we took away one of the tires and they tried to get all nine of them on one tire.  That proved to be too difficult.  They could get about 5 boys on but then one would fall off when the next one got on. 

After completing the all aboard challenge they became Spartan certified and earned their bow.  I made all the bows from PVC pipe,  mason twine and insulation; and dowels with erasers for the arrows.  The kids had so much fun shooting their bows.  It was a really fun party.  We got lucky on the weather.  It was 60 degrees and cloudy the entire day.  For December 1st I'd say that's pretty good weather.  Now I can breathe a big sigh of relief to be done with all the birthday parties for the year!

Super Saturday Ideas

 

 Happy Birthday blocks $22

 Large Present = $6.50

 Medium Present = $5.50

 Small Present = $4.50

The final cost of the projects would be slightly higher to cover the cost of the paper.  We could offer only the Happy Birthday blocks and not the presents if we want to simplify.

Holiday Magnets - We could find a cute tin and make a set of magnets that would fit inside the tin.  I don't know the price of this project, but I will figure it out if we decide to offer this. 

 

 

Gift tags made from scrapbook paper and ribbon.  This is one option of a free craft we could offer. 

Felt Flowers with stitching and button embelisments.  This is another option for a free or very inexpensive craft we can offer. 

 

Photo Tiles - I don't know the cost for this one either.  I saw other versions that had the picture filling the entire tile with no paper or ribbon.  If we choose to offer this I can price out the project.

 

 

Magnetic Church Puzzles - I found this on another wards super saturday blog.  They priced it as follows: Board $4, Puzzles $3 each.  We'd need to find the boards and verify the prices if we choose to offer this.

 

Long Magnetic Board - $14 includes wood, magnetic board and vinyl.  The board is 27" x 8".

Jar Lanterns - Approximately $5 each.  The jars could also be filled with candy or other treats as neighbor gifts.