R2D2 Cake

Sam's birthday is today and I stayed up late and made this R2D2 cake (with the help of some very talented friends, Carisa and Brittney).  It took us from about 9pm-2am...I gotta learn to start earlier! 
Here are the pics:

  The cake is made from 4-8in cakes stacked on the bottom, a dome shaped one on the top and rice krispie treat legs.  I used the middle of a sugar ice cream cone for the little projector thing, iced and rolled in sparkly sugar, a cinnamon candy for the red eye thing, and lots and lots of icing.  I hope it's yummy, but at least it's cute:)

Moving Christmas

A few days ago, I was telling the kids that if we got any video games or the like for Christmas, we would have to wait until Monday to play them, because we don't do any screen time on Sunday.  Levi suggested that we just wait until Monday to have Christmas.  He and Natalie are both "in the know" and Sam and Seth don't worry about the calendar too much, so it could work.  I thought this was a CRAZY idea, but the more I thought about it, the more I loved it!  Spend Christmas day actually focused completely on the Savior?  What a great idea!  So, I think I will add one more thing to my to-do list and plan a very spiritual Christmas day...and then we will spend our day after Christmas enjoying the "presents" part of Christmas.  We'll see how it goes:)

The To-Do List

Things to do this weekend and this next week:

• Make a fabulous R2D2 cake for Sam
• Make pool noodle light sabers for Sam's party (can you get pool noodles in December?)
• Make Christmas treats
• Deliver treats
• Zumba party
• Clean the church
• Go grocery shopping
• Plan and do a cub scout meeting
• Plan the next unit study (about China)
• Make 4 photo books online
• Buy some last minute presents
• Wrap all presents
• Attend 2 Christmas parties
• Do visiting teaching
• Do more Christmas crafts with the kids

I love this time of year!  I am only a little stressed.  Making the cake makes me nervous, as that is not a talent I have.  Luckily, a few friends are going to help me out:)  After the cake is made and Scouts is done, the week will be less stressful and more enjoyable. I hope you all enjoy your 8 days before Christmas!

Turkey Day...not for the faint of heart:)

Logan, Joseph, and Levi holding a big turkey they caught.

 *Note:  There are chicken/turkey pictures that might be disturbing, just so you know.  But I left out the really gross ones!*

My older two kids plus 4 of their homeschool buddies went to an outside science program that was turkey butchering and anatomy.  I was worried that some kids might freak out so I asked Grandma to babysit and took the kids myself and stayed for the program.  This was an amazing program.  They divided the kids into 3 groups.  One group did the catching/butchering first.  The next group did bird clean out and organ identification while the third group did bird anatomy and how and why birds are built the way they are.

Tyler proud of his chicken..it's still alive though it looks like it's headless.

 First, the kids went out to the pens and caught chickens and turkeys.  Natalie  caught a chicken on her own and Levi caught the BIG turkey with 2 other boys.  They loved this part!  They carried the birds upside down and they were so calm.  I was amazed.  The kids laid their heads on the chopping block and the birds just laid there.  It was quick and hopefully painless.  The kids were thrilled when the chicken and turkey bodies ran around and flapped with their heads cut off.  This may seem disgusting, but I was really impressed on how calmly and almost reverently was done.  We said to each bird how thankful we were that they gave us their bodies energy so that we could continue to live.  When the bodies calmed down, we then dunked their bodies in boiling water to make it easier to pull out the feathers.  This was quite a big job.  I think there were about 8 birds in all!

Joe caught a chicken by himself and was oh, SO proud.

Bird clean out going on here.  A little bloody, but very interesting.

 Second was the bird cleanout.  This was actually the first place my group went and I was amazed at how willing all the boys were to stick their hands in, pull things out, and inspect all the organs.  I had to chuckle after all the organs had been pulled out and our teacher said it was done, Ty says, "But where's the organ?":) The staff here keep all the birds and organs for eating throughout the year. 

The girls just kept saying, "Eww, gross!"

Cute pics of boys before we went outside. Ty's face showed how he felt before he went out.  About halfway through the process, he turns to me and says, "I LOVE this!!!!"

Had to have a picture of the girls too.  Kailey on the top, Sophie on left and Natalie on the right.

The last part of the butchering day was learning the anatomy.  This was done by a lady who knew her stuff and it was fascinating.  She talked all about why birds had this and that and what it was all for.  The highlight for the kids was when she pulled on the tendons of a foot and made the claws move.  Natalie cleaned out the gizzard on her bird.  That girl is not grossed out by anything.  I believe that she looks for the gross parts!  Maybe she gets it from me?  I didn't watch the chopping, but I was extremely interested in all the rest.  The blood just doesn't bother me. 

By the end, I was so impressed with the staff and the facility.  This was a great learning experience that the kids really want to do again next year.  And I want to go with them:)

Halloween 2011

 Here are my cuties for Halloween this year:

Levi-Darth Vader

Sam-Red Ninja

Natalie (sorry about the red eyes)-angel

Seth-Tigger (again:)

We have already had 2 Halloween parties and will have 2 more and trick or treating on Monday.  

Piles of candy, here we come!

Pictures I Love:)

Brothers, ya gotta love 'em!

Happy 33rd Birthday, Geo!

If anyone understands and tolerates my moody Sam, it's Grandpa.

One HOT superman!

Game night:)

Just pictures...

These are mostly from the Indy Children's Museum trip. Fun, but tiring! I went with a friend and between us we had 9 kids. We only lost 1 kid once. We thought that was pretty good:)

Kids participating in an Egyptian baby shower.


This is a random summer picture with our friends, Emily and Meghan. I LOVE this picture!