Our First Camping Trip as a Family

We went camping this last weekend with some people from our church. It definitely felt safer for me and it was nice having an place to use the restrooms. It was a walk to it so I had brought our own potty to it that I had bought for last year's camping trip for the boys. I knew when my little kids had to go in the middle of the night we didn't want to be out walking in the cold.

 I knew it was going to be a challenge taking my 2 year old. Originally, I had set up a babysitter. She had even got the two days off but then I didn't know the camping trip actually went for another day. Sooooo, we took her and she definitely kept me on my toes. Juliet is my only baby that hates the stroller and hates the playpen. She knows she has 8 other people in our family to rescue her so she's a bit spoiled in that way. PLUS, I had friends camping with us. The teen girls are so sweet and they would always rescue her too. Finally, on the last day I said she could stay a little bit in her playpen watching the activities. Once she realized she wasn't be rescued, she chilled out and actually took a nap. :)

We had the worst wind while we were camping!! I had bought this awesome propane grill since there was a no fire ban. It was so hard to cook having this crazy wind trying to blow our flame out. We managed to still make coffee in the mornings with my french press. I brought pancakes, bacon, eggs, and hashbrowns for the morning. It was sooooo yummy and even better we were eating it in the woods.

 At night our church friends would get together and have a potluck. Ohhhhh, that was super cool because one of the guys had caught some trout that day and was making a bunch to share. I gravitated toward that table like a bug to a light. Haha. Was so good.

 It was so hard packing for a family of 9 to go camping. My boys for years have been the only one camping. I've always, always wanted to go as a family and we finally got a chance. But our girls had no idea what was needed for sleeping outdoors. I mean, we filled UP our 12 passenger van with kids and gear. I felt like we were moving. Haha.

 We had a 12 person tent with two rooms. It was so big we could easily fit a playpen for Juliet to sleep in and you didn't even noticed the loss of space. It was AWESOME. I had to buy sleeping bags,camp chairs, and a grill. So now that I have everything for camping I'm so wanting to go again next month because that was an investment. I seriously don't want to wait another year. It's summer time but it was soooo freezing at night there is no way in heck we are camping during cooler temperatures.

In fact, I had forgotten one sleeping bag. Mine. There was no way I was gonna take warmth away from any of my babies. The first night I just slept with no blanket and was freezing my butt off. I didn't sleep that well that night. LOL.

The second night Juliet got woken up after she had been sleeping for an hour. Well, it was like a power nap for her because she wouldn't fall back asleep till almost 2am. I was so exhausted from being at the lake that day it was torture trying to put her to sleep. I was too afraid to let her lay down with me because I was afraid she'd escape out of the tent after I fell sleep. So I crawled into her playpen like a stuffed pastry. I mean, I filled that thing. Didn't work. And she peed on me. Somehow when she was shifting around her diapered opened just enough to pee straight onto me. So in the dark and in the freezing cold I had to shift look around and find her more warm pj's. I was doubling up on her outfits at night too.

Ivy is Juliet's buddy so she got the idea to climb in with her instead. Oh my gosh. Juliet instantly calmed down and went to sleep. They just have this special bong. I passed out like a dying animal. Charles was chucking because through all of that I had been mumbling that I was never going camping again for the rest of my life. At least with a toddler. The next day I'm like, "I love camping!" Haha.

We stayed for 3 days and 2 nights. In fact, we stayed till we had to be out and then just went back to the lake. We didn't get home till late Sunday night. Wow! I guess I love camping. Here is why I like camping so much. Yes, I had huge bursts of wind blowing dirt straight at us. I didn't sleep well. I learned to be smart like my friend and bring cushion to lay on rather than hard dirt. But I had nooooo obligations like I do at home. I didn't have to teach, do laundry, take care of the animals, clean. I felt great to know I could just sit around and talk or play with the kids. THAT IS AWESOME.

Once Step Closer to Moving Forward- Leaving the Bullies in the Past

My boys recently went on a church teen cabin trip out of town.  I insisted they go so they can get last year's horrible camping trip out of their memory.  

Worst Camping Trip Ever

The one they went to last time was unbelievable. Basically they came home with broken spirits.  They went from loving camping to hating it and not wanting to ever go again.  Bullies were running rampant and nothing was done about it.  I'll never forget their faces when they came back home. Literally, you could feel the sadness in my boys for an entire month after that trip.  It was like a heavy depression was in the house.  My boys shared with me they felt unprotected, hurt, taken advantage of.  Worst of all, they felt the leaders protected the bullies.  Right then and there I said never again.  As long as it is in my ability as a parent, I will never allow bullies to get away with hurting others around me.  I told my boys I would never make them go back any situation like that again.  And they haven't.  

Teen praying before they head to camp

This time, I had found a new Christian camping trip.  I had gotten to know the leaders and these teens for about 9 months.  I was pretty confident in watching them that all the kids had respect for one another and there really was NO bullying allowed.  I was so grateful the leaders made sure it was a peaceful environment for everyone.  When a summer camp for 5 days was announced I knew it was my opportunity to give my boys a newer, better memory.  Even still, I was a bit afraid something bad would happen with other kids hurting my boys again.  I'm not the over protective type and it took me a really long time to finally see what my kids were going through.  I felt ashamed I had allowed them to get hurt for so long.

You can barely see Chaz and Ryan but they're there.  LOL

Today my boys came back encouraged, excited, made new friends, and came back even more closer to the teens they went with!  Praise God!  They had a church service every day and talked about how close they feel to God and what they learned.  Ryan came back on crutches but smiling and happy.  Chaz is burnt like crazy even after the leaders kept lathering him with high SPF lotion.  He is smiling from ear to ear.  Just all good memories and they couldn't wait to tell me about it.  I think this trip was like putting and keeping the past IN the past and moving forward.  

Chaz after his fun in mud pit.  :)

We can never let bullies win.  No matter how popular they are or how popular their parents are. Bullying is bullying and it does break precious spirits.  Every kid and adult is equal in God's eyes and we need to prove it by how we treat others.  Especially as representatives for who we serve.  I know I can't prevent all bullying, that's impossible.  However, I can do whatever is in my ability to stop it when I see it.  Whether it's my kids or someone else's.  No, it's not JUST WHAT KIDS DO.  All kids learn it from others.  Either they are learning it from home or from their peers.  Just because adults bully doesn't make it okay.  

Teen leader show how to jump in the mud pit!  

I really feel like this trip for my boys was like saying we're leaving the past in the past and moving forward to what God is holding for us in the future!  :D  To the ones who brought my boys, thank you so much for being amazing teen leaders.  I can see the difference and impact you are making on the kids around you. 

Science Fun and Real Brains, Bleh!

Last week Charles and I took our kids to the Science Center and had so much fun!  We could stay there for hours.  There are 3 floors of things to experiment with and we never have enough time to do it all.  Here are some pictures though!  My friend Michele, the one my son injured, is trying to help the boys relax for this game.  If you look in the center you'll see a ball.  The only way to move the ball across to your opponents goal is to be relaxed.  The more relaxed you are, more than your opponent, you'll win.  This game is really hard for me.  I often forget what I'm doing and start thinking about other stuff.

This one is to where you and a friend sit on either side of a mirror.  It lines your features up in pieces.  Charles was on the other side and we looked so funny!  :D

Ivy was trying to piece together the organs but they were falling out.  It was funny when we acted like she broke the poor guy's body.  Of course we then told her it's supposed to be taken apart.

Kids playing Tic Tac Toe with scuba diver.

Ivy and Kyle wheelchair racing.  Caleb is in the yellow shirt watching his big sister.

*** Warning: in case pictures of real brains grosses you out, don't view this next part.  Most likely I just peaked your curiosity though***

Snake brain

rat brain

Cat brain

Monkey brain

Taking Young Kids to Dissect Frogs for Homeschool

I signed my kids up for a frog dissection class at the science center and it was interesting!  Normally, I'm not such a wimp.  Ohhhhh, I was yesterday. Okay, well back in Junior high I had no problems dissecting my own frog.  Did I have a problem watching it yesterday?  Lets just say I started to see black spots in front of my eyes and I had to leave and have my husband take over.  I felt like I was gonna faint and had to leave.  I felt really bad for a couple of hours after that.  My friend heaved a couple of times. It was pretty funny though because we were both struggling.  I don't know if it's because of my morning sickness or because I'm just becoming more wimpy over time.  Haha!  Well, here are some great photos!

(Above) Ryan dissected a female frog

(Above) Ryan's frog was female so he could see the eggs.

My husband Charles helping the boys since I couldn't get up close

(Above) Chaz's frog was male

Chaz listening to instructions

(Above) The teacher showing Ryan he needs to cut open a little higher

How cool is it that my boys only 10 and 11 years old got to dissect frogs and I wasn't able to till Junior high?  This is what I mean about the excitement of homeschooling.  We do things when we want to and have tons of our own field trips throughout the year.  Even better, daddy gets to be involved!  He has a split shift where he has a 4 hour break in between shifts so he is able to attend these things.  I have such a cool husband and life.  :D  

Charles helping Ryan.  Ryan said it was pretty neat opening the frogs mouth inside and looking to see if there was any food in there.

My friend's son Jeremiah putting on his gloves

Kyle (above) 

Why Game Systems Don't Last Long In Our House

Our Craigslist picture

Yesterday I was super busy getting our Xbox 360 Kinect ready to sell.  We had gotten rid of video games in the past but as time went on we had thought we'd give the a try again.  I regretted it almost immediately when we bought this system.  Before we got it, we were out doing a lot of adventures, homeschooling was much easier, getting them to do their chores wasn't so hard, and they got along better.  I hated all the negative changes and started to pray about how to fix it.  My family was just way too game crazy to easily get rid of it.  I started praying that God would just move on Charles' heart about it rather than me nag him.  Nagging never works and only drives guys crazy.  Not only that but I hated the one eyed TV sitting right in our living room.  It didn't stream TV but it just felt like it was the focus of the whole room.  Last week, 7 months from the time we bought it, Charles talked to me about getting rid of the system.  Whoa, really?  I couldn't believe it.  He loved it just as much as everyone else.  I wasn't gonna play around with that decision so I immediately posted it up on Craigslist and got a buyer for $400.  We sold the system with 30 games and lots of accessories.  It's gone and I feel free.  What surprised me more was the kids reaction to us selling it.  No one had a bad attitude about it at all and we immediately saw a positive chance in their behavior.  They were playing together again, being creative, riding bikes outside.

Almost as soon as the buyers came over our house I had to lay down from another massive headache.  I was so frustrated because I hate having to lay around in the middle of the day and do nothing.  I was excited about finishing up my Declutter One Room a Day project.  After my husband gave me some Tylenol, an hour later I was back on my feet and got right to work on the kitchen.  I took lots of stuff out of the cupboards and put in a donation bin.  Got rid of the all the miscellaneous donation bags that I had on the floor from working in other rooms.  It just got so late by the time I was finished I couldn't really do the extra work I wanted to do.  I still would like to wash down the cupboards and clean out the fridge but that's not so much my worry right now since it's about decluttering.  I did that so I went to bed happy knowing my cupboards weren't so full of unnecessary clutter.

Boys being boys and outside

I still have the bathrooms to declutter (under the sinks and reorganizing), the office, and then going to all the kids clothes to get rid of the excess.  I'm so close to finishing.  Waking up in the morning to a clean house has meant so much to me.  It's so easy to keep clean I'm crying as I type this.  I hated that my life was so centered around cleaning. Why did we need so much stuff?  Why wasn't I taking out the old as the new was brought it over the years?  It was like one day I woke up (two Saturdays ago) and saw how much stuff there really was.  The house wasn't dirty, just over cluttered and I was the one paying the price for it.  I was the one cleaning and cleaning every day to keep things put away.  Now, I can straighten up the whole house in a half hour.  OH MY GOSH.  That...is....wonderful.

Celebrating 13 Years Married and Adventures!

That doesn't feel like a long time to some but in this world, it actually is!  Thank GOD I married my best friend.  Makes the ups and downs a bit easier to handle.  :D

We had so many fun adventures in our first year of marriage.  I can't  believe how much we did before we had kids.  I got pregnant our 11th month of marriage.  Just 3 months before I became pregnant with our first, we made a trip to the Grand Canyon and hiked down it 6 hours.  Our feet were completely blistered by the time we reached the bottom and made camp. We got to swim next to the Havasupai Falls and race down the river.  It was gorgeous.  No, I don't wear bikini's anymore. Since that picture is sooooo tiny of me, I'm not embarrassed to post it. :)

Eating at the Indian village waiting
for helicopter

The next day there was a warning of a flash flood coming from the ranger.  Even though the skies were clear like you see in the picture, there was definitely one coming and we weren't taking chances.  We threw back on our 80lb packs and raced uphill 2 miles to a nearby indian village.  Even while we were quickly racing to get to safety, muddy water was rushing closer and closer next to our feet.  Once we reached the village we were safe for a bit and away from water but we had to get out of there.

Once we reached the village we took a helicopter out to safety.  The year before people had died from a flash flood so we weren't taking any chances.  Two years after this picture was taken, this helicopter crashed and killed everyone inside.  Crazy, huh?


From there we headed to Vegas. For us, it wasn't to gamble.  We just basically went site seeing and visiting the yummy buffets. My husband forgot to inform me about this part of the trip so I did not pack anything fancy at all.  So here were were walking around in hiking clothes and boots. For some reason I have no pictures of us here.  A funny memory was getting locked out of our hotel in our pajamas.  We were with family and didn't know where they were so we just had to sit by our room on the floor till they came hours later with the key.  People in evening gowns kept passing us from the elevator looking at us strangely.  

Then we headed to Utah and got to experience being at a cowboy camp.  It was such a neat place where you stay in cabins and do lots of fun activities. We went shooting, zip lining, cliff repelling, rock climbing, riding ATV's, horseback riding, sitting around a campfire at night.  It was awesome!

3 months later I found out I was pregnant with our first.  We weren't trying, but hey, it got the ball rolling and I've had 6 other fantastic, life changing surprises after that.  Ever since then we have experienced so many adventures since having kids and I wouldn't trade any of it for anything in this world.  Having a family is so awesome.