Adventures in Icecream

Justin has beeen working nights for the last couple of weeks, so he comes home and sleeps from 6 am till about 3 pm. It has been weird to have this kind of schedule it kind of throws us all off kilter. He sleeps during the day so I head over to my mom's, we have been working on a ton of our own projects but with each other's company. It has been really nice!

When Justin woke up yesterday, and checked his messages for the day he found that his work for the night had been cancelled. He was not very happy at the prospect of having to stay up half the night in order to go back to bed to wake up early enough in the day to get a chance to go back to bed to rest before doing his next night shift. (got that?) Justin also had worship team practice last night. Which he always enjoys.

I on the other hand got to stay home and have my best friend over for dinner. We had grilled teriyaki chicken and homemade ham fried rice, she brought over the best spinach salad ever and some light ice cream and brownie bites. We had some catching up to do. She had been at the national square dance convention in Long Beach, California over the last week, doing a trade show for Princess Charming. After dinner and talking we decided we were going to wait on the icecream and brownies, but then she had to get home. And she refused to take her brownies and icecream, to the delight of my children.

Well Justin got home around 9:30 pm and I had an idea brewing. What if we went on a spontaneous adventure? Sure it was nighttime and we were supposed to be getting ready for bed. But it is summer right? And so what if it was tuesday night and not friday! Soooo, I pulled justin aside and told him of my plan and he was game.

I then told the kids they needed to go get on a pair of jeans and a long sleeve shirt and to grab a hoodie then they needed to sit outside on the front step and wait for further instructions. While they were changing I was grabbing my jeans and hoodie as well. Then I secretly stuffed the icecream, brownie bites, 4 bowls, 4 spoons, icecream scoop, roll of paper towels, and a table cloth into a cooler. At this point the kids were totally clueless and completely out of their minds with curiosity. But I was not letting on to anything.

We jumped in the truck and away we went to Park City. It was a nice drive, and we got in some quality time together. When we got to Park City we drove around on main street looking for the perfect place for our late night dessert picnic. The kids still did not know what was in the cooler. We found this perfect place in the newer side of town I had never been there before. It was a commons area near a ton of shops and restaraunts, all closed up for the night. But it had a gas fire pit with a lot of park benches around it. and the edge of the fire pit was very wide and made of concrete for sitting. The fire was off but it was still warm and it was quite cozy. I unpacked our tablecloth and spread it out on the wide concrete rim of the fire pit. Then I pulled out the bowls and spoons. the kids knew what was up then. We enjoyed our Icecream and brownies, and sat talking and taking pictures for a while. It was a ton of fun and what we are now

calling an icecream adventure. Sometimes the best things in life happen spontaneously.

We got home about midnight and I was beat, time to hit the sack meanwhile justin went out and worked on repairing the vents in the roof of our travel trailer. He finally came in about 3 am.

Here are the 2 pics that actually capture the essence of our adventure.

We don't believe in the Tooth Fairy.....

Oh No, we believe in a more rediculous lie than that. We believe that once you put your tooth under your pillow, the weight from your head after you have slept on it all night long, will turn it into money. Due to the pressure that is put on it. Also this only works for baby teeth. Part of the reason that this is the story we went with is A) we did not want our children beginning to think that they were going to get money from a mythical being, that did not exsist. B) Elyssa was so afraid of a witch being in her room when she was little, She thought that there was a witch in the closet every night and I did not want to fuel her concerns, with a flying fairy who took her teeth.



Well there have been a few times when I have forgotten to change out the tooth for money. Mostly I am able to rectify the situation when they are up having breakfast and I run down with my money neatly concealed in a basket of laundry. I then swap out said tooth for the money, kid comes down finds his tooth is a late bloomer and all is well!!!

Lets just say that the last tooth Ashton lost never turned into money, after him sleeping on it for a week he determined it was a dud. (slacker mom) I thought that he had thrown it out. But no I was wrong. Last night Ashton lost a tooth and he put it under his pillow. Great plan.... since justin was working nights I thought that if I left him a note he would be able to come in at 5 am and swap out the tooth. Justin got home at 2:30am and got my note and decided to go down with $3. When he got there he was surprised by the presence of 2 envelopes with teeth in them. AHAH, Ashton had decided to try the dud one more time. So Justin came up again to tell me the story and to get more money.

Here is how our conversation went at 2:30 am .
Justin: Can I turn on the light?
Me : mmmmmhhhhhhmmmm (I don't talk much that early in the morning)
Justin: I think Ashton would be really surprised to find a $50 bill in place of his tooth! and so would I when he shows it to me!
Me: hahahahaha, think of all the legos he could buy with that.
Justin: That would be our gas money.
Me: hahahaha
Justin: I would have to knock out his remaining teeth just so I never had to pay up again...
Me: hahahaha, it's a good thing for both of you that you turned on the light! Thanks honey!
(Justin leaves room and then returns)
Justin: Ashton is not even in his bed!
Me: what do you mean?
Justin: I thought that he was in his bed because it looks like there is a body in it. There is a perfect form of pillows and blankets there, but when I went to pat his back it was all pillows. He is in Elyssa's bed.
Me: I am not surprised. destroy my note please...

So this morning when I went into do laundry I peeked in and Ashton was in his bed he must have moved.

He came up a little bit ago and told me he had gotten money for his tooth and for the old dud he tried again. cool!!! He was totally stoked.
I know he has legos on the brain.
So I am off to go get some shopping done while justin sleeps and let ashton go bask in the glory of old teeth turned to money...

Just so you know we have had endless questions about teeth from the kids.

Like....
Q: If the dog loses a tooth can I put it under my pillow?
A: No, you know as well as anybody that it has to be the person who lost the tooth sleeping on it for anything to happen.

Q: well how does the tooth know who is sleeping on it?
A: It has lived in that head for so long, you think it does not know what head it belongs to?

Q: Why didn't my tooth turn into anything?
A: Well apparently you moved around too much in your sleep. Try to keep your head on the pillow tonight.

These are just a few and if I wasn't blogging on the sly I am sure I could remember more...

What makes my kids, great kids?

I decided that I wanted to post an email that I sent to our teacher.

We home school, and we are on a really great curriculum. It is called K12. K12 is a private curriculum that is being used by many public schools around the world in an online setting. They provide 100% of our materials at no cost to us. We are currently enrolled in the Alpine School District in their Online Academy. Because of our enrollment we have a teacher assigned to us. She is strictly there to keep us informed of any field trips, testing dates, etc... and she keeps track of our progress and attendance. However she is also there to help me if I need it. If I find that one of the kids are struggling she can give me ideas and help. I really love this curriculum, and I have the accountability that I need.

Any way our teacher sent out a weekly contact email and in it she gave us an assignment. I had to answer 3 questions about the kids so she could get to know us better.

Here is my email response:

So here are the questions you asked with the answers...I am combining #1 and #3

1.What are your kids favorite activities outside of school? 3. What makes them great kids?

Ashton is a techie and he loves anything electronic, ie... video games, ipods, computers, he likes to make movies of our home videos. He is currently checking into some software that will allow him to make movies the way he wants to. He regularly checks out the nintendo power magazine from the library and he keeps us informed of all the latest gadgets etc... It is so funny when an adult starts talking to us about the newest thing or technology for the Wii system and he knows exactly what they are talking about, he ends up being the one in the conversation not us. lol He loves all things games, whether they are video games or board games, or imaginary games. He is a regular participant in the spy games with the other kids he hangs out with at church. They just pretend to be spies but they really get into it. His favorite tv shows are The Office and Chuck. Ashton has a great sense of humor. He is extremely lovable and so self motivated. He has a collection of house plants in his room he named them Vern, Zeke, Willow, Snype. I just love my little plant people.

Elyssa is a music lover and an artist she is constantly drawing something and she has a portfolio of art that is bursting at the seams.She is learning to play the guitar, and she is picking it up really fast. Her dad is teaching her and I have to say I am very surprised at the discipline she has. I will find her in the livingroom on a regular basis practicing. All on her own with out any prompting. I have never had to tell her to practice she just does it. She is an animal lover, and she is constantly with some kind of plastic or stuffed animal. She lays them on their side and traces their outline and then she makes fantastical monsters out of them. She loves dinosaurs, she hates dolls and barbies but she loves to dress up and put on her make up. She is the toughest girly girl I know. And all the boys know it too!She loves to cook with me. She loves to snuggle her daddy and she gives the worlds best back massage. Her favorite tv shows are Sponge Bob, Unwrapped and Ace of Cakes (on food network), She also likes Animal Cops HOUSTON. Elyssa is our comedian she is constantly making us laugh, her sense of humor is very well developed. such a lovey dovey she is. She is a little nurturer, if any one is in need she always is the first to help out. Elyssa has a feew plants of her own as well. Palmyra, pearl, crimson, Marvy. she has 2 frogs she has taken care of for over a year (Franklin and Dolly), a fish (Sobe), and a dog that clearly is hers, by the dogs choice (skye).

2. What do they struggle with the most?

Ashton seems to have a hard time slowing down but it is not really detrimental. He just gets his work done as fast as he can so he can be done for the day. If I had to say he had a struggle it would be with his handwriting, and maybe the fact that he really dislikes writing papers etc. But he does it with out complaint.

Elyssa seems to struggle with her reading. She can read and she does quite well when she has a good attitude about it. I always tell her "it is in the attitude." She has a hard time staying motivated. I am constantly telling her to focus and stay busy. Distractions abound in our household. The dog walks by and suddenly she must be let out or she really needs a treat.... there is a noise out side that just must be checked out.... She has a teeny tiny hunger pang that must be attended to. We live in a relatively quiet home with a lot of calm. It is just that she lets her mind wander.