3rd grade business day

The 3rd grade had a business day at school.  Throughout the year the kids have earned money by being good during class and passing their timings.  They get to use the money they earned to go around to the different business's the kids came up with and pay to play the games or pay for treats, pops, spray painted hair, bracelets, bows, etc.
They teamed up with a partner and decided what their business would be.  Logan teamed up with his friend Porter and they chose to have an alien blast game.  What a great idea to be able to bring Nerf guns to school:)  Instead of just paying to play the game they decided to give out candy as a reward.  So at the last minute I sent Aaron to the store since it was late at night.  He is always brilliant and instead of just coming home with smaller candy to give out he came home with regular sized crunch bars,individual packed chips, and a regular size bag of chips, along with the smaller candy.  Clever idea!  Logan got really excited and was telling us how he would have them play the game and how much they would have to pay to get the bigger stuff.  This is how their business went. 

• the kids could pay $1 a shot, $5 for 6 shots, or $10 for 12 shots.  Depending on how many balls they hit down depended on the candy they got.
• the first kid to play the game saw the big bag of chips and asked Logan what he had to get to get the bag of chips.  Long story short the kid payed $25 for the bag of chips.  Logan looked at me with a huge grin.  After that kids payed the $10 so they could get the crunch bars.
• their business did really well and they both were happy with it.

These were their "Aliens."  I'm so glad that they came up with the idea on their own and chose to make them.  I was pretty surprised when I showed up and saw that one parent had brought in a basketball hoop, and another parent was making snow cones, etc.  They did it all on their own and I was very proud of that. 

As one partner was running the business the other partner got to go out and spend their money that they had earned.  Logan went straight to the snow cones first and then played a few games and ended up winning and bringing home 9 cans of pop.  Lovely!  I came to learn that business day is just a candy and pop fest!  Logan's teacher had even given Wyatt some money and he chose to get his hair spray painted.  It was really fun watching Logan interact with the kids and see him get excited about what they came up with.  The Nerf guns were a hit....with all the boys.

Easter Weekend-Green River

The last few years our family has been invited to camp with a group of friends over Easter weekend down by green river.  We camp in the middle of no where about 40 minutes from the green river exit.  Part of me really misses being able to spend Easter with our own families but in a way it is also nice to have our own thing.  Plus I find that the older I get the more I hate crowds- so for me not having to go to our city Easter egg hunt is grand.  Plus half the stuff they get in their buckets I end up throwing most of it away anyway....I'm a horrible mom:) So here is how our weekend went.
 

TUSHER TUNNEL:  About 30 minutes away from where we were camping was a site called Tusher Tunnel.  A friend in the group had told us about it and we thought it would be fun for the kids to see.  When we got to the opening of the tunnel the boys (Logan & Wyatt) thought it was cool and Kennady was clinging to me and we almost couldn't get her to go through it.  Once she could see the opening to the other side and knew she could get out she relaxed a bit.  Until someone mentioned bats.  Luckily they were hanging up in the cracks of the rocks.  She had no part in taking the flashlight and looking at them. 

After getting through the tunnel we hiked our way until we couldn't go anymore.  But of course Aaron took Logan on a little climbing adventure and they ended up making it somehow to the very top of the mtn.  I stayed back with the little kiddos and as the kids were playing around they started getting rocks and throwing them over the cliffs.  They loved watching the rocks brake and tumble down to the bottom.  Wyatt came across a big rock and was bound and determined to get it to roll.  He would try a few times and then go to a different rock but he kept going back to this rock to get it over the cliff.  With a little help we rolled the rock over and a pretty good sized scorpion was underneath it.  Wyatt was in la la land when he saw it.  We kind of smooshed it a bit when we rolled the rock over so the scorpion had it's tail up trying to sting as he was on the verge of dying.  It was good to show the kids and tell them about how dangerous they can be.  Wyatt learned that the "crapions" can kill us if they get us with their tail.

This was at the end of the tunnel when we were letting the kids explore.  The scenery was really pretty!

This was Aaron and Logan on their climbing adventure to the top of the mountain.  I'm glad Aaron took the camera with him so they could get a picture of them.  Logan came back with a smile on his face and thought that was pretty awesome. 

The end of the tunnel.  The first picture has Grandma Jill with us.  She really isn't their real grandma but that's what the kids call her and she practically treats them like hers anyway.  We love Jill:)  She is always looking out for us.  The other picture is from youngest to oldest even though it looks like Kennady should be second in line. 

AROUND CAMP:

• the big boys and Logan shot guns- I even took my turn and finally ended up hitting the pop can...yay!
• they played games in the trailer when it was to cold or raining outside
• when it was decent weather they were outside riding their 4-wheelers and motorcycles.  Going on walks to find lizards, and climbing on any rocks they could.  On that search for lizards they ended up getting quite the surprise when instead of a lizard they found a rattlesnake.  Scary!  They ended up killing it and another little boy in our group played with it in the sand like it was a toy.  Gross!!!!
• Kennady was in dog heaven.  She loved throwing catch with "nova" and ended up mauling the little dog...we forgot it's name.  She played with the dogs every chance she could get.
• I had alot of fun zipping around on Logan's little motorcycle
• Aaron just loves being anywhere with the family and going on 4-wheeler rides.  As well as shooting his guns.
• We all had a great time climbing the big rocks
• the best thing about the whole trip is that you cook one time for everybody and your done the rest of the weekend, besides your lunches.  Breakfast and Dinner are taken care of.  Aaron and I were in charge of breakfast for 50 people that first morning and we ended up doing breakfast burritos and fruit.  I get a little stressed-okay really stressed having to cook for that many people but breakfast turned out great and we were done for the rest of the trip. 
• the food was all amazing
• the weather was actually pretty decent.  The first night the wind was blowing so bad I thought the trailer was going to tip over but after that it was a little windy and sometimes rainy, but all in all was good the rest of the time.

 

Our ride to 10 mile wash:  Friday was a really nice day so we packed up our lunches and headed down 10 mile wash.  Logan rode his own 4-wheeler and did amazingly well.  Their were a few spots where some hills were steep and a few big puddles, but he made it through the whole way.  He had fun tearing through the mud and water and came back a little muddy.  At the end of the ride we always tuck back in the rocks and have our lunch.  The kids had fun playing playing in the river and I like to sit back, watch, and relax.

EASTER EGG HUNT:  Every year we have the kids decorate Easter eggs, and while they are doing that the guys go out and hide the "other eggs."  One thing I love about this Easter egg hunt is that every kid walks away with the same amount of eggs.  The adults will fill 10 eggs for each child so when it's time for the egg hunt all the kids know that they each get 10 eggs to put in their buckets.  They always walk away happy:) 

The kids have always enjoyed finding their eggs in the field next to camp and look forward to it every year.  I love that we do it on Saturday so we can sit back on Sunday and reflect on our Savior. 

EASTER SUNDAY:  I am always grateful when Easter rolls around.  It is always a good reminder for me to reflect on the Atonement.  I am grateful for the sacrifice my Savior made for me so that I can return with my loving family for eternity.  I always need to reflect on the Atonement more but I always know that as long as I strive to live the gospel and be a good example to my kids, the gospel will always be our security to stay together and return to our loving Father in Heaven.