Happy Birthday Nathan

Good Morning and Happy Birthday Nathan

Breakfast in Bed

Special tray made with old birthday cards and wrapping paper.

Lego Cake complete with Lego Guys

Strangest #7 candle (almost looks like a 1) and not facing the correct way to Nathan

Lots for Start Wars toys!

I recently attended a conference and one of the classes I took was on Traditions. I picked up a few ideas that the kids were really excited about. I now have a birthday banner that I can use for all of the kids each year. We will continue the breakfast in bed tradition (though it isn't much fun when Nathan was awake an hour before and I told him he needed to get in bed and pretend he just woke up) - though we had a HUGE delicious breakfast a little later, quiche, bacon, fruit and pancakes ! For dinner Nathan picked homemade macaroni and cheese and burgers. Grandma and Grandpa Beadle were able to be here and they brought cousin Alaina. After breakfast Nathan, Audrey and Alaina went swimming at the YMCA. We came home, played, had dinner, went to YaYa's Frozen Yogurt, presents and cake. It was a good day.

Lessons Learned?

PROBLEM:

While I had the kids in Michigan an issue arose that I felt needed to be dealt with quickly. Upon returning home I talked to Ryan about this issue - theft. Nathan and Audrey felt the need to take things that did not belong to them on more than one occasion while we were there. Sometimes the items came from homes of grandparents, which were more easily dealt with. Other times the items came from the public library. Yup, we had a major case of "minor thieves" and before their records begin stating petty theft we decided we had to do something about it.

HOPEFUL SOLUTION:

The Saturday after we arrived home from vacation we took the kids to Fun Depot a place with arcade games, mini golf, bumper cars, etc. While we were there we received a call from ADT telling us that we had a break in at our home. We told the kids that we needed to get home as quickly as we could to see if everything was okay and if anything was missing. As we drove the 15 minutes home the kids were worried and they discussed what might be missing. They both were worried about TJ, our dog, which actually surprised me in a very positive way.

We arrived home and we sent Nathan up stairs and Audrey to the basement to see if everything was okay. Nathan came down and reported that all of the Legos had been taken from his room. Audrey started to cry before she even made it to the top of the steps - all of the animals and dinosaurs had been taken as well.

Ryan called the police department and talked with Officer Roberts (our friend Alex) to report the robbery. Nathan then talked to Officer Roberts to detail the items missing. We took this time to talk to the kids about how they felt having things taken from them. We also talked about possible consequences for robbers.

We expected everything to be "wrapped up" by Monday - the thieves would be caught and the items returned. The kids talked about it non-stop so Officer Roberts and his team contacted me on the way to church the following morning to report that the items were found, the robbers were in jail and that everything would be at our house when we returned from church. I then told the kids that they should not say anything to anyone from church because they would feel bad for us and everything was okay now. We weren't in the building more then 2 minutes and Audrey told a handful of people about our break in!

So far so good. The lesson seems to have worked. We hope this is a lesson that will not be forgotten.

Visit to Michigan

Here are the vacation pictures in reverse order...

Sunfield Park

Hawk Island Park

I love this picture!

I was actually trying to get a picture of the guy in the background but the girls thought I wanted a picture of them - just kidding!

Koda the Bear

Audrey was delighted when Grandma Karen told her she could take this little bear (Koda) home. Audrey loved and babied the little bear from the day he became "hers." While Grandma Beadle was making pancakes one morning Audrey insisted Koda have his own pancake. When we were finished and the pancake remained in the bowl with Koda, Audrey declared, "I guess he doesn't like pancakes."

Outdoor Water Fun at Beadles

Audrey and Alaina busy at work.

McDiarmid Reunion

Uncle Billy taking Nathan and Audrey on a canoe ride. Uncle Billy became frightened when Nathan said something about jumping in. He quickly paddled back to the dock!

Elysse checking out the dogs.

Sandbox fun.

Loving the water.

We were in Michgian for 10 days and spent 2 days traveling. It was a long time to be away from Ryan. The kids are great travelers and we had a good time visiting with family and friends.

View From Our House

We have some pretty good views from ur house. I love it when their is a steamy fog lifting over the mountains.

Photography

I was asked to help out with the Wednesday night girls' program at church. The leader of the group was headed out of town and so she asked if I would do a night on photography. Well, I do not really know much about photography - but I do have a nice camera and I know how to use the internet. So, I set to work. I put together a few handouts and thought it would be fun to do a photo scavenger hunt. For the photo scavenger hunt I did not have them take pictures of specific things but rather put to use some of the things we had read and talked about as well as take pictures from different angles. Here are two of my favorite pictures I took that night.

Aerial photo: These muffins were made with ground whole wheat flour and I used the Williams Sonoma recipe for blueberry muffins you can find on their website.

Rule of thirds: I thought this picture was just clever - way to blend.

We all had a good time and it was fun practicing a bit. Even if I do not have a lot of knowledge, I think the girls learned a few new things.