Spring break fun!

Let's start with the best news of all. Camden has been talking about being baptized and decided last night that he would like to take the next step in his faith and do it. We spent time reading passages about why we get baptized and what it means. He has a clear understanding of it and is also very excited about it. His only request is that he be baptized in our pool in front of a few people instead of at church in front of a bunch of strangers. I can appreciate that so once our pool water warms up a bit, we will have some friends over to share in this very special moment in Camden's life. He would like Michael, me and Jadon to baptize him. I know it will be a special time.

So our Spring Break started after homeschool on Friday and we have enjoyed some fun times already and more fun times are coming. We have a "first" planned for tonight, we are taking the kids ice skating! Hopefully there will be no broken bones since I have a feeling none of us are very good when it comes to balance, we shall see. Michael and I actually don't plan on putting on the ice skates, we thought ahead on that one and are bringing Heather (our 14 year old friend/neighbor/babysitter) with us so she can lend a hand to the kids if needed. I can't wait to take some pictures. So stay posted for those.

So here is a little bit of what we have done so far on our Spring break in no particular order.

* The kids and I walked to Blockbuster to rent some movies, ate out at Burger King and then walked to a park and finally headed home. It was a fun time and great excercise! We are planning to do the Pat Tillman run/walk as a family next month. So we are planning on doing some long walks with the kids to build up their stamina. I think they will do fine but Anna may need a piggy back ride now and then.

*We went bowling, you can read about that on my previous post! We had a great time doing that.

*Sunday we went to church and then headed over to our friends house to hang out with them for a while. Their oldest boy joined us for a trip to the tilt house that just opened up at Goldfields mining town. It was a great tour and the boys loved it. I didn't have my camera so I have no pictures to show our outing. After that we took the kids to get a treat at Sonic and then dropped Ethan off at his house so I could get to a photo shoot by 4:00.

*After I got home from my photo shoot the boys had a grand idea, and let me just say it was indeed GRAND. As in requiring A LOT of work. Why is it that their ideas always take so much energy? So they have been wanting a fort for some time now, an outdoor place to call their own. So they had the idea to see if quite possibly, just maybe dad and I would consider letting them clear out the outdoor shed and take that over as their fort. The same shed we keep our Christmas boxes in along with the lawn mower and outdoor tools. What the boys didn't know is that Michael had planned to do some rearranging of Michael's utility closet and move some things around to utilize some extra space we have on our back patio. So, we told the boys if they were willing to put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into making it work, we would allow them to make that into their "private lab" as they now call it. So after the word "yes" rolled off our tongues they were out the door to get to work. Phase one was Sunday night when they emptied out the shed and Michael's utility closet and put everything on the back patio. That took them about two hours. Then the next morning for phase two we sorted through everything, did some major organizing and moving and before we knew it, it all came together perfectly. I am very pleased with how we arranged things and the boys are in awe of their new lab. We let them do some spray painting yesterday to make it feel more like home. There are plans to put shelves in, add an electrical source so they can have light and cool air along with adding a possible window. So Monday was spent working hard and getting the lab put together. We didn't go anywhere all day and for the most part enjoyed being at home all day. The kids were getting a bit bored by the end of the day because we hadn't left the house but everyone needs stay at home all day days if you ask me. I love them!

*Then came yesterday, after we got up and got ready we loaded up the kids bikes and went to Gene Autrey Park. We played for a while and had some fun and then it was off to the dentist for Jadon to have a filling. The rest of the day was spent playing at home. Anna and I played two board games, Jadon recovered from his filling by watching some TV and Camden played outside with neighborhood kids. We enjoyed a yummy homemade dinner of stuffed shells, tossed salad and garlic bread, YUMMY! After dinner I snuck out on my own to go to the store. My poor hubby needed dress clothes for work, Jadon needed some T-shirts and Anna needed some shorts. So I went to Kohl's and did my best picking out things that they woud like. I had some success but still need to make a few returns/exchanges today. All I know is that I have not spent that much money clothes shopping in years! We are so thankful for hand me downs for the kids but daddy doesn't get any of those and his wardrobe was suffering big time.

*And that brings us up to today, St. Patricks day. We are going to be heading out soon for Karate and then going back over to our friends house who can use some love and support today and then tonight we will hit the ice skating rink, well hopefully we won't "hit" it but smoothly glide across it with no injuries.

*The rest of the week we have more fun activities planned that include a day at Arizona Mills Mall, laser tag (we won some free games in a raffle), and mini golf with the boys (they are finally being rewarded for finishing their reading/spelling programs in homeschool). I think that is about it.

*PICTURES of the lab and other fun activities coming soon.