Sunday, March 20, 2011

Happy St. Patrick's Day
For St. Patrick's day, we did a Shamrock Hunt. In the hunt, the children looked for hidden shamrocks. Once all the shamrocks were found, they traded for a specific number, and then they got prizes depending on the numbers on their Shamrocks. Each bag had different prizes coordinating with the numbers on the shamrocks. It was a game of chance..., and pure fun!

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Happy Birthday, Dr. Suess!
~March 2, 2011~
Dr. Suess' birthday is on March 2, and we love to celebrate each year by reading "Green Eggs and Ham", and eating green eggs and ham!

Favorite quotes by Dr. Suess:
"Don't cry because it is over, smile because it happened."
~Dr. Suess

"Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple."
~Dr. Suess

"A person's a person, no matter how small."
~Dr. Suess

JAKE's BIRTHDAY
Before Jake's birthday, I asked him what he wanted to do... he replied, "play with my friends"! So, on Jake's "Big Day" we spent the day playing with his buddy, Spencer Tobler. They had a blast! When the girl's got home from school, we headed to BOUNCE with Spencer in tow. The kids played hard--they ran from one bounce house to the next! They played their little hearts out. On the way home, Hailey and Amber had to keep Jake awake, so we could open presents and eat cake with dad--he was exhausted.Four Things I love about Jake:~Every morning when he wakes up, he comes looking for mom (no one else)...when I am finally located, he opens his arms, gives me a big grin, and comes running for an amazing hug!
~He loves to play. We run through the house giggling over each and every new adventure.
~He loves his family. Every night in his prayers, he thanks his Heavenly Father for his family. Every prayer he utters is a prayer of gratitude for his family.
~He is getting "big enough" to be reasoned with...what a relief! What a great stage!
...okay, five things:
~He love his one on one time with mom. Although he loves his sisters dearly, he is sometimes sad to pick them up from school, because he still wants to spend the time with me. I also enjoy our time together. I am sad that he is getting bigger and will soon be venturing into the world of school... One thing is for sure...he's going to have to get use to sharing me!

I LOVE MY BOY! Oh, I am so grateful he is mine, and I am his! He is my buddy! Love you, dude!!!

BOUNCE:


CAKE AND PRESENTS:

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRYAN; February 9, 2011

For Bryan's birthday, we did the "12 DAYS of BRYAN"! We copied this idea from a good friend--we thought it was a fabulous way to say "We Love You"! We typed a song, and attached a note to each day. In the beginning, we tried to be conspicuous...we sneaked the packages to a coworker, we asked the coworker to be "secretive", and then we pretended innocence. However, as day 4 rolled around, our secret was known. We spent the last 8 days talking and laughing at each new surprise. We had a great time showering our husband and daddy with love!

This is what we did for the "12 Days of Bryan":

On the first day of Bryan, your true "loves" gave to you
One bag of Jerky...
ba dum dum dum
(I typed a tune that I thought went with the song "ba dum dum dum", and then later realized that it really didn't go with the tune. At the time, when I was writing the clues--it seemed to fit. The mistake was worth it; however, because it allowed for many days of laughter.)

On the second day of Bryan, your true "loves" gave to you
Two TEXAS items
ba dum dum dum

Third Day: 3 cans of pringles

Fourth Day: 4 Chocolate Kisses (Because Bryan's birthday is so close to Valentine's day, we were able to buy 4 Giant Kisses. We then made a tag for each kiss. Each tag had a sentiment of love from us...an obvious giveaway as to who was delivering the goodies. We curled each tag, and attached them to the top of the individual KISSES to make it look like the original tag that comes with a Hershey kiss.)

Fifth Day: 5 Green Apples (with caramel dip)

Sixth Day: 6 Root beer

Seventh Day: 7 "texts" of LOVE

Eight Day: 8 favorite candy bars

Ninth Day: 9 Fortunes (We placed "fortunes" in nine fortune cookies, which were in a Chinese take-out box.)

Tenth Day: 10 Treasure Hearts

Eleventh Day: 11 Cookies

Twelfth Day: 12 Balloons with 12 Nutter Butters (We attached a note to the package of Nutter Butters that read: There is "nuttin better" than you! We then tied the bouquet of balloons to the Nutter Butters. Each balloon had a message inside.)

On Bryan's birthday, we enjoyed family time while eating cake and ice cream!

Bryan is the love of my life! He is my best friend! I thank my Heavenly Father for such an amazing husband and friend. I am so blessed to have him in my life. We are a team! He keeps me "sane" in moments of insanity, and keeps me laughing through every day life. He is my other half.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

~NEW BEGINNINGS~
For the last few years, I have been the Young Women's President in my ward. I feel so blessed to be able to learn from our Heavenly Father's precious daughters. Part of that blessing is being able to share in memories like "New Beginnings".
This year for New Beginnings we centered our thoughts around Elder Utchdorf's talk, "Your Happily Ever After". We opened the evening by showing a video clip with the girl's pictures in conjunction with pieces of Elder Utchdorf's talk. It was a Mormon Message made specially for our YW. We then had each YW introduce each value of the Personal Progress program. We had different ways of introducing each value. Some were introduced through music, and some were introduced by the YW sharing personal experience-each value was demonstrated as a point on a map directing the YW to Eternal Life. (In Elder Utchdorf's talk, he refers often to the "map" Heavenly Father has given us to follow.) As the YW would introduce a value, a map was projected, and each value was highlighted. The spirit was strong as the YW bore testimony, and explained the YW program to the new YW. All the while, the underlining theme was Elder Utchdorf's talk, "Your Happily Ever After".
The evening was truly inspiring. The spirit was present. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to learn and grow along with these precious YW. I know that Heavenly Father loves them, and wants what is best for them--He love us all, and because He does--he gives us direction through His apostles. Elder Utchdorf's words reached to the very core of these young girls. He explained that our "once upon a time" is now, and it is our privilege to write the stories of our lives--we choose our own path! He said, "'happily ever after' is not something found only in fairy tales. You can have it! It is available for you! But you must follow your Heavenly Father's map."
Heavenly Father has given the youth tools that will help them follow His plan or His "map". He has given the young women the Personal Progress program, and the young men the Duty to God program. He has given the young men and the young women a booklet of standards called, "For the Strength of Youth". I know that if the youth of the church, and even the adults of the church will follow these guidelines, we will be blessed, and we will someday see our Father in Heaven, and it will be the ending of a great chapter and the beginning of our "HAPPILY EVER AFTER"!


Each young woman received a journal to remind them that right now is their "once upon a time", and they are writing their own stories to reach their "happily ever after".


Leader's and YW singing, "Live Like You Believe" by Jenny Phillips.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

FEBRUARY 7, 2011; Happy Birthday, AMBER!!

After having a surprise party on Saturday, Amber couldn't wait for her "actual" birthday. Grandma and Grandpa Miller were coming from Rupert, and she was anxiously awaiting their visit...

For Amber's birthday, Jake and I met Amber at her school, and ate lunch with her. She was surprised and excited, and begged us to play at recess for a bit. Also during school, Grandma and Grandpa Elkington sent a bouquet of flowers with a large stuffed elephant. It was such a nice way of saying "I love you". Amber felt so special!
After school, Grandma and Grandpa Miller journeyed with us to the Ronald McDonald House to deliver Amber's birthday presents. (For Amber's party, we asked guests to not worry about gifts; however, if they wanted to brings gifts, to bring them for the Ronald McDonald House. I think sometimes when kids have a "friend" party, they receive too many gifts, and the focus becomes all about receiving. By having a charity party, we avoid the monster of greed, and we learn about service and love.) When Amber had a party a few years ago, she chose to have a Ronald McDonald House party. It was completely her idea, and it ended up being an amazing experience for her and for our family. With these thoughts in mind, I felt confident in having her surprise party follow the same idea. The spirit of giving is such an amazing feeling...I am so grateful for these experiences in our lives that teach us to give.
After the RMH, we ventured to Game World for a few games of miniature bowling, and air hockey (while we waited for daddy to get off work). As soon as daddy called, we were off to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. (Amber had been asking to go to The Cheesecake Factory for a while, so we thought it would be a fun family birthday activity with Grandma and Grandpa.) The girls were so excited about the whole scenery, the lights--the whole atmosphere thrilled them! They kept pointing and gasping, and giggling excitedly. They were thrilled to be at a "nice" restaurant.
To cap off the evening, Grandma and Grandpa came home with us, so we could open birthday presents. Grandma and Grandpa gave Amber an American Girl doll, and she was thrilled!

~RMH~


~GAME WORLD~



Amber was so excited that it was her birthday that she told everyone! She told the worker at Game World, and they gave her $10 in bonus money, and a goody bag.


~CHEESECAKE FACTORY~


~Opening her American Girl Doll~



Friday, March 11, 2011

FEBRUARY 5
I was so grateful when I threw a party for Amber to have the help of so many amazing people. My two good friends, Ruthanne and Salena, came over, and helped with final preparations, and these two young women, Kennedy and Katie, came over to help run the party! I was truly grateful to everyone! I really do not think I would have been able to do it without their help. It reminds me to think of others more often...even in seemingly unimportant things like a little girl's birthday party...

~American Girl Surprise Party~
For the past year, Amber has been informing me of her "golden birthday". A "golden birthday" is when you turn the same age as the "date" of your birthday, so this year Amber was turning 7, and her birthday is February 7, which means--it was her "golden birthday". She was thrilled! And because it was her "golden birthday", she really wanted it to be "extra" special. She started asking for a birthday party a full year in advance (we usually keep to family parties around here). And that is when my scheming began...
For Amber's seventh birthday, we threw her an American Girl surprise party. This may have been the trickiest thing I have ever pulled off. Planning the little details, and handing out invitations all the while keeping it a secret from Amber. Even while the planning was in the works, we had several situations that caused me to hold my breath. One time Amber asked if she could have a party...my response was tricky--I didn't want her to know about her party, but I also wanted to be honest. Another time, Amber saw Hailey and I discussing things, and we simply dismissed it as something for her birthday. Again, I was worried that her big "surprise" was completely obvious. Another time, Bryan had asked me about the pinata while I was talking to him on the phone, and I answered him while Amber was standing right next to me. I died as she started jumping up and down chanting, "I'm getting a pinata. I'm getting a pinata. I'm getting a pinata." After that--I was positive she knew something was going on, and I was even more sure when the big day arrived, and oddities kept happening. Oddities like: why she had to go to dad's work for four hours when mom was home?, or why I didn't want her to bring her American Girl doll to work with her?...all of these things just capitalized on the fact that I was sure she was just playing along, and she knew that she was getting a party!
So, as the moment of truth arrived, I held my breath--sure of the "lack" of surprise...; however, I was wrong! As she walked into the house, her expression was pure shock, joy, and excitement! She turned in a couple of circles surveying her friends, and the decorations. Shock was evident on her face, and my heart beamed! We had done it! We pulled it off! (The day of the party two of my dear friends, Ruthanne Horton and Salena Langston, came over to finish with preparations...I never would have been prepared without their help--I was so grateful to them! It was because of them that we were able to "truly" pull it off.)
Amber and Hailey love the American Girl series! They love the stories, the dolls, and the movies. It seemed like an obvious theme for Amber's birthday party; however, it proved difficult to plan. There were not many ideas on-line, so I had to start from scratch. I can't believe how much time I spent in preparing for this party. Finally, as ideas evolved into concrete plans, this is how it happened:

For the party, we first played games focusing on the different era's of the American girl dolls, and then we had a "Samantha" themed dinner.

Here is a list of games I found (I researched forever...but, I think it was well worth the time...the girls had a blast!):

1900 Games: SAMANTHA

Arch Tag-
The children are in a circle. Two children form an arch with their arms as the other children rotate through the arch in a circle. On signal (I used music), the circle stops and the arch traps someone. The person trapped goes in the center of the circle and waits for another person to be caught. They then form a second arch. The last person caught is the winner.

Hot and Cold-One person is it and leaves the group. The rest choose an object in the room and when "it" returns they help him find the object by singing and increasing the volume as he nears the object and decreasing when he moves away from the object. (We did this to find their goody bags.)

Musical Chairs-We played the opposite of musical chairs where nobody got "out" of the game, but rather they had to all pile on less and less chairs until there was only one chair left, and all the girls had to get on it in someway or another.

Musical Present-(I used this for party favors.)We passed a present, and each time the music stopped--the children would take off a layer of wrapping. When the last layer was pulled away, there was an American Girl Short Story book for each girl. I found a set of six books on-line for only $1.99 on both Amazon, and Barnes & Nobles. I ordered a couple of sets for a perfect party favor. The children were thrilled with their party favors. (We had five different layers of wrapping.)

Other games during Samantha's era that we didn't play, but looked fun:
Hot Potato

Kick the Can

Jail Break-
The children will choose someone to be "it". The person who is it counts one o'clock, two o'clock, three o'clock rock, four o'clock, six o'clock, eight o'clock, nine o'clock rock, ten o'clock, eleven o'clock twelve o'clock rock, midnight! He then tries to find the others who have hidden. When someone is tagged, the go to jail (usually the porch). The children who are not tagged, try to step on jail and this will cause a jailbreak. the others are free. When all the children have been sent to jail, the first one in is now the person who is it.

Musical Hoops-Place Hula Hoops on the ground, one less than there are children. When the music stops, the children must stand in a hoop. Remove one hoop, but not a child for each round. Continue until there is only one hoop and all of the children are it it.

Here are the games we played in Samantha's Era:
~Arch Tag~

~ARCH TAG~

~Musical Chairs~

1940's Games: Molly

Blind man's Bluff-
One person is blind folded, and the other children hide. After the child with the blindfold has been spun several times, he/she searches for the other children (the other children may not move once the search has begun) by yelling "Blind man's", and the other children respond by saying "Bluff".

Other games during Molly's era, that looked fun:
Blind man's Wand-A variation of Blind man's Bluff,this version utilizes a stick in which the other children take turns grasping one end while the "blind" player holds the other end. The "blind" player then asks 3 questions to the player holding the opposite end of the stick, and the aim of the game is to recognize the voice of the player who replies. Therefore, the players try to disguise their voices.

Musical Chairs

Battle of the Oranges-
Divide the kids into pairs. They will battle one pair at at time. Each warrior is armed with a tablespoon on which an orange is placed. On "go", they will try to knock the opponent's orange off the spoon, using only the one hand which hold the spoon and the orange. The winner is the one left with the orange.

Here are the games we played for Molly's era:
~Blind man's Bluff~

~Blind man's Bluff~

Kit Kittredge/Josephina

Kit's story is centered around the great depression, and a key aspect to her story is Kit finding the money that was stolen from their home before her family loses their home. With this in mind, we had a "Treasure Hunt" to find Kit's treasure, which was a goat pinata, which was also Josephina's pet.

~Treasure Hunt~

1800's Games: Kirsten

Drop the Handkerchief-(This is the version we played)
The main idea of this game is to drop the handkerchief without the other players knowing. The players in the ring must look toward the center at all times, and they can't turn their heads to watch the runner behind them. If the runner is creative, they can try to trick the other players. For instance, they may speed up the pace after they drop, or not vary in pace at all to leave no clue. The runner can also make a lot of noise to distract the other players. As soon as the player in the circle discovers that the handkerchief has been dropped behind them, he must pick it up and chase the runner who dropped it. The runner may run around the outside of the circle, or at any point through or across the circle. The goal is to reach the vacant space left by the person chasing. Whichever player reaches the vacant space first stays there, and the other player takes the handkerchief and begins the next round.

Drop the Handkerchief #2- (I found this version later, and it seemed fun.)
The children chant:
A tiskit, a tasket,
A green and yellow basket,
I wrote a letter to my love, But on the way, I dropped it;
A little child picked it up and put it in his pocket.
The child that is "it" drops the handkerchief on someones head, and that person must try to be the "it" person back to their spot by chasing them around the outer edge of the circle (much like duck, duck, goose).

Other games that looked fun:
Button Button

Clothespin Drop-
hold the clothespin to your nose, and without bending over, try to drop it into a mason jar that is sitting on the floor.

I also found on-line an idea to make jam and bread for Kirsten's time period.

~Drop the Handkerchief~

~Drop the Handkerchief~

JULIE

Julie is from the 1970's, and wore crocheted hats. For Julie's activity we made flower clips to go on a crocheted hats. I found the crocheted hats and flowers for a great price at haloheaven.com.

DINNER:

For dinner I decorated for Samantha's era. Everything was suppose to look fancy just as it would have looked if we were really in the early 1900's. I even researched food items from that time period, and pizza came to America in the early 1900's, which seemed perfect and simple. Before we ate dinner, we opened "star boxes", which I had prepared beforehand with notes from each girl's mom about each girl's inner star. The American Girl theme is "FINDING YOUR INNER STAR", so I wanted each girl to know how truly special they really are, and to remember their inner star! It was so fun! The girls were so excited to hear what their mom's wrote about them! The table had star confetti, and over the table there was star cutouts hanging from the ceiling.



~ STAR FRUIT PIZZA in the American Girl Colors~


For Goody Bags the girls left with a book, a crocheted Julie hat, and a flower hair clip. They also had the starburst candy (from the pinata). I chose "starburst" candy, because I wanted to focus on the "inner star". I spent less than $3 per bag, which I felt was great considering they got a book, a hat, and a hair clip.

When the party was over, Amber pulled me aside, and told me that during the party she excused herself. She said that while she was away, she started to cry because she was so happy, and grateful for the amazing party...she wanted to make sure that I knew that she was grateful--that makes it all worth it!

Thursday, March 10, 2011

~BOOK of MORMON Celebration Party~
January 10, 2011


After Hailey, Bryan and I completed reading The Book of Mormon, & Jacob and Amber completed reading The Book of Mormon Reader, we celebrated our accomplishments with a party! We had five different Events throughout the evening:

Event 1: Lamanite Headbands (so we could pretend we belonged in the Book of Mormon story)
Event 2: Lamanite Pie complete with candlelight (I wander if they had candles back then???)
Event 3: The Miller Family Title of Liberty/Creed
Event 4: Book of Mormon Charades
Event 5: Nephite Banana Boats

Along with all the fun activities, we had a spiritual side to the evening as well. Bryan and I were able to bear testimony of the truthfulness of The Book of Mormon. We testified of the power it had in our lives, and how we knew that through reading The Book of Mormon, we have gained a stronger testimony of Christ, and we have become better people by living by its teachings. We also watched a video that testified of Christ. My kids were so excited about their accomplishment. They had a fun evening in both gaming and spirituality. It was definitely a family bonding experience, which we can't wait to repeat!

Event 1: Lamanite Headbands


Event 2: Lamanite Pie



Event 3: Miller Family Creed/Miller Family Title of Liberty


Event 4: Book of Mormon Charades
Liahona

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

~Christmas Break~
Christmas evening found us drinking hot chocolate while watching the snow fall, in the mountains! We absolutely love going to Featherville! The great outdoors + family = a formula for family bonding!
YUMMY SNOW!

TUBING!

RIDING BEHIND THE SNOWMOBILE!



~CHRISTMAS EVE~
We have a few traditions on Christmas Eve that always make us laugh. One of those traditions is to act out the story of Christ's birth. This year we decided to record our acting, and then watch our rendition of Christ's birth--we laughed until our sides hurt. It was our best rendition yet!


This year Christmas held special moments. We decided to focus more on the Savior. We used a book called, "A Christ-Centered Christmas", and day by day we learned about different figures in the nativity. With each figure, we had a small activity to go along with it. On one of the evenings we had a testimony meeting with candlelight. The spirit was so strong. I will never forget the testimony of my children on that sacred night. I knew that they knew that the Gospel was true. I was grateful for taking the time to create the experiences we were sharing ,because I knew that each experience was adding to their testimonies. I can't wait to do it again next year!
~HUGS FOR HOPE~
My dear friend, Jason Fisher, passed away in October from a brain tumor. In his memory, his beautiful wife set up a foundation called "Hugs for Hope". Jason had always wanted to do something for the children who were suffering from cancer, and so this was Heather's way of helping his dream be realized.
As a young women's and young men's group, we coordinated with Heather, and made 50 "hugs for hope". A "hug" is a scarf with gloves on the end, which make the scarf resemble a "hug". Not only were the young women and young men involved, but my family as well. Both Hailey, and Amber wanted to make a "hug" for the children with cancer.
On December 21, 2010, we delivered our "hugs". We were only able to meet with one cancer patient. She was 8-years-old, and absolutely beautiful. She smiled with a brightness of hope, and courage. Our hearts were touched as she graciously accepted a hug. As I walked away, I wiped a tear from my eye...it just didn't seem fair.
I am grateful to have been a part of something so amazing. I wish there was something more I could do for cancer patients. For now...I will continue praying!

~My children with the 50 "hugs"~

~Kirsten, Ashley, Katie, & Kennedy~

~Our Young Women's Group~