Touching Base

It's been a busy, slightly overwhelming week.  My first week of school is over.  I'm done with my assignments and now have the chance to start working ahead a bit.  I'm grateful.  It's been a good week!  Today we are going to clean the house, hit the library (it's library day) and then do some grocery shopping.  Then date night!  Yeah! 

Bryan and I have started going out every Friday night.  We have Charity watch the kids for us.  We just started last week.  It went wonderful.  She did such a great job!  It will be so good for us to have that time together.  The kids really like it too.  Faith woke up and asked what day it was.  I told her it was Friday.  She said "yeah, that means Charity gets to watch us!"  Too cute! 

Well I'm off to get everything done.  I think I'm going to take the kids to the zoo tomorrow, so I want to make sure I'm set to do that! 


Kid Moment for the Day:

Hope has continued to be so cute with her Daddy.  As soon as she sees him pull in the driveway, she jumps up from her seat exclaiming "Daddy's home!"  If she misses the fact that he has gotten home, and comes to find that has already happened unbeknownst to her, we really hear about it.  "How come nobody told me that Daddy is home?" she says as she is stumbling to put her shoes on and get out the door as fast as she can to give her Dad a joyous greeting.  Neither one of us is quite sure what brought this on, but she is quite the Daddy's girl right now.  He feels like the luckiest man alive!

David's Work

I'm posting late tonight.  I went on a date with Emily Martyn.  She's 19 and seems to think I'm cool enough to hang out with.  Works for me.  I had a great time!  We went to get some yummy Italian and then went to see the new Snow White movie.  It was a great night out!  Now I'm headed to bed.  I am ready.  Play hard, sleep great! 

Kid Moment for the Day:

As soon as David is up and dressed he's pushing to go outside.  He informs me he's headed out.  I say, "oh, you are going out to play?"  He says, "No Mom, I don't play, I work!  I'm headed out to do my work!"  It's never play anymore.  It's always work.  He goes right out and gets busy with one project or another....digging under the porch, playing in the sand, etc.  Soo cute!

The Muffin Thief

I'm headed to bed because I'm exhausted tonight.  I'm still not on top of it since I spent a few nights up with my sister at the hospital.  Goes to show how much we get divine help when our babies are born.  I'm still dragging from just a couple of nights of little sleep and Rach is still up all night with her little one.  So funny!  


I just wanted to touch base real quick.  I hate when I let too much time go between posts.  I need to remember that even if it's just a few sentences, when my babies get older and want to get a peak at what life was like, those few sentences will mean everything!  


Kid Moment for the Day:


I made muffins today.  David loves muffins and will eat as many as I will let him.  He ate several for lunch.  When dinner rolled around I handed him one and told him that was it.  I wanted to make sure his sisters got one as well (there were only a few left).  He ate his muffin and then climbed up to the counter and grabbed a second one.  Dana (a friend of mine who was over for dinner) told him he should probably check with me first.  I overheard her and headed over to remind him that we were saving those for his sisters.  Quick as lightning he broke it all up, then for good measure shoved half of it in his mouth.  Little twerp.  I was shocked.  David seldom does things like that.  He sat on a little time out after a very surprised look from his mother.  I think he thought it was totally worth it, though!

The Tooth Fairy

It's a beautiful Saturday morning!  I am going to take Hope to the church to practice her skit for the talent show, in just a minute.  When we get back we are headed to the lake.  Bryan took the day off today.  It will be nice to spend some time as a family. 

This last week was soooo busy!  I take my Psy test Tuesday morning, early.  I feel like I will do well.  Then I get a couple weeks break before I start in on my summer term.  I think I'm going to do some painting during that time.  Now that we are staying, for sure, I want to start making this house mine. 

I'm going to go eat breakfast now.  Just wanted to touch base really quick. 

Kid Moment for the Day:

The tooth fairy has a really hard time showing up at our house, at least in any sort of timely manner!  (This is where I get an "F" as a mother)  After tucking my kids into bed I went into my room and noticed a piece of paper stuck to the wall above my bed.  It said "Teeth that fall out of your head deserve quarters!" (Charity pulled one of her teeth out a few days ago and has been patiently waiting for the tooth fairy to show up!)  Quarters were under her pillow when she woke up this morning.  She is collecting the states and I think I got her a new one, so she will be happy about that.   

Hope

The day has finally arrived!  It is Hope's birthday!  She turns 10 today.  I can't believe I had her a decade ago!   

She was born at 11:59pm on May 12th, Mother's Day that year.  I got to the hospital and they broke my water because I was dilated too far, but not contracting regularly enough.  She came one hour after that.  

I remember walking the halls with Bryan, leaning over during contractions.  All of a sudden, as soon as I would stand up to continue walking, I was leaning over again.  Then the upper part of my legs started hurting.  I could hardly walk.  I told Bryan that I needed to go lie down.  After I got settled, he went to get me a few ice chips.  He wasn't even to the door and I told him I needed to push.  The rest was a whirlwind after that.  Trying to get everyone in there and everything ready.  They told me not to push, which is about impossible to do!  She was crowning as the doctor was getting his gloves on.  My sister Rachel, and sister in law Michelle came in at that point.  It was crazy.  She came out in one push!  After Charity's 18 hours (they are only a year apart so it hadn't been that long ago for me) I couldn't believe I was holding a baby in my arms.  So fast it was surreal.  There was suppose to be so much more labor, much more hard work on my part, before the grand finish.  I had a hard time taking it all in.

Now it's 10 years later.  She still is the easiest on me, by far.  Nothing is hard with Hope.  She's my little angle from heaven!  She is Heavenly Father's gift to me!  I love her so much! 

Hope is the most forgiving person in our family.  All she wants is to be close to those she loves.  She is quick to apologize and quick to appreciate any little thing you do. (like I said, she is really easy on me!)  She wants everyone to feel loved and included.  We call her the family diplomat.  

I asked Hope what she wanted to do today.  She said she wanted to be a part of making all the things that are on her list for the day: fruit shake with homemade granola for breakfast, bean dip for lunch, and taco salad for dinner with gingerbread men and apple crisp for dessert.  So we are going to cook all day and fill in the gaps with whatever she would like.  Then she requested a Harry Potter movie this evening and a sleepover with Mom.  

Well everyone is starting to get up, so I'm going to go tackle Hope!  

Kid Moment for the Day:

When Hope feels mad, angry, sad, hurt, scared, you name it, she wants a hug.  Even if I'm the person she is mad at, she still wants me to give her a hug.  She will burst into tears and tell me "I just need a hug."  Everything is better after that!   
  

The Hand That Feeds You

Today has been a great day!  I feel so happy.  I love school! (with my kids and myself) I love our schedule.  I had a fantastic time at Pilate's (an exercise group I started; we did a video)  I got all my chicks and ducklings situated out in the chicken shed.  My kids are all tucked into bed.  I read to them for a bit before lights out.  I worked on school.  Now I'm snuggled next to my hubby and am going to head to bed after this.  Such a nice day! 

I went out to do one last thing with my chicks this afternoon.  I came in the coop and several came running up.  I squatted down and a few of them let me pet right under their beaks.  I was a bit surprised.  They were much more skittish the last time I spent time with them.  I decided to get some food and feed them from my hand.  They dove in with a vengeance!  I thought, wow, they must really be hungry.  Maybe they don't know where their food is.  (I had moved them to a new spot in the coop to make room for our ducklings)  So I took them over to the food.  They looked at the food and then at me.  I showed them again.  They were giving me the "not so much" look.  So I thought I would try feeding them again.  I got another scoop and held it out for them.  Once again they scarfed the food, and sometimes my skin, until every last bit was gone!  Oh, my chicks love me. 

Well, I'm going to head off to bed.  I have a long day ahead of me tomorrow.

Kid Moment for the Day:

The kids are adjusting to Daddy being gone again.  He is home a lot during the winter, and is slammed in the spring, especially until all his customers are mulched.  Hope was really missing him and decided to make him a welcome home sign.  It said "Welcome home, Daddy!  Thanks for working so hard! Love Hope T.C."  He got it late that night, after a really long day at work.  It meant a lot to him. 

Good night!

The Zoo

I took the kids to the zoo yesterday.  (Bryan was working, so he didn't go with us)  I haven't been to the zoo in FOREVER!  As we were pulling up, it felt like I was going to Disney World or something.  The kids and I were so excited.  We purchased a membership and headed in for the day's adventure.  

We didn't see everything.  We plan on going back a lot, so we just focused on a few areas.  I promised Faith we would go see the lions first.  It took us a while to find them, and we saw a bunch of stuff on the way, but we finally reached our destination.  They were sleeping, of course.  Here is a picture of them enjoying the afternoon sun. 

On the way to the lions we saw these bats.  They were the coolest bats I have ever seen.  They are the largest bat in the world (if I'm remembering right) and have a wingspan of 6 ft.  We were watching one groom himself, stretch, and just be busy.  I thought he was going to bust through his wing, it is so thin.

We went to the polar bear exhibit, which is a new exhibit.  This guy looked like he was playing the guitar.  He was a crack up, so full of personality!
 

We went to the underground viewing there.  They had glass that went up over your head so you could look up and see water right above you.  Because you can't see the water, it looks like the fish are flying!  Such a neat effect.

We are getting ready to move on to the next area.

We headed to one of our favorite areas last.  We love the aquarium.  I could spend hours just watching the fish.  It was neat to see how excited David was! 
 

This guy came up and started eating the lettuce right in front of us at the manatee's exhibit.  My older girls thought that was so cool. 

Here the kids are right before we left.  We had such a good time!  I really wish Bryan had been able to go with us.  He loves the zoo too.



I wanted to add one more thing to my previous post's list of things to help me be successful.  It won't always be possible, but most of the time I would like to work hard during the week so I can spend Saturday playing with my kids!  That means house work, school work, everything.  My date night with Bryan is Saturday night as well, so that gives me Friday night to push hard!  That's my goal.  I worked really hard last week, and spent a lot of time Friday night doing homework, so I spent Saturday with my family.  It was so wonderful and refreshing.  Sundays always recharge me spiritually, so by Monday morning I'm going to be ready to hit it hard again.

I need to get my kids ready for church. (we have church at 1:00pm this year) It is fast and testimony Sunday, one of my favorites!  Charity always shares her testimony every month.  I am always in awe as I listen to her talk.  I'm excited. 

Kid Moment for the Day:

A little while ago David was eating breakfast and talking with me.  I can't remember what about exactly, but I think he was telling me about monsters or something, and maybe a dream he had.  He said the cutest thing during that conversation.  He said, "I shoot bad guys.  I'm a saver.  I'm a bad guy to bad guys!" (said with emphasis)

Man, I love him! 

Have a great Sunday!

  

My Gold Nuggets of Success

So here are a couple thoughts that will help me to be successful with school and wife/mother responsibilities.  If I stick by these, I know I will do well.

1) Get my sleep.  This is one of the first thoughts I had.  If I'm shortcutting this, in the end I will not gain anything, but lose a whole lot. 

2) I need to have good food on hand. (which means I need to cook)  Especially with my dietary requirements, I can't live off quick foods, and starving isn't really an option. 

3) My house needs to be clean.  I can't think straight when it's not.  It doesn't need to be eat off the floor clean, but picked up and not filthy.

4) I need to spend time snuggled up to my hubby every night.  I can study, I just need to be studying next to him.  (thank goodness I'm finding it easy to study while the TV is on, not something I use to be able to do)  It allows me to connect to him and keeps things going well between us.

5) Date night once a week.  No studying or anything else.  One night a week that belongs just to Bryan.

6) No studying on Sunday, for religious reasons.  I am using Sundays for my planning day.  I get everything ready for my next week.

7) I read over this and realized that I forgot my morning routine.  I learned, when I started homeschooling my kids, if I don't do this, my day never gets started.  It's horrible!  So my routine includes: up, exercise/scripture reading, (I have started putting these together for time) dressed and ready.  If I miss any one of those, I'm in trouble.

Boy, I am sounding high maintenance!  How do I have time to do anything else.  I don't know, but I get many hours of studying in every day...and I'm blogging now.  No pat on my back.  I was hardly making it happen BEFORE I took on school.  That's how it works, though.  When I feel that something needs to happen, a way is always provided! 

There it is!  I am already reaping the benefits from following my own rules. They truly are my gold nuggets of success.  If I get off, it won't take me to long to rectify the situation;  I will start failing miserably.  It is one of the advantages of taking on something challenging later on in life.  I have learned the things that really help my life to work, and the things that sink me immediately. 

Here is my Kid Moment For the Day:

I woke up a couple of days ago and found this on the fridge.  Hope reminding us that her birthday is coming up quick.  I thought it was creative how she manipulated the other letters to create her message.  Very Hope!   

 

My Study Schedule

I have spent the last few days figuring out a new schedule.  Starting school definitely requires some changes.  How do I add several hours of studying in every day?  Good question.  It's not like I had a bunch of down time before. 

I went to schedule my classes for this summer and realized I needed Psy 100 to get into 2 of my classes.  I asked them if they would wave the prerequisite but they said no.  I begged and pleaded and they agreed to give me the study guide and then let me take the final.  If I pass with a 70 or above they will give me credit for the class.  Hence the need to figure out my study schedule already. 

I did some juggling and brainstorming, found a way to keep the most important things, scratch less important ones and fit it all in, amazingly!  I teach all my kids their lessons for the day then we all study.  After lunch I cook, clean, spend time with my kids and everything else that needs to be done, until bedtime where I then snuggle up with Bryan and study for another couple of hours.  Works rather nicely.  It's amazing how a little bit of organizing can go a long way to freeing up some time.  I honestly can't believe I'm getting it all in, but I am and it is working out. 

It's late.  I have more I want to say, but I want to get some sleep too.  I will tell you more about a few thoughts I had on how to be successful at what I'm undertaking, next time. 

Before I sign off everyday, I would like to take a moment to share something one of my kids did or said, that way I'm getting as many of those cute memories recorded as possible. 

My kid moment for today:

Charity made up a song about the foods that are on Hope's "I will not eat" list.  She sings it to her when she wants to be especially annoying.   Hope is oh so fond of it.  It goes like this: (I wish I could give you the tune, it's really obnoxious!)

Peanut butter and honey,
celery and Carmel too. 
I'll chew it all up
and give it all to you!

Sweet, huh?  Yeah, Hope thinks so too.  Ha. 

That's all for tonight!  Hope you all have a great night. 

Easter Pics

I downloaded these pictures out of order, but I am too tired to fix them and would like to get the pictures up so I'm leaving it.  All the planting happened after Easter.  The kids had so much fun.  The plants have now all come up and are looking beautiful.  I plan on canning a bunch of tomatoes this year.  I am going to try out a few salsa recipes before hand so I can do some salsa as well.  Here the kids are helping me plant the seeds.  They were so gentle and careful about it!

David and a couple of the girls decided to make designs in the driveway and fill them with water.

We got a new batch of chicks the Saturday before Easter.  (they are already so big now, but here they are just a few days old)  Aren't they cute?

They are so sleepy when they are little.  This one didn't even make it to lying down.

Hope had a friend over and my kids got the chicks out to show them off.  When they were done I went over to peak on them and this is what I found.  They were so exhausted from all the playing they didn't even budge when I took their picture.  Down for the count.

I took the kids to the church for the Ward Easter Activity.  After I did the girls hair Bryan asked me to get pictures of them.  I was running out the door late, so I snapped a couple on our way in.

After we got home we colored eggs with the Skaggs.  Bryan wanted me to get a shot of David's rain boots.  He won't be able to wear them very much longer.  Marta gave them to us.  He loves them.

Here is Bryan and my Easter basket.  So me and so him!  
Can you guess what belongs to whom?  He was happy to see his favorite candy waiting for him on Easter morning!

The Hunt!  Bryan hadn't done the trimming in our yard so it made it nice for hiding eggs.  The kids had such a good time.

I found Faith doing target practice with the Nerf guns.  She was really enjoying herself.  My kind of game!  I love it...one minute she's playing Pollys, the next target practice.

I meant to write a few thoughts I had on Easter about the Savior and the whole reason we celebrate the holiday, and got busy and didn't.  I love the family traditions and everything, but it seems wrong to include all of those and not my favorite part of the whole holiday!  

I was asked to teach at church that Sunday, so I spent the entire week previous to Easter studying and pondering over my lesson, which was about the immortality of the soul.  We know that we will live again because the Savior died and was resurrected, providing the way for each of us to be as well. I believe that with all my heart!  But what does that knowledge do for me?  How does it affect my life?  In my lesson it talked about how eternity doesn't start after this life, that mortality is a crucial part of eternity.  When we are at a crossroads and uncertain what we want to do or which way we want to go we need to remember that it is the beginning of eternal happiness or eternal disappointment for us.  We chart a course that not only affects our lives here, but throughout eternity. 

On Easter I spent time thinking about this.  I talked about it in my lesson.  I pondered over it again and again.  I want to live my life in a way that secures the blessings that I so desire in my future!  That is what Easter means to me...the Savior was resurrected...I will be resurrected...I want to live in a way that will gain me the desires of my heart when I cross over the veil and join those that have gone on before me.  I want to take advantage of this earth life.  The savior was the first to be resurrected.  When it is my turn, I want to be ready.  I will have already decided the outcome by the course I am charting today.  If I get off, I will course correct and keep going.  I appreciated the opportunity to think about this and be reminded of what the Savior did for me and the opportunities I now have because of Him!  I am so grateful for Him!  

Mom's Going Back to School!

I just got done getting Faith back to sleep.  She has been sick again and needed another dose of medicine.  Poor thing!  After I got her to sleep, I just laid in bed with my mind going a million miles an hour.  I couldn't go back to sleep so I thought I would blog for a little bit instead.  A lot of new things to share! 

I have decided to go back to school!  It is something I did several years ago, with some online classes.  I stopped because Bryan decided to go back and finish his degree and he didn't want both of us in school at the same time.  So I haven't gone since.  Now that he is out of school we have talked about me going back.  Up till this point it hasn't been something that has really felt right.  I haven't known what I have wanted to do and it is a large financial burden to take on.   Well that has changed now.  I have decided that I want to teach.  It has been coming on slowly for a while, and homeschooling my children as certainly been a part of that.  The final straw was when I took Charity in for her placement tests. (we are seeing if she will be placed in advanced classes next year) I walked into the middle school and felt a surge of joy.  It always happens to me when I walk into a school, but this time it hit me a little stronger.  That coupled with many other things I have been feeling, everything just clicked into place.  I went home and started doing some research. 

There are a couple private colleges that will allow me to get my license with a bachelors only, but they are expensive.  Then there is Ohio State, which is ranked number 10 in the whole nation for their education department, which will license me only by going all the way through to a masters.  I talked with advisors from the local community college, from OSU and from the other two private colleges.  I found that the undergraduate program at OSU is offered at the off campus sites at a fraction of the price as going on campus.  It also brings my education closer to home.  So my plan is to go to Columbus State for as long as I can, transfer to OSU and finish my undergraduate degree at the Newark location and then head on campus to finish my masters and get my license.  That will take me a few years shy of David entering middle school.  Perfect timing!  I will be in school when my kids are and off when they are.

They do things differently now than they use to.  I have the option of being licensed for grades K through 3, 4 through 9 or 7 through 12.  I want to teach middle school, so I will go for the 4 through 9.  I am suppose to pick two areas of focus.  I am going to do Language Arts and History, the two that I find myself the most drawn to while homeschooling and in general!   

I'm going to continuing homeschooling, and plan to put each of my kids in school as they hit 6th grade.  For my school, I will be able to do most classes on line for the first few years, and the ones I can't, I can schedule during the winter when Bryan is home all day.  For the periods of time where I know I will need to go in all day, I can put kids in school if I have to, but I have a feeling things will work out for me to continue to homeschool.  Call it a hunch or whatever, but somehow I think it will work out.  We'll see. 

I am so excited!  It is going to be a lot of work, though!!!!  I start June 18th.  I am going to wrap up the school year with my kids by the end of May and then take a couple weeks off before I dive into my school!  I am really looking forward to it.  It will be a challenge, juggling everything on my plate, but a challenge that I am up for...  I have a picture in my mind of walking across the stage in cap and gown receiving my degree and license to teach!  I'm going to hold that picture in my head and not stop until I get there!  Then to teaching!  I will love that!  It will be a huge blessing to our family as well, filling in a bunch of needs Bryan and I have been wracking our brains trying to figure out how to fill.  I will also be grateful to know that if anything happens to Bryan, I will be in a position to care for my family in a manner that still allows me to be a stay at home mom while doing something I love.  Perfect again! 

What's weird is that instead of cutting back what I'm doing, the impression I had, even before I had the feeling to start school, was to look at taking on a little boy David's age to homeschool with him. (I checked with the laws of Ohio and I'm allowed to do that)  David is so social and really could use a playmate.  At first glance that seemed like the worst idea, but the more I thought about it, I realized it's actually going to be more helpful than anything.  When kids are busy doing school and David is done with his work, I am his playmate.  It would actually be very helpful for him to have someone to play with.  I would be able to get more of my school done while the kids are doing their school work.  My homeschooling schedule is refined enough that adding another kid into the mix would not be that big of a deal.  Plus, David doesn't have any brothers, and I would love for him to have a boy to play with.  The only problem is finding someone his age whose parents are looking for that type of situation.  Not the easiest thing in the world.  Not something I'm going to put an ad in the paper for.  So I'm just passing it along, word of mouth, and see what comes of it.  With so many parents interested in homeschooling now, maybe it will work out. 

Even though I'm going to be crazy busy, I am going to continue to blog, even if it's a little bit here and there.  I would like to be able to look back, at the end of this road, and have a record of what the journey was like. 

Well, I'm going to curl up with my hubby for a little bit (he's snoring next to me) before I'm going to crawl out of bed for the day.  A very little bit, I hear my girls alarm going off.  Maybe I will post a few pictures today, or tomorrow.  We'll see how the day goes and how Faith is doing.

My Weekend

I always feel like I'm going to have all the time in the world on weekends.  The weekend starts...then ends, and I find that about all I have really accomplished is that I have spent time with family.  Some weekends it is more than that...however, I still go in thinking that I'm going to get so much more done than I'm able to.  Oh well!  One of the things that fell off my list was to post our Easter pictures as well as a few others,  like our baby chicks.  I want to include a few pictures of our spring time activities.  Hopefully I can get to that tomorrow, amongst a few other things that fell off my list from this weekend. 

On Friday my studio experience was really neat!  In all my life I would never have imagined myself sitting on a stool with a bunch of lights and a camera on me.  I do not have talents that lend me to being in that situation.  It really took me out of my comfort zone.  Talking on camera does not come natural to me...AT ALL!  They wanted me to just tell my story rather than read it from a teleprompter.  They had me do it a few different times adding different details each time.  They are going to take the best of those.  They seemed really pleased with how it turned out, so I was happy about that.  I will be one of a few videos for the credit union's website, I believe.  They are going to let me know when it's done.  I will add a link when it is so you guys can see it.  I hope it turns out okay. 

Well, I'm off to bed.  I'm really tired and need to be up bright and early tomorrow morning.  I'm looking forward to my routine tomorrow.  I need a break from the weekend.  Hah! 

Postponing Pictures

I have a lot of pictures I wanted to get up today as well as a few neat stories to share, but I'm going to post pone until this weekend.  I took Charity to get some new clothes (she has grown out of everything again and has very little to wear) and then went grocery shopping.  We headed out after school and didn't get back until late.  So my day is gone and now I'm too tired to do much.  Tomorrow is going to be pretty busy as well.  The credit union that refinanced our home asked me to come into the studio tomorrow and repeat the nice words I sent them in an email, on film.  (Not something I have ever done before) I will gather up kids and school work and take them to my in-laws for the morning, go into the studio and get that done, and then head home, picking up one of Faith's friends on the way, to finish whatever home school my kids still need, and squeeze whatever else I can fit into my schedule to finish off the day.  I will pop in some time this weekend with a few pictures and a couple fun stories.  Until then, wish me luck tomorrow.  I hope I'm not a blabbering idiot.

Easter Aftermath

This is going to be a quick post.  I still have a bazillion things to do.  We had family friends come stay with us all day Saturday and then again all day Monday. (they went home for Easter)  I am now playing catch up with everything.  


Easter was fantastic!  I got some pictures of the kids doing their egg hunt.  I will post them later tonight or sometime tomorrow.  They really enjoyed it!  David told me it was better than Christmas, and that is really saying something for him.  (I have heard a whole lot about Christmas since Christmas)  But Easter takes the cake, I guess.  I was thrilled my kids were so pleased.


    

Easter Plans

Every year we do an egg hunt with our kids.  In previous years it has been a chocolate egg hunt, but this year we are doing things a little differently.


The year has brought a few dietary changes in the Campbell household (which truly is a post in and of itself!)  The end result, I do not do ANY refined products!  My two oldest decided they didn't want to either.  (What kid would go without sugar...by choice!  I don't quite understand it.)  For me, it has helped my health to finally get turned around.  For my kids, it's just something they want to do.  My younger two still have treats with Daddy occasionally, but since they are getting those at the church egg hunt, and I have never been a fan of junk food for kids, I didn't mind scratching the candy out of the equation.


We have a ton of plastic eggs so I thought we would fill those with fun things instead.  I called my neighbor/friend Carrie and had a little brainstorming session, thank you Carrie, on what I could fill them with.  (I had also gotten a few ideas from the kids)  I settled on marbles, fake tattoos, erasers (which my kids love...David's are dinosaurs that have limbs that he can move) hair clippies, fruit snacks, and money.  The fruit snacks were a real find.  I wanted something for them to eat and I found a brand without any added sugar.  I was stoked!


I am going to assign each kid a color, or couple of colors.  I will fill their eggs and then write out a hint for where their Easter basket is (we hide them every year) and cut the hint up, putting one word in an egg.  After they find all of their eggs they will have to put the papers in order to see where their basket is.  For their baskets, the kids requested exotic fruit.  So I went to town (Meijer has a huge selection) and got them each a gift as well.  I can't wait for Sunday.  It's going to be a blast.  I am the most excited for this Easter than any one we have had so far.  (As much fun as Holidays were when I was a kid, it's even more fun as an adult, planning for your own kids!)


We will do our Easter hunt in the morning, go to church, head to Bryan's parents house for Easter Dinner (I'm making Rabbit Stew) and then home for a little family time and Daddy teaching us about why we celebrate Easter and about the gift our Savior has given each of us.  I'm so excited!  It's all going to be so great.    

Charity's Jokes

Today at lunch Charity was gracing us with a few more of her jokes.  I reflected back to a time, many years ago, when we were listening to a bunch of Charity's jokes.  She was probably 4.  We were eating Mexican with my family.  Charity was telling joke after joke to a very patient Aunt Rachel and Uncle Jared.  She would start with a question, they would say "what", and she would deliver a totally random punchline and then giggle hysterically.  The game continued until I finally stepped in and rescued them. Over the last several years she has kept up with the jokes and they have gotten FAR better.  We asked her to start writing them down in a little book, her joke book.  I wanted to share a few with you. Though I'm sure you could find some of these jokes somewhere, they are all original in the Campbell household.  


Q. Why don't snakes use utensils?
A. Because they have a forked tongue


Q. What did one bear say to another bear?
A. You have a bare butt


Q. What flower kisses the most?
A. A tulip


Q. If Satan could sing, how would he welcome you to hell?
A. Hell-oh, Hell-oh


Q. What kind of insect runs away from things?
A. A flea


Q. What kind of fish hates water?
A. A catfish


Q. Why didn't the girl want to eat her pea soup?
A. Because it was yellow


Q. What kind of hunt do rats do?
A. A scavenger hunt


Q. What did the shark put on his fish?
A. Sea salt


Q. What brings light to the ocean?
A. A sunfish 

Hope's Story for Grammar

For Hope's grammar assignment yesterday, she was asked to write a story about the picture below.  It was so enjoyable to read I thought I would share it.  I was impressed with how few spelling mistakes she had!  I didn't include those, but I did leave the rest of the story as she wrote it with no other modifications.  She did a wonderful job.  If you read it, leave me a comment and I will make sure she gets it.  Thanks!

The Ink Splatter

"Susy, Anna, why don't you go work on your play!"  "OK Mom!" they called back.  "Alright Anna, I'll go get the costumes from the shed.  And I will get a quill for the script!"  So the girls went off to get the quill and the costumes.  Anna skipped into the room with braids flying and a quill in her hand.  She sighed. "Susy isn't here yet!" she said in sort of a whine.  She hopped around the room waiting for Susan.  Soon Susan came in the room with a basket.  "Finally!" exclaimed Anna.  "Actually, I barely even left, and here I got us some ink."  She set it on the table and started to sort out the costumes.  Anna sat down by the ink.  "Susy do you know-" SPLAT!  Anna knocked the ink bottle over.  Susan quickly grabbed it and put it right side up.  "It's OK Anna, accidents happen."  She grabbed a towel for both of them.  After cleaning, they practiced for a bit then decided to go outside and play tag.  "I'm it!" said Anna.

The End!

Charity's Birthday

Here is a picture of Charity's birthday cake.  It's pancakes with whipped cream and strawberries.  She decorated it; a face you can't see from this angle.  I was going to make her a pie, but spaced getting the ingredients at the store (what a great mom, boo) so she said she wanted to do this instead.  I'm going to make her a pie this week to make up for it.  

Here she is holding up two fingers to represent how old she is. (11 not 2)

When we got home from conference we ate, sang her happy birthday and headed out for a game of Cheese Touch (basically tag) upon her request.  We played until it was too dark to see.  Then we laid on the grass and watched the clouds pass over the moon, giving us quick glances every once in a while.  It was so neat looking.  The kids loved it.  When we came in it was showers and setting up all the sleeping bags in the living room for a sleepover with Mom. (Dad would not be talked out of leaving his bed) We watched an episode of Merlin the girls wanted to see and then crashed. David was up past his bedtime, so here he is sleeping in this morning.  He was very resistant to Daddy getting him up!  

My Favorite Song

It was an amazing session once again. I bawled my little eyes out for the last song. One of my favorites. I don't even know the name of it. I have a CD that has the song on it and I play it again and again! The line "here's my heart, now take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above", yeah that does it every time for me. That puts words to my feelings perfectly! 


My family is packing up in the van as I type, so I'm going to sign off. We are going over to Bryan's parents house for the last session. Usually we like to just watch as a family. Less distractions that way. The pull to be with family, however, is overriding for this evening.

Conference

Conference was fantastic!  I did come up with a question, but just like Tistan said in response to my last post, it was answered before conference, so I had to pick another one.  The first half of conference answered that question so I picked yet another one for the second half.  I don't always get answers that fast.  In fact most of the time they come real slow.  This has been a very different experience.  


This evening, as we were eating dinner, I asked each of the kids what they remembered, or if they had a favorite talk, etc.  Each of the kids took a turn sharing their thoughts.  I was surprised at how much they remembered.  Even my little ones.  David really shocked us.  He went last.  Instead of reciting something that one of the other kids had said, or just being goofy, he told me, in quite a bit of detail, about a story that was told during the first 2 hour session.  We all just stared at him, amazed.  I think all my girls jaws hit the table.  It's amazing what they are learning when you don't think they are listening.  


My favorite talk, though I liked them ALL so much, was Henry B Eyring's.  He talked about the things we can do to lay a foundation of faith that will carry us through any trial.  He said that personal integrity was the solid ground under our faith: the small, constant right choices we make.  The gospel of Jesus Christ was the framework.  Serving others is also an important component.  He said that there is always a blessing available through adversity that more than compensates for the loss.  I LOVED that!  I have found that to be soooo true in my life.  We don't get to choose the things that happen to us in life, often, but we do get to choose how we respond to them.    


Well, I'm going to wrap it up.  It's my baby girl's birthday tomorrow (Charity's) and I am getting up early to make a few things.  She is 11 tomorrow.  A year until young womens!  (She gets to join the big girls at church) She is making a chart to mark down the days.  What a cutie.  

Conference!

I am blogging late tonight.  It has been a busy day!  School, organizing, cleaning, time with my kids, trip to the pond with Daddy (Charity caught a big bass) and a few other miscellaneous things.  We ended it watching one of Hope's Harry Potter movies.  What a great day!

I am sooo excited!  It is conference weekend again; we get to hear the prophet and apostles speak to us.  I love it.  When Elder Bednar was here he told us that we should take a question or two into conference with the faith that we will get an answer, and if we did that, we would.  He gave an example of a woman who had a question about marriage.  She left conference amazed at how almost every single one of the speakers seemed to be talking straight to her, answering her question.  I know that I have experienced that as well, though I haven't always gone in with a question in mind.  I'm excited to do that this time.  I have been thinking about what that will be.  What is the question that I will take to conference?  I'm not sure yet.  I have something in mind, but I am still thinking about it.  It's a wonderful opportunity so I really want to make it count.  We have encouraged our children to do the same thing as well. 

I am so excited to hear my Heavenly Father's voice through His servants.  What a privilege that is!!!!  I'm sure I will have a lot to say afterwards.  I am usually bursting at the seams.  I am off to bed now.  I will write again tomorrow, probably in the evening after I have listened to all the talks.  Goodnight.        

Office and Errands

School, paperwork, bills and errands....that's my day today, with very little time to post anything.  I am getting a ton done though.  Feels good.  I found out that my license is expired, so that's on my list too. I got a reminder card in the mail.  It would be nice if they sent that before it expired.  I'm a couple short months from having to retake my driving test.  Boy wouldn't that be fun.  Talk about taking me back in time.  Here is a quick picture of one of David's coloring pages he did today.  Doesn't he do a good job staying in the lines?  Oh, and Hope dressed him this morning.  I don't think the tie will last long.

Hope and Harry Potter

Today was a monumental day in the Campbell household.  Hope got her Harry Potter bed cover!  She took all her birthday money this year and purchased the whole movie set and a duvet.  She got her movies a few days ago, and has been asking every day for her cover.  It finally came, all the way from Poland!  

Hope is such a HUGE fan!!!  She has read the series multiple times.  I finally told her I was not going to allow her to read it again until she put a few other books under her belt.  She wasn't happy about that.  So what did she pick?  Lord of the Rings.  A little bit challenging at her age, but I have read the whole thing to her and she really enjoyed it, so she dove right in.  Hope asked Faith if she could read Harry Potter to her.  Faith liked the idea, so Hope still gets her fix in occasionally.  If she wants to read to her sister, that's fine with me.  Here are a few pictures of her duvet and Hope with her movies.  I have one happy girl!

"Immersion"

I am late blogging today.  Not because of distractions, but because I decided to spend extra time on school.  Charity was learning about pronouns (nominative case, objective case, and  possessive) and she wasn't quite getting it.  So we spent some extra time going over sentences together. (I love that I have the flexibility to do that) She hasn't mastered it yet, but it's a lot more clear.

By lunch Charity was complaining that her body hurt.  One minute she was great, the next on the couch with a fever.  Poor thing.  She isn't even fully over her poison ivy yet.  Faith felt really bad and went right in and made her a card.

Faith is our card queen (as well as our fashion queen).  There is hardly a day that goes by where someone hasn't received a surprise note/card from Faith. What a sweetheart!

One more thought before I sign off.  At the breakfast table this morning David said "Mom, what do you call it under water?" I told him I didn't know.  I expected him to say some random thing (we tell a lot of jokes in our family) but instead he said, "immersion", looking very satisfied with himself. (they had a lesson on baptism at church on Sunday)  "My teacher taught me that."  I was really impressed he remembered the word and understood it enough to share the concept with me two days later.  I swear he gets smarter every day. 

Well I'm off to clean up my kitchen and see what else I am going to fit into my day.  Too many things and not enough time to do them all.  Story of my life!