Sunset Park

After the Barnyard Buddy tour we went to Sunset Park. It is a real nice park near where Frank works. It has a rope jungle gym, a rock wall, swings, and slides. There are lots of trees and plenty of shade near the picnic areas. We’ve been there a few times, but not since taking the Park Challenge.



The kids took off for the playground as soon as we got there. They spent most of their time climbing the “rock” wall and the ropes. Alex was able to climb the wall with me telling him where to put his feet, but he was too scared to come down. I had to coax him partway down then reach up and get him.



A school was taking a field trip there so I waited until the kids left then Sabrina and I used the swings. After a little bit I put Sabrina back into her stroller and Kathleen and I enjoyed the swings while the boys climbed the rock wall.

Marie-Anne

Anderson Dairy's Barnyard Buddy Tour

Today we met some friends at Anderson Dairy for their Barnyard Buddy tour (call to schedule a tour). The tour is geared for younger kids, but Zack, who’s 13 liked it too.



The tour took about an hour and included animated puppets, a tour guide, a movie and free ice cream. Alex’s favorite part was the penguins near the freezer section. Zack and Alex both liked the fog as we entered the freezer section. We will go back with different friends later on.

Marie-Anne

Picky Eater

Sabrina had a tray of cheerios and fruit loops mixed together. She was tossing the fruit loops out of her way and eating just the cheerios so I asked, “You like the Cheerios better, don’t you?” Without looking up she nodded her head and kept eating.

Marie-Anne

You Wouldn’t Want to…

We recently discovered these wonderful history books at the library and there are several of the books on-line. There are over 60 books in this series. I plan to read them all. (If you’re wondering what to get Alex for his b-day these would be great.)

http://www.salariya.com/web_books/explorer/index.html

Marie-Anne

Walnut Park

This morning we went to Walnut Park with some new friends. We’ve been to this park many times, but not since taking the Park Challenge. It is a nice park with pretty much the standard layout of two play areas one slightly bigger than the other and swings. If we go before school lets out we have the park pretty much to ourselves.

We met Tammy and her boys the other day when we were inviting people to church. Jacob is the same age as Alex and they get along great and there were a couple of other boys their age to play with. They had a lot of fun. Tammy’s younger son loved the dirt and running through the grass, I don’t think he got on the playground equipment at all.



Sabrina really enjoyed the baby swings and going down the baby slide, (we were too busy watching the boys to let her go down the big slide).



We played until it got too hot then we went back to their house to let the older boys (Alex and Jacob) ride on Jacob’s power wheels truck. They had just as much fun there as they did at the park.

Marie-Anne

M&M World with friends

I forgot to post about Carol and Don's visit. They are a couple we know from Washington who came here for their anniversary. On the 8th we went to the pass- it is absolutely beautiful at night when you can see most of Las Vegas lit up.

On the 9th we went to M&M World. We had been there before, but Don had not. M&M World is a four story store of M&M merchandise. It also has a 3-D movie, (the same one as last time). We enjoyed it.





Afterward we ate at a Filipino restaurant. It was new to all of us and we all enjoyed it. Then it was time to take them back to the airport. It was so nice to see our friends again.

Marie-Anne

New Reading Teacher

Alex has a new reading teacher and he is doing amazingly well. He loves his new teacher very much; of course I’m talking about his Papa. Frank and Alex work together on reading every night. I am delighted by his progress.

Marie-Anne

How tall is Utah?

Yesterday I bought the Great States Jr. Game. Alex asked which state had the dinosaur on it. I replied, “Utah.” He asked, “Is Utah taller than a dinosaur?” (For a four year old that’s a pretty good joke.)

Marie-Anne

Reading Lesson

After getting totally frustrated with Alex for not trying during his reading lesson I got to thinking. The boy loves computer games; he would be on the computer all the time, if we let him. So I did a search for on-line phonics games. I’d heard of starfall.com before, but never really checked it out. Tonight he played it for about an hour. I also pulled out the phonics books from his Leap Pad to go with us in the car tomorrow. I will also try to check out Reader Rabbit.

Instead of letting him just play games on Legos website he will be playing phonics games until he gets it. (No, I’m not banning him from Legos, but he won’t be on it as much.)

If you have any other suggestions please leave a comment.

Marie-Anne

Diversity art

When I was looking at an example of an Indian corn craft Alex thought it was a rocket. I decided to make two copies of the template so he could make both. Then I noticed the template could be used as a face. Today Alex made all three from the same shapes. I talked to him about how he could use the same thing to make something completely different and how that different people can look at the same thing and see something different. It was a great lesson.

Marie-Anne

Heritage Park

Tonight for family night we took the Park Challenge. It was our first time going to Heritage Park. It was a bit run down. The statutes were broken, but otherwise it was okay. The playground was older, but perfectly fine. The best part about it was we had the whole park to ourselves.



Sabrina is our little thrill seeker. She absolutely loved the slides. It was her first time on a slide and she kept trying to go down before Frank was ready to catch her. It was all I could do to hold onto her until he was ready! It wasn’t just the baby slide either that girl was going down the big slide.



Alex loved having his Papa’s attention and help to cross the monkey bars. For the most part Alex ignored me and played with Papa. That was fine with me. I love watching them play.

I’m sure we will go back to this park since it is behind the Natural History Museum and across the street from the Children’s Museum, (both museums are part of Bank of America’s Museums on Us program and we like them both). Maybe next time we go to one of the museums we can eat lunch at the park.

Marie-Anne

Alex has new friends!

I am so happy! Alex made some friends here at our apartment. He was playing outside and around three boys, but when one brought out a lightsaber Alex got his 2. Now Alex is a part of the group. They are having so much fun that we aren’t going to call him in for supper.

Marie-Anne

Blessing of Music Site

Home-grown songs of worship. It is a blessing to listen to the singing on Pentacostal Voice of Truth. Many of the recordings seem to be a church setting and so I relate and can really worship along with the saints in their heart-felt praises.

http://www.pentecostalvoiceoftruth.org/

--Frank

What are you today?

I woke Alex up and said, “Wake up growly-monster.”
He growled, “I’m not a growly-monster.”
I asked, “Are you a llama, like you were last night?”
“No, I’m a republican like Skywalker,” he replied.

Marie-Anne

Gilcrease Nature Sanctuary with Lulu

Yesterday I took Lulu, her kids, and my kids to Gilcrease Nature Sanctuary. It was their first time, but our third. It was also Sabrina’s first time. We all had a great time. The kids were so excited about the many animals.



They all went into the goat pen to pet the goats. A worker even held the baby goat so they could pet it and he let Alex hold it too.



Pretty much the rest of the animals were birds, this time. The weather was nice and the kids got to play in the grassy area. It was on a small hill so every time Sabrina started down she got to going too fast so one of us had to stay near her to keep her from tumbling.

After we left there we stopped at McDonald’s. I really liked this one because the baby play area was pretty big and it was separated from the big kid area. There was a sign that said, “Kids 4 and under only.” One little boy told me Sabrina couldn’t be in there because she wasn’t four. I read the sign to him and he said, “Oh.”
It was a great day. The kids all got along beautifully. The weather was nice. Wonderful, wonderful day.

Marie-Anne

Labor Day at Mount Charleston

Today was a beautiful day! The temperature was good and there was not a cloud in the sky. We drove up to Mount Charleston with two men from church, Charles and Riyaadh. We had a wonderful picnic and just enjoyed being together. Alex loved “looking for evidence,”(the lady at the fee booth mentioned evidence of horses.)





We had to go farther up than we thought, but it was great. Our picnic area was in the woods on a slope. Alex enjoyed exploring the woods. We saw chipmunks and birds. It was a very scenic drive. We stopped at on overlook on the way back and just admired the view.

Marie-Anne

Natural History Museum.

On Saturday we took advantage of Bank of America’s Museums on Us program to go to the Natural History Museum. Alex got to choose from the three local museums in the program. We only had to pay for Alex’s ticket.





We spent most of our time there at the kids’ section. Sabrina and Alex both had a lot of fun. We enjoyed it too, but not as much as them. It was my fourth or fifth time there and Frank’s second. (We didn’t go for us though.)

Marie-Anne

Losing Age

I overheard Alex saying, “I don’t want my parents to be kids again.”
I asked if he was playing or talking about Papa and me.
“I’m talking about you and Papa. I don’t want you to be kids again. I like my parents you take care of me.”
“We’re not going to be kids again.”
“I heard you. You said you and Papa were going to lose weight.”

Marie-Anne

Sugar Busters

My husband and I just started sugar busters. Hopefully this time I’ll stick to it and reach my weight loss goals.

Marie-Anne

Chores

Starting today Alex has two chore charts. One is “Sir Alex’s Responsibilities” it is chores he does not get paid for. These are chores that he does simply because he’s a member of this family. The other is “Sir Alex’s Jobs” these are chores that he can do to get paid for. They are not everyday chores, but some can be if he wants to.

“Sir Alex’s Responsibilities” include make bed, feed fish, dishes in sink, dirty clothes in laundry room, load silverware, unload silverware, clean room, pick up toys, fold clothes, and food prep. Some of these are new chores for him and he will be working with me to learn them.

“Sir Alex’s Jobs” include putting shoes on the rack (including mine and Frank’s), help bring in groceries, clean out car, pick up cereal Sabrina drops, bathroom trash, wash sinks, rinse dishes (plastics and silverware), wipe table, and put away groceries. Again some of these are new for Alex and we will train him to do them.

Our goal is to teach Alex to do the things that need to be done around the house, and that he is a valuable member of this family so his help is needed. By getting paid for some chores Alex will be learning to complete a job to the boss’s satisfaction for his pay. (He’s been asking for paid chores so he can save up for medium Legos.)

What chores do your kids have?

Marie-Anne

My Personal boycott of ABC News

I am furious with the way ABC News reported the Duggar’s expecting another baby. They attacked the family and were VERY Very disrespectful. This is supposed to be professional journalism. I will not be going back to the ABC News website ever again.

If you want to read the disgusting piece of trash they call journalism for yourself here's the link:

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=8461762



Marie-Anne