My little girl (M) is an official Brownie Scout (2nd Grade Girls in Girls Scouts of America). I was a Brownie Scout as a little girl too, so when we found out that there was a troop in our area, we were both super-excited! She started in September and has loved every minute of it. I was lucky enough to see why a couple of weeks ago when I went to be the "mom helper." It quickly became one of those neat mom moments.
Here is why:
1. Each girl was supposed to come with a themed paper on a topic they would be discussing that night. Morgan's topic was hope. As usual, I had planned to help her with it, but I got so busy with other things that she pretty much wrote it on her own. With such a ominous word, I worried that she wouldn't know what to say. However, when she read me what she wrote, I was really impressed. She said, she thought hope was when you believe in something like God, families, or love. She also wrote that she has hope that she will be able to live with her family forever and her Heavenly Father. What a sweetheart this little girl is...she has always been very sensitive to the spiritual things. This was just another confirmation of that fact for me. Here she is sharing her thoughts on hope with her fellow Brownie Scouts and listening to the other girls'.
2. After each girl shared their papers, the girls got to decorate "100 Year" posters to take to the GSA 100 Year Birthday Celebration in March. My cute friend Kelli, who is one of the troop leaders brought TONS of craft supplies for the girls to decorate their posters! They had so much fun just chatting and crafting. :)
Do you love that cheese-ball smile??? :)
3. Once the girls were finished decorating, the meeting ended with a fun game of musical chairs, a Christmas story, and a truly touching gift to each of the girls from their leaders. They gave them little charm bracelets that had the words, Faith, Hope, Love, etc., on each dangling charm. It was the sweetest thing every!! The told them these charm bracelets were to remind them of everything a girl scout stands for. I didn't get a picture of these adorable gifts, but they were sooo cute. This probably made my night, just seeing what amazing leaders my daughter is blessed to be led by. These little girls don't even know how good they have it!
4. The last reason this night was so special was that I just got a little time to focus on my sweet Morgan. I have come to find with 4 kids, and a young set of twins, it gets tricky to give each child all the individual time and attention I wish I could. This is why this night was a special mom moment for me...it was a chance to spend some special time with my special daughter. I love this cute Brownie Scout!
Like everyone else right now, we are gearing up for Christmas!!! LOVE THIS HOLIDAY!!!
This year, we started some new little traditions...we will see if they stick. :)
First, I bought one of those gingerbread house kits that I always see, but never get. I thought this year we would give it a try. :)
Luckily, Jake brought home his class mascot, "Tigerrific" so he joined in the fun as well.
Do you love Morgan's face??? A result of me trying to get her to actually look at the camera...she is INFAMOUS for looking away just as I snap a picture. :)
While M&J worked on the candy-licious house, Abby and Claire watched one of my all-time favorite holiday shows...Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer...you know the "original." Gotta love that Abominable Snowman. :)
I thought while the kids were occupied, I would take a few pics of our holiday decor. It was nighttime so the pictures aren't great, but I thought what the hey...I'm documenting right!?
I also wanted to try and make this Christmas more about showing Christ-like love to the people I care the most about...so as part of our Christmas countdown I tied a bucket for each of my kids on the countertop chairs. In those buckets each day I write them a note of something I love about them, and a treat to go with it of course. It has really been neat to see how much they love it! Morgan is the only one that can read them on her own, but it is the first thing she does when she gets home from school is read her note and eat her treat. She said to me one day, "Mom, I love my bucket countdown...can we do this every year??" Those moments make it all worth it as a mom. ;)
Here are the buckets:
This is for my honey! :) For his countdown, each day I write him a little note. It is either a compliment, service to him, or a special date night I have planned. He loves this too! When he gets home from work the first thing he does is say hi to all of us...then he reads his note. :) I am so glad he appreciates them. :)
Okay, back to the gingerbread house experiment...
So it turned out really cute...however...
This is what happened not long after the kids finished...it collapsed!!! I think the roof was too heavy...too much candy...I don't know. Maybe we need to let the frosting dry first, then decorate??? Have any of you done this before?? What did you do? I would love some suggestions for next year...if we attempt it again. My kids were a little bummed. :) But it was fun to decorate it at least. :)
Finally, Morgan's class put on a Reader's Theater. They did "The Best (Worst) Christmas Pageant Ever." It was really cute...the girls and I went. We could barely understand the kids' lines but it was sweet nonetheless. :)
Well there you have it...it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here... :) We are sooo READY!
After all the hoopla of Thanksgiving dinner ended...Black friday shopping began...around 9 p.m. that night actually. :) All the ladies went our seperate ways while the husbands and children laid nestled all snug in their beds. The next morning, the ladies met for breakfast at this yummy place called "The Egg and I." Sad I didn't think to get a picture of this. :( Once the women were back, the men went golfing...an absolute favorite activity for the Lighten guys. And seriously, how can you not golf in such great weather???
During the afternoon, everyone kind of went their seperate ways, so we took our kids on a little hike to the ASU "A." They are becoming really good hikers. Abby peed her pants at the top, but other than that it went pretty smoothly. :)
Check out those ancient petroglyphs!
By this time, we were all ready to eat...so the kids got Lunchables and Caprisuns, while we picked up sandwiches from one of our favorite restaurants...Capriotti's! This is a sandwich shop we discovered, and LOVED, while living in Vegas, but they don't have them in UT. I couldn't pass up the oppertunity to get "The Bobby" (a delectable turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce Thanksgiving dinner on a bun). Did I mention I love Thanksgiving??? :) Mmmmm....good!
That night we all met up at Megan and Ernesto's SWEET clubhouse they belong too...This place was AWE-SOME!!! They have fun pools, tennis courts, and rooms you can have get-togethers in. So we played tennis, games, and MINUTE TO WIN-IT! This place was super fun!
Then next day was pretty relaxing. We swam some more at the pool, then met up for lunch at this really great park. It was HUGE and had carnival rides, a train ride, duck pond, and of course, playgrounds. I must have been tired of picture-taking by this point because I didn't take anymore during the rest of the trip. :) So sorry...no photos, just envision in your minds all the fun we had. :)
That night, we finished our last night together with the kids at M&E's for a movie night while the adults went out. The BYU game was playing at Buffalo Wild Wings so the ladies aquiesced to the boys' request to go there...until we saw the food choices and that P.F. Chang's was right next door. So we left. :) The boys got their game, and the girls got to chat and have a yummy meal. It all turned out really nice actually. :)
When we picked up the kids, we all said our Good-bye's and headed back to the hotel. Then next morning we all drove home. Together, of course. :)
Before I close this post, I have to take a personal moment to express how much I love Thanksgiving. Every year it seems to get more and more slided by the upcoming Christmas holiday. Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas, but I just really wish their was more emphasis given to the gratitude Thanksgiving engeanders within us. I love Thanksgiving and I could not be more grateful for my life, my Lord, and my family. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
