Hide and seek

My dad loves geocaching. I blogged last year about him teaching my kids the fine art of geocaching when we were camping. With my new fancy phone, it has a built in GPS, so I downloaded an app and the WakeWii's started their geocaching career.
The kids LOVE it. I'm not 100% sold yet. I kind of hate wandering around looking like a crazy lady trying to find...well, you just never know what you're even looking for.
Can you see the cache in the above picture? Took me a while.
We have found 3 out of 4 so far. There is one in our church parking lot that we can't find! It's driving Maddie batty that we couldn't find it.
Best moment so far...
The first one we found was under a "lamp skirt" (see the first picture). We went to find our second one and Maddie was carrying the phone with the GPS, she was doing her best to find where it would be. Macie walked up to a lamp, looked at it, lifted up the "skirt" and there it was. Maddie was still wandering around a few feet away searching for it. Go Macie!

I'm adding to my summer list for us to find 100 geocaches. 3 down. 97 to go. Maybe I should change it to 10.

Happy Easter Eve

On Monday I remembered one of my friends doing this really cool Easter treat at preschool a few years back. I emailed her and got the idea for FHE, but ran out of motivation/time/energy and didn't end up doing it.
When I went to the grocery store yesterday, I bought all the things needed to make our resurrection rolls and we did it for breakfast today.
When I got home from a morning walk, I turned off the TV - audible gasps were heard by all. Much whining followed. I put them all at the table and read John 19. Interrupted about a million times by, "I'm hungry." "are you done yet?" "Why are we doing this?" and on and on.
Good times.
We then made our rolls. We rolled our marshmallows in butter, then cinnamon and sugar and then we rolled them up in the crescent rolls and pinched them good and tight to keep Jesus' body in there.
While they cooked, I read John 20. I gave in and let them have bowls of cereal while I read and it was much more pleasant with their mouths full. I was done reading before the rolls were done, so I played some Easter songs on the piano.
Maddie ended up in time out.
Lindsay and Macie got bored and went up to bug Jeramy.
When my rolls were done, I was kind of bummed. They had oozed all over. Totally not how they should be.
I scraped them off the pan and placed them on plates so they didn't see all the oozing.
They were amazed that Jesus' body was gone.
We ate our rolls and talked.
Macie kept talking about Jesus' body being gone from the tomb.
Lindsay asked about where his body is now.
Maddie asked what we do in Heaven.
And how his body and Spirit met up again.
And when we will be resurrected.
And that if we die, we'll be in Heaven with Grandma Helen and the puppies.

Mission accomplished.
We had a Spiritual Easter discussion.
My kids learned something.
I felt the Spirit.
And all before 10 a.m.

Such a phoney

Spring break was last week. To say we had a boring week would be putting it lightly. We really didn't do anything fun, and it wasn't my fault. Maddie hates to leave the house. Hates it. So, she didn't want to do anything. I kept suggesting things and she'd pitch a fit about it being her spring break and she just wanted to be home.
BUT, I did get her out of the house on one day. I bribed her with pizza at the park if we could go to the gym and Hobby Lobby. She huffed and puffed, but finally agreed.
After the gym, we took our pizza to a new park that we've never been to and had a freezing cold picnic. After we ate, I went and sat in the car and read. The girls didn't last much longer than I did, so we left. We got to our next stop and I realized my phone was missing.
Crap.
I knew it had to be at the park, because I had taken a picture, and talked to my mom while we were there. So we went back. It wasn't on the table. I even checked the garbage.
Crap.
There is a library right by the park, so I walked over and asked if my phone had been turned in.
"Can you describe your phone?"
"Um...it's black. It's an iPhone."
"What is your name?"
I tell her.
"I have black phone here for an Angela." As she holds up my phone.
"Angela is my friend. I was reading an email from her before I lost it."
Librarian eyes me over to see if I'm lying and trying to get this "Angela chic's" cell phone.
I pretty much snatch it out of her hands and run.
Whew. I have my phone.
Crisis averted.
No one had to know.
I start to think about how annoyed Jeramy will be, and all the teasing that will follow. I say to the kids, "Dad's going to be pretty upset that I lost my phone."
Lindsay pipes up in the back, "Mom, let's just keep it a secret."
I. Love. Her.
"Yeah, let's just keep it a secret." Not lie, but not tell. That's all right, right??
We go about our day of shopping and such. No big deal.
A few hours later I get home. As I pull into the driveway, my neighbor runs out.
"Your phone is at the library."
"What?"
"Your phone is at the library. Your parents were just here looking for you to tell you."
I'm still totally confused.
I dial my mom's cell phone. She proceeds to tell me that a girl called my mom's cell telling her that she found my phone and she was taking it to the library. My mom then called Jeramy - who didn't answer- cause that's what he does. He then listened to her message and called my neighbor to tell her to tell me when I got home. My parents worried that I wouldn't know where I left my phone, so they drove the half hour down to my house. I wasn't home. They talked to my neighbor.
So. Everyone (and possibly their dog) knew that I lost my phone.
So much for our "little secret."
I was prepared for Jeramy to tell me to be more careful, etc, etc. BUT, all he said is, "If you had an iPhone 4, it has an app that you can use to track your phone if you lose it."


My husband gave me and iPhone 4 for my birthday.
So now I can lose my phone as often as I want.

Teacher appreciation

I may have mentioned in past posts that Maddie has a "man" teacher this year. Grandpa-man teacher to be more precise. It has really put a damper on my cutesy gifts. I found this idea somewhere, so this was for her teacher. It is full of fortune cookies and says "I am very fortunate to have you as a teacher." And it has a gift card to Panda with it.
Then, because I was feeling...crazy or something...I adopted another random teacher that doesn't have a regular class each day. I've made one of these "Bouquets" each year for Maddie's teachers, so I'm getting really good at them. This one has little candy bars glued on the back and I filled the bottom with more candy bars, too. It says "thanks for beeing a great teacher." Get it, there's a bee in it.
And I got to decorate a jersey for her door. Have I mentioned that I can cut fun foam with my Cricut??? Be very jealous.
So fun! I love having a reason to be "crafty."

The family that hides together, stays together...

All morning I've been racking my brain to remember when The Bug came into our family. It's been around for quite a while, but I don't remember ever buying it. He just appeared one day. For the past few months, we've been taking turns hiding The Bug in different places. I'm about 100% sure that Jeramy started it to scare a child. That child in return hid it somewhere else to scare him back, and so on and so on. We usually find The Bug in our shoes or on our pillows. I have found it in my Cricut (with a giggling child standing behind me). Earlier this week, it was "my turn" to hide The Bug, so I put in on the black keys on the piano. Maddie didn't say a word about it when she sat down to practice, but immediately walked over to Lindsay's shoe and put it in.
Lindsay then put it in Macie's boot. When Macie found The Bug, she went up to her bedroom. Came down and said, "Lindsay, you'll find the bug tomorrow when you get dressed."
And it's been 3 days and we haven't found The Bug. Sometimes it takes a while to find. Macie is really good at it. One time she put it in the garbage under the garbage bag. When I changed the bag and saw it in the bottom, I will admit it made me a little nervous.
Maddie hid it in the Christmas tree so that it fell out when we were pulling presents out on Christmas morning.
I'm thinking about baking a cookie with The Bug in it. Gross, eh?
It seems like such a silly thing to do, but the kids love it, and we love it, too! So, go out and buy yourself a creepy little bug and let the good times follow.

Cub Scouts

When I was put in the Primary Presidency I was sure that I would be the counselor over Activity days. Hello...me..crafty...3 girls. It was a no brainer, right? Well, I'm over Cub Scouts. I'll admit it, at first I was pretty much freaking out about it, but after 6 months, I'm getting the hang of it all. I have amazing leaders who never cease to amaze me. I'm learning a lot from these guys and gals, and even the boys.
For Blue and Gold this year, I was put over invitations and decorations. I had grand ideas for my invitations, then I had to remember 1) they are for boys 2) I had to make 37. They turned out all right, and even better was that they were hand delivered by Darth Vader - with a scout shirt on, of course. The boys loved that! Wish I had taken a picture of him!

Then it came time for me to start thinking about decorating. I had a month to plan, so I decided to maker suckers. Lots and lots of suckers. 150 to be exact. It really wasn't that bad, I did a few batches each week and learned a lot while doing them. Only had to throw one entire batch away that I burned. I knew they were bad when my kids wouldn't even eat them.

I had big ideas that I would run past Jeramy and he would say, "Boys, Heidi. Not girls." Even the suckers seemed too "girly" to him because I used my heart molds, but I did it anyway. it was either hearts or dinosaurs that don't really look like dinosaurs. I cricutted 18 darling little scouts to go on my bags on the tables. Loved them. We set up 17 tables, 136 chairs, and pretty much every seat was taken! We had a huge turnout and a great time. The boys did a cake decorating contest for our dessert. I just loved seeing all of their cakes and knowing which ones they did, and which ones their moms did. :) One scout knocked on my door a few hours before it started asking for 2 eggs. As I handed them to him, I jokingly said, "These aren't to throw at some one's house, are they?" I think I almost gave the poor kid a heart attack! "No, Sister Wakley, they are for my scout cake!"
I can honestly say I (almost) love cub scouts. We'll see if 2 days at scout day camp in June help turn that into love, or send me running to the hills! I am really learning a lot, which is probably why I'm over scouts, right?

Squats

To celebrate the first warm day of spring (and spring break for one of my nieces) we went 4-wheeling Friday afternoon. I even checked Maddie out of school early to go. (She was fine with this since she was counted as "there" for the day).
Usually when we go we stay over night and my dad will bring the "nice" trailer. Since we were only going out for the afternoon he just brought the bike trailer. Which means no potty. Maddie was the first to need to go. I told her she'd have to squat. She was fine with it. I drove her on the 4 wheeler to a "remote" area. Look at this picture and see what our options were...
We were out by the lake and it is flat. With no bushes or trees. I found a small hill and had her go on the far side of it. She did not want my help. I guess she did fine. I decided I would just hold it for fear of some truck driver miles away - just happening to have his binoculars out while I did my business.
Lindsay was the next to need to go. I had her get on the 4 wheeler and took her to the same place. "Um, Mom, where's the bathroom?" I had to teach her about squatting. I had to help her, and...she got it on her pants...but she didn't know...and she won't ever know, right??

We had a great afternoon. I feel rejuvenated and ready for summer. I am so blessed to have such a great family that loves me and my girls. I didn't have to take the girls out on many rides because their older cousins kept taking them. I got to just sit back, chat with my sister and enjoy the sunshine. (I was later told by each of my kids that Carly is a crazy not safe driver. They prefer Rachel's boring rides).

While we were making dinner, my mom gave Lindsay a bag of ice from the cooler. She said, "Lindsay, why don't you go find holes and put an ice cube in each hole." So Lindsay took the bag and found a hole, put an ice cube in it.
Then stopped, "Grandma, why am I doing this?"
We all laughed. "For fun, Lindsay."
That was good enough for Lindsay. She found hole number 2 - which apparently had a large bug by it and that was the end of that. Lindsay also got brave enough to pet Ellie (the dog).

Grandpa even built us a fire. The girls loved finding sticks to throw on it, and then Maddie took it upon herself to put it out when it was time to go. I think she might have poured about 8 gallons of water on our tiny little fire..better safe than sorry, right?
I am so glad that's warming up! Can't wait for a fun-filled summer. Probably time to start working on my bucket list, right??

Friends

Maddie likes to be in charge.
If something is not her idea, she most likely won't participate.
I've worried about her socially because she'd rather play by herself than play something that wasn't her idea.
I've asked her teacher about it at each parent teacher conference. Each time he has given me the same answer. "Maddie is comfortable in her own skin. She doesn't need to be surrounded by people. She is comfortable and happy by herself."
Not my favorite answer.
I want her to need other people.
I want her to want to play with friends.
I want her to not be that kid off by herself at recess.
You have no idea how happy it made me to see this last night at the school's skate night:

(sorry for the poor picture quality, it was dark, they were moving, and I only had my iPhone).

She has talked a lot lately about Emmery. She was there last night and the 2 of them skated holding hands to "help" each other for HOURS. Many a time I got a "Mom" with eyes rolled when I tried to join on the other end, or take pictures.
She skated so long that this morning she was SORE. She could barely move. I told her to stay home from school and she refused. So I gave her some ibuprofen and sent her on her way.
She has perfect attendance so far this year. Shouldn't she be the one begging me to let her stay home, not the other way around?