Groupon pays off

Earlier this fall there was a deal on Groupon where you could buy a family membership to the Indiana State Museum for a great deal. So I bought it and yesterday was the first time we have had a chance to use it. I am so glad that we get to use this membership for a year. The girls and I had so much fun.

We saw a woolly mammoth- little C wasn't too sure of it. I think it surprised her coming round the corner and facing the beast. We had to coax her around it, reassuring her that it wasn't real.

You know you are in a museum when you get to see skeletons of animals that you have never seen in real life. Here the girls stand proudly in front of said skeletons.

The girls found a Native American hut to take a rest in. Little C wanted to get going again. Too much to see, too much to do to sit around.

It is pretty sad when you see a toy in a museum that you remember not just seeing-but having in your possession as a young child. Push the red button and the air would push the bead up to hit the silver bell. Push the turtle and rabbit to the other side while hearing a clicking sound. The yellow ball rattled when you turned it, the boy with the hat squeaked as you pushed it down, the three men in the tub just wiggled back and forth, spin the colorful wheel, dial the telephone dial around, and the funny thing is I can't remember if the red knob at the top actually played music, or if it just changed pictures when you turned it. Anyway- I am now so old that toys I remember having as a kid are now in a museum.

We took a spin on the Santa Express. The older girls were excited because they just thought it was for little kids but found out that they could ride it. Adults could ride it as well, but it wasn't the most comfortable ride.

Here we are riding along. They each received a snowflake at the end by one of the volunteers. I guess the volunteers cut out snowflakes daily to give to the kids.

Note: Here is the sad note- we came to the museum today to watch Santa arrive by helicopter out front. I thought he was arriving at 1:00, but no, he was arriving the same time we were riding his express train around a winter wonderland. So alas, we missed the very thing we came to see. This is where Big A tries to console me by saying- it's alright mom, we get to see helicopters all the time! At least they weren't too disappointed.

I always think it is funny that my kids want to take time to color in a picture at a place that there is plenty to see all around them. I guess it is nice to take a break and have your brain register all that you have seen up to that point while doing something they enjoy-coloring.



They had all these taxidermy animals above them watching. They would make sounds every once in awhile as well.

The girls had their faces painted (well okay little C got her hand painted) and I took their pictures by the Nutcrackers. Don't worry- Big A didn't get two black eyes, just a butterfly painted on her whole face. Middle C got a Christmas tree on her cheek, even though you can't see it very well. And little C didn't want anything to do with paint on her face, so she decided she wanted it on her hand.

We had a good day, and I am glad that we get to spend some more quality time at the museum this upcoming year.

Thanksgiving 2010

We started the day off with monkey bread. It was the first time the girls had tried this. They liked it and approved me to make it again in the future. My mom would make this when I was little and I had forgotten all about it. We used to call them "Pluckits" because you would pluck one piece off the others I guess?

Since we were going to have our dinner in the late afternoon, we decided that we would skip lunch and just have snacks throughout the day instead. The girls would make meat and cheese cracker sandwich's. It only kept the "When's dinner ready?" away for a little while. They wanted the good stuff.

I almost forgot to put the fruit turkey's together this year. I was so focused on getting everything else done at the same time that these got thrown together at the last minute. I probably forgot in the excitement that my rolls actually turned out! (Making rolls and bread is not my forte and it has defeated me many times.) Even though these turkeys were not as cute as last years, they were still just as delicious. I think the girls will get this delegated to them next year.

Look- it's us having Thanksgiving in the SAME house for our third year!! I can't believe it. It almost seems eerie not to be on the move, but we are thankful for that. I guess I had gotten used to moving every year and a half to two years.

I forgot to take any pictures of our pies this year. I guess I was too busy eating them up! I am so thankful that we got to be together for this holiday and that we are all healthy and happy.

Papa Murphy's Fieldtrip

Our preschool fieldtrip in November was to a Papa Murphy's. A ward member is the owner of the store and she was gracious enough to show the kids how the pizza's were made.
Here is little C ready to go to work in her Papa Murphy's apron.





The store had a big mixer in the back to mix up the ingredients to make the fresh dough. Little C is keeping a safe distance away. I was impressed that they made the dough fresh. I always thought they received the dough frozen and thawed it out.





When little C was a little more brave she came up closer to watch the mixer. The kids enjoyed watching the mixer spin around and mix up the dough.






Once the dough was made the kids got to knead it. Here little C is pushing it down and trying her best.








Here she is listening intently as the manager shows them how to roll the dough into a nice little ball.









Ta da!" Look mom, I did it!"








The kids got to make their own little pizza. Here little C is putting on her pizza toppings.











Little C is showing off her finished pizza. It even came with cooking instructions like the real thing.










The Papa Murphy employees of the future. Looks like a good group.

Halloween Festivities come to an end

Little C enjoyed participating in several Halloween festivities this year. She was a cat.

Here is our witch. What is Halloween without a witch?

I didn't get a picture of "B" in her costume. She was a veterinarian. The girls got quite a bit of candy from the 3 days of Halloween activities. Our town changed Trick of treating hours to Saturday even though Halloween was on a Sunday. That helped the girls collect a lot of loot!

On Monday I had the girls stash a little candy away for themselves, and then we took the rest to our dentist. Our dentist pays a $1 for every pound of candy you bring in. They take the candy and give it to men and women serving in the military over seas. The girls brought in 11 pounds of candy. They were quite pleased with the money they received, and I was quite pleased to get the sweet temptations out of the house. They also got their faces painted and each got a balloon flower at the dentist office.

Career Day at school

For Red Ribbon week at school, they had a theme every day. Last Thursday was "What you want to be when you grow up" day. You can guess what "B" is pretty easily. But can you guess what "A" wants to be? An accountant? A Mother? A business woman? Nope, she wants to be the first woman President of the United States. At least it is good to know that my daughters have ambitious goals for what they want to be when they grow up. And of course they want to be mothers also- us mothers want to have our cake and eat it too. I wanted to be several things while growing up- an archaeologist, a teacher, a business owner, a CPA-but I think I still chose wisely and became a mother ( who stills wants to be several of those things as mentioned before and more!) But maybe I am already some of those things- I have to dig for the treasure in the girls messy rooms, I teach all the time-maybe some of the lessons will stick, I have a house which I manage and that might as well be a business keeping up with all that it entails, and I manage our finances and do our taxes-sorta CPAish right?