Week #12: Free DQ Cones!

This Week...

...we went to a baby shower for Elias and Yesenia. Elias is on Jason's squad at work. They're such a cute couple and expecting their first baby - a girl! Jason was in standard form, jumping right in to meet people and make them laugh.

...we met Kent and Julie and the cousins at Dairy Queen for free cone day. It was busy, but so fun! The kids sat together and I sat with Kent and Julie to get caught up.

...we had a sick boy at the Blue and Gold Banquet. He made it long enough to get his award and then I sent him out to rest on the couch until we were done.

Sister Graham from the Cub Scout Day Camp Committee came to introduce the theme and song. She asked for a volunteer and Lainey was the only one to raise their hand. It was so cute to see her holding the poster up so high. She took her job seriously!

...I served lunch at the Missionary Zone Conference with the Stake Relief Society. Such a fun part of my Stake calling. I love working with these sisters and their husbands (as they get roped into things a lot!) Vanessa Andros, Megan Andros, Larry Andros, Katie Orten, Michelle Maughan is hiding with her coke behind Larry. Hehe!)

...Lainey received the Respect award at school. She has been working really hard on having a good attitude, focusing on the tasks she's given in class, and helping others. She has grown so much!

...I went with Paul's Fifth Grade class to the Farm Fair at the Fairgrounds. It was a rainy day, but super fun to be with him. We learned some great things and enjoyed the day. I didn't enjoy lunch under the pavilion because it was so cold!!! 

Learning about potatoes was really interesting. They have more potassium than a banana, equivalent amount of protien as a glass of milk, more vitamin c than a tangerine, and equivalent amount of fiber as an equal serving of oatmeal. Crazy!

This demonstration on electricity was fun for the kids and very informative. We got to see the electric current transfer from power line to house or vehicle in their mini display.

...Emma went on the overnight camp out with the Young Women. I picked her up from practice and took her right over to the church to catch her ride. Her and Emily Hale were the early arrivers.

...we had our Relief Society birthday dinner. I hosted a table and sat with some great friends. I enjoy Relief Society so much. I am so grateful for the strong women, since the Society's organization, that have worked to give aid and relief to the women, church, and communities around them.

...we worked in the yard to repair the spots that Marty has ruined by pooping and peeing where he wants. We got most everyone out to help at one point. Paul and Lainey held out the most, helping to the end. Claire was reading in the wagon and keeping Marty company.

...Claire and Emma attended the General Women's Conference with me at the church. We had cookies and ice cream before the Conference started and a food drive. A lot of people forgot to bring their food items, but we were able to collect enough food to provide 61 meals for people in need. Emma got back from her cabin trip with the YW and just stayed at the church with us. She changed into a dress and ate a few goodies. She was pretty worn out. Claire had fun playing with Megan Williams' daughter, Evie. They play really well when we get together for stake activities and then they kid of forget about each other until the next time. Megan and I vowed to get them together over the summer. (Fingers crossed we follow through) It was fun visiting with the sisters in the stake as we worked and from the different wards. I really enjoyed the conference this year. Here are some of my favorites:

Bonnie H. Cordon - Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding, in all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3:5

"This scripture comes with two admonitions, a warning, and a glorious promise. The two admonitions: 'Trust in the Lord with all thine heart' and 'in all thy ways acknowledge him.' The warning: 'Lean not unto thine own understanding.' And the glorious promise: 'He shall direct thy paths.'"

Henry B. Eyring - "Unity is necessary for us to have the Spirit in our class and in our family. But you know from experience, as I do, that such loving unity is hard to maintain. It takes having the Holy Ghost as a companion to open our eyes and temper our feelings."

Week #11:Soup Right Out Of The Pan

This Week...

...Benjamin enjoyed my home made chicken noodle soup. He couldn't even be bothered to get a bowl. #eatitrightoutofthepan

...we took Marty to the park. Every dog likes to play on the toys, right? Ok, we really took him on a walk and couldn't resist making him try the slides and stairs on the toy at the park. It was mostly for our amusement. Haha!

...we went geocaching. Jason wasn't too thrilled at what I was making him do at first. By the end of our exploring, he was as much into it as the rest of us. We took Carson Buchanan with us on our adventure. We found two of the three geocache locations. The last one really had us stumped, and we never did find it. We saw a rainbow along the way and had some crazy time in the van. Crazy is par for the course on an Erickson family outing!

...we saw a potential van upgrade option. Haha! Our 12 passenger van is always a topic of jokes and teasing by friends and Jason's coworkers. We saw this when we were out on a date one night and sent it to some friends, making a joke of our own. Upgrade!

...Lainey continues to grow up.  We went for a walk with Marty and Lainey wore her roller blades. We also went to her Parent Teacher Conference together. She paused in the hallway to point out her fish bowl creation. I noticed her interesting outfit. Yep, that look is 100% design by Lainey.

Week #10: Card Pyramids

This Week...

...we went to STEM night at Emma's school. Second Harvest Food Bank was there giving boxes of food away to people. We were there early so we helped bring in the boxes. And we played around a bit. ;)

Things we learned: The sugar make up of serving sizes vs whole beverages. It's an interesting visual.

Things we learned: Arches really are stronger and can bear more weight. These are pink erasers being help up by a piece of normal 8 1/2 x 11 inch piece of paper in arch form. It was so crazy to see it work! That's five erasers on there!

...Emma worked on card pyramids. She was happy when successful and forlorn when it crashed down. The inevitable evolution of a card pyramid.

...Emma, Ben, and I made a trip out to the 9/11 World Trade Center Memorial. It was so interesting to read about the piece of metal framework from the towers and other facts of what happened that day. What a scary time in our history. Jason and I were on our mission in Washington D.C. at the time. So close, and yet we didn't really know a whole lot of what was going on since we didn't watch TV, listen to the radio, or follow the news. I remember the feeling of devastation and shock we had when we would see footage of that day after we got home from our mission. It still chills me, as, I'm sure, it does most everyone. I'm so grateful for the miracles of that day that rose out of the smoke and devastation.

...Claire went to Emily Little's birthday party. It was Hawaiian themed and Claire was so excited! She let Emma do her hair and we got her a Hawaiian flower to accessorize. They got to do all kinds of spa type activities. Emily Little is such a sweet friend.

Week #9: Lainey Sings A Solo & Claire Makes The Front Page

This Week...

...Lainey sang a solo in Sacrament meeting! She was so determined to do this all on her own. She almost didn't want Emma to play the piano for her. Haha! We practiced at home and at the church with the microphone. At the last minute, I gave her the book to follow along. I think it caused her to stare down instead of out, but she did it! We were so proud of her for setting her mind to something and making it happen.

...Benjamin won third place in the Pinewood Derby. He was super excited. Paul was sad not to be racing, but glad that they put him to work helping to hand out the awards.

...we applied some vinyl on an Adams County car. It's a stealth car, so there isn't much difference in the vinyl color from the car color. It looks so cool! It's also reflective for night time.

...I went to Time Out For Women with my sisters. It was a lot of fun! We stayed at the Davenport Tower again. It's a little bit further from the Convention Center, but we love the walk on a weekend when it seems like we eat so much. We met up with Amy Allen as usual and had a great time at our table in the back. Once again we staked our claim, spread out our notebooks, and listened in relaxed ease.

Jason hosted the neighbor girls for lunch while I was gone. The oldest girl, Yareli, had to work on a school project with Emma and her younger sisters came to play.

...we had Dr. Seuss spirit week at school. Claire was really good about keeping us all aware of what each days' dress up theme was. They had fun with crazy hair day and hat day. 

At the end of the week, they finished things off with a Read Across America local heroes event. Jason was able to slip away from work to speak to the kids and read them a book. There were many other local celebrities/heroes that came as well - a firefighter, an Army soldier, Miss Washington, Miss Tri-Cities, Elsa from Frozen, Scott Smiley, the only blind army captain, among many others. Jason spoke to Ben and Claire's third grade class and Paul's fifth grade class. He read the book Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann. A reporter from the Tri-City Herald took note when Jason was in with Ben and Claire's class. Claire was listening so sweetly, with her Cat in the Hat hat and a smile on her face. When Jason got to the part in the story where a student named Claire sends a note to Officer Buckle, we were all excited and surprised. Claire was beaming! And because it was the perfect set up, she made the front page of the Herald.

...Paul was practicing his swing before school. Marty came and sat right in front of him. That's not really effective Marty!

...Emma had a concert for orchestra and Jazz band. We went to Chiawana High School where the kids used their auditorium. They did a really good job. It's fun to see her using her talents and hear the groups play together.