Bella Vista, AR

While visiting my Parents in MO last week we took a small road trip down to Bella Vista, AR to do a little bit of hiking.

Braeden spotted this little critter along the way.

Joshua always finds a walking stick 

When you tell a 14 year "NO EXCESSIVE JUMPING" that is exactly what he is going to do.

Lemon Delight Trifle

mmmm....so yummy. We had this dessert yesterday as part of our 4th of July celebrations.

3 1/2 c. cold milk

2 pkg. (3.4 oz) instant lemon pudding

1 8oz. pkg cream cheese, softened

1/2 c. butter, softened

1/2 c. powder sugar

1 12oz. tub of cool whip..I actually used more than this

1 pkg (12 to 14oz) lemon cream-filled sandwich cookies, crushed

In a large bowl, whisk milk and pudding for 2 minutes or until thickened.  In another bowl, beat cream cheese, butter, and powder sugar together.  Gradually stir in pudding until blended.  Set aside 1/4c. whipped topping and crushed cookies for garnish.  Fold remaining cool whip into pudding mixture.  Place half of the remaining cookies in a trifle bowl; top with half of pudding mixture.  Repeat layers.  Garnish with with reserved cool whip and crushed cookies.  Refrigerate until serving.

High Adventure 2012

Braeden experienced high adventure for the first time this year.  His scout troop went to Ponca, Arkansas on the Buffalo River to do some hiking.  They also climbed some vines, did some cliff diving, and explored some caves.  He LOVED it!

Scout Camp 2012

master chef

Josh was bored out of his mind one day so he decided to make some cookies. He wanted them to be his own invention. I told him we had to follow a recipe or they would be flat or hard or unedible. He was adamant that they had to be his own. So, I found a recipe that called for vanilla pudding mix and told him he could use white chocolate pudding mix instead. This was enough to satisfy him. He thinks he's a master chef now.

shhhh

She's reading..

oh what do you do in the summer time?

Joshua keeps himself busy with coins. He is an avid coin collector. He found a coin book at Half Price Books for $1.49 all about American coins. This kept him busy for a good couple of hours..

She really wants a dog

While I was cleaning one day I found little signs like this all over the house.  There's only one person who could have left these notes for me to find...I think Kate is trying to tell me something.

so true

As I was cleaning out Joshua's backpack one day I came across this:

The exact qoute: "Don't bullly a nerd, chances are you'll end up working for one"

Bros

Glamping?

Defintiton of glamping: glamourous camping. 

The boys set up their tents inside the house one night for a "campout".  I think this might be  their version of glamping.....indoor camping with air conditioning, ceiling fans, video games and movies.  Braeden went one step further and set up his tent on his bed.

14 years, 2 months, 1 week , and 2 days

Yep, this post is a little over due, but so is everthing else that I have failed to doucment over the last few months. So here we go again.....Braeden celebrated his 14th birthday back in April with a few friends. It was a very last minute party.  He proclaimed he didn't want a party until a few days before so this is what we threw together...nothing to fancy. But that's the way he likes it.

didn't last long enough

Spring break has come to an end and it didn't last long enough. It never does. This time last year we were at Walt Disney World. This time around we decided to stay closer to home and just hang out. We still kept busy and the week was gone before we knew it.

On Monday, Braeden and Joshua made quite a bit of money by helping a family in our ward clean out their garage. They worked all day long and actually had fun. The weather was beautiful that day so Cary, Kate, and I worked in the yard.

On Tuesday, Braeden had some friends over to play games and watch movies...and eat. Man, can teenagers eat. I wish I could eat like that.

On Wednesday we just ran errands to get Braeden ready for his camp out. The kids and I also enjoyed a nice lunch out, courtesy of Sams pizza counter. :)

On Thursday we got Braeden off to camp and Joshua, Kate, and I went to see the Lorax. The kids loved it and I love Dr. Seuss. I found a new favorite quote from the movie: "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." - Dr. Seuss

On Friday and the pinnacle of the week for the kids, we met up with Braeden's scout troop and camped over night. The weather was so perfect. We hiked during the day, played some Frisbee, had chicken fajitas for dinner, and enjoyed being outdoors.

My family loves to camp...minus me. This was the first time other than girls camp that I have been camping. I actually enjoyed myself. My favorite things: hiking and the smores. My least favorite things: sleeping on the ground and the bathroom situation. I would actually do it again though. :)

Now we are counting down until school is out for summer. We can make it!!

the kids

we are alive and well

hmmm...where to begin. So, I would like to say that I just took a bit of a blogging break but that's not really true. I just haven't been interested in blogging lately and honestly there really isn't anything interesting going on..nothing really blog worthy to report anyway. We tend to be pretty boring, but that's the way we like it.  But this is how I keep our family history so I feel obligated to write something. So, here is the lowdown:

Braeden: He is on the track team at school right now jumping hurdles. He finished his best at the last track meet placing 4th overall. This is great for him since he really isn't a runner. He is also doing really well in school...A's all year so far..minus one B. It was an 89 in English. So frustrating for him. He just earned his Life badge in Boy Scouts. He is at the point where he can start on his Eagle if he will just get motivated. He is also a referee for the Little Elm soccer association making pretty good money.

Joshua: He is a character. He makes us laugh ALL the time.  He is also a straight A student this year. He is loving school more this year than he ever has.  He has really good teachers that keep him interested and let him help with teaching occasionally. He is still crazy in-love with legos. In particular the mini-figures. He has way too many to count. He is getting ready for 6th grade by just recently picking classes. He is excited about taking pre-AP classes and getting into band. His hope is that he gets to play drums of some sort.

Kate: She wears me out, but I love her to death. She is very particular about her clothes and insists often she has nothing to wear even though she has a closet full of clothes...reminds me of myself just a bit. She is playing soccer and her team name has changed once again. She is very happy about this as she was on the Glamour Girls and is now a Pink Panther. She got glasses just after Christmas and looks super cute in them. She picked them out all by herself.  She isn't loving school this year but is doing well. Science is her favorite subject.

As for Cary and I, we are just busy with life.  He loves his job but hates his commute.  He is also working on his Masters at SMU.  The kids and the house keep me busy most of the time.  I am going to girls camp again this summer as one of the "programs" people.  This has kept me busier than I had expected, but I am excited about it.

I feel like I just wrote one of those really long Christmas letters, which I NEVER do....but this is us in a nutshell.