The Birthday Boy!

Four years ago today the Lord blessed us with Gorsline boy #2, our sweet Camden!  This guy sure keeps us on our toes, but mayhem and all, he continues to steal my heart everyday :)

We decided to kick of our celebration the night before with a night swim with some glowing balloons.  They LOVED it!  We got white balloons and a dozen glow bracelets from the Dollar Store.  We blew the balloons part way up then slid the glow sticks (already "cracked" so they are glowing) in, then finished blowing up the balloons.  We wanted it to be a surprise for the kids so after I blew them all up I put them in black yard bags and the Daddy sneaked them out back and put them into the pool.  It was still too light to really see them glow when we first got in but by the time we got out they looked awesome!  We gave each kid a glow necklace too which came in handy once it was dark- it was the only way we could see where they were!  After we were done swimming we dried them off and brought them inside for some more fun.

It was such a beautiful night!

Last night having a 3- year old in the house- a little bittersweet.  I have enjoyed him so much! But the time has gone so very fast! 

McKenna and our niece, Rebecca decorated downstairs after he went to bed so he was so excited to see everything when he woke up.  I had the birthday crown ready for him to put on and he has worn it almost all day!  I made it out of foam and got the template from Family Fun magazine.  While I was at it I went ahead and made one for Kaden's birthday on Saturday.  

The birthday kid gets to use the boot cup. We had gotten this and a cool cowboy-esque plate for McKenna a few years ago for her birthday since she's so crazy for horses and now it's gotten to be a tradition.  They always remember it, even if I forget to get it out!  This year both boys requested chocolate cake so I found a recipe for devil's food chocolate cake on the box of my Softasilk cake flour- it was a hit!  

A "C" for Camden to put on the wall in his room, painted by Kaden.

Playing with the Zoobs Cam got from Grandma.  They decided to tackle one of the most complicated ones right away- the dinosaur that took 125 pieces.  We love these things, this is the second set we have.  The boys play with them a lot and love to make up all kinds of vehicles, ladders etc. It's always fun to see what they come up with!

It's been a couple of super fun days here, I think we will all sleep well tonight :)

Happy 4th Birthday, Camden, we love you!! 

Breakfast and Burrowing Owls

We have a fantastic little park a couple of miles away from our house- Zanjero Park.  It's not a park with a playground  but we love it.  We can take our bikes or scooters to ride and see some wildlife in their desert habitats.  Recently the AZ Raptor Rescue relocated some burrowing owls to the park.  These adorable little owls started out in a protected "tent" so they could adjust before being turned out to the burrows that were made for them all around the park.  We went shortly after they arrived to watch them through the mesh tent.  It was a bit difficult to see through the material but we did see 2 or 3 that were perched inside.  Regardless, the kids loved it so I promised them that when school got out we would venture over early, bring breakfast and see if we could see them in their natural habitat.

So one morning, armed with Dad's binoculars and some Pop Tarts we headed out, hopeful to spot an owl or two...

We weren't there ten minutes when Kaden (aka "eagle-eye") spotted an owl perched on a dirt berm right on the edge of the hay field.  I'm not great at judging distances but I suppose it was a couple hundred feet away-?  Anyway, far enough that we could make out the shape of it but needed the binoculars to see it clearly.  You can barely see it below on the mound of dirt.

 
After some squabbling about who got to use the binoculars next, we all got to see the little owl.. Already our outing was a success!

We decided we would have breakfast before meandering down onto the dirt path to see if we could see anything else. Mmmm, love those healthy Pop Tarts (a rarity around here :).

We were fortunate enough to have one more sighting before we left.  This owl had settled into a burrow right where the tent had been and when we saw him he was sitting up on his perch.  I was surprised at how close we were able to get.  Keeping this crew quiet is a tall order so when he heard us, he jumped down from his perch onto the ground, and once we were all quiet again he hopped back up.  It was fun to sit and watch him.  He's right next to the perch on the left, right near the burrow entrance...

Another highlight of the day was getting to see a big blue heron fly right over us!  We had a great morning and will likely go again soon.  I can't help but think we would see more owls the earlier we go, before it gets too hot.  But who can blame them- by midday this time of year I would rather stay in too!

Shields of Faith

Once again let's establish what an awful blogger I am... I am making yet another attempt to regularly chronicle our adventures but I'm not making any promises :)  Some days just keeping all of my peeps moving in the same direction is a feat in itself!  That said, we have been having a ton of fun around here.  I actually started planning some things a few weeks before school got out in an attempt to keep everyone learning (I use that word loosely), drive the "B" word (I'm BORED) out of our vocabulary, and limit screen time (computer, TV etc).

It's been a nearly a month since school was out and although we don't have a true "daily routine," things are going well.  Coming off of a crammed schedule with school and activities I wanted to have things to do but also room for plenty of fun and spontaneity (something I am constantly trying to get better at :).  One goal I did have was to regularly do devotions with the kids.  With the boys being almost 4 and 7 I knew I needed something solid but that could be done relatively quickly.  I settled on a couple things: The Long Story Short by Marty Machowski and Big Truths For Little Kids: Teaching Your Children To Live For God by Susan Hunt and Richie Hunt.  The Long Story Short I got at our church bookstore for under $11 (on sale for 50% off!) and Big Truths for Little Kids for the same on Amazon.  So both books for under $22 bucks.  I LOVE them!  

Big Truths for Little Kids is like a catechism with stories that go along with each section.  They are easy to understand but still appropriate for McK (almost 11).  I pull this one out whenever or sometimes we read out of it when we don't do the other one.  The Long Story Short is truly the 10-minute devotional I have been wanting.  Right now there is only Volume 1 which is the Old Testament but that worked out perfectly since we are learning about the solar system/space.  It has 78 weeks worth of devotionals, so we will be using that awhile :) Besides being fairly quick, it's solid- even though it covers the OT it points to Jesus.  Also, it has lots of questions to get the kids engaged and thinking.  It has definitely led to some great discussions with our Littles, making it more than worth the 11 bucks I spent for it- priceless in fact.  Anyway, I highly recommend both of them.

In addition to doing regular-ish devotions, I want to work on hiding God's word in our hearts.  The boys still have verses that correspond with their lessons in Sunday school but not a monthly verse per say, so no time like the present to have us learn some truths that we value as a family... Well, we value ALL God's truths but you know what I mean... :)  So for starters we are putting on the full armor of God, and making a shield of salvation.  I totally scored and got the huge shield die-cuts at Michael's on clearance for $1.49!!  For 6 of them!

Each kid got a shield to decorate anyway they wanted.  I put out tissue paper, jewels for bling, glitter (against my better judgement), markers, crayons etc.

K wrote I Love God and made a castle as a fortress :)

Cam LOVES gluing things so he had fun sticking tissue paper squares all over his.

McK's finished product

I didn't realize it when we first started, but I'm pretty sure we did the shields upside-down.  Oh well, still cute and a good visual for them in "putting on the armor" of God :)  

Merry Christmas!

"Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord's glory surrounded them.  They were terrified, but the angel reassured them.  "Don't be afraid!" he said.  "I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.  The Savior- yes, the Messiah, the Lord- has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!  Any you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger."  
     Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others- the armies of heaven- praising God and saying, "Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased."
Luke 2:9-14 NLT

MERRY CHRISTMAS from the Gorslines!

Here is some of our day in pictures...

Cam with his Nerf double-barrel shotgun :)

A docking station for McKenna's Ipod!

A remote control Jeep for Kaden!

No fighting for the boys- they each have a remote control car :)

Lava lamps= awesome nightlights!

Rollerblades for Kaden- he's hoping to be able to keep up with Sissy!

It's a Wii!!! They were so surprised!!

Boxing... Kaden wins!

Trying out the blades in the house

Playing Mario Cart with Uncle Casey

Dad setting up the Wii

He's catching on fast!!

It's been a wonderful, fun day spent with family, hope you've had a MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Let It Snow...

Snowflakes seem to be the theme around here this week- and appropriately so- it has been COLD!  Well cold for us here in the desert anyway.  Scottsdale even got a little dusting and some of the mountain tops out to our east were snow covered!  It's perfect for getting us into the holiday spirit!

The kids have been very busy making LOTS of snowflakes- I think if we didn't need to open our patio door they would have covered the whole other side too!  They have been so excited about making them, it's the first thing they want to do in the morning when they wake up.  They made so many that they decorated their bedrooms with them :)  So cute!

We had so much fun making paper snowflakes I decided it would be fun to make some that were edible.  So after school one day we made tortilla snowflakes (think the original idea came from Family Fun).

We folded up our tortillas the same way you would a piece of paper then cut our designs using a kitchen scissors (it is quite thick).  

Next we basted some melted butter over our snowflakes and put them on a cookie sheet covered with parchment.  After they were covered we sprinkled them with cinnamon-sugar- YUM!  We baked them at 400 degrees until golden brown.  

We didn't mind if they got a little extra brown around the edges- it was like a cinnamon-sugar tortilla chip.  A delicious after school snack and fun for little hands!

An early Christmas present

Wow!  Two posts back-to-back- that's a real feat around here!  Anyway, the past couple of times I have been to Fry's I noticed that they had several home appliances on sale.  After looking closer I found they had a StirCrazy Popcorn popper (regularly $44.99!) on sale for $19.88.  Well I have had my mind set on buying one as a "family" Christmas present for months, so I couldn't pass it up!  I knew the kids would be stoked since this is the type that Grandma has!  I can't lie, I was SO excited to break that thing out because I knew how ecstatic they would be. So we waited until Cam woke up from his nap and then I surprised them- I think they must have thanked me 1000 times.  Our kiddos (especially Mc & Cam) LOVE popcorn so this will be so FUN to have :)

We seemed to be missing the instruction book so the Daddy detoured to the computer to find them so here we are figuring out what comes next..

The popcorn is in, now we watch, and wait..

And after a few short minutes, here they are, SHOVELING in the finished product!  And fairly certain it will be requested again today as the after-school snack.

It was so fun to get an early gift- especially one that is so practical- and simple :)  The past couple of years the focus on gifts and over-doing of Christmas in general has gotten to me more.  Honestly, (and sadly) it has probably been driven more by a tightened budget than anything else.  But I have definitely noticed the past couple of years that in the Christmas aftermath, much of the "stuff" is quickly put aside and sometimes even forgotten.  It really does become overwhelming- not only from a clutter standpoint but to the kids as well.  We have TONS of toys yet it fails to quell the B-word (Mom, I'm BORED, there's nothing to do... Really!?).    And, the more "stuff" they get, the more they want- it never ends.  I recently read about something one Mom does to keep Christmas simple and her family more focused on the real meaning of this season, Jesus.  Each of her children get 4 gifts- something they want, something they need, something to wear and something to read.  Brilliant!  Not only that but it pretty much covers all the bases.  We may have to consider implementing that...

I also think about how I want our kids remember Christmas when they reflect about it as adults and have their own families.  I definitely don't want them to feel that it was a time of everyone rushing around and being harried in general.  I read an interesting post today at Encouraging Hearts at Home.  I linked it to FB but it was so good it it's worth noting here.  I especially enjoyed her perspective about that as Moms we shift from being the recipients of Christmas to the "bringers" of it.  So true!

Here's to bringing our families a wonderful, grace-filled holiday season and to celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus!

She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for He will save his people from their sins.

Matthew 1:21 

Thanksgiving in Kindergarten

Since I haven't posted an entry since May I figured it would be no surprise that it's December and I'm just getting around to posting something Thanksgiving-related... But we've already established that I'm terrible about blogging  the worst blogger ever so, we're set.  Anyway, I did manage to get a few cute pictures of Kaden's Thanksgiving feast so here they are!

The feast!  Our contribution was some turkey sandwiches and some very kid-friendly Delicious Pumpkin Bread I found here.  Not the healthiest of versions for sure but really tasty! 

All the kiddos digging in- quite a lot of food for an afternoon snack!

I couldn't get Kaden to put his Indian feathers back on for the picture..

Loved the cute vests they made out of brown paper bags and painted- they turned out so fun!  I tried to convince Kaden to wear his for Thanksgiving here at home but not surprisingly that idea was NOT met with enthusiasm :) 

All in all it was a fun afternoon at school- I think for Kaden the best part was getting to leave school with me early!