Pioneer Activity

Last night our primary put on a perfectly pleasant pioneer activity that the kids just loved! The deal was sweetened about 15 minutes before we left when Brandon phoned and let me know he would be joining us!!!

Our little group of Nursery, Sunbeams, and CTR-4 aged kiddos started out at the Nauvoo station where we built temples out of sugar cubes.

  

We then made our way over to Winter Quarters and enjoyed yummy snow-cones.

  

The perilous trek then led us to cross the Sweetwater River.

    

The boys really enjoyed flexing their muscles during the stick pull games.      

What trek would be complete without a few turns in an authentic handcart!

 

Kudos to everyone who had a part in this great night. Fun was had by all and it was a great wrap up to summer, remembering our heritage in the process!

How much is that doggie in the window?

One day last week the boys had been fantastic during a long day of errands. So I decided to reward their good behavior with what I thought was to be pretty cheap entertainment. We stopped off at one of our favorite pet stores and enjoyed peeking into all the cages and tanks full of different animals.

Donaven made his way around to the puppies and fell immediately in love with this cute pug puppy.

He pulled out all the stops determined in convincing me that we needed this dog to make our family complete.

He even requested that I take a picture and send it to daddy letting him see how cute it is and be sure to let daddy know that I say pleeeeeaaaaaase!

Humoring him for a moment I did his bidden request and asked the store clerk how much the pup was.

$800!!!

Needless to say we did not get the dog. At least he has nice friends with dogs we can go see anytime.

The start of something new.

 

Pre-K!!!

The day of registration this little guy was all smiles. He loves the new playground and all the new adventures that are coming his way. Like getting to pick out his very own backpack.

This morning we anxiously headed up to his new campus and found his locker and his classroom.

Blue his favorite color!

Donavan was a little shy at first but he worked up the courage to give his teacher, Mr. Martinez, his gift and introduce himself.

He picked out a new set of pens and we made a little note that said,

You are just the “write” teacher for me!

Mr. Martinez was really grateful and I am nothing but happy for the prospect of this new year. Everything is falling into place and I feel my fears and anxiety being washed away with a comforting reminder that the Lord loves me and knows what is best for my little family. If I just will allow him to lead my steps I will be guided down the right path.

It was a big day for the Mathis’ house hold and we are counting down the days to start of the new year!

Kids Bowl Free

My dear friend told me about this great summer program going on here where kids get to bowl free. So I signed the boys up and we gave it try. This was their first attempt at bowling and it was a lot of fun to see them get excited over their job well done!

I was a little nervous that Emerson wouldn’t be able to even pick up the ball but he was insistent on doing it by himself. I was impressed by his strength.

      

Aren’t they the cutest bowlers ever!

Not a bad way to spend a Friday afternoon. We have a few more things to cross off our summer bucket list and we will be ready to welcome the coming of fall with open arms!

(just a side note I did have to pay a few dollars for D’s shoes but $3 for two hours of fun was well worth it in my book!)

New Splash Park

Today we went to the new splash park in town. As I sat back and watched these two play I couldn’t help but smile. They are just starting to get to that age where they enjoy playing together. It was so sweet to see them hand in hand and laughing.

They probably went down this slide about 30 times together.

 

  

Emerson is saying, “Come on Bruder!”

 

He was such a ham today, stopping and posing anytime he saw the camera in my hand.

Thank you splash park for a fun day in the sun! I am sure we will be back many more times to soak up what little summer we have left!!!

Donaven starts Pre-K in 3weeks!

Sleep

 

Sometimes I wonder how I ever manage to get any sleep around here!

An unplanned teaching moment

A few days ago as we were sitting down for lunch & Donaven out of the blue told me that his body is a temple and that someday he wanted to live in Heaven and be with Jesus again. He continued that in order to do that he was going to take real good care of his body by only eating good healthy thing like milk and throwing yucky bad thing like tea in the trash. I was a little taken aback. Here my four year old was sharing his testimony of the word of wisdom something that I have yet to teach him.  I was really impressed with his level of understanding and the fact that something he had learned in primary several days prior had made such an impact on him. He quickly explained his displeasure at not getting a turn in primary to throw the bad stuff in the trash and it opened a window of opportunity for an unplanned teaching moment. I pulled out a very similar activity and gave him a chance to sort out the good things from the bad while discussing it together. It was a very spirit filled moment. One that I wish I could hold on to and remember always. Later when thinking back on the events of the day these words came to my mind from the the talk, Teaching our Children to Understand given in the past April General Conference;

"Sometimes the most powerful way to teach our children to understand a doctrine is to teach in the context of what they are experiencing right at that moment. These moments are spontaneous and unplanned and happen in the normal flow of family life. They come and go quickly, so we need to be alert and recognize a teaching moment when our children come to us with a question or worry, when they have problems getting along with siblings or friends, when they need to control their anger, when they make a mistake, or when they need to make a decision. (See Teaching, No Greater Call: A Resource Guide for Gospel Teaching [1999], 140–41; Marriage and Family Relations Instructor’s Manual [2000], 61.)

If we are ready and will let the Spirit guide in these situations, our children will be taught with greater effect and understanding."

I know I need to slow down a bit and be more susceptible to these fleeting moments and take advantage of the time that I have been given. Just a thought...