Mommy Goes To Day Camp!

Yesterday I spent the day with my cubs at day camp. It was hot....but mostly FUN! I love all of my cub scouts and especially Boston (of course). I was so very proud of Boston. He is respectful to others, he loves to participate and he is a good friend to the other boys. "My Dream Son" is what comes to mind when I think of Boston. I love you so much honey.

"Summertime Swing" By Paige Barron

This is a painting that I recently finished. I wanted to paint a peaceful picture and this is what I came up with. One of my favorite things to do as a kid and now is to swing. Sounds cheesey I know, but it is true. We have every kind of swing in our backyard. Daddy made the comment as I asked him to put up another swing at my request, "Never too many swings!" Swinging is fun and some how it makes ALL you troubles go away. =)

"Great White Heron" By Paige Barron

This week I painted this bird. I really like how it turned out. My goal was to capture something in nature and this bird is what I chose. I had a blast painting it.

Boston Makes a "Contraption"

Boston is so cute. He loves to get out a bunch of toys and make what he calls a contraption. They are really quite ingenious. The whole family gathers around to watch as he makes it work. He is a smart boy.

It's time for Cub Scout Day Camp!

The thyme this year for day camp is Medieval Times! The boys are having a ball! One tradition that Day Camp has is that we pin a bunch of "trades" to the boys hats and they can make trades throughout the day when they have a spare minute. It is the highlight for the boys. After going to many Day Camps, I have figured out that the kid with candy is the most popular trader. Boston and I went to the store and stocked up on tons of candy for him to trade. He scored some neat stuff. Tomorrow I get to go to Day Camp and be the leader. I will post more! =D

Tornado In Flower Mound!

The tornado alarms sounded and the kids and I all headed for Daddy's closet. We had a family prayer for our house and trees and we prayed for Daddy and the Young Men who were camping in Oklahoma. The good thing (if there is one) about these tornado warnings is that they pass by very quickly. Usually after 1/2 an hour, they are in the next town and gone. As we assessed the damage, we did well. We lost no trees. Just a few branches and lots of sticks. Our neighbor lost a giant oak tree. That was sad. There were trees down all over Flower Mound. Let's hope it's a good ten years before we see a storm like this again. After the storm, we prayed again to thank Heavenly Father for protecting us and our house and trees. The kids and I cleaned the front yard before Daddy came home. Tag was home for less then 24 hours when he took off to Chicago for a week. Monday night while we were at our friends, the Robbins, for Family Night, some mysterious elves came and cleaned our entire backyard. It was WONDERFUL. I felt so happy and blessed to receive this service. (These pictures are of our river flowing at capacity and our pond filled to the brink.)

Boston and Briggs are in the Friend!

Boston wrote an article for the Friend Magazine! We sent it in one year ago. month after month Boston would ask if it was in that month, but no. Finally, after we totally forgot about it, they printed it! This article truly describes these two boys. They have the most special relationship. I just love being able to witness it every day. It's so sweet.

Sarger Rides Colonel

After the ward party at our house, Sarger, after seeing all of the kids ride Colonel, has been begging to ride him. On Saturday, Daddy and I stopped our chores and headed out to the barn to put his halter on him for Sarger to take a ride. As soon as Colonel was all ready Sarger got cold feet and was refusing to get on him. After all of his begging Major Mommy kicked in and I picked him up and plopped him on Colonel's back. After a few minutes of riding around, he started to be brave and had fun with it. Good job Sarger (and Colonel)!

Riding Buck

We have wonderful neighbors. They are the Chiffolos. They are wonderful for many reasons, but one of them is that they let Quincey ride their horses. They invite her to come over on Saturdays to ride. It is such a joy to her. I am very grateful that they are so sweet to her. She really loves it.

The Barron Goal Jar

Our family has a goal jar. Every Monday night for Family Night we write a new goal for the coming week. Each person writes down their goal and then puts it in the jar. We don't share with each other what our goals are. My hope is for everyone to be totally in charge of their own goal. Then next the Monday, we pull out the goals, read them and if the person accomplished their goal, they get a prize/treat. My hope is that our children will discover the THRILL of achieving a goal! Being able to do this will help them to be successful in life. Goals are so much fun! Reaching them is the ultimate!

"The Plan of Salvation" By Paige Barron

This is a painting that I just did called "The Plan of Salvation". I am working on my Young Women Recognition award with Quincey and one of the goals they have you do is to draw The Plan of Salvation. Since I have been painting a lot lately, I decided it would be fun to do a painting of it! It has been quite a challenging painting to do. I have never done an abstract before. I always thought that abstract paintings were easy because they look so random. But after doing this project, I decided that they are VERY hard to do. I spent more time on this painting then I have on any other painting. I really like how it turned out though. See if you can figure out what all of the shapes mean.

Briggs Graduates From Elementary! WOW!

Briggs is moving on to Forrestwood Middle School next year. He will be in sixth grade. It has been a wonderful fifth grade year. These pictures were taken at the graduation party. We had a BBQ on the playground and then the entire school along with parents lined the halls as the fifth graders left the school for the last time. We cheered and gave high fives to the kids. It even choked me up a little bit. Briggs is growing up.

Briggs With Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Taylor

We love Briggs's sweet teachers Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Taylor. They have been wonderful this year. We will miss them as Briggs moves on the Middle School and Forrestwood.

Piper Graduates from Kindergarden!

Piper is moving on to first grade! It has been a wonderful year with Mrs. Brinenstool. Piper has learned a lot. Her graduation was a great event and I could tell that she was very proud of herself. I love you Babygirl!

Quincey's Final Concert

The Shadow Ridge Middle School Orchestra had their end of the year concert. It was wonderful. Quincey received an award there. Daddy was the Booster Club President this year, so he was the MC at the event. It was fun and it always ends with TONS of desserts that everyone indulges on. It was fun and neat to see how Quincey has progressed.

Bottling Chicken

I love to bottle meat. I do all kinds. Beef, chicken, fish, pork, etc. The things I like about it are, it (so they say) lasts for 20 years on the shelf, it is easy to do and I have comfort in knowing that I have meat to cook with if I was unable to buy any at the store. As you crack open a jar of meat, it smells like it is fresh from the oven. It has been a wonderful way to save money because I buy it on sale and my freezer is not packed with it, so I can have room for other things. I love it.