Our Luke is SIX!

Luke had a "THE BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!" on May 5th. He didn't want a friend party (he really just likes being at home and we don't live by any kids in his kindergarten class) he just wanted his family to come. He had tried to get me to take him to Chuck E. Cheese for his birthday, but I resisted. Not really found of the the icky, expensive pizza and freaky animatronics that have changed since I was a kid. Then a few days later he said he wanted our neighbors, The Sawyers, to come. Eric is in his Primary class, but will be in kindergarten next year. So they came over at 7:30 for cake and ice cream.

For his presents Luke got a foam rocket that shoots really high, his own "HUGE" bag of puffy Cheetos, a candy bar, police Lego stickers, a shirt with a Piranha on it, armor for his Zuzu pet, and a green light saber, and some money from grandparents. The very next day he ordered a Lego Star Wars landspeeder from Lego.com and then insisted we go put the money in the bank so he could pay for it!



One birthdays at our house the birthday person gets to choose what we have for dinner. Luke picked cereal. So we had "Magic Soup," as I heard a friend call it--cold cereal and milk, for dinner. Then we followed that up with cake and ice cream. No wonder he said it was the "BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!"

Birthdays at our house have a lot to do with the cake. Luke picked an alligator after looking through some pictures. He turned out pretty good!

The day after his birthday he started walking around and acting so much bigger and older! He brought me his two baby blankets, one from each grandma, and told me he didn't need them any more and he was going to put them in the D.I. box in the laundry room. I tried to tell him I'd wash them and then we could just save them in closet. He said, "No, I don't need them anymore." I tried, "but maybe you'll be sad and need them." "No." and he stuck them in the box. I just left them there. About a half hour later he told me, "I really think you should go to D.I. today." He hasn't wanted them since. I did wash them and have them in a laundry basket close to the box. I think he put them back in the D.I. box. Hunter freaked out when he saw them, "Mom, look what is in the D.I. box!" He tried to take them out, but I explained the situation to him (letting him know I really was not going to take them to D.I.) Dallin also got very concerned when he saw them there. He said, "I still use my white-blue B" (his blanket's name). That six foot tall boy just makes me laugh! Our boys each have had a very special blanket. None of them were so attached that they have to have them to sleep as they've been older. Most of them just hang around like a stuffed animal or pillow by their beds. Luke is the first to "be done" with his baby blankets though. I think he just wants to be grown-up like everyone else in the house.

The Easter Bunny Delivers!

Happy Easter! We celebrate Easter on both Easter Saturday and Easter Sunday. Saturday morning the Easter Bunny visits our house. Hunter woke up a bit on the early side. I don't think Thayne and Bruce were very happy to woken up by Hunter. I could hear them plotting and talking all the way in my room. I finally got up to save him from his older brothers that were getting very annoyed with Hunt. Hunter kept trying to tell them what he could see out in the family room and Thayne specifically did not want to be told the surprises. I think the smilebox catches a bit of the fun! After they spent quite a while playing with the basket gifts they looked for the hidden Easter eggs that the Bunny hides all over.

Free greeting generated with Smilebox Easter Candy Favorites: Hunter: Reese's Pieces Eggs Bruce: Chocolate Bunnies & Peeps (they get blown up in the microwave) Thayne: Malted eggs and Reese's Pieces Eggs Dallin: bunnies & chicks (like circus peanuts), well, actually all of it except... Luke: Peeps Melissa: bunnies & chicks, hide 'n seek eggs, black jelly beans, Reese's pieces eggs, good malted eggs--prefer the non chocolate ones Lance: Reese's Pieces Eggs & black jelly beans & non chocolate malted eggs What They Don't Like: Dallin: Black jelly beans (make him very cranky when he smells black licorice) Bruce: Malted Eggs and white chocolate bunnies, not to crazy about bunnies & chicks either Luke: white chocolate Melissa: CHEAP chocolate! Yuck! and commercialized non-traditional candies--like the candies that you can just buy in a candy bar all the time--I like it to be special to just Easter. And we only get Peeps at Easter time! Lance: Hide 'n seek eggs, bunnies & chicks, peeps or anything that is just like straight sugar. Thayne: Black Jelly Beans

Hinckley Rodeo 2010

The Hinckley Rodeo is always held the weekend of Pioneer Day, July 24th. It is a HUGE tradition that Lance grew up with and we love to take our kids to it too. This year lots of the Warnick cousins were there and they did Mutton Bustin' and Calf Riding. (I think we're insane for letting them do it!) The prize is a Hinckley Rodeo t-shirt and a sucker. All the cousins that wanted to do it got their names pulled out the hat, except Luke. Poor Luke. He was really upset. He's the my only boy that really wanted to do it from the first time I talked to him about it. But he recovered just fine. He'll get another chance someday--but he'll wear a helmet, or try to do it at the Snake River Stampede (they where a neck brace, padded vest, and football helmet).

Thayne and Landon

I got some video, but I missed Thayne's adventure. He was on a calf and got bucked straight up in the air, flipped and landed on his back! YIKES! He got up but was a bit shaky. Hunter's sheep was not very good. It had already been ridden once, so it wasn't to adventurous. Bruce's ride was really short. He says it wasn't him in the video--because he doesn't remember it from that point of view. His memory of the ride is longer than it really was too. I think that happens in those situations--you remember a lot of details for those 2-3 second events!

Memorial Day with the Thurgoods

For Memorial Day Weekend we got a visit from Lance's sister, DeAnn and her family. We had so much fun with the Thurgoods! We hope they come to visit again someday.

We started our adventures with a trip to Boise. We went to a park and ate our picnic lunch. The kids played on the playground for a while too. We walked across the Boise River because I wanted them to see it good. Then we drove over to go on a nature walk around the Morrison Knudsen Nature Center. There is a stream with "windows" in it so you can see the fish very well. It's one of the cool things along the Boise Greenbelt.

DeAnn gave me a tutorial in cake decorating with fondant. It was very helpful! We ate the cake on Sunday.



Later than night we had a campfire and roasted marshmallows. Church on Sunday, of course. Then on Monday we went up into the mountains toward Idaho City to go fishing in the rain.

We went to Grimes Creek, which was very full with spring run-off. Hunter caught a huge sucker fish. DeAnn and I were making a tasty Dutch oven lunch of ribs, dutch oven potatoes, watermelon, a spoonful of baked beans, potato salad. Hunter brought the fish over to the "camp ground" area. He's so funny. He yelled, "Mom, you'd better pucker up! I caught a fish and it wants to give you a kiss!" We'll have to collect pictures from DeAnn (I forgot the camera). Hunter kind of wanted to keep the fish (Lance never does), but the fish got put into the water along the edge just to keep it there until it was time to go and Thayne reached down to tickle its belly and off the fish swam.

Shortly after that we had a big scare. Luke was upstream from Lance and he reached down to get a stick out of the water and he fell in. I guess he rolled himself over quickly because he was floating down the stream on his back. Lance had heard a noise and he looked up and there was Luke floating right by him. (Just writing this makes me a bit sick to my stomach). Lance jumped right in and pulled him out. His nose and mouth were out of the water. Both were very calm about the whole thing. We got Luke stripped down and into an extra sweatshirt and wrapped in a blanket in the van. We pulled the van back by the food so he could "be with us." Then the rain picked up and we all ended up eating inside our vans anyway. Thayne is convinced that Luke didn't die "because, he needs to do something important: like go on a mission and baptize thousands of people or be an apostle or something." I do think Luke is pretty special, but I don't really know what his mission in life is. I'll be happy to just wait and see (right now I just am trying to teach him to be reverent in Primary!). We're so glad he's safe and we don't want to repeat that adventure again. Later that day Luke told me, "That was kind of fun, but scary." I've told him he not allow to float down rivers or creeks without a raft.

We wished the cousins could have stayed a day or two longer, but we had school the next day so they headed back to Utah.

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Flower Bouquet!

What woman doesn't love a gorgeous flower arrangement? I think boys clue into this very early in life. It is very natural for them to pick flowers for the girls they love. Somewhere along the line though, we girls often react negatively to this natural instinct they have and squelch it a bit by the time they grow up. We girls should be more careful! Maybe it is just that they see flowers and we see---weeds! I've always be so happy when I get my dandelion bouquets, but they are really hard to keep alive in cups and vases. Thayne and Bruce made me the best flower arrangement this spring! I think they have a natural gift for arranging flowers, several big flowers, with sprays of dainty small blossoms scattered in and plenty of greenery! The vase completely complements the flowers also. It was a bit heavy since they put the flowers in dirt in their sweet effort to keep them alive for longer! I love these boys! They are so sweet!

Hard Work=First Place!

Hunter was so excited for the Birds of Prey Art Contest this year. He wanted to do it last year, but he never did his drawing. The art contest is sponsored by the Kuna Chamber of Commerce. There are winners in four different age groups. Then the winners' artwork is published in a calendar for the following school year. Hunter had been studying this year's calendar quite intently. Once the entry forms came home, he started his picture that very day. He actually do four fully colored drafts before he was pleased with the fourth one. He drew his bird, a bald eagle, with his catch of a rabbit over farm fields. I was really excited to see that he chose to draw something different than is normally in the contest--usually there are a lot of birds catching fish. But he knew that rabbits are a huge part of the birds diets.

He got the letter in the mail one afternoon. And whooped and hollered with excitement. He was so happy to win $20! (that is what he thought first prize was, but it was actually $50!). After we all knew his great news he immediately wanted to call his friend Lauren and tell her all about it.
He got to go to an awards ceremony and then he had his picture and a photo of the awards ceremony in the Kuna Melba News too! Now he's famous!

Here's a few pictures of the awards ceremony and the Birds of Prey Festival on May 15th.

Great in 8 Challenge Review

I’ve been working on a “Great in 8” weeks challenge. It has involved earning points for eating good foods (whole grains, lean meats, proteins, lean dairy products), fruits and veggies, water, reading scriptures, personal prays twice daily, exercising daily and strength training.

Physical and spiritual health go together. I must take care of my spirit constantly by doing several things daily: praying, scripture study, and repenting. There are things I do weekly for my spirit: attend church, partake of the sacrament, have Family Home Evening, etc. Over the years I have come to admire others who are spiritually fit: our prophet and apostles, local friends and family members. I realize that they aren't perfect, but also know they are very consistent at taking care of their spirits.

Spiritual fitness is hard to measure. We can’t measure it with our eyes like we can evaluate someone’s physical body. We don’t get spiritual reports from a doctor or test. There is no prayer monitor that would be equivalent to blood pressure monitor or a scripture reading assessment that is equivalent to a nutritional assessment. So how do I monitor my own spiritual fitness?

Must of my measuring has to go on how I feel. Do I feel happy, stressed, or burdened? Then there is the mood barometer! When I am taking care of myself spiritually—personal daily prayers, reading my scriptures, journaling, attending church—I am so much better at handling life. I don’t react in a negative way to daily challenges, fighting or sassy children, or things that go wrong. I am kinder and more patient. When I have been struggling with praying or scripture reading my mood barometer is much more likely to make wild swings: Happy then pouting; yelling and frustrated then humbly repentant, but betting myself up of losing it; more tired of being around kids.

The past 8 weeks haven’t been without normal life, but I always find it amazing how much better life is when I rely on the Lord first. Journaling is also a very helpful tool for me. I haven’t been very consistent at doing it, but I’ve been doing it more. I can see easier where I’ve been and have a better vision where I want to go. I have been recording my goals and monitoring them better. I plan to keep that up. Spiritually, I wasn’t out of shape when we started this challenge, but I found room for improvements and see where I can continue to improve.

My physical body also need constant nourishment. I must take care of my body constantly too. I feed myself daily. I must use my muscles to keep them physically strong, so I must exercise—which takes care of more than just my muscles, but also my heart and mind. I must clean and groom my body: bathe, cut my hair, brush my teeth, etc.

Now this is where things get tricky. Do I admire others who are physically fit? Or do other emotions come into play? Do I have a realistic vision of what physical fitness is? Do I recognize that being physically fit takes constant work just like my spiritual fitness? Do I think that physically fit is measured by how “skinny” I am or do you know there is more too it than that? What is the “more” to being physically fit? What is important to me when I measure my physical fitness?

The physical part of the challenge is were I have to work the hardest. It involved things that were not habits for me. I was pretty good at exercising about 3 times a week, but I hadn’t done much more that that in years. I wanted to though. I make mental plans to get out and go walk or run or to do a yoga DVD, but then I let life get in the way or I waste my time. It has been challenging. At first it seemed to consuming my thoughts constantly, but then I got better at doing it and more things were natural. There were days when I walked the neighborhood late a night just to get my points in for the day. One day I exercised at 11:30 at night. Then I did kick boxing the next morning at 8:30—I really felt that day. I learned that I CAN fit in exercise everyday.
I have a vision of myself as an old lady—I want to be a certain way as an old lady. I need to do those things now so that I really can be that way. One thing I have always envisioned is me being an old lady taking a 2-3 mild walk everyday. I guess that means I should be a 38 year old lady that does the same thing!
When I watched the Winter Olympics I loved watching seeing the athletes muscles! The luge women were my favorites! They were so fit and strong looking. Not skinny! I don’t think I measure fitness on skinness, but boy am I impressed when I can see someone’s calf muscles popping out when they are walking!

Overall I feel better than I do 8 weeks ago. Stronger and happier. I have lost a little weight. Not as much as I would like to have, but the loss of inches has been great. I’ve lost inches even on weeks where the scale didn’t change. Friday I did a full plank for 90 seconds, then 60, then 45. I can do lots of squats and they are not even that hard to me anymore. I did fitness evaluation on Saturday. I had never thought about monitoring my fitness this way, but I like having a starting point and seeing the improvements! When we started this at the beginning of February I could do 20 push-ups. On Saturday I set the timer for 2 minutes and I did 28 push-ups. I couldn’t even go for the full two minutes, but now I have a set point for measuring myself. I did the same with full sit-ups—I did 47. Then later I did crunches—73. I still need to time myself doing 1 mile. I couldn’t find a watch or timer and my cell phone was dead on Saturday, so I just ran instead. I plan to continue measuring these things so I can monitor my fitness level better. I would just like to see the push-up, and crunches numbers go up and the running and weight and measurements keep going down.

The hardest part of the physical fitness side is the eating. I seriously increased the amount of daily fiber I was getting be switching my foods to lots more whole grains. My family eats brown rice and whole wheat spaghetti without too many complaints. We tried lots of different veggies too. This is still the biggest challenge for me. Including enough vegetables in my diet. I like them, but I just don’t think about them enough. Still a work in progress to get them to be a constant part of our diet. Cutting sugar out is something that I’ve know I need to do for quite some time. That is mainly why I did this. I feel so much better without the sugar. And I’ve learned that a piece of fruit, or the right kind of veggie even helps me overcome the craving for sugar. When I did have too much sugar one day my stomach hurt. This wasn’t the first time it happened to me either. I can have 1 serving and I’m fine, but if I have much more than that, I get a bad bellyache. I need to reprogram myself into learning to be satisfied with just 1 serving. That is a work in progress too!

I would absolutely do this challenge again. I do really well when I’m having to report to others! If anyone is interested in doing the challenge with their friends I’ll happily e-mail it to you. Just let me know. I might join you too!