Family Fun

Jay was home this week, so Friday was Family fun day!  We have a lot of fun outdoor activities planned but the weather really needs to cooperate!  It has still been pretty hot. Friday however had rain, which I am not complaining about.  

When we have Friday fun day it means Saturday school and Jay works on Saturday.  The kids are all about fun day but not Saturday school so much.  LOL We got up early Friday morning and completed half of their school work since we were planning a family day at home.  They were done by 10:30 am and then we played our favorite card game, books and straights.  It takes a couple of hours to play this game and everyone knows how to play, except Natasha and Jadon so they usually help one of us.  After that we all just kind of vegged out for the afternoon.  Alexa and Natasha helped me make the pizza dough for dinner.  Jay went to the store to get our toppings and to look for a movie to rent.  He couldn't find anything in Redbox.  So we looked through Amazon prime streaming and found Back to the Future.  Oh my!  I don't think I have watched it since it first came out.  It was funny and now we are going to have to watch 2 and 3.  

Anastasia had to work in the evening so she missed out on the pizza but she can't have dairy anyways so it's best to make pizza when she is not here.  :)

Everyone made their own pizza and there were plenty of leftovers for lunch on Saturday.  It was a lot of fun.  We enjoyed our pizza and then had candy for our movie. (Time to go walking Saturday morning!)  Yes, in the pictures some of the kids have swim suits on.  They still insist on swimming.  The weather is warm enough but the water has definitely cooled off so they don't last very long.

Family Fun New House

As we have been getting settled in our new home and neighborhood we have taken some time to get out and about and also just have some fun at home.

We have gone to the park and enjoyed playing outdoors before the heat kicks in.

We have started enjoying the pool.  It has been too cold for me to get in but the kids have been begging since we moved in.  I let them swim and they insist on telling me how they are not cold even as their lips are blue and teeth are chattering.  Lol

One night after 8pm we surprised the kids and told them to get in the car we were going for a surprise.  We went to Sonic for milk shakes (after 8pm they are half price!  Whoo!  Hoo!)

One Friday night the kids (all except Anastasia) wanted to have a sleep over together.  So they all piled in the boys room with pillows and blankets and they had a grand ol' time!  As I was choosing these pictures I came across another picture from another sleep over they had about 5 years ago....look at the last picture.

My babies were so little this was before Natasha and Jadon.  These 4 had a sleep over in the little girls room.  SO CUTE!!!

Family Fun Night

We finally had another "official" family fun night.  It has been Savannah who has been asking for one lately and for her it is only a family fun night if we make pizza, do an activity, play a game and of course have dessert.  Nothing else counts. 

So that is what we did.  We always make two pizzas so the kids worked together to make them and put the toppings on.

toppings included pineapple, pepperoni, olives and sausage

Even Tasha wanted to help 

Then our activity/lesson was from the Family Time Activities book "Playing for Keeps".  This lesson was on obeying and doing things right away.  That is always a lesson we need to practice around here!  The saying they had to memorize was "When we obey right away; then there's time left for play.  Of course the Scripture is Ephesians 6:1 "Children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right."

The illustration was neat.  We used a large cup, lentil beans/or birdseed, and golfballs. 

The cup represented the amount of time we have each week.  It is the same for all of us.  The lentils represent things we do that we enjoy but take up a lot of time (playing with friends, bike riding, computers, wii, coloring.)  Those get poured in the cup  Then the balls represents the tasks we need to do for God and parents like chores and responsibilities we need to do each day or week. Put the balls in and they won't all fit. 

So we dumped it all back out and explained that if we obey God and our parents and do what they ask us to do first then the other stuff it all fits.

I think this was a great visual for the kids.  Now we will see if they can put it into practice. 

After this lesson we played Uno.  It was a lot of fun because the kids are getting old enough to start playing games like this.  Joshua and Anastasia could play on their own of course.  Savannah just needed a little help and Alexa partnered up with Jay.  So we played a couple of hands and ate our yummy cobbler dessert.

This picture was actually taken the next morning.  I couldn't get mad because there is nothing better than peach cobbler in the morning for breakfast! I took the picture and then snuck a couple of bites myself. 

Family Fun Night.....Pumpkin Carving Time

 For Family Fun Night we carved our pumpkins tonight.  We didn't make it to a pumpkin patch this year so we bought our pumpkins at WalMart.  We went out to the garden center and I said "look honey it's a pumpkin patch we could take pictures here!"

Anyways the pumpkins were in the living room and I sent the kids up to play for awhile they didn't know I was going to hide the pumpkins so when I called them to come down and get their pumpkins they were missing and there was this note instead...

Where Oh Where did the pumpkins go?? Go ask the witch, she might know.

Alexa found the next clue on the witch's hat.

Leave me alone to fly my broom...why don't you go look on the door in the craft room.

Savannah found that next clue.  I didn't get a picture.

No pumpkins here as you can see.  Now go look on top of a low tv.

The pumpkins could be anywhere so why don't you go look behind the rocking chair.

I didn't get a picture of that one either but the clue left there said:

To find your last clue you must go downstairs and look on the table covered by things that say "Boo".

Alexa found the last clue here and it said:

The time is getting late so don't delay go look inside the place where Natasha plays....

They were hiding in the pack in play!

As Jay started carving the pumpkins I read a short story to them....

Being a Christian is just like a pumpkin!

First, God picks you from the world and brings you in  "...but I have chosen you out of the world."  John 15:16

He then washes all the "dirt" off the outside that we received from being around all the other pumpkins.  "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come." 2 Corinthians 5:17

Then, He carefully removes all the "yucky stuff" out from the inside, all those seeds of sin, doubt, hate, greed, and fear from inside us.  "For we know our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be done away with...."Romans 6:6

Then He carves a new smiling face.  "My lips will shout for joy when I sing praiss to You- I whom You have redeemed." Psalm 71:23

Now He fills us with His light.  "...let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds..." Matthew 5:16

So you see, we Christians are really like this pumpkin!  We will never be the same with Jesus inside of us.  We can say like this pumpkin,  "Thy presence, my light!"

The kids had to weigh and measure their pumpkins before we started for an activity in school tomorrow. 

We didn't get to do the mummy wrapping game as everyone was getting tired.  Jay wondered why did each kid have to have their own pumpkin as he was still carving while they all went off upstairs to play!!!!   I should have gotten a picture of that but didn't.  I think I was too busy trying to clean up.