A day at a time...with the Larsens

What we did on Summer Break Part 3

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 19 Nov 2015 19:21:00 +0000

One of our favorite places to camp it at Moosehorn Lake located on the Mirror Lake Highway in the Uintah mountains in Utah. We have had the most wonderful family camping trips and this one was no exception.

After the rain of Moon Lake on our earlier cabin trip we were so pleased to have a nearly rain free camping trip at Moosehorn. Mark had many fishing buddies including my Dad and 4 out of 5 of our children. Every single one of them had fun fishing and it was a joy to me to watch DeeDee and MiMi actually fish on their own with minimal help from Mark. My Boy loved being Daddy's fishing buddy and was able to catch a few fish also.

The area around Moosehorn is so beautiful. The pines, aspens and the lake make for a most wonderful and peaceful setting. Our camp spot was 50 yards from the water so we could sit in camp and watch everyone fish.

We did simple meals and no one went hungry. The 2 oldest girls made up their own scavenger hunt and played hide and seek with their younger siblings. MaeMae had a more enjoyable time because the ground wasn't as bumpy and she had been walking for longer.

Grandpa took the 4 older kids on a hike around the Lake. They all made it despite the rocky part where there isn't much of a trail and you have to do a bit of climbing. I was proud of them all and Grandpa had so much fun with them.

I was so glad that my parents could come up with us. They really did have an enjoyable time and we had a wonderful time with them. We really love being in such a beautiful place.

What we did on Summer Break Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 16 Sep 2015 20:18:00 +0000

As we were coming closer to August we were, very excitedly, anticipating the first of our 2 summer camping trips. It was a little bit of an anxious time, also, because Mark was switching jobs. Everything worked out just fine and we were off to Moonlake, UT.

Moonlake is located about 3 hours from Salt Lake City, Ut. It is quite the drive through some very beautiful country. Every little town we passed through was so sweet and I wanted to move to almost every one. We stopped in Duchesne, Ut for a break and a snack. The kids had fun at their little park.

Moonlake is one of the most beautiful places to camp. We have been Tent camping twice and had the most enjoyable time both times. This time around we decided that we wanted to stay in one of the cabins at the Moonlake Resort. I am very glad we did because it rained for one whole day of our trip.

I think rain makes the mountains more beautiful, however, it can make tent camping very difficult and messy.

We had a gorgeous view of the lake from our cabin and the temperatures were really nice.

We were in cabin #5. It was a short walk to the beach and had the best view.

While we were in the cabin waiting for the rain to stop I taught the girls some of my favorite solitaire games (ie. Pyramid, window, free cell, klondike, etc.). We also played other games like Skipbo and Phase 10.

The rain slowed considerable in the afternoon.

I was a little worried about the kids getting a little stir crazy in the cabin. When the rain slowed a little we went for a walk up to the lodge. On the back porch of the lodge they had 4 large humming bird feeders and there were no less than 30 humming birds zooming around these things for a drink. (The link is to video DeeDee took of the humming birds)

They had so many different colors and sizes and for the most part weren't to concerned about the people watching.

The older girls couldn't get enough and spent a big chunk of time looking at the humming birds, taking pictures of the humming birds and also trying to stay still enough to get a humming bird to land on their finger.

A rare smile on this trip. MaeMae was new to walking and had a hard time with uneven ground.

Jussy running the beach with DeeDee while
MiMi and LeeLee build a sandcastle.

DeeDee and LeeLee having fun digging in the sand.

Beautiful Beach after the Rain

I laid down to take a nap with MaeMae and Mark took the rest of the kids down to the beach. The rain stopped and the sun tried to come out and after our nap we all went down to the beach. The fishing was terrible. The kids had a blast playing in the sand. The beach at Moonlake is a wonderful, sandy beach.

Nature Art

One of our favorite television shows right now is Dinosaur Train. In one of the episodes the kids make nature art from the junk their Mom cleaned out of their nest.

I encouraged my kids to make nature art and they had so much fun.

I love watching their imaginations.

This was our first big trip with Babe the Big, Blue Van. It was so wonderful to have so much room and be able to haul whatever we wanted to take.

Despite the rain we all had a wonderful time together. It is a trip I would love to do again with better weather.

What we did on Summer Break Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 16 Sep 2015 18:36:00 +0000

We finished out our first year of Homeschool around the middle of June. This first part of summer was spent swimming, BBQing and spending time with family. We got up almost every morning and went swimming. I wanted to do water aerobics. I did pretty good until MaeMae decided she didn't what to be in her floaty any more and then it popped. The kids loved it. They had never been swimming so much and I haven't been swimming that much since I was a kid.

We celebrated Independence Day and Pioneer Day with a barbecue and fireworks at Grandma & Grandpa T's house. We took a little field trip up to the Utah State Capital on Pioneer Day after the parade excitement was all over.

I was fun for the kids to look at the statues, the fountain, the fun displays from the early days and other history of our state. As usual the Rotunda was the highlight of the trip. We had fun on their neat elevator also. It was a gorgeous day and there were very few people at the Capital.

DeeDee loved the Rotunda and really liked everything.
MiMi loved the fossil exhibit.
LeeLee loved the lion statues.
Jussy loved the fountain.
MaeMae loved riding around in the stroller.

It was a lovely day.

July was cooler than expected and was very enjoyable.k

Recent Projects

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 29 Jul 2015 18:22:00 +0000

I am a slacker when it comes to my blogging. I want to do this so I can share with all of you the fun and great things that we have done as a family and in homeschool.

My brother, William, asked me to make an Amigurumi Jaguar that looks like a game character he has created. I finally buckled down and did it and I was thrilled that he was so pleased with it.

In this picture is my creation as well as a picture of the character. I need to make some adjustments. It turned out really cute.

Some other projects we did this week are boxes to hold Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Ho cards. They were super easy and fun to do.

I did one for LeeLee. DeeDee did her own and MiMi also did her own.

My box for LeeLee

DeeDee's box

It is fun discovering things that are simple and fun to make.

MiMi's Box

April Field trip to Discovery Gateway Children's Museum

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 07 Apr 2015 21:16:00 +0000

We went to the Discovery Gateway Children's Museum in April for our field trip. With every thing else that happened this weekend I nearly forgot about this little trip. They had a lot of fun things to do their that teach children about how things work, science, construction, etc. It is not a large place but, everything is hands on. It is really child's world.

I was able to get discount tickets through Halfpriceutah.com. I enjoyed the place but felt that they charge to much for the adults. As adults we can play there also but most don't and I feel that the adult price should be equal to if not less than the children's tickets. My kids had fun. I actually had fun.

What a wonderful weekend.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 07 Apr 2015 21:05:00 +0000

This last weekend was a big one for our family we celebrated 2 birthday's, Easter & General Conference. Mark and I were exhausted by the end. This kids all had so much fun. Here are some highlights.

MiMi had a wonderful 8th birthday party with friends & family. Thank you for all of the gifts and helping to make MiMi's birthday wonderful.

MaeMae enjoyed her first Birthday. It is always amazing to me how much children grow in the first year of their life. MaeMae just wanted to sit on the top of her boxes. It was so cute.

We had a good Easter. We went on a picnic with Mark's parents to Copperton Park. We didn't stay long because the bathrooms weren't open.

What we heard of General Conference was wonderful and I look forward to listening to the parts I missed.

I hope you all had a lovely Easter Weekend. I am so grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ, and everything he has done for me personally so that I might repent and return to live with Him and my Family for eternity.

Changes and changes

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 27 Mar 2015 03:06:00 +0000

One consistent thing in life is that things change. I have stopped trying to plan to much of life because I have learned that I am not in charge and the Lord will put me where he wants me when he wants me to be there. I have found that when I allow him to do this and I accept it, I am happy and at peace.

Mark was called to be second counselor to our Bishop. It didn't come as to big of a surprise because we had recent changes occur in our family that would facilitate his service in this capacity. You can read my previous posts .

Little Miracles (and some Big ones, too)

and

And the Miracles keep coming.

We have been so blessed so, we both felt that all of these miraculous blessings from the Lord most definitely warranted our gratitude through service.

On the homeschool front we took several breaks and revisited some of the things we were doing and had a friend send us info on some curriculum that was offering a special. I signed up for it. It is curriculum through Latter-Day Learning. Their curriculum is LDS based and combines the secular with LDS teachings. It also takes a one room schoolhouse approach and provides different activities for the different ages of children from Pre-K to Middle school.

I am excited for it because I know I am going to learn something as well.

Valentine's Party

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 27 Mar 2015 03:02:00 +0000

In February we had a Valentine's day party with cousins and friends instead of a field trip. The girls had a great time preparing their party.

The girls grew the rock candy suckers for 2 weeks. DeeDee made the cupcakes and we all dipped the vanilla wafers.

We played Valentine bingo, everyone made themselves a Valentine monster and we had fun playing a Valentine Madlibs.

I am thankful for Aunts and friends that helped us out with all of the kids and the clean up.

Everyone had a really fun time.

Little Feet

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 11 Feb 2015 20:03:00 +0000

My baby has no shoes. Mostly this really isn't a problem. We have lots of socks and it is difficult to find shoes that stay on her cute little feet.

However, on Pinterest I have seen pins for crocheted baby shoes and sandals. I have decided it is time to make some so that my sweet little 10 month old will have something cute on her feet on Sunday.

Here are the cute little baby sandals I made for MaeMae this morning.

New Homeschool Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 04 Feb 2015 18:13:00 +0000

I am starting a second blog focused specifically on doing Homeschool. I have been working on it for a while and got a little burnt out. I am now ready to start up again and share what I am learning with every one.

You are invited to my new blog, Book of Ruth: Mama of 5, I will provide information about homeschooling and what I have learned. You will also find links for Common Core and what that is all about. The above link will take you to my new blog you can also go there by typing in brmamaof5.com.

I will continue to maintain this blog also with our personal homeschool and family activities. Thank you for your love and support.

January Field Trip

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 23 Jan 2015 03:49:00 +0000

As time approached our January field trip the kids were getting excited and were wondering where we were going. My husband suggested Hardware Ranch near Logan, Utah. We have wanted to go there for a while. It sounded good to everyone. As the day approached the weather for the area wasn't looking to good. Time for plan B. It was time to go to the aquarium again. My husband hadn't been yet and we also invited his parents who hadn't been their either.

It is really nice aquarium. It was a pretty busy day because one of the school districts was out for the day and there was a school group there as well. The thing I have found wonderful about the new building for the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium is its openness. There is plenty of room. Even with so many people it doesn't feel crowded.

DeeDee was in charge of the camera and took some amazing pictures of some of the animals and the exhibits.

The duck exhibits are so beautiful and interesting.
I asked once if the ducks wandered. The employee said that during the day they stay in their exhibit but, when the aquarium is closed they have the run of the hall and they do wander.

I really enjoy their South American exhibit. They have a variety of animals. Birds, lizards, fish, frogs, snakes, etc. It is amazing the variety and beauty of all of these tropical animals.

I missed it but, Mark and the girls were able to watch the Anaconda move from the tree branch it was resting on, down into the water. The employee said that the Anaconda doesn't move that much so to see it move so much was a real treat.

Their Utah exhibit is so much better than it was at the old building. I never get tired watching the River otters.

The favorite of everyone is the Oceans exhibit. They have many wonderful exhibits of ocean life and they now have the room to have a much

and even a large tunnel. It is truly a marvelous thing to walk through. Because it is such a large thing you don't feel rushed to go through. They even have seats for resting and watching. The viewing windows on the other side of the tank are another amazing thing. They also provide a place for resting and there is plenty of room for every one to wander and view the amazing aquarium of ocean life they have put together.

We all had a wonderful time and enjoyed our time together as a family. As homeschoolers I am grateful for the Loveland Living Planet Aquariums resources and discounts. When you take in your affidavit your school age children get in for $4.95 and the Chaperoning adults for $6.95. This is a huge discount. You can also prepare before you go. They have printable worksheets on their website that are grade level based. They were perfect for my 2nd grader and 4th grader.

Just remember it is not a large aquarium compared to the one at Monterey Bay in California or even the the Birch Aquarium at Scripps (also in California). For our little area it is a lovely, peaceful and fun aquarium.

December Field Trip

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 31 Dec 2014 23:20:00 +0000

For our December field trip the girls really wanted to go see the Christmas lights on Temple Square in Salt Lake City.

The lights were beautiful and it was so much fun spending time together. The LDS Church has a lovely nativity display with narration. I always enjoy listing to the Christmas story along with the beautiful music.

The water features, as always were beautiful with the lights shining over them.

I love the nativity display on the reflecting pool. I am so grateful for the celebration of our Saviors birth that brings light to us in such a dark time of year.

Here are Mark and me. Our kids have gotten good at taking pictures.

MaeMae was so cute. She just loved being in the stroller.

We realized the last time we had gone to see the lights was just a few days before Leelee was born. It had been 4 years. She had had the flu earlier in the week so wasn't super thrilled with the lights.

These were the new water feature and lights at the City center plaza. It was a beautiful night and we all had a lot of fun.

Ears pierced...They are getting so big.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 16 Dec 2014 20:15:00 +0000

DeeDee & MiMi are getting so big and growing into such beautiful young ladies. We decided it was time for ear piercing. So, off to Claire's at Valley Fair Mall we went.

They had both been afraid that it would hurt so much. MiMi decided first that she wanted it done and that convinced DeeDee.

They were troopers and the little star earrings they got are very cute. It sure has gotten expensive. $18.50 each. I think it cost me $7 when I had mine done at Claire's.

And the Miracles keep coming.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 13 Dec 2014 00:41:00 +0000

Now, you might look at this van and think,"What an interesting color."and you would be right. We found this wonderful vehicle on KSL.com classifieds. I was on there looking for a fridge and decided, what the heck, lets look at cars. We were planning on changing out our van after the first of the year but you never know when a gem will come up.

I was looking at full size vans (which are not plentiful in our price range and the mileage we were looking for) and there it was. A 1995 Dodge Ram Van 2500 with only 38,000 miles on it for $4500 dollars.

The next morning my Dad and I went to Bountiful, UT to Liberty Auto (which I highly recommend) and we couldn't believe it. A full size van with only 38,000 miles on it in practically new condition. The previous owner used it only to haul his boat and kept it in the garage the rest of the time. I bought the van and when Mark was able to drive it, he was thrilled. The dealer even bought our old van for $1000 and we were able to get the fridge.

The interior was pristine and the captains chairs for the driver and passenger are super comfortable. My children love having more space. I cannot tell you what a blessing we feel this is. I will always have faith that the Lord will always give us what we need when we need it. Many times it is trials but, I am sure grateful when it is a wonderful blessing.

Now we have a great Field Trip vehicle. We are all super excited to go camping next year.

Field Trip to Mrs. Cavanaugh's

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 19 Nov 2014 23:00:00 +0000

We were going to take this little field trip last Friday. I called and they didn't have any available tour space but, Dee Dee still wanted to go somewhere. I wanted to do cheap and easy so, I got online looking for Free Museums in Salt Lake City. As I was looking I saw the LDS Church History Museum on the list.

I haven't been in years and I can't remember if the girls have ever been. I decided to take all of the kids. It was great to drive up and park because you can pay for parking on your smartphone. You can get the app here. Definitely cheaper than taking all 5 kids on the tracks. $2.50 vs. $30...I think I will just kill a little bit of the air quality, thank you very much.

We got to the Museum and found it closed until Fall of 2015. Looks like we will have something to go and see next Fall/Winter. Just across the way is the Family History Library. I worked there for a few years and loved it. It has been 15 years since I worked there and things have changed a lot. It is amazing what technology can do. I took all 5 kids there. It was amazing how good they were. We toured all 5 levels and I even sat down with DeeDee and let her put some info in her Family Search file.

I did make an appointment at Mrs. Cavanaugh's for the following Wednesday. So, with the help of my wonderful sister to watch my little kids, DeeDee, MiMi and I went to the Mrs. Cavanaugh's factory. It was really interesting. We were able to taste chocolate that hadn't been sweetened yet. It wasn't to bad but was especially good followed by some milk chocolate.

It was fun watching this lady hand dip the chocolates.

The video and the tour were fun. We love chocolate. They have a really wonderful gift shop. They even make their own ice cream. This was a great supplement to the Chocolate report that DeeDee put together.

What are we up too and a little gratitude

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 06 Nov 2014 19:40:00 +0000

I know it has been a very long time. I have been exploring options for earning some money from home. I have decided to blog. I will still keep this blog for more personal things and things that don't relate to my other blog.

I am going to launch my new blog that will focus on homeschooling on January 5, 2015. In the meantime here is a few things we have been up to.

Halloween:
We did trunk or treat in our neighborhood. Then did trick or treat in Grandma's neighborhood. The kids had a blast and we were all worn out by the end of the day.

We had our primary program at church. The kids did a wonderful job. It was beautiful.

With it being Thanksgiving month I want to share my gratitude to all of you who read and share a little of my life vicariously. I am grateful for my extended family who is so supportive and loving. I am so grateful for my children who, despite my craziness, still love me and are such good kids. I want everyone to know how wonderful my sweet husband is. He is so strong and works so hard for our family. I am so blessed to have this wonderful man. I am most especially grateful for my Heavenly Father & his Son, Jesus Christ without whom my life would be miserable and chaotic.

At this time of year I hope we will all remember the things we are most thankful for.

September Field Trip

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 20:28:00 +0000

In September we took our field trip to the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium in Draper, Utah. This is the Aquariums new home and it was the first time I had been to the new building. Both DeeDee and MiMi had been their on summer school field trip. We all were looking forward to it and it didn't prove to be a disappointment.

We took our little friend Cici with us and we all had so much fun. First, the older girls wanted to be eaten by the Megaladon Shark teeth. The littler kids didn't want to get near them.

They had a really beautiful Orca picture area. All of the kids had fun playing on the Orcas while I took pictures.

It was fun to see all the animals they had at the old Aquarium building in the new building you could tell they were able to make better and more

interesting exhibits for their animals. The river otter exhibit is better than the one at the zoo. The 3 brother otters at Loveland just love to play. It is so fun to watch them. The Jellyfish exhibit was also very beautiful.
Next, was the penguin exhibit. Once again, they took the old exhibit which was nice but kind of small and made it bigger and better for both the penguins and the patrons.

This was the only picture I could get My Boy to pose for. He was just running around looking at everything and having so much fun. We moved on to the South America exhibit. What an amazing thing. It was beautiful and included birds, snakes and lizards as well as the fish. They have a really fun rope bridge for everyone to try.

At this point MaeMae was really tired. I had forgotten to bring the big stroller and she would have slept the entire time if I would have had it. Oh, well...(*sigh*).

The last exhibit is the coral reef exhibit. They have built a glass tunnel for patrons to walk through and go under the sharks, turtles and other fish. DeeDee took these great pictures.

All of the exhibits were beautiful and enjoyable to view. The staff was willing to answer any question and share knowledge with us. It was wonderful.

Each of the older girls was able to check off their Aquarium passport. It was a great school field trip day. I somehow managed it all on my own. I look forward to my Mom being retired so I can take her to these things.

The Larsen Family 2014

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 23 Sep 2014 20:02:00 +0000

It was time again for family pictures. So, our family and my brothers family went for a Sunday picnic to Murray Park. My brother Aaron the hobbyist photographer and full time graphic designer brought his nice camera and took some lovely pictures of our family. It is so nice to have MaeMae and our new dogs. Our family feels complete.

We had a heck of a time with my boy. He simply refused to smile.

He did finally break a smile when his cousin started jumping around to catch the babies attention.

Sweet little MaeMae 5 months old

Big Sis DeeDee. She is my helper. 9 years old.

My free spirit. MiMi. 7 years old

My very sober child, LeeLee. 3 year old.

That's My Boy. Love him so much! 2 years old.

Mark & Ruth. Still in love after 13 years.

Perler Beads

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 16 Sep 2014 21:54:00 +0000

I bought DeeDee a container of Perler Beads for her and she has enjoyed them immensely. She even has started making her own patterns. These are a couple of the things she has done recently. My favorite is the cupcake.

Lapbook Reports

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 08 Sep 2014 19:44:00 +0000

As promised here are the pictures of my 4th grader and my 2nd grader with their reports.

DeeDee chose to do a report on Sea Lions. She loves sea mammals.

She chose what pictures she needed to match her report information. I am so proud of her.

MiMi wanted to do Butterflies.

I walked her through it and she learned all sorts of new things.

They both had a lot of fun and I am so very proud of both of them.

The great thing about doing it in this form, is that it folds up and you can keep it in a file drawer to look at later. I need to get a file drawer organized for all the lapbooking we are going to do.

Happy Birthday to Me!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 08 Sep 2014 18:59:00 +0000

This year I turned 38 years old. I have had some interesting age realizations recently. I dropped off our cute little sister missionaries after going with them on a visit and realized I was old enough to be their Mother. I am a Mother to 5 beautiful children. I had my last baby this year (Thank Goodness!). I am an Aunt and loving it. I am a Wife to a man that is so perfect for me that I constantly marvel at that realization and thank God for him everyday. I am a Granddaughter who was lucky enough to grow up with all 4 Grandparents (and one is still living). I am a Decendant to many wonderful and amazing people. I am a Niece and a Cousin who is so grateful to have grown up knowing my Aunts, Uncles & Cousins. My life is full of miracles. My life is full of the Spirit of God. MY LIFE IS BLESSED.

Thank you for your support.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 08 Sep 2014 18:45:00 +0000

The girls made some super cute potholders for all of our friends and family who contributed to our school. And of course I forgot to take a picture of the potholders. We did get pictures with a couple of our helpers. (And of course I forgot to take pictures with all of them).

Thank you Aaron & Bronwynn

Thank you Stephanie.

Thank you to Grandma & Grandpa Thorup, Grandma & Grandpa Larsen, Matt & Christine Oldroyd & John & Lisa Overbaugh. We love you all and are so grateful for your help.

I love my LeeLee

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 08 Sep 2014 18:38:00 +0000

I am homeschooling my older 2 children but, I don't have any qualms about sending my 3 year old to preschool. I just need to get her out of the house.

I walked her to her first full 3 hours of preschool and when I left I was grateful for the feeling of motherly concern and hope I had for her. She can really get on my nerves sometimes. I love her.

No Idea.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 26 Aug 2014 21:52:00 +0000

I have no idea what to blog about today. Maybe I will just post some cute pictures of my kids. I just want to stay consistent on this or it will go by the wayside.

We did take our first week off of homeschool. It was fun and refreshing and we were ready to start up again this week.

I am really excited to share with you Deedee & Mimi's first reports. I am having them do them in Lapbook form which I think I really like. The girls are loving their creations and Deedee even asked if she could do her reports that way all of the time. When they are complete I will post pictures.

So, last night Jussy threw his dinner on the floor because he didn't want it. We put him to bed, where he didn't want to stay. Mark and I retired to our room for wind down time. We had the baby with us. When she fell asleep I went to take her up stairs and this is what I found.

He was very precariously perched, asleep on the stair. I sure love that little boy and was grateful he didn't fall down the stairs.

Grateful for any and all help.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 16 Aug 2014 03:13:00 +0000

We have been so blessed and I am so grateful to those who have already helped with our homeschool in all ways. You will be receiving some very special gifts within the next couple of weeks. If you would like to help in a different way you can look at our homeschool wishlist on Amazon.com. I know that, sometimes, knowing what is needed is an easier way to contribute.

This is one of the books we are using of which I would like to have a hard copy.
I know that all that contribute do so without expectation. We however are having wonderful fun making thank you gifts as part of homeschool. Thank you. All our Love.