Sunday Shows

First, you should read my anti-Netflix post here. Then, come back and read the shows I let my kids watch off of it on Sundays ;D ! Ha ha. Sundays are great---and hard with little kids. Especially in the southern area because of the heat. We try to keep Sunday a special day by not doing all the things we would do every other day of the week, like grocery shopping or eating out or working out or jumping on the trampoline, etc etc. One of the things we try not to do in our home is watch shows that we watch the whole rest of the week, and we reduce the tv a lot. We'll maybe watch it once on a Sunday, whereas during the normal week it gets turned on about two to three times a day (kid-less cleaning and meal prep anyone?). But, with little kids, that really brings down the amount of options of what we have to do with them. No going outside because of the heat is the killer, but during the summer that becomes an EVERY day thing. So sad because my girls live outside. Anyways, I just thought I'd let you know what shows are Sunday appropriate in our home.

The Prince of Egypt
Joseph: King of Dreams
Any Planet Earth series that teaches about Mother Earth or animals
Fantasia (old and new version)

There aren't many. But, these are the ones I feel fine with watching during a hard time of the day. The girls do a good job of realizing these are the only ones we watch on Sunday because they relate to Christ. The first two are scriptural based movies. And the earth series we like to watch and emphasize that Christ organized the beautiful earth and everything on it, and Fantasia really actually doesn't have to do with Christ, but most of it is classical music and we love the illustrations. I like having classical music on Sundays, because I honestly can only handle so much "church" music.

Do you guys watch tv on Sunday at all? If you do, what is allowed?

The Backyard Chicken series: Part 5-Outside Time

"Ahhhh, the great outdoors." I've heard this phrase a lot. Not sure if it is a quote, or a phrase, or maybe I just made it up all together? Who knows. All I know is that this small phrase is so so true for us humans, and even more so for the cute little chickies. When you first buy the chicks, as stated before in a few of my other posts (read part 1, 2, 3, or 4) they need to be inside with you. For the first week, they love it because it is warm and comfy. But, it is easy to tell that soon enough, they want to be outside where they are meant to be. They will start laying and the floor and stretching out their legs and wings. This is the best sign it is time to start doing "Outside Time", and they love it!

Outside time was great for the chickies and for the girls because it made sure that we got out at least once that day. The girls loved getting to go outside and NOT chase the chicks haha. They always want to chase the chicks which is a recipe for disaster---I know this from experience. My little cute chick was smashed when I was little from the excited running feet of a little kid. Not Fun! For the little kid or the chick. So our rule is always that when we are doing Outside Time you are not allowed to chase the chicks to try to catch them. If you want to hold them, you have to sit down and wait for them to climb up onto your lap, which they always eventually do. They love climbing all over the big protectors that feed them and keep them safe :)

They need to be able to go outside to not just stretch out, but practice what they are supposed to be learning. I.E. scratching. If you don't see your chicks scratching at all within a week or so, just show them how to do it with your finger. At first, they are so small it is hard for them to do in the grass and dirt, but they will still try. They will start learning how to use their wings to get from place to place, and they will start learning how to sense danger! Your chicks aren't going to die or not function correctly when you move them outside if you don't do outside time. Everything is innate---but I promise you that they will be better chickens and fulfill the measure of their creation if you let them enjoy their life and do the things they love: eating and being outside!

The Backyard Chicken Series: Part 4-Housing the Hens+The Big Suprise

If you are behind on this series, check out parts 1, 2 and 3.

Did you like the "housing the hens"? Becuase I did. Housing your little hens for the first month or so can be a little complicated depending on where you live and what you have available. We live in a 4-plex currently (soon to change maybe...?), but our landlord is awesome and so it wasn't a big deal to him that we needed to have the chicks inside our home for about a month or so. We have used multiple boxes to give them the needed space as they have grown---and they sure do grow FAST. Still as cute as from the beginning though.

The larger box on the left is the one they lived in for about a week or two. They were still so small and so it worked fine. Great memories of them passing out in that little box, necks stretched out, legs straight out backs, wings out, laying right flat on their tummies! Nature is so so beautiful and brings so much happiness when it is happy itself.

You might think this is messy, but this is after just a day :) We clean it daily.

This is what we moved them into when they started to get some feathers in. They were already so much bigger! Plus, they were sick of being in the light, even if it was the dark infrared one. They really loved this one the best I think, because they felt like they had two rooms as options ha ha. The warm room with the light on, and the cooler room with the light off. They loved sleeping in the room with the light off of them ( No wondering why).

This is the last box they lived in. They were in here for about a week, and currently still sleep in it at night because it is still pretty close to freezing sometimes at night. They haven't fully got their head feathers in so I don't want them being outside yet (because I'm overprotective). Now, with them being inside at night, we also don't have the light on anymore so they will be getting used to the cooler night temperatures.This box was a bit bigger than the other two combined. Most importantly we were able to tape the flaps up because the chicks were starting to fly out of the box. As you can see, even with the flaps up we needed to put lids on top (plastic bin lids and cooling racks from the kitchen so the heat would still go in and not melt the lids) because they started to even fly out of those high walls! They definitely get itchy to be outside.

(update:they are sleeping outside now! such big chickies)

Side note: Some people may say, oh you don't have to get this nice light or that nice coop or this and that or grab them nicely or give them good food or keep them that warm. And it's true. You don't have to do anything special or nice or considerate for them. God made them durable animals, and they can survive pretty rough stuff. But, if you  do treat them nice and be considerate, and develop a respect for them and for their fulfilling 100% of their measure of creation, they will love you. And nothing is more beautiful than a part of mother nature loving you, because it makes you feel complete.

Okay, now the business is done, time for the big surprise.
We bought straight run chickens, which means there is 90% possibility they are females and a 10% chance they are not. After we noticed our lovely little yYang (Barred Rock chicken) bossing all the other little chicks around and getting on top of anything high that it could, we have concluded that she is actually a he! WE HAVE A ROOSTER! We originally didn't want one because we obviously wouldn't be allowed to keep him. But, now that we MIGHT be moving to somewhere new...we might get to keep that little buddy :) Time will tell. But we sure love him and all his protectiveness over his little women hens.

The Backyard Chicken Series: Part 3-Breeds

Yin (barred rock) the other, not pictured, is Yang

*if you missed the first two parts, read them here and here :)
Our chickens are just making us fall more in love with them every day. From the way they throw their little legs back and sleep on their belly to the way they are starting to practice flying around and scratching. Love them! It is nice remembering the reasons why I always loved them when I was little. And, it is even better seeing my little girls develop that same love for them :)

I thought it might be helpful telling what breeds we got, why, and what other breeds you might be interested in if you are considering getting chickens some day! (do it.)

We had originally planned on getting 2 ameraucanas, 2 white leghorns, and 2 bantam silkies. My Man and I had finalized these breeds in our minds after I talked to my uncle, who has a great love and care for chickens, about which chickens he thought were good layers and also good with kids (physically and aesthetically).

He told me the White leghorns (the classic yellow fluffy chick) grow to be white, and they are the main breed used in the commercial production of eggs, because they are the most consistent in laying. I wanted two have at least two pretty consistent layers.

Ameraucanas are another breed he recommended for multiple reasons. They are pretty consistent layers, they come in different colors and patters and kids like them because they lay blue-ish green-ish eggs. Kids like that :)

The Bantam Silkies are the dream chicks of mine since I was little. I have always wanted silkies.  Because they are pretty much moving puff balls that lay mini eggs. They come in beautiful colors(black, dark blue and white). And, because they are so dang fluffy, like I already said. Bantam silkies, are mini silkies. You can get a regular sized or mini. I thought these would also be fun for the girls because they are smaller (easier to hold and not as intimidating) and because they lay small eggs (though, they are not very consistent layers). The girls have had small eggs before and they loved eating them!

So, those are the chicks we had planned on getting. But, we didn't end up getting those! Ha. Mainly it is because after checking with a friend about the chick shipment schedule at the local IFA, the chicks we wanted weren't coming in on the same dates. Also, the Silkie Bantams were not guaranteed female (and I guess they never are). Since we don't want a rooster right now, we outed the Bantam Silkies :( My childhood dream chick will have to wait.

We GOT:
2 araucanas
2 barred rock
2 rhode island reds

Araucanas: because that is all they would be getting. No ameraucanas coming in.Amercaucanas actually stem from the araucana breed. So, they are pretty similar chickens. Araucanas also lay blue eggs, and they also have insanely fluffy cheeks! Seriously. We got Tranch, a little brown one, and Creamy, a little yellow cream colored one. I adore them.

Barred Rock: These grow up to be black and white striped, but they are black as little chicks. Ours are just now starting to show some white! They are the most consistently mellow of all of the chicks, for now! And the girls like that. They are go-to's for holding.

Rhode Island Red: I had a bunch of these growing up and remembered them having a bit of an attitude. When I looked it up, my search confirmed what I had thought. Something I read said they are a breed that has a little more trouble getting along with other breeds. When I went to the store to buy the chicks, I asked the girl about them being a little bit more tough, and she said that no, they are actually the most mellow of all the chicks. Well, my memories and researched proved my initial thoughts correct. They are definitely are spiciest :) And we love 'em for it. The girls had a harder time with them at the beginning, but they have gotten really good at holding them and learning to get them to relax (sometimes).

So, we didn't end up with what we had originally planned, but we seriously love all the ones we got! Couldn't be happier.

Just missing the other little black one!

Creamy :) (auracana)

Tranch :) (araucana)

Little Tranch has no idea the deadly danger a hands-length away!

Ruby(rhode island red :))

I love seeing their little feathers coming out! Comment with any questions.

Backyard Chicken Series: Part 2

They are still alive! Sometimes, I amaze myself. Like after my first girl was born, and we were able to keep her alive! It seriously is a miracle. Give them milk, and they live and grow. I feel slightly the same about these chicks. When we first brought them home I was way overly stressed about it. I felt like I had six more little people to keep alive. I was stressed that after writing my first part in this series, one of them would die! The thing is, I do have six more little chicks to keep alive, but not six children. Ha! Chicks are pretty easy to keep alive, too. Give them food, give them water, keep the place clean. BAM. They stay alive.

For now they are in a rubber bin in my oldest girls room with a heat lamp still over them. They are starting to get little feathers, and little feather butts (soooo cute), and starting to poop a TON. So, we are going to be switching them into a bigger living space sometime here soon. Not sure what yet, but I'll let you know when we do! They are already eating a lot more, and we have also started taking them outside during the day when it's warm and letting them run around and practice scratching and trying to fly. And they are stinkin' cute doing all of it! Here are photo updates. LOTS of photos.

our oldest with creamy

Honey on the left Ruby on the right

yin(the other black one is yang)

Creamy

Tranch

Tranch

The Backyard Chicken Series

Spring is springing, and along with it little chicks! At least here in Southern Utah it is. Be jealous all you want you snow bunnies, for NOW. But I honestly don't believe anyone can be that jealous of over 100 degree weather daily, for months. So in reality, these next couple of months are our summer. They are really the only months the girlies can play outside all day, so we are living it up. One of the ways we are doing that is by buying chicks! If any of you haven't read my informational post on raising chickens from a long while back , read it here. I have been dreaming of this day for a long time.

When I was in elementary school, we hatched some eggs in the classroom and our teacher told us if we got permission from our parents, we could take as many chicks as we wanted. So, of course I asked my dad, and of course he said yes even though we weren't allowed to have them where we lived, because he is the best. Those were the first of quite a few chickens throughout my younger years, and I loved them so much. I spent a lot of great times outside playing with them and lost a lot of tears over the foxes that kept getting them. Eventually, I got bigger and too busy and stopped buying them. Plus, my mom hated the poop all over our back patio ;). I was always excited about being able to buy little chicks for my own kids, and crazy as it is, that time has finally come.

My Man will be building a coop with a run, and here in a bit, we will be sending them outside to live in it! Oh yeah, and we live in a four-plex. Our land lord is awesome and is letting us do all of this, along with doing a garden again this summer! The perks of living in a small town. Oh the freedom! Stay tuned and learn along with me and my family the up's and down's of doing backyard chickens for the first time. Because it has already been an adventure. More posts soon to come!

My Man and one of his best friends did all of this in a morning!

The beginning of the coop.

                                           

Twelve Classical Songs to Relieve Anxiety/Calm the Kids

Sometimes everything can be so loud in a house with kids. The kids playing, crying, yelling, the shows, the up-beat music you put on to try to bring a little energy into a dull day. Sometimes, it's even the silence that seems so loud. Some days it's the silence that feeds the loud thoughts in your mind so much so that you feel incapable of doing much, just because of anxiety. At least that is how it seems to me. On those  days, I like classical music. And my girls say they don't like it, but their body language shows they do. So, here is a top ten of the classical songs I love most to listen to on those days. A lot of them I love just because my grandma plays them and they remind me of her. Instant stress release. If you think you don't like classical, put these on and they will change your mind. Enjoy!





1. Claude Debussy-Arabesque for Piano No.1
2.Claude Debussy-Clair de Lune 
3. Fryderyk Chopin-Mazurkas
4.Fryderyk Chopin-Nocturnes Piano Op.9 n.2
5. Fryderyl Chopin-Spring Waltz
6.Daniel Ketchum- Kids Remix(Say whattttttt.I know.)
7. Isaac Albeniz-Suite Espanola No.1 For Piano
8. Emile Pandolfi-Adagio
9. Ellens Gesang III-Ave Maria For Piano
10.Dustin O'Halloran- Opus 37
11. Beethoven- Moonlight Sonata
12. Tchaikovsky- Swan Lake for Piano

DIY Piñata

Let me start this off by saying I will never be as good at anything as my mom is. Maybe in thirty more years I'll get close to it---but definitely will never reach it! She would always make the most awesome piñatas for me and my siblings' birthdays. She would usually do a face (I specifically remember a clown head for one of my birthdays and I am pretty sure a lion once for my little birthday, or she would just decorate it beautifully with tissue paper. This was my first time actually doing it all on my own for my little Yogurt Drop's first birthday! I decided to do a sun because my little mamacita's favorite thing in the whole world is to be outside. Since the day she was born, she would scream her guts out until I would take her outside. Currently, if the door is ever left open for one second, there she goes! She LOVES nature, and I don't blame her. She probably is constantly wondering why we make her stay inside a huge, weird, and not fun box (a house---we don't actually keep her in a box). Anyways, so the theme for her birthday was suns and watermelon because she can eat watermelon like you wouldn't believe. She inhales that stuff down. So, when you have a birthday party coming up that you need to plan, try out a homemade piñata! The making it is way easier than you would think, and the difficulty of decorating is all up to you. You also get to stuff it with a whole ton of super delicious candy instead of eating the two year old candy that no one has ever heard of before from the ones you buy in the grocery stores. And, last of all, knowing how to make an awesome, cheap piñata is always better than going out any spending 10-20 bucks on one that you don't really like.

Homemade Piñata

-A pretty good stack of newspaper

-Flour

-Water

-Punch Ball or large balloon

-Items you want to use to decorate it (best is tissue paper)

-Elmer's Glue

Step 1

First you will want to blow up your punch ball or balloon to the size you want your piñata to be. I used a punch ball because they stay in a more round shape than balloons. Balloons work great and that is always what my mom used, but punch balls are good because they are pretty heavy duty, get really big, and stay round. You can get a pack of like 6 or something from Wal-Mart for around 4 bucks. Your kids will love playing with the ones you don't use.

Step 2

Tear up a bunch of newspaper into a little bit bigger than soft-ball size. How big you want them is really up to you, just don't make them too small or it will take you eternity to finish, because you will be doing multiple layers. And, if you make them too big they don't fit to the curve of the punch ball very well and edges might start coming up. I like tearing the paper up first because then I don't have to worry about it while paper mâché-ing everything into the punch ball.

Step 3

Make the paper mâché. All you do is put the amount of paper mâché you want, in water. So, I think I probablly put about three cups of water. It depends on how big your punch ball or balloon is, and how big of a paper mâché fanatic you are when slathering it on. I don't like to put too much on, or else it takes forever to dry. Add in some flour and whisk it in ( around a heaping Tbls of flour/cup, but I usually ad a bit more because I like it thick). If you add the flour after your water is heated, it won't work because the flour will clump together. Let the water and flour boil, and you will be able to tell that it is getting a bit thick. Turn it off and let it cool, and it will get even thicker. 

Step 4

Set up a work station. Covering your work area in a junky plastic table cloth or even using the left over of the newspapers that you won't be using to cover your work station works just fine. Then get started! You can start on one side and work your way down, or do a little on the top an bottom to even out the weight so that your balloon/punch ball isn't rolling around everywhere. Just make sure that you leave one side of the balloon with a spot that is not covered by the newspaper. This way, when you pop the punch bag/balloon after it has completely dried, there will be a big enough hole for you to stuff it full of goodies!!! You can do as many layers as you want. The more layers, the more tough it will be to break. I recommend around 2-3 layers for children and maybe 5-6 for teenagers. It's really up to you though. I did three and had kids 8 and under hitting it and it didn't break. A 13 year old is the one that broke it open.
Step 5
LET IT DRY. It can take a while depending on how much mâché you used and on how many layers you did. I just hung mine in our garage overnight and it was hard as rock in the morning. 

The bottom is where I popped the balloon and filled it was CANDYYYY. The top will have a small hole from the punch ball's string coming out, but not one big enough to worry about.

Step 6
Decorate! Now, let me just prefact the picture of my final product by saying that I looked for orange and yellow tissue paper everywhere and I could not find ANY! They had every color but those two. And during summer! Anyways, I didn't know what to do. But I did see that they had yellow and orange junky plastic table cloths. So, I bought those. It turns out that I ran out of duct tape(which sticks to the newspaper really good) and so I used a different tape that doesn't. Hence, my pieces of plastic table cloth kept falling off. I don't want this to happen to you too, it's awful and devastating! So, probably just stick to tissue paper and Elmer's glue. It sticks good and you can decorate twice as fast without having to fold pieces of tape.

This was taken slightly prior to half of the fire balls falling off.

Step 7

Party Hardy!!!

Yogurt Drop was more than pleased with the results of  her sunny piñata. 

About Raising Chickens

Time to post about something I have always been completely passionate about---how to raise chickens! This is a great task for families to do together. It is beneficial for the family as a whole (fresh eggs and meat) and it is a great way for the kids to learn responsibility and have fun at the same time. DO IT! You wont regret it. I don't know why exactly, but ever since my first grade teacher brought in the incubator and I got to see these little baby chicks put all of their strength into cracking their shell open and then see them grow up into cute puff balls(which took a matter of days), I wanted my own to raise and love. Luckily, after the project of hatching them my teacher said that if we got permission from our parents, we could take as many as we wanted home. My mom was hesitant but my dad loves chickens too, he raised them when he was young and wanted to give me that same opportunity. That was the beginning of plenty of more chickens to come. The saddest part was coming home from school and seeing feathers scattered everywhere around our backyard. That meant that a fox or coyote had gotten in and killed them(we didnt have a coop---they would sleep in the trees). Anyways, moving on! I haven't had anymore chickens since middle school but I want some so bad! Over at Central Utah Gardens ( water conservation education) they offer all sorts of awesome free classes. The one this weekend was called "Raising Chickens". So, I decided maybe there are a few others out there, like me, that are in love with everything about chickens that would be grateful if I posted the main things I learned from this man's presentation(didn't get his name :/ ) on how to start raising chickens. Here goes!

Basic Terms:

Pullet: A pullet is the term for a young female chicken.

Hen: A hen is a matured female chicken.

Cockrel: A young make chicken.

Rooster: A matured male rooster...Roosters have longer tail feathers and have spurs which are long nails on their lower legs. They use these when fighting other roosters. They also crow, which can be very loud.

1. Chickens can live for up to ten years. They can lay eggs for only about four of those years. 
2. Eggs that are fertilized hatch within about 21 days, and for the first couple days of life the chicks do not need food, just water.
3. An easy way to tell the sex of a day-old chick is by spreading their wings and looking at the edge of them. If the feathers of the wings are straight-edged it is a female and if they are staggering in length then they are male.
4. Bantams are half-sized (mini) chickens.
5. Specialty/rare breeds usually have feather feet, naked necks or are hooded. These birds are normally used as show birds.

These are the pros/cons we were given for owning chickens:

Pros

• food, eggs
• insect control (pesticide free!)
• Compost from gardening
• easy
• inexpensive hobby
• kid friendly-good educational tool

Cons

• smell
• noise
• interference with other pets
• can be expensive
• time requirement
• not allowed in some cities.....(which didn't hold me back living in Denver, CO. But shhhh, don't tell.)

Some people think it would be completely overwhelming raising a flock of chickens for the first time, and for some people it might be. But, there really aren't that many things that you need in order to be successful at it.

You Need:

• A coop/hen house
• outside space for roaming and scratching
• water
• food

A coop or a hen house is what the hens will sleep in. It is also most likely where they will lay their eggs. The coop is a safe-haven for them from predators and it also should be able to protect them from the weather. Inside the coop there should be nesting boxes within it for them to sleep in and lay their eggs in.

Types of Breeds

Egg producers, meat producers, dual purpose breeds.

Sexed or Straight-Run?

When ordering chicks from a catalog or online, you have the option of "sexed" or "straight-run". What the heck does that mean? Well, sexed means that you are looking to get a certain sex. So, "sexed" will normally provide you with 95% pullet (hens...egg producers) and "straight-run" will normally provide you with 50/50 (half cockrels and half pullets). Nothing is ever certain, though. You can end up with different numbers of each.

Where Can I Get Them?

A lot of feed stores sell them, and you can also look online for hatcheries (look around for one you like) or mail ordered through a catalog.

How Do I Keep My New Chicks Healthy?

The most important thing to remember when raising chicks (and fully matured chickens) is that they need a clean environment to live in and constant fresh source of water. If you can do this, your chickens will most likely stay happy, healthy and alive.

Chicks can at first be kept in a box. Cover the ground with wood shavings or hay (switch out often) with a heating bulb above it. Warmth is extremely important for their first week-two weeks of life. They also need a source of water that is in their with them that is not too deep or else they can drown! Also provide a dish with some starter feed. The chicks will eat starter feed for about the first two months of their life, at which point you can start them on grower/developer feed until about 5 months. You can move the chicks to the coop when they are fully feathered and it starts warming up in the spring. The hens will start producing eggs at about 16-24 weeks.

The Eggs

Matured hens need a higher protein diet than the younger ones. A lot of people mix in Oyster Shell (calcium) with the egg producers' (hens) feed.  A healthy diet for the hens is very important since their bodies use their nutrients to create the egg shell. If they are not getting enough nutrients the egg shells are weak and thin, and eventually your hen might not be able to produce as many. Hens will usually start producing at about five months. To be able to lay eggs daily, the hens need adequate light and nutrition.

The man who gave the presentation said that he has researched the difference between the nutrition of the different colored eggs---he said there is none. The nutritional value of the eggs depends on how healthy your chickens are.

Areas Along the Wasatch Front

Here is a list of areas that allow you to raise chickens in residential areas. But, there are different rules/regulations for each area. Some places you can only have so many, a certain kind, etc. Call your city to find out the details.

Alpine, Cedar Hills, Centerville, CLinton, COttonwood Heights, Draper, ELk Ridge, Farmington, Genola, Goshen, Heber, Highland, Kaysville, Layton, Lehi, Lindon, Mapleton, Orem, Payson, Provo, SLC, Sandy, Santa Clara, Santaquin, S. Weber, Spanish Fork, St. George, Syracuse, Taylorsville, Tooele, W. Bountiful, W. Jordan, W. Point, Woodland Hills, Woods Cross.....NOTE: I know in Pleasant Grove it is legal as well, so be aware that there are some areas that allow it that are not listed.

Random (important) Info:

•  The waste of your chickens is GOLDEN for compost for your garden. Gather up the hay/wood shavings that they have done their business in and just add it to your compost. This will give your garden all the nutrients it needs. 
• There are three different types of feeds: mash, crumble and pebble. The presenter said that he used pebble because it was the least messy.
• Breeds that are popular for solely egg production: Barred Rock, Leghorn(lay white eggs), Rhode Island Red(lay brown eggs), Americauna(lay green/blue eggs)
• Cornish X Rock hybrids are a "meat" bird. They are bread specifically for meat and should be harvested by 8 or 9 weeks...otherwise it is considered cruelty because their bodies become too large for their legs to support. ( I don't know if I like the fact that they cross the breeds like that, but to each their own).

Thanks to my uncle for letting me use these pictures! He does an amazing job raising his chickens. So beautiful!

So pretty.

15 Family ACTIVities

It's over. Done with. No more Valentine's Day until next year...is it weird that I am kind of relieved that the pink and red is over? I'm more of a brown and green person...like trees. Speaking of brown and green and trees and everything alive, it is starting to warm-up here where I'm at (warming up being mid to high 30's) and I am getting the spring/summer itch. I want to be outside! My husband and I have already started the outdoor activity-ing and I wanted to share with you the top things we love to do that can help keep you active (be warned....there is walking and running in this list and a lot of it). These things can be done with small or large families no matter the age of the kids(if there are any). Everything is go go go now-a-days, it is always easy to forget that exercise is important both physically and mentally, and so is time spent with family. These activities are a happy medium of the two.

1. Go on a family run. Even if you have young kids. If they are babies, take them in the stroller. If they are toddlers, go on a short walk/ run with them. My dad would do this with me and my siblings when we were younger. We loved it because we got to spend time with him, get out all of our energy, and listen to him worship us for our super-human speeds.

2. Family bike ride.

3. Family walk.

4. Pack a picnic and walk to a park to enjoy it.

5. Set up a race course in your yard for your kids to complete. They will love this. Really.

6. Make a trip to your local recreation center for a Saturday (or weekday if you can). Try to get the best deal you can (look into family passes). They have pools, basketball courts, raquetball courts, soccer fields, weights, eating areas. They are pretty much the best things ever (and extremely family friendly un-like a gym). Pack a lunch for everyone and enjoy the day there.

7. Go to the museum (pick one you actually will like so that you don't just end up with a headache) on a free day. This works the legs and the brain.

8.Go for a hike. It might be hard for your kids and you might end up carrying them part way (or maybe the whole way), but this will get the kids to start lovin' your active outdoor adventures.
9. Walk to your local library (if its close enough to) for a reading day for the little tikes. Ask a librarian for a calender of events. Libraries (and rec centers) offer so many programs for cheap or for free. This can help you and your kids be more active, whether it is mentally or physically.

10. Load up the kids (or just yourself) and head to the mall. I know what you are thinking " No, please...no! NO SHOPPING!"(okay maybe that's just me), but you aren't going for shopping. Do laps around the mall and if your mall has a child's play area like mine does, let the kids get their energy out at the end to reward them for letting you push them around the mall for a half an hour. Oh, and my husband says you also have to stop at the foodcourt.

11. Play soccer at a park (or four-corners or jump-rope...alter it to your needs).

12. Find a stream or a pond that is nearby to either hike or walk to. Go fishing. Let the kids make their own poles if they want to.

13.Go fly kites. Also, try making them. That is always a lot of fun. If they don't fly (like mine never did) just go buy a cheap one.

14. Walk to a pond and feed the ducks.

15. Drive to a campsite and either camp there (have the kids help set-up the tent or picnic area) or just do a meal there. Do a fire and tin-foil dinners, then drive home and sleep all snuggled up in your bed.

Well, there it is. The list of my spring/summer activity cravings. I hope some of them are new to you guys. I'd would love to hear any other ideas that you all have got, so that I can add them to my familiy's list of activities. So list away.

Here are a few pictures of one of our family hikes that we took while my husband was scouting out a hunting area.




Panoramic view

Love Utah!

Yogurt Drop loves being outside.

Check out this awesome blog I link party with called Ladybug Blessings! There are tons of craft ideas for both adults and kid-friendly ones.