Building a Bird House and Exploring Botanical Gardens

Heidi is still working hard to earn some merit badges. One task she had to complete was to build a house for an animal. Anything from winter stray cat shelters, bat homes to birdhouses. Since it's summer she went with the birdhouse. 

First, she got to paint it (which was her favorite part I think). She picked blue because that's her favorite color currently. 

A few days later Char helped her put it together. I could have done it with her but sometimes things are more fun with Dad. He'd hold the pieces in place and Heidi would hammer away.  

The Littles enjoyed watching them put the house together. Oh, the birdhouse came with suction cups and has a gap in the back. That way you can put the birdhouse on a window and be able to spy on the nest without really disturbing the birds.  

Now we just need to go to the bird refuge and she'll earn her Animal Habitats badge.  (I'm really, truly taking her next Saturday).

The other day the troop had a field trip to the USU Ogden Botanical Gardens. I didn't know we had a botanical garden in the area. Anybody that attended would be completing ALL the requirements for the Gardener badge. We were the first to arrive at the Gardens. Sadly, only 3 other girls came. We decided to tour 4 of the Gardens at the site; Cottage Garden, Arbor Garden, Rose Garden and the Vegetable Garden. 

While at the Cottage Garden I found my favorite flowers, Stella De Oro Lilies, Stella Lilies for short. I have been looking for these flowers at the nurseries and big box stores for the last year or so. But they either don't carry those lilies or they've just sold out. They bloom lovely yellow-orange flowers from May to September and grow really well in this area. Someday I'll find them. 

Here the girls are resting in the shade of the Arbor Garden (basically, it was an area with non-fruit bearing trees planted). But it was hot and only noon-ish, the girls voted on needed a rest in the shade. 

Next, we explored the Rose Garden. Out of all the different varieties and colors, Heidi loved this particular rose the most. She thought it looked exactly like the rose from Beauty and the Beast. I don't know what kind of rose it really is but I like her idea more. 

The girls were getting tired, thirsty and hungry. We found a pavilion where they could rest and eat the sack lunches they packed. After everyone ate they planted some wildflower seeds in little starter containers. They're supposed to do experiments on them. Heidi chose to water one group more than the other to see what impact watering has on seeds. After lunch / experiment time we explored the vegetable garden.  

The Botanical Garden gave the Girl Scouts permission to plant some flowers as long as it matched the theme of the garden. Heidi's flowers went in the Cottage Garden area. I can't remember for the life of me what her flower is called.   

And Now It's June

Well, May went by fast. Here's the Highlight Reel of the past month. 

Heidi Anne has begun Girl Scouts as a Junior. Since we're doing homeschool we wanted to give her more social opportunities. Even though we came in towards the end of the year, she's been loving it. (Fun fact-Girl Scouts works based on a school calendar year not Jan - Dec.) I decided this could be a great Mom and Heidi 1 on 1 thing. So I signed up as a troop supporter (AKA homeroom mom).   

It's been less than a month and we've done a lot of activities with the troop and at home to earn merit badges. 

One of the first things we did was go on a hike and clean up the trail as we went along. Yes, she is wearing flip-flops while hiking. I didn't get the memo just how far and steep we'd be walking. 

About 2 Saturdays ago the troop decided to do an extracurricular field trip to the Ogden Nature Center to learn about local wildlife and walk the trails. My plan was to drop Heidi off and go to the Instacare (since I was coughing up a lung) with Rowan in tow. Well, only 2 other girls showed up. The leader figured this 3-hour adventure would be cut down to 1 hour. I choose to stick around. 

We found unique birdhouses volunteers had made hidden in some of the trees. Rowan wanted to be like Heidi and explore some of the trails. 

 He only got to like a 1/4 a mile on his own. Then he wanted to be held. We were pretty sure we'd get to the treehouse destination really soon. I put him on my back and kept on going. He was having none of it. Once we reached the 1/2 mile mark it was apparent we'd taken the wrong trail. I let Heidi continue on with her troop while I made a U-Turn with Rowan. 

It was a LONG 1/2 mile back to the visitor center. Take it from me, never go hiking when your sick AND with a toddler simultaneously. It was a LONG 1/2 mile. Since he was a good sport about everything I got him a huge black raspberry sucker. (Suckers are one of his favorite rewards). About 40 minutes later the girls returned. I was glad I turned back when I did. 

There was a Bear River Refuge trip but we missed it due to scheduling conflicts. I plan on taking her sometime this summer to make up for it. Plus you can get a badge if you go to a National Park and fill out a workbook. She's really looking forward to that. 

For the End of Year Party the troop went to a water park and had pizza. There were so many girls I'd never seen before. Anyways, Heidi earned her Musician badge and was given a Girl Scout Junior Badge and a 2018 year pin. She was so proud of her self. Now we need to get her a sash so she can put her things on it. 

She's also working toward her Gardener Badge. One the of the tasks is to plant a garden. We don't have space for a garden nor a good spot that the dogs won't get into. We improvised, she planted some flowers for me in big pots and put them on the porch. I love my lilies! 

We've done a lot with the troop but we did non-Girl Scout things as well. We've been going to the park and splash pad a bit. I was worried about the water at first and was expecting a short trip. After all the Littles despise baths and water. 

To my surprise, they seemed to enjoy themselves. Even Anastasia ran through the water a time or two. 

Heidi mostly kept an eye on Anastasia in the pad because she is tiny and easily gets overlooked and knocked over. 
After some time in the water, the park nearby was calling to them.  


















Anastasia played on the smaller jungle gym meanwhile, Rowan went to the big kid one with Heidi Anne. They both loved the slides on their respective playgrounds. 

They both impressed me by climbing up obstacles to get to the slides. Anastasia climbed up these stairs (which she won't do at home). Rowan clamored up a pretend rock wall. It's so fun to watch them grow and overcome challenges. 

Currently, there is a cute trend of parents sharing what names children have given everyday objects or actions. It made me aware of the adorable things my Littles have named things. Rowan has come up with a new name for phone chargers. They're called Phone Tails. 

Not to be outdone Anastasia now calls sips, Water Bites.

Those were the good times. There have been many sad and difficult moments and revelations this past month. Things I wish no parent to suffer through. We're working on it but it's going to be a long, hard road with no easy fix. 

Water Day at Grandma's

A few weeks ago we had really nice sunny, warm weather. It was hot enough to play in the water but not to the point you felt like you were melting. Grandma invited us to come play in her big backward. **Side Note: I love the picture of all 3 kids on the swings, it's one of the few pictures I have of everyone together.**

Rowan had a fun time filling up the pool with the hose. Meanwhile, Anastasia enjoyed watching him, she was so giggly.  

Rowan did a pretty good job of aiming the hose into the pool. He laughed a lot, I love it when he truly laughs. 

Once the pool was filled high enough, Rowan got right in.  Grandma got some toys along with some balls that floated on the top of the water. Rowan would wade in the pool chasing the balls around. Anastasia still hates the water and refused to get into the pool. However, she didn't mind trying to grab the balls from the edges of the pool, (as long as her feet were on dry land). 

Anastasia would come play on the swingset between sessions by the pool. She wanted to be on the big kid swing but she's just too small. Heidi Anne would get on the swing and place Anastasia on her lap, Anastasia agreed with the compromise. 

Anastasia also tried to climb up the slide. She's able to do it with the little slides, I think she believes she should be able to do the same with big slides as well. My feisty, stubborn baby girl. 

Anastasia must have made the slide look so fun that Rowan decided to leave the pool and wanted to go down the big slide. Often times we'd have to pull Anastasia away from climbing up the slide while Rowan was trying to go down it. 

Heidi's In Homeschool, This is the Place and The Museum of Curiosity

It's been a hectic week. We pulled Heidi Anne out of public school last week. She'll now be homeschooled for the foreseeable future. It's not due to any political or religious reasons. We've tried since the start of October to get her on a 504 plan just like we had worked on at her old school. But it never went through. 

She was recently re-evaluated for ADHD, which is still there but that wasn't the only thing the assessments revealed. No one can pinpoint which disorder precisely until she's in her middle teens (that's the earliest providers are able to accurately identify these things). 

With the backing of all of her medical and mental health providers, we tried to get her on a 504 based on mental health/behavior. Not to excuse the poor behavior but instead, have a plan in place if it should arise. Everyone involved in her care knew we'd be adjusting medications which could cause some side effects. Again the school refused.  

Every 3-4 days since then someone has contacted us from the school informing us that Heidi had a panic attack, was overly drowsy, too hyper, or misbehaving in some way or another. We asked again for a 504 and the principal countered with a few days suspension to "teach her a lesson." I thought sarcastically, "Yeah suspension is really going to cure her mental health." 

After a short talk with Char, we decided she just can't continue public school until everything is sorted out. No matter how long it takes. I enrolled her in homeschool the very next morning.  

Heidi Anne has advanced in her guitar class. She is now Level 2, and she achieved it in less than 6 months. (On average it takes 12 months to complete a level.) She got to be a student of the week for her accomplishment. 

The day before Heidi began homeschool, we went to This is the Place, it's pioneer reenactment living museum. We met up with; Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt L, Cousin G and baby E. 

I must admit I had fun dressing Anastasia up in her Halloween costume. I put Anastasia in a dress that I made for Heidi Anne when she was 2-3 years old. I also added a pinafore type thing that I found much later, I thought it matched the dress perfectly. I just need to find a toddler size sunbonnet, and it's complete. (Heidi Anne wants to be a pioneer for Halloween too.)   

Okay, I had a bit of fun matching Rowan's clothing to his eye patch. He was wearing a pirate shirt, and I found a pirate-themed eye patch. 

The first place we went to was the barn, which had pony rides. The 4 kiddos were the first riders of the day. I had to stay with Anastasia and keep her in place as the ponies moved forward in a circle. Rowan, who had never been on a pony before, was fearless. Char was trying to keep a hand on Rowan for safety but Rowan would have none of it. 

We explored the barnyard and petting area. Then we rode a big train to a ship playground. Went back on the big train and came across a small ride on the train. The kids loved it.

Across from this site were Navajo (I believe, but don't quote me on it) teepee and variety of houses from different tribes. A school field trip was going on and one of the reactors was super kind and let us all into the teepee to have a look, to tell us stories and sang a traditional song. Anastasia and Rowan just had fun exploring the area. After this site, we headed home. We barely saw 1/4 of the whole living museum; there were pioneer homes, a school, a church, just about everything a little village would have.  

A few days later we all went and met Grandma, Aunt L, and cousins G & Baby E  at The Museum of Natural Curiosities. It's like the Treehouse museum, but on steroids. There is everything for ages 0 - 12. There were many interactive rooms. 

Rowan was enthralled with the auto shop room. Kids could attach tires to a car, play with some tools to tighten nuts and bolts. They even got to work on a wooden engine. Since Rowan was in love with this room, Anastasia was dutifully at his side. Until the block room, next store began calling her name.

While this was going on Char took Heidi Anne to visit and do the older children activities. She made a short movie with a green screen, they found a music room, explored all the rooms and sections of the museum and played in the jungle gym. 

Next, Rowan and Stacy explored the Pet Clinic. Rowan named all the animals Cass (after our puppy) and would try to put these big stuffed animals into tiny kennels. Anastasia just hammered the examine tables. 

We found Grandma and Baby E. There was a little play area for kids 0-3. Anastasia had a lot of fun running up the stairs and going down the slide. Then she discovered this ball activity, where you put the ball in the rabbit's mouth and it would come straight down. (I kept thinking they couldn't design it so the rabbits didn't look like they were just pooping?) Rowan would go between the toddler nook and play with some kinetic sand.

Char and Heidi caught up with us and we went to the water area. There was a baby water table that Rowan and Anastasia had fun playing with. I don't get it, they HATE bathes with the passion of a thousand suns! However, they can't get enough of it at literally any other point in time. I do love how angry Anastasia looks in this picture but it's just how her wet bangs framed her face. She was having a blast, believe me.   

Anastasia will randomly come up to me and ask me the same question "Mommy, you okay?". She waits for my answer and then runs off no matter my response. I got a picture of her reciting her question to me. 

After the water zone, we went downstairs to the entrance of the 2 story jungle gym. There was an interactive computer game where the monitor was the ground and the kids ran around breathless. To be honest, I have no clue how it works, just that Rowan and Anastasia loved playing on it. 

After a while, Rowan was determined to play on the big playground. I swear that child has no sense of fear whatsoever. But as a mom, I worry enough for the both of us. Anyways, as I saw him begin the ascent to the higher levels I sent Heidi Anne in to follow him. I think I exceed the weight limits,(plus I was in a skirt). Heidi Anne gladly followed him wherever he went. 

While the older 2 we playing in the big jungle gym, I found another tot lot and let Anastasia play there. She's currently in a growth spurt and it constantly falling. Just the other day she was running full speed then fell so hard on the floor that she busted her lip making it bleed and cracked her tooth as well. Lately, when she falls down she cries out "I Broken!" Picks herself back up giggling and runs off again.