Transportation Day and More

Another week has gone by like a flash for the Nutt House.  As we reflect back on the week, it was a week of family togetherness and activities, which is the best way we can spend a week!  Our family home evening this week took a different spin.  Brent was unable to join us and as I was formulating a lesson on the drive home from swim lessons this week the little Nutts mentioned how they would like to make cookies so with a little creativity, cookie making became our lesson, activity and treat all rolled into one.  Score for plans that drop in our laps!  For the lesson, we talked about how ingredients in the cookies are like our family, which is a team.  All of the ingredients have to be there and work together or the cookies wouldn’t turn out, just like as a family, if we are not there for each other, helping each other out we do not function properly as a family or a team.  Somehow, this made sense to the kiddos who were able to remember the lesson a couple hours later when Brent arrived home.  In this Nutt-y family, a lesson that can be recalled a couple hours’ later counts as a successful win in my book!  Thanks to the Bingo challenge we have been doing in Primary we have successfully had FHE every week so far this year, this has been a great success for the Nutt House!

 

When FHE is making cookies smiles are in abundance

Such focus to get the cookies just right

 The primary challenge officially ended this weekend (*though we plan to keep up with the newly established positive habits we’ve got going for us!) and the wrap up celebration took place Friday evening with a Road Trip themed activity at the church.  It was a wonderful evening, complete with convenience store type foods such as corn dogs, big gulps, and nachos and several road games for the family to complete together.  Throughout the evening we played a license plate matching game, road sign bingo, I spy, a rest stop obstacle course, tic-tac-toe and even hang man.  Sometimes I find it hard to believe I am fortunate to be blessed with a calling in the primary presidency because I am surrounded by such creative women that inspire and put me in awe at all we are collectively able to pull off for the sake of our primary children.

Fun on the rest stop obstacle course

Waiting ever so patiently for the next road sign to be called

A little road trip family game along our way

Of course, the middle of the week kept us plenty busy with dance class, My Gym, swim lessons, play date and more.  These activities keep us busy and on our toes most weekday afternoons, and our Nutt-y little kiddos wouldn’t have it any other way.  When we can sprinkle in birthday parties, play dates, bike rides, and late overs with friends, as we were able to do this past week it helps to put the icing on the cake of our week.

Kaden adores Mr. Andrew but has started
expressing his opinion that he wants to
move up to the next swim level.  Here's
to hoping he can make it happen soon!

This was Kara's teacher, Ms. Hannah's last week teaching
swim lessons at Gold Medal.  Kara has enjoyed Ms. Hannah and her
new teacher is going to have big goggles to fill to be as good in the eyes of this little fish

With competition over it's back to the grind at dance!

L sit to strengthen his core

While all we accomplished during the week was gratifying attending Transportation Day on Saturday was THE highlight of the week for the Nutt House.  Since discovering Transportation Day when Kaden was maybe 2 we have yet to miss this event and as far as little man is concerned there never needs to be a plan to change this.  We did do Transportation Day a bit differently this year than in years past, though.  Kara was going to be performing so the boys were dropped off at Transportation Day while Kara and I headed up to dance to practice, stretch and warm up before heading over ourselves.  In that hour/hour and a half the Nutt House was separated I think Kaden tried out almost every vehicle he could find.  I only say almost, because when we were together he very emphatically exclaimed at one point that he hadn’t been in a refueling truck we saw and he had to climb in, he couldn’t believe he missed this one and mom, I have to do this, okay?  With vehicles of all shapes and sizes, from a mouse limousine (owned by a pest control company) to the police motorcycles, buses, garbage trucks and everything in between it was good day for the Nutt House.  When you add in the addition activities such as a train ride for Kaden and a pony ride for Kara, delicious food, running into friends at the event, performances to watch, Kara’s dance performance and new silhouettes of the kiddos it was a fantastic day.  Only bummer came when we didn’t win any of the raffle drawings and after a long day of excitement the news of hearing someone else’s name called when the winner was announced for the giant basket of Legos was a little more than my little man could handle and we had a momentary breakdown.  Fortunately, it was short lived and with a newly found, most special rock in his pocket, he was good to wrap up Transportation Day and race back to our own car to call it a day.

He will be such a pro with big machinery
before he can even legally drive!  (*thanks grandpa!)

In every good way, he is such a boy

Going up?

2 Thumbs Up means it was really good!

He mimicked every move from the
UFC Gym fight demonstration

Not quite her thing

Now him... right in his element

Police officers and motorcyles are
an awesome combination

So good they too deserve 2 thumbs up!
(*this right was reserved for Police Motorcyles and
helicopters only)

Sassy dancers owned the performance area!

2 of my loves watching the helicopter take
back off from the comfort from inside the building
*less dust in the eyes this way

All smiles to enjoy his cinnamon sugared pretzel

Hip hip hooray for pony rides!

This.  Them together.  Love

Time to switch roles

This talented artist cuts these out free handed

She captures their facial shapes so well, I am in
awe every single year

As I sit here writing the end of this, I find my thoughts drifting from the path I had previously outlined for them and instead moving to the lyrics to a Taylor Swift song that are repeating through my mind, “oh darlin’ don’t you ever grow up, don’t you ever grow, just stay this little…”  I hear all too often not to blink because our little Nutts will grow up too fast.  I live in a constant state of realizing the truth of these very words, which is why I work hard to make sure that as a family we make the time for each other, family activities, and memory creating events.  Some of these happenings are planned out, like attending Transportation Day.  Some become such a part of our routine, like driving to lessons or Family Home Evenings that we can easily take for granted the unique moments that these times afford us.  Others though, they are the moments that happen without much, if any planning.  This afternoon after church provided us with the latter. 

After a little relaxation time, Kara and I headed to the kitchen to bake an apple pie for Sunday dessert.  Fortunately, for the entire Nutt House, this was the best job I have done on making piecrust (which is one of my top baking Achilles heels)!  I am confident that the crust and pie turned out so well, because Kara was aiding me in the making of our pie and she made sure we added her special ingredient of love.  While the girls were baking, the boys spent some quality boy time bonding over Legos and a super tall rocket ship Brent helped Kaden to build.  With the pie in the oven, the Nutt House took off for a short family walk/bike ride around the neighborhood to enjoy the afternoon, the wonderful weather and each other’s company before retiring to home for the evening.  After a scrumptious dinner prepared by the Nutt-y boys, we enjoyed the delicious pie that Kara and I had made and of course, you cannot have pie without whip cream.  After we were all but finished eating Brent shot Kaden in the mouth with an extra-large serving of whip cream.  There was so much cream that Kaden couldn’t even close his mouth.  So, I did what any loving, helpful mother would do… I smashed the cream into his face and hair.  This one simple, spur of the moment act resulted in a whip cream fight like the Nutt House has never seen before.  Once cream was on multiple surfaces throughout the kitchen area, hair, backs, ears, faces and clothing was all sticky from our whip cream fight it was time to call it a truce and clean up.  While we have pictures of the pie making and the walk/bike ride there are no pictures of the whip cream fight.  This moment was too spur of the moment to try to plan to take a picture and when all was said and done I didn’t want to touch anything, my phone included until after a good shower to clean up.  The lack of photographic documentation doesn’t negate how important the whip cream fight was.  At the same time, it doesn’t make it more important since it wasn’t documented photographically.  I hope that this, just like the planned out events (i.e. Transportation Day) and the routine events (lessons - including drive times and FHE) the spur of the moment events will at least through feelings be captured forever in the hearts and memories of each member of the Nutt House.  With any luck, these moments together will continue to strengthen us as a family, continue to prepare us to face all of the worldly challenges that await us outside of the safety of our home and ultimately prepare us to return to our Heavenly Father.  Because, as much as I want  my littles to never grow up, to stay this little I know it will not happen, so instead, I try to fill their hearts and minds with positive memories that will strengthen their confidences, relationships and testimonies.  All the while, filling my mom heart full enough with moments and memories that when I do blink and they are no longer little while I am sad I will know we didn’t let a moment pass us by and we are each stronger and prepared for the next stages of our own individual journeys.

This lil' baker is going to be a great baker someday

The tiny stars she added on the top contained extra doses of love

This is life