Improvements all around

We had our second Improvement Party!  We had our first one in October and then decided with the baby coming we should put our next one on hold.  We started our goals again in January and we had our party to celebrate our improvements yesterday (and tonight).  We decided to go to the movies for our celebration so yesterday after school and work we headed to The Rise of the Guardians.  It was a fun movie for the boys and they were so excited with the popcorn and soda.

By the time we got back it was already getting late so we decided that today we would share the goals and progress we made this past month with each other.

Eli:

He chose cooking as his improvement.  I was happy he chose that because it helped with my goal, I like to cook with my boys, and it didn't cost any money.  We had a lot of fun this month cooking together.  We talked about nutrition, ways to cook (oven, stove, microwave, grill, etc), ingredients, food safety as well as safety in the kitchen, etc.  We quizzed him tonight on what he learned and I was pleased to see all that he remembered.  Eli got to make a breakfast food, a lunch food, and two desserts.  I was going to have him help me make a dinner food but Mike bought pizza for the party so we just had him make another dessert for after dinner.

Eli learned how to make pancakes.  He is looking to see if they are ready to be flipped

We made raspberry oatmeal bars for a treat.  He chose this dessert from a few desserts he could make but he didn't particularly love them.

Today he wanted to make lemon tarts.

His finished lemon tarts.

Isaac:

Isaac wanted a bow and arrow for Christmas and when Santa gave him them he decided to do archery as his improvement.  Mike took the boys on base where they have an archery club and they learned the proper way to hold bow and got to practice for a few hours.  Then Mike set up a target area in the garage for Isaac to practice on.  He loves it.

Will:

Will is our creative boy.  He loves to create things and will spend hours in the craft room with my craft book doing origami, painting, etc.  The ward here made some bears in honor of Laila and Will started saying that he wanted to learn how to make a bear.  Will wanted to do sewing for his improvement but I am not good enough at sewing to teach him so I found a lady in the ward that teaches sewing to kids and we signed him up.  So far he has made a pillowcase and is currently working on some PJ's.  He is really enjoying it.

Mike:  Mike's improvement was cheese again (and probably will be every time).  He went and bought himself a sink....thankfully it doesn't live in our kitchen or I'd get pretty irritated.  He has definitely improved in making cheese and we use the cheese he makes in our meals.  He is pleased with the results but is looking forward to it getting even better and I'm confident that it will!

Me:  My goal was to spend more time with Eli.  The baby makes it hard for me to spread my time around but she is so much happier now and I find that my time is not quite so taken as it was.  Eli starts school this coming year and I don't want to waste any time I have left with him at home.  I realized that taking care of the baby and then using the rest of my time to take a shower, clean the house, or take a nap, etc. is taking my time from him.  So, I decided to try and adjust some of the things I do and when I have a chance, to spend more time with him.  We have jumped on the trampoline, cooked together, played board games, read books, etc.  It's been nice to give him some of my attention and it's worth it even if that means I don't get a shower or have a messy house.

I'm loving these goals and improvement parties.  I like to have something to look forward to and something that we are all working towards.  It will be fun to see what we all decide to do for the next one.