In my little world lately, part two

Ok, noteworthy moments from March.  March was a pretty exciting month, but a lot of the pictures I took are from random moments at home.

First off:  Otter's flair for fashion.  It's very exciting to walk to the bus stop when you are behind someone this fashion forward.

Owl is "fancy" a lot too, but on this day she looked pretty subdued in contrast to her sister.

After we got home from the bus stop, Moose built a boat.  I'm afraid I don't remember where they were travelling.  The Swiffer was the oar, of course.  Just before or after this, the chairs were a train and were headed for California.

 

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Last year I went all out for Dr. Suess's birthday. This time...I did not.  I went and read books to the kids at the school for their Read-a-thon, but that was about it.  Chick got really into the spirit of the day, though, and did a bunch of Suess-themed drawings out on the walkway.

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Chick, Monkey and I went to a princess-themed ballet that was performed by the BYU ballet team.  It was fun to get all dolled up :) 

There were lots of people that we knew there so we got a picture of the girls with a few of their friends.

 

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Monkey loves her baby, Ella.  She looks so young in this picture...and she IS young, but she's definitely working on growing up.  In fact, she read her first chapter book ("Holly the Christmas Fairy" from the Rainbow Fairies series) a week ago, and another 1.5 books since then!  Way to go, Monkey!

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The benefits of having a junk yard, continued: It's easy to have a library (the same area has been a post office in the past...it's flexible like that).  The girls wrote book titles on pieces of wood... my favorite was, "The Dog that Ate Peas."

While the big girls were getting literary, Owl inspected a baby slug. 

And Owl and Otter spied on the neighbor's yard.
(Owl is looking at the screen right now, and said, "Otter is wearing my coat there!  That's funny!")

And Moose and Monkey spied on the tool shed :)

We've had some really nice weather days lately, which has provided lots of outside play time, and yard clean-up time for me.

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Chick's class had a field trip to the Aquarium and (thanks to my Mom for watching all of the other little people) I was able to go.  It was fun.  Most of my pictures didn't turn out, but it was really beautiful--I especially loved the variety of coral and plant life. 

Fun fact:  Scientists estimate that every grain of sand in the Puget Sound has been cleaned by going through a sea cucumber.



(Of course, Chick and I thought of OUR otter when we watched the otters)



(the girls in my group)

 

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The day after the field trip, Chick got an award at school.  It was for good academics overall. 

Next year she'll be changing schools because she'll be in the district's "highly capable" program.  Going to orientation, expo, and tour for that was part of the excitement this month.  She's not excited to change schools, but I'm really excited FOR her.  The program is an enrichment, project-based one...it was slightly intimidating (some things sounded more like my experience in COLLEGE than anything I'd had in elementary school!), but really really awesome.  Fun projects and really thoughtfully put together.  Plus having her be more challenged will be great.  In looking into the program I heard this quote from another parent:

"If you are the smartest person in the room,

then you are in the wrong room."

 

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The other day we went to Flower World, which I'd never heard of, but is a super huge nursery with lots of animals.  We didn't have much time there before they closed,  but loved every minute of it.  We enjoyed exploring the various ponds and such within the nursery, as well as the farm animals that were out on the grounds.

I bought a butterfly bush, columbine, hellebores, and astilbe.  Yesterday I got it all planted (the kids helped).

 

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We've read some good books lately.  I read "Enchantress of Crumbledown" which I'd read as a teenager.  It was still just as interesting and inspiring as before. 

I also read Outliers, which I found very thought-provoking.

Oh, and "Gone-Away Lake" as a pre-read to gauge how well it would go over for my kids (I'll be reading it again to them this summer).

My favorite that I really did read aloud to them was "The Castle in the Attic."  We all enjoyed it.  We did a poster-sized venn diagram to compare & contrast "The Castle in the Attic" with "The Indian in the Cupboard."  I enjoyed both books, but I think I like Castle better.  Fun book with good messages.

We'll be doing a kid's lit based weekly "camp" with some of our friends, so I've been looking into books in preparation for that.  I bought a few, and requested several from the library, based on reviews that I read about them.  I'm excited for the camp.  It'll just be for the older three kids, but they'll get to do fun projects and activities to go with the books and hopefully help bring the books alive.

In my little world lately, part one

So much of our days is routine and rush.  But sometimes we do fun things as well.  Here are a few of the latest adventures...these are actually all from February.  I'll do the pictures from March in a second post.

 

A few months ago our ward Relief Society had a service auction.   People volunteered things that they could make or do as the items to be auctioned.  Bidding was using points "earned" from filling out a questionnaire.  At any rate, I volunteered a set of custom party decorations.  The party ended up being an "Under the Sea" birthday party.

 

Banner with salt dough sea stars

 

 

Poster for "Pin the Starfish on the Mermaid"

 

 

Invitations (and there were also coordinated thank you cards & menu cards)

 

 

It was a fun project :)

 

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For Christmas Santa gave Monkey a new leotard & a voucher for some gymnastics classes.  She loved it and did really well.  She is a monkey, after all. (sadly it's done now...I'm on the lookout for a good deal for her to keep taking classes.)

 

 

 

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This is totally random, but here's a teepee that the kids made one day whilst playing outside.  Sometimes it is nice to have a junk yard.

 

 

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I've probably already mentioned Wedgits...Owl and Otter got a set for Christmas from Santa, and we ALL loved them so much that I bought more so that there would be enough for us to all play with them at once. 

At first there was a lot of tower-making. 

Then Moose especially fell in love with following the instructions on the design cards to make pre-planned designs. 

Chick then experimented to find different wedges (where the pieces stay together because they are wedged together.  So these are two pictures of the kids showing off their wedges...Moose with a BIG wedge, and the three older kids with a display of all of the wedges that they've discovered.

 

 

 

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Valentine's day was fun.  I made heart-shaped breakfast cookies and smoothies for breakfast. 

Then my sister came over for a nice visit. 

Then I spent the afternoon making lasagna for my valentine, the fantastic Mr. Fox.  It was SOOOOOOO good!  Seriously!  The best I've had since I was in Italy. (It doesn't look very pretty in the picture, but it was good.  EVERYONE loved it, which is really saying something).  I used THIS recipe.

For dessert we had heart-shaped apple hand-pies.  Yum.

I didn't put up decorations or do anything very fancy, but I did make fancy foods.

 

 

 

 

 

That's it for February.  Fun times with my people!

Last Weekend's Adventure

Chick

Last weekend there was a free Ice Skating event.  Monkey and I got home from our photoshoot date just in time to get everyone dressed for the ice, and we headed out the door!

None of the kids had ever skated before.  Honestly, I thought it would be a half hour before we heard the chorus of "I'm Cold!" "I'm Tired!"  "I don't want to skate anymore."  And then we'd come home.

Moose

I was COMPLETELY wrong.  They all loved it, and didn't want to leave...even when the rink was closed and everyone got kicked off the ice.

Chick, Monkey, and Moose all did well on their own.  They preferred using the supports...but all three could skate without them by the time we went home.


Owl and Monkey

 

Owl liked skating the least... which is what I'd expect from a toddler.  She did like it ok, she just was the least.

Otter!

Otter was the one that surprised us all.  She LOVED it.  If I stopped to talk to one of the other kids for too long, then she'd start going without me.  She never wanted to be stopped, and just went around and around and around.  She seemed to feel encumbered by pushing the support thing, and would sometimes start skating off without it (though she wasn't quite skilled enough to do that for too far).  At one point she took a break on the side with Mr. Fox...when I started taking her back out onto the ice she actually squealed with excitement! 
It's rare to see someone take to something so much...it was so much fun to see.  We're probably going to get her lessons for her birthday (They don't start until age 3 anyhow).

Otter (again)

A great time was had by all.  Even Fox and I, going slow and helping kids, had a fantastic time.  I think it was one of those special outings that we'll remember fondly forever.  And hopefully we can get back out on the ice soon.

Fox and Owl at closing time

Monkey and Me

Oh, you know, the usual...just trying to catch up (lots of pictures...you've been warned)

I think I neglected to post pictures of the 4th of July...

 

 

 

...and random pictures from the summer...

She went to swimming lessons with a cape on.

 

 

Uncle Mike's train is always a treat!

 

Mr. Fox took the kids to a street fair and a new superhero was discovered.

 

Ding Dong cake for my dad's birthday
(picture of him wouldn't upload...I tried several times)

 

It was super delicious, but the white filling should have been even thicker

 

A total goof with her own sense of style.

 

Chick wore these boots for two years, I think.
I finally told her that they had to be thrown away.
Seriously, she cried in her room for half an hour.

 

 

We got together with some of Fox's friends from his pre-marriage days.  Clearly they've been as busy as we have!  It was fun...the kids got to know each other running around the playground, and then we went for ice cream at Sub Zero (super awesome!)

 

 

 

Otter learned to scowl, and did it often
but she seems to have outgrown that phase.
It was pretty funny while it lasted.

 

The older three kids all took swimming lessons. 
Moose's was a parent assisted class (though in this picture he's with his teacher). 
He wasn't very willing to participate, and I regretted putting him in...
maybe he'll be more ready next year.

 

It was a Loooooong time coming, but I finally made my magnet menu board!

 

oh, to be a twin.

 

...and the first day of school...

 

 

...and random Fall days...

 

 

 

 

I remember being treated like a doll...I guess it's the role of the last child.

 

 

Fossil cookies for pre-K.
And the bones on the tray were from polymer clay. 
The bones were buried in sand for an excavation project.

 

Autumn cookies for pre-K.

 

We got to attend E's baptism and birthday dinner.  Nice cake, Kayla!

 

...and from Halloween...

 

Owl and Otter wore the same costumes as last year!
Last time they were a little big, this time they were a little small.

 

 

Halloween lunch.  Trail mix toilet paper bats,
jack-o-satsumas, a Mummy juice box, and a themed zbar.

 

...and Thanksgiving.

Jude did a fantastic job on the kids table.  They had a great time...
well, we all did, but only the kids are pictured.

 

Monkey, on her Thanksgiving birthday, with the amazing quilt that Grandma J made! 
I'm totally going to steal it from her one of these days ; )

 

Birthday cake #1.

 

The other night I played hookie from life (and a meeting) and took a bath (with a mug of hot chocolate, the last few chapters of a book, and a notepad).  I wrote down my New Years Resolutions.  One is to blog once a week (most likely it'll be every Sunday evening).  Lately I seem to only have blogged about parties and the little "photoshoots" of the kids, and have totally neglected all of the special little day-to-day moments.  I have a terrible memory, and I don't want to forget this beautiful time in my life, so I plan to work on blogging more.  Starting today (since I already have my list all written and all).

And for your  viewing pleasure: a dance presentation by Chick, Monkey, and Moose.  I had a good laugh watching it...this is from early November...pretty cute of all three : )