Wanted Posters

I finally got the wanted posters done for preschool! Here are some of my favorites. I actually made several for each kid, each with one of these "offenses". I think they turned out great!

Cowboy preschool

Thursday this week was my last time to teach preschool in quite a while. The theme was cowboys, and I was really excited to teach this topic! I found a whole bunch of really great books on cowboys at the library, and I found some cute cowboy hats and handkerchiefs that I could not pass up.

My favorite books were "How I Spent My Summer Vacation" by Mark Teague, "Sixteen Cows" by Lisa Wheeler, and "Cowboy Small" by Lois Lansky.

When the kids arrived, I had them put on their cowboy hats and bandannas. Then we read some books. I was happy that Emily was there, because she took some pictures of me actually reading to the kids!

As you can see, I even dressed up for the occasion!

The kids really enjoyed the books, and when we were finished we decorated paper bag vests that I made. I actually used a vest we had for a pattern to make their vests fit a bit better than the usual "boxy" looking paper vests. I think they turned out great!

Then we put on some paper mustaches and took some pictures. I intend to make wanted posters of the kids, but have not gotten around to it yet. Regardless, the pictures are hilarious!

Here is Ephraim. I even talked him into wearing a button-up shirt so that he looked a bit more "western". Doesn't he look great with a mustache?

Clara was a hoot. She made the best faces when she had her mustache on! I had a hard time keeping a straight face.

Jonathan and Justin also looked pretty cool in their mustaches.

Karyn was kind enough to let me borrow her camera for some of these pictures, since mine is broken. I actually took some pictures with my phone and was surprised by how well the pictures turned out!

Not-So-Great Week and the Day my Camera Died

My week started out pretty well with preschool, but since then it has been one thing after another.

First on Monday night I went on a bike ride and got a flat tire. Luckily I was only about 1/2 mile from home, so I just walked the rest of the way. Then Tuesday was our doctor day. Joe stayed home so that I could go to my annual OB appointment and then in the afternoon we all went to the dentist.

My appointment at the OB seemed routine, right up to the point where the nurse found a small lump on my left breast. She thinks it is just a cyst, but she wants me to go in for a mammogram and possibly an ultrasound. It was a little hard for me not to freak out about that. Hopefully it will be fine, but I am not terrifically excited about it.

Then I spent the afternoon at the dentist's office. The boys did really well this time. Ephraim even let them take x-rays and clean his teeth, which was a big improvement from last time. I took the boys home and came back for my checkup. Of course I had a small cavity, so I told them to just fill it right then. Sometimes I swear there is not a surface on my back teeth that could possibly have a filling because every surface of my teeth back there has already been filled. Sheesh!

Luckily the boys seem to have Joe's teeth. Neither of them has any cavities, which is great.

So Tuesday was a hard day for me. Then on Wednesday, Karyn was kind enough to go hang out at the park with me. The kids were having a great time. Amelia was loving going down the slide!

Jacob was a great big brother and kept an eye on her so she didn't go down by herself because the slide was a little fast for her.


I was having a great time taking pictures of my kids... when it happened.

I was clicking away when my camera gave me and error and refused to take any more pictures. I tried everything I could think of, like changing lenses, replacing the battery, etc. Unfortunately nothing helped. When I came home I found the last picture of the set looked like this.

Um... yeah. That black think in front of the picture is part of my shutter. We took it to a repair shop before I went to work this evening, and the shutter mechanism is definitely broken. I was so bummed! It is going to cost about $160 to get it fixed, and I already feel a bit naked without my camera.

I am glad that I can get my camera fixed, but it is definitely a bummer that it broke like that! The repair guy said it looked like somebody poked the shutter when the lens was off, but I know that didn't happen! After all, I was taking pictures when it broke.

So needless to say, this week hasn't been the best. They say that bad things come in threes, so I figure that I am about done with bad things for the week. Hopefully things will start to get a bit better next week!

Transportation Preschool

Today it was my turn to teach preschool again and the topic was transportation. Of course I have had my books checked out for a couple of weeks. I knew I wanted all of the books that I could get by Patricia Hubbell because hers are the best! Here is my table display all set up.

I thought it was fun that I had so many transportation toys to put around the books. I even put the Boat book on top of a pirate ship!

We had a great time reading all of the books and talking about transportation. We even sang a few songs, like "The Wheels on the Bus". Then for our craft I made these fun airplanes out of paper clips.

Originally I was going to let the kids paint the paper clips, but I decided that using markers was good enough. They all had a great time decorating their planes.

Then for a snack we had "stop light" crackers. I was originally going to make cookies, but I did not get to it on Sunday night. So instead I took a graham cracker and spread peanut butter on it. Then I put M&Ms on top. I have to say that they tasted pretty good to me!

We had a fun day at preschool. I only have to teach one more time this year and then I will be done... hooray! For a number of reasons, next year I will be sending Ephraim to a preschool instead of teaching as part of a cooperative group. There just are not enough moms left in our group to make it worth while. Besides, I think Ephraim will benefit from being in a more formal setting.

Fun in the Sun

Hooray for warm days in April!

Today after our soccer game it was warm enough that I let the boys get out their Buzz Lightyear rocket sprinkler. They were so excited!

I knew I wouldn't be able to keep Amelia away, so I just put her in her swimsuit and let her play too. The water from the sprinkler was a little bit cold, but she loved it anyway. She is probably the one that got the most wet!

I made the boys keep the sprinkler low so she could play in it for a bit.

I love that this swimsuit says "sunshine" on it because Amelia is our little sunshine.

You can see that by this time her little pig-tails were all wet! What a cute girl.

I should have taken some more pictures of the boys, but they weren't doing anything really exciting. Except for the part where they got me wet, so I used the rocket to spray Ephraim with water! Maybe they will think twice before getting Mommy wet.

Of course later on I had to give Amelia a bath. Since she is old enough, I gave her a bubble bath. She thought the bubbles were really funny. She actually got down close to the bubbles and made a bubble beard, which made me laugh!

I only managed to get a picture with my phone, but I think it is pretty hilarious!

Soccer Season

We are in full swing with soccer and loving it!

It is really fun to watch Jacob as he gets better at playing the game. He has a great coach, and his team does really well at the games (not that anyone is supposed to keep score). That makes it even more fun to watch.

Jacob is a fast runner, but he could be a little more aggressive about going for the ball when he is on offense. I am sure he will get better at it!

After all, these kids are all still only 5 and 6, which is evident from the way some of the kids play. Check out number 6, who has turned his jersey around on purpose for the last couple of games. What a nut!

I think we may have a future female athlete on our hands. Amelia LOVES to be outside and whenever she is outside, she wants to be on the ground. She loves to walk around and explore!

We don't get to sit down much at soccer practice anymore! We spend our time following this little girl around.

Take Me out the Ball Game

At school this week Jacob brought home tickets to a UVU baseball game. Since he brought home two tickets and kids under five are free, we figured we might as well go! We knew the kids probably wouldn't last the entire time, but we thought it would be a fun outing.

So here are Mommy and Daddy with the kids at the game.



You can see that the boys all wore baseball caps. I thought Jacob in particular was stylin'!

Since the boys have never been to a baseball game and we don't really watch sports on TV, Joe and I got to explain the game to them.

The UVU baseball team is actually pretty good, so it was fun to watch them play. Of course baseball is not the most exciting sport for kids, so after the first few innings we got some hot dogs and hamburgers to eat. We left the stands and went over to the grassy area by the third base line.

Amelia kept trying to figure out how to go down the steep hill. It was hilarious because she would fall over and then couldn't figure out how to stand up on such an incline! Daddy helped her out.

The boys also rolled down the hill at the end of the field, and played at the playground that they have at the baseball field. They had a great time. Joe even managed to snag a foul ball at the end of left field, so Jacob got to bring home a ball from the game. He thought that was pretty cool!

We left sometime around the seventh inning and looked around the new science building on campus. I forgot to bring Amelia's milk cup, or we might have stayed a bit longer. The kids enjoyed themselves, and so did Joe and I. We may have to go to a ball game again in the future!

We would also like to take the boys to a Real soccer game at the stadium in SLC. I think they would like that, since Jacob is in soccer and they are more familiar with the game.

Wipe Out

This evening I noticed that it was pretty quiet and wondered where Amelia was. As I walked down the hall, I discovered her in her room.

Apparently she found her package of wipes and figured out how to get it open. I am sure she was fascinated by how the wipes kept coming out of the box whenever she pulled on them.

I thought she was done because there was not a wipe sticking out the top. But no!

She figured out how to pull them up through the hole! What a little character.

Of course she had no idea why we took her fun toy away! Jacob helped me clean up the wipes and I couldn't help but think about the time that HE was the one who was making messes. Oh how time flies!

A Typical Sunday

I don't think that Sundays are Amelia's favorite day of the week. Since we have church in the morning, she misses her morning nap since she refuses to sleep at church.

This week we brought her home and put her in her high chair for lunch. She was eating with everyone else, and then the next time I looked:

Yep! She fell asleep in her high chair. I had to go find my camera so I could take a picture. Isn't she precious? Poor thing!

The boys have to find ways to amuse themselves inside on Sundays. This afternoon they had daddy help them make a car out of a diaper box. The kids were all having fun playing with it, and I managed to snap this cute picture of them.

What a bunch of cuties! I love it when my kids are having fun playing together.

Sleepy Afternoon

Joe decided to take Thursday and Friday off this week for Spring Break. He has actually been fighting a cold most of the week, so it was good for him to take some time to relax a little bit.

This particular afternoon Ephraim was really grouchy and needed a nap. But he just kept fiddling around in his room. So finally Daddy had Ephraim lay down on our bed with him. After getting him to hold still for a few minutes, Ephraim passed out... and so did Joe. They were so cute I had to take some pictures.

You can see that Joe is wearing the shirt that I made him- hooray!

Joe woke up shortly after taking these pictures, but Ephraim was out like a log. I took quite a few pictures of him and he didn't even flinch! Ah well, he sure is cute!

Trip to Logan & Signs of Spring

Hooray for Spring Break!

Not only has Jacob been ready for a break from school, I have been itching to get out of town. Unfortunately Joe still had to go to work, so I took the kids and we made a quick trip to visit the Kirkham's in Logan.

We left on Monday afternoon and spent the night at the Kirkham's. We were thinking of spending Tuesday night at their house as well, but Amelia did not sleep well because of her teeth. She is growing two more teeth on the bottom. Then our Wednesday plans to meet up with friends got cancelled, so we decided to go home on Tuesday so we could be home for Daddy's birthday.

The boys had a great time playing with their cousins. They ran around outside, jumped on the trampoline, watched movies, played games and generally had a blast. Who wouldn't like driving around a pink and purple Barbie jeep?!

Don't ask me what Ephraim is doing in this picture. I have no idea! But at least he is having fun.

It was a good thing my boys were so busy, because I sure was! Jeanette and I had a great time cutting vinyl with my Silhouette Cameo. We made the cutest spring decor!

You want to see, right?

Aren't these flowers cute? It is amazing what you can do with some painted wood and brightly colored vinyl.

Jeanette didn't have a lot of spring decor and neither did I. So we got busy! I love all the cute signs that I have to put all over my house to bring spring inside.

My favorite sign is this cute little reversible sign we made by mod podging cute scrapbook paper onto wood, and then placing the vinyl on top. Isn't it SO cute?

I love that one side of the sign is great for Easter, and then I can just turn it over! So cute!

It was a short trip to Jeanette's house, but we had a blast!  I was so busy crafting with her, that I didn't even take any pictures of Amelia with Tennille until it was time to head out the door! Oh well! They are still cuties, right?

While driving around in Logan I took some fun pictures of grain silos for a photo challenge. Cool, huh?

Unfortunately the weather for the rest of the week is supposed to be wet and a bit cooler. What a bummer! I guess we will just have to find fun things for the kids to do inside.