Christmas 2012

We stayed home this year.  Kyle had three weeks off for Christmas break and we took advantage by doing fun things together to make up for all the times he was away in Michigan.  We usually invited friends to come along - like when we went to Brookfield Zoo to see all the lights and animals...most of which were sleeping because it was dark outside, but it was still fun. We had a couple of families come over for Christmas Eve dinner and enjoyed soups and homemade bread together while laughing and chatting and working on a 750-piece puzzle.  We ended the evening by opening up our new pj's from the grandparents and then watching the animated nativity story with the kids before sending them to bed. Christmas morning was so much fun.  It was just us this year and the kids had a blast opening all the gifts and jumping for joy over everything.  They were definitely spoiled rotten by some wonderful family members (THANK YOU!!).  This year we had each of the kids choose a gift for the other so they could enjoy the feeling of giving.  We are so blessed and can't wait to see what the new year has to offer.

Kyle's Birthday

Happy Birthday Kyle!

Singing With Logan

Preschool Week 15

MS/PS:  season sort activity, practice writing words.

CT: D/T/W - winter songs, read “The Snowy Day” by Ezra Jack Keats

Snack:  snow cones, snowflake crackers, and hot cocoa with marshmallows!

WT:  snowball race and snowball fight game.

L:  Discuss hibernation and migration.

C/A:  Make a snowman and dress him up!

We had a fun day learning about Winter; it would have been better if we'd actually had some snow to play in. Maybe next week.

Preschool Weeks 12 & 13 - Around The World

I made "passports" for the girls to use for the next 2 weeks as we traveled Around The World and learned about new countries. Week 12: Australia! MS/PS:  Letter “K” worksheets. CT: D/T/W - listen to music from a didgeridoo.  Learn Australian words. Read “Wombat Stew”. S:  Sangers and Biscuits (sandwiches and crackers) WT:  Emotional Animals (of Australia) Dice. Australian Animals Dance Video (youtube) L:   Australian Animals and national symbols.  Find Australia on the map.   C/A:  Make a Koala! FIELD TRIP FRIDAY: We visited the Australia exhibit at the zoo, watched "The Rescuers Down Under", and ate treats from Australia. p.s. - Authentic Australian Root Beer does NOT taste like American root beer, just so you know. Week 13: Mexico! MS/PS: Dora Number Worksheets. CT: D/T/W - Learn some Spanish words! Learn “Feliz Navidad”. S:  Quesadillas and Salsa WT:  Emotional Animal Dice.  Mexican Hat Dance and Conga! L:   Discuss climate and landscapes of Mexico.  Look at pictures of rainforest, desert, coastal, and mountain regions and animals found there. C/A:  Cactus Art.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We are so grateful for our many blessings.  This year has been filled with so many wonderful adventures which would not have been possible without the love and support of all our amazing family, friends, and especially a loving Father in Heaven.  Thank You!

Preschool Week 10

MS/PS: Thanksgiving maze and coloring page

CT: D/T/W - Thanksgiving songs. Read “Mary’s First Thanksgiving” by Kathy-jo Wargin.   

S: Grapes and Goldfish Crackers

WT:  “Gourd Games” (from Pinterest). Wiggle block/dance videos

L:  Discuss the first Thanksgiving. Map skills - follow the journey of the Mayflower.

C/A:  Color/Cut Turkey worksheet (from Pinterest)

Preschool Week 9 - Where Does Food Come From?

MS/PS: Food Producers worksheet packet (from choosemyplate.gov)

CT: D/T/W - Songs - "On Top of Spaghetti", "Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree", "Pat-a-Cake", and "Who Stole the Cookies from the Cookie Jar?" -  Read “Corn” by Gail Gibbons

S: Popcorn, apples, peanut butter, string cheese.

WT: Exercises for a healthy body - use Wiggle Block - roll the block to see what activity we do.

L: Discuss the food groups and why we need each of them. Play "my healthy plate" - the first person to collect their total healthy foods on their plate wins!

C/A: "I am thankful for..." pumpkin pie spinner. What are you thankful for?

Trick-Or-Treat

Grandpa Steve arrived on Halloween!  We had a fun weekend together.  He brought special presents for the kids - a princess watercolor book for Meg, a reversible superman/batman cape for Logan, and a bag of chocolate Twizzlers! On Halloween night we let the kids stay dressed up when we went to Noodles&Co. for some penne rosa and mac&cheese.

On Thursday we had a pancake breakfast together and took a break from everything to just let Grandpa enjoy the kiddos.  I made wild Alaskan salmon (thank you Kristen!) with lemon and pesto and roasted veggies for dinner...which the kids did not really appreciate.  Oh, well.

On Friday, Kyle got off work early and we all went to see Wreck-It Ralph.  It was really cute.  The worst part though was when I spilled half our bag of popcorn all over the floor...I'm glad grandpa bought the big bag with free refills...that was a little embarrassing.  No visit with Grandpa would be complete without a trip to Chuck E. Cheese so that's where we went next!  The kids were so excited and are still talking about it! 

On Saturday, Steve and Kyle took my car to get the oil changed and balance/rotate the tires.  You know, manly stuff for some father/son male bonding time.  :)  That night we left the kids with friends (gosh, we have a lot of good friends we owe BIG TIME!) and Steve first took us to do a little Christmas shopping for the kids.  You'll just have to wait a few weeks to see what we got them!  Then he took us to McCormick and Schmick's for dinner.  I had lobster ravioli, Ky had steak and lobster-tail, and Steve had scallops.  We all enjoyed a little creme brulee for dessert.  It was so fun to have a night with good food and grown-up time.

Grandpa had to leave EARLY Sunday morning, so Kyle took him to the airport while the rest of us slept in a little thanks to the time-change.  The kids were very sad when they came downstairs to see Grandpa's bed was empty and he was gone.  Logan - "want gan-pa thteve!"  Meg - "I just wanted Grandma Kristie to come too!"  Yup kids, that about sums it all up.

Interview in Grand Rapids

On Oct. 30, 2012, Kyle and I dropped the kiddos off with our good friends and headed up to Grand Rapids, Michigan, for HIS FIRST RESIDENCY INTERVIEW!!  I got to come along because they had a dinner the night before where they wanted the spouses/significant others to attend.  They even paid for the hotel!  We were wined and dined at a very nice place and got to meet a few of the residents.  

On October 31, 2012, I sent my wonderful husband off ready to impress and I got to sleep in!! Actually, that had been the plan but I got hungry, so I had to go downstairs and get some cinnamon french toast.  I got to eat a quiet breakfast while it was still hot without anyone whining or throwing tantrums or asking for anything...it was heavenly!  I took my sweet time getting ready for the day since I had until noon to check-out and Ky's interview lasted until 3 pm.  I watched a few episodes of Castle (my latest addiction - I've just finished season 3) while I got ready for the day.  

I went exploring downtown Grand Rapids and I liked what I saw.  Our hotel was directly across the street from the Gerald Ford Museum and the Grand Rapids Public Museum.  There was also a children's museum and an art museum within walking distance.  I stopped in at a Starbucks for some hot caramel apple cider and walked all over the city just soaking in how clean and un-crowded it all was.  I walked across the Grand River and noticed a self-guided walking tour path which goes all over the city...but parts of it were closed for the season so I didn't get too far.

After a while it was getting colder and beginning to snow (thank you Hurricane Sandy) so I headed back toward our hotel and decided to tour the Grand Rapids Public Museum.  It was really cool.  Somewhat smaller than our Field Museum, but I liked it better that way because for $8 I could actually see everything they had and not get completely worn out looking at too much of the same thing.  

The exhibits were set up alphabetically - A for Automobiles, B for Boxes, etc.  I think the creepiest exhibit was a toss-up between the hall of dolls and zoology.  The museum was pretty empty so I was wandering around by myself through most of it and all those creepy-looking old dolls were a little much.  Then there was the Hitler doll - yes, an Adolf Hitler doll...weird.  The zoology exhibit was just room after room of stuffed animals set in scenes or hanging from the walls; on Halloween, being alone in a room with a bunch of dead animals sort of gave me the creeps.

I got done with the museum right around the time Ky got done with his interview and so we jumped in the car and headed home.  On our way to get the kids we stopped at the airport to pick up a special delivery... to be continued...

Oh, and Kyle totally ROCKED THE SOCKS OFF his interview!!  :) So proud of my man!

    

Preschool Week 8 - Halloween

MS/PS:  Fall scissor skills worksheet.   CT:  D/T/W - Songs - “Knock, Knock Trick-or-Treat” http://supersimplelearning.com/halloween/songs.html S: Mandarin Orange Jack-o-Lanterns (Pinterest) WT:  Introduce Wiggle Time Dice! Monster Freeze Dance. Put on "Monster Mash". Have kids show off their silliest monster dance moves—(also try having them stagger like zombies, fly on broomsticks like witches, or hop like toads) but they must freeze in place when the tunes turn off! L: Halloween Around the World! (map skills) - Draw a card with a picture of a country, find the country on the map, talk about how they celebrate Halloween. C/A: Paper plate Ghost and Paper Jack-o-Lantern

Halloween Party Time!

Preschool Week 7 - The 5 Senses

Lesson Plan: Math/Writing Skills:  Apples/YUM! and HarvestTime worksheets  (from Day-by-Day Kindergarten Lesson Plan book by Mailbox) Circle Time:  Date/Time/Weather - Singing time - What senses do we use to experience music? Can we be loud and soft? Can we still hear with our eyes closed or hands behind our backs? Snack: TEXTURES! - juicy grapes, squishy yogurt, and crunchy crackers. Wiggle Time:  Watch dance videos - use eyes to follow along, ears to hear music, and use touch to clap hands and move along. Lesson:  Read “Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?”  Talk about the 5 senses and how we use them each day. Craft Time:  FingerPainting (sight, touch) Discuss adjectives - how do we describe the paint we feel and the colors we see?

On Friday, Oct 19, we had a field trip to KidsTown in Wheaton, IL, for our Make-Believe Week. It is an amazing place for kids. There are several rooms with different themes of play such as a work room with power tools and a train table, a sheriff's office with a jail, a fire-station, a princess room, a gingerbread house, a pet-care center with a fish tank, etc. etc. There is also a huge padded jungle gym to climb on and a dance floor where there's music playing for the kids to boogie. There are also lots of comfy chairs for mom's and dad's to sit in and visit while the kids go play. The kids had a lot of fun using their imaginations and playing with all the toys.  

The 19th was also Megan's 5th birthday so I brought some cupcakes to share. However, we were not allowed to sing "happy birthday" because we did not pay to have a party there. We found out if you want to have a party it's about $200...so we had some "un-birthday" cupcakes, which was appropriate anyway because we had read "Alice in Wonderland" on Monday. Other than that silly rule, I really liked KidsTown.

So, I may be really mean but, I made Meg wait until her daddy came home on Friday night before I'd let her open any of her presents.  Kyle said it would be more mean to him if I let her open everything without him.  She really didn't mind though.  I'm telling on him now, but I asked Kyle to be in charge of taking pictures and videos but forgot my camera was new and he didn't really know how to start and stop the videos.  So, we thought we had taken videos of her opening gifts from her aunties and grandparents...but they didn't get recorded...SORRY!! On Saturday we had a birthday party with a few of Meg's friends.  We had a princess theme only because I had ordered all the decorations for her birthday last year and then they didn't get used.  I figured she might not be as excited about princesses next year so I sort of forced her into it, but I think she liked it.  We had a 3-hour party, which I guess seemed a little ambitious, but we had a lot of activities for the girls and they all had a lot of fun.  There was never a dull moment.  Kyle and I really enjoyed watching them play and be silly together.  Meg is one spoiled loved girl! She has lots of aunts and grandparents and friends who know just what she likes and what she would enjoy playing with.  Meg has had the best few days since her birthday playing with all her new toys.   Thank you, thank you, thank you! to everyone who remembered our sweet "Meggers" and sent cards, gifts, or texts and phone-calls.  Our hearts are so full to know that she has such wonderful friends and family who love her. It's hard to believe we have a 5-year-old now.  Meg, you are a great light in our lives and bring your family such joy with your sweet heart.  WE LOVE YOU!

Week 6 - Make Believe & Imagine

Math/Writing Skills: Disney Letter Worksheet and  Princess Memory.

Circle Time: Date/Time/Weather - read "Alice in Wonderland" - listen to cd "Gift of Make Believe"

Snack:  ants on a log and dirt & worms - don’t worry, it’s only pretend! :)

Wiggle Time:  play “Alice” - chase a rabbit (white handkerchief puppet), shrink and grow, and paint the roses red!

Lesson: What are the different parts of a story (beg, mid, end)? What is an author, illustrator, publisher?

Craft: Fantasy collage - use fantastical characters and ideas from stories and songs we heard today.

Death of a Camera

I have no pictures from last week.  My Nikon CoolPix camera decided to start freaking out and then it died.  So only a couple of pictures from Irene's visit and NOTHING from the fun Columbus Day lesson for preschool last week.

I'm glad I had saved a big chunk of my babysitting money for a "rainy day" but I was not happy to have had to spend all of it on a new camera.  But, the Canon I got is amazing and I'm very happy with it.  It's got a lithium battery and an 8x optic zoom.  It's even blue.

Last week for preschool we studied Christopher Columbus.  For our opening activity time we colored a picture of a ship and then taped on paper sails which "billowed" in the wind.  We discussed how ships used sails to catch the wind and move them across the sea.  During circle time we sang songs about Columbus and pretended to row our boats with him.  For snack time we had "sea biscuits" with jam and mandarin oranges (to prevent scurvy, of course!).  At wiggle time we danced to videos of "A Sailor Went to Sea, Sea, Sea" and "Day-O".  For our lesson we read a "biography" of Christopher Columbus and charted his course on our map of the world.  We learned about the different countries people came from to the New World.  For our Art Project we made our own telescopes using paper towel tubes and decorated them with scenes from the ocean (including mermaids).  We even put a piece of plastic wrap on the ends with a drawing of "land" so we could say "LAND-HO!" We had a lot of fun learning about the discovery of our great land.

I did take pictures with my phone, but I don't have a way to get them directly on-line, so maybe with some luck I'll be able to figure it out later.  Meanwhile, here are some of the first images my new camera caught... 

wow... with my other camera that would have just been a blur...maybe this new camera has some drawbacks?

ok, that's much better...but it was before I discovered my camera will automatically correct red-eye!

such a sweet boy!

The Muddy Day

Preschool Week 4 - "Our Amazing Bodies" - and what better way to kick off October than by learning about our skeletons?  We practiced writing letters to make the words for different body parts and then drew a line from the word to the picture of that part.  Then we played "build a body".  For number recognition we rolled the die and each number had a corresponding body part.  The first player to get their skeleton together was the winner.  During circle time we read a spooky story called "The Soup Bone" about a little old lady and a skeleton that chases her around.  We also sang "B-O-N-E-S" (to the tune of "B-I-N-G-O") and used our maracas and triangles (thank you Target dollar corner!).  

At snack time we ate cheese and crackers and drank milk; we talked about how our bones need calcium in order to stay healthy and strong and what kinds of foods have calcium.  For wiggle time we did the skeleton dance! The girls LOVED this and we did it MANY times.  The link for the video we watched is here - http://supersimplelearning.com/songs/themes-series/halloween/the-skeleton-dance/ 

Thanks to Kyle's anatomy books, we looked at pictures of our bones and discussed how they help us move, how they protect our organs, and how they connect together.  The girls found this very fascinating.  We talked about how sometimes bones can get broken and that then a doctor takes a special picture of our bones called an x-ray.  We then moved to the kitchen for craft time and made our own x-rays of our hands and skeletons using q-tips.  Then we practiced writing the letter X all over our x-rays.  I think it's safe to say this week's lesson was a big success.    

Week 3 of Preschool is all about Science! Today, we started by decorating a craft stick and then added a magnet to the back (we put this away to use for later).  Next we learned how molecules are formed and then made a few of our own using marshmallows! For our story today we read "The Magic School Bus & the Science Fair Expedition". The girls really liked this one. We had some cheese and crackers and then went on a walk to look at bugs, plants, rocks, clouds, the sun, and the moon; we discussed different sciences and looked at "specimens" with our magnifying glasses. We came back inside for our lesson and discussed how to make a hypothesis. We did some experiments with our magnets and talked about how it is ok for a guess to be wrong because then we learn from the things we observe. The girls really liked being scientists and doing their own experiments.  We finished the school day by making pictures of atoms by gluing pom-pom protons, neutrons, and electrons on paper.  We discovered that the girls made Lithium by using 5 pom-pom protons in their nucleus'. We had a great day of learning.

We've been busy.  Friday was our first field trip for preschool.  We invited our friends to come along with us and brave the rain and, luckily, it wasn't too wet for lots of fun.  Oh, and it was my birthday so Naomi brought cupcakes for the kids.  They were pink and had strawberries on them and were delicious; they were devoured before I could get a picture of them. My wonderful VT's brought me beautiful flowers and there were very nice cards in my mailbox.  Kyle got home from Detroit around 10:30 p.m. and that was the best gift of all, but he insisted we celebrate for real on Saturday.  We went to breakfast at Egg Harbor as a family and then shopping to get Logan more clothes for winter because it's getting cold out now and his pants are too short.  So after the kids had naps later we dropped them off with a sitter for a nice afternoon/evening out.  Kyle took me shopping so I could spend some of my birthday money and I was in heaven at Charming Charlie.  I had gone through my jewelry ahead of time and picked out the random earrings and necklaces I have and then found pieces to match.  It was so great.  Then we went to Flat Top Grill for dinner and then we saw "The Bourne Legacy" at the theater.  The food was soooo yummy! The movie was sort of a disappointment but it didn't matter because I was there with Kyle and we did not have to worry about the kids.

  

Today we learned about the season of Autumn and Leaves.  We used our scissor skills to cut out colorful Fall leaves and then our coloring skills to make a trunk.  Then we stood up and dropped the leaves onto our tree trunks.  We had a chart and we practiced writing our numbers by counting how many of each color leaf fell onto our papers and then added them.  We finished by adding ALL the leaves that we had dropped. During circle time we read "The Busy Little Squirrel" and sang songs about Autumn Leaves.  We ate apples and bananas and drank cherry juice because those things grow on trees. Then we went outside and pretended to be busy squirrels building and filling a den for winter.  We also pretended to be little seeds which grew into great trees with roots and branches.  Then we imagined we were leaves blowing in the cool wind until we landed softly on the ground.  We also liked to pretend we were raking and then jumping into big piles of leaves. For our lesson we learned about the difference between deciduous and coniferous trees; then we walked outside to identify the trees around our home.  We found "prickly pines" and "friendly firs" and collected pine cones and leaves from all kinds of trees.  We also learned that some leaves are perfect for eating.  Some are vegetables and others are called herbs.  We smelled different herbs and looked at pictures of all kinds of edible leaves. For our craft today we made pictures using leaves.  Since there weren't enough real leaves outside to use yet  we used fabric leaves and made them look like butterfly wings or hair on a face or a dress on a stick person.    We had a wonderful time today learning about Autumn and Fall leaves and what the changing season brings.

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We had a lot of fun today.  We cut and pasted, put together puzzles, listened to music and talked about the instruments we heard and how it made us feel, we ate some applesauce and graham crackers, then we tried dancing to different styles of music from around the world (ballet, mexican hat dance, irish jig, etc.) and talked about where those countries are located on a map.  Then we sorted musical instruments into sections and practiced counting and writing numbers and letters.  We decorated drums and then played them.  Then the girls had free time to play and I could crash collapse recover clean up the "classroom" and gather their projects together for them.  

I think the girls had a good time and I hope they learned a little something too.  I know I did! I especially learned a little about what Missy must have had to deal with and it makes me appreciate her even more.  That country song about being "Mr. Mom" comes to mind and, to paraphrase - "Missy, now I know how you feel.  What I don't know is how you do it!"  

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My friend, Naomi, and I are doing preschool at home this year together for our girls.  I will teach on Mondays, she will teach on Wednesdays, and on Fridays we will go on "field trips" that relate to what we've been learning about during the week and invite friends to come along.  I have had so much fun planning and preparing for school to start.  It has been a lot of hard work and time but I am so excited for the girls to see everything tomorrow and have our first day of class.  I found some great deals on supplies thanks to the dollar store and back-to-school sales.  I also found some great teacher-supply stores that had these really nice posters for only $2.50 each and, since we'll use them each at least 25 times, they are well worth the money.  It's been good for me to have a project that keeps me busy.  I know the girls will miss Missy A TON!! but we will do our best to make school as fun this year as it has been for them the past two years.  I'll take pictures of the girls tomorrow doing the different projects and dances but, like I said, I'm just so excited to show everybody what I've been working on like crazy for the past couple of weeks.  I can't wait to see Meg's face in the morning when she comes downstairs and sees all the school stuff out.  It's like Christmas for me.

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Highlights of August:

Ky's been in Michigan for 4 & 1/2 weeks now.  We're 1/3 of the way through being apart.  It's gone by quickly for the most part.  We have WONDERFUL visiting and home teachers who have been taking care of us.  We also have FANTASTIC friends and neighbors who help me keep the kids busy and give me a break.

The kids and I have had only 1 day that was AWFUL (Logan's molars and eye teeth were coming in at once and then he ended the day by pulling a bowl of scalding water and peas over himself at the dinner table).  But other than that we've been doing alright.

Someone got his step-2 board scores back and got a 698!!! When he came home for the weekend a while ago we celebrated his score by going out to a fancy restaurant and having a very nice dinner and listening to live jazz music.  It was really nice and the kids had fun playing with friends while we were out on our date.

I've been keeping busy while my hubby's been gone.  I watch an 8-month old baby who is so sweet and mellow; the kids LOVE him and I'm so glad for the "work" he gives me.  It makes the time go by so much more quickly.

I've also been busy planning a preschool for Megan with one of my friends.  Her little girl is Meg's age and to save money we've teamed up to teach our girls at home this year.  I'm really excited about it and have been collecting supplies and ideas.  My only hope is that we won't get too tired of hearing, "but at Missy's we..."  I'm afraid we will NEVER live up to the Amazing Missy and all the wonderful things she did for our girls, but we will try to carry on without her (sniff, sniff).

I have such great friends here who have come over to play with me and the kids or have let me stop by on walks to chat for a while.  We now have 9 families in our complex who are in our ward! We've been busy meeting and getting to know all these new neighbors.  Last week Melissa and Trevor took me on a boat ride on the Chicago River with a few other friends.  It was so much fun.  I had a lot of fun enjoying the scenery and getting a night off from the kiddos.  I have some adopted grandparents from our ward to thank for watching the kids that night. 

Ok, so my last bit of exciting news is that I won a grand prize from the Summer Reading program at our library!  We got a gift basket which included a bag of animal crackers, a tube of sunscreen, a stuffed baboon, the movie "We Bought A Zoo", and a one-year family pass to the Brookfield Zoo!!  We are so excited and cannot wait to spend every other day wandering the enclosures and enjoying the animals.

I had a fun day with Logan on his birthday.  We went to the mall and he and Megan rode the train 3 times! That was definitely an extra special treat for both of them.  Then we went to All-Aboard Diner for pizza and chocolate milk.  However, Logan was too distracted by all the trains running around the place to eat much, even his free cup of birthday ice cream! He had one present to open - a package from Grandma and Grandpa Baird. All the others we opened last week when his daddy was still here to watch him.  

I did not do a party for Logan this year.  I've been really busy and Kyle isn't home, so I just thought going to the diner would be simple and fun for me and the kids.  Well, when we got there and were seated we saw that the Kimberling family from our ward had just walked in and they were being seated right next to us! It was so much fun to have them there for little Jacob's 2nd birthday too.  Angelika and I delivered our boys at the same hospital within a couple hours of each other.  It was such a fun evening.  

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I can hardly believe my "baby" is a two-year-old.  He is the sweetest little thing with those big blue eyes and long lashes.  I love watching him run around and copy everything his big sister is doing.  He is quite the talker and will use sentences like, "I don't like that" or "I want to color" or "I'm HUNGRY!!" and "I want to EAT NOW!!"  He has slowed down with his eating but is still good at trying new things.  He still loves his crackers.  Right now he loves Elmo (just like his sister did when she was 2) and anything to do with trains or cars or firetrucks.  He also loves any kind of sport with a ball.  He loves to watch "ba-ket-ball" and yell "TUT-DOWN!" (I'm sure he'll get the lingo down by next year).  He loves to say prayers and is my little example.  We have prayed over our food in public at least twice now and at every chance he raises his hand and says, "I want pray, I want say it!" and he does a wonderful job.  He is all rough-and-tumble and get-up-and-go.  He is my Logi-bear, my baby bear, and (as he refers to himself) my little "MAN!" (he screams as he's pounding his chest).  

On July 28 we were able to spend the whole day together as a family and do some really fun things.  We went to the Lincoln Park Zoo because Megan completed her food pyramid for the second time!  We are so proud of her and love that she is getting healthier and making good choices.  We got to spend the whole day watching all the animals.  We even saw a juggler perform, which Logan thought was really cool.

When we got home we celebrated Logan's 2nd birthday a little early so that his daddy could be there to watch him open his presents.  That little boy is one lucky kid! He got spoiled rotten and loved it.  We all love him so much and are so glad he is part of our family. Every day he is learning more and more words and getting more and more grown up.  I always have to remind myself that he is still not yet 2 years old.  He is smart and adventurous and loves to follow his big sister around.  

Now Kyle is gone on his "big long trip" and we are VERY sad, but we know it is what he needs to do to make sure he can live his dream of being a great doctor and (continue to) be a wonderful provider for us.  Luckily I have planned a lot of things to keep us all quite busy; more to come on that at a later date.

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Best Day Ever

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We had a perfect day.  Kyle got to stay home and sleep in and then we went swimming at our pool as a family.  It has been HOT here and we are so very grateful we have a pool.  We're also grateful for fun friends who were there to splash around with us.  When the kids were worn out we headed home for a quick lunch before we made them take naps.  Kyle slept studied on the couch while I made super-spicy Buffalo Chicken Dip and my S'mores Bars.  At 4 pm we headed over to a friend's house for a small get-together and enjoyed yummy BBQ ribs and potato salad.  Meg's favorite was the cantaloupe!  I had fun playing Hungry-Hungry Hippos with the kids. 

When it started getting dark we drove back to our place, loaded up the strollers with our blanket, chocolate Twizzlers, and juice boxes and met up with a huge group of friends from our ward to walk down the road to Ty Warner Park.  There we met up with all the rest of our ward friends and had fun chatting with everyone and watching all the kids run around like crazy wearing their glow stick necklaces and bracelets.  Just before the show started we turned around to see the blood-red moon rising behind us.  Of course, my dinky camera didn't get it but I'm sure other people there got some really cool pictures.  

The fireworks were great, as usual, but my favorite part was being surrounded by my family and wonderful friends and feeling so blessed to have all that I do because of this great country we live in.  Logan enjoyed the show; he watched and smiled and said, "BOOM!" and "LIGHT!" but I think Meg summed it up nicely as she was prancing around the field yelling, "BEST NIGHT EVER!"   

Megan gave a talk today in Primary!  She practiced a lot and was very excited to speak to her friends about how "The Holy Ghost Helps Me".

  

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Spring Has Sprung

A couple of weeks ago we bought flowers and planted them all around our little patio.  It sure makes everything look pretty and beautiful outside.  I liked that it was something Kyle and I could do together out in the warm sunshine with Jack Johnson music in the background.  On the inside of the house I rearranged all my pictures on the walls since I couldn't afford to do anything else to decorate.  I liked the end result and I'm glad I have a handy man around to patch up all the nail holes and make new ones where I want them.  :)

Last Monday the Eddy family arrived and stayed with us for a week.  We had a lot of fun showing them around downtown Chicago and also to our favorite places like Ty Warner Park, the Yorktown Mall TreeHouse, Charming Charlie's, and Waterfall Glen.  We ate deep dish pizza from Giordano's and sandwiches from Potbelly's.  Mostly we just let the cousins play and get to know each other.  It was a really fun week.

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The other great thing that has just happened is that Megan has completed her Food Pyramid!!  I still cannot believe what a difference that piece of posterboard has made in our lives.  Our dinnertimes are now peaceful with no crying, counting, coaxing, screaming, or spankings.  Meg learned about the food groups with some help from some books from the library and has spent the past couple of months earning stickers for each food she finishes from her plate.  It's total bribery, but it has worked!

When she completed each food group she would get to go to the dollar store and pick out a prize.  I told her that when she finished the whole pyramid she could go to the zoo and last night she FINALLY drank her last glass of water (we did plain water without flavor instead of the sweets/fats group) and so now we can plan a trip to the zoo.  I haven't decided if we'll go to Brookfield or the Lincoln Park Zoo, but I don't care!  I'm just so happy that our Father in Heaven answers prayers and helps us figure out how to have peace in our homes and how to help us keep our kids healthy.  This has really been a miracle in our home.  Kyle and I are so proud of her and I know she is very proud of herself too for making good choices.

Crafting Up A Storm

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I've been keeping busy lately with little projects.  I made a new dress for Megan a few weeks ago.  I think it turned out really cute and she loves it.  

I have a ton of scrap fabric from all sorts of things and have been trying to think of ways to use it up.  I made a "stable" using scraps and cardboard.  It's not very pretty and my stitching is horrendous but it got the job done.  Meg loves having a place for her ponies to sleep.  I also made three diaper clutches but forgot to post pictures of those.  Now all the diapers and wipes are contained a little better inside my giant mom-bag.  I made some wallets out of scrap fabric for when I just want my ID and credit card for when I'm out without the kiddos.  They use a ponytail holder for the elastic to keep them closed!  I loved that the stable, diaper clutch, and wallets didn't cost me a thing and were all very simple to make.  

Now for the really cool stuff - the PLAYHOUSE! My neighbor made a card-table playhouse for her little boy using felt.  It's a barn with all sorts of "activities" for him to do on the outside of it like an orange tree and a stream with fish in it and a mailbox with letters inside.  What's amazing is that she did it all without a pattern and it turned out so incredibly adorable.  I wanted to make a house too but I found a pattern by McCall because I can't trust myself without one.  Thanks to some awesome coupons and a pattern sale ($0.99 each) at Joann's, I was able to make this dreamy little cottage for the kids.  It's supposed to have shingles on the sides of the roof, but mine kept turning out all wrong and I couldn't figure out how to make them look like the picture.  I kept taking it apart over and over and finally just decided it was cute without the shingles.  Oh, well.   It's also supposed to have felt flowers and bushes around it, but I really liked how it looked without them and didn't want to make it look sort of tacky.  I may decide to put them on at a later time.

The magnetic menu board! I made this at my ward's craft group last week and I'm so excited to start utilizing it.   I try to meal plan but I would always end up with little pieces of paper marking all my recipes in my cookbooks and then I'd make a shopping list but then stuff would happen during the week and I'd either forget all about what my plan was or I'd forget things from the store that I thought I had.  

I had a really fun time making the board.  It's all on a sheet of metal and decorated with scrapbook paper.  We adhered the paper onto the board using this AWESOME machine that one of our crafty leaders brought  which turns any paper you roll through it into a sticker...AMAZING!  That way we didn't have to mess with modge podge and deal with bubbles and wait forever for it all to dry.  (THANK YOU AMY!!)  So after we got all our papers layed out we made the magnets - one for each day of the week - and put a cute ribbon through to hang it up with.  I came home and typed up all my "menu items" and came up with an ingenious (I think) system for finding the recipe - I numbered each of my cookbooks and then on each menu item I listed the cookbook number and then then page number.  Then, on the back of each menu item I listed all the ingredients and the amounts so that I can create my shopping list and then be CERTAIN that I have everything ready BEFORE it's time to start dinner.  

Easter 2012

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Our Little Ballerina

This is the story of a little princess who was having a hard time staying in her seat and paying attention in Primary. It all started when one day she told her mother, "I want to take ballet classes!" The wise Queen thought about this and said, "we'll see". As if by magic, that day a message arrived in the royal mailbox from the kingdom's library. The message said that there would be one free introductory ballet class on April 10, 2012, held at the library for all princesses in the kingdom aged 3 to 6.

The Queen was very pleased to have such a wonderful opportunity for her daughter, but she knew that in order for the princess to earn such a great privilege she would need to prove she could behave herself in a class and listen to a teacher. The Queen set the princess on her lap and told her daughter, "You must show me you can listen to a teacher and do just what she says in order to have a ballet lesson. That means no running around and playing when all the other children are listening and being reverent. So, for the next few weeks I will be watching and I will ask your Primary teacher how you do and, if you are good, then you may have a ballet lesson."

The princess agreed that this was a good way to Choose the Right and worked very hard for nearly two months. Each week she stayed in her seat during Sharing Time and listened to the lessons being taught. She also followed instructions from her teachers very well. After church each week she reported to the King and Queen about what she had learned.

The day of the ballet lesson arrived and there was much anticipation and excitement in the royal palace. The Queen granted the little princess permission to wear her royal tu-tu all day long and to the lesson too! The little princess could hardly wait for the lesson to begin...

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The moral of the story - if you want a little princess to sit still, bribe her with a chance to dance!