80's Hair?

Kellie likes to have her hair curled, but doesn't like to sit still for me to use the curling iron. Last night I braided her wet hair and then let it be "curly" this morning. She is very happy with it, but Matt insists that I created an 80's flashback. (actually, he said "cute 80's flashback") After looking at it, I guess I agree. :)

Dancing Kellie!

Caleb and Kellie have been putting on performances for us. Caleb has really started playing the role of MC- he even put on a tie! (What she lacks in talent she makes up for in enthusiasm!)
(You may want to pause the music player at the bottom of the page so that you can hear Caleb announcing her.)

Leprechaun Traps...

Last week Caleb brought home the following assignment:
Be the first kid in the class to catch a real live leprechaun!
Your home project this week will be to make a leprechaun trap. The trap can be of any design you wish, but consider these things.
*Leprechauns love shiny things.
*Leprechauns are very tiny.
*Leprechauns disobey signs.
*Leprechauns love green.
*Leprechauns love tasty treats.

They are going to use their traps to write How-To books about how to catch a leprechaun. Here's how Caleb's turned out: (In case you're wondering we used a ROLO candy wrapped in shiny gold for his treat...)

Here's hoping you get one, Caleb!

Visiting the Airport and Aunt Kathy

Aunt Kathy had a layover in Denver and we were lucky enough to go see her, which was great!  I hadn't realized that our kids have never been to an airport before, and was surprised about how very excited they all were to actually go see "a real live airport." (to quote Kellie)

Kellie was so excited that she told her Preschool class all about it and we decided to take some pictures so that she could go back and tell her class about it. Most of the Preschoolers had never seen an airport before either. Here's our trip to the airport:

 

Denver International Airport

The kids really enjoyed the roof, they thought it looked like a circus tent. It was made to look like the Rocky Mountains.

 Kellie liked that we parked next to the big "K".

The roof from the inside, looking up.

Aunt Kathy!

Kellie was fascinated with the Baggage claim, they liked watching the suitcases going around and around the carousel.

Levi's favorite was the Planes. He especially like the ones with animals on them!

Kellie also loved the "HUUUUGE flag."

Kellie Lost Her 1st Tooth!

Yesterday Kellie came running up to Matt and I to tell us that she had a loose tooth. It was VERY loose, and in fact, I thought that she would lose it before the day was over. The tooth made it through the night, only to come out at church during sacrament meeting this morning! She was one very excited 5 year old girl, bouncing around and showing everybody her new gap! (She looks so different now!)

4th Grade Golf Course

The 4th Grade has been busy building a miniature golf course. They have been studying motion and motors and so each hole designed had to incorporate those items.

 

This is the hole that Aaron helped work on.

 Aaron's part of the hole was this neat ramp with a tube.

The ball rolls through the tube and comes out this end. The white thing on the end was a motorized propeller that the ball had to shoot past.

Side view...

Here's Aaron, we are proud of his creativity and were so glad to go see the golf course!

Caleb In The Hat

Tomorrow is Dr. Seuss's Birthday so the 1st graders have been reading Dr. Seuss Books all week. They actually have a day off from school tomorrow so they ended this week today by putting on their own "Cat in the Hat" hats. He said his favorite book this week was "The Cat in the Hat Comes Back".  I love it!

We Miss You, Daddy!

Matt has been in Texas this week for business. We are VERY ready to have him come home tonight.

BLUE and GOLD Banquet

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CUB SCOUTS!

This week we attended our Blue and Gold Banquet. It was fun!

They put a bag full of "junk" at each table and we had to build out own centerpiece. I'm not sure exactly what ours turned out to be, but I think the boys were shooting for "steam engine" and the plastic bag was the smoke billowing up.

 The rest of us... (not a great picture of me, but oh, well!)

Aaron and Sally

Happy Meal Hat

 

This picture doesn't really need a caption.

(Levi sure does make us laugh, though!)

Love and Hearts!

On a day dedicated to LOVE and HEARTS, I want to say that I LOVED hearing our baby's HEARTbeat today! 

Yes, we are having Baby #5. Our new arrival is due towards the end of August and I am currently 12-13 weeks along. The kids are excited. The boys don't care what they get and Kellie is hoping for a sister instead of (to quote her) "another brother." We just want a healthy baby.

We feel very blessed to have another baby join the family. For a while now we wondered whether or not we should have "just one more". Four kids has been a wonderful handful and it is a little overwhelming to consider starting over again, but we just felt like we were missing someone. We were a little surprised to learn we are getting one so soon!

In case you are wondering...

Aaron is 10, and will be almost 11 when the baby comes. (Birthday is September 22)

Caleb is 7 and will be almost 8 when the baby comes. (Birthday is September 5)

Kellie is 5 and will turn 6 a few months after the baby comes. (Birthday is October 25)

Levi is 2 and will be 3 around the time the baby comes. (Birthday is September 1st)

I am due August 25, and typically deliver late, so we are crossing our fingers and hoping to dodge a few of the dates above. (as you can see!) The Lord definitely has a sense of humor to have sent all of our kids in the same month or two. Oh, well, there are perks; like eating cake for a straight month every year!

MY VALENTINES

 Here are my "little Valentines"! I sure love these guys!

This shirt was given to Levi affectionately by his Grandma and Poppa J. Anyone who has spent more than 10 minutes with him is aware of his "devilish" ways! He really is one curious kid who gets into EVERYTHING! Handsome Little Devil sums him up pretty well!

Snuggling...

I went in to Kellie's room this morning and found these two cuddled up together. "What are you doing?" I asked. Kellie's response was, "snuggling." (said as if it was obvious, which I suppose it was)

Not 10 minutes later I watched this scene unfold on the stairs...

Levi sure knows where to find his loves and cuddles each day! I think he might be a little bit loved, don't you?

Puppy Power-Up

(I've heard of horse power- but puppy power?)

I walked into the room and found Levi like this. As best as I can figure he was trying to jump start his ride-on car using the puppy flashlight. Either that or he was trying to power-up the puppy? I'm not entirely sure...

He was SO proud of himself that I decided I needed to take pictures.

100 Girlfriends for Caleb?

I was going through Caleb's papers when I came across this one that he did for his 100th day of school. Looks like he doesn't want 100 girlfriends... :)

(I never knew how smart Caleb really was!)

If you click on the picture, it will enlarge

Sally's 4

Our dog was born on February 4th. We know that because when she was a puppy, the vet pulled her records from the shelter and wrote it down on her charts. Aaron memorized the birthday and has insisted that we celebrate every year. So here's to our dog, Sally! Happy 4th birthday!

The kids got her the red bone on a rope for her birthday. She is a happy dog! (and a little bit spoiled)

Sticky Lips

Today Levi found out the difference between a glue stick and a tube of chap-stick. I probably should have felt sorry for the poor kid when his lips got tacky and started melding together in a gooey mess, but heaven help me I just stood there and laughed!

(For the record, I did eventually help him- I'm not a completely bad mother, and you will notice that I did NOT take a picture of him in his distressing moment, even though I was sorely tempted!) :)

Prayers and Dump Trucks

How do you get your little one to sit still during prayer? 

 

My little 2 year old Levi has a hard time sitting still during prayer. Most of the time he starts out with his arms folded, sitting in a lap,  but then he typically jumps down and ends up wandering around the room before the amen is said. We stumbled across a different plan, purely by accident, but it works- most of the time. :)

Why, you get him a dump truck, of course!

When it's time for prayer he goes and gets his dump truck, wheels it in, and sits down. I say if it works- we'll do it. (Now the only problem is trying not to giggle throughout the prayer.)

Math Woes...

 Aaron was frustrated with his math homework. Being the dramatic kid that he is he declared that he was going to be one of those guys who never gets a job and never moves out of their parents house because every job he could ever want involves math and he just can't do it.

He actually looked like he was going to cry when Matt and I both jumped on that and told him that was NOT an option. It's tough work disillusioning a 10 year old...