August News

August was another busy month. We endured the heat and made a lot of fun memories. Here are some of our highlights...

Just for fun

Our resident trend setter, Jenna, kept me entertained with her constant change of clothing and accessories. I swear she will be a clothing designer someday. She is always putting things together and talking about being, "fashionable".

Playing outside in the splash pool was lots of fun at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Thankfully, it is supposed to start getting cooler soon. Summer can be pretty brutal.

After it was dark, the playground was fantastic! (You don't get burned on the slide after the sun goes down!!!)

Let's hear it for Mommy School and all of the fun projects that we made and created. I don't know what I would do without the Dollar Store and all of the creative ideas I found online.

Is this OCD?

Let's be fair, I know that Jared has some OCD tendencies, but this kind of surprised me. I was putting away breakfast when I turned around to discover Hyrum taking all of the projects that we display on our fridge off and stacking them neatly on the floor. Once he stacked up the projects, he took all of the magnet clips and lined them up. This was the first time that I saw him do this, but I catch him lining up cars by color and straightening a stack of books so that they are all all centered. The boy is almost 2. Is this OCD? Jared seems to be so proud...

Just because she can be silly...

Jadyn's Talk on Eternal Families

Jadyn loves to give talks. She loves to stand in front of groups of people. This month she gave a talk in primary on the blessings of families. It was awesome. She had it completely memorized (as usual) and she learned it by herself --reading the back of the pictures. She is so smart! She had photos of 4 generations back and the dates when they were married in the temple. I hope she always remembers how important family and family ties are in this life.

Kyla's Visit and Mom's 50th!!!

My sister flew in from Tennessee as a surprise for Mom's 50th birthday. Mom was in tears when she saw her. It was perfect! Kyla and I had a blast together. She is so much fun and we had a lot to get done for the party. She felt a little under the weather for a day, but she recovered well and helped to make Mom's day perfect.

The theme for the party was "My Favorite Things". We decked out a room with German decor and posters. We had lots of Mom's favorite foods to eat and invited her favorite people. Kyla and I sang an altered version of the song from Sound of Music - "Her Favorite Things". We even created these little head scarfs with braids so that everyone could be a German Frau. Who knew those would be so loved?!? We had a video slide show tribute to her life. Everyone went home with a German mug filled with chocolate and other yummy things. Mom had a great time at her party...she hasn't had a birthday party in 37 years! It was past due and I am so happy that she enjoyed herself. Here are a few photos from the party.

Two days after the party was my Grandpa's Birthday (89) . We went to Serranos for lunch and wished him a very happy birthday!

Jadyn Meets her Teacher!

I agonized for months about what to do with Jadyn. Everything she does is beyond her 'grade level' of Kindergarten. She can read chapter books by herself, do addition and subtraction in her head, write stories with complete plots, and she is very confident and comfortable with people. I had her on a waiting list for several schools that would advance her quickly and I was attempting to skip her into 1st grade. I even considered Home School, but I wanted her to have a social experience. Then I found a program that is through a local public school and is specifically geared towards home school students!!! Basically, the school provides the curriculum and students attend school 1 or 2 days a week and then they are home schooled the rest of the week. I was beyond thrilled!!! Jadyn now goes to school 2 days a week and we do home school the other days. It is a "best of both worlds" program. She gets the social and fun learning at school and she can move at her own pace at home. I LOVE this school. Her teacher is amazing and Jadyn loves her school days. This is Jadyn on meet the teacher day with Mrs. Skipper.

The first Day of Kindergarten

I knew it would come. I just didn't expect all my questions....I wondered if I have done enough to teach my daughter about being kind, being a good friend, how to use good manners and be respectful to teachers, how to stand up for herself, how to be a good Christian example.... All too soon the day came to send her off to school. This was the first time she went away to school without being surrounded by family and she was ready.

Once we got to the school, she marched off to the door of her class. Just like that. I didn't even get a goodbye. She was off and ready to conquer the world. I was a bit teary on the ride home. When I picked her up, she was so excited. School was everything she hoped for. These pictures are of her after school with her new project.

I can't believe that she is so grown up. Do all parents feel this way when they send their oldest off to school? I was so glad that it is only a few days a week. I feel that I have so much more to teach her. Where does the time go?

The Most Bestest School Trip

With limited summer activities, Jadyn really was looking forward to our school trip to the Fire Station. After both activities were over and we were on our way home Jadyn happily told me, "Mother, this was the Most Bestest School Trip I ever had!" Poor deprived kid...Of course I had to laugh. I knew that she had a great time with her friends.

I was a little stressed with the 3 young kids running around, but it worked out for the best. Hyrum was so good at the station, and he just loved watching the rest of the kids play in the water. He even fell asleep for awhile. He is such a good baby. Jenna was a little more of a handful, but just because she is such a monkey. She has to check everything out and is quick to run, climb, slide or do whatever to get involved in the world around her. She was bored with the stroller after about 10 whole minutes of cruising around the fire station. She is not one for sitting around - ever.

Here are some of the photo highlights of our fun "school" trip. Since I didn't do any of the planning or coordinating, I felt like it shouldn't count for a school trip, but we didn't have Mommy School that day. I was tired by the time we got home.

Here are the girls in their red hats. Jadyn wore hers around the house for days afterwards - she even decorated it with flowers and glitter. In this photo she seems happy with the "plain" red hat.

After visiting the Fire Station we went to Lori's house to let the kids play on the water slide and let the moms relax and eat lunch. That inflatable slide was something else. My kids had a blast on it and never wanted to leave!

Here are the last batch of pictures from the water slide. Jenna splashed around so much and laughed the entire time. It was so much fun for me just to watch the kids play. What a cool contraption. It turns your back yard into a water park.

We had a great time at the Fire Station and the Super Slide - a special thanks to the ladies that put it all together for taking care of all of the arrangements. It was a great day for us... just like Jadyn said.

School is in Session!

Jadyn doesn't start preschool until September. This is a different school - Mommy School.

Just call me Ms. Mommy (or Ms. Mother as Jadyn prefers).

I started Mommy School this July as a way to occupy my kids for a few hours every day and keep us all from going stir crazy. (Better late than never!) Last summer I remember that we went out a lot more, but with the ridiculous gas prices we have become home bodies. School has made a HUGE difference in the longs days at home and the girls really look forward to all of the different activities that we do in Mommy School.

We have several things that we do every day – like Show and Tell, Project Time, Story Time, Music Time, Exercises, Play Dough, Flash Cards, Games, Workbooks, Puzzles and Treats. We have also done a few hands-on learning activities, Musical Rhythms, New Songs, Finger Plays and Scripture Stories. I had binders of early childhood learning games/ideas/music play from my college courses in Music and Elementary Education. Finally I put some of it to good use!

Jadyn was able to work on more advanced skills like writing her letters and numbers in Jello powder and workbooks while Jenna was able to just have fun with the Jello and color.

One of their favorite projects (hands down) is painting. Jadyn and Jenna both love to paint pictures with watercolors or to paint objects with crayola craft paint. I LOVE the dollar store. We were able to get lots of little things to paint and color for $1 (or less)!

Music time was always loud - but lots of fun. The kids and I worked on short and long notes on the recorder. Even Hyrum got in on some of the action!

It has been great to change things around a little and be called Ms. Mommy, or Ms. Mother, for awhile each day. I have been taking pictures, but the best part of the day is when Daddy comes home and the girls clamor to show him the things they learned and created in school.

We love Mommy School! Looking back, it has been one of the highlights of our summer.