A Special School Day for Brigham

Brigham's teacher gave the parents and children in her class a fun opportunity.  She invited the kids to bring their parent to school for an entire day.  We scheduled Brigham's day for a day that Stanton had off work.  Brigham couldn't have been more thrilled if he'd been able to bring Spiderman to school.  Brig LOVES his dad more than anyone or anything in the world.  He was SO proud to have him at school for a whole day.

According to Stanton, it was a lot of fun for him, too.  He was impressed by Mrs. S's ability to keep the class in control and paying attention.  She is a great teacher and Brigham has learned so much from her.

This was a day I'm certain Brigham will remember forever.

Science Fair

Our elementary school had their science fair in March.  It's a family science fair, is not required, and has no effect on their grades.  It's fun, but I always try to talk my kids out of it.  Last year we didn't participate and it was great.

This year, the day they sent home the announcement every single one of the kids came bursting through the door individually saying, "MOM, I am DOING the Science Fair this year."  How could I argue.

And even though they could have totally done a group project, they each came up with their own idea.  Of course.  :)

It ended up being really nice that they did their own thing.  I was able to spend time with each kid while they came up with a question (my only caveat to participating was that they had to use the scientific method, not google, to come up with a project), made a hypothesis, and came up with a test.  And each kid did their own display entirely on their own (I printed pictures, obviously).

First up, Brigham.  He did his about 3 weeks before the Science Fair, which was just awesome.
He was convinced that since a dollar bill is a "real dollar" that it would weigh more than any coins you'd add up to make a dollar.  We have a big change jar and somehow lucked out to find several ways to make a dollar:  Dollar bill, 100 pennies, 20 nickels, 10 dimes, 4 quarters, 2 50 cent pieces, and a silver dollar.

He made his hypothesis, weighed each group, and learned a lot!

 You can see in the above picture one interesting thing he discovered:  several of the coins weigh .80 oz when weighed.  Interesting!
His hypothesis was incorrect and he had fun learning why.


Next up was Chloe.  She wondered about the boiling point of different liquids.  She had only ever seen water boil, so she wasn't convinced that all liquids would boil.  She made her hypothesis, gathered up several different liquids (milk, chocolate almond milk, carrot juice, lime juice, water with salt, and regular water -- you can tell we were scrounging around the house!) and started her test.
She was surprised to see that each and every liquid boiled and all at differing temperatures.  We were especially surprised at how low the temperature was when the water boiled.  190 degrees, I think?  High altitude makes such a difference -- and this helped me to think about why my caramels and fudge didn't work out at Christmas!  Science.  Cool.

Finally, Lily did her project a week before the fair.  I thought it was only 2 days before, but I had the date wrong on my calendar.  Ha!  Thank goodness for friends who set me straight and hooray for being done a week early!
I had a little meltdown on this one because I was stressed that we were so close to the due date and I couldn't quite figure out how to help her understand the concept she was asking questions about.  She wanted to know which things float and which don't and why.  Well, I started in on this big discussion about density only to have Stanton come home and tell us that it wasn't density at all, but a complicated concept of water displacement (duh!  I know this stuff, but seriously, I can't recall it when I need it!).  I cried because I felt so stupid, Lily cried because she thought she was going to have to change projects, and Stanton swooped in and saved the day.  They revamped the questions a bit and she decided to test whether water in a water bottle and oil in a water bottle would float.
They ended up having a really great time doing it and Lily was happy with the end result.  And I got over my pride and had fun with them.
They made some fun discoveries as they added different amounts of water to the bottle and it finally sank when it was full.  The weight of the water bottle plus being full of water finally made it too heavy to float.  The oil, of course, floated no matter how full the bottle was.  Lily was amazed that "fat" weighed less than the water it displaced.

Everyone had a great time at the Science Fair and I'm glad we did it.  It's a huge pain in the neck, but it's pretty great to see the kids thinking, discovering, and solving problems.  Worth it, I guess.

Februany

 Chloe's tummy after an intense day on bars.  This is NOT a regular occurrence, I promise, because OUCH.

 I vacuumed out the van after my melt-down post (it's a mess again) - took photographic evidence of the melted crayon debacle.  I still haven't dealt with it.

 Sweet Hank had a nasty cold.

 I made this adorable Little Man Bib.  He wore it to church until he grew into his white shirt.

One of those moments I just didn't want to forget.  (And as a fun side note, I just noticed that I'm wearing those exact same clothes today - April 15th - Ha!).
My children are chronic crib sleepers - meaning that they have a very hard time sleeping in my arms, Stanton's arms, at church, etc.  The only places they'll sleep are in their beds or in the car seat (usually with a blanket draped over).  This picture was taken during that terrible cold Hank had.  I hate to admit it, but I loved having him sick because it made him snuggly.

 We've committed to attending the temple once a month on ward temple night.  It has been so great to be more consistent with our temple attendance.  One particular night, it was so beautiful I had to stop and snap a picture.  I love the temple.

 One of our favorite healthy dinners.  Asian Lettuce Cups.  Recipe can be found HERE.  (I used a higher fat turkey for the batch in this picture.  I like it much better with the fat free turkey).

 An Instagram selfie - a funny one.  I showed up an hour early to the choir practice I am in charge of and scheduled.  I surprise even myself with my flakiness sometimes!

 The door is dirty (and I even washed it before taking this picture!), but this is the wreath I made for the door in February.  I still love it- even with the off center ribbon!

 Brig had a Flat Stanley unit at school.  He thoroughly enjoyed it -- even though we did absolutely NOTHING out of the ordinary that whole week.

 I was very proud of how the boys spent some of their allowance money in February.  They both bought books!  And oh, how awesome it is to see them pull that cash out of their wallets and pay for items themselves...then go home and record their purchases with a bit of help from me.  Such an important life skill!

Let's pretend that I took the time to rotate this, okay?  Brigham wrote the words and drew the vehicle and Chloe drew Darth Vader.  I was amazed and impressed!

 I snapped this picture in one of those moments when my heart was full to overflowing (right out of my tear ducts) with love for Henry. 

 We had a good chuckle one morning as Chloe practiced her spelling words.  She misspelled "Spelling" at the top of the page.  Ha!  I love that she can (usually) laugh at herself for things like this.

 Just one of many selfies to come, I'm sure!  :)

 My kids are all good readers, but none of them are obsessive readers.  This morning was definitely an exception.  We were supposed to be kneeling for prayer before school, but I was the only one with that on her mind!

 Henry and I folded laundry and cleaned house together.  I love having him on my back.  He is very content to crawl around these days, but in February, I still used the Beco pack quite a lot.  His little eyes are just so happy!

 I sometimes let Charlie join us on our runs to and from gymnastics.  He was getting naughty about trying to climb on my lap while I was driving, so I grounded him to the floor.  He was so insulted. 

 Brigham and Cannon playing "Baby Swing" with Henry.  He seemed to like it, but I put the kibosh on it when the swinging got a leetle too high for my anxiety.

 Just an adorable dirty Henry.

Cannon doing a little light reading.  Haha!

This reminds me that I still haven't sent this in.  Must do today.  Lily wanted a picture to send to the "How I Read The Friend" part of the magazine.

 We visited my Grandma Rose in Brigham City.  She and Henry had a lovely time together.  The other kids were wild and crazy, but Hank only had eyes for his Great Grandma.

Halloween

 Rounding out the busy month of October -- Halloween!  I continue to just love this holiday.  Chloe was a witch this year (she loved that wig, even though it gave her fits pretty much all day), Lily was a karate kid (and stayed very much in character most of the day), Brigham was a Mormon missionary (he came up with it all on his own - LOVE!), and Cannon was a cowboy (I could not get enough of his adorableness all day.  It made my hear hurt he was so darling).

Henry was a cutie little tiger.  Stanton was Superman and I was Raggedy Ann.  It was a very fun day. 
Henry, Cannon, and I spent most of the day at the school for class parties.  Brigham's teacher called in the morning and asked if the head room mom had contacted me about a party.  She hadn't.  So, I gathered up a few quick games and crafts and ran over to his class (thankfully, I had already gotten my costume and makeup on).  The kids were awesome and had so much fun - I couldn't believe how good they were with just one mom and their teacher doing the whole thing.  I'm so grateful Mrs. Skidmore called me - it would have been a shame to not have a party for the kids.  I've since taken over head room mom duties in his class.  The other moms have been very helpful since that happened.   (Funny story - this was the first time we room moms had met one another.  I saw one of them a few weeks later and she had no idea who I was.  We later figured out it was because she'd only ever seen me in Raggedy Ann makeup.  How's that for a first impression?!)

I'm also the head room mom in Chloe's class.  The other moms were awesome helps here.  We decorated cookies, pumpkin bowled, made necklaces, and learned the Thriller dance.  The kids especially loved that part.  (just for reference, there is a video of that in iPhoto).

I'm just a regular room mom in Lily's class, so I didn't have to do anything besides show up at her party.  It was really cute, but Henry had had it by then.  I was no help at all.  It was still fun to be in class with Lil, though. 

A couple of days before, we went to the carnival at Grandma Allen's care center.  The kids loved the cupcakes and cake walk and seeing Grandma.  Here is Henry in his adorable costume.  It was warm and cozy for him.
Also, Stanton won a scooter at the corn maze around this same time.  (See what I mean?  He's the luckiest guy I know!).  It was a fun surprise.  He didn't get to ride it much before the weather turned cold, but it will be fun in the summer.

 We had our second year in a row of absolutely amazing weather for trick or treating.  We ate a fun dinner (though not as festive as last year's because I was at the school all day) and then headed out.  Stanton handed out candy while I took the kids out.  The girls lasted forever - till 8:30 or so.  Everyone opted to keep their 5 favorite candies and trade the rest in for a prize.  They were more than happy with their trade.  I always give them the option and I've been pleasantly surprised that they choose to trade in their candy.  It's nice to not have wrappers everywhere and a minimum of chocolate ground into the carpet for the following days.

It was a super fun holiday.  I love seeing what the kids choose for costumes each year. 

Cannon's First Day of School -- FINALLY!

After 2 agonizing weeks, Cannon finally got his turn to go to school.  He loves, loves, loves his teachers and is excited to be one of the older kids this year.  He goes with his two darling cousins twice a week, which he also loves.  Preschool has been such a great experience for my kids.  I'm glad Cannon is getting this chance to go!

Oh, and of COURSE I forgot to send him with the treat when he was the Super Kid a couple of weeks ago.  I couldn't turn over a new leaf there, now could I??!

1st Day of School

I seriously can't believe we're at the beginning of another school year.  I wish I could just slow down the calendar -- even just a little bit!

We attended back to school night last Wednesday and met each of the kids' teachers.  Wow -- I think this might be our best year yet!  I was so impressed with each teacher and feel like they were perfectly picked for my children.  How grateful I am for teachers who dedicate their professional lives to education.  They make such a tremendous difference in my children's lives!

Thursday morning, all four kids were up bright and early, ready for a great first day of school.  They ended up being so on top of things that they left for school nearly a half hour early!  I couldn't hold them off a second longer.  :)

Cannon and I hung out outside our house watching all the neighborhood kids walking to class with their moms and dads and siblings.  My heart was full to almost overflowing.  We live in the best neighborhood!

I love these first day pictures of the kids.  I can't believe how grown up they're becoming.  When we moved in to this house, Chloe was just 2 1/2.  Now she's 8 and in the third grade!  It really doesn't seem like that much time has really passed.  It's mind boggling.

When we moved here, Lily was just 15 months old.  Now she's 7 and in the second grade.

And when we moved in, I was pregnant with Brigham.  Now he's about to turn 6 and in the first grade.  What happened?!

These kids are best buddies and so much fun.  They had a wonderful first day and are going to have a fantastic school year.

Cannon doesn't start preschool until September, so I'll post first day pictures for him later.  Meanwhile, this was his tragically hilarious response to the kids leaving him behind for school (and me not waiting for him to bring his scooter across the street). 

We ended up having a pretty fun day together.  :)

I'm very thankful for this crew of mine.  They are great kids!