So Big

My girls are getting so big! It just shocks me sometimes. Please excuse the video-centric post showing how much they are growing.

Laura has become a wonderful singer and really enjoys memorizing new songs and is super fast at it. Here she is singing one of her new favorites and one of mine and my mom's old favorites.

Sara thinks she should be as big as Laura, so she has to join in with her! I can't help but crack up each time she does this. Sara also loves to sing in the car when Laura and I sing Primary Hymns.

Also, my darling Laura has really taken off on her reading skills. She has begun reading first reader books. Here is a video of her reading a new book to Grandma (kinda long...sorry). What in the world am I going to do with her for another year before she starts kindergarten?! (To see the video click HERE)

Sara has gotten big by working really hard on learning how to sit by herself. But for now she still needs the Boppy.

She has also developed tons of personality lately and loves to play. She loves to play with her sister; Laura can get her to smile when no one else can.

Also, she is very into a dive-bombing game with her Daddy and riding Grandma's horsey. (Note in the dive-bombing moving that she finally has enough hair to sorta wear a hair clip.)

Family Filled Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving was one of the best ever. (It would've definitely been the best ever had we not had to move and were in our new house, however...) Why was it the best ever? Because ALL of my siblings and their spouses were together. This happens exceptionally rarely. Danny and his family came in from Cali and Dave and his wife Mel came in as a serious surprise (picture open mouthed Melinda here) from WA. It was a major treat.

Some of the highlights of our time together were playing the Wii (we bought the new game Smarty Pants for the occasion), laughing until late, taking Laura to her first movie in the theater (Enchanted, which was fabulous and funny!), Jason finally getting to see Bourne Ultimatum (which lived up to his high expectations), eating until we burst, playing with cousins (Laura fell insanely in love with Danny's daughter Demi), and getting to know Mel better (like her tons).
Laura would say that the best parts were playing with Demi and Kiki, wearing her apron from Dave and Mel (the cute outfit Sara is wearing is from them also), and playing outside and with the Wii with her cousins (ie:being one of the big kids).
It was wonderful to be all together. And yes, we are one of those fortunate families that truly enjoys one anothers company without any incidents...only humor, love and friendship. Hopefully I can raise my kids to feel the same way about each other as my Mom raised us to feel. That is where I see the hand of God in my life probably more than anywhere else.

Preschool Outline - Ww and Patterns

The absolute favorite part of this day was the Christmas chain. It is huge and was a grand time. Look at how enormously long they are! The gold day (because I couldn't find enough red paper) is for Christmas Day.
CIRCLE TIME

Show and Tell
Pledge of Allegiance
Calendar
Recite the days of the week
Recite the months of the year with the new song

LETTER - Ww

Tracer page
Write letter Ww and review letters Pp and Qq without tracer pages
Sound
Sing song “I Wiggle My Fingers”
Movement: Wiggle different parts of our bodies, Walk, and Waddle

MATH – Counting and recognition

Count to 30 together
Work on counting with pattern art project
Write and Review #2

CONCEPT – Patterns

Instruction
Work on more complex patterns: 112, and 1213
Work with stickers on the floor to complete these patterns
Worksheets of patterns (can be found at kidzone.ws)
Art
Make a chain with a 1213 pattern to count down Christmas (practice counting to 28 at this time)
Make a “Water” drawing using ocean animals to create a pattern around the edge of the paper and write the word “water”
Snack
Wet drink, Watermelons (sour gummies) and wood sticks (pretzels)

Preschool Outline - U and Thanksgiving

This was a very fun preschool. Fortunately, they were awesome at Uu already so we had lots of time for the holiday. The girls loved the hand turkeys, the pilgrim girls and learning all about Thanksgiving. Here they are singing their song and showing off their adorable door hangers.


CIRCLE TIME

Show and Tell
Pledge of Allegiance
Calendar
Recite the days of the week
Recite the months of the year with the song

LETTER - Uu

Tracer page
Write letter Uu and review letters Pp and Qq without tracer pages
Sound
Read book “The Pup Speaks Up”
Hide “Under” some things

MATH – Counting and recognition

Count to 30 together
Flashcards of Numbers 1 – 20: recognition, put them in order
Sing song “The Ants go Marching”

THEME – Thanksgiving

Music and Movement
Have the girls run like Indians
Sing the song “Over the River and Thru the Wood”
Instruction
Talk about who was at the first Thanksgiving
Talk about what we do on Thanksgiving
Talk about the things we are thankful for
Art
Make the Pilgrim Door Hanger
Make an Indian headdress (time?)
Five Little Turkeys poem and coloring page
Make a traditional hand turkey with the poem:
This isn't just a turkey as you can plainly see. I made it with my hand which is a part of me. It comes with lots of love especially to say, I hope you have a very, Happy Thanksgiving Day!
Snack
Popcorn like the pilgrims and Indians ate

Special Visitors

I know that I haven't posted in ages and I really need to update. Alas, I am throwing in something I have wanted to do for ages now, but really contains no updates.

We felt so incredibly supported with the birth of Sara. So many people made special trips to come support us and meet our precious girl. Here is a slide show of all (except I somehow cannot find a picture of Karyn and her family or Brian and his family who were incredibly supportive) the people who have made a special effort to come and show their love for our family. (This includes my 2 big brothers who came from out of state for Thanksgiving and to meet my precious one.) See if you can find yourself. We love you!

Baby Blessing and Bath

Two completely disconnected things to post about. The first is that we went to Aysha's (neice/cousin) baby blessing and TJ's confirmation (nephew/cousin) the other Sunday. It was wonderful to be together with Jason's family and feel of their testimonies and participate in these big events in Keri's kids lives!
And, something completely separate. Sara LOVES the bath. Check out how much she loves the bath and that darling fuzzy head!

Preschool Outline - S and Patterns

Today we didn't make it through all the material. We couldn't do the sticker art project and we only counted to 30 and worked on 9 in the numbers section. The girls favorite parts were moving like the Ss words and making the necklaces for their sleepytime friends so they could find them in the dark. Here they are showing off their "guys" necklaces.

CIRCLE TIME

Show and Tell
Pledge of Allegiance
Calendar
Recite the days of the week
Recite the months of the year with the new song

LETTER - Ss

Tracer page
Write letter Ss and review letters Pp and Qq without tracer pages
Sound
Move Sneaky, Shake, Slither, Slide, Spin, Skip, Shuffle, Somersault, Sway, Swing

MATH – Counting and recognition

Count to 30 together
Flashcards of Numbers 1 – 20: recognition, put them in order
Sing song “The Ants go Marching”
Number 9 worksheets and writing
Number 9 without tracer page and review 8 without tracer page

CONCEPT – Patterns

Music and Movement
Have the girls each pick a move (and me) and repeat the pattern of moves
Instruction
Continuation of a pattern of shapes
Continuation of a pattern of colors
Continuation of a pattern of sizes
Art
Make a border on a piece of paper with a pattern of stickers
Make a glow in the dark necklace in a pattern of beads for their sleepy time animals, “guys”
Snack
Sweet Starbursts and Skittles, Salty Sticks (pretzels)

Serious Sweat Equity

The majority of our sweat equity is done. 98% of the painting is completed (only a little bit of cutting-in and touch up left). Thank you to my sister Tana who painted so much of our house. She is a paint rolling whiz. We used a paint sprayer (well, Jason used while I kept the girls far far away) for the primer, trim, closets and ceilings. Then, we rolled the walls. That paint sprayer was miserable, but it was fast.
Also, all the floor tile is laid and grouted. Thank you to my Dad who cut a gazillion tiles, my Mom who helped me measure the trickiest cuts (I needed her brain desperately) and watched the girls so I could lay tiles, again to my sister Tana for helping me lay the tile and watching Sara so I could do even more tile, to Jason's brother Todd who was a master butterer and buttered more than half the tiles that are stuck to the floor, and to my nephew Jordan who spent a majorly long night helping us get a huge jump start on the initial cuts and his wife Heather who helped us lay out tons of tiles. Also, thank you to my best friend Karyn who watched Laura for me for several days so I could work like a madwoman. Jason and I learned a new trick for grouting and that sped us along wonderfully. Now, all we have left is to grout the tiles in the shower and tub (that we didn't dare lay) and to seal all the tile.
There seems to be an end in sight for all things house thanks to all the help we received. The biggest Thank You of all goes to my parents who have fed us, housed us, worked beside us, advised us, and watched the girls SO MUCH! We couldn't have done it without everyone.

If everything goes as planned, we should be ready for a final inspection and be able to move in on Monday, November 19. Please, oh please let that happen. Because the house is almost 2 months behind schedule (a really lot when the initial schedule was only 4 months) it seems like it will never happen, but things really are coming together. All Jason and I have left to do is that bit on the tile, that bit of painting - including the exterior doors, the fireplace tile and staining the stair railing. Let's hope everything gets done.

A Swashbuckling Good Time

Jason and I actually took a night off from sweat equity (we are pretty much done with everything...only little things left) and celebrated our anniversary. We went to Ballet West's production of The Three Musketeers.

It was such a grand time. Jason and I both thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. I must say to all women whose men don't enjoy the ballet, that this is a ballet for the guys! Break the boys in with this one.

I enjoyed the fact that I was seeing a ballet for the first time (a rarity for me), that the choreography was challenging, interesting and complex, and that the dancing was beautifully executed. Jason enjoyed the humor, swordfighting, excellent music, and his prior knowledge of the story. We both enjoyed the brand new set and costumes. But I think the best part was finally being able to spend a night together not in grubby clothing. Thank you to J's mom for watching Sara and to my parents for watching Laura so we could go.

Have I mentioned how perfectly season tickets to the ballet fall for our big occasions?! They are perfectly timed for our anniversary, Valentine's Day and my birthday. I am a lucky girl that my honey takes me to the ballet for all these occasions. Though, I think he is glad that I remembered to record the Jazz game that was on tonight as well. We take good care of each other.

Big 5

Today is a day of 5. Sara turned 5 months old today and Jason and I got married exactly 5 years ago today.

Here is Sara's 5 month picture. Currently she has taken to "talking" in a very high voice. She loves to play in the saucer and she laughs for her sister better than anyone. Oh, and she's huge! She weighed in a 17 lbs when I took her to the doctor for an eye infection 5 days ago (on Halloween).
Now on to the love of my life. Yep I married Jason 5 years ago. It feels like he has been a part of my life forever. Perhaps the happiness of my life just began when I married him. Honestly, I must say that I love him more now than I did on our wedding day and that he makes my life more wonderful than I ever could have imagined it to be.
We have been through so much together! We have lived in 2 apartments, with my parents, and will soon be moving into our second and dream home. We have created two beautiful girls and have a wonderful eternal family together. We've been through several jobs and are both currently working our favorites. Also, we have both graduated from college during our marriage. Let's hope the next 5 years are a little more calm.

I really couldn't have imagined a better partner for my life. Thank you for being my best friend and my greatest love, Jason.

Halloween 2007

Halloween was a bit of a bummer this year. Poor Laura was at the tail end of her bout with croup for it. So, unfortunately, she missed all the fun Halloween festivities at her formal preschool and at Ballet class on Tuesday. Fortunately on Halloween Day (Wednesday), she was feeling well enough (and no longer contagious) to do the preschool Karyn ran for Halloween and do some trick or treating. Here is Laura in her witch costume singing the witch song.

My parents made for some fun preparations for Laura while Jason and I were doing sweat equity. Here she is carving her pumpkin in her sick day jammies.

Sara was a Ladybug for Halloween this year. I really wanted her to be a black cat so I could have a witch and black cat, but I couldn't find a black cat costume anywhere and I just didn't have the time to make a costume. So, Thank You Andrea, for loaning us the ladybug costume!

The best part of Halloween was trick or treating. We went with my Mom (poor Jason was at the house working) just around her neighborhood as to not aggravate Laura's cough too much. I was planning on taking Sara only to one or two houses, but she LOVED it, so she went around the whole neighborhood with us. Here is Laura with her haul and Sara after being out trick or treating.

Preschool Outline - Q and Left to Right

I decided to switch things up and work on some concepts instead of themes. I thought this Left to Right concept was integral to the reading preparation we are doing. The girls favorite parts of today was doing all the movement "Quickly, Quietly and Queenly", jumping on the numbers left to right and making the bracelets.

CIRCLE TIME

Show and Tell
Pledge of Allegiance
Calendar
Recite the days of the week
Recite the months of the year with the new song

LETTER - Qq

Tracer page
Write letter Qq and review letters Pp and Rr without tracer pages
Sound
Walk around with crowns pretending they are Queens
Move Quickly, Quietly and Queenly
Read Book “Make Way for Ducklings” then walk around like ducks in a line while Quacking

MATH – Counting and recognition

Count to 30 together
Flashcards of Numbers 1 – 20: recognition, put them in order
Sing song “The Ants go Marching”
Number 7 worksheets and writing
Number 7 without tracer page and review 6 without tracer page

CONCEPT – Left to Right

Music and Movement
Jump on number flashcards laid out from left to right (jump left to right from #1 - #10)
Instruction
Read Book “Five Little Bunnies Hopping on a Hill” and show how we read letters and words from left to right
Art
Left to right worksheets
Make a bracelet putting the beads on the string from left to right

Preschool Outline - O and Halloween

I didn't actually run this preschool. Karyn took pity on me and ran it for me while I worked at the new house. All I did was bring a big bag of stuff to Karyn's house with this outline. But, I did see the girls wrapped up like Mummies and it was adorable. Also, Karyn said the dot to dots were a little beyond them.

CIRCLE TIME

Show and Tell
Pledge of Allegiance
Calendar
Recite the days of the week
Recite the months of the year with the new song

LETTER - Oo

Tracer page
Write letter Oo and review letter Mm and Nn without tracer pages
Sound
Owl Dot to Dot: an Owl says “Whooooo”
Read Book “The Mole in the Hole” and have the girls say “Mole” and “Hole” each time they come up in the book; same thing with Book “A Frog in the Bog”…Do rhyming with the long and short “o” sounds as well as the “oo” sound.

MATH – Counting and recognition

Count to 30 together
Flashcards of Numbers 1 – 20: recognition, put them in order
Sing song “The Ants go Marching”
Number 5 worksheets and writing
Number 5 without tracer page and review 2 and 3 without tracer pages

THEME – Halloween

Music and Movement
Move like Ghosts
Use roll of toilet paper to make the girls into Mummies
Sing songs, “Mean Old Witch”, “Halloween Cat”, and “Jack-o-Lantern Can’t Scare Me”
Instruction
Read Book “The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything”
Art
Witch Dot to Dot
Jack-o-Lantern matching page – pairs of pumpkins
Do the image finder page for Halloween – find the cats, ghosts, etc and then color the page
Make a “Ghost Mobile” out of clear string, hangers and tissues

Preschool Outline - M and Farm

The favorite part of this preschool was making the book for Mom or perhaps the marching to the "Ants Go Marching" song.

CIRCLE TIME

Show and Tell
Pledge of Allegiance
Calendar
Recite the days of the week
Recite the months of the year with the new song

LETTER - Mm

Tracer page
Write letter Mm and review letter Kk without tracer pages
Sound
Make a Book for Mom
Sing song “She’ll be Comin’ Round the Mountain”
Read Books “I Love My Mommy”, “Just Me and My Mom”

MATH – Counting and recognition

Count to 30 together
Flashcards of Numbers 1 – 20: recognition, put them in order
Sing song “The Ants go Marching”
Number 3 worksheets and writing
Number 3 without tracer page and review 2 without tracer page

THEME – Farm

Instruction
Machines/Buildings on the farm
Learn about Tractors and see pictures of them
Learn about Barns and chicken coops and stables
Read Book “Oink! Moo! How Do You Do?”
Plants on the farm
The kind of things you grow: corn, wheat, vegetables, hay for horses to eat
How you grow things on the farm: in rows in the dirt
Weeding
Art
Have the girls draw a picture of a farm