My favorite red ball

My little buddy sure loves balls. Especially if they're red. He holds on to what he has decided is his red ball very tightly and protectively, like his sisters did their favorite blanket or doll. He's kept a soccer ball in his arms while in the stroller as we navigate from our far away parked car to the field without it once accidentally being dropped. We also have quite a few little balls around our house that he tries to gather up. I think his record is 5 balls clung to his chest.

We always try to remember to bring the extra red soccer ball for Jared to play with at the games. Then he is in heaven if no one kicks it away. He loves to through his ball and push it with his hand while he crawls behind. I'm sure once he can walk it will turn into kicking. It is so fun to see him lift the ball above his head and contort his face as he chucks the ball as hard as he can.

Sometimes he lifts it a little too high and it ends up behind him.

Julene loves to kick her ball back and forth with a friend while she is at the other soccer games. Most of the time the little stranger is eager to play in her game, and she makes a new friend. But a few times she has tried this tactic with older boys that are not too pleased by the attentions of a little girl and don't want her to play with them. She quickly rebounds and usually finds someone or me that will oblige. She much prefers this to her regular soccer games that she says are too hot and make her tired. It is true quite a few of her games have been really hot, and there have been times when both coaches have looked around for their missing players only to find them all getting a drink. They seem to have quite a few unofficial drink time outs.

Jared also loves cars! I know I shouldn't be surprised, but I thought we had such a collection of toys that maybe his preferences wouldn't be so stereotypical. But of his inclination for cars and balls is quite evident. The children have taught him to say "Dwo, dwo, dwo, go!" (One, Two, Three, go!) right before he gives the car a push. Randy has also mistaken him for Julene, when he came into his office pushing a car and making vroooom noises. We didn't realize his vocal abilities.

The children have been enjoying school and all the fun that it offers. My seasonal allergies seem to be quite worse this year, and I seem to have a sinus headache most of the time. It is good that the older ones are gone so they have activities to stimulate their growing minds. Julene has kept busy with puzzles, play-dough, coloring, games, educational computer games (and fun ones too), as well as virtual free reign over all the toys in the house. She is also very insistent to have her own homework to do when everyone else does theirs.

Biking to School

This year everyone going to school can ride a two wheeler, and since Nathan got a lock for his birthday, their bikes would be relatively safe at school. This has been the first time they have ridden their bikes to school. We live so close that in the past they usually rode their scooters or walked and not troubled with the bikes.

I feel bad a didn't get a lock sooner for Janae. She is in 6th grade and this is her last year of being close enough to ride a bike to school. (until High School... if she'll want to then.) School started last Thursday, so this is the official full week with the start of spelling words and such.

Nathan is going into 3rd grade and Marianne is in 1st. They were excited to go back... some more than others. Marianne loves having 3 recesses and eating lunch at school and getting chocolate milk. She hasn't missed us at all. We were pleased that she got the same teacher as Janae and Nathan. I asked jokingly if she was always going to request our children. We think she's great!

Julene has adjusted pretty well to having the older ones gone. I think it helps that Jared is older now and is fun to play with. She does ask when she will go to school, and she tells everyone that next year she will be going to the big school too.

So far they are doing well at waiting for each other and going and coming together. The girls say they have to wait for Nathan at the bike rack because his class is the furthest away, but it's his lock so he gets to open it. This is good because Nathan is usually the speedy one and has the hardest time waiting.

I was surprised how much I got done those two days. With nothing to schedule my time while they were gone. It was great to get some control over the house. Plus just two children at the store, and they stayed in the cart. This outing went so much quicker than our previous back to shool outings with everyone. The homework starts this week. Here we go!

Dance, Dance, No Dance

The clogging year is now done. It has been lots of fun and they have learned some neat new skills too. The highlight of course is the trophy earned at the end of the year. Janae told me she needs a new shelf because she doesn't have anywhere to put it.

Nathan was on an all boy team. He was the youngest and the shortest. He is there on the end. This dance was Kung Fu Fighting. So this was their beginning Zen move. They were sure fun to watch.

Janae is so cute too. She just lights up when she dances. She is the second from the left.

The school dance festival was today. They have been practicing for weeks and sometimes months. Janae's 5th grade class was first. They did a 50's style partner dance. She was really cute. The people next to me commented on how some the kids were getting into it more than other, and they specifically pointed to the cute girl in pink that was a really good dancer. (Sorry about the cut off head.)

Nathan's 2nd grade class was next. They did a fun jump song and a hula. He got some good air.

But who is missing? Marianne. She woke up this morning very groggy, I thought it was just from going to bed late from the clogging concert. But she felt warm and didn't look at all like her happy self. So no dance for her today. I was probably more disapointed than she was. She has been practicing for months her cute Kindergarten Rocka Motion Choo Choo Train. We still took her with us to watch Janae and Nathan's dance. I was secretly hoping the Tylenol would make her feel better and that she would want to join her class, but she didn't. This happened to her last year for her ballet recital. So we don't have any pictures yet of Marianne performing her dance even though she is really cute.

Nathan has been complaining of a hurt jaw for the last few nights, but it goes away in the morning. We finally decided it must be a cavity, and I took him to the dentist right after his dance. It turned out that he had lost a filling since our last check up that now was exposing the nerve. He got it repaired and wanted to go back to school even though he was still numb. The readers theater and read-a-thon were just too exciting to miss.

Luau and Author's Tea

Julene's preschool is all done. We celebrated by having a little Luau themed end of the year celebration. I taught the children a hula styled dance to Disney's Tiki Room. I asked Randy to cut it for me. (The benefits of having a tech musical husband.) They really enjoyed the music and dancing to it with their leis and grass skirts. Some followed better than others, and some just wanted to dance their own way. Julene was sure a cute hula dancer. She kept playing with her lei so we couldn't find it for the actually program, but here she is the next day.

Today we went to Nathan's 2nd grade Authors Tea. He had been working on his fractured fairytale for a long time. The children read their books to us. His was called Frogalina. He read it load enough so I could hear him, and added some good expression. His pictures were detailed. I don't think there was any white space in the book.

Here comes the final stretch of school activities. Just one week left and even then it's just 3 1/2 days really. Plus Randy comes home tonight. All good things to look forward to.

Wax Museum and Butterflies

On Monday Janae's 5th grade class presented a Wax Museum of famous Americans. They each wrote a report and presented an oral presentation to the class. Now they invited the parents to come see a the Wax Figures. They decorated their desk and held still until someone pushed the button, and then came to life say a brief statement of who they were. Janae was Louisa May Alcott the author of Little Women. It was a fun report and got her reading the book. She is wearing a dress that my mother made and wore when she was a teenager. I have pulled it out and worn it whenever there was need of a costume with a full length dress.

With the end of Spring, Marianne and Julene have been talking about butterflies and bugs. Marianne let Jared hold the butterfly she made in Kindergarten.

At preschool Julene talked about bugs. They got their own net and hunted for toy bugs in the grass. This game was so much fun that she continued it at home. Nathan was very excited to see the butterfly net she got, and she even shared it with him.

My grandparents were able to come and stay a few days with us last week. It was so nice to have them here. We were able to have a nice Mother's Day with them as well as my own mother, father, and brother.

Baseball has started for Nathan and he is loving it and wants to practice whenever possible.

I've had a few rough days with my allergies since the grass has now started to pollinate too. I was so hoping to have a break between the trees and grass but it was not meant to be this year.

Randy goes out of town for work all this week. We will miss him, but he will be back in time for the end of the school activities next week.

I still can't believe school will be over in just two weeks. Bring on summer.

School Awards

Janae participated in the "Hope of America" Choir. She is one of the red stripes. It was a very inspiring event. It reminded me how proud I am to be an American. We were able to watch some segments on the newspaper's website. The song with the flashlights was really cool. It reminded me when President Monson talks about attending cultural pageants before temple dedications. This is a wonderful activity for young people to be involved in.

Marianne and Nathan were both chosen as May student of the month. Marianne for academic and Nathan for the month's virtue of Fairness. We are so pleased for both of them. Marianne is surprising us at how well she can read the scriptures. She is ahead of where her older siblings were at her age. Fairness is a virtue that describes Nathan very well. He is quick to point out if someone is being left out or didn't receive something everyone else did. He also does well if he understands the rules to situations and sees that everyone will be treated the same.

My Valantines

Randy and I went to our ward's Valentine dinner dance on Friday. It was nice to have just an adult couples activity and visit with some of our dear friends and neighbors. We haven't done that often, unless you count the High Priest Dinner which I don't like to admit that I belong to. It's not usually attended by women who are pregnant or nursing. (Still trying to accept it) They asked us to bring a wedding picture. It was so fun to see everyone's pictures, and Randy and I liked seeing how much some of them look like their children. I'm sure our picture will too when our children get older.

We had a nice evening trying to remember how to triple swing. Randy kept telling me to tone it down a bit and not become overly excited. I guess this is what happens when you don't go out dancing for 3+ years and then only sporadically. When I do get the opportunity, I just love it, and I try to remember all the cool steps I used to do. I've even thought about taking up clogging with my children because they offer an adult class, but then I weigh the time commitment, and it hasn't become that high of a priority... yet... someday.

We just loved our Valentine parties at school. We think it is just one of the funnest days of the year. Marianne thought it would be fun to write her name backwards. Good thing they just wrote who the Valentines were from in her class, or she might not have gotten any. Marianne made puppy pop up Valentines from a kit to give to her class. I was surprised at her patience. She made them all herself over a few days. We were a little worried because she had the stomach flu a few days before her party, and we're all pleased she recovered (and that no one else got it) so she could attend the festivities.

Nathan even wore a red shirt in honor of school spirit day and Valentine's. I got to help in his class party. I brought Tiddly Winks to shoot at heart targets. It seemed to go well, and I heard a few children say it was their favorite game, including Nathan. (Which is all that really matters.)Here he is looking over all his candy. He made sure to remind me that he got the least amount because his class is smaller than Marianne's and Janae's. Maybe he thought I should compensate for the difference.

Janae was excited about her locker Valentine box. We saw it in a magazine, which made it much easier to make. Hers was the only class that we had to worry about making our own box. She liked that it was red like the lockers in High School Musical. She plans on using it for a locker for her doll.

We got to have Julene's preschool Valentine party at our house. The children were so excited to bring their Valentines to exchange with their friends. We decorated bags and sorted conversation hearts on a chart.

Here are my girls in their matching Valentine outfits that I bought last year on clearance. Always love a good deal, and I'm a little partial to Valentine's day since it is my birthday month. They were all excited to wear them to their Valentine parties.

Christmas Celebration

We have enjoyed a wonderful Christmas Season. We all had fun at the Christmas sing at the elementary school. They all did such a nice job, and I think they have such great facial expressions. Julene liked hearing all the fun Christmas songs, but didn't understand why another grade was singing Nathan's Jingle Bell Rock piano piece. She had been hearing him practice it for months and couldn't understand why others got to sing it.

We had a fun extended family party on the Sunday before Christmas where we acted out the Nativity. There aren't as many boys, so Nathan got to be Joseph. He took his part very seriously.

Julene got to be one of the Angels and liked dressing up so sparkly. Randy also played some songs on the organ during the presentation.

We also dressed up again on Monday with Randy's brother's family that stayed with us for a few days. They really liked it. We had lots of Marys and Angels. They even dressed up the next day just for fun.

Santa found his way to our house and we are sure glad. Marianne finally got her Belle with a Christmas dress that she had been asking for 3 years. Sometimes Santa can't always get the requests right the first time.

Janae got a real American Girl doll. Not just a look a like. Santa splurged a little here, but she is 10 and there probably won't be another Christmas where she gets a doll. She was so excited, and it was the only thing she asked for. This doll has light red hair (not as red as Janae's) and freckles.

Jared got an umbrella stroller. Mom was the most excited about this gift. It was really time for us to get a new one. Now he can go anywhere in style. Nathan got K-nex and has been busy building up a storm, so I still need to go get a picture of him. Julene got a shopping cart and a new baby. Now maybe all her babies can have a ride together.

I got a new computer and it has taken a while for it to get set up. I don't know who is more excited me or the children. Now they can play their online games that our old one was to slow to play on. I can now fit all my pictures, and there isn't this little window that kept popping up telling me I was out of memory. We have been enjoying the break spending it with family and friends. We sure love playing games and watching movies together too.

Decorations

We started putting up our Christmas decorations on Sunday, and we're still not done. There are boxes stacked in my room just to get them out of the living areas. Maybe tomorrow I will be able to get it all cleaned up. I still have more lights to do outside. We'll see how much actually gets put up. I don't think I would have started so soon if it wasn't for my Nathan. He gets so excited about holidays. He was also a big help and vacuumed the dusty boxes from our remodel earlier this year. When all the decorating is done, I sure enjoy the atmosphere that it adds to our home. I love all the twinkling lights and the smell of one of those Christmas candles that can substitute for my lack of baking.

I get a little frustrated when my children think all the decorations are new toys and want to play with them instead of just looking at how pretty they are. How unrealistic I am. Here Julene and Marianne are pretending they are the characters from the Barbie Diamond Castle movie. They have turned the violins that go on the Christmas tree into guitars. There was some real singing and strumming action going on.

Julene has really enjoyed all the decorations and keeps asking me where did all this pretty stuff come from. I told her the basement. "Where in the basement?" I guess her memory isn't as good as the rest. We also didn't put up as much last year during the remodel. So it is fun to get everything out, and I mean everything.

Today Marianne got to go to school in her pajamas for her Polar Express party. She was excited and loved showing me her bell and reindeer food. It is so fun to be 5 at Christmas time. Her sparkling eyes and contagious smile are a delight in our home.

Thankful People

My two little Indians had a nice Thanksgiving celebration at preschool and Kindergarten. Julene was thrilled to be going to her very own Thanksgiving party. She liked showing everyone her soft feathers on her hat.

Marianne really liked being a pilgrim. The Friday before Thanksgiving, she got to have a feast in the lunch room. She was sure excited and reminded me all week that it was coming up. She told me that she ate her pumpkin pie first, to make sure she had enough time and room. Then she nibbled at the rest on her plate. Smart girl. We don't even need to teach them that.

For Thanksgiving we made Oreo turkeys. I saw it in a magazine and thought it would be fun and keep them busy. It was really easy and they really enjoyed making them as well as eating them.

Artistic

The children got the results from their reflections entries this week. Janae won a medal with her original clogging dance and gets to move on to region. (She was the only dance entry in the school, but we are still pleased.) Nathan and Marianne received honorable mention on their water color paintings. Marianne did a picture of the three sisters in her family with each a different color of hair. It looked so sweet coming from a kindergartner. Nathan did a Space picture with all the planets correctly colored, in order, and the asteroid belt. We asked Nathan what planets people could live on. He started with the outer most Pluto and said it was too cold and Uranus was too, but we couldn't live on Neptune because we would all be sideways. What?! Once he realized what he had said he a laughed and tried to explain that Neptune's rings are tilted. Scientist think that maybe an asteroid or something crashed into it to cause it's rings to tilt. Anyway he realized that was silly to say because aren't we sideways on earth unless we're at the north pole?

Star of the Week

Marianne is the Star of the Week in her Kindergarten class! Of course she was very excited. We got to make a poster all about her and go to her class this morning. We brought some of her favorite things to show like Belle, build-a-bear Princess Cat, pictures she's drawn, and sea shells from the beach. Randy, Julene, Jared and I got to go. She is a special girl.

We also want to do a shout out for Janae. She memorized all the states and capitals this last week for her test and got 100%. She and Randy worked very hard, and it payed off. Congratulations Janae!

Crazy Hair Day

Our School is having ribbon week with each day there is a designation of what to wear. Monday was green day and everyone had a green shirt, so everything worked out great. Yesterday was crazy hair day. Janae wanted loose hair that ends up on top of your head then sticking straight out. I didn't know how to do that so this is the best I could do.

It almost looks like a prom up do from the 90's, remember. Well it's crazy for her. We had some purple hair spray paint and tried it on Nathan, but it doesn't show up to well in red hair. So he went and washed it out in the tub and declared, (I'm not having crazy hair!) Which I replied was fine, you don't have to.

Marianne just wanted ponies all over and the purple paint showed up a little bit in her hair. Then Julene didn't want to feel left out and decided she wanted crazy hair too. So she went to preschool with crazy hair.

Later, when Marianne was getting ready for a soccer game, Daddy was helping her take out all her ponies. (I was with Nathan at clogging.) He got a few tangles and had to use the scissors to get them out. I was a little worried but I think it wasn't very much hair.

Today was red day and we had a harder time finding red shirts. I just don't buy red for my red headed children, which also means I don't pass them down to those who don't have read hair. Janae found a long sleeve shirt. It worked out okay because it is raining today. She didn't want her class to lose the special ribbon for having the most people participate. Nathan and Marianne just wore a shirt that has red on it. Tomorrow is Crazy Hat Day. They can just pick a hat we have. Friday is purple day. That's great for the girls, but like Nathan has or is going to wear a purple shirt. We'll probably look hard and find something with purple on it like we did for red day.

They always like this fun week of school, but sometimes it can cause extra trauma.

1st Day of Preschool

Julene started our neighborhood co-op preschool today. It got to be at our house first, because I have had experience with the first week before. It makes it easier when you can use stuff you have done in the past. Julene was a little disappointed that she didn't get to "go" to preschool. Everyone else went away to school, so why not her. But once we got out all the supplies and her friends came she didn't mind anymore. This is going to be a great year! There are 5 girls and one boy. I felt bad for the boy because he would love to have a little friend, but this is how it worked out. Julene really liked painting today. We even painted again with Marianne when she came home from Kindergarten. I need to do more activities like that with my children because they enjoy it so much, and when I think about it so do I. I really had fun today focusing on these cute little children singing songs, reading books, and really interacting with them without any other distractions or priorities. They are just all so cute and excited to be together!

Kindergarten

Marianne gets to go to school now too! She is very excited and didn't sleep well the night before her first day. She loves her pink backpack and telling me how she wants her hair fixed each morning. She gets to walk with Janae and Nathan but still likes coming home for lunch with Julene. Julene was a little lonely just having me around. She kept asking where everyone was (Jared was having a nap), but she found ways to be helpful.

Back to School

We started back to school this week. Janae is in 5th. Nathan is in 2nd. Marianne startes Kindergarten on Monday. The kindergartners start a week later. Julene starts our co-op neighborhood preschool Sep 1st. Jared and I get to stay home and catch up before everyone comes home. Janae, Marianne and Julene couldn't wait and have been counting down for weeks. Nathan isn't as excited. I asked him what he did the first day, and he said "nothing". That's probably true. The next day was better, but he can't wait until they really start doing things and all this preliminary talking is done. He has been enjoying cub scouts and wants to pass everything off. I have also enjoyed both of them having that structure at school, and I am getting a little more done at home.