I thought this day would never come!

Trey started Kindergarten today! I was up all night....yes, me, not him! I can't believe it! Brooklyn was so sad. She came into our room and asked, "Is it tomorrow?" with a very sad voice. Yesterday, she knew Trey would start tomorrow. She cried and then so did I. The bus was 20 minutes late...pure torture for such excited kids! He had lots of friends with him, so he did just great.He even consoled a

sad little sister. He came home with a smile on his face and told me all about school. The bus was 25 minutes late....annoying! Seems not so long ago that he was 2 and I was thinking...will this day ever come?! Well, here it is and I am a bit nostalgic at the moment. Before I know it, all 3 will be off. I'll try not to reflect too much, cause it sure makes a difference having one off to school for a few hours! Go class of 2021!!!

presents and camping

For Taylee's birthday, Grandma and Grandpa Hardie gave her a baby doll (per request from her brother and sister). When the baby came, Taylee did love it, but her sister loved it more!! She was always stealing it from her and then telling me, "Taylee said I could borrow it." Nice try, Brooklyn. I might believe you if Taylee could talk! So I mentioned this to my mom and a week later there was a new package in the mail with a baby for Brooklyn and hot wheels for Trey...aren't Grandparents awesome!?

Last weekend we went camping with my in-laws: Jacob, Lori and their kids Mason and McKayla. We met in between Rexburg and Boise in American Falls. It was our last chance to get a trip in before school starts. We had so much fun! On Friday we went canoeing....well, sort of. the river has a dangerous current, so we had to go through a half hour of training with the park ranger before he let us go out. Then, we basically just gave our kids a little ride and called it good. The next day we visited Register Rock on the Oregon Trail, a rock which several pioneers carved their names into and the dates they were there, it was pretty cool. We spent the rest of the day playing on the jet ski and picnicing. Of course we did the whole campfire thing too. Ah, summer.

experiments

My kids love doing experiments. They ask me almost everyday to do one. After turning to the internet, I found a few we really like and want to pass on. Most are really easy, but they're not always clean, so if you don't like a mess, then preschool experiments aren't for you. Here are a few favorites:



Volcano: good ol' baking soda and vinegar. We put a few TB of soda in a baby food jar and built a volcano around it using playdough. Add a little food coloring for effect, then pour a little vinegar in and watch it "explode." I suggest putting it on a cookie sheet to contain the mess.



Liquid layers: This one is really easy and the kids thought it was awesome. In a clear glass add 1/4 C water w/ a little food coloring. Then slowly add 1/4 C of corn syrup. Next slowly add 1/4 C of oil. Have the kids guess which liquid will go where and then tell them why each landed where it did. Then play around with other liquids; we tried vinegar, pancake syrup and dish soap. The picture is below. It's after adding the other liquids too which caused funky colors.



Slime: Mix equal parts water and white glue. In a separate container dissolve 2 TB Borax with 1 C of water. mix a few TB of the Borax solution with glue and stir quickly and it will become slime that the kids can stretch and play with. It will be a little wet at first, but the more you handle it the drier it becomes. The pic is below.

preschoolrock.com and education.com are good resources. Sometimes I just google preschool experiments and see what comes up.

TAYLEE TURNED ONE!

My baby turned one, I can't believe it! I wanted her to stay little so badly. She is such a fun, sweet little girl. She has a smile that would make you do anything for her. She loves puppies (and panting at them), babies (real or dolls) and playing with her siblings. She is by far our most quiet baby. She only says mama and dada and not very often. She is doing well at baby signs, especially "more" and "eat." She loves food as all of our babies have. She laughs all the time and she has the cutest princess wave that makes everyone smile. She is also our most busy one year old, into everything and is not distractable. We celebrated in Rexburg with the Prices-30 of them! It was great fun!

Happy Birthday Taylee girl!