Taylee

I finally had Taylee's one year pictures taken. I was tired of Sears, so my friend Shannon said she would take some pictures of her. We found a nice spot and snapped away. These are a few of the favorites. I'm having a hard time deciding which one to frame and if I should do color, black and white or sepia. I really loved how the close-up picture where she isn't smiling captured all of her features, but some of the others showed her personality a little more and some were just dang cute! Thanks Shannon!

Brooklyn

Lots of firsts for Brooklyn the past couple of weeks. first, she started dance. She has been asking for a long time to take Ballet and I finally convinced her daddy that she should do it. She's been twice and comes out beaming every time and then asks every day if she gets to go to dance. It just doesn't get much cuter than three year olds in leotards and ballet skirts.

Then, she started preschool. I'm doing a co-op preschool this year with four other moms in our ward. It was at our house first and it was a lot of fun with a few minutes of crazy. They are all so excited and we have really fun lesson plans for them. I'm really excited for the next four weeks since I don't have to teach and for 2 hours twice a week I'll only have ONE at home!

Brooklyn is a sweet little girl with a streak of drama! She is always thinking of ways to give to her siblings and friends, usually some type of art project. When she is mad, though....watch out! The whole neighborhood can surely hear her shrieks. She is so smart and so creative, which I'm learning can sometimes be an interesting combination at the age of three (to say the least).

Here comes trouble!

Oh boy! This little girl was deceiving as a newborn...she NEVER stops moving (except to sleep of course). As you can see, she's into cupboards, the one there she cleared of all the pans and then climbed on in. In the pic on the blue box she was trying to get to the books on the side table. At one point, she was standing on the very edge (a flimsy box mind you). Did I mention that this was AFTER I removed her at least 4 times? Toys don't interest her much, she goes straight for everything you don't want your one year old to have. When she doesn't get her way, everyone hears about it..she is very vocal. Don't get me started on stairs. I have never had a baby like this!! Call it cute, call it curiosity, call it whatever you'd like, but I call it trouble!

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.