Your face will get stuck that way

Ashlyn learned how to cross her eyes last week. And I find myself saying what I always heard people saying while growing up, "Don't do that anymore or your face will get stuck that way!!" Ashlyn is our little bag of tricks. She can cross her eyes, flare her nostrils, and make her throat move (seriously, it's weird, but Dave can do it too!!). Impressive, right? :) That's my girl.

Santa's Letter loop hole

I overheard this hilarious conversation in my car today...

Ashlyn: Did you know I'm getting a kitten for Christmas? I'm asking Santa Claus for one, so I'll have it by Christmas morning.

Emma: You are? That's great. Just make sure that when you write your letter to Santa that you put in it that you want a "real" kitten because one year I asked for a dog for Christmas, but I didn't specify that I wanted a reeeaaaaal one and I got a stuffed animal instead. So just make sure you put in your letter that you want a real one so he'll know.

Ashlyn: Good idea.

Me (in my head): Why are kids so smart these days???!! I should just start buying the kitty litter now... :)

Ashlyn's field trip

Yesterday I went on Ashlyn's field trip. She was so excited and so was I.
I LOVE spending time with my kids in their element. She loves school and it was so fun to see her excitement. They went on a Nature Walk and found a worm, a slug, a woodpecker, some squirrels and a blue jay.
It was an eventful walk.

The slug...

On the bus together...


What was not fun was the time that we returned from the field trip and Ashlyn threw a monumental size tantrum because it was time for me to go. I'm pretty sure that you could hear it at the other end of the hall. There might have been stomping of feet and waving of arms involved...luckily she never made it to the rolling on the floor stage. Aaaaahhhh...and she has always been my tantrum-free child! :)

Harrykindergarten

The title sounds weird, right? But it's actually the ticket subject search to finding fun and educational videos for kindergarteners. Ashlyn's awesome teacher shared this info with me. She pops these videos up on the smart board and the kids get really into it. I can really only vouch for "Vowel Bat" because it's the only one I've watched, but I know the kids love listening to, watching and singing Vowel Bat. Check it out.

All Harrykindergarten videos:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=harrykindergarten&page=1

Vowel Bat:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g43EfOXvpG8

I just re-watched Vowel Bat to make sure I'm giving out a legit recommendation and the video made me laugh. It sounds cooky when 25 kids aren't singing along with it. But it is a catchy tune and the kids sing it all day long.

Project Rudolph

If anyone is interested in doing an easy yet meaningful service project, I have one for you. A family in my parents ward started Project Rudolph a couple of years ago...http://www.projectrudolph.org/... They send care packages to soldiers who are overseas and they are in need of more adult written and youth written thank you letters. Here are the basic guidelines for writing the letters: http://www.projectrudolph.org/letters.html

This would be a great classroom activity for teachers and also a great FHE activity for families!

This is the address you would send the letters to: Cheri Archibald, 600 South Wilson, Oakley, ID 83346

Send as many as you can!!

Totally Bummed

Vocal Point got kicked-off The Sing-off tonight. I ruined my blog trying to fix my blog AND SweetieFry's is closed on Mondays. Not good.

Library Bedtime stories

We went to the Library for one of their bedtime story nights. Just to try it out. It was...meh. The concept was cute. The kids got all snuggled up in their jammies and we bustled over to the Library at 7:30pm ready to wind down to a cozy story. But I quickly figured out that going out to wind down doesn't work. And I'm not sure that it was worth all the effort. I do love finding new fun things through the Library though. Something is always going on down there!

This past week we went to the Great Lakes Science center, a few play dates at the park, more play dates at houses. I left my camera at home and it was great! Whenever I lug my camera around I always end up accidentally hitting (at least) one of my kids in the head with it! Ugh. I need a camera harness...or a few helmets for my kids. :)

A friend had a birthday this last week (the gorgeous blonde in the front!) and we had a fun time celebrating. I took this photo from her blog!