we've been everywhere, man...

this past week has felt like that johnny cash song...

 i've been everywhere man, i've been everywhere. 

it's been the girls winter break, so we've been out of school.

we've been busy playing and having many sleepovers and playdates. 

 this is ella's new favorite outfit.  maybe she'll be a stylist oneday.

 before our break i was able to attend the 4th grade living museum.  each child chose someone they wanted to represent.  aftie chose mary anning, an early female fossil-hunter.  she had to prepare and memorize important facts about mary anning's life.  the visitors to the living museum pushed the button (circle sticker) on the child's hand and the presentation began!  all the kids were amazing.  it was interesting to hear about some well-known people whose life stories i was unfamiliar with. 

 a trip to red robin for dinner.  these two are so silly.

 ry had monday off of work so we went bowling.  we had a great time together!

we love hanging out with these friends. 

we hit the science museum (one of our favorite spots) and loved the narnia exhibit!

now i am going to focus my full attention on the academy awards.

ryan hates this evening of the year with all of his heart. 

one year he even went to the emergency room to get out of watching!

be my valentine

it's only 3pm and already we've had a pretty great valentine's day!

i got to go to ella's classroom party this morning. 

 the kids had a heart with a classmate's name on it under their chair.  they wrote something kind about that person and then gave it to that person.  the kids loved it!  they were so darling and sincere.

 then they made cards to send to our soldiers.  ella's little buddy standing next to her wrote "yo dog" on his card, and drew a picture of a guy with his arms crossed!  i'm not sure ella's teacher appreciated my laughter, as that could possibly show my approval of his behavior.  can't you just picture some soldier opening that card?  hysterical.

 our snack was a "friendship" mix.  each table had a bowl and each child had a bag of popcorn or pretzels, etc to add to the friendship mix.  but before they could pour it into the bowl, they had to say a word that helped to describe friendship.  kindness, sharing, loving, helpful, etc.

then we mixed it all together.  at my table, i flipped it like a chef flips food in a pan.

they liked that.

"hey! you don't even need a spoon!"

cool mom award.

 here's a little of the girl's valentine loot.

 here's aftie's super cute valentine box.  the whole 4th grade has a box decorating contest and she was a little disappointed that she didn't win. 

one of her classmates told her it was "a waste of chocolate".

he's the one she wishes wasn't in her class.

we also got a fun box full of cookies from grandma!  and gg sent a box full of candy and romantic music!

ryan and i met for a romantical lunch at chipotle.

and the girls and i are meeting ryan for a lovely dinner at olive garden.

perhaps we'll even order dessert.

happy valentine's day to you!

life in the frozen tundra

that's right.  frozen tundra.

 really that's what it has felt like the past week or two.  it has been so, so cold.

when you are forced to stay in the house for a while, you begin to notice things.

i realized that it was time to put something, anything on my kitchen walls.

it has been seven years of thinking that "we'll just be ripping out the kitchen anyday" so why put anything on the walls. 

enough is enough.

so i put these silly stickers on the wall.

also, i had some friends over a few weeks ago to make this cute heart wreath.  i saw it on a blog http://www.theidearoom.net/2010/01/felt-heart-wreath.html and thought it'd be fun to make.  i think i cut out 200 felt circles.  maybe 300.  but it's cute right?



fingerprint art

aftie picked this book at the library yesterday.  the girls have been doing such cute artwork with their fingerprints and our many stamp pads.  they have even decided to do their classroom valentines with a little fingerprint animal/person/figure/etc.

thank you ed emberley! (author/artist)

4th grade orchestra

afton had her first orchestra concert a week or two ago.  it was fantastic!

i can't believe the progress these kids have made in just a few months.

afton really loves playing the violin and is even teaching her little sister how to play.  marmee brought a violin to ella-belle last week, and you'd have thought she won the lottery!  she is so excited to have a violin to pick up and play whenever she wants.  thanks marmee!

perhaps lessons are in the near future for these two.

cleveland

this past week, my dad had business in cleveland.  we decided to drive over there and stay a night with my mom and dad. 

we took a quick trip to kirtland, ohio to visit the historical church sites.  we saw the original kirtland temple and the newell k whitney store.  these were important places in the history of our church.

it was cold and a big storm was supposed to be rolling in, so we made it a quick visit and then headed for home.  

it was great to see my parents.  congratulations to my dad for being a super banker and winning an award! 

middle school. aaaaagh!

this girl will be moving to the middle school in september.  i have been so nervous about the whole idea of middle school and sending my precious little thang off to that strange land of older kids and lockers and probably drugs and alcohol around every corner.  and bullies.  and scary internet predators. 

well, i went to the parent information night at the middle school tonite and guess what?  my mind has been changed. 

i came home practically skipping.  aftie is going to l-o-v-e middle school.  she's gonna love art club and orchestra and decorating her locker and chewing gum and switching classrooms and swimming during gym class.  i could hardly keep my excitement in check as i was telling her about all the fun stuff they have going on. 

i love how her eyes opened really wide when i mentioned art club!

as for finishing off 4th grade...she preparing her information for the living museum project that all the 4th graders participate in.  she will be presenting herself as mary anning, a paleontologist (i think).  she will dress as mary anning and then tell some important things about her.  this presentation will be made during school for all the students as they come to library. 

i feel so lucky to have our girls in such a great school.