Weston Turns 4.

We celebrated Weston's birthday with our immediate family and later in the week he had a few friends come over for his friend birthday party. At his pary we ate his favorite, pepperoni pizza, and chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting and sprinkles.

He got a Power Ranger blaster that turns into a sword in "sword mode." With a press of a button it also gives voice commands. He thinks it is the coolest. After dinner, cupcakes and presents, we made Weston's last birthday wish come true and all went to Jumping Jacks, a place my children love to go and jump on big blow up toys till they are exhausted.

Snow in April

The last week in March was beautiful. The grass was getting green and spring was in the air...until the first week in April when this happened. We need the moisture and while I am grateful for it, sometimes I had to say so through gritted teeth. This may be evidence that Heavenly Father participates in the April Fools holiday.

I Am a 33 Year Old.

Thirty-three feels a lot like thirty-two, but I must say that I have discovered a few more wrinkles around my eyes. I plan on growing old gracefully...it seems at thirty-three I am beginning that journey. For a cake we used a lowfat zucchini bread dropped off by our awesome home teacher, made by his awesome wife. We are currently in the thick of eating more healthfully. My cake is a sign of our dedication to making a lifestyle change. For candles we used the 3 and 2 that I bought two years ago for Rob's 32nd birthday and one match to make 33. There just weren't ANY candles to be found. I applaud Rob's ingenuity.

Rob got me one of my two favorite pictures of the Savior. I hung it upstairs in our bedroom right in front of the treadmill where I look at it often. Amidst the children, the look on the Savior's face is attentive and full of love. I love it.

All the kids wrote me cards. I had a great birthday!

Easter 2009

We had a meaningful Easter this year celebrating the life of the Savior and His resurrection. I purchased a fabulous book called A Christ-Centered Easter by Joe and Janet Hales. In it there is an outline of family activties for the whole week from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. There are a number of ideas for age-appropriate family activities that appeal to kids of all ages. Here is the montage of pictures we used during Easter week. Everyday we would learn about one or more of these pictures from the Gospel Art Kit. Our family really enjoyed celebrating Easter week in this way. We had an Easter egg hunt on Sunday with Rob's sister, Jessica, her husband, Nate, and their daughters, Annebel and Shelby.

Betsy Ross

I got to participate in the Kindergarten Kindy 500 rotatation playing the part of Betsy Ross. I told the children about the first flag that had a circle of 13 stars representing the 13 colonies. We talked about places that the flag flies and how we take good care of it just like we would take good care of something that is special to us. At the end I got a litte teared up when I looked into their little faces and told them that the flag is an IMPORTANT reminder for us to be united because when we work together we are STRONG. Some of them got teared up too. It was so cute. I love the innocence of children and how they can grasp concepts that we sometimes think are over their heads. I wore my Mother's pioneer dress that she wore on her mission in Nauvoo, IL. I couldn't get my hair into an attractive looking bun, and try I DID. But I'm pretty sure that Betsy Ross wasn't a blonde either.

Kindy 500

All kindergarten classes in Spanish Oaks Elementary participated in the Kindy 500. Each child, with the help of their parents, was to make a vehicle to "drive" through the hallways for a short parade. Then they were to drive their vehicles to different parts of the school and learn about some of our country's national symbols. The symbols they learned about were: the Bald Eagle, Mount Rushmore, the American Flag, the Statue of Liberty, Lincoln Memorial, and the White House.

When I asked Bastian what vehicle he wanted he said, "I want a mother ship!" He liked the mother ship on StarFox, an old video game that we no longer have. I searched the web to find a design to work from but to no avail. I let Bastian know that we might have to think of something else.....like a truck, perhaps. He said, "No. Let's make the Millennium Falcon." Off to the computer we went. We found the famous Star Wars spaceship with ease and we were well on our way to drawing up the design when Bastian got sick. He had a temperature of 102 and was sleeping the day away while I cut out the ship and designed the blaster gun and satellite.
Here is what Bastian did while I worked on the Millennium Falcon. Look at those RED cheeks! He wanted to help more but was physically unable.

The next day Rob sprayed the design in the garage.

Bastian was feeling a little better during the painting phase. He and Weston played around in the garage for a bit.

Bastian helped spray paint his spaceship.

The next day Bastian seemed to be feeling much better. He definitely didn't want to miss the Kindy 500. Here he is with his class. Bastian is in Mrs. Olsen's kindergarten class.

Bastian was assigned the state of Arizona as the state his vehicle is licensed in. We made this personalized plate from Arizona. We love Arizona because Aunt Shelly and Uncle Alan live there. Our family loves to visit them.

He had a great time and loved his spaceship. After school his fever returned. We took him to the doctor and they said he had pneumonia! We got the prescribed meds and I took good care of him until he was better. I am secretly soooo glad he didn't have a fever the morning of the Kindy 500. He would've been so disappointed!

Charming Cookie Tester

I have a dang cute cookie tester living in my very own home. Weston's green t-shirt reads, "Mom's Offical Cookie Tester." He takes his job seriously but still manages to smile through all the testing.

The Deep Desire of the Little Eggshell

While Abby and I were making cookies, she cracked the egg and got eggshell in the bowl. We made up a story about this little eggshell whose strongest desire was to become part of a cookie. The day came when he hoisted himself into the dough bowl. It was hard work getting in the bowl. Would he be taken out and thrown in the garbage with his other eggshell comrades or would his dream be realized?His dream DID become a reality. Do you see the satisfaction and pleasure this little eggshell has having accomplished his dream? The moral of our story is to dream away, work hard and someday you may end up just where you dreamed you'd be.

I read a great quote the other day that says:

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.--Anonymous

Baking with Bucks

The Bucks have come to visit our home a few times during Young Men activities while their father, Josh, and our Dad, Rob, fulfill their callings as leaders. On one of those occasions we had fun making snowball cookies from Abby's Strawberry Shortcake Cookbook. We put one chocolate chip in the middle of each of them. They were devoured just like any sweet thing put in front of energetic children.

Budding Artists at Joyschool

The children painted pictures of nature and drew a picture with markers at joyschool.

I thought the pictures they drew were fabulous. Top from left to right: Alexandra Finlayson, Jaeda Sannar, Audrey Arndt. Bottom from left to right: Isaac Bradshaw, Weston LeBaron, and Ben Gunderson.

Alexandra: "This is a picture of my Dad."

Jaeda: "This is my Mom." Pointing to what her Mom was holding she said, "This is my baby (sister). Hers is getting long hair."

Audrey: "This is my Mom."

Isaac: "This is a bad guy."

Weston: "This is a hot lava guy with sharp teeth."

Ben: "This is Darth Vader, " he said after humming Darth Vader's theme song almost the entire coloring session.