Can you tell these two are related?

Two Peas in a Pod--these are the two that I hear look the most alike. Definitely brother and sister.

Gracie's Latest

 

It has been a while since I did a post solely about Gracie. Being the only child not in school, she spends a lot of her time running around taking the other kids to all of their activities.  So this one is just about her and what she loves.  The first thing she loves, this black and white dress in the picture above.  It is her new favorite.  If it is clean, she is wearing it.  She loves skirts, dresses, anything that twirls when she dances, which she does constantly.

She loves this blanket.  She is the first of our children to really be attached to a blanket.  She carries it around the house all day.

 

Gracie still twirls her hair.  Only now she twirls in and sticks it in her ear!  I tried to get a good pic of that, but it didn't really work.  It wouldn't bother me except that now her hair is SIGNIFICANTLY shorter on one side and she is starting to knot it again.  My latest approach is to keep her hair braided at all times. Oh, and to tell her that if she doesn't stop I am going to have her hair cut like the boys....we'll see what happens.

 Barbies.  Gracie is definitely a Barbie girl.  She will play Barbies for hours by herself.  She and Davis are definitely the best at playing on their own.

Other things Gracie loves...

Avacados

Meat

Ice Cream

Painted finger and toe nails

Disney's Jake and the Neverland Pirates

Headbands

Shoes

Dress-ups

Drawing

Potty Talk

Going to the Nursery at Church

Swinging on the Swings

Singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and "ABCs"

Princesses

Things that Gracie does NOT love...

Eating Breakfast

Being told to do something that she does not want to do 

(she has perfected the art of acting like she can't hear)

Being picked up by Kate

Getting into her Car Seat

Bread

Naps (she still needs them, but they are few and far between)

Sure love you little Gracie...may you always have that sparkle in your eye!

Chef Owen

For days now Jed and I have been sick...I do not say lightly that we are sicker than we have been in years.  Luckily, Chef Owen has come to the rescue!  He told me that he was going to take care of all of the meals yesterday, so I decided that he might as well kill two birds with one stone...We looked up the  requirements in his scout book for his cooking patch and Owen has taken on all of the meal planning for the past day and a half...going way beyond his requirements. He wrote a menu and really did everything that he could do on his own.  Thank you Owen!  You are a great cook in the making!

 

Field Trip Time

 Last week Kate's preschool went on the favorite field trip of the year...First stop was the music store.  Very fun, even for shy Kate.

 Then on to Papa John's Pizza...notice all of the flour in the kid's hair.  The manager threw flour all over the kids.  You should have seen their shocked faces!

 The kids think it is so fun to pull the large magnets off the wall.  Those magnets are strong!  I guess they have to be to stay on top of the delivery driver's car. 

 Time to make her own pizza....Cheese Only!  She was thrilled.

Kate was so sweet she ate two pieces of her pizza and then saved a piece for Owen, Davis and Gracie.  They sure loved her that afternoon!

I Made My Hair!

 This school year has been a tricky one for me.  It has been hard to balance my time and attention between four kids, a spouse, our home, two schools where I like to be involved, our business, church responsibilities, etc.  I was talking to a good friend of mine about some of the anxiety that I was experiencing and she suggested that one area that I could simplify my life would be to let Kate have more control over getting herself ready...Heaven knows she loves to "make" her own hair and put together her own outfits.  She told me that she doesn't care as much about how her girls (she has 3 of them) look as she does about how they behave.  She said that they feel confident when they make their own choices and she doesn't feel the need to make them appear perfect.  So, I have been taking her advice and it really has been liberating.  Kate does feel more confident when she has done things for herself.  I will admit that I still do her hair on most days, but I don't fight her on the days that she wants to do it herself.  After all, she does a good job, don't you think?  Thank you Jen for helping me let go of the things that really don't matter!

Boys Group

I don't know if I have mentioned this before or not, but the Kindergarten schedule in our town is just crazy.  The kids go to school all day two days a week and then they alternate every other Friday.  So, Davis goes to school on Mondays, Wednesdays and every other Friday.  Weird.  In some ways I like it because he is still with me at home a couple days a week, but let's face it this kids is a sponge and just wants to learn.  Thankfully, an amazing friend of mine organized a play group for Davis and 5 other boys who are in the same boat.  We call it "Boys Group".  We take turns hosting for a couple of hours on Thursday morning.  We try to teach the boys something and let them play at the same time.  Here are a few of the things that we have done....

 They learned about bones.

 They made compasses and did a map activity.

 They learned about how sound works.

 They learned about dinosaurs and made fossils.

They did this experiment with celery and food coloring.  It was amazing how fast it changed colors.

Other highlights have been learning about friction, shadows and Ground Hog's Day, elephants, bats, making a homemade "marble works" and ice cream, learning about the heart for Valentine's Day, etc.  

My all time favorite activity, thus far, was having the boys make Christmas cards.  We then took them to a local assisted living facility where they sang a few Christmas Carols and passed out their cards.  It felt good to see them learning about serving others.  

Yep, we love Boys Group.

Valentine's Day at School

 Valentine's Day is so fun....I love all of the class parties, Valentine sharing, red and pink, heart shaped pizzas, etc.  I do not necessarily love all of the candy that now fills my cupboard, but...what the heck, it is job security I tell myself....Happy Valentine's Day 2012! 

Kate and Caroline...so thrilled to be sitting together at the party (usually their teachers separate them in an attempt to get them out of their comfort zones and foster additional friendships)!

Love this preschool...I am fully aware that a parent-coop is not feasible for everyone, but for me it is worth the sacrifices.

Can hardly believe this boy is on the down side of kindergarten.  Still wondering who told him he could grow up!

Laughing at his buddy Stephan!

Owen was so happy to have me at his party...that made my day.  The kids in his class were adorable opening their valentines with excited "thank yous" on every one.

To end the day I read this sugar hyped group a Valentine story.  Such a lucky mama to be able to be there and know Owen's peers

Basketball for Davis

Last month Davis played basketball at the YMCA.  Once a week for a month...perfect.  He loved it and especially loved that so many of his buddies were there with him.

I know that this is not a great photo, but I love it...look at his buddy Aiden coming after him, along with one other boy.  Then look at where everyone else is!  So funny!

Don't these two look too cute for their own good?

Another Star is Born

Last week it was Owen's turn to be star of the week.  Of course he loved it.  This kid has always loved Show and Tell, so why wouldn't he love a week of bringing in his favorite objects that reflect him?  All week long the teacher reads off clues and everyone guesses who the new Star of the Week could be...

My favorite color is blue.
My favorite book is Hardy Boys.
My favorite thing to do is Legos.
My favorite person is Dad.
My favorite pet is the baby horse (one of the horses that lived in our pasture last Spring/Summer/Fall...um, ya we don't have any pets).
I have 2 sisters and 1 brother.

I loved that he wanted me to come in while he presented all of his treasures, even though none of the other kid's moms have come in thus far.  Oh, that he could be unembarrassed by me forever!

He showed his soccer and basketball metals, a couple of small Lego creations, pictures of his family including all the grandparents and cousin Hunter, his rock collection (most of which have come from digging in the yard), his foreign coin collection (thank you to Jed's cousin, Scott, for most of these), his newest Hex bug and his first teddy bear.

After he was done presenting it was "Fun Friday" (free choice time), so he convinced me and the other kids to stay and do an art project with him (they made birthday cards for Jed).  He was so sweet and attentive to Davis, Kate and Gracie it was one of those Heavenly moments.  He really can be a sweet boy when he wants to be. I am proud of him.

Gracie for one, loved being at school with Owen!

What's in a Name

Today I have to send my kids to Sunday School (we call it Primary) with a description of why and how we chose their names.  I figure this is as good of a place as any to record that, so here we go....

Owen Todd
Owen is actually Jed's middle name and was the middle name of his father as well.  From the time we were dating I always thought that if we ever got married and had a son, his name would be Owen.  I love it.  I love that it reminds him of his father, whom I hope he will be like when he grows up...honest, hard working, kind, intelligent, handsome (had to put that in there)...

Todd is my paternal grandmother's maiden name.  My Grandma is a strong women who loves Jesus Christ.  She is a hard worker who does not whine or make excuses.  Yes, we hope Owen will take on these qualities for himself.

Davis Ward
Davis is a family name on my father's side.  We named Davis this as a way of honoring my father and grandfather.  Davis is my paternal grandfather's middle name.  Both Davis' grandpa (Papa) and Great-Grandpa are hard working men.  We hope that Davis will have a desire to work hard and be full of integrity as did the men and women in the Davis family.

Ward is the maiden name of Jed's mother, Nila.  We used the name Ward in honor of her.  She is a woman who has done a lot of hard things in her life thus far.  We hope that Davis will have a love of learning and of the Savior, Jesus Christ, as does his Grandma Nila Ward.

Kate Elisabeth
Kate is the name of one of my ancestors, but truthfully we chose it because we love it.  Not Kathrine or Katie, but Kate...just Kate.

Elisabeth was chosen as a middle name after my Maternal Great-Great Grandmother.  She lived in Germany during the World Wars.  She was a strong woman who stood up for what she knew to be right.  During the second World War she would intentionally shop at stores banned for being owned by Jewish families.  We hope that Kate will have her strength and determination is doing what she knows to be right.



Grace (Gracie) Jeanne
We chose the name Grace for obvious reasons.  We think that it is a beautiful name and it reminds us of our Savior.  Ironically Gracie is extremely graceful in her movements and it always dancing around as if she lives in a ballet.

Jeanne is my middle name and my mother's middle name.  We hope that Gracie will love her family as I love mine and my mom (her Nana) loves hers.  We hope that she will choose to do hard things, even when they are not popular and will be true to what she knows to be right....hopefully these are qualities that I am developing from my mother as well.

So, there you have it...obviously, giving each child a name to live up to was important to us.