Easter

Tyler and Kaitlyn almost had the same school schedule this year, but not quite.  They had two or three days where one kid would be home but not the other.  Tyler had the Friday before Easter off, but no one else did.  So he got to come to Jasmine's preschool egg hunt.  He helped us hide the eggs, and then helped find the last few at the end.  In fact, I think he was just as excited about the making the hat craft as any of the younger kids, and maybe more.

My sister-in-law hosted the annual Easter Egg hunt for the family.

Oh, and right before Easter is when we drastically cut Kaitlyn's hair.  The longer her hair grew, the more straight some sections were.  We were struggling to detangle the wavy knots, and I kept wondering if her curls would "sproing" back up if we cut the length and weight off.  I've always cut my kids' hair simply because I'm cheap and it usually isn't hard.  I should have asked for help on this one, though, because I cut the top very short and the curls didn't come back.  So now we had straight, short sections on top of curls.  I had a neighbor help me fix it, and Kaitlyn loved it, but I was sad every time I looked at her for a while.  I just don't know enough about curly hair to help that poor girl very much.

We dyed Easter eggs at home, too, so that the Easter bunny had something to hide.

Tyler's last Pinewood Derby

I'm so sad that we are already done with the Pinewood Derby!  It has been stressful getting the cars ready every year, since Daddy likes to do them at the last minute "so that the kids don't wreck them".
This year, we were even more behind than most.  I was looking all over pinterest to see how we should decorate the car, and came across someone that had just glued the Minecraft Creeper design right on the uncut block of wood.  I thought that Christopher would veto that for better aerodynamics, but he told me that it hardly makes any difference and that we should go for it.  Tyler loved it!

Love this goofy kid.

And, amazingly enough, Christopher was right!  He worked really hard on prepping the wheels, Tyler helped me glue the paper over the weights, and Tyler's car won 2nd place!  Christopher never won anything in his Pinewood Derbys as a kid, so he has been really excited to win with Tyler.

I'm so glad Tyler can go to scouts.  He isn't into sports, and doesn't like feeling behind the other kids or in a herd at sporting things.  Scouts gives him something he can actually do with kids his age, and a way to make friends with the boys in the neighborhood.  I just can't believe he is almost done with Cubs!

School projects

The kids each came home with big projects for school that had me a little stumped.  And of course, they were on the same week.  I was really happy how they came out, though.

Tyler was assigned to read a biography book, create a diorama about that person, and then dress up like them and answer questions in their "wax museum".  We had a hard time thinking of a real person that would mean something to him, and I eventually just went to the library and picked based on what they had.  I picked Teddy Roosevelt hoping that Tyler would remember all the trips we have taken to National Parks.  I wasn't sure if he would remember anything we talked about, but he really enjoyed making the diorama with me and when he got all dressed up he had fun getting into character!  He told everyone that went by "Hullo.  I am the President of the United States," in a very deep voice.

I was really proud of him.  That seemed way out of his level, but he did great.

Kaitlyn was assigned to give a presentation about family traditions for her class.  She was supposed to learn what her family heritage is, and talk about the traditions that have been passed down.  The only problem was that I couldn't think of anything we do that has been passed down for generations!  So we interviewed Grandmas, talked about what nationalities our family comes from, and we made a family tree so that she could see a bit of where she comes from.

She told her class about little things, really.  She likes math because my father and I were both math teachers, she learned to sew from me who learned from my mom, etc.  And the two people at the top were pictured because one was in the Pony Express and the other was a bodyguard for Joseph Smith.

I'm grateful for school projects that stretch me to do things with my kids I wouldn't have thought of, but they sure were a lot of work!

Jasmine turns 4

Jasmine was so excited for her birthday!  I'm writing this post a half a year later, but I do remember how much she was counting the days until it was time to celebrate her.  I invited her friends from school to come and play with us at Classic Skating for a little party.

Jasmine has a lot of friends, but she often tells me that Avery is her best friend.  Avery is very quiet and sweet.  I feel bad sometimes that Jasmine is so dominant, but as an introvert, I can also remember that my best friends have often been the ones that declared themselves my friend and took me by the hand to go and do fun things.  Hopefully Avery feels the same way.

The kids all had a blast jumping around!

I have to admit, I totally skimped on the cake.  We went to to buy her a cake and found this one on the day old shelf.  I figured that 4 year olds don't care about the quality of birthday cake, only that it exists (which is true) and went for it. But when I took it out to put the candle in, one side of frosting was falling off the cake!  We turned it around for pictures, and sure enough, no one cared.

Presents!

I had to post this picture because this puppy has gotten a lot of love since she got it.  Jasmine went through a few different names - "Heart Heart" and then "Love Love" and sometimes just "Puppy" - but it was carried everywhere for months.

At home, Jasmine got a little remote controlled car (since she had been jealous of Tyler's).

And since we still had nearly all of the cake still in the fridge, I brought it out again rather than make another cake.  How much cake do we need for one family in two days?  You can see the frosting was falling away even faster now, though, so maybe I should have put in a bit more effort . . .

"Get out of my picture!"

She loved this little Genie lamp that gave her answers like a magic 8 ball.  I just love those little toes.

This is normally where I do my annual snapshot of what they are like at this age.  Unfortunately, this will have to be the snapshot of what she is like at age 4 and a half, since I'm writing this in August.

*She is mellowing out quite a bit, but she is still not a girl you want to cross before breakfast or when she is really tired,  We are seeing more and more of a sweet little girl, however, and I'm grateful for that.

*She to play with friends, as long as they aren't bossy.  She likes to be in charge, and she has two older siblings who tell her what to do all the time, so she loves to play with kids that are younger than her or quieter so she can be a happy little mother hen for them.  She also loves to take care of her "baby".  For a while, that has been an old Hawaii beanie baby, and lately she has shifted to having "two babies" once she snagged a small, stuffed Rapunzel doll at the thrift store.  She has a lot of baby dolls, but those have been ignored.  She carries around her "baby" in a giant blanket and give it kisses and tells me about how it is taking a nap or how much she loves kisses or never cries.

*For most of this year, she decided that the highest number in the world was 31.  So if she was bouncing off the walls and someone told her "wow, you have a lot of energy!" she would tell them that "I have THIRTY-ONE energy!".  Or sometimes she was 31 hungry.  Things that weren't happening soon enough were 31 years long. She's recently replaced that number with "one hundred thousand eighty one!"

*She learned how to write her name this year in preschool, but when she doesn't have the guide to trace, she always writes her J backwards.  I've tried to correct her, but she told me I was wrong.  Her way is cuter, I suppose.

*One of Jasmine's favorite things to do is to rub lotion into skin.  I seem to be her favorite, and I love it.  A massage from a four year old is still a massage!  She loves is so much that when she is upset by things, I can ask if she wants to put lotion on me and it actually calms her down.

*Jasmine loves to play on the computer.  She has found a bunch of videos on youtube where older girls are playing with Anna and Elsa dolls and talking in their voices.  "Elsia!  We need to go to the castle!"  I have absolutely no clue why she loves those absurd videos, but she really, really does.

*Jasmine is quite particular about her wardrobe.  In the entire last winter, I never convinced her to wear actual pants one time.  She eventually decided that she was okay with leggings, so I got a few thick leggings for her to wear, but she also never wore long sleeve shirts if she could help it.  This summer, she has mostly stuck with light play dresses.  I've just been happy that she's at least seasonally appropriate now.

*One of her favorite snacks is to ask for a can of peaches or pears.  She can go through an entire can in one sitting.

*Jasmine loves Minions, most Disney characters, and is still our wild, crazy and silly little girl. We love her!