Friday Rides

We have been so busy but for some reason I haven't been bringing my camera along on all of our outings.  For the month of February we spent our Fridays with my mom and the horses.  We have had an uncommonly warm winter and most weekends have been sunny and warm so we loaded the horses up and took them to the Equestrian Center to let them run and let the kids ride.  I think it is probably both girls favorite thing to do.

 Watching my girls chatting while they rode makes a mama happy!

 Poor Sim is so allergic- he would rather stay in the truck.

 Sometimes others would join us- my sis, nephews and niece 

March 1st we finally had a huge snow storm, but it melted within a few days- I wonder what the next few months will be like?

Sunday morning decorating...

Next year... maybe I will be brave and bake gingerbread houses that we can decorate- but this year we just bought one.  The kids spent about an hour assembling and decorating their little house- the sounds they were making were like music to my ears- talking, getting along and letting each other take the lead on certain areas of the house. 

It turned out pretty great too!

Horsing around

The kids and I went on a lovely horse ride with my mom, Nana.

The girls traded off steering Shadow, my mom rode Senator, and Sim and I rode on Maize.

 We discovered that, while we thought Simeon was over his horse allergy, we were wrong.  This poor kid had a pretty miserable time- this is a picture of the beginning of the swelling of the eyes- it got really bad later.

 We stopped and made a fire and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows.

I love that we get to do these fun things and enjoy the outdoors just down the street from our house.  And I love that my mom will take us with her on her horses.  Next time, I think I'll have to pre-medicate Simeon so he's not so miserable.  The girls, however, were in heaven.

A Puzzling Day

One day in November, I couldn't keep the kids off the floor.  For art they learned about floor painting and practiced on their own "tile"

 then later, they brought out a bunch of puzzles and put them all together- Olivia did most of them, but everybody helped a little.  This is one of the reasons I love this room with no rugs or carpet- the kids can build with blocks and legos, put puzzles together and even color on the floor.

Pumpkinland- Preschool Pals

We have been doing a little preschool group for Sim this year and it is so fun.  We go on lots of field trips and I only have the kids about once a month or so.  It's a great trade.  Around Halloween we went to Pumpkinland- I had never been there and the kids really loved it.

 Corn maze!

There was a lot to do there and the kids got to pick out a pumpkin- so they were happy.

Halloween

Halloween was maybe a little too much fun this year.  We had party after party, dressed up a million times (well, more like three or four) and ate a bunch of junk.  Jayda decided to be a ghost with chains (I think it's the ghost of Christmas past, but I could be wrong)

 Simeon went back and forth between a cowboy and Darth Vader.  For one of our parties, we made lots of gross treats: jello worms, earwax q-tips (marshmallows and carmel), bloody band-aids(graham crackers and frosting).  For another party we made mouths(apples, peanut butter and marshmallows) and witch fingers(breadsticks with almond finger nails).  Most of the treats and ideas were found on Pinterest- have you discovered this place?  It's pretty great!

 My friend Carrie came and helped make the treats- we decided that the worms were pretty awesome, but a lot of work and not a lot of yield.

 the bloody band-aids were better to feed a crowd.

 We had a party with my family and most everyone dressed up- here Simeon is a mix between Superman and Buzz Lightyear.  

 My sis brought a new friend (wink, wink)

 The kids played games and got prizes

 And of course- trick-or-treating!

 Jayda tried really hard to stay in character as much as possible.

 Sweet Olivia was Hermoine Granger from Harry Potter- She pulled it off pretty well, I think.  The kids were lucky to have such a warm wonderful day on Halloween- the next day, it snowed.

Overnight fishing with daddy

Petter took the kids camping on a cold, rainy weekend.  They ended up sleeping in the car and had a great time fishing the next morning.  Petter's sister, Sonia rode her motorcycle and met up with them for some fishing.

 They caught several fish and had tons of fun.  The next day in his prayer, Simeon prayed to go fishing again soon.

Sonia kind of looks like a crazy biker lady- she made everything fun for the kids just by being there.

The Bean museum has no beans...

I am an idiot.  Really, an idiot.  We started a little neighborhood preschool group for Simeon and we go on lots of fun field trips.  This field trip was to the Bean museum.  On the drive there the kids kept asking me what the "bean" museum would be like, I obviously had no idea and wondered if it would indeed be full of beans(like unusual ones or something).  To my and the kids' delight, it was not full of beans, but full of animals- stuffed animals.  They also had a reptile show (which seemed kind of random, but good)  where we met a turtle,

 held some snake skin,

 felt some strange things,

 and found a trumpeter swan!!!  Because of one of our favorite books, this swan was a huge hit.

I would absolutely recommend a visit to the bean museum at BYU, and just across the parking lot is the creamery where they have delicious ice-cream.  Perfect field trip.

New pictures

My little brother, Geoff has a girlfriend (wait, now she's his fiance!!) who does some photography on the side and took my kids pics for me.  She was so great!  The kids were pretty good and we did it at Petter's parents house- their yard is amazing.

Can't wait to see the finished product!

Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming

In my effort to prolong summer as long as possible, we keep going swimming.  

It might be my favorite thing about homeschooling.  We have done school at the pool a few times but mostly we get everything finished and then spend the afternoon playing.  We might need to move somewhere that accommodates our habit.

Vacation Continued... A day at the lake

First thing in the morning the day after crabbing, everyone ran down to the lake.  It was such a perfect, sunny day

 The kids were still in their jammies but wanted to hang out a little with their feet in the water looking at this beautiful, quiet lake

 After breakfast, canoeing

 paddling (or peddling?)

 fishing (he's trying to convince me that a little pebble is a fish)

 swimming

 sliding

 and floating.

 After lunch, Barretts wife, Brandi came with her kids and the kids played and played some more

 They even caught a snake and let it go in the water.  This was one of my favorite days of our vacation, I read, napped, talked with Brandi (whom I love), swam and lounged.

 After the party left, we drove a little while to Hoodsport for some dinner.  We ate at a combination burger/chinese place

 and then went exploring a little in this cute town.  We walked down a long pier and watched some people fish and try for some crabs.  This is an inlet of the ocean and I love how it feels more like a lake with the trees on both sides.

 The small area by the water had tons of clam shells- the kids loved how one side is so smooth and the other is rough and full of barnacles