Dallin is now a 4th Grader

Dallin had an amazing 3rd grade year and it is due in large part to the influence of an amazing teacher! She new just how to encourage and motivate Dallin to do his best! We have seen him become a confident reader, leader in the class, a whiz at multiplication and division, enjoyed art and music classes, and who could forget his love for P.E. Congrats Dallin on such a remarkable year!!!

Yippee!!! 

 Dallin and Ms. Jewell

The boys counting down the last minute of 3rd Grade!

Congrats Dallin, we are so proud of your accomplishments this year!

Carson Graduates Preschool

Carson graduated preschool on June 6th! He is now officially a Kindergartner! I can't believe how quickly the last few years have gone! Carson enjoys learning and has an inquisitive mind. He also has a great capacity for memorizing and retaining information! He has learned so much these last two years!

Cutie patootie!

 We truly enjoyed the school he attended and his teacher, Ms. Nancy! She is a phenomenal teacher! She has so much love and compassion for the little ones! We will definitely miss having her in our lives (well, at least until Hudson is old enough to attend)!

 Gramps was able to come see Carson's advancement

 I'm so proud of him! He's such a smart cookie!

 We love him (Dallin was unable to be there due to school. Hey I already had received a truancy letter so I wasn't about to pull him out).

 Carson and his best friend, Maya

 Carson and Ms. Nancy

Congrats Carson!!! We are so proud of you!

Classroom Treat

Don’t be just any type of sucker…

…be a mummy too!!!

Just a few more weeks until the boy’s class parties and I am almost finished with the little treat for them to pass out to their classmates.

Supplies:

Sugar Daddy suckers
Gauze
Googly Eyes (7mm)
Black ribbon
Black ink
Glue

How To:

1.   Cut your gauze in 2.25” x 10” strips. I was able to find cotton gauze at the 99cent store.

2.  Cut the black ribbon to be 9”.

3.  Print out onto cardstock some cute tags, cut them out and then distress the edges with black ink. Punch a small hole in one corner (big enough for your ribbon to pass through). Slip the ribbon on the tag.

4.  Take one sugar daddy sucker and start wrapping the gauze around it and then twist it around the sucker stick. Secure it in place with the ribbon.

      5.  Glue on the googly eyes! 

As you can see, it’s pretty easy to do and I was able to get several items at the 99cent store and WalMart. This cost me about 15 cents a sucker (I had ribbon and ink already so that cut down my cost). 

Happy Creating to you, 

P.S. If you would like me to send you the tag, just leave me a comment with your email address.

First Day of School 2010

A Good Day

While I was recovering in the hospital from the c-section, our oldest child was starting his 3^rd grade year.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I love to take lots of pictures of the big day and I love to see my children off and be there to pick them up and get their reactions. Obviously that was all out of my control this year, but I am indeed grateful to my husband who took a few pictures and made sure Big D got a great breakfast and was there to pick him up (even without a wink of sleep for almost 36 hours – I’m telling you I married the most amazing man ever) and when I saw him after school (when he came to meet his little brother for the first time) we got to talk about his first day.

I am so happy that we went to meet his teacher the week before. After talking with her, looking around the classroom, and picking his seat – Big D declared that his teacher is AWESOME and I conquer. She is calm, friendly, motherly, and according to D – she doesn’t raise her voice. I can just tell this is going to be a good year!

D - May you have an increased desire to learn, a chance to make new friends, and as always continue to choose the right! I am so proud to be your mom!

 
Three Cheers for a new school year, 

Choose the Right

We will choose the right at school, at home, or at play!

In the midst of contractions, I simplified our back to school dinner! I didn't deck out the table like I normally would and we had to shorten the celebration. 

I love Big D's face in this picture!

This school year our focus as a family is to choose the right! 

So we celebrated our theme with crowns, enjoying a yummy dinner, singing the song “Choose the Right,” and we talked about how we can make good choices while at school, while playing with our friends and family, and at home. After that, my handsome hubby was able to give a Father’s Blessing to each of our boys to help them prepare for the new school year.

Just a few hours after these pictures were taken; hubby and I were on our way to the hospital to welcome our newest little one into the world. Perfect timing – right?!!! 

Happy Choosing to you, 

Go Green and Gold!!!

We just got back from a visit to Colorado to witness the culmination of 3 years of conference calls, late night class watching, lots of reading, dozens of papers written, quizzes taken, tests and more tests, etc.... The boys and I witnessed the graduation of my dear husband from the distance graduate program at Colorado State University with his MBA!!!! 

I was a bit emotional watching him walk across the stage in his master's hood and regalia! Our boys were excited to hear daddy's name announced. My mom came out with us and my sister and niece joined us there (they live in CO). The graduation was also broadcast online where I know his dad watched and cheered along!!! 

Here was the end of a journey that began as a prompting from the Holy Ghost that my husband received while attending the October 2006 General Priesthood Session. I remember well the conversation we had that night after we had put the boys to bed (they were 4years and 6months). He told me about the impression he had while listening to President Hinckley talk. He felt strongly that he needed to further his education and we talked about the pros and cons of this venture. Wouldn't you know that in 2 months time not only had he researched many different schools, he was enrolled in the Distance MBA program at CSU and he was on his way!!! 


I just have to say that his schooling has NOT had a major impact on our family. That was a huge concern of mine at the beginning but he held true to his promise that he would not let it get in the way! He was able to negotiate a full time job, a busy church calling, being a soccer coach and baseball coach, and just being the amazing man he is! I so appreciate his determination, his ability to find balance, and I am so proud of his achievement! 

Way to go honey - we are so proud of you!!!


*** Just a interesting side note: all three of his alma mater's have the same school colors - El Camino High School, California State University Sacramento, and Colorado State University!!! Go Green and Gold! 


Pomp and Circumstance to you and yours,

A+

My oldest son has a pretty great teacher this year and to show her our appreciation we have given her a little gift each day this week!


I borrowed a few of these ideas and then came up with some of my own. What are some things you have done to show teacher's the love?

Day One - O"fish"ally the best! You can use goldfish crackers too!

Day Two: Coming to the "Aide" - lemonade packets that you add to water. You could use lemon drops.

I didn't get a picture of the ones I made for Day 3 or Day 4 but above is the tag that went with it.

Day 3: "Scent"sational - a container of air freshener, candle, or a plugin type of gadget, etc...

Day 4: Hugs and Kisses for all you do - a bag with Hersey's Hugs and Kisses

Day 5: You are worth 100 Grand! I have to admit I munched on a few of these 100 grand bars - I'm worth at least 100 grand too!!!

Many thanks to those who choose to teach and enrich my children!!! I'm glad we have you on our team as we raise our boys to become awesome adults!

Happy Appreciating to you,

Preschool Egg Hunt

Can I just say that I love the school that C-man is attending. The teacher is so loving and kind. The other kids in the class are great and the things they do at the school are so much fun!

Here is their Spring Party, the Egg Hunt and the visit from Peter Cottontail.

C-man and his buddy M. with their Chick masks on!

I love the egg holders they made out of milk cartons!

The class

C-man and Peter Cottontail

Happy Spring to you,

PEEPS for the Class

What do you get when you take a bunch of these....

... and some of these...

...and put them inside these?

Spring Treats for your child(ren)'s classes!

So I borrowed an idea I saw on another blog (I would give credit but I can't remember where off the top of my head and I'm too lazy to search for it).

Here's how to make it:

Ingredients

* Peeps (I used 3 per bag so you will have to do the math to figure out how many you will need)

* Cellophane goodie bags - about 4"x10" (you can get them at most craft stores and even at WalMart)

* Cardstock tags (if you want to use the one I made, just leave me a comment with your email and I will send the file to you)

* Scissors

* Stapler

Step-By-Step

1. Print, cut, and fold the amount of tags you will need

2. Cut off the top 1" of your cellophane bags (a bit tedious but it makes the end result look better)

3. Put 3 peeps in the goodie bag

4. Fold the bag over and then sandwich it in the fold of the cardstock tag.

5. Staple the tag onto the bag

6. Repeat until you are done

Note: your fingers might end up the same color as the peeps you use!

Happy Gifting,

Family Pictures 2009