School Read-a-thon

My favorite memories from Elementary School were our Read-a thons. We brought blankets, pillows, snacks, and books and we bedded down and read all day long! It was so fun! But, none of the schools around us do them anymore. When I decided to be the Education Commissioner for our PTA one of my main goals was to get the school to do a read-a thon. I know it's not too lofty of a goal but it was mine. :) I talked to the principal and teachers before Christmas and I was pleasantly surprised that they were OK with it! But, when the kids heard about it they were thrilled!!!! And that is what mattered to me! I think read-a-thons are a great way to encourage reading for enjoyment! And to give the kids time to really get engrossed in a good book!

We sent out fliers preparing the kids for our "DROP EVERYTHING and READ" event. On Friday the kids wore their jammies to school and brought snacks and books and read all morning. I went around to the classes to collect footballs as part of our reading initiative that is also going on and it was so satisfying. The kids had all found little corners and were sprawled out reading their books and eating their snacks and having a good time! It was great! In Kelsie's class I found her and Holly hiding in a corner reading. :)

The lower grade classrooms were definitely a bit rowdier than the older grade since all the kids think they need to read out loud! As a result, I went and helped read to some of the kids in Emily's class that couldn't read that well on their own. My boys got to come with me and they loved it. Carter wore his jammies and brought his own books and he loved hanging out with Emily at school! So cute! Emily's teacher was so sweet to my boys and gave them all kinds of treats while they visited. All in all I think it was a great success and I hope it's something we can continue because I know my kids would look forward to it every year! I know I did as a kid!

Random fun from our week

I had activity days at my house this week and we made these fleece scarves. They turned out super cute and the girls loved them! Thanks to mom for helping me get them sewn and ready for the activity day girls at the last minute. I'm really good at taking on projects I don't actually have the tools to do and my mom always comes to my rescue. We made one for Emily too and my girls have been wearing them every day. Fun, fun!

This is why 1 year olds should not paint! There was paint everywhere, even his mouth! But he loved every second of it.

We found the boys playing the computer together. They were both completely mesmerized by the screen and didn't even notice us. It's really fun that they are starting to enjoy playing together more.

Piano Recital

Mindi and all of her students. Kelsie and Emily are on the far right.

This was Emily's first recital. Her performance was adorable. She played "Morning Prayer" and Mindi played the duet with her. She has totally mastered the curved wrists and did the cutest head drop at the end of her piece. Seriously so cute. She is SO excited to be in piano now. This was Kelsie's 2nd recital and she played a Sonatina that was all over the piano and she did great with it. She also played "The Entertainer" as a duet with her best friend, Brianna. It was adorable to see them up there together. They had the cutest little head moves and dynamics that were all coordinated and it was so fun to watch. Kelsie absolutely loved learning this song and loved playing it with Brianna. It is such a fun song. I will miss hearing it daily--although I'm sure I'll still hear it a lot. Kelsie loves it!

Kelsie and Brianna totally wanted to match for their duet and they happened to have these matching dresses!

Peekaboo!

Matson's new word is "Peekaboo". It sounds like "Bocaboo" and he can't resist turning everything he sees into a game of peekaboo. How adorable is this?!? Peekaboo with his animals. And how scary is this?!? He got a little to into the game. Ouch!

Crazy January

I remember thinking that January was a really long, boring month, but not so much this year. January came as a bit of a shock after a relaxing Christmas break. We jumped back into school, preschool (and signing kids up for next fall), piano lessons (preparing for a recital), activity days (I just got called back to this), PTA meetings, and teacher appreciation at the school. It has been crazy. I've been putting together preschool packets for next fall and visiting with new parents and kids. We are having the PTA teacher appreciation in Jan. and we're planning out our year for activity days. I'm really excited to be back in activity days and the third times a charm, right?!? Either I was meant for activity days or I haven't managed to learn what I was suppossed to from the calling, but I sure love it. We are still Primary teachers as well.

The weather has added to the crazines. It's felt like spring so we decided to set up our new trampoline on January 2nd. Who does that? It was 60 degrees and the kids were out all day jumping. It has been the best Christmas present ever! We all love it and they've spent every afternoon outside in January. It's been so great!

Setting up our trampoline!
The first jumps on our new tramp on January 2, 2012! My favorite part is John's satisfied face as we watches the kids having the time of their lives on our new toy. :)

Our Christmas

Christmas Morning 2011--the kids were surprised with a trampoline from Santa! They were delighted! Carter's excitment was bursting out. He was screaming "a trampline a trampoline" and jumping around in circles. He was seriously jumping a foot in the air as he ran around the room. It was the most excitement I'd ever seen in my life--he was just bursting! It still makes me happy when I think about it, especially that I got in on video. :) They've all been begging for one for a couple of years but mom and dad DID NOT want one so they were especially surprised.

Matson got a little Wheelies Raceway. He loves it! He totally understood that this was HIS Christmas present. When Carter tried to take it over to play with it he pushed Carter right out of his way. We were all laughing at our funny little baby---okay, Carter wasn't as amused as us!

Carter got an Imaginext pirate ship and a BYU pillow pet. He didn't get a tool set like he asked Santa for and he kept mentioning it. He wondered if Santa didn't know how to make a tool set or ran out but finally decided Santa must have just forgot. I guess he was under the impression that you get everything you want.

Emily wanted another doll--a friend for Kirsten. She got a doll named "Ella" and Kirsten got a pet cat. Yes, our American Girl dolls have little stocking for themselves, thanks to Kelsie's great idea! :)

Kelsie got a sewing maching and she was so suprised. It is a mini, lightweight sewing machine but it can do everything a big machine does--it is really cool. She is going to sewing lessons in January.

I got John this canvas BYU basketball picture to hang in his office. It was the 1st time ever that I totally surprised him and I was so excited. John got me a little digital camcorder which I love!

Christmas afternoon

After Christmas at our house and church, we headed to my parents for a gift exchange with all my family. Matson got this dog book from Grandma and Grandpa and immediately took it over to Grandma and wanted her to read it to him.

Then we headed to the Durrant's for the cousin gift exchange. Here is Matson with his cousin Kenna. They are just 6 weeks apart.

This year we each planned a few different games for the kids. It was really fun and kept the kids entertained. John broke out his awesome BINGO set and we had a huge group playing. It was a lot of fun!
Carter was the official BINGO caller! He loves to be in control so he loved every second of being the man in charge. Christmas always feels a bit like a marathon with both of our families living close but it was such a nice day and we loved seeing everyone!