Sprinkler Time!

It is 94 degrees outside. This is what we did today...Warm weather = Connor heaven

Pinewood Derby 2009

The Pinewood Derby was on Saturday! Jacob was so excited. My boys had been before since I had to go for my primary calling. Jacob loved making his car with Dallin.

The Z-Wing (that's what Jacob named it)...and yes, the little Star Wars lego guys got to ride in the race.That is the back of Jacob, Zach & Savannah...anticipating the next race. Savannah loved that there was never-ending popcorn at the refreshment table.2nd place in that heat! Jacob was a little sad that his car never won a race, but he had a fun time and is excited to do it again next year!

Connor sat so good in his stroller the whole time, with just a little fussing here and there. This was near the end...

Caterpillars

Zach has been learning about insects and bugs this week at school. Consequently that's what lots of our discussion at home has been about. Today I was about to throw out an egg carton and remembered the good old days when my mom taught preschool. We used to save egg cartons for things like making caterpillars. The kids had fun and Zach is so excited to bring it to show his class.

Zach always loves a good art project...

The finished products!

Last night we had a family movie night and this picture was so cute. Connor was so excited that Jacob let him sit next to him. Connor stayed there for like 20 minutes or so (which is a long time for Connor to stay in one place). Zach and Savannah always make their way into pictures somehow.

Post Office Field Trip

This morning Savannah, Connor and I went on a little field trip with some friends to the post office. Since 9/11 happened they can't bring tours in the back, so it was mostly a Q&A session and he explained to the kids how the mail worked. They also got a coloring book. It was interesting and fun for Savannah to do something out of the norm. She was excited to get her cards postmarked with the date (she even got her hand postmarked). Then she got to put her letters in all by herself! She asked if she can do it every time and I will be happy to oblige.

Oh, and for those who know Connor well you're probably wondering how I kept him quiet. He was in his stroller with a package of Smarties...luckily they lasted the whole presentation.

Just call me "trouble"

"Trouble" strikes again...Connor is changing so much lately. He talks so much now and is learning like crazy. He knows all his capital letters, numbers to 10 (and can count to 10), shapes, and most colors. He is also very, very noisy. We're working on what "quiet" and "whisper" mean. Today he surprised me in the car when he counted to five in Spanish...gotta love that Dora!

Easter Fun!

This is what we woke up to this morning!Read the note for explanation...
The surprise element made it that much more fun. Connor had no clue what was going on, but loves his little barn and animals that the Easter Bunny brought.

Savannah got a little tiny dog in a pink & purple carrier (behind her jelly beans). The 3 older kids had candy for breakfast. That has NEVER happened at our house because we always have church later (and I've been in primary enough to know how fun it is to have 100 kids sugared up to the max).

Zach with his new water blaster...

We dyed eggs too...another first at our house. We used a set that has little bags for each egg. You add a few drops of the dye and swish the egg around with in the bag. It was very kid-friendly and they had a great time.

Jacob wasn't all that into it, but didn't want to be left out of the pictures.

There was glitter to pour on after. Zach was in "art project" heaven. I also made each kid taste a bite of hard-boiled egg. Like always, Zach is the only one who liked it. He had one for lunch.

The kids spent the rest of the morning building a "fort" and hiding plastic eggs all over the house for each other to find. We're already missing a few, which is why we don't use real eggs.

Big boy...

Yesterday I had a whim...time to move Connor out of the crib. So I did. I 'd been thinking about it for a while now. All of our kids were out by age 2 because of necessity (Jacob & Savannah both at 18 months). This is the first time I'm not pregnant or expecting with a 2-year-old. I moved the crib mattress to the floor and put a lock on his closet door and the inside of his bedroom door. He got all excited while I was rearranging and jumped on the bed. I laid him down (at naptime), told him "night night" and shut the door. SCREAMS!!! He was so mad at me. I think he was actually a little scared without the security of the crib bars around him. He cried and moaned for 1 1/2 hours. I reassured him that I was still there (from outside the door) and told him it was time to take a nap. He fell asleep for 1/2 hour and woke up freaking out a little still.

Last night for bed he started freaking out when I put his pajamas on. Anytime we said the word bed he would say "no, no, no!" and run to hide on the couch. He only moaned for 45 minutes last night.

We had an exhausting morning with our photo shoot this morning (see previous post), and he was good and tired. He moaned for about 2 minutes and was asleep 10 minutes later. Victory! It was hard to listen to him crying "Mamamamamama," but well worth it.

This picture was when I went to get him after his nap yesterday...awake and calling for me, but still so tired. Poor kid. Like is hard when you're two.

Spring Photo Shoot

Every spring I get the kids pictures done, by themselves and together. I usually go to JCPenney (school pics are a rip-off and my boys pose so bad they don't look like themselves). I have coupons and a card that makes it really cheap. But the last time we went there the guy acted like he'd never taken pictures of kids before, expecting all 4 of them to hold still in weird positions forever and stuff. Connor is in a phase of "I will do exactly the opposite of what you want." So if I want him to stay in one place and look at the camera he will look down and run away.

So this year I decided to do it myself (with my new, much-better camera). I am not a great photographer and not that creative with how I take them, but at least my kids look natural...for the most part. Just don't count the 90% of the pictures on my camera that have Connor leaving and Jacob desperately trying to hold him back, smile and look at the camera.

Here are some of my favorites (click to see them closer)...
Connor really like the "walking" pictures since he didn't have to hold still. I just had a hard time getting him to look up.Try getting 4 kids to look at you at the same time, let alone smile, when there's cool stuff around them to look at...

These 3 did great and endured lots of time waiting while I ran after Connor.

The ONE shot (out of like 200) where they were all actually looking at the camera at the same time. Too bad it's blurry because I had just pushed Connor back into the picture and backed up really quick. My poor kids were cold and covered in goosebumps. In the sun it was nice but the shade was pretty cool.

Every time Connor was cute in a picture both Zach and Savannah were looking the other way...

Connor's protest shots...