Nie's Motherhood Message

This was definitely too good not to share. Reminds you why you're a mom and makes you love it. Happy Mother's Week!
http://www.youtube.com/user/mormonmessages?blend=1&ob=4#p/a/u/0/KHDvxPjsm8E

Yard Sale Fun

This morning I went to neighborhood yard sales and got some awesome deals. I got clothes and shoes for the kids (some brand new with tags), a costume for Jacob, roller skates for all 3 older kids, and this pop-up tent and "Rocket" for Connor. I thought about saving the rocket for Christmas because it's in perfect condition, but that's 8 months away and who know if he'll like Little Einsteins by then. He LOVES them and has been happily playing all day. Zach has been asking to have roller skates for a while now, so he was very happy. What surprised me was how persistent Jacob was. He was out there for a long time with lots of falls, but just kept trying and trying.

I think he's going to have a very sore bum for the next few days. But he still had a smile on his face!

I got this portable swing for the baby for super cheap. I offered half price and they gave it to me! It will be so nice to have with us when we go to Arizona with a 3-month old baby for Thanksgiving.

Library Crafts

On Thursday the library had a "Spring Fling" where the kids could come and make crafts and play games. Connor & Savannah loved it. First we made caterpillars that folded and attached to pencils (Connor has been playing with them all day today).Then we made lilies out of the kids' handprints. This was Connor's first time using scissors (which he calls "slissors"). He shredded up a piece of paper and had a great time.

They also made bookmarks (which Connor calls "bookmarkets") and got a rub-on tatoo on their arm. It was a fun time!

Car Seat Canopy

Today my mom called and after a minute said "Is that your sewing machine?" Yes, I was sewing. It doesn't happen very often, so it's worthy of mention on the blog. I made a car seat canopy for the baby. I've seen these and thought they would be so nice for keeping off the sun, wind, and fingers of people I'd rather not have touching my brand new baby. But they're pricey to buy online, so I made my own. It's a tan color on the inside, to keep it cool.

Lesson learned from sewing today: Don't use dark thread on light fabric if you don't sew very well. The contrast looks awesome if you can actually sew well, but not so great when you can see every mistake. Oh well, the baby won't care.
Thanks to my sister-in-law Alisha for posting this link:

http://just-because-i-am-me.blogspot.com/2010/02/car-seat-canopy-tutorial.html

Fuzzy Hair

On Saturday when I cut all the boys' hair I decided to give Connor a buzz cut. It's just so much easier for the summer since it's always sticking up when he's sweaty. Jacob decided that's what he wanted too and they both love it. Connor tells everyone he sees that he has "fuzzy hair" now.

The best thing about the baby...

Zach just came in and asked to see the countdown of how many days left until the baby comes. I was surprised because he hasn't really cared that much so far. We started talking about what the baby might be named, how Zach is going to help, etc. I was thinking "Wow, he really is getting excited about it."

Then he says "You know what will be the best thing about the baby? When it is 3 we get to have a dog that doesn't tear everything up like Cassie did." (Cassie was a puppy we had when Zach was about 3 years old.)

I told the kids a long time ago that when the last baby at our house is 3 then we'll think about getting another dog. Well Zach had been getting excited that Connor was about to turn 3, and then we broke the news that another baby was coming. He wasn't too happy. So at least he's thinking positively now...only 3 years, 107 days to go.

Happy Helpers

The kids were great helpers on Saturday doing yard work. First Savannah & Connor went with Dallin to Home Depot to buy manure for the backyard. They got to ride on top of all the bags on the flat bed cart and both thought it was the funnest thing ever. Then Dallin put everyone to work, but they thought it was pretty fun using shovels, rakes and buckets to move it all around.Connor was in his own little dirt world. He would move manure from one pile to the next and thought it was the BEST thing ever.

Connor's new favorite activity...washing his hands. Or in other words, making a huge mess with soap and water all over the bathroom and I have to change his shirt every time.

When I went out later to spray off all the shoes I found this from when Zach & Savannah stayed out to play for a while. They made flowerpots and replanted the weed flowers.

Zach's fun week...

The boys had a busy week at school. On Tuesday Jacob had a field trip to the YMCA in Leander. They did a bunch of stuff outside and he said it was pretty fun. On Tuesday evening was Zach's musical. It was songs from around the world. He looked like he was having lots of fun. There is a video clip at the bottom.On Thursday Zach had a field trip to Crowe's Nest Farm. I went there last spring with all of my kids, so he was really excited to go back. The parents all drove separately and met the buses there.

We went on a hayride and watched a demonstration of how milk gets from the cow to the grocery store. My favorite thing though was watching Zach with the animals. He gets right down next to them and pets them (if possible) and talks to them. He was really excited to see the chickens because they have baby chicks in their classroom right now.

Ms. Cox's first grade class