Carter's Photo Shoot

While we were up Center Creek Canyon on our picnic Carter decided he was cold. So, he went to sit in the truck. As you can see he found the camera and decided to do a little photo shoot of himself. This kid really makes me laugh! Love you Beans!

First Picnic of Spring!

We decided to spend Saturday afternoon in the mountains. We drove up Center Creek as far as the snow would let us, then stopped for a picnic. Luckily we had a tube for sledding in the truck with us. We had a really good time. I love when it starts drying up so we can go for rides and picnics up the canyon!

Thank You Grandpa!

My grandpa came to school on Friday for our Artists in Residence Presentation. He brought several of his carving projects and talked to the kids about using their minds and imaginations. He told them there is never an excuse to say they have nothing to do, because all they need to keep themselves busy and have a good time is right in front of them. He did eight presentations to 19 classes. It was really good. Many kids said it was their favorite of all the artists.

King Ailshie and his Royal Pains(I mean subjects)!

Brian does a program at our school called Knights of the Math Table. It helps the kids in passing off their math facts. He does it for all of the 3rd, 4th and 5th graders at our school. Each month they have a "feast". McDonald's provides cookies and punch. Then Brian does a fun activity with each class. Spencer and Ben never miss a "feast".

One More Update

My friend Mallory told me when you don't go on your blog for a long time, then suddenly post tons of things it's called, "blog barfing". Okay, so I did it. At least with this type of "barfing" I didn't have to be sick or wet my pants from "barfing" so hard. (Most of you who have kids know I'm only telling the truth).
So, on to the next item of business. We have expanded our family by 12. Twelve hamsters that is. They were born in the wee hours of March 21st. They are actually quite cute. It has been a fun experience for us. The fun part is that they aren't nearly as messy and as much work as puppies or kittens. Plus, they get to leave their mom on April 21st. Puppies and kittens take twice as long!
Finally, only 10 more days until we leave for Texas!!!! Can you tell that I'm exceptionally excited? It has been way too long since we had a vacation. We get to be gone April 4th through April 19th. We even get paid days off. Yay Brian for not getting sick so we can convert them to personal days! I have always wanted to see Texas. Brian's sister lives in "Deep East" Texas, so we get the opportunity to travel across much of the state. I know many of you think I'm crazy, but that's okay - you don't have to come! I'll make you jealous though when I post all my fun pictures!

Spencer enjoying life!

Remember when you would go to the park and roll around in the sand or gravel. Especially on a nice warm day, it just feels so good. I'm thinking I should follow in a four year old's footsteps.

Ben's first time on the big kid swing

He was pretty scared, but he felt like too much of a big boy to let it show too much. Wow! Where did my baby go? Big boy swings and potty training - so many things all at once. Ah, the magical age of two!

Lauren Turns 7!

What do you do with 23 first graders? I don't know. I'm just amazed we made it through the birthday party. Luckily it was only an hour. We had one of the kids that was allergic to eggs, so no cake at this party. I learned how to make good Rice Krispie treats though. I know, how hard can Rice Krispie treats be, but I can never seem to get them to set right. Luckily, I learned the right recipe. Just in case any of you find yourself in the same predicatment here's the recipe: Melt 3 Tbs. butter and 4 cups mini marshmallows in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high for 2 minutes, stir and microwave for 1 minute more. Add 5 cups Rice Krispies and stir. Press out in a 9x13 pan and allow to cool. I found I had better luck with a bowl, spoon and pan greased with Crisco.

Off to the Fair...Science Fair - that is!

Tyler was able to participate in the Central Utah Sciene and Engineering Fair on March 25, 2009. Only 4 students from his school were eligible to attend. When he first did his science project he was hoping he wouldn't make it through the school competition. Well, he made it through that one and the district one too. So, off we went to BYU. Now he can't wait for next year's science fair. His project was about the effects of playing computer games on your mind and body. He found that he was able to play one hour of computer games per day without any adverse affects. It was quite interesting.

Carter the Dare Devil!

Carter is such a little dare devil! He loves to jump his bike and try new tricks. He has been doing really well. He keeps us Oohing and Ahhing. Then he had a little mishap the other day. It knocked him hard enough to knock him right out of his shoes! I was sure we had broken bones. Luckily it was just a bad case of road rash. As we were out picking up our injured patient he was saying, "I'm fine Mom! I'll be fine tomorrow. I can jump again!" I'm fine with that if he wants to jump again, but let's get the road rash cleaned up before it's infected.

On Friday I got to go on a field trip with Ty's GATE class. (GATE is short for Gifted and Talented Education.) We went to the Clark Planetarium in Salt Lake City. This is a picture of Ty testing the weight of a meteor. We had a really good time. We also got to see a Sky Watch Show. The presenter showed us how to find several constellations. He also showed us the comparative sizes of the planets with the sun and several stars. I realized what a small part our world is in the whole scheme of things. It makes me that much more in awe when I look at the stars. Last night and tonight we were able to see the planet Saturn. It was in opposition to the sun. Which means that Saturn was exactly opposite of the sun so it was reflecting the light of the sun really well. So our family is on a star gazing kick these days!

Chocolate Mommy!

We celebrated Carter and Lauren's birthdays today. Instead of making a cake we decided to have a chocolate fountain. Ben didn't get the dipping part down very well. Or maybe he did the dipping part REALLY well! Grandpa caught him in the act.