Monday, June 28, 2010
Saturday, June 26, 2010
5 Years Old!
Yesterday Tess turned 5 years old. She had a wonderful day with friends and family. Her big present from us was her new bike! She was very excited about it and we all took a family bike ride first thing in the morning (I was even still in my jammies!)
This year Tess got her first "friend party." (I've decided to do them at age 5, 10, & 15. That's it.) We're lucky that Tess has a summer birthday so we could do the entire party outside. We did a pool party with ten friends and lots of water activities. Here's Miles enjoying the Slip-n-Slide; this is about as wet as he got all day. He was mostly content to just watch the other kids play.
This is a Buzz Lightyear rocket. The kids really liked being able to make Buzz fly (and then knock him down, which was not supposed to happen...but kids will always find a way to modify the game! :)
The biggest hit of the party was the Bonzai Falls, which we borrowed from Bryan's parents. It's a giant inflatable waterslide, and the kids (& adults) in Bryan's family love it. We were very excited when they offered it to us for the party. The kids loved, loved, loved it! Here's Tess taking her turn.
When I asked Tess what kind of cake she wanted this year, she said a kite. That was great! Really easy to do! Tess helped me do the candy-dots on top.
Here's the birthday girl, making a wish. (Check out the darling tutu she's wearing--that was a gift from her cute neighbor friend.)
Here is the Q&A from Tess's birthday interview:
In other news, I'm trying to help Miles be more independent with dressing himself. He did his shirt all by himself today and he was so proud!
He was pretty close; the head hole and one arm hole were successful. Now we just need to work on that third pesky hole!
This year Tess got her first "friend party." (I've decided to do them at age 5, 10, & 15. That's it.) We're lucky that Tess has a summer birthday so we could do the entire party outside. We did a pool party with ten friends and lots of water activities. Here's Miles enjoying the Slip-n-Slide; this is about as wet as he got all day. He was mostly content to just watch the other kids play.
This is a Buzz Lightyear rocket. The kids really liked being able to make Buzz fly (and then knock him down, which was not supposed to happen...but kids will always find a way to modify the game! :)
The biggest hit of the party was the Bonzai Falls, which we borrowed from Bryan's parents. It's a giant inflatable waterslide, and the kids (& adults) in Bryan's family love it. We were very excited when they offered it to us for the party. The kids loved, loved, loved it! Here's Tess taking her turn.
When I asked Tess what kind of cake she wanted this year, she said a kite. That was great! Really easy to do! Tess helped me do the candy-dots on top.
Here's the birthday girl, making a wish. (Check out the darling tutu she's wearing--that was a gift from her cute neighbor friend.)
Here is the Q&A from Tess's birthday interview:Favorite color: red, orange-ish, dark blue, purple, pink, & white
Favorite food: Chicken Cordon Bleu, and Mac & Cheese
Favorite drink: water & apple juice
Favorite thing to play: with Miles
Are you excited for Kindergarten? No, because I don't want to meet my new teacher & I'm scared to meet new friends. I want to be with my old friends and teacher. (I have a feeling this will change after 1 or 2 days at school--Tess is really good at making new friends!)
Favorite trick from Tumbling class: headstand
Favorite candy: bubble gum
Favorite book: Berenstain Bears
Favorite song: I Am a Child of God
Favorite TV show: anything on Sprout
Favorite movie: Monsters vs. Aliens
Favorite veggie: corn
Favorite fruit: blackberries & raspberries
Favorite place to go: Dollar Store
What makes you laugh? Elias (friend from preschool)
What makes you sad? getting hurt
Who are your special friends? Jaxsen, Mari, Forrest, McKensie, Rylan & Mabry
We sure are thankful to have Tess in our family. She is a beautiful, smart, funny, kind girl who we love very dearly!
In other news, I'm trying to help Miles be more independent with dressing himself. He did his shirt all by himself today and he was so proud!
He was pretty close; the head hole and one arm hole were successful. Now we just need to work on that third pesky hole!
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Cake Wrecks!
One of my favorite blogs to read is Cake Wrecks. If you have never heard of it, you should check it out, cuz it's stinkin' hilarious!! I love to read it everyday and start my morning with a laugh. The writers of the blog, husband & wife John & Jen Yates, were in SLC last night, so my BFF Jennie and I went down to see them in person and see a slide show of some of their favorite wrecks.
Also, as part of the fun, people make small "wreck-plicas" of their favorite wrecks. John & Jen judge the wreckplicas for their favorites and then people get prizes. (I debated about making one...but in the end I ran out of time and didn't bring one, but here's a photo of some of them.)
I never got a good picture of John & Jen, but here's a not-so-good pic. They are a lot younger than I expected. For some reason I thought they'd be a little more middle-aged, but they were probably my age (I am NOT middle-aged yet! :)
Anyway, it was a great time. If you're ever bored, surfing the web, check out Cake Wrecks and you'll be laughing for sure!
Also, as part of the fun, people make small "wreck-plicas" of their favorite wrecks. John & Jen judge the wreckplicas for their favorites and then people get prizes. (I debated about making one...but in the end I ran out of time and didn't bring one, but here's a photo of some of them.)
I never got a good picture of John & Jen, but here's a not-so-good pic. They are a lot younger than I expected. For some reason I thought they'd be a little more middle-aged, but they were probably my age (I am NOT middle-aged yet! :)
Anyway, it was a great time. If you're ever bored, surfing the web, check out Cake Wrecks and you'll be laughing for sure!
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Metamorphosis
A month or two ago, Bryan & Tess found some caterpillars under a board in the field by our house. At first they thought they were monarch caterpillars, so we went out with Tess's bug-catcher and gathered 2 of them up, hoping to see some cool monarch butterflies. Well, I did some searching online and discovered that this type of caterpillar will turn into a moth, not a butterfly. But, who cares? It's still so cool to see the cocoon, right!? So, we put some leaves and grass in the bug-catcher and hoped for the best. After a week or two, I thought one had died because it was curled up (and I couldn't see the other one.) So I took them out to the garden and dumped them out. But then I saw a cocoon! One of them had already wrapped up in the cocoon, and I guess the other was getting ready to. So, I gathered the stuff back up and we kept watching.
The cocoon was a lot different from the butterfly cocoons that I had had in my Kindergarten class. The monarch butterfly cocoons are smooth and green, then they turn grayish, then kind of clear before the butterfly comes out. The caterpillar also builds the cocoon to hang from something--like from a tree branch. These moth cocoons are fuzzy and black and don't change at all over time; plus they weren't hanging--they were just right on the floor of the bug-catcher.
Yesterday when we got home from the cabin, I discovered a moth on the wall of the bug-catcher! The kids were SO excited! We still have one cocoon to go, so we're going to watch it carefully; we hope to see the moth actually emerge from it! It was really cool!
Here's the other cocoon, still in the bug-catcher:
Here's our new friend (we let him go last night, but not before he crawled in Tess's hand & up her arm. He pooped--or something?!--on her and she started freaking out! But she was able to settle down after the moth was safely back on the sidewalk.)
And, just in case you're curious, I just googled the difference between a cocoon and a chrysalis (I'm never sure if I'm using the terms correctly) and here is what it said: "Butterflies hatch from a chrysalis, a life stage made of a hardened protein. A cocoon is spun from silk and surrounds the pupa of many moths." So there ya go!
The cocoon was a lot different from the butterfly cocoons that I had had in my Kindergarten class. The monarch butterfly cocoons are smooth and green, then they turn grayish, then kind of clear before the butterfly comes out. The caterpillar also builds the cocoon to hang from something--like from a tree branch. These moth cocoons are fuzzy and black and don't change at all over time; plus they weren't hanging--they were just right on the floor of the bug-catcher.
Yesterday when we got home from the cabin, I discovered a moth on the wall of the bug-catcher! The kids were SO excited! We still have one cocoon to go, so we're going to watch it carefully; we hope to see the moth actually emerge from it! It was really cool!
Here's the other cocoon, still in the bug-catcher:
Here's our new friend (we let him go last night, but not before he crawled in Tess's hand & up her arm. He pooped--or something?!--on her and she started freaking out! But she was able to settle down after the moth was safely back on the sidewalk.)
And, just in case you're curious, I just googled the difference between a cocoon and a chrysalis (I'm never sure if I'm using the terms correctly) and here is what it said: "Butterflies hatch from a chrysalis, a life stage made of a hardened protein. A cocoon is spun from silk and surrounds the pupa of many moths." So there ya go!
Cabin Campin'
We spent the weekend up at Bryan's parents' cabin. It is always so nice to go up there and hang out. We were alone on Saturday and then we were joined by Bryan's parents and sister's family on Sunday. It was fantastic! We went on a long hike on Saturday morning to the river where the kids loved throwing rocks in the water, then we just played outside, looking for deer and chipmunks (we saw a lot of both!). Tess's favorite activity was riding the giant rope-swing. The kids loved playing with their cousins, and Bryan & I loved playing games, visiting, and staying up late with the other adults. We also got to go for some fun motorcycle/4-wheeler rides. What a great weekend!
Here are Bryan & Miles, ready for a ride on the big swing...
Here's Miles, thinking that was a pretty fun ride!
In other news, Tess had her graduation from pre-school last week. She loved her teacher and her friends from school very much. Here she is with her teacher, Jaclyn.
Here are Bryan & Miles, ready for a ride on the big swing...
Here's Miles, thinking that was a pretty fun ride!
In other news, Tess had her graduation from pre-school last week. She loved her teacher and her friends from school very much. Here she is with her teacher, Jaclyn.
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