Big Boy Carseat!

Josh FINALLY weighs 20 pounds!

20 pounds and 2 ounces, to be exact.

Our tax refund also came. (Yay!)

So, with our refund, Grace, Josh and I went and bought a forward-facing big boy carseat for Josh. He LOVES it! He loves facing forward. I love not having to lug around a 20-pound baby in an infant carrier.

He smiled and giggled everytime we put him in for the first week we had it. It was so funny!

Grace really, really loves it, too. She loves giggling and playing next to Josh in the car. (They are really too cute together).

Fifth Project: Nutrition

Adam's project for February was to use the scientific method to conduct an experiment about a question he had about nutrition or the human body.

He had some elaborate questions. Questions that would require his blood to be drawn. Or his eyeball to be removed.

SO.

I went ahead and steered him a different route. ;)

He wanted to find out if cereal companies really add iron to cereal. To do this we ground up a bunch of cereal and water in the blender. Then we poured it in a bowl, and Adam took some strong magnets and ran them through the cereal to see if he could find any iron. He did! It was pretty cool (and pretty gross to think about that iron... that's not exactly natural!).

For his presentation, he showed his experiment findings and talked about what iron does in our bodies, and why it's so important. He did a fantastic job!

Field Trip: Las Vegas Natural History Museum

Mike was able to go with Adam on a field trip today to the Las Vegas Natural History Museum. Mike's been working SO munch lately, and he hasn't been able to spend a lot of time with the kiddos. We were all happy that his day off and Adam's field trip happened to be on the same day!

They had a really fun time together. Adam's favorites were the Egyptian room (that had an x-ray of a mummy) and the Marine room (that had live sharks).

A Fun Win!

Adam, as many of you know, is crazy into science. Each week when we go to the library he heads straight to the non-fiction section, and loves to read all sorts of science books. He requests them for birthdays, holidays, etc.

Someday he will probably grow up to be a professional football player, and will have nothing to do with science, but for now, he's very much into it.

(Just kidding about the professional football thing. He hates pain).

Anyway, I frequently visit The Science Mommy blog. Jennifer posts SO many fun science experiments to do with your kids. Adam and I LOVE looking through it. She had a giveaway for a science kit that she put together, with lots of fun materials to do experiments with... and I won!

Adam was SO excited! We got the package in the mail and he rushed through his homework so that we could open it up. He is most excited about the owl pellets, and has been begging daily to do them... I think that we'll wait until spring break while Josh is taking a nap, so we have plenty of time.



It's so fun winning things, and I love that I got to share this with my little scientists! Thanks, Jennifer!

While Mom's Sick...

We were so lucky this winter and have only had one cold bug go through our family. Adam got sick last Monday night, and then Josh. I prayed so hard that Grace would be spared (because of her recital). She was fine for her recital, and then got a fever that night. A few days later, I came down with the cold.

I'm glad they are good at sharing ONE thing.

;)

After getting everyone ready for the day, fed, and cleaned up, I fell asleep on the couch, next to Josh and Grace watching PBS.

When I woke up, they looked like this:


I feel so sad when they are sick and not able to do anything but lay on the couch and cough.

However, they DO tend to stay out trouble (and the candy stash) when they are feeling down.

Ballet Recital

Grace had her first ballet recital today!

Her class did a sweet little dance to "Here Comes the Sun" (from The Bee Movie), so they dressed like little bumblebee ballerinas. It was so ridiculously cute!

Seriously. I pretty much melted at the sight of her in a little tutu, with a tiny bun in her hair. Too cute.

She's taking classes at a community center, so they needed to get the stage time for free. They asked the casinos, and Mandalay Bay let them use the House of Blues stage during the morning. So, Grace got to perform on a professional stage, and LOVED it!

When it came time to dance, she was a little awed with all of the people in the audience. She would begin to dance and then stop and stare, and then she'd remember where she was and dance again. It was super cute! I so wish I could get a video of her on here!

Afterward, her teacher presented each of them with a certificate and a bumblebee charm for a necklace, as a reminder of their first recital. I loved her teacher so much already; she's so good with the girls! Getting them a little something was so sweet!

Grace loved the entire experience: getting to wear a little makeup, hanging out with her class before they performed, performing, sitting and watching the rest of the recital with her teacher, and getting praise afterward! I'm so glad she has an opportunity to develop a talent and meet new friends. Such a fun day!

Valentine's Day 2011

We had such a fun Valentine's day together!

Josh was starting to get sick, and I was up with him. So, I asked Mike to take care of putting out the Valentine's treats we had gathered for the kids. I had planned on doing a treasure hunt, but never got around to it. He went to the store and bought some candy and put it all together. He did a good job! Adam and Grace were so excited when they woke up and Josh was crazy excited about the balloon Mike had got for him!



I had tried making freezer paper stencils to make some cute Valentine's shirts for the kids. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be-cutting all of the little details out with an X-acto knife! Maybe it would have made a difference if I had a smaller one, or one that turned... I don't know. I gave up after Adam's, and just hand-drew Grace's and Josh's. They turned out... okay. The kids loved them and Adam had fun wearing his to school on Friday. So, it all worked out. ;)





I decorated the house with hearts that I had written things that I loved about each person. That night we read the hearts and ate a heart-themed dinner.


I love our family SO much! I am such a lucky girl to have three wonderful kiddos and to get to be with their dad forever. It was a great Valentine's day!

Valentine's Date

One of my 14 days of Valentine's for Mike was a date with him planned by me.

Mike always complains that I never want to go out with him, because I hate leaving the kids. It's true. I get major anxiety when I have to leave them, to the point of being sick. However, after a long period of us not dating, and the Blue Man date going so well, I really want to try and work past that.

So, I got a baby-sitter and we went out last night. I had planned on us going to the temple, but being the organized person that I am, I lost Mike's temple recommend when I was laminating it. SO. We used a Groupon for a Mexican dinner that was really good, and then because we were trying to keep it cheap (hello expensive baby-sitters), we went grocery shopping.

We had SO much fun! I really do enjoy getting out with Mike (even if I called the babysitter a gazillion times to check on things).

Good thing that Mike (and our babysitter) are patient people.

Some Valentine Fun

Male Model

I have a friend who is pregnant with triplets (two identical boys and a girl).

Triplets!

Her situation has given my life more gratitude.

Whenever Josh makes THE biggest mess ever or Adam talks back to me, and I want to go cry and forget about being a mom for a little while, I remember my friend.

I then smile because I don't have three 7-year-olds sassing me.

And go back to being grateful for being a mama.

Anyways, I wanted to make her something fun for her babies for the shower. I made tie onesies (and got some khaki pants to go with them) for the boys and a dress with Grace's leftover Christmas dress material (it's the same pattern) with tights for her girl.


They are all matching, but not exactly the same. I thought they turned out so cute!

It was very convenient having a 1-year-old to try the dress on, so that I could adjust the hem and elastic.



Even if he is the wrong gender for a dress.

Cat for a Day

This sweet little cat followed Grace and I inside one morning after taking out the trash.

After being freaked out (hello germs!) we fell in love with her. She sat outside our door meowing. It was too sweet.

So, even though I wouldn't let Grace touch her (hello ringworm!) we fed her tuna and gave her water to drink, hung out with her on our porch. And named her (Socks).

She left that afternoon and hasn't returned.

Grace misses her, but I think that having a pet for one day only is a pretty perfect arrangement for a mom. ;)

14 Days of Valentine's

I'm a dork. I know.

Day 1: Decorate window with hearts
Day 2: Play "Heart Attack" ("Hot Potato" with hearts)
Day 3: Valentine-themed after-school snack
Day 4: Make tissue hearts
Day 5: Love notes
Day 6: Decorate sugar cookies
Day 7: Play Valentine's Bingo
Day 8: Valentine pillowcases
Day 9: Valentine story time
Day 10: Make Valentine's shirts
Day 11: Special Valentine-themed lunch
Day 12: Watch a Valentine's movie with snack
Day 13: Make a craft
Day 14: Treasure hunt to find Valentine's treat

I got these mailboxes at Target and each day I'm putting (a really cheesy) poem and a candy or two in them letting the kids know what we were doing that day for our activity. They LOVE seeing their "flags" up and check all throughout the day. It makes it a little extra fun!



I also decided to be a nice wife for once, and did one for Mike too, with things like backrubs, watching a movie together, etc. It should be a fun month and (hopefully) filled with lots of love in our sweet family!