I looked out the window and what did I see...

Popcorn popping on the Apricot Tree!

This is a popular song around these parts, so for our family night on Monday we had a popcorn party.

Opening Song- Popcorn Popping
Lesson- Story about Springtime trees, can't remember which one.
Then we busted out this cutie pie.

Hello Kitty popcorn maker. Sorry the picture is horrible. I resisted the urge to buy the matching Toaster, alarm clock, cereal dispenser, and juice dispenser. The cereal dispenser was very enticing, I will admit. But we needed a popcorn maker, and why not in pink?


In it we put these bad boys, Colorful popcorn by Gooseberry patch (Thanks Mom!) . It's popcorn colored with various dyes that I'm sure give you cancer, but they make the popcorn kernels different colors, and the red dye gets melted with the oil and turns out...



Pink!


So after devouring it a bit, we taught the girls how to draw trees, then we glued some popcorn on the top, and sang the song a few more times. (See picture above)

Springtime FHE, no work, with the aide of Hello Kitty, achieved.

Next week:Something with eggs, after a lesson from the Sunbeam manual about the Resurrection.

What's YOUR favorite FHE for springtime and Easter?

Indiana!

On our way out to Indiana, we stopped by Africa. Whoops, I mean Cabellas. How we love Cabellas. As many animals as the natural history museum, pop guns, and bathroom tiles with deer tracks. Canoes in every color. Blow up couches and mini chairs for camping. And live fish! Trout have never been more exciting.

After Cabella's we drove to see this little man.




He's such a cutie. I kept thinking while I was there that babies are only babies for such a short time. Another reason why I love digital cameras, a picture for every one of those cute smiles.




Indiana also has the princesses seen here; Natalie and Sophia were in dress up heaven. We are so grateful John's parents and his brother's family could help with our kids, while we trekked around looking at houses.

Hooray for Indiana!

Maryland Sights

Tuesday- Smithsonian Natural History Museum



This is from the Butterfly exhibit. Awesome. The girls hated it at first, loved it by the end of our 15 minutes in there. It's free on tuesdays, every other day requires a ticket and a scheduled time.



The rest of the museum. Sophia loved pretending to be scared of the huge shark teeth or the huge whale in the ocean exhibit. Natalie on the other hand, loved to be the lion or the elephant, as seen in the lower right corner. The museum was slightly more fun than the zoo, because you can get so close to the animals. And because Grandma was there to buy you museum store gifts.


On Thursday we went by Cabin John park near my mom's school, and had some fun. But it was cold! But not cold enough to keep us from the park. Don't you just love Sophia's heart sweatshirt. It's my favorite, but she'll only wear it if it's the only thing left clean.

That night I was planning on going to the Temple with John, and meeting him there after his drive back from his business trip. Then, at 2 pm, I couldn't find my wallet. Finding anything in another person's house is hard, but we'd trashed my parents house and everything was everywhere, I felt like one of the 10 virgins who was too distracted to keep track of her oil. I spent 3 hours looking for it, calling everyone in the family, and finally found it 5 minutes before I was supposed to leave. Neddless to say, that trip to the Temple felt especially peaceful, after all the planned and unplanned stress of our trip and losing my wallet.

Mur-land

So we mosied on up to Maryland a few weeks ago. We sacrificed an extra 2 hours of sitting in the car to go to the National Zoo. Because, it's a Saturday, my parents were busy, and it was a beautiful day of beautiful spring weather.

Every other person in D.C. metro area with small children had the same idea. So after a scenic 5 mph tour of the outside of the zoo and parking areas, we parked 3 blocks away outside the zoo and got our zoo on.

Beside the zoo being packed, we had a good time. The kids were excited to see real animals, and we saw some very well- the Lion, the sea otters, the Beavers. And then there was that gorilla.

Look mama, i think the gorilla's pooping.

Oh wait, now he's touching it. Why would he touch it? (I don't know baby...)

Then the guy in front of me, looks at his friend and says "Man, that's just wrong. WRONG."

And a shriek from Sophia, and we were out of there.

My kids loved the statues a bit more than the animals themselves.

On Sunday we went up the Greers. Wohoo! We love the Greers. They've got an old barn, that's a great backdrop for America's Next Top Model pictures, as shown by my sister, who watches that show. And has mastered the looks.

And they've got a little Razr scooter, that propels by scooting your feet back and forth, kind of like the little scooters you sat on in kindergarten. It was fun. My sister loves taking pictures of me as I act stupid. Thanks Carrie. Thanks a lot.

The Prophet said to Plant a garden...

So did you see this news? Michele Obama is planting a garden at the White House. Right next to the kid's swing set. And elementary students from a local school are going to help out. And a beehive.

John thinks she's trying to tap the Mormon vote.

Liberals more likely.

Either way, I like it. This whole election season I've said that we need a leader that will lead by example, and not just use the government to change society, but inspire us to change ourselves. First Obama told D.C. to get tough and let the buses take the kids to school with 1/2 inch of snow. Now a garden. I like it.

Michele Obama Plants a Garden

Joy School Happenings

This week was all about IMAGINATION.

So we did lots of plays, lots of imagination exercises. And some fun crafts. Or I think so.

First, have you read this book?

It's the coolest.
Not a Box by Antoinette Portis. Go check it out. But if you live in my town, wait three weeks until we return it.

Making a book like this with our own objects (blanket, bowl, tube, etc) is on my rainy day craft list.


For joy school this week we made windcatchers. Left this one outside and it rained. Whoops. Better clean that up before the little one does.



And some suncatchers made out of tissue paper on contact paper to put in the window. It flopped. The kids hated it. Here's my bunny. They had no idea what to make, sophia freaked out because the tissue paper wasn't the right shape, everyone just couldn't think of something to start with, and I didn't want to give them an exact idea because it was about imagination. Next time the object will be to cover something with the tissue paper, rather than make a drawing. Oh well.


We made Snail crescent rolls, as seen this month's Parent's magazine article "Smart Snacking" . They used pesto, we used cinnamon sugar. Next time I think we'll pick flatter insects, or stretch and roll really tight for maximum shell height.Below you can see Sophia's snail and butterfly, and Kate slicing her dough for snails.



This craft was convenient because I may or may not have a three months' supply of crescent rolls taking up my whole vegetable drawer in my fridge. Did I mention we're having chicken pillows for dinner tonight?

Hope you have a fun day with your kids!

Vacation Craziness

Maddie and Sophia at Chick Fil A family night

So........ we got back from our trip last Saturday. And what a trip it was!

Our trip included the following adventures-
(that we unfortunately didn't get any pictures of)

2 hours in D.C. traffic and an unguided tour of Georgetown's shops

A gorilla eating his own poop

Shrimp and Carvel Cake for my birthday

The first Ritas custard of the season

In Indiana, Natalie got a double ear infection
We love Walgreens walk in clinics. AMAZING.
Amoxicillin in less than an hour. While on vacation. AMAZING.

We looked at 13 houses in 3 days of looking...

This is the good...the bad in the middle...

And the ugly. Splattered wall paint streaks on purpose, and a mural that could have been done by Bob Ross himself. (You know, the white guy with an afro that paints little happy tress on pbs). We actually are considering that house, mural aside.

One offer made.
And one offer rejected in favor of a cash offer. Dang it.

But we feel it's all for the best, and we're still looking!

While in Indiana we visited the handsome Jonah and the rambunctious Madelyn. Plus their sister Lillian and their parents, who were amazing to let us stay at their house for a week plus.

Grandma and Grandpa Daley took us to pick up Holly at work...and we went to Shapiros. A cafeteria style deli. Mmmm good. Jennifer Aniston ate there once. Or something.

Corned Beef on Rye and Cute Maddie drinking it up.

More pics from our vacation to come, once I pay the ransom to get them back from John's laptop hard drive.

And We're off...

We're packing.

For a trip. A BIG trip. As in, longer than a weekend.

Frederick for a few days
John gets to go to Hampton, Va
and then Indianapolis for over a week.

Wohoo! I'm excited to go D.C. touristy things. And the girls just want to see my parent's dog.

Wohoo! And to see my homeys in Indiana. And I have high hopes for this Children's Museum that everyone in national magazines raves about.

See you in two weeks!

A Star is Born

Ok so my birthday is tomorrow. Wohoo! I've got nothing planned.Nothing but this:

A Carvel cake. Ice cream and cookie layer frozen awesomeness...What else do you need??? I remember sneaking out to our freezer in the garage after school everyday for a week after birthdays to eat these cakes in little bites. Mmmmm.

Also, my present arrived in the mail two weeks ago. Its a book. I've been incredibly patient. It just sits on my dresser taunting me.

Which brings me to what I want for my birthday. I've been thinking lately about how some people were just born with it, and some people just weren't. And I know we all need to be full of hope and work on ourselves, and blah blah blah, but being born with it would have been easier. (Also, Maybelline can't make everyone pretty, it's just like paint on an old barn door. I'm just saying. )

So with that, here's what I wish I could get for my birthday:

Natural Patience
An eye for Style
A singing voice that doesn't make babies cry
Inability to fall down in public
An allergy to donuts
The ability to sit still
Comfort in silence. I HAVE to be talking if everyone's silent.

Things I am thankful I was born with-
A mind that's always thinking...even if it means I get bored easily
Good looks. Wavy Hair. Relatively clear skin.
Natural energy.
A healthy body.
A loving Mother and a smart Father and a hilarious Brother

Happy Birthday to Me! ...tomorrow

Scizophrenic Weather

This was our Saturday a week and a half ago. Notice the sweaters without coats? It was like 55 degrees.



I should have known it wouldn't last. It always snows near my birthday. Always. One year my sleepover birthday party was cut short at 8 am because there was a huge blizzard. Every year in high school my birthday was delayed or school cancelled.

So it came as no suprise that during church on Sunday, we got hit with some snow. There's so much energy in the air when a snowstorm is blazing outside. I felt like a kid stuck in school until the bell rang. Or in this case, until the closing song ended. All the kids in the hallways going to their classes were like- Did you see the snow???!!! After Church we got some good snowman making time in.






Hooray Hooray Hooray for snow! Today it's like 10 degrees. We are SO at the library today.