Emily the Builder

Well, I'm not really a builder yet but I aspire to be one and this jigsaw Jeff bought me will help.  I was so surprised when he gave it to me because I didn't know he knew I wanted one.  We tested it out this last weekend and it is so much fun.  I need to get my night stand sanded down so I can get started on Annie's kitchen.  CAN WE BUILD IT?!  YES, WE CAN!!

General Conference Packet

For the kids Easter baskets, I made a packet of activites for them to do during conference.  It's for the early reader group so there isn't a lot of reading or writing involved.  Some of the things are from the Friend and others I made up.  Since I don't know how to link the word doc to this blog post, if you'd like me to email it to you just leave me a comment.

Also, there are some more General Conference activites for the kids on the church's website.  I actually like their bingo more than mine (except it's not in color), so I might print it up as well. 

I'm so excited for conference.  We're going to drive out to the country somewhere and stay in a hotel, since we would be watching conference on the internet anyway.  We'll take lots of fun food and spend some good family time together.  Enjoy conference everyone!

Sorry Annie

Don't ever wash a Build-A-Bear animal even though, 1) it says you can right on the label and 2) it recommends you DO wash it every 4 weeks.  Maybe they just didn't sew this one up very well, I don't know.  This stuff was all over everything in the washing machine and I had to shake it all out...hopefully my washing machine will recover.


Warning: the following picture is disturbing and may not be suitable for those with sensitive stomachs.  (just kidding)

Hooray! We're Done!

We found out late last night that Jeff passed the final section of the CPA exam.  Yipeee!!  After almost 9 months of studying till midnight after working all day and studying on Saturdays (except for a short break at Christmas), now we can have him back home more often.  We're excited and relieved to finally be done with it.  Good job sweetie!!!!

1st Day of Spring

The weather was beautiful again this last Saturday and so in honor of the first day of spring we did lots of things outdoors.  We did a bunch of work in the yard...and by we, I mainly mean Jeff and  Christopher and Michael.  They are good hard workers and they raked the leaves and cleaned out the flower beds and picked up all the garbage that somehow always blows into our yard.  Now it looks all nice and presentable.  Annie mainly played around a lot and I held the bags while they filled them up with leaves and garbage, so I guess we contributed a little bit too.  Then we had lunch, yummy pizza from our local pizzaria across the street.  We love this place and will miss it whenever we leave.  Next we piled in the van and drove west to a state park in Hopatcong, NJ.  There we just played ball, ate hot dogs and shot off some little water rockets Jeff bought for the kids.  It was a real Family Fun day.  After getting home and taking baths the kids were allowed to watch a movie.  Annie, of course, conked out after about 5 minutes.  Michael was the next to drift off to sleep, but grown up Christopher made it the whole way through.  :)   What a fun day we had!   Happy Spring everyone.

Super 70

Three words.  Love This Weather!!  I think I could live in a place where it is 70-75 all the time with only 2 weeks of 90 degree weather to go to the beach and 2 weeks of snow to go sledding.  Christopher had a half day of school yesterday so we went to the park afterwards and played the rest of the day.  It was nice to just be outside.

Christopher's video

Since I have video of Michael and Annie on the blog (and they like to watch them) it only makes sense that Christopher would want a video of himself on here.  So without further ado, I present Christopher, reciting The Pledge of Allegiance.

Feet

Jacob has discovered his feet and now he can enjoy the game of pulling off his socks.  Good thing nice weather is coming and he won't need them anyway. :)

Emergency Kits

We're talking about preparedness for FHE this month.  I want to get our 72 hour kits revamped before General Conference.  This Monday we made a car emergency kit to have in case we get stranded anywhere in the car.  I had some things ready and the kids helped me think of others things we could collect from around the house.  They had fun with it and now we are a little closer to being ready for an emergency.  Included in the kit was:  beef jerky, granola bars, toilet paper, wipes, a few diapers, hand sanitizer, a small first aid kit, some cash, a small case of water and a blanket.  The kids suggested we add some more food so they want some peanuts and some candy (big surprise) :)  We should probably add a flashlight too.  A kit isn't complete without a flashlight.

Read Across America

 This week in Christopher's school they had parent volunteers come in and read stories to the kids for Read Across America week.  I was excited because there aren't many opportunities to spend time in the classroom.  I wish there were more.  I read "Horton Hatches the Egg" by Dr. Seuss.  You'll notice all the kids have "Cat in the Hat" hats on because this week was also Dr. Seuss' birthday and so they do lots of different reading activities during the week.  Christopher was so excited that I came, and was then equally sad when I had to leave.  He usually has no problem with school but I think his two worlds collided a little when I came and he wasn't sure how to handle it.  His teacher says that happens a lot when parents come.  She is so nice though and just let me spend some time with him getting him comfortable again.  His teacher is really great.  She took a bunch of pictures with my camera for me too since I told her I'm a picture freak. :)