Olivia's Preschool Field Trip

Olivia's Preschool class had a Field Trip to Kid's Gym.  Olivia had a blast and she now wants to do Gymnastics.  Here are some pictures of her fun day.  This picture above is one of my favorite pictures of her ever.  Her million dollar smile is priceless (or worth a million dollars I guess).

Here she is jumping into the foam pit.  She was nervous about jumping on her own, but after 2 tries, she was brave enough to jump in by herself. 

Olivia's teacher Mrs. H is in the sweater vest on the right.  Olivia adores her.  Mrs. H is so good about making each child feel like they are not only special, but also her favorite.  She is the reason we are still at this preschool.  Thanks, Mrs. H.

Random pictures and updates

I had to take a picture of my first attempt of putting Livvy's hair in knots.  I really loved it, and I loved how well it held in her hair.  This day was Pajama Day at Preschool.  So she is on her way out the door.

It was time again for Olivia's yearly checkup with her Cardiologist.  She did so good this year and decided she was going to be brave before she even got there.  Her EKG was great, and her Echocardiogram showed that her murmur is still mild and she continues to have no restrictions to her activities.  Yay!

Wintertime continues to be hard on Olivia's lungs.  She's had pneumonia once this winter (as have I, her mother).  The breathing treatments are helping her, she is supposed to have at least one a day, but when she's healthy we have a hard time remembering.  She loves her new fishy mask. 

I have been trying to make more bread this year, and am experimenting with adding more and more wheat flour.  The bread has been turning out really well, the whole family has been enjoying it.  Luke loves his sandwiches for school made on homemade bread.  I have been making bread once a week, I would like to get to the point where I am no longer having to buy it.  Of course, I think I will have to have a mixer of some sort before that happens.  Any suggestions as to which kind I get, a Bosch or a KitchenAide? 

And of course if you're making bread, you have to have some yummy treats to go along with it.  :)

I'm caught up!

Don't hold your breath thinking that this will last, but I'm now caught up.  Wahoo!

Bruiser

I got a call from the school today letting me know that Luke got hurt at recess today.  Apparently Luke was on the ground (not sure if he had fallen down, or if he was just laying down), and another kids was running past and clipped him with his boot.  The secretary said that he had a couple of scratches and a mark on his eye and that they had put some ice on it for a while, then Luke went back out to play for the remainder of recess.  She also mentioned that it happened to be the eye that wasn't injured before.  The right eye is some sort of rug burn he got on Sunday.  He doesn't remember what he did to get that.  And now this.  Do you think I should run out and get pictures done anytime soon? 

Nap Time in Style

I put Olivia down for a nap earlier this afternoon.  I went up to wake her up and couldn't find her on my bed.   She had gotten down, made a bed on the floor, found her dress (did I not say she tries to sleep with it) and her baby.  I love how she placed the dress on her body like she's wearing it.  What a cute girl. 

Sweets

I thought Olivia looked just too cute when I saw her earlier today.  She was watching a movie on my IPod while I was blogging.  She is such a cutie. 

But when I interrupted her movie to get a picture, she didn't think I was very funny.

Yesterday I was talking to Olivia and I called her just that.  She said, "I'm not Olivia, I'm Livvy or Sweets."  I guess I better let everyone know what she shall be known by hereafter.  Hahahaha.

Updates

New updates are on the blog.  I keep thinking I'll get better, but...there's still hope.  :)

My Princess

Miss Olivia in her beautiful Christmas Dress.  Olivia has been wanting a white dress for a few months now.  She kept telling people she was getting married, because she knew if she got married she could have a white dress.  After I figured that out, I informed her that she could have a white dress without getting married.  I searched high and low, and finally found this dress at Burlington Coat Factory a week before Christmas.  I was so relieved to find it.  I knew she would love it.  And she does LOVE it.  She wears it every chance she gets.  She tried to sleep in it a few times. 
At church once, a sister asked her if she was a princess, and she said, "NO.  I am a Queen."  I thought that was so funny.  What a beautiful (inside and out) little girl I have been blessed with. 

Christmas 2009

Christmas Morning was so much fun.  Luke slept in until 7:30 AM (by threat of parents) and then we woke Olivia up.  We did her hair, and then had our family prayer, and then went downstairs to see what Santa brought and opened our presents.  Luke got football receiver's golves, a tech deck pool park, and a Monsterolgy Book.  Olivia got a Princess Vanity and Piano set.  After spending an hour opening presents, we ate our traditional breakfast casserole, and then lounged around playing with gifts, and having fun.  It was a great day.  We have been blessed and are so thankful for all we have been given.  

We are especially thankful for a loving Father in Heaven who loved us so much He sent His son to come to Earth and show us the way to return to Him once more.  We are thankful for our Savior who suffered and died for us, so that we may overcome sin and death, and return to our Father.  We are so blessed to have this knowledge and our testimonies.  May you feel the blessings of the Christmas Season all year long.

Fun with friends

We did a gift exchange just before we decorated Gingerbread Men.  The funny thing was, is that none of the kids knew what they were giving each other.  Luke and Jevin gave each other Speed Stacks (the cup stacking racing game), and "flags" for playing flag football.  Luke knew that we wanted to get the speed stacks, but I tricked him into thinking we missed the order time at the school.  His P.E. teacher played along and told Luke that the order had already closed, so he was pretty excited about getting them.
For Derek we got him whatr every 5 year old wants-  2 yards of felt, and a stapler.  He was in heaven.  He loves to create things with felt and a stapler.  Cracks me up.
For Olivia and Maddie, Stephanie and I took on a project and we (and by we, I mean Stephanie) actually finished it um, an hour before the gift exchange.  We sewed the girls the matching dresses.  They turned out so cute.  Luckily Steph knows what she's doing, but a seamtress I am not.  The girls were so excited and had to put them on right away.  Livvy wore hers 2 days in a row. 
Stephanie also surprised our family with a gift of dinner.  She made us our favorite- Kalua Pork, complete with a fresh pineapple, green onions, and a head of cabbage.  We were in heaven that night. 
We are so blessed to have such great friends. 

Gingerbread Families

Bird's eye view

Luke and Jevin

Maddie concentrating.                                              Isn't Derek so cute? 

Maddie is displaying her cute gingerbread boy.

Aren't Livvy's teeth beautiful?

We had our friends over to decorate Gingerbread Men the Monday before Christmas.  We wanted to have Livvy's friend Maddie over when we did the Gingerbread Houses, but Livvy and Maddie are on opposite Preschool schedules, so it makes it hard to have them get together during the weeks, so we planned something when all the kids could come.  It was another fun sugar fest. 
As you can tell from Livvy's eyes, she was going down hill as the evening progressed.  She ended up spiking a fever later that night.  Poor little girl had an ear infection.

3rd Grade Christmas Party

The Christmas Spread.

There were 3 events planned, game, gift exchange, and food.  They got to vote to see which activity would come first.  Food won by a landslide, then gift exchange, then game.

Luke with his teacher Mrs. Shockley.

Mrs. Shockley has the kids separated into "tribes."  They work together to earn special rewards.  Luke's Tribe was able to earn the right to be the "Rudolph" Tribe for Christmas.  Go Team!

Above, Mrs. Shockley is giving the kids lecture #397 as she called it.  It is a reminder that at the gift exchange, no one is going to get their most desired gift.  She is warning them to be gracious even if they hate the gift, because they could hurt their friend's feelings if they cry or get mad that they didn't get what they wanted.  The kids were all good, and no one had any outbursts or scenes. 

After I left Olivia's Christmas Party at the preschool, I got to run over to Luke's Christmas Party.  I was in charge of his party,  His teacher had all the activities, all I had to do was come up with the refreshments and then help out where I was needed.  It was fun to be in his classroom, and to see the excitement of all the kids.   The kids had a lot of fun, and were full of sugar for their bus ride home.

Preschool Christmas Sing a long

Olivia's Preschool had a Christmas Sing a long that the parents were invited to.  Their party went long, so the sing a long turned into only one song and then they presented us with the gifts they made for us.  They were calendars with art projects attached to each page.  They are really fun. 

Maybe soon I can figure out how to attach the video of her song. 

Gingerbread Houses

The Gingerbread Village

My happy smiling girl with her house.

Kids from L-R Eva, Kaden, Alex, McKenna, Livs, Christina.  Somehow Penelope escaped from the picture.

We had some friends over for a playgroup to decorate Gingerbread Houses and of course play.  The weather was pretty stinky that day, but our friends braved the roads and came over anyway.  (Luke was really hoping it was a snow day so he could stay home and decorate one too, but as you can see from his absence in the pictures, he was at school). 
I had built the houses the night before so the frosting would have time to set.  Each friend brought a different candy to decorate the houses with.  We had so many choices to pick from and the kids had fun decorating their houses.  And of course they enjoyed eating as much candy as they could.  Penelope had fun eating her house rather than decorate it.  It was a very fun day, we may have to make this a yearly tradition.