3rd Grade Field Trip

 Today was my turn to go on Kaleb's 3rd grad field trip with him! I wasn't originally planning on going because another parent beat me at signing up to volunteer but then another parent canceled and I was able to go and fill in. I was thankful for the opportunity to go with Kaleb because for the past two years only room moms were able to go. I am sure poor Kaleb has felt jipped the past few years. So when I found out I could go, I jumped at the chance.

Kaleb's field trip started when we left the school around 9:15 and we returned around 2:30 in the afternoon. We traveled by school bus to the Museum of Natural History where we were welcomed, briefed and then allowed to explore throughout the Facility. I was assigned to look after 3 of Kaleb's classmates and Kaleb was thrilled when he found out his good friend Lukas was in our group.

 The kids and I took our time and made our way around to several exhibits. There are like 3 floors that you can explore. We saw native american pottery, baskets, totem poles, fossils, dinosaur bones and displays of dinosaurs.

 After visiting the dinosaur exhibit and the native american exhibit we headed over to "The Chocolate" exhibit which was an entire display dedicated to educating the kids on where chocolate comes from, how it is made, and the different kinds of chocolate. My favorite display was the life size box of Chocolates the kids could stand in front of! I wished it wasn't made of plastic because the Chocolates looked so real you could just take a bite out of it. Our mouths were salivating too because throughout the room you could smell chocolate. I am sure this helped promote chocolate sales in their chocolate candy store at the end of the tour. It worked on me and my kids I was chaperoning, so as a surprise, I bought them each a truffle as we left the facility. I received some brownie points with Kaleb's classmates for that!

After touring the Museum we went to one of their cafeteria's to eat lunch and visit. After lunch we headed out to the Red Butte Gardens that are right on site for a hike with several other groups.

Our tour guide Lauren, was a cute girl from Massachusetts and did a great job of teaching the kids about the different vegetation in the Utah mountains. A favorite of mine was the desert sage and seeing and touching a plant called Lamb's ear. It is a plant that is incredibly soft to the touch. We also learned about a bitter bush that had little pods that you could eat but were bitter. I didn't try it after watching the kids eat it and spit it out. Apparently, it was Bitter! Hee hee. The Bitter bush was made into a tea and the Indians used to drink it for medicinal purposes. We also saw a magpie nest, and lots of wild flowers along the trails. We also saw an old pioneer house in the canyon that used to be a quarry keepers home. The canyon that we hiked through has provided a lot of the stone that was used to build the Salt Lake City Temple. I love history lessons!

Our tour guide led us down a trail called Rattle Snake pass and it was quite exciting for the kids. They all were scared we would see a rattlesnake along the way because of the history of the trail being filled with rattlesnakes. Seems like a dumb idea to take little 3rd graders through a place like that but um, okay. I was worried about the kids too but the hike turned out great and we didn't have one student get bit or see a rattlesnake. Thank goodness.

Since Its been in the high 80's all week and it was toasty. I am glad that I brought several frozen bottles of water with Kaleb and I because some of the kids in Kaleb's class were not prepared and were getting sick because it was so hot. The hike was also not a simple hike and was quite difficult for most of the 3rd graders. They were all troopers though and I am proud of all the kids for making it through. I had so much fun hiking with Kaleb. It was fun to reach the top and take a few pictures of us and the Salt Lake City Valley. Kaleb expressed wanting to do the hike again with Mark and Karmindy at a later date. We had a great time and I am thankful I got to spend the day with my sweet boy!

Kindergarten Field Trip to Farm Country

Today I spent my morning with my baby girl on her first field trip! Her kindergarten class had the opportunity to go to Thanksgiving Point and visit Farm Country. I volunteered to be a chaperon and I am glad I did! We left around 9 am and returned back to the school around 12:15. During our 3 hour jaunt to Farm Country we got to go on a wagon ride, pet cows, horses, see rabbits, ducks, pigs, pet a baby lamb, eat lunch and play at a park. The field trip was jammed pack with fun activities! I was assigned to look after two of Karmindy's classmates/friends to be in our group: Eden Dressen and Presley Fisher. The girls had fun palling around with each other. Karmindy also hung out with her friend Jake Simmonds who is in the morning Kindergarten class. I am so grateful I had the opportunity to go with Karmindy and see her have a fun time on her field trip with her friends.

Put a Bird in It!

Spring time is here in Northern Utah and normally that means tulips and daffodils are blooming and there is popcorn popping on the trees. BUT not this year! This year, it means that birds are in full nesting mode. Now I don't know if it was just a "cold" winter (Wink. If you know what I mean) and those birds had some hot passionate nights but there have been reports of other neighbors in the neighborhood that have mentioned that the birds have been busy nesting in any place they can find! And apparently, that includes nesting in wreaths!!! Seriously, there was not a place that was sacred when it came to building nests...wreaths, bbq grills, hedges. You name it, neighbors were reporting a bird infestation. If it was a secluded surface, you might as well put a bird in it or on it for that matter! What the heck happened to building nests in the trees? We have plenty of trees they could choose from in the neighborhood! Just saying....

 At the first of the month, I decided to get festive and I put out my Patriotic wreath on my front door. During the morning hours, I kept hearing something rubbing against the door. I kept going to the front door to check to make sure there wasn't a cat or dog or even a neighbors child hanging out on our front porch. Each time I didn't see anything. As the morning turned to afternoon, I went about my routine and went and checked the mail. The mail always comes after I drop Karmindy off at the bus stop for afternoon Kindergarten. On my way back into the house, I noticed a birds nest hanging out on my wreath. I couldn't believe it! It was amazing to look at and I admired the handy work of that amazing Momma bird. After taking a look at the nest, I decided I didn't want it to stay up there because the kids go in and out of the front door and I didn't want her poor eggs (she would eventually lay) to fall, crack and break, so I dumped the nest onto our front lawn. After I did that, I ran some errands and arrived several hours later just in time to be home before the kids came through the door from school. When I pulled up our driveway, I saw a bird immediately fly away from our front door. When I looked at the lawn I noticed that the bird nest I had dumped on the lawn just hours earlier was GONE! WHAT THE HECK! I parked the car and went to the front door to inspect my wreath and sure enough the entire nest that I had dumped earlier was back up on my wreath and was bigger than it had been two hours earlier. I was ticked and was sure that that dumb bird was plotting against me. Again, I went and dumped the nest on the front lawn. You would think the bird would learn or maybe I would learn but we were both stubborn and this kept happening for several days!  The bird(s) would build and I would dump the nest on the lawn. As you can fathom, I was done with the dumb bird and so I took my wreath inside for a couple of days. I figured I had won this little bird war and so I decided to try one more time to put my wreath out. Sure enough by the end of the day, that &%$# bird built another nest. I was so mad!! So needless to say, I removed the nest, threw it into the garbage and brought my wreath in.
Just this week, I decided that egg laying season might be over with and put my wreath back up for Memorial Day. Thankfully there hasn't been any nest building all week and I am hoping it stays that way!

Lunch Date

One of Karmindy's strengths is that she is a friend to everyone she meets. Karmindy has a lot of gal pals but she also has a lot of guy pals too! It is something I admire about her. She truly loves everyone and when she sees a friend it isn't unusual for her to go up to them and give them a hug or pat them on the arm. She is very tender-hearted and just loves people. I am pretty sure she gets this trait from her mom because I also love being around people and making friends. She makes me a proud momma! 

Since Karmindy had an all girl birthday party, her cute neighborhood friend Keegan was a little disappointed he wan't invited to her princess party. We didn't think any boys would really want to be invited. My bad and a lesson was learned for next year! However, Keegan still wanted to spend some time with Karmindy for her birthday. So I made Keegan a deal and told him that we would have a playdate and we would go to Chick-fil-a one afternoon for a playdate. He seemed to perk right up. Keep in mind, Keegan and Karmindy's favorite place to eat and eat together is Chick-fil-a. On the day of the lunch date, we picked Keegan up and headed to Chick-fil-a. Keegan and Karmindy both have a love for Scooby Doo things right now and so knowing how much Karmindy loves Scooby Doo, Keegan wrapped up a Scooby Doo movie and some Scooby Doo action figures for Karmindy's birthday. (The movie has been viewed at least a dozen times and the Scooby Doo action figures haven't left Karmindy's side). Both Karmindy and Keegan had a great time eating their "nuggets" and playing in the playplace. After Chick-fil-a, we went back to our home and let the kids play. It was a nice afternoon for both of them. I sure love my little social butterfly!

Kindergarten Lunch

Its a tradition at our school where the Kindergartner's get to have school lunch one day in the cafeteria. By doing this, the kids get to run through what they will do when they reach 1st grade when lunch time rolls around. Having lunch in the BIG CAFETERIA is an event that all the kindergartners look forward to participating in. Since I am the Room mom for Karmindy's class, it comes with some perks and I am able to go and assist her teacher when they have activities like this. I was happy to go and help and it was so fun to watch Karmindy and her classmates get their "taste" of what school lunch will be like as a big 1st Grader. The kids were so excited! I was able to snap this cute picture of Karmindy and her two friends, Avery Wallin and Megan Loeffler. I remember loving lunch time at that age, not only because I like to eat but also because of hanging out and visiting with friends. I truly enjoy watching my kids go through these fun rites of passages!

Frozen Birthday Party!

One thing for sure about me, is that I love to throw parties for my Children. I delight in the planning, the prep work, the research, the baking, the crafting....everything! Planning parties for my kids usually starts several months in advance, one, because I hate leaving things to the last minute and two, I love to have time to see what things are out there to include in making my parties fun and memorable for my kids. I hope Kaleb and Karmindy will remember the parties that I have worked so hard to throw for them over and throughout the years! It really is a labor of love and I love celebrating them, their lives and their interests!

This year, Frozen parties are all the rage among the girls Karmindy's age. Now, please note Karmindy likes princess things but hasn't gone gaga for them until now! Karmindy L-O-V-E-S anything Frozen with a capital L! Karmindy's favorite princess is Elsa and you can find Karmindy on most days, in her room singing and humming all of the songs from the popular Disney Movie. Again, this behavior isn't typical for my daughter since she loves all things tom boy. I think that may come from having an older brother. I also think that Karmindy is growing up and the girly things like dolls, princesses and makeup are becoming more enticing to her, which I love because as much as I love to rough it with the boys (yes me) I also can appreciate all things girl...glitter, clothes, shopping make up, mani-pedis, crafts.

I really consider myself more a girly girl so it is so fun for me to have a little girl that gets excited about these things too!

So let me give you an over view of the party I threw for Karmindy. Several months prior to the party, as I was searching pinterest for ideas, I came across a beautiful Elsa dress on an etsy site. I decided Karmindy needed a Elsa dress for her party and bought her one. I figured she could wear it for her party and it could also double as a Halloween Costume this year! Bonus! Win. Win. A little background on the dress....The gal that sews them sells all different sizes and customizes them to the size you need for the princess in your life. She was also kind and not only sent the Elsa dress I paid for but as an added bonus, crocheted Karmindy a snowflake clip to wear in her hair. Karmindy was thrilled with her Elsa dress and was so excited to greet her friends all dressed up when her party rolled around!

Now Back to the over view, before the princesses arrived, the girls were greeted by this Olaf sign welcoming them into our home. Upon arrival, the girls were given an Elsa crown to wear that I made out of blue foam that I had cut into the shape of crowns and then fastened them  in the back with blue sparkling ribbon. Each crown was also adorned with a sparkly snowflake jewel sticker. Thank goodness for living close to a Hobby Lobby because they saved my bacon when it came to finding all the "right" supplies for this party. After being crowned, the girls made their way to the Living Room where they watched, "Frozen," until all the guest arrived. 

After all the guests and by mean guests, all 15 little girls! Gah! One of Karmindy's friends wasn't able to make it and we missed her. So we would have had 16 girls in all. I was stressing about having that many little giggly, screaming girls but it turned out to be wonderful and not stressful or dramatic. In fact, it didn't even seem like I had 15 little girls in my home. Anywho, after the girls arrived, we went down stairs to make Elsa Pendant necklaces. I found some cute Modge Podgeable pendants and Modge Podged purple or blue jewels to each pendant and then let the girls thread their pendant and add blue and purple beads. The girls were thrilled with their necklaces!

After making necklaces we headed up stairs to open presents! Karmindy made out like a bandit and was completely and utterly spoiled by her friends, like every princess should be. Right? Seriously though, Karmindy has some very sweet friends who really made her day showering her with gifts.

After presents, we headed down stairs again to play several games. We played pin the nose on Olaf and Cold Snow Flake (Like Hot Potato). The girls had a great time playing the games. 

After games, we headed to the kitchen to sing Happy Birthday to the Birthday princess and eat cake and Chocolate Icecream! Karmindy was in heaven!

After eating cake and Ice cream and drinking waters, the girls headed out side to play. The girls seemed to all have fun and all seemed to really enjoy themselves. When the guests parents arrived to pick them up, we sent them home with little gift baggies to take with them. I thought they turned out so cute. I filled the gift bags with blue and white swirled suckers (blue raspberry flavored), hug chocolates, little rice krispie treats, and tiny little hand sanitizers that had glitter in it. The party guests were over the moon!

Planning this party was so fun, I think our little "Princess Elsa" thoroughly enjoyed the morning and enjoyed spending time with her girl friends!

Karmindy's party guests:

Back Row LtR: Sienna Evans, Emilia Pidcock, Cambree Albrecht, Eden Dressen, Megan Loeffler, and McKenna Rowe.

Middle Row: Lulu Ewell, Claire Trimble, Avery Wallin, Teagan Smart, Madison Jackman, Erin Tavita.

Front Row: Kiya Smart, Karmindy and Takara Chasten.

I sure love you little Miss Karmindy Rose! Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!

VIP for a Day!

Every Friday throughout the school year, all the kids in Karmindy's Kindergarten class had their own VIP day. Karmindy had hers today and she was so excited! Ms. Calhoun, Karmindy's teacher, had each child make a poster telling about themselves. The poster included their likes, dislikes, favorite foods, favorite activities and a little bit about their family. Also, instead of bringing treats to share with the class, her teacher, asked the parents to bring a favorite book of the child to share with the class and then come up with a game or craft that coincided with the book for the students to play or make. Karmindy had a hard time deciding which book to share (she loves to read and has several favorite books) but finally settled on the book, "Princess Peepers." Princess Peepers is such a cute book that talks about a princess who wears glasses and gets made fun of by her peers. After trying to prove to her peers that she doesn't need glasses, the princess learns that it is okay to be different and wear glasses because its the only way she can see what's going on around her. She also learns that she cant get ready for an upcoming ball without them. In the end, the Princess meets the amazing Prince in the land and through a series of events finds out he also wears glasses. It was love at first "sight" and they lived happily ever after. It really is a cute story about accepting your differences and learning to love yourself. Instead of a game, we decided to make heart pipe cleaner glasses with the class. The kids loved making the glasses. Also, for Karmindy's spotlight she also wanted to bring Kozette for her show and tell portion. All the kids loved meeting our puppy and Kozette loved meeting all of Karmindy's classmates! It was a fun afternoon and Karmindy loved being the center of attention!

We have Carpet!

 The basement is moving along quite nicely and we got carpet today!! Yay! We are so excited to have a little bit more living space. The kids are thrilled with having a play room and a little nook under the stairs to play "drive up" and "house." Its exciting to see all of the hard work, time and money we have spent have a nice result. All that we have left now is to finish the bathroom, dry bar and brick the fireplace and get a mantle. We couldn't be more excited!

Spring Piano Recital

I am so proud of Kaleb and all the hard work he has been putting into playing the piano for the past 2 years! Kaleb is so hard working and even though at times he hates practicing he has truly grown as a piano player and is developing a nice little talent. Kaleb takes from a cute neighbor lady, Tauna Broadhead. Kaleb has really enjoyed taking lessons from Tauna. For this year's spring piano recital, all of Tauna's students were given a movie theme song to practice and play for the recital. Kaleb was chosen to play, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." Kaleb enjoyed playing this number and spent many weeks practicing for the recital. The video above, is of him practicing one afternoon after school! 

When the big night came, Kaleb knocked his piece out of the park and did awesome with out any mistakes. As parents, it has been so fun to watch Kaleb develop a talent that we know he has a natural ability at and learn and grow. We are so proud of you Kaleb and for the hard worker and wonderful young man you are. You make me so proud to be your mom!

The Birthday Girl Is 6!

Its so hard to believe that our baby girl is 6 years old! For me it really does seem like yesterday that we brought her home from Primary Childrens Hospital after her open heart surgery and our stay there for a month. Those are days I wish to never repeat or relive again. Each day I am grateful for modern day medicine and gifted and talented surgeons. I know that if Karmindy had been born even 15 years ago she wouldn't be here with our family today. Each day is a gift with both Kaleb and Karmindy and being their mom has been such a blessing to me in my life. Both of them are so different, yet so similar. They both bring so much love, laughter and joy into our household. I am truly a blessed woman!

On the day of Karmindy's birthday, life went about pretty normally. We had our usual morning routine of getting both the kids ready and off to school. After the kids got home from school, we hurried to open presents from Mom & Dad, Kaleb, Grandpa & Nanna D and GBob and Gma Laurie. Karmindy got extremely spoiled by everyone. She received money, Frozen dolls, new dresses, a Fabric doll and a friendship bracelet kit. What a spoiled little lady!

After presents were opened, we had to hurry and get ready to attend Kaleb's Spring Piano Recital that evening. After the piano recital, we headed to dinner at Chili's. Chili's was Karmindy's choice and she was so excited. We learned later why she wanted to go to Chili's and it was because, "They sing to you and bring you yummy icecream!" I think our little lady sure enjoys having lots of attention! Karmindy seemed to have a nice day and we hope we made it nice for her. Since her birthday fell in the middle of the week, we decided to throw her birthday party on the weekend so we would have more time to celebrate. We love you Karmindy! You bring so much joy and laughter into our home. You have an amazing little spirit and keep us laughing with your quick humor and loving nature. We love you sweet heart!

Summer Dance Camp

Karmindy has really loved attending Summer Dance camp this summer with her neighborhood friend Madison Jackman. Each week her teacher has a theme and the girls in her class make a craft and dance to a dance that corresponds to that theme. Karmindy looks forward to dance each week! I have loved seeing Karmindy develop her talent of dancing!

Summer Dance Camp

Dance Lessons for Karmindy ended at the end of April but luckily her Dance Teacher holds summer dance camp. We jumped on board when we found out she would offer summer classes. For summer dance camp, the girls have a 45 minute class where they make a craft and then dance to a dance that pertains to the theme for the day. At the first of the month, parents are welcome to attend and so I ended up going and watching Karmindy. The theme for the day was Dancing at the circus. The girls made elephant hats and then their teacher Ms. Charlee taught them a dance to the music Afro Circus. It was so cute! I love that Karmindy enjoys taking dance. She has really improved this year and it is so fun that summer dance camp is being offered so the things she has learned this past year can be reinforced. I love watching my little girl learn and grow and do something she loves. Karmindy was once again able to take summer classes with her neighborhood gal pal, Madison Jackman. It sure makes it that much more fun when you have a friend who can join you!