Art Gallery Walk

The Elementary School where Kaleb attends has a special night for parents. It is called the Art Gallery Walk. It is an event that showcases artwork that the students have been working on in class. Typically the kids create a piece of artwork that goes along with a subject or even a person they are learning about. Their artwork is then displayed on bulletin boards located just out side their classrooms. On this night, the kids and myself headed to support Kaleb. (Mark was out of town on this night. He was working in San Fransisco.) It was fun to see Kaleb get so excited to show me and Karmindy the artwork that he had been working on.

For Kaleb's art work, his class was learning about author Eric Carle who is known for his beautifully illustrated Children's books. He is mostly famous for his book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar which has been translated in over 50 languages.

Here is Kaleb's Eric Carle inspired artwork.

 Another famous person that Kaleb's class learned about was Vincent Van Gough. Here is Kaleb's painting of some beautiful flowers in a vase.

I am so proud to be Kaleb's mom. He is such a great kid and I am really proud of his artistic talents and abilities. He truly does his best in everything that he is involved in!

I really enjoy this art gallery walk event at Kalebs school. It is really fun to go and see what the kids have been working on and learning about in class. Even Karmindy gets into it and enjoys going to see what "brother" is up to at school.

We were so glad that we could go and support Kaleb this night and spend time as a family.

Valentine's Day!!

We didn't do a whole lot for Valentines Day this year because Mark was out of town working in San Francisco, but even though he wasn't here to celebrate I still wanted to do something fun for the kids and leave them a little gift or two on our Kitchen Table to find in the morning. I love the Holidays and I enjoy making it fun for the kids.The morning of Valentines Day, Kaleb had school so we had to rush to get him out the door but the kids did find their treasures on the kitchen table. Kaleb ate a quick breakfast before dashing off to school with his Valentines for his classmates in tow. I tried my hand at making the kids Valentines Day Cards for their friends this year and I think they turned out cute. I had found a free printable online that was in red and pink. Perfect for Kaleb and Karmindy!! The kids had a lot of fun writing their names on the valentines and making them their own.

Here is an example of what the kids Valentines looked like. We attached Ring Pops to the Valentines.

When Kaleb got home from school he was very excited about  his Legos and his jelly belly beans and his collection of Valentines Day Cards from his classmates. 

Karmindy loved her Polly Pocket dolls and jelly belly beans. They together got the "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" Cartoon to watch later that night.

 Karmindy also had school that day, so we did her hair really cute and I made a heart out of her hair. She loved it!!

 Both of the kids enjoyed exchanging Valentines Day Cards with their friends and eating all their Valentines Day Loot!

Valentines Day kind of was a crappy day for me this year, with having Mark gone away on business I really missed him. Hopefully next year we will be together and can celebrate together as a family.

SUPER KIDS!!

I love these pictures of my sweet Children! I especially love the Super Capes that they are wearing because me and my younger brother used to wear these when we were kids. I am so glad that my mom saved them for my kids to enjoy. When we came down to support our friends (The Bensons) we stayed at my parents house in Hurricane. So while we were at the Sealing on Saturday the kids enjoyed playing with Grandpa and Grandma. One of my kids favorite things to do while the visit Grandpa and Grandma DeMille is to go and see Grandpas Chickens and collect the eggs with Grandpa! The kids wore their super capes down to the corral and found just one egg that evening. Kaleb was kind enough to let Karmindy carry it into the house. Normally, Karmindy hasn't showed much interest to go down and get eggs (I think the chickens may have frightened her a little bit) but she was all about it on this trip. As you can see she is so proud of that little egg!! I am so grateful to my parents for always taking the time to make memories with my kids! I love seeing the special bond that they have with one another. Kaleb and Karmindy truly look forward to going down to Hurricane to see their Grandpa and Grandma D!

Karmindy and her precious chicken egg! I love that she is wearing her pink "Jessie Boots" as she calls them. What a cute little cowgirl!

Families Are Forever!

This past weekend, we headed down to Southern Utah to attend the sealing of some very special friends of ours (Todd and Elizabeth Benson) who were able to adopt a little girl back in July. Since hearing the news, we have been over the moon with Happiness for them. Todd and Liz have wanted to add another little spirit to their family for so long. There have been many family members and friends who have offered up prayers in their behalf that they might have another little one join their family. Todd and Liz are truly the most wonderful individuals we have ever known and we are so grateful that their prayers (and ours for them) have been answered. 

We are grateful for the miracle of adoption and we have become even more grateful and have a better appreciation for it as we have watched Todd and Liz go through the process of adopting. The Benson Family have been such good friends to us over the years and were there for us during a very hard period in our lives. We will forever be grateful to them, their example of love, kindness and true friendship. So when we received Emma's Sealing and Blessing invite, we wouldn't have missed out on being there to support them. We were so honored to be invited to their memorable event. 

Mark and I have not ever been to a sealing like this one and it was a very spiritual experience to be their with their family and have the reaffirmation that Families can truly be Forever.

We were also able to go to Emma's Baby Blessing on Sunday Morning. Todd invited Mark to be in the circle and he was honored to be apart of Emma's Blessing. 

Many Congratulations to Todd and Liz!! Emma is a very special little girl and is so fortunate to be able to go to such a wonderful couple/family like Todd and Liz and Sydney-we can't think of anyone that is more deserving!!

We love you Benson Family!

(Todd, Liz, Sydney and Emma)

The Respect Award

I keep forgetting to blog about an award that Kaleb received at School back in December. Kaleb's teacher (Mrs. Shelley Forman) this year nominated him for being the most polite and respectful student in her class. He came home with a certificate of achievement along with a free kids meal token to Famous Dave's BBQ Restaurant. Kaleb was so thrilled about his award. Mark and I are so proud of Kaleb and his accomplishment. Kaleb is such a great kid, we are so proud to have him as our son. He truly is an example to all his peers and to his family. We love you Kaleb!! 

Princess Party Time

Karmindy was invited to go and celebrate one of her friends birthdays yesterday and she was so excited. Her little friend Claire Trimble was having a Princess Party and all the guests were encouraged to dress up as one of their favorite princesses. Karmindy's Grandma Laurie had given her a very nice Snow White Dress for her birthday several years ago and so she chose to wear that. It is really too bad that she has only wanted to wear her cute little dress the past couple of months because it is now getting too small for her. However, it still fits a little bit and it worked out splendidly for the party. Before the party, Karmindy and I enjoyed getting her all dolled up for the Princess Party. We did her hair and sprayed glitter in it and put on some make up and did her nails. Karmindy looked like a princess....literally. I got a little choked up thinking that in the near future how she will have the opportunity to get dressed up like a princess (homecoming, prom, and her wedding). We had a really fun afternoon together and before she left I took a few darling pictures of her so she could remember her fun event.

Goodbye Florida!

On Friday, we woke up and took it easy. We had really worn the kids out the previous days so we decided to just enjoy some down time. Our hotel inside was just ok on the inside but the outside was amazing. There were several pools to lounge by and a miniature golf course and a playground that we took advantage of in the evenings.

After Breakfast on Friday morning, we packed our belongings for our flight for that afternoon and then got dressed in our Swimsuits and headed for the pools. The weather was pretty chilly on this day and unfortunately the pool heaters weren't working really well. We spent most of our time laying out and sitting in the jacuzzi. Mark did take the kids in the pool for a little bit but it was really too cold to be in it for too long. The kids both loved the slides and going down them. 

While we were swimming, Kaleb gave us a pretty good scare. While we were sitting by the pool the kids asked Mark if they could go down the slides. Mark told them that they could but he needed to be with them so he could help catch them. Kaleb tends to hear what he wants to hear at times and took off for the slides. He has no fear at times and thinks he is an amazing swimmer (even though he is only on level 1). We warned him to wait and he didn't listen. Before we knew it, he had slid down the slide and had landed in the water. He started to swim to the side but wasn't getting anywhere. He totally went under. For both Mark and I, time stood still and we just froze. Luckily, Mark's lifeguard skills took over and he dashed after Kaleb. He was able to get to him ok and pull him out but Kaleb was probably under the water for almost a minute. It truly scared us and I am pretty sure it scared Kaleb. After we got him out and let him sit by the pool for awhile, he turned to us both and said, "What took you so long?!" I could've lost it on him right there! Needless to say we will be taking more swimming lessons this summer!

After that little incident, we decided we had had enough lounging by the pool. We went back to our rooms and got ready for the day. After checking out we headed back to the pool area for lunch and dined on coconut shrimp and Pina Coladas! After lunch, we headed to the airport and headed home. We really enjoyed our Florida trip as a family and are looking forward to going again when the kids get a little older!