Valentine Boxes

Young Learners: Preschool Valentine Party

We celebrated Valentine's Day at preschool, this week. 

Valentine Friend olliblocks 

The dramatic play center was set up as the SweetHeart bakery. Donuts and cookies were baked up in heart shaped dishes and served in heart shaped bags and gift boxes. 

A Valentine letter match activity was assembled and reassembled 

Handwriting/Art: tracing hearts with pink and red markers and Valentine bags were covered in heart stickers 

Snack: heart pretzels and Valentine cupcakes on heart shaped plates

Sensory: scented pink playdough. Can you make a letter V?

SweetHeart Bakery might have to reopen to sell all the heart shaped "cookies" we make today!

Speaking of cookies: Hippo Cookie is a class favorite 

Soren did a sweet victory dance when found the hippo :)

We exchanged valentines and sang Valentine songs and talked about how we show our love to others. I love these kids!

Point: February

A dozen joys 

1) Quincy: "What?! Cobbler without ice cream? That's chaos!" 

2) Adventure Friday 

Adventure Friday led us to some clothing boutiques near the mall in search of some "foot cardigan" type socks for Aaron. We were greeted in a storefront by an adorable puppy and Rick's Bakery petit fours. Now that's the sign of a good weekend about to start. Soren loved the puppy and a sprinkled donut and I found socks for my Valentine. It was a silly thing to take a picture of, but Sorens love for donuts, doggies, and cool socks were just too much good to not capture. 

Can we talk about socks? Are fancy socks a thing now? They're everywhere and Soren is suddenly obsessed!  Obsessed enough that I spent an absorbitant amount on some space rocket  socks that Aaron will never ever ever wear to work, simply because my 3 year old governs my heart and apparently my financial decisions. He loved them too much to say no. They were on Shark Tank though, so Aaron will probably love them anyway. Happy Valentines Day, Aaron. You're broke and you have expensive space themed socks. 

3) potluck games

We attended a potluck to welcome new families to our ward on Friday night. Minute to Win It games were played and Aaron impressed us all with his amazingly remarkable rubber band sharp shooting skills. Sorry ladies, he's taken! ;) 

Quincy and Ellie tried their hardest at the TP mummy wrap, but lost to Pablo and Layton. 

4)Run for Jennifer 

On Saturday morning, I joined 200+ fellow runners for a special memorial run honoring a member of our training group who was tragically struck by a car a few days ago. Her twin sister is also a group member and we were blessed to hear a few words from her, and from Jen's parents. It was beautiful to see our community come together to support this family in mourning. We ran 8 miles of paved trail that was marked with messages for and about Jen as well as uplifting words of encouragement.  I feel honored to belong to this community, and blessed that I could participate in helping others remember a lost teammate, friend, sister, and daughter. Jen's family manned the aid station set up at the 4 mile marker and tanked every runner for being home to their daughter.  So many emotions. 

5) 8 is great

8 miles, done! The run was a challenge, physically. The 200 ft climb up the Crystal Bridges hill at mile 6-7 were brutal but I did it!  It was a happy milestone for me. My realistic goal was 1 hour 45 minutes. My "hopeful" goal if I was having a great run was 1 hour 36 minutes. I surprised myself and cruised in at 1 hour 30 minutes! I know an 11:15 mile pace is not something most people are proud of, but 8 miles at that pace, including "the hill" was an an accomplishment and a real confidence boost for me.

6) A date! We hired a sitter and went out Saturday night. We realized we are  getting old and tired when we finished dinner seriously considered going home at 7:30pm. We opted to live on the edge and grab a few things at Sam's Club, first. Haha! 

7) Not only were we on time for church Sunday, but I only had to leave the chapel during sacrament meeting once, with Sloane. This is huge check on the positive side.  Soren was in blue jeans, and Corbin sat with another family. We aren't perfect. Also noteworthy, Aaron shared a powerfully touching testimony. I have seen Aaron cry and or get choked up a grand total of 4 maaaaaybe 5 times in the 15 years we've been together. Really.  When the Spirit moves Aaron to tears, it is an undeniable witness of truth to me, as well. 

8) gas is $1.27/gallon. I just filled the tank in the van for $22. Hollah!  As Aaron/Clark would say, "you can drive to Wally World on these prices!" 

9) on Friday, I cooked and froze a dozen+ quart sized bags full of ground turkey, beef, and sausage. I use these at least once or twice every week to get dinner on the table quickly and avoid some of the 4pm madness on busy evenings. Yay for making life a little easier. 

10) host

Today was my turn to host Soren's playgroup. I made 2 fresh batches of playdough for 6 little friends to create with. I'm very happy for Soren to have so many peers to be buddies with. 

11) Sloane jumped right in with the big girls at playgroup. They doted on her every need and she delighted in having a couple new minions around. It's funny to watch Sloane's personality develop and take a place in our family. She may be the youngest and smallest, but her voice will always be heard! Girlfriend knows what she wants and doesn't hold back when she finds something unacceptable I hope she continues to make a voice for herself and always stands so well rooted in her standards. 

12) my cute neice is engaged! 

Congrats McCoy and Taylor! 

Taylor is the oldest of the Lawrence grandchildren and was born the summer after I finished 7th grade. When my brother Mark and his family moved back in with my parents to save for grad school, it was like having a baby sister around for me. I loved it, and I love Taylor.     She's grown up so beautifully. Seeing her so happy makes me happy, too.

13) it's kind of a dumb thing, but  I tried on my old jeans this morning, and they actually fit! Who doesn't have to waste $30 on new pants? This girl! 

Quincy, Sloane, Sloane, Quincy

Upper Left and Lower Right: Quincy 

Upper Right and Lower Left: Sloane 

Rockin' the same dress, bow, and rocking chair 8 years later. 

Thrills

Wouldn't life be fun if we got as excited about mundane things as a three year old gets? Look at this boy. Well checkup doctor visit or Disneyland? Who can tell? Same expression!  

Have a delightful weekend. 

Young Learners: My Amazing Body has 5 senses: Smell

Literature

Science: the nose diagram and respiratory system model. We drew a large nose on the wall and labeled the parts to understand how the nose works together with the brain to identify fragrances. Then, I handed 2 students a ballon and they acted as our lungs models as we followed how oxygen through the nasal cavity and down into the lungs.

Sensory: bring something to smell! 

We had a smelling party and the children shared things to smell: a candle, lotion, a variety of foods, perfume, strawberry shortcake doll, and a stinky sock :)

Sensory bin: rocks and heart shaped scoopers, trays, funnel and bowls. 

Dramatic Play: paging Doctor Dallin! I set up a "pet hospital" for the children to take animals in for wounds and medical care. They gave shots, prescribed meds, treated broken bones, and administered a lot of love. 

This surgical table/oxygen station is my favorite part. I saved Quincy's oxygen mask from her recent tube surgery. Many plush pets got ghe gas today. ;)

Don't forget to check out at the counter and take your pet home in a carrier or on a leash!

motor skills: body puzzle

Sensory Art: scented paint! I made water colors with kool aid packets, and each color smelled fruity and wonderful. When the artwork dried, it became a scratch n sniff picture!

Best Brothers

It's taken a couple years longer than I thought it would for my boys to develop a close relationship. I think I was spoiled with Reese and Quincy bonding SO well from birth. It's finally happening for Corbin and Soren and I love it. They're awfully naughty together. I (mostly) love that, too. 

Corbin had this in his backpack. So sweet!