5 a Day

You might have seen the commercial or heard the saying, "5 a Day, the healthy way," teaching kids to eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Well, a few years ago I started a chart with Maylee and Teagan. We used dry erase markers on their sheets and they got to put an 'X' on for every serving they eat, just a fun way for them to keep track. It lasted...I don't know how long, but eventually I wasn't able to wipe off the markers and I got frustrated and I guess a little lazy and we stopped doing the chart although we continued to eat healthy.

A few months ago (after I became pregnant) my healthy eating almost went down the drain. I was so sick and not wanting to cook anything and craving things I hadn't eaten in years...i.e. fast food and sugar, that our family kind of got off the healthy eating track. Now that I am feeling better I am trying to get my kids back to normal, or I guess I should say "my normal."

I came up with a new system of the '5 a day' chart with stickers and a real treat at the end (if their chart is completely full) Last week was our first attempt and it seems to work good so far. The kids get so excited after they eat a apple or a handful of carrots and they get to put a sticker on the chart.

I have a small container full of little stickers that the kids can choose from. (I think that is their favorite part) Here is the finished chart:

So Saturday after the chart is full they can choose what treat they want...which generally means going out since they are rarely treats in the house. It worked out nice because Teagan and Maylee had Primary Activity day at the church. I assumed they would get a treat there and they sure did! Build your own ice cream sundaes. That was definitely a treat for them. But since Livia is not in primary and could not attend the activity she was able to choose a treat later that night. An Easter cookie with pink sprinkles. Yum! And she sure loved it, by the time I got the camera and came back to take her picture she only had a few bites left.

Spring Break

The kids didn't have school for the week of Spring Break (and no babysitting for me) so we decided that each day we should do something fun. I was going to be organized and have each of the kids come up with one or two things they wanted to do and then have a little chart or something with each day of our break and what we would do...but All the sudden, it was Spring Break! Although I didn't have an organized chart with our plans for the week, we still had a good time. We didn't do something too exciting everyday but I think it was a good break for us to not be on a schedule.

Monday- I had a doctor's appointment early morning (I was the first one in the building, the door was still locked when I got there) so the kids were able to play at a new house while I was gone. They spent the morning at the Luker's and seemed to really enjoy it...so we said that that was the fun thing for that day. They have 3 kids almost the same age as mine so it worked out nice. The rest of the day was pretty lazy, just getting stuff done around the house, making bread, the usual.

Tuesday- Once again, nothing too exciting. In the afternoon we walked over to the park after Kevin got off work, but we didn't stay long. We were there about five minutes when Maylee walked over to us and asked what the fuzzy thing was that was buried in the sand. After a few minutes of us not checking it out, we decided to have a look since she wouldn't stop asking us. Kevin got up and looked and then walked right back over to me..."umm, I think it's a cat." "What, where?" was my response. "A cat...in the sand...dead" "okay, time to go" So, needless to say, we headed home right then. So we didn't really count "going to the park for 5 minutes and then leaving because there was a dead cat somewhat buried in the sand" our fun thing for the day.

The thing that turned into "the fun thing" that the kids did on Tuesday was not even planned. :) They took some scrap paper and crumbled it a little and put it on the fan and let it fly. They really enjoyed it and were doing it for awhile. They loved watching how high the paper would go.

Wednesday- This was our really fun day. (Of course the day I forget to bring my camera...I took a few pictures with my phone but have no clue how to get them on the computer, so I am just going to use these pics from the website). Kevin took Wednesday off so I spent an hour or so the night before trying to find somewhere fun, different, and cheap to go to. My first ideas were Sunsplash or the zoo...both too expensive. So, I found this place called Jeepers (used to be jungle jim's playland) in mesa. $5 for unlimited rides. We decided to check it out and the kids really enjoyed it. The first ride they went on was the mini coaster. We sent all 3 kids on and watched as they were buckled, all sharing one buckle, and Kevin leans over to me and says, "is this ride going to be okay for Livia?" I said, "Sure, it's not going to go that fast." As I finished speaking it took off and was going WAY faster than I thought it would. Luckily, Livia didn't scream or fly out of the ride. It was going so fast they were all squished against each other (I really wish I would have had my camera for that). Finally after what seemed like forever it started slowing down (along with my heart) and I started breathing normal again, but just then it...oh you guessed it! Starting going backwards! I thought I was going to have a heart attack. Finally the ride was over and the kids got off and I asked if they had fun...Livia said, "ya, fast." I couldn't agree with her more.

There were a few other rides that the kids liked, Teagan really liked the rocket ride, the train ride, and barrels of monkey. Maylee's favorites were the rocket ride and the "really fast ride" She went on it again later all by herself. Livia's favorite's were the Merry go round and the safari train ride. It just went in a little circle (slowly) and there were different jungle animals to look at.

Jeepers also had games to play (like Peter Piper). The kids earned over 100 tickets and spilt it between the 3 of them. Teagan and Maylee got little parachute men and Livia chose a little looking glass. There was also a very large play area with tunnels and slides. It was pretty fun...not bad for 5 dollars. After 4 hours we were all pretty worn out, including me, even though I didn't do a whole lot except for watching. We decided to call it quits and we headed out. We even went to dinner at a restaurant, something we don't do very often. Kevin and I both wanted mexican and the only place we could find on the way home was Some Burros. So we stopped there.

Thursday- I had discovered a park last week with Livia when we were out running errands. I decided to take the kids to it for our "fun thing" for Thursday. I packed a few toys and snacks and we headed out.
Here's Maylee playing on the ropes..I think she made it across once.

This was Teagan's favorite...the tunnel slide. We had fun playing a game with a ball. I would throw the ball in one of the 3 holes at the top and Teagan would roll it down the slide.

Here is Teagan using his magnifying glass to cook a grape that had fallen on the ground. Kevin had shown him how you can burn things using the glass and the sun. Teagan had a good time seeing what he could burn...including himself. Boys will be boys.

I really don't know what this is and the kids didn't really play on it either, I just thought it was pretty cool looking...

Riding on the Bee

Livia found an empty water bottle in the sand (pretty gross) but she had the best time filling it up with sand and then dumping it back out.

Friday- Friday was a pretty exciting day too. Our kids love seeing movies in the theatre (we take them to the $1 theatre, well $2 actually) so we took them to see "Bolt," which they have been wanting to see for a long time. After the movie we went with my dad (aka Grandpa) :) and ate at Peter Piper Pizza. (I know, I know, eating out twice in one week...wow, that's big for us) Anyway, the kids had fun eating pizza...also something that is not done very often unless it's homemade, and playing games and winning prizes. This time Teagan got a Lizard and spinning top and Maylee got a huge pink diamond ring and another ring, just plain.

Maylee and Livia playing on the play center-

Livia used her last token to ride the Tonka truck...and she loved it!

After we ate, Teagan went home with grandpa for their sleepover party. Just the boys (mom is in Texas visiting my cousin). Teagan was So excited to..." stay up all night and play Wei!" After their sleepover, Grandpa brought him home Saturday early afternoon and Teagan told me all about his fun time.

*He, of course, stayed up all night playing the Wei...4 or 5 different games.

*He had cereal for breakfast, a kind he had never had before, Trix.

*He swam for a little while in the pool.

*He played a little more Wei...

*He and Grandpa went to McDonald's for lunch and he even ate a few of Grandpa's fries!

Wow, did he have a great time!! (No more sleepovers for him...lol) :)

The Cutest First Grader

I want to start by saying that Teagan and me are similar in many ways. (I am not referring to the title of this post.) :)

Last week he had his first grade music concert, it was so cute. We invited mine and Kevin's parents. (My batteries were dead on my camera but luckily my parents brought theirs. Thanks mom and dad!) The kids were to meet in their classroom so that they could all walk out together. All the little first graders started coming out and were lining up on the stage. Teagan came out and was in the middle row right behind a few very tall kids. I was so sad because I thought I wouldn't be able to see him at all, but right as I was starting to complain to my mom, the choir teacher had Teagan move to the front row right in the middle! He is the smallest one in the group...our first similarity. (I was always the smallest in my grade until probably junior high.) I could tell he was a little nervous (I would have started crying if I were him) He stood very still with his hands behind his back.

The concert began and about 1/3 of the kids were not singing, my son included. Our second similarity. They also had hand motions for many of the songs. Every once in awhile I could see his mouth move a little so I could tell he knew the words.

After a few songs his hands moved to his sides. He still did not do the hand motions but he was singing just a little bit more. He was getting more and more comfortable with each song. And yet another similarity...sometimes it takes me awhile to feel comfortable doing something in front of people.

A few songs later right in the middle of the song, his hands came up and he did one of the actions! I was so excited! He did a great job and I am so proud of him.

I always tease him (even though I am being serious) and call him the cutest first grader. He thinks it's so funny and laughs or says "don't say it, don't even say it..." while laughing. I know I am his mom, but I really do think he's the cutest first grader!!!

Everybody Jump Jump!

Nice karate kick Teagan! Look at that form!



This was the 3rd attempt at this picture, but I finally got all 3 of them to hold still and smile.

Livia tends to jump with her feet apart. It's kinda cute.

I love this picture...her hair is great.

Sometimes I take the simplest things for granted, like our trampoline. We have had it for I think 3 years now, and some days I don't know what I would do without it. When the weather is cool the kids love it and when the weather is too hot, I just add some water and they are good to go.

Our original plan was to put it in the ground...I felt that they would be safer that way, since we had a 4 year old and a 2 year old at the time. Kevin and I worked on the hole for quite some time. Kevin wanted to not have the legs on it, so we just set the edges of the top of the trampoline on the outside of the hole. It wasn't perfect but it worked fine for our little ones, but if Kevin or I would jump, there were certain spots where we would hit the ground. The hole wasn't dug perfectly but it doubled as a fire pit which came in handy many cold nights. It was really fun being able to cook tin foil dinners and such in it.

Well, about one year ago, Kevin decided he wanted to fix the hole. So, we put the legs back on the trampoline and put it in our grass so we could finish digging the hole. And if you have been to our house lately you would know that the trampoline is still in the grass. But I am not complaining...we still have a tramp for the kids to jump on and also a big hole for them to play in. And pretty soon we can fill it with water and it can double as a pool. :)

The point of this whole thing is that I am very grateful that we have something outside for the kids to play on and get some of their energy out. They love it and are out there jumping almost everyday. Just look at how much fun they are having.

Half-Way!!

Well, I am officially half-way done...with this pregnancy; and still feeling cute! (I know that wont last much longer.) 20 weeks have come and gone, only 20 more to go. Wow, when said like that, it sounds pretty bad. But it usually goes by fast...until the last few weeks or so. Then it seems like the baby will never come out, but it always does.

I receive an e-mail every week updating me on my pregnancy and telling me how big the baby is and that sort of thing. For the last one I got it said..."research suggests that she may be able to hear your voice now, so don't be shy about reading aloud, taking to her, or singing a happy tune if the mood strikes you. " Teagan is always asking about the baby, so I told him that it can hear us so we should talk to it. It's really cute, he has talked to it a few times the last few days and tonight when I went in to lay by him I started to walk out and he said "wait, I want to say good-night to the baby." He is going to be such a great helper after the baby is born. Well, all 3 of my kids will be.

Sunday

Getting ready for church is always exciting, especially when Kevin is gone at meetings all morning and church doesn't start until 2pm...not my favorite time for church. The kids took a bath pretty early because I also had a meeting I had to go to, so I was trying to get them as ready as I could, not knowing what time I would be back. Teagan was being such a good boy and got dressed right away and went in to comb his hair (even though church didn't start for another 4 hours, it's the thought that counts, right?) Well, he just looked so cute that I decided to take a picture of him. After I got done with that I noticed the girls also trying to get primped and ready to go, so I thought I would take pictures of each of them in the different stages of being ready for church. Teagan, completely ready, Book of Mormon and all, Livia with her dress on and about 20 necklaces and bracelets that she thought would look good, and Maylee just struggling to get her shirt on. :)

It's Garden Time!

After a few seasons of not gardening, I was anxious and excited to get going again! I bought my seeds, fertilizer and a few plants about a week and a half ago but was unable to do plant them, for one reason or another. (Plus it rained a ton! Probably a good thing I didn't plant them yet.)

Well, the kids are always up for helping, especially if it's outside. Teagan was excited about digging, Maylee couldn't wait to plant the carrot and pea seeds, and Livia was just happy to be outside with the whole family. Our garden area is not very big, but I guess it will do...I just wasn't thinking when we first moved in that we would need an area bigger than 5x8 feet. (I don't know what I was thinking.) But we were able to plant spinach, peas, carrots, radishes, bell peppers, zucchini, green onion, corn, cantaloupe, tomatoes, and one strawberry plant. Where are you asking is that all going to grow in a little 5x8 space? We shall see...

I didn't get started until late afternoon and so I was getting a little chilly as the sun started to set behind our fence. My fingers and toes were feeling a little numb by the time I went inside. The kids enjoyed it and hopefully in a few months we will have plenty to show for our hard work.