Thursday, January 27, 2011

Preschool




While preschool is a big part of our life, I haven't posted any pictures because, well, I try my best to avoid posting pictures of other people's kids online. At least ones that don't have blogs themselves. So here are some unidentifiable kids in photos from some of our activities.

Being in charge preschool has been a challenge and a stress for me. It definitely isn't something that has come naturally. The first few sessions I felt like I was holding my breath for 2.5 hours, worrying about what might go wrong or annoyed that I totally misjudged what would be interesting. But over time, I am getting to know the kids and am becoming better at judging what/how many activities to plan.
Best activities so far:
- building a volcano
- talking about hot/cold then making popsicles and popping pop corn.
- reading the 3 little pigs then acting out the story with puppets
- "sensory tank" See #3 picture above.

Worst so far:
- Painting noodles
- Learning parts of a tree
- Nature walk in which one kid hit another kid in head with large stick
- Cleaning pennies with a toothbrush. I got this idea from a book and even with the salt/vinegar solution they proposed, the pennies did NOT come clean. Loss of interest in 9.2 seconds.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

New Little Girl

We found out Monday that we're expecting a little GIRL in June. The only thing that makes me less nervous about having a girl is the hope that she might be just a little bit as funny, smart, and adventurous as her amazing girl cousins already are.


Sunday, January 16, 2011

Gordon and Claire - a few favorites

On December 18th, 2010 my beautiful sister Claire married Gordon Rees for time and all eternity in the Fresno Temple. I shared a room with Claire for some 16 years of my life, and I just have to say, Gordon is one lucky guy, because Claire is good company.










Sorry Amanda, had to put this one in here.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Heavy Snow Freezing Fog?


The current conditions now are "Heavy Snow Freezing Fog". As if freezing fog wasn't confusing enough? So how do I distinguish the freezing fog from the heavy snow?

Or maybe the heavy snow *is* the freezing fog. Either way I'll be sure to grab a handful.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Forecast

You know how a 5-day forecast will have a temperature, an icon, and a short description of the day's weather? Well around these parts, the forecast doesn't just say "snow" or "chance of rain". Its more like this (these are all real):

Monday: Ice pellets
Tuesday: Freezing fog
Wednesday: Flurries
Thursday: Freezing drizzle
Friday: Wintry mix

So better watch out for that freezing fog. And what kind of cop-out is "wintry-mix"? To me its still just "cold".




Monday, January 10, 2011

Christmas Vacation part 2: Good times in Virginia

Rochelle and JohnE were great hosts at their place in Virginia. We played lots of games, watched movies, opened so many fun presents, ate really good food, and laughed a lot. We visited the Smithsonian in DC and even made it to Mount Vernon.






Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Christmas part 1: A journey to the West

In 6 short days I reconnected with the land of my birth by
-Hiking in the foothills of the Sierras
-Eating Mexican food good enough to make you cry
-Listening to my beautiful aunt Gail sing my very favorite Christmas song in church
-Reuniting the Stellan and Levi dynamic duo for about 16 glorious hours.
-Participating in the surprise flash mob dance at my sister's wedding.
-Eating huge tasty oranges right off my dad's tree.