Teacher Appreciation Gift

Life's been busy lately, and I've had a cold. Two things that don't make for a happy mommy, or a mommy that feels like blogging. Thursday is Teacher Appreciation day at school. This year, we made notepads for their teachers. I printed their names on a piece of paper, and had the kids draw an image around the name. This was SUPER hard not to have the controlling mommy side of me come out when I saw what they were drawing. But, they made them, and they put on them what they wanted, and that's what is important!

After they drew a small picture, I made 50 copies onto colored paper. We have a really nice laser printer, so this step was really easy. Or, you can take it to Kinko's where it's like $.09 a copy. Kinko's did the cutting and binding, which ended up being less than $1 a notepad. Add a nice pen and ribbon and you're done! I'm already thinking about what cute party favors this would be - as a kid with an uncommon name, I would have flipped out to get my own notepad with my name on it. I get excited about little things :)

Missy

Homework with this little Miss has not been easy.

She's the youngest in her class, and lately I've been wondering if it was a good idea to have her start school so young.

New concepts take her a little longer to catch on to.

She thinks "doesn't feel like doing it" = "don't have to do it" ( to my shock - in Kindergarten she crumpled up and threw away an assignment in front of her teacher because she 'didn't feel like doing it').

Just a few days ago I was asking my parents for pointers and tips, and checking if they wanted to be her personal homework tutor :)

And then yesterday she came home with her progress report card.

Straight A's.

I guess I didn't have anything to worry about.

Girl's Night

Last weekend Callie and I had a little girl's night together. We started by painting her room, which was hot pink. I really liked the color, with the vinyl I put up.... for about a week. Then, the color got obnoxious. I'm a plain jane girl, who likes calm and soothing colors, and the hot pink was definitly not calm or soothing. So, it is now a soft lavendar - and it is so awesome! I told Callie I was going to hang out in her room all day while she's at school because I love the color so much. Callie loves the color also, she even said, "it doesn't make my eyes water to look at my walls anymore" (ha!) The picture below is not the final color, but the primer we put on over the pink.

Once we finished up painting, we headed out to grab a bite to eat, Missy's choice. We ate at Chipotle and had some great girl talk. Then it was back home to watch a chick flick. We tried to track down High School Musical because neither of us have seen it, but we weren't able to find a copy, so ended up watching Penelope, which was still a little to old for Callie I think. We finished off the night with a big bowl of ice cream & whip cream. Girl's nights are great!

Spring Break Week

What our Spring Break Week Looked Like

MONDAY:

Yard Work! We needed to fill two new planter boxes Jeff made. Then it was off to the nursery to buy plants. One bed was going to consist only of raspberry bushes. The nice old nursery man laughed at me when I asked if they carried raspberry bushes. Apparently we were WAY too late for raspberry bushes. I laughed back when we came home and ordered some online. I will get my raspberry bushes.

Other highlights: Happy Meals at the Golden Arches (highlight for the kids, not so much for the parents).

TUESDAY:

Rollerskating. No pictures, but Callie has the bruises to prove it. That little girl may be the next roller-derby girl. She flings herself onto that rink with all the power her little body possess. Isabella had a wonderful time wearing little skates over her shoes. Hayden tried to convince us he was just going to check out all of the arcade games for the entire time we were there, but by the end of the day, he was really enjoying himself and had made some huge improvements.

WEDNESDAY:

The kids got captured.
Donut store, then Dollar store, then movies with popcorn.
It was a big hit.


THURSDAY:


Day camping at the beach. FREEEEEZING. It was so cold it made a 16-year-old boy happily wear a hot pink jacket.




FRIDAY:

Big changes in the Christensen family. More on that later.

Easter

Well, first I must apologize to my sister Lisa for not updating my blog regularly :) So Lisa - this post is for you! We've had a great Spring Break week, but I'll post about Easter first.

We woke up to find that the Easter Bunny came and he brought Zhu Zhu pets! The Easter Bunny always brings a picture or book that is Christ related. This year he brought bookmarks.

I didn't realize Isabella's bed-head was this bad when I took the picture ( or that her smile was so evil-bunnyish). This is one that I'm sure she'll thank me for later.

Elvis & Eugene spent the week with us, so the Easter Bunny brought them baskets too with ties instead of Zhu Zhu pets.

We were able to watch General Conference. There were so many amazing talks. I look forward to reading & studying them. Callie, Hayden, and Elvis drew and colored pictures (oops- and Star, who rotated laps throughout Conference), while Eugene & Isabella worked on floor puzzles.

We had an easter egg hunt in the freezing cold! I can't remember an Easter that has been this cold! We finished off the day with dinner with my parents & brother and his family coming over. The kids all played hide and go seek for well over an hour, leaving the adults to have fun chatting & laughing. They even ended up playing outside in the rain! We had such a wonderful time.

I love this time of year when we celebrate our Savior and His resurrection. I am so grateful for the knowledge I have, that I can be together forever with my family, because of a loving Heavenly Father and Savior. I am so grateful to my Savior for the gift of the Atonement, which not only allows me to be forgiven of my sins, but lifts my burdens when my load is too hard to bear. And, I am so grateful for a Prophet on the earth today, and for the opportunity we have to hear his counsel for us in these latter days. What a wonderful Easter we had, and we hope our family and friends had a wonderful Easter as well.

Belated

Last Sunday was Jeff's birthday, and somehow I didn't get one photograph of the birthday boy or our festivities. I kept meaning too, but Sundays are such hectic days at our house. He barely made it home for dinner, and almost ended up going to a fireside, but ended up opting out. We of course had chocolate cake and ice-cream for dessert. The kids and I were able to surprise him at one of his after church meetings with cupcakes for everyone. And we enjoyed visits from great friends stopping by to eat cake and wish Jeff a happy birthday. Happy Birthday to a wonderful husband, father, and friend, you are loved much.

First Attempts

Today was our first attempt at potty training.

After three accidents, the diaper went back on.
I'm not sure she's ready.
And I'm pretty sure I'm not ready for all the laundry.


Here's to a better tomorrow.