Home Again, Home Again...

So, I have a TON to blog about. We just got back from spending 9 days in Utah. It was a blast. But, I don't have time to blog about it all right now. I have a funny J story for you, before I forget.

Last Sunday, while in Utah we went to my brother Todd's house for dinner. While we were there, J got so distracted playing with cousins, he forgot to use the bathroom. Yep, he peed his pants. Shocking for an almost 6 year old? Maybe, but James has issues with thinking its more important to play than stop to pee.
Anyways, we were not staying at Todd's and did not have any change of clothes with us, so he had to wear his wet pants for about an hour before we left (I know, I'm the meanest mom ever!).. Needless to say, we got back to my sister Kelly's house, where we were staying and he was a little sore. Had some chaffage problems, I think. We were getting jammies on everyone, and J walks in from the bathroom with a pained look on his face. So, I ask what's wrong. This was his response:
"Mom, it hurts my parts when I pee. I think maybe I'm allergic or...(painful pause) maybe I'm pregnant."
I haven't laughed that hard in a while. That was a doosey.
I had to ask him what it meant to be pregnant. His response, "I don't know". I explained it was when a mommy had a baby growing in her tummy. The look of shock crossed his face and he said, "Oh, yeah, definitely NOT pregnant."
And then it was over.... Always good times with J around. Always.

Don't leave your walls naked!

Okay. I am soooo incredibly excited about our eLLeMeNOPea Summer Challenge. Haven't heard about it? Check it out here on our blog, or here from our newsletter.

We are going to have some fun with this. Do you have a bare wall in your home that is glaring at you? Do you have a wall that you just want to re-do? eLLeMeNOPea can help, and now is the time-during our 2009 "Bare Wall" SUMMER CHALLENGE.

With small changes to your decor, you can alter the mood of a room and turn a plain wall into a stylish expression of you. Create the space you want without spending a lot of money! That's right, with a few design tips from eLLeMeNOPea, you can transform any room with ease.

My favorite part: we post all the completed walls on Facebook and on our blog and "America" gets to vote for their favorite! How fun is that!!
The winner gets a 36" customized wall clock, and the 2nd place runner up gets a $50 voucher for eLLeMeNOPea.com.
Pretty rockin' don't you think?? Valarie and I are even going to do our own projects, and show on our blog, step by step the progress- from bare to WOW!! Anyways, wanted to keep you updated on whats going on!!
I have a few projects in my house I'm working on- I'll post the pictures once they are done!

Start Spreading the News!!

Here's the video clip of my favorite song from J's kindergarten graduation.

Kinder-GARDEN: Growing Young Minds...

J had an amazing year at school. He LOVED school. No, that's an understatement. He thoroughly enjoyed every minute he was there. Thanks to a really great teacher- Mrs. Dzida. We love her.

B had her for Kindergarten, and she came highly recommended from a few friends. She can be silly with the kids, but is structured and just makes learning so much fun!!!

Kindergarten graduation was great. Not too hyped up. But enough to make the kids feel proud of their hard work. Here's all the PM kindergartners singing some songs together. They were soooo cute. I'm going to try to post the video of one of my most favorite songs that they sing. J is in the front row (as usual!). He looks like he has a mean look on his face. Hmmmm. I think he was ready to go back inside!

After they sang all together they went back inside to their own classes and had a little ceremony. J's class sang some more songs and then they got their diplomas. Mrs. Dzida puts together a great book full of their best art projects that year and spiral binds it. Guessing from the budget crunch, it came out of her pocket this year. My favorite page from this book, is his self portrait that he drew, and then he got to write a little about himself. This is what he said, and it pretty much sums it up:

I am a boy. I play baseball. I like steak.

What can I say, he's a simple guy! I can't believe he's so big. Time flies by! This kid is the funniest, friendliest kid I know. There is just something about him that just makes you smile. He has such a good heart. Maybe that's what I love the most about him.

Zoo Time!!

As a last hurrah for Mommy and Me, we went with Ms. Becky's Preschool to the Zoo for a field trip. I was able to bring J and S, and we had a lot of fun! We got to hang out with friends and see some pretty cool animals!

S playing with her friends. She had fun running around and looking at the animals with them.

We had fun. J was our Tour Guide. He carried the map and helped designate where we should go.

Our favorite animals were the tiger and the monkeys. The Orangutan actually got up and moved. I actually (gasp!) remembered my camera, and had a really cute picture of Sophie in front of the Orangutan, but sadly, I can't find it.

We also really enjoyed the Reptile House. There are some pretty scary looking snakes in there! I must confess, I'd rather see a mouse or a spider than a snake. Reptiles and me are NOT friends. I could never have a pet lizard, snake, etc. NOT Happening here. They frighten me!

Mommy and Me

In January (I think?!?) S and I started going to a Mommy and Me Group at Ms. Becky's Preschool/House. We had lots of fun with each other and it was a definite bonus that my sister Jody came with her daughter too! They are best buddies (sometimes even worst enemies- just like sisters!!) We are working on painting Easter eggs here.


Here we are doing some puzzles. Obviously something was funny!!

We are assembling out Itsy Bitsy Spider. S is really afraid of spiders. But she liked this one!

So, I've been meaning to blog about Mommy and Me, and now I did. It was great for S and I to spend time together but also great to be around other Moms and visit. Thanks Becky for opening up your house and all the hard work you put into organizing Mommy and Me on top of your Preschool classes. Anyone looking for a Preschool teacher, I HIGHLY recommend Becky. She is my good friend, but anyone who is around her when she's with kids can see she truly loves being with children and teaching them. And she's really, really good at it! Her Preschool website is linked on the side of my blog. Check it out!

Wow! Its been a month since I blogged last! I've got some catching up to do! So, here goes.... Over Mother's Day weekend, our ward Primary had an activity at the Temple. So, we went as a family and walked around the grounds and had a picnic lunch. It was great. Thanks to Rhonda who ALWAYS has her camera, we have some pictures that captured the moment.

After we ate our lunch the kids ran around on the grass and climbed trees. It just doesn't get better than this!

Of course, it was hard to get J out of the trees. He is 100% pure boy. He LOVES to climb trees. He looks for a tree to climb everywhere we go!

This is most of the kids in our Primary. We are missing a few families. I'd guess that this is about 80%. I know somewhere out there, a picture of my family in front of the temple is floating around in somebody's camera. If someone could forward me that picture, I would really appreciate it!!

It was a great day. The kids all took the opportunity to touch the temple. President Monson said to let our children go to the temple, and walk around the grounds, and reach out and actually touch the temple. And as they touch the temple, the temple will touch them. As well it has. We love the temple and are excited to get to go to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House as a family when we go visit later on this month. (Hopefully, I'll remember my camera then!!)