One Week Down...

Well, we're one week into the new preschool year and so far, so good. Afton is in the 4 year old class this year. She goes 5 days a week from 9 to 1, and she LOVES it. I asked her if she had fun on her first day and she said "It was awesome!" Miss Ashley is her teacher, and she knows Afton inside and out. I've been working at the school for 2 1/2 years now - and Ashley and her husband Troy have become really good friends with Joe and I. Their daughter Jordan is one of Afton's favorite babysitters. They work on a color code in Afton's class this year, Green means you had a great day, Yellow means you had a difficult time listening and Red means you had a REALLY difficult time listening. Afton got green on Monday and Tuesday, came home with her first (and so far her only) yellow on Wednesday, and greens again on Thursday and Friday. I'm really proud of her for working so hard to get those greens! When Joe picked her up on Wednesday she asked if they could stop at McDonald's for an ice cream cone. When he said "Well, what color did you get today?" She hung her little head and said "Yellow", so Joe asked if she thought that yellow deserved an ice cream cone and she said (very sadly, I'm sure) "I guess not". So on Thursday when she showed me her green and I told her how proud I was of her and how great that was, all she could say was "Yeah, because now my daddy will buy me an ice cream cone!!" I told Joe that he better make sure he has a couple dollars in his pocket from here on out, because in Afton's mind Green = McDonald's Ice Cream Cones! Hey - whatever works!! She already has a homework project that she's been working on, and she loves it! She asks me to copy extra worksheets out of the curriculum books for her to do, and she's tried giving homework to me and Joe, also!! I know all parents say this, but she is so smart! She's recognizing rhyming words, she's learning to add simple numbers, and she's a whiz at mazes and puzzles. She's growing up so fast - I can't believe that in 4 months we'll be attending open houses for kindergarten and in just one short year Afton will be a kindergartener...where does the time go?!

I'm having a pretty great time in Preschool this year as well. I'm teaching the 3 year olds this year, so I have 6 of the kids that I had in my 2 year old class last year and 3 new children. They are a smart group of kids!! I have found that I love lesson planning - as long as I have plenty of time and don't wait until the last minute - and the kids seem to enjoy the activites we've been doing. They are excited about school and are a great group of kids...here's hoping they can keep it up for the rest of the year!

New Additions

About a week or so ago we were getting out of the car and Afton said "Mommy, I see a nest!" I looked around, but didn't really see any bushes that would be safe enough for a bird to build a nest in, and we only have one smallish tree in our yard - so I thought maybe she meant at Grandma's house or something so all I said was "That's nice". To which she replied, pointing emphatically to our scrawny tree "No, mommy, I see a nest!" Sure enough, there was a nest in our little tree! It was too high up in the tree for me to pick her up to see into it, so I told her we would have to wait for daddy to get home and use his ladder. She was so excited that she could hardly wait for him to get out of the truck before she was begging to see inside her nest! Joe climbed up first to make sure we weren't going to get our eyes pecked out by a momma bird defending her babies and when he came down he said "we have baby birds". I was worried that Afton would want to pet the birds or touch the nest, and knew that if she did the chances of momma bird coming back were slim to none. So we explained to Afton that we couldn't touch anything, but she could look at the birds and she did great! So, here are the pictures of our newest babies...

Hungry little guys...

and noisy, too!

Momma bird keeping watch

What We Did On Our Summer Vacation.

I know, I know...I'm a horrible blogger! But I like to think I have a good reason. We have been spending A LOT of time at the pool the past few months. And this is what we've accomplished...

She pretty much taught herself how to swim. We gave her the basics (hold your breath, kick your feet) and she did all the rest. I think she spends more time under the water than above it! We are so proud of her!!

Saturday, in the park...well, technically it was our backyard

But it's such a great song, who can resist? Cute story...Beth and I have been friends since I was a teenager. When she told me in 2004 that me she was expecting, I was so happy for her...a little jealous, but happy nonetheless. I found out less than a week later that I was also pregnant. We had the same doctors, took the same Childbirth Classes (I thought for sure we were going to get kicked out...we could NOT take it seriously!!) And we had the exact same due dates - Jan 9th. Ella came early, Afton came late (she takes after me). And now here we are...best friends whose little girls are best friends; how very Old Navy of us. But I digress. Last Saturday my BFF, Beth and Afton's BFF, Ella, came over to play. We hooked up the Slip & Slide and the Beach Ball Sprinkler. Those two monkeys had so much fun!!

I can't remember whose idea it was to put the roller coaster in the sprinkler, but it was pure genious!!

And then there was this little hole in our backyard...

I don't know why - but I really like this one...maybe it's the rain boots, or the muddy toes...whatever.

Thanks for coming over girls!! We had so much fun!!

My Mom Rocks

My mom is a champ!! I become such a baby when Joe is out of town...and she doesn't mind letting Afton and I crash at her house, or riding around town running errands with us. Last weekend we took Afton to pick strawberries at Lewis Nursery...they have made me a berry snob. They're berries are so yummy!! And did I mention the homemade ice cream? Here are some of the pictures...

Kids Say (& Do) the Darndest Things!!

Since Joe has been in Peru for the last 2 weeks, I've let a lot of things around the house slide. There are only so many hours in a day, and if my time has to be spent A) doing the dishes or B) reading an extra book to Afton before bed...then chances are I'm going to be reading the book. Not only because I love to read to her, but also because it's about the only time she lets us snuggle with her anymore. And, seriously...can you think of a better reason to skip the dishes? I can't. So, anyway, Afton has been trying to "help" more around the house - and I've been letting her. The other day I was folding laundry in the living room and I could hear her putzing around in the kitchen, I asked her what she was doing and she said "cleaning dishes". I let it go, because usually that just means she has the water on and is rinsing a bowl over, and over, and over again. A few minutes later she came into the living room and said, "Mommy, something is very wrong in there." I said, "What's very wrong?" and she said, "Just follow me". So I did...and this is what one ENTIRE bottle of Ivory dish soap + one sink full of water + one 4 year old little girl will get you:

As a prelude to the following segment, let me tell you that we've been working with Afton on familial relationships (Grandma is mommy's mommy, Papa is daddy's daddy, etc...) and she's getting pretty good at it.

I took Afton to Wal-Mart with me last Saturday night to pick up some things for a (really cute!) Mother's Day Sharing Time. As we got in line, a man stepped in right behind us that looked very much like my dad - whom/who??? Afton calls "Poppy". Never the shy child, Afton looked at this poor, unsuspecting gentlemen and said "Are you a poppy?" Once he realized what she was asking he said very sweetly "Oh, no, honey. I'm too young to be a grandpa. But this is my son." and he introduced us to his son who was probably 19 or 20 years old. Afton looked at the two of them for a moment and asked "If you're a poppy, is your son my daddy?". I prayed for lightening to strike, or the earth to open up and swallow me whole...anything. This man's poor son looked TERRIFIED!! I couldn't think of anything to say that could save us from this horrifying, painfully embarassing moment that wouldn't make it sound like we all needed to visit the Maury Povich show. I just looked at Afton and laughed a little and said "You silly girl, you know your daddy is on a business trip." (At least, I think that's what I said...the details are a bit fuzzy...I think I'm repressing the more traumatic moments). And I know that the man she was talking to was thinking "Yeah, right lady; a business trip." When I told that story at dinner on Mother's Day, I think my sister spewed water out of her nose because she laughed so hard.

How Could I Forget Easter?!?!

Holy cow! How could I forget about Easter in my last post? This was a great Easter...my dad was able to come up and spend a few days with us, we had the Chicken' Pickin' at church with a dessert auction for the Young Women, 3 Easter Egg Hunts, and one very happy little girl, all packed into one crazy weekend! I got some pretty great shots of Afton in her Easter finest, so here they are...

We did have a couple casualties over the Easter weekend. Sunday, after we left for church; it appears that our very smart (and at the same time, very dumb) dog found his way onto the dining room table and ate Afton's chocolate Easter Bunny. Her 1 pound, solid milk chocolate Easster Bunny. He also took my dad's chocolate bunny and drug it out to the backyard where it baked in the sun for an hour or so and it's face melted into the back of it's head. Very lovingly, Joe offered his chocolate bunny to Afton to replace hers. She accepted and when we took her basket outside to take pictures that one also melted. Luckily we were able to distract her long enough that she eventually forgot about it. We had 3 Easter Egg Hunts this year, one at church, one at meme & papa's house and one at Heather & Jason's. We found these fantastic eggs that had fairies and ladybugs and flowers on them, and they were prefilled with all the great Wonka candy - 16 in a pack for $5. The only thing we decided to do was take the Wonka candy out and substitute our own candy. Just because we thought that Afton would prefer Hershey Kisses and Sweetarts to Sour Jaw Breakers. But I don't think that her older cousins minded the switch, seeing as how they ended up with all the good stuff!

Now for the Chicken Pickin' and dessert auction. This is an annual event for our ward (at least it has been for the past two years). The auction always raises a ton of money for the Young Women and the Youth and it is always a ton of fun. This year we had members of families (namely my sister and dad) bidding against each other for the exact same item, which I didn't really understand since we're all going to the same place anyway - and the cake was going with us regardless of who bought it. I think it was a matter of pride...and it made for some really good laughs. I made Strawberry Heaven (it's becoming my signature dessert) and Nutella Cheesecake and they went for $45 and $35, respectively. The item that brought in the most money in was Sister Brew's Strawberry Pie, it went to Christa Field for $150. She REALLY wanted that pie!! It was such a fun evening, and, no matter how much I paid for that loaf of bread; the money is going to the youth and there is no better feeling than the one we get when we are serving and helping each other.