Halloween

This year for Halloween the Girls wanted to be a Princess and a Pirate.

The Girls with some of the other girls in the neighborhood.

A Pirate, Princess, a little Devil and Hannah Montana

This is the group that we went trick or treating with. The night was really hot and humid at about 81 degrees. I remember growing up and wearing long johns and a coat trick or treating. I used to get so mad that it was covering up my great costume. Certainly not the case with my kids this year! But they had fun!

Where have we been?.......

Now I have to admit that I have fallen off the blogging band wagon and so I am trying to get back on. Life was really busy this past summer with me working summer camp at the school everyday and our fabulous trip to Utah. Then come home to tend to the many PTA and Primary duties that I have. So hopefully these pictures will be you up to speed, and I will be a little bit more faithful in posting. (Cross your fingers!) =) Enjoy!

Megan and Emily with some Summer Camp Kids

There were close to 200 kids in Camp and I worked the First and Second Graders.

One of the many fun field trips we took to the Pirate Dinner Theater.

Megan and Emily on the bus to the field trip

(This was a real treat because for all the other field trips we were on a school bus)

While in Utah we were able to be there the same time with our cousins. The girls had a great time together.

Grandma and Grandpa treated the girls to an afternoon train ride up the canyon. The girls had a great time. We think Grandma and Grandpa did too.

While they were all riding the train the adults (Brian and Jillene, Julie, and Dave and I) did the zip line at Utah Olympic Park. It is the worlds steepest zip line, and a ton of fun!

Our little nephew Dallin at Olympic training to be a bobsledder.

We went to our family cabin and Megan really enjoyed the new rope swing. She loved to go as high as she could, unlike her mother. =)

The girls love the all the"High School Musical" movies. It was filmed at a high school in Salt Lake City. You can buy a map for a dollar, and do a self guided tour. The girls had a great time.

The famous cafeteria

And what tour would not be complete without a picture in front of Sharpe's infamous pink locker!

As soon as we returned home it was time for school to start

My two sweet girls. My first grader and fourth grader! I can hardly believe it.

It was a great, fun, fast and very busy summer!

Summer Time Fun with Play Dough

It was inevitable.......three weeks into summer break and "Mom I am bored". One of the things I remember from my childhood is my Mom making play dough. So I pulled out my trusty recipe book and made a few batches for my little darlings.

I must admit my third batch ( the yellow one turned out the best)

Megan with her play dough pizza creation

Emily with her play dough pizza creation as well

(It must have been close to lunch time)

So if you want to have some summertime fun as well here is the recipe:

2 Cups flour

2 Tsp. Cream of Tartar

2 Cups Water

1 Cup Salt

3 Tbsp Cooking Oil

Mix dry ingredients in a pan; add water and oil and food coloring to desired color. Heat over MEDIUM heat. (If you do it over too high of heat it will dry out) Stir constantly until thick; only takes a couple of minutes. I will start to pull away from the sides of the pan and create a ball. It's very thick. Pour out on a table with a little flour to keep from sticking and knead until cool. Store in a tight container. It will keep for weeks!

Multicultural Fair

My kids go to the International Magnet School in a school district. This past week they had their huge Multicultural Fair.

For two days the school was transformed into the continents of Africa, North and South America, Australia, Europe, Asia, and Antarctica. The kids saw performers and presenters representing all areas of the world. And were able to sample food from different countries as well.

The PTA was the main sponsor of the event, which translated into some long hours as well as a little stress. But I think everyone enjoyed themselves.

Each child received a passport that was stamped as they learned about the different countries. They also were sent home with a cut out kid which they were to decorate from a country of their choosing. (It looked like a gingerbread man with nothing on it.) They were to come back with three facts about the country to share with thier class as well. The girls wanted to do Germany. So we did our best to create our "culture kids" in the traditional lederhosen. (One of their facts was that lederhousen means leather pants.......bet you didn't know that?!).They had a good time being creative.

Teacher Appreciation Week

I am room mom to both of my girls classes. So I had a crazy, busy, fun, but very exhausting teacher appreciation week a couple of weeks ago.

We cooked breakfast one day and decorated the door for the week. (Or should I say weeks as they are still up)

The kids traced their hands and then they decorated them and wrote a nice note.

The next day was bring a flower day. So I made cookie flower bouquets for both teachers. (an idea I have to give my mom full credit for......THANKS MOM!) They turned out so cute but took a lot of time. But both teachers loved them!

(A little closer shot)

The principal even came up to me the next day at the PTA luncheon for the teachers and commented on how cute they were!

The next day I had the kids bring something chocolate for a bag I created as a "Sanity Stash" for the last few weeks of school. We also bought a class gift, one of the days.

On the last day I served my teachers a nice Italian lunch and gave them the love note tins from their class. I went to the school and die cut 2 hearts for each child. One for the child to fill out with a note of thanks, and one for the parents as well. (I was pleasantly surprised how many parent ones I received back.) They turned out really cute, and I think it was the biggest hit of the week.

It was a fun but tiring week. But I think my teachers felt appreciated, and that is what was important. Teachers have one of the hardest job on earth! My hat goes off to them!

No I Haven't Fallen Off the Face of the Earth.....

I have felt a little guilty that I haven't been keeping up with my blog like I would like. (My sister-in-law says I have enough guilt for all the people on earth which is probably true) Life has just been really busy as you will soon see by the posts to follow......hopefully soon?!

But today I received an e-mail that made me feel just a little bit better about myself. It brought a smile to my face, and I hope it will yours as well. I feel like she is singing about my life. Which, by the way, I would not trade for ANYTHING. I am incredibly blessed!

So smile and enjoy. But most of all keep on keeping on! I know I will!

(Pause the music player on the side be able to hear the fun)

Going to Work with Dad

This past week was bring-your-child-to-work-day. The girls look forward to this every year. And this was Emily's first time to go. You have to be at least 5. They enjoy visiting Dave at work and leaving some artwork on his white board.

Dave has such a nice boss named Miss Nanette. She enjoys having the girls come to visit, and gave them a little "job" to make them feel at home. As you can see her desk is piled with papers and the girls were in charge of stacking them according to size to help Miss Nanette "organize" them.

Girls in the middle of their job. Notice to doughnut on the table? Miss Nanette is also cool because she buys the doughnuts. =) She knows how to treat her employees right!

The job well done! Check out that clean desk!

The girls also got to learn about Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle from the Character "Re Duce"

They topped off the morning by having Mom meet them and Dad for lunch. It was a great day, they asked if they could go again tomorrow.

(I think they just enjoyed playing hookie from school for the day)

Dave and Lori's "Wicked" Adventure

As most of you know, who follow my bog, I have been waiting ever so patiently to see one of the greatest musicals ever........"Wicked"

Well the wait is now over and it was FANTASTIC!!!!

It started by hiring a babysitter and having a date night with my fabulous husband. We went to one of my favorite restaurants for some great food. The Cheesecake factory. I am a total creature of habit when I go out to eat, and I always tend to order the same thing. My favorite to order is the burrito (it is huge and yummy), with a slice of Chocolate Tuxedo cheesecake to top it off. For a chocolate lover like myself it is HEAVEN! (I drool even as I post the picture!)

After dinner we went to the show. We scored some close FREE parking, which is always a bonus. We had fantastic seats on the floor. It also was opening night, so that was fun too. The show was AMAZING! I have been listening to the soundtrack for months and the show totally lived up to my expectations. (if you want to hear the music too, some of my favorites are in my sidebar music player tracks: 2,7,12,13,and 16)

It gave me a new perspective on the Wicked Witch of the West. Was she really not all that wicked after all? You should never be afraid to stand up for what you believe in.

Now if that has peeked your interest, and you have the chance, your really ought to see "Wicked"

I know I will again!

The ABC's of Kindergarten

This past week was the Kindergarten's PTA program. It was called the ABC's of Kindergarten. It was so cute, and Emily did such a good job. We wanted to share the evening with you. (You will need to pause the music on the right to hear the video) Enjoy!

Emily's Birthday

Yesterday Emily had her birthday party. She invited four friends, and we all went to Disney on Ice Worlds of Fantasy. We saw Cars, Little Mermaid, The Lion King, and Tinkerbell and her Fairy Friends. Everyone had a lot of fun.

Before we went to the show we had everyone make a picture frame with stickers of the shows we would see. They turned out really cute. (click on them to see them larger) And yes I did make them wear party hats and Emily had a cute Birthday Girl button she wore. (She refused to wear her hat in the picture) They got a lot of compliments and Happy Birthday wishes! It was fun. (At least it was for me!) =)

Then it was time for ice cream, cake, and most of all presents. She got more Barbies and Webkinzs. Apparently two things you just can not have enough of.

Happy 6th Birthday Emily! We love you!

(pause the music on the right to hear the video below)

Easter Fun at School

Now I have to warn you, this post is going to be long with a lot of pictures. But I hope you enjoy them anyway. Today was all of the Easter festivities at school. And it was a full, but fun day. =)

Emily had an Easter egg hunt. It literally took about 5 minutes or less. I was hoping to get some better shots, but this was one of the best I could get. She was so excited for the egg hunt.

Emily's kindergarten class has been buddied up this year with a third grade class. They came to hide the eggs for Emily's class. They also helped them keep count as they found their eggs because every student was only allowed 10 eggs. This is Emily's buddy, and she really enjoys her.

This is Emily's Easter bag she made that holds all the great loot she got today. She had a great time.

In Megan's class I helped them dye Easter Eggs. For some of the kids it was their first time dying Easter Eggs, and I think everyone had a great time.

The finished works of art that will be used in a project coming up later in the post.

Megan also got to have an Easter Egg Hunt. They had a lot of fun.

Megan counting her eggs. Has to make sure it is all there!

Megan and the Easter bag she made for all her loot as well!

Before spring break I was talking to Megan's teacher about what she wanted to do for Easter. I remember a time when Emily grew some real grass in a Easter Basket one year at preschool. I thought this would be a cool idea for Megan's class as well. So right before spring break we planted the grass and I got to tend it for about 10 days until the kids went back to school. The girls thought this was so cool.

This is the finished product. Each of the kids trimmed their own grass with some scissors.

They turned out totally cute.

(Not that I am not biased or anything like that ) =)

This is a little closer shot of Megan's basket and her eggs.

We all had a great day! Happy Easter!