Exploring at Explora

The kids had three days off of school a couple weeks ago. We just hung out for the first couple of days, so I thought we should do something fun on the last day. Caelan brought up the idea (she's the planner in the family). We went to the library that morning for story time and to make snow trees out of tissue paper. Then we headed over to the Explora Children's Museum in Albuquerque. Caelan had gone a couple of weeks earlier on a special field trip, but none of the rest of us had ever been there. The kids loved it. There are lots and lots of different hands-on exhibits for the kids to try out. Some things they just watch, but a lot of things they get to try out themselves: water experiments, air experiments, different physics activities, sound activities, learning with shapes and colors, currents, bubbles, electronics, etc. Even Austy was loving it - running from place to place. He really wanted to stay and play with the train table so when it was time to leave there he wasn't too thrilled. He was content to hang out in the stroller for most of the rest of the time we were there. We went over to the park right next to the museum (it was pretty chilly so we didn't last there too long, but the kids got out some energy) and then we grabbed some food and headed home. We will definitely have to make that place an annual trip.

Hair Cut Time

Austin fits right in with the rest of our full-haired children (Megan is the only one with just a regular amount of hair - all the rest have bunches of hair). Ben and Nathan both have straight hair so I have always kept their hair cut pretty short, but Austin's hair is more like Sean and Caelan's with some wave to it. We thought we would let it grow out a little longer because the curl and wave was pretty darn cute. After a while though, it was just too much. His hair was wild. It was super cute when it was combed with the little curl around the base of the neck, but after a while it would just start getting in his face. Plus, this little dude loves to rub his hands through his hair - especially during meal times (YIKES). Finally I decided it had to be cut. The last time I gave him a hair cut (last Fall) he HATED it so much that I cut it much shorter than I wanted (partly because he was moving so much and partly so that I wouldn't have to do it again for a super long time). This time I didn't even pull out the clippers - that's what freaked him out so badly last time. I just did everything with scissors. He actually did quite well. Towards the end he had had it and started shaking his head back and forth every time I tried to get a section of hair, but we managed to get through the whole thing without any hysteria. YAY! Hair cuts on little baby boys age them so much so fast and even though this wasn't as short as I cut it before, he still looked about three months older as soon as I was done....but awfully cute too!

Daddy Daughter Dance

The school had their annual Daddy Daughter Dance, and this year both girls got to go. Megan was excited and looking forward to it all week. As is tradition, Sean took the girls out to dinner beforehand. They met the Edwards and enjoyed a tasty meal at the Pizza Barn. Then they were off to the dance. Sean said that Megan was done after about an hour - acting tired and ready to go. She loved twirling around with Sean and dancing on his feet. It was a great time for all. I was a co-chair for the dance, so I spent several hours during the week putting together the little goodie bags for the girls and gathering door prizes for the girls and dads and decorating on the day of the event as well as finding all the volunteer help for the dance itself and for the set-up and clean-up. I think it all went over great. I love that they have this event at the school (even if the Dad's are too keen on the dancing part) - the girls sure do look forward to it.

Day of Love

I am a fan of Valentine's Day! I know there are a lot of people who have their own feelings about the holiday ("commercialized day forcing people to buy things", etc), but I think any extra excuse to show a little extra love to those we really care about is something I can get behind. Yes, we should definitely be showing love to our sweethearts all days of the year, but this is a fun day to do a little more....and I like it. Plus, it's fun for kids: making and passing out Valentines to friends, having parties, etc. Sean's Dad always did a little something special for the kids on Valentine's Day when he was growing up, so he has carried on that tradition. He gets the girls a single rose and their favorite candy, and this year he got the boys a balloon and their favorite candy. I added a little bundle of Hershey Hugs with a squeezable drink and a little note attached that said, "Hugs and a Squeeze." They were pretty thrilled to wake up and find their treasures of love. Sean got me a bouquet of roses, carnations and lilies plus a bag of peanut M&M's (YUM) and a watermelon with a heart carved in it. I made Sean a homemade Valentine (which turned out pretty cute, I must say) and a deck of cards with 52 reasons why I love him (one written on each card) and got him Key Lime pie and a 12 pack of Vanilla Coke. We don't go too crazy, but we like to do something. Sean had also written on the bathroom mirror and on the windows and mirrors in my car - the kids got a real kick out of that. We made the same Valentine's for all the kids to take to their classmates (they took some time on Wed afternoon to sign their names), and I went to Nathan's Valentine's Day party at preschool that morning. There was a ward adult dance that night, but we never got a babysitter (Sean had been a little sick off and on for the past few days) and so we opted out this time. We ordered Dominoes Pizza and enjoyed an evening in. Fun Day! And of course the girls had some festive heart hair that day.

Diaper Heads

Nathan has been wearing pull-ups to bed (we call them "night time pants"). He went a long time where he was always dry at night (maybe every couple of weeks he would wake up wet), but then last Fall he started sleeping so hard and wetting the bed 4 or 5 times a week. After weeks of this, I decided we'd try pull-ups for a while. I didn't want to make a big deal about it and I figured if he really cared we'd do something else, but he didn't mind at all (and I'm happy not to have to wash bedding 5 times a week). Anyway, one day they found the package of pull-ups and all the kids got creative with them. Austy thought it was hilarious to have them on, and then he would immediately try to pull it off...and then instantly want to put it right back on. Silly kid.

Super Nationals

We haven't been to a car show in quite a while. Sean heard about the Super Nationals Car Show at the fair grounds, so we decided to go check it out. There were lots and lots of pretty awesome cars. The kids had a fun time and Sean LOVED it. They even got to participate in a Hot Wheels competition. There were probablyt 20+ kids in the brackets and Caelan won 2nd place. They all got to keep the car they raced as well as another car, and Caelan got a tee shirt.

Working Hard at School

The kids got their first semester report cards shortly after they started back at school in January. They all did great. I went to an awards assembly at the school where Caelan was recognized for being a class Spelling Bee winner as well as receiving Silver Honor Roll (I wasn't sure if she was going to pull that off because she had a little trouble in Science this semester, but she did it). Megan was honored with a Silver Attendance award (only missing 2 or 3 days of school) and she also got her class Roadrunner Award. One child in each class received the award for the entire semester. It was a given to a child who demonstrated leadership and hard work and who went out of their way to help other and make good choices. I was pretty impressed that Megan got that. She has surprised me in school - I wasn't sure how she would be because in many ways she is our strong willed, push-the-envelope kid, but she has really been great in school: quickly learning and performing really well on all tests, being very respectful and also being a good friends and leader in her class. Ben didn't get an award, but he got all A's and one B on his report card. He brought home his standardized testing scores and was way up there (90th percentile and above). He's a great student too.

Speaking of the Spelling Bee: Caelan got to go to the District Spelling Bee. It was held at the Moriarty High School Performing Arts center. I went with the little boys to watch. The boys were just being too busy and noisy to stay in there (mostly Austin), so I took them into the little foyer right outside the doors. That way I could open the doors and peek in every so often to see when it was Caelan's turn. That is just what I was doing one moment when I turned around and noticed Nathan right by the fire alarm (which ridiculously enough was exactly at his hand level). It was like slow motion - me saying, "NOOOO" just as I was running towards him, but I got there barely too late and the alarm went off. I went out to the front so I could try and find someone to tell. I noticed buildings and classes across the street evacuating. They didn't evacuate the Performing Arts Center because I told them is was just my little son who pulled the alarm, but the fire department had to come out to reset the alarm and the Spelling Bee had to stop until the alarm stopped. It was pretty awesome. Nathan cried the whole time: partly because it was so loud and partly because I think he realized he was the one who had caused it to happen. Needless to say I don't think that will happen again. Good times.