This Week

 Strawberries went on sale.....for the first time in forever!

It was time for pie!

 Whipped cream was involved and there was much rejoicing.

Zackary came down with the flu. He missed 3 days of school! He spent 2 days at home with a fever, aches, and chills. It was very sad. Day 3 was a recovery day and since he was doing so much better he joined Zoey for a little bit of school time fun.

 We worked on numbers, letters, and sight words. Then we read stories and completed a few puzzles.

It was fun to have Zack join us!

 Ty has been busy at work all week long. We are excited for the weekend, but as usual, I know it will be over before we know it! Ty signed us up to clean the church tomorrow and Mia has a stake achievement days event to attend. I would love to make it out to Trader Joe's and do a D.I. drop as well.... Saturdays have to be so busy, because Sundays are special! Looking forward to Sunday especially! Ty is not on call so hopefully we can spend the evening together....relaxing on the couch and watching Mr. Bean with the kids.

LIFE LATELY

 Grade schoolers are now bringing home laptops from school to use for study and assignments! Good thing Max is so responsible!

 ...and also a monkey. I really don't know how his skinny arms manage something like this!

Every year Ty takes Mia to the daddy daughter dance at the school. Mia looks forward to it all year! This year they had a barn dance theme. 

 The dance was followed by ice cream at Baskin Robbins. They had a great night!

Roses for me for Valentine's...because Ty is just the best.

 Hello Kitty PJ's for miss Zoey from my mom. She loves them! They are super soft and cozy too.

 The kids have been out of school all week and we have been busy! Crafts and activities at home...play-doh, kinetic sand, baking cakes, baking cookies, park visits, ice cream store stops, a trip to Game Stop, the library, friends....It has been a great week. I am glad we have 2 more days to enjoy!

Little Gowns and Things

Today we took Zoey to her Pre-K physical exam. She looked stunning in her puppy print gown!

She was all smiles and giggles until the needles came out. It took quite a bit of convincing, but 3 stickers and a lollipop later, the shots were over!

Ty was home today and he and I (and Zoey!) were able to go out for lunch together. We ate at Johnny Russos and I had the fried zucchini and caprese salad. After the kids came home from school I made the best chocolate cookies ever! I filled them with mini peanut butter cups :)

The kids and Ty thought they were awesome, but sadly I made a mini batch so we have to make more soon! Ty will be escorting Miss Mia to the Father/Daughter sweetheart dance at the school tonight! Mia has been looking forward to it for weeks. I get to stay home and party with the other littles. Oh how we love the weekend!

Valentine's brownies, schoolwork, and the weekend!

 Zoey and I made Valentine's brownies yesterday for Max's class party today. Zoey thought the batter was delicious! I topped the brownies with white and dark chocolate and lots of pink sprinkles! Max said the brownies were gone in 2 seconds. That always makes me smile!

Today we did lots of review work at home. Numbers, letters, name writing practice.....and then a little painting and a walk to the park!

I am so happy we have made it to Thursday afternoon. Friday will be here soon and I am rejoicing over the coming weekend!

Pink

 It's Valentine's week at our house! Yesterday Zoey wrote out Valentine's cards for her older brothers and sister. Today we made pink play-doh.

 Every holiday calls for a new batch of play-doh to celebrate with!

Zoey used heart cookie cutters to make "cookies"....that was another activity from yesterday. We made sugar cookie hearts to share at FHE last night.

We also picked up a favorite barbie movie from redbox....just to keep things balanced!

Letter R and Homemade Bread

Yesterday we introduced the letter R! We themed the day R is for Red. We practiced writing the letter R. We picked out all of the different colored red crayons we could find and made an all red picture and we went on a color hunt. We read the Little Red Hen. Zoey loved the story and so today we decided to go with the hen and make bread. 

We made a big loaf of cinnamon and nutmeg spiced bread. We even made some homemade butter in a jar to go with it.

 Zoey thought it was delicious. She is excited to share with her brothers and sister when they get home from school today, even though they weren't here to help make the bread!

Preschool is still going strong in our house. Zoey is doing great. I still think it was a great idea to spend the year at home!

Zoey

 I really need to take more pictures....I am getting really bad at it. Today I have a bunch of adorable pictures of the little miss Zoey! She is the one at home with me now, and she is the one in all of the pictures. The older kids are missing out....I need to photograph them as well!

 But for now...Zoey...the butterfly dancer.

 The sweetest little cutie pie.

 What will I do when she goes to school next year for 3 hours a day!!!

I am sure I will think of something :)

but I will miss her! She is the best.

The Dentist.....and a lone tiger!

 The kids all had dentist appointments this week. They all did great! No cavities :)

 They have little goggles for the kids to wear during their cleanings, but Zackary has some serious light sensitivity! The lights were too bright for him, so I switched out his goggles for my sunglasses. Poor Zack!

 At home Zoey transformed into a tiger and got up close and personal with some Curious George.

Life with littles is always fun!

Fun Snack Activity

The older kids will be celebrating the 100th day of school soon. I decided Zoey should have a celebration as well....or at least a fun activity to celebrate. I found this little worksheet for making a 100th day snack. It was a good little counting/sorting activity and afterward there was a fun snack to eat!

Max in the snow

After several days of cold and rain last week, our mountains were filled with snow! My parents took the boys up to their cabin to play. Max couldn't believe how much snow there was! He loved it. Snow is such a treat for Southern California kiddos.