Heritage Festival

Saturday the city had a Heritage Festival at Milburn Park by our house. We walked over to check it out and it did not disappoint. They had stick horse races for the kids, a petting zoo (including llamas, a camel, and baby goats), pony rides, (fake) cattle roping, live music, inflatables, and of course pictures on the longhorn with the Texas flag as the backdrop. And of course my favorite part was that it was free (well, everything I listed was, except the longhorn pics). I love that we live in a place where so many family-friendly activities available!

I really really like my family! I find my kids exceptionally adorable and likable and have really been enjoying their company as of late. They make me smile and laugh and cry (in a good way usually). I mean, just look at them...what's not to love?

Oh, they're just so munchy!

Emma, practically perfect in every way

 

"Blue Ninja"- design by Emma

Weston's imitation of what the caterpillar would look like if his point was on his face instead of his behind.

 

Emma, queen of faces.

 

 

 

And of course I adore the biggest kid at my house as well. Don't you just want to kiss that face? Well you can't... unless your name is Laurie Steed
 

Easter Weekend

The kids had Friday and Monday off for Easter. Problem is, I didn't realize that until the week of so we didn't plan anything. But we had a good time. Friday we did a playdate exchange with some of our favorite pals (girls at one house boys at the other) then we watched Kung Fu Panda 2 at the park. Saturday we went to Home Depot to build bird feeders and join the easter egg hunt. We hung a swing for the kids and enjoyed the nice weather. Sunday we hid eggs (okay I'm a bad mom, Emma stuffed them and the kids took turns hiding eggs for each other) and we went to the Wilcox's for a nice Easter dinner in their backyard. Monday we went to the church to ride bikes in the parking lot with friends.

Ryder and Rustin, such characters

Playgroup egg hunt at church- Cohen, Ryder, Andrew and Carson

Invasion of the little green guys

Some of the trees in our backyard got overtaken with little green worms. They devoured the leaves, leaving one tree picked pretty clean and then they left these silky strands hanging from the trees, tons and tons. Walking under the trees was like walking through a spider web. It was one of the strangest things I've seen. I'd look out the window and see all these bright green worms hanging down from the trees. And they left little caterpillar poops all over. On the upside, we've had a lot of pretty birds visit our yard for the feast.

General Conference with Kids

I logged into my blog to post some new pictures and found this post I never published. oops, I guess I'm behind.

So like most moms I struggle with how to get my kids to take part in general conference and make it a positive experience for all of us. When I had toddlers running a muck the goal was to keep them distracted and out of the room so we adults could get something from the meeting. Then I tried putting out conference bowl food (like super bowl appetizers) to bribe them to be in the room quietly which became a major gorge session that lasted one session and wore off fast. So I decided it was time to change my approach. So we kept the snack table but each snack (except the healthy anytime fruits and vegs) got gospel words attached and could be eaten when they heard that word. They could also take one if they could find and name the speaker on the general authorities fold-out I posted by the laptop (we watch conference on the computer). The kids loved it and payed close attention to hear the words!

Weston stationed himself right by the speaker so he'd be the first to hear a word.

I also set up a coloring station, puzzles on the floor,

and a quiet craft table. The craft table was a great chance to do some Easter crafts. This was definitely a bigger pull for Emma than the boys. I made sure to have crafts that wouldn't require help so they wouldn't interrupt conference with questions. I just printed pictures of the finished products and gave quick instructions before conference started. I also tried to have a new craft for each session.

I think this new system/tradition worked well. The kids were (mostly) quiet and were in the room with us all four sessions. I don't know how much they actually got from the speakers but they enjoyed conference and look forward to it, they allowed us to listen, and they are more familiar with the general authorities now. But Emma did say she had her conference question answered and not even specifically from what the speaker was saying so I know she felt the spirit and it was a good experience for her.

The (Not) Awesome Boy

So Weston's gotten a bad reputation on this blog. But this week he got two blues in a row (better than green on the stoplight behavior system) and had fun at the Kindergarten's Pirate Day. Way to go buddy!

That other boy though...
Ender pulled a pushpin off the preschool board and punched several holes in my exercise ball and as always his reason was "I just did it on purpose" and he shrugs and I sigh and give him a lengthy discussion while he stares blankly at me. I was into a good little routine with this ball and my workout video, now my motivation's deflated and I'm feeling lazy again.

Friday morning I came back from the bus stop tired so I laid on the floor in my room and snuggled Andrew a moment when I started to drift off. I woke back up to the sound of scissors. I bolted up worried Andrew was cutting the sheet I was laying with. On the floor was a small pile of hair, my hair. Aw!  I don't know if he was mad that I wasn't getting him the cereal he demanded or just curious, he's really hard to understand. Emma in her rare moments of naughtiness might over-react in a fit of rage then run to her room crying and screaming. Weston will slyly do something out of curiosity then get wide eyes and run off giggling nervously when he's caught. But Andrew just sits there totally void of emotion or reason. No explanation, no regret, no tangible reason to be found. It's hard to be mad and fight with someone who doesn't seem to register consequences or emotion. Maybe he was just getting back at me for the years of bad haircuts I've given him. Then when I tried to talk to him about why this is a problem he just stared at the side of my hair he had cut trying to see what it looked like with wide, curious eyes. I don't think I'm getting through to him. I wasn't even that mad, shocked, a little diturbed, but pretty calm.  I did tell him this was not awesome and that seemed to affect him the most because he's all about being an awesome boy.

And now, I am missing some hair. It's actually not that obvious. I already had some layering around my face and luckily my hair was curly that day so it kinda blended in. And then with conference I've just had my hair up all weekend. Tomorrow I will wear it straight and survey the extent of the damage, but I'm wondering if this is the motivation I needed to try something new, finish what Andrew started and go for a short do. I have been getting bored of my hair and I've been seeing some cute short haircuts. But I like ponytails and easy long styles. Any thoughts? What would be a good look for me? I'm talking about something chin length, I know that the back of my head and long neck are not fit for something really short but maybe a layered bob.
Or if you have no advice for my hair what about my child, sleep with the scissors up high and the door locked?