SOOOOO Worth It!

I don't generally splurge on entertainment for the fam. Hey- the kids are entertainment enough most of the time. But when my sis-in-law provided me with a coupon code for Walking with Dinosaurs, I had to jump on the opportunity. (You know by now that I don't do anything without a coupon!)

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I really was thinking that the $$ we spent was still too much, but 3 words, folks.

SOOOO worth it!

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Frankie says WOW!!

We didn't get home until 10:00 last night, but it really was worth it.

Did I mention that this was AWESOME?

Sabino Canyon

I was lucky enough to be able to accompany Emma's class on their field trip to Sabino Canyon this week. 20 screaming kindergartners? What's not to love?Emma learned the appropriate way to stroke a dead animal's fur. Blech!We enjoyed a demonstration of how to make "Kindergarten Canyon" on "Acacia Mountain."The nature hike was my favorite part by far. These little munchkins were just so cute spotting wildlife & documenting it on their little clipboards. I enjoyed the scenery....

....while the kids learned how to examine "scat" for evidence of which creature it belongs to.

Emma is diggin' the poop demonstration!

(Don't I spend about 50% of my time telling my kids not to touch dead animals or play with poop? Now it's suddenly OK just because it's "nature?")

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Emma enjoyed scraping minerals out of the wash with a magnet......and manipulating it with the magnet. Magic, right?We worked our little brains so much......that we needed a little siesta during lunchtime at the park.I'm so glad that I get to do this kind of stuff with my kiddos. I am blessed.

My Baby No Longer

I tried, but I just couldn't stop myself from crying. Saturday was a big day for Jack.

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The first snip.

There go those gorgeous curls!

What'cha doin' back there, Grandma?

There's not a huge difference up front, except that he doesn't look so mangy now.But the back- tears! My little man is really a little man now. Guess it's time to have another one. (At least that's what Grandma says!)

Is Grandma Awake Yet?

The cousins were going crazy with anticipation. They'd been waiting a whole 40 minutes & Grandma was still "pretending" to be asleep. So off the little ones went to investigate.

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DISCLAIMER: Debby is sleeping on a mattress on the living room floor of her own stubborn free will. I tried my very hardest to get her to sleep in any one of the number of beds in my home, but she CHOSE to sleep here. So I figure she deserves to be woken up like this.

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Jack was first.

Hmmm, I think I'll go investigate.Do you think she knows I'm here?Tiffy feels the need to help Jack check out the situation.
Watch out Grandma, here they come!Morning, Grandma!Come to think of it, that doesn't look like a bad way to be woken up.

Luv you, Grandma!

A Heart A Day...

A heart a day.... keeps the grouchies away!

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Last week we did a different heart hairstyle for every day of "Valentine's Week", as Emma called it.

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I forgot to take a picture on Monday, but we did THIS 'do. We curled all her hair like crazy & she looked like a little doll!

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Tuesday was just a regular old heart. I had a picture but it's disappeared from my camera.

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Wednesday- a little ribbon to spruce things up.

Thursday- 2 hearts are better than one!

Friday & Sunday- no words necessary. She loved this one!

We're sad that Valentine's is over now. With all the hearts & pink around here, it's been heaven for my little angel. And just for fun, here's the homemade Valentines we came up with for Emma's class. A friendship ring for my princess & her buddies.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Playdate Gone Seriously Wrong?

Last week one of my Beehives was at my house while her parents were away & she went to town dragging out every dress-up item we've got. The term "disaster" doesn't even begin to describe the chaos in the kids' room. But they were all blissfully happy & now my kids request a playdate with Anna about every other day. She got them all dressed, carried them around because they were royalty & couldn't touch the ground, & then cleaned up & tucked them all into bed. I thought it was great.

Hey, I don't care what they're wearing. I'm just happy if they've all got clothes on!

Andy was not exactly thrilled when he saw these pictures. Sure, Emma looks like this about 95% of the time, but Frank & Jack enjoyed themselves just a little too much. Frank was even fighting with Emma over who got the super sparkly crown.

I think I'll save this picture for when he's older. It might be nice to keep around as blackmail material.

Super Duper Sickly Fun

No, Frank has never been officially diagnosed with asthma, but I've tried every cough medicine I have with no success. It feels much like when Emma was younger & she'd cough for hours on end, with nothing working to stop it. So when he was coughing so hard today that he almost threw up, I made the executive decision to use some of Emma's massive selection of meds on him. Not a total success, but at least he's not gagging anymore. (Sorry for the graphic detail.)
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And hey, now they have something to bond over.
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Nebulizer party at our house!