Preschool—Letter X

We had to make some last minute changes for preschool one week and I ended up teaching when I hadn’t planned to.  My next letter was X, which I had also taught last year.  So, to make it easy, I did the eXact same things I had done last year.  Isaac and Grace didn’t mind the repeat!  We started by reading a great book that is all about x-rays, it even has real x-rays in the book.  The kids had lots of questions and liked looking at the x-rays.  That led to discussions about our bones.  They danced to a song about bones after that.

Then they worked together to do a life-size skeleton puzzle.

Well, it was closer to life-size last year.  They have grown!

We made hand x-rays out of q-tips.  I love this craft!

After that they painted crayon resist X’s that looked like x-rays.

Before eating snack they had to go on a treasure hunt to find the X that marked the spot.  Aren’t these kids the cutest?  Too bad we were missing another cutie who was sick.

They used those pretzels to make X’s before they ate them.

Then we moved on to playing with a xylophone. 

We talked about how the keys (is that what they are called??) get bigger and how that changes the sound.  Then they did an X dot-to-dot and copied the colors of the real xylophone on a coloring sheet.

They also made music with a homemade xylophone.

We ended by talking about who our perfect eXample is, Jesus Christ.

Then it was off to recess.  I realized at that point that this was my last preschool to teach.  I was sad!  I have really enjoyed being able to do this with Isaac and Grace and their friends.  What a good experience it has been! 

Fooled Ya!

As I made Emma’s lunch on April Fool’s Day morning I was trying to come up with a good trick. I remembered we had a full bag of Spree’s leftover from our trip.  So I carefully opened the bottom, took out the candy, filled the bag with sliced carrots, then glued the bag back together again.  I knew she would think she scored because she got a whole bag of candy in her lunch, but then she would be in for a surprise.  She was!  I totally fooled her and the kids at her lunch table got a good laugh too.  I was giggling about it all day. 

For dinner that night we had our traditional Fool’s Dinner.  Our friend Autumn was staying with us while her parents were gone for a few days.  I thought Emma was going to die of embarrassment that we were going to have the dinner even though she was there.  She was mortified. 

She warmed up, and Autumn loved it.  We all got good laughs as we ate our silly courses.  Grace’s first course didn’t include any food, just dishes.  Isaac had all food at once.  This is the only day of the year where I don’t mind slurping, eating with fingers, and drinking out of the pitcher.  So funny!

I was hosting book group that night and knew I needed to play a trick on the ladies who were coming.  I decided to serve “brownies”.  Emma really wanted to trick Autumn with it first, so we kept talking about the “brownies” for dessert.   We fooled Autumn!

I forgot that the twins were too young to remember when I pulled that trick on the family.  Isaac was very perplexed about it, but Grace threw a huge fit that they weren’t real brownies!  Here’s the blurry picture to prove her tantrum.  See Kristin, Grace and Avery must be related! 

My book group friends loved the Brown E’s.  I had more on the plate for them and a few took some “brownies” home for their husbands.  Ha!  Don’t worry, I served a real dessert too.

I checked out some April Fool’s books from the library and then totally forgot about them.  I remembered the next day so we read them then.  All the books were pretty much lacking in the good plot department, except this one.  We loved it!

It was a silly day of foolishness at our house!

Current Evans Events—March 2014

Emma has seen a big increase in homework, projects and activities towards the end of the year.  She has been busy and a little tired.  I found her asleep in a funny position this particular day, but she looked comfortable!  Oh, to be 14 years old again!

A friend in our ward needed help getting his motorcycle started so Lee and Isaac walked over to help him.  Isaac was rewarded with a quick ride around the cul-de-sac.  He was thrilled!

Emma started a Pinterest project at YW one night, and finished it later with the help of Kaitlyn.  I didn’t get a finished picture, but it’s cute!

I got some flip flops for Isaac and Grace in preparation for our trip to Arizona.  They wore them for a couple days straight and decided they would wear them on the beach in Arizona.  Here they are all ready for the beach.  I finally had to break the news to them that there is no beach in Arizona.  They had a hard time believing me since Arizona is hot.  I’m not sure where they got the notion of a hot beach, they only know cool Oregon beaches!

We started to see some nicer weather and we made it to the park several times.

I love seeing the buds on the trees, especially against blue skies!

It’s hard to resist the pink flowers on our tree in the front yard.

We still had some rain, and Grace still insisted on wearing her flip flops on the rainy days!

I struggled a little when I went with Emma to her high school registration meeting.  I can’t believe she will be a freshman next year.  I swear it was just yesterday that I was registering her for kindergarten.  We got her class forecasting completed.  It’s all done via the internet now. much fancier than when I was a freshman!

I don’t know what it is about Costco, but Isaac and Grace always go crazy when I take them with me.  They both get in a super silly, goofy mood there.  Sometimes I can’t decide if it’s harder to have them all crazy or in cranky moods…

But then again, maybe they are always crazy!

This girl has a book in her hand as much as possible.  Even while emptying the dishwasher.

Emma has loved playing the piano for the jazz band.  The regular band is fun and she likes playing the flute, but she really enjoys jazz band.  I wish she had done it sooner like we tried to tell her to! They have a great conductor and they have such a good time together.  They are so fun to listen to.  Can you see her behind the piano in this picture at the band concert in March?  So glad she is doing it.

I was also glad that my parents stayed after the concert to be Lee’s guinea pigs for IV practice.  There was no way I was going to!!

Emma and I went to see the high school production of Guys and Dolls.  It was a really good show!

Emma and her friends helped at a stake RS service project.  I may have even played a little Just Dance at the same activity.  I’m so glad there are no pictures of that…

About an hour before we left on our spring break trip to Arizona we attended Emma’s Honor Roll breakfast.  Straight A’s again!!  Wahoo!! 

Then the kids and I finished the month in Arizona.  Lee had spring break from school while we were gone as well, but he still had to work, study for exams the next week, and get his grad school application done.  As if that wasn’t enough to do, he also tackled a huge to-do list while we were gone.  He got a ton of yard work done and he sent me picture updates as he went.  Guess he didn’t want me to think he was just living up his 10 days alone!  He took out two trees (thanks Peter for helping with one of them!).

Now he will have to fix the fence that those trees were leaning against, but that will happen later.  He also got a lot of staining done, several places really needed it (thanks Kelley for your help!!). 

He also wanted me know that he IS the man.  He pretty much is!

Don’t worry, he was able to squeeze in a little fun.  He watched lots of guy movies, drank his favorite root beer, and even took a ride on the OHSU aerial tram (he had an interview for a senior practicum position at the VA).

It wasn’t so bad for him, but he was happy to see us come home just as we were happy to be home with him!

And now I am done with March.