Homemade Is Always More Fun

This week I have been watching my friend's girls during the day. It has been lots of fun for my kids to have them over and they have all played really great together.


Today was going to be a little different though, because school is out for Fall Break. I was also not sure if outside was going to be an option for the kids because it rained and snowed all day yesterday and I knew it would be cold and wet this morning. After spending the whole day inside yesterday I knew we were going to need some special entertainment.


So we made play dough. This ended up being even better than I thought. The kids helped me make it by each taking a turn putting in an ingredient. Then I mixed and kneaded the dough until it was cool enough for the kids to handle it.

We divided it up, and the kids chose the color they wanted for their dough. They mixed it in. They thought it was fun to see their dough change color. Then the playing began.

They have been playing with it all morning and are still going. The older girls were even entertained for a while.

Homemade play dough is so much better than store bought. The kids seem to be entertained with it a lot longer and it doesn't crumble all over the place like the store bought stuff. At least not when it is fresh.

Some of the kids made Woogles with their dough. Josh made a pie for us to eat..........
The sun has been out all morning and things are starting to warm up and dry off, but I do not feel the need to send the kids outside. We have actually had a very fun and peaceful morning.

PLAY DOUGH

2 c. flour
1/2 c. salt
2 c. boiling water
3 Tbsp. oil
1 Tbsp. alum
Food coloring

Mix together flour and salt. Add boiling water and mix. Then add oil and alum. Knead with hands. Add color. Store in refrigerator in air tight container or zip lock bag.

I also have a recipie that uses 1 cup salt and 4 tsp of Cream of Tartar instead of Alum. They are both great.

When Emily Was Little

Now that we have another girl in the house, I have been going through the things I saved from Emily. It has reminded me what a character Emily was when she was little, and brought to mind events that I want to make sure I have written down. So this title will reappear soon on my blog with a new fun story about Emily

When Emily was little............

she would not wear shoes. She did not like them. When we put them on her feet she would cry until someone took them off or she kicked them off herself. This was not a problem at first because she was a baby and didn't walk. Every now and then we would try a pair of shoes on her just to see if she would wear them yet............She would not.


Then the day came when she finally started walking. (I say finally because Emily didn't start walking until she was almost 16 months old.) I told her that now she had to wear shoes if she wanted to go anywhere. She did not want to..............She was a very stubborn girl.

So I put her in the car and we went to the shoe store. We stood in front of the shoes that were her size, and I told her that she could pick out whatever pair of shoes she wanted but, after we bought them she had to wear them.


These are the shoes she picked.




She loved these shoes and never complained about wearing them.

After these shoes we never had a problem getting Emily to put shoes on again. Sometimes we disagreed about what shoes she wore, but never about wearing them.

I love these shoes and I think I will keep them forever.

HOWDY

Today was "Howdy Day" at Josh's preschool. They all dressed up like cowboys and cowgirls.

They took a wagon ride. roasted marshmallows over a pretend fire, sang songs and drew a "wanted" picture of themselves. Josh loved it. His favorite part was pretending to roast the marshmallows. He came out with it still on the stick and says he is saving it for later. I hope he remembers to eat it soon, before it goes stale.

First Day of Preschool

Josh was so excited to start preschool today. He woke up and got all ready. Then he asked me every 5 minutes if it was time to go to school.

I got to stay with him for the first half hour. His teachers Mrs Valerie and Mrs Cathy talked to us about the rules and then we had singing time together. Josh was having a good time. When Mrs Valerie announced it was time to say good-bye to mom, Josh got a worried look on his face.

He was a good boy and did not cry when I left. When I picked him up after school he was all smiles. He loves school and can't wait to go again.

Valerie's Blessing Day

Today Valerie was given a blessing by her dad. She was blessed that she would live a long happy life, she will love to learn new things and love the gospel.

Uncle Gavin, Uncle Kevin, Uncle Jon and both of her Grandpas, stood in her blessing circle.


Valerie Ann is named after two very special people in our lives.....Our moms, Barbara Ann and Tamra Val.

There were lots of people who came to see her blessed. Dad's entire family was able to be there.

My parents and Jon's family also came.


Valerie looked so pretty on her blessing day. I have to say a big THANK YOU to Dixie Pulsipher who made her this beautiful dress. The pictures do not do it justice.


It was a perfect day, and I am happy that so much of our family was able to celebrate it with us.

First Day of Kindergarten

Joe has been waiting to go to kindergarten for almost 5 years. When Emily started kindergarten Joe was 9 months old. Every year when school started Joseph would ask when he was going to go to kindergarten. Even when he was in preschool he was more interested in when he was going to go to "Emily's school".
Today was the big day. Joe started kindergarten.
We got to the school a little early so he could play on the playground.

Joe was really excited, but when the teacher told them to line up the look on his face changed from excited to nervous.

When we picked him up at the end of the day he was so happy. His friend Charlie is in his class,

and his teacher read the class "The Little Engine that could." That is Dad's favorite book and he reads it to the boys every now and then. They also got a cupcake from their teacher. It was a great first day and Joe feels like he is such a big kid now.

New Shoes

When we took the boys shopping for new shoes it took them one second to find the shoes they liked. Grandma and I tried to talk them into "quieter shoes," but they would not even look at them.


They don't make noise but lights flash all over when they walk. Josh found some police car shoes, and Joe found some race car shoes. I think it is great the shoe company is getting a little more creative with the lights.

I have to admit that these shoes are pretty cool and I probably wouldn't have looked at any other shoes either. Pictures didn't do the lights justice so we had to take videos for the full effect.

Now the boys love to have races in the dark. Which usually end up with the police car chasing the race car.