Friday, October 29, 2010

Fall Fun





































Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Why I have been such a bad blogger lately. (I DO have a good excuse.)

I'll tell you why. Because I have been on a business venture of my own. I've started a little preschool in my home.

There was a perfect little room down in the basement. (That is part of the reason we went with this house instead of getting a smaller apartment.

I've named it Pumpkin Patch Preschool. If you can't guess, it's because I love fall, pumpkins, Halloween and all of that sooooo much that I decided I wanted to think about it all year.

I have really missed teaching since I've started staying home, and this gives me the perfect little fix. It is only twice a week for 2 1/2 hours, and gives me just the right creative outlet. Plus it brings in a little extra money each month.



I know it's not super fancy or anything. But I think it is pretty good since I'm just starting out. It takes time to build up your stuff and get things just how you want them. This is my little reading corner. And I use those clothespins to hang up pictures. I had these chairs in my classroom when I taught second grade.



Here is my table (Thanks, Cuz!!). And you can also see my word wall.



Centers. Games. Art supplies.




And here we have circle time. Travis made the white board. And yes, I made the lovely curtains. The chair I got at D.I. for $2. I spraypainted it and made it nice again. It was pretty beat up.

Anyway, so now you know what I have been up to. It takes some time to write lesson plans and make all the materials. Next year it won't be nearly as stressful because I can use my stuff from the previous year.

I am so glad that I had the guts to do the preschool. I almost didn't do it just because I was scared. I wanted to, but it is scary putting yourself out there and advertising and all that. But I talked to a lot of other ladies that were doing it, many of them without a teaching degree or anything, and I thought, "Why couldn't I do that if they can. That's what I got my degree in, right?" Anyway. It took some courage, and I had to go into it with the attitude that I might fail, but that I would at least learn something in the process that would make me a more competant person.




Awesome craigslist finds. The bed frame and the bedding. Russ loves them!!




Daddy's static electricity experiment.





We made these!!!! This one is mine. I found the tutorial here.



It was so fun! It cost about seven dollars for all three. Get the material at Home Depot.





Amity has two teeth. They are so cute.




Kay, so these pictures are way out of order. Oh well, I'm not switching them around. It takes too long.



My new pet spider. Trav made the web on our front porch. We want to make the trick-or-treaters squeal!!!






Awwww....

Amity has been standing up and walking around household items for about two months now. She should be walking fairly soon.



Mom is getting back into her excercise routines. (About time.) She's got to lose the rest of that baby weight. (It would help if I would stop making cake balls.)



At the Utah State Fair.




Big horsey.




A true cougar fan. Don't pay attention to the face.



Mitty crawled in but couldn't get back out. Look at her teethy little grin.


Well, that's what we have been up to. Preschool is settling in now, so hopefully I will be a better blogger. Please, don't give up on me yet!!!!

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Some New Family Pictures

We recently got our pictures taken...by a pro!!! First time ever!! We have NEVER paid to get them taken before. All of our pictures are done by Travis or I, severe ameteurs. Actually, we didn't have to pay for these either because we have really, REALLY nice people in our ward back in Yakima that bought us a surprise photo session at a ward auction a while back. Seriously the nicest family ever!!!

These are a few of my favs.



Aren't my boys so cute!



Trying to get Mity to smile.



Mother daughter shot.




My handsome hubby and I.








Raspberries.



We scheduled the shoot right during Mity's nap, which is really too bad, because she is usually way more smiley than this. But that is okay. We got some cute shots of her anyway.



There's a hint of a smile. (Note to self: ALWAYS schedule photo shoots as soon after naps as possible.)


Awww...brother-sister love.



My sweet boy is getting so big.



He is only 3, but I swear he acts like he is 5. He says the darndest things. Today at a little neighborhood get-together, I went to check on him and found him wrestling (VERY aggressively I might add) with three six-year-olds. At first I was worried about him because they were all ganging up on him, and it was pretty rough. But I just let them continue when I realized that he was the aggressor and they were all having tons of fun. A couple of the other boys were yelling, "Hey, you little guy! Let go of my friend!"
Anyway, he has been obsessed with death and blood lately. Today he asked me, "Mom, do your bones have blood in them? Or is the blood just outside of your bones?" A little creeeeepy if you ask me.