Wednesday, September 30, 2020

September 2020

CREATIVE CRAFTS

Without any direction from me, Audrey made these cute crafts on her own. She decided to make a hat out of paper plates and colored on Kleenex and a boat out of an apple and toothpicks.


OUR BROOKY COOKIE

Brooklyn is learning a lot at home and at her preschool. She finally mastered writing her Ks and she learned that E is for elephant.



Brooklyn loves swinging at the park.

HISTORY PROJECT
Maddy and Nathan were learning about the 1920s and 30s. Their assignment was to cook some common food from that time. After learning about all the disgusting food from the Great Depression, they decided to make a popular cake from the 1920s. 


IN PERSON KINDERGARTEN
Audrey was getting sick of online school, so she was thrilled to finally be able to go to "real school."



She wore her favorite puppy mask.

ANTHEM COMMUNITY PARK
The kids had a day off school so we drove north 20 minutes to a park that was open (the ones near our home are still closed).
The cool water from the splash pad made it bearable.







Our outing ended with a mini carousel ride. Nathan no longer fits very well. 


THOMAS' 8th BIRTHDAY


When we looked through Thomas' save box, Brooklyn kept getting excited about how cute Thomas was.


This year Audrey got to pick out Thomas' cake. She chose an angel food cake for our little angel. We sure do miss our little guy.  

Monday, September 28, 2020

August 2020

 FAMILY FUN


Maddy made this cute panda and tiger out of clay (Brooklyn did the colorful ball).
Brooklyn does "Mommy preschool" and is working on writing Bs and her name.

Audrey had fun writing her secrets in invisible ink.

We saw our first Palo Verde beetle. Luckily it was dead and outside!

Brooklyn started letting me do her hair this month. She finally realized that it is nice to have hair out of her face.  Her letting me do her hair was a special occasion deserving of a picture!


HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO US

Jared and I celebrated our 18th Anniversary this month. We didn't feel like we could leave the kids overnight without family close by, so we took a day trip to Wood Canyon Lake and the Mogollon Rim. 



We had fun picnicking, kayaking, and walking around the lake. It felt SO good to get out of the heat and to see all the green trees. 

BROOKLYN'S 1st DAY

I was expecting screaming and tears, but Brooklyn was happy and excited to go to school her first day (I think her "Wheels on the Bus" song obsession helped).

Brooklyn and I spent a long time trying to find the perfect mask for preschool. She fell in love with this cute tiger one because she is "a mommy tiger to Roary."




Brooklyn came off the bus with a big smile. She told me she likes "bus preschool more than mommy preschool."


AUDREY'S FIRST DAY (ONLINE)

Audrey's was super excited about school starting. 

She was thrilled to get her own iPad, but ended up becoming frustrated and bored by the online platform.
Luckily she has an awesome teacher that let us do the bare minimum amount of Zoom so Audrey could spend more time reading and working on in person stuff with me. 

ABBY'S FIRST DAY
Abby's first day at Jefferson Prep went well. She really likes the school, and I think she will be an excellent student.

MADDY'S FIRST DAY
Madeline is doing homeschool again this year. She will be doing math and science on Khan Academy and English, history, and ASL with me, and music with her harp and piano teachers.

 
NATHAN'S FIRST DAY
Nathan is excited to be homeschooling again. He will be doing most of his classes with mom, but he will be part of a homeschool drama class and he will continue taking piano lessons from Maddy. 


CHURCH 
Our Title of Liberty from at home church.
We were excited to attend sacrament meeting for the first time since March. I was impressed that Audrey and Brooklyn were able to keep their masks on for the full 45 minutes, although they did start fighting once, which Jared appropriately observed was "fighting like cats and dogs."

Nathan's Birthday!

 

Nathan turned 11 and got his letter to Hogwarts!

The banners

Butterbeer and pumpkin juice

Harry Potter inspired goodies!

Floating candles over the Ravenclaw table.
The dementor

Moaning Myrtle

A warning

Maddy made Nathan's quidditch cake

Platform 9 3/4

Our good friends the McGiffins joined us for the party.


The kids worked hard building all their Harry Potter LEGO sets. Abby, Maddy, and I probably went a little overboard on Nathan's party because we were going crazy in quarantine and we are all major Harry Potter fans. It was a lot of work, but super fun!

Nathan at 11:
Favorite Foods: Mango and dark chocolate
Favorite Color: Blue
Favorite Book: Harry Potter 
Favorite Movie: Secondhand Lions
When I grow up I want to be: A millionaire
Favorite Animals: Dogs and Tigers

Nathan is smart, obedient, quiet, and creative. He is usually the first to jump up and help when Jared or I ask. He is a good sport about being surrounded by sisters and he has a nice, calming influence in our home. We feel so blessed to have him as part of our family!