Flat Taylor

Taylor has had a school project in the works for about a month. It is based on the book "Flat Stanley." We have enjoyed this series of books around our house for a couple of years now. Taylor was able to read it again this year with her class and then they were given the assignment to make a "flat" of themselves. Then they had to send their flat on a couple of adventures. So we sent Flat Taylor to Utah with the Benhams. They took her to St. George and Zion National Park for Sprink Break. We also sent her to the Vasses and they took her to Disneyworld. Flat Taylor was also sent to the Nowells in Hawaii, where she saw just about everything there is to see there. Flat Taylor made it home on an airplane with Mimi via Chicago and Atlanta. Thanks to everyone that helped. Taylor's project turned out great and she was so excited to get the packages and emails of pictures, brochures, postcards, etc. Part of this project for the class was to learn about different parts of the US. They were trying to see if they could have visits in all 50 states. Taylor was excited to share with her class that her flat had been to 6 states. She had to write about one of the adventures that her flat went on. It was only required to be 2 paragraphs (seven sentences each, with at least five words in each sentence) This counted as one of her writing grades. So, it had to have proper spacing, punctuation, indention, spelling, etc. She worked VERY hard on this part. I think it was the longest writing assignment she has ever had. She ended up with two full pages, single spaced. As you can tell from the picture, she is very proud of how her project turned out. It had to be the work of the student and not the parent. She picked out everything that went into it. All the stickers, the project board, the map, everything. I did help her with placement a little bit, but this was her project all the way. I am so proud of how hard she worked.

Anything you can do...

...I can do better, Lynne. So you think you are so awesome for making chocolate covered strawberries. Well, I'll see your strawberries and raise you some chocolate-covered pretzels. (Is that the correct poker lingo?)

Actually, thanks for the idea. Friday afternoon was strawberry dipping time at our house. We had chocolate left over, so we grabbed a bag of pretzels and dipped those, too. Taylor and Hayden had more fun eating the chocolate than actually dipping, I think. Payton wasn't there because she was out getting ice cream after school with her teacher and a couple of her classmates. We were sure to save her some though.

A side note about the platter that the strawberries are on: My mother-in-law gave it to me for Christmas. I totally love it. I love keeping it stocked with goodies for my family.

Thanks Brant!

Payton was tagged by Brant, so here are her honest, unedited answers.

1. What is something mom always says to you? Thank you for making your bed without me asking.
2. What makes mom happy? Cleaning up our rooms
3. What makes mom sad? Us not following directions
4. How does mom make you laugh? Telling funny jokes
5. What was mom like as a child? a girl
6. How old is your mom? 30
7. How tall is your mom? More than 1 foot tall
8. What is her favorite thing to do? scrapbook
9. What does your mom do when you're not around? go visiting teaching
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? blowing bubblegum bubbles
11. What is your mom really good at? making us laugh
12. What is your mom not very good at? playing "In a Pickle"
13. What does your mom do for her job? throw papers
14. What is your mom's favorite food? healthy stuff
15. What makes you proud of your mom? You're my mom
16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? Cindy Vortex's mom
17. What do you and your mom do together? play games
18. How are you and your mom the same? we both are tender-hearted
19. How are you and your mom different? our age
20. How do you know your mom loves you? you tell it to us and you act like it

I think everyone we know with a blog has been tagged, so we can't think of anyone else to tag.
Wait, Trent and Lance Benham. Your turn

****I just wanted to add that Payton informed me that Cindy Vortex is mean so I would not be her. But I could be her mom. After hearing this conversation between Payton and I, Hayden apologized for saying I could be Cindy Vortex and that I actually would be Minnie Mouse.

Another Mother's Day tag

Taylor tagged Hayden so here are her answers.

1. What is something mom always says to you? Treat others how you want to be treated
2. What makes mom happy? Kisses
3. What makes mom sad? When I don't do what she says.
4. How does mom make you laugh? Say funny jokes
5. What was mom like as a child? Funny
6. How old is your mom? 30
7. How tall is your mom? 30 lbs.
8. What is her favorite thing to do? Snuggle
9. What does your mom do when you're not around? Relax
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? Being cool
11. What is your mom really good at? Connect 4
12. What is your mom not very good at? Checkers
13. What does your mom do for her job? Spank butts
14. What is your mom's favorite food? Crystal Light and salad
15. What makes you proud of your mom? For eating healthy
16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? Cindy Vortex
17. What do you and your mom do together? play starfall.com
18. How are you and your mom the same? We have the same color eyes
19. How are you and your mom different? We don't have the same height hair
20. How do you know your mom loves you? Because she gives me a Valentine.

A Mother's Day tag

Taylor was tagged by Riley on Lynne's blog. Here are Taylor's answers to the questions. She has also tagged some of her friends who haven't been tagged yet. So play along. Cut and paste these questions to your/your mom's blog and fill in your answers. Include a picture of you and your mom if you have one. Then tag a few more people.

1. What is something mom always says to you? Smiles are contagious

2. What makes mom happy? When I treat my sisters kindly

3. What makes mom sad? When I don't obey

4. How does mom make you laugh? Acts silly when I am trying to be mad

5. What was mom like as a child? A girl

6. How old is your mom? 30

7. How tall is your mom? 3 ft. 8 in,

8. What is her favorite thing to do? Spend time with her children

9. What does your mom do when you're not around? Go to the grocery store

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? Being a movie star

11. What is your mom really good at? Acting like a clown

12. What is your mom not very good at? Keeping Hayden from sucking her thumb

13. What does your mom do for her job? Act like a mom

14. What is your mom's favorite food? Meat

15. What makes you proud of your mom? That she is going on a permanent diet

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? The mom on The Flintstones

17. What do you and your mom do together? scrapbook

18. How are you and your mom the same? We have the same eye color

19. How are you and your mom different? She has a lot of freckles and I only have a few.

20. How do you know your mom loves you? She gives me hugs and kisses and asks how my day was.

I am tagging Cecily Odom, Emily Kimball, Hayden Emmertson, Josiah Applegate, Dylan Parkes, and Dylan Newburn.

My sweet little girl

Taylor, for the second time, has decided to donate her hair to Locks of Love. She and Payton donated when Taylor was in Kindergarten and she decided to grow her hair out again so she could, once again donate. Well, a couple of months ago the Student Council announced that they would be doing a huge Locks of Love donation project. So Taylor decided this is when she wanted to do it.

They held the event on Friday, at school, before Family Movie Night. They had two stylists there to cut everyones hair. Taylor was so excited leading up to it, because she was ready for a hair cut. They decided to take a picture of everyone involved before the haircuts. Taylor is in the middle in the peach shirt. There were students, teachers, siblings, and friends involved. There were even several people that didn't wait to get their haircut but brought their ponytails in to donate.



When Taylor was sitting in the chair, she was a little nervous. Especially when they started cutting. It has been a really long time since she had short hair. So, I think it kind of shocked her when it was gone. But once she saw how cute her new haircut was, she was all smiles. And she especially loved all the compliments she kept getting. I am so proud of her. And she is already talking about growing her hair out so she can donate it again.

Oh the horror...

I am a little of a planner when it comes to menus and grocery shopping. I have always tried to plan my menu and shop for a couple of weeks at a time. But lately, to minimize trips to the grocery store, I have been planning our meals and doing the shopping for an entire month. It is a whole process for me. One day I sit down with my previous menus, new recipes, cookbooks, list of dishes I know, etc. and plan the menu. It looks something like this.

It is a process that takes a little time. But I enjoy it and it always seems to pay off on the evenings when I am too tired or too busy to think about what is for dinner. It is already decided and as you will see (if you continue reading) half way prepared. In case you are wondering, the highlighted items show what meals I am cooking in the crockpot. And this month is a little different because I will be gone the whole month of June (Woo-hoo!) so I am doubling a bunch of meals to put in the freezer so Bryan will have food while I am gone. (The little blue dots are actually D's to show me what I am doubling.) I know he can take care of himself, but it makes me feel like I am not totally abandoning him, if I have food for him. My next step is to make "the List." I used to have a pre-made list on the computer that I would print off and put little tick marks next to each thing to show how many I needed. I don't know what happen to that file, so now I just write it out. Again, it takes a little while, but it is worth it. It keeps me from buying things that I don't need because they aren't on the list. This may seem a little boring but all of this information is very important to my story. My next step is to hit the stores and shop the sales. First it was Brunos for ground beef, pork chops, roast, and cereal. Then home to unload and pick ur the freezer bag. Next on to Winn-Dixie for Chicken and cheese. All of that goes into the freezer bag as I head out to Wal-mart for the rest. I don't have anything else planned so that I can take the time I need to get everything on my list. I go to the health and beauty products first, then to kitchen storage stuff for a few more containers, then to automotive for motor oil, then on to groceries. And that is when it happened. . . I couldn't find my list. Of course, I am in a total panic. This isn't a list I jotted down on the back of an envelope. This is a whole sheet of notebook paper, front and back, that took me over an hour to make. So Hayden suggests we go look for it. It is a good thing I had a clear headed four year old with me because I was on the verge of sitting down in the middle of the aisle and crying. We both were pretty sure I had it when I came in the store so we start to retrace our steps. Back to automotive. I must have had a frantic look in my eye, because the guy working back there asked if I was okay. Did I need help finding something? Did I lose something? I am like yes, yes as we continue to walk up and down the aisles. "I lost my grocery list and I HAVE to find it." He stops dead in his tracks, turns around and looks at me like I have lost my mind. I'm like "I know it sounds retarded that I am even looking for it, but that list is my brain." Then he asked me what it looks like. I am totally describing it to him like it is going to help. "It is a piece of notebook paper and has groceries listed all over it." Well, we didn't find it, so we went back to the kitchen storage area. I must still have the frantic look, because someone else quickly asks if I need help. (Just as a side note, as anyone that has shopped at Schillinger Wal-mart knows, they aren't usually offering help around there.) I asked him what employees had been on that aisle on the last 20-30 minutes because I was wondering if they might have seen my grocery list. He kind of does this double-take thing as if to say "A grocery list?" By this time, Hayden and I are on our hands and knees looking under shelves so I think he took me seriously. Well long story made not quite as long - we didn't find the list. I even checked a few trash cans. So, I had to shop without it. Well, three hours after setting foot in the store, I left pulling two full carts of groceries and a holding a receipt as tall as Hayden. And guess what I found when we got to the car:
Of course I checked it to see what I had forgotten. Luckily it was only about 5 or 6 things. At the suggestion of Lynne, I will be making a duplicate copy next time. I think I might safety pin it to Hayden because (knock on wood) I have never forgotten her in the car or lost her at Walmart.

Well, the next day was cooking day. After cooking and dividing up all my meat and chicken, my freezer looks like this.

All my effort has paid off. Despite the work involved it is all worth it. And I even ended the night with a clean kitchen. I know it all seems a little neurotic, but it really keeps me sane.
And because I am a nice mommy, there was pie before bed.

My little helper

Hayden has been my little helper ever since she could walk. She loves to help unload the dishwasher, help put clothes in the dryer, sort socks, set the table, help cook, etc. But her most favorite job of all is bringing the garbage can in from the street. I have never quite understood why she likes it so much, because the can is bigger than she is and we have a steep driveway so it is no easy task. The garbage usually runs pretty early in the morning, so right after dropping the girls off at school on Thursdays, she runs down to see if the can is empty. And if it is, she starts the long journey up the driveway. I always offer to help, but she never wants it.
This is the funniest thing to watch when she is hauling it uphill. From this angle you can't see her, so it looks like it is going up the driveway by itself.
Since this whole garbage can experience occurs on a weekly basis, I decided to take pictures of it. So, Hayden also wanted a posed picture with the garbage can. I know, totally gross. But this is her holding an imaginary bouquet of flowers and pretending to marry the garbage can.
Hayden is doubly excited now about garbage, because last week our recycle can was delivered. So now she gets to haul two different cans up the driveway. I tell you she is one lucky girl.

Good friends - good times

Since the Kirbys have moved closer to us, we have seen more of them. It is easier to get together for a playdate now and then. Shawna has offered to watch Hayden for me a few times. So, the other day I went and picked up Grant and Bradie in return. Besides the fact that Hayden totally loves playing with them, I know from experience that running errands by yourself is a million times easier than doing it with the kids.

Anyway, after lunch, playing, and coming in and out of the back door about a million times, they settled in for a little TV time. PBS Kids and gummi bears make for some happy kids. I love for Hayden to have someone to play with and someone else to chatter to. And don't let Bradie's little petite size fool you. That girl can put away some gummi bears. I probably should have cut her off, but she is just too cute to say "no" to.

Just a little side note: I love the dishes for kids from IKEA. They are perfect for everything.

I really am smart!

I am always telling Bryan that my main redeeming quality is my intelligence. I think I am really trying to convince myself more than anything when I say that. The day to day tasks of laundry, carpool, cooking, cleaning, etc. don't require a tremendous amount of higher level thinking. So, I actively seek out information to keep my brain active. I think that when you have kids, part of your brain is used to form their brain because I feel like I got a little dumber after each kid. I have run laundry without adding soap, walked around the house looking for my cellphone while I am on it, mixed up my kids' names on a daily basis, told Bryan the same thing twice within a few minutes because I can't remember if I thought it or actually said it, and totally forgotten entire conversations I have had with Lynne. So, I have to hold on to the brain matter I have left.
Anyway, I came across this little test on someone else's blog and thought I would give it a whirl. Thankfully, I found out that I really am smart. So, give it a try.