Tangled

Last night we rented the new Disney movie "Tangled". We hadn't seen it and we were excited for it to come out on DVD. We reserved it at Redbox and headed to the store to pick out some movie candy to share. Lucy especially was really excited to see it and pick out her candy. We had a fun time sitting down together as a family and watching the movie. We were surprised how into the movie Garrett was. We thought the movie was really cute and it was nice to spend some family time together. It is nice to just slow things down a little bit and enjoy sitting down as a family--sometimes those memories are my favorite ones.

Here are the kids with their treat bowls, Lucy picked out M&Ms and JJ picked out Gummie Bears, we got big bags and shared them. We also threw in a couple of pretzels.

All lined up on the couch ready to watch the movie. When JJ called at lunch I ran the idea past him to stay home and watch the movie. I asked him "Do you want to get "Tangled" tonight?" He replied yes and then later realized I was talking about the movie, not something else. Tuesday at Park day we celebrated Millie's birthday with cupcakes. Her Mom brought the cupcakes to the park and we sang to her. I thought the picture of all the kids lined up was a fun one so she sent them to me. Thanks for the pictures Marci.

March Madness

JJ has had a fun time this year following basketball. With the famous Jimmer fever that has swept through pretty much every household it has brought some excitement into the basketball games. It is the bracket time of year again and Lucy and JJ both filled one out. I skipped this year because I am just not into it, I just try (sometimes not that hard) to support JJ and his love for the game. Lucy filled hers according to the team mascot, not a bad theory. Garrett knows now that JJ watches basketball games and clips on his laptop and Garrett will go point to it or get it and bring it to JJ asking for basketball. I am pretty sure that makes JJ a proud Dad! So when we saw that Lowes was hosting a "craft and go" activity at the library on Thursday evening and they were building basketball hoops we thought it would be a fun thing to do. Lucy was excited to make her basketball hoop and Garrett was just excited to hammer something . We had fun putting on the proper building gear and helping the kids put theirs together. Garrett has the whole "Cheese" thing down! When I ask him to say cheese he says it and turns and smiles.

Garrett and Lucy both colored theirs with markers when they were finished.

Also this week Grandma and Grandpa Rahm sent the kids some new pajamas. They were so excited to put them on and wear them to sleep. They are perfect for the warmer weather we have been getting. They fit perfect and the kids love them!

This week Lucy and I made these fun hand print lambs. We traced our hands and then colored them in black. We then glued on the cotton balls and eyes. It was fun to do, Lucy enjoyed doing it and it was a quick simple project.

This weekend has been yucky with cooler weather and rain. We have been low key just hanging out together and watching a red box movie. Yesterday JJ had a seminar at school pretty much all day. He had a really good experience and felt good about where he is in his career path. It was a practice/business management company that came and spoke to them. JJ was excited to meet the speaker because he has talked with him through email previously. I am proud of JJ and all he has done so far to hopefully provide a great career path for himself and to provide for the family. He felt good about the things they said and felt like he has been pretty on the ball doing the things they discussed yesterday. I was able to run a few errands with the kids and then make this scripture case/cover to give away this upcoming weekend. The YW in our ward are hosting an service auction where members of the ward are donating things to be auctioned off. All the money earned will go to the girls in the ward to cover the cost of girls came this summer. They asked me if I could make something and this is what I came up with. Hopefully someone will buy it! I am happy with how it turned out , I think it is fun and colorful for spring.

Field Trip With Lucy

Today I was able to go with Lucy's class on a field trip to the Lichterman Nature Center. We took her friend Caroline with us, since we swapped back when they went to the Children's Museum. It worked out great since her mom just had a baby. We also left Garrett with some friends so I could enjoy the time with Lucy and Caroline and be able to help out with the activities. I thought about taking Garrett but when the letter said it was a 1 hour guided tour I wasn't so sure how he would do with that. After seeing how things went I am glad we didn't bring him with us, he would have just wanted to run around. We started out inside and meet our tour guide Dory--like the fish on Nemo. We took some times to look at the things inside on our own and then split into 2 groups. We were put into the first group so we took our tour with Dory first.

Lucy was excited to see the bear and be able to feel what his fur feels like.

We talked a lot about the 5 senses and different habitats. We started our tour out on the lake and talked about this type of habitat and the type of animals that live there. We learned about the fish and how they know when food is coming.

Each child got a little bit of fish food and they were able to feed the fish, they were hungry!

We then moved to the pavilion and did activities for each of the 5 senses. They looked at each others tongues and then looked through little looking glasses to see what it is like for bugs to see. They also got to feel several different things from nature to see what each one felt like. They then had little shakers and they had different sounds, you had to find all the people that had shakers that sounded like yours, find your family.

We then meet up with the other group to meet a few animals. We talked about how they all live in different habitats and use camouflage to survive and find food. Here is Dory showing them a frog.

Then she showed us a snake! The kids gave her a good reaction when she got it out of the box. We learned about the snake and how they unlock their jaws to eat. Then if you wanted to touch the snake you could hold up your 2 fingers. Lucy and I both touched the snake!

The last animal she had was a rabbit. We learned about how the rabbit has big ears to help them hear and how they jump with their long legs. Each of the kids were able to touch the rabbit as well.

We then washed our hands and switched groups. We looked around little bit more in that building and saw the other animals in there. They also had a viewing area for a small pond where we saw some fish. It was then time to head back, eat lunch and get Garrett. We had a fun time and Lucy and Caroline both seemed to learn a lot. Lucy said her favorite part of the field trip was touching the snake and doing the 5 senses in the pavilion.

I am so glad I was able to go with the girls today. I love to watch Lucy interact with her class mates and watch her learn. She is so affectionate with her friends and loves to hold their hands and rub their backs. She is such a sweet heart. I had a huge "I love Lucy" moment while watching her and just had such a strong sense of gratitude knowing that she is mine! I am grateful to be able to do fun things with her. It was also nice to meet some other Mom's that were there and fun to hear that their kids talk about Lucy and enjoy being her friend. What a fun field trip and a fun time we had together.

Tupelo and Grandma Lola

JJ's Grandma Lola has been in Alabama this past week visiting Uncle Rocky and Aunt Janet. We had talked with them and tried to figure out if it would be possible to meet up and see Grandma. With a busy school week and things going on this weekend we were worried we wouldn't be able to make it work. We were able to meet everyone half way in Tupelo, MS and spend some time with everyone for the day. We planned on meeting at a park there in town and when we got there we learned there was a fair going on. It ended up being kinda fun to have all the fun things around. We spent some time playing on the playground and then walked around to see all the booths they had set up.

Garrett was in heaven just walking and roaming the park on his own schedule. He loved to play in any dirt or sand that he saw.
The animal shelter had some dogs there and the kids were drawn to them. They were drawn to any dog at the park really. Several people had their dogs with them and any time the kids saw a dog they would stop to pet the dog.

Lucy loved having some play time with Calvin. She looked forward to seeing him and even drew a picture for him. She talks about Calvin a lot and how they are 2nd cousins.

They had live music and free balloons, we enjoyed both while stopping to have a snack.

They had some animals for the kids to pet. Lucy and Garrett enjoyed petting the horses and feeding them some hay that they had.

Lucy and Grandma Lola had a fun time together feeding the horse. Lucy would give the horse some hay and then giggle in delight, Grandma thought it was so fun!

Aunt Janet, Mandy and Me.

After the fair we headed to a Diner to get some lunch. It was right by the birth home of Elvis Presley. We heard about it from one of JJ's class mates who is from Tupelo. It wasn't all that great but still fun to eat at something local and experience Tupelo. Here we are after lunch with Grandma Lola.

The whole group

Garrett was SO tired at this point and this was the best goodbye he was going to give Great Grandma Lola.

Lucy and Great Grandma Lola

After saying goodbye we decided since we were in Tupelo, MS we should go see the birth home of Elvis . We just walked around for a couple of minutes and looked at the house.
Here we are on the front porch swing of his home.

It was a tiny tiny little house.

I think the kids are ready for swimming season, they would have jumped in if they could have. After walking around for a little bit we got in the car to head home. It was so nice to see everyone, especially Grandma Lola. We had a great time!