March

March was full!!!  Full of baseball and Spring Break and crazy kids!  Life never slows down!

Gavin's cake for the Blue & Gold banquet.
 It was green and blue inside, kinda like the Earth!

Blake's first time collecting Fast Offerings

Pretty ballerina, all ready for dance!

At the cabin for Spring Break.  Mimicking a pic from when we were dating ~xoxo

A lap full of baby girls for story time!

Hayden took a few photos while I was blow drying my hair.

Liverpool, pat hand, boom.

Hayden and Sophie were pretty inseparable at the cabin!

Double swinging!!

The traditional cousin picture before we leave.  I hope I can collect these over the years
and put them together one day to see how they've all grown in the blink of an eye!

Sophie wasn't really in the mood for pics.

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As if my Sunday mornings aren't chaotic enough, I guess Hayden decided to give herself
a bath outside with the hose.  Just laying there on the concrete, letting the water flow.  Oy vey!

More singing time fun, this time a leprechaun left us clues and send the kids on a
scavenger hunt to find the pot of gold (Rolos)!  Sometimes this calling is too much fun! 

St. Patrick's day picnic out on the grass! 

All the green food, including a sweet treat {rainbow=skittles + pot of gold=rolos}
More fun than nutritious.

I am OBSESSED with this!!!  This grading period, the kinder kids had to choose a Dr. Seuss book for their book report, in honor of Dr. Seuss's birthday.  Preston chose Fox in Socks so naturally, I had to make him a FOX MASK out of felt!!  It was a painstaking endeavor for this non-crafty mother, but could you just DIE of cuteness??!!!!  Too bad he wasn't able to actually WEAR it during their Dr. Seuss parade because apparently the rules said no masks???  lame.

Rainy day means a perfect opportunity to jump on the tramp in a swimsuit and goggles, of course~

Baby shower food!

Table decor 

Gina Madsen and I threw a small baby shower for Shelbi, almost time for baby girl to arrive! 

Brooklyn and me at the General Women's meeting~

Easter falls on General Conference weekend this year so we decided to wear our Easter attire the Sunday before.
I love when I can find dresses in the same color scheme for my girlies!  We went with a peachy color.

Field Trippin' Round 2

Now Gavin's turn!!  

I can't tell you how ecstatic he was to have me along for the ride!  He even wanted to sit with me on the bus!!  His cute little frinkles....  {love}

The third graders headed up north about an hour away to the Living Pioneer History Village.  It's over 90 acres of an old 1800's town with authentic buildings and historically accurate reproductions.  Volunteers are dressed in period clothing at certain sites.  I remember going there a very long time ago with my family.  I was actually excited for this one!!

I had a group of 5 kids to watch over- Gavin (of course), Holdyn, Riley, Alessandra and Katie.  

They were crazy serious about the poses.  Every.single. time.

Panning for gold ~~~

::they all got a small vial to take home their gold nuggets in::

 More posing at the miner's cabin...

 Checking out the old schoolhouse!

 See??   Posing.

 And more, 

 AND MORE!!!  

I was seriously dying.  Every time I told them to gather for a pic, they immediately struck a pose!

We all gathered together for a bad guys vs good guys wild west showdown.  Even though they just shoot blanks, they talked to the kids about gun safety, which I really liked!

After the show, we ate our sack lunches then loaded the buses and headed back to the school.  My kiddos were really well behaved and it made for a pretty enjoyable field trip!

Field Trippin' Round 1

I've never been on a school field trip with my kids.  Apparently it's pretty intense trying to get a chaperone spot!  I managed to get chosen for all THREE grades this year!!  I had committed to go with the kindergarteners when, at the last minute, Gavin's teacher let me know my name was drawn, and of course their field trips were the SAME DAY.  Since I had been helping monthly in Preston's class, I decided I needed to go with Gavin's class to make sure he wasn't feeling left out.

Yesterday, the sixth grade field trip was to the Fort Verde State Historic Park in Camp Verde, two hours away, UGH!

A little history: The site was occupied by the US Army troops in 1870.  Construction on the fort began in 1871 and was completed by 1873.  The Fort was an active primary military base during the Central Arizona Indian Wars.  It was abandoned in 1891 and divided into small parcels and sold an auction.  In the late 1960's, the Fort Verde Museum Association began working with the State Parks board to make the Fort a state park. The park includes the museum, the Commanding Officer's Quarters, the Bachelors Officers' Quarters, and a large collection of artifacts.

I was technically a chaperone for Brooklyn's class, but Blake was put in our group.

Upon arrival to the fort, we gathered in the center at the flagpole and listened to a presentation.  The kids got to help raise the flag, then take it down and fold it up.

We broke into groups and rotated through four other presentations.  The people were dressed in period clothing and told about each part of the fort as if we were in present day.  It was HOT and I think most of the kids could care less, but it was interesting nonetheless.

The buildings were made of adobe bricks, which are made up of mud and hay.  I was really impressed that the building were still intact after 100+ years!  The kids had a chance to make an adobe brick here-

 This cutest little old couple talking about artifacts from that time period and the style of clothing..

Feeding frenzy!

Back on the bus, headed for home

We left the fort later than anticipated which meant we got home ONE HOUR later than we were supposed to, which meant we didn't get back to the school until 3:30!!! Lots of kiddos had dropped off to sleep on the way home.  In the mean time, I had plenty of time to dig deep into my book!

Even though it wasn't the most exciting field trip in the entire world, I'm glad my sixth-graders still don't mind mom tagging along! xoxo