Treasure Hunt

A few days ago James and Lynnlee had some friends over. I was trying to think of an activity to do with them. I decided to throw together a treasure hunt. We had some left over Christmas candy so it was a good excuse to get rid of it. I'm kind of embarrassed to show a picture of the treasure map and clues because it is not cute and I did not go all out. A more creative person could have a really cute treasure map and clues. I had about 5 minutes to throw it together. Good thing the kids are ages 2 and 4 so they don't need a really elegant treasure map and clues. The clues are just basic and not riddles because again, since they are little they are an easy audience to please. On the back of the treasure map it says, "Go to the living room." Then from there I placed clues all over the house. I did five clues that day so each kid could do one. Then the treasure was in a brown paper sac, the closest thing I had to a brown treasure box. They had fun and like I said, it just took a few minutes to put together. We were stuck inside today since James has a cold. He wanted to do a treasure hunt. I made up more clues to make it longer. It was a lot of fun and a nice way to pass the time when you are stuck inside.

James has been asking to do a treasure hunt every day since Monday. I think it would be fun to do a scavenger hunt with getting dressed or eating lunch just to spice things up. At each clue would be an item of clothes or food. So you would collect up everything and then have a full meal by the end or all your clothes to get dressed. Being home everyday can get repetitive and old so something like that would shake things up a little.

Magic Word

Today we were having a tea party. The tea cups are so small that you practically need a refill after every sip. Lynnlee wanted a refill and when she said, "I want more!" I said, "What's the magic word?" Then she said, "Meeska Mooska Mickey Mouse!"

Just Another Post

Oh man it's been a long January! Cabin fever has reached a high but it's so cold out that I don't really want to go anywhere. Just can't win. I looked at the forecast for the weekend and its going to be in the 30s, possibly 40s. I never thought I could be so excited to see those temperatures!

Have I mentioned lately how much I love these three? They are buddies and you can frequently find them all playing together.

I made these hats before James was born. It was always too big for James but fits Kaden a lot better. Marshall's is too big but I figured we at least needed one picture of them wearing them.

This is the first time I've done Kaden's hair. Usually he has Einstein hair but today I decided to try a new do. It makes him look so different.

Kaden at 6 mos

Kaden is 6 months old. He is so fun to be around! He is happy and giggly. He is really tall 28.5" which is the 96th percentile for height. He has thinned out and moved from the 80th percentile to the 60th percentile for weight. I think he will tower over James like how Cameron towers over Marshall.

Itty Bitty Basketball

We signed James up for basketball.  I didn't think it could be more entertaining then soccer but I was wrong. It is highly entertaining watching 3 and 4-year-olds play basketball. They don't quite have the coordination and they don't understand the concept. Plus they get distracted easily. Kids were running all over the place. They started scrimmaging during the second week. They didn't make them dribble but each kid got a turn taking the ball down and scoring while the other team was suppose to play defense but they were really standing next to the basketball hoop climbing all over them.

James had fun playing each time. Luckily it was never a fight to get him there. They had different stations they rotated through where they learned how to dribble, pass, defense and shoot the ball.

Lynnlee and I were his cheerleaders. Don't you just love her dimples?! I wish I had dimples like her.

This is during one of the scrimmages. James is in front of the basket.

On the last day they played a huge game of duck duck goose. James is the white blur in the middle of the picture. It is one of his favorite games so he took off as fast as he could run and caught the other little boy.

Tricks

It seems like everything in life goes in cycles. With my kids I've noticed their cycles of happy moods, grumpy, funny, etc. Lately James has said some funny things and most of them are out of the blue and make no sense. It's so entertaining. I definitely love this cycle or phase. It makes all the grumpy times worth it. Have you heard the phrase, the mom sets the mood in the house? Who came up with that? The other day I woke up happy and things were going well as I got the day going until my kids woke up. They were grumpy and going through sugar with drawls. They were so grumpy that after awhile it made me grumpy and then the whole house was grumpy. Ugh! I'm definitely blaming that one on the kids. Thank goodness every day isn't like that.

Now onto what I really sat down to blog about. We had a family trick talent show yesterday afternoon. We all took turns doing 3 tricks each. Marshall is the best at helping the kids with tricks. Kaden was an airplane for one of them.

Sadly, I am lacking in the trick area so after an attempt at a hand stand, a 360 jump and sliding down the stairs I gave the floor to the kids.

Who needs a $50 gymnastic lesson when you can pretend to teach your kids for free?! Lynnlee did a hand stand, somersault, and a jump of the step.

James gets his trick abilities from Marshall. He was jumping off the second to top step. Glad he landed all his jumps. I was worried he would require a trip to the ER.

He also did some spins on the floor.

I didn't get my camera out when we first started and that is when Marshall's tricks came out. He did a standing back flip, jump down from the top step and a hand stand. I tried to talk him into doing them again after my camera was out but it was a no go.

He was worn out from all the fun and I got a picture of him and Kaden sleeping.

Daddy Date

Marshall took James on a date to the BYU game with Camden and Brandon. The game was at Energy Solutions Arena. They rode tracks there which James thought was so cool!

Christmas 2012

Christmas is the best when you are a kid and then it's even better when you have kids! We bowled at our annual Christmas Eve bowling party with my family. I was happy to get top female bowler. I am lucky to break one hundred and only bowl once or twice a year.

Still have the red bowling shirts.

Kaden was so happy!

Cheeser!~ They smiled like this all on their own.

Leave it to my kids to be really excited for Christmas and then start talking about Easter on Christmas Eve. For some reason James is really excited to color eggs so he was asking me how much longer until Easter. I put the kibosh on that conversation and reminded him it was Christmas the next.

That night we went to the Lowry family party. My kids were tired and not feeling great so it wasn't the most enjoyable party but luckily by the end they were happy to get a present and get to open it.

Lowry Party Christmas Eve

We enjoyed Christmas morning at our house. I told my kids they couldn't get up until the sun was up. At 7:30 they were up and ready to see what Santa brought them. They had fun opening presents. They got to play all morning with all their new presents.

Kaden got a walker and now my kids love pushing him around. He is one tough kiddo. James randomly comes up to him throughout the day and screams excitedly in his face. Kaden used to cry but now he's used to it.

Lynnlee likes Kaden's toys more than hers. Her next favorite present is a pink bunny bathrobe from my parents. She wears it all the time.

James got an Iron Man/ Captain America bathrobe. He hasn't take it off much since Christmas too.