Spotlight Week!

( Sorry it's another sideways picture!  I need to figure out how to rotate them - it shows upright on my computer but pulls up sideways on the blog.) 

It was Winston's spotlight week and as part of it, we made a poster for him to take to school showing his family, friends and things he likes.  He went through our photos and picked out these pictures to make his poster.  I helped him tape them on and added the words.  I think it turned out great (although I am just a little bit prejudice)!   :)

Fairy Tale Friday

Winston's kindergarten teacher has been doing an activity each week on Friday called Fairy Tale Friday.  She had us parents each sign up for a few time slots and then gave us a fairy tale to present to the class.  We have 30 minutes to read the fairy tale and do an activity of our choosing.  I signed up for three of them. 

The first one I was given was The Three Billy Goats Gruff; second was The Gingerbread Man; and the last one - that I did today - was Henny Penny.  It's been fun to spend time in his class and get to know the kids a little better. 

My favorite one was The Gingerbread Man which we did right before Christmas so it was fun for the kids to talk about making cookies.  I had them make a gingerbread boy ornament with cardstock paper and stickers - they turned out so cute!

This is a picture of our Henny Penny activity - we made chickens with a small paper plate with foam rubber beaks and legs, googley eyes and feathers that they glued on.  My sample is on the right and Winston's chicken is on the left.  I'm kind of sad that it's my last one and wish I had signed up for one more. 

Snowflakes

Winston and I had a fun time tonight cutting out some snowflakes. He was feeling a little down because his older brothers didn't want to play with him, so to cheer him up I suggested we open the art kit that Santa had brought him for Christmas.  He started out drawing a picture of our house and then a picture of a snowflake.

Looking at his snowflake picture, we decided to cut out a few of our own to hang in his room.  I haven't cut out snowflakes for years and it took me a few tries to remember how to fold and cut to get a decent looking one but we kept trying.  We hung up our best ones on his bedroom wall.

Snowflakes are such a fun project. The possibilities are endless and they're perfect for January - especially this year.  It's been the coldest January we've had since Winston was born.  I'm actually hoping it will snow some more soon to bring the temperatures up out of the single digits.  Brrrr! 

It's T-Ball Time

Winston is on the Cubs this year and Brad is his coach. In the pic above, he's with his best buddie Jackson.  They've grown up together and are really like brothers. 

It's going to be a super fun ball season this year.  Because they played last year, they both think they're pros.  It's so fun and entertaining to watch them.  :)

Christmas Story Advent

This year I decided to do something a little different to count down the days until Christmas.  I got together 24 children Christmas books (some new ones along with favorites we've collected over the years) and wrapped each one separately.  Each night we read a few verses relating to the birth of Christ and then let Winston pick a story to open and read for bed time.  He's loved this and so have I.  I thought I'd share a few of our favorites

The book pictured above "The Sweet Smell of Christmas" was a favorite of mine as a child.  All three of my boys have loved it too.  How can you not love a story that has yummy scratch and sniff pages?

What would Christmas be without a great nativity story with wonderful pictures and verse. 

This is one of the new books I bought this year.  It's about a camel named Humphrey who carried the treasures of the three kings and was able to meet and present the Christ child with his own gift - a wonderful and touching story.

This fun and silly alphabet book is Winston's favorite story this year.  It's full of darling pictures and a fun verse about a family's Christmas Eve with relatives from A to Z.

What would Christmas be without Phineas and Ferb.  This is a fun story about how these boys find the perfect Christmas Tree for their city.

What would Christmas be without this old classic - The Night Before Christmas.  We've owned this book since Zack and Bo were little and have read it every year on Christmas Eve - keeping the magic of Christmas alive.

I've so enjoyed our nightly story time.  This is a tradition we'll continue each year.

Birthday Pics

This one is a catch up post.  I spent so much time training for the half marathon I ran back in August that I didn't do much posting during the summer months.  Winston had his 5th birthday last month - I can't believe he's five already!  He's come so far and is growing so fast.

Winston wanted a birthday party so we put one together for him with a few of his friends and his cousins. We did a sports themed party - Brad and I came up with a few games and we had it at the park.

Here's Winston with a couple of his best buddies.

This game was Throw the football through the hoop.

We also had a water balloon race - they had to carry the balloon on a large spoon without dropping it.

Of course, we had a pinata - shaped like a football.  :)

The mad scramble for the goodies.

The birthday boy opening his presents.

Mmmm.  Birthday cake!  (I ate way too much of this.)

Make a wish and blow out the candles.  All in all a fun time with family and friends. Our little guy is growing up.

1st day of Pre-School

I'm a little late getting these pics posted but better late than never, right?  Winston has been waiting anxiously all summer long for his first day of school.  He was so excited to finally get to go.
 

He picked out what he wanted to wear the night before and had it all laid out - ready to put on as soon as he woke up.  When it was time to leave he was even telling me to hurry up - a first for him (I'm usually the one telling him to hurry.)  I love watching him grow up and seeing him feel so proud.  He makes my heart smile.  :)

Flashback Friday

Looking back through some old photos I found these cute pics from when Winston was not quite one year old yet on a trip to Lake Powell.  Zack was helping him drive the boat. These were taken July 23, 2007 - almost exactly 4 years ago.

I love looking at our family photos and remembering all the fun we've had together and seeing how far Winston has come.  I can't believe he'll be 5 this year!

4th of July Highlights

We had such a great time this year.  Our ward put together a primary parade and then the bishopric made breakfast for them afterwards - pancakes, bacon and eggs with orange Tang to drink.  Winston was so excited to decorate his bike - he had a blast riding in the "parade" and wishing everyone a Happy 4th of July.  

Here's the proud rider.  :)

He was so excited to go I could barely get him to hold still for these pics. 

He wasn't quite sure if he should just jump in - it was his first parade.

Off he goes!

After that we headed up to my mom's for the annual 4th barbeque and water games.  The grandkids (and now the great-grandkids) look forward to this event every year.  Winston hardly ate lunch - he just couldn't wait to get the water fight going. I didn't get a pic of it (because I was the one filling them) but we filled up over 150 water balloons for the water fight - boy did they go fast!

This was my brother Bruce's gun and it was taller than Winston but he managed to make it work.

Winston and Jack had a great time together.

Brad with our "grown-up" boys - it's so great to have them back home!

My mom jumped in to get their pic too!

Jack, Winston and Clay were all on one team fighting against their older cousins.

My beautiful sisters Heidi and Lauri and my beautiful niece Brittany.  Lauri's holding little Scott - the youngest grandchild for my mom.  It was so fun to hang out with these amazing women.  I'm blessed to have them in my family! 

Me and my wonderfully awesome mom.

I had to catch this shot with my mom, Bo and Zack.  I like that you can see Brad and Bruce  in the background.

Jack, Luca and Winston - we finally got them to hold still for about 30 seconds to snap a few pics of them together.  They're all within about a year of each other and it's been fun watching them grow up together.

Winston, Jack, Clay and Tucker bouncing and squirting each other - good times!

Winston and Jack having a jumping contest.

All in all it was a great day!  I sure love my family!!  :)

Teddy, a Boy's Best Friend

Winston would love to have a little brother.  Unfortunately that's not going to happen, so he's come up with an alternative - his teddy bear.  If you ask him, "Do you have a little brother?", he'll tell you, "Yes, his name is Teddy." 

Teddy's become the little brother Winston wishes for.  They do lots of things together - read books, watch TV, build towers with blocks to name a few.  I think this is adorable and wanted to catch a few pics of them hanging out. 

A few weeks ago when we finally had some nice weather, they sat on our front porch watching the neighbors.

Winston decided to show Teddy some ants in the flower bed.

Here's that big smile I love so much.  I'm glad Winston and Teddy "found" each other.  They make a great team.  :)

Thinking Back

I was going through some old pictures taken when Winston was still little.  Back then, I didn't have the time to do any blogging so I thought now would be a good time to post some of his cute baby pics.

In these, I'd washed a batch of towels and had brought them in by the TV to fold.  I left the room for a minute and when I came back, Zack had put Winston in the basket with the towels.  Winston thought it was so funny and sat there all smiles and giggles.  Of course I grabbed the camera and snapped a few pics.  He was 11 months old in these and such a cutie.  That smile still melts my heart!  :)