DINOSAUR VALLEY

One of the first things Dade said he wanted to learn about was Dinosaurs...which scared me to death.   I don't or should I say I didn't know anything about dinosaurs.  We both, now know more than I thought was possible.

So, with that being said, after a few weeks of schooling on dinosaurs we drove down to Dinosaur Valley State Park.

One of the first things you need when visiting any park...a walking stick.

Notice Dade's walking stick.

It was a little colder than we would have liked, but in the end I think it helped keep the kids close. 

I also ended up loving that Grayer had his gloves on.  He fell down about million times, but never cried due to those little gloves.

The only thing missing in this picture is Dain.

Sometimes this kid just melts me.

This was taken just before the massive kid tumble.

This T-Rex never saw such beautiful kids.

OH NO!!!!!

Daddy is so funny.

CALLING ALL SUPERHEROS

Does anyone need a superhero?

Some day these cute little kids wont be little anymore.  It's killing me.

Just killing me.

GRAYER'S TRIUMPHS

Can you guess?  What has Grayer been up to?

Those of you who know AZ have an unfair advantage.

Last month we decided to start breaking the thumb sucking habit.  Wearing the gloves worked pretty well for AZ, so we decided to go straight to it this time.  He has been amazing.  He never fights having them put on and he already (weeks ago) doesn't have to wear them during the day.

Can you guess what these are?

Nuts.  Grayer spit out all the nuts from his cookie.

Clove family...can you guess what this reminded me of?

THE TOOTH FAIRY

One of biggest milestones has to be losing your first tooth.  Last month Dade lost his first tooth.  We started the day looking like this and ...

ended it looking like this.

How did it actually come out?  He was tickling Dain ("Pits and Toes" we like to call it) and when Dade went for Dain's toes, he got a little help from Dain's foot.  POP!  

Cute side note.  Later that night, around 1:00am Dade came into our room crying.  It took a few minutes for us to come to and understand what he was crying about, but Dade was sure the tooth fairy had taken his tooth and left him nothing.  After further investigation he discovered the $1 bill under his pillow.  Finally all smiles.

GO BYU!!!!

Nothing is more fun than heading to a BYU game, except maybe leaving a BYU game after they win.  Even better, when we get to watch a former student of mine play (Matt Reynolds).  He was awesome, the best helmet-less tackle of all time (and no, I'm not biased).

We took the kids to the Armed Forces Bowl game the end of December.

Everyone had a blast and we sure hope to go to more games soon.

Makes you want to squeeze those checks. 

Sometimes I can't believe they all belong to me, but I am SO glad they do.

MORE LOST PICTURES

We were lucky enough to be a part of Pappas Bros. Annual Gingerbread House Event. We got to decorate Gingerbread Houses, meet Santa Claus and celebrate with some amazing people.

Grayer was fabulous.  I thought he would just go crazy and want to eat all the candy, but he actually had the least amount of all of us.

Dade was very proud of his Gingerbread House.  He did it all by himself...literally.

When we first set up shop Dain and I were working the zone defense, but luckily there were extra volunteers that came over and just jumped right into helping Roman.  He loved the attention.

The completed mansions (Dade, Aislyn, Roman and Grayer/Dain's).  I just have to make a side note about one of the others kids houses.  He broke a hole in the roof and then poured candy into the house... brilliant.

We had such a wonderful time.  The people were so friendly and the kids asked if they can go back again next year...I said YES!!!

HOMESCHOOL 101

I just realized that I've never talked about Home-Schooling Dade.  We decided that instead of sending Dade to 3 different Kindergartens that I would keep him home with me and brave the world of Home-School.

It took us a little time to figure out a good routine (which has to keep changing ie.Grayer just dropped his morning nap), but we are loving it.

Our first "Fun Stuff" unit was all about SPACE.

We took a field trip to the UTA Planetarium.

All smiles.

Trust me, she is smiling under there.

Next time you see Dade you should ask him a few facts about Space...you will get an earful.

This little one doesn't weigh hardly anything here on Earth.  Some of the other planets, she actually doesn't weigh anything.

They are always so good to pose for Momma's pictures.

If he can stay happy, we all can stay happy.

Next "Fun Stuff" unit...Dinosaurs...coming soon.