The Spider Expert

Cody recently finished his unit in preschool on spiders, so they had their "culmination" where the parents get to come and the kids show them everything they have learned.  He always tells me how he is a spider expert and I think maybe he really is!  Here's what he taught mom and dad in our short 30 min lesson:

The parts of the spider; how many eyes they have; how many legs.  He even knew the pedipalps and spinerettes.

How the spider lays eggs and creates the egg sac, complete with eggs (nerds candy) and two different types of silk to protect it.

We even got to watch a video of it. . .

Then Cody demonstrated how the spider wraps its prey and gets ready to eat it.  He knew all about how it injects it with poison and turns it to mush so it can ingest it.  Heavy stuff for a 4-yr old!

At one of the other centers, Cody drew a spider and told us that they have blue blood.  He also drew an insect to show us the difference between the two.

Then he showed us the spider web in the top of the little playhouse that he had created with a couple friends during center time.  This is the perfect activity for him!

Thanks Cody for teaching us all about spiders!  We love our little spider expert!

Ice Castles (not the movie)

 Our President's Day adventure to up to Midway. A real winter wonderland!

 

 

 

  

I really couldn't capture the whole thing and how big it was.  You can see more here, but I don't think that even has the latest.  They are constantly adding to it, making it tallerand adding more bridges, etc.  It was really cool!  If you're in Utah, you should go!  My boys (and I) loved it!

El Dia del Amor y Amistad

So this may be one of the few years that Russ and I have actually gone out ON Valentine's Day.  But since his parent's invited to take us out (and for asian food, no less), I thought, "Why not!"  The only downside was that I usually make a fun dinner for the boys and do cute crafts and things, which I thought I might do on another night, but that just didn't happen.  But I did buy them a heart shaped pizza with ALL meat (which I never do) and I bought a dessert pizza (which I never do).  So I'm sure they know I love them.  Anyhow, here's our little bit of Valentine's fun:

We started out with the intent of making these hearts to give as actual valentines, to teachers, cousins, etc., but it was a little bit more time consuming than we thought and after the boys made two each - we were happily done.  Which was fine, we just decided to call them decorations (and I ended up buying store bought valentines, totally against my morals, but I survived and I'm sure their classmates could care less).  So here's the project:

A little yarn, a little corn starch glue, smoosh into cookie cutter . . .

 

 And voila! Cute little hearts.



And then both the big boys had to make "mailboxes" to receive all the valentines from their friends at school.  We looked at bunches of different ideas online and they picked out their favs.  I pulled out a bunch of old scapbooking stuff and I let the boys pretty much do them on their own.  I think they turned out pretty cute . . .

Along with his "love boat", Corbin wanted to show his little "Tuck-In Pet" he got from mom too.  Surprisingly, they all LOVED these little stuffed pets.  It makes me smile.  They will be good daddies some day.

Cody chose the monster one.  Quite fitting, I think. (at least he's a sweet one)

(This picture was Cody's idea :)

This was Cody's first time exchanging valentines and he was very convinced that all the girls must love him because they gave him all these valentines.  I said, "Maybe its just because they're your friends" and he said "or maybe it's because they love me".

I love these boys!

Holy Blog Lapse!

Yeah, so I just haven't felt like blogging lately. Weird, I know. Usually I can't keep up with all the things I want to blog about. Maybe its the cold, maybe its because we've been sick. Maybe it's because my hubby's been out of work so I haven't had my usual "alone" time. But mostly it's just been winter and maybe I just had a bit of the winter blahs and with not much going on - what is there to say? I already blogged about us being sick, which by the way, was followed with a round of strep - Colton's in the form of scarlet fever, Cody the usual and mine accompanied by a sinus and ear infection. (yes, I'm a professional whiner mom). BUT, on the upside, during all of that, we managed time for this:

[Corbin really wanted to do a science project, even though only the 5th & 6th graders compete.  He had some great questions, and even I learned something new!  Obviously, Mom helped, but he did all the thinking, testing and most of the typing.  I was very proud of him.] 

And whilst sick, there was still plenty of "fun" going on around the Jensen household:

But sometimes there was this (and if you know Cody at all, this is not normal):

So I guess what I'm saying is that yes, we are still alive (I know you were wondering) and I am back in the game.  My husband is back to work for the next three days, so don't be surprised if you see me pop out like 5 or 6 posts before he returns. :)

Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda

We would have if I would have remembered.  We could have if I had put it on the calender.  We should have, because now we are seriously paying for it.

The flu shot. 

Instead...

Massive headaches.  Sharp shooting pains and the constant, dull, "I don't want to move" ache.
Chills.  Waves of chills and sweats.
Clenching stomach.  The "I just ate something bad" feeling.
Whole body aches.  Back, legs, hands, neck, you name it.
Random shooting pains. Everywhere.
Sinus pressure and running nose to accompany the headache.
And of course, total lack of energy.

Corbin: Friday - Monday (but it's kind of lingering)
Cody: Sunday night - Tuesday (seems fine)
Colton:  Saturday - today (not getting any better:( )
Mom: Today - ???

I guess I knew it had to come eventually.  Even with all the vitamins and hand sanitizer, it was inevitable with kids hugging, kissing, mauling and crying all over me all day.  Any amazing remedy suggestions?  Nothing seems to work that well...