Favorite Books - Part 1

I've always loved children's books. There's something about them - the art, the stories, the lessons - that just makes me feel good inside! (Or maybe it's because I get to cuddle with my girls on our reading bench while we read them!) I love collecting children's books and love checking out books at the library and even buying them at the library book sales. And preschool has given me a good excuse to get some more that have been on my list! But I don't like to buy books just to buy books. I'm pretty picky about the ones I want on our shelves. Anyway, this post probably isn't interesting to anyone but me, but I wanted to post some of our all-time favorite picture books for a record. We have most of these books, and I'm sure they'll be on my shelves even when I'm a grandma! (And I'm sure I'll have more to add to the list!)

ALPHABET CITY
These drawings inspired us to look around our house and yard and make a book of our own.

BEAR SNORES ON
This is probably our all-time favorite book. We love the rhythm and rhymes! We love all the "Bear" books - I think there are 4 or 5.

BECAUSE OF YOU
How sweet to know that each person is so special and essential!

THE BIGGEST BED IN THE WORLD
This one keeps us laughing and hits a little close to home!

BLUE HAT, GREEN HAT
This silly one for babies just tickled each of my girls when they were little - they cracked up at the silly turkey putting his clothes on wrong!

CDB
Just letters make out sentences. C D B means "See the bee!"

A CHILD'S CALENDAR
These poems are so descriptive they leave me breathless!

COOKIES
Learning life lessons through cookie analogies!

COUNTING KISSES
Each of my girls loved this one when they were babies.

DEAR DEER
A book of homophones - there are quite a few in the English language.

THE DISAPPEARING ALPHABET
"What if there were no letter A? Cows would eat HY instead HAY. What's HY? It's an unheard-of diet, And cows are happy not to try it."

EATING THE ALPHABET
Love the pictures from Lois Ehlert.

THE EMPTY POT
A classic, sweet story about being honest no matter what.

GOOD NIGHT, POPPY AND MAX
This is a fond one - the first book Kiera ever read!

HOME
No words, just pictures showing how the view from a room in a home changes through the years.

I LOVED YOU BEFORE YOU WERE BORN
The title alone makes me get teary-eyed!

MATHEMATICKLES
This is full of clever little puzzles: raindrops x leaves = pearls on green plates

MOUSE MESS
This one makes us laugh every time.

MY DADDY IS A PRETZEL
My girls and I both love yoga, and these have some fun poses.

MY GRANDMOTHER'S CLOCK
"I can count seconds by the beating of my heart. Have you noticed how the seconds go much quicker when life is exciting?"

OH MY BABY, LITTLE ONE
When I read this for the first time to the girls the night before school one year, I just started sobbing!

ONE LITTLE MOUSE
A little mouse goes looking for a new home but realizes what he had was right for him all along.

THE SEVEN SILLY EATERS
Sometimes I feel like this is my house!

SNOW SOUNDS
Just onomatopeic words - so fun!

SOMEDAY
Sweet story about hopes for the future.

STELLALUNA
A classic about friendship.

THANK YOU, WORLD
Shows different scenes from different cultures - how we're all different and similar.

THE TURN-AROUND, UPSIDE-DOWN ALPHABET BOOK
Turn the letter B on the side and it looks like a pair of goggles. Turn it on the other side and it looks like two windows in a castle. It also can look like one side of a butterfly.

UN-BRELLA
No words, just a magical story about changing seasons. Love, love, love the art!

WHOSE GARDEN IS IT?
Nothing in this world can be done alone. Everything in the world works together.

Grandparents Day

Sunday was Grandparents Day, a little-known holiday that I tend to forget unless it happens to be printed on my calendar. We stopped by Grandma Johnson's (Mom was there too!) and Grandma Stepehens'. We're so lucky to have all of these ladies in our lives!!

First Day for Two

Yesterday was a big day for both Kasidee and me. It was the first day of preschool! I normally would have waited till Kasidee was 4 to put her in preschool, but since I'm the teacher, she's lucky to be able to go now! And she's ready. She watches her sisters go to school and she misses them all day - so it's good that she can go to school as well!

Yesterday was also my first day teaching preschool in our house (remember, I taught last year at another preschool). I was a little bit nervous but once it started things seemed to go smoothly. I already can tell this is a good group of kids and I'm excited to be able to teach them (hopefully!) and watch them grow. Some people look at me like I'm crazy when I tell them I'm doing a preschool. I admit that even just one of my own kids can drive me crazy and make me want to pull my hair out. But preschool is different than the craziness of home life and it's different than having my girls' friends over to play, where they go from room to room and in and out, making messes and noise in their path. This is structured, it's fun, there's a purpose, and I'm glad to be doing it. Especially since my Kasidee gets to be with me!

Room Ready

It was crunch time a couple of weeks ago, trying to get the preschool room ready. We had acquired lots of second-hand items and spiffied them up a bit. Some things were purchased new, and other things we borrowed from our houses.

To be honest, once we started making the room look like a preschool, I was excited but I was a little bit sad - I felt like I was taking away from our beautiful theater room! I tease Quentin, but we all have really enjoyed the theater room. I'm so glad we have it and I'm so proud of Quentin for all the hard work he put into it. He has been a good sport and is supportive of me "taking over" the room for the preschool. Though some have doubted - and even me at times - the room really is suitable for both purposes. It can be a small, intimate, cozy theater room - and it can also work well for a little preschool. It may be small, but it's a good thing the kids are small too! It works just right. And when preschool is over for the day, we can still bring in some chairs or a loveseat and watch a flick! And if we're having more than just our family over to watch a movie, it's easy to fold up the tables, stack the chairs, and turn the toy shelf to the side for more room. Voila!

It was hard to get a good picture of the whole room, but check out some pics. Oh, and our supply closet is in the kitchen next to the preschool room. Accessible, but it doesn't take space away from the preschool room.



CUTE LITTLE TABLES AND CHAIRS...

BUBBLE GUM CLOCK...

CUBBIES...

Labor Day

I had so many good intentions to be productive on Labor Day, and I think I even had Quentin on board too. Our garage is in desperate need of a thorough clean-up. There are leftover construction materials from the theater/preschool room, scattered tools that need to be organized, and items meant for the DI that need to be taken over - not to mention it needs to be hosed or sprayed out. We had geared up for it and planned on doing it Monday morning. But then we realized the city clean-up for fall isn't until October. Why would we want to have a pile of our junk sitting in the middle of our garage or, even worse, in front of our curb for a month? So...that was all the excuse we needed to wait a few more weeks!

Instead, we went on a nice, long bike ride. We went on the Legacy Trail and started in North Salt Lake. We rode to 500 South in Bountiful and back. We were gone nearly three hours, but it was because we took a few stops or detours. On the way back, we decided to not stop and we discovered that it only took us 40 minutes one way. It was a fun day. We all love to bike, and the weather was just perfect!

Then we visited Mom and got her bike fixed up - a bike that Grandpa had given to Grandma a long time ago. Grandma loved riding it but can't anymore and gave it to Mom. We'll have to take Mom on Legacy Trail with us next time! Mom also had an extra girls bike. Makenna has already outgrown two bikes, and this other bike was a perfect fit! The two girls rode around Mom's neighborhood and even met a new friend.

Then we decided to go to Firehouse Pizzeria for dinner. I love, love, love that restaurant! But after being told there would be a 20 minute wait and waiting 55 minutes, then sitting down and not seeing our waiter for another 10 minutes, we decided to leave. It was already 8:00 and a school night. So we went to our other favorite place, Cafe Rio, and had a yummy, quick dinner.

I Guess It's Official....

We got the preschool year kicked off yesterday with our little Orientation Open House. The preschool kids came to check out their new preschool, meet the other students, and meet their teacher. A lot of work went into putting the preschool together - we've done things throughout the last year, but it has pretty much consumed the last two weeks of my life! I was a little nervous meeting everyone and giving my little spiel in front of the parents. While the kids did a preschool room treasure hunt and decorated their "homework" folders, I talked to the parents. And you know what? It went really well! After everyone left, I felt like I was walking on air. I'm relieved, I'm excited, and I feel like everything will work out and be okay. I can't wait! The first day is next week! Yay!

Funny Kids

Some funny things my girls said today....

After a long ride in the car, Kasidee said, "My panties are sweating." Stifling my laugh, I said, "Oh, that must mean it's a hot day." She replied, "No, my carseat is sweating on my panties!"

After school today Kiera said, "Ugh! I've got an annoying song stuck in my head!" Makenna said, "What is it? Sing to me." Kiera replied, "No, I don't want to sing it out loud because then it will be REALLY stuck in my head." Makenna thought for a moment and said, seriously, "Okay, plug your ears and then sing it. That way, I can hear it but you won't."

Flying High

We LOVE to go on walks around here. We can go in any direction, wind up in lots of neighborhoods or parks or streams, and have so many fun adventures. Yesterday evening the girls begged to walk to their school and play on the playground - I guess 3 recesses each day just doesn't give them enough time to play! So as we were heading out the door, the 3 girls each had an airplane in their hand, and they gave Quentin and me airplanes to play with on our way. At first I felt silly and just held mine in my hand as I walked. But seeing the girls zoom ahead and run with their planes in the air made me realize how quickly childhood goes. In not too many years, I'm sure Kiera will think the things her little sisters do is dumb and the three of them will be off doing their own things. I love that they enjoy being together and doing the same things (for the most part). So it didn't take much for Quentin and me to get into it and join the girls at the refueling stations (electrical boxes) and tackle obstacles (like flying through pine trees). What a good reminder to not worry about what other people think and just have fun!

First Day

Well, we got the morning of the first day of school over with. The girls have been so excited for weeks, but then Kiera woke up this morning with a "jungle" in her tummy. Neither Kiera nor Makenna could even eat a bite of breakfast. We joined the "parade" of parents and kids walking to school, found their classrooms, said hi to teachers and friends, and they walked to their desks. Kasidee and I roamed the halls for a bit and kept peeking in at Kiera and Makenna - they looked like they were already having fun. Kiera was a little more nervous about today, and I think it really helped that, as soon as Kiera walked in her classroom door, her good friend Kendra ran over and gave her a big hug. All is well, I think.

As Kasidee and I were walking home, I said to her, "Well, Kasidee, I guess it's just you and me for awhile." And then I choked up! I miss having all my girls home with me! But I know Kiera and Makenna are having fun, and this will give me a chance to spend some time alone with Kasidee and also get stuff done without so many interruptions. As we left, we noticed about a dozen moms hanging out by the playground. They were talking and dabbing their eyes. And about a minute after that, I had a friend drive by, roll her window down, and start cheering as she drove away. I laughed and thought maybe I'm in between those two groups. I'm crying and cheering all at once today. And I bet my girls are doing the same.

Last Day

School starts tomorrow. It just seems too early to me. We need at least another week or two of freedom and relaxing, fun days. But at the same time, I'm looking forward to having a better schedule. I sure will miss my girls though.

Anyway, to "celebrate," we took the girls and 2 of their cousins to the Rec Center on Saturday. They all love swimming and it wasn't as crowded as I thought. It was nice to relax and spend some time together. Check out some of the fun:

Getting Ready

Even though I've had a year to think about and plan for our preschool, I'm starting to feel the crunch. My preschool partner and I have done a LOT this past year in preparing, but now that we're starting to get the room set up and purchase the last-minute supplies, we're realizing there's still a lot to do! Good thing we still have 3 weeks!

Our preschool budget is pretty small, and we've been able to get a lot of things from different sources way cheap or even free - which is great! I gave a fresh coat of paint to some of our old shelves and tables - what a difference!

OLD AND UGLY....


STILL OLD BUT PRETTIER (My camera makes this look gray, but it's actually a pretty sage green color)....

Lagoon

I've been playing catch-up with my blog lately, and I forgot to post these pics because they were on my old camera. On August 5, we joined Corbin, Nikki and their kids for their Stake Lagoon Day. The girls had never been able to ride all of the rides before, so they had a blast! We stayed from 11:00 to 10:00 - whew!

New Cousin!

My cousin Aaron and his wife Lisa welcomed their second baby boy, Jake, into their lives on August 8 - right in between Makenna and Kasidee's birthdays! We went to meet Jake and visit them yesterday. What a little cutie! The girls couldn't get enough of holding Jake and looking at him. I guess if we ever feel like we need a baby, we'll just visit Jake and get our "baby fix" from him! Congrats, Aaron and Lisa!