Family Activity - Natural History Museum

This week we decided to go to the new Natural History Museum.  Thad's parents purchased us a membership when it first opened.  We have tried to go a couple of times but it closes early and we have not managed to get the kids ready and out of the house in time.

  

We planned ahead this week and were able to spend a couple hours at the museum.  The kids loved it!  I think their favorite part was the dinosaurs. 

They played in the kid archaeological dig site

Put a dinosaur bone puzzle together

Dug up dinosaur bones and

Sat in a dinosaur footprint

At the end of the day we all had a great time and plan to go back another day when it is not quite as busy.

Beauty and the Beast

When I was little my three favorite Disney movies were Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin.  I was probably in junior high when these came out, but I loved them.  I had all the songs memorized and learned to play them on the piano.

 

Taylor has been asking for a yellow Belle dress for months.  I knew I had to take Taylor to see Beauty and the Beast in the theatre and we would have a mommy/daughter date.  Friday we went shopping and picked out a yellow Belle dress and shoes.  It was perfect.  We met all the boys for dinner at Sweet Tomatoes

before the movie.

This was the first 3D movie Taylor and I had seen.  Taylor put on the 3D glasses as soon as we walked into the theatre.  It was so cute!  She loved the movie and was giggling throughout the whole thing.  It was so much fun to share some of my childhood with my daughter.  It was a great evening. 

Family Activity - Snow Day

Another one of my goals this year is to have a fun family activity every week. 

Last Saturday we were planning on going to the Home Depot Kids project.  When we were getting ready to go, the neighbors came over to build snowmen with Aiden and Taylor.  This was the first major snowstorm of the year.  It is crazy we had to wait until January to get any decent snow.

We decided that a Snow Day was a perfect activity.  The kids built a snowman, which is still partially standing.  They made snow angels and had a blast spending the entire afternoon outside playing.  It was the best activity. 

This weekend we are planning on going to the new Natural History Museum.  The kids really enjoyed the old one, so this should be fun.

Hair Cuts - Long Over Due

Yesterday I took all three kids in for haircuts.  Aiden and Taylor love it because they sit in toy cars, Aiden had a police car and Taylor sat in the pick princess car.  They watched Phineas and Ferb and barely even noticed someone was cutting their hair.  Austin did not like it so much as it is only his second haircut.

This hair cut was long overdue.  Aiden's hair was so long and shaggy.  They cut off probably 2-3 inches off.  He looks so much better.  Austin probably had 1-2 inches cut off as well.  Taylor saw the pink feather's that girls are putting in their hair now.  She had to have one!!  They did a really good job. It is hidden under some hair so it is not completely obvious, but still fun.

Austin had more fun on the play set they have inside their store.  This video is him going down the slide by himself for the first time.

Taylor's Violin Lesson

Taylor has been taking violin lessons for about four months.  She attends a group lesson with three other kids from her preschool.  We go to her preschool twice a week just for violin lessons.  They have been learning to read notes, hold the violin and bow as well as playing.  This is a video of her at her lesson earlier this week.  She is starting to play twinkle twinkle.  She is learning the Suzuki method, but with reading notes instead of all based on sound and memorization.

I am so proud of my sweet little girl.  We have been practicing at home every day as well.  She knows her notes really well.  She can play the open strings very well.  We are working on putting her fingers on the correct strings which is coming really fast. 

I played violin for years.  I started in 4th grade at my grade school.  I would walk to school with my violin to play with our school orchestra before school started.  I played in school all the way through 9th grade.  In high school I played with the Granite Youth Symphony but unfortunately stopped after that.  I can still play the basics, but I have lost a lot of the technical aspects of violin.  I am excited to be able to play again. 

My intent was not to start Taylor on the violin so young.  It just fell into our laps as her preschool teaches violin as a part of her preschool program.  This year we added on to have group lessons.  She enjoys playing, sometimes.  I hope she will love it and continue to play her whole life.

Family Home Evening

One of my goals for this year is to have family home evening every week.  Last year our attempt at fhe was having movie night as a family every week.  Now that the kids are getting older and Aiden will be baptized this year I would like to have a more traditional fhe. 

Last Monday we created a family time capsule.  We wrote letters to ourselves with goals we want to complete during the year.  We have family goals and individual goals.  All the letters were put into a box and wrapped like a present.  We had a lot of fun with this.

Yesterday we created our family home evening chart with everyone's names.  I had no idea fhe had so many parts.  I thought all we needed was a quick lesson, fun activity and a treat.  I want this to be fun and something we look forward to as a family, so if we miss some parts, oh well. 

 We made prayer charts.  This should help remind the kids we should say individual and family prayers every day.  The kids are having a lot of fun with this.  Next week will be interesting as we randomly chose who should be in charge of each part.  Taylor is in charge of the lesson and the treat.

 

 Monday nights are so busy.  Aiden and Taylor have French, Piano and Minimusic.  They do not get home until 7:00 pm, which is Austin's bedtime.  He missed last weeks FHE, but he decided to stay up late and join us this time.  He had a lot of fun throwing food across the table while we tried to talk. 

I love my family so much!

Austin learning to run

Austin has definitely taken his time learning to walk.  He enjoys being held and had no interest in exploring the world around him unless Mom, Dad or Jasmin was carrying him.  Of course we did not help by always taking him where ever he pointed. 

He has been walking for a couple of months now.  This video is probably the longest he has walked and he is now figuring out that he can run.  The next few weeks/months are going to be so much fun with him.