Motley Fairy House

Sara really wanted to make a Fairy house so we hatched a plan to create one out of recyclables, moss we had collected on vacation and other nature debris we found in the park, and stuff from the craft store.

Here is how the fairy house started out :

Sara came up with a lot of the design ideas.  We cut up the jugs and bottles to form houses and pools.  We also have a bottle bridge.  This was the contraption we created with a glue gun, two towers connected by a root beer bottle bridge.  we cute holes in the front of the containers for the fairy doors.

Then we started the laborious process of gluing all the moss on.  I glued and burned my fingers while the kids fed the voracious gun glue sticks.

Then we started on the furniture and mushroom deco.  We glued these wooden pieces together and painted them to look like mushrooms.

I was surprised that Sara was actually a very careful mushroom painter, Brennan was anything but.

In the end, our fairy house looked a little motley. Maybe it's the fae house on the bad side of town, but the kids still really liked it and they created it and had fun, so that's what counts I guess.  We can build a better one next year.

Summer is here

Sara had an OK school year, it had its up's and down's.  She really loved her teacher most of all.  I think the class size was a bit chaotic.  I think she could have learned more and the class size made the learning environment too crazy.  Overall though, it was a good experience for her I think.  Her best friend Elie helped fill in the gaps.  Sadly, Ellie will be going to a different school next year.

The last week of school was really special for her.  She was in a small play an she got to showcase her writing to two of her grandmas.

She said she is sad school is out.  She misses her teacher. Her teacher gave her a post card with her Summer address on it so Sara could write to her.



I made her a binder with all of her 1st grade writings.  She had some neat stores and pictures that I wanted to hang on to.  I've tried to stash all of her artwork and writing in it that she did throughout the whole year and I put it in plastic sheets to protect it.   I will include her class pictures in it too.  She also has one from Kindergarten that her teacher put together.

I think we will have a fun summer and an productive summer too.  I'm hoping to go through her 2nd grade workbook and keep her math skills up to date.  I am also teaching her to write in cursive this Summer.  I wasn't going to but because she has so much trouble with her writing I have decided to give it a try.  I am also helping her change her pencil grip.  I also wasn't going to do that but I have wondered if that's why her handwriting is so bad and also I read that when she's writing papers in high school, it can cause her hand to get really tired.  I figured if I can teach a 3 year old to properly hold a violin bow (not so easy) I can teach a 7 year old to hold a pencil properly.  We ordered some rubber "tripod" grip helpers for her pencil.  They have indentations where her fingers go so that she places them right, they are supposed to be good and so far she really likes them and they seem to be really helping.

I ordered her three cursive writing books and so far that is going OK.  We are just learning how to form letters and I was explaining to her that all the letters connect together and they have fancy curves, she thought the difference was funny.

Lastly, we are learning our multiplication tables, she has caught on to that pretty well so far.  We have only done the really simple single digit ones so far.

I am actually glad that we didn't do swim team for Sara and that I scaled back our Summer lessons and activities.  We are having a "light" summer.  Mostly just doing local family activities and staying at home doing extra piano, extra school work, yard work,  crafts, and house organization.

We have done some fun family activities that Sara has really enjoyed.  We have gone to the Splash pads in town, to several parks, and we have done some fun family hikes after Dan gets off of work.  Sara really likes riding the river trail in Spanish Fork.   They finally finished the trail and now there are 7 miles of uninterrupted paved trail.  The first night we rode almost the whole thing.  Dan and I were amazed that the kid rode 11 miles.  We only took one short break.  Sara is a wiz on her bike.  She shifts gears like a pro and pedals non-stop without complaining.  The next week we did 8 miles on the trail.  We've really praised her for what a good bike rider she is.

She also likes having lots of treats in the Summer, one of her favorite things to do is go out for shave ice.  We have a neat Hawaiian Shave ice booth just down the street that has some interesting flavors that Sara has tried, it is one of her favorite things.

Sara is working hard on her piano this Summer.  She is taking lesson on her own.  Usually I go in with her but because there is only 1 other kid, she can go in by herself.  Brennan and I just wait in the car.  I'm impressed with the progress she's made so far, she is a smart kid and knows an amazing amount about music.  She knows over 300 flash cards with music notes, chords, and music theory.

Sara is the best and I hope she has a good Summer before 2nd grade starts and we get back to our busy life!

The Perfect Party

Sara was really adamant that she wanted a Dolphin Tale 2 themed party this year.  She saw the movie twice and read the book and is really into it.  I was just thankful she didn't want another Frozen party and even more thankful when I went to the Party store to plan it.  All the Frozen stuff is totally taking over.  Anyway, it was fun to plan this party for her and to do the decorations.  

I ordered dolphin invites and we sent them out.  We only invited a couple of kids this time as opposed to last year and it turned out way more manageable and fun.

One of her other wishes for the party was to have a "sea of balloons".    Dan and I blew up 70 balloons and put them in her room the night before.  She was super surprised to wake up to them all in her room. 

 Her nice cousin Malina offered to make her a cake.  We described what Sara wanted and Malina made a really special cake that was probably better than probably what we would have come up with.  Sara was thrilled with it.

 Three kids came, one was Sara's best friend Ellie.  They were really cute together.  Her cousin Benny was there too.   They played some party games, the most popular was hide the lobster.  We had a blow up lobster and they took turns finding great hiding places for it and then finding it. Also, the other hit was tossing all 70 of the balloons over the banister that we had put in Sara's room.

 They we had cake and sang happy birthday to Sara!  The kids were really surprised at the real shells and "real" sand (brown sugar) and they loved the dolphins.  Several of them exclaimed that this was the best party they had ever been to and they wanted Dolphin parties too.

After the cake, we took a little break to watch a bit of the movie Dolphin Tale 2.

Next we had an impromptu conga line and other silliness :

Sara got some nice presents, her favorite was a messenger bag that Ellie gave her that you can color and decorate.  She colored it all day Sunday and wants to take it to school with her on Monday.

 I think it was a party she will remember for along time to come.  Dan and I actually had fun at the party too, it was really a good day.

Sara also got to spend some good time with her cousin Benny.

Some shots of the decor:

Jan & Feb 2015

In January we did some skiing and thankfully we did when we could because the snow was terrible after that.   I skied with her in Hobble Creek one day when it was 10 degrees.  She was a real trooper, even though her hands got really cold.  She skied about a mile and a half, really fast too.  I want to get her actual cross country skis next year, she is ready.

The biggest event that happened during January was that Nanna came to visit.  That meant extra trips to Cracker Barrel, lots of spoiling, and sewing lessons.  Sara really got into sewing!  I hope Nanna is able to teach Sara all about swing, knitting, weaving, and whatever else.  I just don't have the patience for it but I think Sara would really love it.

One other obsession that Sara has is dancing to Starwars Let's Dance on Youtube.  Over the Christmas holiday she danced endlessly and she's still dancing every day.  She really gets into it!

Also, Sara obsessively played My Little Pony Monopoly all through Christmas.  She has since tapered off but for a while we were playing every day.

When Grandpa Glade came to visit, she roped him into playing too.

Sara has made HUGE strides at swimming since November.  She has gotten so strong and fast. I couldn't be more proud of her!

Some things that I've been doing with Sara this year that we really enjoy are, when she gets home from school I have her sit with me and tell me about her day.   I don't know if she enjoys that time together but I do.

Also, she has discovered that being read to in the tub while she takes a bath is one of her favorite things.  So I read to her and she reads to Brennan.

I've also been doing a 365  Q & A a day book.  She has come up with some really entertaining answers.  When you finish the year, you start again and there are spaces to ask the questions again.  I think I will so it at 9 and again at 12 years of age to see how her answers change.

Lastly, she has been bringing home Star Wars books from the library every week.  So far I've read 5 of them.  I really can't stand the comic book bubble format, like really really hate it.  However she is so into these books I just can't say no.  She hangs on every word and I usually read them 2 or 3 times through during the week.  Brennan sits there and listens too.  She says she wants the whole set of these books.  Maybe we could find others with pictures but not in the comic book bubble dialog format which I disdain.   I'm excited that I got her a Star Wars coloring book and sticker book for her B'day in a few weeks.  I hope she likes it.

Sara has been talking about valentines day and her birthday non-stop for weeks.  She is really looking forward to it. Tomorrow is her Valentines party at school and she has worked all week making valentines for her whole class, she totally did it all on her own.   She made an extra special one for her best friend Ellie.  She is also looking forward to opening Nanna's Valentine package tomorrow.

**As an update, Sara got a real valentine from a boy named Carter that she chases on the field all the time.  He gave her a braclet that says "Be Mine" and he gave it to her in a special package.  She said he was really nice at school today too.

We are still trying to come up with a plan for her birthday.  We are thinking of getting a giant bounce house for the back yard but haven't decided.  She asked for a Dolphin Tale 2 party, she loves the book and movie.  We have gotten dolphin invitations, party favors, and plates.  I hope to have a party for her with a few friends, probably not as many as last year but who knows.  I think it will be fun whatever we do.  She requested that her best friend Ellie be there.  I'll be really sad if Ellie does not come because I know Sara will be devastated.   Apparently one of Ellie's older brother's is disabled and they don't get out much, so I've even offered to go pick her up and bring her home.  It would mean a lot to Sara.

I got her roller blades with light up wheels for her birthday.  I hope she really likes them and isn't too scared to try them out.  If she is, then I know someone who won't be.


Sara is about to be 7 and I feel like Sara just gets better with age.  I try to tell her as often as I can that I think she's really and truly a wonderful person.  She is so helpful with her brother, so sweet and thoughtful of other people, and so fun and interested in so many things.  She is also good at whatever she tries to do.  Sometimes I think she is too good for this world.  She really is my idol, she's is the best person I know.   I also love that she loves Ancient Aliens, bigfoot, UFO's, Cosmos, and Egypt :)