Aidan's Report Card

Aidan's 3rd quarter of kindergarten is over (wow-I can't believe it. I am going to have a 1st grader soon!) and I met with his teacher, Mrs. Rigby to see how he is doing. Well, he is doing GREAT! She just kept saying how good and helpful of a little boy he is and that she wishes all her kids were like him. He is also doing very well academically. He is reading with the top group in the class (which is impressive, seeing how he is the youngest in the class). He also has high IRI (Idaho Reading Indictor-standardized testing) scores. He needs a little bit more work in writing and cutting, but we are working on that and Mrs. Rigby isn't too concerned about that. She says that it will come. One of Aidan's favorite subjects is math (don't ask me how he got that-because both Jeremy and I hate the subject) and he is really good. He has a natural affinity for numbers it seems. Next time you see him, ask him to count to 100 for you. Aidan is also such a good friend to so many kids in his class. I help out in this room once a week and I see how nice and helpful he is. He loves to play with his friends. It is fun because he has branched out, and has playdates with boys other than those in the ward. He is quite popular. I am a little tired keeping up with his playdates! I love Aidan so much and I am so proud of him. He really is a good, sweet, intelligent boy. I couldn't have asked for better children!

Has Spring Finally Sprung?!?!

I looked out my window and what did I see? My crocuses popping up! What a nice sign that spring might actually be coming. I know my kids are sure thrilled. I can hardly keep Wyatt inside the house now that the trampoline has gone up. I am always happy to say goodbye to winter and hello to summer. Goodbye heavy coats, long sleeved shirts, soups, blankets, socks, snow, and high heating bills! Hello cute capris, t-shirts, picnics, flip flops, playing outside, colorful flowers, fresh cut grass and open windows! What are your favorite things about this time of year?

Leprachaun Gifts

In our house, we have a leprachaun that comes to visit us every year. He leaves new green shirts for the kids (shown above), a bowl of gold and jewels for the kids to eat for breakfast (Captain Crunch Berries) and this year they got some stickers and the movie The Princess and the Frog (you know, because frogs are green and Mom really wanted that movie). It is always fun-and the kids do look cute!

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!

Wyatt's Day

Monday, March 8 was Wyatt's 2nd birthday. Since we spent the whole day in the car, we thought we would make it up to him by doing something fun the next day. So, we took the family to Blast Off. Aidan insisted that they all wear their M&M shirts, plus, they have socks to match. We got lots of comments on the shirts there.

The ball pit-surprisingly, Lydia really liked playing in it!

Our Birthday Boy! He was really adventurous and went over, inside, under, through and everywhere he could. This is him in one of the tunnels.

Big brother and little brother playing peek a boo. I got to introduce the kids to my favorite arcade game, SkeeBall. I actually kick butt at this game. The kids, not so much. They'll learn. But they were really excited that I bought them candy with the tickets I won. We also have a picture of Wyatt climbing up the game and Aidan pulling him back by his feet. Lydia was so excited by the lights. (Our little yellow M&M-she kept her bow in all day long!) For about 10 minutes, they played, 1...2...3...jump! into the ball pit. Here we caught them mid count. (Notice the adorable M&M shirts?!)

After our allotted 2 hours at Blast Off, we celebrated with Happy Meals (of course) and ice cream sandwiches from Cold Stone. Then came home for presents. Wyatt got a t-ball set, some tractors, a play camera, some books and a movie.Wyatt is such a fun little boy. His personality is huge! He loves his family fiercely-he loves to give kisses and hugs and he gives them freely. Wyatt looks up to his older brother and copies everything he does, and we watches out for his younger sister. He is curious and is always getting into things, just to see what they are. Wyatt is really getting good at talking. One of his favorite things to say when things aren't going his way is "Oh man!" He love balls and books and baths. I also have never seen a child so in love with animals-of all kinds. I love that little blond haired, blue eyed little boy. Our family would not be complete with out him. Happy Birthday WyGuy!

Viva Las Vegas!

So, last Tuesday, we got an email from my Aunt Kellee saying that on Saturday, my cousin Logan was going to be baptized. I read it, said "great!" and deleted the email, thinking, "I would sure like to go, but they live in Las Vegas. That sure is a long trip." Then Jeremy got home, and I told him about the baptism, and he goes, "Let's go!" And thus began our plans. Lydia has never been anywhere in her short life, and Wyatt has really only been to Salt Lake for surgery. This is something that we never have done before and we were excited! (BTW-the above pic is the only one we took in Las Vegas. We kept forgetting that we had a camera.)

This McDonald's in Lehi was our first stop. It was the most awesome playground ever! All the music instruments really played music! For example, the piano slide actually played an octave slide as the child slid down it. There was also a really cool guitar that you could strum too. Plus, there was a huge tower to climb too. We stayed for far too long at this McDonald's!

Then we drove to Cedar City and got a hotel to sleep in. I caught these sweet pictures at a gas stop somewhere. We got to the Horito's house in Las Vegas at around 11 A.M. Saturday morning. Aidan and Wyatt loved playing with all the cousins! And Lydia just enjoyed the attention being a princess brings. The baptism was lovely and then they had a big dinner and birthday cake afterward. So fun. On Sunday, we visited with my cousin Megan, who just had an adorable little baby boy. I have seen Megan in years so it was so fun to get caught up and see her and meet her sweet baby. After the visit, we headed down to the Strip. We caught the Bellagio fountains and went to the M&M Store. That place is so much fun! There is M&M merchindise everywhere and you can see how M&M's are made and also see a funny 3D movie. The kids really liked this place. Plus, we bought them shirts and they thought it was so cool to be dressed like M&M's. Aidan posing in front of Elvis M&M.

We wanted to go to the Fremont Experience because I have never been, but we had had a full and fun day and everyone was tired. We spent the rest of the evening hanging out with the Horito's and relaxing. The 5 of us had to prepare for the long trip home the next day. We are so thankful for them for hosting us-we had so much fun playing with them!

We left Monday morning for Idaho Falls. Honestly, the kids did really well, for being stuck in the car for 12 hours. Aidan needed to stop about a hundred times, but, that was okay. One of the funniest things were when we got to Idaho Falls and were driving through the city to our house, Wyatt kept saying, "Home! Home!" I had no idea he was so attached. Anyway, it was all in all a really fun little trip. We might need to be a bit more spontanteous (although, not so ambitious!)

Barnes' Big Birthday Bash 2010!

So, we have 3 birthdays within 2 weeks at our house. Miss Lydia starts off the festivities on February 21, Jeremy's birthday is February 26, and Wyatt finishes off the fun on March 8. So, in celebration of Liddy's 1st, Jeremy's 30th, and Wyatt's 2nd, we had a combined family party last Friday. I love this picture of all the birthday kids. Since I dedicated the last post to Lydia, and Wyatt's day is coming up, this one will mostly be about my wonderful husband big 3-0!

Isn't he handsome? I love this man so much! He is such a hard worker and provider for us, the least I could do was arrange a party for him. Jeremy is a wonderful father. I always tell him that I couldn't have created a better husband myself. We also went out on a date the next night-we recommend the movie "Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Lightning Thief." It was great!

I just couldn't resist this picture-this is the embodiment of my Wyatt. He is such a sweet goofball. And so very handsome, too.

Wyatt's birthday cupcake-he did so well blowing out the candles. As you can see in the picture, he is kind of mesmerized by the flame. Lydia also had her own cupcake with 1 candle on it, but we have no pictures of that. The cupcakes were funfetti cupcakes with funfetti frosting. I have to thank Aidan and Kayleen for helping me out with those. They did a great job!

The "old man's" cake. Look at all those candles! He mangaged to blow them all out with one breath. I guess he gets his wish-I wonder what it was?

So, happy birthday everyone! I am so grateful to be your mommy and your wife. I love you!