Project Life January 15 - January 21

Hannah's band concert, wow they have improved so much since the first concert.

This was the first day we let the boys wear underwear as part of potty training they were so excited.

The boys playing Transformers with Uncle Matt.

A Christmas picture in January

This is the picture I wanted to take on Friday, but I was driving down I-80 at 80 mph.

Project Life January 8 - January 14

I took a class for renewal credit before Christmas and I had to write a paper to complete the class and get my credit.

When I came home from teaching today I was excited to find this box. I resisted opening it until I had mostly finished a paper I was working on.

Jaeden and Annika started piano lessons tonight.

They are both very excited to learn.

I looked up from my computer and saw Logan looking so grown up reading his book like this.

The first game of the first day of Futsal pitted Sister versus Brother.

Project Life January 1 - January 7

I'm recommiting to blogging. The posts may be short with mostly pictures from my Project Life album, but it's all I have time for right now.

This is what Liam and Logan LOVE to do.
They are either playing Super Mario Brothers or Mario Cart.

Jed and Annika out in the snow shoveling.

Snow Angel Annika


Even though it's a little dark I love how pretty everything looks covered with snow.

Logan after he got his stitches out.

He got a stuffed animal and lots of stickers from the ER staff.

This is Annika's new favorite hairstyle.

She looks SO different with straight hair.

Today was Hannah's turn to play in the Bubble Blowout.

Jaeden playing soccer in the Bubble Blowout.

Hanah opening one of her birthday presents.
She got this game plus a Letter from Hogwarts and some Hogwarts textbooks.

We got Rock Band for Christmas and the kids have a great time rocking out.

Logan two days after he got four stitches.

CANstruction

Last spring Hannah was selected to be a part of the Extended Learning Program or ELP at school, it's what our school calls the talented and gifted program. One of the things that she was most excited about was CANstrustruction. Her school along with two others in the district came up with a theme and a plan for building a sculpture from non-perishable food items. They had to find the right kind of can for each build and they had a budget to stay within. The theme was

We CAN help CANoe?

One school built a house, another a canoe and her school built a skyscraper. They covered the bottom with water bottles to represent the floods from last summer. They would have liked for the skyscraper to be taller, but stability was an issue and also the cost of so many cans. I got to go with her and it was such a fun event.

Carefully working with Mrs. Legget on making the base stable so other students could build it taller.

Hannah with Kara in front of their hard work.

The final product complete with two trophies. They won Best in Show and the People's Choice.

"Painting With Mud" by Liam and Logan

Yesterday was such a beautiful day that I let the boys outside. They do a good job staying in the backyard without constant supervision so I was inside trying to get a few things done. I keep checking on them every few minutes to see what they were doing. They jumped on the trampoline they played on the playground, but that must have gotten boring because the next time I check on them they are digging in the mud and then they are using that mud to decorate the retaining wall.Hard at work!
Look how pretty mom!

Logan's toes are muddy.

Liam is still adding more mud.

Showing off the artwork.

Valentine's Celebrations

We had lots of fun Valentine's Celebrations.

One of my favorite parts of Valentine's Day is making valentines with the kids. Jed thinks that we are insane, but we have so much fun doing this activity together.

Hannah, Jaeden, Annika and I made these Iloves. They did almost everything except I cut out the screens and the wheels. I was very impressed at how hard they all worked, especially since we made 80 of them all together.



I made these cute valentine's for Liam and Logan to take to playgroup. The tags say "Bear Hugs from Liam and Logan."

It is very rare that my mom has the chance to be here on a school day, so her and I braved school food and ate lunch with all three children. No we did not eat three meals just sat with all three kids while eating our one meal. I'm sure glad they eat back to back and even then that lunch room is very loud. Grandma Cheryl and Annika

Hannah and Grandma Cheryl

Grandma Cheryl and Jaeden.

After lunch we went home and relaxed and hung out with Liam and Logan. When it was time for the kid's parties at school we went back to take part in the festivities.

Hannh opening some Valentines from her classmates.

One of Jaeden's classmates made each kid's initials from pixos. Such a cute idea.

We spent the most time in Annika's classroom, because our help was more needed here. Here Annika is getting some Valentines from her school bus shaped holder. They were definately having fun, so much fun playing musical chairs that one girl ended up bleeding.

Friday night we braved the snowy roads, took advantage of having a babysitter (thank you Katherine), took the older three and out to eat teppanyaki at Pei's. We had taken them probably 3 1/2 years ago and Annika was afraid she was going to get lit on fire. She's older now and everyone enjoyed themselves and we all ate too much good food.

Valentine's Day was pretty laid back as we had already celebrated. All the kids and Jed went out to play in the snow. They made some great snowboarding and sledding paths in the backyard. We enjoyed having grandma here to share our Valentine's Celebrations with her.

January Update

I know it's been a long time so here is it what we have been doing for the last month.

We went to the Children's Museum on a No School day. This was day number 6 off from school. It was snowy, then very, very cold, and then 2 inservice days.

Annika showing off her climbing skills.

Jaeden and Hannah trying to build paths and beat the clock.

Liam and Logan climbing. I know it's a little blurry. They were moving so fast I couldn't get a good picture.

Annika, Logan and Liam helping Daddy making a Peterson family recipe. It looks like Liam was drinking milk more than stirring.

The final product. Yum, Popeye Pancakes.

Popeye Pancakes
5-7 eggs (1 cup)
1 cup flour
1 cup milk
pinch of salt
Blend together untill foamy. While blending, put 4-5 tablespoons of butter in 9 x 9 or 9 in. pie plate (glass works best). Melt in oven. Then pour in batter once butter has coated pan. Bake at 400 degrees for approximately 20-25 minutes.

First Time Playing in the Snow

We have never let the boys go outside and in the snow before for many reasons; it takes a long time to get them ready, someone has to be outside with them, it's too cold, we don't have two pairs of boots in the same size, we don't have two pairs of snowpants in the same size, the list goes on and one. Well on Saturday I finally got around to buying another pair of boots. We dressed them all up (yes it took forever) and the girls went out and played with them outside.

The boys all dressed and ready to go outside.

Liam had a little trouble staying on his feet. He reminded me of the younger brother on "The Christmas Story" is was very cute.

Logan was very excited to go and outside and wasn't really interested in letting me take a picture. This is the best one the other ones were all blurry because he was running to the door.

The boys first experience playing in the snow.

Jed and the kids (minus Jaeden).

In the upper left is our nice neighbor across the street snowblowing the snow left by the snowplow.

On top of the snowpile at the end of the driveway. They had fun climbing up and sliding down.

The boys playing with shovels and buckets in the snow.

Snot Happens! This wasn't the only time Liam had streams of snot coming from is nose, but it was definately the worst.

Jed has been trying to convince me to buy a snowblower since we moved into our house. He had finally convinced me and then decided that buying shovels and using the manpower of the kids would save us from buying one. Why have kids if you can't put them to work.

Logan and Liam thought that shoveling was fun. Liam actually moved a little snow, Logan just had fun carrying the shovel around and trying to shovel.

Logan
&

Liam

The boys greatly enjoyed their first experience playing in the snow. They stayed out for almost an hour, only coming in after Annika came in with a very, very cold and red foot and we decided it was time for everyone to come in.

Within a few minutes of Logan coming in he quickly passed out on the coach while sitting up watching TV it was so cute. I guess he was worn out from all that playing.

One of Liam's feet got really cold because his boot kept falling off so Jed was trying to warm it up and make him feel better. Well he must have made him comfortable because he quickly got sleepy on Jed's lap.

I laid Liam down and moved Logan into a more comfortable position so they could take a little nap on the couch while everyone else enjoyed some hot chocolate. A good ending to a fun time.