Joy School take 2

Last week was my 2nd time teaching Joy School. I took a few more pics to document... Here is Zion modeling the "Weather Watcher" glasses. At craft time we made caterpillars out of egg cartons. First the kids painted them, then glued on googly eyes and used pipe cleaners for antennas. It was a project Zion brought home from preschool that I thought was cute.

Free play time--the favorites are dress-ups and food toys.
On Thursday we talked about the earth, learning about land and water, continents, and using the globe to point out where we live. Anjuli said, "we're the tiny dot in the ocean!" They each took turns finding the tiny dot :)

Then we went around and each said something we love about our earth. I started with "sunshine," then the kids said things like "cookies," "princesses" and "trucks"...
This is our 3 minute rest time while listening to a primary song. Instead of lying on top of the blanket they all decided to go underneath.
To continue our lesson about earth, we made playdoh that we could shape into little earths, although the kids thought it was funner to turn it into birthday cakes :)
Fingerplay, puppet time. Everyone loves the puppets. We sing "5 little ducks" and "Cheesy Mr. Alligator."
Joy school has been so much fun for my kids. I'm really grateful to be a part of it.

Jasmine at 5 months

My baby girl is growing up!! Jasmine loves this exosaucer, she is in it a lot of the time. She loves to "swim" kicking her legs and flailing her arms at the same time. She is dying to get mobile, I can tell... Now she is a thumb sucker *sigh*... but I guess one of the benefits of that is that she puts herself to bed easily. I think she's about to get some teeth, she drools like crazy. Most of the time she is such a happy baby, squealing all day long. She is such a joy to have!

Jenn's Projects

Finally getting around to posting about these projects I did while Zui was out of town a few weeks back. Sometimes it's nice to have a husband gone for a little while to have the nights free to really do what I wanna do :)

Project #1: Frames
What do you do with a bunch of miscellaneous frames? Spraypaint! By the way, if you like to decorate and you haven't ventured into the world of spray paint, you should. It is so easy and fun!

First step, use a primer. Use light, even coats. It only takes a few minutes to dry.
Then add the color. I wanted red to match my house. Just a little collage to show the kid additions...
Project #2: Hair Bow Holder
My friend had one of these and she told me it was handmade. I so wanted one but thought there was no way I could make it, it looked too complicated and I thought, when would I ever have time to make this? I made it a goal to make it while Zui was gone. Total time: 1 hour.

If you have girls, you really need to know how to make this--it's a must have for all those girly hair things. Here's how:

1. Cut out a piece of cardboard the size you want your bow holder to be. I used a diaper box (I happen to have plenty of those on hand :)
2. Cover with a piece of fabric, allowing 2 inches of overhang all around. I bought a piece of scrap fabric from Walmart for $1.
3. Hot glue the fabric to three sides of the back of the cardboard.
4. Fill lightly with batting. I opened up an old pillow I was going to dump and used some of the batting inside.
5. Hot glue the last side down.
6. Hot glue ribbon onto back side top and bottom about 3-4 in. apart.
7. If you want, add a pin to be able to hang headbands on top of.
8. Hot glue a ribbon on the top left and right sides to be able to hang it onto the nail.

Voila! It is now displayed in my bathroom. This is Jasmine's collection of flowers. I know, I'm ridiculous :) I bought the lot of them on Amazon with some gift card money we got from a baby gift. I love having a place to put them all!

Happy Birthday, Zeya!

My little boy turned 2 today!

Zeya was so excited when he saw the streamers and presents on the table. We've been practicing with him the last few days. Now he can say "Ha-BirDay" and "I am two!" This is typical Zeya: thumb in mouth carrying his blankie.
Zeya got to open a few presents in the morning: sugar cereal, and a tape measure! I bought this for him because it was great entertainment for our Taiwan trip. But of course we lost it, so he got his own. Of course the kids still fight over it...maybe I'll get more for Christmas :)
We went to Chuck E Cheese
Zeya loves the basketball one. Here he is wondering why the balls have stopped coming down at the end of the game.
Then we headed to McDonald's. Zeya was really enthralled at pointing out all the truck's and buses.

We had a short party at night. The more kids I have, the easier my birthday cakes become. This one is a brownie mix with Pooh bear decorations stuck inside--voila!

Of course he loved blowing out the candles...over and over again :)

He opened one last present: a fishing game that the whole family loves.


Oh, and he *loves* his balloon from Grandma! She sent him $5 in the mail and this is what it bought!Zeya has been such a sweet boy. At two he is talking like crazy now. He can say everyone's name and loves to pretend that Zion is his mama (long-standing joke--one night I was telling Zeya his story and had him say all the words he knew...when he got to "Zion" he said "Mama!" The kids laughed hysterically! Now whenever you ask him to say Zion he will only say "mama").

Zeya has been such a blessing to our family. We love you, Zeya!

Anjuli's Photo Shoot

Anjuli wanted me to take lots of pictures of her a few days ago. She dressed up in several of her princess dresses. I never told her how to pose, she picked all the poses herself.
Here she said to me, "Mom, you'll need to get down low for this one, because I'm gonna do a low one."
Where does she come up with this?? I've never "posed" for her, we don't have those kinds of magazines around...we don't even have cable. Yet she knows exactly how to act in front of a camera!

Oh how I love my Anjuli :)

Since You've Been Gone...

Zui recently returned from Washington D.C. to attend a NAIFA insurance convention. He was gone 6 days. The time went by pretty fast. I tried to keep busy with different activities for the kids. The day after he left we made brownies for our friends. The kids loved the eating part :)


Sunday was the Primary Program! Anjuli had a big speaking part: "Now we have living prophets today to give us guidance and instruction from our Heavenly Father."
She memorized the whole thing.
Tuesday we went to the Splash Park. We met up with some friends and had a picnic dinner. The kids had a great time.

Baby Isi and Jasmine are just 2 weeks apart. I took this picture just in case they get hitched someday :)
Anjuli was a big help with baby Jasmine. I could always count on her to hold her for a few minutes. Jasmine also started rolling over and laughing while Zui was gone! Anjuli is really good at getting her to laugh.


The kids LOVE their umbrellas. Whenever it's raining outside they go out and sing "Singin' in the Rain." Even Izaiah knows the words :)

Bathtime with 4 kids is...busy! Zion was getting all frustrated wiggling around, then he says, "Mommy, there's too many people in here!!"
The kids sure missed their Daddy, but I missed him most. Glad to have him back!

Jasmine at 4 months

Baby Jaz is 4 months already! Wow, time has flown by. She has really grown up in the last few weeks. She has mastered rolling over both ways, and just started laughing. She sucks her 2nd finger to go to sleep (just like me when I was baby) and still has crazy hair. Zeya calls her "Ba-Ja" :)


I tried to clear out the background mess by having Anjuli hold up a curtain behind Jaz.

I took this picture because baby Jaz looks SO long. I was amazed at how she's grown!

Love those dimples :)
Baby Jaz has been such a blessing to our home. We sure love her!