Cousins!

We love having cousins live close and seeing them whenever we can!

Kindness Chart and Sleepover

To encourage kindness among siblings, we have been doing kindness charts, where the kids get to put one sticker on the "kindness piggy bank" chart for each random act of kindness that their sibling tells me about (they cannot ask me for a sticker for their own act of kindness; their sibling has to ask me or I have to witness the kindness).  They finished their chart this week and earned a sibling sleepover!  They watched Homeward Bound, had popcorn, and got to stay up late and chat before falling asleep together.

Colton Stuff

A few fun things about Colton lately...

He went to the Loons opener with Daddy and it was gorgeous weather!

Colton and Mommy's turn for a Tuesday date - Mini Golf!

Grandpa K was doing electrical work in his basement and allowed Colton to help over spring break!  He set everything all up so that Colton could do each step.  Colton put in an outlet, a switch, and 2 light fixtures.  He drilled holes in studs, hammered in boxes, pulled wire, cut wire, bared wire, connected wire to the switch/box, connected wire to the light fixtures with wire nuts, and turned on the power!  It was pretty cool to put into REAL LIFE what he has been connecting/making on his circuit board set he got from Aunt Nancy and Uncle Paul for Christmas. He is pretty lucky to have such a patient Grandpa to teach him electrical work - Colton sure loved it!  He was very excited to tell us what he did, despite the fact that in the pictures he put on his "too cool to smile" face, lol!

Fashion Show

Summer was so excited to take part in the Fashion Show at the store Justice at the mall.  Her friend Anisah loves this store and told Summer about it so they signed up together for the winter one.  Summer was devastated that she was sick and couldn't participate during the winter show, so I told her she could do the spring one!  The boys stayed home to wrestle and play legos, but Larkyn chose to come watch, and when we arrived to choose the outfit Summer would wear, they offered that Larkyn could participate too, despite the fact that Justice sizes start at size 6 and Larkyn is size 3!  So we chose a tank top for her to wear as a tank dress :).  Both girls got to choose two sets of outfits/accessories and walk the runway twice and had a lot of fun being girly.:)

Larkyn Gets Her Ears Pierced!

Larkyn has been asking to get her ears pierced!  Even when told it would  hurt, she insisted she still wanted them pierced!  So, when Daddy and Colton went to the Loons soccer game, the girls had a date to Claire's to use their gift cards from GeeGee Sandy and get Larkyn's ears pierced!  She was so brave and didn't cry at all....she didn't even flinch!  She had a huge smile on her face and was so excited!  She picked the same earrings Summer had picked when she got her ears pierced.  We had such a fun girls afternoon!

Save Me a Seat Presentation

 Our school is a Leader In Me school, and I have loved seeing the way our fantastic administration encourages leadership and intentionally implements Stephen Covey's Seven Habits in our kids.  Each year they hold several Leader Fests for the community, and students participate in a variety of ways including giving tours, presentations, singing, etc. 

This past month, Summer and Colton were asked to talk about our One School One Book at the Leader Fest.  For the month of February, each family in the K-5 elementary school was given a copy of Save Me a Seat, a book that families read together and discussed at home.  It encouraged empathy for students in different situations, including the two main characters Ravi, who just moved from India, and Joe, a student with special needs, and their challenges at school.  It also encouraged students to see beyond first impressions to who people really are on the inside, and to be a good friend.  Summer and Colton wrote a speech to give at the Leader Fest on this book, and here is a video of their presentation.