How to Catch a Leprechaun…

Spencer came home from school every day this week with a new idea of how to catch a leprechaun.  All I can say is that these ideas came from books read at school and classmates talking about it, because we have never made a big deal out of St. Patrick’s Day except for our yearly feast of Corned Beef and Cabbage (aka. New England Boiled Dinner).  So as he is telling me how his trap was going to work and what he needed, I told him he had to come up with a diagram…a blue print if you will…this is what his plan looked like:

 

 

 

 

 

 

He informed me that as the leprechaun ran into the rubberband you see in the diagram it would slingshot him backwards into the other box and flip the box up on end so he couldn’t get out.  He was going to put his fools gold he got from school on Monday as the bait, but we couldn’t find it, so we made a trek to the store for some gold coins instead.  The finished project turned out a little different than the diagram, but there was a slingshot involved and he was so sure that we would catch a leprechaun.  Here is his finished “Leprechaun Trap”:

 Then the leprechaun set off the trap, but left more gold and a treasure hunt instead that Spencer and Josey absolutely LOVED!  They had so much fun following the clues and were so excited to find the pot of “gold” at the end!

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We’re Going to the zoo, Zoo, ZOO!

We had the day off from school and decided to go to the Hogle Zoo with The Carr family.  Hannah is in Spencer’s class at school and good friend. It was 64 degrees, with a breeze and perfect!  Warm enough that the animals were all out and active, but not too hot that it was miserable or sweltering and there weren’t a ton of people!  All Josey wanted to see was the snakes at the reptile house (she’s looking at the map below to figure out how to get there!)  Spencer wanted to see the crocodile and the elephants, but I think his MUGG shot next to the gorilla head speaks volumes!  Izzy LOVED all of it.  She would pat my shoulder and say, “Mom, MOM!” and then point at whatever caught her fancy.  I LOVE the look on her face with the brass gorilla!  Priceless!  She was so much fun there!

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A Quick Winter Getaway

We took Friday (Feb 24th) off and decided to get out of the smoggy valley and get into the mountains.  We booked our condo in Midway, UT and headed there for 2 nights!  We swam in the pool, went tubing at Soldier Hollow, swam some more, watched movies, played games, read books and just chilled…and enjoyed being together as a family without any other distractions!  It was a much needed getaway and a lot of fun!  Izzy LOVED the swimming pool…she’s a little daredevil and must be part fish because she didn’t want to leave!  Josey loved the hot tub and would have preferred that to the swimming pool, except I gave her a time limit.  Spencer loved the tubing hill that had bumpy jumps and went super fast!  Mom loved watching the kids enjoy themselves, and Dad loved sleeping in, napping, catching a few zzzz’s while watching a movie with the kids…just catching up on his beauty sleep!

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Valentine’s Festivities

The strawberries at Costco were too big, too red, and too perfect to pass up for dipping in some chocolate…one of my children’s favorite…okay, really my favorite!  We had a lot of fun dipping, swirling, decorating and eating these delicious treats.  By the end Spencer and Josey were pros at it and I had mastered the art of the drizzle decorating. We decided to take and share these yummy treats with several friends and neighbors because anyone who has dipped strawberries knows they are only good for about a day and a half!  What a fun way to celebrate Valentine’s love and they didn’t stick around too long in our house!  Check out the final product…not bad right!?!??

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our other Valentine project is Josey’s favorite thing ever…frosted sugar cookies!  I have the best recipe for the softest, fluffiest cookies and my kids love to decorate them their own creative ways.  I must admit that I have a weakness for these delicious treats like Josey does!  We invited The Hutchings over to help us decorate the dozens of cookies that I had made.  Kira and Olivia loved to sprinkle on oodles of sprinkles, and Spencer was all over the writing with the gel frosting on his cookies. It is a fun tradition that we look forward too each and every year!

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She’s a Dancing Queen

 While getting Josey’s tights and leotard on for dance today, Izzy tried to put on Josey’s dance skirt and had a major meltdown when I put it on Josey.  So to curb the tantrum, I pulled out one of Josey’s old leotards and put tights and a skirt on her.  After she was dressed she did a twirl and then we turned on music and danced!  When we went to Josey’s dance class today she knew she was “all that” and had to do some dancing there too!  What a cutie!

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