Dinosaur Day

We had a Dinosaur Day a few weeks ago.
Thanks to the $1 flash cards from Target.

36 Dinosuars, most I've never heard of.


Then we worked on the letter 'Dd' for Dinosaur

We talked about fossils and played in the sandbox.

This is our screeching Pterodactyl!
(he really does screech like a dinosaur all the time)

I also found a great link for online Dino Games
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Summer is flying by. I'm not at all looking forward to winter.
This has been the best summer of our marriage. Probably one of the best summers of my life.
Who would've thought I'd be so happy in Cheyenne Wyoming?! ( I still consider myself a big city girl, and crave the busyness of New York City) But you can't beat the the fresh air, sunny mornings, rolling hills, cowboy hats, horses, thunderstorms, bunnies, squirrels, no traffic, and no shopping (saves me money).

Frontier Days

Roxanne and Talon came to play during Frontier Days!

First we went to the Parade.



Then we went to the Thunderbirds Air Show.




It was really loud.

And really bright.

I remember going with my Dad when I was little.
Hope McKenna will remember going with her Mom.

Then we went to the Indian Village



We had so much fun. Thanks for coming Roxanne and Talon!

Fun in the Sun!

All the Shumways were invited to a Ranch for a BBQ last Saturday. We got to float down the river, play Volley Ball, eat food and had a great time!

The Cousins catching some raize.

Daniel loves hamburgers!

Kenna and Sammy


Kinsee "CHEESE"!

Want some chips and Dip?

Kenna and Dad in the River

Big Sam and Little Sam in the River.

Kinsee and Aunt Marcella

Coming to the finish line!

NUMBER DAY!

Target's $1 section is all PreSchool stuff right now, so I spent $10 and got a few things like Dinosaur, Space, and Insect flash cards. Also a few puzzles, cute pencils, pens, and markers. And of course a Hannah Montana pencil bag.

She didn't want to do the puzzle, but later that day she sat down and figured it all out herself.

This only took less than 2 minutes. I always invision a 30 minute "Preschool session" with a song, activity, snack and more learning. But, it usually lasts about 5 minutes from start to finish.

Hop Scotch! Just need chalk or watered down washable paint. I tried to get her to copy my numbers, she did it once. I thought we would have a bonding moment while teaching her Hop Scotch but we got to number 3 and then she got a "good idea" to have me push her on the swings. That was the end of Number Day.


This is what Baby Grant did while we played outside.

I don't have a plan for tomorrow yet, but I'm thinking maybe a BUG day.
I have left over tiny plastic ants from Halloween sitting in my junk drawer, maybe they'll have to join us for breakfast to kick off our BUG DAY!

Growing, Growing, Growing

Did you know you should Prune your Tomatoes?




I'm going to try to grow my zucchini on trellises. Wish me luck!

These are hopefully going to be Snap Peas. They were doing great until I gave them support and now they are looking a little sad. But, I'm going to have tomatoes coming out of my ears!

COLOR DAY!

I'm trying to do more learning activities with the kids. Basically, I'm competing to be the best mom of the year! Do you ever get a really great idea for an activity with your kids? You spend the money and time preparing and getting all the right stuff; "Construction paper,check. Stickers, check. Paint, check. Brushes, empty pop bottles, beans, macaroni, string, oh, and don't forget the glue." Then before you know it your "Great Idea" is all over the floor with the dog eating it and your kids are screaming while in time out. You find yourself sitting at thier tiny table making your own craft that you had envisioned the entire week. If you couldn't tell, I've been there several times. So I decided, with the help of my genius friend Shellie, that I would do "fly by the seat of your pants" activities that don't take prep or money. We'll see how it goes.

Here is my latest idea:

Color day is when you teach colors with anything you have.
Color Pancakes:
Pancake Mix
Sprinkles
-Mix and follow Pancake instructions. Mmmmm delicious
So delicious McKenna at a record 6 small pancakes!!!
And Grant had his first Pancake ever!




Then things got interesting. Learning what happens when you combine colors!
Needed: Water, Food Coloring, Clear glasses.
Mix the colors and see what happens. Can you make the color Purple?

4TH OF JULY

LETS HEAR IT FOR "HERMAN O"!!!!!!!
John and his brother's finally performing in thier band.
Check out their songs on MYSPACE:
http://www.myspace.com/hermanoband



A dream come true.


They had the largest crowd out of all the shows that day! People came from miles away!

We arrived at the Park at 9am for the kids Sunshine Generation Show.
The band did two shows, by the second the kids were having a blast!

THE SUNSHINE SHOW! McKenna stood backwards during the first song, but got into it by the finalee.

MMMMMmmmm Ice Cream!

Resting on Grandma Susan's bed after a long day at the Park.

SHELLIE CAME TO STAY! WE LOVE YOU!

After all that, we headed back to Cheyenne and Shellie's and our kids fell asleep. So, no fireworks for us. Sad, but it was a great day!