Caught up? kinda....

I think I've finally covered the major events in the last 6 months. Sure, there's been a lot in between. There was Luke's bike across California, our New Years camping trip (as an Idaho girl, still a little strange), and a lot of Aynslee that nobody's seen. I thinking I'm crossing it all off my list, and can at least say the basics are covered. I consider this blog as the only journal I have that is updated more than once a year. (I think I'll print it eventually.) So there it is.... now to stay on top of things and get them posted immediately.

Jaycen's 3!!

I can't believe Jaycen is already 3! The kids have started watching Star Wars with Luke and love the show. Jayce is always Luke Skywalker, Kinnlee is Princess Leia, Aybslee is R2D2, Gaven and Luke vary between either Han Solo or Chewbaca, and I get to be Darth Vader. (I wonder why I'm always the bad guy. ) Anyway, so he had to have a rainbow Star Wars b-day. This is what we could come up with....

Christmas!

I love Christmas!!! This Christmas was a little different, though, as there were many things that we needed for our upcoming trip this summer and I was kinda anti-toy (or sick of cleaning up toys by myself). So this Christmas, we ended up with a lot of camping stuff. On Christmas eve we made a yummy dinner. We decided last year that duck wasn't that tasty, and decided to try to do a pork loin this year. We ate our yummy dinner, read a book, the kids opened their pjs, and were sent to bed. Santa decided to drop a tent in our house this year, but was rather surprised when it wouldn't really fit in the living room. The tree made its way from the living room to the family room, couches were moved, and the tent still barely fit. The kids were rather shocked the next morning when the tree was missing and there was a tent instead. (Santa thought about putting the tree inside the tent, and it would have fit-- just would have made for squishy present opening.) The kids each got a webkinz and a camelbak from Santa, which they absolutely love. Jayce got his baby Jaguar since he is obsessed and thinks he's Diego. Oh, Ayns didn't get a camelback, but got a backpack to ride in. What a fun day!

Aynslee's blessing and Thanksgiving

The week before Thanksgiving we were able to have both of our families in town for Aynslee's blessing. I wish I would have been able to get better pictures in her blessing dress. She's now six months old, and I'm tempted to pull out the dress again to try to get better pictures-- especially now that my new camera is here! (now just a quick trip to Fry's to get a memory card-- Ooops!) Anyway, I loved her dress. You can't see the detail here, but it reminded me so much of my sisters wedding dress. Completely beautiful-- and I got a good deal on it, so that's an added bonus. (Reg $120 and I got it for $30 online) We had a crazy, fun week with everyone here all through Thanksgiving. It was great to see everyone!! Unfortunately, I have ZERO pictures of Thanksgiving and everything else that went on that week. GRRR!!! So, if you have pictures of the goings on, I need them.

McKinnlee is 6!

McKinnlee celebrated her 6th birthday! It was much quieter than a lot of our previous parties, but she had fun. She wanted a candy land birthday cake, and I let the kids have at it. (One of these days, I'm going to do a Candyland cake by myself, I think it's such a cute idea.)

Curtis Family Vacation

For everyone interested... here's the website with our tentative trip plan on it. We still have a lot of work to do in the next 100 days...104 to be exact, but we're starting to get things booked. I can't wait!!!

Halloween... or the start of my backlog

They say a picture's worth a thousand words, and I believe it. A blank page to write on is just such a daunting task for me. However, explaining a picture--that I can do. Anyway, it's quite evident that I haven't posted anything in a long time. You can say things have been rather crazy around here. Anyway, I have some new motivation coming to my house today, and want to get my backlog taken care of to make room for pictures galore. My new camera will get here today!!! So... back to the old stuff. Halloween!!

Halloween was a nightmare! You can say the day didn't go as planned at all. First off, I was up until 1 a.m. finishing Kinnlee's skirt. Kinnlee had her Halloween party at school and we needed to leave for school ay 7:30 a.m. Keep
in mind I still had a 1 mo. old that was nursing every 2 hours, and I also had to pump after I nursed her. This made for days of feeding-- 1 hr feeding, 1 hr to take care of everything else. So, we get ready to head out the door to school at that crazy morning hour, and I can't find the keys. This is a normal occurance, however after 20 minutes of looking, I started panicing. I couldn't find them in any sort of reasonable spot. Finally, I called a neighbor in our ward, who came and picked Kinnlee up and took her to school. (Love her!) I figured at that point, had a couple of hours to tear apart the toy boxes upstairs. No where to be found! I started wondering if Luke may have picked them up, but my cell phone (the only place I had Luke's work number) was in the car. Our home phone doesn't have long distance, so there was no way to reach him. I thought about emailing him, but didn't think he'd check his personal email accounts. Finally, I searched through my old emails, and found ONE email from his work account, that he had written when we had all the fires in San Diego. I emailed him, and sure enough, he had my keys and would have to wait until a little later, before he could bike home and give them to me. (oh, for everyone that's wondering where the spare set of keys are-- Luke keeps them with him at work) So, at 11 o'clock, I walked the mile to Kinnlee's school and picked her up and walked the mile home. We were exhausted when we got home at 1:00. Luke got home at 3, and we were supposed to go trick-or-treat back at his work. We scratched that, all took naps until 6, and trick-or-treated the neighborhood for a half-hour. When we got home, Aynslee was screaming and I needed pictures. So, I managed to get individuals of them, all grouchy and ready for bed, and gave up. I was so glad the day was over!

For the sake of posting....

I'm sick of visiting blogs and seeing my name with the constant reminder......Curtis Fam-- 1 month ago. Yeah, so it's been since like the end of October and I haven't posted. And, in that time, we've had Halloween, McKinnlee's 6th b-day, Aynslee's blessing, Thanksgiving, and now we're working on Christmas. I'm a slacker and need to catch up someday when I have a second. For now, I'm posting so I can cross it off my list.

Here's one of my favorite Christmas cookie recipes:

Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies

1/2 cup butter
1 egg
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 (10 ounce) jar maraschino cherries

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).

2. Beat butter and sugar. Add egg and vanilla and beat well. Add dry ingredients and stir until smooth.

3. Roll into 1-inch balls about the size of a walnut (larger if desired). Place on ungreased cookie sheet.

4. Drain cherries and reserve juice. Press center of each ball with thumb. Place a cherry in indentation.

5. In a saucepan, heat condensed milk and chocolate chips until chips are melted. Stir in 4 teaspoons of cherry juice. Spoon about 1 teaspoon of mixture over each cherry and spread to cover cherry. (More cherry juice may be added to keep frosting of spreading consistency.)

6. Bake for 10 minutes.

Quick Walgreens Run

For anyone interested in a quick trip to Walgreens, here's an easy shopping list for you. Now if you have any coupons or any needs, there are so many other ways to do this-- this is a great week. (If things go well with my coupons, and I actually make it out of the house, there's a possibility of actually making some money with the whole deal.) Anyway, to keep things simple:

Buy:
4 bags of candy (sale 4/$10) = $10
10 pringles (sale 10/$10) or 4 ritz crackers (or planters/capri sun etc. see ad) = $10
1 St. Ives element scrub (not in ad) = 4.99

Total: 24.99

Now use 2 of these coupons here for $1 off one bag nestle candy. (Press the back button on your browser, and it will allow you to print another. Technically, you could use 4 of these coupons, but it will only allow you to print 2 per computer. If you have another computer, you can print 2 from it, just add another item/items into your transaction totalling $1.01 or more. (The reason for this is that your total after all coupons needs to be $20.)

And use one of these coupons for $2 off St. Ives elements.

Total after coupons = $20.99
Now use this Walgreens coupon = -$5

Total: 15.99 + tax
And get back register rewards, good for your next purchase: $5 from St. Ives, $3 from pringles or ritz, and submit a rebate for $4 on the candy.

Net cost: 3.99 + tax

Pictures

Priorities

Okay, I know I should be posting all sorts of cute pictures of Aynslee (so I can get rid of the swollen looking, not so cute one-- and overcome Kinnlees lopsided piggytails-- though I sooooo appreciate Grandma getting her off to school while I was occupied.) However, I need someone to come make my camera work, and to have enough time to actually upload pictures. I forgot how time consuming it is to feed a newborn-- thus, pardon all the typos, I get to type one-handed these days. I promise to post pics soon, just as soon as i find my house that was recently hit by Hurricane Gaven and Jaycen. **Category 5-- Books in all bookcases down, major destruction to lower floors of all rooms, toys flowing down the staircase (they were making a waterfall), and toliet paper strewn from one end to the other--anyway, you get the idea.** The kids have determined today that I am the Big Bad Wolf and they are the little piggies. I wonder where they'd get that idea.

The Newest Little Curtis

Alright, Steph usually does the blogging, but she is a little occupied right now. We just wanted to get up some pictures of the newest Curtis addition. Thats right, Aynslee Arlene Curtis was born Sept 23, 2008 to the great delight of her new little family. Everyone is home now and here older siblings are making sure she feels right at home ( Kinnlee is extremely "helpful" and Jaycen loves to pet her like he has a new doggy). Both mother and baby are fine, and Mom is happy to be home in the midst of her family. More details will follow, along with updates of several other recent events. when Steph returns to fully blogging status.

Introducing Aynslee Arlene

She's here! Born Tuesday, September 23 @ 5:58 p.m. She weighed 7 lb 12 oz. (the smallest) and is doing great. (Okay, my camera is being dumb, and I'm exhausted.) I promise I'll get the pictures up soon!

Walgreens Tutorial

Okay, I've been asked quite often how I get my deals. It takes some time to get the hang of things and couponing--it was a whole new world when I started. It takes some reading and some work, but it has been worth it (though I may be taking a break here shortly). Anyway, I thought I'd help everyone get in on a good deal at Walgreens. So, if you have one nearby, here's the deal-- no newspaper coupons required and Saturday is the last day to do this:

First off I'm going to start with 4 deals: A, B, C, D. Each of these can be done separately at Walgreens. However, if you have a little money to "invest" and combine the deals, you'll come out pretty nicely and I'll show you how that works at the end.

DEAL A:
Purchase:
Crest Pro-Health mouthwash 500 ml. at $4.49
After you pay, you will get a print-out (technical term = catalina) for $4.49 off your next purchase. FREEBIE

Deal B:
Purchase:
1 Dimetapp at $3.99
1 Robitussin at $3.99
1 Dimetapp or Robitussin at $3.99
Total: $11.97
Now use these Internet printable (IP) coupons:
Dimetapp -$2
Robitussin -$1
and your new total is $8.97. After you pay, you will get a catalina for $10 off your next purchase. SLIGHT MONEYMAKER

Deal C:
Purchase:
2 Scrubbing bubbles Action scrubber @ 3.79
Total= 7.58
Now use two IP coupons (using your browsers back button you should be able to print a second one)
2 coupons (-$2.75 off 1) -5.50
and your new total is $2.08. You will get a catalina for $2 off your next purchase, making your total cost $.08.
(Now there are many other ways to do this deal. If you are needing some cleaners, look in the ad. There is an orange box that has other scrubbing bubbles items, shout, windex, fantastik, pledge, and draino in it. Look at it this way-- you buy 7 of those items you get $10 back. This means you are getting $1.42 off of each of those items. All of those $2.49 items are actually costing you just over $1. There are two other scrubbing bubbles items that cost $3.79 that have coupons on the above site-- otherwise, I'm afraid you're out of luck finding any other internet coupons. If you get the Sunday paper and have enough coupons, you can actually make money buying 7 cleaners. I'm assuming many of you don't get the Sunday paper, and even without coupons, it's still a decent deal.)

Deal D:
Is a lesser deal. I'm including it however, because I've been wanting to try these.
Purchase:
Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Shower cleaner kit @ 19.99
Get back a catalina for $10 off your next purchase.

Now a little FYI:
Some Walgreens will not take internet coupons. Some will, but it depends on your store and your manager. You can not do these deals more than once, for example: If you buy 2 bottles of Crest mouthwash, you will not get 2 coupons for $4.49 off your next purchase. You will only get one per transaction-(or time you pay.) You can, however, do the mouthwash and the scrubbing bubbles, and the medicine together. This is where things can get more complex. I don't want to scare everyone off, and for the sake of keeping things simple, I'll end right there. If you have more questions, I'll answer them. Otherwise, if you're really serious about taking up coupons, I'll direct you to one of my favorite websites, Hot Coupon World.

Now for the big deal. This is more of an investment. I say "investment" because you are going to have to spend more money out of your pocket. I prefer to pay less than $10 each time I go to the drugstore, (Usually more like $1), but this one will have to cost you over $30. If you're willing to foot the bill this time, though, you can use it over and over again for other deals.

1 Crest Pro-Health mouthwash 500 ml. $4.49
1 Dimetapp at $3.99
1 Robitussin at $3.99
1 Dimetapp or Robitussin at $3.99
2 Scrubbing bubbles Action scrubber @ 3.79
1 Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Shower cleaner kit @ 19.99
Your total there is: $44.03
Minus above coupons -8.50
New total = $35.53

Now you need to look for a little book near the ads when you walk in. It's light green and black with a big W in the middle. It's called the easy saver catalog. Now, if you open it up to page 33, they list all the items that are free after rebate (FAR). There are 9 items, but for the above scenario, I'm going to use the Nivea Body wash.

So, you add that to your order, and your total is $40.52.
You give them this coupon for $10 off and pay $30.52 + tax. Then, out rolls all of your catalinas-- $4.49 (Crest) + $10 (Dimetapp) + $2 (scrubbing bubbles action scrubbers) + $10 Shower cleaner. You have $26.49 to use on your next purchases. Also, you go home and submit the rebate for the Nivea and get back $4.99 there. (If you put it on a Walgreens gift card they'll add 10% to that and you'll be set to go next time and have to pay very little out of your pocket.) All of the above should be close to free. (Depends on your tax rate.) Isn't that beautiful!!!

Now, if you're wondering what you're going to spend your catalina's on, just open back up that easy saver catalog and buy the other items that are free after rebate. Next month you'll get your gift card, and go buy the next things that are free after rebate and just keep it rolling.

As for other info, (I hope I haven't scared everyone away yet), there are so many different ways to do this. Try to get your total after coupons as close to $40 as possible. If you have other stuff on your list, try taking out one of the items that I included, but leave the Deals in-tact. All of these deals are written out in the ad, most people just don't understand them, so make sure you get the correct sizes and items. If you're not interested in the scrubbing bubbles automatic shower cleaner, that's the first item to scratch off the list. That one is costing you money (well, to some degree.) If you don't really want it, you are much better off buying the 7 cleaners, or and/or more of the Free After Rebate stuff. See:

1 Crest Pro-Health mouthwash 500 ml. $4.49
1 Dimetapp at $3.99
1 Robitussin at $3.99
1 Dimetapp or Robitussin at $3.99
2 Scrubbing bubbles Action scrubber @ 3.79 ea = $7.58
5 other cleaners @ 2.49 ea = $12.45
1 Nivea body wash $4.99 FAR
1 Excedrin express gels $3.99 FAR
1 Crest Pro-health toothpaste $3.79 FAR
Minus above coupons -8.50
Minus $10 off coupon -10.00
Total = $30.76

Catalinas for off your next purchase= $4.49 (Crest) + $10 (Dimetapp) + $10 (Cleaners) = $24.49
Rebates = $4.99 (Nivea) + $3.99 (Excedrin) + $3.79 (Crest t.p.) = $12.77
You just made over $6!!

Okay, I could go on and on, but I'll stop. If you want to look at the ad before you get to the store, or the easy saver catalog, they are both online at Walgreens.com. Let me know how your shopping trip goes or if you have any questions!

Random Blog Award

Can I scream and shout!?! I survived (what I hope is) my last day of teaching primary for the next 2 months. I love the kids, and I'm not sure that I'd rather be anywhere else than primary, but I am so exhausted by the time church is out. I am officially called to teach the 6-7 year olds, but often have the 8 year olds too. There are only 6 of them if they are all there, so it shouldn't be that hard. However, I walk out of church looking for my pillow and the bottle of tylenol. It doesn't help when I am having contractions all through sacrament meeting and I'm as bad as the kids when it comes to sitting. (Not to worry about the contractions, I'm sure I still have a while left, Aynslee's just doing a lot of practicing. Jaycen practiced for weeks too and still came 10 days late.) Anyhow, a short break from teaching primary will be helpful. I am, however, going to miss the entertainment factor that you don't get in Relief Society. Like today, Sister Banana (thats what the kids call her) says something about a cutie patootie. Leave it to Gaven to pipe up from the sunbeams, "No, you have a cutie patootie Sister Banana." That then leaves the whole primary in hysterics, never to fully recover again.

Anyway, so I can maintain my random award-- I've been wanting to share one of my favorite recipes for a while now. They are the most yummy breadsticks in the the world (comparable to Olive Garden.)

Soft Breadsticks

INGREDIENTS

2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast

1/2 cup sugar, divided

2 cups warm water (110 degrees to 115 degrees), divided

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 egg

1 teaspoon salt

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Butter

Garlic Salt

Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 tablespoon sugar in 1 cup warm water. Add the oil, egg, salt, 2 cups flour, and remaining sugar and water. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 40 minutes.

Punch the dough down. Turn onto a floured surface; divide into 36 pieces. Shape each piece into a 6-in. rope. Place 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 25 minutes.

Bake at 400 degrees F for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Melt butter and stir in garlic salt. Brush on top of breadsticks and add a sprinkle of parmesan cheese. Cook 2 minutes more.

This makes quite a few, so to prevent me from eating them all in one sitting I like to freeze some. I cut them into breadsticks and place them on a cookie sheet covered in foil. (Add a light spray of oil so they come off easily.) Then they go into the freezer. Once they are frozen solid, I put them in a freezer bag. Pull them out in the morning and place them on a greased cookie sheet to thaw and rise during the day. Throw them into the oven just before dinner time. YUMMY!! and not to difficult at all.

How's that for random Derrick?

All Grown Up

Well, McKinnlee started Kindergarten on Monday and we are now adjusting to life on a schedule. She absolutely loves Kindergarten.

The first day I was walking with her to the car after school, and she started talking about how she was a little sad. I thought, "oh, she missed me." NOT! She was sad that she had to come home. I guess I'll just be grateful that she's loving school and her teacher. She's definitely been worn out this week. I never have a girl that's practically falling asleep on the couch at 6:30 like she has the last couple days. She's definitely adjusting to a time change. This is my girl that prefers to get up between 8-9 most mornings, and has been forced to get out of bed at 6:30 instead. All in all she's doing pretty good, though. Just counting the days until she can sleep in. (Every day she asks me how many days she has.) Next week she'll be changing to a new Kindergarten schedule that will work much better for us. She'll be able to sleep in again and start school at 9:30 instead of 7:50. That means that I don't have to wake her and the boys up and get them dressed and out of the house anymore by 7:30. That extra hour and half will make all the difference in the world. As for other news, McKinnlee also has her first loose tooth! My baby's growing up!

Purely Randomness

Okay, I've needed to play catch up for some time. I like to blame it on the camera--a post just isn't quite as fun without pictures. Anyhow, if I wait until the camera is actually working (it seems to be dead all the time these days, I don't know what that's about) then I will never post.

A few weeks ago we went camping and had a great time. Luke was able to get an extra day off and we went northeast a couple hours to Idyllwild. It was a great place to camp and we got a few hikes in there too.

Anyhow, Luke is currently in Virginia for work. When we were talking about daddy yesterday Jaycen says, "Daddy's at the beach." I had to laugh. We dropped Luke off at the train station that happens to be a block away from the beach. Luke rode the train down to the airport, and the kids and I went to the beach to play. That was almost two weeks ago. Believe me, if daddy was just at the beach, we'd have made that 15 minute trip to get him by now (8 mo pregnant by myself is a chore). I've explained to Jayce about the train and the plane and that daddy's not there, but he told me again today that Daddy was at the beach. We're definitely counting the days, it's looking like only 7 more to go........

I was reading all the Sunday ads yesterday (I have to see where the deals are this week!) and McKinnlee asks me, "Can I let my kids spend money on whatever they want to?" I said, "Sure, its your money you can do what you want." She then informed me that she was going to let her kids buy all the Hannah Montana stuff that they wanted. (You can see that I am obviously opposed to spending money on Hannah Montana and High School Musical for my 5 year old. We don't even get the Disney channel, so where's all this stuff coming from anyway?!?)

Anyhow, as a bonus for reading this far, I'll tell you all how to get cheap movie tickets. Walgreens has Axe body wash and spray in their trial section. They range in price from $1.59-$1.99. Go buy 4 of those and you'll get a catalina for 2 free movie tickets. Three of them will get you one movie ticket, but who wants just one. (A catalina does not print at the bottom of your receipt, but prints out of a machine nearby. Sometimes you may have to stall an extra second, since they can take just a little longer to print and if the cashier doesn't give it to you, just ask for it. ) The catalina will have instructions on it-- just go home, go to the website, enter in the code, and print out tickets valid for any movie. Two movie tickets for less than the price of one!!!

Husband Tag

Okay, let me preface this by saying I never fill out the surveys and all the crazy things passed on to me. I read them, get a good laugh, and delete them. Mindy-- this one's for you. I guess the rule is that since I have been "tagged" I have to fill this out. And then I get to tag someone else to fill it out-- Sarah this one's for you. Hmmm......

1. What is his name?
Mister and Luke. (I guess there are a few others, but.... well, I'm hoping to stay on good terms with him at the moment.)

2. Who eats more?
Depends on what it is. If its got sugar.... well, I can most definitely out eat him.

3. Who said "I love you" first?
I think I did. Hmmm..... that was a long time ago.

4. Who is taller?
Me. ;) Well, that one's a no-brainer. My nickname wasn't smurf for nothing.

5. Who is smarter?
I'll admit it, Luke is.

6. Who is more sensitive?
Uh...... me, though I'm going to blame it mostly on pregnancy. It definitely plays its role and I can find the smallest things getting to me.

7. Who does the laundry?
Laundry is a shared chore. I hate folding and putting laundry away, but generally have the time to put loads in to wash and dry-- where as, Luke doesn't have several hours to keep putting loads in. I usually wash and dry the the clothes and Luke folds and puts them away. And he's in charge of ironing his own shirts, I don't do that unless its an emergency.

8. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed?
Me.

9. Who pays the bills?
I may have the accounting degree, but if I had to chose, I'd say he pays the bills more often than I do. We mostly do them together though.

10. Who cooks more?
I do-- if you count in breakfast and lunch while Luke's at work. ;) Luke usually cooks on weekends, and at least one night a week.

11. Who is more stubborn?
Well, I can't resist this question. Luke will say that he's not stubborn, but he really is. Mostly he refuses to use the term stubborn. However, stubborness is hidden under the term "Curtis Determination" which he very strongly possesses. I will say that I can be stubborn but Luke has got me beat.

12. Who is the first to admit that they are wrong?
Ooooooh........ a tough one. It kind of ties into that stubborn question. We both hate to admit we're wrong and will generally just disagree. It depends on the occasion, though, as to who will finally give in.

13. Who has more siblings?
Luke has 4 sisters and1 brother. I only have 3 sisters and one brother. Luke wins.

14. Who wears the pants in the family?
Luke

15. What do you like to do together?
Camping, go on walks / hiking, bike riding, family history

16. Who eats more sweets?
Me!!

17. Guilty pleasures?
Betty Crocker Warm delights and a scoop of ice cream... yummy..... now I might need to go raid the pantry

18. How did you meet?
Ricks College / BYU-Idaho. Our roommates started dating and introduced us.

19. Who proposed?
Luke

20. What is his best feature?
His eyes. I could get all sappy here, but that's just not me.

21. What are his greatest qualities?
Well, that "Curtis determination" is actually one of the things I love about him. Once he's decided something, he's not going to veer from it. I also love how he plays with the kids and enjoys doing things with them.

Curtis Preschool

I've been trying to get McKinnlee a little more ready for school and fighting the daily boredom, so we've started picking a theme and working on projects. This was our camping theme.We pulled out some of our camping supplies. Then, we all lay down for a nap. (For pretends, of course.) While we were napping a bear came and stole an item. Then we had to figure out what the bear stole. I found some way cute camping books that we printed out and made.

We wove the placemats which were a little difficult for Jayce and Gaven, but Kinnlee enjoyed it. We put a mini marshmallow on one of the rods and roasted it over our pretzel fire. It made for a tasty snack after we were done.

I've started another blog to keep track of my preschool ideas. It's more of just a file box of ideas, but it can be found here.

Curtis Fam