Letter O

Letter O!

Monday we started our letter off with putting circle cereal (the shape of O) and glued them onto the uppercase and lowercase O.

Then McCall created an owl. First she cut out the body. Then she glued on the eyes and nose and drew the legs. Last, I painted her hands with brown paint to make the wings.

Tuesday was our ocean day. First I had printed off some ocean animals for her to color. We both colored some which was nice. Then while I cut the animals out, she watched a short, preschool video about the ocean. Then she glued them onto a blue paper to complete her craft.

Then to finish off our day, she did an ocean sensory play. I had some ocean play animals, shells, and a net for her play with in some bowls of water.

Wednesday she used a paper towel roll to paint a whole bunch of O's on an Orange paper.

Then we had some Oreos for a snack.

Thursday she created an octopus. First off we painted her hand to create the body and then she glued on cereal to create the tentacles on the legs. She drew some seaweed at the bottom of her page to finish her craft.

Then we did some oval matching. First I had her pick one and find the matching color and I asked her what color each match was. Then we played memory with them to find all the matches.

Then our last day was all about oranges. I first sliced an orange and had her smell it, touch it, and eat it. I let her use her senses to explore the orange. She was not a fan of how sour the orange was.

Then we made some Orange Julius which I thought she would love and at first she wasn't sure about it but then drank the rest of her cup up.

Letter N

We got back into preschool after winter break and started where we left off, letter N.

Monday, she started with tearing pieces of a napkin and gluing it onto the uppercase and lowercase N.

Then we did a Name craft. She first wrote her name and then used dot markers to go over it again.

Tuesday was our noodle day. First she wrote the word noodle and then I let her draw on the paper while I got the noodles out. She then glued some noodles wherever she wanted on her paper.

Then she practiced some fine motor skills and strung noodles onto a string to make a noodle necklace.

And last she stuck some noodles into playdough and put beads onto the noodles.

Wednesday was our numbers day. I had printed off a set of numbers, 1-10. I was impressed as she found each of the matches that she knew all the numbers. Then we played memory with the numbers and last she glued one set of numbers onto a paper and colored it how she liked.

Thursday was all about the night sky. First she wrote the word night and then put sparkly star stickers onto her night sky. Then I printed off a couple constellations and she used star stickers and a colored pencil to re-create the constellations.

Then we both got some marshmallows and toothpicks to make our own constellations. 

Friday was all about nature. First she created a nest by cutting strips of brown paper for the sticks and circles out of blue paper for the eggs.

Then we went on a nature walk at the park and I gave her a bag to collect whatever nature items that she wanted. Then when we got back home, she glued some of the items onto a piece of paper.

Another fun week of preschool done!

Sunriver, OR

We got to spend part of our winter break in Sunriver, OR with Mike and Christy and their family and Aaron and his kids. We left Saturday morning and it was a long drive but it was beautiful through the pass and the girls did great in the car. We arrived to snow and we were ready for some great family time. We arrived at the house first and made some dinner and got to explore the amazing house. Then Mike's family arrived and the girls all got to go in the hot tub with Aunt Christy. We got the girls to bed and then Mike opened up our Christmas gift to them (Dale's life history) and we stayed up late, looking at the pictures and sharing memories.

Sunday we got up and went to a ward in Bend to sacrament meeting. Then we got back to the house for lunch and the Seahawks game. The girls stayed busy by making paper airplanes and throwing them down for the sky way. Then we went out to enjoy the snow. There were some small snow hills near our house that were perfect for our young girls.

Then I got in the hot tub with the girls while Mike and Christy went on a walk. Then Paige took my place to be with McCall so I could shower. Then Christy and Sam got in while Nate and I went on a walk. Baylor and Myla were in the hot tub for so long and loved every minute of it. 

It was a very cool walk but it was nice to get out just the two of us and enjoy the sunset and the beautiful landscape. Nate and I also played quite a few games of ping pong which was so fun and brought back memories from when we used to play all the time when we were dating.

The girls had fun and kept each other busy for the moments in between things. Cousin time is the best!

I made dinner for everyone and Aaron's family showed up just in time to eat. Then it was more of showing them the house, playing in the game room, and just spending time together. We played quite a few rounds of sardines in the dark which was so much fun. It was another late night of family fun!

Monday after breakfast we drove to go on a short hike to a waterfall. We took a few sleds which worked perfect for McCall and Baylor so they could ride along the way. It was a beautiful walk with a gorgeous view of the waterfall at the end.

Then we went back to the house, had some lunch, and Nate and I took the girls out for some more sledding.

Then it was some time relaxing playing games, watching K-Pop Demon Hunters, and enjoying more hot cocoa in our little peppermint cups that Nona sent.

Then it was time for some swimming. The resort had a swimming pool with a fun splash area, deep part in jump in, a place for water volleyball, a whirl pool, a kid slide, and a fun area with lots of jets. Nate, Aaron, and Mike sat the sideline and visited and at one point I looked over and Nate is on his phone with Aaron and Mike asleep on either side of him. I kept a constant eye on McCall and played with the girls. It was fun way to spend part of the evening! We got back for dinner, played a few more rounds of sardines in the dark, and then our last night of cousin fun, visiting, and going through Lily's photos from college.

Tuesday after breakfast, we drove to the base of the Lava Butte cone trail. It was about 2 miles up and it was hard work pulling McCall up with a sled. I was impressed that Baylor made it to the top with very little whining. It was a constant uphill and we all made it. The view at the top was worth the walk up! It was incredible and had a lookout tower to add to the fun.

The way down went much faster since we used our sled to go all the way down. There were a few spots that we had to get off the sleds but it was so fun. At one point, I had McCall and Baylor with me and we were going pretty fast. They loved it so much and McCall said that it was like a rollercoaster. We got back and had lunch and packed up to go. We loved our time with family and then made the long drive home. We made a stop at In-N-Out for some dinner.

It was such a fun way to spend some of our winter break!

Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas filled with tradition, family, love, and fun. Christmas is truly magical with kids! We kicked off our Christmas week with a wonderful Christmas service the Sunday before Christmas. The girls looked festival and cute as usual.

Then on Christmas Eve, it was a day filled with last minute wrapping, counting presents and putting them in piles, making cookies for Santa, and Eliza even joined us for a bit and they did some crafts before heading over to Nona and Pop's house for our fun traditional Christmas Eve dinner.

We started the night off with signing the sandwich board. It was fun to look back over the years and to see who took part in Christmas Eve of Christmas past.

Then lighting our Santa candle.

Then the kids and men made our delicious sandwich. It's always fun to watch to see what each person decided to make. They just put meat and cheeses on. Then we wrapped the sandwich up so that it was all ready to be carried around the house.

Ding, Ding, Dong! 6 feet long! It's our Christmas song!

Then we did a mismatch Nativity and Paige got to read the Christmas story from Luke 2 this year. Then Pops put on his Santa hat and handed out presents.

Present fun!

I was super excited for Pops to open up his gift from us. I finally got his life history done after years and years of questions, editing, scrapbooking, and making sure it was perfect. It turned out great and I'm grateful that I could get it done. I know he appreciates it and so will his posterity. 

Egg nog toast before heading home.

Then it was time to get ready for Santa and bed. First up was opening up jammies.

Sweet girls all ready for Santa!

Then setting everything up for Santa- cookies and milk for Santa, carrots for the reindeer, and special sparkle for the lawn to make sure that Santa stops at our house.

Christmas morning! Baylor and McCall were up first and had flashlights looking around at all the fun gifts. They were so excited and we woke Paige up so we could get started. Baylor wanted us all to open up the present she gave us first. It was so sweet to see how excited she was to see us open up her gift. McCall loved all the Paw Patrol gifts she got. Baylor gives the best reactions to presents and is so real. She got an awesome microscope that she loves. Paige got typical teenage stuff and was very grateful and loved being part of it all. I loved just watching it filled with joy, love, and gratitude.

Nona and Pops joined us for Christmas dinner. I made a roast, mashed potatoes, rolls, salad, and Jell-o. It was delicious. Then we had a zoom Peterson family Christmas party to open up gifts from each other. Then Grandma and Poppy called in the evening so they could see us open up gifts they got us and we could see them open up the gifts from us.

It was a perfect day! We spent all day together just enjoying the beauty and fun of the day. I'm so grateful for the birth of my Savior, Jesus Christ. He was willing to descend to this Earth so each of us can live with Him again. I can live with my family forever! I'm so grateful for that eternal truth!

Merry Christmas!