Good Reads

It's been awhile since I've done a book review, not that I haven't read anything good lately, I've just been short on time. I absolutely had to make time for these two "good reads" that Jaxon, Max & I stumbled upon during our Story Hour trips to the library in the last two weeks! We have been spending the month of September choosing books about the farm. 

Last week we brought home several books about pigs! Both of my boys really like piggies and there are tons of books out there about them. If you haven't already heard of children's author, John Himmelman, I recommend very highly that you look him up at your local library. 

He is the author of "Pigs To The Rescue"... a hilarious tale of a group of pigs who find themselves coming to the aid of the farmer and his family! Both Jaxon & Maddox cracked up every time we read this book! We even went back this week for "Chickens To The Rescue", another book by Himmelman, unfortunately someone else had already checked it out. We hope to get his next book, "Cows To The Rescue", when it comes in! 

   

The boys still crack up every time I even say... "Pigs To The Rescue"!

3 tough chicks learn how being different isn't so bad!

"Tough Chicks" by: Cece Meng is sure to be another crowd pleaser at bedtime or anytime you choose to read to the kiddos! The illustrations are great and the story praises being different which I think is a wonderful message for little ones. It's also pretty funny and will leave your kids begging for more! 

Park Hop

We've been having perfect weather this week! So instead of sitting at home and doing what we always do, the boys and I decided to go on a "Park Hop"!

Our first stop took us to this spot which is very similar to a park that we frequent quite often. The big difference being that they had these crawly and bouncy deals that both boys thought were tons of fun!

Max & Mommy even went down the big slide a few times! 

Jaxon wanted to take a "family picture" at the first stop... so here we are!

This became a fun game!

Max really enjoyed the sand... guess he wasn't full from his snack because he decided to taste it too!

Jaxon claims he was "digging to China"!

Our next stop took us to what we all decided was the more "fun" park of the two! This spot is unlike any other park we've been to w/ lots of shade and more choices of things to do! Once again the boys really enjoyed the bouncy rides that this park offered too... especially since one of them was a plane!

Here they are on the plane!

Max loved the baby swing selection!

We of course had to ride the cow swing! 

Jaxon really enjoyed to equipment here! There were lots of places to climb and slide!
Max of course loved tasting the tire bits!

Of course we have a lot of fun at home too! Here's Max in the sandbox at home!

We spent the rest of our day after our "Park Hop" at home in the sandbox,
enjoying what's left of the perfect weather!

And just like everywhere else, Max taste tested the sand in the sandbox! YUCK!!!

Labor Day 5K

I finally completed my very first 5K! Our church's youth group sponsored a "Fun Run" Monday morning and we decided to do it as a family! We loaded up the big, red wagon, the stroller, lots of snacks and water bottles, a few blankets and a couple of toys... pretty much the entire house! I'm sure everyone thought we were crazy for taking our kids... we're even getting some strange looks from the people behind us as you can see in the picture below! We didn't care though!  

Here's "Team Welch" getting ready to line up! Notice Jaxon's rubbery friends participated as well! 

The route goes right by our house so we were all very familiar with the surroundings. We even went by Jaxon's "favorite spot", (which he didn't even notice because he and Daddy were racing at the time!) After I took this picture Jaxon asked to see it and commented on how me & Max's shadow made it look like, "Mommy has a great, big buns!"

I guess it kinda does! I swear I'm pushing the stroller!!!

Jaxon was doing more walking than riding so we decided to ditch the wagon when we got to our house (since it's along the route), we were almost to the finish line anyway! Mommy ended up giving a few "piggie back" rides on the home stretch but we managed to finish at just under an hour. As we crossed the finish line Jaxon gave me a great big high five and asked if we could do it again... after breakfast of course!

C25K

I DID IT! I finished the Couch to 5k - Running Plan! I am so proud of myself... not only did I finish but I made it to my goal weight as well! Check it out... it's amazing the progress you make each week! And believe me, if I can do this, so can you!

http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml?cmp=18-1

Last Chance to Make a Summer Splash

With temps in the 100's again this week, the water table got one last use before getting packed up for Fall!

Max is busy washing off the blades of grass that he's been picking!

A big round of applause for Brother's splashing!

Here's Max "bear crawling" through the grass!

It's the little things... like watching the water drip from the sprinkler! 

Jaxon informed me before bed that night that he wouldn't be needing a bath, 
he'd already taken a shower in his sprinkler!

Shower time!

Running to jump in the tiny pool... that's got to be hard on the buns!

SPLASH!!!

Not as much fun as the big boy pool... but close!

Snack time! This is our favorite place to snack, until the dogs come along that is!

I LOVE THIS FACE! Guess what lil' brother was up to?! You guessed it...
dump'in his thawed out icey pop all over his brother! 

If you couldn't tell... he's ornery!

Hope you are enjoying the last days of summer as much as we are! 

Happy Labor Day weekend!

My New Obsession

I can't even begin to tell you how completely obsessed I am right now with  http://www.exercisetv.tv/workout-videos/! As a Mommy who is limited on time for herself, it's a blessing from above! During Max's lengthy little siesta this morning I was able to work in a 45 minute workout, (never mind the fact that I should have been cleaning!) They offer a wide variety of workouts ranging from 2 minutes to 45! Since I am always on the hunt for a new workout, ExerciseTV gives me the flexibility to keep things fresh and new so I don't get bored, for free! Plus, it's a great way to try out a new workout DVD before buying it! 

PreSchool Theme - Color Exploration

I'm so excited to begin another year of "at-home lessons" with Jaxon! Color Exploration is the first theme for the new PreSchool year. One great way to teach your kids about color is by talking about rainbows and the colors they are made of.

Jaxon began our lesson this morning by teaching me a song he learned from a show on PBS called The Cat in the Hat... red, orange, yellow, green, followed by blue, then we go into violet, that's the rainbow song for you! Take a listen!

After our music lesson, Jaxon painted a beautiful picture of a rainbow using what he remembered from his song to get the colors in the correct order. Here he is painting his rainbow! 

We concluded our "at-home lesson" this morning by making "Coffee Filter Sun Catchers". This is a great way for kids to learn how to mix colors to get new ones! For directions on how to make your own "Coffee Filter Sun Catchers"... see the link below!

Read more: Color Experiments for Children | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/info_8609857_color-experiments-children.html#ixzz1WWP26odG