The Countdown

Yesterday I was talking with Zach and Hailey about our baby. We were talking about how the baby was going to be born in just over 6 weeks. I could tell from the looks on their faces that they didn't quite understand what I meant by 6 weeks. We've been saying "6 months," "4 months," "2 months," etc for the past little while and I thought switching to weeks would help them get a better grasp of how long. Unfortunately, that didn't work, so I thought for a little bit yesterday about how I could show the kids something visual about how long it would be before the baby got here.

I tried showing them on the calendar, but when I had to turn multiple pages, I could tell that wasn't helping them understand. So I had the idea of making a countdown chain for the number of days left. We've done this for various other things like Christmas, Easter, or even birthdays and it's been pretty successful. So after church and lunch yesterday, the 3 of us sat down to make a countdown chain for our baby. My first thought was to have each of them choose a color so that if we alternated them on the chain, we would always know who's turn it was to rip a link off (I always seem to forget). Zach chose a dark green and Hailey chose a dark blue - both boy colors, they informed me.

After we cut up the paper and got out the stapler, we were all ready to go. They both were so excited and insisted that they "help" me staple the links together. This took about 3 times longer than it should have, but they were so excited, I just couldn't say no. After we finished the chain, the kids loved it! I couldn't help taking a picture of them holding it - they were so proud!


Once we finished, we hung it up in the kitched where we all could see it every day to remind us how soon our baby will be here. It's a good thing I didn't do this any earlier, the chain is definitely long enough.



Even though Hailey still tells me the baby is taking forever and that our chain is really, really long, I think both her and Zach have a better visual idea of how long it will be until the baby gets here. If not anything else, it gives them something fun to do every day as we get ready for our new little baby boy. As of today, only 44 more days to go!

Let the Countdown Begin!

Run Zach Run!

Last Friday, Zach's Elementary School recently had a walk-a-thon for all the kids. It was to promote good health and give the kids something fun to do outside. They sent home a flyer telling the parents and families of the kids they were welcome to come and watch or even participate.

Unfortunately, being over 8 months pregnant, the walk across the playground was enough for me, so we planned to just watch Zach run. We told him we were coming, but I loved the big smile on his face when he walked outside with his class and saw Hailey and I there to watch him.


The first thing they did was have the kids do some stretching exercises.


After that, they got ready to run. At the last minute, I was asked to help keep track of how many times the kids ran around the course they had set up. I guess they were short on volunteers and were desperate. I agreed, so unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of Zach running because I was busy making a mark on the kids' cards each time they ran around the course. But let me say that he was so cute! He would run around and when he got back to where I was standing, he would come running up with a big smile on his face. Here's a picture of him proudly displaying his card showing how many times he ran around the course. He was one of the top finishers in his class - there were only 2 or 3 other kids that made it around more times than he did.


Hailey and I just love going to watch his school activities. He just loves school and is always all smiles!


After the run was finished, each class did a Snow Springs Elementary cheer. Here's Zach's class doing their cheer:



We're so proud of you Zach - you are an excellent runner! Thanks for letting us come and watch you!

Play Time!

A little over a week ago Jeremiah made it home from work early on a Friday. The kids had been begging to go to the park and try out their new kite, so we decided to head over to the park near our house to give it a try. Jeremiah, Zach, and Hailey rode their bikes and I took the car (even a small walk tires me out now-a-days!).

Once we got there, we got the kite out and ready to go in the back of the Pilot. Unfortunately, all it took was one little gust of wind and the straps on the kite ripped and pretty much made it impossible to fly.


The kids were a little disappointed, but quickly recovered when we suggested we go play on the playground instead. I absolutely love the playground at that park. It has some really fun things for the kids to play on. These little platforms are a favorite, especially with Hailey now that she's discovered how to get from one to another without any help.


Zach was brave when he first got on the round swinging monkey bars, but after about a second, he begged for Jeremiah to come over and help him.


Another favorite is the little telephone type thing they have set up. The kids can talk into one end ...


and someone can hear them on the other end at the other side of the playground. They spent a lot of time talking back and forth to each other - most of the time they made absolutely no sense, but both of them would laugh and giggle none-the-less.


One of my favorite things they have at the playground is a spider-web type thing for the kids to climb on. I was lucky to be able to snap this shot of both of them holding still for 3 seconds.


And of course, we couldn't leave out a picture of the slides - they have 3 different types at the playground and a lot of the time was spent going down them over and over again.



It was a little chilly (hence the hats and gloves on the kids), but they had a blast and were NOT happy when we told them it was time to go. We're now enjoying much nicer weather and have been back to the park a few times since these pictures were taken. Thank goodness for spring!