Our Family Project

Being the crazy mom that I am, I forgot to continue to take pictures on Christmas. I did get a couple of pictures of Maryanne with her new hat and scarf that my mom made for her. (Aren't they adorable!) But, I didn't get any other pictures. This is all we got. Oh well. Here's Maryanne walking around in her cute tutu outfit that my mom sent her for Christmas. At first I was thinking that I'd have to wait until spring to put it on her ... but, I'm so glad I didn't! She is adorable! And, I'm sure those short sleeves will be so refreshing for Maryanne when we move to Arizona.

This year we were really slow about getting out our Christmas decorations. In fact, we didn't even get them all out. I found the box of stockings in the garage and got them on the mantel probably a week before Christmas ... and that was pretty much it. No tree even. I didn't want to go cut one down because I could envision Maryanne pulling the branches and knocking needles to the floor and then eating them. And, our small (4') artificial tree was in our storage unit, which we really couldn't get into because the door broke. So, there we were a week before Christmas without a tree. I was hearing "Bah Humbug" from every direction. I finally decided that I didn't want to get all the stuff out to keep it up for two weeks and then take it all down again. But, I did feel like we needed something. So, I came up with this: I just simply traced all the children's hands and cut them out of construction paper ... a lot of construction paper. Then, we made orname...

We've had quite the last two weeks. Last Tuesday was Maryanne's birthday. The year went by extremely fast .... hard to believe she is one year old and walking already! Because of Jon's work schedule, we celebrated her birthday last Saturday ... with Adam's celebration also. (Jon had to work late on Maryanne's birthday, and again tonight on Adam's birthday.) However, she did get to open a present from us and a present from her Nana on her true birthday. My mom has a tradition of making a name pillow for each of the children for their first birthday. Adam, unfortunately, threw up on his pillow a couple years ago so we had to throw it out. My mom was nice enough to make him another one for his birthday this year. Maryanne opened her pillow on her birthday, but when Adam opened his pillow, she wouldn't leave it alone! We even gave her her pillow but she didn't want anything to do with it, she just wanted Adam's pillow. Both Maryanne and Adam go...

These hats were white elephant gifts at Jon's recent company Christmas party. We seriously had to do some creative trading to take these home with us! The children loved them instantly!

Our preschool unit before Thanksgiving was "Food." Technically, it was the unit the week after Thanksgiving also ... which was my week. So, the Monday after Thanksgiving, I decided I had to do the craft that Eliza did when she was in Kindergarten. Each of the children made a Native American headband, vest (for the boys), and skirt (for the girls); and they each got to wear a Pilgrim hat (or bonnet for the girls). So, after they all got dressed up in whichever outfit they wanted, we sat around our "white" table (the table designated for Preschool) and talked about the kinds of food the Pilgrims and Indians ate at the first Thanksgiving. We also pulled out pictures of food from an envelope and talked about whether it was good or bad for our bodies. It was so much fun. But, I think the best part was when they all decided to be Indians and run around chasing each other. I have to say, I'm liking this preschool thing ... I love coming up with fun activities for th...

Dear Mom, I know I just talked to you on the phone, but I wanted to let you know that I love it when you call. It's a wonderful break during my day. Isn't it ironic that we both started crochet projects around the same time??? Here's the hat I mentioned to you. It was a free pattern I found on the internet ... only hdc. The flower I found on the internet too ... it's made of dc's. Just thought you'd like to see it. It looks adorable paired with the outfit Maryanne has on in the picture ... her pants are a cheetah print. I have plans to make a smaller flower to put atop the white one, but I like it just like this too. Also, I remember you said you'd like to see what I'd do with a wedding cake. One of my friends at church asked me to make her daughter's wedding cake ... so I practiced on my last cake of my last course. Here are the pictures. Love you, Ris

**Sorry these pictures are so blurry!** Once upon a time there was a very young princess who lived in a land far, far away from her grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins. This little princess barely met any of her extended family when she went on a quest several months earlier. So swiftly was her quest completed, that it would be doubtful that she would recognize any of these family members, many of whom she met for the first time during her adventure. Yet, this tiny princess remained in the thoughts of all those who adored her during their brief encounter. Many a day went by and they thought, "I wonder how she is doing" and, "I hope she is not sick." Oft times their thoughts centered around her growth and how quickly she was changing. This story is for all those who lovingly adore this very special princess. Especially for all those who adored her oldest sister when she was the very same age, and wore the exact dress this gorgeous little princess is wearing. Yes...

We've been waiting and waiting, and finally, Kate's tooth has made an appearance. I think she lost her tooth back in April or some time around then. However, we are now hearing, "I don't want my new tooth to keep growing. It's bothering me. When I was a baby and my tooth was growing in it bothered me too." :-)

I was asked to make the cake for our Young Women in Excellence meeting this month. It happened to be the night after one of my cake classes. So, I was able to take the cake that I was supposed to decorate in class (which didn't happen because it took too long to roll out the fondant to cover the cake) for the meeting. I did, however, make a sheet cake to go along with it, just to be sure we'd have enough cake. I forgot to take my camera to the church to get pictures of the cake assembled, but I did (thankfully) have my phone and I took pictures before taking it to the church. I'm really pleased with the finished product .... but covering a cake in fondant is hard work!

Adam got out a sheet of paper and his crayon roll and started coloring on the floor today while I was on the phone. Then I overheard him telling Maryanne to leave his picture alone. When I went over there, Maryanne was coloring on Adam's picture. He didn't like that too much. So, I got out a sheet of paper for Maryanne. She colored on it for a little bit, but not for long. Before I knew it she had gone back to Adam's picture. Something about his picture made it more fun I guess. Either that, or knowing she was bothering her brother. In any case, it was still cute to see them interacting and coloring together.

Things I should have taken pictures of this past week, but failed to because sinusitis grabbed hold of my brain and gave it a good shake: Adam as "Green Goo Guy" (a made-up costume for Halloween) He took some scissors to his the front of his cape before I was finished sewing it. His cape was basically his costume since we didn't really have a character to base this costume on. Yeah. I'm pleased with the finished product ... after I figured out how to make it work. Eliza making her tutu Eliza chose to wear a poodle skirt for Halloween. I failed to get the poodle on her skirt because, of course, I procrastinated until the day before the trunk-or-treat to make her skirt. Also, another reason she didn't have a petticoat. So, she made herself a tutu following this tutorial . Turned out super cute. Kate's fake vampire teeth They glow in the dark. Oh, and they are too big for her mouth. So she used costume makeup and "painted" on some fangs. The best part...

My first day of teaching preschool was like a train wreck! I had no clue what to expect. Things were much different my second day. And, the children were awesome! We started out talking about what day it was and season and all that. Then, we painted "trees" on papers to dry before adding the "leaves." I don't remember where I saw this activity, but the children LOVED it! They each chose their favorite season and used their fingertips to paint leaves on their handprint trees to depict their chosen season. This last picture is the best example ... this student chose to do spring leaves. Adam did autumn leaves ... hence the reason most of them are on the ground instead of the branches. By far this was the best activity we've done at my house. (At least as far as art projects go ... they really enjoyed dressing up in articles of clothing that we wear during the different seasons too.)

These are the new craze in our elementary school. Seriously. Eliza started coming home each day with a new one, explaining that she had bought them from her friends. Before I knew it, she was selling them to her friends in the neighborhood, and then giving them to her brother. And, all of this was happening at school ... she'd never been to the store to actually purchase one herself. When I finally took her to the store with the "squisy" vending machine, Eliza ended up getting four more bears (the one on the far right) and other frog. Ironically, she got a better variety from her friends at school than when she bought them herself. I think we'll just stick to the school yard for her bartering.

After years of trying to figure out how to "help" my children to do their chores, I finally have come up with a way to do it! Each week they draw their chores out of a jar, and we write down which chores they are to do for the following week. Then, during the week when I need them to do their chores (i.e. unload the dishwasher), I remind them and if they don't do it, their computer time is taken away. Works like a charm! Who knew?

We went to an apple orchard for Adam's preschool field trip. It was a lot of fun. Andrew got to come along because we went in the morning (we barely made it make in time for the bus). They fed the goats, watched the different kinds of chickens there ("Look, there's a zebra chicken!" ~courtesy of Adam), and even got to hold little chicks. They had these not-in-use tractors sitting out that a bunch of children were climbing on for pictures. I couldn't keep my boys away from them. What? Keep boys away from something like that? No, I don't think so! They climbed right up there and went to work ... well, they would have gone to work if the tractors were running. There was also a corn pit that they were able to play in. I LOVE these things! They are the best ... way better than the ball pits. I mean, how many balls go home in your pants and hoodies when you play in the ball pit? ;-) No, these are lots of fun. When we got around to picking the apples, the boys wer...

It's been a really long time since I last posted something that's not about what's going on in our lives. But, I just have to today. Turning 30 has really made me think about all of the expectations and stereotypes we (our culture as a whole) have for one another. My friend turned 30 in May and really hated it. I asked her why and she and I talked about the different expectations for people in their thirties as opposed to people in their twenties. Almost as if turning thirty means that you can't use certain phrases (my friend used "awesome," "totally," and "cool" as examples), or you can't act a specific way. It makes me sad to think that we let our culture and society dictate how we feel about ourselves to the extent that when we have a birthday we don't want to acknowledge our age or be happy about turning a year older. True, there are specific traits, limitations, and behaviors that belong to certain decades (for example, I don...

Throughout the month of September I've taken a cake decorating class at Michael's. I just finished the course last night and cannot wait for the next course to start. It's surely been challenging trying to get the icing the right consistency ... but in the end, it was awesome to see that I could totally do it! Here are some of the cakes I've made, and a couple of the cakes two of the ladies in the class made as well. I gave this cake to my neighbor, whose anniversary was last weekend. After eating 3/4 of the BYU cake, I just didn't want another cake sitting around the house for another week (especially because this was a spice cake ... my fav). (Made by one of the ladies in the class, named Marisa; ironically, she pronounces her name Mar-ee-sa and everyone here calls her Mar-i-sa, totally the opposite for me when I was in Utah.) (This one was made by another lady in the class. She works at Cold Stone and decorates their cakes and stuff. Don't try to fi...

I had a huge list of things to do today ... but, I got slightly distracted ... in a good way. Four and half quarts of stewed tomatoes, several white and yellow onions, a couple pounds of new potatoes, one yellow squash, and a few carrots later I am stressed because I still need to do everything on my list. But, the satisfaction of a good harvest is totally worth it! (Not to mention all the rewards our stomachs will get from it.)