Our Family Project

I know this is the second post of the day ... but my two little ones have been so funny ... and it's only 10 a.m. I'm sure today is going to shape up to be quite a hilarious day.  So, without further ado, here's what my little comedians have been saying today: MARYANNE I over heard her singing: " Nephites , we love you!  We love you, Nephites !" So, yeah.  I guess she really is listening while we read scriptures as a family ... even though she is usually running around and playing with toys. ADAM I asked him to try on part of Eliza's costume for her musical at school.  After I took it off he said: "That wasn't too bad.  I thought it would be a dress." It was a vest.  I clearly stated before he put it on that I needed him to try on her vest for me to make sure it wasn't too small (because the first one I made actually fit Maryanne, not Eliza). Note to self: Get a new dress/skirt model. Just thought I'd share my little chuc...

Saturday I had the opportunity to spend my morning at the church with several other women.  There were 6-8 different projects we could work on ... and each project was going to a different charity.  There was a table all set up for assembling hygiene kits, one section of the room was filled with two quilting frames and women were tying quilts, at another table women were making hair flowers and headbands, and on another table some women (and young women) were putting together art kits.  I brought my sewing machine to help sew together drawstring bags for children in foster care.   I lugged in my machine and set it up, then walked over to the table to get some fabric.  I quickly found out that the women who were in charge of this activity were well prepared.  There were stacks of pillowcases, a bag filled with canvas cords, and another pile of old t-shirts.  The woman in charge of the bag area explained to me that we were cutting off the sleeves and ...

Eliza just finished a science unit on the solar system.  As part of their "discoveries" they had eight different kinds of projects to complete.  Some were as easy as writing a letter to the president about why we should not live on Mars, or drawing a picture of a space shuttle (which, I admit, may not have been easy for some students).  Eliza did those two projects as well as researching an astronaut and preparing a presentation about them, and several other projects.  The last two that she turned in today were a diorama of the solar system and a solar system board game. She just barely completed her projects last night, with a little help from me.  I found the idea of making a telescope diorama online, then told Eliza about it.  She was thrilled.  Another student in her class had brought in a diorama in a box with all of the planets in orbit.  Eliza said that she didn't want to copy her and paint on the comets and meteors.  So, I did a l...

Recently I have noticed that most of the blogs I read almost seem unreal.  Like the writers/photographers are living an idealistic life filled with joy and perfectness.  It seems like their world is peaceful and everywhere in their houses is clean and their photos look like they were taken straight out of a Better Homes and Gardens magazine.  They all know how to decorate, sew, teach, craft things from wood, take fantastic photos, and then they all write about it in a way that makes me want to be them.  It makes me wonder what a "real" day is in their lives.  I also realize that there are times when I don't want everyone to see what is not perfect in my life as well.  But, not today.  Today, I am keeping it totally real.  I do not like to exercise.  At least, I don't when I am not in the "groove."  There are so many of my friends who are into running, or exercising, or just seeing how fit they can be (at least, that's how it appears to...

Recently, Jon and I spent some time watching the PBS broadcast of the 25th Anniversary performance of Les Miserables, the Musical.  And, let me tell you, it was phenomenal (even with Nick Jonas's less than stellar performance ... don't get me started).  It was so inspiring that Jon decided to actually read the book the musical was based on. The summer before my senior year in high school I received a letter from my forthcoming AP English teacher explaining that each entering senior enrolled in her class was to read the entire unabridged English translation of Les Miserables before school began in August.  Or, perhaps it was that only a specific length of the book was to be finished.  I don't remember exactly. However, I do remember seeing my friends during summer break and we were constantly asking each other, "Where are you in the book ?"  At one point, one of my guy friends told me to skip pages 830-886 (or some random number like that).  He explained...

 Today we went outside to play for a while.  It probably wasn't the best time of day ... for us.  For all of our friends and family who are still in winter, it would have been the perfect time for you to go outside: right after lunch when the sun is high, and everything is nice and warm.  Here, in Arizona, it is not the worst  time of the day to go outside (especially not yet), but let's just say that even though it is only the beginning of April, it still isn't the best  time of day to outside. Regardless of how hot it quickly became, we had fun running around, throwing the ball at the cinderblock wall, spinning the tires on Andrew's bike as fast as we could, and just playing pretend.  After twenty minutes, we were definitely feeling the sun on our backs, warming us up just a little bit too much for comfort. Thank goodness popsicles are perfect in Arizona during the entire year!  There's nothing quite like a popsicle to cool you down on a ...

I was sitting in the kitchen, doing a little blog hopping on my phone when I heard, "Come on, Ming Ming!" and "It's stuck, Lenny!" Maryanne has really been into watching "The Wonder Pets!" recently.  So, hearing those two sentences normally wouldn't be out of place.  Except that it was my little Adam (who is not so little anymore), and my princess Maryanne (who, most definitely is a princess) who were yelling those words to each other. As I heard those cute little voices, all I could think was that they aren't going to be in this stage for very much longer.  Eliza and Kate still play like this, but only with Maryanne, not with each other.  They have already grown on and talk about boys and friends, clothes, makeup, and fingernail polish.  And, they aren't even allowed to participate is most of those things!   My children are growing up so quickly.  And, I realize now that I've missed most of it. Yesterday, Andrew had a reall...