Our Family Project

Our Boy Scout Troop and Young Women needed to do a fundraiser for their upcoming camps this summer.  So, they did an auction/dinner/talent show.  It was catered by Texas Roadhouse for $5/person, or $20/family.  A lot of people came, but not very many people bid on things in the auction.  Eliza donated her time at a 1-Hour Nail Stamping Party for up to 8 guests.  Her item went for $50!!!  Crazy, right?  I was sufficiently impressed.   My donation was this scripture tote and cover, as well as a custom tote and cover to be made.  The Young Women president didn't realize that this tote and cover were in the auction, she thought they were only an example, so it wasn't auctioned off originally.  Originally, it was part of the silent auction, and one paper was set out for people to bid on the item.  One lady thought that she was bidding on THIS tote and cover, and everyone else thought they were bidding on a custom one to be made.  ...

Be sure to scroll down and check out all of my posts ... I went on a "catch-up" spree. After a two month long hiatus, I finally decided I should check in.  Recently, I have been thinking a lot about forgiveness ... for me.  It's one of the hardest things for me right now: forgiving myself.  For some reason I have a hard time letting my little imperfections go, and it seems to drag me down. In the evenings when 4:30 or 5:30 rolls around, I am kicking myself because my day is almost over and I haven't been able to get everything accomplished on my list.  And, I spend time rehashing everything that I did and why I don't have the time to finish everything before bedtime. I've learned that what I need to do is just move on.  Look at the situation and realize that I made a few mistakes, but it's okay.  It's all part of this learning experience we call life, and I've learned that there are lot of ways to make mistakes.  But, what makes this life so...

In the beginning of January, we decided to try our hands at recreational sports and activities for our children.  January was chaotic because Adam was in wrestling that met every Tuesday AND Thursday from 6 until 8 and sometimes later.  Crazy, right?  Add that to Andrew's gymnastics on Monday afternoons, Eliza and Kate in their singing group, Eliza in a theatre class, and Kate in a cheer class?  It has been a few crazy chaotic months.  I feel like I've just started to settle back into being at home most of the time now. At any rate, Kate loved her cheer class.  It was hard for me to go to her performance because Kate is not a very sharp person.  She is buoyant and bouncy, fun loving, and go-with-the-flow.  Cheerleading is not only that ... it is about being sharp, loud, and precise.  Kate had the loud part down, but the sharp and precise?  Um, not so much.  But, she did love it, and if it weren't for the fact that her class was ...

Eliza turned 12-years-old in April!  Can you believe it?  I don't even have any pictures of her cake (which was an angel food cake), or her presents (which were clothes).  But, I do have a picture of her special quilt that my mom made for her.  It is a queen sized quilt for her bed (she sleeps in our guest room and gets kicked out whenever we have guests ... it's the price she pays for her own room).  Anyone else see a pattern beside the "E's"? Anyone?  Anyone?  Yes!  The "E's" are in the Young Women Value Colors.  So pretty.  So applicable.  So very like my mom to be so thoughtful.  All I did was take her shopping for clothing that was true to her nature (she's dressing her truth now as a Type 4 ... in all aspects).  My mother is the best, is she not?

In April we participated in our homeschool group's Geography Fair.  We went the easy route because we were throwing together our project at the last minute, and chose to do our project on Chile!  It was easy because that's where Jon served his mission.  So, we had a bunch of little items that showcased the culture there.  Jon and I traced the map on a long sheet of paper, and, okay, we colored it too.  We are such control freaks.  Oh well.  The children drew little pictures/icons of exports, produce, and other things that symbolized specific things we learned about Chile.  We got to the part and everything was set up trunk-or-treat style ... which was so great!  Although, our friends in the car next to us did their report on Argentina ... the sworn enemy of Chile! Then, came the presentation!  This was the fun part.  Eliza, Kate and I got together the day before the fair and wrote a rap for our presentation.  Then, we broke u...

Andrew participated in his first ever pinewood derby about a month after he turned 8-years-old.  Jon helped him cut the car, and that was all that Andrew would let him do.  Andrew sanded it, painted it, and put on the wheels.  When we got to the pinewood derby, we needed to add weight to it.  So, we went to the "adjustment" table and started to tape on some coins.  Real classy-like. As we were at the table adding weight to his car, Andrew spotted some graphite and asked me what it was for.  Being the rookie-mom that I am, I said, "I don't know, maybe someone used it on their car."  (In hindsight: Duh!  Of course they used it on their car!) Then, we walked away and checked in his car.  Oops! Notice Andrew's face in this photo?  This is after his car finished his first race.  Um, yeah.  There's a reason there was graphite on the table ... and I felt the shame each and every time Andrew's car was in a race.  Especially b...

In March, our son was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  It was such a sweet moment for us all.  My in-laws were able to come down from Idaho for the baptism and celebrate his birthday with us.  It was such a fun time. About two weeks before his baptism, I took him out to a local park to get his picture taken for his invitations.  He was so great!  Andrew would stand there and look at the camera lens for minutes on end.  I just snapped away.  After about 10 minutes I had some great photos, but I just couldn't stop.  We walked around and I had him pose in many different areas.  In the end, I used the photo below for his baptism invitation, and the photo above for his birthday party invitation.  I forgot to include the date and time for his baptism on the invitation, oops!  So, we had to include a little paper with the pertinent information on it.  That mommy-memory of mine! Andrew had a S...