Sister Missionaries ROCK

I improved my tie dye skills after spending time with the master ... my sister Laura. She is a genius! I also have to say that Brad is great too, or run the risk of denting my little brother's armor! :)

Anyway .. this adorable missionary in the front is from our ward. I helped her Mom and the girls make shirts for girls camp this year. Sister P sent the goods to Argentina so her favorite missionary girl could do the same lesson with her district. I think they turned out GREAT!!

Tie Dye Tips:
*Soak the shirts for a minimum of 3-4 hours before you dye in soda ash.
*Put the shirt in a Ziploc bag and let it brew overnight after you apply the colors.
*The next morning - rinse the shirt until the water runs clear.
*Wash with just a hint of laundry soap to remove the balance of the dye before wearing.

How does one turn this fun activity into an object lesson? Here are some of my ideas:

• Celebrate Individuality - Even though we started with the same standard set of colors, each of these tie dye shirts are each unique, and no two people are alike. We have different personalities, strengths, weaknesses, and all of these things work to make us beautiful. Our job is to find the beauty in every person we meet.
• Our Path Through Life - Just like this plain white tshirt, we come to earth with a blank canvas. What we choose to do with our life is like adding color to the shirt. We choose what colors to add and how brightly they will shine. Our goal is to return to Heavenly Father with a canvas that we can display proudly!
• If you are LDS, you can bring in the YW values and the colors that each represents.

Obviously you can add to each of these concepts to get it as long or as short as you want the message to be. Please share if you have other ideas or ways to incorporate this concept into an object lesson!

How early is too early?

There is a long standing discussion that occurs at my house. How early is too early to decorate for Christmas?

I would like to put the tree up this weekend. Jer has some obsession with Thanksgiving getting its own moment ... Christmas arrives at the stores earlier and earlier ... Blah! Blah!

Don't know about you, but I am totally capable of listing off the things I am grateful for while sitting in front of the Christmas tree!! :)

Sparkles and Hooks

Heard this example in a talk today ... and I thought it was worth sharing!

Fishermen use many different things to attract the fish -- some use worms, eggs, or lures. Lures come in many shapes and sizes. Different fish are attracted to different types of lures.

Satan also has a tackle box full of lures to tempt each of us. Just like the fish, we are all attracted to different things. Some people may struggle with the lure of not keeping the sabbath day holy, while for others, this is an easy thing. He continually adds to his tackle box and identifies new lures. (hold up a fishing lure) No matter what lure he uses, there is always a hook on the end. He will disguise the hook, but it will be sharp and grab hold if he get too close.

We strive to keep the spirit with us so that no matter what lure he uses, we are prepared to swim the other way!

Beautiful

Shhh ... Don't tell! I think I just found one of Lex's Christmas gifts.

The concept behind the necklace is the importance of teaching our daughters that beauty is so much more than the color of your eyes or the length of your legs ... beauty comes from the heart and radiates out. The necklace serves as a reminder of what truly makes a person beautiful.

Love the concept ... Love the necklace!!

Check out Lisa's other designs. I think this is such a fantastic and personal way to show your love and/or appreciation for a wonderful woman in your life!

http://www.lisaleonardonline.com/

Monster Eyes

We have a cousin who is not just crafty ... she is really talented! Here is one of her latest genius ideas.

If you are planning a Halloween party ... these are the perfect little treat!! Me and the girls will be making these on Saturday for sure! Such a cute idea!

For the step-by-step directions -- check out her blog:

http://beeinourbonnet.blogspot.com/2010/10/monster-eyeballs.html

Halloween Hair

How fun is this ... Little Miss M will be ROCKING the spider one day next week to school!!

Step by Step directions can be found by clicking below:

http://www.babesinhairland.com/2010/10/halloween-spider-hairdo.html

Halloween Suckers

Who has not made the ghost suckers ... I think those date back to the 70s. However, I LOVE this new twist. The pumpkins are cute, but the Frankensteins are my favorite! Pretty sure these will be making an appearance this year.

Want the complete details? Check it out!

http://www.somewhatsimple.com/2010/10/halloween-lollipops.html

Celebrate Failure

Generally speaking, I am a big fan of the red plate and we use it frequently. However, I heard a talk the other day and we're going to try something new. We are going to find a way to celebrate failure! Why? Failure means that you are taking the necessary risks to learn and grow.

*"Don't fear failure so much that you refuse to try new things." Boone

*"The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, is nothing and becomes nothing. You made avoid suffering and sorrow, but you simply cannot learn and feel and change and grow and love and live." Buscaglia

So, after we talk about the excellent thing that occurred. We're going to try and identify a negative event or a perceived "failure" ... and answer these two questions.

• What did I learn from this experience?
• What did I do really well during this experience?

I haven't found the right "plate" yet ... but I'm on the lookout for a "you fell flat on your face today" plate!

Latest Reason Why I Love Texas

We are coming up on five years in Texas, and this week I was reminded of one of my favorites things about living here! Over the five years, I have been regularly amazed by how much faith and God are a part of life here ... A school assembly on Veterans Day that starts with a prayer asking God to bless the troops ... neighbors who ask where ya'll go to church (not if, where) ... etc.

This week, I went with Nat while she had surgery. Her OB came in and talked to us about the procedure, what to expect, answered questions and then he said ... "Okay, let's have a prayer." He talked about her desire to have children, using faith and having the Lord guide them both during this process. When he was done, he got me a Kleenex and made a joke about how the tears must be genetic. :)

The part that amazed me is that there is never a question about what religion you are or what religion I am, if a prayer would be appropriate or if you will be offended by such a request, what is the proper way to pray ... it is pure and simple faith and an acknowledgment that we need the Lord every step of the way in life.

Happy Fall Ya'll

When I get a little stressed out ... I tend to grab a glue gun and make something. It doesn't have to turn out perfect. It just needs to give me that small sense of satisfaction that something pretty happened today.

I made a ball wreath last year for Christmas. When I saw these fall colors, I knew I had to give it another go!

Envirosax

Don't know about you ... but I find the new trend of reusable bags highly useful. They work great from sleepovers to piano books and everything in between. I saw the bags from this website on another blog this week and I LOVE THEM!! This is one of my favorites, but they literally have dozens of styles to choose from.

http://www.envirosax.com/

WOW Box

I used something similar to this when my older girls were younger ... now that they are teenagers, I'm not quite willing to give them an iTunes gift card every time they make me say WOW!

Concept is simple. Fill a basket, bin, tub, or anything you want with small reward items -- the dollar store or the dollar aisle at Target are excellent sources -- and when your sweet munchkin does something so wonderful it makes you say WOW, you send him/her to pick a treat!

GREAT with siblings learning to adjust to a new baby in the house!

Flashback Fridays

So as to not get accused of playing favorites ... here is Lexie's flashback!! She also did dance for five years. Unlike Rachel, there were no tears! She couldn't get enough of the dress-up, make-up and overall fun of dance.

For Good

Our stake held a meeting prior to the broadcast on Saturday. As part of the program, they put together a slideshow of women interacting and serving others. I had the pleasure of helping to take some photos to use in the slideshow. For the music, they used one of my favorite songs from Wicked ... "I've heard it said that people come into our lives for a reason, bringing something we must learn. And we are led to those to help us most to grow if we let them and we help them in return. Well, I don't know if I believe that's true, but I know I'm who I am today ... because I knew you." Such a great moment!!

Today, my heart has been inspired to think back on so many people in my life that have "changed my life for good" ... I don't generally recommend having that kind of moment in an airport! :)

However, I am so grateful for each one of them. Makes me want to go home and create my own video montage ...

Answers to Prayers

If you have less than ten minutes to give a quick lesson on prayer ... how do you make a quick impact?

Start with two balloons. One is blown up and the other is not. I told a story from the scriptures about a family that had a problem to solve and went to the Lord for help. We started talking about how the Lord answers our prayers.

Somewhere towards end of the story, I popped the first balloon. Why you ask? Well, first and foremost, it about gives the kids a heart attack, which I find completely entertaining. However, the real reason is to demonstrate the fact that the Lord doesn't usually send these massive and loud answers. Man, life would be so much easier if He did! We would know exactly what to do and when to do it.

While the kids shared some of their experiences with getting answers to prayers, I blew up the second balloon just slightly. I ended with the fact that the Lord knows we can't really learn and grow unless we figure out some things for ourselves. Let the air out of the second balloon nice and quiet like ... and end with the thought that we can only receive answers during those quiet little moments when we open our hearts and minds to that small voice inside.

Between Sisters

An older sister ... workaholic lawyer, slightly overbearing, kind of bossy ... and her baby sister, who drops out of college to build a rental property on a lake and decides to marry a guy she has known for about two weeks. What could possibly go wrong?

I LOVE stories like this! It is such a great opportunity to think about your own family and relationships. As the slightly bossy oldest sister ... it can be such an eye opener to think about how important it is to love and support people even though you may not agree with the decision. :)

Flashback Friday

We were joking the other day about doing more flashbacks ... since the people who kow my kids as teenagers, did not know them as little ones.

Here's a flashback -- Rach did dance for five years!! Fake hair, costumes and full make-up. She had her first recital at three ... and she cried through the whole thing (black and white costume). By the end of the five years, she was a cheese dog!

The Forgotten Garden

So, my sweet friend Marla talked me into joining this book club. Well, to be exact ... they sent me a list of books and told me I was presenting in December ... which is kind of the same thing! ;)

This was the first book. When I first started it, I was not too excited about the new book club adventure. The story begins back in the early 1900's ... there is an Authoress who writes slightly disturbed fairy tales. However, by the end of the book, I was seriously hooked. Hooked like ... stay up until midnight reading even though you have to be up at 5am ... kind of hooked.

It was a great story that spans several generations of a family, with a series of secrets that makes for an interesting puzzle to solve. Not the kind of book I would normally be drawn to, and I really enjoyed it. Maybe this book club will be a good thing after all ... now if I could just manage to not be traveling and attend!

Soccer Fever

Apparently being 41 makes one feel a little nostalgic! :)

We spent every fall for ten years on the soccer field ... and I miss it a bit!! It is actually one of my favorite sports to take photos of. Not to mention, I may have upgraded the camera a bit since the girls were little!

We would let Megan play, but as we are all well aware, she has a tendency to get concussions. We're going to stick with non-contact sports for the runt!

If anyone feels sorry for my nostalgic oldness ... send me your soccer schedule. I would be more than happy to do a drive by and take some pictures.

Brush With Fame

So I might have gotten a fun request this week ... I took these photos for a friend of mine. Then I sent her to my new friend Natalie for the invitations. Miss Natalie asked for permission to use the photos as samples. I'm calling that my brush with fame!

Check her out:


http://www.etsy.com/shop/nattysuedesigns1?ref=seller_info


I first "met" Natalie when she did the invitations for Megan's baptism in May. Design was under $20 ... and I printed them at Costco. Hard to beat that price!!

Soulmates

Maybe it is just me ... but every so often you meet someone and you just automatically click. Some of my favorite "soulmates" in life are under the age of five. This little man is no exception. I truly love all of his siblings, but there is something different with this one. Our entire family is pretty much wrapped around his chubby little thumb and he knows it.

We love having him over ... we love his cheesy expressions ... we love how he completely makes himself at home ... we love how quick he is to smile ...

Sometimes the sweetest spirits are housed in the smallest little bodies! :)

The Memorial Service

How do you distract a little girl ... with a craft project, of course!!

Megan made this garden stone a couple of Sundays ago while the girls were gone to a church meeting. She used her thumbprints to make a flower ... stamped in the words, "Oliver, My Pal" and decorated with rocks, pebbles and mosaic tiles. By the time it was dry and we took it outside, she had forgotten all about the funeral.

We have chosen not to remind her .....

Farewell to Oliver

After my flight landed from Atlanta, the phone rang with a frantic set of children on the other end. We had three small visitors at our home. The boys LOVE the guinea pig and wanted to feed him carrots. They all went into Megan's room to get Oliver ... and came out yelling a minute later ... "HE'S NOT MOVING!!!"

The first thought I have is guilt for exposing the little visitors to the death of the pet. I told the kids to close the bedroom door and I was on my way.

Here is the part where I witnessed another shining example of the difference between boys and girls!!

I walked in the door to Megan ...

*He's DEAD!!!

*Did you feed him why we were in Florida?

*I should have never left him here.

*What are we going to do?

*This is the worst day ever!

Ben said, "Can I touch it?" So not a moment to laugh, but how could you not? Boys are so matter of fact!

Megan is pretty set on having a funeral on Sunday. We are going to make a little grave marker, have flowers and all say our favorite things about Oliver. This ought to be interesting ... Rachel can't even listen to her planning the funeral without having to leave the room. Stay tuned ...

Twinkle Toes

ARE YOU KIDDING ME WITH THESE SHOES??!!!

Just because...

• 90% of my closet is black
• I always get the french pedicure
• I rarely wear jewelry
• The world has seen me at Target without makeup
• I do not own a BeDazzler
• I don't like heels
• I use the same purse for months
• I don't own lipstick

I can be HORRIBLY boring! Despite this fact, I do try and encourage individual development in my girls. Lexie LOVES ruffles -- Rach is going through a bandana phase -- Megan has never met a sequin she didn't enjoy.

Then comes along the TWINKLE TOES ... I have never seen a more obnoxious pair of shoes. Really with the sparkles on the toes? How long can those last? They are the ONLY shoes Megan wants for school. Pretty sure she will DIE without them. She tries them on and just giggles.

Do I have to walk next to her when she is wearing them?

Time Marches On

When Lex got home from EFY this year ... we did our normal slide show of the photos and recapping of the stories from the week. On their way to the airport, they stopped at Temple Square and hung out for a bit. Looking at her photos ..... I was completely BLOWN AWAY by how fast time is flying and how soon she will be leaving to go to school.

It took me back to my first semester at BYU -- the hair was a little bigger and thankfully, the white tights have been retired. It won't be long before she is at school and having some of those same experiences. It seriously does not seem real! I don't think I'm old or mature enough to have a child in college ..... I'm just saying!!

Megan Pulls a Funny

Jeremy decided to hang a tennis ball to help with parking his car. Up until now I have avoided the tennis ball by mocking him incessently every time he brought it up!

Megan and I were walking through WalMart when we saw the ultimate tennis ball. She said ... "Wouldn't it be funny to take this home and switch out the ball Dad hung in the garage for this huge one!" Why yes ... yes it would!

She giggled for the rest of the afternoon waiting for her Dad to get home!

Girlfriends

"Friendship between women can take different forms. It can run like a river, quietly and sustainingly through life; it can be an intermittent, sometime thing; or it can explode like a meteor, altering the atmosphere so that nothing ever feels or looks the same again." Mary Haskell

I am a HORRIBLE girlfriend: I tackle too many projects ... I work and study too much ... I'm a bit of a homebody ... BLAH! BLAH! BLAH!

However, I never cease to be amazed by the power of women and their friendships. I don't think there is anything stronger than a group of women who set their minds on a task. They can truly move mountains!

I need to spend more time with the amazing women in my life ... no doubt I will be a better and stronger person because of them.

Squishy

We generally try to maintain a sense of humor about life and everything in it ... even if your feelings get hurt ... or your pride ... or your self-esteem sustains a fracture ...

Megan, Lex and I were cuddling in my bed the other day - here is how the conversation went:


Megan: MOM ... I just LOVE cuddling you.

Mom: I love you too Pidge.

Megan: No, but seriously ... you are so soft and squishy. Cuddling is FANTASTIC!!


At this point, Lex and I start to laugh pretty hard. Frankly, it was either laugh or cry at this point. Megan notices that we are laughing a bit harder than necessary and decides to continue after smashing her face into my chest and squeezing hard ...


Megan: I mean it Mom! I LOVE cuddling with you.

Mom: (Still laughing) It's okay Pidge, I know what you mean.

Megan: Hey, don't worry about it. I don't work out either!


That would be the point we lost it. There are some words that should be banned ... and SQUISHY is at the top of that list. I looked it up and there are PLENTY of synonyms for soft without breaking out the word SQUISHY.

I have to go now ... my eliptical is calling my name ...

I Think My Appendix Hurts

I have a new plan ... I'm going to start praying for an emergency appendectomy!

The way I see it, it is the perfect plan. I would spend a few days in the hospital. I would be forced to ignore my list of responsibilities. I could ignore my email. I could sleep for several days and have no guilt. No one would care if I did not complete things on time ... because I had to have an emergency appendectomy! =)

I think it is perfect ... my husband used phrases like "what is wrong with you" and "you are seriously sick."

Hmmm ... I think I feel pain

I'm A Good Mom ... I Swear

Here is the ride home from dance tonight:

Megan: Sydney gave me her moonpie again today.

Mom: Really?

Megan: Yup ... she doesn't like them at all.

Mom: Why does she bring them in her lunch if she doesn't like them?

Megan: That is the BEST part! I'm PRACTICALLY the only person in my class who gets to pack their own lunch. Oh, and you can get moonpies at Tom Thumb. Can we stop there on the way home?

Mom: We'll go look at them this weekend.

Megan: If we stopped on the way home, I could take one in my lunch tomorrow.

Mom: What would you do then ... eat two of them?

Megan: No comment ... just bursts into giggles in the back seat

Let me stop right there!

• First ... what on earth is a moonpie?
• Second ... she takes a plain peanut butter sandwhich every day and her other lunch choices are always reviewed so we end up with a decent balance. It's not like she just gets to eat whatever she wants.
• Third ... how great is it that she thinks it is AWESOME she is doing her own lunch!

Some days I feel like there should be a button ... like the Staples red button ... that beeps in your purse every time your child uses your name at school and it automatically records the conversation ... just so I can defend myself on occasion!

Ever Wonder?

I'm probably late to the Stephanie Nielson party. I became a fan after I saw this video:


http://nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/2010/05/i-was-honored-to-be-part-of-wonderful.html


I've always felt a little odd using the word "trial" ... it is a big word for me. A series of miscarriages ... not so much fun. Losing my Dad when I was 22 ... not easy, but not sure I can bring myself to use the word trial.

This gal - now this constitutes a trial! It makes me wonder, how would I handle it? I would hope I could be graceful and positive and use humor to get through each day. But, would I really? If I couldn't shower myself ... and someone else had to fix my hair ... and I had to stretch my own skin to have enough for skin grafts ... and my kids were living with family while I spent days on end in a hospital bed ... and my face was gone. I don't know! This kind of peace and strength comes from deep inside somewhere. How do you find it? How do you sustain it?

I honestly don't know.

The Water Is Wide - Pat Conroy

I finished this book ... and I LOVED it! There is a little language and they use the "N" word a bit, which I am not generally a fan of, but the story is fascinating.

Conroy wrote the original book in 1972 and is in autobiographical. He spends a year teaching on Daufuskie Island off the coast of South Carolina. All of the students are black and descended from slaves. They have minimal to no contact with people on the "mainland" and know little about life off the island.

As Conroy soon learns, his students range in age from 10 to 13 ... and the majority are illiterate. Some can't count to ten. He struggles with ideas and techniques on how to reach these children. They have no idea what the capital of South Carolina is or who is the current President of the United States.

Several moments stand out in the book. He brings in music and spends an entire day moving through different music and evoking emotion on each one. Later in the book, the kids are treated to a concert from a pianist who goes through the songs they learned. They giggled and shouted in unison ... Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms. Conroy brings animals, maps, countries, world leaders, and more into the classroom. The previous teacher is continually irritated because he won't teach the assigned curriculum. Yes, because that has been so successful!

The best part of the book for me came when he took them to the mainland to participate in a Halloween carnival. Costumes were found. Rides were offered. Families opened their homes and made sure these kids LOVED their first ever Halloween. Remember ... in the South in 1972 ... this was not the norm.

It can be so amazing to see things through the eyes of a child ... and he does a fantastic job allowing you to see and hear these children as their eyes are opened to the world.

Perfect Beans

Baked Beans
2 jars B&B baked beans
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 lb. ground sausage

Brown sausage. Combine all other ingredients in large saucepan and add sausage at the end. Cook until warmed through and hot, not boiling or it will burn.

Serve with brisket, chicken, hot dogs, or even good over fritos.


This is the original recipe. The beans I got were already sweetened with brown sugar, so I did not add more. I did add about 1/2 cup of ketchup.

Everyone in the group really liked them!

Really?

Let me preface this story by saying, I am one of THOSE parents who generally supports the teacher. I strongly believe in respecting authority. Also, it can be a good exercise in learning how to work for and deal with authority figures that you may disagree with.

So, for the first time in 16 years of having kids in school. I broke the rule!

Miss Megan has a bit of a complex. She has a group of kids this year who went through a phase of calling her Thumbelina ... because she is so small. When that wore off ... they went through a phase of calling her a nerd because she has read all of the Harry Potter books before finishing second grade. We've spent a lot of time talking about learning to love yourself and accepting your stengths and your body for the way God made it.

This week ... she comes home upset because one of this group cornered her at recess. Keep in mind, he is probably twice her size. The teacher had asked them to be quiet. This kid kept talking and Megan "shushed" him. At recess, he cornered her about keeping her nerd mouth shut because he is older and bigger than her.

She got upset when I started in on my expert "worry about yourself" and "what goes around, comes around" talk to explain why she didn't need to "shush" anyone. Then I find out that the teacher asked her to do this.

WHAT??? Life is not hard enough as a kid without the teacher setting you up? REALLY ... you thought it made sense to ask 8 year olds to manage each other's behavior. Sorry ... but I believe in leadership. You set the rules and you enforce the rules!

So, I told Megan the next time she was asked to tell others to "shush" ... she has my permission to tell her teacher that her Mom told her she is responsible for herself.

Feed Your Brain

Half Price Books is hosting a summer reading program for kids 14 and under. Check it out!


http://www.halfpricebooks.com/feed_your_brain.html


At the rate she reads ... Miss Megan should be able to earn close to $30. That's a lot of money for her to invest in more things to read!

Funny

HA! HA! Lauren thinks I'm funny. A wise woman once said ...


"The only way to get through life is to laugh your way through it. You either have to laugh or cry. I prefer to laugh. Crying gives me a headache."

I Like To Look For Rainbows

Miss Megan wanted to incorporate the rainbow theme into her lunch after the baptism ... and this is what we came up with. A rainbow of flowers!

I'm not sure what she had more fun with ... eating the cake or putting the flowers on top!

Feelin Funky

I have been in a bit of a funk lately ... and I figured a blog makeover would help!

I read a talk lately that spoke to me:

"The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul."

"Creation brings deep satisfaction and fulfillment."

"As you take the normal opportunities of your daily life and create something of beauty and helpfulness, you improve not only the world around you but also the world within you."

See, the thing is ... when I think of creating something of beauty ...

I think of Beth who can bring me to tears every time I hear her sing.

I think of Christine who can cook a meal that tastes like it came from a 5-star restaurant.

I think of Ohleen who can play a piano like no other.

YOU GET THE IDEA!!

When I started this blog, I thought I would come up with all of these amazingly creative ideas. However, I started paying attention to other blogs and information out there and frankly, I got discouraged because I'm just not that creative.

So my blog makeover is simple ... I am going to look for ways to celebrate the small way I can create opportunities to bring happiness into my life ... little ways to improve the life of my family on my quest to become the best Mom I can be.

And somewhere along the way ... I'm going to get my MOJO back!

Miss M

My baby is no longer a baby ... she is preparing for her big day! It is GREAT to be EIGHT!!