33 Year Old Math Man

On March 16th Sean turned 33 years old. When he went to work at Craig Williams Elementary he received wonderful birthday wishes and treats, including a bouquet of chocolate chip cookies (which James helped himself to), candies, balloons, and very nice cards. He also got sung to by the entire school during flag salute.

To celebrate I brought over this cake made especially for him:

The cake was put in the teachers' lounge and was devoured before mid-day. Yum, yum!

I'm sorry we only got these pictures of his birthday (and none of mine!) but I am so grateful for Sean and all he does for our family. I know I'm truly blessed to have him in my life as the father of my children an the love of my life.

Thank you, my dear, for all the love and joy you bring into my life and the lives of our children. The laughter, smiles, and fun that we have could not have come from any other source. You are amazing!

No Squawkin' About It....

After weeks of hard work (and a lot of peeping) Jane put together a great poster and presented her project to 4 judges (for project details see earlier posts).

(Yes, that's a chicken on the right)

Later that night we all went back to the school to hear the final results....

Jane won 2nd Place at the school's science fair!

We were all so excited for her. She did a great job, worked VERY hard and deserved that 2nd place!

(Actually, I may be a bit biased, but I think her project really should have gotten first. I can't seem to understand why a project whose goal was to find out which sucker - Tootsie Pop vs. Blow Pop - you had to suck on the longest to get to the center. But that's just me.)

Sleep Tight!

Sometimes (well, a LOT of the time) James will wake up in the night and need to be tucked back in. It happens at least once a night (usually more), but sometimes I don't hear him cry. So what, you may ask, does he do when I don't come in?

That's right. He climbs into bed with whichever sister happens to be sleeping on the trundle bed. This is how I found them in the morning one Sunday.

Here James is pretending to be asleep. What a happy dreamer!

Jane's turn to pretend the snooze.
(Is it just me or is she really good at pretending to be in dreamland?)

More Projects...

So I was inspired by one of my favorite blogs to make this scarf for my sister-in-law, Kim.

And as I was making it, and noticing I had a bit of fabric left over, I decided to make a matching one for my little niece, Abigail, who was blessed earlier this month.

And then of course I had to make one (ahem I mean two!) for myself! :)

And while I was thus cutting and sewing (and wearing) I was reminded of my love for cotton. Forget polyester, rayon, and all those other synthetic fabrics. Give me the good ol' soft, pliable, stretchy, warm/cool cotton. And as a person who is prone to static attacks (of the hair), I can't be more thrilled to finally be able to wear scarves without raising my roof! :)

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention the little felt flowers. I went to another ward's Achievement Girl's Activity (taught by a great friend of mine) just to learn how to make these and I can't believe how easy they are! So I made a couple to send along with the scarves. They have a little sleeve on the back that you can slip a hair clip/bobby pin into, slide over a headband, or (as my girls showed me) onto a little finger for a cute (albeit LARGE ring). Oh, I love learning new things!

The CHEESE Man

Alex reading to Kinder Mouse and James

Alex was the Big Cheese at school, which meant he was the "it" guy for the week. He brought home "Kinder Mouse" and we did all sorts of fun activities with him over the weekend. Some of these fun activities left Kinder Mouse in interesting predicaments...like being stuck on the roof, and lost for a few hours.

But through it all he (the mouse) survived and was able to go back to school on Monday with Alex to share with the class all the happenings of the weekend.

On a scholastic note: we are all so excited for Alex's reading progress. He can now read most Bearenstein Bears and Dr. Seuss books (though he still has some trouble with the good Dr's goofy words) and is eager to read to us all. I recognize the blessing of having children who love to read and I'm so grateful to have a new little reader in the house!

The Light

So I just heard Alex in the hallway playing with Jane and James and this is what he said,

"Jane, Light Savior! To the rescue!"

How sweet, and yet how true! The Savior is our light and He IS our rescuer.

I love the truth that my kids bring into our home, however unintentional it may be. :)

February Trip to WA

I had an absolutely GREAT time visiting my family in Washington on February 4th! I got a lot of stuff done for mom, and also had play time. Wimp and I missed our trip to Theno's but we were able to go to the Village Cafe for breakfast. Can we say, "Cinnamon Rolls?" For $5 you get a roll the size of 2+ Cinnabon rolls stuck together. And it was DELICIOUS!

Each night we were absorbed in a series about John Adams and the framing of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence. I now covet that series. Dad is going to have to will it to me. haha

On Saturday mom and I saw Dear John. For those of you who have yet to see it, make sure you know where your tissue is BEFORE they turn off the lights. Less than half-way through I was digging in my purse to find mine. And let me tell you, it's always harder to find tissue when your eyes are all teary!

After the movie we went shopping, then came home to get ready to go on our GNO. We took Aunt Patty to the Pink Door in Seattle where she was given a small bridal shower (as in, just the four of us). She told us all her wedding plans during dinner and when Jay came to pick Patty up I was able to congratulate them both on their upcoming nuptuals. He's so awesome!

On Sunday I went with mom and dad to their ward for church, then stayed for Wimp's Single's ward. All I'm going to say is, it's truly a Single's Ward! haha! Love that movie!

Monday was my play day, so that's when I went to breakfast with the Wimp, had lunch with Molly (no pics because I forgot my camera!) and pigged out on corn bread and potato soup in a bread bowl, then dinner with Pali where once again corn bread was my friend, along with a YUMMY salad. I had a great time catching up with all of these girls and sharing some laughs.

Tuesday was packing/last minute stuff before we headed out to the airport. I was exhausted all last week as I adjusted to being back with responsibility, but I was refreshed and reenergized. Just what every mom needs now and again. Love you, mom, for bringing me up! And love you, honey, for bringing me home and making this possible!

Hearts and Taters

So I saw a blog featuring all sorts of projects, two of which were fabric hearts and felt Mr. Potato Heads. I thought, "Oh, that's gotta be easy. Let's give it a try!"

Well, so here they are:



Some things I learned:

* cutting wire coat hangers isn't as easy as one might think.

* doing 8 hearts in 2 days isn't recommended - it hurts your fingers. MUCH better: doing some over a period of time and not waiting until the last minute!

* Mr. Potato Head can end up looking like Mr. Egg Head if you don't do it right - I still don't like the template I ended up with. Perhaps I'll wait for Becky to draw me one before I start another. :)

* felt is easy to sew, but not if you use sticky-back velcro. It can ruin the machine. Get the sewable velcro instead.

* alcohol gets the sticky-back velcro glue off your needle, scissors, and just about anything else it sticks to.

* little kids' fingers are great for shoving the stuffing into small holes.

* I am NOT an artist! ;) haha Nor can I sew in small circles very well. One step at a time, I say.

* learning something new is fun, but having a template is funner!

Crystal's Quilt

So I started this quilt when I found out that my good friend, Crystal, was having a boy. I was so excited for her, and, selfishly, decided to expand my talent of quilt-making. I admit, I wasn't that bright and tried to do it by hand, like I did with Traesa's, but I wisened up REAL fast (since it was taking SO long) and decided to just wait until I got my sewing machine. Well, for my anniversary and Christmas presents combined Sean got me the sewing machine I had wanted. It's light, works great, and in less than a week I was able to whip this baby out:




I have to admit, I absolutely love making quilts, and I'm kind of addicted to the triangle edge. Perhaps on my next quilt I'll branch out to something new...perhaps.

San Luis Rey Mission

Becky's mission report was coming up so we decided to make good use of our three day weekend in January to visit the mission Becky was to do her report on: San Luis Rey.

We met Aunt Kathy in the parking lot and went on the tour together.

We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the mission, but there was such beautiful architecture in and around the building. Here we're standing behind of one of the three fountains inside the courtyard.

It was raining as we walked through the graveyard and James LOVED holding Alex's umbrella.

A bit of Mormon trivia - Some of the Mormon Battalion camped here when they reached California. They helped to build and restore some of the buildings on the mission grounds. Below is a picture of the site where they actually camped. The sign in front describes the events surrounding the Battalion's stay.

Becky wanted to take this last photo of us together outside the mission (can we say, "windy?"). Over all, it was a great learning experience and we're glad Aunt Kathy could join us.

Cuddle Up!

Some kids sleep with teddy bears, my kid sleeps with....

Scientist Jane

It all started with a science project:


Jane and dad weigh 24 eggs. The goal is to determine whether or not the weight of the egg means it will hatch. Jane predicted that heavier eggs would have a greater chance of hatching.

Next came the incubator...

and then 20 days of waiting...

Until "20" started to peep! (Right on the "0" - do you see it?)

And then there was more waiting!

So who knew it took HOURS (practically a whole day) for a chick to hatch?!

And it's kinda gross...and he was only the first...

But when all was said and done, we ended up with 14 of these:

14 ADORABLE baby chicks who make the sweetest sounds in my kitchen. "Peep! Peep!"

*For those scientists out there, we discovered that the weight of the egg DOES (appear to) matter, but a heavier egg does not (necessarily) mean it will have a greater chance of hatching. Of the three eggs that weighed 3oz (the heaviest) only one hatched - #20. (Remember, this is a small experiment with only 23 eggs. In order to determine a true relationship it would have to be done with thousands of eggs.)
Of the 24 eggs, 23 made it into the incubator (#3 cracked and we had to throw it away).
Of the 23 eggs in the incubator 16 hatched. Of the 16 that hatched 14 survived.

Mr. Master Administrator Math-Man...Whatever

Huh?

SO, this week we got a huge surprise - A Principal at an Elementary school in the district will be on leave for at least 6 weeks and Sean was asked to be a temporary Administrator and fill in during her absence.

*silence*

Yeah, we were in shock. Although there is no monetary gain for this service, we knew this would be a great addition to his resume, and a wonderful learning experience for him. However, we were nervous about the time involved, since he is also attending night classes for his (second) Masters program.

After much thought and prayer Sean accepted this "call to serve," believing he will have the time to do both. I have full and complete confidence in his abilities, as well as a feeling he'll enjoy it more than he thinks he will.

Good luck, honey!

Maybe now I'll be able to get a seriuos picture of you. :)

WAIT! Am I going to have to call you, "Master, Master Administrator?" hahaha!

Ugh...Life

Do you ever feel like life is just....life? Like, all the trials and tribulations are coming at you in every direction, but you can't get a grip and you think, "what's all this about?"

Do you ever feel like things are piling up and your burdens are going to break you?

A scripture comes to mind that goes something like this:

"The Lord will shape the back to bear the burden placed upon it."

What if I don't want a crooked back? What if I want to stand tall? I'm pretty sure I'm not an ant. What is the exact carrying load for humans, anyway?

Perhaps there is a mix-up in the appointment books in heaven. Am I getting all these trials at once because someone up there forgot to send me one a while ago, or gave me one too soon?

And, no, it's nothing anyone reading my blog can fix... unless someone has a spare million bucks or so. I know, I know, money doesn't solve all problems. But it would for sure get me into a massage therapist once a week for almost the rest of my life so as I deal with these issues at least the muscles in my back don't kink up and prevent me from carrying this load.

PS I look back on my life even just a few years ago and am amazed at how much simpler it was, even with the trials I was going through then. It's scary to think I might look back on this time and think it was/is simple.....oh, the future is a scary thing.

Memories

I just remembered a time when Becky was about 3 and she and Sean were driving in the car at night listening to Disney music. The song that happened to be playing was "A Whole New World" and as they sang along Sean told Becky, "We're in our own magic carpet."

Becky responded with a serious expression and with wisdom beyond her years, "No, daddy. Magic carpets don't have wheels!"