Brushin' to the ABC's

We have been brushin' to the ABC's (or This is the way we brush our teeth) for a couple of weeks now. Teeth brushing time goes so much better. They don't run from me or fight. And if I don't start the song right away they tell me to sing. I love it!

Ice Cream & Cousins

Keaton, Claire, Benjamin

Sydney and Emma

Ice Cream & Cousins: Two of our favorites

Silver at Scootney

Emma was so excited about this opportunity to collect silver to help the people that were affected by the Earthquake in Haiti. She has no idea what that is or where it is. I think the first time she talked about it after school (Scootney is the name of her elementary) one day she thought it was the name of a girl. They're doing a fund raiser at her school only collecting silver coins. They will count the money up and give it to the American Red Cross to help the Haiti victims. This is what we collected this morning. Roughly $20 - I didn't actually count. She went to school with a heavy backpack.

Keeping Guard

Benjamin and Claire have a hard time going to bed and staying in bed. So now I put a folding chair down the hall and read my scriptures and write in my journal. This way I don't get as frustrated that I have to go put them back in bed and they don't get out as often. It is working.

It is 3:23 am - Jason came home from work and asked what I posted today. That's when I realized that I hadn't quite finished my post. So here I am, keeping up with my goal of one a day.

Homemade Pizza

*******Just a note (Julie this is for you! :) )- the banana bread recipe did not come from my mom. It was given to my sister-in-law by a friend when she had her baby. It was so good that we hounded the friend for her recipe.*******

There's just something about homemade pizza with its weird shape and homemade sauce.

I love Pizza Hut and Time Out Pizza (exclusive to Othello). You can ask Jason about me always trying to find a way to have take out. But lately, our homemade pizza has tasted soooo good. Tonight I thought I would save us some money and make it at home. (And then, at the sauce stage, I realized we didn't have enough cheese. So my good neighbors, the Gentry's, came through for us in our dire need. Thank you!)

It's Levy time! I love voting and especially for the schools.

Aaaahhhh!

Jason, me, a day at the temple:
I don't think I need to say any more.

"What? I'm just lounging with my Dad."

a "handful" of flowers

Today Emma didn't have school because they're doing parent/teacher conferences. So of course, she wanted to do a project. I love that I've helped her to want to do crafts and be creative, but sometimes (like this morning when I had other things I wanted to accomplish) I think I've created a monster. :) Emma found an old Family Fun magazine and proceeded to mark all the things she liked and wanted to do. She decided to make a bouquet of flowers for her teacher. You trace your hand and use it as the main part of the flower. She loved it and could do most of it on her own.

Sunday Best and Bedtime Buddies

We got Paul this really cool zipper tie from the LDS bookstore. This is how he wears it most of the time.

As part of our sewing adventure that I recently posted about, my mom also made Emma a new dress. We got the pattern and material with the original intent that it would be a time for me to try out my skills and learn some things. Well with the kids and the shipment of clothes (that's what it seemed like because there was so much to go through), my mom ended up doing all of it past setting out the pattern pieces and cutting them out. I think she did a fantabulous job and Emma loves it.

Bedtime Buddies

Benjamin and Paul don't always get along during the day, but tonight they were Bedtime Buddies. After Paul falls asleep, Benjamin will go over and confiscate Paul's books and trains. Sometimes he'll sit up on the bed with Paul or he'll just take what he wants back to his own bed. The hot item tonight was the Lakeshore magazine (toy catalog) that you see in the photo. Ben went over to get a closer look and just couldn't fend off the tired bug. This is where I found Ben when Claire came to me asking, "Where Benny go?"

Stir Fry and Dress-Up Slippers

Dinner. We got home right at six from a trip to Tri-Cities for my niece's birthday. We are 5:00 pm eaters, so this was late for us. I thought, chicken nuggets for the kids and stir fry for me. And even though I probably didn't sit down to eat until after 7:00 pm it tasted oh, sooo good!

Dress-Up Slippers

Emma was playing dress-up and had these beautiful gold numbers on. She asked, "Are these like the slippers you wear at the Temple?" This launched us into a discussion about the Temple and the symbolism of wearing white and being quiet to represent being clean, and pure, and reverent. I talked about how we have to be striving to keep the commandments and do what is right to be able to enter the Temple. She said, "It sounds hard, doing all that stuff to be good." To which I responded, "Yeah it is, but it's fun. It's fun to be good and to go to the Temple." Who would have thought that dress-up slippers would have gotten us there. She's a thinker that Emma.

Visiting Teaching Gift

As part of my Keeping Christmas all year long goal, I am working to be more diligent in my Visiting Teaching. Yes, I want to make sure that I visit them each month, but I want to do something more to let them know that I am thinking of them. So throughout each month I'll think of little ways to stop by or drop a note that doesn't coincide with our visit. Plus giving to the women I visit is an easy and fun way for me to serve.

I found these tins forever ago when we lived in Ellensburg at the dollar store. Great dollar store there - miss it! I just knew that they were cute for something. In my cleaning out I decided to make some hot chocolate kits and finally put them to use. I'm so excited to deliver them.