Christmas is coming

Hello, Friends.

Tomorrow is my last day of classes.

We have a Christmas tree up with a train under it.

Who could ask for more?

Nutrition Edumacation

Grandma Gail is visiting again! On that note, we've been eating more fresh salads, which I love.

So, we've been talking to Grace and Sienna about Fiber and the importance of eating foods with Fiber as regards its effect on bowel movements.

So, after dinner, I said to Grace, "Please excuse me. I have to go potty."

She replied, "I hope you ate fiber."

Happy Halloween!

A wardrobe, a skeleton, and the indians.
A pilgrim with the Indians.

Quoting Sienna

At a darling 4 years old, here's what she's been saying.

When I handed her the phone with Grandma Gail on the other end, we heard, "Hi, Grandma Gail."

Pause.

An indignant tone, "Don't call me Cupcake!!! I'm Sienna!"


Friday night, I was putting on makeup for my date with Royal. I turned to Sienna and said, "I've been putting on my makeup. How do my eyes look?"

She looked into my eyes seriously for several seconds. Then, "MOM! They're JUST BLUE!"


This morning, I pushed her chair up to the table for breakfast.

A few seconds later, she got my attention with, "Mom, you almost squeezed me! You almost broke my bones." Apparently I pushed her closer than she liked!

Indian Princess the first

I sewed this! Me! Sienna cut the fringe for her shawl. I made the headband! I made the dress! I'm having a breakthrough in creativity.

Grace's Self Portrait

A fine Halloween Success

This Jack-O-Lantern is a symbol of greater things in my life. It represents the possibility of me creating something, on my own, and having fun with my children while doing it. This is the first Jack-O-Lantern I've ever done on my own, and he is wonderfully hideous.

Pizza and Sunflower

"Mom, can I call you Etsa? That's the Indian word for Momma."

"Sure, hon. And, I'll call you PearApple because you are so sweet."

Sienna now, "Mommy, can I call you Pizza?"

"Sure, honey, and I'll call you Sunflower."

All afternoon, echoes rang through our house, "Pizza! Pizza! Pizza!"

"Yes, Sunflower?"

"Etsa, Can we watch a movie?"

"Yes, Pearapple."

Our Mormon Code of Health

So, my sweet elderly neighbor asked me across the fence yesterday, "Are you all Mormon?"

"Yes!"

And, after a discussion about our temple here, which she walked through during the open house, she asked, "I don't want to be ugly, but is there anything you aren't allowed to eat?"

Grace immediately piped up, "We don't drink coffee, green tea, sweet tea, or alcohol. Other than those three, we can eat anything." Then, after some thought, she added, "Well, unless your parents won't let you eat something. Like Glow-in-the-dark gummy worms."

This is a hilarious and surprising reference to an incident at a birthday party months ago, where Grace won some glowing candy as a prize, and I immediately forbid her eating it. I just don't think our food show glow of its own accord.

Basement "Organization"

I have a friend who has a very clean house. All the time. Her name is Tisha.

So, we have a basement, a huge basement, that we have basically filled up by piling things on the floor over a 1400 sq ft area.

So, I say to Tisha, "Won't you please come over and tell me what to do?"

Today, she did. But before she came, our little 4 yr old friend Jade visited.

"Jade, today I'm having a friend over to help me organize the basement."

In a very flat tone, she quickly said, "Thank goodness. You can finally clean up all that junky Monkey." You can tell, she's spent time playing down there! ;-)

The Butterfly House

For Residents of St Louis County, the Butterfly House is free once/month. You don't want to miss it, either! SO cool.

How You Really know its True Love,

When you come home to a note taped on the front door like this, you know its the real thing.

Missionary-lytizing

We fed the missionaries Dinner tonight. I talked to the girls about how the missionaries represent Jesus Christ, and so they are our very special dinner guests. Grace decided she wanted to play restaurant, and I encouraged her to play the waitress tonight. So, she dressed up, including silver high heeled sandals. She served the Elders their dinner graciously.

After dinner, we had the Elders join our Family Home Evening. We like to have them over for Family Home Evening as often as possible.

So, Mom was the MC and song leader. Grace gave the lesson about the Holy Ghost. Jim and Mom made Hot Chocolate for treats. Sienna performed reading Too Much TV by the Berenstein Bears, followed by a Daddy's rousing game of Follow the Leader. Daddy likes to be the silliest ever when he is in charge! You should have seen those Elders following him while holding on to their ankles!

So, great, right? Yes, we have very simple and very fun family nights as a rule.

But, then, after Royal took the Elders home, he told me what one of them had to say about it. He said, He'd had one FHE in his life. It consisted of a terribly boring night where his mom read the scriptures in a monotone voice, and then gave up forever because everyone hated it so much. Who knew we could influence missionaries for good?

First Grade Art

We recently moved our Keyboard upstairs, and the girls love to play songs on it and dance around our den. They are sooooo cute, and no picture could capture it as well as this lovely drawing Grace did. She is full of Grace, I must say.

My Life

Hello, Friends.

I've started School just now. I'm studying to be an American Sign Language Interpreter. I'm taking classes 2 nights a week, when Royal is home to enjoy our children. (And enjoy reflecting on how this was all his idea in the first place. ;-))

The classes are lovely, and my life feels very full. My children are lovely, my husband is the center of my universe, and the one thing I'm always glad to revolve around. He has just started another blog. Please enjoy his handiwork at http://goodcleancrazy.wordpress.com/

My weekday evenings are now full, all of them.

So, I send my love out to you. It will be here for awhile, if you need to come back and read it again. Because I probably won't be posting for another month.

Caught Red Handed

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Well, Toddlers and inkpads mix very well indeed; yea, even permanently.

Here is what we looked like after scrubbing up Jim with water and soap, then water and vinegar, then alcohol, then olive oil. It won't come off. Period.

And the entire mess happened in less than 3 minutes of Mommy's attention (in the SAME ROOM) being elsewhere.

Tape on a Cat's Foot

Okay, here's a hilarious video, albeit a little slow. I've only seen it without audio, so I cannot give you any promises that the audio is child friendly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-mmjCDHzFQ

So, anyway, Today we put Sandal's on baby Jim's feet. They about 1/2 thick at the sole, which is probably equivalent to a 2 1/2 inch thick sole on one of us big people. So, he's been bravely charging around with really big steps. It reminded me of the cat thing, although Jim doesn't try to shake off his sandals. He just lifts each foot pretty high, and takes extra big steps. It is so cute! I hope you all can imagine. Happy Saturday!

Part II. Visiting Great-Grands

Rocket in Alabama

One fun stop before arriving at Grandma's!

Vacation, Part I. Driving Down to AL

We got to visit our Grandma P. this last week!

It is only a 12 hour drive. We stopped in the middle on the way there. This is Murfreesboro.

Princess Cookies n Friends

We have a new Grandma (Grandma Lori), who sent the girls Princess cookie cutters and about 10 varieties of sprinkles to decorate them with!

Here is our first attempt at princess cookies. We made it with friends over, and on the very morning before our 12 hour drive to Alabama. (I'm pretty impressed with myself.)

Grace and Sienna's cookies are both princesses.

Crafts, A New Beginning

For Pioneer's Day Week, I sewed Sunbonnets for myself and the girls. Here's the beginning of mine. Then, here are the girls' with theirs. They aren't done yet. Still need the chin ties. But, it is a complete breakthrough that I even did a craft, that I did it literally with the girls (they helped along many different stages), and that I finished all 3 (minus chin ties.). It is also a breakthrough that I did it during the appropriate season of the year! ( I don't think that has EVER happened to me before... Can't remember it happening, anyway. One of my long treasured dreams is to be a seasonal decorator. You know, just in my own house! We do decorate for Christmas, at least!)

Broken Promise Pictures

Well, I said yesterday I would post a pic. Obviously, I lied.

I want to state that I intend to be a woman of my word as of now and the future.

At any rate, Here are some pics Grace took tonight.

It's more impressive in motion. Anyway, I didn't do too much damage. Just a bit shorter, and less shapely now. Kind of an unorganized, non shape. Just random lengths. I cut each curl according to hair damage. So, one healthly lock might have been trimmed 1/4 inch, but the one next to it lost an inch and a half. Hmmmm. Maybe I'll save up for the salon...

At least the curls mask any real weirdness of the cut.

Blind Woman, Butcher Knife

I cut my own hair tonight.

With the Curly Girl method, hair cuts have to:

1. Be done dry
2. By an expert
3. One individual curl at a time, cut only at the right point in the S curl pattern.

So, I've decided that would be:
1. WAY too expensive.

So, I cut it myself dry, one curl at a time. 4 hours later and after a shower, it looks good wet....

(Background sound effects: dun, dun, dun, dun.....)

I'll post pics after it dries tomorrow.

Day 7 Hair, photoshopped

Just so you know, this isn't really my hair's true color. To get the individual curls to show up, Royal seriously messed with the color of my hair in this photo. The true color is closer to black, a very dark chocolate.

Curly Girl, the Final Frontier

I love my hair.
Before last Saturday, though, I'd hated my hair for AWHILE.

I've had these fantasies of having smooth, straight hair that lays down. When my hair is straight, it is BIG like the 80's. When it is not straightened, it is BIG like the 80's.

I finally found what I've been looking for all this time, but it is not straight hair. It is a way to nurture my natural curl that I did NOT know was hiding under that mane of frizz. Here is a pic. It is BIG here, but you'll see that it isn't always big now. Just curly.

I'm using the "Curly Girl" method (its a book.), and in 3 weeks, she says I will have "unlocked" all my hidden curl. So, in 3 weeks you can see what my hair really actually looks like when I'm nice to it. This pic is from 6 days into the 3 weeks.

4th Anniversary of Sienna's Arrival on Earth

The day I brought Sienna home from the hospital, Grace met us at the door.

"Where's my hug?", I asked, stretching out my arms.

2 Year old Grace ran past me, saying, "Where's my sister?"

Grace got Sienna a special barbie for her birthday. It is from the 12 Dancing Princesses Book. We found the eldest princess at a thriftshop. She has a light-up, spinning Ballet skirt! Grace had to have her for Sienna.

Sienna was my plump baby. She was also my projectile Vomiter. She was in one of those baby seats that faces the back of the car and kind of reclines the baby. Grace sat next to her. Grace would call out when she began spitting up. "MOM! The baby is throwing up!"

Once, right before such an alarm, I heard a series of splats that turned out to be Sienna's lunch hitting the seat she was facing.

What can I say? She is my treasure.

Grandma Parker Visits Us

I have a new Mother In Law. The only thing is, she is the same. I am new. But, anyway, the point is, we were able to spend the better part of a week together in my very own house, and I loved it. One adventure we had was visiting our lovely Botanical Gardens. Here is a taste of it.

Washing Grampa's Truck

Grampa hired my girls to wash his truck for $1 apiece. It was great fun.

Folding Grandpa's Tarp

An Amazing Month in My Life

If I had 6 months to live,

I would take my sweetie on a getaway.
Form a new relationship with my Mother in Law, apologize to her, and fly her to spend some real time together.
Apologize to each and every sister-in-law I have for being a jerk for the last 5-8 years.
Give up blaming everyone in my family for making my house a mess.
Get really present to my children; you know, actually see them and the innocence, wonder and grace that they are.
Give up blaming my messy house for my being unhappy.

And, that is just what I have done.

But, I'm not going to die as far as I know. I just took the Landmark Forum.

I have a few summarizing descriptions of my experience there.

1. Take the crap from your past out of your future. It ceases to have power in your life.
2. See all the judgments I've piled on EVERYone in my life, even total strangers. Let go of those judgments completely.

I can't remember the other one. Pictures to come.

Extra Good Babysitters

Thank you, Ms. Kristen! Two toned fingernails plus toes is a very impressive combination, wouldn't the rest of you agree? (Who can spell Girly-girls!)

Our New Turtle, Parsley

We have a new pet. She is a gift from my Visiting Teachee Sister, and the girls love her. We've named her Parsley. Here she is in her new home (a plastic grocery cookies box with some rocks.) That is a clock hanging in her cage that Grace made.

Spouse Bragging Challenge

You know, you should never keep a blog for too long without lots of sinful boasting. That's a rule I live by. (Not really, it just happens naturally. Hey, when you've got a head as big as mine, you have to vent somewhere.)

Anyway, I think its time I did some honest-to-goodness bragging about my husband. I feel I have the best husband out of all the husbands I know.

He never (not once that I can remember) has complained about:

-The mess in my house. (I do NOT keep a very tidy house.)
-Dinner not being ready- all evening.
-Dinner not tasting good.
-The mess the kids are.
-The mess the kids left that I haven't gotten around to cleaning up.
-His things being misplaced.
-My hair, or my lack of makeup.
-Any other aspect of my personal hygiene
-my spending habits.

He calls almost every day to see if I need him to pick up anything on his way home.
He calls almost every day to let me know whether he will have to work late.
He picks up Grace from school on his way home almost every day.
He supports me in any goal I pursue.
He helps me with the chores.
He lets me know if he has to spend any of the family's money out of ordinary.
He says he loves my hair, even when it is frizzy.
He helps me clothes shop. (You know how hard that is for men to endure! But he does have better taste than I.)
He is so cheap that he shopped for "new" shoes at 4 thrift stores, rather than buy the expensive kind he needed new. (His decision, not mine. I wanted to fork out the $120 for new ones.)
He loves to make things himself rather than spend money.
He loves to give to people who need it.
He went to a job he hated for over 4 years just to fulfill his duty as provider.
He is always trying to improve the system at his job.
He has never complained about having to eat frozen pizza.
He never leaves the toilet seat up.
He never complains that I put the TP on backwards.

That's pretty good for now. Pretty much, I think he's awesome. Awesome Man. That's Royal.

SCHOOL IS OUT!

I have finally joined the large sector of society whose life schedule is ruled by the public school calendar. I could never understand why summer was such a big deal before. It used to be my least favorite part of the year actually, since it is the warmest.

But, I am very happy to report that Grace is home with me full time again! For about 2.5 months. We are studying oceans and all things appertaining to oceans this week, so call and ask Grace who Jaques Cousteau is, or how she decorated her seascape in a box that we made today. Or, tell her something interesting about Columbus. Or, email me a poem we can learn about the sea.

Next week will be butterflies. Our Zoo has an enclosed Butterfly House. Its really cool.

You might be a Library Buff...

If you know your library card number better than your Social security number.
If you have more than 15 requests on your account at any given time.
If you have trained your 3 year old how to return and check out books on her own.
If you meet at the library to be visit taught or for other social occasions.

And, finally,
If you have on your Christmas wish list: "library gift cards to pay overdue fees."

Grooving Santa Brother

Here's my(Royal) brother Jason being abso-stinkin' hilarious when he was 19 or so. Gotta love that square belly!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7MyLkJh8jE

Meet President Uchtdorf

As we ate breakfast this morning, I thought it would be a good time to teach the girls the names of the First Presidency of the Church, since we have their picture taped onto the side of the fridge.

"Ladies, Do you know the names of our Prophet and the men who help him, called Counselors?"

"I only know the Prophet," said Grace, "That's President Monson."

"Well," said Mom, "The tall guy is called President Eyring. EYE-ring. The guy with the white hair is called President Uchtdorf. Can you say OOOOK-doorf?"

"Ooookdoorf," repeated Grace.

"Can you say 'Uchtdorf', Sienna?" asked Mom. She added, "Oooh-Kh-D-Oh-R-F."

Sienna hung her head low and said in a very quiet murmur, "Well, I can say President Monson."

Guess who's walking?

On Wednesday of this week, little Jim began walking! For real! It is SOOOOO adorable! He teeters and totters from side to side. Then, when he is ready to fall, he squats and carefully stands up again. So awesome!

The Landmark What?

There is a mysterious self-transformation seminar called The Landmark Forum. And its coming to St. Louis in June... We'll see if I go.

Anyway, I'm eager for Grace to be out of school! It ends soon, and I really want to plan fun adventures for the Summer. I think one way to make that happen is if we have a well-planned schedule. For Instance:

7-9 Get ready for day
9-11 Fun activity (Library, Zoo, Mall play place, Park, etc.)
11-12:30 Lunch, and cleanup
1-3 Nap time
3:30-4:30 Outside play time (without Mom)
5-6 Dinner and clean up
7 Night routine and bed!

I want to get Grace into a dance class, too. They are really cheap through the city. (Thank you, property taxes!)

Will get pics up as soon as possible.

An Interesting Threat

Royal doesn't usually threaten me. (I know you're all sighing in relief.)

So, it was with shock and concern that I received this one: "Elizabeth, I want you to go back to school so you can finish your degree. If you don't go back to school, I will."

The jury is still out. And a little angry. (Just a teeny, tiny, little bit.) I endured 6 years of Royal in school. I don't care if he goes to his grave with no more education than a Bachelor of Fine Arts from a prestigious Private school.

And, I would LOVE to finish my degree. Any degree, actually. It's the worldly accomplishment and the excitement of college that appeals to me. I love to learn.

But, I am not convinced this is the season of my life for me to go back to school, not even part time. The Jury is still out.

They are all dead.

My gorgeous tomatoes. My herbs, and almost every one of my flower seedlings.

Dead.

I have some pepper plants that lived.

I think I'm going to grow our garden in containers this year!

Sienna Paints her First Self Portrait

Here is one of Sienna's first recognizable art pieces. In fact, it is her very own self

Saturday Fun