I love the looks on their faces as they find the eggs! And even better, this year they didn't make me re-hide the eggs for weeks after the fact. Yeah!
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Hunting for eggs!
And again, I couldn't choose between these sweet easter egg hunting pics so here's another slide (very late I know):
I love the looks on their faces as they find the eggs! And even better, this year they didn't make me re-hide the eggs for weeks after the fact. Yeah!
I love the looks on their faces as they find the eggs! And even better, this year they didn't make me re-hide the eggs for weeks after the fact. Yeah!
Loving the temple flowers!
And here's some more pictures for Anna. There's so many of them, I really don't expect anyone but her (and maybe Grandma and Aunt Patti) to watch them all :) Basically I couldn't choose just a couple pics because I love them all, so I made a slide show instead. Enjoy!
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Boys are weird
(That is what I learn every Sunday from our CTR 7 class of 6 boys.)
Today we were learning about the Word of Wisdom (which is a revelation received by Joseph Smith that tells what things are good for man to eat and what is not - basically a code of health you could say with promised blessings for abiding by it). They were split into two teams for a review game, where they had 90 seconds to draw as many types of fruit they could think of, then vegetables, then meats, then the bad things that the Word of Wisdom teaches us not to consume.
The fruit and veggies rounds went pretty much as expected but then I went to tally up Team A's meat round. They had drawn red meat, a bull, a bear, a grenade, and a person (what?!). Needless to say, they did not receive points for all of their answers which led to a brief discussion on cannibalism.
Fast forward 90 seconds or so to when I went to tally up Team A's "things that the Word of Wisdom teaches are bad for us" round. They'd drawn a cigarette, candy, ice cream, an eyeball, eyeball candy, eyeball ice cream, and a person (labeled Brother Whitman) - which they reminded me, we are not supposed to eat.
We might have to re-visit this lesson sometime in the future. I'm just not sure they really got the gist.
Today we were learning about the Word of Wisdom (which is a revelation received by Joseph Smith that tells what things are good for man to eat and what is not - basically a code of health you could say with promised blessings for abiding by it). They were split into two teams for a review game, where they had 90 seconds to draw as many types of fruit they could think of, then vegetables, then meats, then the bad things that the Word of Wisdom teaches us not to consume.
The fruit and veggies rounds went pretty much as expected but then I went to tally up Team A's meat round. They had drawn red meat, a bull, a bear, a grenade, and a person (what?!). Needless to say, they did not receive points for all of their answers which led to a brief discussion on cannibalism.
Fast forward 90 seconds or so to when I went to tally up Team A's "things that the Word of Wisdom teaches are bad for us" round. They'd drawn a cigarette, candy, ice cream, an eyeball, eyeball candy, eyeball ice cream, and a person (labeled Brother Whitman) - which they reminded me, we are not supposed to eat.
We might have to re-visit this lesson sometime in the future. I'm just not sure they really got the gist.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Picasso was right.
He said, "Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up."
By the way - the next two posts are new also. I'm playing catch-up.
By the way - the next two posts are new also. I'm playing catch-up.
Priceless
At least I think these smiles are priceless-
although I still don't think the Mona Lisa is Da Vinci's best work. It really wasn't that impressive to me in person, but Omsi's whole exhibit was fascinating - especially the parts I was actually able to read or listen to before realizing that my girls had again run off.
This was when we were still blissfully unaware of how many gazillions of people there were there that day! Note to self: NEVER go to Omsi during spring break!!!!
If our girls end up being scientists - we won't have any ideas were they got those genes!
although I still don't think the Mona Lisa is Da Vinci's best work. It really wasn't that impressive to me in person, but Omsi's whole exhibit was fascinating - especially the parts I was actually able to read or listen to before realizing that my girls had again run off.
This was when we were still blissfully unaware of how many gazillions of people there were there that day! Note to self: NEVER go to Omsi during spring break!!!!
If our girls end up being scientists - we won't have any ideas were they got those genes!
Spring Break ... just a bit behind here!
For spring break (which was weeks ago, I know) we went to my parents' Bend house and had a blast! One day we head up to the mountain to take the girls sledding.
At the beginning, there was a lot of this:
(smiling)
And this:
(Enjoying the ride)
And this:
(Family fun!)
Then, unfortunately there was some of this:
(snow spraying in the face)
And more of that:
Which led to a whole lot of this:
(we'll call this crying and comforting)
And this:
And this:
And this:
So we gave up.
We headed up to meet all the family skiiers for lunch, and then Coop and I were persuaded (they really had to twist our arms) into swapping with my mom - she took our kids back home for naps and we skiied the rest of the day. The girls thought it was hilarious watching us on those silly skiis!
Despite my serious infatuation with powder, in the last 7 years, this was only the 2nd half day of skiing I've managed to fit in. For Coop - it was the first time in 12 years. I'm glad to say that we made it without any serious injury and had a blast!
(smiling)And this:
(Enjoying the ride)And this:
(Family fun!)Then, unfortunately there was some of this:
(snow spraying in the face)And more of that:
Which led to a whole lot of this:
(we'll call this crying and comforting)And this:
And this:
And this:
So we gave up.We headed up to meet all the family skiiers for lunch, and then Coop and I were persuaded (they really had to twist our arms) into swapping with my mom - she took our kids back home for naps and we skiied the rest of the day. The girls thought it was hilarious watching us on those silly skiis!
Despite my serious infatuation with powder, in the last 7 years, this was only the 2nd half day of skiing I've managed to fit in. For Coop - it was the first time in 12 years. I'm glad to say that we made it without any serious injury and had a blast!Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Defender of my virtue
Last night I was exercising in my room. I was working really hard and was hot so I was just in a sports bra and pants. Shocking, I know. Jell came in and was very concerned, "Mom, why are you wearing that exercising shirt? I can see your belly button!" I had to laugh and then explain that I was really sweaty and since I was just in the house and nobody could see me, it was okay. She replied, "I can see you. I can see your belly button." Laugh again. Then, "No, I meant other people. You're family so it's okay. But it would be immodest for me to walk around outside like this where anyone could see me. I'll put more clothes on when I'm done exercising, I promise." I thought this was a pretty decent explanation for someone as out of breath as I. But then Jell went out in the hallway and when Coop tried to come down the hall to the room to tell me something, she stopped him with a "No!" She blocked the hallway - arms and legs spread as wide as she could so he couldn't get by. "You can't go in your room! Mommy's not modest! You would see her belly button!"
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
They're just so silly
I pointed out a potato bug to Jell and explained that when they're scared, they roll up into a ball. She studied it for about 5 seconds and then went, "Baaa!" with her hands shooting out to surprise the bug. Then, "mom, it did not work. He is not scared."
Meri likes to touch worms to make them squiggle. Jell eggs her on, laughing her head off, and urging, "Meri, do it again! Do it again!" (Although she refuses to touch them herself, because they're slimy) I called Meri a "worm toucher," and for the next few minutes she would walk around, throw her hands up in the air, and triumphantly proclaim "I da worm toucher!" She also likes to carry them in her hand.
While daddy was changing Meri's diaper I pointed out to Jell what a great daddy he was to do that. Jell, matter-of-factly stated, "Yeah, he's such a great poop-changing-guy."
Jell was playing with barbies, and said, "Oh, her dress fell off! She doesn't have any clothes on! HOW EMBARRASSING!!!!" (the girl is all drama and exaggeration!)
Have you seen the movie Enchanted? Both of my girls have taken to sticking their heads out doors and singing/calling to the birds and squirrels to come help them. Jell wants to know, "Mom, why don't they come like they do in the movie?"
In fact, Jell has taken to living in her own little princess-movie world. I've seen her "making her prince" like Giselle does when she's a cartoon (pronounced tar-toon in our house). She was getting rather upset with Meri the other day because Meri, who was supposed to be Sleeping Beauty, wouldn't fall asleep after Jell had her touch the "thing." She has informed me before that the mice and birds are making her a dress for the ball, often gets out a magic carpet to sit on, and on and on.
The other thing they like to pretend is that they're mamas. Jell has informed me she wants 6 babies when she's gets bigger and bigger. To avoid fights, everybody can be mamas at the same time, although I have to clarify that I'm the real mama, even though Meri likes me to pretend to be her baby. Yesterday I told Meri that you have to be potty-trained to be a mama (it's a rule). She said, "oh," thought about it for a second, and added, "and daddas too." Maybe now that she's got that understanding down, she will not only have some motivation to become so herself, but will also stop asking Coop and I if we have poopies.
Meri likes to touch worms to make them squiggle. Jell eggs her on, laughing her head off, and urging, "Meri, do it again! Do it again!" (Although she refuses to touch them herself, because they're slimy) I called Meri a "worm toucher," and for the next few minutes she would walk around, throw her hands up in the air, and triumphantly proclaim "I da worm toucher!" She also likes to carry them in her hand.
While daddy was changing Meri's diaper I pointed out to Jell what a great daddy he was to do that. Jell, matter-of-factly stated, "Yeah, he's such a great poop-changing-guy."
Jell was playing with barbies, and said, "Oh, her dress fell off! She doesn't have any clothes on! HOW EMBARRASSING!!!!" (the girl is all drama and exaggeration!)
Have you seen the movie Enchanted? Both of my girls have taken to sticking their heads out doors and singing/calling to the birds and squirrels to come help them. Jell wants to know, "Mom, why don't they come like they do in the movie?"
In fact, Jell has taken to living in her own little princess-movie world. I've seen her "making her prince" like Giselle does when she's a cartoon (pronounced tar-toon in our house). She was getting rather upset with Meri the other day because Meri, who was supposed to be Sleeping Beauty, wouldn't fall asleep after Jell had her touch the "thing." She has informed me before that the mice and birds are making her a dress for the ball, often gets out a magic carpet to sit on, and on and on.
The other thing they like to pretend is that they're mamas. Jell has informed me she wants 6 babies when she's gets bigger and bigger. To avoid fights, everybody can be mamas at the same time, although I have to clarify that I'm the real mama, even though Meri likes me to pretend to be her baby. Yesterday I told Meri that you have to be potty-trained to be a mama (it's a rule). She said, "oh," thought about it for a second, and added, "and daddas too." Maybe now that she's got that understanding down, she will not only have some motivation to become so herself, but will also stop asking Coop and I if we have poopies.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Finding it hard to finish
So I haven't got to paint much lately, mostly because Cooper was suffering through finals and the girls and I were suffering from lack of Cooper, and our house was all out of sync, but hooray Coop for finishing the term! Hip hip hooray! And when I have painted, I've been totally unable to finish anything or feel successful at it. Here's some of the works in progress.
Attempt #2:
I like some things about both but think it'll probably take at least attempt #3 to get it right.
New subject.
Attempt #1 when I liked it:
Attempt #1 after I ruined it with the nasty background that I didn't want to add but went for anyway and regretted it so much afterwards that I didn't paint for days:
Sad.
Sweet but missing something - not a nasty background, but something. I can't figure out what else to do with it and I'm too scared of ruining it again to touch it for now.
Attempt #3 on bigger paper (requires more courage and commitment) in the line-drawing stage, which I was really happy with:
Attempt #3 in the I'm getting nervous about ruining it phase and so it's time to go to bed instead:
Time to go to bed and dream about being an accomplished, confident artist who knows what she's doing and doesn't care about messing up, because it so rarely happens and even if it does, it doesn't matter because she has endless amounts of patience, painting time, and money - so she can start over anytime and never worry about wasting money she doesn't have on watercolor paper.
P.S. I posted two at once. Don't miss the cute entry of the girls sleeping below.
Attempt #1:
Attempt #2:
I like some things about both but think it'll probably take at least attempt #3 to get it right.New subject.
Attempt #1 when I liked it:
Attempt #1 after I ruined it with the nasty background that I didn't want to add but went for anyway and regretted it so much afterwards that I didn't paint for days:
Sad.Attempt #2:
Sweet but missing something - not a nasty background, but something. I can't figure out what else to do with it and I'm too scared of ruining it again to touch it for now.Attempt #3 on bigger paper (requires more courage and commitment) in the line-drawing stage, which I was really happy with:
Attempt #3 in the I'm getting nervous about ruining it phase and so it's time to go to bed instead:
Time to go to bed and dream about being an accomplished, confident artist who knows what she's doing and doesn't care about messing up, because it so rarely happens and even if it does, it doesn't matter because she has endless amounts of patience, painting time, and money - so she can start over anytime and never worry about wasting money she doesn't have on watercolor paper.P.S. I posted two at once. Don't miss the cute entry of the girls sleeping below.
Is this what they mean by "sleeping like a baby?"
These are my cuties sleeping like normal people:
And this is an example of a child unsuccessfully faking it:
And this position looks incredibly awkward and utterly unsleepable to me:
How does this even happen? Did she fall over asleep and happened to land on the bed?:
Let's play who can find the baby?:
And mom and dad probably should have checked on me sooner. Again though, did she just fall asleep mid-playing with toes and konk, her head's face down in the carpet? Isn't she uncomfortable????:
And my final million-dollar question: If they can fall asleep ANYWHERE, as evidenced by the pictures above, WHY is convincing them to sleep such torture?
And this is an example of a child unsuccessfully faking it:
And this position looks incredibly awkward and utterly unsleepable to me:
How does this even happen? Did she fall over asleep and happened to land on the bed?:
Let's play who can find the baby?:
And mom and dad probably should have checked on me sooner. Again though, did she just fall asleep mid-playing with toes and konk, her head's face down in the carpet? Isn't she uncomfortable????:
And my final million-dollar question: If they can fall asleep ANYWHERE, as evidenced by the pictures above, WHY is convincing them to sleep such torture?
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Horses are big
On Friday we took advantage of the sunny day and thought we'd check out the horsies down at the Hunt club. Turns out they're really big, especially to mini-people. Check out Meri eyeing a horse:
Basically, we don't have to worry about them asking for a real horse anytime soon. There might have been some tears. They really did not like it when the horses begged. Some of the horses would see that we had carrots, and proceed to beg - which consisted of them kicking their stall as loudly as they could until we fed them. For some reason, this was a little unnerving to the kids.
I promise I'm not a mean mom. I didn't force her to feed the horse. She begged me to let her feed the horse with the ponytails and then when we got close and the horse leaned in, lips back, and teeth out, she freaked. Nevertheless, she did brag about her accomplishment to anyone that would listen the rest of the day.
Despite their fear, they were still very interested in the horses and enjoyed seeing them from a comfortable distance, especially when they were riding around and jumping. The pet store might be more our cup of tea, but it's good to get out and see new things! And the girls talked about how cool the horses were for days afterwards, so I think we might even go back sometime when we're feeling brave.
Basically, we don't have to worry about them asking for a real horse anytime soon. There might have been some tears. They really did not like it when the horses begged. Some of the horses would see that we had carrots, and proceed to beg - which consisted of them kicking their stall as loudly as they could until we fed them. For some reason, this was a little unnerving to the kids.
I promise I'm not a mean mom. I didn't force her to feed the horse. She begged me to let her feed the horse with the ponytails and then when we got close and the horse leaned in, lips back, and teeth out, she freaked. Nevertheless, she did brag about her accomplishment to anyone that would listen the rest of the day.
Despite their fear, they were still very interested in the horses and enjoyed seeing them from a comfortable distance, especially when they were riding around and jumping. The pet store might be more our cup of tea, but it's good to get out and see new things! And the girls talked about how cool the horses were for days afterwards, so I think we might even go back sometime when we're feeling brave.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Gotta be movin!
We got some moves
Yee-haw
Always spinning
And flying like a rocket-ship is fun times too!
I'm not sure the inside of my house can take too many more rainy days with the sort of constant energy going on over here, so thank heavens for beautiful sunny days like today - no matter how cold!
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Everybody loves to paint
The girls also really enjoy painting - and since I've stocked up on watercolor sets at garage sales for the last couple of years, we have plenty of fun. Today Jell actually painted people. This is her and Meri (Jell "has red hair and green eyes. Meri is blonde"):
That is daddy with some mighty fine hair on the left and mommy with a hair rainbow on the right:
And this is Nana sporting a purple hairdo, and Uncle Adam with a goatee down to his feet:
I love the creativity! So fun to cultivate in these little guys!
I was painting a bit today too, and have been working on this one:
I included the photos I was working from in the picture. I mostly like it but am not sure if it's done, or if I need to fix my eyes or add definition to Jell's shirt. What do you think? What does it still need? I'm trying hard to keep things loose and focus more on the emotion but it's hard to stop. I need someone to announce "and paintbrushes down please."
And this is one I did a couple of days ago:
I like the looseness in it and the tender moment - I just wish I hadn't let the watercolors get as muddy as I did. I'm not sure if it's done either although maybe it would be better to just start over and try again.
And this is one I did after the last but before the one of me. It didn't go so well and I got frustrated and gave up:
I really like the baby's face but again, I let it get too muddy on the mom, overworked the hair, couldn't figure out the teeth, got mad and gave up. Oh, and I was kind of scared to include those last two painting pictures because I really didn't do justice to the beautiful women I painted - please don't be offended - nor was I trying hard for exact replicas, but for the feeling. There's obviously still quite a few kinks to work out. Sigh.
But that's enough about me - here are a few photos of my cute kids:
And this is just sweet with the little matching piggies:
That is daddy with some mighty fine hair on the left and mommy with a hair rainbow on the right:
And this is Nana sporting a purple hairdo, and Uncle Adam with a goatee down to his feet:
I love the creativity! So fun to cultivate in these little guys!I was painting a bit today too, and have been working on this one:
I included the photos I was working from in the picture. I mostly like it but am not sure if it's done, or if I need to fix my eyes or add definition to Jell's shirt. What do you think? What does it still need? I'm trying hard to keep things loose and focus more on the emotion but it's hard to stop. I need someone to announce "and paintbrushes down please."And this is one I did a couple of days ago:
I like the looseness in it and the tender moment - I just wish I hadn't let the watercolors get as muddy as I did. I'm not sure if it's done either although maybe it would be better to just start over and try again.And this is one I did after the last but before the one of me. It didn't go so well and I got frustrated and gave up:
I really like the baby's face but again, I let it get too muddy on the mom, overworked the hair, couldn't figure out the teeth, got mad and gave up. Oh, and I was kind of scared to include those last two painting pictures because I really didn't do justice to the beautiful women I painted - please don't be offended - nor was I trying hard for exact replicas, but for the feeling. There's obviously still quite a few kinks to work out. Sigh.But that's enough about me - here are a few photos of my cute kids:
And this is just sweet with the little matching piggies:
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