Am I the only one?

Am I the only one that feels bad for the Captain of the Concordia? It is horrifying and completely tragic that so many people died and I'm sure if the Captain could do it over again he would have made different choices, but don't you think he feels bad enough being responsible for their deaths. Why call him a coward? Why tell him how horrible he is and that if YOU were in the same situation of course you would've done a million times better. He is human...not perfect.

SNOW FUN

Trevor and Daniel built a sweet fort with what little snow was left! Just a few days after this the weather was at 56 degrees...in February! In Cleveland! Crazy.

Not a teenager anymore

I have had it confirmed to me a few times in the past couple of weeks that I DO NOT look like a teenager anymore. The truth be told, I have been trying to convince myself that I still look "young". When I brought Trevor to tour his kindergarten class (age 5...just 3 years ago) everyone thought I was a high schooler. Yes, I secretly liked that a little bit. Now there is no fat chance of that happening. Proof #1 of many:

Stake YW leader to myself: You'll have to meet my friend in the Solon ward. She's a camp director too! She looks young, though. All of the young women are totally going to think she is one of them!....(long pause and blank stare) Oh, and I mean they'll totally, probably think that about you too!

Hahaha!

Jane Austen Festival in Bath

I so want to go to this! I would love to get all dressed up and pretend to be Jane Austen for a day!
Jane Austen Festival

Paper Whites

January 25, 2012
Dave grew paper whites with his mom as a kid. So, he wanted to have them in our house too. We went out and bought some for one of our dates at the local nursery. Dave then taught the kids how to plant them and they are having fun watching them grow.

Dave helped the kids make salt and sugar crystals

January 24, 2012
I'll have to post a picture of the actual product. He poured some concoction into a mason jar, attached a string with a ring tied to the end of it and sugar and salt crystals are slowly forming every day. The kids are VERY excited.

Ashlyn's ears are officially pierced!

January 23, 2012

Ashlyn has been asking me since her fifth birthday last year to get her ears pierced. She went from wanting them, to not wanting them until she turned 10 years old, to wanting them again. One day this week, when she was home from school due to a sick day (she had a fever the day before but woke up fine with no fever the next day) I took her out to get her ears pierced. She was so excited! Right before it happened the convo went like this:

Me: Ashlyn how do you feel?
Ashlyn: I feel nervous. Is it going to hurt?
Me: a little. It will feel like a pinch. (hahaha! I laugh when I hear this because doctors always say that and it NEVER feels just like a pinch)

This is her nervous face:

Getting ready for the gun:

Marking where the holes will go:

Right before the first shot:

Ashlyn cried for like 5 seconds and later told me, "Mom that did NOT feel like a pinch! That shocked me!" She was very brave and couldn't wait to tell anyone who would listen about her new earrings. Oh the joys of being 5. :)

Finished product--she chose white gold with blue flowers. So cute! I adore this little girl!:

Book of the Week

The Message
(January 24, 2012)

This book is about an LDS person that had a near death experience. The experiences he shared were so detailed that in the context of the information it seemed hokey. Almost too sugary sweet. But I admire him for completing a mission he was assigned and set out to do: to preach about God and the importance of love. I loved the preface to the book. Especially this:

"There is so much in this world that we consider significant and worthy of our time and resources, which in reality means nothing. Ultimately, it is our families, our relationships, and how we are able to serve others that matter in the hereafter. It is not who we are, but how we live that matters eternally. It is not who we know, but how we love that counts in the world to come."

Sunday Mornings

Church doesn't start for us until 12:30pm now. I. LOVE. IT. Like seriously. I don't like the "get to church scramble" that usually happens when we have early morning church.

Since we do have so much time in the morning, I decided to teach my kids how to bake before church. We went through a period of time where we made cookies every single Sunday (this lasted a year and a half and the goal was to teach them to bake). The kids loved it. So, we are doing it again. We've made cookies and chocolate lollipops so far.

Corbin's shirt says, "Eat, Sleep, Win. It's what I do." Kind of awesome.

Gymnastics

Ashlyn and Corbin are in a gymnastics class together. I've learned that pretty much every little kid LOVES gymnastics. Mine are no exception. I love to watch them learn.





They each made a new friend in the class.

Cool birthday gift idea

A friend in our ward (the amazing Kellie Buckner) made a gift for a girl in our ward for her birthday that I thought was ADORABLE!! I wanted to share.

How cute is that?! She made an indoor hopscotch out of canvas and felt. The white part is canvas and the numbered squares are felt. Each number is cut out so that the white canvas is showing through. I LOVE it!! How fun for the winter. Now go make one. :)

Quote

“Being mistreated is the most important condition of mortality, for eternity itself depends on how we view those who mistreat us.”

Just a little excerpt that I liked from the book I am reading this week. More on Monday...

daddy/daughter date

Ashlyn's activity for girl scouts tonight was a daddy/daughter dance. So cute! It was a pj party so everyone wore pj's and met at the middle school. It was decorated and they hired a dj. Ashlyn LOVED it. Dave took her out to SweetieFrys for ice cream after.




Annie and Matt were there too which was so fun for Ashlyn and Dave.

The troupe made a poster to hang on the wall of the gym. It was a picture of each girl in their pj's.

Pizza time

Every time we go to the Library for story time Corbin and I want to hit up Dewey's Pizza, which is basically across the street from the Library. The Ryan's Inferno is SO GOOD. I love it. I love it so much that this is my second post about it.:) The last time I went in, the workers gave me the recipe for it! Score! Now I can make it at home. I'm not really a pizza person but this sauce, celery, chicken and ranch combo is so good.

Also, the pizza makers put on a show for the kids. They toss dough, they throw flour at the viewing window. They make fun designs out of the flour on the counter. It is so great. Who knew pizza could be so fun.


Pizza maker throwing flour at Jimmer, Corbin and Aurora

Counter top flour design: Sponge bob

Ashlyn's tower

I love when the kids accomplish something that they are so proud of. This is one of those things for Ashlyn. She built a HUGE "diamond castle" out of wedgits. She was excited and so was I.

Ice Skating tragedy

We went ice skating on Monday for MLK day (no school!) and Trevor fell on the ice and got a concussion. Seriously. I didn't see it happen because I was trying to get Corbin and Ashlyn around the rink, but according to Trevor he:
hit the wall
bounced off of it
blacked out
was dizzy when he woke up
he complained about being really tired and just wanted to sleep

Someone had carried him off the ice for me and gave him an ice pack. I took him to the ER. He threw up twice. Since he threw up and there was a span of an hour in between the doctors were concerned and wanted to do a CT scan to rule out blood being on his brain. Luckily the scan came back normal and he has been recovering.



Who knew that ice skating could be so dangerous! Since this incident Trevor has sworn to NEVER EVER go ice skating again. I had to give him the "if you fall off a horse speech" but I'm not sure it worked.

We had so many people call and offer help and priesthood blessings. We were grateful to have friends with us at the ice rink who were amazing and helpful. It was scary but we are glad it is now behind us.

Date Day

Dave just finished working 2 weeks straight of night shifts. It was fun to take advantage of the afternoons while the kids were at school by going on a few dates. This is a picture of us at panera...

p.s. the close up pictures on my ipod are not doing us any favors. :) but at least we are together...

52 books in 52 weeks

That's right. That's the book path I am on right now. Who wants to join me? I've asked several friends who have all turned me down!! :) For a goal this year I am reading a book a week and I love it so far. Let me know if you want to do this with me! I'll be sure to throw in a few 20 page books so that I won't go crazy reading huge novels every week. These are the books I have read so far:

THE BOOK THIEF--
(jan. 2, 2012)
Very impactful. Best word I can use to describe it. It follows a family living in a small fictional town in Germany during World War II. I love how it emphasizes the power of words and how words can make the world beautiful or ugly. I would recommend it.

ENDER'S GAME--
(jan. 9, 2012)

I had heard so much about this book from my husband's friend I had to read it. I thought it was ok. I don't think there was enough development between the characters. There were many unnecessary crude conversations. And it was a lot of the same thing over and over again. I could easily put it down. The only thing that made up for the whole book was chapter 14. It was pretty incredible and for that chapter alone I would almost recommend the whole book. And I want to see the movie.

ERAGON--
(jan. 16, 2012)
I had heard mixed reviews about this book. But I think it is pretty impressive that Christopher Paolini had started writing it at 15 when he had just graduated high school. And that he became a New York Times bestselling author at nineteen. This book reminds me of a lighter version of The Wheel of Time series.


I have to say it was really funny when I was trying to check these out at the library. I needed assistance from a guy at the information desk and after I read the names of the books to him he gives me a quizzical look and said, "Like for teenagers?" hahaha. Ummmm....yes. What's it to you? :) j/k I like the YA book genre and thought it would be a great way to start.

The day after I finished reading Ender's Game.
I found THIS in the news!!
They are making a movie! Perfect timing.

sledding

Baby Shower

My friend Janelle and I threw a baby shower for our friend Andrea. It was really fun to work with Janelle on it and it turned out cute and fun. The theme was "ready to pop" so we made food that had the word "pop" in it (i.e. salad and poppy seed dressing, jalapeno poppers, etc). The favors were homemade white chocolate lollipops. Prizes for games were a bottle of bubbles and a pack of gum.

Andrea talking to Cicely

We played a charades type game using words that have to do with pregnancy. ReAnn gave us a demonstration on how to give birth...so funny!!

She's not messing around. :)







me, andrea and Janelle

Andrea we love you and can't wait until sweet baby Evelyn Rose arrives!