Valentines Pictures

Yep, I was looking through pictures on my camera and saw that I was remiss for not posting these gems. I took pictures with the intention of posting them last month, but I ended up forgetting with the move and all of the crazy cake stuff that's been happening lately.

Here is Audie posing with his valentines. He made out like a bandit, and a girl or two left an extra heart on her valentine for him. Um, growing up too soon. I'll give you three guesses who the ham of the family is... if you said Chloie, you'd be right. "Wait, Mommy, take a picture of this one!"

Can you say "Cheese"?This is the "mail box" we made for school for her valentines. I covered the box and cut out the hearts, and she pasted them on. There was a flag on there somewhere, but I think it fell off coming back from school.Dougie only got valentines from his brother and sister (and Mommy and Dad of course!), but to make him feel better, Chloie and Audie shared their spoils with him. Happy kid, I tell you!

Boxes and Bathrooms

I bet you thought this was a new store like Bed Bath & Beyond! Nope!

Last night after the kids went to bed, Tim and I unpacked the bathrooms. Tim sat there talking to me, and I sorted everything out. I found all 567 or so of Chloie's ponytail thingies, the brushes I've been looking for since we moved in, all of Tim's cologne and my perfume, and I lost count of all the lotion we have. Yikes! It takes up the entire bottom drawer of the bathroom cabinet! I need to really start using it more often.

It's nice, however, to see empty floor in our bedroom (where the 5 boxes and 3 bags of stuff once stood). We're going to tackle all of my crafty stuff next. This Saturday after I deliver the Skateboarder Birthday Cake and go grocery shopping should do nicely. Believe it or not, once all of those boxes are done, that'll clear out the boys' closet, the rest of Chloie's room, and most of the "quiet room" as the kids call it or about 75% of the remaining boxes. I might have to invest in some cabinets or something.

Our next agenda is the kids' toys. We're going to sort through them for age appropriate things. No matter how cute, I don't think they will want to play with the stacking ring toy any more. That should thin down the mass down stairs. Anyone know someone that might need these toys? They're free!

Tim tried to make deer burgers last night. I can't say it was an overwhelming success. They tasted good, Audie and Chloie really liked them, as did I, but our of 10 we ended up with 4 1/2. They kept falling apart on the grill. I think I have a solution for that, but we'll have to try it out later. I will tell you that the fillet mignon we made from the tenderloin turned out exceptionally well. Audie even devoured one.

Family Home Evening

Yesterday during lunch I decided to look at Splash for a Family Home Evening (FHE) idea. I decided to do a little "gospel art" with the family. We've been reading in 1 Nephi about how Lehi followed God's commandments and led his family out of Jerusalem and into the wilderness. I found a picture in the gospel art kit on lds.org and printed #301 in grey scale. I also printed the text on the back of the picture. We talked about the picture, who was who, and what they were doing while everyone colored their picture. Then we posted them on the back window for all to see.

It was fun to see how each one of us colored the picture. From top left and going counterclockwise: Tim, Me, Dougie, Audie, and Chloie with the text in the middle. This was a fun activity that fit very well with our scripture study, and we got to see how much the kids really learned from reading. Dougie even knows what book we're reading (the Book of Mormon) and who we're reading about(Nephi). Audie and Chloie can recount most of the story and why some of the events happened. I'm so proud!

Another busy weekend...

It seems like we never have enough time in the day to get everything done! We stopped by my parent's house on Saturday to pick up some things that we left behind... there's still stuff there in the garage, but that can wait until our next visit. Then we got to go to the emergency room only this time it was a quick trip to triage to get Dougie's staple removed. I was picturing something resembling the little handheld fanged contraption I use at work to remove staples from paper. I tell you, I was relieved to see it was a little thing that crimped the center and in doing so, allowed the nurse to just lift the staple... no blood or screaming. It was actually kind of neat. We had lunch at Pizza Hut and afterwards stopped by Wal-mart. We got lucky with front row parking and decided to take the whole family in for the trip instead of just me running in for the two or three things we needed there. I did get the #10 yarn for the leprosy bandages we're doing in Relief Society as one of our service projects. I've been working on my first one for two days and so far it's almost 3 feet long. I understand why they're so hard to keep doing... it started out 2" wide, but it seems to have shrunk to 1 1/2". It's getting there. We also went to Martin's to get groceries. I spent a little more than I really wanted to, but at least we're stocked up for a little bit. I even got my veggie seeds for the garden. I can't wait to start planting!

Sunday was a little more tame (I think). We woke up to almost an inch of snow (that I didn't know was coming). The kids seemed pretty excited about it. I promised them we could play in it when we got home, but it had almost completely melted by the time we got home. Church today was the first of two(!) fast Sundays this month, and it was a wonderful meeting. Brother Taylor did very well his first time conducting Sacrament. President Fugate got up to talk about how we need adversity. I hate to admit it, but I agree with him. The missionaries and our returned missionaries all got up to speak as well. That reminds me, we need to start saving for missions later, too. Relief Society was about Joy and Happiness and the things we could do in our lives to cultivate both. I really like it when Sister Meehan teaches us. She as a sense of humor about everything that make the lesson interesting and tangible. When we did finally get home and while the kids were taking their nap, Tim and I had a long conversation about the temple, going there, what we had to do, why we wanted to go. It seems like it will take forever for us to get there, and I worry that something will happen between now and then. He seems confident that it will all be OK, but I'm not. I wish he could pass some of that over to me. For now his reassurances will be enough.

I did start on the figures for the skate boarder cake that I'm making for next weekend. I also have to start finding ideas for the Relief Society Birthday cake coming up at the end of the month. Purses. Lots and lots of purses. Should be fun!

This morning (Monday) on my way to work, the Trailblazer and I had a run in with a patch of black ice near Sulphur Springs Stables... as a garbage truck was coming the other way. I was really scared, especially after the talk I had with Tim yesterday, but luckily the Lord was watching over me and we made it our unscathed. When I say "we" I mean the Trailblazer, too. Not a scratch! I put it in 4-wheel drive for the rest of the trip into work.

Tim and I plan to unpack throughout the week as much as possible, and hopefully most of it will be done before Saturday so we can relax a little bit. I say hopefully because they are starting a rotating schedule at Tim's work so he might not be home for some Saturdays or Sundays. I strongly dislike it when they do this. I honestly think it's a waste of time, not to mention making him work on Sundays. Grrr!