The difference between Los Angeles and yogurt is that yogurt comes with less fruit. Rush Limbaugh

Wow its been a REALLY long time since I was able to sit down and blog, ahem, I mean Journal. :) As I've said before I have a sweet determined younger brother in California on a mission for our church, so sorry if this seems like a news letter with updates for him. At least when I say I've got to write David, it gives me an excuse to be on the computer. (giggle)

I've been extremely busy keeping up with kids, house, and church calling. But I can officially say were as ready as we can be to start school. I'm really excited for this year because along with what I hope will be a fun curriculum, were learning to play the VIOLIN!

Now to understand what a big deal this is I have to take you back a few years to a very young me watching Disney's Fantasia over and over again! I was obsessed with the fact that the music told a story. Then my family got the entire set of The Forgotten Carols by Micheal McLean on cassette tape. Now I know he mainly does piano but I was completely in love with the stories told to me by music. My mother would get sick of hearing the same music over and over but my father understood what I was thinking he himself being a lover of Peter and the Wolf.




I eventually chose the violin as the one instrument I HAD to have! If any unsuspecting adult asked what I wanted to do the got the prompt answer , 'play the violin.'
I now realize how sad it made my parents not being able to afford lessons. It was a big thing I asked for! The Violin alone was a major expense for them.
After a few years of being teased of not being able to carry a tune, and realizing that I had no talent, and couldn't read music to save my life, I put the idea aside and did my best to develop my other talents.

My sixteenth birthday rolls around and my Grandfather shows up with a brand new absolutely gorgeous Violin, bow and case. I was totally dumbfounded, I had given that dream up. I didn't know what to do. So I am ashamed to say I let it sit for years. I always took care of it, I took it to WY as a newly wed. I moved it with me every time we moved. I never let ANYTHING happen to it. But I never did anything with it.

I have always been sad by that, but kept telling myself one day when I had the money I would pay someone to teach me.
ENTER HUBBY.

I guess Tim got tired of seeing that black case move with us everywhere we went, because he took a sudden interest in the neglected violin. Without my knowing he replaced the strings, and had it tuned, then he started to teach himself to play it.
Maybe it was because I was pregnant and hormonal, or more likely it was years of guilt, but I lost it. I had a 'woman fit' about him playing it, "it was mine and I still loved my music and my Grandfather had wanted ME to play it!!!"

Well lets just say the Lord blessed me with the most patient man. He put it away and said, "I'll wait until your ready."

Eight months later I go to the Homeschool Conference in Atlanta. Its just myself and Timmy and I'm missing my family like crazy. So very unlike me (but very like my hubby) I take a lecture/class on music and how it develops parts of the brain that normally go unstimulated. It helps children to learn to read, but the biggest seller to me was the mathematical tributes of learning music.

I think, "how on earth can I afford classes for the children, much less me?" Then I run into a booth at the conference selling a music tutorial for parents to be able to teach children to play the violin and/ or the viola. EVEN if the parents cannot read music.
They also sold tiny violins, cases, and music stands. (Pictures forthcoming.)

I very humbly returned home and told my husband to take my violin and teach our girls music. (He's also tutoring me on the side. :)

I'll post some pictures of the girls and Tim playing when I can find my camera.

(The difference between Los Angeles and yogurt is that yogurt comes with less fruit.
Rush Limbaugh)

SMORE'S!!!

Yes we are that crazy LDS family that for family home evening we build a campfire and make our children endure the cold so they can have everlasting memories of scripture's and smore's! The stars were pretty that night and nobody caught a cold, so we are indeed blessed to be in such a loving crazy family!

My sister and niece all covered in Chocolate are testimony to the fact it was a yummy night.


I made her a tutu and she wouldn't take it off even to put on a coat and blanket! Such a chocolatey princess!


I love my father, though he wouldn't look at the camera!


My brother Joseph keeping Mae warm.


Tim poking the fire and Joseph keeping Timmy warm. (Tim was in hog heaven, even in shorts, he almost fell asleep in front of the fire!)


I think Lissa was trying to get a shot of me but I hid under Liza. I just think it was cute how engrossed Timmy was in the campfire.


(Ugh, she caught me on camera.)


Later on in the evening we finally got cold enough that we went inside to wrap things up. During which time Liza and Pappy had the following discussion:

Liza; "I'm a pretty three year old."
Pappy; "I know! I am too."
Liza; "No your not!"
Pappy; " I want to be three."
Liza; "Okay, but your not pretty."
Mommy; "Liza mind your manners! Why isnt Pappy pretty?!"
Liza; "Because he doesn't have any hairbows!"
Mommy; "Well what if he had hairbows would he be pretty then?"
Liza (laughing really loudly); "Pappy cant wear hairbows, he's not a girl!"

As a result of said conversation the next Liza turned around she saw this.

You must remember that my Dad is a Colonel in the Army! It was great, Pappy is officially one of the girls! I love him so much!

I must also post that Mae made everyone a treat with her easy bake oven and everyone did a wonderful job making a big deal about her cooking skills. lol!

Wishing, Dreaming, Watching

Okay so I know the dance season is over but I ran across these pictures and I have to tell this story.

So your two years old and Mom drags you every Wednesday to go sit in a foyer with a bunch of other Mommies. While they have their hen party your stuck watching your big sister (who you love and admire) dance and play it up in pink leotards and tutus! Talk about unfair!


On the rare occasion that your leotard is clean and you wear it, you've been mistaken for one of the girls in the class, and was able to sneak in twice before they realized they had an extra kid in there.


Every week the question and the answer are the same, "am I old enough to go to dance class Mommy?" "Not until your three." "But Mommy I'm taller today!"


I am happy to say little dancer turned three in April and will be attending dance camp this summer. (Mind you, PRINCESS dance camp!)


But I was amazed this morning walking into the living room both my dancers doing the dance routine taught last year in class step for step!

Super Girl

She saves baby brother from the monsters!

She saves Mommy from the dishes!

She saves Daddy from boredom!

She saves big sister from Mommy!

She has her own pose, her own run and her own style!

I dont know where she originated from, she just showed up one day and I love her so much! Here are a few still shots I was able to capture.



(Note hand on hips.)


She takes her job VERY seriously!
When I asked her if she wanted me to sew her a cape, she said no, she had blankie. Apparently it has super powers too. I think I'll make her a cape anyway. :)

Book Fair 2010

As you can tell we love to read! Its a staple in our lives we cant do without. So when we hear that there is a book fair happening where you get free books and get to play games we are so there baby! To save some blogging time I'm just going to describe quickly a little of the fun, the girls and Aunt Lissa and cousin Abbie were all turned into princess's. I sacrificed myself for the sake of holding Timmy and was turned into a prince. (I make a mighty fine one if i do say so myself!)
Then to keep in with the trends the children's faces were painted to reflect personalities, Mae a heart, Liza and Abbie cats, Timmy slept through the event.
There was much excitement when fishes were caught with magnets, and when we got to create our own publications with cut out pictures and glue.
A very tiring but fun day, on a personal note, I'm really glad my sister was willing to give up a Sat. to spend w/ and my loud kids! LOL!

Teddy Bear Picnic!

As part of our school curriculum we pick one book to read once a day every day for five days then we do a related craft, science experiment, or activity. (Five in a Row by Jane Claire Lambert) Last week we read Corduroy. To end the week we kicked off with a teddy bear picnic. It was a lot of fun and the kids had a blast pulling out every bear in the house, even Mommy and Daddies old bears.

13 Pounds in 6 weeks!

As I posted in past blogs I'm doing Weight Watchers now, and I've lost 13 pounds! yeah me! I cant really tell a difference but I feel better and I have more energy, so maybe the hot mama I feel hiding under all the flab will come reveal herself soon lol!!! These pics were taken when I'd lost about 10 pds. But Timmy is a cutie so I'm showing him off now! (BTW this is his favorite snugly right now, a little half blanket half bear from G-Ma.)

Mae's 5th birthday!

We didn't do much this year, no friends over or anything, but we managed to have a great time with family and lots of one on one time. We started out with our yearly tradition of B-Day pancakes and singing!






She got her ears pierced and that was a big deal, I tell you what, it was like coaxing a frog into the mouth of a crocodile getting her to sit down in the chair. But she'd been begging us to to it for months and I wasn't going to let her turn back. Once it was all over she was ecstatic and shows them off to everyone. (Pink Butterflies.)







She then got a Easy Bake Oven from her G-ma and just LOVES to cook things for all the people (men) in her life! I think she has discovered early, that teenage uncles will eat just about anything, and the way to Daddy's heart is through his stomach. Her pappy was assigned the snack for F.H.E. and when Mae brought her cakes and he didn't have to lift a finger, and when she fed him, he thought she was better than sliced bread!










Her Aunt Lissa took her to the planetarium, just the two of them and that was a special treat. I've never even been there and hearing it from a five year old's point of view is great lol!

But the best thing in my eyes was that it just so happened that her Dance class scheduled their recital pictures to be taken that night. So her dance pics were taken on her B-Day, she thought they did that just for her lol! I'll have to post those when I get them though.