Goodbye Sweet Curls...

 

Jody says I was bored.

 

But honestly, I asked him if he wanted a haircut, he said sure.

And there you have it.

 

He's so handsome.

 

And lately his favorite thing to say to me is, "Huh?"

He's my cuddle peach. Everyone morning at 5AM he crawls into bed and cuddles and wants to hold hands. Loving my little sweetheart... especially that he'll sleep until 7AM when he does that... one morning it was even 7:45AM!!!

My first attempt at fondant....

 

Wow. So depressing.

It took about 1 hour to make the fondant (washing bowls, etc.)

and I just couldn't get it to roll really well.

 

It tasted really good and Maria LOVED it, however... it's pretty ghetto looking.

 

Definitely not what I envisioned like the cake to the left.

 

But I'm glad I practiced and that this didn't happen the night before her birthday party!

Wating to celebrate Chinese New Year's in the Bay Area

 

We as Americans owe the Chinese so much. It's such a rich culture and I feel bad that I haven't taught my children more about them. We went to the museum for free art Saturday and did a few projects at home.

 

The girls really enjoyed the decorations. There is a Chinese legend that says a monster was eating flocks and food. Every year at new year, they would put food out and if it was eaten, they knew the monster would not bother them. Then one day, a small child wearing red scared away the monster. They now knew it was afraid of red and the power of the color. Eventually, they destroyed the monster.

Loving the eyeball.

 

Maria tried a new technique of color blending with colored pencils! She loved it!

 

Um seriously, my daughters are so talented. These are my favorite art projects EVER!!!

 

I was also super impressed with their horses!!

 

I think the zodiac is fun. I'm not a believer, but if I'm flipping through a magazine and there is a horoscope, I'll read it.... again, for fun.

 

Christina was born in the year of the monkey. "Those born in the Year of the Monkey are lively, flexible, quick-witted and versatile. They love moving about and sports. Being talented problem solvers, they are self-assured, sociable and innovative, with competent practical ability. They are even willing to put their own business aside to help others. They have strong desire for knowledge and have excellent memories. When communicating, they do not like to be controlled and have a strong desire to present themselves. They will show amazing creativity in their work."

 

Maria was born in the year of the pig. "People born in the Year of the Pig are honest and frank, chivalrous and gallant. They have a calm appearance and strong heart. They do whatever they want with their strength. They are tolerant and optimistic, but not until they become your friends can their virtue, advantages and fidelity to friendship be appreciated. They are quick tempered, but hate arguments and quarreling. They are kind to their loved ones. They are not afraid of difficulties and problems but try to work them out. They treat friend sincerely and they do not tell lies unless they have to. They are kind and light hearted and usually go to sleep easily."

 

Elijah was born in the year of the rabbit. "People born under the sign of the rabbit are gentle, sensitive, compassionate, amiable, modest and merciful, and have strong memory. They like to communicate with others in a humorous manner. They cannot bear dull life. They are soft-spoken and welcoming. They hate arguing with capacity of converting an enemy into a friend. They are homebody and hospitable.  They can work with speed and efficiency, do not insist and get angry easily."

 

Jody was born in the year of the dragon. "People under the sign of the dragon are lively, intellectual, energetic and excitable. They often can be leaders and try to go for perfection. When they meet with difficulties, they are not discouraged. They are magnanimous, romantic and sensitive about their reputation. They usually have great ambition and an ingenuous personality. They hate hypocrisy, gossip and slander. They are not afraid of difficulties but hate to be used or controlled by others.'

 

And I was born in the year of the rooster. "They are deep thinkers considered to be honest, bright, communicative, ambitious, capable and warm-hearted. They have strong self-respect and seldom rely on others. As most roosters are born pretty or handsome, they prefer to dress up. They have a quick mind and hot temper. They like to be busy and neat. They are not reluctant to fall behind others and hate dawdlers."

And boy, do I LOVE to dress up... in sweat pants.

Morning Bird Sighting - Cooper's Hawk Immature

 

My question is, why isn't there a website where I can download a picture we take and they just tell me what bird it is?

 

After research, it's my conclusion we found a Cooper's Hawk that isn't fully grown yet because of the streaks on his/her chest. It was really beautiful and very stately.

 

However, it's sad to think that it preys on the little birds that we feed. They are even know to drown their prey.

Great Conversations with my Almost 7 Year Old

 

Sometimes I really am blown away how quick my children are. They are very perceptive, curious, and thoughtful individuals.

 

About 6 months ago I got this book for the girls. I love Great Expectations and told them the story in my own words. They were enthralled. And then when the book came, they just read it over and over again. Then of course, they moved on to other books.

 

Namely The Secrets of Droon series, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and Children of the Lamp series.

 

But the other day, Maria started reading this book again and couldn't put it down. She asked if we could read it together today and I told her to pick out her favorite story...

thank you A Tale of Two Cities.

 

So it's been a while and we're reading and all of a sudden I'm having this super deep discussion about the French Revolution, sacrifice, the struggle of poverty... she's comparing the wine in the streets to the blood spilt. And I'm like... really? After a little bit, she decided it wasn't her favorite anymore because Sydney dies. She decided David Copperfield was much better and happier.

No loose teeth, Yet 2 teeth out today!

 

Maria is such a sweetheart. She has no loose teeth, however we noticed a few days ago that an adult tooth was pushing through. It's been bothering her and today when I called, they told us to come in within the next 20 minutes or we'd have to wait a week. Mom was kind, always so dependable!!! and rushed over (Eli had just fallen asleep) - we headed off.

 

Unfortunately, leaving the teeth in meant more pain for Maria and the possibility of crooked adult teeth... more so than normal. So, we gassed her and wiggled them out. She was sooooooooooooo good!!!! In fact, she was so outstanding that the dentist didn't charge us for her second tooth. He told us that Maria is an exceptional young lady! Not a single complaint! No tears! They had me watch from afar. I, of course, was ready to jump out of my skin. My poor baby. But she didn't feel a thing.

We gave her soup and smoothies for dinner. They also let her choose a prize from the big box (snuggle dog pictured above) and little box (bouncy ball). She was so happy.

I wish when I had my root canals done it could have been so much fun.

Eli wanted us to look at his teeth too.

Crazy. But double the fun with the tooth fairy!!!

"You can tear them up packers" - Maria

 

Since Daddy has been working in the stadium doing seat backs, he got free tickets to a UNR Men's Basketball game. We could have gone to a free refreshment preview, but somehow we were just running late. Because we were late we ended up walking around quite a bit to find our tickets.

In all reality, it wasn't that much walking... I'm just huge.

 

It wasn't a high scoring game, but we did win!! Basketball is easier to follow than football, it's warm because we're inside... so the girls seemed to really enjoy themselves. Maria kept shouting/cheering "You can tear them up packers" and "Don't get it in the hoop!!!!!" (to the opposing team). Elijah had a good time too. The lady behind us complimented us on having a beautiful family. It's true, our children are wonderful!!

 

We got free hair tinsel and a supposed "free" haircut coupon.

 

And of course, I'm addicted to pretzels so Joe was kind enough to treat us to a couple.

 

Maria also won a free cup at the Jack in the Box spin. It was kind of awkward because the lady invited us over and I told her we don't eat fast food, but she said we could spin for cups. She was very nice about it and said if we do ever start eating fast food to choose Jack in the Box. In all honesty, I think Jack in the Box has the best advertising commercials. They are so clever.

Rambling much?
Maria said her favorite part of the game was winning her cup. It was pretty convenient so we could have water from the drinking fountain.

 

It was a lovely outing!! Thanks Joe!! Afterwards we went to a wedding reception that was fabulous. What made it awesome was SPEED!!!! Within 45 minutes the toast and cake were DONE. I mean, how awesome is that. Well done Salls family, well done. I also thought it was great because the father of the groom told me (when I said how nice the decorations were) that they only had one person to hang all the lights, so they called Nancy. She said she could come early, but that she had work. Well, of course, she didn't go to work and stayed the entire day to help set up. She's amazing.

 

After that we rushed to a baptism at the Stake Center. It was very nice and I learned that Ryan Romero is finally getting married!!! Hooray!!

Way to Go Christina!!

Christina just finished The Book of Mormon for the 2nd time!! Congrats sweet girl!!

Welcoming 2014!!

 

We had such a fun night!! I found myself really tired, but in the morning the ladies were talking about how much they wanted a party!! Fortunately, I had pinned this idea about doing a countdown every half an hour. We had a great time doing all the mystery activities!!

We loaded up on some chicken wings and little weenies. Eli was in 7th heaven with all the dipping going on. I couldn't get a decent picture of him because he was so happy and flitting around. He did great and we put him down around 9:30/10. We watched Harry Potter and took breaks to do our envelopes.

 

Favorite activities: puzzles, old maid, doing art, making up a dance routine.....

 

Special sprinkle smoothie time and bombing our doors with crepe paper!!

 

Our neighbor almost blew up our house with fireworks which was awesome.

Hooray for a new year!!!

May it be a prosperous one and one dedicated to Heavenly Father!

We start the new year with NEW GLASSES!!!

 

I'm glad Maria is one of those children who is on the ball. She had taken a vision test at school and failed. The school never contacted me, but Maria told me so I got her in to see the doctor. I was a little frustrated with the vision office because I scheduled an appointment online, they confirmed and then when I called the night before to confirm, they said they had no record of the appointment or email confirmation. Disorganized.

However, a couple weeks later they were able to see us and Costco was super fast as far as ordering and getting them in.

 

We love BETH!!! She is so helpful. It took about 20 minutes to get Maria's glasses just right so they felt comfortable.

 

Maria was amazed at how clearly she could see. It is nice!!!

Congrats Maria!! You're blind like the rest of us.