Love This Kid!

Love this little boy even with the bruised lip (a minor crash at McDonalds playland yesterday). He makes me smile every single day without fail. He is so stinkin' smart and when he tells me out of the blue that he loves me ... well my heart melts and I fall in love with him again and again ... even when I am threatening time-out! Max - I must tell you that I am eternally grateful that you joined our family! We love you so much! Mom & Dad

Happy Easter ... This Weeks Craft

I have been lookin online at different easter projects and came up with this one on our own. The galvenized tub I got at our local thrift store for a $1 ... everything else from Walmart. For some reason the little eggs that I bought (because everything is in storage) had little tiny holes in them in the ends which made it quite easy to string the floral wire in to them. I twisted the wire inside the egg, and made various lengths to create the bouquet. Down inside the wires are dropped into styrofoam and them I topped it with crinkled green grass and a ribbon. Max had a blast and of course loved playing with everything while we were making this. Our left over eggs will be used for an egg hunt here amongst the rocks at Grandma's house and some will be sent to Dad in Afghanistan.

A Deal with a Memory

The deal of the day .... today I was over at one of our local thrift stores and came upon a box of granite sample squares. I was looking at them and noticed that each of them had a felt back to them and they were all approximately the same size. My first thought was that these would make great coasters! Another lady came by and told me they would make a great top to a table, etc. although it would be a VERY heavy table. Anyway, I was searching for a price on these and found a price tag of $15 for the box. I ended up paying .25 cents a piece for these little gems. I got them home cleaned them up and they are ready to sell! I'm going to sell these at an outdoor festival that I am doing in a couple of weeks along with my plates, vases and dad's weavings. Hmmm ... then I started thinking about my lesson for this coming Sunday with my (10) ten year-olds at church. Our lesson includes temple marriage and I thought perhaps I would use these pieces of granite to compare the strength and beauty of the temple. Then I remembered the story of when I was a young girl, we traveled down to Washington DC and we stopped by the temple while it was under construction. I was about 5 years old and we were having a picnic lunch up near the temple. One of the construction workers came over to me with two pieces of the marble that they were using on the temple and handed them to me. One of the pieces burned in the 2000 fire and the other is pictured next to the black piece of granite. I plan to show the kids this on Sunday but, the symbolism that this piece has for me is significant. The temples of course are built with some of the finest materials in the world. Marble, granite and other materials are found on and in our beautiful temples that remain the House of the Lord here on earth. How grateful I am to be living so close to many of these beautiful temples. To learn more about the temples visit LDS Temples.

Bath, Bubbles & Santa ??

Ho ho ho .... Oh Max does love a good bubble bath .... especially in Grandma's big tub! Grandpa was a great babysitter tonight while Grandma & I went to our Relief Society's birthday celebration. We had a great time and it seems as though Max did too! Too boot you can see a little sunburn on his cheeks ... it was 70 degrees today and the park was wonderful!!

Beauty in Afghanistan

Mark sent these pictures to me today. They were taken by a professional photographer in the City of Qalat. The first two are of the bluff and the third is taken of Alexander the Greats Fortress. To see these pictures it all looks so peaceful. The hard fact is ... spring has sprung in Afghanistan and with warm weather the bad guys are back out in full force. Please say a prayer for all civilians along with our armed forces who are there working diligently to try and help the innocent and make life better for them.

A Sleeping Angel

The other day Max did not want to take a nap so, I figured ok we'll just be ready for bed by 7 pm. After dinner, Max went upstairs, started a movie, closed his door to his room, climbed up on his bed with his blanket .... and twenty minutes later this is how I found him .... it was 6:40 pm! I decided to turn the movie off, open the door and let him go ... hoping he would be down for the night. But by 7:40 he woke up crying trying to figure out where he was and what happened. Luckily after getting him in to his pj's and holding him for about an hour I got him back to sleep for the night. He is so sweet ... especially when he is sleeping. Love this kid!

My New Favorite Site...

Check it out The Pioneer Woman for fantastic recipes and so much more ..... YUM!

I've been on a quest to find the best Cinnamon Roll recipe to potentially make and sell this spring at a farmers market. I do believe I have come on to something very close to perfection at The Pioneer Woman thanks Betsy! And, I love her commentary throughout her recipes. I feel as though this woman and I should have been sisters! Enjoy!

Max as Iron Man ...

Max used some of his birthday money to purchase the Iron Man set .... he had a great time playing with this all day Sunday. Today however, due to poor behavior, Iron Man is in a 24 hour time out. Hopefully with good behavior, Max can earn back Iron Man. Enjoy!

Max Turns 4 ... Really?

I can hardly believe it ... I think I start out his birthday posts the same way each year. This week Max turned 4 on the 3rd . He is growing and maturing so much so fast. I love to hear what he has to say and watch how his mind thinks. He has an amazing memory - maybe all kids do but, he is constantly saying things to me such as, "like we did back in Virginia?" with specific examples. Max goes to a Montessori pre-school which is excellent four days a week from 8 am to 11 am. He LOVES school and after I spent some time with him at school this week, I can see why. His teachers are all very kind and speak in a soft calm voice. They do their "work" in various rooms from the practical life rooms to the learning vocabulary rooms, etc. His math skills have improved greatly and he recognizes and knows the sounds of many of the letters of the alphabet. He loves to listen to the primary songs on CD in our truck while we travel about town and his favorite snack is gum! Grandma Tippets bought him a cookie monster stuffed animal for his birthday which was very fitting because Max does love a good chocolate chip cookie. His favorite activity is to go swimming. He earns stickers by being a good listener, being obedient, etc. and when he earns 5 stickers, Grandpa Tippets takes him swimming at our local indoor pool. Max is currently enrolled in gymnastics and goes once a week for 45 minutes and also loves it as well. His current favorite toys are trains. For his birthday we had a Thomas the Train party and I attempted to make a train cake. Below are a couple of pictures from his party. Max misses his dad and Justin very much and looks forward to talking to Mark each morning when he calls. Sometimes, he will burst in to tears and tell me that he is sad that dad is not coming home "today or tonight" but, he knows he will see him soon. In fact, the other day, I was having a hard time with Mark being gone and Max came to my room and crawled up next to me and said, "Don't cry, we'll see dad in April. It will be ok ..." He is such a sweet angel and I love him to pieces! Later after Maxs birthday party I took him over to Grandpa & Grandma Bridges' home where he got to visit with them and wrestle with Grandpa Bridges. Max loves to get down on the floor and wrestle. He loves to see them and I'm grateful that we live so close to them.

Plate It Up ....

I took a quick trip out to Winchester, VA to work on filling two orders for plates. It was sort of a last minute idea as I had been contacted by the Apple Blossom Gift Store to see if I would be interested in supplying them again this year. Cathy, the store owner did not know that I had moved but, I decided to go for it and make it a mini-vacation. Max stayed here with Grandpa & Grandma and I stayed with our good friends Danny & Jo Greene while I was there. I worked my tail off and made over 85 pieces for two different stores. I did get to talk with several good friends and enjoyed driving through our old neighborhood. While the trip was quick, I am looking forward to going back out (hopefully in April) when Mark comes home for his next R&R trip.


I have updated the Plate It Up blog spot .... check it out. I am meeting with a store here in St. George this next week to see about getting the plates in and also I am going to try a couple different outdoor craft shows to see how they do. I have over 30 different designs and more coming in weekly.


A couple of my favorite new plate designs this year ...