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!