Time goes by

I have not been feeling the best for over a month now. My lack of posting reflects that. I am going to try and give a few highlights for you:

 Anneke put matching hair clips in her and Mally's hair. (I am there because Mal wouldn't cooperate.)


When I was little I drew babies with a couple of teeth and a tuft of hair with a bow:

 The living version of my artwork.

School at home can be challenging:

 But we love working on the experiments. My scientists are cuter than yours. ;)

Anneke managed to go through several pairs of shoes this summer. We bought her new Sunday shoes that she promptly broke. We are hoping these will hold up better:

Apparently these boots go with everything. Plus, she is now saving her allowance for a horse.


P.S. I posted 2 things on the family recipe blog. (Homemade noodles and my chicken noodle soup recipe plus spiced apple cider.) Just in case you wanted to know. The noodles are for Cari.

Literally

Luke is a very literal child.  The things he says make me laugh a lot of the time because of their innocence and dead pan delivery. On Tuesday:
Marcus: "If they opened a restaurant that was Mom's Cooking, I would go there every day."
Luke: "You're eating there right now."


Marcus looking at his banana bread says, "You are my destiny." Then takes a bite.
Luke: "You just ate your destiny."
So now, it isn't banana bread, he thinks it is called "destiny".

My projects

I have been working on many projects. I love names. I am obsessed with names. I have a whole post about that probably, so we can leave it at that. I decided that if someone has a name for their child I would celebrate it for a baby gift. I made a name banner for a friends baby, Iain. It was nautical themed and cute. Sad I forgot to take a picture.

The end of August I was blessed with another niece. I made this light yellow one for her:

 (Pam has put in a request for an orange DUTCH and light green DANE. I will use more masculine letters, though.)

Mom and Dad, I just wanted you to know that I am loving my birthday gift from you. I mend clothes and put Cub Scout patches on way faster now. Here is more proof of what I have done...

Way back in mid July I posted some pictures of my quiet book project. I am still working on it, but here is what I have done so far.

"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

I only used one snap on each letter for 2 reasons. 1) snaps are hard to sew and 2) I am afraid Luke will tear them if there are more areas to pull. (Next page is Mr. Potato Head, but since i already showed him in a previous post, I skipped it.)

 "I love to see the temple..."

 "Open the doors and see all the people..."

I am not sure where to keep the building blocks on this page.

 "Baby you can drive my car..."

I need to sew on a couple of garages for cars and some scenery.

 "Tic, tac, toe, three in a row"

I was lazy and used buttons instead of making Xs and Os.

 "The time, the time, whose got the time?"

It needs something more. Plus, the arms don't turn well.

 "Every day in a letter, sealed with a kiss"

Marcus, Anneke and I wrote notes to Luke to fit in envelopes. There is a small dry erase board that fits in the envelopes for Luke to do what he wants with.

 "P.S. I love you"

I love this page. The mailbox opens.

 "All the glitters isn't gold"

The next page is gold circles with dots to match the numbers. It is not exciting, so I didn't include it. (Next page is only a boat and water right now. Soon it will have a fishing pole and fish, too.)

 "Shape up"

The shapes that match need a home, too.

 "Like a rock"

I need to attach the 6 tire options with magnets. I love this page, too. Mostly because I am proud of the truck. (Next page is the burger. Shown in a previous post.)

 "You know black is this years pink."

It was gonna be a trunk/suitcase but there wasn't room. I improvised.

 "Red and yellow and pink and green. Purple and orange and blue. I can sing a rainbow."

Under the colors it says their names. 

 "Built him an arky, arky..."

Why, yes, those are Ikea puppets. It needs water and a few other decorations.

Any suggestions on additions to pages or things to add is appreciated. I am still working on a place setting page and trying to figure out the shoe tying page. Then I can put it all together and make a zipper cover so pieces are less likely to get lost. For my knowledge personal progress I am going to sew actual clothes. Not sure what that will be yet. Maybe pajama bottoms. :)

Blogs

I have not felt like blogging lately. I used to create blogs in my head and I couldn't wait to post them. I am not sure what changed. There has been a lot going on lately. However, I don't want it out there for everyone to see, so I haven't posted anything. I am guarding so much with my heart it leaves little room for other things, I guess. I don't know. (It also doesn't help that my camera is not working too well.)


We went to Red Rock yesterday to go hiking. It was beautiful. I forget how much I love being outside until I do it again. It brings back memories of our many outings with my dad, like Lost Maples, Enchanted Rock and Lady Bird Johnson park. We are thinking of getting a year pass to Red Rock. If we do that, though, we need a baby backpack. Mallory is not that light after you carry her for over a mile. Too bad the jogging stroller won't go cross country.

Ob la di. Ob la da.

Not much going on here. Andy has been working and I don't see much of him. Mallory is cranky because she has a diaper rash. Luke is having a hard time understanding why he doesn't get to play the computer as much as his siblings. Anneke is teaching me patience. Marcus doesn't like being wrong.


On the happy sides...Mallory folds her hands when we pray. She pretends to eat food and then drops it. It is funny to watch. She has been walking for a few weeks, but now she mostly walks. She is VERY wobbly but doesn't care.


I told Luke I wipe his bum because I love him. He told me he loves me, but not enough to wipe my bum. He likes to make patterns and play with his blocks.


Anneke's favorite subject is music. It is, um, interesting. I have found some alternatives, but I am no music teacher. So, we mostly follow what the curriculum says. I gotta wonder how effective I am though.


Marcus is so meticulous it is driving me crazy. He does school for longer at home than when he was in public school. His favorite super hero is Green Lantern and also Flash because he turns into a blue lantern. Blue lanterns stand for Hope. Did anyone follow that?


Andy is having stress in all areas of his life. He is planning a stake wide teacher training for 2 weeks from now (he is the stake sunday school president), and picking up the slack at work because someone was injured. All this on top of school, office work, teaching and dissertation organization. I added to his with my struggles this week, but I am feeling better and healing. Someday life will slow down.


I wonder what makes someone inspiring. Why is one person overlooked but another put in the spotlight? What makes someone completely average and forgettable in every way? 

Party planner

I am trying to figure out the parties still. I have the Harry Potter party pretty much set. I am excited to start working on it. They will be sorted, drink Polyjuice potion and even play Quidditch and drink butter beer among other things.


My ideas for Mallory's party, rainbow theme, are not gelling as well and Luke's party is not coming together at all. I have a whole board on Pinterest devoted to Mal's party. For the rainbow party we are going to invite families and assign them colors to wear. I have crayons and folders with coloring pages. I thought colored ice cube painting might be fun and Color 4 corners. We can make balloon stress balls or maybe we could do the Colored eggs game or...I don't know other younger child friendly games? Kool-aid play dough too messy? I think I am gonna do cake pops or cupcakes instead of a cake, though the rainbow cake is cute. (Rainbow) fruit kabobs for snacking. Umbrellas for a rainbow slush drink. I want to make a rainbow patchwork dress that I pinned on Pinterest or a rainbow tutu for Mally, but I am not sure how. Anyone wanna try? I will send you $. ;) I think it would be fun to make her a hair clip, too. Decorations are gonna be easy and fun.


Luke wants Phineas and Ferb. That is as far as my brain goes. I will work on it. I guess I will take it one step at a time. M&M's parties come first. Every time Luke sees something he wants he says, "That's for my party." Uh, okay. There is surprisingly every little on a Phineas and Ferb party out there. That is usable for a group of 4 year olds anyway. 


Also, costumes for Halloween/Harvest day. That needs to be planned, too. I am thinking a garden theme. Mallory has a ladybug costume, Anneke can be a butterfly, Luke can wear his apron pants and be a gardener, Marcus wants to wear a lion mask with all green clothes and be a "dandy lion". I can be a flower and Andy can be the sun. Hmmm...still a work in progress.

Importance

I feel that anniversary's are more important than birthdays once you get married.  To celebrate a birthday is to celebrate being able to breath in and out and continuing to do so from year to year. I am not saying that isn't a miracle...but I am saying that a marriage is harder work. A marriage deserves celebration. You work and love and work some more to make it and have it be the best. For my children to know that our marriage is the most important we do something every year around our anniversary. We celebrate our love and eternal marriage. In 4 months we are going to spend 2 nights away. The longest we ever have as a married couple. (Our honeymoon was one night at a B&B.) I am so excited. I touched on it yesterday, but I love spending time with my husband. I would rather be with him or my children. I have to force my self at times to do what I need to do. I always want my husband to be my best friend. I want to know him and not have to reacquaint myself with him when our children leave home. In short, celebrate the important things in life. For me, that is my marriage first and my children second. (God is overall.) Don't discount the little things. It makes me so sad to see couples take each other for granted and the time they get to spend together. I got 1 year and 2 days with my husband before we became 3. Every moment counts.

Explanation

I have just felt...blah, for a while. I finally know the reason. I don't like it. 


I am so tired of being hot. I am ready for fall. I made stew and cornbread today. It was yummy, but the weather is still hot. Darn. I was hoping it would help. ;) 


My husband has been working a lot lately. I miss him. I find it odd when couples don't like to spend time together or go on dates. I also find it odd when they don't pay attention to them when they are sharing talents or simply being their amazing selves. I guess it comes down to them taking their spouse for granted. I try not to do that. I need to enjoy my husband or eternity will seem like forever. ;)

Yours Love

Andy and I were asked to sing a duet on Saturday. This is what we get for singing Teach Me to Walk in the Light in church a month ago when we spoke. (The kids sang first verse, we sang second then we all sang the third. Not too complicated. I held Mallory and she liked it so much she clapped for us which made us laugh. ;)) 


There is a song that we really enjoy and we actually found the audio and sheet music for free here. I haven't seen the movie, (I think it is too sad) but really like the song Yours Love from it. I know I won't be able to hit the a or b above the bar when I am nervous, but we will see how it goes. I am hoping to bring that part down an octive. Is anyone following the music lingo here? We haven't practiced yet. A holiday weekend does that to you. 


P.S. Someone dropped our camera so the flash no longer works and the shutter won't open all the way. We are trying to figure out what to do.

In Life

There comes a moment in life when you look around and wonder. You wonder what is in store and if you will ever have what you want. You feel left behind and can't see the light at the end of the tunnel. You are easily offended and just plain melancholy. You feel like your life needs a spring cleaning or...something. What is it? What's wrong? You look forward anyway trying to see the silver lining on grey clouds. You try to be happy when it makes you sad. And you try to walk away and regroup. See me walking away. I'll regroup and be back later.