lately

accepted to BYU ballet summer intensive - in the advanced class (that was a surprise)

blue & gold dinner cake - he piped the vines himself (it was a jungle theme)

that was most definitely not me who got into this cabinet and smells suspiciously like dad's shaving cream.

 i can't believe i never tried to supreme an orange before - and now it's my favorite way to eat it

reading the new playmobil catalog

rain

and more rain

hearing

     the kids singing backyardigan songs

     the chickens clucking outside my window

     L making animal noises

seeing

     my quest to restore order in my room almost complete

     yellow tulips from trader joes just opening

     a family room that looks almost empty without the christmas tree

learning

     how to use my new laptop

     to curl b's hair with a marcel iron

     what i want from 2012

smelling

     cinnamon muffins baked by s

     L needs to be changed!

grateful

    for my hardworking husband

    for families

    the freedom to choose how i homeschool

it's been a busy week

made popovers for the first time from this book

requests for more of these later

we've made several recipes from it and they've all been yummy

 field trip to local art museum to see robots

then we built our own

 there was a bit of indignitude because we weren't allowed to hot glue our own robots

homeschoolers don't like those kinds of safety rules. safety shmafety.

 they had a great 'tot' area that all my kids loved

we also went to a beautiful nativity celebration with so many nativities displayed

 

i loved how the wise men are leaning in toward the baby

and the expressions on joseph and mary's face

this nativity is so graceful and lovely.

 but this one was my favorite. mom, can you guess why?

but i like our stable better

 i've never seen anything like this but i love the idea

 there were some activities for the little ones including a dress up stash that the boys loved

  well, all the under 10s loved

later, he set up our playmobil nativity

tres

it's as though i need to be humbled with the atrocious quality of these pictures. ow.

L's new BFF

they've always been BFF's

aw, i just miss them so much

she looks like this 99% of the time

the holy grail: a cousin's lego stash

somehow i didn't get a photo of the serious teasing i endured. brothers!

i just couldn't get a good shot with my point and shoot. it was like trying to paint a masterpiece with a q-tip

maybe he succeeded better than i did

 if i could be like these 2 when i grow up, i'd be satisfied. 

wait, how many times did i try to get this shot?

the wait is over

tied for cutest sister in law ever

small plastic animals were the highlight of the evening

went around finding all the pilgrim hats and gnawing on them

meanwhile

he didn't slow down

i lost count at 4 slices

now he has a scantily dressed co-conspirator

she tired of it

he took matters into his own hands

it's a tricky process

but the rewards are worth it

the thrill of success

we missed you j&w + d&m!