Everyday is Earthday right?

I'm slow like Eve's turtle. For Earth Day last week she had to make a project for kindergarten... we used fabric remnants from that lovely craft box in the basement for cloth napkins, and a LOVELY turtle. She was proud.

My favorite part of this post is the glimpse of Lily you get. She has on overalls- no shirt, and striped long johns. Hands down her pants and a turtle expression. Nice. She had a cute Earth Day t-shirt (Thanks Walmart!), but she was into dressing herself all day, many times...

That is one way to do it.

I always worry that when I'm taking photos of my kids at events, I'll get random strangers in there and someone will freak out that their child's face is on my blog.... Understandable! I try really hard to respect that, and in fact, miss out on posting adorable photos because of it....

But today! I took 3 kiddos to the Awards assembly at the elementary school. Standing room only, with an 8, 3, and 18 month old wiggle monster in my arms, for 45 minutes.... These are my photos. I took about 20, these are how they ALL looked.


That is one way to protect the identities of others. Eve is wearing blue stripes, Michael is in a blue polo.

Consider the Lily

The other morning she climbed in my bed. It was early and I was trying to stay asleep. She gently brushed my hair away from my ears and whispered, "Your earrings are enchanting Mommy." I smiled in my "sleep."

During Family Home Evening: "Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! (this continues till you respond) Your hair is so cool, it looks like a nest!"

We found a very very sparkly pair of flip flops at the dollar store, She said "ooooh!" then in an almost whisper low voice, "High Style!" LOL! She says this whenever she is dressed up or something is pretty. Where does she get this stuff?

I was making the beds and she said, "I'll put on the finishing touches" as she put the pillows on.

On Easter Sunday: "Look Mom, those flowers are me. I'm Easter Lily!"

Tonight: "This kitchen certainly is dirty. Henry is so precilicious." I love that new word! He is!

Another one tonight, during dinner: "This soup is Gre-en (2 syllables) JUST LIKE ME!" She adores Green!

Most common phrase "Isn't that great Mommy!" All the time! With a look of complete Joy, shoulders pulled up, eyebrows so cute, Joy!

On our trip to DC, we stopped under a tree. It was very quiet and still except for the song of a robin. We gazed up and listened, it was a sweet moment. I saw Henry's face light up with recognition as he saw the bird through the blossoms, and Lily's face--- it was awesome! She GLOWED when she realized that lovely song was coming from that lovely bird!
Lily is intense. It is probably the best adjective to describe her. She is intensely joyful, intensely sad, intensely talkative, INTENSE! I think everybody should get a Lily. At least for a few days. She would wear you out though. :) I'm ready for bedtime Every Single Night!

Lastly... I smile whenever I hear this song. I sometimes feel sad that she has such a popular "trendy" name. Even though I've loved it forever, I almost didn't want to name her Lily and have her be one of a "field of Lilies" in school... however, this song makes me remember a field of Lilies wouldn't be so bad. :)


Consider the sweet tender children
Who must suffer on this earth
The pains of all of them he carried
From the day of his birth.
He clothes the lilies of the field,
He feeds the lambs in His fold,
And he will heal those who trust him,
And make their hearts as gold."

I hope my Lily always knows that He Knows Her.


Here is the story of the man who wrote those lyrics, it is very m moving!

We spent the day yesterday in DC. The kids and I wandered around outside the temple until it started to rain and we were too cold, then we went to the visitors center. The flowers were so pretty. I took tons of pictures... I love that they have this major deer proof netting stuff on top of the flowers. Smart! I was surprised, the Cherry Blossom Festival was a week or two ago, but the blossoms on the trees were still pretty thick. It was very pretty.

As we were leaving DC, Michael says, "I can't wait to go to school tomorrow and tell my friends about today." -- then, in his most casual, nonchalant way of speaking he says, "Yeah, we went to Washington DC yesterday. We saw a movie, walked around the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, our car almost got stolen, and we saw Obama's motorcade. It was an ok day." Dave and I smiled and laughed. It was a pretty cool day.
I love my husband. He loves his boy. He opted to carry all 30-something lbs of Henry through the FDR memorial rather than push him in the stroller-- I think because he just likes to hold him and talk to him and see his reactions to things close up. We saw ducks in one of the fountains. Awesome!

The Pagan Part.

We love Easter. It is fun! It is fun to think about a giant bunny that hops from house to house leaving goodies in honor of Christ's Resurrection. Strange. We had an Easter egg hunt at the church that was fun, and Eve won a drawing in her class for a soft and cuddly green bunny. We had a lovely dinner with good friends and church was wonderful.

We also (ok me, not we) love getting all dressed up and having an excuse to make things cutesy. I didn't get any great family pictures though... who knew 10 jelly beans in a basket could cause so much enthusiasm and movement?!


You might have noticed Henry missing in the egg coloring pictures. Yikes. He is a rascal! He reached up to the counter and spilled on of the cups of egg dye, and was generally just way tooooo into the project. (It took Dave forever to get the dye cleaned up, it spilled into the top of the dishwasher and kept leaking out the front. ugh!) He and I spent the time playing in the play room and staying out of the way.

What is so good about it?

My children are calendar readers. We are always made aware of random holidays. This morning Eve called, "Mom, what is so good about today?" It took me a few minutes to remember it is Good Friday. So, here is what is so good about it!

I love this talk by: Elder Joseph B. Worthlin

"On that Friday the Apostles were devastated. Jesus, their Savior—the man who had walked on water and raised the dead—was Himself at the mercy of wicked men. They watched helplessly as He was overcome by His enemies.

On that Friday the Savior of mankind was humiliated and bruised, abused and reviled.

It was a Friday filled with devastating, consuming sorrow that gnawed at the souls of those who loved and honored the Son of God.

I think that of all the days since the beginning of this world’s history, that Friday was the darkest.

But the doom of that day did not endure.

The despair did not linger because on Sunday, the resurrected Lord burst the bonds of death. He ascended from the grave and appeared gloriously triumphant as the Savior of all mankind."

He goes on to say:

"Each of us will have our own Fridays—those days when the universe itself seems shattered and the shards of our world lie littered about us in pieces. We all will experience those broken times when it seems we can never be put together again. We will all have our Fridays.

But I testify to you in the name of the One who conquered death—Sunday will come. In the darkness of our sorrow, Sunday will come.

No matter our desperation, no matter our grief, Sunday will come. In this life or the next, Sunday will come."

I love his tender thoughts on his loved ones who have gone and his firm testimony of the atonement. The phrase "Sunday will come" may be my new mantra.

That is pretty Good right?

And lastly....

My beloved brothers and sisters, fear not. Be of good cheer. The future is as bright as your faith. -President Thomas S. Monson

Remember my March Make Over

Hmmm.. where to begin this post.

I jumped into March, I was on top of the laundry, dishes, my kitchen floors, you name it, I was going to town.

One night, after folding and putting away 10 loads of laundry I looked down to find 3 empty laundry baskets, 3 empty hampers. No dirty clothes.

And I thought, "Happiness is empty laundry baskets!" Then, I got thinking of Happiness is's.

• Walking into a clean bathroom
• dresser drawers full of folded clothes
• clean walls
• full pantry and refrigerator
• empty sink, empty dishwasher
  
• vacuum lines on the floor
• books neatly on shelf, organized by author... pathetic I know
  
• kitchen chairs tucked in with flowers on the table.
  
• Order!

I was going to blog it!

Then, the next morning I woke up and guess what? You got it. Clothes in the hampers. Spilled milk on my pretty table cloth and something sticky on the floor, dishes in the sink, vacant spots in my pantry! (man we eat a lot!) Toilet paper behind the toilet? (actually, I try not to think on that one.) Blocks scattered allover my previously lined carpets.

But I felt happy! How could this be?

So, my new list--- and my new goal is to continue to find happiness in the fleeting things (accomplishing mundane tasks) but to really find happiness the lasting things (family, children, growing, learning, loving.)

Happiness is:

• hearing a child snore in the night
• Waking to the sound of a child singing
• Watching your children help each other
• Reading a book with a child snuggled next to you. Even if it is a lame book
• Listening to your children make-believe about a family vacation to see their cousins
• Piano and trombone practice
• Henry running through the house with his hands in front of him ala Frankenstein
• Jane spelling every word she can think of
• Dave telling stories at bedtime
• Laughter
• art projects, from age 1 to age 10, all stages
  
• Stories written with crayons
• The feel of a child's hands on your face
  
• Love notes on my fridge and on my pillow
  
• Full tummies and growing bodies

I have always considered myself a grateful person. But lately, I've wondered if I really am. I have so much to be thankful for and I moan far more than I should..... I feel Awesome Attitude April coming on-- where I fix my attitude, now that my routines are back in place!

Lately...

I've been caught with my

and my

Often with a

That is a sleeping Henry in my arms. I love snuggling sleepy babies.

I'm re-reading one of my all time favorite books. It is called The Robe, by Lloyd C. Douglas. I read it first a few years ago in a ward book club. After the first 20 pages I was confused by Roman traditions, and government offices, after 20 more pages I was bored. 20 more pages I was confused and bored. I don't know how to pronounce old Roman names, I can't picture the location much, or relate well to the character lives... why did I keep reading?

Page 101.
This is the scene of the Triumphal Entry into the city. Christ is seen for the first time by one of the characters and His impact, though from a distance, has a great impact on Demitrius.

I really love this book. I love to read it as I am preparing myself for Easter.... it is lovely to think of the people who saw Christ, who walked with Him, talked with Him, learned at His feet, and how they felt when He was gone. While the book is complete fiction, I love to think of how it must have been, for those whose lives He touched in His days... and to remember all that He did for me and how blessed I am.

If you read it, you have to promise me not to quit till you get to page 101. After that, you are on your own, but I bet by then, you'll want to keep reading. :) If you want to borrow my copy let me know, it is worn and my favorite passages are marked, but I'd gladly share it.

Easter project.

I posted last year's Easter project over at Bossy! today. It was fun, but start early!