Piano Recital

I've been teaching piano lessons here for a few months, and had my first recital a couple of weeks ago.  It was really small and simple; I held it in my living room.  Each of the girls played a few songs, I presented a few awards and a small gift, and we had refreshments.  It was definitely super short, but I think it was a good experience.  The girls were very excited to perform for their families, and afterward the kids played while the adults chatted.

Here are two of my students, Mariah and Serena, waiting for the other family to arrive.  They were so cute all dressed up.  Alex and their little brother Nathaniel waited patiently in the background. 

Here's a picture of me (gasp!) with my three students.  Renee and Serena are in the front.  Mariah and I are in the back. 

Once There Was a Snowman

Once there was a snowman, snowman, snowman,

Once there was a snowman, tall, tall, tall!

We had another snowfall last week, and the kids played in it for hours during the two days before it melted.  It had been really warm outside before the snow came, so it was a good sticky snow.  Logan and Annie made their very first snowmen entirely by themselves!  I loved their creativity.

Here's Logan's snowman.

Here's Annie's.

Two days later:

In the sun he melted, melted, melted,

In the sun he melted, small, small, small!

Smile

I just love how this kid smiles for the camera.

For Nana

This post is especially for my Nana.

When I was a little girl, my Nana (my Dad's mom) made me this sweater.  I loved it because of the sunglasses buttons and wore it all the time.  Annie discovered it last week and has wanted to wear it everyday.  When I asked her what she liked about it she said, "I like the sunglasses." 

We love you Nana!

Kids Say

When we got Elway, Alex finally started learning some nouns!  His talking has really picked up this month.  Some of his new words are: mine, no, Elway, book, ball, banana, blankie, bite, sit, hot, go

Logan, "We could get Dad a car for his birthday!"  To which Annie responds, "I have an idea!  We could get Dad a envelope!"

Annie, "I can do everything because I am pretending to be a mom."

Logan, "I jumped off that bed and I didn't even break my leg!"

We had the missionaries over for dinner a few nights ago and they were asking Jim what he's learned in his current calling.  Logan piped up with, "I learned that my thumb is my biggest finger!"

Logan after playing with my hair, "I just let out one of your ears."

Annie while cuddling with me one morning, "What was that other smell you are making?"

Logan, "Sometimes I breathe through the whole night."

Stickers

Our home teachers brought the kids some stickers on Sunday.  They loved them...and Alex was especially cute sticking them all over his face.

Homemade Laundry Detergent

Last week I was very excited to make my own laundry detergent.  Seriously, I was STOKED.  It was super easy, cost $20 for a year supply (or .037 per load so WAY cheaper than any store detergent), and our clothes smell cleaner than ever.  If you ever catch me smelling my laundry, it's because I'm loving it so much.   

Here's the recipe:  (I am NOT claiming this recipe as my own.  However, I forget what blog it was I found it on.)
-4lb box borax (detergent aisle)
-55oz box Super Washing Soda (detergent aisle)
-3 bars Fels Naptha Soap (detergent aisle)
-36oz OxiClean (detergent aisle)
-64oz baking soda (baking aisle)
I bought everything at Wal-mart and most of it was together on the same aisle.

Here's my picture of the ingredients (skip the purple laundry crystals...turns out they don't add any scent to this recipe).

Grate the soap in your cheese grater.

Mix in a bucket.  This filled about half of a 5 gallon bucket.  (Funny side note:  I put the lid on the bucket and rolled it around to mix the ingredients.  Then I took the lid off to finish mixing.  Alex picked up the lid, took a LONG lick, and walked away with no reaction.  So apparently, this tastes okay too.  Ha ha!)

I put some of it in a smaller container with a spoon by the washer.  Ta da!  It only takes 1 TABLESPOON of the detergent per load.  I wash BIG loads, and this small amount has made them very clean.  Yay!

Quote

I like this quote attributed to a man named Steven Furtick,

"One reason we struggle with insecurity: we're comparing our behind the scenes to everyone else's highlight reel."

So true.  Sometimes when my behind the scenes aren't so pretty, I like to go back and read my own blog so I can see my highlight reel.  Yet another reason I love this blog thing.  :) 

FHE Activity

This is what we made for our FHE activity last night. 

We all raced through it in teams, coming from opposite ends and meeting in the middle.  It sure gets dark in there!  Jim and Logan even bonked heads pretty good because they couldn't see each other.  At one point I knew I was close to Alex because I could hear him giggling in front of me, but it took a while to find him.  We've left it up for now because it was so much fun.   

Another Dog Post

This dog likes to lay in a very strange position.  Check out his back legs.

I think he looks like a person laying on his stomach in a dog costume.

Temper Temper

We haven't encountered the 'Terrible Two's' in our family thus far, but I'm thinking it might be coming this time.  Alex has a temper.  A few weeks ago he split his head open by throwing himself into the corner of a cupboard.  We actually super glued the cut shut!  Last week he threw himself into the corner of a door and gave himself this bump.  It looks pretty bad in the picture, but it was worse in person.  It was raised half an inch within seconds after he did it, and that purple area was very dark.  I'm not the freak out kind of mom (hence the do it yourself super glue job) so I just kept an eye on him afterward.  He didn't cry long after he hurt himself; I think the injury snapped him out of his tantrum!  Then he smiled for the camera like this.  No signs of concussion, and the swelling subsided pretty quickly (though it's not gone), so he's good. 

Elway

As in John Elway.  He even has a Broncos collar, though I'm NOT a football fan.  (My family members all cringe as they read this...I know.)  I won't hold his name against him though.  This is the puppy my sister brought us a week and a half ago.

He's decided that I'm his favorite (even though I'm the one who reprimands him when he pees in the house) and is always with me (except when he pees in the house because he's in hiding).  At the moment he's taking a nap at my feet.  He's a very energetic little mop who likes to steal toys and jump on anyone who has food.  I have to say these are good qualities.  He's effectively taught the kids to pick up their toys, and Alex to stay at the table when eating.  It's great.  He also takes a nap during quiet time.  He's figured out that he can pee near the drain in our basement and not get in trouble (because once I reprimand him he rarely pees again in the same spot, and I figure he needs one safe spot indoors until he learns to let me know he needs to go outside).  Potty training isn't complete, but he's making progress.  We're having fewer accidents each day.  He even had one day without an accident!   

Here's one more picture.  I actually had a very difficult time getting a picture of him because he wanted to play with me.  In the spring, we plan to groom his 4 inch fur; maybe we'll be able to see his eyes then.     

Saturday

The kids had a fun day on Saturday.  Jim took them to the Home Depot where they did a free kids' workshop.  These happen on the first Saturday of every month, and we've been impressed with the good projects each time.  This was the first time Annie was allowed to go too.  Logan looks forward to it for weeks.  Awesome.  

Jim left again for a meeting, and I babysat some kids for a few hours.  In other words, the kids had a playdate.  More awesome.

Jim came home briefly, then left again for an activity at the church.  I let the kids put on their aprons and help me make bread.  They LOVE to help me cook.  (I hope that continues when they can actually be REAL help.)  Most awesome.