"Imagination rules the world"

One of the main reasons we decided to use bright colors in our home was our children. I wanted to be able to hang their artwork on the fridge or wall and let it be a part of the decor. I know that there will come a day when I'm not drowning in children's "artwork" and I'll be so glad that I embraced it when I had it. I've had the idea for this wall in my head for over a year now (you should see how my house looks inside that head of mine!) and it's finally finished. Now my only problem is choosing which project to start on next!

they each have their own clipboard to display their favorites or keep things they're not finished with

Yep, another one of our windows (turned into a chalkboard this time). My sister wrote on it for me and I'm sure we'll change the quote from time to time.

The "rail" is from Ikea. It's really for curtains but it works perfectly for hanging their pictures!

I should be cleaning...

...but how could I resist this cute little face?!

Helping Haiti

Today I heard about someone who is collecting stuffed animals for children in Haiti. Roland and I knew immediately that we needed to give our children the opportunity to participate. We discussed the situation in Haiti for FHE and showed them pictures of the devastation there. We talked about how very blessed we are and how it's important to share our blessings with others. At the end of the lesson we asked them if they would like to pick one of their stuffed animals to share with the children in Haiti. At first they refused. We talked about it a little more and pretty soon they were in their rooms searching for just the right one to share. I told them we would take pictures so they could remember their stuffed animals. We told them to give their animal a nice big hug and that the child who receives it would feel their love. Eric and Emilie could not control their emotions. They held their animals for a long time as they cried. I did not expect them to be so emotional about it, but I hope they learned something from it!
I was so glad to find a way for them to serve and help. They have heard about the earthquake and wondered about the children there and I think this was a great way for them to feel like there was something they could do.

p.s. for those of you in my neighborhood who want to donate your stuffed animals, you can bring them to my house no later than Wednesday morning and I'll take them to the people who are going to Haiti. :)

how to beat the dinner-time blues

You know how it goes. After a long day you're trying to get dinner on the table and of course every child in the house is whining or crying or making someone else whine or cry. It's like they know you've run out of patience and they want to prove it. You are counting down until their father gets home. Here is how to beat those dinner-time blues:
go to this website where you can get free downloads of children's stories read by a British lady with a really cool accent. Load them onto the iPod shuffles that your husband got from his work (thank you, OC Tanner!) and give them to your whiny children to listen to while you enjoy the chance to actually hear yourself think. Awesome.

No, Charlie doesn't have an iPod, but he just started solids (he'll be 6 months this week) and I had to document his cute oatmeal-y face!
p.s. you could also download the stories and let them plug the earphones straight into the computer or burn them onto a CD....
p.p.s. yes, I do still love Lydie. She didn't want a picture with her iPod today. Silly girl.

baby love

5 months

It all began

last fall when Roland and I were at the OC Tanner Gift of Music Concert. We were seated in the front row inside the tabernacle for a concert with the Utah Symphony and Mormon Tabernacle Choir. At almost the same moment we turned to each other and remarked that we could just see Emilie playing the violin someday. Knowing how pricey violins can be, we kept these thoughts to ourselves so as not to get Emilie's hopes up.
Somehow, she read our minds. One day when I asked her what she wanted for Christmas she promptly and without hesitation said, "a violin". I was so surprised and a little concerned. How would Santa pull this off? We talked about it, but weren't sure how we could do it this year. I tried to gently lead her in other directions when we talked about Christmas "don't you want a baby doll bed?", "I thought you wanted princess stuff!". Didn't work. Every time anyone asked her, the first thing she said was "violin". I was beginning to worry.
We finally came up with a story about how Santa checked with Mommy and Daddy to see if he should bring a violin and we told him to wait because we needed to find a violin teacher first. Christmas morning came and after the gifts were opened I told Emilie our story. She accepted it but I could tell she was a little disappointed.
A couple hours later I got a call from my Mom who had just had Christmas brunch with my step-brother and his family. She said that she had told them about Emilie and how she was sure that Santa would bring her a violin. My sister-in-law has played the violin since she was a small girl and two of her daughters are learning now. She still has her first violin which both of her girls have used and was not being used at the moment. She immediately offered her violin for Emilie to use. She got it out and gave it to my mom.
My mom took it home and put a bow around it and had my sister make a beautiful tag that read "to: Emilie/Love, Santa". She called me and told me to have Emilie answer the door when the doorbell rang. She left it on the porch and rang the bell. Emilie opened it and could hardly believe her eyes! Santa did bring that violin just like she asked! She carefully opened it and her face lit up when she saw that it was just her size. It was magical.

Not only did my sister-in-law let us borrow her violin she also hooked us up with an adorable violin teacher. Emilie's first lesson was this afternoon. She could hardly sleep last night anticipating her lesson. She loved every minute of it and can't wait to learn more! This is a Christmas Emilie will remember for a long time. Thank you for making it possible, Cassie! We love you!