March (Part 2)

We did a little celebrating for St. Patrick's Day

Green donuts, milk and shirts  (The donuts were left overs from the Books 'N' Buddies PTA activity back in February.  They had TONs of donuts left over so I brought home a dozen and froze them.  Score for us!)



Green mashed potatoes for dinner



Shamrock shakes from McDonald's for dessert



Emily



Megan



Tyler



My little mermaids (Megan and Emily)



I no longer have matching twins.  It all began back in January when Megan decided she did NOT like the clothes I chose for them to wear that day.  I don't know what "fashion magazines for 3-year olds" she had been reading, but she informed me she was not going to wear "those silly pants." ALRIGHT!  So, now the girls choose their own clothes everyday.  It's not that they don't want to dress the same--it's just that they have different opinions about what they want to wear.  Occasionally they like the same thing, but generally Megan likes certain shirts and pants and Emily likes different ones.  The advantage to being a twin is that there are TWO matching shirts in the drawer.  So they get to wear their favorite shirt two days in a row and it starts out clean both days. 

Here is one of Megan's preferred outfits.  She loves leggings and her purple skirt.  The only thing missing from this picture is her "puppy socks."  They are red and black husky dog socks that my parents brought back from Alaska.  No, they don't match the purple and pink she has on, but I choose which battles I fight.



And here is one of Emily's preferred outfits.  She seems to be a little more easy-going when it comes to "fashion."



We celebrated 9 years of marriage on March 19. 

Here is a collage of our engagement picture and a picture from last fall.



My traditional "Get dressed up in my wedding  dress" for our anniversary.



Two days after our anniversary it was Darrell's birthday.  We celebrated with Papa Murphy's pizza.  (His favorite is the barbecue chicken.)  And of course, you can't go wrong with a chocolate birthday cake from Costco.

The kids had dentist checkups.  Everything looked great!  Here they are watching movies up on the ceiling.

Tyler



Emily



Megan  (She was the most timid about getting her teeth checked and had a few tears, but later declared that she liked the dentist.)



Disney's "Frozen" is popular at our house.  Here the kids are making things "frozen" like Elsa does.



The girls enjoyed water painting while Tyler was at school



This is what happens when you go down the slide face first and crash into the cement border at the bottom.  Poor Megan!





I came home from visiting teaching to find this.  (Um, what happened to getting ready for bed, DADDY?!?)  I didn't get a picture of all the things Emily unloaded from a cupboard (which means she had to stand up on the countertop get them)--all of the cookie cutters, our "fancy" glass glasses, plates, etc. ("I was outside and didn't know what she was doing," said Darrell.)



We attempted to fly our kites.  We never could get them to get up in the air.  I guess we'll be investing in something with a little better quality than dollar store (2/$1) kites.



The kids ran around while we tried  in vain to get those kites to fly.

March (Part 1)

My parents were heading south to Las Vegas and stopped in to say hi.  They treated us to the Olive Garden--so yummy!

Tyler, Grandma, Megan, Grandpa and Emily



The kids LOVE Legos (and I LOVE that they LOVE Legos.)  They spend hours playing with them.

Tyler



Emily



Megan



Our school choir received a mini grant from an afterschool partnership.  They purchased our T-shirts for us.  So awesome!





We've had some nice days and the kids have been enjoying being outside.

Tyler with his bow and arrow



Megan



Emily



We even went for a Sunday-evening walk to a nearby park.

Emily



Tyler jumping off the bricks



Megan



Heading home from our walk.



Our van had a flat tire so the girls and I "got" to spend some time at the dealership.  At least they had an enclosed area for kids to play and watch TV.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday to my wonderful momma!

We love you!

Let It Go

With all of the bazillion versions of "Let it Go" from Frozen out there, we might as well add ours to it.  The kids didn't know I was video taping them while they dancing their little hearts out.  Ah!  To have that much energy right before bedtime!

Getting My Craft On

I wouldn't consider myself "crafty," but I do like being creative.  I don't come up with ideas on my own, but I can pretty much copy others' ideas or follow a pattern.

These were my Christmas presents to Darrell's mom, his grandma and his sister's family.   I made 11 wreaths in all within a short amount of time, and I really enjoyed making them.

Spring



Summer



Fall



Winter



Any time of the year





The whole collection



Last year I decided to make covers/holders for the incoming Beehives.  It's funny how even though I had a TON of stuff to do, I found plenty of time to make these covers.  :)

 

 

And here's a few other creative projects I enjoyed.

Skirts for the girls







And a Precious Moments cross-stitch that I made several years ago for my parents.



I think creativity is also why I enjoy playing the piano.  There's something powerful and uplifting about taking notes on a paper and creating beautiful music. 

I really enjoyed Elder Uchtdorf's talk a few years ago to the women of the church about our need to be creative.  It is an innate trait we inherited from God.

You can read the whole talk here, but here is the section about creating.

 

 

The Work of Creation

The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. No matter our talents, education, backgrounds, or abilities, we each have an inherent wish to create something that did not exist before.
 

Everyone can create. You don’t need money, position, or influence in order to create something of substance or beauty.
 

Creation brings deep satisfaction and fulfillment. We develop ourselves and others when we take unorganized matter into our hands and mold it into something of beauty.
 

You might say, “I’m not the creative type. When I sing, I’m always half a tone above or below the note. I cannot draw a line without a ruler. And the only practical use for my homemade bread is as a paperweight or as a doorstop.”
 

If that is how you feel, think again, and remember that you are spirit daughters of the most creative Being in the universe. Isn’t it remarkable to think that your very spirits are fashioned by an endlessly creative and eternally compassionate God? Think about it—your spirit body is a masterpiece, created with a beauty, function, and capacity beyond imagination.
 

But to what end were we created? We were created with the express purpose and potential of experiencing a fulness of joy.    Our birthright—and the purpose of our great voyage on this earth—is to seek and experience eternal happiness. One of the ways we find this is by creating things.
 

If you are a mother, you participate with God in His work of creation—not only by providing physical bodies for your children but also by teaching and nurturing them.
 

You may think you don’t have talents, but that is a false assumption, for we all have talents and gifts, every one of us.      The bounds of creativity extend far beyond the limits of a canvas or a sheet of paper and do not require a brush, a pen, or the keys of a piano. Creation means bringing into existence something that did not exist before—colorful gardens, harmonious homes, family, memories, flowing laughter.
 

What you create doesn’t have to be perfect.  Don’t let fear of failure discourage you. Don’t let the voice of critics paralyze you—whether that voice comes from the outside or the inside.
 

If you still feel incapable of creating, start small. Try to see how many smiles you can create, write a letter of appreciation, learn a new skill, identify a space and beautify it.
 

Nearly a century and a half ago, President Brigham Young spoke to the Saints of his day. “There is a great work for the Saints to do,” he said. “Progress, and improve upon and make beautiful everything around you. Cultivate the earth, and cultivate your minds. Build cities, adorn your habitations, make gardens, orchards, and vineyards, and render the earth so pleasant that when you look upon your labors you may do so with pleasure, and that angels may delight to come and visit your beautiful locations. In the mean time continually seek to adorn your minds with all the graces of the Spirit of Christ.”    
 

The more you trust and rely upon the Spirit, the greater your capacity to create. That is your opportunity in this life and your destiny in the life to come. Sisters, trust and rely on the Spirit. As you take the normal opportunities of your daily life and create something of beauty and helpfulness, you improve not only the world around you but also the world within you.