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I hope you all had a nice Valentine's Day.
Ours was nothing over the top. It was just simple and nice.
Chris took the girls out on a date the Friday before Valentine's day, and they all picked out truffles for me. I had a very nice sized and yummy chocolate treat filled box of See's candy.
It was nice that they picked out some of their favorites, because then I just let them eat those. That saved me from devouring the entire box myself. It is always so much more fun to share.

I gave Chris a jar full of heart shaped peppermint patties.
With a personalized little note attached.

I had fun making up little rhyming Valentine's poems for the kids and got them
a little something to open when they woke up on the 14th.

The girls had New Beginnings for Young Women's last week.
They were supposed to dress up like they were going down the red carpet.
They had the folding doors partly open with cardboard attached to look like a Limousine.
Someone would open the door to the Limo and out would come one of the young girls coming into YW this year.
Aeva was the last one because they forgot she was coming in this year.
They had to have Chris come up and tell some things about her as she
was escorted down the red carpet. I told her they save the best for last.

Here are the girls in their "Red Carpet" attire.

Both Rhaevyn and Aeva have had a lot of fun styling Myles's hair.
They like to gel it all up.

Here are some pictures that just crack me up.

Myles has been waiting on pins and needles for these......

Yep, he's got glasses. He calls them "wear all the time" glasses.
They just came in yesterday and not a minute too soon. He was getting very impatient and would ask everyday how long it had been since they were ordered and how much longer they would take to come in.
We had a lot of fun picking them out. I had some picked out that I liked, but he did the old eenie, meanie, mienie, mo trick. I had to laugh because at the end mine came up the winner as "you are it!" But he quickly moved his finger to the pair he is wearing saying those were actually the winner. He had us laughing.
Although I really liked the style I picked out, I told him he was the one who had to wear them, so he could have the pair he really liked.

Here is just a bit of a phone conversation between Elsa and Uncle Ben.

Women at the Well and More....

Aeva was asked to sing "Daughter Arise" again in Women at the Well, which was performed for our Stake Relief Society. She picked up the song pretty quickly even though she hadn't sung it in almost three years. All the practices went well, and she was ready for the real deal.
I think I get more nervous than she does. My heart was pounding through my chest.
Just before it was time for her to sing I felt inspired to say a prayer for her.....that she would be fine and would not mess up, which looking back I find interesting because I've never worried about it the last time. I am so glad that I did. Her music started, but when she started to sing no one could hear her because the microphone was not working. Then her microphone started to work but screeched loudly and no on could hear the music. Eventually it got straightened out and we could hear her and her music just fine. My sweet Aeva did not miss a beat. She didn't freeze, she didn't stop singing, but just kept going. All the other performers were amazed at her poise and that she didn't fall apart. It didn't seem to phase her a bit. The gentleman doing the sound came up afterwards and couldn't apologize enough. He wanted to make it clear that it was not her fault, but his, and that she did great. I am so amazed by her!

This past week has been another week of baking new things.
Rhaevyn decided Wednesday afternoon she wanted to make Red Velvet Whoopies.
They turned out pretty good. They might have turned out better if I'd have had buttermilk on hand, but instead I did the substitute of vinegar and milk.
She did a great job on them.

Then I tried a cinnamon roll recipe (thank you Karen).
Oh my goodness they are delicious and super easy!
I made three pans worth. Luckily I gave a good portion away.
We made three different icings, one of which we made with orange juice and zest.

The girls and I decided their desk top needed some help. It was looking a bit battered.
So we decided to redo the top with a collage of scrapbook paper and mod podge.
I put a big piece of paper in the middle of fairies because the girls love fairies.
It just spiced their little desk up a bit.

Wishing you all a great first week of February!

First Snow and a Real Haircut

We got our first, and possibly only, snow of the season on Monday - Wednesday.
Rhaevyn got to go sledding at her best friend's house on Monday.
The other three had fun gathering what snow there was on the ground, Monday, to throw at each other.
Wednesday they went out and built a small snowman and two forts.
The snow was very pretty. I love watching the snow fall at night. It is so magical. I am glad that I did not have to drive in it though.

Today we treated Myles to a "real" haircut.
He has been looking forward to going to the Barber's shop all week.
He absolutely loved it!
He got to sit in the chair and watch football, got a back/neck massage, and gel in his hair. To top it off he got a back of popcorn and a lollipop too.
He had the biggest smile when it was all done.
He was a bit concerned about "issues".......translated I think our clippers are dull.
I think he looks so grown up and handsome.............well he does normally, but I just love the style.

Myles-isms

Yesterday Myles asked if I thought he was muscular. He kept flexing his arm muscles for me.
Then he came over, puffed out his chest and says to me "Mom, take a look at these guys!", nodding toward his pecs.

The girls were entertaining Elsa by looking at old blog posts and viewing video footage from when she was a baby. Myles energetically said "Can't you just pop out another baby, Mom, so we can have another sibling?"

I so love the innocence of youth, and I absolutely love my guy, Myles!

We had an enjoyable two weeks off from school. This past week we got back into the swing and routine of school........with a new semester, new work books and a new literature circle book.

But here is a little recap of what we were up to on our time off.....

I recycled our oatmeal canister.

I found a new use for this picture frame.......again.
I had put pictures of the kids in it, but I found that I needed a place for all the clips we've been sent and that I've made.

We added some pizazz to Myles's room.
Chris came home with last year's calendar, and Myles was in heaven.
He picked out his favorites.....

He had a hard time narrowing down to just four, so we put one on his door and one on his closet as well.

Lots of drawing, Lego building, and playing with Barbies went on during out little vacation from schoolwork.

Rhaevyn, Aeva and I decorated composition notebooks.
That was a lot of fun. We used pictures and words from magazines,
printed quotes, photos, mod podge and shipping tape.
These are Rhaevyn's.

Front #1

Back #1

Front #2

Back #2

This is my literature circle notebook.
I covered mine with several quotes from Corrie Ten Boom.
If you don't know who she is, I highly recommend you find out.
We are reading The Hiding Place for literature. If you have never read that book, I would encourage you to do it. I am reading it for the second time, and love it even more than the first time. There are amazing life lessons to be learned from the pages of the book. It is very inspiring. Corrie and her family truly were amazing and loved the Lord. If you decide to read it or have read it, share your thoughts with me.

Front

Back

This is my Sunday School notebook that I use for my lessons on Sunday.

These are the two that Aeva decorated.

Front

Back.

I love how unique and personal each notebook turned out.

We also tried our hand at Sufganiot.
Suf what you ask????
They are Jewish jelly donuts.
I will just say I am really not much of a baker.
I put in way too much yeast. Well it was not entirely my fault.
I will blame it on the recipe in the book we were reading about Jewish Holidays.
Since I am not a baker I had not way of knowing that the ratio of water to yeast was all wrong or even how to dissolve yeast in water.
Ya, I stirred and it became a paste.
Oh well, I learned some valuable lessons.
They at least were tolerable because they all got eaten, but boy, let me tell you, too much yeast is not good for the digestive system.
I decided not to let the mishap with the jelly donuts keep me from doing more baking.
Last night I made Challah.
Challah is the bread that Jews have for their Sabbath dinner and at Rosh Hashanah.
Anyway, I found a really good recipe that walked me through everything.........even how to dissolve the yeast.
I have to say I am so proud of my beautiful Challah..........

It was so yummy. For my first try at it I would say it was a success. Not as good as some I've had made my the "professionals", but it was not a failure. Yay!!

And now we prepare for another week and what it may hold.
The quote most used by me this past week was "Come what may and love it!"
I wonder what my most used quote will be this coming week....

Good-Bye 2011.....Hello 2012

The last week of 2011 was a great one.
For most of the week we've had fun playing some new games and watching two movies we got for Christmas.
Monday I woke up bright and early and took the Christmas tree down.
The living room was just feeling a bit too cramped. That afternoon the girls went on a date with Chris.
We had a family date on Thursday. The kids were itching to get out of the house. So we all piled in the car and headed to Ikea. We perused to our hearts content, and then we had dinner and dessert for all six of us for under $10. What a deal! Myles had not voted for Ikea, so we visited the Learning Palace for him after Ikea.
Rhaevyn and I had a date on Friday. We hit the local clothes consignment shop and found a couple of outfits for her and new pair of church pants for Myles. Then Rhaevyn treated me to lunch at Red Robin, and we checked out a few shops at the mall. We had a great time.
Saturday was clean the house day, and we had a suprise visit from Brynn and Alayna.
Brynn started babysitting the girls when Aeva was just a few months old. She ended up going to college and on a mission. She is now a mom of two very cute boys. Her sister Alayna ended up taking over the babysitting of the girls and Myles, but she now lives in Utah :( We were ecstatic to see both of them, as they are such a part of our family. You'd think it was Christmas all over when they are in town and come to see us. The kids jump up and down and squeal with delight.
I really wanted to start and complete this one craft project before the new year.
I have had the vinyl lettering for over a year (thanks, mom). I had decided on the clothes pins several months ago and had decorated them. I decided it was finally time to get it done.
I have to say I am very happy with the end results.
I made one for my best friend too.
Now the kids have a place to hang their artwork and school work.

Here is mine.

My little munchkins did some water colors today,

so I'd have some beautiful pictures to hang up.

This is the one I did for my friend to hang in her school room.

We were party poopers New Year's Eve.
We did not make it until midnight.
Rhaevyn had wanted to stay up until midnight because she and her best friend were having a contest on who would stay up the latest. Needless to say, Rhaevyn did not win the competition.
Her best friend called at midnight, though, to wish her a Happy New Year.
Chris and I had to laugh because I think she expected Rhaevyn to pick up the phone and not Chris. But she was cute, she wished us a Happy New Year.
We are on a new schedule for church now, so Sunday we got to to sleep in.
We watched our usual for New Year's day....the Wiener Philharmoniker at the Musikverein (Vienna Philharmonic). Elsa had a blast. She put on her ballet shoes and danced to her hearts content.
Today I've been nesting. I've Started the new year off with organizing, de-cluttering the house, and moving pictures around.
It's been nice to not have a schedule, play a bit and just relax.
Wishing you all a very happy 2012!

Here is a clip of Elsa saying what her new favorite movie is...