Happy Birthday Josie!!!

I always hate when birthdays come because we have no family here to celebrate with... This year we were lucky enough to have Courtney here for Josie's big day. Josie was actually sick on her birthday, Stephen was out of town and the boys were with their mom so we postponed her birthday celebration until everyone could be there. So Saturday morning we had a little brunch with Stephen's brother Nathan and his family....

We got started late (big surprise) and apparently Josie got tired of waiting so she raided the pantry and found her favorite snack... Mini Nilla Wafers. In fact, we ran out of crackers that day so for the next 2 days she kept grabbing my box of panko bread crumbs (which is the same color) and would sit down on the floor of the pantry and try to tear the box open. She would throw a fit every time we took the box away from her. Needless to say, Courtney and I replaced the box of Nilla Wafers today.
Josie on her birthday throne. Yes I did make a tutu for her high chair tray. Thank you PINTEREST for the idea!
So I may have lit a candle in the center of the pancakes and placed it on her tray so we could sing Happy Birthday to her... and she may have reached right out and touched the flame before we could even start singing... She WOULD NOT touch her pancakes until that candle was removed.
Then she went to town! She ate every last little scrap of food on her plate.
And after brunch it was time for her to open her present... Thanks Nana and Papa! As usual, the car was a huge hit! And perfect size. Her feet already touch the floor.

My latest project

For a few years I've had this 20" x 40" poster commemorating UCLA's last defeat of USC (and I say last in both senses of the word - this was the most recent time it happened, and at the rate things are going probably won't ever happen again), but never found a design I liked for a frame until now. This frame is made up of 170-plus individual pieces of mahogany plywood glued together, with bevels cut around the edges to show a little of the lighter plywood underneath. The result is a brick and mortar effect reminiscent of the red brick buildings of UCLA campus. It was a fun project that took a long time, cutting, routing, and gluing up all those pieces.

Check us out!

We had some family pictures done a couple weeks ago...and here's some samples..


My boys...


Me and the girlies...I hope some day they know how long I wanted a daughter of my own. And they are everything I hoped for (and then some, think spice, lots of it)

And all together now...I know it sort of looks like Malia is being strangled, but I love it!

Rick and I make some beautiful kids. We should have 10 more....or not.

Glory at Last!!

Here are pics of Carter's winning pinewood derby car. Carter found the design online, and I shaped it with the bandsaw, spindle sander, and router. 10 coats of spray shellac in the 12 hours before the race gave it a really glossy finish, but it was still wet come racetime, and touching it left permanent fingerprints on the not fully cured finish. This is our last pinewood derby and it feels good to go out on top after so many mediocre finishes!

You heard it straight from here...

I have read the Book of Mormon many many times. But last night, I learned something new. I've never noticed before. Last night's scripture study...2 Nephi 9:51

"...let your soul delight in fatness."

Does the context matter? I think not. I knew my extra subcutaneous layer would be good sometime in my life:)

A typical afternoon/evening

You know how much I like to be smothered, right? So, I got home from school at 4:45. Only Carter was here. Nana had sent me a package, so I called to thank her. Within a couple minutes, the troops descended upon me. By that, I mean, Malia came in and started jumping up and down and asking me if I missed her, Carter was asking me if I could make some sweet and sour sauce (for the eggrolls I made for dinner), and Rick was asking me if he should mail a check or not and if I had stamps. I WAS ON THE PHONE PEOPLE! I ended that phone call and proceeded with dinner...EVERYONE WAS IN THE KITCHEN asking me 1000 questions until I finally said, "EVERYBODY OUT!" Within 15 minutes, dinner was ready. It was gluten full, so I served everyone and then sat down to work on homework. Within minutes, Bella sat down between the pillow and the computer in the 6 inches of free space available and started asking questions and Malia brought a stack of books and moved my binders and such onto the floor so she could sit RIGHT NEXT TO ME and read outloud. Have you ever tried to take a test on respiratory function and listened to Curious George and Santa Mouse at the same time? Just sayin'. SPACE people, SPACE! I sent Bella to get Rick's noise cancelling headphones so i could concentrate but Malia protested, saying she would read quieter. Fantastic. QUIET reading out LOUD Pinkalicious while I'm taking a respiratory exam. It's no wonder I covet my two days off when I am ALL BY MYSELF!

21 days...

On January 1, we started reading the Book of Mormon, out loud, as a family. As you can expect, we have attempted this many times before and have failed miserably. As of today, we have read it 23 nights in a row...which is 2 days past 21..the number of days it takes to create a habit. Here's hoping we really have created a habit.