Silly Mark

 My little Mark is quite the singer.  This was his compilation of his favorite songs. He kinda mixed up the lines from several songs. It gives me a good laugh.



 And here is his dancing side. This song is played SO frequently at our house. Luke taught the dance to Mark. Thats right. All of this is Luke's fault!! ;)

Family pictures

I am blessed to be friends with a great photographer. She graciously took our family pictures this year. She is very reasonably priced and did I mention how talented she is?! We had a great hour with her and I am very happy with our pictures.

We added this picture to some of our family's Christmas cards. We had to show our true selves..we're never gathered together, standing still and smiling you...you are more likely to have us making faces at you and being silly.

My boys! I love them!

The Luke.

Chef James

The handsome Ben.

Shy, mommy-loving Mark.

Ben loves to get his picture taken.

He gets those icy blue eyes from his Dad.

I wanted to give a picture to Cory for Christmas.  This is what he ended up with. Not the most exciting gift, but I'm happy with it. Thats saying something since I rarely like how I look in pictures.

 Thanks Camille! We love them!

Happy birthday chef James!

 

James turned 13 recently and we were so excited to be able to celebrate it with my sister Katy and her kids. I love her kids! They are AWESOME! (Hi Rissa!!!)

Among the usual happy gifts of toys and books, James received a scholarship to an online cooking school called Top Chef University. James talks about cooking daily and has learned to prepare a wide variety of dishes. This is his opportunity to step it up!

James' reading his acceptance letter. He was SO excited!

James' first assignment was to make chicken noodle soup.  This included dicing the veggies and crushing the garlic. Here he is sweating the veggies.

He prepared the chicken broth and used bay leaves and fresh thyme. The house smelled SO good. Everyone needs at least one of their children to be enthralled in cooking so that you can smell those yummy smells and know that you didn't have to prepare them!

Here is James with his first big masterpiece. Chicken noodle soup with a Parmesan cloud of cheese. I didn't help at all. I stayed out of the kitchen the entire time. Oh that soup was YUMMY!

His next assignment is for Potato Leek soup.

Happy birthday James! I'm one lucky mama!

More chairs...

 I have decided that painting chairs have been my best therapy this year. I have so much fun with it.  I am not an accomplished artist, I just love to doodle. I now just doodle with paint.  Here are some of my latest doodles.

This is how the chair started. My sketch didn't look anything like it.  After about 14 hours of working on it (even if it was enjoyable time)  I decided that I didn't like it. At. All. I re-primed it and the new look of the chair I LOVED.

The new design of the chair flowed very easily. I enjoyed every moment on this chair. The red was so RED that I would gaze at it. I love that red!

I love this chair too! The swirls and checkers remind me of a Dr.Seuss book.

I sent this chair home with my mom and dad. The leaves on the top and legs even have pink in them. The layers of the leaves were a new technique for me. I am loving learning all of these new ways to paint.

 Thanks for looking!

My brother's concert. Go Ray!

 I am fortunate to have an amazing brother. A brother that gives me the opportunity to meet people that I probably never would have been able to meet otherwise.
My brother, Ray, is the conductor for the North Las Vegas Stake symphony. Thousands of people attend his concerts. If you want a good seat, come early! My favorite concerts of his are usually the Christmas ones, but this concert easily trumped them all.

Last month, Ray had Jenny Oaks Baker as his guest.  If you are unfamiliar with Jenny Oaks Baker, this is a great opportunity for you to discover her!! She is an amazing violinist. I have all of her albums and have heard her in concert before. After the accident, I would lie in bed and listen to her Disney songs and daydream.

Besides a splendid concert, I was able to spend some time with my family. Which I love. My Aunt Joyce even traveled up from the Phoenix area.

I love the cousins getting together. The feelings of friendships that are always there no matter how much time passes.

Afterwards, I was able to meet Jenny Oaks Baker. She was so gracious and elegant. She won't remember me in 5 years, but in 5 years I will totally remember her music during my hard times.

Ben loved the concert! When he met her, he told her that she played so beautifully. It was sweet.

Dr. Brown -aka my brother- with Jenny Oaks Baker.

Everyone!!

 Ray's Christmas concert is December 9th! See you there!

Happy Halloween!

 Halloween is always a favorite around our house. Well, except for me. I'm to excited for Christmas to really plan to much for Halloween. But we always seem to get a few traditions in, in spite of me.

Ben was going to be THING 2 but then he found the parrot that meant the world to him at the DI. He then became a pirate so that he could continue to carry around the parrot today.

Zeus. Those lightening bolts hurt.

James in true form.

Mark was/is THING 1.

Watch out. Who knows what he's going to do!!!

He actually skipped trick or treating so that he could finish his book about Gandhi.  Besides that, he graduated from trick-or-treating a couple of years ago. He was going to go to a party but Gandhi won out.

THING 1 and 2 together!

We went to the library  story time. The kids love Halloween games and the funny Halloween stories. This was a version of musical chairs.

Doing the hokey pokey!

Brothers together!

Ben thought this was so much fun. "How can I eat it with no hands!!"

Bobbing for cookies. Best game of the day!

We played at the park to get all of the super-excited-can't-wait-to-go-trick-or-treating wiggles out. Wow. There were A LOT of them!

  We handed out sample soap and lotion to the trick or treaters here. It was different and if I don't buy the can't I won't eat it!! We had mixed reviews. Some kids were pretty upset over the no candy but the little girls were super excited to have their own tiny bottle of lotion.

Happy Halloween!!

TJed retreat

Every year I love hosting a retreat for homeschooling moms that choose to use the principles used in the book A Thomas Jefferson Education.

Each a year the retreat is unique. This year there was something super special about it and the synergy was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.   It was a very powerful weekend. 

However it started a little.....snowy.

 When we left sunny Southern Utah we were..concerned..that it was going to snow on us during our travel up the mountain. When we arrived at the cabin, near Brian Head, we could feel a slight sense of snow in the air. And not just because we had to shovel a foot of snow off of the driveway to get into the cabin.  Thankfully the main part of the snow held off until that night when the ladies had already arrived.  It was eerie to hear the snow fall off the building with thunderous applause.  But don't worry, because I have about 500 Christmas songs on my iPod for situations just like this one. I think we listened to almost all of them.

We picked these before we went up the mountain. Which was brilliant since all of the leaves were gone when we arrived at the cabin. They were replaced with SNOW!

 Our presenters this year were very inspired. They taught about forgiveness, gratitude, overcoming challenges in our homeschooling, health and many many other things. We brainstormed, we laughed, we cried, and we ate. We had the most amazing colloquium about the book Anne of Green Gables, had a nature walk and enjoyed musical talent. A perfect perfect weekend.

This was lunch...tomato basil, cheddar vegetable, and chicken with wild rice. Yum yum!

Many new friends.

The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day just before we left.

We had to dig our way out. It was not fun. Just cold.

Saying goodbye to the cabin. When I was taking a moment to soak in the weekend, I had a great feeling of being part of something great. I may not be a great presenter that is able to inspire many to change their life for the better, but I can help create an environment to support it. It was a great sense of accomplishment.

 I'm already planning next year!