Quote of the Day

“The greatest revolution of our generation 

is the discovery that human beings, 

by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, 

can change the outer aspects of their lives.” 

-William James

(See Thomas S. Monson's accompanying message about living an abundant life here.)

Merry Christmas

Perhaps the best 

gift 

we can give to our Savior 

is in the way we 

receive 

the gift he has given to us.

Dear World,

Although every snowflake is different, it is biologically (chemically?) impossible for them to form with four sides, a.k.a. snowflakes are not square. Snowflake Bently taught us this in second grade.

So, dear people of this world, here is how you make an anatomically correct, six-sided paper snowflake:

(Start with a square piece of paper)

 

 

*Images shamefully stolen from marthastewart.com

 

You're welcome.

Halfiversary

Remember this day?

Life just keeps getting better every day.

Parenting 101...

...from the mouth of Kindergartners.

Rule #1: The More the Merrier

Girl 1: "You are your mom are the only people in your family? YOU DON'T HAVE ANY FAMILY?? I am so sorry! You must be so lonely!

Rule #2: Don't Bug Mom

Girl 2 (same conversation): "I think you're lucky. You get to have mother-daughter days every day."

Girl 3: "Um, no! Because my mom goes to work and I go to school, and when she's not at work she's busy and I'm tired when I'm not at school." (Insert very convincing eye roll from 5-year-old)

Rule #3: Moms Must Be Super Efficient

Girl 1: "I try to help my mom clean, but she's just way too fast for me."

Rule #4: Many Hands Make Light Work

Girl 1: "I'm drawing my dad laying on the floor because that's his favorite thing to do. Except he really lays on the bed all day. That's all he ever does."

Girl 3: "Your dad doesn't do any work?"

Girl 1: "No, he just lays there."

Girl 2: "That is NOT fair! Dad's should have to do work, too! It's not like it's just the mom's job!"

Rule #5: The Kids Are Really The Ones In Charge

Girl 1: "I usually clean my room, but I'm not going to today. My dad's going to do it."

Me: "That's nice of your dad to clean your room for you."

Girl 1: "Yeah, I'm going to make him."

If only parents knew the things their children say at school. :)

#1 Fan

Last night I was told that I am "such a great sister for coming to all of Tyson's soccer games."

He's pretty good looking, so I guess it's okay.

Happy Halloween

Enjoy!

Preschool Gems

Last week I finished up a seven week practicum in a 4- and 5-year-old preschool class. The preschool I was in is a play-based program, similar to Montessori. This means that they believe (and I definitely agree) that children learn through play, so they set up intentional play stations and the children are free to do basically whatever they want for most of the day. In the class I was in there were 20 children and 6 teachers so the teachers could facilitate and guide the play to help the children learn about numbers, letters, colors, sorting, sequencing, problem solving, science concepts, conflict resolution, etc. while they played. It's actually really cool. I definitely recommend putting your child in a play-based preschool program that uses the philosophies of Developmentally Appropriate Practices (or DAP) if you get the chance.

Here are some of my favorite preschooler quotes from the time I was there:

"The bug died. He's with Jesus now."
We're sailing to the promised land!" (while playing on a "pirate ship" that was set up in the dramatic play area)
"We're going to planet penis!" (We think he meant Venus...)
"The guinea pig has hair like Dominic!"
"You can't eat that! We haven't said the prayer yet."
"Teacher, do you go to church?"
"It's turning into BEER!"
"Teacher, I want some string too." "What can you do to get some?" "You can get it. I know you're just going to give it to me anyway."
"Come with me." "Where are we going?" "It's time to go on our mission."

Obviously we had a large percentage of LDS kids in the class. Let's just say, I was sad to leave. This week I started kindergarten and I already miss all my preschoolers. We'll see if kindergarten brings as many laughs.

Something I'm Working On

This Girl's Going Places

I just saw this video for the first time today on my cousin Alisa's Facebook page. It's not very often I wish I could sing as well as a 5-year-old...

I think I like this version better than the original!

New Goal:

Find at least 15 people to go with us

HERE:

and/or

HERE:

 

in July 2012

...by the end of December.

Want to come?

Crossing My Fingers (and toes!)

...So I can win me one of these!

 

Check out this blog if you want to enter too. (But actually, please don't, 'cause I wanna win!)

Just Think About It.

Why do the words

OVERSEE

and

OVERLOOK

mean such completely different things?

This is what I think about in class.

11 Weeks Later...

...I am finally getting around to blogging about our wedding day. After many requests, here is how it all went down...

The day: June 9, 2011

At 12:45 PM on June 9th, Tyson and I were sealed for time and all eternity in the beautiful Bountiful Temple. (We aren't in to the whole "'til death do us part" thing.)

We were surrounded by lovely family and friends who came from all over Utah, Idaho, and Arizona to support us.

Lots of hugging went down.

Then we took the traditional family pictures on the steps of the temple. We have lots of family!

  

And of course, we took some pictures on our own.

 

We brought an umbrella because it had been raining all morning (and was actually still raining while we were inside the temple)...

 

  

...But the sky ended up being stunningly blue, and not a single drop of rain fell the rest of the day.

Our photographer insisted we take a picture by this sign.

I still don't get it.

........................

That evening we had a garden reception at the lovely Eldredge Manor.

Once again, lots of smiling, hugging, and picture taking went on.

Lots of people came, and they even brought us presents!

  

There were lots of yummy desserts, although I didn't really get to eat any.

The centerpieces were potted calla lilies on doilies and pictures held with miniature antique chairs.

We weren't going to have a wedding cake, but my good friend Kari made this beauty as her first ever wedding cake.

My extremely talented siblings provided live music throughout the evening...

...Which gave everyone a chance to dance.

 

My siblings then presented us with lots of useful gifts.

After stealing our keys and torturing Tyson until he revealed the location of our hidden car, Tyson's siblings finally got what they wanted.

 

After stopping at a gas station to clean off our windows and throw away the balloons, we finally disappeared into the night.

 

All photos are courtesy of RLT Photography. To see all of our wedding day pictures, click here. If you want to check out our bridals and groomals, click here (highly recommended). For engagements, here.

Addition

1 new HUSBAND

+

2 new PARENTS

+

4 new BROTHERS (and 1 sister-in-law)

(Robert, aka brother number 4, is currently serving a mission in Taiwan)

+ 

7 new SISTERS (and 6 brothers-in-law)

(Seventh sister, Jannah, was MIA when this picture was taken)

+

21 new NIECES AND NEPHEWS

(The oldest two nephews didn't make it into the picture, although Josh did eventually make it to the wedding.)

=

1 great big FAMILY I'm so lucky to be a part of!

P.S. I think my other family is pretty awesome, too. Aren't they all so attractive?