Dee's First Dance! (211:365)

Our YMCA had a Valentine's Daddy Daughter dance tonight and Dee and Daddy pants went together. Goose was asleep already...

They had so much fun!

Dee requested "Talk About It" (Funky Town) from Shrek and had a lot of fun dancing to one of her favorite songs. She then kept wanting to request different songs, but daddy was a little bashful about bugging the DJ. 

During a slow song she kept yelling to Scott that she wanted them to change the song (like mommy like daughter-boo slow songs!). 

At the end of the night they gave Dee a rose which she was so excited about!

Dee and Scott had a really great time on their "date". I'm so grateful to have a husband who cares about his girls enough to spend quality time with them doing things the girls want to do!

The After Party

For Betsy (189:365)

 



Sent these with Scott for a personal delivery. Wish we could have gone too! Hope you like them!

Food is Good (188:365)

It was a snowy, recovery day around these parts, so I had loads of time to hang out and be busy in the kitchen. Lately I've been dying for some french bread with butter - best food in the world!!! - so I made me some. Straight out of my Kitchen Aid cookbook, this recipe was quick, easy and fantastic. (Find the recipe here.) Everyone from my baby up to my honey loved it.

Yes - that is Goose's Birthday Banner STILL up in the background...We like birthdays...

Loved it so much, we decided to snack all day on it then have meatball sandwiches for dinner.

They were better than they look...

Can you hear my lips smackin'?

Delish.

While the bread was rising, I felt a little ambitious and made some homemade graham crackers. What?! Yeah, homemade! They turned out pretty good. What I would do differently - roll them thinner and bake to a crunchier texture. Then they'd be perfect.

Find the recipe here, from The Petit Appetit Cookbook.

Flowers for my Niece (171:365)

I working on some fabric flower hair accessories for my niece. I've come up with two things so far, a really cute hot pink blingy hair tie and a teal flowered headband.

Brain storming is a little stunted right now, so this is all I've got so far, but I'm looking forward to working on this more after Goose's birthday.

Christmas Gifts (131:365)

I'm hoping that this Christmas will be a (mostly) homemade Christmas.

I think the idea of a homemade Christmas is so appealing, I really want to continue that tradition, to help us all appreciate more what we get and put more feeling into what we give. Plus, it may save a little moolah. Who doesn't need more moolah?

Today I made gifts for my dad and brother, but, obviously won't be posting them!

Not that they read this anyway...ahem...

Are you doing a homemade Christmas this year?

Goose's First Family Reunion (93:365)

19 grandkids.

10 mommies and daddies.

2 grandparents.

1 cabin.

Good times.

Yeah, we went a little bonkers.

Goose's First Night Camping (86:365)

We are doing a ward camp out tonight and it's Goose's first night to sleep out or even be out in the woods. 

Daddy is not a camper, but the last 2 times he didn't want to go we did it anyway and did it well. 

This time though we are 4, not 3.

And we are going to be stuffed into a 

tiny

tent. I'm not even sure Scott will 

be able to stretch his legs out...

Wish us luck!

Mending Bin (83:365)

All my new projects has caused my mending bin to grow exponentially.

Today it got a little love from the mending lady.

Things I fixed:

Size 2T Dora undies

Shiny pink princess dress up skirt

Made another onesie extender. (see here and here for directions)

I'm also planning some cutie pie outfits, for our up coming family reunion and family photos, for me and Scott.

Just kidding.

For the little ladies. 

Our "family color" is black so we all need black shirts. 

My debate is do we wear plain long sleeve black shirts or do I try and embellish them with ruffles or flowers?

And, I'm thinking the girls could be matching, with black leggings and matching skirts that I would like to make out on old t-shirts like this one.

I'm not planning on making the leggings, they'll just wear black, but I need to make the skirts. 

I may do gray...we'll see.

Scott's First Comps and an FHE Activity (60:365)

Scott begins his comprehensive exams tomorrow. We spent the evening studying, which entailed my quizzing him and him answering with things I couldn't understand. I felt a little useless,
but he said it helped. 

Good Luck Honey! You are going to rock your tests!

Also, I'm working on another Personal Progress task, Faith Value Experience #6. Me and a couple of girls from church are all doing this tomorrow in our homes for our Family Home Evening lesson.

I printed off some pictures and some more pictures about the Plan of Salvation and cut them out. Tomorrow I am going to contact paper them and put felt on the back so I can use them on my new flannel board.

Robert Henri Museum in Cozad, NE (29:365)

We are finally home!

On the last leg of our trip back to Lincoln we passed through tiny Cozad, NE. Each time we drive by it I want to stop to see their well advertised (little freeway signs) Robert Henri Museum, and each time I tell Scott that you pronounce Henri like Henr-I, not Henry. He didn't believe me...but I was right! Even though I can't remember anything else from my college years, at least I can remember how to pronounce Robert Henri's name...but I digress...
We had a nice little tour by a cute little old lady with an odd Midwestern accent that was hard to understand (example: "Ohia" = Ohio, "Cince-natty" = Cincinnati) . The museum used to be the home Robert lived in as a boy and is now used for local parties, one of the rooms is also a gallery for 2 local artists. The tour was okay, but the lady didn't really know anything about the home or any of the artifacts (especially since probably 95% of what was on display didn't belong to Robert's family), but she was cute.
The girls did well on the tour, probably mostly due to the fact that I bribed Jane with a sucker if she didn't yell or touch anything during the whole tour. She even "oooh'd" and "ahhh'd" with Scott and I as we responded to the tour guide's vast knowledge.
It was a fun little stop that allowed a little more experience than a gas station or rest stop. I think in the future I'll start looking up other little places like that to use as rest stops.

Heard Someone Speak Xhosa (5:365)

My cousin Rachelle's husband served his LDS mission in South Africa and learned a local dialect called Xhosa, which I've never heard before (which is not the same as the language spoken in the movie "The Gods Must be Crazy"). This is a language with 3 different clicking noises in it. He read this phrase in Xhosa for me and let me record it for you. In the recording he says,
"The interpretation thereof by the gift of God."
Hope you think it's as cool as I do!



(The audio is synched to a picture of a Xhosa Book of Mormon.)

(Also, it took Scott and I FOREVER to figure out how to get this audio on here, so that is one more new thing I/we learned today.)

Ms. Senior Utah Pageant (3:365)

(Thanks Krisi for this beautiful picture!)

Today I experienced something new.
I attended a beauty pageant for the first time ever.

My mother-in-law, Barbara, competed in the Ms. Senior Utah Pageant tonight. It was such a fun experience to see her tap dance, walk around the stage in her formal gown, and give a speech on her personal philosophy of life. We are so proud of how well she did! Good job mom! We love you!