Bridget's 4th

Happy 4th Birthday, Bridget!

Giveaway

There's a great giveaway going on at BLOOM today, so I'm posting here for another entry. Who doesn't need more bakeware??!!

The Importance of Being Bridget

I found a nifty new feature on my camera last week that allows me to take successive pictures. I couldn't resist posting this sequence of Bridget, who was supposed to be helping me get the lighting right on my camera, but was a little obsessed with her new dental work and thought the camera would find it as interesting as she did. This kid cracks me up.

Spring Break Part II

Flip Flops!!!!

Last month, I saw this great tutorial on how to make interchangeable flip flops, and I immediately knew we had a fun Spring Break project on our hands! Ever since I brought home their new flip flops, the girls have been waiting on pins and needles to start decorating them. Well, today was that day!

And then we looked outside...

Doesn't that just scream "SPRING BREAK!" to you?

So after an hour or so playing in the frozen white North, building a pretty impressive snowman with Dad, and having one heck of a snowball fight, they finally conceded to the wet and came inside to start their project.We started off with these plain black ff's from Old Navy that I got on sale for $1.83/pair. That's cheaper than Walmart, AND they're better quality. Yay me! (Did I really just quote London Tipton? Little too much Disney Channel...)
I found this adhesive at Hobby Lobby. Hot glue will come apart too easily, so I found one that would adhere fabric to plastic.
I cut strips of velcro the width of the straps and angled the tops to fit nicely together. Then I used the rougher "hook" side to glue down. Next came my sewing machine, where I jumped ahead of myself and forgot to take a picture of how I folded the ribbon and sewed it into a "V". Oh well. (If you can't figure it out, just refer back to the original tutorial. I'm only adding my own here so I know I'll be able to refer back to this, even if the other site disappears.) After that, I took the corresponding "loop" side and sewed it to the ribbon down both sides.
The girls picked out their own ribbons and flowers and other adornments, resulting in these beauties.

I have to go buy some more velcro so I can get mine done now! It was a pretty easy project, and the girls are very excited to swap bands with one another. Of course, they won't be wearing them outside the house until Mr. Snowman has completely watered our lawn. From the looks of this before (10 am) and after (6 pm) shot, it may happen sooner than later. Of course, this is Spring in Utah.

Spring Break Part I

We spent Easter weekend with the Stringham side of the family, and had a really great time. I always love it when we can get the little girls together to play because they have so much fun! (Not to mention the fun the big girls have when we get together, too!) The boys--Paul, Mike, Matt, and Jason--went off to watch Clash of the Titans, while we took the little ones to the Treehouse Museum, where they played furiously for about an hour and a half. Afterward, we met up with the guys at Fat Cats and played video games. Most of us took a turn at the bumper cars, which Maggie, Brooke and Katie LOVED! It was hilarious watching their little faces just beaming with pure exhilaration as they manned their own car and held on for dear life! Everyone came back to our place and had an Easter egg hunt in the back yard...just what we needed--kids hyped up on candy! After some KFC and a rousing game of Apples to Apples, everyone took off and we all crashed hard.
Easter morning came, and the girls were so excited to put on their new Easter dresses, that they didn't care that it was General Conference and not regular church. {Chocolate for breakfast isn't THAT bad, is it?} They climbed back into their little tents they had brought upstairs for Saturday's conference sessions (a la the Nephites who turned their tents toward King Benjamin) and proceeded to peruse their Conference packets I'd printed off for them. Maggie actually listened to almost every talk of every session this year, which was quite remarkable to me. The force is strong with that one... :)

Teach the Children

When touched by the Spirit, tears flow so easily for me, but often words do not.



Today I watched this short video between Conference sessions about The Redeemer, with Maggie and Bridget seated beside me.
"Mom, you're crying AGAIN!" they said, between giggles.
"I know, I know. Mom just cries at everything, doesn't she?" I said, as I quickly wiped my face and turned off the computer to make my way to the kitchen.
Dinner was ready in time for the start of the last session, so we sat down to eat our lovely Easter dinner, with Maggie's boombox strategically placed on the counter so we wouldn't miss a thing. (The meal must've been good because everyone was quiet enough for us to hear the talks!)

As Elder Hales began to speak of how his mother wanted him home for dinner before he could go out to play baseball, I looked around our kitchen table and felt an overwhelming sense of joy that our family was all there together.
I was further impressed when he started talking about the Nephites during the time of King Benjamin, and how "there were many of the rising generation that could not understand the words of king Benjamin, being little children at the time he spake unto his people..." (Mosiah 26:1) I at once thought about Elder Bednar's talk yesterday. "Parents should be vigilant and spiritually attentive to spontaneously occurring opportunities to bear testimony to their children," he said. "Such occasions need not be programmed, scheduled or scripted. In fact, the less regimented such testimony sharing is, the greater the likelihood for edification and lasting impact" (see Doctrine and Covenants 84:85). I also thought of how I had let that moment pass me by as I had earlier wept with my children beside me, never explaining to them why my heart was so tender. It never occurred to me until that moment that my children could be like those Nephites who didn't understand, so they hardened their hearts, consequently were not baptized, and never joined the church, separating themselves from the Lord.

How could I possibly think my sweet little ones would understand the deepest feelings of my heart toward my Savior, Jesus Christ, just by looking at the tears streaming down my cheeks? How will they know if I don't take the opportunities given to me by the Spirit to testify of truth?
This Conference, for me, was the most touching and powerful of any I can recall. So much was directed toward my role as a mother, as I repeatedly heard, "Teach the children." I can't wait to read the talks over and see what other things the Spirit impresses upon me, and I can't wait to share these things with my children. My tears will be learning to have a voice.