Totally fun and easy

Just a little note for anyone that was interested in my post about the fun printables. These fun  animal valentines are super easy and super cute. All you need is a printer, some paper, scissors and glue. My kids are having tonnes of fun making all kinds of animals out of hearts.

Another 25

I have read so many friends random 25 things that it has made me think of so many other things about myself that I wanted to make note of, for myself. And since I use this as another journal type thing, and I thought that others might also be interested, I'm going to post another 25 things...if I can think of a whole 25 more. Let see what we've got...

1. I spent the first 3 years of my university career studying in Computer Science. There were a lot of aspects that I liked about computer science. But there was just enough stuff that I didn't like that I basically hated my third year...and I had the grades to show it.
2. I lived in Victoria, BC for 10 months in 1997-98. In that short time I met many people that I felt like I had known for a lifetime. Two of whom I miss immensely and wish that we lived closer...thank goodness for facebook.
3. I have never kissed any one but my husband.
4. Number 3 is not because I was against kissing before marriage.
5. Number 3 was a result of not dating anyone except my husband.
6. Number 5 is not because I was against dating one on one in my younger years.
7. Number 5 was a result of being the type of person everyone just wanted to be friends with. Often the third wheel.
8. I didn't have a guy ask me for my phone number until I was in a serious relationship with my future husband. And then they came all at once. Lets see, there was park security guy(not so good looking) that would always come by and talk to me while I ate my lunch in the park. There was Telus guy(quite good looking), who came across the hall at the mall to the store I worked in to borrow a ladder. There was the gorgeous black guy that came into my store to buy luggage, although he didn't ask for my #, he asked me out to dinner. And then there was the not to bad looking guy that tried to pick me up on the way up the hill at the UofL, and ended up being in my religous studies class. All of these happened in about a 4 or 5 month period.
9. I think that having men actually interested in me (besides my future husband) boosted my confidence, and helped me to look at myself in a new light.
10. When I went back to University, I majored in something totally opposite from computer science. I studied ancient languages, with a side of Religious Studies and Philosophy.
11. My last three years of University were the most amazing years. And I had the grades to show for it.
    
12. I was terrible at learning French. I was pretty good at reading it, OK at writing it, but really sucked at speaking it and understanding someone else speak it.
13. I love ancient languages. They are dead languages, therefore nobody speaks them and I don't have to speak them, Just read and occasionally write.
14. My soul purpose in my last three years of university was so that I could read the bible in it's original languages, Hebrew and Greek.
15. I wish that I used this knowledge more.
    
16. I was a huge suck up to my philosophy prof. I discovered that he loved snacks and candies. I had his class just before lunch and I always had something to snack on, he always helped himself to my snacks(as he would with anyone that had snacks). One class he let the class know that if we really wanted to suck up to him we would bring him gumdrops or curry. Others had tried, and others had failed because they did not bring gumdrops. They brought jujubes. One day I brought gumdrops. I was his favorite the rest of the semester. I am not ashamed. Philosophy was a new way of thinking for me, I needed all the help I could get.
17. I dated my husband for two years before we got married at the very old age of 25.
18. Shortly after I met my husband in Grade 10, I had the very distinct thought that I was going to marry him. We didn't start dating each other until about a year after he returned home from his mission.
19. I lived on the same farm as my Grandparents until I was 5. We moved to Lethbridge in 1981. My parents are still in that same house. I will be very sad if the day ever comes that my parents sell that house.
20. I have one sister, and 6 brothers. Our house had 4 real bedrooms (and a room that was at times used as a bedroom) and one bathroom.
21. I've worked at a dentists office, a tire shop, Walmart, a gas station, 4 different fabric stores, a craft store, a luggage store, a hotel in Waterton(as mentioned in the other 25) and as a student marker(I marked first year computer science papers).
22. I went to Hawaii when I was 15 for a band trip...that was really rough.
23. I've always wanted to conduct a huge orchestra that was playing a really invigorating piece.
24. As I drove to Lethbridge today, I wondered how many millions of miles of electrical wire must span our country...you could see power lines forever, heading off into nowhere. I then thought about how you could likely connect every house in this fair country using said power lines and suddenly wished I had a REALLY big map so that I could try to connect me to my friends via power lines.
25. I'm really struggling to come up with this last one....oh...I forgot I was going to write this one earlier. When I was a child(about 6years old) I used to have this recurring nightmare about a polka dot machine. I was pushing my little brother(I think Neil) in his stroller, and suddenly there was this machine and some how my little brother would get sucked into this machine and he would come out all covered in polka dots. It freaked me out.

That was fun. I think I should force myself to think of random things more often. Don't be surprised if you see a similar post some time in the future.

Some fun stuff

Kathryn has been hounding me about Valentines Day. How many days until Valentines Day? When are we going to
make my Valentines? Almost every day since the middle of January she has been asking these questions. So the other day I had in my inbox an email from Disney Familyfun.com, (a newsletter that I subscribe to) that had some fun
Valentines ideas. There were so many easy and fabulous crafts and printables. More than needed for Kathryn's class of 9 plus a teacher. However, this inspired me and I typed "Valentines crafts" into my google search and I found some wonderful websites, not just for valentines but for just about anything you can imagine. My absolute favorite was DLTK's Crafts for Kids, It has colouring pages for everything you can imagine, printable learning games, bingo cards, match games and the list goes on and on. You really have to go check it out if you have kids and you need some fun Ideas to keep them busy. One of my favorites for valentines was the printable valentines cards that your kids can colour. Simple, easy and still home made and made from the heart.I didn't stop there however, I had to look further and I found MakingFriends Cool Crafts for Kewl Kids, again this site had some really fun craft ideas and printables. We liked the Hearts and Flowers bouquet. and have already started making them. And an hounorable mention goes to  Kaboose.com, more fun things to look at.
So if you have time on your hands go check these sites out. You'll end up with an endless supply of quick easy and fun things for your kids to do.

Haircuts

I've had a few people asking me to post pictures of my new do, so here they are.

Kathryn also wanted to get her hair cut, and of course because Kathryn was getting her hair cut, Tansley wanted hers done to. I've been told about this fabulous place in Lethbridge for kids to get their hair cut. A place called Beaners. It is geared towards kids, and honestly the best hair cutting experience we have ever had. First of all kids get to choose what the get to sit on. The chairs are all like those motorized toys that every kid wants to ride on at the mall. They have flat screen TV's all over playing a kids movie (we watched Horton Hears a Who). Not only that but they have toys and a ball bit for kids who are waiting to play with. And on top of that, the cost of a hair cut is amazing! It may just be the cheapest kids haircut that I have ever paid for. I had all three girls with me, but I wasn't pulling my hair out. They were all just happy to play while the other was getting their hair cut.

We went short for Kathryn. Her choice. She was tired of her hair being in her face at school while she did her work, so she asked if she could get a short hair cut. So we looked at pictures online and she picked the one that she liked best. Here was the result.

There used to be sparkles in her hair, but after a day of fun, they have all come out.

We stayed with the bob for Tansley, but went a little shorter in the back.

Again there were once sparkles in her hair, but they are long gone. I did however buy some sparkle gel because they both thought it was so absolutely beautiful that we just had to have some for ourselves.

25 Random things

1- I don't have a clue where to start, but hope that things will get interesting once I get going.
2-I love cheesecake in all varieties and flavors, and don't expect me to share, cuz I ain't gonna do it.
3-I love doing little kid crafty things. Sometimes I get craft supplies more for me than for my girls. We all love to cut and paste and stick and create, it's a bit of an addiction.
4-I love to create things. Not just the previously mentioned crafts. Food, clothing, blankets, soft toys, the list goes on and on.
5-I've always wanted to live in a small town or on a farm. Now that I am, I love it just as much as I always thought I would and don't know if I could ever go back to the city.
6-I love being able to know what is going on in the life of my cousins, aunts, uncles, and close friends via facebook and blogs. For years I have been out of contact with a lot of people that are important to me.
It has only been in the last year and a half that I have been connected to the internet and now have this joy. I have a lot to catch up on...that is my excuse for time well wasted :)
7-I didn't know that I knew so many people that I would consider my "friends" until facebook.
8-The only thing that I ever wanted to be was a mom. In grade school, when I would have to write about what career I wanted to have when I grew up, I had to make something up, usually it was a math teacher. If
I knew what I knew now, I would have still written about being a mom...it is certainly a lot of work.
9-I have always been fascinated with dead things. Not recently dead things, but really really dead things. Things that have been dead for hundreds of years.
10-I am fascinated by old abandoned houses. I have always wanted to stop and wonder through them to see what clues were left behind about those who used to live there. I like to imagine what the house would have looked like all full of life.
11-I think that my husband looks incredibly sexy when he is all dressed up in his goalie gear, and coming off the ice all sweaty....he smells bad, but dang...he is sexy!
12-I love shoes. Before I had kids, I worked in the mall for a lot of years. I always new when the good sales were on, and I always bought some fabulous shoes. Now that I have kids, I rarely buy shoes for myself, but I have three girls that I buy more than their fair share of shoes for.
13-My feet are a lot bigger now than they were before I had kids. So many of those fabulous shoe no longer fit, and I have had to give them away. My shoe collection is pretty boring these days. I live through my
girls.
14-I love to collect nativities. Every year I look for at least one new one that is unique and nothing like anything anyone has ever seen before.
15-I worked in Waterton as a dining room hostess/office record fixer/front desk clerk(at both the Bayshore in and Wateron Glacier suites) the summer(May 1-Sep 30) before I got married. I loved every minute of it. Not so much the work or the people(I could have done with out them), but I loved being in Waterton. Going for walks and hikes. Just sitting by the lake. The smell first thing in the morning. The feel of the air. I did like feeling important and that they needed me(I solved some pretty important problems regarding bad record keeping of tips)....but I hated that I let them take advantage of me...but I needed the money so I just let it slide.
16-I once had an all out yelling match with Emile, the Dining room Manager at the Bayshore...yeah...I didn't like that guy.The Chef was on my side, so that's all that mattered.
17-I used to hate talking in front of people. I hated giving class presentations. I hated having to read in front of the class. Now I love to teach, or give a talk in church. My last few years of university, I looked forward to giving a class presentation. Why the change? I'll tell you about it sometime.
18- I didn't ever try to stand out in High School. It's not like I tried to hide either. I just didn't do anything amazing. I was a completely forgettable person. My husband and I went to the same high school, we graduated the same year. He is now coaching basketball at out old high school. I was at one of his games the other day, and one of the teachers that had taught when we were there and introduced herself to me and told me that she was my husbands adviser in high school, and that she really thought the world of him. Me, she didn't even know that I was also WCHS alumnus.
19-I know the mayor of Lethbridge. I sent him an invitation to my wedding and he came. He was only campaigning to be the Mayor at the time. Aren't I special?!
20-I love camping. Camping in a tent camping. Cooking outside camping. Sleeping on a double thick air mattress camping. Sitting around a campfire camping. Getting dirty and loving it camping.
21-I can honestly say that my sister and my 6 brothers are listed among my best friends, and right at the top of the list. Their respective husband and wives are also on that list.
22-There aren't many things that you can do to really embarrass me. With Daniel as my husband, I have got used to a lot.
23-I am not easily offended. I couldn't really careless what you think or what you say about me. So if you are planning to offend me, don't bother, I probably wont notice.
24-I hate talking on the phone. If I have something to say to you, I am more likely to wait until I see you in person, or if it is important I'll send you a message or email. That's not to say that I haven't talked for long periods of time with my sister, mom or one of my sister-in-laws if a phone call has been made...but that's different.
25-I love to blog. I find that there is something therapeutic about sharing things with all the world to read. Sometimes as a confessional, sometimes as an avenue to vent (or brag). Sometimes just to share something really cool or funny. Writing these kind of note are part of that therapy.

Learning from a six year old.

Yesterday afternoon I made everyone have a nap or at least quiet time. We had been over at a friends house the night before to play games and just have a fun time. We didn't get home until after 10pm. Kymberly was exhausted by the time we got home from church, Tansley was wearing pretty thin as well. Kathryn insisted she wasn't tired. I said that it was fine if she didn't want to nap, but I wanted her to have a quite time, no TV, no Computer games. She could read a book or make a craft. She asked if she could prepare a lesson for Family Home Evening. She said that we hadn't had FHE for a few months so we needed to do it again. She was right. It has been awhile since we have done a formal sit down FHE. We always spend Monday's together, but since that is Daniel's day off, we often go out and do things. The lesson part of FHE gets neglected. Nothing like a six year old calling you out on something. I told her that it would be great if she prepared the lesson for FHE. Not only did she do the lesson, but she made all the assignments and wrote them on the white board.

So today FHE was all organized. Tansley was assigned to do the treat so I helped her make apple crisp. Kathryn took control of the entire thing. While I was making supper, she cleaned up the living room so that we could gather there for FHE. After supper she called us all together, welcomed us, and assigned me to say the prayer. She then asked us all what was going on this coming week. After the weeks agenda was discussed, she asked everyone to get ready for the lesson. The lesson was on children and Adam and Eve. She had found a picture in the most recent Friend of Jesus sitting with some children. She told us to look at it and talked about it for awhile and then set it on the piano so that we could look at it through out the lesson. She had made puppets that she used to tell the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. She then asked me to read a story out of the Friend. After that she had a treasure hunt set up as the activitie. She helped Tansley do that while I got dessert dished up. Then we all enjoyed some dessert. It was a spectacular FHE. I was super impressed with all of her preperation. This kid has got some teaching potential in her along with plenty of other wonderful traits. I'm feeling all teary eyed just thinking about it all. She is growing up, and she's keeping me in line. Through the month of December we had slacked off with reading scriptures in the morning as a family. It was Kathryn who insisted we start doing it again. Infact she got started us back in the habit by insisting that she read the scriptures herself. What is a mom to say to that? I can't very well tell her that we don't have time. The only thing that I could do was make sure we had time for her to read a verse. And from there we have got back in the habit. She is really a good kid, even if she teases her little sister alot. Big sister perogative I guess.

I just can't think of a good title

I love writing in my journal. I love reading my old journal entries. I've learned a lot from myself over the years. I was once an avid journal writer in my young adult years. Slowly over my married years I have become less avid in writing in my own journal. I have meticulously kept baby books and photo albums and even a "Christmas through the Years" scrap book. But my own personal journal has suffered. And then a little over a year ago I started blogging. I love it. I use it as a kind of journal. And it has inspired me to try to keep a better private journal, you know...all that stuff that I don't really want the whole world to read.
As the Enrichment Leader in our ward, I thought that a journaling class would be a good one to start the year off with. So, I have been doing all sorts of searching on the web to find different journaling ideas. I'm excited for this class. It is going to be great. When I get it all put together I'll post it for all to read. But my favorite idea was journal jars. I've seen these before, but I came across this site  that had specific journal prompts for Adults, youth, Children(6-12), and Children(2-8)(this site also has fun journal jar ideas for adults and kids). I decided that I was going to make journal jars with my girls. I have already started journals for Kathryn and Tansley that I have tried to write cute, funny things they have done and about special moments. So I decided that I would turn their journals over to them(kinda, they can ask me for them when they want to write in them, I'm still keeping them in a safe place). The girls are super excited to write in their journals. I told them that we would do it every Sunday, but if they wanted to write on any other day they could as well. Today was our first journal writing day. Tansley's prompt was to draw a picture of her favorite animal or pet. Kathryn's was to write about the best Christmas gift that she ever recieved and the best one she ever gave. It was such a fun time. I look forward to doing this every Sunday. I look forward to looking back on these journals and learning from my children.