Sydney's Selfie & Other Things To Be Thankful For

Today I'm thankful for . . .

1. Handprint Art.  This afternoon, Sydney and Liam made some pretty awesome works of art for Father's Day.  I would post pictures of their work, but it would spoil the surprise for you-know-who.  I'm under strict orders to keep it confidential.  So stay posted until June 15th...

2. Picnic lunches in the yard.  Sydney and I had lovely picnic lunch in the sunshine this afternoon.  Sydney laid out a big yellow beach towel all by herself, which she was very proud of accomplishing.  It started to get pretty hot in the sunlight, so we fetched our giant umbrella and ate under its shade.  We enjoyed star noodles, cold pizza, grapes, strawberries, cucumbers, and goldfish crackers.  It was quite a feast.

3. Big umbrellas.  Our big umbrella is good for more than keeping us dry during a monsoon or providing shade during a sunny afternoon picnic.  It can also be a big boat, as Sydney showed me.  She sang "Row, row, your boat" as she rocked back and forth inside of it.  She also twirled it around like a baton, and she even stood up on a chair and stretched up high to make the umbrella touch the ceiling.  It kept her quite entertained for a good while.  I just hope that the old superstition isn't true of having bad luck when you open an umbrella indoors- if it is, we're totally doomed.

4.  Sydney's Selfie.  She got a hold of my phone this morning and took about 50 photos around the house- mostly of her toes, the inside of our bedroom closets, and the view looking over the balcony and down the stairs (I don't want to think about how she had to dangle my phone over the edge of the balcony for those photos...)  Of all of them, this one is my favorite.

5. Lots of time with Sydney.  I just realized how much I'm writing about Sydney.  I'm so glad I got to have some one-on-one time with her today.  Liam has been sick with a fever and a cough over the past few days.  Today his fever seemed to hit a peek and he took a very long nap in the morning.  That gave Sydney and me some extra time to spend together.  We had a lot of fun, but I hope Liam hit the worst of it today so he'll be feeling better soon.

6. Drawing with Lillian.  Lillian wants to learn how to draw a horse, so we looked up some easy step-by-step instructions online.  We sketched, erased, and resketched together.  We discussed where to draw our lines and we asked each other, "How would Unlce Alan do it?"  In the end, our horses didn't turn out nearly as well as the teacher-illustrator's, and we decided that her instructions weren't ideal (although our ability level is probably some of the blame...at least a little bit). :)  I did a quick search on our library's online catalog and found some books by a guy named Dan Green.  He has a bunch of different books on how to do simple line drawings, geared toward kids- "How to Draw....101 Animals; 101 Monsters; 101 Silly People; 404 Things for Girls; 404 Things for Boys; Dinosaurs and Other Cool Things, 101 Ocean Animals," etc.  I'm hoping we can get our hands on some of these books soon.  Lillian suggested getting them for her birthday...hmmm, good idea!

I love how Lilly drew her horse's mane, and the sun with the squiggly rays coming off of it.  Like it's right out of My Little Pony! 

7. The way Liam says, "I want you" and "I want to hold you!" when he wants me to pick him up and hold him.  If he's talking to someone else and I mistakenly think he's talking to me he'll say, "I'm not talking at you, Mom." His little brain is working so hard trying to master the grammar of the English language!  I love it!

Grateful Sabbath

Today I'm thankful for...

1. My Savior.  Because of Him I understand that I am a divine daughter with an invaluable sole.  Because of Him I can reach for perfection and become perfected in the process.  Because of Him I don't feel fear or despair when I remember my family members and friends who have passed away.  Instead, I feel a comforting peace and hope in the belief that death is not a dark ending, but rather a beautiful, bright beginning to a new phase of our existence.  Because of Him I know joy.  I know love.   I know.

Easter is over, but this is still a very powerful portrayal of Christ and what he did.  For you, for me, for all of us.  It's only 2 1/2 minutes long, and it's definitely worth watching!

2. BBQ picnics outside on our front porch.  For dinner tonight Bobby grilled his famous chicken and I made our favorite lime-cilantro rice with pineapple (recipe here at Our Best Bites...SO good!).  Bobby also grilled up some teeny-tiny potatoes (real name) from our neighbor along with sweet peppers.  Eaten on a paper plate with the sun on my face, it was the perfect meal!  The kids picnicked on top of the slide while the neighborhood kids lingered around waiting for them to finish so they could have a turn at our new softball-on-a-string batting tee.  After meal time, the neighborhood batting practice session was in full swing (no pun intended).  We sure have some sluggers on our street.  One of my neighbors told me a story about her very first babysitting job when she was 13.  She was watching a little 3 year old.  They were outside in the yard and he had a batting tee like ours.  The first hit he made off the tee sent the ball flying straight through a window in the house!  Imagine that for your first babysitting job!  I didn't ask if she ever babysat for them again.

3. Barbie's new couch.

Barbie is lounging in style.  She doesn't have any kids with messy fingers and leaky sippy cups, so she can enjoy the luxury of white upholstery. :)  I found a really easy tutorial online. (thanks, Pinterest!) All you basically need is an empty tissue box, fabric, tape, and a hot glue gun.  A 4 year-old assistant helps, too.  Sydney sat in my lap during the project, directing where the hot glue should go, giving design advice, and holding fabric in place.  The pillows were entirely her idea and she came up with the designs.  She even helped sew them together!  It was so cute to watch her little delicate fingers work the needle.  I think she has more pillow designs in mind, so the Mom Factory will have to get back to work soon.  The next Barbie furniture project might be bunk beds, so stay tuned.  We're furnishing Barbie's mansion piece-by-cardboard-piece....Barbie has been struck by economic hard times like the rest of us, plus she likes to upcycle her recyclable goods. :)