Giving

I just listened to this great talk recently given at BYU.  It's about 30 minutes but well worth the listen.

http://www.byub.org/talks/Talk.aspx?id=2998

Naming Contest

So we need a name for our new little place in the "country."  We have been referring to it as "Cole Cottage" but it's not really sticking for me.  I am thinking more along the lines of something-Farms.  Just thought I would solicit nominations.  We'll come up with some great prize for the winning entry-you can come over and have a BarBQ or something.  Thanks for your input!

Happy Birthday Christa!

I can't believe Christa is 14 already.  I really can't be old enough, can I?  Christa is becoming such an amazing young lady.  She is so self confident and talented in so many areas.  Today she wanted to spend the day with friends.  It's been interesting to watch her develop and expand her friendships this year, being in the junior high school.  She gets along with lots of different groups of friends--church friends, choir friends, TVMSC friends, neighborhood friends, sports friends . . She has always made good choices with her friends, and we are grateful we can trust her judgement in that department.  We may have to sign her up for text-messengers anonymous sometime soon, though.  Thanks for being a good example to your sisters, Christa, and thanks for your willingness to work hard and do the right thing.  We love you lots!

Kids

Tonight as I was tucking Anya into bed, she poked herself in the eye.  I said that eye were not for poking.  She said, "Eyes are for seeing.  And Mouths are for talking and eating.  And Ears are for hearing, and Noses are for sniffing, and Hair is for putting in accessories."  She is definitely the girly-girl.  

Paisley has learned this week to throw major tantrums when things don't quite go her way.  She drops to the floor and actually bangs her head on the ground a time or two until I feel enough sympathy to pick her up.  

Kittens

Whiskers just had 3 baby kittens.  They are so tiny and cute.  I hope they make good farm cats for when we move out to the new place!

  

Trouble with a capital . . . P

Doesn't this face look like she's up to something?  This little girl is busy busy busy.  She is weighing in at just barely over 2o lbs and 31 1/2 inches--following the long and skinny model of several of her sisters, and boy is she on the go.  I've seen similar posts on several blogs by those of you with a toddler in this age range--if she's not being constantly supervised, you can plan on a disaster in her wake.  Paisley's favorite perch is the middle of the kitchen table.  I came home from violin lessons the other night to find that she had climbed up there before it had been cleared off from dinner and decided to test gravity with a glass.  Luckily it had been emptied of juice before she pitched it to the floor.  She uses whatever she can find as a ladder. She likes to try to clean the toilet with the toilet brush and is particularly fond of the dishwasher as well. She has half of her 1 year old molars in and a snotty nose right now, so she's a bit more grumpy than usual. She doesn't sit still for more than about 30 seconds, unless I am in the shower.  The other day she was emptying the bathroom drawers, as usual when I'm taking my shower. I looked out and didn't see her anywhere until I looked right on the rug next to the shower.  With the soothing sound of the water running, she had put her head down right there and gone to sleep.  Cute!

Easter

We enjoyed out Easter weekend.  Due to soccer games, we weren't able to participate in the neighborhood Easter egg hunts, but we did have out own version in the backyard.   We also had fun with a good old Paas egg dye kit.  Tomorrow it's time to make egg salad sandwiches I guess.   For Easter I get a bit obsessed about finding new dresses for all the girls.  I love to search for matching outfits.  However, a few times I have found things that match, only to find that certain children would never where the dress I picked out ever again.  So this year my dilemma was whether to find everyone something they liked, even if it didn't match, or to make sure we all matched, even if the girls didn't like it.  Well, I picked something they liked.  The three little girls coordinated pretty well, but the older ones didn't really.  In some years I've been really ambitious and made their dresses, but that gets time consuming when it's times 6 now.  We tried to talk more about Jesus than the Easter Bunny, so hopefully some of that sunk in.