Monday, November 23, 2009

Thankful



Grateful

On Friday I noticed the light filtering through this tree in my backyard and snapped a couple of shots. I am glad I did. Today is a very blustery day and I am guessing there won't be many leaves left on the tree when the wind finally tops.


I also want to recommend a book. Grateful A song of Giving Thanks By John Bucchino, Illustrated by Anna-Liisa Hakkarainen. I love the sweet message of gratitude and the simple illustrations that have such rich colors. It is a celebration of all the seasons, nature and the joy one can have when living a life of gratitude. Also included is a CD of this song recorded by Art Garfunkel.




Friday, November 20, 2009

Happy Birthday Katey

I love my Katey girl. She was the sweetest baby ever, so happy and content. She has the wackiest personality. I have piles of pictures with her pulling some of the goofiest faces ever. She has always had the most contagious laugh around.

Happy Birthday Katey I have enjoyed every minute of the last 20 years (mostly)! What a great age to be. You have a whole life of adventure ahead of you. Go for it!









I think I will get her a bag of Frito's for her birthday.


Thursday, November 19, 2009

C.A.R.E.



K
en did a presentation today at the Lifeway Church C.A.R.E. meeting. The group consisted of ministers and civic leaders in the community who are working toward helping their congregations and residents catch the vision of emergency preparedness. He spoke on the Emergency Preparedness and what the LDS church has done to prepare for disasters and emergencies. Of course, he did a great job. It was a pleasure to go and meet everyone in attendance. What a great group of people who want to put differences aside and work together to make a difference.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

My Actress

Here are pictures of "Julius Ceaser". Danielle gave a fantastic performance. I was so proud of her and all of the Drama Department. Well Done!





In The Spirit of Thanksgiving

Random people on the streets of New York City share a variety of grateful responses to one simple question: What are you thankful for?


Sunday, November 15, 2009

Prayer For A Child

I love children's picture books. If you know me you already know that.

In this time of Thanksgiving and Gratitude I thought it would be fun to share some of my favorites that are in the spirit of the season. I picked up this little gem a while ago.

Prayer for a Child by Rachel Field, Illustrations by Elizabeth Orton Jones.

This lovely little book won the Caldecott Award in 1945. It is a sweet prayer that a child can offer. In Elizabeth Orton Jones Caldecott acceptance speech she said:

Drawing is very like a prayer. Drawing is a reaching for something away beyond you. As you sit down to work in the morning, you feel as if you were on top of a hill. And it is as if you were seeing for the first time. You take your pencil in hand. You'd like to draw what you see. And so you begin. You try ... . Every child in the world has a hill, with a top to it. Every child-black, white, rich, poor, handicapped, unhandicapped. And singing is what the top of each hill is for. Singing-drawing-thinking-dreaming-sitting in silence . . . saying a prayer. I should like every child in the world to know that he has a hill, that that hill is his no matter what happens, his and his only, forever.

I love these illustrations and I think part of it may be that they remind of so many of the picture books of my childhood.



Friday, November 13, 2009

Great Book Deal

Kohl's Cares for Kids offers one of the best deals on children's books around. Every so often they take a popular children's author and publish and sell their books for $5.00. They are hardbound books! The fun part is they also make available for $5.00, stuffed characters from the books.

They are finding a way to make books affordable for children plus 100% of the profits go to support health and educational opportunities for kids.

In the past they have featured Dr. Seuss books and Steve Jenkins books.

Right now they have the Larua Numeroff books. You know... If You Give A Mouse A Cookie, If You Give A Pig A Party...

Hmmm.... Great idea for Christmas.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

The Impostor!



I had to stop by the mall to pick up something for the kid-do. I was walking down the street, turned the corner and there it was the IMPOSTOR, THE FAKE, THE PHONEY BALONEY.

That's right folks. They were putting up the Christmas tree. The very tree that every year I see looking all green and fluffy and shiny and sparkly is really a sad looking, thin limbed, excuse for a tree.


Please notice the piles of branches on the ground. Please notice worker man on lift nailing the branches into the tree so it looks fluffy, and thick and divine. Not in the picture (so you won't notice, but trust me) three workers sitting and watching the one worker man doing the work.



Now I expect the snow on the Santa house to have fake snow. I know this is So Cal. But the tree.........?

Maybe I shouldn't be so upset. I guess most of us are adding on, slapping on, rubbing on, spraying on, who knows maybe even nailing on, extras to make ourselves look better. Are we impostors?

I guess I will give Ms. Christmas tree a break. But I am not going back until she is finished. It's as if I saw her naked. (shudder).

p.s. if any of you want to see this travashamokery they will probably still be working on it tomorrow at Victoria Gardens.

Monday, November 9, 2009

To The Core



On Saturday Ken and I attended a workshop on working out the core. It was offered at the gym and so I signed us up. They were only going to let 40 people attend and the list was filling up fast.

Five people showed up. Oh well it worked out great for us. We had personal attention from the master trainer and learned all about how to properly do core exercises. We learned five core exercises.

They had us do the exercises and watched to make sure we were doing them correctly.

I can now feel my core (which I was informed is what I would have left if my arms and legs were ripped off). OUCH! (that ouch is for the limbs being ripped off and for the pain in my core muscles).

I am hoping if I keep at it and really work my core that my figure will look more like an apple core rather than an uneaten apple.

Is that were they came up with the term? I'm sure it must be.

Hey if you were an apple what kind would you be. I think I would be a "jazz" apple. Yummy!

Food for thought:


Sunday, November 8, 2009

The Family is of God

Today was our Ward Primary program. The theme: The Family is of God. The children were adorable, it was the perfect length (meaning we ended on time), and nothing major happened. As a reward we gave the kids popcorn and let them watch a movie. Wow, now we know how to keep them entertained and quiet.

Here is a small sample of one of the movies we showed. The kids seemed to enjoy it. The actual movie is about 16 minutes long. It would be great for a family home evening lesson. Check it out. Oh and if you live near me and want to borrow it you know where to find me.

Pres. Uchtdorf shared this story of the stonecutter in a Conference talk - priesthood session- In November 2008. It was titled "Lift Where You Stand".

This is the synopsis of the film from Deseret Book as well as a clip:

There are two kinds of people in this world, those who choose to act and those who are acted upon. In 1856 John Rowe Moyle and his family chose to act by leaving their beloved England, crossing the plains with the Ellsworth handcart company to eventually settle in Alpine, Utah. Soon after their arrival John Moyle was called by Brigham Young to work as a stone mason on the Salt Lake Temple. For 20 years he walked the 22 miles to Salt Lake City to chisel his deepest convictions into granite. Even after and accident causes him to lose his leg, John continued his sojourn to the temple site each week until his death. Today his handiwork can be seen on the east side of the Temple and verbalizes the motto of John's life, "Holiness to the Lord."



Sunday, November 1, 2009