Sunday dress and hair and vacation

No Sunday dress and hair today because I let Elle sleep in until 7:20 while I painted my toenails to match my blouse
However,  Elle was wearing a cute dress last week while we were on vacation in CA and my BFF enjoyed fixing Elle’s hair.

On the 11 hr. drive home, Elle made a list of all the fun things we did for the 4th of July weekend: ( I elaborated a bit)
ski in the Mountains

Hike and sing silly songs:



Gathered Eggs from BFF’s mom’s chickens.
Watched fireworks at the local school.  (Some shells from the fireworks rained down on us )  Firework watching always includes glow-in-the-dark necklaces of course.
Watched a small town parade.
Kayaking
Swimming (because she and Chris flipped.  Chris lost his hat   But NOT his glasses!  Just before they started, Chris asked for something to hold his glasses on.  We are very glad he listened to that prompting)
Saw a jail cell from way back when (including writing/drawing on the walls)
Pulled on a steam whistle
Got a chunk of wood from a sawmill. (Who knew cutting wood with a saw was so pungent !  Not bad, just really strong wood smell)
Watched a blacksmith bend metal
Ate pie for breakfast at the local church fundraiser

Saw a stamp mill where they collect gold from rock.  Back in the old days, they used mercury to make the gold stick to it.  A person could only survive for about 4 years after they started their gold  collecting!
Went on an Art walk around the town. (we saw some bad wildlife artwork and cool dresses)
Visited BFF’s mom’s quilt shop and saw a GIANT quilting machine.
Visited the craft fair and saw beautiful  homemade glycerin soap that Chris was too cheap to buy.
Drove on nauseatingly windy roads back and forth and back and forth some more.
Saw critters: dear, rabbit, frogs (one was smashed flat), lizards, sheep, horses, chicken, cows, ducks and ducklings, Blue Heron (and nest), Kingfisher and other fish.
Saw Mt. Shasta.

A couple things I remember that the adults did:
BFF and I rode on a raft while our husbands kayaked with Elle and her BFF.
Helped clean-up BFF’s sister’s wedding reception. (They were married in the Oakland temple!  I love that one!  So beautiful.  They took out their endowments in a mini temple which sounds cool too.  I’ve never seen one before)
Played games almost every night
ate ice cream every night at Chris’ insistence.
Talked into the wee hours of the morning
Dishes
Drove
I know we did more things, but that’s all I can think of for now.

THE END

 

After who knows how many months, we finally finished reading The Book of Mormon as a family!

Yea!

 

 

Now it’s back to page 1

The Other Day. . .

 

The other day, I saw a bear,
A great big bear, Oh way out there.

Chorus:
(Same lines in unison)

He looked at me, I looked at him,
He sized up me, I sized up him.

He said to me, "Why don't you run?
I see you isn't, Got any gun."

And so I ran, Away from there,
But right behind me, Was that bear.

In front of me, There was a tree,
A great big tree, Oh glory be!

The lowest branch, Was ten feet up,
I'd have to  jump, And trust to luck.

And so I jumped, Into the air,
But I missed that branch, A way up there.

Now don't you fret, And don't you frown,
’Cause I caught that branch, On the way back down!

There is no more, this is the end
Unless I meet, That bear again.

 

Actually, it was three bears and they didn’t say anything .

 

Elle and I have been hiking for a couple of hours every day since Saturday (not Sunday though, of course).  We’re trying to get into shape for an all-day hike we’re going on with our BFF’s.

Since there are so many great hiking spots around, we’ve gone to a different spot each day.   We’ve been “lucky” enough to see wildlife every day.

We started off at our usual spot at the foot of our exit.  We decided to try “Adventure Trail” for a change.  It lived up to it's name, alright.

We were walking back down the trail when I saw a little black head peeking over the bushes.  My heart stopped when I realized it was a bear.

I quietly told Elle in a calm, yet  shaky voice, “There’s a bear.”  She stopped dead in her tracks.

It was all so surreal.

Then I saw another black head pop up next to the first.  “Just hold still, they’re more afraid of us then we are of them” I recited this out loud to reassure both myself and Elle .  I wasn’t quite sure what to do after the holding- still- and- acting- more- brave- than- the- bear part.

Thankfully Elle remembered all the bear signs we’ve seen too and cautioned “Don’t make any sudden movements.”

“Let’s go very slowly” was my next  input.   It was so scary.   I don’t know why, but it was.  We took a couple steps down the path and the bears scampered away.  That’s when Elle noticed that there had been a third bear in the bushes too.

My heart was pounding with each step back.  Every rock  and tree stumped looked like another bear and my breath caught in my throat each time.

Thankfully, we made it back out to the open meadow without any more bear sightings.

We were so lucky that the bears’ mom wasn’t nearby!

We headed down another trail way away from the bear path.  Elle suggested we sing The Bear Song (listed above).  A few verses in, we saw a garter snake.  We didn't know it was harmless at the time, so it freaked us  me out.

Today, we saw a cute bunny  on our hike.

Yesterday, we hiked all the way to the top of a near by mountain!  It was pretty hard, but we were richly rewarded (after being scared to death by another garter snake on the way):

We made it to the top just as the paragliders were taking off

 

Doesn’t that look fun?!  I can hardly wait until I get to go!

A guy in our ward jumps off this Mt. every week.  I’m on the waiting list to go tandem with him.

It’s going to be awesome

Friday/Monday dress and hair

Elle and I made it to church by 8:30am Sunday, so I didn't have time to do Sunday dress and hair really.  At least, nothing that I haven’t posted before.

BUT!

I still have cute pictures of Elle wearing cute things with her hair fixed all cute!

Friday was the school luau, so Elle wore a cute new shirt that we thought matched her pink skirt perfectly!

We found a pink flower clip that matched too!

Her new shoes went right along with everything!

She even found some earrings with pink in them!  It was so fun finding so many matching things to make her outfit complete.

Unfortunately, when we got home, Chris informed us that the top does NOT go with the skirt since they are both the same shape  

 

Then on Saturday, Elle went to the beach ALL DAY LONG (really, from 10am-10pm!) with her two Bff’s.  They had so much fun! They all got cute shirts and matching headbands that my friend made.  (She’s amazing)

Elle requested that they all wear them to school today.

Not the best picture of the three of them ‘cause I used my phone and it would only take one!

While Elle was off having a blast Saturday, Chris and I went shopping for new summer clothes for me!  

Then, we did a sealing assignment at the temple with two other couples from our ward.   We had some families sealed together, which was so neat.  I could just picture how happy the parents were to know that they’d have each child with them forever.  And, it’s always good to remember our own wedding day!

Sunday, I did sharing time which went. . .Ok.   Jr. primary is always so hectic!  I taped some words under their chairs about things to do to strengthen our faith,.  When they found one, they came up and put the words in a box that had a picture of a flower that said “faith” on it.  (I drew the picture on a roll of paper, and I got a little carried away.)  Every time they put a word in the Faith box (nourishing their faith ) it grew!  It was so long, that the 1st counselor who was holding it and making it grow had to stand on a chair before it got to the very end!  Good times.  The rest of my lesson went great!  I  always spend so much time on my 10-15 min. lesson!  Sr. went well too.  Elle said, “Do you guys plan it so that we do an active sharing time when it’s Fast Sunday so we’ll forget how hungry we are?”  Ya. Sure we do

PS Chris noticed Elle’s haircut Sunday while we were taking a Sunday stroll

Hair today, gone tomorrow!

 

Now you see it:

 

Now:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You don’t!

Elle got a haircut today!  Now she’s ready for summer.

Ya know, whenever it decides to show up. . .

 

(We’re going to see how long it takes Chris to notice.  It took 3 weeks before he noticed that I had 2 1/2 in. off!)

Smell This

Have you ever smelled something so bad, you just have to tell the person nearest you to “smell this!”  And they do, and they agree that “ULGH!  That’s awful!”  Then they wonder why you asked them to smell it in the first place, and why they would ever smell it after seeing your horrified expression.

Well, I  finished a book like this last night.

My friend loaned it to me because she’s presenting it for book club  in June.  I felt obligated to read it because:

1- I had to give it back so she could re-read it before book club

and

2- I knew she would ask me how I liked it.

3- I couldn’t stop reading it.

It was awful.  I kept reading bits aloud to Chris as if to say  “smell this!” and he’d cringe and agree that it was indeed a horrible book and ask why I kept reading it.  “It’s like watching a train wreck!” he said.

I’ve never read a book with so many swear words in it!  I felt violated at times while reading!  Chris even hid it from me last Saturday (which is good because it’s really not a book I should read on the Sabbath).

My mom felt the same way when she read Catcher in the Rye.  She, however, had the sense to stop reading.  Knowing me, you’d think I’d do the same, but no, I  kept reading with horrified fascination.

The worst part is, it’s  a true story!

I knew it turned out somewhat OK because the whole thing is a flashback.  The author seemed to have  turned out alright despite her horrible life.  She didn’t mention having to go through therapy or anything, but I’m thinking  I should go through therapy after reading it.

  It was such a relief to get to the end.

Thankfully, another friend loaned me a book that was totally funny.   I’d switch between the two so I wouldn’t get so moody.

I want to tell you all to go smell it, but you’d just wonder why on earth I would do that to you.

So don’t.  Totally.  It really is as bad as it smells.

Sunday dress and hair 5-22-11

 

Even though it’s actually Monday, here is Elle’s dress and hair from yesterday:

 

And here are a couple cute pictures we took last week of Elle and Chris.  Elle is making a Father’s Day gift for Chris in Activity Days, and the pictures will be part of it.

 

 

It was very sunny, so they’re  squinting a bit.

Still sweet though

 

And here is Elle’s Market Day raffle item:

 

She and her friend will be Market Day business partners.

The 4th graders get to make items, then “sell” them to other 4th graders, 2nd graders, 5th graders and parents.  The kids at school earn fake money for different things—being good,  doing their various tasks, etc.  We parents get an endless supply of cash to buy whatever we want.

The students have to think of something to make that costs less than 20 real dollars.  It’s hard to know what to make that will appeal to 2nd graders-adults.  It’s also hard to know how many items to make, and how much to charge for them.  They love it!  It’s like  going to your typical fair where there are hundreds of items and booths (in this case desks)

Elle and her friend are making little bean bags.  They also decided to make bead animals.

For their raffle, they wanted to make a giant bean bag.  I was relieved to find out that “ giant” was only the size pictured above.

I looked on a blog to find out how to make a ball, and it seemed pretty easy.  Just cut some petal shapes, sew them together, then applique a circle on each end to cover up the messy spots.

Well, it didn’t   quite turn out like I thought, so I turned to Chris, knowing that he would most likely come up with a complicated solution.

I was right about the complicated solution, but wrong about the ease of the execution.

First, he looked online for scholarly papers on how to cover a sphere.  Then, after studying the formulas and explanations, he came up with the perfect size panel for the ball.

When the girls sewed it together, it lined up perfectly (or nearly so), and we didn’t need to applique anything on the ends!

That’s my guy!