True love

When I walked into the Primary room yesterday, I was greeted by a very excited Miguel who proceeded to present me with a branch of flowers he had "picked" from a tree out in the parking lot and a strand of plastic silver beads (which of course I wore). He told me the flowers made him think of spring! I love getting flowers from boys...especially when they are four years old!

Just call me Queen of Pleats

I know this is dangerously close to boasting, but I made an apron and mastered pleats! Sure, the key really is to have a great iron, and probably anyone can do pleats, but I felt pretty proud of myself. And I just love the "pleatiness" of them. So exact and crisp and right. Hmm what does that reveal about me?! :) The buttonholes on the other hand? Well, not my best work, but it'll do. I made the apron for my niece Anna's b-day (T-minus 9 days and counting). I also made one for her doll. I'll make sure and finagle a picture of the b-day girl in her apron-glory.

My Way Fun Job

I had another First Tuesdays event at the Museum this week. Our theme was Ready, Set, Read in honor of Dr. Seuss' b-day which was the day before. It was a crazy fun day--storytellers, art-making, yoga for kids. Strollers everywhere, toddlers having more fun going up and down stairs than anything we had planned for them, little kids racing around...my kind of f-u-n. At one point in the morning, one little boy informed me "I like art, but not that much." Maybe I'll win him over eventually.

In the afternoon I gathered families in one of our galleries and we took a closer look at self-portrait busts made by Janine Antoni out of chocolate and soap (you can see them in the background of the picture above). We smelled chocolate, passed around some soap to touch and smell, and then imagined what it would be like to make a picture of ourselves out of chocolate (yum!). We finished up with the kids filling in a Mad Libs to create a silly story of visiting the Museum and then turning into food. They were all pretty proud of their stories, and I just had fun watching them!

Wise, Wise 4-year Olds

I teach the 4 and 5 year old Primary class for children at church, and can I say--it is such a blessing in my life! These kids are great. Last Sunday only the three boys were there (the girls were sick). So we had a very rambunctious class. But at the end, we were all sitting on the floor getting ready to color, and Tyler said a prayer. It was so sweet and sincere and real, I was just filled with love. We said "Amen" and I told the boys that I thought we needed a big group hug--which of course ended up being dogpile on me. But I loved every minute of it. Every now and then I wonder how much of our lessons they really take in, week to week. We talk about prophets and scriptures and prayer, but it seems like any time I ask a question (no matter WHAT we are talking about), they enthusiastically answer "Jesus!" The more I think about it, the more I realize they are on to something. The Savior really is the answer to every question and every problem we have. Good thing I have these kids around to remind me of that!

Night Owl

Ok let's be honest, I'm not really that much of a night owl, but once I get past a certain point (usually 11 pm or so), I can stay up for awhile. But any hoot (ha, ha I am so funny), I saw the cutest little owl today, inspiring this posting. Check out the little guy here. He was made by Star at My Tiny Star. Instant love! I adore his big eyes and his orange wings! Don't you just want to give him a squeeze? Maybe this should be one of my next crafting attempts. He made me think of one of my favorite picture books-- Little Hoot by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. Darling story about an owl who begs his parents to let him go to bed early. But they insist on making him stay up late because that is what owls do!!

Love Actually...

My favorite movie quote about love comes at the beginning of Love Actually. You hear Hugh Grant's voice as airport scenes flash before you:

"Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often, it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know, none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaking suspicion... love actually is all around."

So this Valentine's Day, I was grateful for the love all around me. I stayed with my nephews while my brother & sister-in-law had a date night. Back at the ranch, we had corn dogs for dinner (always a favorite), made valentines for mom & dad, and then had a movie night where we stayed up WAY past bedtime (probably why Ben fell asleep in church the next day). We heart-attacked the parents' bedroom door, so that they'd have a little surprise to come home to. I may not have had the typical Valentines Day date, but I had three pretty cute boys all to myself!


Jake showing off our handiwork.




Jake showing me his best funny face. Love that crazy kid.

Adventures in Craftiness

So I've been having a dilemma...read or craft? Two things I dearly love, and I can get totally wrapped into one--usually at the expense of the other. But I have managed to put down the books every now and then and be a little creative in the past few weeks.

I made a few aprons. Amazingly enough, I still have friends who I haven't made aprons for yet. 2007 and 2008 have been the Apron Years...my go-to gift for pretty much everything and everyone. Birthdays, graduations, Christmas. I've pretty much got it down to a science. Moving to Dallas has helped expand the apron-less people in my life, so I might not need to come up with a new gift for 2009. Wouldn't that be nice?


It's been trickier to find cute fabric here. I miss my Cambridge Quilt Shop. :(

And then for my bedroom, I did this lovely display of framed papers above my bed. I guess that isn't super crafty. I mean really all you have to do is cut paper to the right size. But I do feel pretty proud of all the measuring, marking and leveling I did to hang them in the right place. (Thanks to Jennifer Madden for teaching me how to do it right! Working in a museum does give you some training in that department).



Hmm...what's next on my project list? I have some childhood photos I want to scan and then make a display out of to put up in my living room. And I need to make an apron and doll apron for my niece Anna's b-day. Any suggestions or things you want me to try?