Further proof...

...that life's not fair.

David informed me this morning that since Christmas he has lost 8 pounds. This is coming from the guy who has tried all his life to GAIN weight.

Golden Age

Lately I have been enthralled with movies from the 1930's, 40's, and 50's. I also re-read the "Children of the Promise" series. (A series of historical fiction novels set during WWII.) There is so much we can learn from the women of those time periods. Women were feminine yet strong, willing to do what it took to keep their homes and families going. They often had to make sacrifices (sacrifices I doubt most of us can even fathom!), but they had a vision of a greater purpose than themselves. They relied on each other. They didn't have the luxuries that we take for granted today, but life was good. They took joy in little things. The movies were silly and fun and a great escape from the trials they dealt with day-t0-day. And they loved red lipstick. :) On Sunday I tried to go with a "look" from those times. Red lipstick, pearls, ruffles, and rolled hair. I want to be like the women from those days.

Have you done any good?

One of my favorite bloggers is turning 31. And to celebrate her birthday she is doing something I wish I would have thought of.... helping provide newborn kits and quilts to mothers and new babies through our church's humanitarian aid program. Her goal is 31 newborn kits and 31 quilts. To learn more, click over to HER BLOG. I've committed to making a couple receiving blankets. What are you going to do?

Give me a (tax) break!

On Sunday David and I had our "companionship inventory." We discussed our children, upcoming calendar items, and FINANCES. David is a general contractor and owns his own business. (Bad news in the current economy.) I've never had much involvement in his business with the finances or operations, but with the current state of things David felt like it was time I had a clear picture of how things stood. I won't bore you with the details, but suffice it to say it takes far more to operate a business than I ever appreciated and things don't look good. One of the biggest expenses he has every month is taxes. I found out that between personal and business taxes he pays almost $2000 MORE a month in taxes than our take-home pay. That's right. We pay more in taxes than we even make. There is something wrong with that system. And with all of the celebrations surrounding Obama's inauguration I'm sick with fear that he's going to raise our taxes even higher. Yes, we need taxes. I appreciate some of the things that taxes can do. But when you tax people to death you limit their capacity to truly grow and prosper. The money David pays in taxes could be spent growing his business and creating new jobs. Do we want to help people less fortunate than us? Absolutely. But with the tax burden we carry we're not able to make that choice. The government makes it for us. And I don't think that's right.

Just Because

I don't have a story or anything to say about these pictures. I'm posting them just because they are

SO CUTE!!!

.... And because I hope they make you smile.

Have a happy day!

Check it out!

Lydia just posted on her blog about a little quilt she made yesterday. Check it out! (and if you feel inclined, leave a comment. She LOVES comments.) Go HERE to see her blog.

Sunday Hair

I don't have the time or energy to do my girls' hair fancy every Sunday. But it's sure fun when I do! Today they have matching "diamond hair" that I learned from THIS website. (McKenna thinks she has outgrown bows. Big sigh.)

It's pretty from the front and back!

Here is a close-up.

Sometimes they complain when I ask to do their hair. But I just remind them that they are my baby dolls and one of the perks of being their Mom is that I get to play with their hair!

Smarty Pants

When I was pregnant with McKenna, David and I spent a month in Taiwan. While we were there I dreamt that I had a little Chinese baby. (They have the cutest babies!!) Well, there must be a little Chinese influence in there somewhere because lately McKenna has decided to try and learn Mandarin Chinese. She went up in the attic and pulled out my college Chinese 101 books and has been seriously studying it! David served his mission to Taiwan and has been helping her here and there, but mostly she has been studying on her own. A few weeks ago she spent several hours looking through my character book and produced the above paragraph about what she wants to be when she grows up. I'm not exactly sure what it says, but David could read it so it must be pretty well done. And I thought it was just plain cool.

Surprise?

I'm kind of hopeless when it comes to giving gifts. I want so badly to give people exactly what they want that I almost always end up either telling them what I got or asking for very specific recommendations. (Or sometimes both!) (i.e.,"I was thinking of making you a quilt. Do you want a quilt? If you do, what color and pattern do you want ?) I personally like surprises, but I'd rather get what I want than be surprised.

Do you like surprises? or

Would you rather give input and make sure you get exactly what you want?

Everyday pleasures

The other day I made baked potatoes. I thought they looked so fancy all wrapped up in shiny foil. They brought me a moment of pure pleasure.

Family Picture

This is as close to a family picture as we could get this year. But hey, we're all there, and we're all smiling!

Holiday Wrap up

This holiday season was a whirlwind of FUN. Here is a quick summary. (With a few pictures thrown in. I'm afraid that whenever we get together as a family I rely on our resident photographers (my sister, Audra and sister-in-law, Jessie) to capture to moments.)

*My parents and Adam & Jessie cam to visit!

*Bowl games (some we would rather forget)

*LOTS of yummy food from Costco (which is every bit as good as homemade!!!)

*FHE together

*Homemade pizza

*Lydia's 8th birthday

*Old movie obsession ("Swing Time", "Singin' in the Rain", "White Christmas".....)

*A wonderful program at church that David worked really hard to put together.

*Sunday dinner for 50+ and a nativity reenactment with a cast of 20 (set to music!)

*David playing football (I think four different times!)

*homemade rolls, salmon, and a super-yummy salad on Christmas Eve.

*matching PJ's

*playing dodge ball, sharks & minnows, and gotcha

*hyper kids!

*lots of kisses from little Joshie.

*Lydia's birthday party at the gym

*Games: "Ticket to Ride," "Apples to Apples," "Pit," and "Match Mate"

*A trip to "check out Athens". While we were there we met Dill Pickle the Alligator and saw the cutest little owls.

*Lots of help taking care of Chloe (of course!)

* Sore throats and headaches. :(

*Lydia's baptism

*re-reading the "Children of the Promise" series

Now I'm trying to face LIFE again and I have to admit it is not nearly as much fun. I'm suffering from the post-holiday blues (even though our holidays aren't technically over.) But unfortunately nothing quite measures up to Christmas.