I have a concert, shout hurray! I want to sing to you today... :)

I have an upcoming concert, and really need some supporters there to cheer me on.  :)   Tickets are only $8 in advance if you get them from me.  Let me know if you would like to come!!

What is Easter?

My boys and I were driving past the Temple the other day.  Of course, we pointed it out and talked about it.  I also added, "And look!  The stage is up and ready for the Easter Pageant!"
Dr. D asked, "Oh!  What's the Easter Pageant?"
I explained that it was a play, or a show all about Easter.
He was very excited about that and said, "Oooh!  Who plays the bunny??"

Um...so I told him there was no bunny in the Easter Pageant.  He was a little confused, I could tell.  I asked him, "What is Easter all about?"
He said, "Bunnies!"
I said, No, that's not it.
He said, "Candy!"
Nope, not it either.
He said, "Eggs?"

I told him it was actually about Jesus.  He thought that was pretty interesting.

I think I know what we are talking about for Family Home Evening!! :)

Here are some of my old blog posts about Easter.  Some good ideas for teaching and celebrating.
Easter Ideas
Easter Tradition
Easter Sweets

Trick Question?

Dr. D:  Mom!  Guess what's in these chocolate covered pretzels!

Mom:  Ummm,  pretzels?

Dr. D:  YES!


As the kids are catching fruit flies and feeding them to the fish,
Teeny bopper:  Dr. D, we should have a code word for when we catch a fruit fly.  What should our "code word" be?

Dr D:  Fruit fly catch!!

Cutest music video EVER

This video was taken last October, and I may have already posted it, but it is so cute I didn't want to chance it not being on here.
Teeny Bopper was getting Tail Gunner to sing some of his favorite songs.   Talk about an adorable kid!!!

My favorite is at the end when he says he wants to sing "Popcorn", starts singing "Snowman" and part way through realizes he is singing the wrong song so does a quick correction.  LOVE these kids!!!  So much cuteness!!

No TV!

So, we had our month of "technology fast".  Last Sunday we got the family together to get everyone's input on how things went.  We went around the table and had each person tell how we felt about the month without tv, without ipod, without video games, and without major computer use/abuse.
The consensus was - with the exception of 5 yr old Dr. D - unanimously to keep things the same!  NOBODY wanted to bring the TV back!!  Well, Dr. D would be happy to watch tv and play video games 24/7, but he has been perfectly happy without them.  It was so cute that little Tail Gunner said he missed Blue's Clues!  Who knew he even paid much attention.  We didn't even watch it all that much- I guess that blue puppy leaves an impression.  :)  We made a few tweaks to our strict rules of last month and are going forward with these.
The rules:
No tv during the week.  At all.  For anyone.
On one weekend night we can watch one movie for family movie night.  We can split this up and put on a little kid movie in one room and an older person movie in the other room.
Mon is no computer day except for homework.
Tues and Thurs the older girls get 30 min to goof around on the computer, and Wed and Fri the younger girls get 30 min (each).
Dr. D can have 30 min to play video games on Tues and Thurs, as long as his room is clean.

I was surprised and pleased when Teeny Bopper said that when the "fast" was over, she put her ipod on (which she normally relies heavily on) and then took it back off because she didn't even want the headphones on.  !!!!  YES!    I loved hearing this!

It's weird, but I physically feel better without the tv on.  Is that possible?  I guess it does emit something-some kind of waves or something?  Anyway, I feel better, and I like that too.  My yearnings to put the kids in front of the tv have also disappeared.  Part of it is probably that they have stopped wanting it.  They don't ask for it anymore and have an easier time entertaining themselves.

Oh-another bonus for me:  my head isn't constantly filled with scenes from the shows I have been watching!!! I was watching some pretty cool shows, but they were in my head all the time.  Even in the temple, which was annoying.  That has drastically diminished.  I doubt it will never totally go away, because once stuff is in our brains, it is IN there.  But I will settle for improvement.

Buh bye, TV!

Neighbor Baby

One of my neighbors and friends had a baby last Thursday.  I had the privilege of taking some pictures of him today.  It was a fairly informal photo shoot, but we got some really sweet pictures.  He weighed in at 9 lbs 14 oz, and oh my, he is such a doll!!  I so enjoyed having an excuse to cuddle him! :)

Without further adieu, little BR:

Birthday No. 14

Sweet G had a sweet party this year.  It was a pajama party (not to be confused with a sleep-over), so everyone came in pj's.  They watched a movie, had pizza and snacks, and played a charades game.  She opened her gifts, had cupcakes and then played Just Dance until everyone was picked up.  It was super fun!  A great group of girls made it fun for mom as well.  :)  Happy Bday, Sweet G!!!  Love ya!

She was very gracious and made all her friends feel very welcome and happy to be here.

Such a dazzling smile and cute jammie pants, too.  :)

Showing off her flexibility and awesome light-up necklace.  Yes, she gets it from her mother.  ;)