Air show, new bishopric, and Alex sings

Howdy-ho! Well, there is kind of a lot to write about. On Thursday the kids and I went to visit Hawers in Rexburg and we had lots of fun! Her house is so cute, wayyy nicer than mine ever was or most young couples houses are. And her nursery is so cute, too! I hope she puts pictures up soon!

On Saturday we went to Rexburg for the Legacy Museum Air Show. We didn' think we were going to go, because it was supposed to rain, but when we woke up it wasn't too bad, so we decided to risk it. And I'm glad we did!

We ended up getting there about an hour after it started, but our friends who were there said we hadn't missed much, so that was really a blessing. They have gone the last 3 years, and they said there weren't nearly as many people this year, which I'm sure was because it was so cloudy. But that actually worked out great! It kept the temperatures really nice and cool and you could look in the sky without burning out your eyeballs. Every one in a while the sun would come out and then it was soo hot, I could barely stand it for five minutes. So we were glad it was cloudy!

The kids have been really into airplanes lately, since we saw the bomber at the airport here, and so they were really excited. And they were duly rewarded for their anxious anticipation.

The planes were so cool and so close and did such neat tricks! Tristan loved it when two planes went flying really low and fast right past each other. I liked the plane that went really high and then just sat there in the air, in one spot. Then in fell end over end and corkscrewed out of it. There were so many cool things they did, too many to list. We brought snacks and blankets and sat by friends who had brought food, too. The kids were so good and sat for all 3 hours we were there. I think they were too fascinated to look away. Alaina got really scared the first time a plane went by

and was really loud, but we taught her how to cover her ears, and she seemed to enjoy it after that.

There were planes on display, too and a big army jeep the kids could play in. I should have told them that is what Uncle Phillip drives. They would have been impressed.

At the end there were bagpipers, who turned out to be the two Pettit boys! We knew that they played, but had never seen them play before. They were really good!

And at the very end the skydivers jumped out and then we fel the first raindrops of the whole day. Perfect!

Afterwards we went to Haley's to go potty and so Alex could ask Dallin "Boat?" which is what he says every time he sees him.

On Sunday we got a new Bishopric! Brother, er.. Bishop Baird (weird) is the new bishop, which I totally guessed, Shannon Mitchell, whom you guys don't know probably is 1st counselor, which I also guessed, and Bro. Hall is the 2nd Counselor. It will be a great bishopric! But change is always a little hard at first.

And of course, Alex sang. I wish I could have taped it! He did such a great job! There were a lot of things that could have gone wrong, but he sang mostly all the words right and very clearly and waited for the piano and didn't do anything silly or strange while up there. Although, I did have several people tell me that their favorite part was when he was singing "I Love the see the Temple" and he sang, "to listen and the play" instead of to listen and to pray. He sang very loudly and I couldn't keep his mouth quite far enough away from the mic, but it was still great. There were a ton of people there with the new bishopric and there was a boy giving his farewell talk, plus the Stake Presidency, so it was really packed. But he wasn't nervous at all! In fact, we told him he would get a cookie if he did a good job, and as soon as we got back to the pew he said, "Cookie?" I think that made a bigger impression on him than the singing did! We got lots and lots of compliments and people were very impressed and pretty surprised, although we weren't surprised, just relieved. Some people even said it brought tears to their eyes. Sister LaPray had an old family friend sitting next to her and she told me that she told her friend, "That little boy is autistic," and her friend said,"You're kidding?!" And in a voice of awe said, "Miracles do happen." Truly, they do.

One funny thing- after sacrament Danny had to look for a minute to find Alex. He found him in the library, getting the librarians of the other ward to copy his "Jesus in the Clouds" picture on the copier. Danny said they looked a little flustered. It copied really dark and yesterday right as we were going to say prayers, Alex says, "Jesus in the clouds is black." Danny and I couldn't keep from laughing.

Tristan said something hilarious this morning when we were trying to get the car to start, but we can't remember what it was! It was some phrase that Danny always says when the car is being naughty. When we remember it, I will put it on here.

I gotta go now, 'cause the computer is being troubley and this has taken forever! Bye!

The Little Black Desk and My First Tutorial

As you know, I have been looking for some time for a small table to go downstairs, between the couch and the snuggler chair. We have about a gazillion remotes, so I really wanted something with a drawer and something to be able to set things on. Well, I found this cute little desk at Hidden Treasures, where everything I like generally starts at $100. At first I was sure this desk was wayyyy too short, so even though I loved the shape and color and it was only $24, I passed it up. Later, on reflection, I realized my mistake and went back and got it. Boy, am I glad I did! It is just the right size, any taller or larger would have been all wrong, and I already love having a place for the remotes!! Yeah! It seems to add a lot to the room and is one step closer to finishing it. Maybe someday I will finish it all the way. :)

I would like you to notice the lovely fabric runner, thingy, on the table. Yes, I made that. So now, for my first tutorial, I will teach you how you, too, can make a lovely runner thingy for your table. This is a fairly simple project, and if you use my instructions, you should be finished in about two hours.

Step One- Find your sewing machine. Here is a picture of one in case you can't remember.

Step Two- Pull out your cutting board and other items used for cutting fabric. Since you will undoubtedly have lost your clear, plastic thing used for making straight cuts, find some other item with a straight edge to use instead. As you see, I used an old matte I had on hand. Long books work well, too.

Step Three- After cutting your fabric, you will need to locate your instruction manual. It looks like this-

Refer to your instruction manual and use the next fifteen minutes relearning how to wind your bobbin. After bobbin is done being wound, realize that you used all of your thread on the bobbin, and you now have none left for sewing with. Rummage through your 6"x6" sewing box and try to find another thread color that is close enough to the color you just put on the bobbin, so that no one will notice you used two different colors.

Now your machine is threaded and you are ready to go. You should always start sewing on a piece of scrap fabric, to ensure that your stitch length is what you want.

Step Four- Sew slowly on your piece of scrap fabric, and feel a sense of satisfaction that all looks right. Pull out scrap fabric and try to figure out why the thread didn't sew on the back.

Step Five- Rethread bobbin. While you have the bobbin out, touch various pieces of the machine that surround the bobbin until they fall out. Spend another 15 minutes trying to figure out how they go back in. It is helpful at this point to have an innocent bystander around, preferably a husband, to randomly yell sarcastic and rude comments to about how poorly sewing machines are made.

Step Six- After testing on your scrap fabric again, try to spend at least 20 minutes learning what all the dials are and how to change the settings. After the 20 minutes, spend at least another 5 minutes putting all the settings back to where they were when you started. You are now ready to sew.

Step Seven- Sew approximately one inch on your fabric. Break your sewing machine needle. Look in various drawers until you find something that looks like more sewing maching needles. Using your manual, replace the needle, being sure to break it at least 2 more times in the process of getting it out. Put your new needle in and say a prayer that it is an actual sewing maching needle. While you are praying, apologize for all the mean things that you have been thinking, but had the sense enough not to say out loud. Pray for strength.

Step Eight- Sew to your first corner. This is where it gets tricky. You should try to break your thread at least once while navigating the corner. When you get to the corner, stop while the needle is in the down position, lift the presser foot, rotate your fabric and begin sewing again. Stop sewing, rethread the machine, and this time lower the presser foot before you begin. It is helpful to have needles in your fabric, so that you can stick one into your finger and occassionally sew right over it.

Step Nine- By now you are onto your last corner. If all has gone well, you will have rethreaded the upper and lower parts of the machine at least 4 times, as well as replacing at least one part. When you get to your last corner, it is important to reverse your stitches to keep them from coming up. Be sure that when you reverse, you make a new line of stitches next to the old ones. When your last corner is done, you may pull your fabric off, cut off the third and fourth unnecessary strings that are coming out of your fabric, and decide which parts are the worst. Strategically place flower or a picture frame over these parts so that no one will be able to see them.

Now you can stand back and enjoy the fruits of all your hard work. Now, that wasn't that difficult, was it? Join me next week, when we tackle checking the fluid levels in your car. And remember, with hard work, patience and endless tears, you, too can have a home as lovely as mine.

Random musings from a somber mind....

This will be short, but I was just talking to Mommy tonight and sharing some different experiences we've had. After we were done talking, I was just struck so much by how beautiful and wonderful life is. Which was ironic, since we were mostly talking about being okay with dying.
But I don't just mean life, like on this earth, but "life", that spark within us. Our souls, if you will. And I believe so strongly that that goes far beyond this earthly experience.
And now with Haley and Linda having their babies, I feel so excited for these new people to get to come to Earth, and see all its wonderful things. I know, there are a lot of sad things, but there are so many beautiful things. I want so much to enjoy those things while I am here. At the end of the Ferris wheel ride, I don't want to realize that I spent the whole ride trying to get a piece of gum off the bottom of my shoe.
So, as we think about and deal with the thought of Mommy dying, we are also celebrating the new lives coming onto this Earth! And all of those who have lived their lives with their heads up and looking at all the beautiful things around them, would want us to celebrate their lives, too.
So, I am grateful for the gift of my body and my health. I am grateful to have those I love around me. But no matter what happens, I am grateful to have this chance to live.
And now I will send this out into the ether, so that someday when I wonder what I am doing here, maybe I can read this again and remember. That's a good thing.

P.S. I tried to add some inspiring photos, but I can't figure out how to add images from the web! Sorry- you'll just have to use your imagination, darn it!

Good night, and good luck.

Here are a lot of pictures and a quick rundown of what we did this week, with a few details thrown in! I hope you enjoy it!

First, on Wednesday was Alex's Kindergarten Graduation! So funny! We were really worried about how Alex would do, but he did great! They said that the kids should dress nice, so of course to us that means... kilt!!! His teachers loved it and kept saying how cute he was.

They all sang songs and Alex thought that was pretty fun, but he only sang along with the last song. They did a slide show that was super cute set to music, and I did hear Alex singing along loudly when one of the songs was "Don't Worry, Be Happy." (Which by the way, Tristan has told me several times this week when I seem stressed, I guess. "Don't worry, Mom", he says. "Be happy!" )

He got upset when there was a song that they had all colored animals to go along with and I guess Alex had colored an owl. But he didn't want an owl, he wanted a tiger. Naturally. I heard him say very loudly, "I want the tiger, and I want it now!" We're so proud. It was hard for Danny to stay in his seat. But, other than that, oh,and wanting to come down from the stands and give Danny and I hugs a couple of times, he did quite well.


Oh, and he kept pushing his "graduation cap" down as far as it would go on his head, so that instead of looking like a graduation cap, it looked more like some strange jester's hat. This next picture is in his Kindergarten classroom. He picked up the phone and said, "Wallace and Gromit, at your service!"

This was his teacher, Mrs. Merkley, whom we just looved!!!!

And this is Mrs. Leslie, who has worked with Alex for the last 2 years in the Pathways classroom. She is an absolute, direct blessing from Heaven! We love her, too! I didn't get a picture of Mrs. Becky, who worked with Alex in Pathways and in his Kindergarten class. She was so great with Alex and was crying and got me crying when we said goodbye!

I have to tell you, one of my favorite parts was when they read each child's name and they came down and gave their teacher a hug and they read what the child had said they wanted to be when they grew up. My favorites were Misty, who, when she grows up, wants to be married. And Andy, who wants to be a plastic surgeon! What 5 year-old has that as their career goal?! They said that Alex wants to be a computer scientist, I'm sure because he always wanted to play on the computer. Unless he could be a "recess engineer".

This is what happens when Alaina doesn't sleep in her nap and plays instead.

Alex has discovered Parmesan cheese and really likes it. He asked me to put some in his eggs, which I did. But when my back was turned, he added some more.

Alaina, playing in the flowers. She's not really naked, but it looked like it, so I took a picture.

We took the kids to see the B-17 bomber that is at the airport for a while. The kids thought it was really cool and Tristan kept asking when he could fly the airplane. I told him when he has 20 more birthdays.

No plane is complete without a pin-up girl!! Nowadays she would be considered downright modest! On a side note, I was reading someone's blog and they were talking about this really cute swimming suit they had found. (This isn't someone I know. I was just checking out her blog. You know.) Anyway, the suit was a one-piece. And she said that her husband said that he didn't think that 24 year-olds should wear one-piece swimming suits. How odd is that? That is the polar opposite of what Danny says!!

Alaina playing in the car seat I was putting away. Notice her dolly, Grandma?

And this is what happens when Alaina doesn't want to go to sleep at night and plays instead. Her room had previously been very clean. She cleared out several drawers, and made herself right at home in one! Luckily, Danny checked on her when he saw that her light was still on. Now her light bulbs are all unscrewed, so that maybe if she can't see, she won't play as much.

In the voice of Ralphie, on the Simpsons, "I sleep in a drawer."

Danny contemplated just shutting the drawer for the night. Heehee.. I really don't think she would have noticed! She was out cold!

Today we went to visit Danny's grandparents, whom we haven't seen in a long time. It was good to see them again!

And this is what Alaina did after visiting, while we drove around on oil, looking at houses. Notice the dolly again, Grandma?

A few funny things- While in the car, Tristan was crying because Alex had something he wanted. Alex said, "Don't cry Tristan. I like you." Alex also came up to me unannounced today and put a huge band-aid on a bruise on my arm. He said, "Here, Mommy." And then he walked away.

Tonight when Danny put Tristan in bed he gave Tristan a few crackers, because Tristan always says, "My tummy is telling me I'm hungry." Tristan whined and said they would get crumbs in his bed. Danny told him, "Well then, just eat them fast." To which Tristan replied very happily, "And they will dance in my tummy!"

That's all for now folks! Good night, and good luck.