An elephant named Gerald

Gerald is our favorite elephant.  He and Piggie star in a series of really great kid books by Mo Willems.  I ran across them in the easy reader section of our library.  They are easy to read, but the stories are still fun and funny.  I think that my favorite is still Today I Will Fly, where Piggie flies with a little bit of help.  As you can see we like them ALL.

Paper goes 3D

I've taken my paper cutting to the next dimention, literally.  I ran across a book at the library on kirigami, the Japanese art of paper cutting and folding to create in 3D.  It is pretty cool.  I tried out a butterfly for My Girl and a ninja for Buddy Boy, Cole DX, for you Ninjago fans.

It was fun.  I'm now trying to figure out how to do the Oakland Temple.  I don't have all the geometry and different levels straight in my head yet, but I'm getting there.  I'll post pictures when I'm done.

Rainbow Daisies

For some reason I remember doing this a lot one summer as a kid.  We had a lot of big white daisies in the backyard and I thought it was really cool to turn them different colors so I tried it out with the kids.  Luckily I had the perfect vase, a wedding gift from a friend.  I like it because it looks like a row of test tubes all linked together.  All you do is put a little food color in the water and wait.

Here is how they started. 

We have some little daisies and a few great big ones to work with.

The color started to show a few hours in.  Here they are several days later.  Some of the daisies had started to fade a bit by the time I took the picture, but you can see the color.

I didn't have orange food color so I mixed red and yellow.  You can tell by looking at the daisy.  The color separates out and is sort of striped.  This isn't like the green one where I used green food color instead of mixing yellow and blue.

the all day all night gown

My girl made a very specific request for a pink sleep dress with short sleeves.  Hmmm.  Luckily I had a plain pink t-shirt on hand.  I picked up a couple in different colors at our local drug store when they were on sale for 2 for $5.  You can't buy the fabric for that price.  Since this was an adult size large shirt I couldn't just pull in the shoulders and call it a day like I did with the mermaid dress. 

I cut the shirt across the body just under the armhole and used a pattern for a little girl dress that I already had for the bodice and sleeves.  I used the neck and hems that were already in the shirt to make it easier for me.  The neck is a little big, but I figured that it would be just that much easier for her to get on and off.  I also cut it out extra big thinking that she would wear it for sleeping, silly me.  The only sewing were the bodice side seams, the sleeves, the gather on the skirt and sewing it on.  I used a narrow ziz zag stitch which worked great for this cotton knit.  I also top stitched the seam around the middle and had to redo one of the sleeves when I put it on inside out.  Without that the whole thing takes less than an hour.

Here is the finished product. 

(Some days you just can't get the picture you want.)

She decided she wanted to wear it ALL the time.  So I made one in lavendar too.  The shirt I started with was a medium so the neck was a little smaller which was probably a good thing.  It's just the same but I added puffed sleeves.  I think I like the plain sleeves better.  I'm just not a lavendar ruffly type person.  The only things in my closet with ruffles are a dark olive drab and I like it that way.  I have to temper the ruffles with a little masculinity like a militant color.  Anyway.  It's cute and quick and fun.  I may get around to doing some decorations like painting or stenciling or something else if I can get them off her little body.

the Joker Soaker

After seeing this I knew I wanted to build my own kid wash for the backyard.  I've been waiting for it to get hot enough to play in the water and then all of a sudden it was.  We had the pvc pipes from a couple years ago.  All I needed was an adapter for the hose and end caps so all the water didn't run out.  I pulled out the drill and drilled away.  It was all rather free form.  I didn't even need to glue the joints.  Just make sure they are pushed in tight so that the water pressure doesn't spring it loose.  I did learn that you can only do so many holes or there isn't enough water pressure to make it all work.  For us the magic number seems to be about 35 1/8 inch holes, if I remember right.  Bigger size, fewer holes.  It's been fun.  If I were to do it again I might look for a different hose adapter.  This pvc one fits tight on the pvc pipes, but is a little difficult to connect to the hose.

And so the Joker Soaker was born.  Buddy Boy named it.  The name fits, although I'm not sure who the Joker is supposed to be.

She isn't running through because she is trying to wash the sidewalk paint off her hands, legs, every other body part, swim shirt...  Not a product I'd recommend for the faint of heart or clean of floor.  This photo shows the full thing and all the water the best.

I strategically placed this over the dry spots in the back lawn hoping to revive it a bit.  If not this summer, it will green up over the winter.

Maybe the table top version is next.

Crystals and the Cambrian

I decided that in addition to the family reunions we would do a little dinosaur study while in Utah. At the time Buddy boy was in his paleontologist phase. Since then he has moved through a couple of ancient societies and now on to crystals. That isn't so bad because the The Brigham City Natural History Museum has an excellent collection of crystals in addition to fossils.  Who knew that Brigham had a natural history museum?  It is in a former elementary school and shares the space with the Boys and Girls Club.  The museum is still a work in progress, but the specimens themselves were great.

Amethyst geodes bigger than the kids.

There was one room that was dark with black lights to show the natural fluorescence of the rocks.  It was so cool.  What was even more cool was that some of the minerals would fluoresce in different colors depending on the wave length of the light, wither orange/green or green/purple. 

To go along with the whole dinosaur thing made a plaster cast of Buddy Boy's hand print and "fossils" of toy fish and dinosaurs. They weren't really fossil-like since we took the toys out and left the impression. I thought of painting them, but we didn't get around to it. I also forgot to bring them home with us. Oh well, they probably wouldn't have survived the trip anyway. We were also going to grow borax crystals, but didn't get around to that either. We may still do that one at home. The crystal fascination continues.

We also went to the Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point with cousins. There were lots of fossils as well as many many replicas of full skeletons. Everyone loved the T-Rex. My Girl loved the under sea room with the giant sea turtles. She went in to mermaid baby mode and swam around the room.  It was really fun to watch.

There was a fun water table sort of place where the kids got to play with sand and water.  The theory was that they could learn about how erosion reveals fossils.  They spent the most time here and loved it.

They also liked the sand pit where they could dig for bones.

 After a big day at the museum which included an unexpected tour of East Lehi, the kids spent the next morning playing at home while I went to the temple and lunch with my sister in law.  It is so nice to have a built in nephew baby sitter.  He was great and Buddy Boy just loves him.  He is the size of a grown up yet loves Calvin and Hobbes and computer games just like he does.

We spent that night with a different brother in West Valley.  We went to West Fest where Buddy Boy tried out the National Guard climbing wall.  He did really great and got about half way up.  He really liked it.  I think we need to do this again.

The next day was the big swim party at Cherry Hill with the extended family.  Swim, swim, fun fun.  I think the best part was duck duck goose with all the little second cousins.

After that we collapsed and relaxed until it was time to come home.  A great trip, but it was also good to be back.

Cousins and more cousins

We are back from our trip to Utah for family reunions.  It was really great to see my family.  Living where we do we don't get to see them often.  One thing that was surprising was the weather.  On the flight in there were people bringing their ski boots.  It has been an unusually wet and cold spring.  There will probably be skiing through the July 4 weekend.  I remember this happening when I lived in 1994 or '95.  It happens but it is definitely not the norm.  By the time we left summer had come with a vengence and there were concerns about serious flooding because of all the rapid snow melt. 

I haven't been back at this time of year for a long time.  The mountains were SO green.  It was really beautiful.

 

We stopped at Temple Square in Salt Lake City and also stopped by the Temple site in Brigham City.  We were in town for the ground breaking last summer.  It is fun to see the progress.  It is still just a shell.  The angel Moroni statue will be placed in July and the interior should be finished sometime in 2012, probably the end of the summer.

The first weekend we spent with my parents and brothers.  Saturday we went up the canyon for a picnic and campfire.  The kids hiked and played in sand at the volleyball court. 

There were also more shadow puppets.  This time it was Goldilocks and the Three Bears.  My brothers always add their take on the story.  It is fun to see.  Goldilocks was selling cosmetics door to door and Baby Bear spent time jumping on the beds.  We brought the puppets from last year and the kids played with them after my brothers did the Three Bears.

Since the spring is so late this year there were a lot of flowers out.  They are different from the summer sun flowers.  Gorgeous.

Not for me

I painted a scarf for gift.  It isn't actually my style, the geometrics or the colors.  I tend to do things with more organic shapes and softer, more natural colors.  I really like the squares, but the colors just aren't me.  They are however good for the person receiving it.

the centurian

Each week in Primary (Sunday School) a couple of the kids give short talks.  It is great to help them understand the gospel and also great public speaking practice.  Today was Buddy Boy's turn.  I'm never sure how he will repond to a situation like this.  He can be nervous and quiet or he might jump up in front of his class for a little interpretive dance.  I just never know, but I think it all depends on his mood at the moment.  We had prepared and practiced.  I wasn't sure I could convince him to even give it a try so we worked in ancient Rome, his favorite thing right now, and he seemed OK.  Before church he was really nervous.  But once he got started, with me by his side pointing to the words as he read, he did just fine.  I was really proud of him for working through his fears.  It is a big step for him.

Here's the talk.

I am very interested in ancient Rome. Jesus and his apostles lived when Jerusalem and the country around it were part of the Roman Empire. There was a Roman soldier named Cornelius who was a righteous man who believed in God, prayed, and gave money to the poor.


One day an angel appeared to Cornelius and told him to send men to go find the apostle Peter and invite him to come and visit. So Cornelius sent his men to find Peter.

One morning Peter was praying and saw a vision from God. It was a vision of all different animals together. After the vision Cornelius’ men arrived at Peter’s house and invited Peter to come to Caesarea to visit Cornelius. Peter went with them the next day. At that time Jews, like Peter, were not allowed to visit Romans.

When Peter met Cornelius he knew that he was a righteous man and that it was OK to visit him. Peter also understood his vision about the animals. It meant that everyone who is righteous and has faith in God can be baptized. Peter taught Cornelius and his righteous friends and family. They felt the Holy Ghost and wanted to be baptized.

I know that when we have faith in Jesus Christ and repent we can be baptized and receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

For the full story see Acts 10.

a little time to spare?

Just in case you have extra time on your hands here is a great time sink for the visually inclined. (http://www.pinterest.com/) You just pin and repin things you think are fun, interesting, whatever.  You can find me and my pins here.