Girls on Fire.

Remember how Mar wanted some RED in her hair? After a few shampoos, she was more flaming than ever. The sun in this shot made it especially {vibrant}, which was super cool, but I convinced her that it would be a good idea to tone it down. Just a bit. For her dad's sake.

We put a nice, neutral, semi-permanent shade of brown over the top.

She likes it. It still has plenty of red tones in it, so it's the perfect balance.

Not too "extreme" (a favorite descriptive word of Bill's), not too dowdy.

When we toned the hair color down, I had no idea that Mar had been selected for a special honor on her team at school.

Most RED Student.

(Too bad she didn't have her brilliant cherry-red hair THAT day.)

The school called me mid-week to inform me she had been selected by her peers, and to invite us to the assembly on Friday when the awards are presented. We followed the instructions given: check in a little early and hide in the library until the assembly was ready to begin. Shhhhh... it's a surprise.

We were in stealth mode as we snuck out of the library on the upper level to peer over the railing as the assembly got underway.

Then these two gurlfrenz spotted us:

 Of course I would be snapping a pic at the exact moment they would look up.

And of course they told Mar, which probably-kind-of-sort-of-almost-definitely gave the surprise away.

("Isn't that your mom and dad up there?")

One student from each team was voted as the "Most RED," and Mar was one of the three 7th graders that received the honor. In addition to a couple of small monetary gifts, her name would go into a drawing for a Kindle Fire, with a 10% chance of winning (the odds were NOT in her favor).

I was proud of her. All that homework, dedication to study, care for others, school spirit, and overall genuine niceness was recognized and acknowledged. That doesn't happen very often.

Way to be, Mar!

When she got home from school, she told me that she didn't win the drawing. I suspected as much.

However,
at the end of the day, they announced that they had enough money in the BE RED recognition budget to give all 10 award winners a Kindle Fire!!
Mar was elated.
She is impatiently waiting for the order to come in.
(How long could that possibly take, right?)


After the assembly, I ran to Costco to purchase flowers for LHS's Senior Recognition at that afternoon's swim meet. I was given a $50 budget, and we needed 5 bouquets. I could purchase 3 of the pre-assembled bouquets (all with the larger flowers being either red -- the opposing team's color -- or orange -- BRONCOS! -- and tons of random filler flowers, like peach carnations), and divide them into 5, OR I could choose the grower's bundles of blue and white hydrangeas (Legend's colors), deep purple irises, and gorgeous pink roses. Because I had spotted this on Pinterest, I chose the latter. I LOVE how they turned out.

This was the last dual meet of the season.

Shilo only has two meets left (League and State - both two-day meets, so it feels more like four)

before she's stick-a-fork-in-it-I'm-done.

At least for high school.

I thought the coaches would be handing out the flowers. Nope: the principal.

You're welcome.

Looks like a girl, but she's a flame;
So bright she can burn your eyes, better look the other way.
You can try, but you'll never forget her name.
She's on top of the world, hottest of the hottest girls...

Ohhhhhh oh oh oh oh,
She's got her feet on the ground, and she's burning it down.
Ohhhhhh oh oh oh oh,
She's got her head in the clouds, and she's not backing down.

This girl is on fire...
(Seriously, I can't get this song out of my head.)

Here's four of the five senior girls (one disappeared and we couldn't find her):

Abbey, Kendra, Peyton, and Shilo.

I haven't felt too melancholy (use the Mega Mind pronunciation, please)... yet. I'm sure I'll miss the team associations (girls AND parents) and the excitement of a thrilling race, but I don't think I'll miss the intense smell of chlorine, sweat beading on my forehead, an aching tailbone from sitting on crowded bleachers for far too long, and wet shoes/pants from over-ambitious-flip-turn splashes while timing.
Nope, won't miss any of that.

Mar was anxious to head home after the meet.

To wait for her Kindle Fire.

(Did you notice her Blazing Blazers shirt? Yep, she's on fire too.)

Love those girls :-*

Birthday Birthday.

Bill and Lynnea share the same Birthday. How cool is that?

We wished Lynnea a happy day on Sunday during our video chat,

then yesterday (BIRTHDAY day) I drove her card to the post office and popped it into the delivery bin to be sent on it's way today.

(Ohhhhh, I had good intentions of mailing that little baby last Wednesday.)

We called and sang a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday on her voice mail late last night.

Happy 25th, sweet girl!

We love you!

Bill and I both worked yesterday while Shi and Mar stayed home for the holiday.

The girls met me at the salon at the end of my work day and we ran a few select errands to prepare for the big celebration that evening.

Sports Authority

Target

Papa Murphys

Then we headed home to bake a cake, cook a pizza, and decorate.

 Tradition: stuffed pizza. Bill's fave. I can barely eat one slice.

 Mar and Shi decided to do a Denver Broncos theme - can you see it?

Of course, we went with the use-what-you-have party decor.

 Awkward hands pic.

 Mar was determined to get her dad a gift completely from her (no group involved).

She found him an awesome manly lunch box (on clearance - no more girly byo lunchbag), and she filled it up with chocolate candies and a few extras. I love this cute picture she whipped up in no time:

She lamented not having photoshop for a nice crop job, but I think it still looks awesome.

I'm pretty sure Bill liked his other gifts, too:

 A collared Broncos shirt for work, and a Championship tee for casual wear.

(NO. We did not catch the game on Sunday. We DID attend our church meetings. Bill didn't even know who had won until he got home around 6:30pm. We are, however, thrilled with the outcome of the game.)

We invited the Weeds over to help celebrate (and eat cake!)

 I didn't have time for the traditional German Chocolate cake this year, so I opted for my version of Crash Cake.
Quick, easy, and yummy.

 Yes. There are 48 candles on that cake.

After the celebration, family scriptures, and prayer, Bill got a haircut. A simple request, right?
He's needed one for a good month! It's the least I could do.

I realized today that I had inadvertently forgotten another little gift I had purchased for Bill.

A shoe horn. I gave it to him this morning.

He was delighted.

He's wanted one ever since he got a new pair of shoes for Christmas.

Happy 48th, Bill Bill!

We love you!

God's Conversation Hearts - LDS Edition

A YW class in my ward asked me to come talk to them on Divine Nature #2 for Personal Progress. I had worked with my daughters on this value experience within the past 6 months or so, and was sort of excited just to be back in the church building on youth night (it's been a long, long time).

Part of this value experience says, "...Ask your mother or another mother you admire what she thinks are important attributes for being a mother..."

When I talked about these attributes with Shi and Mar, I'm pretty sure I came up with a list like:

patience

endurance

hard working

loving

selfless

teacher

As I studied in preparation to talk with this particular class, I felt prompted to shorten the list:

hope

charity

faith

(see Moroni 10:20-21)

HOPE

(What do I labor for?)

"The word hope is sometimes misunderstood. In our everyday language, the word often has a hint of uncertainty. For example, we may say that we hope for a change in the weather or a visit from a friend. In the language of the gospel, however, the word hope is sure, unwavering, and active... When we have hope, we trust God's promises... The principle of hope extends into the eternities, but it also can sustain you through the everyday challenges of life." True to the Faith, p. 85-86

I read them one of my favorite picture books:

I also shared this post with them.

CHARITY

(Does it really matter?)

"Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word. But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me."

Luke 10:38-40

"The story of Mary and Martha illustrates how the gift of charity can be diminished. Within Martha's request for assistance was an unspoken but clear judgment: 'I am right; she is wrong.' Do we judge one another? Do we criticize each other of individual choices, thinking we know better, when in fact we rarely understand another's unique circumstances or individual inspiration?... Judgements rob us of the good part, that pure love of Christ. We also lose sight of that good part when we compare ourselves to others... We just can't do that. We cannot allow ourselves to feel inadequate by focusing on who we aren't instead of who we are!" Bonnie D. Parkin

"Perhaps the greatest charity comes when we are kind to each other, when we don't judge or categorize someone else, when we simply give each other the benefit of the doubt or remain quiet. Charity is accepting someone's differences, weaknesses, and shortcomings; having patience with someone who has let us down; or resisting the impulse to become offended when someone doesn't handle something the way we might have hoped. Charity is refusing to take advantage of another's weaknesses and being willing to forgive someone who has hurt us. Charity is expecting the best of each other." Elder Marvin J. Ashton

FAITH

(What do I treasure?)

"And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou are careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her."
Luke 10:41-42

"When things of the world crowd in, all too often the wrong things take highest priority. Then it is easy to forget the fundamental purpose of life. Satan has a powerful tool to use against good people. It is distraction. He would have good people fill life with 'good things' so there is no room for the essential ones." Elder Richard G. Scott

We talked about how Satan doesn't insist we put HIM first in our loyalty - anything or anyone other than God will do.

"Why did God put the first commandment first? Because he knew that if we truly loved Him we would want to keep all of His other commandments... We must put God in the forefront of everything else in our lives... When we put God first, all other things fall into their proper place or drop out of our lives. Our love of the Lord will govern the claims for our affection, the demands of our time, the interests we pursue, and the order of our priorities." President Ezra Taft Benson

I told the girls "the rest of the story" (which, really, isn't the rest of the story) of the blogger I had shown them the first post of. I gave a quick recap of her life since becoming pregnant with her 8th child, then asked if they wanted to see some graphic pics she had posted (a reality check). Of course, the girls were all for it. If you want to see (they are graphic), you can go here.

We finished up with this scripture:

"Yea, come unto Christ and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind, and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by His grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God." Moroni 10:32

Since Valentines Day is just around the corner, and since this was a YW class, I wanted to make a handout to remind them about the attributes we had discussed so they could go home and write in their journals about them (a requirement of the value experience).

I tweaked this idea, including some scriptures from the Book of Mormon and Doctrine&Covenants. I also had to adjust the size settings of the outside paper to fit the Sweethearts candy box (v Brachs).

You can access my print-outs here and here.

*2018 UPDATE: I've tweaked this idea yet again. Since we are studying the Book of Mormon this year in Seminary, I wanted to make some of these for my class, but wanted ALL BofM scriptures. You can access that version here. I also noticed that the link explaining how to make the paper covers is no longer available. If I have a few minutes to do a quick tutorial this week, I will post that here as well. (See below)

The girls were great. I worried a little about it feeling too much like a "sit and listen" lesson for a weeknight activity (thus the storybook and blogger posts to add variety), but they participated in the discussion and were very appreciative afterwards, including the two non-member friends attending. The class was on Tuesday, I received a thank you note in the mail on Thursday.
Those are some on-the-ball young women!!

The best thing: I have a renewed determination to put first things first.

As usual, the preparation likely helped me more than the discussion helped the young women.
Have a beautiful day!

Quick basic tutorial for the box covers:

 Using 12x12 paper, I measured the width of the Sweethearts box, then cut strips of that size.

 I then wrapped the paper around the box, leaving some extra paper at the top. I just made creases in the paper as I wrapped it.

I determined that I didn't need the full 12" length of the paper, so cut the excess off, then cut all my strips to the same size.

 Again, while wrapped around the box, I determined where to punch my holes for the ribbon. You want these to be as close to the crease as you can so that the paper won't easily slip off your finished box (mine could have been a bit closer). Once I had one, I quickly marked and punched the rest of strips (I had already made the creases in each strip before punching the holes).

 Then I just wrapped my strips around each box, threaded my ribbon through the holes, then tied it.

Then I just glued/taped on the scripture references.

On this particular set I just used what I had on hand -- regular colored cardstock. I had purchased the ribbon a few years back AFTER Valentines Day so had a little stash. I think they still turned out super cute.

The College Life.

I don't know...
do you think Lex is lovin' being back at school?

(I stole most of these pics from her FB page)

 Bedroom: Decorated.

Workout Room: Visited. (wink)

 Living Room: Decorated.

 Roomates: Awesome.

Let the fun begin.

The only downside(s) so far:

hard classes

a lot o' homework

9am church

a slight financial bump-in-the-road

It makes me happy to know that she's happy.

Love you, Lex :-*