Letter to "pedr"

Warren's uncle, Peter, is serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Central America. Here is Warren's letter to him:

der pedr, ( Warren typed that by himself)

I can run 10 miles an hour. I know because I was racing my mom home
from my friend's house and she was in the car. At school I am learning
about one song called, "The Family of the Sun." (You sing it to the
tune of "The Farmer in Dell") Here are my favorite verses:

The family of the sun, the family of the sun.
8 planets all in all, the family of the sun.

Mercury is hot, and Mercury is small.
Mercury has no atmosphere, it's just a rocky ball.

There is a verse for every planet, but Pluto is ex'd off on my sheet,
since they decided Pluto isn't a planet because there were 2 bigger
planets than Pluto. We are studying planets at school. 10 10s is 100.

I'm going to be Prince Caspian for Halloween. And I have a plastic sword.

I made a telephone line out of a hose. I wish I could show you in the
email, but I can't. It would be like this: I put it in the playhouse
window and I speak through it and mom and dad will hear me. Or
Abigail, but to Avery I just say baby words to.

This is funny; we have two (play) cars and they're made of wood and
one just has 1 circle and one has 2.

Here is Warren's testimony (age 5) to share with your investigators:
You try to stay clean not dirty. Dirty is your sins, and clean is no
sins at all. I believe that if I am clean with Jesus' help, I will be
happy.

Love,
Warren

Sick Day (and Night)

Last night Avery awoke throwing up. Poor kid. The first time i got her bathed and all cleaned up, she threw up all over again. So we had another bath in the sink. She still threw up 4 more episodes--twice after we put her back to bed. Luckily, in all these 4 cases she successfully avoided her pajamas and sheets as we held her in creative angles and lifted her quickly out of her bed. It was quite the late night party. She and I finally fell asleep on the couch, where my right leg and foot was eaten alive by a zealous mosquito. Just before midnight I could take the itch and dead arm no longer and she and I moved back into our own beds.

Avery is a little quieter--and more cuddly--today. She even gets to have her binky all day, something she only gets at naps and bedtimes.

Still, she couldn't resist giving me this smile after swinging in the cool morning air had sufficiently restored her mood and I got the camera out. It's nice, and reassuring, to see her smile. Pushing Avery in the swing is educational for me. Last week, she kept saying, "Hi!" and I kept saying "Hi, Avery!" Finally, a bit exasperated, she pointed with her finger and said, "Up!" Apparently I was not pushing her "high" enough.

Making Salsa

My new favorite hairdo on Abigail.

Warren is getting really great at the can opener--I wish I could've caught the moment when he stuck his tongue out the side of his mouth in concentration.

Busy kids. (Warren is using my favorite kitchen doo-dad: the alligator dicer.)

The favorite job of any cooking/baking/mixing job: stirring.

Abigail's First Day of School

The anticipation of almost an entire year was rewarded today when Abigail attended preschool for the first time at Montessori House! Abigail has been there for all sorts of events that Warren has been involved in, and each time, the "works" captivated her in and she looked around in wonder and asked me, "Mom, can I come to school here?"
These are coming and going pictures, and I think her face tells the story, but we'll also let her have her own say. So here is Abigail's day, according to her (remember, she's only 3).
"At school today I did envelope cutting and beads and, oh, sorting different colored leaves, and pouring water into the other pitcher with a sponge. And pink tower. I think that's all."

Craft Day

Each second Friday is Craft Day at my mom's house. Amongst ourselves--my mom, her twin, a cousin, sometimes a sister and a friend or two--it is also called "Friday Therapy Group," like a book group but with crafts instead? I am in charge next month, and I tend to be the slacker in preparing my craft idea, so this time I went prepared with this Halloween Garland to show that we could make a similar one for Valentine's Day. To see the tags I chose to theme it around, go here and search "romantic roses." I designed these in another life for Scrapbook.com's e-cut line. I love that I can print out as many as I want since that is how e-cuts work once you purchase them. Anyway, I was really pleased and inspired by the garland, and I have a beautiful fireplace mantel that cries out for love, so you will probably be seeing more of my creations here, soon.

This Craft Day's craft is the pillar candle and surrounding balls scattered around. There are actually 6, but only 4 are pictured here. I firmly believe my mom and aunt should be up for sainthood after all the thousands of card stock leaves they punched out for us to stick with straight pins into Styrofoam balls. The final product is actually a center piece with the candle (covered with decorative paper and ribbon) in the middle, the balls around it, all set on a charger plate, but after the next picture, you will understand why my precious decorative leaf balls are out of reach on the mantel...

What I took at least 30 minutes to put together, Avery can undo in about 2. Isn't it great the kids teach is useful factoids like that? Now, stay with me as I wax philosophical. I'm sure all the leaf-punching, pin-sticking raised a few male eyebrows around the house, wondering why anyone would spend so much time for just a craft. It is so much more than a craft, though. It is the opportunity to come together and share in each others' lives. The preparation it requires--and it is not usually anywhere near this labor intensive--is well rewarded by the time spent together. Something about being creative brings out the best in people and helps us open our homes and hearts to each other.